Big Ben Contemplating Retirement

ESPN reports

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ crushing defeat at the hands of the Orlando Magic Saturday may not have been their only loss. Ben Wallace, their enforcer and starting center for most of the season, said after the game that he may retire.”I’m going to sit down and talk with my family, weigh my options and come up with a decision,” the 34-year-old Wallace said after Cleveland’s 103-90 loss. “Nothing’s definite, but there’s a strong possibility that this was my last season.”

The article continues

“I haven’t talked to Ben at all about his future,” said general manager Danny Ferry, who was surprised to hear about Wallace’s comments.

Wallace, a veteran of 13 seasons, sighted his declining health as a major reason he may hang up his sneakers. He missed 25 games due to injury this season, sitting out with a right forearm laceration, a fractured right fibula, a bruised left knee and a strained left patella tendon.

Dwight Howard: Philadelphia vs Cleveland

Some interesting individual stats

• Against Phily, Dwight Howard scored 24ppg on 68.3% shooting
• Against Cleveland, through five games (ESPN hasn’t updated Dwight’s profile yet), Dwight scored 23ppg on 64.5% shooting.

Now for the interesting differences, Orlando’s overall officiency

Against Phily

• Game One — 110.1
• Game Two — 107.9
• Game Three — 104.4
• Game Four — 98.8
• Game Five — 107.1

So, Orlando’s offensive efficiency was a rough average of 105.7 per 100 possessions (not computed properly, just a rough average) in their series against Philadelphia.

Game Six: Orlando vs Cleveland

Game Six

Closeout game. The Magic lead the series 3-2 and are looking to finish the Cavs off tonight.

I’m pulling for Cleveland. I’d absolutely love to see this series go seven games, I think the seventh game would be a beautiful display of the mental strength both teams possess. Talk about a pressure cooker game, game seven, for the Magic. I’d love to see that.

First Quarter

Orlando lead 3-2 after two minutes after Ben Wallace misses a pair of FTS. Varejao has already picked up two fouls.

• Hedo on the drive and kick, off the high pick and roll, to Rafer in the left corner, Rafer drains it!
• James dribbling on the perimeter, pulls up, knocks it down
• Drive and kick to Lewis, top of the key, pump fake, drive, drive and kick to Lee in the left corner, extra pass, three second violation on Howard who was trying to get position for the rebound.

Trade Idea: San Antonio and Memphis

The Trade

Memphis Grizzlies receive: Tony Parker

San Antonio Spurs receive: OJ Mayo

Why?

San Antonio Spurs

This trade idea follows the very interesting suggestion made by Ed Torian in the comments section of a recent post — describing what he thinks is the Spurs best opportunity to build another title caliber side:

The idea is to trade Tony Parker for a young prospect on a cheap contract (likely his rookie contract), while simultaneously clearing cap space for 2010 in order to make a run at a max contract free agent.

Then in 2010, the core of the Spurs squad would be Tim Duncan, the max contract free agent, Manu Ginobili and the top prospect. The idea being that those four players are superior to the Spurs’ current Big Three. It’s an interesting strategy and both a creative and a very good idea.

Draft Order + Draft Notes

Notes on picks + trades at the bottom of the post

First Round

The Lottery

(1) Los Angeles Clippers

(2) Memphis Grizzlies

(3) Oklahoma City Thunder

(4) Sacramento Kings

(5) Washington Wizards

(6) Minnesota Timberwolves

(7) Golden State Warriors

(8) New York Knicks

(9) Toronto Raptors

(10) Milwaukee Bucks

Sixers Hire Eddie Jordan

ESPN is reporting that the Sixers have hired Eddie Jordan

Eddie Jordan has been hired as the new coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.

NBA coaching sources told ESPN.com on Friday night that the Sixers have reached an agreement with Jordan, who along with Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Dwane Casey were the only candidates to be interviewed twice.

Jordan was fired by the Washington Wizards in November. The Wizards owe Jordan nearly $4 million next season and would have to pay the difference on the contract from Jordan’s new team.

Jordan is 230-288 in coaching stints with the Wizards and the Sacramento Kings.

Game Six: Denver vs Los Angeles

Game Six

The Lakers lead the series 3-2 heading into tonight’s game. The Nuggets are just trying to stay alive.

I like the Lakers to finish off the Nuggets tonight. This series has already gone on too long.

First Quarter

• The Lakers win the tip. They got Kobe on the midpost on the right wing 16 feet from the rim, double teamed, he passes out, nothing on for LA. Their spacing there wasn’t up too much.
• Kobe Bryant tries to steal the outlet, Billups loose ball foul as he tried to keep the ball from Bryant.
• Gasol posts up on the left post, turnaround, hits it. Lakers lead 2-0 after a minute.

Game Five: Cleveland vs Orlando

Game Five

The Magic lead the matchup 3-1 and are looking to close out the series tonight. The game is in Cleveland.

I expect the Cavs to win this one. It’s hard to see LeBron not finding a way to pull this one out, and extend the series in the process of doing so.

First Quarter

I missed the first few minutes of this one. Cleveland lead 17-6 after four minutes, a fast offensive start from Cleveland.

• Ilgauksas knocks down a 21 footer off the pass.
• Turkoglu steps over the line on an inbounds pass, turnover. That’s gotta hurt.
• Mo Williams knocks down a triple over Rafer Alston — he’s 4-4 from the field, 3-3 from downtown, for 11 points already.

Cleveland lead 24-8 after a pair of Cavs FTs. We’re only five minutes into this game.

Starting Power Forward’s Rebounding Numbers

Starting Power Forwards

• Atlanta Hawks — Josh Smith — 12.1%
• Boston Celtics — Kevin Garnett — 16.6%
• Charlotte Bobcats — Boris Diaw — 9.6%
• Chicago Bulls — Tyrus Thomas — 13.4%
• Cleveland Cavaliers — Ben Wallace — 16.4%
• Cleveland Cavaliers — Anderson Varejao — 15.0%
• Dallas Mavericks — Dirk Nowitzki — 12.8%
• Denver Nuggets — Kenyon Martin — 10.9%
• Detroit Pistons — Antonio McDyess — 19.3%

Game Five: Los Angeles vs Denver

Game Five

I didn’t watch this game, watched it on tape this morning. No game log for this one, just some thoughts on the game.

The Game

The first half was a close affair, with neither team truly able to pull away from one another.

Denver started out better, a timeout by Jackson seven minutes in calmed the Lakers down and suddenly they went on a 8-0 burst to take the lead back. Denver rallied and tied the game at 25-25 by the end one, with two huge Chris Andersen blocks denying Odom dunks and sparking fastbreaks going the other way.

The second quarter was even closer, with both teams trading baskets until the final minutes of the quarter and with neither able to create any separation. Finally, the Nuggets created a five point gap, but a strong Lakers finish punctuated by a Vujacic three pointer closed the gap and left the game tied at 56-56 entering halftime.