Great shot of Larry Bird getting some love at the Garden, or whatever they’re calling the Boston arena these days…nice pot Larry…

Attention K-Mart shoppers…he’s out for the season AGAIN after knee surgery…

"We wanted to come out and shock the world tonight," Vealy said, "and we did it." The qquote of the night from Oral Roberts university SG Reginald who hit his first seven 3-point shots as Oral Roberts outplayed No. 3 Kansas the entire game, defeating the Jayhawks 78-71 last night. "It may be the biggest regular-season win in school history," coach Scott Sutton said. "Our trainer has been here over 30 years and said it was the highest-ranked team we've ever beat." Vealy, a 6-7 sophomore who shot 1-for-13 on 3-pointers last season, finished 7-for-8 from behind the arc. His only miss came on his last heave, after the Golden Eagles had thoroughly taken command.

The Stache comes through….Bobcats forward Adam Morrison had 27 points in a 95-92 overtime win in San Antonio last night…many with Bruce Bowne draped all over him…

Scoop Jackson of wonders what’s happening with the Suns: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/061113

Zach Randolph will never learn…here are some of the excerpts from the actual criminal complaint filed in the Circuit Court of the Sate of Oregon, Multnomah County:

Randolph allegedly says "I'm a gangster not a Blazer." (Not sure why this is included, but it's in one of the very first paragraphs.)

He allegedly keeps a table at the Portland club Exotica.

Randolph allegedly routinely shares women with friends.

On the night in question, Randolph was allegedly distributing stacks of 100 $1 bills. Isn't that why they made the $100 bill?

Randolph allegedly offered $500 to a women he knew, and another he didn't, to perform a live sex show.

Randolph allegedly bought the woman he didn't know, the plaintiff, several drinks.

At the hotel, Randolph and friends allegedly shared a blunt.

Randolph allegedly wasn't happy with the sex show.

The plaintiff, having had a lot to drink, allegedly fell asleep.

The plaintiff allegedly woke up to Randolph, umm, forcing entry in the back door. Twice. Which she allegedly resisted and did not want.

Randolph then allegedly forces some more entry, through the front door.

The next morning, as the complaint alleges, the plaintiff sends a message to her friend saying "don't worry I have not cracked we good." Then she thinks about it some more, and allegedly realizes that she thinks she has been set up for a sexual assault, and starts asking for $10,000.

The plaintiff allegedly went to the hospital too late to collect any rape evidence (after slightly more than three days).

Allegedly neither Randolph nor his male friend have cooperated with the investigation.

I know everything is allegedly, but dude has a history…

1) Chad Ford of ESPN.com with a look at the draft eligibles in the NCAA:

Draft Watch: Who scouts will eye early in NCAA

The NCAA season gets into full swing this weekend, and NBA scouts will be out in force in search of the next NBA superstar. Insider spoke with a number of NBA scouts and front office executives to give you 10 guys scouts will be watching as the season begins:

Joakim Noah, PF/C, Jr., Florida - Noah passed up a chance to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft to return to Florida for his junior season. NBA scouts aren't so sure he made the right decision. Noah may have peaked at just the right moment last season. His team was winning, he was improving in every game and his style of play was infectious for both his teammates and the scouts in the stands. Now, reality gets a chance to check Noah out. Scouts have a checklist of questions for Noah this season: What position is he going to play? Will he develop any go-to moves on the offensive end? Now that teams begin to center their defense on stopping him, how will he respond? Is he a 7-foot version of Andrei Kirilenko or a role player like the Cavs' Anderson Varejao? Given the heights Noah achieved last season, he has nowhere to go but down as the scouting microscope focuses on him.

Al Horford, PF, Jr., Florida - Noah's teammate, Horford, is in a different position. Scouts believed that Horford was just scratching the surface of his ability at the end of last season. If he had declared for the draft last summer, NBA teams would have drafted him based almost entirely on potential. Now, with another season of development ahead for Horford, scouts are expecting big things. Horford already possesses a great basketball IQ, an NBA body and a motor that is constantly revving. If he can show some polish on the offensive end, continue to attack the boards and find a way to get out from under Noah's shadow, it's possible Horford, not Noah, will be the first Gator to hear his name called on draft night.

Josh McRoberts, F, So., Duke McRoberts' decision to pass up a shot at the lottery in last year's draft was a calculated risk. He was heralded as one of the best freshmen in the country last season, but had to play second fiddle to two first-team All-Americans, J. J. Redick and Shelden Williams. Now, with Redick and Williams earning paychecks in the NBA, this is McRoberts' team and scouts expect him to shine. He has it all. He can score inside and out, handle the ball, shoot the 3 and defend. To top it off, he's an above-average athlete. McRoberts could move himself into the high lottery with a great season. But if he struggles (and he might, given an unusually thin Duke supporting cast this season), he may wish he'd bolted for the NBA when he had the chance.

Julian Wright, F, So., Kansas - No one is exactly sure what kind of player Wright is … but scouts are still in love with him. For most of last season, Wright failed to stand out amidst a bunch of talented freshmen at KU. But toward the end of the season, Wright started putting things together and scouts began to drool. What Wright has going for him is great energy, terrific defense, great floor vision and a nose for the ball. If he can find a jump shot and a niche on the offensive end, he's got lottery written all over him. If not, scouts will be patient. There's too much talent there to ignore.

Tyler Hansbrough, PF, So., North Carolina Hansbrough blew scouts away with an amazing freshman season at UNC. His toughness, rebounding and ability to score around the basket were uncanny for a freshman. He's never been considered a surefire NBA prospect because of his average size and athleticism, but the kid knows how to play. Now he's poised to be showcased on one of the two or three best teams in the country. "If he's not a lottery pick next year, I don't know what a lottery pick is," one scout told Insider. "Nick Collison just got $33 million from the Sonics and this kid could wipe the court with Collison."

Greg Oden, C, Fr., Ohio State A broken wrist means that we might not see Oden on the basketball court until January or February 2007. No one in the NBA seems to care. That's how good this kid is. Oden already has the NBA size, body, athleticism and defensive prowess to be a starting center in the NBA, according to scouts. If he continues to progress on the offensive end and adds some urgency to his game, he could be the best big-man prospect to enter the draft since Tim Duncan. As it stands now, nothing short of injury woes will knock Oden from No. 1 on the prospect list … and the Buckeyes from contention for an NCAA title.

Kevin Durant, SF, Fr., Texas Texas head coach Rick Barnes has already called Durant the most talented kid he's coached. That's high praise coming from a guy who coached the No. 2 pick in the 2006 NBA draft, LaMarcus Aldridge. What Barnes and NBA scouts love about Durant is his versatility. He's long and athletic and he can score from anywhere on the floor. He can shoot the lights out but he also isn't afraid to put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket. He'll be featured in the Texas offense. If he thrives, and puts on a little muscle, there's a good chance he goes No. 2 in the draft, regardless of who else declares. That's how high NBA scouts are on Durant in the early going.

Chase Budinger, SG, Fr., Arizona Budinger is a bit of a dark horse -- a late bloomer who preferred volleyball to basketball until recently. An awesome senior season combined with some excellent play in the summer as a counselor at Jordan's Flight School has scouts buzzing. "He really dominated," one evaluator said. Budinger's athleticism, shooting range and body control when taking the ball to the basket have scouts saying he'll immediately be the best player on an already loaded Arizona squad.

Jeff Green, SF, Jr., Georgetown - Green is a do-it-all point forward who drew a lot of attention last season with his excellent play against Ohio State and Florida in the NCAA Tournament. He's not going to wow teams with his athleticism or his nightly point totals … but the guy can fill up a box score. If he can get more consistent with his jump shot, watch out. Given the quiet rise of Brandon Roy last season and the way NBA scouts fell for him in the midst of so much unproven talent in the draft, Green has the ability to be the Roy of next summer's draft.

DeVon Hardin, C, Jr., California - Scouts are always looking for centers, and Hardin has the combination of body, athleticism and footwork that scouts love in a big man. He played a limited role on the Bears last season, but with Leon Powe off to the Celtics, Hardin will be the main man in the paint for Cal this season. Scouts already love his defensive timing as a shot blocker. If he improves offensively, he has a chance to move way up the draft board.

2) Mike Kahn of Foxsports.com with his weekly 10 things:

10 things we learned: Yao got game

The inclination was certainly there to make the case for Yao Ming as the best center in the NBA going into this season. His overall growth as a player and skill level are extraordinary. But always standing there is the Big Dominator — Shaquille O'Neal, with four championship rings, career numbers and even bigger personality.

1. Item: Yao had 34 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to an impressive 94-72 victory at Miami over the defending champion Heat on Sunday night, with O'Neal offering up 15 points and 10 rebounds. What this really means: The passing of the torch can't really be official until the Rockets go somewhere beyond the first round of the playoffs — or even get into the playoffs, which they didn't last season — and Yao remains healthy playing at this level. But from an individual performance standpoint, there is no comparison between where he's at now and where he was in the second half of last season. O'Neal is fading and Yao is blossoming. Yao, 26, is averaging 27.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks for the 5-2 Rockets compared to the 34-year-old O'Neal's 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.0 block for the 3-3 Heat. Of course, it's early, but all the signs are there. In fact, the real question in this comparison between the two guys is really sitting somewhere in between the two franchises — the future of the Rockets shooting guard formerly known as the superstar T-Mac. Indeed, there are concerns about the future of Tracy McGrady, who is still only 27. Coming off a season fraught with back problems, he's returned heavier and slower, missing that burst of speed or jumping ability. His scoring average had dropped in each of the past four seasons. At his current pace of 17.6, he is almost five points below his scoring average and his shooting has been awful from both the field and free throw line. But he's also averaging 6.4 assists and 5.4 rebounds, which are very good and if he is indeed making the players around him better as they continue to win, isn't that how the status of both Yao and McGrady move up in terms of respect?

2. Item: NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson called into the TNT studio show to tell Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and anybody else who would listen that the new policy to stop histrionics after every call was not zero tolerance. What this really means: Well, Stu, if it talks like a duck, walks like a duck and looks like a duck ... chances are it is a duck. And the way the officials handled the first 10 days or so was as close to zero tolerance as it can get considering how it shook up the league. So much so that players association director Billy Hunter even tossed out the nonsense that it might be worth a lawsuit. That did it. Can we all just move on now please? The point was made by the officials, just as it always is every year with early traveling calls or moving screens. The players adjust and it's back to basketball. Of course, the players need to cut down on their whining, as do coaches. It's time to just concentrate on basketball now and the officials need to play a more benign part in this for that to happen.

3. Item: LeBron James scored 25 of his 38 points in the second half to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 19-point deficit with just over 10 minutes left in the game to a 94-93 victory. It came just four days after seemingly everyone in the basketball free world attacked James for angrily walking off the court in the final 15 seconds of a nine-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks. What this really means: LeBron-mania has hit both a new high and a new low. First of all, anyone who says he quit on his teammates with the final seconds ticking down of a bad loss is just looking for publicity. It's absurd. Maybe James shouldn't have begun walking off the court — but he was on the floor at the end of the game and didn't go to the locker room. He was angry and the game was virtually over — although he shouldn't do that anyway because it's bad sportsmanship and he has already said he wants to be a leader and role model. But more important, this guy has been an amazingly positive influence on the game not only because of his extraordinary talent, but the calm and unaffected way he carries himself on and off the floor. He's only 21, and yet there have been no problems with him as a teammate or as a citizen. To blow the slight error in judgment against Atlanta into a chorus of how LeBron is a quitter is the height of pack journalism — that is to say, embarrassing journalism. Just ask the Celtics what a quitter he is after Sunday night, or Tim Duncan after James blew him away on such a variety of drives, Heinz was considering naming ketchup after him. So all those who made a big deal about it — please go the locker room and take a cold shower.

4. Item: Heading into this season, the vogue player to get excited about was young Los Angeles Clippers point guard Shaun Livingston because of his exciting talent, flair and youth. But there was one factor nobody considered as the Clippers were coming off their first trip to the second round of the playoffs ever — Sam Cassell wasn't about to give up the position just yet. What this really means: The Clippers won their NBA-high fifth game in a row Sunday night and sit atop the Pacific Division after an opening night loss to Phoenix. And in case you haven't noticed, the soon-to-be 37-year-old point guard is still starting for the Clippers and thriving. Never mind that the Clippers are the seventh team of his up-and-down career. He's the one who lifted the Clips out of their losing culture last year and made them believe. That's not to denigrate the great job Mike Dunleavy has done the past three seasons working on just that, or the MVP-caliber play Elton Brand has now begun to exhibit. And there is no doubt that the 6-7 Livingston will be their point guard of the future — he'll be their point guard of the present plenty of times this year as well, even playing with Cassell — and be amazing to watch in the process. But right now, as the Clippers prove last season wasn't a fluke, they're riding the example set by the bald guy dominating the basketball. Don't ever underestimate his power of persuasion.

5. Item: The tall, skinny, smooth-as-silk shooting guard for the Sacramento Kings is draining shots from all over the gym, jumping into passing lanes and stripping dribblers to the tune of 1.8 steals per game. If you didn't know better you would think Doug Christie is back — only this guy is taller, only 23 years old and a more natural offensive player. And his name is Kevin Martin. What this really means: As the Kings have moved out to a 4-2 start, Martin is making an early run at the league's most improved player. Averaging 23.8 points and 4.8 rebounds, while shooting a sizzling .547 from the field and .932 from the free throw line, he's already scored 30 points twice for the Kings and is just getting started. The 26th pick overall in the first round of the 2004 draft from West Carolina, he had to put his shoes on to make 180 pounds at the draft combine, but the talent is unmistakable, and he'll physically grow into the NBA game. With Martin and Mike Bibby in the backcourt, along with a front court that consists of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Ron Artest and Kenny Thomas and is versatile and mobile, the Kings have been a surprise in the wake of center Brad Miller's injured foot. But even before Miller was hurt, it was Martin providing the offensive energy and proficiency this team has been lacking the past couple of seasons. With Artest and Thomas adding defensive toughness, and Martin's overall athleticism, they are bound to make noise in the postseason this season.

6. Item: K-Mart quality has taken another hit in Denver, and this time, it's hard to know what will happen to the future of their top-scale power forward. Yes, Kenyon Martin went back to the operating table to have his highly publicized knee — the one that befuddled everyone after microfracture surgery — cleaned out again. What this really means: For all his bluster and physical capabilities on both ends of the floor, Martin's game has gone downhill considerably since he forced the contract issue and was traded by the New Jersey Nets to the Nuggets for three future first-round draft choices. He had a serious problem with a fan last year and even more of a problem with equally combustible coach George Karl that forced Martin to be suspended permanently in the playoffs. There is no doubt he can be a productive player in this league — and even dominant defensively from time to time — but only if he is healthy, only if he is mentally ready to play at a high level, only if he is ready to be involved as a team member focused on how he can best help the overall effectiveness of the group. All of that has come into question since his arrival in Denver, which is why they haven't been able to move him for a much-needed shooting guard. The question still remains — does Kenyon Martin care more about the success of the team or his own ego?

7. Item: Trumpets didn't sound, confetti didn't fly, nor were fireworks shot off — but Amare Stoudemire did have his first double-double since the playoffs of 2005 when he scored 25 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked two shots in Saturday's 96-87 win for the Phoenix Suns over the Memphis Grizzlies. What this really means: Struggling dramatically to find his footing and rhythm after surgery on both knees last year, Stoudemire had been alternately stiff-legged, out of sync and flustered at both ends of the floor during the Suns' shocking 1-5 start. But Saturday was a breakthrough game. Stoudemire will turn 24 this week and it was just the right time to get off the schneid. No doubt, he will be up and down for quite some time yet this season before he is actually able to hit his stride. Some guys never do after microfracture surgery, but looking at how well Portland Zach Randolph is playing his second year after going under the knife (and 15 or so pounds lighter), it's encouraging to see young players responding from this surgery that had been becoming the death knell for so many careers. It's still early and Stoudemire has a long way to go to show he will return to All-Star caliber form. Nonetheless, Saturday was a good start, and if everybody in and around the Suns is patient, things will work out swimmingly for all involved ... probably.

8. Item: In case you haven't noticed, the first place team in the Southeast Division entering the week is not the Miami Heat — that distinction belongs to the Atlanta Hawks. What this really means: OK, it's not going to stay that way and the Hawks will have to shock more than just this world to make the playoffs, but they are no longer pushovers and don't figure to be any time in the near future. He will never get over taking another wing player in the 2005 draft — North Carolina freshman Marvin Williams — when two extremely high-level point guards in Chris Paul and Deron Williams were available for this point-guard challenged team. And yet, they are still competitive. Most of the credit goes to Joe Johnson — the everyday man's version of LeBron James, except Johnson is a better defender and more pure shooter. If you'll remember, he was the guy that fractured the ownership when the Hawks felt he was worth $70 million, Boris Diaw and two first-round picks. Well, that is an awful lot, and Williams has been a total bust. But with Johnson leading the charge, along with the talented Josh's — Childress and Smith — along with Za Za Pachulia and the Tyronn Lue/Speedy Claxton point guard combo, they'll be fun to watch. Winning consistently is a different story.

9. Item: Entering into this season, there was a lot of disagreement over which coach would be fired first — Dwane Casey in Minnesota or Mike Fratello in Memphis. Both for teams that figure to be out of the playoffs and due for major face lifts. What this really means: Casey never really has had a chance considering what a mess Kevin McHale has made around Kevin Garnett. The team never will win with McHale pulling the strings, but he's such an icon in Minnesota, owner Glen Taylor couldn't possibly considering firing an ex-athlete he admires so much. Consequently, both Casey and Garnett are suffering the consequences. Meanwhile in Memphis, the Grizzlies are going through an ownership change and dying on the vine without their All-Star Pau Gasol, still out at least a couple more months after a foot injury suffered in the World Championships. Fratello's arrogance has always gotten in the way of his exceptional coaching ability, but he has managed success despite long odds in the past. But it hasn't happened like this — with odds as long as these — and certainly not with new ownership coming in. In other words, both teams are doomed to failure and both coaches inevitably will be fired. Which one will come first? Flip a coin between the leader of the last-place team in the Northwest or Southwest Divisions.

10. Item: The talk around the league about the best pure perimeter shooters always centers around the same guys — Ray Allen, Peja Stojakovic, Dirk Nowitzki, etc. Not often enough do we hear the name of Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Redd, but soon enough we will after his 57-point eruption during the Bucks 113-111 loss to Utah Saturday night. What this really means: The reality is Redd should be one of the first guys always sought by the USA Basketball as a key member of future teams just because he is such a natural scorer and pure shooter. He isn't exactly a natural ballhandler — especially at the guard position — but he's equally capable of posting up or bombing away from 3-point range. And he's getting better. Granted, it's never easy getting any kind of national recognition out of such a small media market as Milwaukee, but this is just a moment in praise of the best shooter in the NBA that a rare few west of the Mississippi are aware even exists. He is 6-6, 225 pounds, was a second-round draft choice from Ohio State after his junior year, and he is averaging 32.4 points a game. In fact, this is his seventh season and his scoring average has remarkably gone up every year — beginning with 2.2 his rookie year to 11.4, 15.1, 21.7, 23.0, 25.4. In other words, the man can put the ball in the hole — now if the Bucks can figure out how to stop the other team from scoring, they may actually return to the playoffs again.