Joe Mama

I know some of you will love this little gem from Fred Carter's Internet chat on ESPN.com today.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=3366

"andy (honolulu): who would have been a better player if injuries did not hamper their career - penny hardaway or grant hill?

Fred Carter: Grant Hill. He is a better player no matter what. Hardaway did not have a love or passion for the game. I've talked to too many of his coaches and they all said the same thing. Grant Hill had that passion. He did everything he could to win.

This one was a no-brainer. But a great question."

Also, this is from Mike Kahn's season awards article on CBS SportsLine.com today.

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/6308427

"Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs: Nobody in their right mind would have believed the Spurs would roar into the new year and virtually run the table the rest of the season. Yes, Tim Duncan is a great player, and the guys around him have improved, but Pop has this team playing fabulous defense -- without David Robinson for large chunks of the season. The playoffs will be the true test, but these guys have just run away from the pack. Also doing special jobs have been Jerry Sloan at Utah, Golden State's Eric Musselman, Rick Carlisle at Detroit and Phoenix's Frankie Johnson."

"Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons: It would be easy just to give it to Sacramento's Geoff Petrie every year the way things have been going, but Dumars has done a remarkable job of finding discarded players who want to prove the world wrong. They're a cross between the old Pistons teams Dumars played on and the Oakland Raiders, battling for the top seed in the East. Also, Petrie, for adding Keon Clark and Jim Jackson, Popovich for his prominent role with R.C. Buford in San Antonio, Donnie Walsh for continuing to build Indiana the right way and Bryan Colangelo in Phoenix."

Chap and I briefly discussed this in another thread the other night. Internet fans of other teams probably complain about the coaching nearly as much as we do. That said, I think Frank Johnson has been at best an average coach. I think he benefits greatly from the job Colangelo did putting together a team that could be competitive. Landing Amare Stoudemire at No. 9 alone should be enough to get BC GM of the Year consideration.

Joe Mama

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"A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. 'Hear that?' you say. 'That's dynamite, baby.'" - Jack Handy

Joe Mama

BTW Magic, Kenny, and Chuck did their postseason award picks on Inside the NBA on TNT tonight. They all chose Amare Stoudemire as the rookie of the year.

Joe Mama

__________________
"A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. 'Hear that?' you say. 'That's dynamite, baby.'" - Jack Handy

elindholm

I've been saying since the All-Star break that the Rookie of the Year race would come down to which team makes the playoffs. Assuming the Suns don't pull a major choke job here, that means Stoudemire gets it.

Brian in Mesa

Hey guys, remember when all the talk was about whether the Lakers would make the playoffs or not?

They are currently tied with Minnesota, but would be in the 5th spot if the playoffs were to begin today. They are 1/2 game behind Portland and have a decent shot at the 4th spot and home court through part of the playoffs.

Nice turnaround, eh?

Anyone catch tonight's Kings loss?

Ok, I'll go away for now.

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HONEY BADGER DON'T CARE

Joe Mama

I did not think the Lakers would get all the way up to fourth or fifth, but I knew they would make the playoffs. I'm glad they beat Sacramento tonight. I may be getting ahead of myself, but I do not want any chance of the Phoenix Suns facing the Kings
in the first round.

Joe Mama

__________________
"A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. 'Hear that?' you say. 'That's dynamite, baby.'" - Jack Handy

thegrahamcrackr

I was talking with my best friend about this last night. He was arguing the same fact, and I used to agree with that statement. However lately I have been reading a good amount of votes learning towards Yao. Most people sighted that Amare was in a "slump" for a while, which I took as he wasnt kicking ass with 20 and 12 games, but he was playing at his averages. I wonder if people are saying the same thing about Yao now that he is in a slump??

Another funny quote I saw was that Yao deserved ROY because he has become a key part in the offense for houston, while Amare is just a role player. My personal arguement for that is: If Amare can get identical stats as a role player, then he should not only win but it should be unanimous.

I really do not know who will win, for the most part, players and coaches seem to vote for Amare. GMs are probably split and Media(the ones that get a vote) seem to learn to Yao a little. It should be very very close IMO. Even if Amare does not win, he will know that the people who play and teach the game credit him the most, which is a nice consolation prize, although the hardware would be nice.

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Chad is a very special person with a very special job!

PhiLLmattiC

I kind of think Penny Hardaway is a better player than Grant Hill. I'm sure Grant Hill would have better stats (even though he already does) but Penny used to do some really amazing things. I l kind of agree though Penny hardly ever really played the hardest he could.

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"Penny Hardaway in his prime. Penny sees the whole floor and can score. He's still one of my favorite players of all time."
-LeBron James discussing "the NBA player who reminds you of yourself"

Joe Mama

I really wish the voters could split their vote. The way voting is done now they'll have to get the exact same number of votes to be Co-Rookies of the Year. I think they are both very deserving.

One of the guys (I believe Charles Barkley) said something about the ROY race that I completely disagree with. They said that the Suns and the Rockets are almost exactly the same teams they were last year, and the only major additions each team has made has been the rookies. That is not true at all.

Last year Steve Francis played just 57 games. Maurice Taylor did not play at all, and Glen Rice only played in a handful of games, and the Rockets did not have James Posey.

For the Suns Penny Hardaway was healthy all last year, but he missed 33 games this season. Jake Tsakalidis played 67 games last season, and so far this year he has played in just 30 games. Last year the Suns had Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk coming off the bench until the trade deadline. This year they have Scott Williams playing spot minutes and Joe Johnson for the whole year.

So please Mr. Barkley or Mr. Smith or whoever said it please tell me again that the Suns and Rockets are basically the same teams as last year except for their rookie additions. IMO Francis' extra 25 games this season is the biggest upgrade for the Rockets.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Joe Mama

__________________
"A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. 'Hear that?' you say. 'That's dynamite, baby.'" - Jack Handy

Chaz

As for Frank Johnson being named one of the better coaches, lets not forget the all star coaching assistants that FJ has to work with. IMO much of the teams successes can be attributed to them.

As far as Penny V. Hill, I give the slight edge to Hill but not by much. I think Hill is probably a little better at making his teammates better. I think Penny gets a bad rap for not playing hard because of his style. Penny seems under control and doesn't get real high or low on the floor. I think this can be unfairly interpreted as lack of desire or not playing hard. I would like to see him get fired up every once in a while.

I think most of us are aware of Charles' frequent mouth - brain disconnects.