Le Basketbawl

The “New York Post” reported Thursday that New York Knicks center David Lee and Dallas Mavericks veteran point guard Jason Kidd have been named as replacement players for this Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game. The two players were selected by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace Philadelphia  guard Allen Iverson on the Eastern Conference squad and Kobe Bryant on the Western Conference team. Iverson will not be able to attend due to one of his children being ill; the veteran guard has missed the Sixers last five games due to the family situation.

Bryant has not played in the last three games with the Lakers due to a sore left ankle but will make the trip to Dallas for the game.  It will be the tenth time that Kidd has been an NBA All-Star who is now playing his sixteenth season in the NBA. The veteran is averaging 9.3 points and 9.3 assists per game this season. He will join teammate Dirk Nowitzki on the squad.

As much as New York Vinnie hates to see any player miss an honor due to a family crisis; it would be misleading to say that I am not excited for Lee. The Knicks center is the first of “MY BOYS” to be named to an All-Star Team since the 2001 contest which featured Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston. Lee’s numbers had earned him a spot on the team but was not named by the coaches. The center is averaging 20 points and 11.4 rebounds per game this  season.

There has been a whole lot of discussion over the past couple of weeks about whether Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady and Philadelphia guard Allen Iverson will “Do The Right Thing.”  It appears that Iverson and McGrady may both have been voted by NBA fans as starters for next month’s NBA All-Star game which will be held in Arlington, Texas. The sentiment from the people who are being vocal is that T-Mac and A.I. should  turn down the honors because they do not deserve them. New York Vinnie on the other hand thinks that is just pure Frickin Crapolla and I am now going to tell you  why I feel this way!

New York Vinnie absolutely agrees that neither McGrady or Iverson has had the type of numbers this season that warrants them being on the teams. But that really has no Frickin bearing on them being starters;  you see once you put the vote in the hands of the fans then you have to Frickin live with the results. That is it; discussion is over, Finito over and Frickin out!

The All-Star games are popularity contests; that is the way that the NBA has set them up. They have decided that getting the fans involved is more important than having a team that actually represents the top five players in each Conference at each position. That is fine but then do not start complaining when the fans pick who they want rather than who you want.

The “Philadelphia Daily News” asked Iverson his reaction to his apparent starting nod. The veteran said “That’s an honor and a reward because without the fans there wouldn’t be us. think my situation is unique being that I haven’t played as much as a lot of the other guys, but the fans want to see me play. That is a good feeling just to know that the people who support us . . . want to see me play. That’s a great feeling, but it’s also a tribute to the teammates I’ve had and the coaches I have to help me get here.”

Orlando Magic Senior Vice President Pat Williams has always been a class act. He has been in the NBA as far back as New York Vinnie can remember first with the Sixers in Philadelphia and then went to Orlando when they started that team. However New York Vinnie can not disagree more with Pat who thinks that T-Mac should step aside. Williams told reporters “I think McGrady would take it upon himself (to turn down the honor.) I think he would find it extraordinarily uncomfortable.”

Pat;  New York Vinnie has lots of respect for you My Man but I believe you are way off on this issue. Why should he feel uncomfortable? Did he do anything wrong? Did he rig the Frickin computers? If that is the case absolutely he should not play; however Pat we both know that is not the case.

New York Vinnie does not watch “Reality TV” unless you wan6t to count Sports. New York Vinnie has never seen one second of “American Idol” however I do read a lot. So New York Vinnie is aware of the race between the clean-cut guy and the guy who wore mascara last year. Now everybody says the guy who wore the Frickin mascara should have won but the clean-cut guy won the vote. This is what happens when you throw things open to the public, the best person does not always win.

So New York Vinnie wants the Frickin belly-aching to stop; shut your Frickin Yaps and live with the Frickin results. You want to change the system in the future; New York Vinnie would be totally Frickin receptive to that. But this year is in the books, the NBA got what they wanted and this is the result.

New York Knicks center David Lee had more important issues on his mind Wednesday than basketball after his grandfather passed away on Tuesday. Lee did consider missing the game at the Wachovia Center as his team took on the Sixers Wednesday night. However after much soul searching he decided his rightful place was with his club and his decision proved to be a key one for the Knicks as Lee drove the lane putting the rock in the hole and won the game for New York as they defeated Philadelphia 93-92.

Lee would score 24 points in the win and got the bucket with 13.2 seconds left in the game that clinched the game. Philadelphia shooting guard Allen Iverson would lead his team with 16 points in the loss while Sixers center Samuel Dalembert got himself a double-double. The victory would end a two game losing streak for New York while the Sixers saw a a two game winning streak fall by the wayside.

This contest would stay tight through out the evening as the Knicks would have the advantage at the end of the first leading 30-26 as the period concluded. Philadelphia would bounce back in the second and as the game reached half-time they would be on top 48-47.

The Sixers looked like they were ready to pull away late in the third as Jrue Holiday buried a 26 foot three point shot giving his team a 66-59 lead with 4:09 left in the period. However New York would end  the quarter on a 9-2 run and the game would be deadlocked at 68-68 as the two teams went into the fourth. With 43 seconds left in the game the Knicks would trail 90-89. Lee would hit a mid-range shot to put his team up at 91-90; Marreese Speights hit a hoop from 7 feet out putting the Sixers back on top at 92-91. Lee would get the ball from Chris Duhon drive the lane and the Knicks walked off the court as the victors.

David Lee had a game high 24 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists while Wilson Chandler added 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. Al Harrington came off the bench with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block while Jared Jeffries scored 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Danilo Gallinari put up 12 points, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.

Allen Iverson led Philadelphia with 16 points, 5 assists and 1 rebound while Rodney Carney came off the bench with 13 points. Samuel Dalembert had a double-double as he he put 12 points on the scoreboard while grabbing 21 rebounds off the backboard, 1 assist 1 block and 1 steal. Thaddeus Young scored 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while Marreese Speights added 10 points and 6 rebounds. New York now is 16-22 and will next play Friday as they will host the Raptors while Philadelphia is now 12-26 and will play host to the Sacramento Kings Friday.

The Philadelphia 76ers have played a very interesting side-game over the past month; it has been the “revolving roster.” Now every NBA team goes through injury problems throughout the season however with the Sixers it seems like almost every day they have added somebody or deleted somebody from their cast of characters.

The situation that has been in a conastant state of flux over the last few weeks is the Philadelphia back-court. The  “Associated Press” reported Saturday that change is once again in the air for the Sixers guards as veteran Allen Iverson is expected to be out until the end of the month. However the “TOUGHEST PLAYER” in the NBA 76ers point guard Louis Williams was activated prior to the team’s game against the L.A. Clippers Saturday night. Williams had surgery for a broken jaw on Thanksgiving and was expected to be out eight weeks.

Philadelphia head coach Eddie Jordan told the media prior to the game against  the Cippers that the earliest Iverson would be back would be December 28, when the club takes on the Portland Trail Blazers. An MRI of the veteran’s left knee showed he is suffering from arthritis. Jordan told  reporters “Rest is the best thing for him, for about a week now. He feels confident that he’ll feel great the rest of the year.”

“Philly.com” is reporting that Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson will miss Friday night’s game against the Boston Celtics due to Arthritis in his left knee. Iverson had the knee drained earlier this week and an MRI performed revealed the Arthritis. Iverson is considered day to day by the team.

Iverson is in his second stint with the Sixers after signing a Free Agent contract with them earlier this month. Last month Philladelphia staring point guard Louis Williams was lost due to a broken jaw he suffered against the Washington Wizards.

On Monday night the NBA careers of Chauncey Billups and Allen Iverson once again intersected as the Denver Nuggets took on the Philadelphia 76ers. And once again as has been the case over the last couple of seasons Billups came up on the top end of the exchange as he scored 31 points and led the Nuggets past Iverson and the 76ers 93-83.

The loss dampened the enthusiasm of the Philadelphia crowd who were Frickin Stoked to have Iverson back on the Sixers. This was just the most recent time over the last couple of years that Billups has ended up the on the better end of the exchange between the two players. However it was not always like this with Billups being the Frickin Hero and Iverson being the Frickin Goat. In fact at one time it was completely the opposite.

Allen Iverson came into the NBA during the 1996-1997 season after being selected with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the 76ers. He would take the league by Frickin storm winning NBA Rookie Of The Year as he averaged  23.5 points, 7.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. “The Answer” would win the NBA Scoring Title in 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2004–05. He was named the NBA MVP for the 2000-2001 season taking the Sixers to the Finals that year. He has been named the NBA All-Star MVP two different times. The only thing that A.I. does not have is that NBA Championship Ring.

Chauncey Billups came into the NBA the following season as his career started in 1997-1998 season after being taken with the third pick by the Boston Celtics in the 1997 NBA Draft. Now Billups was not the sensation that Iverson had been the year before with Philadelphia. In fact Billups did not even last one season with the Frickin Celtics. Rick Pitino who was calling all the Frickin shots back then for Boston and most likely took 10 years off Red Auerbach’s life traded Billups to the Toronto Raptors.

Billups became a vagabond, a journeyman; going from team to team and never really making that much of an impact in the early years of his career. He played with Denver for a couple of years and then with the T-Wolves for a couple more and was Frickin inconsistent at best. It was not until he signed with the Detroit Pistons in the Summer of 2002 that he found himself a home and took his career to the next Frickin level. Now Billups has never won a scoring title and has never been named the MVP of the NBA. However he does have that NBA Championship ring.

It was last season that the trade would happen that would effect both Iverson and Billups and the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets as well. Billups was sent to Denver while Iverson went to Detroit; the deal would work out great for the Nuggets and put the Pistons on a Frickin downward spiral. Billups was the Frickin spark-plug that got the Nuggets engine roaring as they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals when they lost to the Lakers.

Iverson had just the opposite effect on Detroit as one the elite teams of the decade fell apart at the Frickin seams. They ended up the number eight seed in the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs and were sent home after the first round. Iverson did not even show up for the games and he was onto try finding greener pastures this past summer.

New York Vinnie is sick and tired of writing about the Frickin trials and tribulations of he failed NBA marriage with the Memphis Grizzlies. You most likely are just as sick of reading them so we will skip talking about it other than to say that Iverson after being released by Memphis signed a deal to return to the Sixers last week. And Billups and the Nuggets were the first team he faced.

New York Vinnie has already written that I believe that Iverson will be a big help to the Sixers for the rest of the season but the only way we will find out is one game at a time. Will he have the kind of effect that Billups had with the Nuggets last year? When Allen feels needed and wanted there is not a better Frickin teammate to have; so he just might pull it off.

Now this Frickin deal makes sense! Destiny has been fulfilled and all is right with the Planet again (unless you are Stephen A Smith) as the Philadelphia 76ers and Free Agent Allen Iverson that they were the “Answer” to each other’s needs. The “Associated Press” reported on Wednesday what “The House That New York Vinnie Built” Le Basketbawl told you would happen last week.  The Philadelphia 76ers have signed Free Agent Allen Iverson for the rest of the year a deal that truly should be a win-win for all parties involved.

Now;  New York Vinnie knows that  you are thinking that I am going to be boasting about coming up with this scenario a day before any speculation was announced. Well you happen to be dead wrong. New York Vinnie wrote last week; It did not take Frickin Robert Downey Jr. as the New Frickin Sherlock Holmes to piece this Frickin mystery together.

New York Vinnie received an e-mail from another website on Friday saying they had the same idea but I had beat them to the punch. Philadelphia and Iverson makes Frickin sense there is a mutual Frickin need. All New York Vinnie did on Friday was pure Frickin speculation based on logic. It was not Mike Frickin Wallace investigative reporting.

The situation was perfect for both sides. The Sixers are without their starting point guard Louis Williams for what has been reported to be 8 weeks as he recovers from surgery  to repair a broken jaw. Iverson was loking for a starting gig in the NBA and now he has at least an 8 week try-out to see if he can still cut it as a starter for a contending team.  New York Vinnie believes that he will do just that; show that he can still play at a level where  he can be an asset to a contending NBA team.

There are no losers here (except for Stephen A Smith) as Jrue Holiday was not ready to be a starter in his first season in the NBA. Philadelphia has lost 7 straight games and Iverson will have to make it his mission to  turn the team around. New York Vinnie believes that he will because now A.I. has  what he so desperately craves; to feel wanted and needed.

So good luck to Allen and Philadelphia; Iverson knows this his last shot. New York Vinnie thinks that he will do what ever it takes this time to get the job done!