Previously, Grant Hill’s coin-operated Sundiata.

Winner, Roger Mason(notes) Jr. = Hero: "No one bothered to tell Grant and Sundiata that tryouts for Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun‘ video ended years ago."

Runner-up, Ol’ Leather Pumpkin: "Grant Hill’s love of Vaudevillian Ventriloquism is just a ploy to be traded to the Celtics."

Second runner-up, indeedproceed: "It almost looks like Gaines is singing the lead and Hill is doing the chorus for a small rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody."

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Last Wednesday, Corey Brewer(notes) broke Jason Terry’s(notes) face. While he might be feeling it, the Mavericks aren’t — they won their next two games to extent their winning streak to 10 games. But at least one Maverick misses the shooting guard.

Though he’s been a Maverick for less than a month, DeShawn Stevenson(notes) has been showing love for the injured Terry in a couple of different touching tributes. U-N-I-T-Y, that’s a unity.

First, as you can see above, Stevenson has taken to wearing Terry’s number 31 wristbands on his leg. It’s pretty nice of him, considering when Terry returns, Stevenson will go further down the Mavericks’ bench. At least his leg will be dry.

He’s also taken to co-opting Terry’s famous celebration. When he hit a three in a recent game, Stevenson ran back on defense like he was a jet. Or a "Jet." Let’s just hope this doesn’t mean the "I can’t feel my face" has been retired.

While Stevenson’s Terry fandom hasn’t yet reached "Single White Female" levels of obsession, we’ll know to be worried if he starts sleeping in his uniform and wearing five pairs of socks. 

And we’ll sound the alarm if he wears a matching protective mask when Terry returns.

(h/t: Dallas Basketball)

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Times are not nearly as troubling as a three-game losing streak would have some suggest, but the Los Angeles Lakers are in need of a significant philosophy adjustment if they are to glide to consecutive NBA titles.

That last bit is important. As presently constructed, playing as we saw over the course of this three-game losing streak and as we’ve seen them play before, the Lakers can topple the Magic, Cavaliers, Celtics and any number of Western secondary options that might be thrown their way. As is now, they are the champs, and they are playing well enough to win the championship in June.

So once again, I’m in the uneasy position of telling you why things aren’t as bad as you think they are, or for some of you, why things aren’t going as well as you think they should. It’s that middle ground that I can’t live with myself for at least attempting to smartly occupy, and it’s probably why you’ve never seen me on TV. So it goes.

The streak, to start. Los Angeles has lost three in a row, for the first time in more than two years. The first time since Pau Gasol(notes) became a Laker. The first time since, really, a three-game losing streak would mean anything to this team since Shaquille O’Neal(notes) was a Laker.

But they also lost to the Heat by three in overtime. That’s a swing-either-way game. They were thumped again by the Bobcats, but that marks the seventh time in nine attempts that Charlotte has beaten the Lakers. The Bobcats have their number. It’s over. They also won’t see them again until sometime next December.

Then on Sunday, the Lakers lost to the Magic by three. Another either/or game, because as much as I credit the Magic for this win, these close games can go either way. It’s usually your rooting interest that deludes you into believing otherwise.

So, clearly, this is the three-game losing streak that isn’t. Or, probably, it’s the three-game losing streak that really doesn’t mean a whole hell of a lot. There wasn’t anything the Lakers were doing in this streak that they haven’t been doing all season.

For better and for worse.

Though Kobe Bryant(notes) has enjoyed a fantastic season and you have to love the way the L.A. has hung around the top three in defensive efficiency, the Lakers are badly underachieving offensively.

That’s the "for worse," and I must remind that Los Angeles can win a championship playing exactly this way. Why they would want to, I have no idea.

Well, I know why they would want to. And it hurts to even talk about it.

It involves Kobe Bryant needlessly trying to dominate games offensively. It involves him playing the hero late, which he’s done to great acclaim this season, but sometimes to the detriment of his team offensively.

Like on Sunday. He scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, but if you take 16 shots in the quarter (as Kobe did), you sure as hell better score 18 points. At least 18 points. How would Lakers fans like it if Jordan Farmar(notes) had a game that saw him take 16 shots to score 18 points? They’d ride him out of town, chanting something rude about "volume shooting" the whole trip out.

And then there’s the worry about Ron Artest(notes), which we’ve had since last summer. Would he shoot Los Angeles out of games?

Early in the season, it didn’t appear he would. In fact, watching Trevor Ariza(notes) head down to Houston and promptly shoot the Rockets out of game after game (or, at least, "comfortable win after comfortable win"), we’d almost call Artest’s terrible shot selection in Houston "a product of the system," had we not seen him pull the same crap in Indiana and Sacramento.

Overall, he hasn’t been great offensively. He’s shot 41 percent this season, a little lower than his career averages, but nothing to get too worried about as long as he keeps bringing the defense. And he was worse in January (39 percent) than last month, so it’s not as if he’s trending.

But this is a crucial moment. Ron played great defense on Sunday, but he also was too aggressive at times, needlessly overplaying on screen and rolls, caring only about his man, taking himself out of position. Worse, he’s missed 16 of 19 shots the past two games. And as Phil Jackson will tell you, a bit of pay-attention-to-me/don’t-pay-attention-to-me attitude like his recent hair-style change and refusal to talk about it is often a sign of cabin fever. Jackson, after coaching Dennis Rodman for three seasons, knows.

There’s no shame in that, it’s just what happens. It’s a long season, we all react in different ways.

So this is why it has to end now. Missing 16 of 19 shots in just two games needs to be a fluke. A blip. Something harmless to look back upon in June. Kobe, Jackson, Derek Fisher(notes) - they need to stop it.

In more ways than one.

Kobe, as we’ve warned all season, needs to take it easy. He is to be lauded to no end for his clutch play this season, for his overall season and for playing through injuries. But he is not to be lauded nor tolerated for playing at times in a style and with a level of intelligence that is beneath him.

There is no reason a player like Bryant, on a team this good, should be averaging 22.2 shots per game. That’s over a shot more per game than last season, and while you may think that insignificant, it isn’t. Not with this roster, this relative health and Kobe’s own injuries. To say nothing of the fact that his shooting percentages are down across the board.

Not significantly, mind you, but enough. The minutes are up, too, but Kobe has to back off. He has to. For a team like the Lakers - even with that bench, even with Derek Fisher around - to be 11th in offense? That’s ridiculous. There’s no excuse for that, and it comes down to execution and decision-making.

Decision-making needs to be Fisher’s forte, and if he’s going to be getting burned on defense as much as he does, he has to stop calling his own number for long two-pointers early in the shot clock.

It’s one thing to see Kobe wave off Andrew Bynum(notes) (having already sealed Dwight Howard(notes) five feet from the hoop) to try and post up Jameer Nelson(notes) 21 feet from the hoop (actually happened Sunday, terrible possession, ending in a missed Artest 3-pointer as the shot clock ran down). It’s another to see Fisher call his own number time and again. He made four of his 12 shots Sunday, which was one fewer attempt than Pau Gasol. And Fisher has made only 38 percent of his attempts this season.

The execution? I put part of this on Jackson. This team comes out of timeouts and runs a screen-and-roll set instead of the triple post, the ultimate teach-a-man-to-fish/give-a-man-a-fish situation.

I know the screen-and-roll elements come within the triple post, but Jackson’s been giving his team the fish all year, and I’m nervous about how it’s paying off. Kobe’s hit a series of game-winners, I know, but lost among all those game-winners is the fact that a few of those games shouldn’t have been close enough for Kobe to have to bail out Los Angeles, and that’s solely the fault of the offense.

And the flip side to that, and the Kobe-centric stuff late, is as you saw in the overtime loss to Miami or in the loss to Orlando Sunday. It’s all Kobe late. And while he’s Kobe and he’s awesome and you think they’re going in, these aren’t great shots that he’s taking and, sometimes, making.

The team element, the five-man offense that offers myriad options and is designed to topple any defense you throw at it? It’s gone, replaced with orthodoxy. Screen-and-roll. Kobe isolated. That’s not the Lakers. They’re greater than the sum of their parts. Or, at least, they should be.

And they should be champs, mind you. Even playing like this, I’d have to prefer them. But they are making life way, way harder than it has to be. They’re not playing lazy, they’re not playing down to the competition and they’re not "switching it on." They’re not taking possessions off, unless you count making stupid, overly aggressive decisions time and again "taking possessions off."

They’re just not playing as well as they should on offense, for reasons that are entirely correctable.

This isn’t a rip job. I’m telling you that everything’s going to be fine. It’s just, as it is in anything this prominent and this significant, there are major issues that even a team as great as the Lakers needs to work on. And the Lakers know this.

Whether they decide to do anything about this is up to them.

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There’s a long and storied rivalry between the Suns and Pacers. When these teams meet things are bound to get heated from all the distaste they have for each other.

Wait. That’s not right. The Suns and Pacers are just two NBA teams who haven’t even met in a playoff series. So why did they fight Saturday night?

According to Earl Watson(notes), the Pacers were fighting their "reputation for being soft" and weren’t going to "give in to anybody." He also blamed Channing Frye(notes).

"The first time he dunked, he hit with his elbow," Watson said. "Then he put his hands on me. I told him to put his hands down. He pushed me and it escalated after that point."

Of course, Channing Frye sees it somewhat differently.

"I was just setting a screen for Steve [Nash], and Earl swatted my hands away the first time and that wasn’t a big deal," Frye said. "And the second time, I don’t think it was the right play. I want to emphasize it’s not my style of play to be pushing people and doing things like that. But I think at a certain point, you’ve got to protect yourself.

"I wasn’t going to punch him. It wasn’t about me punching. It wasn’t the right play, but it was me just letting him know I didn’t think that was acceptable."

Certainly not acceptable. Never let another man swipe away your hands unless you’re playing the hand slap game.

Frye was ejected from the game with two technical fouls. Danny Granger(notes) and Jason Richardson(notes) each got a single tech for their involvements. Plus, Louis Amundson(notes) and Josh McRoberts(notes) each got one earlier in the game for a mild skirmish, probably about which Mastodon record is the best.

Check out the video of the fight, which starts around the 30 seconds mark, after the typical Steve Nash(notes) wizardry. It’s nowhere near as crazy as the last fight Channing Frye was a part of, but since he threw a punch, he’ll surely be suspended.

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NBA Style Watch occasionally checks in on the latest and greatest in on-court fashions. Whether it be new uniforms, new haircuts or new tattoos, we’ll be there … watching, judging, opining. Verdicts are doled out on a scale of 1-10, with some of your favorite players representing their old numbers. See something particularly noteworthy? Let us know.

The Look: Ron Artest’s(notes) "Defense" hair

The Breakdown: Clearly, Ron Artest’s hair is amazing. It is reminiscent of simpler times, in particular, the 1990s. A time when a man could call himself Sisqó and sing about thongs. A time when the world’s best rebounder could dye myriad symbols in his hair.

So there’s the precedent and inspiration, but Ron Artest’s hair means so much more. Literally. Across his head, Artest got the word "defense" dyed in purple in Japanese, Hebrew and Hindi.

Why he did it? That’s quite the question. Apparently, Shin Shin — a recording artist, suggested the colors. Naturally, Artest agreed it was a great idea. I can’t help but concur.

Artest called it his "Dennis Rodman tribute," which is more than fitting coming from the man who has worn Rodman’s number in the past, and wears the inverse of it now. They’re soulmates.

The Verdict:

The Look: Chris Andersen’s(notes) mustache

The Breakdown: When he’s not soliloquizing about blocked shots, Chris Andersen can be found carefully maintaining his mustache.

It takes some time to be make sure the two sides are even. If he makes even a single mistake, he could end up looking like Michael Cera in "Youth In Revolt." No one wants that.

Andersen is a "Dapper Dan man," and that means he knows looking good takes some effort. If that means a few more minutes in front of the mirror to get his mustache right, then so be it.

The Verdict:

The Look: Brandon Jennings’(notes) "Jerkin’" hair

The Breakdown: Lost in the Ron Artest hair madness was the comparatively tame dye-job that the Milwaukee Bucks point guard debuted Saturday night. An orange-ish Mohawk with a couple of carved racing stripes is hardly modest, but compared to Ron Ron, Jennings is wearing a side-part.

But Jennings’ hair is no slouch. He looks like he could be an extra in a Ranger$ video. And seeing how he’s from California, I’d be willing to bet that’s the inspiration.

The jerkin’ scene, famous for its dyed Mohawks, is huge out there. He already kind of looks like Ben J from the New Boyz, and with that added gold he looks like he could be doing "the reject" on the sidewalk, no problem.

The Verdict:

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A few things …

1). That was a fantastic game. Clutch-y and grabby and contested and fantastic.

2). We’ll have more on the Lakers later Monday, so this BtB will be Magic-heavy.

3). It truly bums me out that this might be the last time these two teams will go at it this season. Over the last two campaigns we’ve seen the Magic and Lakers play a litany of close, entertaining battles have us walking away feeling as if we’re watching the two best teams in the NBA, and you don’t often get that when the big guys collide. These two are made to play against each other.

4). I haven’t seen such a big game get away from referees like that in a long time. Long time. I doubt we’ll be seeing much of Bennett Salvatore, Mark Ayotte, (and, especially) Tony Brothers as much as we usually do in the late stages of the playoffs. After Sunday, this is not something to which I would be opposed.

And while I’m against the tide (because I’m not a biased-out homer freak with a national pulpit, just a regular NBA freak with a national pulpit) in actually liking Salvatore (I enjoyed the way he cleaned up the game years ago and actually called hand-checks when nobody else seemed to, allowing for a better brand of basketball), he and Brothers (and Ayotte, on the Kobe Bryant(notes) three-pointer that wasn’t) lost control of this and missed more than they saw.

5). I like ELO. I had to come up with a fifth.

***

X-factor Vince Carter(notes) all you want, he’s an important part and the Magic will need him to succeed, but the Magic also had the NBA’s best record about 13 months ago with Hedo Turkoglu(notes) (the guy Carter, essentially, replaced) just sort of standing around until the fourth quarter. It’s Jameer Nelson(notes) and Dwight Howard(notes) that are the two biggest keys, by far, to this team.

And while Howard got in some highlight plays and overall had a fantastic game, Andrew Bynum(notes) (in the first half, though he developed foul trouble) and Pau Gasol(notes) (in the second half, though he developed foul trouble) made life tough for Dwight offensively.

Don’t go over the top with your reaction to that, Magic fans, just understand that Dwight had to work pretty hard for his 15 and 16, missing eight of 14 shots along the way. Gasol played him expertly in the Finals, too, and remember that with superstars, getting played "expertly" doesn’t mean getting shut down.

Nelson shot even worse (5-14), but he was in the teeth of the Laker defense all game, forcing switches and losing Derek Fisher(notes) just about every time he wanted to (providing the refereeing crew wasn’t calling one of their 39 moving screen violations - listen, guys, we know when it’s a pre-game point of emphasis, but can you not make it so bloody obvious?). Nine boards and seven assists for Nelson, who kept the Magic moving.

Matt Barnes(notes) should have been thrown out. Simple as that. I like Matt and appreciate what he brings when he’s not dribbling the ball off his thigh (there was a sense of palpable fear riding with Jameer Nelson in one first half instance when he realized, on a 3-on-1, that his teammates on hand were Barnes and Brandon Bass(notes)), but the refs were allowing him technical-worthy jerk moves after technical-worthy jerk moves. And, as he should, Barnes took advantage.

Especially with the knowledge and subsequent comfort that Mickael Pietrus(notes) is waiting in the wings. Both seemed to have their way with Kobe defensively, though Bryant made a series of tough shots all game and in that fourth quarter (18 points), he still needed 30 shots to score 34 points, and 16 shots in the fourth to score his 18. That’s not a great rate.

Magnified, of course, by the fact that Bryant took 17 more shots than Gasol, who was 8-for-13 shooting. Again, we’ll get into the Lakers in greater detail this afternoon.

For now, a reminder that the Magic are more than championship caliber. This is a team that can go all the way, and if the others don’t play up to par this spring, the Orlando Magic is a team that should go all the way.

***

Philadelphia 114, Toronto 101

Do not take this as if I am denigrating what Jrue Holliday and Thaddeus Young(notes) put together on Sunday, those moves and that effort would work against any defense. They’re just 53 points out of 114, though, and it’s clear that the Raptors have taken a huge step back defensively.

Actually, a couple of Young’s three-pointers were the result of terrible communication and poor close-outs on Toronto’s end. The Raptors were not talking, nor were they taking care of the ball; but you have to at least prepare for the latter against a 76ers team that can sometimes force 20 turnovers in no time at all.

They let the Sixers shoot 56 percent, though, they allowed for heaps of open three-point looks as Phildelphia hit 9-for-12 on the afternoon, and they failed to counter on their own offensive end. Just eight free throws for Toronto, and I don’t exactly think they were getting jobbed. And, let’s face it, the Sixers are there for the taking. Elton Brand(notes) is an absolute sieve out there right now, and that’s half due to effort, not his beat-up body.

Andrea Bargnani(notes) had 11 points and four rebounds in just under 40 minutes, and that’s my biggest issue with Toronto. He never got to the line, he hurt the Raptors on the glass (the Sixers had way, way too many tip-ins), and he needed 10 shots to score 11 points (1-4 from long range). Hedo Turkoglu was out, Chris Bosh(notes) still looked a little off (and was pretty terrible on his defensive rotations), but in their Sunday afternoon wheelhouse, this should have been Toronto’s.

***

Denver 118, Portland 106

This wasn’t a "score is closer than it looks," situation, because the Nuggets really did have to hold the Blazers off for a good chunk of the game, even though this thing was in double figures for most of the contest.

Portland got its licks in, but Carmelo Anthony(notes) seemed really settled in his approach, finishing with 30 points and getting to the line 12 times. Would like to see more than two rebounds from Melo, though. If Kenyon Martin(notes) is going to be out for the rest of the season, the Nuggets don’t need Anthony to emulate Martin’s contributions in that way.

The Nuggets had 127 points per 100 possessions, and though this wasn’t the close contest I’d hoped for, it was fluid in a way that a 93-possession game with only 21 turnovers should be.

***

Boston 86, Washington 83

An ugly game, for many reasons. Ugly for the bad shots, the great D (and it was great D, mind you, on both ends) that led to terrible looks and bad decisions for either team offensively. Ugly for the way these giants of our generation, Kevin Garnett(notes) and Paul Pierce(notes), were made to look so old. Ugly the way certain aspects of Sam Cassell’s(notes) anatomy were clearly visible every time ESPN cut over to the Wizards bench. Ugly the way the Wizards faded down the stretch.

Al Thornton(notes)? You made two very nice moves (and several very good moves) on Pierce. Crossed him over and scored on a flip shot, very nice, then nailed a jumper in his face. You don’t get to talk trash to Paul Pierce, though, because you’re Al Thornton, and the Clippers didn’t even want you.

The Wizards? Same deal. You’ve been playing great, as of late; and while this might not be the Boston Garden, and this might not be the can’t-kill-‘em 1987 Boston Celtics, you’re still on borrowed time.

Watch the game later today, take a look at Kevin Garnett’s Orlando Pace impression (2002-era, Pace) on the "screen" that cleared Ray Allen(notes) to shoot. Notice his 42 steps on what is supposed to be a stationary screen. These things happen, still happen, in Boston.

I credit that Boston D. It kept the Boston O in there for the entire game, enough so that a mistake here or free throw trip there allowed for the Celtics to make a two-possession game of it in the fourth quarter.

Ray Allen had 25 points on 15 shots, Randy Foye(notes) (3-14 shooting) couldn’t replicate his usual fourth quarter heroics (don’t laugh, he’s great down the stretch, but missed five of six shots in the fourth), and the Celtics pulled out a toughie.

***

Detroit 110, Houston 107 (OT)

Another poor defensive effort from Houston, made worse by the team’s rebounding flaws.

I know Chuck Hayes(notes) has essentially molded him into a pivot version of Shane Battier(notes), but he can’t be that. Not at the center position. I understand that he’s boxing out and covering others, but two rebounds in 14 minutes isn’t going to cut it. Especially in this rotation.

Because Jared Jeffries(notes) is playing more. And Jeffries has modeled himself on Battier. That is to say, all D, no rebounding. One rebound in 20 minutes for JJ. Luis Scola(notes) had 15 rebounds in 48 minutes, but things were so bad that even Battier was forced to pull in seven in 43 minutes.

Zip, zip, zip for Detroit; the Pistons got into the Houston D and everyone had to move over one spot, which led to chaos, which led to offensive rebounds, which led to open looks on the springs. Will Bynum(notes) was the most efficient force amongst the zipsters, 11 assists in Rodney Stuckey’s(notes) absence. Tay Prince had 29 and 10 in the win.

***

Oklahoma City 108, Sacramento 102

Andres Nocioni(notes). You hate playing against him, but you’d love … well, a lot of times you don’t love him as a teammate. Most of the time, actually.

I’ve seen him do it time and time again. He either leaves his man for an open three, takes a terrible shot just seconds after coming off the bench, or uses that aggression in nastier ways. Like the flagrant foul that kicked the Thunder in the tail and turned the tide.

Russell Westbrook(notes) had 14 fourth quarter points, and the Thunder just looked longer, all game. Just a longer, better team, though the Kings are to be applauded for hanging in there as long as they did.

Six points on six shots, two turnovers, zero rebounds in just under 12 minutes for Noc. He’s been in the NBA since 2004. If he doesn’t know by now …

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Ronald Tillery, Memphis Commercial Appeal: "[Michael Heisley]: If the right person makes a reasonable offer for the team I will sell it. If the minority [local] owners want to come up with a reasonable offer, I would love to sell it to them. I think they would make great owners. If it’s not to be, it’s not to be. Quite frankly, I don’t have to sell this team. I’m not in any financial difficulty. We have to be a model for what has to be done in the new era of pro basketball when teams are losing the kind of money they’re losing. Some people have got to be more fiscally responsible. We’ve lived within the rules. I’ve taken the heat. Everybody says I’m cheap. But I’ve shown that it does you no good to just go out and spend huge amounts of money."

AP: "Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin(notes) was ruled out of Sunday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers because of continuing left knee soreness. Concerns about the injury have led to a scheduled consultation Monday with doctors to determine its severity and further treatment options. Martin has been playing through persistent pain and swelling in the knee in the last few weeks but the condition, which the team has described as chronic patella tendinitis, apparently has worsened in recent days."

Darnell Mayberry, The Oklahoman: "Russell Westbrook said he would consider changing his jersey number if the No. 4, currently worn by Nick Collison(notes), became available. Westbrook didn’t begin wearing No. 0 until he arrived at UCLA, when Arron Afflalo(notes), now with Denver but a junior with the Bruins at the time, had already claimed No. 4. Until then, Westbrook had always worn No. 4 as symbol of the number of people in his immediate family. His jersey at Leuzinger High School was retired last week. ‘It depends on how I’m feeling,’ Westbrook said. ‘As of now I’ll stay with zero. I chose this, and it’s not a normal number, so I like it.’ "

RealGM: "The Miami Heat announced Saturday that Rafer Alston(notes), while having made contact with the team via text message, has made himself otherwise unavailable to the team. As a result he has been suspended indefinitely."

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel: "With only two remaining point guards on the roster, starter Carlos Arroyo(notes) and backup Mario Chalmers(notes), the Heat likely would have to add another option at the position as insurance, even with Dwyane Wade(notes) increasing his playmaking in recent games. Where it gets tricky for the Heat is that in order for an addition to be playoff eligible, he would have had to be released by a previous team by March 1. Among the limited options in that group is former Heat point guard Mike James(notes), who recently received a buyout from the Wizards and is awaiting calls at his Houston home. It is unlikely, with a release of Alston, that the Heat would pursue a point guard intent on significant minutes, as was the case with Alston. That could rule out the likes of a Larry Hughes(notes), a current free agent who is recovering from a finger injury."

AP: "Portland Trail Blazers center Joel Przybilla(notes), already out for the season, slipped while taking a shower at his home and ruptured the right patella tendon again that he tore in December, team officials said. In a news conference prior to Sunday’s game against the Denver Nuggets, Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan said Przybilla would undergo surgery in the next few days to repair the tendon for a second time. He underwent a similar procedure Dec. 24, two days after he originally ruptured the tendon during a game against the Dallas Mavericks, ending his season. ‘He will have to go through this all over again,’ McMillan said."

J.A. Adande, ESPN.com: "Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, who is being treated for throat and neck cancer, will have a surgical procedure on Monday. That will be followed by chemotherapy on Tuesday. ‘You probably won’t see me for a while,’ Karl told media members before the Nuggets played the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. Karl will miss the Nuggets’ game at Minnesota on Wednesday and hopes to be on the sideline at New Orleans on Friday."

Julian Garcia, New York Daily News: "The Nets will be playing meaningful games on a four-game trip that begins in Memphis Monday, but they won’t have their starting power forward to help them. Yi Jianlian(notes) did not join the Nets on their flight to Tennessee Sunday and he will miss games against the Grizzlies, Mavericks, Thunder and Rockets this week because of the left ankle he sprained during Saturday night’s win over the Knicks."

Eddie Sefko, Dallas Morning News: "In respect of Sunday’s Oscars, let’s put this in Hollywood perspective. Marion does not feel like he is an 11.5-point, 6.5-rebound supporting actor. Yet, that’s what the numbers say this season, and it’s why the Mavericks’ small forward feels conflicted. Marion loves winning. And he’s done everything this season to that end. Marion’s also sacrificed as much as any other Maverick, maybe more. ‘You got to sacrifice certain things to get that ultimate goal, and that’s a ring, the hardware,’ Marion said. ‘Once you get that hardware, nobody can say anything to you. That’s what I want my legacy to be. I want that ring.’"

Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer: "[Who to cut in Zydrunas Ilgauskas'(notes) return] will be a tough decision for the team, though it will probably come down to Danny Green(notes) or [Darnell] Jackson. The reason is neither of their contracts is guaranteed for next year, while Telfair has a $2.7 million option. The Cavs now have six big men on the roster, which is pretty much the limit you can keep. Ilgauskas would make seven, which is probably one too many. The Cavs are also deep at the wing, where Green plays. The team is limited at point guard, where Telfair could help. Plus he’d be a trade asset for next season."

Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle: "As yet another depressing season winds down, it is becoming clear that Don Nelson no longer runs the Warriors. If he gets shut out of major trade discussions, that’s the only conclusion one can draw. Two sources close to the Warriors told The Chronicle that when the club rejected a trade-deadline deal that would have sent Monta Ellis(notes) to Memphis for O.J. Mayo(notes) and Hasheem Thabeet(notes), Nelson wasn’t even consulted. It’s not clear who made the decision, but it was news to Nelson, who hadn’t even heard the Grizzlies’ proposal. Not only that, the two sources said, but Nelson would have made the deal. ‘In a heartbeat,’ said one."

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C: The Basketball Jones. Skeets and Tas are back, y’all!
PF: The Sporting Blog. Glen Davis(notes) almost had a shot at an Oscar. Really.
SF: Twitter. John Mayer wearing a Thunder jersey. Sorry, OKC fans. (via Daily Thunder)
SG: SLAM. Catching up with Ronnie Fields, who was better than Kevin Garnett(notes) in high school.
PG: Lakers Blog. Kobe Bryant(notes) and Matt Barnes(notes) should meet at the trap, cause it’s goin’ down.
6th: Bullets Forever. Kevin Garnett and Andray Blatche(notes) should meet at the mall, cause it’s also goin’ down.
7th: The Baseline. If the Great Gazoo was making the Warriors’ personnell choices, nothing would change.
8th: HP. I can’t pick just one of HP’s excellent Sloan Sports Conference posts, so read them all.
9th: TrueHoop. Same with TrueHoop. Read up, and get smarter.
10th: Alone in the Green Room. Here’s some players who might want to win a title before they retire.

Got a link or tip for Ball Don’t Lie? Holler at me at trey.kerby (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter.

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With a whole lotta yelling.

Sixth
Man of the Year

1.
Carl Landry(notes)

I’m not sure how I feel about this. Because Landry
has clearly come off the bench for the last time.

How I feel about his candidacy thus far is clear, as
he’s still at the top of the list. The guy came off the pine for 51 games as a Rocket,
and averaged 16 points, 5.5 rebounds and 55 percent shooting in only 27 minutes
per game, sparkling numbers. His work as a Rocket
means he should head this list, for now.

By the end of April? When it’s time to vote? When he’ll
have started nearly 30 games? Harder to tell. For now, I’d like to celebrate
this guy’s 2009-10 accomplishments as a sixth man, because he clearly brought
it in Houston.

2.
Anderson Varejao(notes)

He’s started just seven games out of 62, and though
his box score stats aren’t much (about nine points and eight rebounds with a block in 29
minutes), just about every advanced-statistical metric, combined with
out-and-out viewing of this guy working all over the place defensively, tells
you that A.V. belongs.

3.
Manu Ginobili(notes)

This is where people get upset, and they’re just
going to have to deal with it.

Jamal Crawford(notes) seems like a good step ahead of Manu,
but he also plays a few more minutes. Per-minute, Ginobili destroys Crawford in
rebounds, assists, doubles him up in steals and blocks, and scores 1.8 fewer
points per 36 minutes than JC. It’s not by much, but when he’s been on the
court, Manu Ginobili plays better all-around basketball than Jamal Crawford. I
don’t know how any non-Hawks fan could deny that.

Coach
of the Year

My typical caveat. Not because I’m trying to deflect
criticism, but because I’m right as rain. Ten coaches deserve this award right
now, and if you take my rankings (the overall 10 or just what you see here)
and flip them, I couldn’t dispute your flippings for an instance. Not one of
these candidates is more deserving than the next.

1.
Scott Skiles

The Bucks are third in defensive efficiency, and Skiles has
cobbled a winning team together without Michael Redd(notes), with two point guards who
should be the worst (on paper) defensive point guards in the NBA and with a
starting point (kid) shooting 36.6 percent.

2.
Jerry Sloan

Amidst the trade nonsense, the injuries, the
weirdness that is that team, Sloan’s Jazz have been on absolute fire lately
and their defense has improved.

3.
Scott Brooks

Has a proper superstar, sure, but he’s also in the
midst of a rebuilding project - a team that merely moved from one town to
another but was made to look like an expansion team - and the Thunder are way,
way ahead of schedule.

Executive
of the Year

Last summer, the general manager of the youngest,
cheapest and most exciting playoff contender in the NBA drafted James Harden(notes),
his team’s solid sixth man, ahead of Tyreke Evans(notes). He added Serge Ibaka(notes), a
sound backup C/F, traded for the little-used Etan Thomas(notes), signed Kevin Ollie(notes)
and extended the contract of Thabo Sefolosha(notes). Mostly moves designed to set up
salary relief in the future and keep his options open while adding to the
rotation. In spite of oodles of available cap space. Earlier this season, he
traded for Matt Harpring’s(notes) expiring contract and picked up Eric Maynor(notes) as a
reward.

And the Oklahoma City Thunder are 38-24. They’re two
games out of having home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, GM
Sam Presti has this team both packing its home stadium while working a
few million under the salary cap, with all sorts of
salary flexibility and draft picks yet to come. Save for the assumed knowledge
that the ownership group molests collies, this is the ideal NBA franchise.

But he didn’t really do anything last summer. Waited
out a rather poor group of free agents, tinkered, bided his time. Which is why
I can’t stand this award in most years. Because you have 30 teams with one
goal (yes, even the most skinflint of operations wants to win the championship
because it would make them money) and 30 different ways of getting there.
Winning now. Protecting for later. Building slowly. Blowing it up now. Cashing
in because another team needs to blow it up now. You’ve seen them all before.

So for me to go all in on one executive? I can’t.
I’ll write a nice piece this spring on who I think should be the Executive of
the Year, but woe is the NBA follower that thinks this thing gets done in a
year or that one executive’s 12-month turn is in any way comparable to another.
The Lakers are on top right now mainly because Jerry West convinced Stu
Jackson to take Anthony Peeler and George Lynch off his hands back in the
summer of 1996, and scared John Calipari into talking himself into Kerry
Kittles a month before that.

This is a long haul, and for an award to recognize
the best of the last 12 months? I have a hard time with that. So we’ll have to
talk again on the subject this May.

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Wow. I’ve never heard anyone use the words "cotillion" or "aficionado" when talking about karaoke. Of course, if you were as good as Shane Battier at singing, you’d have to use big words too.

With his love of crooning other people’s songs, it’s only natural that Battier would host his own karaoke night. So if you happen to be around Houston on Apr. 8, it’s in your best interest to get your tickets to Battier’s Clutch City Karaoke. You won’t regret it.

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