While he has only been a Golden State Warrior a few months, there have probably been plenty of moments (with more to come) where rookie Stephen Curry wishes he was still living in the happy and stable surroundings of Davidson College. Now stuck in the drama-filled circus that is going in Golden State right now, Curry has already had to deal with disgruntled teammates, an erratic coach and inconsistent playing time. He went from starting the first six games to seeing just 2:30 minutes of action in Friday night’s game against the Knicks - the team Curry originally wanted to draft him. Ninety minutes before tip-off, I was able to ask Steph a few questions as he walked off the court after finishing his pregame shooting routine. Dime: Now that you’re standing right here in the Garden, are there still times you wished you slipped one more pick and were drafted by the Knicks? Stephen Curry: I left that all in the summer time. Once summer league started and I put the Warriors uniform on, I just tried to be happy where I was picked.
Dime: You look noticeably bigger since your days at Davidson. What kind of work did you have to put in during the summer to put on that weight? SC: Stayed in the gym, stayed in the weight room all summer long. I worked out with a guy named Idan Ravin. We traveled around and worked out with Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and bunch of other guys, Joe Johnson. About six or seven hour days. We worked pretty hard in the summer time.
Jason Williams aka White Chocolate brought it back to 1999 with some of his vintage And 1 Mixtape worthy dribble moves. The ironic part about it, is that he shook Mr. Playground himself Rafer Alston.
For various reasons, disgraced NBA ref Tim Donaghy’s tell-all book about his antics in the League has been canceled by the book’s publisher. “Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA” was supposed to drop later this month, covering Donaghy’s experience in the NBA and the events leading up to his conviction on federal wire fraud charges.
The official cancellation didn’t hit though until some explosive excerpts were released to some media outlets including Deadspin.com. The clips Deadspin posted from Donaghy’s book are jaw-dropping. Not taking sides here, we’re just passing some of them along …
Donaghy on “star treatment” for certain players:
If Kobe Bryant had two fouls in the first or second quarter and went to the bench, one referee would tell the other two, “Kobe’s got two fouls. Let’s make sure that if we call a foul on him, it’s an obvious foul, because otherwise he’s gonna go back to the bench. If he is involved in a play where a foul is called, give the foul to another player.”
Similarly, when games got physically rough, we would huddle up and agree to tighten the game up. So we started calling fouls on guys who didn’t really matter-”ticky-tack” or “touch” fouls where one player just touched another but didn’t really impede his progress. Under regular circumstances these wouldn’t be fouls, but after a skirmish we wanted to regain control. We would never call these types of fouls on superstars, just on the average players who didn’t have star status. It was important to keep the stars on the floor.
Donaghy on how easily refs are influenced by “favorite” players:
Allen Iverson provides a good example of a player who generated strong reaction, both positive and negative, within the corps of NBA referees. For instance, veteran referee Steve Javie hated Allen Iverson and was loathe [sic] to give him a favorable call. If Javie was on the court when Iverson was playing, I would always bet on the other team to win or at least cover the spread. No matter how many times Iverson hit the floor, he rarely saw the foul line. By contrast, referee Joe Crawford had a grandson who idolized Iverson. I once saw Crawford bring the boy out of the stands and onto the floor during warm-ups to meet the superstar. Iverson and Crawford’s grandson were standing there, shaking hands, smiling, talking about all kinds of things. If Joe Crawford was on the court, I was pretty sure Iverson’s team would win or at least cover the spread.
Donaghy on Dick Bavetta:
Two weeks before the 2003–04 season ended, Bavetta and I were assigned to officiate a game in Oakland. That afternoon before the tip-off, we were discussing an upcoming game on our schedule. It was the last regular-season game we were scheduled to work, pitting Denver against San Antonio. Denver had lost a game a few weeks prior because of a mistake made by the referees, a loss that could be the difference between them making or missing the playoffs. Bavetta told me Denver needed the win and that it would look bad for the staff and the league if the Nuggets missed the playoffs by one game. There were still a few games left on the schedule before the end of the season, and the standings could potentially change. But on that day in Oakland, Bavetta looked at me and casually stated, “Denver will win if they need the game. That’s why I’m on it.”
I was thinking, How is Denver going to win on the road in San Antonio? At the time, the Spurs were arguably the best team in the league. Bavetta answered my question before it was asked.
“Duncan will be on the bench with three fouls within the first five minutes of the game,” he calmly stated.
Bavetta went on to inform me that it wasn’t the first time the NBA assigned him to a game for a specific purpose. He cited examples, including the 1993 playoff series when he put New Jersey guard Drazen Petrovic on the bench with quick fouls to help Cleveland beat the Nets. He also spoke openly about the 2002 Los Angeles–Sacramento series and called himself the NBA’s “go-to guy.”
The last time we heard a song from Ron Artest it was a tribute to the late Michael Jackson. This time with Queensbridge’s Foul Monday, Ron-Ron doesn’t disappoint. lol
Do you know what’s the most unfortunate part? That a lot of people out there are too caught up in hating one side or the other to appreciate what we’re seeing from Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as this postseason unfolds. Yeah, sometimes it seems just a little too convenient that the NBA, the TV networks and sneaker giants are all getting exactly what they want as Mamba and the King trade spectacular performances, but try to pull yourself away from that, and forget about whether you think Kobe is a dick or LeBron gets too much media hype. Just focus on the fact that these two are putting together a story that could eclipse Michael vs. Magic in ‘91, Jordan vs. Barkley in ‘93, Hakeem vs. Shaq in ‘95, and even some of the Magic vs. Bird or Magic vs. Isiah epics from the ’80s. After LeBron owned Friday night, Kobe was The Man on Saturday, dropping 41 points and hitting clutch shot after clutch shot in L.A.’s Game 3 win over the Nuggets on the road … Although it was looking shaky for the Lakers for a while, and Pau Gasol was their best player on the floor during some key junctures in the second half, Kobe (12-24 FG, 15-17 FT) took over when it mattered most: With three minutes left he drove past ‘Melo and got an and-one to put L.A. ahead by one, then with one minute to go, wetted a tough three over J.R. Smith for another go-ahead bucket. (”That’s how you tell 20,000 people to sit down and be quiet,” Mark Jackson said.)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The mainstream media wants Kobe vs. LeBron in the Finals. It’d be a dream even better than last year’s Celtics-Lakers rivalry. If the game’s two most marketable stars meet in the Finals, imagine how the TV ratings will skyrocket.
But a Carmelo vs. LeBron matchup could be just as compelling, even if it didn’t create as much buzz. There’s a real history between those two guys - from their matchup in high school on national TV, to their part in the ‘03 Draft class. Plus, they would go to war with each other every time down the court. It’d be an epic battle.
Head over to High School Hoop, where they’ve got that classic Oak Hill vs. St. Vincent-St. Mary high school game. LeBron throws a behind-the-back pass in the exact same fashion that he still does. ‘Melo - whose hair is out of control - hammers a crazy one-handed dunk that the video replays. It’s great footage.
//The 15 Best Performances of the Playoffs//
When Carmelo doesn’t even bother to flick his wrist after releasing a jumper, you know it’s trouble. When he laughs after drilling three’s, you know there’s little that the defense can do to hold him down. Anthony was truly in the mythic zone at one point during last night’s game, showing shades of his 33-point quarter. If he was able to get a bucket when L.O. blocked his floater from the first hash at the 5:22 mark, we might be saying that this was the definitive best all-around performance in the playoffs thus far.
It was one of the most efficient performances of the playoffs - ‘Melo made 14-20 shots, 70% FG (4-5 3FG) for 39 points. And on D he was working like a dog, making Kobe run through the equivalent of a football obstacle course to get free.
“It was a lot of fun, he’s a bull down there,” Bryant said. “I am a little out of my weight class, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
There’s no doubt that this game - despite being in a losing effort - belongs in the class of the greatest performances in the ‘09 playoffs. Here are the other games in that group:
* LeBron’s 47-point (15-25 FG, 5 three’s), 12-rebound, 8-assist Game 3 win over Atlanta * Rajon Rondo’s 28-point (12-22 FG), 11-assists, 8-rebound Game 6 win over Chicago Take this game over his three triple-doubles thus far, because he carried Boston to this win, accounting for 6 of Boston’s 13 points in OT. * Derrick Rose’s 36-point (12-19 FG), 11-assist Game 1 win over Boston * Ray Allen’s 51-point (18-32 FG, 9 three’s) Game 6 loss to Boston * Ben Gordon’s 42-point (14-24 FG, 6 three’s) Game 2 loss to Boston * Brandon Roy’s 42-point (15-27 FG), 7-rebound Game 2 win over Houston Roy deserves bonus points for Ron Artest’s post-game compliment, saying that “Brandon Roy is the best player I’ve played against.” * Dirk’s 44-point (14-25 FG), 13-rebound Game 4 win over Denver * Dwight Howard’s 23-point, 22-rebound (10 offensive boards), 3-block Game 6 win over Boston * Kobe’s 40-point (16-27 FG, 2 three’s), 6-rebound, 3-assist Game 2 win over Houston * Kobe’s 40-point (13-28 FG, 2 three’s), 6-rebound, 4-assist Game 1 win over Denver * Aaron Brooks‘ 34-point (12-20 FG, 4 three’s), 4-assist Game 4 win over L.A. * Chauncey Billups‘ 36-point (10-15 FG, 8 three’s), 8-assist Game 1 win over New Orleans * Dwyane Wade’s 41-point (11-23 FG), 5-rebound, 0-turnover Game 6 win over Atlanta * Tony Parker’s 43-point (18-29 FG, 2 three’s), 5-rebound, 3-assist, 4-steal Game 3 loss to Dallas
It’s hard to argue with Ray’s 51-point outing. But I’d say that Chauncey’s Game 1 demolition of the Hornets, LeBron’s 47-point destruction of Atlanta, and even ‘Melo’s effort in last night’s loss are right up there too.
You might have heard that John Wall will be the next Derrick Rose before. He’s a 6-4 point guard with incredible athleticism, great handle, and the ability to hang forever before finishing or finding a teammate around the basket. But this is the first time that we’ve seen him in a truly competitive all-star type event. At the Nike Hoops Summit, Wall put the complete highlight package together against the World team even though Team USA lost 97-89.
Wall’s 13-point, 11-assist, 5-steal performance was one of the US’s bright spots. Findlay Prep’s Avery Bradley (Texas commit) and Xavier Henry also pitched in 21 and 22 points respectively. But the other highly touted Americans, Renardo Sidney, DeMarcus Cousins, and Abdul Gaddy were disappointing. Team USA was destroyed on the boards 48-29, which was perhaps the biggest reason that they were upset.
Wall still hasn’t made his decision about college. Though he was leaning towards Memphis, he opened the recruitment back up after Coach Calipari accepted Kentucky’s monster offer. Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, and Miami are all possibilities.
