On December 26, 2008 a scorekeeper in Colorado incorrectly disqualified a Utah Flash player claiming he had 6 fouls when he only had 5. At the time, the score was tied at 102 with 25.2 seconds left to play. Ten days earlier, an Atlanta Hawks scorekeeper did the same thing to Shaquille O’Neal with 51.9 seconds left and the score at 111-112. The NBA and NBA Development League front offices ordered the endings of both games to be...

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Originally I posted the following as 4 different blogs, one at the end of each quarter of the game, each containing my thoughts as the game was happening. After all 4 were posted, a reader suggested in combine them and that’s what THIS blog is… all 4 quarter plus post game thoughts. — FIRST QUARTER — Q1: (In game blog) The Lakers looked dazed by the hostile Utah crowd to start the game. Lakers came up empty their...

I met Dikembe Mutumbo in person once, not an easy thing for a life long Alaskan to have happen. We had a brief conversation together at our hotel in 1994 when he was with the Denver Nuggets, just after the 8th seeded Nuggets upset the 1st seeded Seattle Sonics in the first round. NBA.com lists that series as one of the greatest moments in the history of the NBA Playoffs, although I’m sure many fans in the Pacific Northwest would beg...

I like Dwight Howard. First, he looks good in a blue uniform, even if it does have a red cape hanging off the back of it. Second, he seems like a genuinely good guy. He was robbed at the slam dunk competition. Nate Robinson won with a dunk jumping off someone’s back, a dunk my sons do all the time, and with a dunk pushing up on a stationary player… a dunk I used to do back when my body let me. If Dwight was upset by that, no one...

Cleveland Cavaliers coach, Mike Brown, was named coach of the year. I’m okay with that. If you think the criteria for selecting an NBA MVP is vague, you should take a closer look at the Coach of the Year award. Given there are no real guidelines for the award, there is no real reason why a handful of coaches shouldn’t get this recognition each year. I wondered if Brown would last with the Cavs, but have been impressed at how he...

It sure would be easy to blame today’s loss by the Boston Celtics to the Chicago Bulls, both of game 1 and home court advantage, on the fact that Kevin Garnett wasn’t playing due to injury… easy, but not ENTIRELY correct. Certainly if Garnett had played, the Celtics would have won, however, the Celtics still had ample ability and opportunity to win this game but failed to step up. For example, __ Ray Allen definitely...

By now you have probably read articles that Kevin Garnett may not be back to the Celtics on time for the playoffs. So, if you are a Celtics fan, the bad news is Garnett may be out… but the good news is last year Paul Pierce made quite the miraculous recovery, didn’t he? Pardon my skepticism, and this is in no way shape or form to be construed as an anti-Celtics post… But given the recent history with this team (see clip...

If anyone has ever wondered if Phil Jackson still had the chops to coach a team to an NBA championship, maybe after the Lakers’ loss today to the Trailblazers at the Rose Garden in Portland they’ll appreciate the Zen Master a bit more. Don’t get me wrong, I like Kurt Rambis, but today it was painfully obvious Kurt is no Phil. Not yet anyway. Before I get to the negative, I must point out there were things I really liked...

Let me start by first disclosing that I would consider myself a Lakers fan. Definitely. Today is Friday, April 10, 2009. The Lakers are in Portland waiting to play the Blazers this evening. The last time the Lakers visited Portland was March 9, 2009, where the Blazers spanked them by 17 points, and the game wasn’t as close as the score would lead you to believe. In case you are tempted to blame that loss on the absence of Andrew...