Month: May 2006 (Page 12 of 20)

The New York Knicks continue to embarrass the city and their organization. There are reports that New York owner James Dolan is going to buy out Larry Brown as their head coach for approximately 40 million dollars. He was upset with the way Brown would openly criticize the players and the terrible record this past year.

The rumor is that Isiah Thomas will become the new head coach to replace Brown. This is an amazing turn of events. Brown is a good coach and needs a chance to form his own team. The fact that Dolan would allow Thomas to coach the terrible team that he formed is exactly why the Knicks will be holding up the bottom of that division for quite some time. Isiah has never been a successful general manager or coach, but teams continue to give him an opportunity. The fact someone was a great player does not automatically make them a good coach.

Miami 103, New Jersey 92 (Heat lead series, 2-1)
Tied after three quarters, the Heat scored 31 points in the fourth quarter en route to a decisive victory in Game 3, and regained home-court advantage in the process. Dwayne Wayne flirted with a triple-double, posting 30 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, including 14-15 shooting from the charity stripe. Shaquille O’Neal stayed out of foul trouble for most of the game, and went for 19/9 in the process. If Wade is playing well and Shaq is on the court, the Heat are a tough team to beat. The Nets got 43 points from Vince Carter, who made 50% of the shots he hoisted. Nenad Krstic and Jason Kidd combined for 8-26 (31%) shooting, which really hampered New Jersey’s chances.

Phoenix 94, L.A. Clippers 91 (Suns lead series 2-1)
I attended Game 3 in L.A. and the Clippers squandered a golden opportunity to take control of the series, allowing the Suns to steal a victory. Considering that L.A. held Phoenix to 37% shooting, the Clippers problems were all at the offensive end. In the third quarter, L.A. shot a miserable 6 of 20 (30%) from the field and committed five turnovers, which allowed the Suns to build a nine point lead. For some reason, the Clippers stopped running the offense through Elton Brand, and instead used their All-Star as a screener for most of the quarter. This led to an 11-point Phoenix lead before Vladimir Radmanovic caught fire. The 6’10” forward hit four straight three-pointers and added a layup to lead his team on a 16-2 run that gave the Clippers the lead, 79-76, with just under seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter. But the Suns found themselves up by one with 0:28 to play, needing a bucket to seal the win. Steve Nash had a quiet game (12 points, 10 assists), but hit a tough fadeaway jumper with 0:03 to play that put the Suns up three. Radmanovic’s desperation three fell short at the buzzer and just like that, the Clippers’ home-court advantage is gone.

On another note, you know you’re in L.A. when the worst heckle you hear the entire game is “do something about your hair, Nash!”