Dose: Mr. Sloan and Me
Goodbye…Jerry
Jerry Sloan is no longer the coach of the Utah Jazz, a position he held for the last 23 years. Sloan is 69 years old and famous for going head-to-head with his players, including Karl Malone back in the day, but no longer felt he could win battles with Deron Williams. While it is sad to see Sloan go, I also think it might be a good thing for the Jazz. Ty Corbin will take the reins and hopefully run a freer offense and give Williams more control to be creative. Sloan clearly mishandled Andrei Kirilenko in the past, and his career may have had a much happier ending had he never played for Sloan. Sloan was as old school as they come, and while I will miss him, it was probably time for him to move on.
Williams is catching some heat for being the guy who forced Sloan out the door, but he's far from a coach-killer. To me, this is more of a sign of the times than it is anything else. Now the Jazz have to worry about keeping Deron's wrist healthy for the rest of the season, and then finding a way of convincing him to re-sign with the team this summer – or at least to exercise his player option to stay one more year. Sloan's departure was the first step in the plan to keep Williams, but if the Jazz don't import some better talent to surround him with, and in a hurry, he's not likely to stay in Utah.
On his wrist, Williams did say he's planning/hoping to play in the All-Star Game, which should be construed as good news. If he were truly worried about the wrist, you would assume he'd flat out say 'no way' to the game. As for Paul Millsap, Kirilenko and Al Jefferson? I don't think they take a fantasy hit at all with a new coach.
Horford's Back Still Hurting
Al Horford's back is bruised from a violent fall after being taken down by Blake Griffin and now sounds unlikely to play on Saturday against Charlotte. The Hawks were dismantled on Tuesday without Horford, so this is bad news for them, as well as fantasy owners. He did say he's hoping it feels better today, and hasn't ruled himself out yet, but this does not look good. The only saving grace is this happened during a two-game week.
Weak In The Knee
Rashard Lewis recently said he'll need offseason knee surgery, but also said he plans on playing in back-to-back games this Saturday and Sunday. The league's most overpaid player has been mired in a slump thanks to his right knee and at this point, owners just have to hope the surgery doesn't happen before the end of the season. If he doesn't get this ship righted in the near future, he's not going to be buy-low or sell-high. Instead, he's going to end up on the scrap heap.
Wolves, Lower
Michael Beasley (ankle) and Darko Milicic (hip), to the surprise of no one, missed Thursday's practice and are very iffy for tonight against the Pacers. As usual, Wesley Johnson and Nikola Pekovic could start tonight if the injured duo can't go. I really need to just face facts and drop Darko! in a few leagues where I'm hanging onto him, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. House in order? Not quite.
Rodman Love
Dennis Rodman will finally have his jersey retired by the Pistons later this season. I don't have much to say about this other than that it's about time. He was the spiritual leader of the Bad Boys and was one of the great characters (and rebounders) in NBA history. At least one good thing is going to happen in the Palace this season.
And in more good Detroit news, it sounds like the team is on the verge of being sold to Tom Gores. Make that two good things.
Injury Roundup
Mo Williams will return for the Cavaliers tonight and is expected to come off the bench. This should mean the end is near for Ramon Sessions, but I'm going to hang onto him for a week and see how things play out.
Marcus Camby will not play on Friday and while there's no timetable for his return, he continues to paint a picture of himself as day-to-day with his knee injury. The realty is that he could be out until the All-Star break.
Kwame Brown is set to return tonight from personal issues, and should re-take his place in the starting lineup over Nazr Mohammed.
Luke Ridnour will miss yet another game on Friday as he and his family deal with complications with the birth of one of his twins. This will make six straight missed games for Ridnour, and while we are hoping this situation turns out for the best, you have to think basketball is the furthest thing from his mind right now. And while Jonny Flynn hasn't exactly played at an all-star level in Luke's absence, it's time to grab Flynn. Personal leaves are generally a one- or two-game deal, and with this one approaching two weeks, along with the seriousness of the problem, I'm very concerned for Ridnour and his family.
[SIZE=+1]Thursday Night Lights[/SIZE]
Afflalo's Triple-19s
Arron Afflalo stepped into the game when Carmelo Anthony fouled out with 19 seconds left and the Nuggets down one to the Mavericks, calmly drained a 19-footer to win at the buzzer, and scored 19 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to cap off a nice comeback, stopping the Mavs' winning streak at 10 games. Dallas was down by 18 in the first half, but had the Nuggets down by 13 early in the fourth before Afflalo took over the game
Carmelo Anthony scored 42 points and with the constant focus on trade talk, you might not have noticed that he's absolutely on fire on the court. In six February games, he's shooting 56 percent and averaging 32.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, nearly two threes, a steal and a block per game. Of course, he's also turning it over 3.7 times per game isn't dishing the ball, but the guy is clearly in a zone. It's too bad that trade rumors don't impact New York's Wilson Chandler the same way.
Chauncey Billups returned from a left knee strain, scoring 30 and posting a fat stat line, while Nene had a quiet night due to foul trouble.
For the Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki played through his sore wrist and had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists on 5-of-10 shooting, while the Mavs got much of their production off the bench. Jason Terry scored 25 with six 3-pointers, Shawn Marion chipped in with 19 points, five boards and three steals, while Jose Juan Barea stayed hot with 17 points, five assists and two more threes. He's been in the zone for 10 days or so and should be given a look in most leagues before he cools off. Tyson Chandler hit 8-of-9 shots for 20 points and 11 boards, as his surprising season continues to roll along.
Bynum Leads Lakers Over Celtics
Andrew Bynum played a season-high 34 minutes last night, dropping 16 points, nine boards and a block on the Celtics in a tough road win. Kobe Bryant went off in the second half, scoring 20 of his 23 points, while Lamar Odom also had a nice night with another double-double.
The Lakers win rained on the parade of Ray Allen, who became the NBA's all-time leader in 3-pointers last night after hitting three of them and passing Reggie Miller for the lead. Rajon Rondo had another double-double with 12 points and 10 dimes, but shot it poorly, while Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins and Paul Pierce all played well. Perkins is clearly back to form, and should be a serviceable center as long as the O'Neal brothers don't come back too soon and rain on his parade. Nate Robinson left this game with a bruised knee and didn't return. He's scheduled for an MRI on Friday, so hope for the best.
Thanks For Nothing, GSW
The Warriors might as well have not even shown up to play thee Suns last night, as Steve Nash and Channing Frye led Phoenix to one of their easiest wins of the season. The starting five for the Warriors was awful and we just have to hope that Keith Smart doesn't do anything drastic after this one. I don't think he will, but Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Andris Biedrins, David Lee and even Dorell Wright were all in a funk last night. At least Curry's ankle injury didn't keep him out. While it's clearly a good time to buy low on Curry, you can lump most of his teammates in there with him after this one.
Ekpe Udoh, Reggie Williams and Brandon Wright all made some noise off the bench, but that's only because the starters were playing like dog pooh. That's twice in the last week the Suns have waxed the Warriors and they only get them one more time this season, on March 18.
Once again, Marcin Gortat got the minutes while Robin Lopez started for the Suns, and I am still anxiously awaiting for Gortat's move into the starting five. Now I'm just not sure it's going to happen. Vince Carter played just 16 minutes last night, and my guess is he was given the night off with his bum knee.
Enjoy Friday's full slate of 10 games.
