When Mark Cuban purchased the Dallas Mavericks on January 14, 2000, most NBA fans assumed that, since Cuban was a billionaire, he would use his business savvy to turn the franchise around.

It started to look that way at first, but now, 8.5 years later, with some highly questionable personnel decisions and some record setting failures under their belts, people are starting to look at how Mark Cuban has run the Mavericks and are wondering where all that business savvy is.

Speaking of Mark Cuban’s business savvy, did you know that, contrary to popular belief, Mark Cuban did not start broadcast.com, the company whose sale made him a billionaire? Did you know that he only worked there about a year and a half prior to its sale to Yahoo.com? And did you know that the man who hired him to work at broadcast.com, Todd Wagner, was his college roommate?

I am not saying Mark Cuban has no business savvy, but it could well be that his impressive wealth has caused many to overrate his business acumen. At the very least, Mark Cuban is one of the luckiest guys you’ve ever heard of.

According to PBS, “The basis of Cuban’s considerable fortune was his 1999 sale of Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in Yahoo stock that Cuban and his partner Todd Wagner rapidly converted to cash and moved on with their lives before the dot-com meltdown of 2000.” (Robert Cringley, PBS.org).

Mark Cuban became an overnight billionaire in April of 1999. On March 8, 1999, Dallas Mavericks General Manager, Don Nelson, traded away Bubba Wells and Martin Muursepp to bring Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki to the Dallas Mavericks.

Think of it: just months before Mark Cuban bought the Mavericks, Don Nelson traded away two players who never played in the NBA again after their stint with the Mavericks, for two players who went on to win 3 NBA MVP awards between them.

And you thought the Lakers got Pau Gasol for next to nothing!

Speaking of next to nothing, if you want to see what Yahoo! got for their $5.7 billion, just enter “broadcast.com” into the address bar of your web browser. You get nothing. Your browser gets redirected to Yahoo.com. Broadcast.com promised to deliver video over the Internet, but 1999 technology couldn’t make good on the promise and in the end, Yahoo paid $5.7 billion for nothing.

PBS.org also says, “Yahoo, which probably shouldn’t have bought the company at all, overpaid for Broadcast.com in such an epic manner that the deal quickly became a Silicon Valley joke” (ibid).

What is worse, it looks like Yahoo! will pay TWICE for that mistake. Ever since Yahoo’s overpayment for broadcast.com made them the laughing stock of the business world, Yahoo has been compensating by over-analyzing business opportunities… to the point that they haven’t made decisions quickly enough to compete with agile competition such as Google. Now Yahoo is about to be acquired by Microsoft, and isn’t too happy about it. Yahoo REALLY paid for their faith in Mark Cuban’s business acumen.

Six years prior to Mark Cuban coming on board, Broadcast.com was known as “Cameron Broadcast Systems” and it had nothing to do with the Internet. Chris Jaeb started it in 1992 to broadcast college sports via shortwave radio. Later they decided to broadcast audio of sporting events (and presidential conventions) over the Internet. In January 1998, the company went public, renaming themselves broadcast.com. That is when their attorney, Todd Wagner, hired his old college roommate to help out.

The day broadcast.com went public, Wagner, Cuban, and 98 other broadcast.com employees with stock options became paper millionaires. In April of 1999, Yahoo! announced their purchase of broadcast.com, and Wagner and Cuban quickly cashed out their Yahoo! stock making them both billionaires just before Yahoo stock plunged.

To give you an idea of how unbelievably lucky Mark Cuban is, on January 4, 2000, Yahoo stock was trading for $500.13 a share. On September 27, 2001, Yahoo stock dropped to $4.01 a share (when you adjust for a 2-for-1 split).

To put that in basketball terms, that is like going from 67 wins one season, to 0.5 the next.

And yes, I chose 67 wins on purpose.

Months after becoming an overnight billionaire, Mark Cuban had the fortunate timing of buying the Dallas Mavericks with newly acquired Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, and Cuban was credited for taking a 40 win team who didn’t make the playoffs, and making it into a 67 win team … who lost in the first round to a team that barely made the playoffs!

If we credit Mark Cuban for things that actually happened on his watch, then his Dallas Mavericks resume looks something like this:

<> Cuban broke up his power tandem and let Steve Nash go to the Phoenix Suns, only to later trade away promising and productive players to get the closest thing he could get to Nash: an aging Jason Kidd.

<> One reason Cuban felt he couldn’t afford Nash was because he overpaid so much for Erick Dampier.

<> Cuban also let future all star Antawn Jamison (who now averages 21.4 points, 10.2 rebounds) slip through his fingers.

<> Cuban also kissed goodbye to Michael Finley, a former all star and now a solid role player for the (still in the playoffs) San Antonio Spurs.

<> Cuban let go of Raja Bell, a defensive stalwart and now a starter for the Phoenix Suns.

<> Cuban let go of Antoine Walker, a flakey player for sure, but he was an all star and helped the Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

<> Cuban also took from Avery’s arsenal, Devin Harris, a young point guard who was more than promising, he was delivering.

<> There were many other personnel decisions such as Kevin Willis and Doug Christie that didn’t pan out for the Mavs.

<> Unbelievably, Mark Cuban actually hired a statistician to track how NBA officiating treated his Mavericks compared to other teams.

<> Speaking of officials and mistreatment, total up the fines the NBA has levied on Mark Cuban as of June 20, 2006, and imagine an astute businessman pissing away $1,665,000 in tantrums. THAT is good business acumen?! Yes, Cuban matches every dollar of fines with a charitable donation, but that hardly makes him a good guy. That is like calling former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer a good guy if he were to claim that every dollar he gave to a prostitute he matched with a donation to the girl scouts. Mark, if you want to be thought of as a humanitarian, double your charitable donations and quit paying fines to the NBA… they’ve got enough money as it is anyway!

Now Mark Cuban is being criticized for firing Avery Johnson because Avery wasn’t able to win with the roster Cuban ruined.

I understand their arguments, but perhaps they overlook yet another of Mark Cuban’s poor business decisions concerning the Dallas Mavericks. If Cuban knew Don Nelson was going to step down as head coach, which he apparently did since they were “grooming” Avery Johnson for the job, Cuban could have hired Byron Scott instead. Scott was fired by the New Jersey Nets in the season prior to Don Nelson stepping down. Yes, this is the same Byron Scott of the (still in the playoffs) New Orleans Hornets who just won coach of the year for the NBA.

With broadcast.com, Mark Cuban was at the right place at the right time and shrewdly took advantage of his good luck and found himself a billionaire.

With the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban was once again at the right place at the right time, but instead of shrewdly taking advantage of his luck and turning the organization over to experts, Mark Cuban took credit which rightly belonged to Don Nelson for turning around the Dallas Mavericks, then ran Nelson out of town, and meddled with the Mavericks to the point that is is plain to every NBA observer that the Dallas Mavericks are heading the wrong direction.

If Mark Cuban wants to salvage his reputation as a businessman, where the Dallas Mavericks are concerned at least, he’ll hire an experienced coach, let his coach and managers run the team, and go do some good with that fortune he has been blessed with.

— Cavaliers 93, Wizards 86 —

<> The Cavs, the team with the better record, won at home. This is what was supposed to happen so anything ELSE would have been news.

<> The Wizards made a strong showing on the Cavs’ home floor. With 55 seconds left, it was a 4 point game. This could be a series.

<> Maybe Gilbert should have had more playing time.

<> The Wizards shot just 29.8% on their jump shots. The Cavs shot just 31.3% on their jump shots. With shooting like that, the win goes to the team with the most rebounds (Cavs), least turnovers (Cavs), most points off of turnovers (Cavs), and most points from the free throw line (Cavs by far).

<> It was hard not to look at Caron Butler and think, “Wow, if the Lakers had him instead of Luke Walton right now…” In addition to being a solid contributer offensively (14 pts, 4 rebs, 4 asts.), Butler led both teams in steals.

<> LeBron’s back scares me. Back problems are an old man’s ailment (Dan Majerle, David Robinson), not a young man’s.

<> Quote of the game goes to LeBron: “I was built for this. I’m not 6-9, 260 pounds to shoot jumpers all night. I go to the hole and I create contact. Don’t ever think I’m the only person feeling that.”

— Spurs 117, Suns 115 —

<> I’m surprised by all the people crowing over the Suns loss. Had Tim Duncan not nailed a clutch three pointer, the favorited Spurs would have lost in their own building.

<> I would not say the Suns choked, I’d say Greg Popovich out coached Mike D’Antoni. The Suns didn’t lose, they were beat, and by a team with a lot of championship heart, very smart coaching, and a little luck.

<> Look no further than this series to see the affect international players are having on basketball at the highest levels: Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands), Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Fabricio Oberto (Argentina), Raja Bell (Virgin Islands), Steve Nash (Canada), Boris Diaw (France), Leandro Barbosa (Brazil), Gordan Giricek (Yugoslavia), and Sean Marks (New Zealand).

<> Just because Tim Duncan doesn’t shoot threes doesn’t mean he can’t make them. At the all star break, Tim Duncan surprised us all with his outside shooting as Duncan, David Robinson and Becky Hammon won the Shooting Stars competition. Duncan nailed three pointers and half court shots, and afterwards said at the post event press conference, said that it was luck, but on the other hand, he nails those shots all the time in practice and goofing off.

<> In this game, Tim Duncan was shooting 56% on his jump shots, and 67% overall from the floor. Considering what Greg Popovich may have learned about Tim’s 3-point abilities in practice over their 11 years (and 4 championships) together, and how hot Tim was that game, it was brilliant for Tim to have been the one to shoot that shot.

<> With 19 seconds left in the 2nd overtime, with the Suns down by 3, D’Antoni used his last time out, put Shaq in and a play to get a quick 3. Four seconds later, Nash hit the three and tied the score at 115, but rather than take a time out, Greg Popovich surprised the Suns by not using one of his 3 remaining time outs. Instead, Ginobli dribbled right past an unready Suns defense for the game winning layup. It appeared to me that from the timeout, Popovich told the Spurs, “If they make their 3, don’t worry about it, they just tied the game is all. Do a Suns trick and after the made basket, quickly push the ball down court and attack the basket before they are ready for it.”

<> I don’t know when I have ever seen a box score so close. Important differences: Suns were +7 on free throws, Spurs were +16 on points in the paint and +11 on points off of turnovers.

<> The quote of the game belongs to Shaquille O’Neal: “I just wanted to play aggressive, but the floppers prevailed today. Amare and myself are going to continue to play aggressive. Hopefully those guys will compete rather than just fall down.”

<> Shaq is right, the Spurs did put him on the bench by flopping, but still, it is hard not to be amused by a Phoenix Suns player complaining about flopping. These two teams, while I like them both, are the worst in the NBA about flopping. It would help if the NBA would serious and reform of their officiating.

<> These are two of the oldest teams in the NBA, and they just played an intense, double overtime game. What will game two look like?

<> That double overtime score looks like a normal Suns score for 4 quarters. Both teams played defense.

<> Given the Spurs ability to vanish offensively, and the Suns ability to play defense when it has to, this is anybody’s series still.

— Hornets 104, Mavericks 92 —

<> I wonder how reigning MVP Dirk Nowitski felt hearing “MVP” chants for Chris Paul?

<> Dirk showed remarkable restraint as West’s had made contact multiple times with Dirk’s face. It is a farce that a double technical was called, although it’s not like this was a pivotal moment in the game.

<> Dirk may have had 31 points, but he was 1 out of 4 in the 4th quarter. Rats. I was hoping his days of not stepping up at crunch time were behind him.

<> Chris Paul is the only player I know who can punch a player in the chest, and be rewarded with a foul call on the other player for it. Paul aggressively seeks and initiates contact, jumping into defenders on ever drive, and probably because of his diminutive size and baby face, he gets free throws for it — even when the defenders are trying to avoid his contact. Chris Paul is the most coddled player in the NBA by the officials.

<> Let’s compare coaching adjustments at half time. Dallas took a 12 point lead into the locker room, then Dallas went -16 in the 3rd quarter, and -8 in the 4th. If I were Mark Cuban, I’d have my secretary setting up separate lunch meetings with Rick Carlisle and Jeff Van Gundy before New York grabs them.

<> Byron Scott or Rick Adeilman are the only two serious coach of the year candidates.

<> The Hornets were -15 at the free throw line. Dallas can shoot free throws if the Hornets put them there.

<> Jason Kidd was one rebound and one assist shy of a triple double, but he didn’t play well. Yes, he had 4 turnovers, but his team was only shooting 33% and Kidd only had 5 shot attempts. He needs to make the Hornets guard him to make plays.

<> Quote of the game goes to Avery Johnson: “We’re going to have to be much more sound in our defense.” Yeah, but they defended fine the first half. In the second half, the Mavs game up too much, and gave too little. The Mavericks were 4 of 15 in the 3rd quarter and 5 for 18 in the 4th quarter, shooting 27% in the second half… but what is worse, they don’t look like they know WHY.

— Jazz 93, Rockets 82 —

<> Andrei Kirilenko sure showed up ready to play on both ends of the floor, as did Luis Scola.

<> Jazz were +10 in points in the paint.

<> All stars Tracy McGrady had 20 points on 21 attempts, Deron Williams had 20 points on 12 attempts.

<> Mutumbo didn’t want to sit in the 4th quarter, and probably should not have. He had the highest player efficiency rating that game of any Rockets player.

<> The Rockets played all 12 players, but with injuries to Ming and Alston, they just weren’t deep enough, scoring -10 compared to the Jazz bench.

<> The Rockets are doing their best, but faced with needing to beat Utah in Utah in order to go on, the Rockets may well be exiting the playoffs in the first round for the 7th year in a row. That’s too bad; this is a good group of guys.

<> The quote of the game goes to Carlos Boozer: “You can’t replace Yao Ming.”

In sports forums all over the Internet, there is debate about the legality of face guarding in basketball.

The debate was sparked by two events: an ABC / ESPN televised game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers on March 16, 2008, and an article written the same day by well known basketball analyst, Charlie Rosen .

Because much (but not all) of the face guarding in that game was against the world’s most controversial basketball player, Kobe Bryant, the issue of face guarding itself has now unfortunately taken on an emotionally charged tone, which to me is puerile, but hey, we live in the real world.

At any rate, because this Rockets vs. Lakers game was the catalyst for this discussion, I’m pretty much forced to refer to the game to discuss it as well.

But let’s first cut to the chase, then discuss it.

Face guarding has been illegal in all levels of basketball since 1913. In the rule books, face guarding is found under “Unsportsmanlike Acts,” and a technical foul is supposed to be assessed for it. Face guarding is explicitly mentioned in the high school rule book, the NCAA rule book, the FIBA rule book, but is somewhat of a grey area in the NBA rule book (eye guarding is not face guarding).

Now for the details and discussion.

In the Rockets vs. Lakers game on Sunday, March 16, 2008, with 8:13 left in the first quarter, Shane Battier made the first of what would turn out to be many efforts to face guard Kobe Bryant.

With 3:35 left in the first quarter, ABC / ESPN showed its first slow motion replay of Battier’s face guarding of Bryant.

With 6:57 left in the second quarter, ABC/ESPN showed a slow motion replay of Chuck Hayes switching, then face guarding Kobe Bryant. Apparently, face guarding was a Rockets TEAM STRATEGY for defending Bryant.

Just prior to the beginning of the 3rd quarter, analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson narrated as ESPN / ABC showed 4 separate incidents of face guarding. Each illustration used slow motion, stop motion, and big yellow trapezoids to highlight it.

The face guarding of Kobe, and occasional slow motion replays of it, continued throughout the game until, with 6:47 left in the 4th quarter, Kobe took a page from the Rockets play book and face guarded Tracy McGrady. However, Kobe inadvertently poked Tracy in the eye while face guarding him.

THIS is why face guarding is illegal at all levels of basketball.

Face guarding is illegal at all levels of basketball because of the substantial risk for serious injury to the shooter.

Unfortunately, the NBA’s vague enforcement of face guarding could now easily have sad repercussions as young copy cats all over the world try to “be like Mike” and end up accidentally gouging out the eyes of promising, young, and talented opponents in pickup and league games.

Ironically, Kobe Bryant has been suspended by the NBA in the past for making contact to the head and face of players. The League clearly understands this is a dangerous activity, therefore it needs to act quickly (in light of all this publicity especially) for the safety of its players (and of its fans), and to conform to the rest of the world’s clearly stated position on face guarding.

Hopefully every guy who has played high school ball learned that face guarding is illegal, because it is. I personally remember being taught this in the 8th grade.

As you can see by this link to the National Federation of State High School Associates, in the 2004 - 2005 season, face guarding was even a nationwide “point of emphasis” for referees.

The following is a VERBATIM paste from 2004 - 2005 NFHS Basketball Rules Points of Emphasis.

Face Guarding: A rule change calls for a technical foul for face guarding regardless of whether or not the offended player has the ball.

Face guarding has been illegal since 1913.

Face guarding is defined as purposely obstructing an opponent’s vision by waving or placing hand(s) near his/her eyes.

The penalty is a technical foul.

Face guarding could occur with a single hand and a player’s hand(s) do not have to be waving; the hand(s) could be stationary but still restrict the opponent’s vision.

The next place players should have learned that face guarding is illegal is in college.

From the NCAA 2006 Rulebook, Page 142, Section 7, Article 4:

Direct Technical Fouls for Unsportsmanlike Player Conduct

Unsportsmanlike acts of players include, but are not limited to, the following:

Article 4. Purposely obstructing an opponent’s vision by waving or placing hand(s) near his or her eyes.

As further evidence that face guarding is illegal at all levels of basketball, FIBA, the official organization overseeing International Basketball, explicitly addresses it as well.

(Here is a link to your own copy of the FIBA rule book.)

On page 42 of 79, the FIBA Official Basketball Rulebook, valid as of September 1, 2004, says:

“A technical foul is a player non-contact foul of a behavioural nature including, but not limited to … Baiting an opponent or obstructing his vision by waving his hands near his eyes.”

Face guarding is and always has been illegal in all levels of basketball, from high school, to college to the pros.

Since virtually all NBA players first played in high school, the NCAA or in international FIBA competition, there is no where along the way that NBA players should have failed to learn that face guarding is illegal.

Perhaps this assumption is why face guarding is not expressly mentioned in the NBA rule book. After all, a rule book can’t mention everything, and referees still have Section III: Elastic Power.

What is “Elastic Power?”

“The officials shall have the power to make decisions on any point not specifically covered in the rules.” (NBA Rule Book, 2007-2008, page 12, paragraph 2).

Clearly, the NBA realizes that not everything can be or needs to be “specifically covered in the rules.”

Still, face guarding should “specifically” be in there.

In the last few years, coaches and sports casters have taken to the phrase “put a hand in his face” which is to say, “Contest the shot.”

Unfortunately, that phrase has been taken literally by people who haven’t grown up playing the game of basketball in official organized settings like high school or college, or who have, but haven’t been taught the basics, the fundamentals.

So, in summary, face guarding is illegal and has been since 1913. It is illegal at all levels of basketball from high school, to college to professional basketball. Face guarding is explicitly mentioned in high school rules, NCAA rules and FIBA rules, but while the NBA rule book contains provisions for penalizing players for face guarding, its lack of conformity with the rest of the basketball world leaves the issue open for debate.

Regardless, face guarding is a dangerous and unsportsmanlike practice that can easily do serious damage to the eyes of players, and is therefore well within the group of illegal activities for which the NBA has suspended players for in the past. Including Kobe Bryant.

I only ref occasionally, but whenever I do, and deal with each team’s highly biased view of the exact same plays I am seeing, I am amazed again at how human passion affects not just how we feel, but what we actually see.

Passion filters reality, causing us to mostly see that which we were already inclined to believe.

There is a poignant scene in the movie The Color Purple where a white women who is prejudiced about blacks, gets her car stuck. A group of black men come to her aid, but all her predetermined mind can see is a mob of black men coming at her and she freaks out. No amount of calming or logic from these men can persuade her to see the situation differently.

I think of that scene often when discussing basketball here.

Passion predisposes us to see things a certain way.  This is a reality of the human mind that all of us who enjoy discussing sports, religion, or politics need to keep in mind.

In practical terms, just because someone sees things differently than you, and won’t come around to your way of thinking, it doesn’t mean he or she is a belligerent loser with a reserved seat on the short bus to Troll Middle School, and is worthy of nothing more than your personal disdain and personal attacks.

The reality of it is, he is simply tainted differently than you are.

In fact, if you were in his shoes, you’d likely see it his way too, or at least understand why he thinks the way he does.

Whenever you feel the passion rising in you and are tempted to have a go at someone, remind yourself of this.

In time, the end of season awards will be handed out. In time, playoff teams will get eliminated. In time, some of us are going to be ecstatic and others enraged. Have you given any thought as to how you are going to react and how you are going to treat others when that time comes? Grumble? Gloat?

I knew a guy years ago who HATED women drivers. I’ll spare you the details of his complaints, but he complained about them a lot.  One night after work, he came upon a car ahead of him driving slowly in the fast lane. He grumbled about women drivers as he pulled around her, only to discover that the driver was actually a man.

Did he say to himself, “Oh! Wow. Maybe I was wrong about women drivers. Maybe men are just as bad.”

No. He said, “Stupid man! You drive like a woman!”

You don’t want to be that guy.

You don’t want to be that guy in the group who is embarrassing himself in belligerent defense of his biases, unaware of how he comes off, or how he turns others off.

By all means, debate with passion, but do it also with tolerance and with class.

After all, friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

I don’t like to write pre-game pieces, but with just 2 hours until the Houston Rockets host the Los Angeles Lakers, I have to say that I’m too excited to think about much else. Writing gives my mind some place to go until tip off. How sad is that?

Five things make this game intriguing for me:

1 - The winner will hold first place in the Western Conference play off race.

2 - Both teams will be hampered at the center position.

3 - The Lakers take their injury ridden line up into hostile territory to challenge the Rockets’ 21 game winning streak.

4 - Today’s game will also feature two of my favorite hustle and heart players: Luis Scola and Ronny Turiaf.

5 - It’s Kobe versus Tracy in a game that really matters, and in a game where they both are forced to play without their #1 sidekick.

— 1. WESTERN CONFERENCE TOP SEED

This really speaks for itself.

— 2. HAMPERED AT CENTER

The Rockets are playing without Yao Ming, but still have future hall of famer Dikembe Mutombo, but he’s aged. The Lakers are without starting center Andrew Bynum, who filled in for traded starting center Kwame Brown, who filled in for injured starting center Chris Mihm, who eventually was replaced by starting Center Pau Gasol who is now out with an ankle sprain.

While Kareem is busy teaching Lakers centers, maybe he ought to teach them how to have a long career.

— 3. ROCKETS’ WINNING STREAK

Kobe and Phil Jackson are on record praising the Rockets’ winning streak as remarkable.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the streak is how lucky the Rockets are to have it.

The Rockets played 12 opponents with losing records, faced New Orleans without David West, faced Dallas without Dirk Nowitzki, and now face the Lakers without Gasol, Bynum, Mihm, Ariza and with Kobe’s shooting hand injured enough to require surgery.

Please, do not misinterpret what I just wrote as saying the Rockets’ streak isn’t remarkable, because I truly feel it is and have defended it elsewhere.

But that doesn’t mean they haven’t been lucky as well, and they’d be the first to tell you that.

“I take solace in the fact that we are the luckiest team in, maybe, the history of NBA basketball,” Rockets forward Shane Battier said. “If that’s our distinction, that’s fine by us.”

— 4. SCOLA AND TURIAF

One matchup I’m looking forward to is the clash of the high energy bigs Ronny Turiaf vs. Luis Scola.

Ironically, Ronny Turiaf’s NBA career began as he become known as the man whose heart wasn’t fit for NBA play.  Drafted 37th overall, Ronny was released by the Lakers and his contract voided when it was learned he had an enlarged aortic root, known as aneurysm of sinus of Valsalva. Although under no obligation to do so, the Lakers paid for Ronny’s heart operation and wished him the best. Their wish came true and eventually Ronny passed on playing for more money in Spain for a chance to be the 12th man on the Lakers bench. Before long, Ronny’s heart moved him up the bench and into the starting line up at times as the Lakers dealt with unusual adversity in terms of injuries since his arrival.

As for Luis Scola, how many of you know that the Rockets streak started EXACTLY with the game Luis Scola was inserted into the starting lineup? On January 27, against the Utah Jazz, Yao Ming couldn’t play due to a respiratory problem, so Scola temporarily started at center.  Scola had 18 points and six rebounds in a loss against the Utah Jazz., but he played so well Houston coach Rick Adelman made Scola their starting power forward, and the Rockets have not lost since.

Prior to his gig with the NBA, Scola played in Spain where he is a two-time MVP of the Spanish league. Scola was Argentina’s leading scorer when they won the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics as well.

If you think the Lakers got Pau Gasol for nothing, at least they gave up Marc Gasol, Javaris Crittenton and Kwame Brown. The Rockets gave up Vassilis Spanoulis, a second-round draft pick and cash to get Scola from the Spurs!

These two energy players play with all their heart every game, and I just love players like that.

— 5. KOBE VS. TRACY

“I know Kobe,” Tracy McGrady said. “I know that’s where his head is. In his head he’s thinking, ‘If it’s going to end, it’s going to end with me.’ He’s a fierce competitor. That’s just who he is.”

It is a team game, and hopefully both these players remember that, but both of these teams will need these two to step up in a big way if they are going to win, and THAT is going to be a blast to see!

I just found out it is officially Kobe Bryant Blog Day.

I wish I would have learned sooner — I’d have baked a cake — or at least had the time to do something more than warm over and serve you left overs. Sorry ’bout that, but for those of you who missed the first helping, maybe you’ll enjoying this now that it has had some time to season itself abit.

By the way, why have Kobe Bryant blog day on March 11th? 11? Wasn’t that Isaiah Thomas’s number? Why not have Kobe Bryant blog day on March 24? Then we can have Shaq’s blog day on March 32nd …

As we all know, two negatives get repeated, well, repeatedly about Kobe.

The first is that he is whiny.

The second is that Kobe is selfish.

I agree Kobe complains too much, but it appears he has been working on that aspect of his game at times lately.

As for the allegations that Kobe Bryant is selfish, I’ve come up with the following quiz to challenge that mythconception.

Please note that I’ve put at least one trick question in the mix (that is, questions whose answers isn’t Kobe Byrant).

1 — Who led the Lakers in assists when they won the 3 NBA Championships in 2000 - 2002?
a) Derek Fisher
b) Brian Shaw
c) Rick Fox
d) Kobe Bryant

2— Which player from the draft class of 1996 has more assists?
a) Ray Allen
b) Stephon Marbury
c) Tracy McGrady
d) Kobe Bryant

3 — Among active players, who has more assists so far in his career?
a) Grant Hill
b) Chris Webber
c) Jason Terry
d) Kobe Bryant

4 — Among active players, who has the higher player efficiency rating for his career?
a) Yao Ming
b) Amare Stoudemire
c) Shawn Marion
d) Jason Kidd
e) Tony Parker
f) Kobe Bryant

5 — Which active player has less shots per minute?
a) Allen Iverson
b) Tracy McGrady
c) LeBron James
d) Kobe Bryant

6 — Which inactive player has more shots per minute than Kobe Bryant?
a) Michael Jordan
b) Dominique Wilkins
c) Julius Irving
d) Elgin Baylor

7 — Which inactive player has more assists than Kobe Bryant?
a) Michael Cooper
b) Elgin Baylor
c) Toni Kucoc
d) Vlade Divac

Answers:

1=d, 2=d, 3=d, 4=f, 5=c, 6=all of them, 7=none of them

About question #5, over the course of their careers, LeBron James has averaged less shots per minute than Kobe, but it is closer than you might think. LeBron has shot 0.51 shots per minute, and Kobe has averaged 0.52 shots per minute. For comparison, Iverson has shot 0.55 shots per minute, and McGrady has shot 0.53 shots per minute.
If this tempts you to comment, “Yeah, but Kobe didn’t shoot as much early in his career,” then I’d like to thank you for making my point for me.

For all the comparisons Kobe gets to Michael Jordan, he has actually played Scottie Pippen’s role for most of his career. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers in ASSISTS through their 3 championship years (and beyond), just as Pippen did for the Bulls.

And just as Pippen played second banana to Michael Jordan, Kobe did the same for Shaquille O’Neal … with one IMPORTANT difference:

Kobe Bryant had the talent to be top gun for his team, Scottie Pippen didn’t.

Think about that.

That makes what Kobe did for the good of his team a FAR GREATER act of unselfishness than what Pippen did for his.

Fast forward to TeamUSA, summer 2007.

We all wondered what adding Kobe to a team that had scorers such as Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James would do to TeamUSA. That year Kobe Bryant was without question the NBA’s best scorer, including on the perimeter. How much easier would those three-pointers be to launch from the closer, international arc?

Instead of looking to be the scoring leader, however, Kobe Bryant looked for how he could best contribute to TeamUSA, and then dug in and did it. What Kobe did to Leandro Barbosa, for example, was astonishing to say the least.

I have been looking for a quote from Magic Johnson (if you find it, please get me the URL) where Magic was comparing the original Dream Team he was on to Team USA as it played this last summer. Magic compared ‘Melo to Barkley (leading scorers at the forward positions), and he compared Kobe to both Jordan and Pippen. Kobe was like Jordan in that he was a deadly scorer that required attention from defenses every second he was on the floor, and Bryant was like Pippen in that he was the guy who wanted to defend the opposition’s best player.

Throughout history, Kobe has done whatever his teams needed to win. This is born out statistically, as Kobe went from defender / facilitator, to primary scorer, and back again.

When Team USA finished with the Bronze in Japan, it was universally acknowledge that they needed two things: better shooters and better defense. With one player, Kobe Bryant, they got both. For this reason, if there were such a thing as MVP of Team USA, I would consider Kobe Bryant that player (although LeBron James would be a close 2nd, followed by Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd).

At any rate, if there is one thing the world does not need is more debate about Kobe Bryant, but I just thought I’d take on the issue from a different approach.

Since Shawn Marion left town and Shaquille O’Neal arrived in Phoenix, the Suns have had 3 wins and 5 losses.

The knee-jerk reaction would be to conclude the Shaq trade was a bad thing for the Phoenix Suns, but having watched the games, it seemed to me like the Phoenix Suns have not been pushing the ball as aggressively as they used to, so I did some research.

Sure enough, in all 5 of the Suns’ losses, Phoenix had less fast break points than their opponents, and in all 3 wins, the Suns had more fast break points than their opponents.

In other words, since the Suns acquired Shaq, the fast break point differential has been 100% accurate in determining the Suns’ success!

Of course, fast breaks are highly dependent on grabbing defensive rebounds and creating turnovers.

As far as rebounds are concerned, the Suns are a surprising +32 on rebounds over their opponents since the trade, going from a -6 rebound differential per game to average +4 rebounds per game. Not only is Shaq personally doing a decent job of rebounding, grabbing 18 rebounds tonight against the Nuggets for example, but with Shaq on the floor, the other players shift position making the Suns a taller team overall and making each player a better rebounder in his own right.

As far as steals are concerned, however, the Suns have gone from averaging 7.53 steals per game before the trade to 4.85 after. By the way, any guesses as to who led the Suns in steals? That’s right, Shawn Marion, and he exactly doubled the Suns’ number 2 steals leader: Leandro Barbosa. What is more, Marion set a tone for the Suns on the defensive end of the court, an inspiration the Suns miss now.

Not only is the lack of steals hurting the Suns’ running offense, but the Suns’ lack of interest in playing defense in general is going to cost the Suns the opportunity to capitalize on their closing window, coach Mike D’Antoni his job if he doesn’t wise up. After all, D’Antoni’s boss, Steve Kerr, earned his championship rings with defensive juggernauts such as Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs and Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, and I’m sure there are up and coming coaches out there who can coach both ends of the floor.

So far, 115 seems to be the Suns’ magic number. When the Suns defend well enough to hold their opponents under 115 points, a task which you would think wouldn’t be that hard to do, then they are 3-0. When they allow their opponents to score more than 115 points, then they are 0-5. It’s time for D’Antoni to quit paying lip service to defense and actually do something.

On the subject of people failing to understand the value of defense, this is one of the reasons why I have been saying for years that Steve Nash NEVER deserved to be an MVP of the NBA. No matter how brilliant you might be on offense, if you don’t play defense, you are half a player, not the most valuable player.

The “Showtime” Lakers of the 80s ran, yes, but they had defensive player of the year, Michael Cooper, and gritty hustling defense from the likes of Kurt Rambis, and shot blocking and shot changing Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the paint.

In other words, I knew Jack Kennedy, and D’Antoni, you are no Jack Kennedy.

So, the Suns are sliding because they are not outscoring opponents on fast breaks, and because the Suns need to quit making excuses and make instead a defensive stand against their opponents, but this has been the 411 on the Suns ever since Nash and D’Antoni took them over. They do NOT appear to be losing because of Shaquille O’Neal.

By the way, I have analyzed Shaquille O’Neal’s minutes to find a correlation with the Suns’ successes and failures, and haven’t found a definitive pattern. Can you?

Since trading Marion for O’Neal:

vs. Nuggets
Shaq’s minutes = 30
Suns’ Rebounds = even
Fast break points = -13
Result = Suns lose

vs. Portland
Shaq’s minutes = 34
Suns’ rebounds = -1
Fast break points = +10
Result = Suns win

vs. Philidelphia
Shaq’s minutes = 26
Suns’ rebounds = +4
Fast break points = -14
Result = Suns lose

vs. Hornets
Shaq’s minutes = 32
Suns’ rebounds = even
Fast break points = -3
Result = Suns lose

vs. Memphis
Shaq’s minutes = 24
Suns’ rebounds = +14
Fast break points = + 5
Result = Suns win

vs. Pistons
Shaq’s minutes = 33
Suns’ rebounds = -8
Fast break points = -10
Result = Suns lose

vs. Celtics
Shaq’s minutes = 26
Suns’ rebounds = +15
Fast break points = +11
Result = Suns win

vs. Lakers
Shaq’s minutes = 32
Suns rebounds = +8
Fast break points = -2
Result = Suns lose

Let’s start by putting this game into perspective:

The Golden State Warriors have a .600 winning percentage. If they were in the Eastern Conference, they would hold the 4th seed and would have home court advantage, but since they are in the Western Conference, they would not even make the playoffs as things currently stand.

In the East, the 8th seed is 19 games behind the top seed. In the West, the 8th seed is 4.5 games behind the top seed.

In a race THIS TIGHT, it means something to hold the tie breaker, which is what this game was for the Suns and the Lakers.

What this game was NOT, was an indicator of how the Lakers and Suns will be come playoff time. Remember, Shaq has not played in 30 days, and this was his first game with the Suns. And Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza were out. If things go according to both teams’ plans, both teams will look different come playoffs.

So let’s talk the game itself.

Prior to tipoff, Shaq and Kobe hugged, exchanged pleasantries, then they both stepped out onto the floor and impressed me.

Shaquille O’Neal was a factor, a bigger factor than his stats would indicate.

In 27 minutes, Shaq:
— touched the ball 27 times
— grabbed 9 rebounds
— blocked 2 shots
— collected 3 assists
— had 3 turn overs
— committed 5 fouls
— scored 15 points
— was 0 of 2 for layups
— was 2 of 2 for dunks
— was 4 of 4 for jump shots (all in the paint)
— was 3 of 8 for free throws, not counting the 2 misses he had on lane violations
— gave Raja Bell a serious bump on the head
— tackled Pau Gasol to get his 5th foul and a rest on the bench

Shaq hustled end to end just fine, and even dove for loose balls.

Shaq’s play of the day, though, was sprinting back on defense after getting a goaltending call on Kobe Bryant. It was hilarious!

As I said, Shaq’s impact on this game can’t be found in his stats, it can be found in Amare Stoudemire’s stats as well.

Having O’Neal lets Amare dominate at the 4 position, and boy did he dominate. Amare had 37 points on 54% shooting with 4 dunks, was 11 of 11 at the charity stripe, grabbed 15 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 blocked shots.

Shaq’s impact can also be found in the fact that with him on the floor, everyone shifts position and the Suns go from being undersized at every position to being competitive.

No where is this shift more evident than in rebounding.

This year the Phoenix Suns have been out rebounded by an average of 6 rebounds per game. Since you can’t run if you don’t have the ball, that is a very big problem for the Suns.

The Lakers on the other hand, are the 4th best rebounding team in the NBA, yet tonight the Suns out rebounded the Lakers 46 to 33! In fact, the Suns had a 16 to 7 advantage in offensive rebounds, ultimately helping them get 19 second chance points.

So why didn’t the Suns win?

Suns coach Mike D’Antoni was asked at halftime why his team was down, and he simply said, “The Kobe Factor.”

That ended up being why the Suns were down at the end of the game as well.

In the post game press conference, Shaquille O’Neal was asked what he thought of Kobe Bryant’s play. Shaq replied, “Kobe is the best player in the league; he really is.”

That’s not to say Kobe didn’t have help, because he had PLENTY of it. Five Lakers scored in double figures, Pau Gasol had 29 points and Lamar Odom had a double double (22 points and 11 rebounds).

But Kobe’s night was special.

Kobe’s latest free throw streak ended tonight at 50 in a row. The last time a free throw streak ended for Kobe Bryant was 62 in a row, and it ended against the Toronto Raptors, and Kobe took it out on them to the tune of 81 points, so I wondered what he would do tonight.

Kobe:
— had 2 steals
— blocked 2 shots
— grabbed 5 rebounds
— dished 3 assists
— was 4 of 6 on layups
— was 9 of 15 on jump shots
— was 3 of 3 on dunks
— was 8 of 10 on free throws
— nailed his usual share of impossible shots
— attracted double and triple teams all night long

Random Observations:

— Kobe also led well. There were a lot of bad calls tonight, particularly in the second half, and Kobe kept his composure and the Lakers did as a unit as well. In fact, Kobe’s whining is WAY down, and that started prior to the Gasol trade.

— Phil Jackson used 10 players in the first half. Mike D’Antoni played 7. In the second half, Jackson again played 10 people whereas D’Antoni played 8.

— The Lakers actually outscored the Suns on fast breaks 22 to 20.

— When Trevor Ariza and Andrew Bynum return to the Lakers’ line up, I would think Luke Walton’s minutes would be most affected. He just isn’t the player he was last year when he was looking for a new contract.

— I was more impressed with Shaq’s debut than Jason Kidd’s.

— Shaq got better as the game raged on, doing his best work in the 4th quarter. If Shaq were over the hill, it would be the opposite, so that is a good sign for Suns fans.

— Another encouraging thing for Suns fans was the dramatic turnaround in rebounding. As they get used to playing together and turnovers go down, this rebounding edge will translate into easy baskets for the Suns.

— The Lakers have good reason to be optimistic. The team that has owned them in the post season the last two years now looks to be beatable by them.

— Pau showed he can play smart with foul trouble. He also showed he can vanish when it comes time to rebounding. The Lakers needed much more than 3 rebounds from Gasol.

— Vladimir Radmanovic did not show up for this game. On defense, his men went off, and on offense Radman was as effective as a speed bump on a runway.

— As intense as this game was, the sportsmanship was impressive. Kobe helped Raja Bell off the floor and checked on his well being in the first quarter, In fact, all through the game, Suns were helping Lakers off the floor, Lakers were helping Suns off the floor, and in all interviews, the snippiness was conspicuously absent, even from the notoriously caustic Phil Jackson.

The Lakers and the Suns are classy organizations, and it was fantastic to see these fierce competitors reflect that on the court.

Forget All-Star weekend, the REAL must-see game of the week happens 3 days after, on Wednesday, February 20, 2008, when the Phoenix Suns host the Los Angeles Lakers at 5:00 p.m. Alaska Standard Time (9:00 p.m. Eastern).

— Never mind that 5 current and former All-Stars take the floor,

— Never mind that Wednesday starts another chapter in one of the NBA’s all time storied rivalries: Shaq verses Kobe,

— Never mind that this matchup of division leaders will affect the losing team’s standings against the other as if they lost two games instead of one,

— Never mind that this game could potentially swing the “tie breaker” of this tight division race back to Phoenix,

— Never mind that the Lakers acquired Pau from the Grizzlies for his own brother,

— Never mind that the Suns acquired Shaq from Miami for his weight in Phoenix players …

What I want to know is, after blocking the Jason Kidd trade, then going out to shoot 0 for 11, how can (former Laker) Devin George look his Dallas teammates in the eye now?

Back to the subject, this Suns / Lakers matchup is about as intense as drama can get for a regular season game. Especially here.

Normally I wouldn’t blog about a game that hasn’t even been played yet, but seeing as nothing riles people up around here more than the Suns and the Lakers, I thought I’d make an exception.

STANDING FOR SOMETHING

The loss Phoenix suffered today at the hands of the Warriors, and the win the Lakers had at the expense of the Timberwolves brings the Lakers within 1 game of the Suns in the standings. Next on the menu for the Lakers is Atlanta. Next for the Suns is Dallas. It is possible the Suns and Lakers could be tied in the standings when they meet — tied, but the Lakers own the tie breaker. A Suns victory would give them breathing room. A Lakers victory could drop Phoenix from 2nd in the West to 5th, and vault the Lakers into the 2nd seed.

JUNK FEUD

Shaquille O’Neal injured his hip diving for a loose ball against Utah on December 22. He returned January 16 but an MRI showed inflammation in the left hip, shutting him down from all basketball activity. He’s been cleared to play, but is struggling to get back in playing shape.

Kobe Bryant dislocated a finger on his right hand this road trip and his shooting and ball handling have suffered as a result.

Neither player is at full power, plus the two seemed to take a big step toward making up as the two teamed up to blast Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Consequently, the Kobe verses Shaq factor has really fizzled out.

TRADE TIDBITS

The good news for the Phoenix Suns is that, over the last 10 games, the best two-player combination in the NBA, in terms of efficiency rating, is Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum (+120), and Andrew will not be playing. Drew missed the last game against Phoenix as well, the game the Suns won.

The bad news for the Phoenix Suns is that, over the last 10 games, the second best two player combination in the NBA is Shawn Marion and Raja Bell (+113), and Shawn won’t be playing either.

Also, since trading Marion, the Suns’ defense has become worse, their defensive rating is 113.7. That’s pretty bad, especially considering the Lakers are the 3rd highest scoring team in the league.

SHAQ FLACK

Not everyone thinks Phoenix did the right thing trading Marion and Banks for O’Neal, including Phil Jackson. When asked what he thought Shaq’s role would be on the Suns, he teased, “Taking the ball out of bounds and waiting for the other team to get back.”

Jackson has also said, “There’s diminishing returns for a guy who’s 7-foot-1, 300-whatever [pounds]. When you have multiple problems in your legs — feet, knees, hips — that’s the stability that holds up the frame. It’s real difficult. And I knew he’ll get in better shape as the year goes on, but … all the tall guys have back [and] stability issues that go with having to maintain their foundation.”

But, Jackson added, “He certainly can be a presence to contend with down there.”

Can Shaq’s presence and his newfound motivation overcome health problems though?

Speaking of health, Steve Kerr thinks Shaq will be great for his team’s mental health. “I don’t think there’s ever been a player who can change the attitude of a team like Shaq,” Kerr said. “[The trade] was also done for the mental health and emotional well-being of the team. I think [Nash] needed something like this. I think we all did, actually.”

If O’Neal can get the Suns a Western Conference Championship, Shaq would be the first player in league history to take four different teams to the NBA Finals. Tim Duncan can’t say that!

GAME RESET

The Suns will have had 6 days to rest their old bones and get Shaq ready before they meet the Lakers. The Lakers will be playing the second game of a back to back, and they’ll be on the road.

The game the night before the Lakers play the Suns is against the Hawks, the last team to beat the Lakers. These young Hawks are hard to predict. Their record isn’t all that great, but then again the Hawks have already beaten Western powerhouses Lakers, Dallas, Phoenix, New Orleans, Denver and Utah this season.

When the Hawks beat the Lakers, the Lakers got in at 4:00 a.m., were playing second game of a back to back on the road, Kobe had just injured his finger, and Pau Gasol was hampered by a sore back. The Lakers lost by 3.

The Lakers will probably beat the Hawks, but if Gasol and Bryant log minutes doing so, the Suns will have so much the advantage the next night. Remember, the Suns had 6 days to rest, and to practice with their new big man. And with Bynum out, Ariza out, Mihm out, and Ronny hobbled by an ankle twist, the Suns have a more than fair chance of downing the Lakers.

PERSPECTIVE

It is starting to look like Western Conference teams will need 50+ wins just to make the playoffs. I mean look at the Rockets: Houston has won 9 out of their last 10, and they are tied for the last playoff spot!

The Spurs are getting Tony Parker back after the All-Star break.

The Nuggets had an 8 game winning streak going into All-Star weekend, until the Jazz pried it from them.

Jazz have won 10 of their last 11.

But are all these teams just battling for second place?

The Celtics are 16 - 0 over the West!

Being a little weary of all the speculation about how the Suns will do with Shaq, I’ve decided to write a piece that goes a totally different way. Teams such as the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, etc. have become known for their international players, however, 8 of 15 Lakers have strong international connections… giving the Lakers a very broad, worldwide fan base.

— DJ Mbenga —
Originally born in Ziare, DJ’s father was presumed to be hunted down and killed by the Congolese government simply because he was an employee of the previous administration. At 17, DJ was falsely accused of being Tutsis, an ethnic group that was not in power at the time, and was sentenced to be executed.

DJ spent 9 months on death row being severely mistreated when his brother bribed a guard and helped DJ escape. Fearing for their lives, they went straight to the airport and caught the first flight out of the country, which happened to be to Belgium. Belgium gave his family asylum, and he became a Belgian national.

DJ saw a basketball for the first time when he was 19 years old. He was approached on a street by someone impressed with his size, who offered to teach him to play basketball.

— Pau Gasol —
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Pau. It is often said that the Lakers gave up next to nothing to get Gasol, which is not true. Ironically, one of the things the Lakers gave up to get Pau 7′0″ center / forward Pau Gasol, was the rights to his 7′1″, 23-year old, younger brother Marc, who is currently playing professional basketball in Spain. In fact, the Gasol brothers are the basketball rock stars of Spain. What would the Lakers have been in a few years if they could have had Marc on board too?

— Ronny Turiaf —
Born in Le Robert, Martinique, a Caribbean Island that is also one of France’s 26 regions (akin to states in the U.S.), Ronny is a former teammate Tony Parker and Boris Diaw. The three are highly revered in France. Ronny, by the way, speaks 5 languages.

— Sasha Vujacic —
Born in Slovenia (a member of the European Union), the son of a coach, Sasha played point guard in Italy before coming to the Lakers to play backup shooting guard.

— Vladimir Radmanovic —
A controversial member of Yugoslavia’s 2002 World Championship Gold Medal team, Serbian Vladimir Radmanovic found controversy again last year in Park City, Utah. However, our favorite martian might be playing the best basketball of his career right now in the Lakers’ lauded triangle.

— Jordan Farmar —
Jordan is an L.A. native, but Jordan’s mother and step father are Israeli.

— Trevor Ariza —
Trevor’s mother is from Turks and Caicos Islands (a British colony southeast of the Bahamas), and had Trevor while going to college in Florida. Trevor’s step father was a basketball player and they lived several places, including Venezuela.

— Kobe Bryant —
Born in Philadelphia, Kobe grew up in Italy and France, went to school in Switzerland, before returning to the U.S. to attend Lower Marion High School. Kobe’s European influence is so great that he often gives interviews in Italian.