Women’s College Basketball got a bit more interesting last night when Baylor player Brittney Griner punched Texas Tech’s Jordan Barncastle in the face during a game.

Baylor was winning 55-39 with just over nine minutes on the clock when Barncastle intially fouled on Griner. In the clip below, you can see Barncastle “fling” Griner, who responds with a swift punch to the face. Barncastle can be seen later laughing about the injury on the bench, her right nostril packed with gauze. The game was halted for ten minutes while officials reviewed footage of the on court smackdown.

Griner was ejected from the game, and further discipline was meted out to another Baylor player and the “Texas bench” for going out onto the court immediately after the fracas.

This is a team that has a far amount of trouble not only behind it but in front of it as well. They will likely face a legal fight to void the contract of gun toting point guard Gilbert Arenas and now there seems to be a dispute amongst the ownership group on who exactly can sell the team and to whom. Somebody call CBS, because this has reality show written all over it. On one hand we have the family of deceased owner Abe Pollin. On the other, we have former AOL executive Ted Leonsis who says he has an exclusive opportunity to buy the Washington Wizards and their home arena the Verizon Center.

In the middle we have Comcast Cable, who themselves own a NBA and NHL team, and may be the ones to finance any deal to purchase the Wizards. So a couple of family members, whose family has owned the Wizards since its inception, say that they can sell the team to whomever the want. Since Pollin named Leonsis his heir way back in 1999, he feels that he has an exclusive right to purchase the team for himself.  There are reports that there is a signed agreement but of course both sides are interpreting that differently.

The two sides are also bickering over the price of the team. The family of Pollin are saying that the two sides are several hundred million dollars apart on the price of the team and the stadium. This seems a little ridiculous for a team with the second worst record in the Eastern Conference, and whose star player just got booted from the league for carrying a gun into their locker room.

Forbes Sports Money lists the value of the Wizards at 313 million. Since Leonsis already owns 44% of the team and stadium the hundreds of millions of dollars comment is unrealistic.  It seems that the Pollin family are sitting on assets worth about 250 million or so. That is for 66% of the  team, stadium and  Washington Sports and Entertainment.  Of course the stadium is the real prize for Leonsis, since Leonsis already owns the buildings other tenant the Washington Capitals of the NHL, owing the stadium outright gives him tremendous opportunity for future revenue.

Paul Shirley, who apparently used to play basketball or something, has come under a wee bit of fire for remarks made about giving aid to Haiti that might be construed as a bit… classist completely ignorant insensitive.

Shirley, who it seems is more known now for being a ball player who writes than basketball, penned a heartfelt (or lack of heart-felt) missive deriding the folks in Haiti for what he deems their self-induced plight- it’s cringe-inducing to read in that you feel like you’re eavesdropping someone’s racist comments on a phone call or in a bar. To be fair to Shirley, I don’t think his rant is racist per se- more that the targets of his ire happen to be overwhelmingly poor black people.

Shirley opens with conceding that he realizes he’s going against the tide with his Haiti-critique, and he is- just over two weeks after a humongous disaster that killed hundreds of thousands of people, no one wants to be the guy who points out uncomfortable facts, so points for bravery. Haiti is indeed historically rife with corruption, horrifically poor- a nation for whom the question was not if the house of cards would collapse tragically, but when.

The post comes out offensive from the start, first comparing the dead and dying masses of Haiti to homeless people with misspelled signs before moving on to likening them to cavemen who are “morons,” but it really gets bad here:

Instead, I’m referring to the circumstances in which people lived.  While the earthquake was, obviously, unavoidable, the way in which many of the people of Haiti lived was not.  Regrettably, some Haitians would have died regardless of the conditions in that country.  But the fact that so many people lived in such abject poverty exacerbated the extent of the crisis.

How could humans do this to themselves? And what’s being done to stop it from happening again?

Yes, I ask along Paul Shirley- how can people live like that? In shantytowns? My mansion is so much more comfortable than a tent in Port-au-Prince. Hey, Haitians- have you tried not being poor? It’s like, so much better than not having things! You should try it!

And it’s not just the Haitians that labor under the delusion that living in abject poverty is somehow the way:

After the tsunami of 2004, the citizens of the world wailed and donated and volunteered for cleanup, rarely asking the important – and, I think, obvious – question: What were all those people doing there in the first place? Just as important: If they move back to a place near the ocean that had just been destroyed by a giant wave, shouldn’t our instinct be to say, “Go ahead if you want, but you’re on your own now.”?

Hmmm… my guess, and the same with his subsequent questions about Katrina, is that the populations to which Shirley refers had nowhere else to go. On a more local scale, many people did ask the same question after New Orleans was decimated- why didn’t these people evacuate to save their own lives? And the answer remains the same- because poverty is a prison, and they couldn’t. If you have three dollars in the bank, no car, no resources, and a family to contend with, you lack the abilities to easily pull yourself out of the quagmire of not having.

Shirley asks if there should be a “slight reprimand for the conditions prior to the earthquake,” and helpfully composes a sample text for us to consider:

Dear Haitians –

First of all, kudos on developing the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Your commitment to human rights, infrastructure, and birth control should be applauded.

As we prepare to assist you in this difficult time, a polite request: If it’s possible, could you not re-build your island home in the image of its predecessor? Could you not resort to the creation of flimsy shanty- and shack-towns? And could some of you maybe use a condom once in a while?

Sincerely,

The Rest of the World

Yes, Haiti. As soon as you finish collecting up the bodies of your children and enjoying your fun tent adventure, we would like a word. Because even if corrupt governments and weak infrastructure made it impossible for you to overcome the overwhelming poverty in which you marinate, you can fix that easily:

One could argue that in totalitarian regimes, they do not have much control, but in the end, it is their government. And therefore, their responsibility. If the government is not doing enough for the people, it is the people’s responsibility to change the government. Not the other way around.

Ultimately, I think Shirley’s problem is one of ignorance and misconstruing facts in his own head, not for an agenda. He quotes a distraught Haitian woman who ponders whose “responsibility” it is to provide food and other necessary resources in the wake of the disaster:

“We need so much. Food, clothes, we need everything. I don’t know whose responsibility it is, but they need to give us something soon.”

Shirley recoils at what he sees as entitlement, that the responsibility of the care of Haitians should fall on the Haitians. But when someone is truly debilitated to the point they can’t help themselves- as Haiti is right now- a) responsibility is a distant second to stabilization and b) people truly lack the ability to help themselves. I would have read that quote as an entirely different musing- not that the woman felt entitled, merely that she was lamenting a lack of oversight and structure in her country. When the roads goods come in on are gone, the structures fallen and transformed into mausoleums and the basic ability to fend for oneself eliminated, I think most humans would default to wondering when the cavalry will arrive.

I don’t think Paul Shirley is a jerk, merely that he’d benefit from a larger dig into what caused the situation that precipitated the situation in Haiti before writes off aid to Haiti. Yes, some of it will be misappropriated, some of it surely already has. But is it worth fifty cents to buy a dollar of care for a child who really isn’t responsible for the circumstances into which they were born? Perhaps that’s the real question Shirley should be asking.

Update: Shirley was asked to no longer contribute to ESPN’s content. I have to say, I’d rather that not be the case. Just because someone expresses an unpopular opinion doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a platform.

NBA rookie Greg Oden, sidelined this year from play by a knee injury, apparently got bored while sitting on the bench.

A set of naked mirror pics featuring the 21-year-old player have surfaced on WorldStarHipHop.com, said to be sourced from “a jumpoff” and featuring the playa in various states of undress. While the pictures have not been confirmed to be authentic, they do appear to feature Greg Oden along with his penis. Penis.

Hat tip to the Huffington Post and their impressive piece of investigative journalism in a piece entitled “Greg Oden NAKED PICTURES? Nude PENIS PHOTOS Surface.” If you’re up to navigating the horrific site design and odious comments, you can see more of Greg Oden and his pecker at WorldStarHipHop.com. And the moral of the story is, again, cell phones are for phone calls and don’t send jump offs pictures of your junk.

Below is another slightly edited pic of Oden showcasing his wares:

Gilbert Arenas is stupid idiot, and in the end his stupidity is going to cost him 85 million dollars. It is not news the Gilbert though it to be wise to bring a bunch of guns to the Washington Wizard’s arena, store them in his locker, and then allegedly brandish one of them at a teammate over a gambling debt. These actions were not only against NBA regulations, but quite possible Washington DC gun laws, which happen to be among the strictest in the country. He followed that up by going out in a NBA game last night and pretending to shoot his teammates.

This guy just doesn’t understand the severity of what he did. Needless to say NBA commissioner David Stern was forced to drop the boom on him, and he is now indefinitely suspended from the NBA without pay. It seems very likely that the league and the team will work to void his contract, for which he has four years and 85 million dollars left on, and if Arenas is really lucky he will avoid going to prison.

Washington DC, or really the sports world in general, was not the place to fool around with guns. It is not the place where guns should be, and Gilbert is a moron for trying to make light on a very serious infraction. Before last night’s sickening display, Stern was willing to wait out the completion of the police investigation. However Arenas was unable to keep his head down, unable to avoid acting a clown and those actions maybe even more so than the original gun infraction are why he should lose his contract.

Inner city gun violence is not a punch line to use to promote you twitter account, guns are serious, and Gilbert cannot find it in himself to understand that. He says, he took the guns out of his house to protect his children, but brought them to an arena full of fans, fans that quite possible have been drinking. That is ignorance of the highest level, and it should cost him his 85 million dollars.

Jayson Williams suffered lacerations to the head in an accident involving his BMW SUV near an exit of the FDR Drive last night in Manhattan.

The crash occurred at E. 18th Street and Avenue C at around 3:15 am Tuesday. Police say Williams refused to submit to a field sobriety test at the scene. Williams could face charges for the refusal, a police spokesperson has said. Witnesses also say Williams moved to the passenger side of the vehicle despite the fact that he was alone. The former Nets star was taken to Bellevue and was being treated Tuesday morning.

Williams has had a large share of legal troubles over the past few years. In December, his lawyers asked a judge to allow them to withdraw from an ongoing reckless manslaughter case in the shooting death of Williams’ driver Costas “Gus” Christofi at the player’s home in New Jersey. (Williams was previously acquitted on related charges stemming from the incident.) Lawyers cited lack of trust in their client, but Williams blamed his grief following the November death of his father:

“Nov. 10 changed my life, and I wasn’t thinking straight,” Williams said, adding he has been hard to reach, but not impossible. “I don’t think that our trust is broken.”

Williams settled with Christofi’s family in a civil suit for $2.75m. In April of last year, Williams was taken into custody over an incident in a Battery Park hotel room in which he allegedly became violent- police said pills and suicide notes were found at the scene. In May, he was arrested for punching a man in a North Carolina bar, but those charges were later dropped.

Audrey (also reported as Carrie and Sherrie) Johnson, 51, wife of ex-NBA player World B. Free, was struck and killed by a stray bullet in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn last night.

The shooting occurred at about 9:30pm at Clifton Place and Franklin Avenue in Bed-Stuy, after an altercation on the street. Johnson reportedly stepped outside to check on the boyfriend of her niece. Johnson’s niece’s boyfriend, 25-year-old Laqwan Williams, was being assaulted on the street by one of more of them men thought to be responsible for the shooting when Johnson stepped in. Johnson was shot once in the head and died at the scene, and her 14-year-old nephew was shot in the leg and transported to a local hospital.

Williams is being questioned as to the reason for the altercation, but no arrests have been made in the killing. NBA star World B. Free played for a number of teams in the 1970s.

The State of New York’s top court has ruled that the State has the right to use eminent domain laws to seize property for the Atlantic Rail yards project. That means New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner, and his company Forest City Ratner can complete construction on the Barclay’s Center the new Brooklyn home of his New Jersey Nets. Completion of this project is also a key point to Ratner’s potential sale of the Nets to Russian Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.

For sports fans the Atlantic rail yards, and the use of eminent domain, have very significant place in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In the 1950’s Dodgers’ owner Walter O’Malley wanted the State to use eminent domain laws to give him the area surrounding the Atlantic Rail yards to build a replacement for Ebbets Field. A New York City Developer at the time refused to even consider O’Malley eventually moved his team to Los Angeles and many blame him for the urban decline Brooklyn has suffered since the team left.

This time around several property owners on the proposed site sued the State claiming that the state had no right to use eminent domain for the properties because the use of the land was to benefit a private enterprise. They claim the State of New York Constitution only allows the state to use eminent domain to seize land meant to be used by the public. The Court found that the area was blighted enough that the State had every right to use eminent domain to secure the property for the new project.

The owners of the properties and their attorneys have vowed to continue their fight when an Urban Development Agency goes to a Brooklyn Court in the next step to seize the properties. However it seems like the Atlantic Yards project is for the public good, and could help restore Brooklyn to prominence.

More Business of the NBA stories

It is always sad when sports team shut down, not only for the fans of that team, but for fans of the sport as well. It is tough when economics and other outside business decisions shut down or force a team to relocate. Today the Maloof Family who both the Sacramento Kings of the NBA and the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA announced that they would no longer operate the Monarchs and now the WNBA offices are scrambling to find a new ownership group and a plan to relocate the franchise.

The loss of the Monarchs hurts for the WNBA, they were a charter member of that league, and the league Champions in 2005. Until yesterday their official team website had a title, “Picture yourself as a 2010 Monarchs season ticket holders.” So this move took many kind of by surprise. It’s not as if the attendance of the Monarchs was terrible. In fact by WNBA standards it was pretty good. In fact of the current WNBA team the Monarchs had the sixth highest average franchise attendance. Of course the team with the fifth highest average franchise attendance, the Detroit Shock, was recently sold and relocated.

The Maloof family, who also own the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, said they no longer wished to operate the team because it split their focus from the Sacramento Kings. There have been some reports that the Detroit Shock had lost 25 million dollars over their 12 years of existence. Since the WNBA has a pretty small salary cap, just 803k for 2009, that doesn’t seem possible. It is interesting that the Monarchs are not being shut down due to financial loses.

Since the California Bay area is a desirable location for a WNBA franchise the move may not be a big one. In fact there are potential groups in both San Jose and Oakland who may buy the franchise.

More WNBA News and Notes

1. Phoenix Suns- Stoudemire struggled against the Lakers, but dropped 30 on the Raptors

2. Cleveland Cavaliers- The offense seems to be fine, but they still have questions of defense

3. Portland Trailblazers- On a 6 game winning streak and the defense is playing well

4. Atlanta Hawks- Great start, against a tough schedule

5. Denver Nuggets- They seem to be a legit title contender

6. Orlando Magic- Welcome back Rashard Lewis

7. Boston Celtics- It is only November, but this team looks kind of old

8. Los Angeles Lakers- They are suppose to have good defense with Artest, but have given up three straight 100 point games

9. Miami Heat- This team is pretty tough to figure out

10. Dallas Mavericks- Add PG Rodrigue Beaubolis to the list of impressive rookies

11. Houston Rockets- Aaron Brooks is the early season star

12. Chicago Bulls- Now they have a six game trip to the west

13. Milwaukee Bucks- Brandon Jennings is a hit at the Bradley Center

14. Indiana Pacers- Winners of four straight

15. San Antonio Spurs- next 12 of 15 are at home

16. Oklahoma City Thunder- Sometimes they look really good, and sometimes not so much

17. Toronto Raptors- Chris Bosh still needs more help

18. Detroit Pistons- Ben Gordon can be great, but he can also be not so great

19. Sacramento Kings- Not the worst team in the west anymore

20. Philadelphia 76ers- Marreese Speights is out for 6-8 weeks

21. Los Angeles Clippers- Asst. Coach Kim Hughes is turning Chris Kaman into a great player

22. Utah Jazz- at 4-6 people are starting to call for Jerry Sloan’s head

23. New Orleans Hornets- Chris Paul has an ankle injury, and they fired their coach

24. Charlotte Bobcats- After losing 4 straight, their fast start seems too good to be true

25. Golden State Warriors- This is a tough team to watch

26. Washington Wizards- Even Agent Zero cannot cure their funk

27. Memphis Grizzlies- The A.I. experiment lasted about a week

28. Minnesota Timberwolves- They are struggling, enough said

29. New York Knicks- waiting it out until next summer

30. New Jersey Nets- They are probably going to be 30th for awhile

Video clip below of Denver rookie Ty Lawson dunking on DJ Mbenga forward Josh Powell, each who have about a foot on him, give or take.

That should be against the Law! …son.

1. Boston Celtics- they are taking 19.3 3 point shots a game, and making 40% of them

2. Los Angeles Lakers- Still getting it done without Andrew Bynum and Paul Gasol

3. Phoenix Suns- Depth seemed like a problem, but they are solid off the bench

4. Atlanta Hawks- Jamal Crawford is averaging 18 points per game

5. Denver Nuggets- Carmelo put up 30 points in back to back games and his average dropped

6. Miami Heat- Michael Beasley has done a great job as a starter

7. Orlando Magic- It looks like a slew of injuries is starting to catch up to this team

8. Dallas Mavericks- Starting to look legit

9. Houston Rockets- This team is scrappy

10. Portland Trailblazers- 3 guard lineup has the Blazers running and scoring

11. Chicago Bulls- Losing Tyrus Thomas hurts an already thin front court

12. Cleveland Cavaliers- They need to get their act together

13. Oklahoma City Thunder- 7 of next 9 on the road

14. Milwaukee Bucks- If Michael Redd can return and get back to his normal production this is a dangerous team

15. San Antonio Spurs- is Ginobili done, or just rusty?

16. Toronto Raptors- No defense to speak of, but a great offense

17. Charlotte Bobcats- they score 95 ppg, shoot 38% and are .500 for the year

18. Detroit Pistons- Many injuries are forcing them to develop new players quickly

19. Philadelphia 76ers- They cannot score from the perimeter

20. Utah Jazz- They give up 100 points every night

21. New Orleans Hornets- James Posey has not made this team a contender

22. Los Angeles Clippers- Still the other team playing at the Staples Center

23. Indiana Pacers- Can the beat the Celtics?

24. Washington Wizards- They seem to have lost their focus

25. Sacramento Kings- Donte Greene has to step up

26. Golden State Warriors- They play no defense at all

27. Minnesota Timberwolves- They are young, but Al Jefferson is struggling

28. New York Knicks- The players seem to think this is a throw away season

29. Memphis Grizzlies- Allen Iverson was a rally bad idea

30. New Jersey Nets- Courtney Lee is shooting just 31.4%

1. Boston Celtics- Signed Rajon Rondo to a 55 million dollar contract extension

2. Orlando Magic- averaging 113 point per game, but so far schedule has been soft

3. Denver Nuggets- Can anyone stop Carmelo Anthony?

4. Los Angeles Lakers- So far, they look a little sluggish

5. San Antonio Spurs- Very deep and Gregg Popovich knows how to use it

6. Phoenix Suns- averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds, Grant Hill is playing like he is 35 again

7. Cleveland Cavaliers- Delonte West is back

8. Miami Heat- Hot start with 8 of first 10 games at home

9. Atlanta Hawks- Jamal Crawford is effective off the bench

10. Washington Wizards- Good start, and they should get better

11. Dallas Mavericks- Jason Kidd isn’t scoring but distributing

12. Portland Trailblazers- Easy home schedule, but now they hit the road

13. Houston Rockets- They have a lot of injuries, but may be fun to watch

14. Utah Jazz- They must learn how to win on the road

15. Oklahoma City Thunder- This might be there breakthrough year

16. Philadelphia 76ers- Elton Brand is slowly starting to look like Elton Brand

17. New Orleans Hornets- If Stojakovic is healthy they will be better

18. Milwaukee Bucks- Rookie Brandon Jennings is exciting Bucks fans

19. Chicago Bulls- Derrick Rose must make his jump shots

20. Charlotte Bobcats- They need to improve their perimeter shooting

21. Toronto Raptors- So far the bench has been a disappointment

22. Detroit Pistons- Injury to Rip Hamilton has hurt this young team

23. Minnesota Timberwolves- Al Jefferson is playing more defense, but they still need him to score

24. Memphis Grizzlies- Allen Iverson is already upset with his role

25. New York Knicks- They have Danilo Gallinari and not much else

26. Los Angeles Clippers- Struggles out of the gate, but soft schedule could help them rebound

27. Indiana Pacers- allowed just 48.7 shooting in their first two games

28. Golden State Warriors- They must play some defense

29. Sacramento Kings- This was suppose to be an opportunity for Sergio Rodriguez, but he has barely played

30. New Jersey Nets- Devin Harris has a groin injury

Maybe the Los Angeles Clippers are cursed after all. News came down today that overall number one draft pick, Blake Griffin, has broken his knee cap and could be lost for the first six weeks of the season. The Clippers needed Blake to come and produce not only to help this team win, but to use him to sell tickets. The Clippers are known as the other team that plays at LA’s Staples Center, but they hoped to change that perception by getting Griffin going early.

Griffin apparently broke his knee cap in the final Clippers exhibition game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He may have broken it on a slam sunk where he pulled up in obvious pain, regardless of how he broke it; this is a big injury for this young star, and really for this team. During the pre-season Griffin was averaging 13.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. That is a lot of production for this team to miss.

The Sacramento Kings only won 17 games in 2008-09, worst in the NBA. They were also last in attendance, they play in the NBA’s oldest building and despite having room to operate underneath the NBA salary cap, and this team did little to improve itself in the off season. In fact this might just be the NBA most affected by the recession. Sacramento saw its gate receipts fall 23% last year, thus the team lost 9.7 million dollars in revenue. This is the classic catch 22 for sports teams, build a winner and fans come out, however to build a winner requires a huge financial investment. The Maloof family doesn’t seem prepared to make that investment.

Of course it is not like the Kings roster is totally devoid of NBA talent. 2009 first round pick Tyreke Evans is raw but has star potential, Kevin Martin can score, and Sergio Rodriguez may be the passer this offense needs. While the Maloof’s spent the off season slashing season ticket prices, they also rubbed enough pennies together to land 6-9 forward Sean May. The big knock on most of the Kings players are they are soft and oft injured.

The Kings need to turn their luck around 58 year old, new Head Coach Paul Westphal is the man charged with doing so. Of course this is his third gig as a NBA head man after being fired from Phoenix and Seattle. Paul may have landed this job, but that wasn’t because he was in demand. In all reality he was the guy who would coach for the least amount of money.

What else can you say, this is a bad team owned by a family that will not or cannot make the decisions that will help rebuild the team. It seems like it is going to be a very long season for Kings fans, but I don’t feel sorry for them, I have been rooting for the Detroit Lions my whole life and as bad as the Kings were last year they still managed to win one game.

There might be a new day coming for the New Jersey Nets, but that day will not come soon enough for their fans. This is a team that used to be called the Clippers East, then Jason Kidd came to town and unprecedented success came with him, now the Nets have sold off all their flashy pieces and little of once what was is left. While the Nets are well positioned to make a big play for one of the many 2010 free agents, this team will have to get through the coming NBA season first.

Sure the Nets have new ownership, or will soon, and sure they are building a new stadium in Brooklyn, although that is a process that has brought about many, a lawsuit from many different groups of people. Now this is a team that went 35-48 last season, finished third in their division, but that they did finish 28 games behind eventual division champs the Boston Celtics. Now that Vince Carter has been traded away, projections for the coming season are even worse.

The new face of this franchise is point guard Devin Harris, and he comes to the team with an impressive resume. He averaged 21.3 points per game last year, and was an all star. Now that Carter is gone, Harris will have the chance to improve on those numbers. The Nets also landed guard Courtney Lee in the Carter trade. Lee gained valuable experience last year playing 8 minutes a game during the Magic’s run to the NBA finals last season. He and Harris provide the Nets with a very athletic backcourt.

While the Nets have been in cost cutting mode for the last few years, once the new ownership is approved and that is, supposed to happen by the end of the year, that could very well change. The new owners will have lots of incentive to build a winning team to help fill their new Brooklyn home.

It may be kind of hard to rebuild a team in New York City because the fans are so impatient for a winner. However this may be a very long year for Knicks fans since it seems this team is intent of giving away the coming NBA season to strike it rich in the Free Agent market of 2010. They have been cutting payroll and hope to clear enough space to land Lebron James, or Chris Bosh, or Dwayne Wade. The New York Yankees did land CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and AJ Burnett all in one off season, might the Knicks try to do the same?

Knicks Head Coach Mark D’Antoni is trying to convince his current group of players that 2009-10 is not a throw away year. It seems this team will have to work to find that delicate balance between the lowering NBA cap, and staying competitive in the current season. These are not the Isaiah Thomas Knicks who seemed utterly without talent, because the Knicks have a few very interesting pieces. David Lee, the Forward/Center, is at the top of that last having scored 65 double doubles last season.

They also have a few unproven young players. Danilo Gallinari, the 2008 6th overall pick, has yet to play significant time since he only played in 28 games last year due to a back injury. Wilson Chandler followed up his poor rookie season by averaging 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, the Knicks are counting on him to take another step forward in his third year.

This is D’Antoni’s second year in New York, and he and new General Manager Donnie Walsh have made multiple trades to improve their roster. They appear to be headed in the right direction, but they will need to focus more on defense if they want to win. Last year they were 28th in Point allowed, 28th in field goal defense, all while they were able to score 105.2 points per game. That simply won’t do.

The Memphis Grizzlies have spent many years spinning their wheels. Over the last three years they have the worst combined record in the NBA at 68-178, they finished second to last in 2008-09 in home attendance, and in the second year of their latest three year master plan the ended up firing their coach. They finished last year with a 24-58 record, and while things seems very dark there may be reason to hope. Of course that was before this team added disgruntled NBA stars Zach Randolph and Allen Iverson in the off season.

This team has a very talented, and young core group of players. OJ Mayo, Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, and Marc Gasol are the future of this team. New Coach Lionel Hollins was able to motivate those players for a late season push that seemed to suggest the Grizzlies were finally on the right path. On top of that the Grizzlies had three draft picks to help improve this team, including the overall number two pick. What the front office decided to do with these assets is nothing short of troubling.

It seems kind of fitting that the hapless Grizzlies got the second pick in a one player NBA draft. With that pick they took offensively challenged Hasheem Thabeet. The only upside to this kid he is a raw shot blocker that may develop into a strong defensive player down the road. However they have added two locker room cancers to this team that could undue the gains made at the end of last season.

Iverson and Randolph are not good locker room guys, and unchecked on a young team like the Grizzlies could completely destroy this team. On top of that both of these players need the ball, and that will slow the development of Gay and Mayo. On top of that The Grizzlies let many bench players go to save money under the cap, even though they were far under the cap already. In the end this team made many questionable moves, moves that have divided their fan base, and their front office staff.

Marcus Jordan, the son of NBA great Michael Jordan wants to “be like Mike,” but his University has only just now agreed.

The problem arose due to a contractual issue. The University of Central Florida, where Marcus is currently studying and play has a deal with Adidas where all their players must wear the product, without exception, even the son of Michael Jordan.

After some local controversy, the University has seen sense and Marcus Jordan has agreed to wear Adidas gear but stick with Air Jordans on his feet.

A rising star in his own right, Marcus was rated as the 100th-best shooting guard in the country as a high school senior by ESPNU, averaging 10.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, earning state tournament MVP honors.

This is a team that has never recovered from the November, 2004 brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills versus the Detroit Pistons and their fans.  They recently rid, themselves of Jamaal Tinsley who was the last member of the Pacers involved in one of the most infamous acts in NBA history. Remember it was Tinsley, once most the ruckus had settled down, who grabbed a dustpan and raised it over his head in an attempt to get back into the fight. Kind of fitting that he was the last Pacer involved to be swept out of town.

Since that day, now five years ago, Pacers President Larry Bird has attempted to remake the Pacers roster. Remember this was a team with Jermaine O’Neil, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, and Tinsley all in their primes. Instead of making multiple runs at NBA titles a series of off the court troubles and the brawl at the Palace has set this team far behind. Now Pacers fans would just like a return trip to the NBA playoffs, once their expectations were the NBA finals or bust.

After finishing the lat two seasons 36-46, and their 2008-09 season never really got started as injuries plagued this team for the get go. Bird remade the roster a year ago and is still waiting for some players to step up. One of those players is Danny Granger. He seems to be the Phoenix rising from the ashes of the Artest Pacers. Granger was drafted 17th overall in 2005, and during last season evolved into an all star caliber player. Averaging 25.8 point per game he was named last season’s most improved player.

For the coming season to be a success the Pacers will need Mike Dunleavy to return from an injury and contribute big time. However Dunleavy will miss all of training camp while his knee heals. The Pacers also added 13th overall pick Tyler Hansbrough to the mix, and that may just be the steal of the 2009 NBA draft. While he has been sidelined with a shin injury, the Pacers are counting on him to step up big time in his rookie campaign.