I'm back and I'm starting putting the news I've lost in a nice order so here we start with the transactions at the current time:
| Tues, Nov. 25 | Memphis assigns Hamed Haddadi to Dakota of the D-League.
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| Mon, Nov. 24 | Washington fires Eddie Jordan and names Ed Tapscott interim head coach.
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| Sat, Nov. 22 | Oklahoma City fires P.J. Carlesimo and names Scott Brooks interim head coach.
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| Fri, Nov. 21 | New York trades Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to the L.A. Clippers for Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley. New York trades Jamal Crawford to Golden State for Al Harrington. Boston assigns Bill Walker to Utah of the D-League. Oklahoma City assigns Steven Hill to Tulsa of the D-League.
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| Wed, Nov. 19 | Charlotte waives Andre Brown and Linton Johnson.
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| Mon, Nov. 17 | Chicago waives Demetris Nichols. Golden State signs Stephen Jackson to a contract extension.
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| Sun, Nov. 16 | San Antonio signs Blake Ahearn.
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| Sat, Nov. 15 | Boston assigns J.R. Giddens to Utah of the D-League.
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| Fri, Nov. 14 | Golden State assigns Richard Hendrix and DeMarcus Nelson to Bakersfield of the D-League. San Antonio assigns Ian Mahinmi to Austin of the D-League.
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| Thu, Nov. 13 | Chicago signs Lindsey Hunter.
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| Tue, Nov. 11 | Golden State names Larry Harris assistant coach.
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| Mon, Nov. 10 | Denver waives Antonio McDyess.
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| Tue, Nov. 4 | Oklahoma City signs Steven Hill.
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| Mon, Nov. 3 | Detroit acquires Allen Iverson from Denver in exchange for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb. Denver waives Juwan Howard. Oklahoma City waives John Lucas III.
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| Sun, Nov. 2 | Golden State signs Rob Kurz. |
Next comes some news around NBA:
Believe it or not, the New York Knicks are actually going about the business of playing basketball.
The media may be more concerned about the Stephon Marbury soap opera or the summer of 2010, but Mike D'Antoni and Knicks players not named Marbury are just trying to win some games.
Marbury was suspended for Saturday's game against the Golden State Warriors and Knicks president Donnie Walsh addressed the situation an hour before tipoff. Walsh intends to meet with Marbury on Monday and hopes the issue will be resolved after that.
"Everybody come in with good intentions, and it hasn't worked out," Walsh said.
The saga has turned into a he-said, he-said story about whether or not the Knicks really wanted Marbury to play earlier this week and whether or not Marbury refused.
It's an issue that has festered on too long, but whether or not it has had an impact on the standings is another question. With the Knicks' defense-free 138-125 win over the Warriors on Saturday, New York stands at 8-8 and on the playoff bubble after a month of action. That's not a bad position to be in for a team that has averaged 28 wins over the last four seasons.
Here the President of the Knicks speaks his thoughts:
"I don't think [the Marbury situation] is going to affect the other players on the team," Walsh said. "This has, somewhat, been going on a little bit, and they've handled that part of it very well."
The Knicks have other issues, like dealing with a slew of injuries. Including Marbury, D'Antoni had six players unavailable on Saturday. A seventh, Jerome James, hasn't played all season.
That leaves eight bodies for D'Antoni to choose from, and only two of them, Chris Duhon and Anthony Roberson, are guards. Nate Robinson suffered a groin injury last Saturday and, because of a heart issue, Cuttino Mobley hasn't been able to play since arriving in last Friday's trade with the Clippers.
Forward Jared Jeffries fractured his left fibula early in training camp, but he was in uniform on Saturday and should be available to play in the middle of next week.
In the meantime, D'Antoni is trying to make due. He's had to use a bigger, slower lineup than he would like and his assistant coaches often fill in as practice bodies.
"I don't think [the Marbury situation] is going to affect the other players on the team," Walsh said. "This has, somewhat, been going on a little bit, and they've handled that part of it very well."
The Knicks have other issues, like dealing with a slew of injuries. Including Marbury, D'Antoni had six players unavailable on Saturday. A seventh, Jerome James, hasn't played all season.
That leaves eight bodies for D'Antoni to choose from, and only two of them, Chris Duhon and Anthony Roberson, are guards. Nate Robinson suffered a groin injury last Saturday and, because of a heart issue, Cuttino Mobley hasn't been able to play since arriving in last Friday's trade with the Clippers.
Forward Jared Jeffries fractured his left fibula early in training camp, but he was in uniform on Saturday and should be available to play in the middle of next week.
In the meantime, D'Antoni is trying to make due. He's had to use a bigger, slower lineup than he would like and his assistant coaches often fill in as practice bodies.
"You get a list of things you want to cover and then you go out there," D'Antoni said, "[and you] can't quite cover that today. You kind of put it on the back burner and you do what you can do to get the guys ready."
Meanwhile, Duhon has been suffering from lower back pain for the last few games, but has been playing more than 40 minutes nightly because of the Knicks' thin backcourt.
"He'll battle through it," D'Antoni said of his point guard. "He's a tough kid."
That tough kid set the Knicks' single-game record for assists with 22 dimes Saturday and insists he would be playing even if a few more guards were available to play.
"If I can go out there and help my team," Duhon said after the game, "I'm going to do whatever it takes."
D'Antoni believes that toughness permeates his roster. While he's obviously had issues with Marbury, he couldn't be happier with the rest of his team.
"The guys are in good spirits," D'Antoni said. "They're trying to put it all together and be together."
Whether it is LeBron James' future or Marbury's past, Duhon says D'Antoni doesn't let external issues get into the locker room.
"He just doesn't talk about it," Duhon said. "He doesn't bring it up. That's not a discussion or a topic that we have in the locker room. Guys can have their own opinions and if it distracts them, it distracts them. But coach never brings it up and it can never be an issue here."
The issues that D'Antoni wants to concern himself with instead are getting healthy, integrating Tim Thomas and Al Harrington into his system, and of course, improving on the defensive end of the floor.
"I'm anxious," the coach said, "but as soon as we get Jared back, we get Nate back and then we get playing, we'll be fine. But we just have to get through this tough period. We'll get through it the best we can, but it's a long season and I think we'll be fine."
We thought the Knicks' off-the-court issues would go away with the departure of Isiah Thomas, but they're still here. At some point, though (maybe as soon as Monday), they'll go away (at least until LeBron comes to town again).
Then the media can concern themselves with what D'Antoni and his team has already been focused on: basketball.
Now what you say about the King's attitude??
LeBron James reacted strongly to Charles Barkley's comments that the Cavaliers star isn't showing respect for Cleveland fans and his teammates by discussing his possible free agency following the 2010 season.
"He's stupid. That's all I've got to say about that," James said Friday night before the Cavaliers' game against Golden State.
Barkley made the comments on TNT's NBA studio show and Dan Patrick's radio show.
"If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up," the Hall of Famer said on Patrick's show. "I'm a big LeBron fan. He's a stud. You gotta give him his props. I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavaliers."
James, under contract for two more seasons, was bombarded with questions about his future when the Cavaliers visited New York to play the Knicks on Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers can offer him an extension as early as July 1, 2009. There has long been speculation James will eventually end up in one of the NBA's larger markets and the Knicks have cleared salary-cap space in anticipation of the 2010 free-agent class.
"I think July 1, 2010, is a very big day," James said when the Cavaliers were in New York. "It's probably going to be one of the biggest days in free-agent history in the NBA. So a lot of teams are gearing up to try to prepare themselves to be able to put themselves in position to get one of the big free-agent market guys."
