Catching up with the Phoenix Suns rumors this off season and who should be kept around for next year? posted by Ryan Greyslak

There have been many rumors surrounding the Phoenix Suns since they missed the playoffs this season. Some of these rumored trades would actually help the team, but some of the options are only opportunities to cut payroll for the oncoming season and further destroy the team. Some of the biggest names involved in these rumors for the team have been Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa, and Jason Richardson.

 Shaq Rumors 

Shaquille O’Neal has not been shy about the fact that he would not mind playing for another team other then the Phoenix Suns and is interested in a contract to extend him for one to two more years. Some of the rumored teams to be interested in Shaq are Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, and New Orleans Hornets.

Cleveland has reportedly offered Ben Wallace (who might request a buyout or retire) and Sasha Pavlovich who has a non guaranteed contract. The Suns could potentially get out of both players and save money off payroll this year. This is a bad deal for the Suns and I would not expect it to happen for these players. They would get nothing for Shaq.

Another of the rumored teams interested in Shaq are the Dallas Mavericks. One of the rumored packages would send Jerry Stackhouse expiring contract and Erick Dampier. Dampier is guaranteed for the next two years at over 23 million. This again would be a horrible trade for the team and they would essentially be giving Shaq up for a smaller expiring contract and a slower less effective center. If the Suns have any talks with Dallas they should absolutely involve Josh Howard but it is rumored Sarver does not want to do business with Cuban.

New Orleans Hornets-Hindsight is 20/20 posted by Keith trussell

What Ifs, What Fors, and What The #@^&s?

     Twenty-eight NBA teams are looking at how to fix what went wrong about now, soon to be Thirty. Some wonder about squandered potential, some about how to fix injury issues, some at how to dump salaries to save cash (shame on you, wretched greedheads. More on that later), some looking at incredible young potential and how to keep them, etc.  And that’s all well and good, but I need a moment to hang my head and ask “What if” about a few aspects of the Hornets I found troubling, who…well, they just…nevermind. Here we go.

What if?

1)They hadn’t released Chris Anderson?

     I realize that sounds like a great deal of hindsight, but I complained about this move since they released him last summer. Sure, he was coming off a substance abuse suspension, and New Orleans may not be the best city for a recovering alcoholic, but they had him by the cojones. Pay him the minimum, make him the 10th or 11th man or even send him to the D-League; anything for someone who’s that much of an athletic freak and going for bargain basement prices. If he messes up again, you cut him and still come out ahead. Where were the Hornets shallow this year? THE BENCH, especially the frontcourt bench. The Birdman is a solid 6’10”, 228 who can play center or power forward and probably start on most teams. So just to rub it in, here’s what he did in Denver this season coming off the bench and averaging a measly 21 minutes per game (note: these stats are only regular season, not including his crazy postseason  performances): 54.8% FG, 6.2 RPG, 6.4 PPG, and 2.46 BPG. Yes, you read that last part correctly: he averaged 2 and a half blocks a game averaging only 21 minutes. I believe that a gentleman named Dwight Howard is the only one who has a better block per minute played ratio

Dallas Mavericks weakened by Denver Nuggets' physical play in Game 1 posted by Peter

The Mavs have just finished the series with the San Antonio Spurs who plays with speed and finess. Now, they face a Nuggets team that plays a different brand of basketball: a physical, pound the paint, and defensive style of playing that the Mavs could not adjust to in Game 1.

The Nuggets went for every block and every steal while clogging up the lane and batting away any one who dares come near the basket. The Mavs were frustrated by the non-calls and could not play their slow, half court game. The Mavs became careless with the ball and just gave away the ball in the second half. That, and the Mavs bench didn't show up.

What will the Mavs need to do to have a chance at winning this series? Take care of the ball, and play some defense in the paint. Nene scored 24 points in game 1 when he averaged only around 10 in the Nuggets-Hornets series.

And maybe if the refs would call a few more fouls on the Nuggets instead of the street ball: no blood no foul mentality. Jason Kidd touches the hair on Melo's arm and gets a foul, but Dirk getting pulled down at the waist in the middle of a shot by Nene doesn't count? We have HDTV now, refs, we can see everything you missed!Continue reading "Dallas Mavericks weakened by Denver ..."

NOT TOO SHARP "BUDINI" posted by Aarwich

Local news papers, though desperate to stay afloat, have a responsibility not to print one of their extremist's pipe dreams simply because he's been on ESPN.

Drew Sharp, a columnist for The Detroit Free Press, also known as Budini on FM 97.1 “The Ticket,” wrote a little ditty about how desperate the New Orleans Hornets are due to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and the economic struggles thereafter. He feels now would be a good time to take advantage of said peril and go after Chris Paul (CP3). This would be a great idea, if Hornets management wanted to go down in NBA history as making the most ignorant move ever.

If you haven't read Sharps latest smug attempt to sound clever while insulting the intelligence of the Detroit sports fan, I'll break it down for you.

-“Joe Dumars should go after New Orleans point guard Chris Paul.” OK, BUT NOT BEFORE HE (DUMARS) GOES AFTER LABRON JAMES, KOBE BRYANT, DWYAN WADE AND DWIGHT HOWARD. HE WOULDN'T BE DOING HIS JOB IF HE DIDN'T MAKE THAT CALL. BUT I'M SURE JOE APPRICIATES YOUR ADVICE.

-“It's not as outrageous as you might think.” TAKING A TRIP TO MARS ISN'T AS OUTRAGEOUS AS YOU MIGHT THINK.

-“Overall league revenues are falling...” SO LET'S GET RID OF ONE OF THE NBA'S MOST MARKETABLE PLAYERS.

-“...the Hornets cannot afford (Paul) unless they part with most of his high-priced supporting cast...” RIGHT, BECAUSE THAT WOULDN'T MAKE SENSE. PEJA $14.2, CHANDLER $11.85, WEST $9.0

Denver Nuggets look good??!!?!? posted by Gary Cairns II

I'm not a fan of the nuggets but i'm not a hater either. I call it how i see it.. Chauncey Billups has shown how important he is to a team, Detroit imploded the moment he left and the nuggets thrived.. They are all Healthy and can play fast and slow ball and have good defense.. Chris "Birdman" Anderson is a force of the bench as well..

I feel they are true contenders for the title.

It seems they have matured immensly and George Karl finally has a team that may get him a ring...

I also have to admit they are exciting to watch. I dont like watching them against my team but i feel thats a compliment to what they have become... most NBA Games i don't sit and watch only the few teams i love i watch but Denver is a highlight reel almsot every time they have the ball.

I keep hearing "Don't get to excited about the nuggets cause the Hornets just didnt show up"  I think the Hornets were just out classed in every position.. Chris Paul can still learn alot from Billups and it shows from his maturity and Paul's Lack of it atleast in this series. Hornets are one team i thought were contenders coming into this season but they got worse while others got better... I'm sure we will see some changes on that roster come next season...

For now i give the Nuggets credit and my ut-most attention...

Playoff Excitement Part 1: Winning in the West posted by Michael J. Shambaugh

With the first round of the playoffs slowly crawling towards the end, and so much excitement developing around the league, I want to take some time out side of the Blazer Box and take a quick look at the two conferences and what they have brought us this playoff season.

We’ll start with the West…

Los Angeles Lakers versus Utah Jazz:  It was no question as to which of these two teams would be moving on in the first round, but building up to their season finale match up, a lot of people wondered: “Is L.A. going to give their final home game of the season away to Utah for a chance to play Dallas in the first round?”  Most of us expected as much to happen, but there was obviously something the Lakers knew that we didn’t.    We saw it once Dallas destroyed San Antonio in the same fashion that Los Angeles destroyed Utah.  Not much excitement out of this series.

Denver Nuggets versus New Orleans Hornets:  After watching Monday’s Game 4 in New Orleans, would you believe me if I told these two teams split the season 2-2?  The Nuggets bullied the Hornets around like a Varsity team beats up on a Junior Varsity team, or the Freshman team for that matter!  There is no excuse for losing a game by 58 points.  Chauncey Billups now has one more thing to add to his already extensive resume.  New Orleans is probably in the worst situation of the teams left in the playoffs.  They have won 1 game by 2 points while they have lost the other 3 by double digits each time.  Where do you start when trying to adjust for game 5? How about turnovers? Chris Paul and his Hornets committed 27, which lead to 41 Denver points. Shame on you New Orleans.

Top 10 Reasons the New Orleans Hornets shouldn't bother playing Game 5 posted by Chris Strickland

"There's no analysis here...what happened?!" - ESPN's Steve Levy, 4/27/09

The New Orleans hornets suffered the all-time-tying worst playoff loss in NBA history yesterday, getting stomped on 121-63 by the Denver Nuggets. Don't wet yourselves, Nuggets fans. The Hornets just played THAT BAD. Here are the Top 10 Reasons why they shouldn't bother showing up for Game 5:

10) Jackie Moon from the Tropics just called - he guarantees they'll lose by 80 points or more, PLUS he'll fight a bear afterwards. That's entertainment. 

9) Peja's been getting with one of the Hornets cheerleaders for some time now, and they've already got Rockies tickets that night. Behind the dugout - Peja's cool with Tulowitzki.

8) TNT would rather air "Sex and the City" and "The Closer," back-to-back, twice. 

7) FEMA would have to attend. Just in case.

6) Desperate, Chris Paul will drop a triple-dub, but he'll end up doing too many over-the-back reverse lay-ups, and odds are he'll eat it or get clocked one of those times.

5) Harry Connick, Jr. wants to dress.

4) Nuggets staff will serve shrimp in the stands in order to entice Hornets fans into staying through the end of another blowout. An angry, drunk Hornets fan will probably toss shrimp on the court...things could get out of hand. It'd be like Artest at the Palace all over again...except with shrimp. 

3) Chris Paul's already entered into "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me out of Here!"

2) Chauncey Billups paid 'Sheed a hundred bucks to yell "Jackass!" every time David West touches the ball. 

Fourth Quarter continued posted by J Russell Mikkelsen

Fourth Quarter continued.

6:20 Commit to the rebound! COMMIT!!! Crawford and Turiaf both could have taken an offensive rebound. Both got out of the way of the other. Hornets grabbed it. Pathetic.

6:08 Hornets take advantage. They're now down one.

5:12 Morrow has missed 4 three's in a row. He hasn't scored this quarter. But that's okay. CJ Watson has hit 2 of 3 this quarter. Warriors up three.

4:19 Morrow just broke both of Chris Paul's ankles. CP picked up his fifth trying to make up for it.

3:50 Ronny with a strong defensive rebound, which leads to Morrow's first made bucket this half. It was a three. Warriors up 7.

3:20 Crawford crossed over his defender, drove, and laid it in off the glass with his back to the basket. Amazing.

2:45 CP is playing to win it. Cut the lead down to 4 with a steal break away.

2:35 Morrow is too. Three from the corner. Swish.

2:20 Chris Paul will not give up. Another great play. Another 2 points.

1:56 Ronny slams it home. What endurance on this big man. You can barely see any fatigue but he's played about 40 minutes already.

0:51 Randolph can put the nail in the coffin right here. Crawford threw it all the way down the court for a cherry-picking Randolph. He bricked that dunk hard. Rebound landed in the third row somewhere. Warriors would've been up 9.

0:42 Peja missed a three. Randolph grabbed the rebound in front of two Hornets big men. He makes up for every bone headed play. Two Randolph free throws later and the Warriors are up 9. I am ready Warriors. My spoon is in hand!

Fourth Quarter begins posted by J Russell Mikkelsen

Fourth Quarter begins.

11:43 Crawford has been driving tonight. Crawford has done well done. 26 after that three-point play.

10:45 Warriors are playing excellent defense this quarter but it's not enough. The lead is down to two.

10:20 Randolph is back in. I like this.

9:55 Only Crawford is making things happening offensively so far. Drew another foul there. They put it on the floor though. I don't agree.

9:28 Not a lot of fouls the first three quarters. A lot of fouls (against the Warriors) so far this quarter. Guess the refs didn't mean to keep it so close.

9:15 We're up one, just missed another bad shot. Here come the Hornets... foul on CP. There goes the lead.

9:00 "First Hornets lead since 4-3" just ran across the screen.

7:45 Randolph and Crawford have taken the lead back! Randolph played STRONG inside on three back-to-back-to-back plays on both sides of the court. Very impressive. Love it.

7:35 84-80, us.

Third Quarter continued posted by J Russell Mikkelsen

Third Quarter continued.

4:35 Crawford just walked in for a lay-up on a half-court set. I'll take it.

3:50 David West goes to the spot he likes to shoot from. Stands there and wait. Chris Paul drives, draws the defense, dishes on a string. 2 easy points for the Hornets. That's talent.

0:58 Ronny returns. He's been out since about 5:00. Warriors lead is down to 5 from 10 during that time. Ronny matters.

0:00 Hornets finish up with a 9-2 run. Typical Warriors. Please let me eat my words.

WARRIORS 74 HORNETS 71

Spurs acquire F Jefferson from Bucks (AP)

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