Shaq stepping over Bendan Haywood...much like he stepped over Stan Van Gundy and ordered up Riles...

Pat Riley subs in for Ron Jeremy as coach of the Heat…well, just remember that Riley hasn't led a team to an NBA Finals since 1994, hasn't won one since 1988…some thing else to consider is the similarities between Stan Van Gundy's departure and his brother Jeff's leaving the Knicks 4 years ago. JVG resigned as Knicks coach on Dec. 8, 2001, with an 11-9 record, announcing he had "lost his focus" and explaining how he had been mulling his decision and also cited family concerns as one of the main contributing factors in his decision…family concerns my arse, SVG was pushed out the door and this was the best way to save face…

Jermaine O’Neal quote of the year: "Ron doesn't want to be here, so Ron doesn't matter anymore," O'Neal said. He then added. "This is about us winning two straight games. You guys got any questions about us winning two straight games? You got any questions about us having the second-best record in the Eastern Conference even though we've struggled?"…I’m thinking no…

So where will Ron-Ron go? Here’s some Artest Trade Rumours: To Atlanta for SF Al Harrington, To Cleveland for SF Luke Jackson, SG Ira Newble and SG Sasha Pavlovic, To Dallas for SG Jerry Stackhouse, To Denver for PF/C Nene and SG Voshon Lenard, To Memphis for SF Shane Battier, To Miami for PF Antoine Walker, To New York for SG Jamal Crawford, To Phoenix for SG Raja Bell and SF Jim Jackson, To Sacramento for SF Peja Stojakovic, To Washington for SG Jarvis Hayes and SF Jarred Jeffries

Carmelo Anthony had a career night against the Charlotte Bobcats in a 101-85 win…Melo had 42 points on 13-18 from the floor and 15-18 from the line, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks…''I didn't even know I had it,'' he said. ''I felt good out there, getting some open shots, some easy shots. You know, 13-for-18, I'll take that every night.'' With Michael Jordan in the building, Anthony had his second 40-point game in less than a week, having hit 40 in a victory over Miami on Friday. ''The line that Carmelo had is off the charts,'' Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. ''I think he probably covered every digit on the sheet, points, rebounds, assists. He played like a superstar.'' Emeka Okafor had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Bobcats, who haven't won since Nov. 26 against Washington.

Notice how nobdy is whining about Steve Nash being MVP anymore? Since Mike D'Antoni and Steve Nash hooked up, Nash (this year’s averages of 18.6 ppg and 10.7 apg…and 95.7-percent from the line) has been the best PG in the world…seriously, and it’s proven by the following:

a) The Suns top the league in scoring at almost 106 points per night.

b) They have six players (Nash, Marion, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, and James Jones) averaging double figures and two more (Kurt Thomas and Eddie House) just under 10…

c) They shoot over 46-percent from the field as a team

d) They lead the league in Assists, Fewest turnovers and therefore Assist to Turnover ratio.

Of course, Nash is not the only remarkable player on this team…Shawn Marion ranks fourth in the NBA in rebounding at 11.8 per game as a 6'7", 220 lb. “Power” forward…better than 6’8” 250 lb. Ben Wallace (11.5), 6’8” 250 lb. Elton Brand (10.7), 6’10” 260 lb. Jermaine O'Neal (10.6), and 7’1” 240 lb. Kevin Garnett (10.4). And then there’s the magician Boris Diaw, who has made Joe Johnson disappear…the 6'8" 210 lb. SF is averaging 6.2 (!!) assists per game, 6.2 rebounds per game and scoring 10.8 points on 53-percent shooting and is second on the team in blocked shots.

Attention Steven Hunter…right now you suck…how do I know this? Well, in the 76ers' last two games before last night, Michael Bradley and rookie Shavlik Randolph, two of the biggest stiffs in the league played and you did not…

Wally world on fire…Over the past 8 games Wolves SG Wally Szczerbiak is averaging 22.2 points on 61.4% from the floor…He put 25 points (on 10-of-15 shooting) and 7 rebounds on Kobe Bryant on Saturday…just a few days after putting 34 points (12-of-16) on Kobe in their previous matchup on Dec. 2.

Free Agent vets still out there…SG Latrell Sprewell, SF Glenn Robinson, SG Ron Mercer, SG Wesley Person, PF Christian Laettner, PF Tom Gugliotta.

1) Jack McCallum of SI.com thinks Riles will be fine:

The Heat go retro - Riley will bring swagger, structure back to Miami

Pat Riley, Stan Van Gundy and owner Micky Arison will never be able to completely sell the idea that Van Gundy resigned as the Miami Heat coach because he wanted to spend more time with his family. First, that is rarely the sole reason in sports -- Michael Jordan and countless others have said the same thing. Second, there has simply been too much previous speculation that Riley was waiting in the wings for the right moment to jettison Van Gundy and take over himself. For the record, I absolutely buy Van Gundy's sentiments about wanting to be more of a family man. Those who know him say that he is a dedicated and proud father whose four children are all active and whose games, concerts and school events he was tired of missing. But I also think that this was part of his thought process: I'm getting out before they get me ... because they are going to get me eventually. So, I believe it was a resignation, albeit one with a back-story. Anyway, the question now is: How will the Heat be different under Riley, who is unquestionably one of the game's greatest coaches? Here's an early five-pack of reasons:

1. There will be more structure to the Heat offense.- The Heat wasn't exactly a free-wheeling bunch under Van Gundy, but now you will see point guards Jason Williams and Gary Payton, and even shooting guard Dwyane Wade, looking over at the bench to get play calls a lot more than they did before.

2. The Heat may be a little less prepared for some teams and prone to getting upset. - Having come from that classic assistant-coach background, Van Gundy was a stickler for preparation. And for all his genius on the bench, Riley has been away from the day-to-day changes in the game. While Riley catches up, SVG's knowledge will be missed.

3. There will be more feeding of the post. - First, that's what Riley did when he won championships in Los Angeles (with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and turned the New York Knicks (with Patrick Ewing) into a title contender. And, second, he'll want to keep his principal locker room ally, center Shaquille O'Neal, happy.

4. Miami will have a healthier locker room ... at least for now. - The veteran Heat politicians (Shaq, Payton, Alonzo Mourning) hadn't exactly thrown Van Gundy under the bus. But there were enough grumblings to indicate that he was being tuned out from time to time. The players had always referred to Riley as "Coach," which they say was a sign of respect; maybe so, but it's telling. In Heat Land, Riley was always perceived as Top Dog, and guys like Shaq only want to answer to the Top Dog.

5. The Heat will have more presence. - That's hard to define, of course, but Stan Van Gundy, an outstanding coach, is still SVG and Pat Riley is PAT RILEY! He may get more calls from the refs, particularly the ones whom he has not alienated over the years. The Heat will get more attention. There will be more cameras and microphones around, more buzz. How Miami responds to it remains to be seen, but keep this in mind: With Riley on the sideline, they are still not better than the Detroit Pistons. That is Van Gundy's legacy; perhaps it will be Riley's too.

2) Eric Neel of ESPN.com’s Page 2 reminds us of the greatest game ever:

Twenty-two years ago, on Dec. 13, 1983, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime. It was, and remains, the highest-scoring game in NBA history. Before they were the Bad Boys, Isiah and the Pistons were a high-scoring machine. 186-184. 370 total points. The numbers don't seem real. They're not just out of the past, they're altogether alien. They simply don't compute. The 2005-06 Phoenix Suns, everybody's high-octane darlings, lead the league right now, averaging 103 points per game. The Portland Trail Blazers bring up the rear at 85.9. But it happened. I've seen footage. The league has a photo of the official scorebook at NBA.com. The New York Times has commemorated the game in its "This Day in Sports" series. And Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe tells me he was there. Vandeweghe scored 51 points that night. Alex English had 47. In all, an NBA-record four players scored over 40 points and 12 players (six Pistons, six Nuggets) had double figures, including Isiah Thomas (47), John Long (41), Kelly Tripucka (35) and Dan Issel (28). The halftime score was 74-74. Jeff Van Gundy would have passed out. The game, played at the high altitude of Denver's McNichols Sports Arena, lasted 3 hours, 11 minutes. The teams took a combined 251 shots and hit on 142 of them (56.6 percent). The Pistons shot 60 free throws, the Nuggets 57. There were a record 93 assists in the game; Isiah had 17 of them. There were 113 rebounds, though, remarkably, only English and Bill Laimbeer managed double-digit boards, with 12 apiece. The game film is a blur; Detroit's Vinnie Johnson doing a goofy pirouette jumper at one end, English flashing his signature baseline fadeaway at the other, and Isiah and Denver's Mike Evans pushing it from circle to circle in between. The teams were playing just the way Nuggets head coach Doug Moe liked it: fast. The 1984 Nuggets led the league with a pace factor (i.e., possessions per 48 minutes for a team and its opponent) of 110.5, and Detroit posted a pace factor of 103.8 that year (today's Suns, by comparison, crank it up to 95.1). "At that time, if you go to Denver you know you're going to be in for a scoring match," says Tripucka. "They didn't run a lot of plays, they just kept running. We knew we had to play a certain way with them." Moe, the one-time undisputed king of golf-shirt chic, wanted things loose. Whereas the Larry Browns and Rick Carlisles of the world treat each possession like a Faberge egg, Moe thought of them more like Skittles; they're great, and you can never have enough of them, but they aren't precious or anything. "You have to let go," he told me recently. "Get more chances with the ball, play at a different pace than most of the other teams." Though it often made for some ugly numbers for what Moe likes to describe, with a mocking sneer in his voice, as "so-called" defense (the '84 Nuggets gave up 112.6 points per 100 possessions), the combination of the thin Denver air and a fast-on-the-floor pace was a Nuggets tradition once upon a time. Since 1982, the top six (and seven out of the top 10) pace factors in the NBA have been recorded by Denver squads. In that same span, five of the top six field-goal-attempt averages (the sixth belonged to the '85 Pistons) and five out of the top six points-per-game averages (the sixth belonged to the '84 Spurs) also belong to Nuggets teams. "We always felt we could use the altitude to our advantage," Vandeweghe says. "But I don't think Doug knew anything about pace numbers or anything like that. It was an attitude thing with him." English describes ball under Moe in more reverent terms. "It was basketball at its purest," he says. "Free-flowing, with the pressure off the players." At a time when the iconic face of coaching in America was Bobby Knight's red-cheeked rant at some poor kid unfortunate enough to miss a teammate coming off a back-screen, Moe, more like a bandleader, was letting his guys find a groove. "Everyone knew what their roles were," English says. "But no one was limited or afraid to try things." Even now, Vandeweghe chuckles just thinking about how much fun it was: "Doug never criticized a shot." Confidence is a beautiful thing. Un-self-conscious confidence is sublime. Vandeweghe averaged 33.6 points per 40 minutes in 1984. English hit for 30.2, and Dan Issel was good for 29.0. And never mind the "Bad Boys" -- the 1984 Pistons, in their first season under Chuck Daly, were nearly as potent as the Nuggets. "Outscore the other team," Laimbeer wrote in a recent Basketball Digest piece. "That's what our team was back then." Detroit had six players post Player Efficiency Ratings (PER) over 14.0 that year. They always had five on the floor who could fill it up. Terry Tyler (been a while since you thought about him, eh?), Long, Laimbeer, Johnson, Thomas and Tripucka were all good for 18-plus points per 40. "We knew it was going to be a tough game," English says. "They had that young upstart named Isiah Thomas, and Vinnie was always tough to defend, and people forget how good John Long was; he was a truly great scorer." Long is one of those guys who has fallen through the cracks over time. He played for 14 years in the league, most of them with the Pistons, and all of them with a shooter's eye. He shot a career 46.7 percent from the field. According to the good folks at basketball-reference.com (whose database is a gift straight from the basketball gods), he compares (at age) to Xavier McDaniel, Kevin Grevey and Antawn Jamison. I see the Jamison thing, or maybe Michael Redd, or … you know, it's hard to think of another analog. Straight scorers are hard to come by these days; ask the Cavs. More than Long, though, Vandeweghe says the old-time Piston who folks tend to sleep on now is Tripucka. I asked him whether they were scheming to stop Isiah that night, who by 1984 was filling stat sheets with 21.3 ppg, 11.1 apg and 4.0 rpg, but he said they were more worried about Tripucka. "Isiah was obviously a great player and tremendous competitor and everything," he says. "But I think when we played those Pistons, Tripucka was our focus. He was a great player, he could score all night and from all over." With a scorer's casual confidence, Tripucka explains that scoring just was never that hard for him. "I just got out and ran," he says. "Isiah would get me the ball on the wing, I'd get to the hole, get to the line, and hit a few jumpers and the next thing I knew I had 20-something points." Tripucka averaged 26.0 points per 40 minutes in 1984, tops on a team that scored 117.1 points per game. So both teams could score a little. And they knew, playing against each other, especially in Denver, the ticker would be rolling early and often. But they didn't expect anything like 186-184. "Everybody was just flowing," English remembers. "It seemed like nobody could miss a shot." At the end of the first quarter, Detroit was up 38-34. It was tied at 74 at the half. Denver was up 113-108 after three quarters. And Isiah tipped in a Bill Laimbeer free-throw miss as the clock expired to send the game into overtime, tied at 145. The players were feeding off each other, even across team lines. It was a collective unconscious thing: Everyone thought of themselves as scorers in the act of scoring. "You hear people talk about a zone for individual players," Vandeweghe says. "That night, for both teams, whatever it was, we were in it." Laimbeer recalled how tight it was: "Neither team could pull away. It was just up and down the court all night, but it was a two-point game or a four-point game almost the whole way." Teams push and inspire each other. Guys on both sides feel as if they're almost collaborating on something with their opponents, and feel most definitely as if they're taking part in a shared experience, a phenomenon they'd be afraid to ruin, a transcendence they know they'd never be able to explain to anyone who wasn't on the floor with them. "We were running as fast as we could," Tripucka says, about to lay out the classic Zone Koan. "But the way the points were coming, and the way people were shooting, the way we were all shooting, I swear it felt slow out there." In his autobiography, "Second Wind," Bill Russell described rare nights when two teams can achieve something truly special: "Every so often a Celtic game would heat up so that it would became more than a physical or even mental game, and would be magical. That feeling is difficult to describe, and I certainly never talked about it when I was playing. When it happened I could feel my play rise to a new level. It came rarely, and would last anywhere from five minutes to a whole quarter. Three or four plays were not enough to get it going. It would surround not only me and the other Celtics but also the players on the other team, and even the referees. To me, the key was that both teams had to be playing at their peaks. … It never started with a hot streak by a single player, or with a breakdown of one team's defense. It usually began when three or four of the 10 guys on the floor would heat up; they would be the catalysts, and they were almost always the stars in the league. … The feeling would spread to the other guys, and we'd all levitate. Then the game would just take off, and there'd be a natural ebb and flow that reminded you of how rhythmic and musical basketball is supposed to be. I'd find myself thinking, 'This is it. I want this to keep going,' and I'd actually be rooting for the other team. When their players made spectacular moves, I wanted their shots to go into the bucket; that's how pumped up I'd be. I'd be out there talking to the other Celtics, encouraging them and pushing myself harder, but at the same time part of me would be pulling for the other players too." Tripucka, English, Vandeweghe, Laimbeer -- they all echo Russell in talking about the 186-184 game. It wasn't just an outcome; it was a happening, an event, a "levitation." "At first, you're just playing," Tripucka says. "But somewhere along the way you get a sense of it. You feel it coming on." At that point, it's not so much a matter of what you will do, or even of who will win, but of where the game will take you. "I remember when Isiah tipped that ball in at the end of regulation time," Vandeweghe says. "And I just thought, 'Here we go. Now what?'" "Now what" was, of course, three high-scoring overtimes, including the second, in which Tripucka scored all 12 Pistons points, and, eventually, a Detroit victory and a bucketful of records. Remarkable as the night was, the participants were sure the records would be broken. "We had no doubt," English says. "Back then, everyone scored a lot of points." It's true. Only three teams in the NBA averaged less than 100 points in 1984 (today only five teams average as many as 100). The Pistons scored 130-plus nine other times that season. And the Nuggets, who averaged 122.7, posted more than 130 points 24 other times. "It was a different game then," says Tripucka, who scouts for the Knicks now. "There's no question we were better shooters, better all-around players, and we were team-oriented. Guys now are too individually oriented. Everything's isolations and one-on-ones. And teams now have a couple of guys who can really score, but we had four or five, and so did the Nuggets." The recent encouraging adventures of the Suns notwithstanding, the difference between then and now might be a style thing as much as anything. The Nuggets and Pistons were dedicated to an approach that didn't favor one or two players. "I don't think defenses today could stop the high-powered offense we were running back then," English says. "Nobody knew what we were doing. We were a hard team to scout. We could come from so many angles." Fans of today's game will rightfully make the point that contemporary defenses are a much nastier beast than their back-in-the-day counterparts. Defenders are bigger, quicker, more aggressive and incredibly well-informed thanks to sophisticated scouting techniques and technology. "It's no comparison," Hubie Brown told me a while back. "Defense today is tougher and smarter than it's ever been." But funny as it sounds, both Vandeweghe and Tripucka insist there was defense going on that night in Denver. "Believe it or not," Vandeweghe says, "Doug focused a lot on defense. We were contesting shots all over the place that night." Tripucka remembers it the same way: "I'm not going to buy that it's just defenses now that make the difference. It wasn't like an All-Star game that night. We were pushing through screens, getting hands in guys' faces, it was just a night where shooters were hitting shots no matter what you did." I don't know if I'm buying the revisionist-history take on '80s-era defense. The Celtics (105.6) and Lakers (111.8) played for the title in 1984 each giving up more than 100 points per game on the season; hard to imagine you could get away with that now (last year the Spurs allowed just 88.4). But I will say, even if it wasn't defense that made the difference, the score of the highest-scoring game in NBA history actually could have been higher. Much higher. For starters, there were four, count 'em, four 3-point field goal attempts in the game (each team shot 1-for-2). The 3-point shot had been introduced in the league in 1979, but even freewheeling teams like the Nuggets and Pistons were hesitant to incorporate it (the Nuggets made just 77 3-pointers all season and the Pistons just 32). "It was a shot you took to try to come back when you were down," Tripucka says. "It wasn't a part of anybody's offense. Our feeling was, why not move the ball and move your feet and get a good shot from 15 feet? We were playing old-school basketball, I guess." The average number of 3-pointers made in the NBA so far this season is 6.16 per team. Even if we assign the average to these two above-average shooting teams, we get 36.96 points on 3s, which is roughly 12.3 more points than were scored in the record-setting game. And I don't, for a minute, think these two clubs would manage just the average number of attempts or conversions. And even if we forget the 3-pointer, the final score could have been higher (or maybe the game would have ended earlier!) had the Pistons not stunk up the joint from the free-throw line. They were just 37-for-60 from the stripe (62 percent). Vandeweghe remembers a lot of mistakes down the stretch, actually. "We were exhausted," he says. "The score could have been higher but there were a lot of easy shots missed late in the game. We were spent." Call it fatigue, call it hunger, but by the end of the game, Tripucka's mind was wandering a bit when the ball would stop. "It was a road game for us, and I remember looking up at the clock during timeouts and it was getting late and I was wondering whether we were going to be able to get dinner out after the game. I thought maybe we could take the scorebook and show it to the guy through the restaurant window and maybe he'd open up for us." Vandeweghe and English say they didn't think much about the game when it was over. It was different for Tripucka. Winning makes a difference, even on a night when everybody's "elevating." "I felt bad for those guys," he says. "It had been such a great game. And in the locker room, afterwards, knowing we'd won it, man, a shower never felt better."
So was it a once-in-a-lifetime thing? Will the record ever be broken? Will the Suns and Mavs go crazy some night? "There's such a difference now in style of play, in focus … I do think our two teams were a kind of perfect storm; we had such good scorers," Vandeweghe says. "It could happen but it's going to take a very special night." Tripucka isn't nearly as conciliatory when it comes to the present-day ballers. "I think it's one of those records that will never be broken," he says. "I put it up there with Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points and DiMaggio's hitting streak. I think it'll last my lifetime and beyond. I just can't see it being broken." As a basketball fan, it's exciting to talk to these guys. If you can forgive the hyperbole, I imagine it's something like being in the company of an astronaut, actually. They've been to some rarified, exhilarating place I'll never go, and they put on a show the likes of which I'll more than likely never have the chance to see. Tripucka laughed when I called him to ask about the game the other day -- he asked, "Is it ever going to go away?" -- but even he had to admit there was an enduring, quasi-romantic appeal about it, about the heights it reached. "People love hearing about it," he said. "I know I'll be talking about it again next year." More than 9,600 people saw the game in person 22 years ago. For the rest of us, who've seen the present-day Pistons hold a week's worth of opponents under 70, it's a mind-blowing myth, a thing to be wondered at. It's not that we want that game or that style back (after all, the '84 Pistons were knocked out in the conference semis and the Nuggets finished with a losing record and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs). It's just that we like knowing, we need to know, that under the right conditions, that kind of "magic" was possible.

3) For posterity check out these 2 stats from the golden age of scoring:

The Nuggets under Doug Moe

Year W-L PPG (rank)
81-82 46-36 126.5 (1st)
82-83 45-37 123.2 (1st)
83-84 38-44 123.7 (1st)
84-85 52-30 120.0 (1st)
85-86 47-35 114.8 (4th)
86-87 37-45 116.7 (4th)
87-88 54-28 116.7 (1st)
88-89 44-38 118.0 (2nd)
89-90 43-39 114.6 (3rd)
NBA's top offensive teams, 1983-84

1. Denver Nuggets: 123.7 ppg - K. Vandeweghe, 29.4; A. English, 26.4; D. Issel, 19.8; R. Williams, 10.2
2. San Antonio Spurs: 120.3 ppg - G. Gervin, 25.9; M. Mitchell, 23.3; A. Gilmore, 15.3; G. Banks, 13.1
3. Detroit Pistons: 117.1 ppg - I. Thomas, 21.3; K. Tripucka, 21.3; B. Laimbeer, 17.3; J. Long, 16.3
4. Los Angeles Lakers: 115.6 ppg - K. Abdul-Jabbar, 21.5; M. Johnson, 17.6; J. Wilkes, 17.3; J. Worthy, 14.5
5. Utah Jazz: 115.0 ppg - A. Dantley, 30.6; D. Griffith, 20.0; J. Drew, 17.7; R. Green, 13.2

4) Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press reports that moving Ron-Ron will not be easy:

Trading Artest easier said than done

The Indiana Pacers are caught between a rock and a head case. On the one hand, they have Ron Artest, the most complete great player in the NBA. On the other hand, they have Ron Artest, who is a few chips short of the ante. And on the third hand (hey, it's Planet Ron-Ron, we can go to a third hand) they still see themselves as championship contenders. Artest just asked the Pacers to trade him. Well, sort of. As with all things Artest, this is not quite how it appears. He told the Indianapolis Star that he wants to be traded. That's how the Pacers found out. The Pacers have three options, and two of them stink. Stinko Option No. 1: Keep Artest. That's fine if your goal is to make everybody else on your team furious. Otherwise, not so much. Stinko Option No. 2: Get rid of Artest ASAP, for anything or anyone. Unfortunately, the NBA does not give away trophies for getting rid of players; the point is to win, which brings us to ... The Only Good Option, No. 3: trade him for equal or similar value. (Let's take a brief pause for interview highlights: Artest told the Star that Rick Carlisle is a great coach and he likes him, but can't play for him; that he is one of the best players in the league but the Pacers would be better off without him; and that he wants to "maximize my opportunity for my potential" by showing he is a premier scorer, but "there's a lot of players I wouldn't mind coming off the bench behind." Glad we cleared that up.) The Pacers should trade Artest, in the same sense that we should eliminate gas emissions while boosting the economy. Some things are easier said than done. (Wait! We're not done with the interview highlights. Artest says his past haunts him in Indiana, where he has been defended, coddled, loved, and for all I know, snuggled with after every practice. He wants to get a fresh start under a more understanding fan base. His first choice? New York. You have to love this stuff.) The Pacers surely want to trade Artest to a team out West, reducing his chance of coming back and tearing their hearts out, both figuratively and literally. I can think of a perfect team — on the Left Coast, with a long history of taking malcontents and loonies. Unfortunately, it's the Raiders. As for NBA teams ... well, suppose the Pacers find a team willing to take Artest and sign a waiver promising not to sue if Artest does something nutty, like light himself on fire during a timeout. How can they get equal value? They almost certainly can't, for the same reason the Philadelphia Eagles can't get an All-Pro in exchange for Terrell Owens: Despite rapid expansion in the last 20 years, there are no NBA or NFL teams on Mars. Word is out about these guys. People have Internet access and stuff. And without Artest, or a similar-caliber player, does anybody believe Indiana can make it to the NBA Finals this season? You hear rumblings that the Pacers will rekindle Artest-for-Peja Stojakovic trade talk. But the Kings have to be careful; Artest implodes on losing teams, and the move could infuriate Sacramento's fans. Dallas might be interested. The Clippers might be interested. The Pacers need to find a team that is close enough to a championship that it is willing to take a chance on Artest, but is willing to part with young talent and skill. Oh, and the Pacers also need a heavy infusion of maturity and leadership — Reggie Miller has never looked more valuable. Getting rid of Artest will not solve all of Indiana's problems. If the Pacers' offense is reduced to a two-headed monster, and those heads belong to Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson ... well, that's a decent team. Under Carlisle, that might even be a 50-plus win team. But it is nowhere near a championship team. And remember, that's what the Pacers were supposed to be. Some of us were skeptical of all the preseason hype — it seemed that people were conflating the Artest comeback story with the Pacers-are-championship-ready story. Now even Pacers fans should be skeptical. But whatever you do, don't blame Ron-Ron. "It's not my fault," he told the Star. "Every time somebody is on me it's a mismatch." I'm telling you, I love this guy. The entertainment never ends. I'm just not sure why a serious contender would want him.

5) Teri Berg of ESPN.com reports that Kendall Gill’s Boxing career was short lived:

NBA vet: 'Boxing causes too much pain’

The first question for every professional athlete who leaves his longtime best sport to test the waters of another sport is this: Is this for real, or just a self-serving stunt? When it's a stunt -- such as when Joe Louis entered the wrestling ring, or when 7-foot-7 Manute Bol rode a horse, or when the NFL's William "The Refrigerator" Perry boxed -- we'd rather avert our eyes. The dignity lost performing such antics far outweighs whatever is gained. But for anyone who's serious, there's the inevitable follow-up question: Is he any good? Michael Jordan's foray into baseball in 1994 stands as the prime example of such experiments. And, for some people, the answer to the question was no. Now comes Kendall Gill, the 15-year NBA veteran swingman who's trying his hand at another sort of swing: boxing. And we have to ask, as Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander did on the night of Gill's first professional fight, "Good God, why, Kendall?" Just as MJ leaned on the nostalgia of his days as a Little Leaguer to bolster the credibility of his choice, Gill recalls his childhood as one of rapt fascination with pugilism. "I've been a boxing fan forever," said Gill, 37, whose last NBA stint was 14 games in 2004-05 with the Milwaukee Bucks. He owns an entire library of fight films, he said, and watches one fight every night before going to bed. "It's something I've always wanted to do." Also, Gill has long been a fitness fanatic and said boxing has put him in the best physical condition of his life. There's no doubting he's fit. His workout on this lazy Saturday afternoon shows off his grace and quickness. The fluid economy of his movement as he punches the heavy bag or does his rounds against the punch mitts speaks volumes about his natural ability as well as his practiced commitment. Even though Gill stands 6-5, he's no Ed "Too Tall" Jones, the former Dallas Cowboys star and former boxer who was hell-bent but too long and lumbering to make good. The one-two punch of Gill's length and agility has so far -- in three pro fights as a cruiserweight -- proven his best asset. Wearing basketball shorts, a pair of talismanic Air Jordan boxing shoes and, throughout his workout, a pylon-orange winter cap a la Bill Murray's Steve Zissou, Gill declared, "I'm in better shape than I ever was in the NBA." Still, like Jordan, he has something in mind with this experiment other than sweet childhood memories and intensive physical training. Kendall Gill has demons that need exorcising. In Jordan's case, in addition to dealing with the death of his father, the fallout from his gambling problems and the 24/7 press coverage he lived with for more than a decade, Jordan also felt as if he had nothing left to prove on the basketball court. Gill isn't like Mike in this regard -- he still has plenty to prove. At the outset, he took up martial arts nine years ago, after taking a beating in a street fight outside of a Chicago nightclub. "I fell on the ground and didn't know what to do -- I took a lot of blows I shouldn't have," Gill said of the incident. "After that, I said it would never happen to me again." Gill also has long fought against a reputation he had around the league for being soft.
"The rap with Kendall was that he was too sensitive," said Chicago Tribune columnist Sam Smith. A longtime boxing writer, Smith later covered the Chicago Bulls, including Gill's brief tenure with the team. "It's an interesting transition for him to go from a guy who's seen as soft into a sport like boxing, where you can't fake aggression," Smith said. "Nobody in sports has courage like a boxer." Gill continued training in jujitsu and Muay Thai, a style of fighting seen in Ultimate competitions, for most of the rest of his NBA career, working out and sparring in the offseason. His turn to boxing came on the heels of another sort of blow. After three consecutive seasons playing with different teams, Gill, then 34 and on the downslope of his career, was traded to the Bulls in 2003. What at first had seemed to Gill like a fresh start (as well as a homecoming to this Chicago native) turned into yet another disappointing one-year stint. Gill ended the season on injured reserve, having missed 25 games to both an Achilles strain and recurring migraine headaches. Given Gill's age, injuries and limited production, the Bulls did not re-sign him for the following season. Clearly, no one was surprised by what was looking more and more like a final push toward retirement -- no one, that is, but Gill. Suddenly boxing looked a lot more attractive. "At first he came in just a couple days a week," said Gill's trainer, Michael Garcia. A former featherweight contender, Garcia, 37, now co-owns JABB Boxing Gym in Chicago, where Gill trains. "Then it was three days, then four, and he was asking for more and more help. "From the very beginning, you could see the guy was serious." There's no missing his resolve. Working the mitts with Garcia, Gill's punches sting and pop. He's got the exceptional reach you'd imagine of a guy who's 6-5, but he strikes as quick as a cobra. Gill leans in for the attack, clearly relishing going on the offensive. Quite a departure for a guy better known for his defense. Yes, Gill is serious about boxing, but not wholly committed. He and his managers haven't yet matched him up for a fourth fight. Maybe in January, Gill says. He's got business to take care of, a new house to move into, the holidays to get through & but the truth is, he's not ready to give up on his chances in the NBA. So much still to prove, so little time left to try. Though he had averaged a respectable 13 points per game over 15 years, Gill's career never quite lived up to the promise of his being chosen fifth overall in the 1990 draft. A gifted natural athlete known for the extra practice time he put in, Gill had trouble following through consistently on that talent and hard work. George Karl, who coached the Seattle SuperSonics when Gill played there from 1993 through the 1995 playoffs, often benched Gill after questioning his intensity, focus and aggressiveness. And Karl wasn't the last coach to so question him. "When he came into the league, he fancied himself another Michael Jordan," Smith said, "but he couldn't sustain through an entire game the way Michael did." To make matters worse, Gill might have been one of the unluckiest players of all time in terms of where he spent his 15 seasons. He was drafted by the two-year-old Charlotte Hornets, a team in the thick of expansion turmoil. Still, he earned a spot on the All-Rookie team, and looked to be part -- along with Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning -- of the league's most promising young trio. But the chaos endured, and Gill demanded to be traded. He landed with the already dysfunctional Sonics, where his relationship with George Karl quickly turned ugly. In a 1996 interview with New York Times columnist Selena Roberts, Gill said of Karl, "He used to call me 'Pretty Boy.' I guess he thought I had a pretty-boy game. "It was awful in Seattle," Gill said. "George is the only person in the world that I have a serious dislike for." In 1995, Gill was shipped, via Charlotte, to the New Jersey Nets, where he played on one of the most underachieving teams in NBA history: the Nets of the John Calipari-Stephon Marbury era. Despite his great stats with the team over five seasons (twice averaging more than 20 ppg and finishing once within the league's top 10 in steals), he wasn't able to parlay them into a contract extension once management got serious about improving the team. So on to the Miami Heat, where Pat Riley had gone to lose his magic touch. From there Gill went to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he spent the 2002-03 season. Then he moved on to Chicago, where Gill played his last full NBA season with the then god-awful Bulls, who were still reeling through their post-Jordan upheaval. What long ago seemed like a career headed for superstardom had somewhere along the line become star-crossed. Gill doesn't seem bitter about his experience. Just wary. Garcia told the story of his discussion with his trainee once Gill decided he might have what it takes to fight professionally. "He doesn't have to be here, ya know?" he said. "He doesn't need the money. He's already a high-status guy. He's already in great shape. What does he need with the headache? "But it's his passion," Garcia explained. "But right up front, he said he doesn't want to make a fool of himself -- he wants to do it the right way." In the dark corner of the gym, Gill moves around the ring, his orange cap fairly glowing. A couple of rounds pass. After throwing so many punches, Gill is tired, but the encouragement he gets from Garcia, as well as the gym regulars standing ringside, lifts his spirits. As Gill falls back into the stiff posture he learned from martial arts, his trainer reminds him to dip and roll his shoulders as he advances. Gill takes direction well, learns quickly and tries hard not to be an easy target. Despite the obvious time and effort he's put into boxing, Gill hopes to make a comeback in his first career choice, basketball. "I'm stronger now than when I played before," Gill insists. "I can jump just as high as ever, and I'm faster now -- my reflexes are still there." As a result of his boxing training, a regimen under which he runs five miles every morning and no longer lifts weights, Gill went from over 230 pounds at one point to just under 200. (He fought his first three fights at cruiserweight and has no plan to move up in weight class.) No doubt he's strong and fast, maybe enough to scratch out one more season on the hardwood. Maybe. In early December, he worked out for scouts from the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers, and he is waiting to hear whether he'll get picked up by either team. His chances are less certain in terms of boxing. Gill admits he's got a small window of opportunity -- and that opportunity itself isn't the stuff of dreams but of hard, cold reality. "I won't stay in it long," he said. "Boxing causes too much pain to stay in long." In his second fight, against Jason Medina, Gill faced the only experienced fighter he's seen so far, other than in sparring sessions. "After the first round, I was so drained and felt so beat up, I didn't know how I'd ever come out for the second bell," he said. Gill admitted Medina tagged him good to the body and head. "He hurt me, no question," Gill said. Gill won a four-round unanimous decision, but he recalled feeling pain for a week after the bout and wondering if maybe it was a good time to call it quits. Even his parents, he said, wanted him to throw in the towel on his new job. But Gill stuck with it, and he said, "I passed the test." Such tests, despite Gill's sense of triumph, tend to need passing more than once or twice. So he returns to the gym day after day. He spars in the mirror, goes at the speed bag and works on his fight game like there's no tomorrow. By night he's back on the parquet, scrimmaging with the college guys, whose ranks sometimes include his old Flyin' Illini teammates as well as former Bulls guard Jay Williams and even the master himself, Jordan. In 1998, three years after leaving the NBA to test his skills on a baseball diamond, Jordan had this to say about his baseball experiment: "I remember . … being amazed at how much my life had changed. I had no fear. Just a warm feeling. "It turned out to be one of the best times of my life. I was learning, experiencing the game .… I was just happy to be a part of the team. There were a lot of things that felt good. The camaraderie was unbelievable compared to the NBA. … Everything was purer, more genuine. Even the relationships had a purity and innocence to them. "I wouldn't change anything about that experience." Having made his stand, MJ still had a couple NBA years left in him. While even in the throes of his boxing diversion, Gill hopes he does, too. Regardless, Gill isn't likely to hang his head. Boxing will hold his attention for a while -- through four or five more fights, maybe -- until something else sparks his competitive fire and drives his need for respect. For Gill, as for many athletes moving on in years, personal ambition never ages, and there's more than one way to find redemption.

6) Mike Kahn of Foxsports.com with his 10 things column:

Ten things we learned this week

Inevitable is the first word that comes to mind. Lest we forget Miami Heat president Pat Riley planted the seeds for his return to the Heat bench last spring, so who should be surprised the concept blossomed into a fact Monday morning? Miami head coach Stan Van Gundy resigns from the Heat in order to spend more time with his family, while Team President Pat Riley returns to the bench as Van Gundy's replacement. So long to Stan Van Gundy, who ironically needed Shaquille O'Neal Sunday night to prevent the Heat from slipping to one game below .500. Only Van Gundy knows which family reasons caused him to resign as head coach, or even why they arose now. But two years and 21 games after Van Gundy had the team dumped in his lap by his mentor, that mentor is back as head coach of the Heat.

1. Item: There's no doubt that Van Gundy has grasped how quickly time is passing and how children grow up in a flash. But what prompted it now? Weighing the stress of expectations surrounding the Heat and the shaky chemistry with myriad and mercurial personalities that Riley brought to the Heat this off-season undoubtedly played a role. What this really means: Contrary to his public contentions, the 60-year-old Riley, really, really got his competitive juices flowing when the Heat were within a quarter of winning the Eastern Conference last season. The buzz last spring was O'Neal wasn't thrilled with the way the offense didn't flow to him in the playoffs, but none of that really matters as Dwyane Wade continues to raise his level of play into stratospheres not previously broached. But what does happen now? O'Neal is dreaming of a Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar success story with Wade, something Riley orchestrated some 18 seasons ago with four NBA titles for the Los Angeles Lakers. Well, it's a different game and they have a different team. And the biggest question of all may be O'Neal's shaky physical stature at the age of 33 and the fact that his body is breaking down. Nonetheless, how Riley ingratiates himself into his new/old role with a brand new set of players will be a fascinating experiment. And we can only hope that this move makes Van Gundy — one of the truly good guys in the business — happy and fulfilled with his new life.

2. Item: The Minnesota Timberwolves ended the Lakers' four-game winning streak and extended their own to five games on the strength of Kevin Garnett's season-high 30 points. What this really means: It took a while, but the T-Wolves in general and Garnett in particular have bought into new coach Dwane Casey's system. All the scuttlebutt regarding Garnett's unrest and the silly trade rumors that exploded form coast-to-coast have quieted in the wake of winning nine of their past 11 games and opening up a four-game lead in the loss column ahead of Denver in the Northwest Division. The most welcome surprise of all may very well be Wally Szczerbiak, who entered this season having played only 179 of 328 games over the past four seasons. Over the past five games, Szczerbiak has averaged 24.4 points and 5.2 rebounds, while shooting .638 from the field and .625 from 3-point range. For the season, he's averaging 17.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and connecting on .494 of his shots. Presuming Garnett is back on even keel with the program — and he is a loyalist if nothing else — and Szczerbiak is healthy and back in an offensive comfort zone, the Timberwolves should be the team to beat in the division. If for no other reason, they could win the division by default the way everybody else is playing.

3. Item: Cleveland Cavaliers prodigy LeBron James set an NBA season-high with 52 points in Saturday night's 111-106 loss at Milwaukee to the Bucks. What this really means: This was the team-record sixth game in a row in which James has scored at least 30 points, averaging 36.0 during that span. But — and this is a big Rick Mahorn but(t) — they have lost five of six during that span. Furthermore, the Cavs are 5-1 in the previous six games he has scored less than 30 points, averaging 22.0 per contest. Clearly, the Cavs need to improve their defense, but the underlying theme is obvious. The team shuts down when James controls the ball too much, and they stop executing any semblance of offense, so somebody else needs to handle the ball and run him off the wing like the Chicago Bulls did with Michael Jordan. It was apparent when they overcame a 17-point deficit against New Jersey Friday night to take the lead in the fourth quarter, only to fall apart offensively down the stretch and allow the Nets continuous easy baskets. Coach Mike Brown held foul-laden Zydrunas Ilgauskas out too long, and it's happened the same way previously. The offense has to run inside-out through Ilgauskas or it will ultimately result in James — and others — launching off-balance 3-pointers instead of executing the offense.

4. Item: The Los Angeles Clippers stopped the Phoenix Suns' nine-game winning streak with an impressive 10-point win Saturday night, and solidified their hold on first place in the Pacific Division. What this really means: Even though the Clippers lost to the ever-imposing Detroit Pistons Sunday night, it doesn't diminish the level at which Mike Dunleavy has the Clippers playing. Moreover, Clippers forward Elton Brand continues to be the most underappreciated superstar in the game today. Not only is he one of the most pleasant and sincere people in the game, but the guy had 37 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in the win against the Suns. Brand is averaging 25.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.85 blocks per game, which translates into him being eighth in scoring and rebounding and fifth in blocks. And his .551 field goal percentage is first among all players averaging at least 10 shots a game. Yes, the push has begun to make Brand a top candidate for Most Valuable Player. You know how it is, every year it's time to put up somebody besides Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal and see if they can retain enough momentum and success all year to be the winner. It happened last year with Steve Nash and could happen again with Brand if he stays healthy for a change and the Clippers continue their battle in the Pacific Division.

5. Item: More than a decade ago, both the Seattle SuperSonics and Indiana Pacers were on the brink of winning their conferences, but that didn't stop the conversation about a deal that would swap two key players — sending Derrick McKey to the Pacers for Detlef Schrempf. It took essentially two years for the deal to be made, and both clubs ultimately made it to the NBA Finals — neither winning it. What this really means: Well, we're back to the Pacers ready to deal another star to alter their chemistry, only this time it's the Sacramento Kings on the other line suffering from the same issues. It now seems that mercurial Pacers star Ron Artest is no longer tolerant of playing second fiddle to Jermaine O'Neal and the Pacers now are sick of him. On the flip side, the Kings are going nowhere, are in dire need of a hard-nosed player like Artest and Peja Stojakovic has continued to be discussed as the player to be dealt for Artest. The buzz about the two hasn't lasted quite as long as the McKey-Schrempf deal, but almost. Artest, out with a wrist injury, has decided to mouth off about coach Rick Carlisle — showing his infinite wisdom. And Stojakovic has never been the same since Chris Webber returned from knee surgery and at the end of the 2003-04 season called out individual players without naming them — clearly implying Stojakovic. Is it a great deal for both teams? It probably would be, if only because a change of scenery would rejuvenate the players — and each possesses superstar qualities. Will it happen? Not necessarily, but the Pacers and Kings do need to shake up their rosters, and come Thursday — the day 2005-06 free agents and trade acquisitions can be dealt — these two teams are likely to jump start more deals (or at least rumored deals) by Christmas than Santa may be capable of hauling. And Artest could end up anywhere from Sacramento to New York to Denver.

6. Item: No team has been more confusing to watch than the New Jersey Nets, who entered the week in a virtual tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Philadelphia 76ers, despite a 9-10 record. What this really means: The Nets still don't have an identity despite the All-Star trio of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson to build around. And, really, they are developing one of the best young 7-footers in either conference with Nenad Krstic. They've won their last four road games and lost their last three home games. The biggest question is their defense. They're 18th in points allowed, but they are seventh in defensive field goal percentage. The key will be consistency. Presuming their big three stay healthy and Krstic stays on the same track he is now, they still should be the team to beat in the division. But their terrific trio and coach Lawrence Frank clearly have higher aspirations than just winning the weakest division in the NBA. So far, they just haven't figured out how to do it.

7. Item: Maybe, just maybe, Phil Jackson has found a way to get the Lakers on a consistent track. First up was changing the starting lineup. With Kwame Brown hurt, he moved Lamar Odom to power forward next to Chris Mihm, and inserted swingman Sasha Vujacic into the starting lineup with Kobe Bryant and Smith Parker. What this really means: The Lakers won their first four games with that starting lineup before losing to the Timberwolves Saturday night, ironically when Brian Cook replaced Vujacic in the starting lineup. Bryant had severely cut back on the number of shots he was taking, but still scored 35 points against the Wolves on 11-of-20. Well, Brown is back after missing eight games with a hamstring pull. Clearly, this is the least talented team Jackson has ever coached in the NBA, and he knows it. Devon George needs to be traded, and maybe they can package him with Brown to alter their frontcourt. The team really doesn't fit well together, and not even the vaunted triangle offense can elicit consistent play from this group. After 20 games, they are at .500, and just four games out of first place in the Pacific Division. But with their talent limitations, it isn't likely to get much better than this.

8. Item: The Chicago Bulls retired Scottie Pippen's No. 33 to the rafters this week, joining Michael Jordan, Jerry Sloan and Bob Love as the only retired players' jerseys. What this really means: It's important that Pippen be recognized not only in Chicago, but nationally as a superstar cog next to Jordan in the amazing Bulls run of six titles in eight years. And it isn't because Pippen was perhaps the most dynamic open floor defensive player of the era either. He ran that triangle offense that has befuddled so many players and it allowed Jordan to come off the wing to receive the ball, rather than dominate the ball in his hands and be forced into passing or bad shots. Pippen will often be remembered for begging out of that playoff game with 1.4 seconds left when Jackson called a play for Toni Kukoc instead of Pippen (during Jordan's 20-month retirement), but what should not be forgotten is the spectacular season Pippen had without Jordan. He led the Bulls to 55 wins and should have won the Most Valuable Player award for the 1993-94 season They might have won the Eastern Conference had they not been completely screwed on a horrible foul call on Pippen by Hue Hollins that allowed the Knicks to win the series and ultimately earn the right to lose to the Houston Rockets in the finals. Indeed, Pip was an odd contradiction — and his biggest disappointment was not that season as much as Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference finals, when he and the Portland Trail Blazers blew a 15-point lead to the Lakers in the fourth quarter. But with six rings, and a retired jersey, it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.

9. Item: Seattle SuperSonics starting forward Reggie Evans was given a random drug test at halftime of the Sonics-Knicks game last week, and didn't re-enter the game until there was 1:48 left on the clock in the third quarter. What this really means: It's hard to fathom how this happened in the NBA. Granted, there was an apology to Evans and the organization, and the league has now altered the policy so drug tests can not be given during a game anymore. Still, how did this happen? It isn't as if Evans has had a drug problem or there was any particular reason other than the apparent fact that there was no thought whatsoever put into the entire exercise. And yes, we do know he forgot about the pregame appointment and agreed to do it at halftime. But the administrator should have told him it would require more time than the halftime break and given him the test after the game. It was far too irresponsible an action for the NBA. Mistakes happen and will continue to happen — in all walks in life. But to have this as a potential experience for more than one person before they set a new rule, just doesn't make sense. It's one thing for an for an official to blow a traveling call or a player or coach to get suspended for screaming about said call, but holding a clean player out of a game to complete a drug test is way over the top.

10. Item: New York Knicks guard Quentin Richardson, already struggling to make the transition from Phoenix to New York this season, left the team last week after his brother Lee Richardson Jr. was murdered during a robbery in south Chicago. What this really means: Tragedy continues to strike his family, although his father Lee Sr. did escape with minor injuries during the holdup and three men were arrested. Thirteen years ago, another brother was killed during a robbery that was just one of three family deaths — including the loss of his mother to cancer and his grandmother to natural causes — during an eight-month period. Richardson just recently broke up with his wife Brandy, and this is just a continuation of a period in his life where so much has gone wrong. We can only hope Richardson finds sanctuary in basketball during his time of mourning and is able to find his place in Coach Larry Brown's system on the Knicks. He set a franchise record for 3-pointers last season for the surprising Suns, and is a tough player with great offensive skills inside and outside as a shooting guard and small forward. He averaged 14.9 points and 6.1 rebounds with the Suns last season, so maybe the transition from the tragic happenings can help him refocus.