Lisa Olson FanHouse http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com Lisa Olson FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif Lisa Olson FanHouse http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Hapless on the Hudson: Nets, Knicks and Nate All Going the Wrong Wayhttp://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/hapless-on-the-hudson-nets-knicks-and-nate-all-going-the-wrong/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/hapless-on-the-hudson-nets-knicks-and-nate-all-going-the-wrong/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/11/21/hapless-on-the-hudson-nets-knicks-and-nate-all-going-the-wrong/#commentsFiled under:

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Desperation oozed from every pore. If New York-area basketball hasn't reached its nadir, it's only because the NBA has a silly rule that some team must win. Otherwise, who knows how low this charade might go? The players might be the ones slipping paper bags over their heads, to match the fans' embarrassment as they sit in the stands and try not to rubberneck.
Video: Nate Robinson's Wrong-Way Hoop

Though plenty of empty seats were available, more than the usual few gluttons for punishment showed up at the Izod Center Saturday afternoon, hoping to see ... what? New Jersey Nets coach Lawrence Frank fired after the first quarter? New York Knicks owner James Dolan do an about-face and sign Allen Iverson to a multi-year deal? The teams set a combined record for most horrendous shooting in four quarters? Dora the Explorer, the day's big draw, dunk over Nate Robinson? The possibilities really were endless.

As it was, the Nets dropped to 0-13 and continued to careen dangerously toward matching the league record of 17 straight losses to open a season. The Knicks, by virtue of their 98-91 victory, actually won consecutive games to improve to 3-9, and can now turn their focus back on the real goal: convincing LeBron James, or any big free agent to-be, that the cesspool really isn't as nasty as it currently looks.

But it sure can be comical. The first quarter was ripe with airballs and missed connections, but mostly it will be remembered for lovable Nate taking an inbounds pass with half a second left on the clock, and shooting at the wrong basket. The ball swished through the hoop just a whisper after the buzzer sounded, more terrible luck for the Nets, who could use three points no matter how they come. Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni looked as if he wanted to pull a Latrell Sprewell on Robinson right then and there.

"Don't mess with the game," D'Antoni told Robinson during the heated pause between quarters. Robinson apologized but played only six minutes total, none in the second half.

"It wasn't like I was trying to make it, like seriously. It was just a shot. I waited until the buzzer went off," said Robinson, who doesn't seem to realize this is the worst possible time for the Knicks to indulge such foolishness. Hey, at least he hit one basket for the day.

As an Elmo balloon hovered above the action -- it was, after all, cartoon day in the Meadowlands -- decent basketball actually crept onto the court for a brief sliver of play. Down by 15 points in the third quarter and seven to start the fourth, the Nets pulled to within two on Chris Douglas-Roberts' jumper with 1:57 remaining. He was thick in the middle of the Nets' comeback on both ends of the court, but the Nets, cursed by a short bench and a long history of falling short, couldn't leap over the hump.

"This many losses without a win, I really don't know what to feel. I don't really know where I'm at right now," Douglas-Roberts said. "Mentally, it's tough."

Fittingly, it was New Jersey native Al Harrington who stuck the dagger between the Nets' shoulder blades. Grabbing a pass off David Lee on the pick-and-roll, Harrington nailed a 3-pointer that made it 94-87 Knicks with 59 seconds left. His blue mouth guard popping out like a piece of gum, Harrington flapped his arms in happy celebration. Traded to the Knicks one year ago exactly from the Golden State Warriors, Harrington is still under the illusion New York might actually turn into a decent team.

"Two in a row baby, we're on a winning streak," he half-joked, after matching teammate Danilo Gallinari with 17 points. "We needed this win more than we probably want to admit. We didn't want to be that team."

Who knows when the Nets will experience the elation that rides shotgun with a "W"? They aren't so much awful as they are undermanned and very, very lost. They managed to connect on only 4 of 18 from 3-point range, barely broke 90 points against one of the league's worst teams and often played defense as if they were trying to stop the ocean's waves.

Anything can happen in the NBA -- the Knicks, for example, can pass on drafting Brandon Jennings, the kid who the other night dropped a double nickel -- 55 points -- in just his seventh game in the league -- so maybe the Nets won't match the ignominious record of 17 straight losses, a mark currently shared by both the 1988-89 Miami Heat and the 1998-99 Los Angeles Clippers. Maybe the Nets will eek out a win during the difficult four-game road trip out West that looms this week, starting with back-to-back games at Denver and Portland and topped by a meeting with the L.A. Lakers. Maybe Julius Erving will come out of retirement and demand all balls be replaced with tri-colored red, white and blue orbs, just to flip the team's karma.

"I'll take 100 percent responsibility for where we're at because these guys have worked their tails off," said Frank, who before the game had joked that a guillotine might be ready for sharpening, considering the large media presence on hand to watch two wretched teams. "If we continue to have these habits and we don't allow frustration to lead to a lack of confidence and a lack of faith, I think we will break through."

The Nets have spent the early season down more players than any other team, but Saturday Devin Harris, out 10 games with a strained groin, returned to the lineup and looked sharp in stretches. He wasn't made for wearing fancy suits and sitting on the sidelines, he said, before scoring 12 points and handing out seven assists in 26 stuttered minutes off the bench.

"It would take a toll on anybody," Harris said of the Nets' record. "Obviously nobody wants to start 0-and-whatever it is. What hurts more is so many close games we're losing. If we were getting blown out every game, I think everybody would be like, 'OK, we need to change something up.' But we're right there each and every game. We've just got to find a way to overcome the last six minutes."

These past few weeks have provided an interesting prism into how the locals handle losing. Flush from the New York Yankees winning the World Series, New Yorkers and their brethren across the river aren't used to such an unsightly collision of ineptness. The Nets can mostly be forgiven, given the injuries and that they are, well, the Nets. But when the Knicks can barely go through the motions, as if the players are taking cues from a front office concentrating on the LeBron sweepstakes, the former Mecca of basketball reaches high alert.

Iverson certainly would have infused the Garden with brief flashes of excitement. But what would happen if and when he pouted about coming off the bench, or went into an honest rant about the feral climate that trails the Knicks? That's hardly an effective way to recruit LeBron, which is exactly why Dolan vetoed D'Antoni and president Donnie Walsh in their bid to bring aboard Iverson, the wayward free agent. He was the short, wrong answer to a complicated problem.

"I'm kind of at a loss for words to describe what we're seeing," Walt Frazier, the former Knick, current broadcaster and longtime connoisseur of New York basketball, was saying Saturday. And there you have it: the loquacious Clyde, gone mum and numb. Such is the tormented state in which NY and NJ basketball fans now live.
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Hapless on the Hudson: Nets, Knicks and Nate All Going the Wrong Way originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:14:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Al Harringtonallen iversonbrandon jenningsChris Douglas-Robertsdevon harrisJulius ErvingLawrence Franklebron jamesMike DAntoninate robinsonNew Jersey Netsnew york knicksWalt FrazierLisa OlsonSat, 21 Nov 2009 19:14:00 EST Draft Kept Off Guard by Run on PGshttp://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/06/26/nba-draft-kept-off-guard-by-run-on-pgs/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/06/26/nba-draft-kept-off-guard-by-run-on-pgs/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/06/26/nba-draft-kept-off-guard-by-run-on-pgs/#commentsFiled under:

NEW YORK -- One point guard wandered around the WaMu Theater halls, looking lost. He easily could have been mistaken for a tourist who had made the wrong turn at Penn Station. "Where's the loo?" Ricky Rubio asked an usher. The usher gave Rubio a blank stare. "I mean toilet. Where's toilet?"

Another point guard strolled through the Madison Square Garden interior like he owned the place. Jonny Flynn slapped hands with security guards, and when a janitor stopped Flynn to talk about a certain memorable game Flynn played in here back in March, Flynn flashed his Farrah-like smile and said, "Yeah, the 15 overtime one?"

This was hours before the Minnesota Timberwolves made a head-scratching, scene-stealing move by selecting both playmakers -- Rubio, the Spanish phenom, was the fifth pick, and Flynn, the irrepressible spark plug from Syracuse, went sixth. One might be traded, or the two best point guards of this draft could both end up in a Minnesota backcourt helping reshape a team that has not made the playoffs since 2004. Whatever transpires, the Timberwolves haven't made this much noise since Kevin Garnett clawed the backboards at the Target Center.

The Timberwolves don't yet have a coach, but they do have a new president who's not afraid to go against convention. David Kahn is a former sportswriter, which means he has to be brilliant, or at least a little loony. Earlier this month, Kahn kicked legend Kevin McHale to the curb, and on the eve of the draft he orchestrated a deal with Washington that brought the No. 5 pick to Minnesota. That gave the Wolves four first-round selections, and when they chose their third point guard of the draft, Ty Lawson of national champion North Carolina, you wondered what special beverages Kahn and his cohorts were sipping in the Minnesota war room. (Lawson, the 18th overall pick, was later traded to Denver for a future first rounder.)

The 2009 draft class was considered by some to be the weakest in years, except for the point guards. The crop of floor generals was deep and diverse, from Rubio through Stephen Curry (Davidson) to Tyreke Evans (Memphis) to Jrue Holiday (UCLA) to Flynn to Brandon Jennings (Lottomatica Roma). They took over the Garden the way guards often do, with bursts of flash and pizzazz.

When the Sacramento Kings chose Evans with the No. 4 pick, the large and very vocal pockets of Knicks fans spread across the theater seats perked up. Maybe the Knicks would finally do something right, and be lucky enough to snag one of the charismatic guards at No. 8. When Minnesota chose Rubio the fans booed, because they had become enamored with the teen prodigy from Spain (and he with them), and a few minutes later, as commissioner David Stern announced the Wolves selected Flynn, the theater exploded.

The audience was angry, bummed, confused. Minnesota copped two point guards? Surely another trade was imminent. In 24 hours, Shaquille O'Neal had been sent to Cleveland to play Robin to LeBron James' Batman, Vince Carter joined Orlando and the landscape in the East had clearly shifted. What was next, Quentin Richardson escaping New York? (Lucky for him, he did.)

From the war room, Kahn told reporters he'd have no problem keeping both Flynn and Rubio. Rubio, said Kahn, would be the leader of the orchestra, Flynn the scorer. Kahn also joked about hiring Dick Vitale as the Timberwolves' next coach, so who knows what else Kahn has up his work sleeves?

Rubio, understandably, didn't know what to make of the madness. In Europe, where he turned pro when he was 14, he's a 6-foot-5, 190-pound wunderkind, the most heralded international player since China's Yao Ming. A phenomenal passer who cuts through defenses like a knife through frosting, Rubio is also a waif amongst NBA behemoths. He has exceptional fundamentals, but limited athletic power.

With his floppy surfer hair and subdued suit, Rubio roamed the Garden halls unnoticed early Thursday, and when he sat down to face the media after learning he'd been selected to play in city that gets almost as much snow as Spain has sand, he could barely muster a smile. His expression was so different one day earlier, when Rubio talked about how "cool" it would be to play in New York. "The media capital of the world!" he kept exclaiming. "It has everything, like Times Square!" The Knicks had been targeting him for months, coach Mike D'Antoni telling reporters Rubio could be an exceptional playmaker someday.

Minnesota might not be Memphis or Oklahoma City, two cities that clearly didn't push Rubio's buttons. But it's still, well, Minnesota. Rubio was asked if he was excited.

"I'm excited to come to the NBA," he said, his face blank.

He still has a poster of Michael Jordan on his bedroom wall, in the home he shares with his parents. If he were asked to name the Wolves' starting five, he could probably list one. And the cold? He visibly shivered when someone mentioned Minnesota's brutal winters. If Rubio does stick with the Wolves, he'll have to front a $6.6 million buyout from Spanish team DKV Joventut, not a small issue. But eventually his back straightened and he started sounding like the leader who held his own in the Olympics, against American and international stars.

"When I was like 14 years old, I went to the professional team and there are guys 30 years old who don't listen to me in the beginning, but after they see I can be a very good point guard and put them in the right way, and they believe in me," he said. "So I want to try to do the same here."

Then it was Flynn trading seats with Rubio. Flynn clearly loved the chaos, the uncertainty that comes whenever he enters the Garden. He was smack in the middle of a game for the ages in May, when Syracuse and Connecticut went six overtimes in the Big East tournament. Flynn played 67 minutes and had 34 points that incredible night, and the legend grows a bit every time he visits New York. He's got speed, a strong outside shot, and energy to power all of Minneapolis.

"If that's what they need me to do, I played 20 overtimes a few months ago, so I think I can do that," he said when someone asked if he could play 48 minutes a game for the Wolves.

"You've got Kevin Love and [Al] Jefferson, two big men that can make my life easier," he added. "I can get them the ball in situations where they can score and they can make me a better player."

Flynn's summer buzzed with folks telling him he should have stayed at Syracuse for another year; his lottery stock rose and fell like NASDAQ. Now his smile was as bright as the lights at Macy's, even with Minnesota collecting point guards like presents. "I think it's going to be fun to have another player who can make plays just like you," said Flynn. "I think we can boost each other's level of play and I can't wait to go play with him."

He even offered Rubio some cold weather tips. "I can give him what kind of clothes to buy and what snowshoes to buy and things like that, and it will be fun," said Flynn, always the facilitator.

Rubio needn't buy long underwear or tire chains just yet . Two rookie point guards might be one too many in Minnesota. But on this night in the Garden's WaMu Theater, playmakers were hot property. Golden State used the seventh pick to take Stephen Curry, son of NBA sharpshooter Dell, officially ruining the night for Knicks fans. (When New York took Jordan Hill, a power forward out of Arizona, at No. 8, the crowd didn't exactly treat Hill like he was Frederic Weis, but the New Yorkers didn't offer their famed hospitality either.)

Curry was standing near a television, waiting for his turn at the interview table when Stern announced Milwaukee had chosen point guard Brandon Jennings with the tenth pick. Jennings was a sort of pioneer, opting to make millions playing in a European professional league rather than spend the requisite year before the NBA draft playing college ball. He was here Wednesday for pre-draft festivities, but he curiously chose to watch the draft on TV at an undisclosed location. Nobody wants the cameras on him as his name goes uncalled, pick after pick, and Jennings wasn't sure where -- or when - he'd go.

"Bummer for him," Curry said, as Jennings' name was added to the coveted top 10. "He missed a lot of fun."

Half an hour later, Jennings rushed through the Garden doors, eager to crash the party. He bounded onto the platform, upstaging Stern. He raised his arms like a prizefighter, another point guard stealing the show.

2009 NBA Draft

    NEW YORK - JUNE 25: Stephen Curry looks on prior to the 2009 NBA Draft at the Wamu Theatre at Madison Square Garden June 25, 2009 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Stephen Curry

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK - JUNE 25: Blake Griffin looks on prior to the 2009 NBA Draft at the Wamu Theatre at Madison Square Garden June 25, 2009 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Blake Griffin

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK - JUNE 25: The top prospects pose for a photograph prior to the 2009 NBA Draft at the Wamu Theatre at Madison Square Garden June 25, 2009 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK - JUNE 25: NBA Commissioner David Stern rehearses prior to the 2009 NBA Draft at the Wamu Theatre at Madison Square Garden June 25, 2009 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** David Stern

    Getty Images

    Top NBA draft prospect Stephen Curry, from Davidson, looks on before the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 25, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

    AP

    Top NBA draft prospect Ricky Rubio, of Spain, looks on during an interview before the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 25, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

    AP

    Players attending the 2009 NBA Draft pose on stage with NBA Commissioner David Stern before the start of the Draft in New York, June 25, 2009. From left are Jordan Hill, Stephen Curry, Stern, Hasheem Thabeet (back C) Ricky Rubio and Blake Griffin. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

    New Orleans coach Byron Scott, left, talks with Hornets executive Chad Shin before the start of the NBA basetball draft in Westwego, La., Wednesday, June 24, 2009. The Hornets have the 21st pick in the draft. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

    AP

    New Orleans coach Byron Scott, center, talks with Hornets executive Chad Shin, right, as general manager Jeff Bower talks on the phone before the start of the NBA draft in Westwego, La., Wednesday, June 24, 2009. The Hornets have the 21st pick in the draft. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

    AP

    Players Ricky Rubio from Spain (C), Hasheem Thabeet (L) and Blake Griffin (R) joke together on stage before the start of the 2009 NBA Draft in New York, June 25, 2009. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

Draft Kept Off Guard by Run on PGs originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>jonny flynnRicky RubioLisa OlsonFri, 26 Jun 2009 01:30:00 EST Brandon Jennings' Long Strange Triphttp://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/06/25/brandon-jennings-long-strange-trip/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/06/25/brandon-jennings-long-strange-trip/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/06/25/brandon-jennings-long-strange-trip/#commentsFiled under: ,

NEW YORK -- The numbers lie. They belittle his game, put question marks next to his future. They are scrawny numbers, single digits that can't begin to explain the trials and tribulations that rode shotgun in Brandon Jennings' season abroad.

Some blips were minor, the kind every expatriate learns to abide. The rich food, the exotic chants shouted in the gym with an adjoining trailer concession stand. The lack of dryers. Jennings still laughs at how the Italians, such a civilized society, live blissfully without machines that hasten one's ability to wear fresh undershirts every day. And don't even get him started on the crazy drivers who turn the streets of Rome into death traps.

"Oh, everything was different," says Jennings, in a quiet moment after the horde of cameras and notebooks have departed. The afternoon went by in a whirl, beginning with a TV crew trailing him from his midtown hotel to Wednesday's NBA media meet-and-greets, where Jennings was peppered with questions about his season playing pro ball in Italy, his harsh (and now retracted) comments concerning Spanish guard Ricky Rubio, and the one subject that turns Jennings' perpetual smile into a sneer:
Also See: Final 2009 NBA Mock Draft
Talking With Blake Griffin | NBA Draft Coverage

His plummeting draft stock.

There was a time when the 19-year-old Jennings was considered the No. 2 point guard prospect in Thursday's NBA Draft, trailing only Rubio. While Jennings has backed away from his claim that Rubio is overrated, he still insists he's the best available point guard in the 2009 class, a debatable assertion. People who study these things for a living say he is certainly a top three talent, but then they add words like "mystery" and "enigma" and "bad attitude" to his dossier, and nobody knows quite where Jennings will land. The Sacramento Kings, with the fourth pick, were once considered his likely home, but then Jennings skipped a couple of pre-draft camps, and once again people wondered what was going on his head. More than a few scouts and draftniks have Jennings projected to be selected anywhere from No. 7 on down.

"It's not the first time my choices have been questioned," says Jennings. "Everything I've decided to do in my life for the last year has been done with the idea that I'll be playing in the NBA. And now here I am. Now I'm almost there."

A year ago today, Jennings was the best high school point guard in the country, a sure-bet to crack the top five in this year's draft after polishing his skills in the requisite year of college. A 6-foot-2 playmaker at Compton Dominguez High and then Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy, Jennings committed to play at the University of Arizona but failed to meet academic standards. He thought about going the JUCO route, to satisfy the NBA's three-year-old rule that requires high school seniors wait a year before entering the draft. Then he heard Sonny Vaccaro's grand idea about prep stars spending the 12-month waiting period overseas, playing against professionals, for big bucks, and soon Jennings was reading Lonely Planet travel books and worrying about the value of the American dollar.

Jennings became the first American to skip college and play professionally in Europe since the NBA's age restriction rule was implemented. He signed with Lottomatica Roma, a top professional team, for $1.2 million, plus a $2 million endorsement deal with Under Armour. Surely a season spent banging against seasoned veterans would increase his own value back home. He'd have a few laughs, learn a new language, showcase his phenomenal speed and court savvy. His mother and brother joined him on the adventure, in case he yearned for a bit of SoCal savvy.

When Jennings left our shores for Europe he was a vibrant player known for creating shots out of nothing. As a senior, he averaged a dominating 32 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and almost 4 steals a game. In Italy, his practice time far exceeded his playing time. European style revolves around the entire team getting involved, rather than exploiting individual skills. Jennings felt as if he were playing in a different universe, an alien floating on the periphery of the game he once dominated. He was ordered to play defense, to take shots only if he was open. He was one of three Yanks on a roster that included five Italians, two Slovenians, a Spaniard and a Bulgarian. Some games, he was on the court for just a few minutes, an anonymous role player. He claimed the team treated him "like a little kid," and couldn't understand why the coach insisted on getting every player into the game. What was this, the YMCA?

Two-a-day practices drove him crazy. He yearned for the creative freedom on the courts back home, the respect he demanded and earned from men twice his age. He missed the food, his friends, the sane drivers in LA. Around Christmas, he seriously considered quitting. "It took such a toll on me mentally," he says. "I didn't like how I was being used. I thought I should be playing more. It just all kind of built up and got to me.

"But then I thought about how that would look, if I quit. I'm not a quitter. I wanted to prove everyone wrong."

More self-doubt came in March, when Jennings watched his peers back in the states playing in the NCAA Tournament. Their joy was transparent clear across the Atlantic. He questioned his choices, wondered if any NBA teams would even remember him. "It was tough," he says. "But I made a decision and I stuck with it. I like to think I matured as a man and as a player."

He played in 27 of 30 games for Lottomatica Roma, which went 20-10 and reached the Italian League semifinals. The ostensibly best point guard American high schools had to offer averaged 5.1 points and 2.1 assists.

There are those darn numbers, mocking him, possibly reducing his value in the draft. He went to Europe to polish his skills, to bide time until the moment he fantasized about finally materialized. He's imagined for years what it will feel like standing in the Madison Square Garden green room, as some team calls out his name and selects him in what he presumes should be the top five.

Will his dream prove true? Was his year living dangerously as an expat worth it? Jennings doesn't immediately answer, but then he nods his head and says, "It didn't break me, man. So yeah, no regrets."

2009 NBA Draft

    NEW YORK - JUNE 24: Jordan Hill, NBA Draft Prospect poses for a portrait during media availability for the 2009 NBA Draft at The Westin Hotel in Times Square on June 24, 2009 in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2009 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jordan Hill

    NBAE/Getty Images

    Kolby Smith (L) and Blake Griffin attend the 2009 NBA Pre-Draft party at the New Era flagship store on June 23, 2009 in New York City. New Era 2009 NBA Pre-Draft Party New Era Flagship Store New York, NY United States June 23, 2009 Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage.com To license this image (57765103), contact WireImage.com

    Johnny Nunez/WireImage.com

    Blake Griffin (L) and Tyler Hansbrough attend the 2009 NBA Pre-Draft party at the New Era flagship store on June 23, 2009 in New York City. New Era 2009 NBA Pre-Draft Party New Era Flagship Store New York, NY United States June 23, 2009 Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage.com To license this image (57765099), contact WireImage.com

    Johnny Nunez/WireImage.com

    Likely first round draft pick Blake Griffin from the University of Oklahoma is interviewed at the NBA store, where Panini America announced five draft prospects who signed an exclusive trading card agreement, in New York June 24, 2009. The NBA draft will be held Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with the Los Angles Clippers picking first, Memphis Grizzlies picking second and Oklahoma City Thunder picking third. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

    (L-R)Jordan Hill from the University of Arizona, Tyler Hansbrough of the University of North Carolina, Brandon Jennings from Lottomatica Virtus Roma, Italy, Hasheem Thabeet from the University of Connecticut and Blake Griffin from the University of Oklahoma pose for photographers at the NBA store, where Panini America announced five draft prospects who signed an exclusive trading card agreement, in New York June 24, 2009. The NBA draft will be held Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with the Los Angles Clippers picking first, Memphis Grizzlies picking second and Oklahoma City Thunder picking third. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

    (L-R) Jordan Hill from the University of Arizona, Tyler Hansbrough of the University of North Carolina, Brandon Jennings from Lottomatica Virtus Roma, Italy, Hasheem Thabeet from the University of Connecticut and Blake Griffin from the University of Oklahoma pose for photographers at the NBA store, where Panini America announced five draft prospects who signed an exclusive trading card agreement, in New York June 24, 2009. The NBA draft will be held Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with the Los Angles Clippers picking first, Memphis Grizzlies picking second and Oklahoma City Thunder picking third. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

    Tyler Hansbrough of the University of North Carolina poses for photographers at the NBA store where Panini America announced the five draft prospects who signed an exclusive trading card agreement, in New York June 24, 2009. The NBA draft will be held Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with the Los Angles Clippers picking first, Memphis Grizzlies picking second and Oklahoma City Thunder picking third. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

    Blake Griffin from the University of Oklahoma tosses a ball while Tyler Hansbrough of the University of North Carolina (L) watches at the NBA store, where Panini America announced five draft prospects who signed an exclusive trading card agreement, in New York June 24, 2009. The NBA draft will be held Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with the Los Angles Clippers picking first, Memphis Grizzlies picking second and Oklahoma City Thunder picking third. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

    Blake Griffin from the University of Oklahoma stands at the NBA store, where Panini America announced five draft prospects who signed an exclusive trading card agreement, in New York June 24, 2009. The NBA draft will be held Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with the Los Angles Clippers picking first, Memphis Grizzlies picking second and Oklahoma City Thunder picking third. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

    Jordan Hill from the University of Arizona poses for photographers at the NBA store where Panini America announced the five draft prospects who signed an exclusive trading card agreement, in New York, June 24, 2009. The NBA draft will be held Thursday at Madison Square Garden, with the Los Angles Clippers picking first, Memphis Grizzlies picking second and Oklahoma City Thunder picking third. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

    Reuters

Brandon Jennings' Long Strange Trip originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Brandon JenningsLisa OlsonThu, 25 Jun 2009 00:15:00 EST Minus A.I., Pistons Finding Their Groovehttp://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/04/08/minus-a-i-pistons-finding-their-groove/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/04/08/minus-a-i-pistons-finding-their-groove/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/04/08/minus-a-i-pistons-finding-their-groove/#commentsFiled under:

Allen IversonNEW YORK -- A beautiful thing happened to the Detroit Pistons on their way to the playoffs. Oh, they haven't quite reached the postseason yet, but there isn't much doubt that is where they're headed, where they belong now that the team has been made whole again.

It took the subtraction of Allen Iverson to mend the Pistons, and while there is a chance his removal came a bit too late, Detroit needs to win just one more game to seal a playoff berth. The Pistons are now tied for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with the Chicago Bulls, a lucky spot that means avoiding a first-round clash with LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.

Would Detroit be in this position if Iverson's back hadn't locked up, if he decided to put his ego aside and be a good soldier off the bench? The Pistons, weary of the season-long drama Iverson created, haven't any desire to engage in what-ifs. There are other, more pressing matters to solve, such as how the Madison Square Garden nets magically grew to the size of giant silos Wednesday night, and how the New York Knicks defense performed an even greater trick and made itself disappear.

"The net did look pretty big," said Pistons forward Antonio McDyess, after his 13 points and 16 rebounds helped Detroit demolish the Knicks, 113-86. "We're just really clicking now, just in time."

It was a wire-to-wire blow-out, the kind you see when one team can't wait for the season to be over while the other team has finally got a sniff of how good life can be. The Pistons led by 10 points before the Garden crowd settled into its seats, went ahead 21-6 on a sweet up-and-under from Rasheed Wallace, laughed through another 9-0 run in which every 3-pointer slinked through the net and never allowed the Knicks to find a groove as they fell behind by as many as 31.

Wallace sounded like a loon the other day, when he declared the Pistons hadn't just found their swagger, they were a fair shot to win the NBA title. Really? The team with worrisome chemistry issues? The team that fell apart when Iverson and Richard Hamilton were asked to play basically the same position? The team that stuttered through an erratic season, that ranks 30th in scoring, that barely straddles a .500 record?

"Yeah, but that's not who we are today," Wallace was saying before he went out and scored 14 points and pulled down 12 boards and showed why he's a nightmare matchup on both ends of the court.

The Pistons speak about Iverson in roundabout circles, which is exactly how they played against the Knicks, Detroit's ball movement floating like figure eights through a defense that could not have been more lackadaisical. The Pistons won't knock the guy, not publicly anyway, but it's clear they aren't sending Iverson we-miss-you texts.

He was never a good fit, from the day Detroit president Joe Dumars made the ruinous trade with Denver for Iverson, swapping him for guard Chauncey Billups, McDyess and Cheikh Samb just as the season began. The Pistons have built an empire on the concept of team but Iverson, to the shock of nobody but Dumars, never embraced it. The back problems that sidelined Iverson for 16 games merely plastered over how much of a misfit he was on a club that needs to share the ball if it wants to succeed.

Dumars' statement last Friday announcing Iverson would miss the remaining regular season and the playoffs didn't exactly tell the entire story. "After talking with Allen and our medical staff, we feel that resting Allen for the remainder of the season is the best course of action at this time," Dumars said. "While he has played in our last three games, he is still feeling some discomfort and getting him physically ready to compete at the level he is accustomed to playing this late in the season does not seem possible at this point."

Dumars failed to address Iverson's disdain at being a role player. So uniquely talented, so physically gifted, Iverson never was the best teammate and, at 33, he refuses to wrap his head around the idea he's not the same player who can knock back 30 points a night.

He came to the Motor City talking the talk about wanting to win a championship, and left walking the walk that led him out of Philadelphia, where he once was the favored son -- muttering about his playing time, frustrated he was being disrespected. Sound familiar?

"How many minutes did I play? It seemed way, way, way less than that. Eighteen minutes?" Iverson said in a self-centered rant earlier this month following his return to the court in a reduced role. "Come on, man. I can play 18 minutes with my eyes closed and with a 100-pound truck on my back. It's a bad feeling, man. I'm wondering what they rushed me back for? For that?

"It's a bad time for me, mentally."

Dumars promptly went to coach Michael Curry, asked him if the rift could be healed, if Iverson ever would be content with the ball/universe not revolving around him. A short while later, Dumars drew down the curtain. The Pistons will eat Iverson's $21.9 million salary and get on with making the playoffs and rebuilding the future.

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Curry still wonders if a training camp with Iverson might have helped the team bond. Hamilton might have had more time to get the feel of A.I., to understand what it takes to feed a guy who slapped his heart to his sleeve in every game. Iverson was a four-time scoring champ, with more than 23,000 points to his name: that's what the Pistons would have learned in training camp.

Hamilton curled effortlessly around picks to finish with 22 points against the Knicks, Tayshaun Prince scored 15 and Rodney Stuckey added 14 for the Pistons, who saw six players reach double digits and zero players crying about not getting enough touches. This is exactly what McDyess envisioned when he turned back more money so he could escape Denver a third time and return to Detroit, where he had some unfinished business to attend. McDyess has more miles on him than a '69 Chevy, and sometimes his body feels just as battered, but he believes in the healing power of team, of unselfish ball.

McDyess first joined the Pistons following their 2004 title run. He helped them to the finals the next year, and the conference finals the following three, and he truly thinks this version is peaking just at the right time.

"I'm not predicting anything," McDyess said. "But we're capable of doing some great things if we keep playing like this."

And Iverson? He's doing whatever it is he does to heal his back (the Pistons never were quite sure what that was during the month he wasn't with the team), and he continues to tell people he can be a star, not a role player, on whatever club signs him as a free agent over the summer.

Too bad injury and ego prevented him from sticking around Detroit, because he could be missing a beautiful thing.

Minus A.I., Pistons Finding Their Groove originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Allen IversonAllenIversonAntonio McDyessAntonioMcdyessChauncey BillupsChaunceyBillupsCheikh SambCheikhSambJoe DuMarsJoeDumarsMichael CurryMichaelCurryRasheed WallaceRasheedWallaceRichard HamiltonRichardHamiltonTayshaun PrinceTayshaunPrinceLisa OlsonWed, 08 Apr 2009 23:59:00 EST A Marbury Rebirth? Don't Count on Ithttp://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/02/26/a-marbury-rebirth-dont-count-on-it/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/02/26/a-marbury-rebirth-dont-count-on-it/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/02/26/a-marbury-rebirth-dont-count-on-it/#commentsFiled under:

Stephon MarburyBefore Stephon Marbury digs into lunch Friday, he'll have found a new home. A team -- and all signs point to the one with residence on Boston's Causeway Street -- will have decided the potential outweighs the many negatives, and once again, Marbury's poisonous aura shall be cloaked in a new uniform.

Doc Rivers, coach of the Boston Celtics, still has the mindset of a floor general. He is exploring the acquisition of Marbury from all angles, sizing up the scene and deciding if it is best to drive straight ahead or pass. Most NBA observers expect Rivers and the Celtics to pick the first option when Marbury clears waivers around 10 a.m. Friday, and add the mercenary guard to Boston's roster just in time for another playoff push.

The move could fail spectacularly, with Marbury damaging the defending champions, a team that has succeeded brilliantly on equal parts talent and chemistry. Dividing and destroying has been Marbury's modus operandi everywhere he's traveled, from Minnesota to New Jersey, from Phoenix to his last, phenomenally disastrous five-year stint in New York. Or -- and this is what Rivers and the Celtics are betting -- Marbury could finally accept that the orange orb does not revolve around him, and humbly ease into a reserve spot behind Rajon Rondo, for a prorated veteran minimum of $1.3 million over the rest of the season.

Per NBA rules, Rivers can't talk publicly about a player on waivers, but a coach told me Thursday he's one of several who have called Rivers, to offer words of caution. Rivers listens, but seems to have made up his mind.

"Doc knows what he's doing. He knows there's a side of Marbury that is very toxic," said the coach, who asked to remain anonymous because he doesn't want to be accused of tampering. "Doc has heard all the stories, but it looks like he's willing to take a chance. If he even looks the wrong way at Doc or causes any problems, all the Celtics have to do is cut him. This is Marbury's last chance. He should be glad the Celtics are willing to take a risk on him."

Boston's gamble means the Celtics will have sold a slice of their soul. Injuries to Kevin Garnett and Tony Allen have forced Rivers to search elsewhere for temporary explosion, and Marbury, despite his deteriorating skills and considerable rust, still has pop. Folks in Boston are likening Marbury's arrival to Manny Ramirez' departure out of Boston, or Randy Moss' appearance in Foxboro. Individuals don't matter much, as long as they produce. Sometimes it really is all about the laundry.

The Celtics have proven they're a nice homestead for odd pieces. Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and even Rivers discovered new life in Boston, so maybe it really is the perfect fit for Marbury. Maybe he'll be on his best behavior, a whirl of energy off the bench and on the wing for 15-20 minutes a game, and a positive influence in the locker room. He's never shown he's capable of playing for anyone but himself, never indicated he's about the team, but at 32 and on the back end of a monster contract, it would be a fine time to start.

"It's about our locker room," Rivers told reporters Thursday night. "It always has been and it always will be. If I don't think our locker room's right, it'll get right. I think we have a great group. We have a high-character team. I think this team can absorb it, and if we can't, then we'll find that out as well. Every player who comes here has to commit to winning."

Danny Ainge, the Celtics general manager, began exploring the procurement of Marbury in January, after the Knicks exiled Marbury for refusing to suit up in game. Ainge asked his big three if they could stomach playing with Marbury should he and the Knicks eventually reach a buyout agreement (it was finalized Tuesday). Pierce, Allen and Garnett acquiesced: Garnett's approval was especially interesting, considering Marbury couldn't abide sharing the spotlight with Garnett in Minnesota years ago. Marbury's ability to score off the drive, his long-range shooting and ball-handling skills apparently mean more to the current Celtics than his tempestuous past. He can defend bigger guards and lesson the pressure in the reserve backcourt on Eddie House, and Garnett's status and mega contract are no longer Marbury's business.

"Hopefully if he comes over here he can understand that we're all about winning," Pierce said in Los Angeles. "We've thrown all the individual stuff out the window. We've thrown our egos all on the side. It's just about winning at this point. I think he'll understand that, especially at this point in his career. I think all he wants to do is win.

"You just try to help them understand what we're all about, the sacrifices we need and everybody understanding their role. Everybody has a part to play, and that's the reason why we win."

Added Allen, "Everybody that's on this team has had to make some type of sacrifice. Having him in the fold, he'll understand that immediately. We don't require him to come here and score points. We require him to come here and make our team better by being able to control the team, by being able to use his speed and quickness."

If the Celtics sound naive, it's because only Garnett has experienced up close the full destructive tendencies of Marbury. If Marbury seems like a natural, albeit brief fit, it's because he hasn't yet found a way to disrupt the Celtics.

Pardon the skepticism from this long-time Marbury chronicler, but his list of transgressions is simply too long to ignore. I was in Madison Square Garden the night Stephon's father collapsed during a Knicks game and later died of a heart attack, one of the saddest stories I've ever covered. I wanted nothing more than for Marbury to regain the joy basketball brought him as a boy out of Lincoln High on Coney Island, wanted him to succeed as a hometown hero on the court of the World's Most Famous Arena, but all Marbury did was continue to sabotage himself, his teammates and the team that eventually chose to stop coddling him.

It's difficult to say which bizarre episode most defined Marbury's tenure as a Knick. Was it when he testified at Anucha Browne Sanders' sexual harassment trial against coach Isiah Thomas and MSG about having sex with a Garden intern, romantically wooing her with the now infamous line, "Are you getting in the truck?" Marbury's testimony doomed Thomas and the Knicks, and eventually proved to be the final rip in Marbury's once-cozy relationship with Thomas.

Weeks later, on the team's charter flight to Phoenix, Thomas informed Marbury he would not start against the Suns. Marbury went AWOL and, according to the New York Daily News, threatened to "bury" Thomas by revealing embarrassing details about him. Though his teammates voted unanimously that Marbury should be benched the next night against the Los Angeles Clippers, Marbury returned and played 34 minutes, adding more intrigue to the sordid soap opera.


Marbury's feud with Thomas hardly stood alone. He never welcomed the teaching or advice of coaches Lenny Wilkens, Larry Brown or, most recently, Mike D'Antoni. Marbury's final moment as a Knick was obscene in its own way, another act of petulance from a player whose career is defined by selfishness. Even though the Knicks were shorthanded and even though Marbury was healthy, he declined to play in a November game against Milwaukee, and did so again five days later in Detroit. The Knicks fined him $400,000, money they recouped this week when the two sides agreed to a buyout in which Marbury, who was scheduled to earn $20.9 million in the final year of his contract, agreed to forfeit approximately $2 million in order to gain his freedom.

Marbury's swath of odd behavior cuts across many corners. Even his bargain basement signature shoes, such generous antidotes to the outrageously prized sneakers hawked by his peers, became tainted after reports surfaced of Marbury screaming at executives of the now-bankrupt Steve & Barry's. Their crime? In Marbury's eyes, they placed higher marketing value in Sarah Jessica Parker's fashion line. He never could shake the me-first mantra.

All hail the Celtics if they can cure the self-anointed best point guard in the league of an egomania that has been his curse since he was the teenage king of Brooklyn's school yards. Marbury missed most of last season with ankle problems and hasn't played in more than a year. Most everywhere he goes, his team posts a losing record, until he leaves, and then they start to win, a statistic that bodes well for the Knicks. Marbury hasn't won a playoff series since 1998, after which he decided he couldn't co-exist with Garnett and demanded a trade.

If he is still playing in June as a Celtic, if Rivers doesn't live to regret taking on a proven malcontent, Marbury ought to thank Knicks president Donnie Walsh for treating Marbury better than he deserved. Marbury walked out on his employer several times and yet Walsh set Marbury free, rather than keep him through the weekend and thus render him ineligible to play for another team in the playoffs. The buyout mercifully ended one of the worst chapters in team annals

Suddenly, Marbury is talking sense, like a man who has finally understood individual sacrifices lead to the greater good. The Celtics better hope his epiphany isn't more of Marbury's typical hogwash.

"One person can't bring you to the playoffs or win a championship," Marbury told the New York Post. "Michael Jordan proved it. You need a team to do it. I respect the fans, but it takes a team to do it, not an individual. People want to put the blame on me, that's fine."

There's a strain of victimhood screaming from that last sentence, typical Marbury. The Celtics, as dignified a team as you'll find, are trying to two-peat, to win another ring. Marbury is playing for his next contract. Rivers has to know he's flirting with an unnatural combination.

Fifteen months ago, in the heady moments before it all went sour with the Knicks, before he quit on the team and threatened to spill the dirt on his coach, Marbury revealed his true essence.

"If I didn't play the way how I played, I wouldn't have gotten no max contract," he told New York magazine. "They can talk about whatever they wanna talk about me, because I got maxed. I'm a max player. Don't get mad at me, because I'm telling you what's real. One plus one is two, all day long, and it's never gonna change. And that's factorial."

He's right, it probably is never gonna change. Let the buyer beware.

A Marbury Rebirth? Don't Count on It originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>boston celticsBostonCelticsdoc riversDocRiverskevin garnettKevinGarnettpaul piercePaulPierceray allenRayAllenstephon marburyStephonMarburyLisa OlsonThu, 26 Feb 2009 20:10:00 EST Allegations Don't Fit With Gentle Gianthttp://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/01/14/allegations-dont-fit-with-gentle-giant/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/01/14/allegations-dont-fit-with-gentle-giant/http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/01/14/allegations-dont-fit-with-gentle-giant/#commentsFiled under:

Eddy Curry's problem often has been his heart. It's too big, too irregular.

For awhile people wondered if it might eventually keep him from playing basketball, or maybe even cause his premature death. Now Curry's heart has him in trouble again, as the Knicks' big lug of a center finds himself at the epicenter of the latest salacious scandal to rock Madison Square Garden.

It all began in 2005, when Curry, new to New York after being traded from Chicago, needed someone to chauffeur him around town. David Kuchinsky, an ex-con who had served three years for burglary back in the early '90s and was convicted in 2004 for resisting arrest, worked for a local Manhattan car service."Eddy and he hit it off," said Quentin Richardson, picking up the trail.

"Then Eddy wanted to get a driver of his own so he hired him full time. Not just for New York. He took the dude to Chicago for a summer, let him stay in a room in his house. When Eddy and his family ate, he ate. Everything was free of charge, room and board, he got all that. Eddy looked out for him like a brother, and this is how he gets paid back? By someone trying to destroy his reputation, his family, everything good about him? It's insane. Just insane."

A trip around the Knicks locker room before Wednesday night's game against the Washington Wizards elicited the same response, the same shocked and disgusted reactions at the news that Curry's former driver is accusing him of behavior both illegal and tawdry, including sexual harassment. And here's where the story gets really bizarre: reporters, including this one, who sorted through much of the Garden's dirty laundry over the years, are as astonished as Curry's teammates. Those of us who report on athletes for a living are jaded, but we still know a good soul when we see one, and Curry has never given any indication he's anything but a genuinely decent human being.

Curry sat out Wednesday's game with a sore right knee, ducking in and out of the Garden without comment. But in a brief chat with beat reporters in New Orleans Arena Monday night, moments after details of the suit became public, Curry said he was shocked, stunned and above all, innocent of the accusations in Kuchinsky's lawsuit, filed in Southern District of New York. In it Kuchinsky alleges that while he was under Curry's employ, Curry tried to solicit sex from him, twice pointed a gun at him and used racially charged and anti-Semitic language. Kuchinsky is seeking $93,000 in unpaid wages and expenses, along with $5 million in damages.

"He approached my friends a while back, trying to get money. I just never, ever thought it would go past what it did, which was just idle threats, money-or-else kind of stuff. This is a guy who I really thought he was my friend up until the last four, five months," Curry said.

"He tried to contact a friend of mine on several occasions and every time it was something different. First time it was to curse me out. Second time it was to apologize. Third time it was if Eddy doesn't call me, I'm going to sue him. I still don't think he has a case on me. It's absolutely false. I can't even believe it. Everyone who knows me knows I'm not a racist. I've never made a comment like that, playing, or nothing. Aside from the fact I wouldn't do it because I'm not racist, I wouldn't do it because I wouldn't want someone to play with me like that.

"I can't believe it went this far. I can't believe someone would represent something like that. It's incredible to me."

Curry's Chicago-based lawyer, Kelly Saindon, spent much of the day refuting Kuchinsky's lurid claims, insisting her client was the victim of a conniving thief who resorted to the lawsuit only after his attempts to blackmail and extort Curry failed. Saindon said she would move to have the lawsuit dismissed and intends to counter-sue, alleging Kuchinsky changed the locks on two of Curry's storage lockers and was holding his possessions hostage.

"I talked to Dave about a month to six weeks ago where he called and asked for two months' wages," Saindon said in an interview with WFAN radio. "(I asked him), what is that for? He said, 'I didn't like that I was let go and I should've been given some notice.'"

Matthew Bilt, Kuchinsky's lawyer, claims there are witnesses who will support Kuchinsky's charges of sexual harassment and religious discrimination. "Nobody else has ever heard or seen this allegations," Saindon said. "I find it shocking that if this was such a horrible place to work why did Dave stay there for about three years?"

Kuchinsky's suit hit all the hot buttons: sex, race and guns. If what he says is proven true -- if, as the lawsuit specifically states, Curry "on at least two different occasions, pointed a fully loaded, unclipped gun precisely in the plaintiff's direction and saying 'look, the clip's not in it' and 'look, I have one in the chamber," and "on more than one occasion in the last year of plaintiff's employment, Curry approached him, in the nude, and tried to solicit him to engage in homosexual acts with him by telling the plaintiff 'Look at me, Dave, look' and 'Come and touch it, Dave," -- Curry's NBA career is doomed.

Sadly, gun play is often overlooked in the world of sports. Sadly, homosexuality is still considered the ultimate sin.

But if the lawsuit is dismissed, if Kuchinsky is proven to be a money-hungry scum who'd think nothing of defaming and ruining a family man, the episode -- sadly -- will still live on in the blogosphere. Curry's judgment, his big heart, fall into question. Why would he hire an ex-con? What was going on in Curry's head when he allowed Kuchinsky to live in his house with wife and children?

"He's a real outgoing dude, not somebody who keeps people away from him," Richardson, the NY forward who has known Curry for years, told me. "Eddy knew the guy had problems but that's Eddy, he's friends with everybody. He'll be at the mall and see something we'll all like, he'll bring back some for everybody. Video games, phones, you name it."

Two summers ago, Curry and his family were victims of a home invasion in Chicago. The robbers reportedly pistol-whipped Kuchinsky. Is there a connection between this week's lawsuit and that summer's ordeal? Should Curry have headed the advice of friends who said Kuchinsky was bad news?

"I wasn't very fond of him," said Richardson, who often hitched rides with Curry and Kuchinsky. "I mean, he was cool to talk basketball with and small talk, and I definitely didn't think he'd make up something like this. What type of person tries to ruin a guy's life?"

A few years ago, Curry was considered a risky liability, a player whose heart condition scared away teams. There was fear he'd collapse on the court, become the next Hank Gathers. A few weeks ago, Curry's greatest problem was his weight and gimpy knee. Never a good fit for Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo system, Curry has missed most of the season and seemed doomed to be shipped to another club once his minutes and health improved. D'Antoni said Wednesday Curry can still be of use, that the game doesn't have to slow down for Curry to succeed. But Curry's limitations haven't always been physical. He sometimes seemed to struggle with the worst malady a New York athlete can suffer: fear of being disliked.

Now Curry's hefty contract -- two years and $21.7 million remain -- is hardly the only impediment to a trade. Now the Knicks and the Garden, through no fault of their own for once, are immersed in the stench of another seedy lawsuit, of more talk about unwanted sexual advances and unbecoming behavior.

Curry, the gentle giant, always seemed hesitant to throw around his weight. It's fair to wonder if Kuchinsky knew Curry's weak spot.

Allegations Don't Fit With Gentle Giant originally appeared on Lisa Olson FanHouse on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Lisa OlsonWed, 14 Jan 2009 23:02:00 EST