Remember Gilbert Arenas wrote on his NBA.com blog that he was going to score 50 points against Portland on Sunday in retaliation for Portland coach Nate McMillan's involvement with Arenas being left off the U.S. national team last summer? Well, not quite… the Wizards lost to the Trail Blazers 94-73 with Arenas going 3-for-15 from the field, including 0-for-8 on 3-pointers and tallying a whopping nine points…Portland PG Jarrett Jack had something to say about it after the game: ''Thats like a dude saying he's going to punch you in your face. With a guy like him, Kobe or LeBron, the easy way to guard him is don't let him get the ball back when he passes it. We did a good job of trying to deny him when he was one pass away, and my big guys did a great job of helping me whenever he got by me.'' It’s worth noting that Jack guarded Arenas for most of the game…

Here’s a CSI worthy mystery…Lebron’s free throw percentage by month:

November 2006 71.15%
December 2006 69.57%
January 2007 66.96%
February 2007 56.10%

I’ve always thought LeBron form was a little shaky…he bends his too much on the pull-back phase of the shot, which lengthens his motion and can make for an inconsistent release…plus he’s a little flat footed on the release…

Italian magazine Superbasket awarding it’s annual Best Euro award to Toronto’s own Jorge Garbajosa…Garbo was MVP of the Spanish league last year for Unicaja Malaga, leading them to the Spanish national title…he also played exceptionally well for the Spanish national team in the FIBA world championships, pairing with the Grizzlies Pau Gasol to lead Spain to the FIBA World Championship…the 29 year old Garbajosa is averaging 8.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.1 APG and 1.2 SPG in 28.9 MPG for the Raptors this season…

Trade Rumour: Cavs send PF Drew Gooden to the Kings for PG Mike Bibby…

It’s getting bitchy out there…Dwyane Wade had this to say about Dirk Nowizki in the Miami Herald last week: ''At the end of the day you're remembered for what you did at the end. ... Dirk says they gave us the championship last year, but he's the reason they lost the championship, because he wasn't the leader that he's supposed to be in the closing moments. That's because of great defense by us, but also he wasn't assertive enough as a leader's supposed to be.'' Nowitzki didn't comment on the controversy until yesterday, when he spoke with Newsday before Dallas played the 76ers. "All I said two weeks ago when we played them was, we feel like we gave them the championship," Nowitzki said. "... That's really all I said, and I don't know why he got all sensitive about it."

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s reaction to the announcement by former NBA player John Amaechi that he is gay…speaking to the Fort-Worth Telegram on the business prospects of an openly gay NBA player: "From a marketing perspective, if you're a player who happens to be gay and you want to be incredibly rich, then you should come out, because it would be the best thing that ever happened to you from a marketing and an endorsement perspective. You would be an absolute hero to more Americans than you can ever possibly be as an athlete, and that'll put money in your pocket. On the flip side, if you're the idiot who condemns somebody because they're gay, then you're going to be ostracized, you're going to be picketed and you're going to ruin whatever marketing endorsements you have. "When you do something that the whole world thinks is difficult and you stand up and just be who you are and take on that difficulty factor, you're an American hero no matter what. That's what the American spirit's all about, going against the grain and standing up for who you are, even if it's not a popular position."