Charles Oakley, who played 19 years in the NBA as a bruising power forward before retiring in 2004, said Tuesday he could help the Orlando Magic develop some much-needed toughness if they add him to the roster for this season.
Oakley, 43, said he could fill the need for a veteran frontcourt player behind Dwight Howard and Tony Battie.
"Orlando has a good young team with a bright future -- I like Dwight Howard -- but I could help them develop some heart and some toughness," he said Tuesday on his cell phone from Las Vegas, where he was watching the USA Basketball team and conducting personal workouts. "I'm available. And I'm in shape, better shape than most of the guys in the league today."
Oakley has joined a growing list of retired players who have expressed an interest in rejoining the league after watching Kevin Willis last season, who returned to the Houston Rockets at age 44.
Already this summer, Reggie Miller and Allan Houston have talked about returning. And the Miami Heat have signed Penny Hardaway, who has missed much of the past two seasons.
click for more details
source : orlandosentinel.com
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Oakley Say He Can Help Magic
Woodson Shakes Up Bench Staff
The lineup of faces on the Hawks' bench will change considerably this season as coach Mike Woodson confirmed a staff shakeup that has been in the works for months.
Assistant coaches Herb Brown and Greg Ballard, both members of Woodson's staff since he took over the team three years ago, are moving into different roles in the final year of their contracts. Also, former NBA center Alton Lister joins the staff as an assistant coach with an emphasis on tutoring the Hawks' big men.
Lister, 49, played 16 NBA seasons with Milwaukee, Seattle, Golden State, Boston and Portland. He was drafted in the first round of the 1981 draft by the Bucks. Lister spent the past seven years as the men's basketball coach at Mesa Community College. He's also been a long-time instructor at Pete Newell's Big Man Camp, a must-stop for young big men on their path to the NBA and young centers already in the league.
Lister, a 7-footer who was a member of the 1980 Olympic team that was forced to sit out the Moscow games because of a boycott, was a part of the Hawks summer league coaching staff last month in Utah. That crew was led by Woodson's top assistant, Larry Drew, who will return this season in the same position after almost leaving for the same job in Sacramento. Drew accepted the position with the Kings but wasn't allowed out of the final year of his contract with the Hawks.
Woodson's staff for the season is set with Drew, Bob Bender, David Fizdale and Lister joining him on the bench when training camp opens Oct. 2.
Brown will return in a consultant's role, mainly as a special adviser to Woodson. Ballard, who previously mentored the team's big men, joins the scouting staff.
In other Hawks news, the team has picked up the contract options for Marvin Williams and Shelden Williams for the 2008-09 season.
source : ajc.com
Reggie Miller Still Weighing NBA Comeback
Reggie Miller retired from the league two years ago and his No. 31 now hangs in the Conseco Fieldhouse rafters after being retired by the Pacers last season. He ranks 13th on the NBA’s career scoring list with 25,279 points.
The NBA’s career leader in 3-pointers tried to dodge reporters’ questions about his possible return on Tuesday as he attended Peyton Manning’s charity bowling tournament, saying he wanted to talk about the Super Bowl MVP and his event.
Eventually, though, Miller acknowledged no decision was imminent.
click for more details
source : msnbc.msn.com
Eddie Griffin Killed In Car Crash
HOUSTON, Aug. 21 (AP) -- Former Minnesota Timberwolves forward Eddie Griffin died last week when his sport utility vehicle collided with a freight train in a fiery crash, the Harris County medical examiner's office said Tuesday.
Investigators used dental records to identify Griffin, 25, who began his tumultuous pro career with the Houston Rockets in 2001. He was waived by the Timberwolves in March.
The five-year veteran, who was the No. 7 pick in the 2001 NBA draft, had battled alcohol problems since coming out of Seton Hall. Griffin was suspended by the league for five games in January for violating its anti-drug program.
click for more details
source : NBA.com
Warriors Sign Stephane Lasme To Contract
The Golden State Warriors have signed forward Stephane Lasme (pronounced stef-on laz-me), whom the team selected with the 46th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, to a contract, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.
Lasme will wear uniform #12.
HEAT Sign Anfernee Hardaway
MIAMI, August 9 – The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed free agent guard/forward Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Penny is a player who has been an All-Star and has enjoyed an illustrious career,” said HEAT President & Head Coach Pat Riley. “We have been impressed at his hard work and dedication this summer to get back in shape and return to the NBA. He is a skilled player who can help us in multiple positions.”
During a 13-year NBA career with the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, Hardaway has averaged 15.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.61 steals and 34.0 minutes in 688 games (549 starts). The 6’7”, 220-pound guard/forward has shot 45.8 percent from the floor, 31.5 percent from three-point range and 77.4 percent from the foul line.
Hardaway spent his last two seasons playing for the New York Knicks. During the 2004-05 season, he came off the bench in 37 games, averaging 7.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 24.2 minutes, while shooting 42.3 percent from the floor and 30.0 percent from three-point range. He played in just four games during the 2005-06 season due to injury.
Hardaway was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the third pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. He was acquired by the Orlando Magic in a draft day trade, along with three future draft picks, for Chris Webber. In his rookie year, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and was named NBA Rookie of the Month twice. In his six seasons with the Magic, he also earned All-NBA First Team honors during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, All-NBA Third Team honors in the 1996-97 season, and was selected as an NBA All-Star four times (1995-98). He began his NBA career playing along side HEAT Center Shaquille O’Neal. Together, they helped lead the Magic to the NBA Finals in 1995.
Hardaway was acquired by the Phoenix Suns on August 5, 1999 in a sign-and-trade deal with the Magic in exchange for forwards Pat Garrity and Danny Manning, and two future first-round draft picks. He was then traded to the New York Knicks on January 5, 2004 in a multi-player trade.
Hardaway was traded back to the Orlando Magic on February 22, 2006, but was waived on February 27, 2006.
He was also a member of the gold medal-winning USA Basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
source : NBA.com
Raptors Add Ujiri To Basketball Operations
(July 30, 2007) - The Toronto Raptors announced Monday that they have added Masai Ujiri (Ma-SIGH u-JEER-e) to the basketball operations staff as the club’s director of global scouting.
“Masai Ujiri is universally known in the NBA as a bright young basketball mind,” said Bryan Colangelo, president and general manager of the Raptors. “The Toronto Raptors will surely benefit from his wealth of experience and contacts throughout the basketball community worldwide.”
Ujiri joins the Raptors after four seasons as a member of the Denver Nuggets scouting department, including this past season as their director of international scouting. Prior to joining the Nuggets, he served as an international scout with the Orlando Magic in 2002-03.
A native of Nigeria, Ujiri has played an active role in promoting basketball in his homeland, starting the Top 50 Bigman Camp five years ago. He also serves as a director for the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders Africa program.
Following his collegiate career at Montana State, he spent six years playing professionally in Europe, with stops in Belgium, Germany, England, Greece and Finland.
source : NBA.com
Cavs Have Been Down This Road
If the first two games of this Eastern Conference finals was not deja vu enough, now the Cavaliers are down, 0-2, to the Detroit Pistons for the second straight year in the playoffs.
Sure, there are some differences. It was the conference semifinals last year, and the Cavs were blown out in the first game, and they lost a close one in Game 2, but the Cavs did regroup from those losses and turned the series around before losing to the Pistons in seven games.
Only two of the previous 57 teams who went down, 0-2, in a conference final have managed to come back and win. The Cavs are not concerned with that his- tory, but they do know they can remember their own past to get back into this series. Game 3 is at 8:30 p.m. Sun day at The Q.
click for more details
source : cleveland.com
Pedowitz To Lead Review of League’s Officiating Program
NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2007 – NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today that the NBA has named Lawrence B. Pedowitz, a former Chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and current partner at law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to lead a comprehensive review of the league's rules, policies, and procedures relating to gambling and its officiating program.
Pedowitz, a former law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., and members of his law firm will conduct a broad examination of the NBA's league-wide anti-gambling efforts, including its rules, its policies regarding disclosure of confidential information, its methods of monitoring and enforcement, and its efforts to educate NBA personnel. In addition, the review will include an analysis of the current hiring and development processes for NBA referees, and the systems used to monitor their off-court behavior and on-court performance, all with the aim of improving the overall effectiveness of NBA officiating and of bolstering the league's efforts to detect and deter betting on its games.
“There is nothing as important as the integrity of our game and the covenant we have with our fans,” said Stern. “In order to preserve their trust, we will make every effort possible to ensure that our processes and procedures are the best they can be. With his background as a Federal prosecutor and his vast experience in criminal law and risk management matters in almost 25 years of private legal practice, Larry Pedowitz is an ideal person to lead this independent review.”
Pedowitz said, “With full recognition of the seriousness of the task and the careful scrutiny required, I accept the responsibility placed on me by the Commissioner. I have received a broad mandate from the NBA, including the authority to retain the additional experts and consultants needed to complete a searching review. We intend to thoroughly examine those areas of the NBA's operations that could affect the integrity of the game.”
David B. Anders, who joined Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz after serving more than seven years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, will be assisting Pedowitz. As part of the review, Pedowitz, Anders and their team will work with all constituencies whose views can lead to improved policies and procedures, including the referees union, players union, and law enforcement. They will conduct interviews with referees, players, coaches, owners, and other team and league personnel, among others.
Pedowitz has been a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz specializing in corporate litigation, regulatory and white collar criminal matters for more than two decades. During his years in private practice, Pedowitz has frequently been selected by major corporations to review their compliance systems to ensure that they have state-of-the-art policies and procedures, training and audit/detection systems to manage the legal and reputational risks inherent in their businesses.
Pedowitz’s 35-year legal career includes significant experience serving as Chief Appellate Attorney (1976-1978) and Chief of the Criminal Division (1982-1984) in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
source :NBA.com
Analysis Of U.S.A.'s First Opponent, Venezuela
Overview
Venezuela is a team in transition right now, and by transition I mean they are trying to move their national team in a younger direction. The decision was made to leave some of their older stars – Richard Lugo, Victor David Diaz and Pablo Machado – off the team and as a result they struggled in the pre-qualifying Stankovic Cup tournament in China, going 0-5.
Strengths
Oscar Torres is really their main star and his ability to play with them after missing the Stankovic Cup will make a big difference. He is the one player for this team who has spent some time in the NBA, having played with Houston and Golden State from 2001-2003. This past year he played for CSKA in the Euroleague. He is going to have to be a guy who provides a tremendous amount of leadership and some scoring on the wing.
Joining him in the frontcourt is Hector Romero, a very talented interior forward who goes about 6-foot-8. He’s aggressive and he’s got talent. Their backcourt is terrific with Carlos Cedeno and Greivis Vasquez. Vazquez plays college ball in the U.S. at Maryland and Cedeno is a very good, mature point guard. They really do a good job but they’re very young.
Weaknesses
This team lacks frontcourt depth. I don’t know if they have enough interior scoring besides Romero. That combined with their relative youth makes me think that they will have a hard time having a successful FIBA tournament.
X-Factor
Torres coming back to the team after missing the Stankovic Cup is the biggest x-factor for this team. He is the kind of guy who, if he’s hot, can carry a team to a victory.
Coaching Philosophy
Nestor Salazar is an aggressive, defensive oriented head coach who, for the most part, wants to have his team playing man to man. However, I don’t know if he has as many horses as he is used to having and he may have to adjust accordingly. This team could shock someone, but it will depend on their draw.
source : NBA.com
Bulls Duhon To Attend Back To School Bash
August 20, 2007 – Bulls guard Chris Duhon will join approximately 500 children who live in Chicago Housing Authority units at the South Shore Cultural Center on Tuesday afternoon for a back to school event designed to inspire higher attendance rates.
Windows of Opportunity - the non-profit partner of the Chicago Housing Authority - along with Midway Moving & Storage and CHAC, the Chicago Housing Choice Voucher Program, will host the first-ever “Back to School Bash: Project Turnaround,” a day-long festival designed to enthuse children who live in CHA units about going back to school. The goal is 100 percent attendance on the first day.
The children on hand will enjoy games with Duhon, performances by the Jesse White Tumblers and hot dogs from Best Kosher. They will also receive event t-shirts from Sportiqe Apparel Company, and book bags filled with school supplies from Wal-Mart and Warehouse Direct. The Chicago Fire Department will teach children about fire safety, while the Colgate Van and the Chicago Department of Health will provide dental screenings and immunizations.
Support for the event also has been provided by the City of Chicago, Chicago Park District, Chicago Police Department and the National Conference of Community and Justice.
source : NBA.com
