San
Antonio at Orlando

At first glance, the Suns/Trail
Blazers pairing would appear to be the more entertaining game. Shaquille
O’Neal going against Greg Oden, Steve Nash destroying Steve Blake, and the
whiff of more running and more gunning (though Portland walks like no other, and the Suns
have slowed it down this season). It might still end up that way. Flip a coin.
Flip it!

But in the Magic/Spurs contest, we might get an actual game
out of it. The Magic are missing some pieces, but Stan Van Gundy’s team is also
playing at home. The Spurs aren’t missing a damn thing, but they’ll be on the
road, one night after losing a tough one in a different time zone.

Yes, it might be slow. And yes, both teams have a tendency
to get to the line a lot while not exactly taking advantage of getting to the
line a lot. And there’s a chance that the Spurs might be too beat and fall
victim to Orlando’s
all-around shooting abilities. Jameer Nelson has that little mid-range game
that is made to take down San Antonio’s
defense.

I wouldn’t bet on it, though. These are the Spurs. They are
right there in the conversation, even after letting one slip away last night.
So pay attention, and comment away.

Orlando Magic:
19-6, 93.3 possessions per game (9^th), 107.7 points scored per 100
possessions (11^th), 102 points allowed per 100 possessions (4^th).
Roll With It.

San Antonio Spurs:
15-9, 88.1 possessions per game (27^th), 108.1 points scored per 100
possessions (10^th), 104.7 points allowed per 100 possessions (10^th).
Rock and Roll.

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A look around the league and the web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: 2nd Round Reach. The MSG Community Theater Players Presents: "The 2005-2006 Phoenix Suns."
PF: Ben’s Suns Blog. Suns fans need to lighten up. Shaq, J-Rich and emo Nash are all part of the plan.
SF: FD. Video of Shoals, Big Baby and Silverbird’s ‘Macro’ presentation at Gelf’s Varsity Letters reading.
SG: With Malice. "Dear Santa, Kobe has been a very good boy this year …"
PG: DallasBasketball. Jason Kidd wants his teammates’ ears to experience a "dynamic and clean" sound.
6th: TrueHoop. Chris Paul is so crafty that he just stole your wallet.
7th: Bucks Diary. Why is Skiles so in love with Ridnour? How many flowers does Sessions have to buy?
8th: X’s and O’s. The Grizzlies’ spread offense looks similar to what Phoenix used to run. Coach I, baby.
9th: Empty The Bench. Thank God this fatherless, bastard child, found a 7-Up machine.
10th: The Sporting Blog. Celtics-Hawks is as close as the modern NBA can get to a real rivalry.

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Please tell me this is just a case of his check getting lost in the mail … Please tell me this is just a case of his check getting lost in the mail … Please tell me this is just a case of his check getting lost in the mail …

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, a Chicago clothing store — Casual Male — alleges New York Knicks center Eddy Curry ran up a tab of more than $41,000 on clothes, and two years later it remains unpaid. Gulp.

Kara Spak of the Chicago Sun Times reports:

”It’s just a matter of him buying clothing he didn’t pay for,” said Edward Margolis, the attorney representing Casual Male and Jared M. Custom Clothing, a business popular with professional athletes that once was owned by Casual Male. [...]

Purchases on Curry’s shopping trips, which occurred between January and April 2006, included $22,000 in suits, eight sweaters ranging from a $750 wool crew-neck to a $1,390 cashmere V-neck and more than $3,700 in ties.

The company also wants an additional $5,424 in interest.

And yes, before you ask, Casual Male is the largest specialty retailer of big and tall men’s apparel, with over 520 store locations throughout the United States, London, England and Canada.

Big and tall. Eddy Curry. Go nuts.

(via FanHouse, Game On)

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Via Mouthpiece Sports and And One, ESPN The Magazine reports that LeBron James and O’Shea ‘Ice Cube’ Jackson are teaming up to produce an ABC pilot based on The King’s life as a high school basketball stud.

The series, described as "Friday Night Lights-meets-Entourage," will follow an inner-city 15 year-old prep star who is transplanted to a small town school and forced to come of age while dealing with media pressure, unscrupulous moneymen and the jealousy of his peers. [...]

"It’s a grounded character study of teenage life in small town America, but it’s also an exploration of the American Dream and the wish-fulfillment aspect of what his life has become," said Matt Alvarez, President of CubeVision, who pitched the concept and is also an executive producer on the show."

Fortunately, the only television I watch these days is NBA games, "The Office" and "Summer Heights High," so that "Friday Night Lights-meets-Entourage" comparison really doesn’t do much for me. But hey, "Friday Night Lights" is good, right? I enjoyed the movie. "Ya’ll want to win put Boobie in." Dramatic stuff.

Anyway, the LeBron-inspired pilot script should be finished shortly so, if ABC approves it, production on the show could begin as early as this spring, with a possible fall ‘09 premiere.

In the meantime, I’ll see if I can track down leaked episode summaries like I did with Gilbert Arenas’ new reality show. I may not watch a lot of TV, but I’m extremely well-connected. Call me Ari.

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Ernie Johnson is hilarious. It may not come across that way all the time on "Inside the NBA," but when you sit down and talk to him, it’s easy to see why he has become one of the most popular broadcasters on television. Johnson has a wicked sense of humor and doesn’t take himself too seriously, which are both reasons why the show continues to have success.

This is the final Q and A in a series of interviews I conducted with the show’s personalities (Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith) during my behind the scenes look at the "Inside" set in Atlanta.

Ball Don’t Lie: TNT says that basketball’s biggest night is on Thursday. How can basketball’s biggest night only have two games?

Ernie Johnson: Well, sometimes it’s three. (Laughs) Because it’s exclusive, that’s why it’s the biggest. It may appear to be a misnomer … but no, it’s basketball’s biggest night because it’s the only night that has Charles and Kenny.

BDL: Do you think there is any part of "Inside the NBA" that could be better?

EJ: (Pauses) So, you’re asking what would I change about the show?

BDL: Yeah.

EJ: Nothing. I really wouldn’t. I’m older than these other guys, so I grew up watching Carson, they’re totally different shows, but one of the great things I liked about Johnny Carson when I was growing up was the fact that while he was funny, he was really great when some of his stuff wasn’t funny, or the jokes didn’t go over, and he played it off so well, he wasn’t afraid to [say], "We’ll take a shot at this and see what happens."

And I think that’s kind of [the same attitude] with Tim Kiely the [Inside] producer and all of us. It’s like, "Yeah, we’ll try something." And if it’s not funny, fine, but we’re not just gonna sit there and do a cookie-cutter show, that you know what’s coming if you watch it once, you say, "I know what’s gonna happen next Thursday, this is the way they do things." You never know …

BDL: You never know what’s going to happen around here.

EJ: No, and that’s the beauty of the show. A lot of times even when something doesn’t work it’s like, "That was bad, that didn’t work at all," but it was funny because we didn’t play it off seriously like, "Oh, well that wasn’t funny, we’re sorry. Is it funny that we weren’t funny … yeah. Not everything has to be hit out of the park; it’s just great sometimes the guys react.

BDL: Does anything surprise you anymore?

EJ: You could have all the production meetings you want. You couldn’t draw anything up that. You couldn’t say, "OK, in the second half time we need Kenny to say something so off-the-wall that he just backpedals like crazy and you guys just kill him for it" … you can’t, and that’s what carries the show. That’s what the guy at the water cooler is talking about the next day: "Man, did you hear Kenny Smith talking about how Terrell Owens doesn’t need to wear anything [to look good] … that’s the beauty of the show. It’s spontaneous and fun. It’s like watching a game at home.

BDL: Is there one particular moment from all the Inside shows over the years that stands out to you?

EJ: Ohh … (Pauses) It’s hard. I guess the fallback answer is "The Champion’s Club."

BDL: Ha! When you guys made a Mike Penberthy reference.

EJ: (Laughs) Yeah, we’re all coming out yelling names. "Zan Tabak wants to talk to you Charles, get in here! … Mike Penberthy!" That was such a great team effort by everybody involved, from our studio crew, to our research guys, because we were all kind of coming up with names, and we compiled the list. So, when we would run back into the Champion’s Club, we would run back inside and look at the list and say, "Ahh, yeah, let’s throw that one in!" … And again, that was unrehearsed.

BDL: That’s why the show is what it is.

EJ: Yeah, here’s what we want to do: Turn the [set] into a nightclub. We’ll walk in there and we don’t know what’s gonna happen. We don’t know what’s gonna happen when Kenny walks Charles down the hall to start the gag. We don’t know if Charles is going to buy into or not, but we’re gonna take a shot.

BDL: When Charles runs for governor, are you going to be on his staff?

EJ: (Smiles) I guess I would have to move to Alabama, so this is purely hypothetical, but I think the easiest job and the busiest - it wouldn’t probably wouldn’t be that easy - I’d like to be his press secretary.

BDL: You’re serious?

EJ: Every day you’d stand up in front of all these reporters in Alabama and all these mics, and say: "Look, what the Governor really meant when he said that guy oughtta be shot was … it was just a figure of speech … next question."

BDL: Nobody would know Charles better than you would.

EJ: (Smiles) Exactly. Whoever has that job [will be saying] … "What he really meant …" It is tough to conjure up the images of him and what he might say, because of the stuff he says out here. Is he totally going to change if he’s governor, I don’t [know]. Even if he changes 95 percent, that other 5 percent that remains Charles will be enough to set Alabama on its ear, when he lets something out. And he goes "Oops, did I really say that?" It will be hilarious to watch from a state away. 

BDL: Or Press Secretary Johnson will have to calm the flames.

EJ: Exactly … there’s gonna be a lot of turnover in that job. (Laughs) He’s not gonna just settle on one guy to get that done. That will be something to see if that actually happens, I don’t know. I know he talks about it.

BDL: He sounds serious about running.

EJ: I know, I know … He’ll get that look, and you say maybe he’s serious about this, or maybe it’s just like when he talked about coming back to play some more

BDL: At some point, though, the show is going to end. Charles might be running for governor, Kenny might be running a team, what are you going to do? Have you even thought about that?

EJ: I don’t give it any thought at all to be totally honest with you. I really don’t, because it’s been such a fun ride doing this show … I’ve been at Turner for almost 20 years, and you see so many shows that don’t have the longevity that this one even does … You know at some point it won’t be there, but you just don’t dwell on it.

BDL: Now you know that you’ll might have a job in Alabama, too …

EJ: Maybe he’ll just take us with him. When he does a Gubernatorial press conference it will be the three of us.

BDL: You’ll be the press secretary and Kenny will be the lieutenant governor.

EJ: Yeah, it would be entertaining.

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