-The NBA gets credit for seeing right through Brian Davis and Christian Laettner s bid to buy the Grizzlies.

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1 SUNDAY NOTES Bob Finnan News Herald Sunday, December 10, 2006 Judging from the chat rooms and forums, many fans think the Cavaliers will be involved in Allen Iverson trade talks. They might be open to being the third team in a three-way deal, but probably don t want to acquire A.I. LeBron James and A.I. would not be a good mix, since both are used to having the ball in their hands and getting 20-some shots a game. The Suns win over New Jersey this week was a breath of fresh air in the midst of many games (no names, please). Suns coach Mike D Antoni said it would become an instant NBA classic. Is there a crankier ref than Joey Crawford? On Saturday at halftime of the Cavaliers-Rockets game, he absolutely went off on some 60-year-old man working the replay monitor in the Toyota Center in Houston. The next night at Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey, he threw out a loudmouth fan. -Golden State and Denver are two possible locations for Sixers guard Allen Iverson. Each team has multiple high-priced contracts that it would need to compete in the A.I. sweepstakes. The Warriors could offer Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis and perhaps Mike Dunleavy. The Nuggets could offer Andre Miller and perhaps Nene. -The NBA gets credit for seeing right through Brian Davis and Christian Laettner s bid to buy the Grizzlies. -Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller, Cheryl Miller and Steve Kerr tested the new microfiber ball at Madison Square Garden in the offseason for about an hour. They gave it a thumbs up, and the league adopted the new ball. And the league wonders why it s being criticized?

2 - Heat coach Pat Riley denied last week s ESPN.com report that center Shaquille O Neal is considering microfracture surgery. - Former Cavaliers and current Rockets guard Bob Sura, who had microfracture surgery on his knee, continues to rehab. But your odds of winning the lottery are probably better than him ever playing in the NBA again. - First, guard John Salmons backed out of an agreement with the Suns. Turned around the following week and did the same thing in Toronto. He ended up taking a five-year, $25.5 million offer from Sacramento. It was definitely a situation a lot of players would want to play in, and that s why (the Suns) were my first choice, Salmons said. But I felt like God wanted me in Sacramento. - Bucks forward Bobby Simmons needs surgery on his right heel and will be lost for the season. - Rockets swingman Bonzi Krispy Kreme Wells and Coach Jeff Van Gundy are still having a tug o war over when he might once again get his considerable butt onto the court. He hasn t been active since the third game of the season. Damon Jones plans on proving to the world that he s one of the best shooters on the planet. Now, he hopes the NBA does its part and selects the Cavaliers guard to compete in the Long Distance Shootout on Feb. 17 in Las Vegas during All-Star weekend. Shooting the basketball on that stage and winning will justify what I ve been saying my whole career as far as being the best shooter on the planet, Jones said. There s not much he can do other than keep up his torrid 3-point shooting. I m going to continue to shoot the basketball, Jones said. I ll leave it up to the NBA. I want to participate. I think I am one of the best < the

3 best < 3-point shooter in the league. If the opportunity presents itself, I will win hands down. Two years ago in Miami, he campaigned long and hard to get into the competition. Then-teammate Shaquille O Neal also put in a good word to everyone who would listen. But that wasn t enough for the league to include him in the field. The last couple years, the NBA has tried to go to an All-Star, big-name field, Jones said. Because of it, the competitions haven t been that good. The winner has won by astounding numbers in the finals. I would suggest go to the real 3-point shooters and let them battle it out for 3-point supremacy. I campaigned two years ago in Miami. Shaquille O Neal made some comments about me participating. At the last minute, they chose (Seattle guard) Ray Allen and a couple others who didn t have the percentage or the makes I had. From that standpoint, I don t know what the criteria is anymore. I m going to keep shooting the basketball like I have the last couple weeks and, hopefully, that warrants me an opportunity to go to Vegas and shoot for the whole kit and caboodle. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said Jones would be the perfect candidate to join forward LeBron James in Vegas for All-Star weekend. James will likely be voted to start for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Game. In situations like that, because the spotlight is on you, you have to have confidence, Brown said. We all know Damon does not lack confidence, and he can shoot. He would like the light being on him. One thing that might hold back Jones is his low NBA ranking < 24th < heading into Saturday s games. He s made 36 of 87 for 41.4 percent. Four Cavaliers have participated in the event, including Mark Price (1988, 90, 93 and 94), Craig Ehlo ( 90 and 92), Bob Sura (2000) and Wesley Person ( 02). Price won the competition in 1993 and 94.

4 Damon definitely deserves to be in the 3-point competition, agent Mark Termini said. He s been one of the NBA s top long-distance shooters not just this year, but for three seasons now. Lip service Brown talks about getting center Zydrunas Ilgauskas more involved in the offense. But it s proved to be nothing more than lip service. He went into the Indiana game Saturday averaging 8.8 field-goal attempts per game. Last year, he averaged 11.4 shots a game. One possible reason is his shooting percentage has dipped from 50.6 percent last year to 43.4 percent this season. Ilgauskas gets about five good looks at the basket per game. The rest of his attempts come on tips around the basket. He s having trouble finishing around the basket and is getting scads of shots blocked by 6-foot-9 players. If this team expects to go deep into the playoffs, however, they ll need Ilgauskas. When the game slows to a crawl in the half-court sets in the postseason, who are the Cavaliers going to throw the ball to on the low post? GM Danny Ferry didn t re-sign Z to a lucrative contract to set picks 25 feet from the basket. His minutes per game have dipped from 29.3 minutes last year to the current Logic dictates that if you aren t going to use him < or don t know how to use him < then you should trade him. The big question is whether he s seen his better days. It wouldn t be easy dealing Z s contract, but crazier things have happened. Who s hot? His team might be hitting the skids, but Heat guard Dwyane Wade is riding high after Monday s announcement that he was selected Sports Illustrated s 2006 Sportsman of the Year over golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer. When you think of Sportsman of the Year, you can go into every sport, Wade said. There s always Tiger, who can win every year, and then Roger Federer, the other guy who had an unbelievable year.

5 Who s not? Those poor Celtics. They ve lost all three of their post players with injuries < Theo Ratliff, Michael Olowokandi and Kendrick Perkins. I ve never heard of a team that had 21 feet (three 7-footers) on the injured list, Coach Doc Rivers said. It s just been that type of year. Boston is tied with Philadelphia for the worst record in the Atlantic Division at 5-13 (heading into Saturday s games). Rivers is desperately trying to hang onto his job. By the numbers The Cavaliers misfired on their first eight shots against Boston on Nov. 11, and everyone thought that was brutal. The Charlotte Bobcats missed their first 13 shots against the Hawks recently. That s the worst start by an NBA team since the Sixers went 0 of 16 against the Spurs in All-elbow team One can compile two teams of NBA All-Stars from the players Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo has taken out in his sharp-elbowed career: First team, F < Tracy McGrady (2006) F < LeBron James (2004) C < Patrick Ewing (1999) G < Michael Jordan (1996) G < Chauncey Billups (2000); Second team, F < Dennis Rodman (1997) F < Charles Oakley (1997) C < Yao Ming (2003) G < Ray Allen (2001) G < Vince Carter (2003) Quick shots - R&B artist Usher, a part-owner of the Cavaliers, is spearheading a Hurricane Katrina relief effort. I know that this is not going to be fixed overnight, but I do know that we must be persistent and keep this one thing in mind: The same way it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a nation to raise a state, he said. We all have to put our time in and get involved. - Jones isn t just the Cavaliers top 3-point threat, he s also become their top salesman. Through his urging, several players have purchased luxury cars from Bernie Moreno of Mercedes-Benz of North Olmsted. Jones four

6 Mercedes-Benz autos (ML500, S550, SL55 and SLR McLaren) were recently featured on the popular MTV show Cribs. - Which mental mistake is worse? While taking the ball out of bounds in a recent seven-turnover debacle, Lakers forward Lamar Odom took the ball from the official and just starting dribbling the ball inbounds. But wait, it gets better. Timberwolves guard Marko Jaric checked into a recent game wearing his jersey backwards. Duh! - The Nuggets had the largest price increase in the NBA this season. They raised their average ticket price from $45.64 to $56.13 < 23-percent increase. - Warriors guard Monta Ellis appearance on the Jim Rome is Burning show last Friday was cut short when Ellis took a shaving-cream pie in the face from Baron Davis. It quickly turned into a prank-gone-wrong. Ellis eyes started stinging, and he basically doubled over in his chair, hands on his face, saying, I can t see, I can t see. When the show came back from commercial, Davis was sitting there, talking about how Ellis was OK. - Don t expect Ray Allen on the court when the SuperSonics play at The Q on Dec. 15. He ll miss the next two weeks because of a bruised bone in his right ankle. Information for this column was gathered by personal interviews and from other beat writers around the league. Finnan can be reached via at: RFinnan@News-Herald.com

CONTENTS. 142 Season Review 144 Regular Season Statistics 145 Breakdown/ Individual Highs. 146 Team Highs & Lows

CONTENTS. 142 Season Review 144 Regular Season Statistics 145 Breakdown/ Individual Highs. 146 Team Highs & Lows 2001.02 season 142 Season Review 144 Regular Season Statistics 145 Breakdown/ Individual Highs 146 Team Highs & Lows 147 Scoring Breakdown 148 Record Versus Each Team REVIEW REVIEW JUNE 27, 2001 At NBA