A sad end to a sad story…former Seton Hall 1 and done star and ex-NBAer Eddie Grffin has died after the SUV he was driving ran into the side of a moving train and caught fire in what appears to have been a suicide…apparently the wreckage was so gruesome that investigators had to use dental records to identify him…Griffin, who lasted five years in the NBA was the No. 7 pick in the 2001 NBA draft…he came out of the Hall as a tremendous shot-blocker and rebounder who’s offensive game needed work, but would have blossomed had he been able to hold it together…Griffin had battled substance abuse and emotional/mental illness his entire career…"Everybody tried to help him from the top to the bottom of the organization," said Dwayne Casey, who coached Griffin for 1 1/2 seasons with the T-Wolves. "He just couldn't get it straight. It's a tragic ending for a beautiful kid. He had a beautiful heart."

Nice article here from JA Adande of ESPN.com:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=EddieGriffin

Other stuff:

In the category of weird…Nolan Richardson is the head coach of the Mexican National Basketball team…

My favourite rumour of the summer? That the Cavs have stalled trying to trade for Kings PG Mike Bibby or re-signing PF Anderson Varajao and SG Sasha Pavlovic because their parent company Quicken Loans is taking a bath in the market due to the current mortgage and loan crisis in the US…

Baseball note…Too funny…http://www.bugsandcranks.com/the-clubhouse/meet-the-brewers/

Great interview here with Bill Russell:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/08/20/russell/index.html

Boy…post Garnett trade, the NBA sure is boring right now…to wit:

Clips signed PG Brevin Knight and PF Josh Powell…who knew Brevin Knight was even alive?

Here’s a name to remember…Renardo Sidney, a 6’10” 245 lb. junior at Artesia High School in California, who is thought by some to be the best player in the at the high school level in the United States, if not the world…

Local Raps star Chris Bosh left the US Olympic qualifying team with plantar fasciitis, which bothered him all of last year…here’s hoping he gets lots of rest before training camp…

The Jazz have signed 7’2” centre Kyrylo Fesenko to a three-year, $2.45 million contract which includes a $500,000 buyout paid to his former club.

Small forward Ime Udoka, late of Portland expects to sign two-year guaranteed deal for around $2 million to be the eventual Bruce Bowen replacement…

Reggie Miller told ESPN's Dan Patrick yesterday that he still hasn't made up his mind on coming back with the Celtics: "I have no idea what I'm going to do…I'm working out twice a day. It would be irresponsible of me not to go full bore now to see what I can do. I'll make a decision soon. Six or seven days ago I started two-a-days, and I probably have 10 days left of that…By the middle of September I should have an answer."

Sacramento continues to explore trading PG Mike Bibby to the Heat, but would want PG Jason Williams and PF Udonis Haslem to complete the deal…word is, the Kings might want to do a bigger deal and package in SF Kenny Thomas or PF Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Oh my god…http://www.dailymotion.com/Herbert-Leonard/video/x2r09s_massive-mouth_fun…that’s all you can say is Oh my god…

Wow…college is tougher than it used to be…http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/george_dohrmann/08/08/montana.state/index.html

This is a very, very, very big dude…http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070808/ap_on_re_eu/ukraine_tallest_man_2


Oh my, Kevin McHale interview here…http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_6577691?nclick_check=1

My favourite exchange from this interview:

BS: Did you try to get K.G. to be more physical? Is that an area of his game that he never gave you, and you hoped he would?

KM: Kevin is such a gifted player. He rebounds like he's 8 feet tall. But he plays offense like he's 6-4. That was the game that was best suited for him.

A backhanded slap in the face for sure…

Oh boy, Cheryl is thinking comeback…"I'm always flattered when my name is mentioned as someone who can still help an NBA team win a championship," Miller said Wednesday in a statement relayed to The Associated Press by the TNT network. "I've had limited discussions with Celtics management about their roster and a potential role for me. At this time, I'm enjoying my role as an analyst with TNT." OK, Reggie, who is 13th on the league's career scoring list with 25,279 points and the career leader in 3-pointers made and attempted. Has not played for 2 seasons…

Marc Stein of ESPN.com on who else is thinking comeback this year:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=comebacktrail

Stein’s blog also listed these names as possibilities: Darvin Ham, Bryon Russell, Dajuan Wagner, Bo Outlaw, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Chris Andersen (who landed a two-year suspension for using a "drug of abuse" that resulted in his contract with the Hornets being voided with $14 million unpaid -- is eligible to apply for NBA reinstatement in January 2008) Roy Tarpley, Chris Webber, P.J. Brown, Dikembe Mutombo, Gary Payton, Dale Davis, Clifford Robinson, Doug Christie, Vin Baker and the ageless Kevin Willis.

The best personnel move made in the NBA this off-season (aside fro KG to Boston)? Got to be Houston picking up the draft rights to Luis Scola (along with center Jackie Butler) from the Spurs in exchange for Greek guard Vassilis Spanoulis, a future second-round draft pick and future detritus…Scola, who is like a beter shooting Buck Williams is a good rebounder and defender and a very crafty scorer who shoots very, very well from the floor (60-65%)…

Picture from the AP




I am so ordering a green Celtic’s number 5 jersey…



OK…here’s what I think:

The T-Wolves are now the worst team in the league…your starting lineup is now Randy Foye PG, Gerald Green SG, Ricky Davis SF, Al Jefferson PF and Mark Blount C…with SF Corey Brewer, SF Ryan Gomes, PF Mark Madsen, PG Sebastian Telfair and SG Rashad McCants as the bench…that is just awful…plus what to do with Juwon Howard, Trenton Hassell and Marko (polo…I can’t resists) Jaric?

Rob K is the happiest guy ever right now…

Mark Scalabrine is the new Mark Madsen…

The Pressure on Rajon Rondo is going to be immense, now with 3 all stars to feed the ball to and for him to hit open shots when defences focus on the big three of Allen, Pierce and KG…

The Celtics are not quite the favourite in the East just yet….although the starting lineup of PG Rajon Rondo (or Brevin Knight if the free agent rumours are true) SG Ray Allen, SF Paul Pierce, PF Kevin Garnett and C Kendrick Perkins (yikes) is very good, it’s not necessarily better than Detroit, Chicago or Miami’s starting 5, not to mention Cleveland’s if only because Perkins is terrible and Rondo is still so green…

And the bench? SF/PF Leon Powe has marshmallow knees and is undersized, SG Tony Allen is cmong off of major knee surgery and is a player that relies on his athleticism to be good, rookie PF Glen "Big Baby" Davis is three ho’ho’s and a bratworst away from weighing 458 pounds, SF Brian Scalabrine is the best player at the local YMCA, rookie PF Brandon Wallace was a summer league delight and rookie SG Gabe Pruitt is a rookie SG…

What happens when Allan or Pierce gets hurt? Allan played 55 of 82 games last year and Pierce 47…

How will this work from a cap perspective being as the Celtics will be paying around $58 million to three players, leaving around $5 million for the rest…

With such great scorer’s around him, Garnett will have his best defensive year ever and will lead the league in blocks…