August 26, 2010

Every day she smells the lingering scent on her son's shirt, a touchstone that will fade away. She wears his hat. Yet it's all of little comfort. What Deborah Marion -- mother of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright -- is desperate for, she says, are answers. And they're too slow in coming. The funeral is over. The media circus has abated. She is left with only heartache. "It's like he was erased and everybody forgot all about him," she said Thursday. Her throat catches. She wants to hear more than standard assurances from detectives that "we're working on it." "They haven't got it solved, but they can tell me something to let me know that they're really doing something," she said. The mystery of who shot her son is tearing her to pieces. "I'm not forgetting about my baby, and I ain't gonna let anybody else forget about him either," she said. Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin said the community should rest assured homicide detectives are working long hours to solve the case. They're interviewing people both in Shelby County and outside the area. They've collected evidence and are waiting for it to be examined.

FIBA, the world governing body of basketball, today announced that four players are to be suspended, and their national federations fined, after recent fighting at a friendly tournament in Greece.

On 19th August, at a game between Greece and Serbia, a fight broke out towards the end of the game involving two players - Antonis Fotsis (GRE) and Milos Teodosic (SRB). This resulted in a wider, violent brawl between several players of both teams.

The game was stopped immediately and never resumed.

FIBA started an official investigation after the game and has now announced its findings.

Serbian player Nenad Krstic is suspended with immediate effect for three games in main official FIBA competition which include the World Championships, Olympics and Continental Championships.  The player is also fined a total of CHF 45,000.

His teammate, Milos Teodosic, is also suspended with immediate effect for two games in main official FIBA competitions.

The Serbian Basketball federation will be fined a total of CHF 20,000.

Greek players Antonis Fotsis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis are suspended with immediate effect for two games in main official FIBA competitions.

The Hellenic Basketball Federation will be fined a total of CHF 20,000.
 
FIBA believes that the judgement will send a strong message to all players that their behaviour on and off the court must be exemplary and in line with the rules of basketball at all times.

All parties have the right to appeal the decisions taken.

One roster spot is still available, and everyone from Danny Ainge to Doc Rivers to back-seat general manager Paul Pierce has said that the Celtics  need another piece — specifically, a shooter.

With reports circling about interest in fiery if disgruntled Portland guard Rudy Fernandez, Ainge acknowledged that he was pursuing trade options, though he wasn’t sure a deal would fall in place.

“We’re just continuing to explore available players and trade possibilities and see what sort of options are there,’’ said the Celtics president. “There are some trade discussions that we’re having. I don’t know the likelihood of those happening, but we’ll continue to not rush into something unless it’s something that we’re really excited about.’’

The Knicks and Bulls also are thought to have interest in Fernandez, who by going most of the summer without talking to Trail Blazers management has made it clear that he does not want to return to Portland.

Journeyman free agent Larry Hughes has also popped up on the Celtics’ radar. He has played for four teams in the past four seasons.

As Ainge weighs his options, he and Rivers are also deciding where to hold training camp. The past two years, it has been at Salve Regina in Newport, R.I., but Pierce has talked to Ainge about going farther away to help develop chemistry, especially with so many new personalities.

Before the 2007-08 championship season, the Celtics held camp in Rome, allowing Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Pierce to jell. It was there the team came up with its “Ubuntu’’ mantra.

Ainge is considering Pierce’s suggestion.

“We haven’t made a confirmation on that yet,’’ Ainge said. “We’re looking into the different possibilities, and Doc and I are discussing where we want to have training camp, what’s best for our team.

“I think he has a point. I’m not so sure that that’s the only way to bond together as a team, but I certainly understand where he’s coming from. There’s always a lot of factors in training camp, and we certainly try to do what’s best.’’

It’s been a rocky summer for the Nuggets. The team abruptly dumped two of its top executives—Mark Warkentein and Rex Chapman—in early August, and has been unable to secure  star forward Carmelo Anthony to a contract extension despite a maximum offer, with Anthony reportedly seeking to be traded. Denver is well over the luxury-tax threshold, though the Nuggets’ only significant summer addition was forward Al Harrington.

And now, more problems have arisen for Denver, centering on guard J.R. Smith. Aol FanHouse reported that Smith was in an altercation with another player at the Nuggets’ practice facility on August 13, and that the police were called. No charges were pressed against Smith, but FanHouse quoted a source saying that Smith, “tried to choke the kid.”

Before this news broke, the Nuggets had been looking to move Smith, who has averaged 15.3 points over the last two seasons and has become one of the league’s more explosive sixth men. Despite his talents, though, three general managers contacted by SN all agreed—Smith is too much of a risk at this point.

“You look at his history and, yeah, he can score, but you might be costing yourself some chemistry if you take on a guy like him,” one Western Conference GM said. “He has disappointed a lot of people along the way. You give a guy a chance, and he still makes bad decisions—that’s a big red flag.”

This isn’t Smith’s first brush with the law. He spent nearly a month in jail last year stemming from a 2007 reckless driving conviction, an incident in which one of Smith’s friends was killed. Before coming to Denver, Smith had spent two underwhelming years in New Orleans, and the Hornets quickly traded him because of attitude and work ethic problems. The Nuggets had shown some patience with Smith, and were rewarded with a couple of high-scoring seasons. But Smith’s issues have lingered.

“He is kind of what all those banks had—a toxic asset,” an Eastern Conference GM said. “You know what he can bring to your team, if you were dealing just with talent and ability and all of that. But it’s the stuff that you don’t know that scares you off. He’s a tough guy to have to trade.”