All Star Weekend:

Unlike the rest of society, I watched the celebrity game on Friday evening.  Huge mistake.  Aside from being convinced I could have scored thirty in that game, I came away with very little else.  For one, I had no idea who half the "celebrities" were.  I knew a couple of the rappers, and Donald Faison.  Even if they had been my favorite celebrities, it would not have done much good.  During ninety percent of the game action, the cameras were spent looking at the stars in the crowd, in this case the NBA players.  It was like the reverse of watching a Lakers' home playoff game.  The rest of the time was spent interviewing the "coaches" Eva Longoria, Queen Latifah, and the extremely annoying Stephen A. Smith.  And why were two WNBA players in the game?  The league wants to legitimize the WNBA, and then they allow two of their players to compete in a celebrity exhibition where they are shackled in their shot selection making them look as bad as the celebrities.  Then again, seeing Becky Hammon dribble was the only thing that remotely resembled basketball.  With all the basketball movies, you would think a few actors could at least make a couple jump shots.  Where were the kids from Coach Carter or One Tree Hill?  And if you are going to bring Bow Wow in, shouldn't Jonathan Lipniki be required to join his team?

This event can be fixed.  The NBA just needs to hire the producers of the original Rock and Jock  games on MTV.  Then, bring in a couple more cameras.  During the all star competitions there seemed to be about twenty cameras able to caputre Dirk Nowitzki's three point attempts from every conceivable angle.  Yet when Ice Cube is jacking up an ill advised three, they only appeared to have a steady cam being held by LeBron James in the third row to record the occurence.  This camera was zoomed out so far that unless the announcers specifically commented on it, which was rare, I could not actually tell it was Ice Cube.  In fact, for all I know, it could have been a fat, bearded janitor from the arena (who was recruited to fill in for Nicolas Brendan when he cancelled because he didn't want to be associated with so many obscure people) that the announcers were calling Ice Cube because he looked like the star of Friday.  Then, if celebrities are going to be brought in who are bad at basketball, make them celebrities who will embrace their lack of skill.  I'd rather see Jack Black dribble the ball off his foot and then beg for foul calls after theatrically talking crap than watch Nelly pass the ball to the opposing team and pat his chest for "my bad."

After Friday's debacle, I am unsure why I even tuned in for Saturday.  I was really asking myself that question after losing half an hour of my life waiting for Nate Robinson to make a dunk.  By the way, he won.  I understand them changing the rules where a player is not disqualified if he misses two dunks, or cannot connect in under a minute.  If it can be made, the crowd wants to see it.  However, it makes no sense not to penalize them somewhat on the score.  When Robinson missed on a dozen straight tries, then finally got one to work...there should not have been a single judge that gave him a ten.  And yet, he would time after time get a near-perfect score.  Then there was Kenny Smith who I watched in a pre-event show critiquing the greatest slam dunk competition dunks of all time.  The dunk Andre Iguodala made in the "dunk off" was a replica of one that Smith labeled as one of the top dunks ever.  So what score did Smith give him?  A nine.  And they wonder why people thought there was a fix in place for the diminutive shooting guard from New York?

After all this, I chose not to watch the weekend's main event.  For one, Chris Paul was not invited, so I think the teams were shams to begin with.  But second, it was opposite Desperate Housewives.  Did TNT want the game to go unwatched?

Oklahoma State post Eddie Sutton:

In their first outing since learning that Coach Sutton had again reverted to alcoholism, the Oklahoma State Cowboys played their most inspired basketball of the season.  A team that has only one returning starter and with four freshmen and three junior college transfers who are in their first season with the school in the rotation, this was bound to be a rocky season.  With Eddie on the bench, the team was 12 and 10 (he missed the season opener while in the hospital and missed the Texas A&M and Kansas games after being cited with a DUI), the team's worst record since Sutton took over the OSU job.  The team has had horrible problems handling the ball, struggled in half court offense, and had complete defensive laps for long stretches of games.

The loss of Sutton created fears that those problems would exacerbate.  Instead, Eddie's son Sean created a fantastic gameplan that knocked off # 6 Texas by 21 points.  Some of it could have been typical college rah-rah motivation of "winning one for Eddie" but even if that did explain the players' newfound aggressiveness, it was only part of the equation.  After losing to the Longhorns by 34 in Austin earlier in the season while being completely shut down by a 2-3 zone, Sean made major adjustments.  He started a three guard line-up, including the team's top two point guards.  They also took advantage of the high post when Texas went big.  Sean also abandoned some of the offensive brakes Iba (Eddie's biggest influence) favored.  He opened up the offense and attacked the zone rather than requiring his team to wait for the "perfect" shot that has tended to force the team into horrible shot clock expiring force ups.  It was a huge risk considering the mistakes this team has made in handling the ball.  The players responded with their best effort of the season, including Byron Eaton managing to go without a single turnover in 22 minutes of play.

This was definitely a huge start to what may be the beginning of the Sean Sutton era at Oklahoma State.  There is still hope that Eddie may return next season to "finish on his own terms," but there was one major indication that this will not be the case.  T. Boone Pickens, the schools largest benefactor, was in attendance of yesterday's game in Stillwater.  When asked what he would say to Coach Sutton, Pickens replied, "It was a great sixteen years."

Redick vs. Miami:

Everytime I watch J.J. Redick play, I come away amazed.  The thing is, I have incredibly high expectations of him, so I expect him to disappoint eventually.  And yet, he doesn't.  Yesterday, shy of the Duke all-time scoring record by twenty-nine points, Redick had his thirteenth thirty point game of the season.  He scored eleven points in the first few minutes to basically crush the spirit of the Miami Hurricanes and finished the first half with 22.

After seeing LaMarcus Aldridge be a complete non-factor and watching Rudy Gay suck against West Viriginia earlier in the weekend, I am starting to wonder if my mock draft had J.J. too low (#9 to Orlando--now maybe Detroit).  If I were a general manager of an NBA franchise with the first pick overall, I would have no problem staking my reputation on this kid.  He is certainly looking to be closer to Rip Hamilton than Steve Kerr.

There used to be a part of me that wondered why professional athletes were so willing to carry such large entourages.  I mean, they pay living expenses for guys who really provide them nothing more than a buddy.  Then, the picture started clearing for me.

I think the first time it dawned on me that entourages are valuable to a professional athlete was when Carmelo Anthony was arrested at the Denver airport for possession of marijuana.  His excuse was that one of his friends had used the bag and left his weed in there.  Anthony had just picked up the bag and decided to leave town with it.  It makes zero sense.  When I travel, I don't just grab a random bag without any regard for what might or might not be in it just so I will have a carryon.  Typically, I put my laptop in it, have a mp3 player, a book maybe...my carryon is more important than the luggage I check.  So, I initially thought Carmelo was throwing his friend under the bus after attempting to sneak narcotics through airport security.  After thinking about it, of course Carmelo scapegoated one of his entourage, they owed him, and they should be more than willing to take the fall.  Their meal ticket relies on Carmelo being able to bring home the big checks, and a pot bust could have cost him millions in endorsements.

Since then, I have noticed a trend.  Randy Moss pawned a half smoked joint found in his Benz after a traffic incident on a friend who had borrowed the car.  When Michael Irvin was found to have a crack pipe in his car, he said he took it from a friend to keep his kids from seeing the paraphenalia.  Moss got burned for loaning out his luxury car, and Irvin was just a good dad who apparently did not want to throw away someone else's property.

Today, I saw another event where a player blamed his illegal activity on someone close to him planting it there.  Sebastian Telfair, a point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, got into some trouble when he snuck a gun onto the team jet when the jet was swept by TSA.  I beleive he was in route to Oklahoma City and may have taken Charles Barkley too seriously when he called the state a vast wasteland.  (Perhaps he was expecting Mad Maxx to meet him at the airport.)  Anyway, Telfair was the ultimate "bros before hoes" friend when he pinned his wife for putting the gun under his pillowcase.

One thing that is important to know about me is that I bleed orange and black.  Oklahoma State University is as much a part of my personal identity as my red hair, my love for sports, and my regionally awkward affiliation with the Democratic Party.  It is why OU fans make me their first call after the Sooners beat the Cowboys in football, and it's one topic people who hardly know me can coax me into a conversation about.  Despite orange's clashing nature with my complexion, it is the number one color in my wardrobe.

Eddie Sutton is one of the main reasons I initially became swept up in the school's universe.

I possess a bachelor's degree in accounting from Oklahoma State, and I would like to say I chose that route because Oklahoma State has an excellent accounting program.  They do, but that was just a bonus for me.  When choosing a college, my eggs were all in one basket, I wanted to spend my time in the place whose sports I had supported since first being immersed in the state rivalry.

A perfect storm basically occured to win my affections.  Baseball had always been my first love, and when I started learning what college was, Gary Ward was leading the OSU Cowboys to 16 consecutive Big Eight baseball titles and was a perennial participant in the College World Series behind great players such as Robin Ventura, Pete Incavaglia, and Jeromy Burnitz.  Then, when I started to learn the rules of football, Barry Sanders was winning the Heisman.  That left only basketball, a sport I was beginning to play, as the only disappointment at OSU.  The program was very mediocre, kind of like Kansas State's basketball program now.  They were not terrible, but they were never a real contender to go to the Big Dance either.  Then, along game Eddie Sutton to change that entirely.

Sutton's pedigree is well documented.  No article is compete without dropping in the fact that Eddie played point guard at OSU (then Oklahoma A&M) under the legendary Hank Iba, or that Eddie has taken four teams (Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State) to the NCAA tournament.  His reclamation project at Oklahoma State has been a feel good story for a decade and a half.  Sixteen years ago, when Sutton was embroiled in controversy at the University of Kentucky, I (as an eleven year old) understood little about what caused his ouster.  "Recruiting violations" (for which he was personally cleared) might as well have been Greek to me.  "Alcoholism," though, was something I was very familiar with.

Several years before that, my dad had sat down my sisters and I and explained to us that he needed help.  He had three young children and he was allowing his addiction to alcohol mean more to him than his duties as a father.  From that point on, Alcoholics Anonymous idioms were bandied about my house the way some families do sing alongs.  Before I hit puberty, I understood that it was important to take things one day at a time and make the decision every morning to stay sober.  I knew that surrounding yourself with supportive people, rather than facilitators to one's debilitation.  What I also knew was that addiction could be beat.  My father took to twelve step programs like Tom Cruise to Scientology.  From that point on, he was a virtually perfect father.

I had hoped that Eddie Sutton had a similar kind of conversion.  Knowing it was possible to kick the habit, I had even forgotten Sutton had ever had bouts with alcoholism.  Only when a bitter Kentucky fan called into the Sports Animal, or when a media piece was done on a troubled player whom Sutton had taken under his wing was aired would the factoid be mentioned.  Then, there was an automobile accident last Friday, and Sutton was issued a citation for driving under the influence.

The accident report specifically mentioned a bottle of hydrocodone being found in the car, and by Oklahoma law, DUI means anything that inhibits ones driving.  For those who love Coach Sutton, that was enough to ignore the speculation that Eddie had started back on the bottle.  In the Summer of 2004, Eddie was knocked down and escalator while trying to catch a plane at LAX.  Sixty-seven at the time, his bones were cracked and he was in pain.  Several months later, while jogging, he was nearly hit by an automobile and had to dive into a ditch to protect himself.  That cracked some more bones and damaged his back.  Last season, he was walking with the assistance of a cain, and at the beginning of this season, he missed the season opener when he was hospitalized with back pain.  Prescription pain medication, while something that should have stopped him from driving, would have been an acceptable explanation.

Doug Gottlieb, an ESPN college basketball analyst who played for Sutton the years I was in Stillwater, is as close to the program as anyone.  He was quoted saying, "I've never sensed - in all the three years I was playing for him and the six years since - I never once suspected that (Sutton) was back drinking."  He then echoed mine, and most Cowboy faithful's desires when he said, "I think we all just want to hear Coach Sutton say, 'I have a bad back, I was in a hurry to catch a flight, I took too many pills and this is what happened.  If this is not what happened, it's a concern.  He always talked about being accountable, and I would hope that whatever mistakes he's made, he would do the same. It would be not only disappointing but shocking if this turned out to be a mistake involving alcohol."  (For full disclosure, I attacked another blogger for suggesting alcohol in one of his postings.)

Accountability has been as much a staple of Sutton's tenure at OSU as the three D's (Discipline, Defense, and Dedication) passed down from Coach Iba.  His humbling experience at Kentucky gave Coach Sutton a deeper understanding of what caused people to stray from society's expectations.  It gave him freedom to accept players who might have had a troubled past and help them toward their own reclamation project the way Eddie found it with his return to his alma mater.  Gottlieb, for instance, started his college career at Notre Dame but was exiled when he stole a credit card.  Since being taken under Eddie's wing, he found a more righteous path and has been very successful in his chosen career.  Current Cowboy JamesOn Curry lost a scholarship to North Carolina when he was arrested for selling marijuana to an undercover police officer.  He was accepted to the program under a "no tolerance" policy, and to this point, he has been a model citizen at OSU.  Other at risk players have reverted back to their troubled ways after departing Stillwater.  Glendon Alexander is currently in a Texas prison for theft, and Tony Allen of the Boston Celtics is in trouble for his role in a Chicago area brawl last Summer.

Now that he has admitted to succumbing to his alcoholism again, will Eddie receive the same zero tolerance policy he outlined to Curry?  Pat Forde of ESPN.com called for his head in an article posted last night.  He felt that Sutton should do a perpwalk into retirement and that his continued presence at OSU was a hindrance to moving on.  I am certain several other members of the media will make similar declarations.  To me, it will be nothing but an indication of their ignorance of Sutton's status at the school.  Unlike at Kentucky where Sutton was an outsider benefitting from a tradition created by Adolph Rupp, Oklahoma State basketball is Eddie Sutton.  The tradition of Hank Iba had been lost for decades by the time Sutton returned to Stillwater and gave the school a national presence, including two Final Four appearances and thirteen trips to the NCAA tournament in his fifteen completed seasons.  He taught all of us fans how to appreciate well played basketball and how disciplined players could beat more talented players.  Few who follow this program are calling for this to be his swan song, let alone his son, Sean, the "head coach designate" who looks to benefit most when Eddie's career is finally over.

Should the best case scenario occur, Eddie will get the most out of the treatment he is seeking.  Next season, after the sixth game, Eddie will hoist a trophy for achieving his 800th career victory, and next season will end with a more mature team winning his first national championship.  Then, he will retire with the legacy that should be remembered and take on the role of consultant that Coach Iba played in Sutton's early years at OSU.

With eight days remaing until the trade deadline, the most sought after player in all of basketball is...Kelvin Cato?  The rarely used reserve center (and his expiring $8.6MM contract) has made the Orlando Magic the NBA's most attractive trading partner.  At the moment, the Magic have two offers on the table that are difficult to turn down, but only one can be executed.

To Orlando:

SG/PG Jamal Crawford (signed thru 2011 for a total of $49.68MM--$6.48MM currently)

SG/PG Penny Hardaway (expiring $15.75MM contract)

One of:

PG Nate Robinson (rookie contract of $1.2MM)

PF David Lee (rookie contract of $860K)

SF Trevor Ariza ($640K, expiring)

From Orlando:

PG Steve Francis (owed $62.46MM thru 2009 -- $13.77MM currently)

C  Kelvin Cato (expiring $8.6MM)

Why would Orlando choose this deal?

The bigger question is why New York is the one making this offer.  Or another question, is Isiah Thomas mentally handicapped?  I wrote in an earlier blog entry that the Knicks should do whatever they could to rid themselves of Stephon Marbury, who drags the team down with his selfish play and has a suffocating contract.  Instead, Thomas is trying to go the opposite direction and is looking to acquire Marbury's doppelganger from Orlando.  The tandem of Francis and Marbury would put two undersized shooting guards (masquerading as point guards) on the floor at the same time, and there are not enough basketballs in the Big Apple to satisfy those two.  In return, Thomas is offering a tall point guard who has the most reasonable (with "reasonable" being a relative term) contract of any player Isiah has acquired, one of his promising young players, and one player who was finally going to be out of the Knicks cap hell at seasons end.

Orlando would choose this deal in preperating for the summer of 2007.  Getting rid of their two largest contracts, and with the deal of Grant Hill expiring after next season, the Magic will be way under the cap for the 2007 free agent class.  By all expectations, there should be many promising targets that Summer and Orlando could be the prime location ready to woo them.

Aside from the cap flexibility, the Magic get one, maybe two starters out of the deal who can be built around.  Their best case scenario in this offer is Trevor Ariza (the Magic should get Fran Vazquez from Spain for next season making Lee unnecessary, and Nate Robinson is 5'7" tall).  Assuming that is the finalized deal, their depth chart could look like this:

PG - Jameer Nelson / Keyon Dooling

SG - Jamal Crawford / DeShawn Stevenson

SF - Grant Hill / Hedyet Turkoglu / Trevor Ariza

PF - Dwight Howard / Pat Garrity

C -  Tony Battie / Mario Kasun

Surely that is not a team that can win now, but that actually could help them in the long run.  Unlike offer # 2, the Magic keep their 1st round pick for this season and losing more would improve the draft position.  Then, of course, Fran Vazquez (last year's first round pick) will reinforce the squallid front court, and they can make a push for another impact player in the 2007 free agent class.

OFFER # 2:  Detroit Pistons

To Orlando:

C/PF Darko Milicic (signed thru 2007 for $9.35MM -- $4.14MM currently)

PG Carlos Arroyo (signed thru 2008 for $12MM -- $4MM annually)

From Orlando:

C  Kelvin Cato

1st Round Draft Pick

Why would Orlando choose this offer?

According to multiple sources, Orlando has actually been the one to make this offer and they have done so on multiple occasions.  An ESPN article suggests this deal is on the verge of happening with the only hang up being how much lottery protection the Magic would receive on the pick.  Considering how weak this year's draft is considered to be, the Magic should be generous with their requests.  If they do not get into the top 3 to 5, they can likely do better with their 2007 pick.

Giving up basically nothing, this deal would be great for the Magic.  While Milicic would be the most focused on portion of the trade, Carlos Arroyo is actually a really good point guard and has a reasonable contract.  Remember, Arroyo was often the best player on a surprising Utah Jazz team that just missed out on the playoffs the year after John Stockton retired and Karl Malone left for the Lakers.

As for Milicic, he needs an opportunity to prove himself.  Buried in the Pistons depth chart, he has never had a chance to show the promise that made him a second overall pick in a draft that included Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Kirk Hinrich, and several other players that have made a huge splash for their teams.  This is not to say that Darko can be written off as a bust, yet.  The Pistons were only in the position to draft him because of a decade old trade, and not because they were a rebuilding team.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  Darko has a championship ring from his rookie season when he sat behind veterans Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, and Corliss Williamson.  Since then, the Pistons have actually upgraded the positions Darko is challenging to play by acquiring a former Dream Team player in Antonio McDyess.  So, it is no surprise that the Pistons have not allowed him to learn on the fly while they try to win championships.

A team like Orlando can use him, though.  Outside of Dwight Howard, their frontcourt is weak and they can give Milicic valuable minutes.  In return, the young (he cannot legally drink in this country until June of this year) seven footer could pair with Howard to give the Magic twin towers to build on.

Should offer # 2 be the direction Orlando goes, their depth chart may look like this:

PG:  Carlos Arroyo / Jameer Nelson / Keyon Dooling

SG:  Steve Francis / DeShawn Stevenson

SF:  Grant Hill / Hidyet Tukoglu

PF:  Dwight Howard / Pat Garrity

C:  Darko Milicic / Tony Battie / Mario Kasun

Again, not a team that can win immediately.  Getting Francis off of the point, though, could work wonders from the beginning.  Then, next season, with Vazquez's arrival, the Magic could make a challenge for the playoffs.