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He is the team’s leading scorer. From AP-
Minnesota Timberwolves star center Al Jefferson apologized to the team and fans Sunday after his arrest on suspicion of DWI following a weekend loss to Portland.
The Timberwolves suspended Jefferson for the next two games without pay — a punishment Jefferson said he accepts.
“I want to apologize to the entire Timberwolves organization, owner Glen Taylor, my teammates, coaches and Wolves fans everywhere for my actions last night,” Jefferson said in a statement released Sunday by the Timberwolves. “I made a very poor decision and I am truly sorry for that. As a leader on this team, I know that more is expected of me, and I am disappointed in myself.”
A Minnesota State Patrol trooper stopped Jefferson, 25, on Interstate 394 near downtown Minneapolis early Sunday for speeding and changing lanes without signaling, patrol spokesman Lt. Eric Roeske said.
After taking a field sobriety test, Jefferson was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for a blood test, which he had agreed to, then to Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of fourth-degree driving while impaired, Roeske said. Jefferson was released after an hour in jail and faces an April 23 court appearance.
A forth-degree crime will probably result in a fine not jail time. If convicted, Jefferson should accept the fine like he did the suspension. I’m thinking he probably will.
My nominee for the most embarrassing effort by both teams in a NBA game this season.
On a night filled with offensive ineptitude it was only fitting that missed free throws proved to be the deciding factor.
Stephen Curry scored 27 points and the Golden State Warriors used the hack-a-Ben strategy to finish their rally from a 14-point deficit in the second half and beat the Detroit Pistons 95-88 on Saturday night.
The Warriors shot 41 percent from the field and committed 17 turnovers but came up with their first win without scoring at least 100 points since Jan. 30, 2009, at New Orleans.
“Sometimes you don’t know how you win games, but we just stayed around long enough to make plays at the right time,” said coach Don Nelson, who has 1,326th career victories — seven shy of breaking Lenny Wilkens’ record.
Anthony Tolliver added 19 points and 14 rebounds, and C.J. Watson scored 17 points in place of injured leading scorer Monta Ellis as the Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak against the Pistons.
Golden State held Detroit without a field goal for the final 3:52, with the Pistons only point in that span coming on a free throw by Ben Wallace on one of three trips to the line after intentional fouls by the Warriors. Wallace missed five of his six attempts late in the game, including consecutive air balls in the final minute.
Air balls? There isn’t supposed to be air balls in the NBA fans.
Anyone who attended this game should ask for a refund. Requesting a better Golden State team is asking for a miracle.
Among the charges he faces, is driving too slow. From the Miami Herald-
Miami Heat point guard Carlos Arroyo was arrested Friday in Coral Gables and is facing charges for a traffic violation and resisting arrest.
According to the arrest report, Arroyo was spotted at 8:41 a.m. driving slow enough along the 7100 block of Old Cutler Road to the point that he was said to be impeding traffic.
Arroyo apparently was on his way to the Heat’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. He did not attend the workout in advance of Saturday’s game against Milwaukee.
“We are aware of the traffic stop involving Carlos Arroyo this morning, and while we fully support our players, this is a pending legal matter and we will have no comment at this time,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement.
According to the incident report, a motorcycle patrolman made several attempts to stop Arroyo’s vehicle. Additional police units were called because of Arroyo’s initial unwillingness to pull over his car, according to the incident report.
Arroyo, 30, eventually stopped but “attempted to resist” being handcuffed when he exited his car. He was also accused of being “confrontational and challenging” and “posing a threat to both himself and officers,” the report said.
Arroyo appears to have scratches and red marks on his face and neck in a mug shot taken by police when he was booked at the Coral Gables Police Department. He is charged with operating a vehicle at a low enough speed to impede traffic, resisting arrest without violence and failing to obey a lawful order. Arroyo was released on a promising to appear in court.
Resisting police without violence? Then why those cuts to his face? I have a very low opinion of South Florida law enforcement. They don’t believe the law applies to them, and I cite multiple instances that say just that. Plus my own personal experience of getting harassed by five to six policemen and almost arrested. My crime? Waving down an officer when my car broke down. Right now Arroyo has my sympathy.
The injury takes place just days after he was acquired from the Dallas Mavericks.
Recently acquired Washington Wizards forward Josh Howard will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld made the announcement in a statement Tuesday.
Howard was injured Monday night in Washington’s win over the Chicago Bulls, only his fourth game with the Wizards since being acquired from Dallas in a seven-player trade on Feb. 13. He collided with the Bulls’ Flip Murray with 4:23 to play in the first quarter and stayed on the floor for a minute before being helped off the court by two trainers.
Howard started three games for Washington and scored 14.5 points a game to help the Wizards go 3-1 since the deal, which sent starter Caron Butler to the Mavericks.
Howard has averaged 15.3 points and 6.0 rebounds since his 2003-04 rookie season with the Mavs.
The article says its not known if Howard will have surgery. I thought an operation was mandatory for ACL tear.
The loss of Howard won’t have much immediate effect on Washington this season. At this moment the Wizards are 6.5 games out of the last Eastern Conference playoff spot.
What has happened to the pre-All-Star game Cavaliers? From AP-
Dwight Howard had 22 points and 16 rebounds in a bruising battle with Shaquille O’Neal, and the Orlando Magic beat Cleveland 101-95 on Sunday for the Cavaliers’ first three-game losing streak in two years.
Cleveland’s skid comes on the heels of a 13-game win streak.
Howard was 8-for-13 shooting and added four blocks, and Vince Carter had eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Magic beat Cleveland for the first time this season.
O’Neal made his first eight shots and finished with 20 points, and LeBron James had 33 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers,
Lebron didn’t have a very good 4th quarter and that was the biggest cause of Cleveland’s loss. Why did he start passing the ball so much instead of shooting it himself?
Orlando knocked Cleveland out of the playoffs last year. I think the Magic are the team in the Eastern Conference with the best chance of beating the Cavaliers this year.
How much does it cost to go from East Rutherford to the Presidential Center via the New Jersey turnpike? From AP-
The New Jersey Nets are going to play in Newark, at least for the next two seasons.
The NBA team reached a deal with the state to move their regular-season games to Newark’s Prudential Center until their new arena is built in Brooklyn.
Under the deal, the Nets will pay a $4 million penalty over two years to get out of their lease at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, their home since 1981.
The Nets plan to finish the current season at the Izod Center and move to “The Rock” in downtown Newark for the 2010-11 and the 2011-12 seasons.
Few people remember this, but in the last days of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team played seven home 1956 or 1957 home games in Jersey City rather than Brooklyn. A sports team is taking the reverse path back to that New York borough and I find that interesting.
Are the 2009-10 Nets the worst team in NBA history? From AP-
Michael Beasley had 23 points and 11 rebounds and the Miami Heat overcame the early loss of All-Star MVP Dwyane Wade in beating the New Jersey Nets 87-84 on Wednesday night for their season-high fourth straight victory.
Jermaine O’Neal, who strained his lower back in a first-quarter fall, hit three free throws and had two blocks down the stretch as the Heat used a game-closing 13-4 spurt to prevent the Nets from winning consecutive games for the first time this season.
Wade strained his left calf sometime in the opening 7:26 and did not play again. He finished with eight points, snapping his streak of 148 straight games in double figures, the second-longest active streak in the NBA behind LeBron James (255).
Quentin Richardson added 16 points — including a tying 3-pointer with 1:52 to go, and a game-high 14 rebounds for Miami.
Brook Lopez had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, whose only basket in the final 4:56 came on a goaltending call at the buzzer. Devin Harris added 18 points.
The Nets appeared to headed for their sixth win of the season when Keyon Dooling (14 points) converted a three-point play with 4:56 to play to put them ahead 80-74.
The prospects looked even brighter when O’Neal missed two free throws on the Heat’s ensuring possession.
However, the Nets went ice cold and Miami just kept on coming.
I do think the answer to my question is yes. New Jersey isn’t just 5-49 right now but also unable to win two games in a row at any time this season. They would have gotten to two with a win tonight. Dwyane Wade gets injured, the Nets get a six point lead with less than five minutes to go in the game and the team still finds a way to lose. New Jersey is the worst. They will not get to double digits in wins this year. There are 28 games left in the season and gaining their getting six wins will nothing short of miraculous.
He was already a prostate cancer survivor. From ESPN-
Denver Nuggets coach George Karl informed his team Tuesday afternoon that he is in another fight for his life with cancer.
Karl, who had been cancer-free since prostate surgery in July 2005, discovered a worrisome lump on his neck about six weeks ago. A biopsy determined that it was “very treatable and curable” form of neck and throat cancer, Karl said, but it will still require an intense program of radiation and chemotherapy that will probably force him to miss some regular-season games.
“Cancer is a vicious opponent,” he said. “Even the ones that are treatable, you never get a 100-percent guaranteed contract.”
Treatment will consist of 35 sessions over the next six weeks, for what the Nuggets Web site called squamous cell head/neck cancer. The sessions are expected to leave his throat extremely raw, requiring him to be fed through his stomach in the final weeks. “Keeping up your nutrition is a big part of the challenge,” he said.
While the condition is treatable, his doctor, Jacques Saari, said Karl faces a taxing treatment regimen.
I’m a cancer survivor also. If the above account is true, I’d be surprised if Karl coaches at the same time he gets treatments. No matter I wish him success in his latest cancer battle.
He led the Mountaineers to six straight NCAA tournament berths and one finals appearance. Before that he played in the NBA for two teams, including the New York Knicks.RIP.
Fred Schaus, a former Los Angeles Lakers coach and general manager who mentored Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley at West Virginia, has died. He was 84.
The former West Virginia University coach and athletic director died Wednesday night in Morgantown, said Dan Hastings, a funeral director at Hastings Funeral Home in Morgantown. Schaus had been living in a nursing home. The cause of death wasn’t immediately released.
“Fred’s passing brings finality to a relationship that began in 1955, when he first came to our house to introduce himself as the coach of West Virginia University,” West said in a statement released by the school.
A Cabin Creek native, West recalled Schaus telling him WVU would be the place for him to attend school and have an opportunity to play basketball.
“At that point in my life, he was the first coach to show interest in me,” West said. “I was thrilled beyond words and to this day, I remember much about our meeting. Little did I know what a long-lasting relationship we would have.”
Born in Newark, Ohio, Schaus became the first Mountaineers player to score 1,000 career points. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft and played five seasons with the Fort Wayne Pistons and New York Knicks.
He compiled a 127-26 record as head coach at West Virginia from 1954 to 1960, including six straight NCAA tournament berths. The Mountaineers, led by West, advanced to the NCAA championship game in 1959, losing to California 71-70.
Schaus followed West to the Lakers, going 315-245 in seven seasons as head coach and guiding the team to four NBA finals before becoming general manager in 1967. The 1972 Lakers, behind West and Wilt Chamberlain, won a then-record 69 games in the regular season and beat the Knicks for the NBA title.
“We shared many incredible experiences, both joyous and painful, during our years together at WVU and then as my coach with the Los Angeles Lakers,” West said. “As a young man with little experience with the outside world, he became my mentor and sounding board as I progressed as an athlete and as a person.”
Schaus returned to the college ranks in 1972, going 105-59 in six seasons as head coach at Purdue. He also served as athletic director at West Virginia from 1981-89 before he retired. Schaus was inducted into his alma mater’s athletics hall of fame in 1992.
The bad weather on the east coast is playing havoc with both pro and college sports. From AP-
The game between the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards has been postponed because of the blizzard that battered the Mid-Atlantic region.
The NBA said on Saturday that neither the Hawks or Wizards could fly to Washington after their games Friday night. The Wizards played at Orlando and the Hawks hosted the Bulls.
The game will be rescheduled for a date yet to be announced.
A record 2½ feet of snow or more was predicted for Washington.
A slew of mid-Atlantic men’s college basketball games slated for Saturday afternoon were also postponed or canceled, including Florida A&M at Morgan State, St. Bonaventure at Saint Joseph’s and James Madison at Towson.
The Atlanta Thrashers were stuck in Virginia after playing the Washington Capitals last night. They only got to Atlanta around 6 p.m. tonight and are currently playing the Florida Panthers.
2 and a half feet of snow. Are scientists sure it isn’t global cooling instead of global warming?
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