Basketball

Doc Rivers has not made up his mind about returning to coach the team, according to a report.Doc Rivers, as he has a history of doing, left the door open for his retirement following the Boston Celtics elimination from the playoffs at the hands of the New York Knicks.Despite GM Danny Ainge going on record to say that Rivers will be returning, Doc has not come forward to confirm that he will coach the team next season and, according to a report from Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, Rivers has not made up his mind yet.There is still the possibility — stress possibility — Rivers will choose to walk away from his contract to coach the Celts. A source close to the situation, however, insists it remains far more likely he will return.The word as expressed to us is that it is “90-10” that Rivers will continue on a contract that has three years and $21 million remaining. If he leaves the Celtics, it will not be with the intent of coaching another team.In all likelihood, Rivers will return to the Celtics sideline, but perhaps the uncertainty of the roster situation has got him thinking twice. If nothing else, Rivers is loyal to Celtic veterans Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and the idea that one–or both–of them may be somewhere else next season could weigh into his decision.Rivers, however, is a basketball lifer and seemingly as passionate about the sport as he was when he played. The Celtics have a solid young core of players 28-and-under and, according to Bulpett’s reporting,  ”If [Rivers] leaves the Celtics, it will not be with the intent of coaching another team.”Given that Rivers is only 51-years-old and his children are growing up and leaving the nest, it seems inevitable that he resumes his role with the organization. Let’s hope he makes a statement soon, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief, knowing the guys in green are in good hands.

The news made the rounds Friday afternoon and sent a shockwave through longtime followers and watchers of the Orlando Magic. Matt Guokas will not be calling Magic games for the 2013-14 season after the team opted not to renew his contract, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports. Guokas has been calling games for the Magic and their local broadcast since 2005. After being the inaugural coach for the Magic from 1989 until 1993, Guokas was also a fixture on national NBC broadcasts. He, along with David Steele, are counted among the best local broadcast teams in the league. It is tough to see that go. Orlando Magic fans got an informed, entertaining and smooth broadcast from the duo. Guokas always had quick wit and great information to give to fans. He was one of the early adopters of advanced stats and was a known reader of Magic content across the Internet -- he referenced Orlando Pinstriped Post and other blogs several times on broadcasts. Guokas is one of those rare broadcasters who could distill complex basketball situations into something a basic audience can understand and comprehend. He also had great wit and is one of the few local broadcasters who was not a complete homer. He broadcast games largely without bias and did not pull punches when the occasion called for it. He also had extreme experience in the league. Before becoming the Magic's first coach and a coach for the Sixers when they had Moses Malone and Julius Erving, Guokas was a 10-year pro for the Sixers, Bulls and Royals. He played with Wilt Chamberlain and could wax poetically about the history of the game. That knowledge added a lot to the broadcast. David Steele, Guokas' broadcast partner, is happy to be back but is sad to see his broadcast partner go. @gator_fan1 @mguokas Matty's a great friend and top notch analyst. I'll miss him. — David Steele (@SteeleMagic) May 24, 2013 @jimshafran Thanks Jim.I'll miss Matty..sure you will too.Look forward to working with you next season.You're one of the best! — David Steele (@SteeleMagic) May 25, 2013 The reasons for the Magic not renewing Guokas' contract is not entirely clear. There is no need for speculation. The next step for the Magic is to find a new color analyst and remake the broadcast with a new voice. There are plenty of candidates. Jeff Turner filled in for Guokas during a late-season road trip as Guokas dealt with a health issue. He was the team's radio analyst for several years. Richie Adubato has also filled in for Guokas on occassion on the TV broadcast and has been the team's radio analyst for several years now too. Among other potential candidates (and there is no information whether they are being considered or interested) could be Dennis Scott, who works as a studio analyst for NBATV. Scott was also the TV analyst for the Hawks for several years and he lives in Atlanta. Nick Anderson and Tony Battie have acted as studio analysts alongside Paul Kennedy throughout the year. Jack "Goose" Givens is still out there too. He was the TV analyst for the Magic before Guokas, but was let go after he was accused of sexual battery of a teenager he was coaching. Givens was eventually acquitted of those charges. He is still a local coach and basketball organizer. Magic broadcasts suffered a bit in ratings this year, which was to be expected with the team struggling record wise. One thing is for sure, Magic broadcasts will be very different next year. Either way, Matt Guokas will be missed on the air.

Alright so now with Nerlens in fold (yeah I'm already assuming it, get at me, bro), the Cavs now have one glaring hole in the roster: Small Forward. I'll break down what we've got and who's available. Current Roster Currently the only real SF on the roster is Alonzo Gee. While Gee is a good defender, he leaves a lot to be desired on the offensive end. His only real strength is dunking and he usually drops the ball or kicks it out of bounds before he even gets the opportunity to show off his one offensive skill. CJ Miles I think could also be effective backup SF. He has good size and personally, I'd prefer him as the backup SF over Gee. Free Agency The easiest group to name is the crop of free agents. I'll have two groups of guys here that I'll be looking at. The first is the expensive guys: Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, Andrei Kirilenko Out of this group, I'd be fine with either Andre/i. Josh Smith would make us so dynamic defensively but I just can't justify giving him near max with his offensive game. Smith took 1182 shots last year. 522 (44%) were from three or 16-23 feet. Almost half his shots are long twos or threes. He shot 31.6% on these shots. If that isn't the model of offensive inefficiency I don't know what is. Now if you could convince him to lay off all these terrible shots, then sure sign me up but otherwise, no thanks. The Andre/i's provide similar skill sets, imo. Both are good defenders, not great shooters, but effective offensively. Both would probably require 3-4 year deals at 9-12 million a year with Iggy being slightly more expensive than Kirilenko. I think both would be excellent bridges until we find our young SF in the draft in upcoming years. The other group is the cheaper guys. Here you've got veterans Matt Barnes, DeMarre Carroll, Corey Brewer, Kyle Korver, and Dorrell Wright and young sleeper Al-Farouq Aminu. All the veteran guys would be upgrades and pretty good fits while not breaking the bank financially. Aminu is intriguing physically, but is still raw offensively. Ultimately, I think he's be worth the gamble. Trades There are a couple obvious trade candidates and others that I think are more of a long shot. The first guy I'll mention is Nic Batum. IMO, he'd be a great fit on this team and I'd love to have him. I don't really think he's available, but he could probably be had for a pretty decent price. I'd think an offer would have to start with Andy, Gee, and picks and even that probably isn't enough. Ultimately the price is probably too high, but its still worth exploring. Next are guys that are veterans on expiring deals. Danny Granger, Shawn Marion, Caron Butler, and to a lesser extent Luol Deng. The first three mentioned I think are very available. Deng would cost more as I don't really think the Bulls want to give him up. All would be good fits. My preference would be Deng, Granger, Marion, Butler. Draft This is the least intriguing option in my opinion. I want someone who's going to help win now and rookies aren't usually that guy. People like Reggie Bullock, but while he can shoot he probably won't be able to do much else right away. If you could trade up to get Otto Porter, then do it but I don't think that's possible. Shabazz Muhammad is another possibility if you want to trade up, but I am personally not a fan. If you are going to take a SF in the draft, I'd rather see a stash player combined with a trade/signing of a veteran. My personal favorite is Giannis Adetokunbo. Other possibilities are Sergey Karasev and Dario Saric. Possible second round guys include Glen Rice Jr, Tony Snell, and 3/4 tweener CJ Leslie. All would most likely have minimal impact with Leslie being the most intriguing. My Preference So to wrap this up I'll say what my preference would be. Included with all my options is drafting Adetokunbo. My first option would be trading for Batum. That's unlikely though, so I'd attempt to sign AK47 or Iggy. If you can't s

Judging Garrett based on his playing time for the Suns Diante didn't exactly cement himself as a NBA player in his rookie season. In fact, he did much the opposite. The most glaring deficiency is his overall shooting ability. Garrett ranked 434th in eFG% out of 469 players that stepped on a NBA court last season. When factoring in that 19 of the 36 players below Garrett played less than 60 minutes the entire season it becomes readily apparent that he was one of the most atrocious shooters in the league. The next area of infamy is the turnovers per 36 minutes. Garrett averaged 3.9, which slotted him as 16th worst in the league. Of the 15 somehow worse than him only three played more minutes. Not all of this section consists of me making denigrating remarks about Garrett's game, though. Diante did average 7.5 assists per 36, which was good enough for 19th in the league. Only one player ahead of him played less minutes on the season, so this makes Garrett somewhat of an outlier. Interestingly enough, the Suns had three players in the top 23 in assists per 36 - Goran Dragic 7.9, Garret 7.5 and Kendall Marshall 7.3 - which contradicts the prevailing sentiment that the Suns lack of shooting was holding their point guards back. What about thievery? Diante is morally reprehensible. His 2.4 per 36 ranks him 7th in the NBA. The top three in the league played a combined 65 minutes. The other three are Ricky Rubio, Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe. So Garrett is one of the worst players in the league at shooting and taking care of the ball, but in the ranks of the elite at distributing and burglary. Is the chasmic difference startling? Not so much. The sample size is still microscopic enough there is no way to confirm these as definite trends. It is somewhat interesting to see these areas at such opposite ends of the spectrum, though. Grade: C- Judging Garrett based on his backcourt bench cohort Neither of these guys had stellar years. While Kendall's bemoaned shooting woes placed him 12th in eFG% among Suns this season, Diante managed to finish dead last (16). In WS/36 Marshall ranks 12th again while Garrett once again is in the caboose. Surprisingly, Garrett beats out Marshall in his one plus level skill (assists). Diante also shows his more diverse skill set with the edge in rebounding and steals. While I give Kendall the slight nod among the rookies, I think Marshall clearly distances himself by virtue of being nearly three years younger than Garrett. Grade: D+ Judging Garrett based on his stints with the Bakersfield Jam Garrett excelled in his role for the Jam. He averaged 17.3 points (49.1% FG) and 7.3 assists in eight regular season appearances. He even made 13-21 three point attempts and 17-21 free throws, suggesting that his NBA numbers may not be entirely reflective of his ability. Is he awestruck or just unable to get similar looks at the highest level. Free throw shooting should be static, so maybe it's a case of the former... His playoff numbers were even better as he averaged 21.0 points (50% FG), 7.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds in two games. Turnovers were still an issue for Garrett, however, as he averaged 3.0 per game over his 10 total appearances. Garrett is eminently qualified as a D-Leaguer, but his ability to be productive as a pro is very suspect. Grade: A- Overall Grade: C Garrett started the season as a fourth string rookie point guard who snuck onto the roster and played like one. He shouldn't have been better than third stringer Marshall, though he was close. He didn't do anything to make a case for an expanded role, but also fared well enough with the Jam to maintain a lambent glimmer of future potential. With an expected roster shake up it is unlikely that Garrett will return to the Suns as an end of the bench security guard, but hopefully he hasn't played himself out of the league. He will turn 25 at the start of next season and that's starting to get up there in term

May 21, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) shoots against Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) and forward Zach Randolph (50) during overtime in game two of the Western Conference finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at AT Tim Duncan scored 17 points, including six in overtime when Memphis could score only four, and the San Antonio Spurs have managed a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals after a shaky 93-89 victory over the Grizzlies this past Tuesday at AT&T Center. Behind a career playoff-high 18 assists from Tony Parker, San Antonio built a lead of as much as 18 points. It was 12 heading into the fourth quarter before the Spurs missed their final eight shots from the floor in regulation and failed to score in the final 4:18 of the fourth quarter. May 21, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Jerryd Bayless (7) shoots in game two of the Western Conference finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at AT Jerryd Bayless came off the Memphis bench to score 18 points, but missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 11 seconds left in overtime. Mike Conley also added 18, but Zach Randolph had another flat shooting night. Maybe the return to home court in Memphis for Game 3 on Saturday will pull him out of his funk, because he was 6-for-18 after starting 1-for-10, and he’s 7-for-26 in the series. The home team has won 17 of the last 20 games between these teams, and the Spurs lost both trips to Memphis during the regular season. With strong memories of blowing a 2-0 lead to Oklahoma City in the Western finals, the Spurs know the games in Memphis will be hard. Boris Diaw tells NBA.Com they know the Grizzlies play well at home. “We know they play great at home,” Spurs forward Boris Diaw said. “They have a great crowd, and they seem to be more pumped up when they play at home. They are probably going to make more shots, so we’ve got to be ready for that.” Diaw could be talking about Zach Randolph whom has not been much of a factory in this series.  Though he manages to hit double-figures in game two, he also shot better, that is a good sign for Memphis.  The energy will be in the arena and the Grizzlies will surely be feeding off of it. We brought up on Wednesday that Tony Parker was going to have an MRI on his strained left calf.  This caused a bunch of concerns to many fans on our facebook page.  The results came back that Parker is healing as expected and that he will be fine for the game come Saturday night.  He tells NBA.Com, he will be ‘fine’. “I feel like I’ll be fine Saturday,” he said. PROBABLE STARTING LINEUPS Point Guards Tony Parker  -  Mike Conley Shooting Guards Daniel Green  -  Tony Allen Small Forwards Kawhi Leonard  -  Tayshaun Prince Power Forwards Tim Duncan  -  Zach Randolph Centers Tiago Splitter  -  Marc Gasol Key Bench Players Manu Ginobili, Boris Diaw, Cory Joseph  -  Jerryd Bayless, Quincy Pondexter, Darrell Arthur Head Coaches Gregg Popovich  -  Lionel Hollins GAME AND BROADCAST INFORMATION When: Saturday, May 25th, 2013 at 8:00 P.M. CST Where: Fed Ex Forum – Memphis, Tennessee Television: ESPN (National) Radio: 1200 AM WOAI (Local) For perspective on the Memphis Grizzlies, head over to Fansided’s own Beale Street Bears.

The Dallas Mavericks want Dwight Howard. This isn't a secret. They would also like to get Chris Paul, but that one seems a little bit less likely. When you look at their cap situation, they'll have to do some fancy maneuvering in order to create the salary cap space that they want to have. This has led to some rumors about the Mavericks possibly trading the 13th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Reports out of Dallas indicate that the Mavs want to get rid of the $1.6 cap hold that the 13th pick carries, according to ESPN.com. "Multiple sources have told ESPN.com's Chad Ford the Mavs are likely to shop the pick in hopes of creating the cap space necessary to make a run at Dwight Howard in free agency." Now, I have no idea what it would take to get the 13th pick in the draft. But Chris Grant has been known to want to stockpile draft picks and there have been some indications that he would like another lottery pick in this draft. I'm not exactly sure why he wants another first round pick, but it seems like he does. If the Mavs are serious about trading the 13th pick without taking on more salary, the Cavs could probably be a logical trade partner. The Cavaliers can offer the 31st and 33rd picks in the draft and since those are right at the beginning of the 2nd round, they carry no cap hold or guaranteed contract. That could be appealing for the Mavs trying to clear all the cap space that they can. Similarly, the Mavericks currently have Shawn Marion on the books for about $9.3 million next season. We know that Dallas thinks very highly of Marion, but if they want to get rid of his contract, that is something that the Cavaliers could handle as well. He'd fill a void at small forward and provide some much needed defense. Again, I have absolutely no idea if the Mavs actually want to trade Marion and suspect they might want a future first round pick in exchange for him if they do. Furthermore, since Marion is an expiring contract and still provides some worthwhile basketball contributions, there's likely to be several teams willing to take him off the Mavs' hands. So try not to go overboard with the Marion fantasies, but the 13th pick is certainly in play. If the two 2nd rounders aren't enough, would you trade the future Sacramento Kings' pick for the 13th pick in what is considered a fairly weak draft? I'm not so sure but every indication points to the Mavs moving this pick at some point before the June 27th draft.

Rather than LeBron James’s individual brilliance reigning in Game 2, it was the Pacers’ length and determination that ultimately decided the game.

Kevin Durant has a reputation of being not only one of the best basketball players in the game, but also as one of the most genuine human beings to be associated with the league today. And he keeps doing things to solidify that image. After a devastating tornado ripped through parts of Oklahoma, Durant personally…

Rondo is fully into fashion as we saw from last year's internship with GQ in the off season and last night he guest starred on the Fashion Police with Joan Rivers. He is surprisingly good on these shows. One feature on the show is where the guest brings an item from their closet that others on the show decide to stash or trash. Rondo brought his zebra Rondo wore that jacket in an infamous incident after a loss to the Hawks last season. The incident was described on The Sports Session. With less than 15 seconds to go Rondo made a great defensive play and stole the ball on a pass, and immediately started pushing the ball the other way. With the final seconds ticking away Rondo decided to make a baseline move to hopefully kick out a pass for the winning shot, but the Hawks Al Horford was to quick and Rondo lost control of the ball as time ran off the clock. Rondo was upset, but it was difficult to see how upset until a post game incident with a reporter showed what frame of mind he was in. Rondo was getting ready for his postgame news conference when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that he was being recorded. The Celtics point guard pointed at the camera, and then took it upon himself to confront the cameraman. “I told you to quit filming,” Rondo said while being restrained. “Do not film me. I’m not doing an interview right now.” Rondo briefly accosted the cameraman before being pulled away be a security staff member who was asking Rondo to keep his cool the entire time. It appeared that Rondo was also talking to some family members or friends when he felt stalked by the camera man, and maybe that is what set him off to the extent that it did. The comedy of it all is that Rondo was wearing a Zebra/Prison striped jacket that did not make the best of fashion statements. The TNT Inside the NBA Crew of Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal had some fun at the expense of Rondo and his fashion choice. They did say that Rondo was upset about the play and just lost his cool, but there is probably a very good chance we won’t be seeing Rondo wear that jacket anytime soon. The verdict on The Fashion Police was to trash the jacket. Happily we won't be seeing that one again. Although I'm pretty sure he never wears the same outfit twice anyway. My favorite comment on the show came from Joan Rivers as she was describing the jacket: "It's too old and not accomplishing anything. I'm surprised it doesn't play for the Lakers!" I love it! Get to see Rondo and hear the Lakers trashed on the same show. Good stuff!! [Discuss on CG Forums!]