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Reports coming out of Detroit states that the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons agreed to a trade on Tuesday night. The trade would have sent Kobe Bryant away from the only NBA team he has ever suited up for.

The Detroit Pistons agreed to send Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Amir Johnson, and a first round draft pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant - $19.5 million, 29 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists
Richard Hamilton - $9.5 million, 20 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists
Tayshaun Prince - $8.5 million, 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists

While neither Richard Hamilton nor Tayshaun Prince are as dominating as Kobe Bryant, they do collectively produce more than he does. Tayshaun Prince is also a pretty good team defender who is capable of providing some weakside help much like Robert Horry used to do. Richard Hamilton forces the defense to work by running around screens almost as efficiently as Reggie Miller used to.

With this trade, the Los Angeles Lakers could field a pretty strong starting lineup. Derek Fisher and Richard Hamilton in the backcourt. Tayshaun Prince, Lamar Odom, and Kwame Brown on the frontline.

Defensively, the backcourt would be very solid as both Derek Fisher and Richard Hamilton are very good team defenders. The frontline would be very versatile as Tayshaun Prince and Lamar Odom can attack from so many different angles from the floor. Sending Ronnie Turiaf to the bench would also free up some more room in the paint for Kwame Brown.

The Detroit Pistons can still field a strong starting lineup despite losing two starters. Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Antonio McDyess are good players who have a pretty good lock on their starting spots. Kobe Bryant would occupy one wing spot. The other wing spot would go to either Flip Murray or Jarvis Hayes.

Chauncey Billups and Kobe Bryant are two of the better guards in the league. They’re a favorable matchup for most backcourts in the league. Plus, Kobe Bryant and Rasheed Wallace can provide the foundation of a very good defense.

On paper, this sounded like one of those rare trades that would benefit both teams.

Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant used his trade clause in his contract to prevent this trade from happening.

Phil Jackson has been reprimanded by the NBA for “offensive” comments that he made.

To be politically correct, Phil Jackson has stated that he deserved to be reprimanded. He also apologized for the following comments that he made a few days back.

“We call this a ‘Brokeback Mountain’ game, because there’s so much penetration and kickouts. It was one of those games.”

Those comments drew the ire of Neil G. Giuliano, who happens to be the president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Obviously, those comments were going to make their way back to NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Quite honestly, it was a hilarious comment from Phil Jackson. When he made the comment, he did so to provide a laugh or two. Knowing Phil Jackson, he wasn’t doing it to purposely insult any group of people.

Even as he apologized, Phil Jackson couldn’t resist making another hilarious comment.

“If I’ve offended any horses, Texans, cowboys or gays, I apologize.”

We’re guessing Neil G. Giuliano wasn’t laughing.

The Knicks have never had any problems staying in the media. That remains true with the recent reports that guard Stephon Marbury has left the team under mysterious circumstances.

Stephon Marbury, the starting guard for the Knicks, missed Tuesday morning’s shootaround. Since he missed the shootaround, he was expected to miss the game later on the evening against the Phoenix Suns; he did.

His teammates are doing the right thing by publicly supporting Stephon Marbury. They’re also doing the smart thing by trying to downplay the situation. Teammates like guard Mardy Collins and forward Jared Jeffries have publicly spoken in support of Stephon Marbury. Both players informed the media that this situation was one that those outside of the organization would have trouble understanding. Very smart move by both players to attempt to deflect any additional attention from the media.

Head coach Isiah Thomas, though, isn’t doing nearly as good of a job as his players. He’s been throwing a few subtle shots at Stephon Marbury.

Stephon Marbury has been telling people that he does have permission to leave the team. Isiah Thomas, though, has thus far refused to confirm that. All Isiah Thomas has said about the situation is that it is one that the team will deal with. He also mentions that Stephon Marbury is welcomed to rejoin the team.

Many believe that there’s some lingering problems between Stephon Marbury and Isiah Thomas. Before Isiah Thomas decided to take over the head coaching duties, Stephon Marbury constantly talked about how great it was for him to be working with someone he idolized growing up. Once Isiah Thomas took over as head coach, those warm words started becoming few and far between.

A lot of rumors have begun popping up about the Knicks looking to trade Stephon Marbury. Well, those rumors need to be put to rest because the chances of that happening are as slim as Charles Oakley and Patrick Ewing rejoining the roster. Stephon Marbury has 2 years and $42 million left on his contract. It’d be virtually impossible for the Knicks to convince any general manager in the league to accept that contract right now.

So, Stephon Marbury will either sit out for the rest of the year, or he’ll come to an agreement with Isiah Thomas and return to the team.

For fantasy players, rookie sensation Adrian Peterson is out for about 3 weeks with a sprained lateral collateral ligament with a ‘two-plus grade’ tear, which mean it is not totally torn. He should be back as early as week 12 but most likely week 13. Chester Taylor is a great pick up this week against an Oakland team that has been terrible against the run, even allowing big Ron Dayne to stumble for 122 yards.

For teams in need of a receiver, DJ Hackett is a great option after coming off his ankle injury.  He was touted to have an outstanding year at the start of the season before being injured but has caught 14 passes for 159 yards and two TDs in his first two games back. What makes him an even better choice is that Mike Holmgren has gone from a rushing attack to trigger happy passing which makes both Hackett and Hasselback better options for fantasy football. Hackett should be available in many leagues as he was dropped after the injury so pick him up quick because Seattle schedule is filled with weaker pass defenses.

Tonight in college football, it is a MAC game between the Ball State Cardinals and the Toledo Rockets. The line is Ball State minus 6 and the over at 70. My pick is Ball State plus the over because of several reasons. First ball state has a solid offense behind Nate Davis and Dante Love. The have lost two games in a row but to touch Big Ten schools. Ball State is the only MAC school to score more points than they have allowed which tells you there is no defense in the MAC and Toledo has one of the worst. Toledo is 0-3 against the spread this year and has gave up 52, 45 and 43 points on the road. The over has cashed in 8-1 in Toledo games. The lack of defense on both sides and the more powerful Ball State offense should definitely come out on top. Our bet is Ball State -6 and Over 70.

The season is still young, but fans in Chicago are already questioning Ben Wallace’s desire.

For several years, Ben Wallace was a key component in making the Detroit Pistons a championship team. His hustle, rebounding, and intensity provided the foundation for the team’s overall defensive greatness. Ben Wallace actually worked his way into becoming a top five center despite having quite a limited offensive game. He also worked his way up from the bottom of the league, going from a seldom used backup player to a starting All-Star center.

At the time, very few people questioned his desire.

When his contract with the Detroit Pistons expired, Ben Wallace chose to sign with the Chicago Bulls. Though he would probably never publicly say it, the additional $8 million was the key to convincing him to leave a championship contender. The Chicago Bulls expected him to provide veteran leadership and be a defensive foundation for the team.

It was during this time that a lot of people started to question his motive and desire. Many had felt that Ben Wallace was already satisfied since he had already been an All-Star player and had already won an NBA championship. Most viewed his signing with the Chicago Bulls as a desire to put as much money into his bank account as possible as he heads towards retirement.

So, here we are in 2008. The season is still young as we’re less than a month into it.

Detroit Pistons fans are obviously going to question his desire because of the emotional aspect involved. Well, now fans of the Chicago Bulls have started to question Ben Wallace as well. His actions early in the season have made it rather easy for fans to jump off the bandwagon.

First of all, the rebounding has gone down tremendous for Ben Wallace. Despite starting every game this year for the Chicago Bulls, he’s averaging less than 5 rebounds a game. That paltry average is making even former NBA star Maurice Taylor shake his head.

For those of you that don’t know, Maurice Taylor was a 6′10″, 280 big man who averaged fewer rebounds than most guards.

Ben Wallace has also struggled with his shotblocking. Since the start of the century, Ben Wallace has averaged at least 2 blocks a game. This year, he’s averaging only 1.2 blocks a game, which is less than what Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas are averaging.

Fans are disappointed with his lackluster play so far this year, but they’re even more disappointed that Ben Wallace refused to even be nominated for the team captaincy. Not sure why Ben Wallace is refusing to accept the position, but it does look bad on his part.

The Chicago Bulls are filled with young players. With Ben Wallace as the veteran leader with All-Star and NBA championship credibility, it is widely believed that he is the perfect player for the role. When he signed his $60 million contract, a lot of people (including those that sign his paychecks) expected Ben Wallace to provide the team with leadership.

The season is still young. There’s plenty of time for Ben Wallace to bring his game back up to the level that everyone expect him to play at. There’s also still time for Ben Wallace to provide veteran leadership even if it’s without the official job title.

It’s easy to understand a loss of desire when one has $60 million on the table, but it would be nice to see Ben Wallace showing more desire.

When Rashard Lewis left the Seattle Supersonics for the Orlando Magic in free agency this past summer, he was expecting a lot of things. Playing power forward wasn’t one of those things.

Over the summer, Rashard Lewis signed a contract with the Orlando Magic that was worth nearly $120 million. When he signed that contract, he envisioned living in a state that basically sees summer weather all year long. He also envisioned being flanked by Tony Battie and Dwight Howard on the frontline.

Well, Tony Battie’s season ending shoulder injury changed all of that up.

Rashard Lewis is still going to see nice weather all year round, but he won’t have the luxury of being flanked by two players who make their living in the paint.

With a decision to make, head coach Stan Van Gundy chose to go with the “best players on the court” route. Rather than worrying about positions, Stan Van Gundy decided to go with the five best players in the starting line. He decided to go with Jameer Nelson and Keith Bogans in the backcourt (with Carlos Arroyo getting one start). On the frontline, he chose to go with two swingmen (Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis) anchored by Dwight Howard.

Offensively, the lineup has worked well. Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, and Dwight Howard are collectively averaging about 60 points a game. That’s a pretty impressive average if they can keep it up for the entire year. Having a frontline that averages 60 points a game takes away pressure on the backcourt and makes it a lot easier to win games.

Rebounding, though, needs to improve. That’s not much of a surprise considering Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu both prefer to hover around the perimeter. Right now, the trio is pulling down only 20 rebounds a game, with Dwight Howard grabbing 11 rebounds himself. Now would be a good time for Adonal Foyle to step up and provide Stan Van Gundy with a rebounding option off the bench. At 6′10″, 270, Adonal Foyle can provide a change of pace for the frontline.

Defensively, there are some tricks that the Orlando Magic can continue to use to mask the lack of size on the frontline. Stan Van Gundy is a defensive specialist who understands that utilizing a zone defense on occasions can help to counter his team’s lack of size. Dwight Howard is a tremendous athlete who can block shots with the best of them. Positioning him in the right places in a zone defense can go a long way towards the team being able to defend.

If the rebounding and defense struggle, though, Orlando does have another option. The league recently announced that Orlando would be allowed some cap room to sign a veteran big man. The additional cap room was granted to the team due to Tony Battie being out for the entire year.

As of now, though, things are working out with Rashard Lewis as a power forward. The team is off to a good start, sitting at 5-2. Winning always makes everything better.

Sunday, November 11, 2007 marks the return of tackle Tank Johnson dressed not in the dark blue and orange Bears jersey but a white and blue Dallas Cowboys one. The debate on whether it is good or bad for Jerry Jones to bring him into Dallas is still brewing with the result probably well down the line. For those who do not know the history of Tank, then you are definitely not major football fans, well at least not major Bears ones.

Tank was a powerhouse tackle for the Chicago Bears in 2006 but due to some situations including some gun charges and minor drug charges mostly directed to his roommate and bodyguard Bernard Posey. In Tank Johnson’s defense, the guy has not been accused of anything major except for gun possession charges and breaking probation. Fans also need to know that Illinois and Wisconsin are the only U.S. states that do not issue Concealed Carry Permits but Tank’s resident state of Arizona does.

Granted he might not have been hanging around the best people and not have made the best decisions but what it comes down to in the NFL is does the guy have talent and is he able to keep the negative publicity minimal. Read the rest of this entry »