Rod Higgins faces a critical summer as the new general manager of the Bobcats.
The Charlotte Bobcats are about to announce the hiring of Rod Higgins as their new general manager, a move that will give the fourth-year organization a plethora of decision makers as it seeks to make the improvements necessary to become a playoff team.
Managing partner Michael Jordan keeps bringing in his boys. First there was the hiring of ex-teammate Sam Vincent as the new head coach, replacing Bernie Bickerstaff, who has stayed on as executive VP to be MJ’s right hand man.
Vincent, an assistant with the Mavs, said he ‘absolutely’ expects this team to make the playoffs next year. I’m not quite as sure. Much will hinge on this very important offseason in which several key decisions are facing the club.
That’s where Higgins comes in. Another former Jordan teammate, Higgins has been the GM responsible for building the Warriors into a playoff team, and now he’s going to try to work his magic in what ‘ on paper, anyways ‘ is an easier situation in the Eastern Conference with the ‘Cats.
This is a team that’s gone from 18 wins to 26 in 2005-06 to 33 last season, when it finished seven games out of the eighth spot. That pattern would give them 39 wins next year, a total that would put Charlotte right into the playoff mix. Of course, much can happen between now and then.
Key off-season considerations:
In a very deep draft year, Charlotte has picks number eight and 22 in the first round. Could a team looking to fill two holes be tempted to trade down and allow Charlotte to nab a better pick? The ‘Cats would love to get help in the middle by drafting Brandan Wright, Yi Jialian or Al Horford, but none of those dudes will be left on the board by the time pick eight rolls around.
On the health front, full seasons by Emeka Okafor and Sean May could do more for the team than almost any acquisition they make this summer. Okafor has missed over 26 games per season on average since Charlotte drafted him three years ago. May has been dogged by injuries even worse, playing just 58 total games in two seasons. Hopefully he addresses his weight issues this summer, because if May can play 60 or more games alongside Okafor, this team’s frontcourt will finally have some teeth.
The most vital decision facing the team this offseason is re-signing Gerald Wallace. He stayed moderately healthy last year, and his combination of scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks is going to make him an extremely attractive target around the NBA. Crash wants to stay in Charlotte and the ‘Cats have to make it happen.
Could Charlotte try to land a big fish in the free agent pool like Vince Carter or Rashard Lewis? MJ says the team will spend money, and they have cap space, but this is one they need to be careful with. Penning Carter to a long-term deal would help put the team on the map and certainly earn it plenty of TV dates, but could also become a crippling albatross for years to come. I sure hope all those decision makers at the top of this organization think long and hard before biting on that lure.
Primoz Brezec has decided not to opt out of his deal, an easy call considering how crap he was last year as his PT plummeted and injuries derailed his effectiveness. Even a partial rebound by Brezec would also provide a big boost to the frontcourt. He as actually pretty useful as the team’s starting centre in its first two seasons before last year’s debacle.
Free agent Matt Carroll has emerged as a strong secondary scorer and tremendous perimeter threat. He’s another player the team should think about re-signing. Unless Adam Morrison’s shots start dropping with more regularity, Carroll is going to be needed.
The Celtics only notable free agent will be Michael Olowokandi and no one will shed any tears over his departure.
Three in the Key, our exclusive NBA column, returns with a very early look at players who can become free agents — whether resticted or not — this offseason. Some are without a contract at all, others have player options, team options, or qualifying offers, but they all have the possibility of entering the free agent market this summer.
We’re going to limit the list to players who may possess fantasy value of some kind next season.
Atlanta: The Hawks are in great shape, with all their key players under contract for next season. No one of consequence can become a free agent.
Boston: The same situation exists in Beantown as Michael Olowokandi is the only man who can leave, and who would really miss him if he did?
Charlotte: The Bobcats could lose a couple of key players, most notably Gerald Wallace, who has a player option worth $6.05 million. He will almost certainly opt out and given that Michael Jordan promised Charlotte would spend some serious cash this offseason, the team will get a chance to put their money where their mouth is if they want to keep Crash. The team holds a $4.2 million option on Brevin Knight, but he’s such an injury liability that they may just want to decline it. Jeff McInnis is free to leave and Primoz Brezec holds a player option, one he’d likely exercise considering his value isn’t exactly sky high after a horrible and injury-plagued season. Matt Carroll and Derek Anderson, both of whom have played key roles at times this season, are free agents and the team has an option on Ryan Hollins, one they should use given his size and potential. The team will probably let Anderson walk and look to add a more dependable veteran swingman. Carroll, if he doesn’t command a king’s ransom, might be back.
Chicago: P.J. Brown can walk and he probably will given that Tyrus Thomas is obviously ready to take his job. More interesting is the fact that Andres Nocioni is also a free agent. Returning to strength from his bout of plantar fasciitis and putting a few good games under his belt with a nice playoff run will sure help his value. He’s a key component of the Bulls offense when healthy. Mike Sweetney has a qualifying offer in place, and at over $3,654,000, it’s enough cash to buy plenty of cupcakes to keep him nice and rotund and unable to run up and down the court more than once every three minutes before collapsing. The only other player of interest who can split is Malik Allen.
Cleveland: The Cavs have two key free agents — Sasha Pavlovic (although he has a qualifying offer) and Anderson Varejao. Pavlovic’s value has soared recently as he’s emerged as a good offensive option for Cleveland, while Sideshow Bob is sure to garner a ton of interest. As a starter, he’d be a double-double machine and depending on where he landed, would have serious sleeper potential. Cleveland will probably try to retain Varejao, though.
Dallas: The most intriguing Maverick who will be on the market is Jerry Stackhouse. He’s become a solid sixth man type, and is shooting very well off the Dallas bench this season. Austin Croshere can also walk, and he’s one of those players that barely plays in Dallas who could have a much bigger impact elsewhere. Case in point: look at what Anthony Johnson is doing in Atlanta now.
Denver: Steve Blake is without a contract next season, but he’s hoping to stick around in Denver. Eduardo Najera has a player option that’s worth over $4.95 million, but he may decline it after enjoying perhaps his finest NBA season. DerMarr Johnson is the only other notable Nugget who will be a free agent.
Detroit: The prize of the 2007 free agent crop will come from the Pistons should Chauncey Billups choose to opt out, and he’d be foolish not to, considering his option is for just $6.819 million. On the open market, Billups will command huge bucks as one of the top floor generals in the game. Detroit plans to do whatever it takes to re-sign its point guard, but Billups is open to entertaining outside offers, already suggesting he’d be willing to listen to what Memphis (which has a ton of cap space) has to say. Chris Webber is an outright free agent after the season, and the renassaince he’s experiencing with the Pistons isn’t exactly making his price tag shrink. Two other potential free agents in the Motor City — Antonio McDyess and Ronald “Flip” Murray – each have player options, but they have both said they plan to stick around.
Golden State: The Warriors have qualifying offers in place for both Mickael Pietrus and Zarko Cabarkapa while both Matt Barnes and Kelenna Azubuike are free to leave. Barnes proved he can handle a larger role in the right situation, so I expect him to get some attention.
Houston: The Rockets have most of their key players signed through next season, but have four rotation players who could walk: Jake Tsakalidis, Dikembe Mutombo and Chuck Hayes (all free agents) and Bonzi Wells, who has a player option for $2,284,200. Tsakalidis will garner minor interest from teams seeking a back-up big man while Mutombo, assuming he wants to play until he’s 57, has a nice situation in Houston, so he’d be wise to stick around. Hayes’s recent play will definitely up his value, while Wells should have every reason in the world to want to leave, but between his injuries and spats with Coach Van Gundy, he hasn’t done anything this year to garner a big-money deal.
Indiana: The Pacers are in good shape with just back-up PGs Keith McLeod and Darrell Armstrong eligible to walk. Armstrong has proved he can still play despite his advanced age, but Indy wouldn’t have difficulty replacing either of these players and with Orien Greene aboard, the Pacers may decide to let both of them leave and let Greene back up Jamaal Tinsley next year.
Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers are another team that doesn’t face many big decisions with their current personnel as just Daniel Ewing and Jason Hart can become free agents. With Sam Cassell looking old and fragile and Shaun Livingston a huge question mark to contribute at all next season, LA will need to keep one of its back-up PGs, but will probably also be seeking a better option. The team has a player option on Quentin Ross, but it’s only for $826,046, so you’d think they would exercise it.
Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers have to deal with several potential free agents this offseason. Luke Walton, who emerged as a valuable player this season (while the loss of Lamar Odom really hurt, the Lakers’ slump also co-incided with Walton’s absence), so he could fetch some nice coin. Smush Parker can also walk, and in a weak year for free agent PGs, someone may overpay him. The jury is still out on whether Smush is a legitimate starting PG in the NBA, but we definitely see that Jordan Farmar is not ready to take over. Shammond Williams, also a pending free agent, isn’t the answer at PG for LA, but his recent play suggests he can still be a rotation player. Chris Mihm, who has missed the entire season, enjoyed a fine year in 2005-06, but with Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum aboard, there’s no room for Mihm to stick around. Aaron McKie is a free agent, but he’s thinking about retiring. Finally, Ronny Turiaf can also walk, but he’s such a great character player off the bench that he’s sure to generate interest.
Memphis: The Grizz will probably see Chucky Atkins walk, so they better hope Kyle Lowery is ready to take over at PG (unless, of course, they opt for outside help, or…gasp…let Damon Stoudamire run things for another year). Dahntay Jones has a qualifying offer, but he’s fallen out of the rotation so his loss wouldn’t create any shock waves. Lawrence Roberts is a FA, but Memphis should re-sign him as he’s provided a nice boost off the glass. Finally, the team holds a $687,456 option on Tarance Kinsey, and they have to exercise that given what he’s shown lately.
Miami: The Heat has a whack of potential free agents to deal with. James Posey, Gary Payton, Jason Kapono, Eddie Jones and Chris Quinn are all without contracts for 2007-08 while Michael Doleac has a $3.12-million option. Posey has been a valuable role player, so Miami would be wise to keep him, but Payton looks just about ready to hang ‘em up. Kapono has emerged from the shadows this year and will be a hot commodity on the FA market. Jones has experienced a shocking revitalization since returning to Miami, so clearly he’s nowhere near done yet. Quinn is a bit player who has occasionally provided some decent back-up minutes. Doleac has stayed healthy this year and supplied some decent minutes off the bench, so he may decide to try his luck on the open market.
Milwaukee: The Bucks also have several players they have to decide on. Outright free agents include Ruben Patterson, Mo Williams, Charlie Bell and Ersan Ilyasova, while the team holds options on Brian Skinner and David Noel and Earl Boykins has a player option. Patterson has proved to be very versatile and will get serious interest around the league. Williams is in line to cash in big-time as the top PG available behind Billups. Bell is another very versatile player who does seemingly everything well, so he can really help a club. Ilyasova is very young, but definitely showed some fantastic potential when injuries forced him into heavy minutes earlier this season. The options on Skinner ($5.85 million) and Noel ($687,456) should both be exercised as they have each pitched in as needed. Boykins would be wise to decline his option, as surely he should be able to land a deal worth more than $3 million.
Minnesota: The T-Wolves don’t have anything to worry about until after next season when KG can opt out. They may choose to deal with that this offseason, however.
New Jersey: The Nets have a big headache to deal with in Vince Carter, who can opt out of his player option (worth more than $16 million). The Nets want to keep him, and Carter, contrary to reports before the season, is now suggesting that he’s open to sticking around. But he’s about as fickle as they come so that could change. Charlotte, planning to make a big splash this offseason, may make a play for him and the Knicks are apparently interested as well. Eddie House and Mikki Moore are outright free agents, and Moore especially has proved valuable, stepping up big time in the absence of Nenad Krstic.
New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets: NOOCH has four rotation players ready to bolt and I’m not sure they will make a move to keep any of them. Desmond Mason is certainly a goner, and Marc Jackson’s value is very limited. Linton Johnson has spent most of the season in Coach Scott’s doghouse and Devin Brown, while he proved a revelation for a while, is likely easily replaceable.
New York: No vital Knicks can become free agents, but the team will need to decide once and for all what it plans to do with Steve Francis.
Orlando: The Magic has plenty to deal with including key decisions on Grant Hill and Darko Milicic. Hill is a free agent, and considering his health, Orlando has to think hard about bringing him back. He had been hinting about retirement, but now it looks like Hill wants to return. Darko, who has a qualifying offer, is ready for the starting job, but the team is still hesitant to install him as its PF. But it sounds as if the Magic plans to try to work something out with him. Pat Garrity, Bo Outlaw and Travis Diener can all leave, and other than Garrity, may very well will do so, while Keyon Dooling has an option he’s expected to decline.
Philadelphia: The Sixers have very little to deal with this offseason. Veteran Joe Smith is a free agent, but I’d look for the team to let him walk assuming Shavlik Randolph can come back healthy next year.
Phoenix: Other than Kurt Thomas, the Suns have only bit players who can walk. Thomas holds an option worth $8,091,187 and I think he’d be making a big mistake if he didn’t exercise it.
Portland: Jamaal Magloire can leave and the Trail Blazers would be nuts to stop him considering all the former all-star is doing now is taking valuable minutes away from LaMarcus Aldridge. Portland has a qualifying offer for Travis Outlaw, so let’s hope he sticks around and Ime Udoka, who was a fantastic story this year, is a free agent, but hopefully the team re-signs him as well.
Sacramento: Mike Bibby was expected to opt out, but now, after a crappy season, it looks like he’ll stick around where he knows he has some nice guaranteed cash. Of course, he may be dealt either way. Corliss Williamson and Maurice Taylor could both leave and probably should as the Kings need to rebuild with younger players like K-Mart and Quincy Douby. Williamson enjoyed a nice comeback this year so he could garner some interest from a team that needs a veteran presence.
San Antonio: The Spurs have several players who could depart, including starting SF Bruce Bowen, plus key backups Michael Finley, Fabricio Oberto, Matt Bonner and Jacque Vaughn. The team has a club option on Bowen worth just over $4.1 million that they would be foolish not to trigger. Finley and Oberto each have player options; Finley would be wacked to not pick his up, but Oberto might think he can do better elsewhere. Reserves Bonner and Vaughn are both free agents, so San Antonio’s bench may have a very different feel next season.
Seattle: The Sonics have a major issue on their hands this summer as Rashard Lewis can opt out and all indications are that he’s going to do so. The team also has lots of dead weight (most notably Danny Fortson) that can become free agents, but that will be addition by subtraction.
Toronto: The Raps are in excellent shape with their entire core signed long-term. Morris Peterson can walk, and he plans to as it’s clear he’s fallen out of favour on this team. The team holds a $2,522,913 option on Kris Humphries, and he’s shown enough that I hope they exercise it and bring him back.
Utah: The Jazz only has support players who can leave, including Rafael Araujo, who’s a major waste of space, and C.J. Miles, who I would be surprised if the team doesn’t bring back.
Washington: The Wizards big three may split up after this year with Antawn Jamison holding a player option worth over $16 million. DeShawn Stevenson wants to opt out, but he’d like to return to Washington. After last season’s contract debacle, you’d think he’d be a bit gun shy about testing free agency. The team has a qualifying offer for Jarvis Hayes, while bit players Calvin Booth, Andray Blatche and Donell Taylor can leave and the first two especially, could be intriguing pickups.
Losing Josh Childress, one of the NBA’s best sixth men, really hurt Atlanta earlier this season.
And then came the injuries. Speedy Claxton, Marvin Williams, Josh Childress, Joe Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Zaza Pachulia, Josh Smith, Lorenzan Wright. Sounds like a pretty good team, doesn’t it? Well, who would know, as various injuries have robbed the Hawks of many of these players for long stretches of the season, resulting in a 6-22 skid that was finally stemmed Friday night with an improbably win over the Pistons.
But the damage has been done, and what appeared to be a season of promise has turned into the oh so familiar sight of the Hawks floundering in the Southeast Division basement and the prospect of a playoff spot ‘ even in the weak Eastern Conference ‘ looking remote.
Things have been so grim that in the past couple of weeks Atlanta has been forced to add Stanislav Medvedenko and Dijon Thompson to the mix ‘ two names that aren’t exactly going to strike fear in the hearts of their opponents. (In fairness, however, former UCLA star Thompson, a fine shooter who can also rebound, looks like he could stick and he was lighting it up with over 20 PPG in the D-League before the Hawks signed him.)
Yet, there is so much promise here, you can’t help but believe that the Hawks are capable of a huge second half. At the top of the list of positives for the Hawks this season is Johnson, enjoying a tremendous breakout year as he establishes himself as a bona fide star. Although his rebounding has slipped slightly and his assists are down quite a bit, Johnson’s shooting has never been better and it’s enabled him to post 25.1 PPG. Those concerned with his recent play needn’t worry after he snapped a shooting slump by draining 13-of-17 for 34 points on Friday. If Johnson is ready to start rolling again, it can only mean good things for the Hawks. They’re 7-4 when he manages 30 points or better.
Of course, Johnson’s struggles have coincided with the loss of Smith to hernia surgery. After two and a half weeks on the sidelines, he returned Friday, earlier than expected, and what a boost he provides. Smith’s shooting has slipped slightly, but even when he’s not scoring, he can help the team in so many ways. He’s still a block party waiting to happen, has boosted his steals significantly and is the team’s best rebounder. Most importantly, his presence will mean opponents can’t simply double team Johnson. Think the Hawks didn’t miss Smith? They went 1-7 while he was out.
The loss of Childress to a broken bone in his foot was also devastating. He’s ridden his outside game to quickly become one of the better sixth men in the NBA this year.
Pachulia, currently out with an ankle injury, isn’t playing as much as he did last year, and that’s affected his rebounding numbers, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more block from the big man, but he’s improved his FT shooting, and it’s helped him become more of an offensive threat this season.
Marvin Williams has been struggling from the floor (38.5 per cent) and has not been as active on the glass this year, but he’s been doing a good job of getting to the line, allowing him to become a better offensive threat. Keep in mind, he’s just 20 years old and judging by Friday’s line ‘ 12 points, nine boards, seven assists ‘ the former Tar Heel could be in line for a huge second half now that he’s healthy.
Rookie Shelden Williams, about to combine with J.J. Redick to swell the ranks of Duke players to have their numbers retired to 13, has been solid if unspectacular this season. He’s thrown up the occasional block and has done some nice work on the glass (tied for third on the team with over six rebounds per game), particularly on the offensive end.
The Hawks, long criticized for failing to address a key need when they passed over worthy point guards in recent drafts (Chris Paul, anyone?), thought they had bagged their man this offseason when they brought Claxton in. While he leads Atlanta with almost five assists per game, Claxton has been a huge disappointment ‘ when he hasn’t been injured that is. His shooting has been awful, he offers no perimeter game, and his overall scoring is way down. Claxton shows glimpses on occasion, but he’s far too injury prone and inconsistent to be a legitimate floor general.
Atlanta could be back to the drawing board with this one, considering how poor Lue does as a starter. Besides, Lue is still struggling with a groin strain and Coach Woodson wonders whether his second-leading scorer will have to deal with this problem all season. Another lottery pick likely looms for the Hawks this season, but 2007 is a poor draft year for point guards, and other than Chauncey Billups, who can opt out of his contract, the pickings are slim among potential free agent PGs this summer. Mo Williams would be a great addition, but beyond him, Smush Parker and Chucky Atkins head the class. Slim pickings indeed.
While it was a huge game, Friday’s win over Detroit was just the third victory in the past 17 games for Atlanta, so let’s not break out the bubbly just yet. But with a date looming this afternoon against a Celtics’ squad that’s beat up even worse than the Hawks, Atlanta could be in store for its first winning streak since ‘ you guessed it ‘ that lofty 4-1 start. Let’s not print up any playoff tickets just yet, but there’s plenty of basketball to still be played this season, and this Hawks’ team has the talent to make some serious noise.
Boston recently signed Paul Pierce to a three-year extension that will potentially tie him to the Celtics until the end of the 2010-11 season.
The question is why did they do it?
This is a team that has been in rebuilding mode for the past half decade, spinning its wheels as it recycles young talent but never seems to make any progress.
However, after bottoming out at 33 wins last year, the club’s worst showing since a 19-31 mark in the strike-shortened 1998-99 season, perhaps Boston is finally taking a stand, and it wants Pierce to be the centerpiece as the club makes the long climb back into contention.
Certainly the Celtics’ choice to deal away their top 2006 draft pick (seventh overall) made a lot of sense. Boston desperately needed to address weaknesses at guard and centre and they killed two birds with one stone, sending inconsistent Raef LaFrentz, back-up PG Dan Dickau (who missed almost all of last year with a torn Achilles’ tendon), cash and the No. 7 pick to Portland for centre Theo Ratliff, a pick, and PG Sebastian Telfair.
Getting Telfair was brilliant. Boston could have used its pick on the top available point guard, Marcus Williams. But instead of getting a player just a year younger than Telfair and one who had off-court attitude and conditioning issues, they get a 21-year-old player who already has two years of NBA experience under his belt. Telfair comes ready to lead, whereas Williams would have been just another project, and one with questions surrounding him.
By also getting Ratliff to help shore up a centre position that had questions because of Kendrick Perkins’ injury last year, Danny Ainge may have made his finest move yet as the Celtics’ GM, and really helped the club get better right away ‘ not down the road at some unforeseeable point.
In that light, the Pierce extension makes more sense, especially with the Celtics’ captain coming off a career season in which he finished sixth in NBA scoring with a career-high 26.8 PPG. Pierce, who could have become an unrestricted free agent after this coming season, now can’t leave any sooner than the completion of the 2009-10 season, but that seems perfectly okay with the five-time All-Star. He just bought a new home in the area and says he wants to remain a Celtic for life and go down as one of the all-time Boston greats.
Pierce as an all-time Celtic great? Sound crazy? Maybe not. Consider that Pierce just recorded his fourth 2,000-point season. That ties The Truth with Larry Bird for the most times reaching this mark as a Celtic. Pierce also broke his own franchise records in free throws made and attempted, plus potted a career-high 50 points on February 15. Pretty impressive.
Despite all the off-season rumblings, Boston obviously will not deal Pierce, and the new contract, which calls for an 8 per cent raise if he is traded, makes it harder to move him even if the Celtics change their minds, which they have been known to do.
So let’s have a quick look at how Boston shakes out after its off-season maneuvering:
Telfair will now battle incumbent Delonte West for the point guard spot. West had a strong season last year, but he might be better suited to back up Telfair and SG Pierce as the first backcourt man off the bench. Tony Allen, when he returned from injury last year, also proved a capable backup at SG. Regardless of whether West or Telfair runs the offense, the Celtics clearly have far more depth at guard now, especially with the signings of rookies Rajon Rondo and Allan Ray.
Wally Szczerbiak is back as the starting SF, and now that he’s had his wonky knee repaired, he should be good to go. If Wally’s World encounters any more health problems, sophomore Gerald Green is waiting in the wings, and he has serious potential.
Al Jefferson is the wild card at power forward. When healthy, he has potential to be a dominant presence in the post. The only question is can he stay in the lineup? Jefferson says he’ll be ready for training camp in October, but the jury is still out on that one. If not, sophomore Ryan Gomes proved to be a very capable starter when Jefferson was out last year, so the Celtics should be safe there. But if Jefferson is healthy and can take a step forward this year, it will go a very long way towards returning the Celtics to .500 basketball. Boston also has veteran Brian Scalabrine and rookie Kevin Pittsnoggle ‘ yet another undrafted signee ‘ to add depth at the four spot.
As mentioned earlier, the addition of Ratliff gives the Celtics far more strength at centre. Perkins looked tremendous last year, and could grow into a rebounding machine, but throughout the season he suffered shoulder woes that finally required surgery in May. If he’s good to go, he’ll compete with Ratliff for the starting gig. Boston added vet Brian Grant and also have holdover Dwayne Jones in tow to provide depth at the five spot.
Three in the Key, my basketball column at CREATiVESPORTS.com, is being wound up as the site has decided to no longer cover the sport. It’s the end of run that dates back almost two years now (cue the sad music, with starving children, forlorn-looking puppies, or pathetic, heart-wrenching image of choice).
But for RotoRob readers that just means I’ll have more time to cover hoops here! I plan on making a more concerted effort to concentrate on basketball on the site, especially as baseball winds down and the NBA season nears. And before you know it, it will be time to reprise my column, Position Battles, over at Rotoworld.com. So not to worry, people: b-ball may be underappreciated in some places, but it’s alive and well here (especially since I just got Raptors TV…sweeeeet).
Anyways, my final Three in the Key includes coverage of the Bobcats re-signing Jake Voskuhl;Vince Carter thinking that there’s no place like home; and the possible return of a 31-year-old Domincan who hasn’t played in the NBA in five years. Read about these and other fantasy basketball ramblings here.
