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djsunyc
Posts: 44929
Alba Posts: 42
Joined: 1/16/2004
Member: #536
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Ric : Good morning chatters and chattettes. It's a beautiful morning here in Nor Cal with head-high surf and a light offshore flow.
SportsNation Ric : A few ground rules. 1) Posting the same question nine or 90 times won't get it answered if it sucks. 2) If you throw out a silly trade, I may post it and I may make fun of you for it. 3) Then again, I may not. Let's get going...
Isaac in Phoenix, AZ: How likely is it that Donald Sterling will open up his wallet and sign Sam Cassell to a 2 to 3 year deal at the end of this season?
SportsNation Ric : Congratulations for posting the first ? of the morning. It all depends on how much Sam wants. Coach Dunleavy has been very persuasive with Sterling, but if Sam is trying to make up for years of being underpaid, he won't get it. I heard rumors of Sam and Chris Wilcox going to Orlando for Steve Francis, but I believe that's just to scare Sam into chilling about his money for right now.
SportsNation Ric : By the way, the system is moving really slowly right now, so be patient. I'm typing fast, but it's posting slow.
Brian (Santa Monica, Ca): Could you please explain the process of injured players salaries coming off a teams books. I'm a (gulp!)Sixers fan wondering about Todd MacCulloch, who hasn't played since 2002-2003 and is counting 6.4 mil this year and 6.8 next yeat against the cap. Also, what is up with Jamal Mashburn? Wasn't he supposed to retire. Tell me Billy King didn't trade Big Dog and his expiring contract for 28 games from Rodney Rogers and the 21 million left on Mashburn's contract.
SportsNation Ric : The rules have changed under the new CBA. I won't bore you with the details -- mainly because I'd want to pore through my CBA booklet to make sure I have them right -- but the Sixers are using their medical retirement exception on Mash, so they don't have it for Todd (who is still trying to make himself useful by doing Sixers radio.) MacCulloch also still holds out hope that he'll play again. The reason Mash hasn't officially been retired, I'm told, is that the Sixers get extra cap relief by waiting until later this month. I don't know the particulars, but you'll hear an official announcement he's done in a week or so.
Jeff, Ridgewood, NJ: Ric, regarding Wilcox, obviously the Nets have been after him. Clips like Wright before the draft, why hasn't something been pulled earlier? What would sweeten the pot enough? Wilcox would be a beast on this team.
SportsNation Ric : The Clips would prefer to get a big for a big, which is why they'd take Eddie Griffin over Wright. I have to believe you'll see Wilcox moved this week, but Wright won't get it done for NJ.
Jarric (Kansas): What do teams have against Drew Gooden? He seems to get double digit rebounds and points a lot and still no team will commit to him. Where do you see him playing next year?
SportsNation Ric : Drew disappoints at the other end of the floor. He's a latter-day Chris Gatling -- and you know how much he moved around. He's also why you can't trust stats or boxscores to measure a player.
Travis (D.C.): Hey Ric, With Dwayne Wade's performance last night do you believe that is what it is going to take out of him every game for the Heat to make the finals?
SportsNation Ric : That and maybe more. It was a gutty win by the Heat in a season of precious few gutty performances. But I -- contrary to Hubie Brown -- look at the final possession differently. Brown said the Heat played it perfectly. I saw Tayshaun Prince with a wide-open 3 to win. If he buries that, the Heat are truly hurting right now. They dodged a bullet. Then again, maybe this is just the emotional lift they needed. We'll see. I'm not convinced they're going to be any better in April than they are right now.
Chris(Dallas): Will Keith VanHorn be moved before the deadline.
SportsNation Ric : The Mavs would love to move him but aren't finding any takers right now. Cuban will be OK with just letting that contract slide off his payroll.
David(Massena, NY): With Al Micheals getting traded...are you nervous about getting traded to NBC and having to act in a sitcom or something? I think i Ric Bucher for The Office wouldnt be a bad trade...?
SportsNation Ric : Thanks for mentioning my name in the same breath as Al Michaels. (That said, Mike Breen is a great choice for lead play-by-play guy. He knows the game and he already has a hall-of-fame signature call: "Ron Artest is going into the stands!" And some would say Coast to Coast on Tuesdays is a sitcom of sorts. FYI, the British "The Office" was nine times better than the American version.
Newman (Minneapolis): As a Wolves fan I am not impressed with the team's effort thus far. I don't blame KG. I don't blame Glen Taylor. I didn't blame Flip Saunders. And I don't blame Duane Casey. I blame KEVIN MCHALE! Is there any reason this guy should still have a job? The guy made one good decision. . .drafting KG and even that decision has been buried under a pile of moronic draft pics and stupid deals (including the Joe Smith debacle that cost the Wolves a bunch of 1st round picks). Your thoughts?
SportsNation Ric : This is what you have to understand (sheesh, now I'm sounding like Hubie): when a GM makes moves that don't work out and he isn't fired, it's invariably because either the owner is pushing for those moves to be made or he's holding the GM on a tight financial leash. If you want to blame anyone, blame KG's contract. He makes a boatload of money, he does everything he can to earn it, but at the end of the day he needs a closer like Sam I Am or Steph to be a postseason factor. The same way Shaq has always needed a closer.
mick (north miami beach): Can the Clippers be considered a serious playoff threat to the Spurs and Mavs?
SportsNation Ric : I would say yes if they'd landed Ron Artest. As they are, no.
kj (kent, oh): hey ric, i agree you CAN'T trust stats. which makes your kobe slurping very odd...anyway,can you make the case for 4 pistons on the all-star team? i don't remember the mid-80's celtics or sixers getting four on a team and they had as good a record as the pistons. or how about that 70-win bulls team? isn't this just stupid to have 4 pistons??
SportsNation Ric : kobe slurping?
larry Boston, MA.: Ric, My friends and I had a heated discussion last week, we were debating what player we would rather have in their prime of their careers. Would you rather have Charles Barkley on your team or Kevin Garnett (with both players in their prime)I just wanted to get your thoughts on this matter, thanks for your time,I won't tell you who I chose until I hear what you have to say.
SportsNation Ric : This is what makes Boston sports fans great: they have debates like this. As much as I'm not a fan of Sir Charles for having squandered his God-given talent, and as much as I respect KG for maximizing his, I'd have to go with Chuck. For this reason: he never shrank from the responsibility of taking and making big shots at the end of games. He was the biggest reason the Suns reached the '93 Finals and he was his own closer.
Joey ( New York ): Ric I wiil send you 10 dollars if you answer my question palease !!! Ric do you think Wade will finally get MVP consideration if Miami goes on a big run in the second half he has been great all year and finally Shaq showed up and did his part. My list would go 1.Nash 2.Kobe 3.Wade 4.Brand 5.Billups 6.Nowitzki 7.Lebron. What do you think ?
SportsNation Ric : Wade has no chance of MVP consideration with Shaq on his team -- even though you could make an argument for him if they made a strong run. But I like the trend you may be starting: bidding to get questions answered. Do I hear $20?
Knox (Tucson): What are the chances of either Darius Miles, Ruben Patterson or Theo Ratliff are traded before the deadline?
SportsNation Ric : Most excellent.
Greg (Austin, TX): Can I get some Hornets love? What are they gonna do to solidify their playoff spot?
SportsNation Ric : I love what the Hornets have done, though there couldn't be an owner who less deserves it than George Shinn. That said, I'm not convinced they hold on to a playoff spot. There are too many teams with more experience playing in pressure games down the stretch, the Rockets being one. It's a little like the Cavs last year (and maybe this year) or the Warriors: it's easier to play when you're the overachiever and there are no expectations. When you're suddenly playing under the pressure of protecting a playoff spot, every shot, every pass, every minute becomes a little more stressful. And unless you've played with that stress, you just don't know how to handle it. The Hornets have had a great season, but don't be shocked by a March/April fade. You've also got a rookie point guard who's never played this many games in this short of a span before. That's going to show up eventually.
Ric: Indy seems to play better as a team than when J.O. is on the floor. It could be the offense that they play when Jermaine is in the line-up but then again it could just be J.O....Your thoughts, and is it like O'Neal could be moved in the offseason?
SportsNation Ric : I'd heard Jermaine was actually available last summer (ahead of Artest). The Pacers, in any case, don't believe JO can be everything his contract calls for him to be. This, by the way, is the perfect team for Carlisle to coach. No stars, generally smart and hard-working players, lots of options with his role players. They're not a championship threat, but they're going to be tough from here on out.
Anthony (Chicago): Twenty dollars if you can tell me the best legit way for the Bulls to get a big man to put up front with tyson. Nobody under 6'10'' please...
SportsNation Ric : That'll cost way more than $20.
SportsNation Ric : Lots of good questions I didn't get to -- apologies for that. I'll try to do better next time. Thanks for getting my day off to a rousing start.
SportsNation Ric : Oh, and look for the fifth annual All-Quasars team to show up in the next day or so. It's not All-Madden, but it's all mine. Later...
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2/13/2006 5:36 PM