PACERS SUSPEND WILLIAMS THREE GAMES

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 13, 2007 – The Indiana Pacers announced Thursday they have suspended second-year forward Shawne Williams three games for failing to adhere to standards of behavior expected by the team. The three-game suspension will be served for the Pacers’ first three games of the regular season against Washington, Oct. 31, Miami, Nov. 2, and Memphis, Nov. 3.

Williams and two occupants of his vehicle were arrested Tuesday morning by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police during a traffic stop. While formal charges have not been brought, the Pacers are disciplining Williams based on their rules and regulations pertaining to conduct of their players.

“We are making it clear to our players and our fans that this franchise is going in a different direction,” said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. “Shawne put himself in a position that placed the franchise in a poor light. He’s a good kid who made a bad decision. Our franchise is in a position now where the responsibilities, conduct and standards of the players off the court weigh as heavily as they do on the court.”

source : NBA.com

Two Bulls Lead Their Respective Nations' International Hopes

SHEFFIELD, England -- Their NBA peers may not believe them when Luol Deng and Thabo Sefolosha swap locker room stories about their summer of international basketball, but playing for your country is not all about the Las Vegas Wynn, stretch limos and high-stakes poker games.

Take Tuesday night, for example.

The pair of Chicago Bulls, close friends and neighbors as well as teammates, squared off on opposite teams in the first leg of a European Championships B Division promotion game in front of 500 spectators in the northern English steel town of Sheffield (remember the 1997 Oscar-winning movie "The Full Monty"? THAT is Sheffield).

It was hard to imagine a setting farther removed from the United Center -- or even the Eurobasket tournament currently going on in Spain -- as Deng's Great Britain and Sefolosha's Switzerland met in an inner-city "leisure centre" famed mostly for hosting international swimming galas and for staging the first fights in the career of local lad and former WBO world featherweight champion "Prince" Naseem Hamed.

Not that the modest surroundings made for an easy night for either player. At stake was not only promotion to the A Division of the European Championship (which allows a nation to enter the qualifying tournament for the 2009 Euros in Poland) but also a year's worth of bragging rights in the United Center locker room.

The winner -- by a knockout blow that "Prince Naz" would have been proud of -- Luol Deng.

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source : sports.espn.go.com

Hornets Sign Free Agent Melvin Ely

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Free agent forward/center Melvin Ely has reached an agreement with the Hornets on a contract, an NBA source Wednesday told The Associated Press.

The source confirmed the signing but did not want to be identified before Thursday's formal announcement was made.

Ely, 29, 6-10, 260 pounds, is a fifth-year veteran traded by the Charlotte Bobcats to the San Antonio Spurs in February. He played in six games for the Spurs but was inactive for the playoffs. The Spurs won their third NBA championship in June against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Los Angeles Clippers drafted Ely in the first round of the 2002 draft out of Fresno State. He played two seasons with the Clippers before they traded him to the Bobcats.

Ely's best season was in 2004-05, when he averaged 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds for Charlotte.
Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower said the team was looking to sign a center to provide depth behind starter Tyson Chandler and second-year player Hilton Armstrong.

Ely's signing likely is the Hornets' last major roster addition before training camp begins next month. The Hornets open against the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 31.

source : sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Blazers Greg Oden To Miss Rookie Season

PORTLAND, Ore. — Greg Oden's rookie season with the Portland Trail Blazers ended before it started when the 7-footer had knee surgery Thursday.

The top pick in the June draft went in for an exploratory procedure on his right knee and ended up having microfracture surgery, which means he will sit out the season.

"Greg looked at me as he was coming out of his surgery, and he and his mom, Zoe, probably said 'sorry' 20 times," Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said.

"I could feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. And as a leader and as leaders of this organization, my first thought was how lucky we were to have a guy that cares about the organization that much."

Dr. Don Roberts performed the surgery to repair the damage, which Pritchard described as the size of a fingertip. Oden is expected to be on crutches for up to eight weeks. Full recovery likely will take six to 12 months, the team said.

"At this point in time, we don't see him coming back this season," Pritchard said.
Oden averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds last season as a freshman at Ohio State.

The loss of Oden before the season was a blow to the organization. There was much fanfare when the Blazers got the first pick in the draft, and even more when the team chose Oden.
A huge, stories-tall jersey with the name Oden and a No. 1 hangs on the Rose Garden Arena.

Across the street, a building is plastered with a huge billboard proclaiming "The Road Back to Rip City" with larger-than-life photos of Oden and teammates Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge.

"To know that Greg wouldn't be with us, it was disappointing," coach Nate McMillan said. "I was really looking forward to working with him, and developing this team. You know we will still get that opportunity, but it will just come a year from now."

It was Oden's second health problem since the Trail Blazers drafted him. He had a tonsillectomy in July after struggling in two Las Vegas summer league games.

Oden recovered and had been working out in the Portland area. The MRI was taken Thursday after he had some swelling in the knee.

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source : chron.com

Mutombo Sees Future Of Africa

Dikembe Mutombo took a break in the NBA's Basketball Without Borders event in Johannesburg, South Africa, and typically thought not about what he was doing but how much more could be done.

Mutombo had already opened his hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo this summer. "It brings tears to my eyes to finally say my dream came true," he said.

The latest Basketball Without Borders (BWB) clinic was his sixth. But as much as he cherished the work and celebrated the progress, he spoke more about new dreams.

"It's changed over the years," Mutombo said. "The competition is getting so much better. The kids have so much energy. They are competing very, very hard. But I cannot help but think what we can do for these kids to make them succeed. That is something we are battling.
"I'd like to see more in American high schools with a chance to get scholarships to high schools and junior colleges and colleges. It feels good to know more are getting scholarships now and there will be more Dikembe Mutombos in the NBA."

That would mean leading charitable efforts such as Mutombo's. But Mutombo said he was thrilled especially to see the young players involved in BWB.

This year's event including former players Steve Smith and Jim Jackson, the Magic's Pat Garrity, the Spurs' Bruce Bowen, the Hawks' Josh Childress, the Suns' Sean Marks, the Knicks' Malik Rose and the Bobcats' Primoz Brezec and Emeka Okafor.

He particularly cited Okafor's work to bring safe blood to Africa to help curtail the spread of AIDS and other diseases.

"Things like what Emeka is doing help me believe that more will be done, that many people and many players will help," Mutombo said. "With so many people, especially children dying from this deadly disease, it doesn't have to be in the darkness. We can be the sunlight on the problem."

source : chron.com

Mavs Sign Harris To Five-Year Extension

The Mavericks consider Devin Harris one of the cornerstones for their future. They proved that Wednesday by agreeing to a lucrative five-year contract extension with the 6-3 point guard.

Harris, entering his fourth season, will earn $3.99 million this season. According to a source, the extension will kick in for the 2008-09 season and is worth more than the five-year, $42.6 million deal Milwaukee point guard Mo Williams signed recently.

That would put Harris' salary around $8 million in the first year of the extension, presuming 10.5 percent raises through the life of the contract.

"Devin, along with Josh [Howard], those guys will carry the baton for us into the future," president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. "Devin's deal was something we were hopeful of getting done so that it doesn't have to be weighing on his mind this season.

"Devin definitely wanted to be here, and the feeling was mutual."

The negotiations between Nelson, owner Mark Cuban and Henry Thomas, Harris' agent, were going slowly, Nelson said, until things began to move rapidly Tuesday and Wednesday.

Harris, 24, was the fifth overall draft pick in 2004, coming to the Mavericks in a draft-night trade with Washington.

Harris averaged career highs last season with 10.2 points, 3.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 26 minutes per game. He was one of the few Mavericks who had a strong series in the first-round upset loss to Golden State, averaging 13.2 points and five assists.

Harris is expected to be the full-time starter this season at point guard. The Wisconsin product has increased his scoring and assists in each of his first three seasons.

"All he has to do now is just play," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said. "You look a
t what the Spurs did with Tony Parker. They signed him to an extension, and it's paid dividends for them. Devin, we think, has a enormous amount of talent and potential."

Harris, along with Howard, who signed a four-year extension last summer that kicks in this season, are locked up long term. The team also signed Jerry Stackhouse earlier in the summer to a three-year contract and has Dirk Nowitzki locked up for four more seasons and Jason Terry for five more.

source : dallasnews.com