Slow news day…

I’m starting to think that Shane Battier or Antawn Jamison will get cut from Team USA, not Bruce Bowen…Bowen is the designated stopper who can defend 1s, 2s and 3s and even some 4s…

Speaking of National teams, how is it possible that the Canadian National team does not have Vidal Massiah on it? Dude is a stone cold scorer…period…

1) This is just plain weird, from the AP:

Former NBA player Lonny Baxter was arrested by uniformed Secret Service agents on Wednesday after shots were fired from a vehicle about two blocks from the White House. Baxter, who played with the Charlotte Bobcats last season, was taken into custody around 2:30 a.m. after a witness flagged down a Secret Service agent and reported shots fired from a white sport-utility vehicle, said Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren. Officers stopped the vehicle, which Baxter was driving, near the intersection of 17th and I streets in Northwest Washington. "There were spent shell casings in plain view inside the vehicle," Zahren said. Officers also recovered a handgun. Both Baxter, 27, and the vehicle's passenger, 35-year-old Irvin Martin, were charged with carrying a pistol without a license and other firearms charges. It wasn't immediately clear why they were allegedly firing the gun. "We're not sure at this point," Zahren said. "There may be some subsequent charges if we discover some additional information." The two suspects are being held by District of Columbia police. Bobcats spokesman Scott Leightman said Baxter is no longer with the team. "His contract ran out, and we opted not to resign him," Leightman said. Baxter signed a one-year deal earlier this month with Italian team Montepaschi Siena. Baxter starred at Maryland before being drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft. The native of Silver Spring, Md., just outside of Washington, also played briefly for the Wizards. He joined the Bobcats in the middle of last season in a trade with Houston.

2) Chris Mannix of SI.com thinks Darko may yet be a star:

Second chance - Darko showing signs that 'bust' label may fade soon

In the coming months, after the United States has finished its routine at the world championships, the focus of the NBA world will turn back to the regular season. When it does, you can count on one prevailing theme: The class of 2003. You know who I'm talking about. There's LeBron James and his quest to become the NBA's youngest MVP. There's his draft sidekick, Carmelo Anthony, who is trying to keep up with the Jameses while helping his Nuggets gain a foothold in the brutal West. There's Dwyane Wade, who in the eyes of many has leapfrogged James as the world's premier player, complete with a ring to back it up. And there's Chris Bosh, who doesn't have the same individual or team accolades as the aforementioned trio but has the intrigue of captaining Bryan Colangelo's latest reclamation project, in Toronto. In addition to that quartet there's Kirk Hinrich, T.J. Ford and Chris Kaman, each ready (or close to being ready) to take his place among the elite. Yet with all this burgeoning talent, perhaps the most interesting story line of '06-07 will involve the player many consider the biggest draft disappointment in years: Darko Milicic. Play a little word association with "Darko" and what you end up with isn't pretty. Flop. Bust. Sam Bowie. A 3.0-point career scoring average will do that to you. He has become the poster boy for all that can go wrong for a European player in the NBA. His start in Detroit certainly left him at a disadvantage. Borderline All-Stars would have had trouble cracking the rotation of Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess, but opportunities, however rare, did exist. Still, in '04 Milicic found himself unable to unseat the likes of Corliss Williamson, Elden Campbell or the immortal Zeljko Rebraca (insert derogatory comment about Larry Brown here). And in '05 Darko averaged fewer minutes per game than the diminishing Campbell. Before Detroit traded him to Orlando last season for Kelvin Cato, Milicic had become a long-standing source of frustration for the organization. The question, as he begins his first full campaign with the Magic, is no longer whether he can earn the elite status held by James, Anthony, Wade and Bosh. At this point that's a fairy tale; Milicic is not even in the company of Hinrich. The question is whether Darko can play at all. He showed signs of life at the end of last season. Buoyed by increased minutes, Milicic posted double-figure scoring nights in five of his last six games in the regular season and morphed into a powerful shot-blocker. As he developed a comfort level with Dwight Howard (who has begrudgingly accepted the move to center), Darko helped to transform the Magic from floundering lottery team to borderline playoff contender, winning nine of their last 13. Additionally, Milicic now has a coach, Brian Hill, who developed Shaquille O'Neal in Orlando, and a new assistant in John Kuester who coached Darko in Detroit for two seasons and knows what the 21-year-old went through. The Magic should boast a lineup talented enough to do the heavy lifting while still affording Milicic minutes and shots. And on top of all else, Darko will be playing for a new contract, the ultimate motivator for NBA players. With the support system in place, is Milicic willing to work hard enough to make last season's late blossoming a starting point for better days ahead? If the world championships are any indicator, there might be hope in the Magic Kingdom. In a statement game against Argentina last week, Darko poured in 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds in Serbia and Montenegro's 83-64 exhibition pasting of the Olympic gold medalists. One game doesn't tell a story, but it's certainly a good start. So embrace the class of '03, the group that has already taken the torch from the tattooed but never toned down ensemble led by Allen Iverson. Just don't forget about Milicic. In the coming years, he could move to the forefront.

3) From Claude Lewis of the Philly Inquirer, Mutombo is a classy guy for sure:

Mutombo's real grace is off the court

Dikembe Mutombo, now 40, has played for six teams (including the 76ers) during his 15 years in the NBA. He is a pretty good basketball player. He isn't among the 10 best ever. Such a claim would be a stretch, even for a guy who stands 7-foot-2 in his bare feet. This story is not so much about his game as it is about his life. It is a story about a man who has earned millions as a professional athlete and used his money and influence - and his innate decency - to help his brethren back home in the Central African Republic of Congo. He plans to build a hospital near Kinshasa, where he grew up. He now plays basketball with one thought: earning as much as he can to see that the 300-bed Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital (named for his mother) becomes a reality after nine years of relentless work. He has given more than $15 million of his own money. And that's not all he's done. He paid for the Congolese women's basketball team's trip to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, as well as the track team's uniforms and expenses. He consistently sends both medicine and medical equipment to his homeland, where life expectancy is 45 to 47 years, compared to 79 years in the United States. Early on, Mutombo nearly lost the 12-acre site for the hospital. The land was given to him by the government, but since it was not put to use right away, refugees displaced during the civil war in the region began building homes on the property. Some even started farming it. He tried to have the squatters moved peacefully, but had to get the national police and the army involved. Before it was over, he paid upward of 40 women who had been farming the land the equivalent of two months' pay to leave. Opening day at the hospital is now scheduled for Sept. 2; patients will begin arriving a couple of months later. Much work remains. Mutombo has become known more for his grace off the court than the center position that he plays when he dons his Houston Rockets uniform. As a top defensive player, he establishes his presence by blocking out opposing players. He is a four-time NBA defensive player of the year and an eight-time All-Star. He is also a family man, with four adopted children. "I thank my wife [Rose] for still loving me," he says. "I am gone two or three days a week." Mutombo estimates he has traveled in excess of 500,000 miles on hospital-related business. Several NBA team owners and coaches and a host of opposing players have contributed money to help complete the hospital. Mutombo's teammate Houston forward Juwan Howard contributed $100,000 and plans to be on hand at the opening-day ceremony, along with several other players. Mutombo is also a spokesman for CARE, the international relief agency. In addition, he is a Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program, which links nations to resources to help people improve their lives.
All through the years of hard work, on and off the basketball court, he has held onto his infectious sense of humor. Mutombo says he's been at the United Nations on behalf of others so many times that it's "like I work for them." A loud burst of good-natured laughter follows. "When you do this kind of work," he told me, "it helps to have a laugh in you in order to survive."