Around the League
Walker pouting in Big D: Speaking of former Celtics forward Antoine Walker, he's not too happy with his new digs in Dallas. After a promising start on the Mavericks, Walker has been ice cold lately and coach Don Nelson has responded by keeping Walker on the bench for long stretches. Walker played just 18 minutes Monday night in a victory over the Suns and let his emotions spill out after the game.
Antoine Walker
Forward
Dallas Mavericks
"It's the first time I've dealt with this in my career," Walker told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. "I've never played 18 minutes in my life. It's hard for me to adjust to it. It's kind of late in the season, so I'm just going to have to deal with it. My goal has to be to try to keep focused and help this team win. It's tough, man. I'm trying to grind through it."
Nelson was pretty harsh in his assessment of Walker's play of late. "He'll play his way out of this," Nelson said. "He gives me no choice. I have to do something for his good, for my good, for the team's good. He's in a slump right now and when a guy is in a slump, you try to encourage him to come out of it, and you don't play him as much until he works his way out of it. Hard work will get him out of it.
"We can't fool around with 20 games left. We're jockeying for position here. It's really the same with anybody, he just happens to be the guy that hasn't been playing the last few games, so I don't want to blow a game because of it. Other guys are playing very well."
It's tough to argue with Nelson's logic. Walker has the worst off-the-court plus/minus rating on the team. The Mavericks outscore their opponents by a whopping 10.1 ppg when Walker is on the bench. He's averaging just 7.8 ppg on 27 percent shooting over his last five games.
Jazz have no shot with Kobe: Kobe Bryant may consider the Suns, Clippers, Spurs and even the Nuggets when he hits the free-agent market this summer. But don't expect him to give any love to the Jazz. Bryant said he was turned off by how the franchise has treated Karl Malone since the Mailman left Salt Lake for L.A.
"That's not loyalty," Bryant told the Salt Lake Tribune. "They've been really unfair. Karl was here for 18 years, worked hard, put his heart into this organization. For them to let him go someplace else the following year, that [stuff]'s kind of dicey. To do that to a guy, that's not consistent."
Bryant also wasn't happy that he was the butt of a joke during a skit when the Lakers visited in January. Bryant said he was offended by the skit. "I was more concerned about Karl, not so much what they said about me," Bryant said. "How they're treating him -- that's his old team, and they do that?"
Tanking Watch: Of course, no one intentionally tanks the season. But take a look at what teams like the Bulls are deciding to do and it has the same practical effect. Coach Scott Skiles announced on Monday that the team would begin playing undrafted rookies ahead of veterans like Marcus Fizer and Eddie Robinson.
Skiles, however, claimed that winning, not tanking, was behind the move.
"Did [Fizer, Robinson and Blount] account for a lot of wins over the past two or three years that I'm not aware of?" Skiles told the Chicago Tribune. "Nothing against those guys, but any pro team has to get proactive. We can't just say, 'Someday, we're going to win.' We've got to make moves to try to get wins. So we're looking at all our options right now to do whatever we can do to win."
GM John Paxson agreed. "There's value in wanting guys to adhere to a belief that we have as an organization -- that is to work, to do the things that we ask," Paxson said. "I guess you can make a case that maybe some more talented basketball players are sitting right now. But that's not always the be-all and end-all. Scott and I aren't going to back down from how we feel this game should be approached. That's the bottom line."
According to a Tribune report, that could ultimately lead to Fizer being waived this week to make room for another free agent, former Lakers point guard Jannero Pargo. If Fizer is waived, he'll be ineligible to make a playoff roster because he was waived after the March 1st deadline.
Tanking Watch, Part II: The Warriors aren't going anywhere either, which has prompted coach Eric Musselman to finally give some playing time to rookie Mickael Pietrus.
"He's a something-is-going-to-happen-out-there kind of player," Musselman told the San Francisco Chronicle. Pietrus tied a season high of 23 minutes on Sunday and, despite some shaky offensive numbers, is drawing raves for his on the ball defense. Musselman is using Pietrus to guard three positions on the floor and has endeared himself to his coach with his gritty play.
"That's where I feel I can most help the team," Pietrus said. "I have the (mind-set) that I'm not going to let anyone score on me, because then I wouldn't be doing my job right."
Walker pouting in Big D: Speaking of former Celtics forward Antoine Walker, he's not too happy with his new digs in Dallas. After a promising start on the Mavericks, Walker has been ice cold lately and coach Don Nelson has responded by keeping Walker on the bench for long stretches. Walker played just 18 minutes Monday night in a victory over the Suns and let his emotions spill out after the game.
Antoine Walker
Forward
Dallas Mavericks
"It's the first time I've dealt with this in my career," Walker told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. "I've never played 18 minutes in my life. It's hard for me to adjust to it. It's kind of late in the season, so I'm just going to have to deal with it. My goal has to be to try to keep focused and help this team win. It's tough, man. I'm trying to grind through it."
Nelson was pretty harsh in his assessment of Walker's play of late. "He'll play his way out of this," Nelson said. "He gives me no choice. I have to do something for his good, for my good, for the team's good. He's in a slump right now and when a guy is in a slump, you try to encourage him to come out of it, and you don't play him as much until he works his way out of it. Hard work will get him out of it.
"We can't fool around with 20 games left. We're jockeying for position here. It's really the same with anybody, he just happens to be the guy that hasn't been playing the last few games, so I don't want to blow a game because of it. Other guys are playing very well."
It's tough to argue with Nelson's logic. Walker has the worst off-the-court plus/minus rating on the team. The Mavericks outscore their opponents by a whopping 10.1 ppg when Walker is on the bench. He's averaging just 7.8 ppg on 27 percent shooting over his last five games.
Jazz have no shot with Kobe: Kobe Bryant may consider the Suns, Clippers, Spurs and even the Nuggets when he hits the free-agent market this summer. But don't expect him to give any love to the Jazz. Bryant said he was turned off by how the franchise has treated Karl Malone since the Mailman left Salt Lake for L.A.
"That's not loyalty," Bryant told the Salt Lake Tribune. "They've been really unfair. Karl was here for 18 years, worked hard, put his heart into this organization. For them to let him go someplace else the following year, that [stuff]'s kind of dicey. To do that to a guy, that's not consistent."
Bryant also wasn't happy that he was the butt of a joke during a skit when the Lakers visited in January. Bryant said he was offended by the skit. "I was more concerned about Karl, not so much what they said about me," Bryant said. "How they're treating him -- that's his old team, and they do that?"
Tanking Watch: Of course, no one intentionally tanks the season. But take a look at what teams like the Bulls are deciding to do and it has the same practical effect. Coach Scott Skiles announced on Monday that the team would begin playing undrafted rookies ahead of veterans like Marcus Fizer and Eddie Robinson.
Skiles, however, claimed that winning, not tanking, was behind the move.
"Did [Fizer, Robinson and Blount] account for a lot of wins over the past two or three years that I'm not aware of?" Skiles told the Chicago Tribune. "Nothing against those guys, but any pro team has to get proactive. We can't just say, 'Someday, we're going to win.' We've got to make moves to try to get wins. So we're looking at all our options right now to do whatever we can do to win."
GM John Paxson agreed. "There's value in wanting guys to adhere to a belief that we have as an organization -- that is to work, to do the things that we ask," Paxson said. "I guess you can make a case that maybe some more talented basketball players are sitting right now. But that's not always the be-all and end-all. Scott and I aren't going to back down from how we feel this game should be approached. That's the bottom line."
According to a Tribune report, that could ultimately lead to Fizer being waived this week to make room for another free agent, former Lakers point guard Jannero Pargo. If Fizer is waived, he'll be ineligible to make a playoff roster because he was waived after the March 1st deadline.
Tanking Watch, Part II: The Warriors aren't going anywhere either, which has prompted coach Eric Musselman to finally give some playing time to rookie Mickael Pietrus.
"He's a something-is-going-to-happen-out-there kind of player," Musselman told the San Francisco Chronicle. Pietrus tied a season high of 23 minutes on Sunday and, despite some shaky offensive numbers, is drawing raves for his on the ball defense. Musselman is using Pietrus to guard three positions on the floor and has endeared himself to his coach with his gritty play.
"That's where I feel I can most help the team," Pietrus said. "I have the (mind-set) that I'm not going to let anyone score on me, because then I wouldn't be doing my job right."
Someone forgot to tell last year's Cavaliers.
