Elton Brand dunking

Philadelphia was down 38 - 13.

Past 76er teams would have quit. We are going to lose, so let’s go home.

But they did not quit and came back to win the game 94 - 92 over the Indiana Pacers. Elton Brand had 15 rebounds and Thaddeus Young had 25 points.

“It was a great comeback by Philadelphia,” Indiana coach Jim O’Brien said. “Sometimes you get too big a lead early in the game — and the NBA is a game of momentum shifts.”
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There is no quit with Mo Cheeks as coach. You noticed last year in the playoffs as this Philly team eventually lost to the Detroit Pistons that they just keep coming at you. There is no quit in these 76ers.

Now the Philadelphia team added prize 20 -10 guy, Elton Brand. Now the 76ers have some power on the blocks and who knows how far this team can go.
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The last time the Lakers went 7 - 0 to start the season it was 2001 and they finished the season with the NBA Title.

The Lakers are not playing like a championship team, but they are winning like a Championship team and for this time of the season that is good enough.

So what is their formula for success?

Hang in there and let Kobe takeover in the end.

The success formula allows them to win for now, but they have to develop into more of a team if they want to seriously make a title run.

We do have some very good stretches,” Fisher said. “It’s something we can build on. We know we have a long way to go. We’re only in November. We want to keep winning. (But) I think we’re relying on Kobe’s ability to make plays too much in the fourth quarter. … So, that’s something we’re going to have to correct.

“Teams know the ball is going to be in his hands down the stretch. We have to be able to do things so that there are other options. We have too many other guys who can make plays. It doesn’t always have to be Kobe.”

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The Wizards need Gilbert Arenas and maybe Brendan Haywood even more

Washington is 0 - 5. Now you would think they would be a little bothered by that, but that does not seem to be the case.

Whatever the reason, the Washington Wizards profess they are not worried, even if they are the only NBA team without a victory this season. Even if a loss to the Northwest Division-leading Utah Jazz on Wednesday night would drop Washington to 0-6 for the first time in franchise history.

“It’s early,” co-captain Antawn Jamison said after practice Tuesday. “Not even close to pushing the panic button.”

Really?

There isn’t any concern about the season slipping away?

“No. Never. There’s too many games. If we were at this point a month from now and I’m saying, ‘Hey, we’re 0-20,’ I would tell you, ‘Yeah.’ I couldn’t be as positive as I am right now,” said Caron Butler, Washington’s other captain and 2007-08 All-Star.

“But 0-5? We’re cool. (If we were) 0-20? Yeah, I’m in Tahiti right now, mentally. But we’re fine right now.”

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So what is up with the Wizards anyway?

Hmm, a missing Agent Zero does not help, but maybe the real problem is a missing Brendan Haywood.

The Wizards’ defense had taken a step forward last season under the tutelage of new assistant coach Randy Ayers, and much effort was made to funnel foes toward the 7-foot Haywood in the paint. But he is out four to six months after surgery on his right wrist.

“He was the anchor of the whole defense,” reserve forward Darius Songaila said. “He was right there at the back. Everybody knew he was there. He was always talking and pointing and affecting shots and changing shots.”

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Dwyane Wade is unstoppable in the 4th

If you watched any Olympic hoops, you could see that Dwyane Wade is back and looking tough. Wade showed it all in the 4th quarter against the New Jersey Nets.

Where there’s a Wade, there’s a way.

Wade scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, 14 of those in the final 4½ minutes, and the Heat rallied to beat the New Jersey Nets 99-94 on Monday night to stay perfect at home this season. He entered the game 0-for-9 from 3-point range this season, but connected on four against the Nets, including three from beyond the arc during the frantic comeback.

“I didn’t need to use them yet,” Wade said. “But tonight, I brought them out.”

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Nobody expects Miami to be a force this year, but Dwyane Wade may have something to say about that.

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All part of the Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups deal was the releasing of McDyess to return to the Pistons. The Gary Peyton rule makes the Pistons wait 30 days to resign him. Denver has already bought out his contract.

Now technically Antonio can sign with anyone, but he claims to want to return to the Pistons. The Pistons need the help down low.

Now there are quite a few NBA teams that would love to have Antonio, but he has said he only wants to play in Detroit.

The classic quote comes from Doc Rivers of the Boston Celtics.

“It’s not a pleasant thing,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, upon hearing of the deal. “I was hoping they’d trade all five of their starters.”

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Tony Parker is unstoppable

With no Manu and the San Antonio Spurs slumping, somebody had to do something. Well, Tony Parker did more than just something. Tony did everything.

The San Antonio Spurs needed every last layup and feathery jumper from the fast-moving Frenchman, whose unstoppable performance was just enough to fuel their first win.

Parker scored a career-high 55 points, including a 20-footer at the buzzer to force a second overtime, in San Antonio’s 129-125 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

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It was only the Timberwolves, but the Spurs needed this win!

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Dirk Nowitzki is listening for a Spurs rally, but did not hear anything

Dirk Nowitzki goes off for 30 and the Mavericks still look like a team to contend with in the West.

Can San Antonio win a game this year?

It remains to be seen. The new Dallas Mavericks with the same old players beat the Spurs 98 - 91.

They still have to play without the injured Manu Ginobili until December.

It is a rough start.

Odds remain high the Spurs aren’t going to finish the year 0-82. It only seemed that way during the lowest moments of Tuesday night’s 98-81 loss to the Dallas Mavericks at the AT&T Center, which dropped the Spurs to 0-3 for the first time in their NBA history.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points, Jason Terry chipped in 29 and the Mavericks had their way with the Spurs for most of the game — in the paint, on the glass and from the perimeter.

The last time the Spurs began a season with three consecutive defeats, the year was 1973, they were playing in the ABA, and Duncan had yet to be born.

“It’s uncharted territory for us,” Duncan said, striking a serious note. “We’re 0-3. We’ve played some bad basketball so far. What can you say?”
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The Spurs have had slow starts before in the Duncan era and they do not panic.

“It’s the NBA,” Mason said afterward, “and it was one of those nights.”

The trouble for the Spurs is that they’ve had three of those nights, and here is where they are hoping history stops repeating itself.

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What are the Knicks thinking?

Sometimes you have to just cut your losses and move on. Are the Knicks listening?

No, it seems not.

The New York Knicks have no plans to do anything with Stephon Marbury, except pay him his $21.9 million salary and give him a great seat to watch all their games.

Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni and team president Donnie Walsh said that they will not waive, buy out or trade Marbury. They also will not let him play in games, unless there is an injury to their top three guards, Chris Duhon, Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson.
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Stephon Marbury will be a free agent at the end of the year. Get rid of him. Even if all your guards were injured and could not play, do you really want to go to Stephon Marbury?

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Allen Iverson is a Piston

Years ago the Pistons tried to trade for Allen Iverson when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Now finally they got it done trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson.

Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien also spoke with the AP about the trade: “Two teams had one common problem, or challenge. I think the Pistons looked at (Rodney) Stuckey and saw him as the point guard of tomorrow, and you have an All-Star in Chauncey who was in his way. We’re just thrilled with the way J.R. (Smith) is progressing, and he had a Hall of Famer in front of him. You understand the motivation of both teams.”

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That is the obvious stuff, but why did these teams make this trade?

Some say that the Joe Dumars experiment of having no superstars ultimately failed.

What the Pistons were attempting was nothing less than a paradigm shift in the NBA, like taking a NASCAR track in a Prius.

Joe Dumars built his roster by seeing value where others saw risk. The core players consisted of a point guard who had already been with four other teams (Chauncey Billups), a guy seen as unfit to play alongside Michael Jordan in Washington (Richard Hamilton), a very limited offensive player on his third team (Ben Wallace), a late first-round draft pick (Tayshaun Prince) and a volatile, technical-happy head case (Rasheed Wallace).

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Nonsense. All those conference finals were just illusion? The NBA Title was just make believe? Come on. The experiment worked and worked beyond all of our expectations.

No, it seems more likely that both teams are seeking to retool. There was no room for both a Carmelo Anthony and an Allen Iverson on the same court at the same time. That is way too much offense and way too little defense to win any NBA Titles.

For the Pistons, they get to pick up some instant offense on a team that often went stagnant the last couple of years and if it does not work out the Pistons can just let Iverson go, because he is in the last year of his contract. Remember Rasheed Wallace is also in the last year of his contract.

For the Allen Iverson skeptics out there, it all goes back to a theory of mine. When players get up in sports years the desire to win exceeds the desire to pile up stats. Allen is finally on a team that is favored to win.
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Yi Jianlian is doing more talking and more dunking

Yi is trying to improve his English, but playing with a bunch of young guys in an NBA basketball team is not exactly like taking a college linguistics course. Then, of course, there is always television, that great educator.

He has his list of the absolute, most valuable phrases learned either last season in Milwaukee, from classes or gleaned from the greatest of all teachers.

Television.

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Yi has learned a set of slang sayings so that he can fit in and understand his current world.

“What’s up?”

“How you doing?”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s good to see you.”

“Let’s go.”

And the ever-popular, “What it do?”

That one came from his Milwaukee experience and cracks up Bobby Simmons, who was with Yi on the Bucks and is again a teammate in New Jersey.

“He picked up a lot of slang terms last year,” Simmons said. “Like some guys will say, ‘What it do?’ for ‘How you doing?’ He’d come in in the morning, with, ‘What it do?’ Small things like that.”

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