Coach Eddie Jordan said he ’s not worried about a newspaper report stating he would say goodbye to the players with 76ers jerseys.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing unidentified sources, reported on Tuesday that Comcast-Spectator was ready to fire Jordan, likely after his first season with the team is complete. The 76ers are 23-40 heading into Wednesday night’s game against Charlotte, 8 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Jordan signed a four-year contract when he was hired. He said of the speculation, “that if you know how to handle it, then it won’t bother you.”
Jordan says he has not approached his bosses regarding the report.
Point guard Rafer Alston with heat jersey still has not contact the team.
Coach Erik Spoelstra said before Tuesday’s game against Charlotte that Alston’s lone communication since Friday was through text messaging. Spoelstra wouldn’t say if Alston will be released, but said they’re “moving forward with the guys we have in this locker room.” Alston was benched for Thursday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers in favor of Carlos Arroyo. He then failed to show for Saturday’s win over Atlanta, and was suspended indefinitely without pay.
Mario Chalmers is the only other true point guard on Miami’s roster.
Shooting guard Kevin Martin with rockets jersey going from the depths of the Western Conference with Sacramento and into the playoff chase in Houston was a nice transition, even if the Rockets’ playoff hopes remain distant. Yao Ming will be back next year.
“The thought of playing with [Yao] is the reason I have a big smile on my face,” Martin told Sporting News. “The attention he brings inside, that is going to be fun to have for me as a perimeter player. “I think there are going to be big expectations for next year, and I know the offseason, I am going to be in the weight room, I am going to be here working out and trying to get better and better.”
Guard Tony Parker with spurs jersey left the court with a broken bone in his right hand. It is said he would miss six games.
Parker broke the fourth metacarpal—the bone between the bottom knuckle and the wrist—near the end of the first half and did not return to the game. The injury apparently occurred during a scramble for the ball.“I knew it was a scrum,” teammate Tim Duncan said. “… He said he reached for the ball, and hit the ball or hit a body or a hand or something.”Parker did not comment before leaving the locker room after the Spurs’ 102-92 win over Memphis. He had eight points and four assists before the injury.
The Spurs confirmed the broken bone, but could not say how long Parker, the team’s second-leading scorer at 16.6 points a game, would miss. The team will evaluate the injury later.
Brandon Jennings with bucks jersey does not even know if he wants to shoot the ball.
“We’re not fond of that kind of statement,” Skiles said before the Bucks played at the Washington Wizards on Friday night. “He’s too important to our team and our franchise to have any sort of defeatest-type mind-set right now. And he doesn’t, really. Skiles chalked up Jennings’ words to coming in the “heat of the moment” after a game—and to Jennings’ being only 20 years old.“We know where his heart lies. He’s a really good person, he’s hardworking, and he loves the game,” Skiles said.
Jennings was down on himself after Wednesday’s home victory over Washington, when he made only 2 of 12 shots and had six turnovers. He acknowledged that he’s been “struggling pretty bad” and added, “I don’t even know if I want to shoot the ball.”
Newcomer Darko Milicic will have a chance to wear the timberwolves jersey to start the lineup.
It’s a brief experiment, while Al Jefferson serves a two-game suspension after his arrest on suspicion of DWI last weekend. Milicic picked up four fouls in Wednesday’s loss at Dallas, along with six points and two rebounds in 14 minutes during his first start of the season. Jefferson will also sit Saturday against Houston. Coach Kurt Rambis said Thursday that Milicic probably will go back to the bench next week, but praised his progress and potential since arriving in a trade with New York last month.
Milicic says his comfort level and conditioning are increasing, though his current plan remains to return to Europe after the season.
Forward Andres Nocioni with kings jersey has been suspended by the NBA for two games without pay after pleading no contest in Californis to drunken driving.
The suspension was to begin with Tuesday night’s game between the Kings and the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Nocioni was arrested about 2 a.m. Nov. 5 when a police officer noticed his car weaving in downtown Sacramento, hours after the Kings had lost a home game to the Atlanta Hawks. An attorney entered a no contest plea to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge on Nocioni’s behalf on Feb. 22.
He also needs to serve two days and complete a three-month alcohol class.
Players with trail blazers jerseys scored 41 points in the third quarter, equaling their points in all of the first half.
Nate McMillan let his team know at halftime they were not playing as if they were fighting to hold on to a playoff spot. “We didn’t play defense,” Batum said of McMillan’s halftime talk, adding the coach was angry. “Got too many turnovers. He just said for us to wake up.” Roy said that while the Memphis game was the last on the road trip, he knew when they left Portland it would be important since the Grizzlies were one of the teams fighting to make the playoffs. Everyone in the locker room knew it, too.
Four years ago, Elton Brand with lakers jersey was i the midst of helping lead the team within a game of the West finals. He was the rare 20-and-10 guy. He was a star.
Now Brand can’t even bring himself to tune into the All-Star game.“I haven’t watched it since ’06,” Brand said. “It’s tough. It’s tough to see guys where you think, ‘I can play better than him’ or ‘I could do this.’“The young stars end up taking over for the older guys. There are a lot of young guys with a lot of game. I saw it when I was a young guy taking guys’ spots. But I’m not ready to concede my spot yet.”
Hope the ex-star good luck.
Manu Ginobili with spurs jersey did not expect to stuff Kevin Durant when the leading scorer got a runaway dunk on a crucial fast break in the final minutes.
“I was more expecting to be dunked on, to tell you the truth,” Ginobili said.
Coming almost out of nowhere to block Durant and deny the Oklahoma City Thunder from retaking the lead, Ginobili made what Thunder coach Scott Brooks called a “superhero” play that propelled the San Antonio Spurs to a 95-87 victory on Wednesday. With the Thunder trailing by one with just under 3 minutes left, Durant got the ball and raced down the court.
“All clean, I can’t take credit away from him,” Durant said. “He made a great block. When I was at the rim, he just met me there, his hand was inside the rim and he got it.”
