Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related
stories to digest with your bananas. At least for now. We’ll see how
long this lasts.

Paul Coro, Arizona Republic: "Suns center Shaquille O’Neal just went through five-day span in which he was assessed $60,000 in NBA fines. Or in his terms, a 0.3 of a percent tax on his $21 million salary this season. After Thursday’s $35,000 fine for his shoves during last week’s scuffle between the Suns and Houston Rockets, O’Neal was fined $25,000 Monday for ‘verbal abuse of an official and failure to leave the court in a timely manner’ after his flagrant-foul ejection in Sunday’s win over the Detroit Pistons. ‘It’s like a tax,’ O’Neal said, later adding, ‘For 25 (thousand dollars), I should have said a little more.’ There is an expectation that O’Neal’s flagrant foul, a Penalty 2, will be reduced to a Penalty 1. Such a change would mean that his foul on Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey was ‘unnecessary’ but not ‘excessive,’ and his fine would be reduced."

Eddie Sefko, Dallas Morning News: "Jerry Stackhouse and his agent are exploring options for a possible departure from the Dallas Mavericks, the result of a turbulent first month of the season in which his playing time and level of performance have dropped dramatically. Stackhouse did not demand a trade Monday after practice, but he calmly detailed his situation and said that he feels there is plenty of good basketball left in him, too much to be a bit player. He speculated that the end of his Mavericks tenure might be coming soon and that the organization’s decision to bring along young players has left him with an uncertain future, given that he will probably be a free agent next summer. ‘Sometimes, that cycle comes,’ Stackhouse said. ‘When I came to Philadelphia [as a rookie], Jeff Malone was still a very capable player. But they said: ‘Jeff, Jerry Stackhouse is the starting shooting guard here, and we’re starting over.’ He still went and played somewhere for a couple more seasons.’"

John Reid, The Times-Picayune: "With four losses in six games, Hornets Coach Byron Scott did not expect to see his players in a good mood during Monday’s practice at the Alario Center. So maybe it came as no surprise to Scott that with a team on edge, there was a scuffle, a dodging of reporters and a frustrated forward looking for answers. Not necessarily in that order. Near the end of an extended full scrimmage, forward/guard Rasual Butler and guard Morris Peterson exchanged words and eventually had to be separated. When practice ended, forward David West and point guard Chris Paul left without speaking to anyone. And forward Peja Stojakovic still appeared to be flustered from his 1-for-5 shooting performance for three points in Saturday’s 91-82 loss to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center."

Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle: "Rockets forward Shane Battier, who has spent the preseason and first three weeks of the regular season working to rehabilitate his sore left foot, is expected to practice with the team today, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said on Monday. Battier has not practiced with the team yet, but after a demanding workout on Monday was cleared to join the team’s practices unless there is any set back after Monday’s workout."

Mike Baldwin, The Oklahoman: "Forward Desmond Mason will be sidelined at least 10 days. An MRI revealed Mason suffered a sprained right elbow. Saturday, his arm hit the backboard while attempting to block a shot at Philadelphia. But the injury actually occurred a week earlier against Minnesota, when Mason’s arm hit the rim attempting another block. ‘The doctor told me when it gets to a point it doesn’t hurt anymore I can get back and play,’ Mason said. ‘It’s tough. I don’t like to sit out, even practices. It’s frustrating but I’d rather do this than hurt it worse and be out six weeks.’"

Marc Berman, New York Post:
"NBA Player’s Association attorney Hal Biagas is expected to resume
Stephon Marbury buyout talks with Knicks president Donnie Walsh
tomorrow or Thursday, with a possibility of a formal proposal coming by
week’s end, according to a person familiar with the situation. The
exiled Marbury, who has yet to play this season, flew with the team to
Boston yesterday, but that could be his last road trip as a Knick.
Biagas, Marbury and Walsh met last Thursday in Westchester to begin
divorce proceedings. According to the individual, Walsh told Biagas and
Marbury that he’ll need one week to think about matters, explore any
potential trades and consult with Knicks owner James Dolan. ‘He wants
to see what’s out there on the trade market,’ the individual told The
Post. ‘There’s optimism [about a buyout]. He is trying to work
something out.’ Marbury has told confidants he does not care if he
yields more than his $21.9 million wage this season."

Brian Hanley, Chicago Sun-Times: "When it comes to the Bulls’ so-called ”circus trip,’ Derrick Rose’s teammates apparently adhere to the thinking that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. ‘If it was good, people would have been telling me,’ Rose said after practice Monday. ‘But nobody’s been talking, so I don’t even want to know.’ The Bulls’ 6-52 cumulative record on the annual November trek in the 10 years since Michael Jordan last played for them speaks volumes. The Bulls went a combined 1-11 the last two times they vacated the United Center so Ringling Bros. could take over their home. A 3-3 trip three seasons back was the best the team has done in a decade. The Bulls begin this trip tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers."

Joe Freeman, The Oregonian: "Martell Webster, who has missed all of the regular season rehabilitating his injured left foot, said Monday after the Trail Blazers practice that he has set a target return date: Dec. 5, roughly eight weeks after he had surgery to repair a stress fracture. Webster had a protective boot removed during the Blazers last home game, Nov. 8 against Minnesota, and will learn more about his progress tomorrow, when team doctors examine his foot. ‘It’s getting better,’ Webster said of his foot. ‘I’m inching toward that due date so we’ll see how it goes. I have a visit with the doctor tomorrow and we’ll see what he says. Hopefully I can start doing some jogging, with shooting involved. If not, it’s back to the treadmill.’ Webster, who has done light weight lifting and a ton of pool work during his rehab, said team doctors have told him he needs to be able to walk on a treadmill for two miles — without pain — before he can resume basketball activities. Webster said he’s been able to walk the two miles, but with some discomfort."

Lisa Dillman, LA Times: "Reunion Week started early, and you knew it was going to be that way when Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy was asked to revisit the Elton Brand saga … on Saturday. That’s when another reunion was in progress at Staples Center. Baron Davis versus his former team, the Golden State Warriors. And Corey Maggette versus his old Clippers’ buddies, well, the few of them still on hand. Brand versus his former team, the Clippers, was still well off in the distance, Friday at Philadelphia. ‘We’ll hug and ask about each other’s families and say good luck and then we’ll go to war trying to beat each other up,’ Clippers forward Tim Thomas said Monday."

48Minutes.net: "By extending [Stephen] Jackson now, the Warriors are tossing aside their previously iron-clad rules of dealing with a player only when the team has used up all of its possible leverage. I’ll be fascinated to hear the explanation for this exception, if any is forthcoming on the matter. Outside of the reasoning for why the Warriors would break with their own philosophy, here’s the biggest question: How will the signing impact the Warriors in the summer of 2010, when a whole raft of top-notch free agents is scheduled to flood the market? There is no real hope that a player with the stature of LeBron James will be willing to come to Oakland when the lights of New York are beckoning to him. But having maneuverability in that timeframe — when teams will potentially be looking to offload players in order to make a run at UFAs such as Paul Pierce, Jason Richardson, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Tayshaun Prince, Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd, Amare Stoudemire, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh or Caron Butler — would afford a franchise the opportunity to recast its core, if that was deemed necessary."

Read full article…

Related Articles

• No Related Post