Commit To The Controversy

So the Blackhawks are starting to work their way back into the public consciousness of Chicago sports fans. That's great. Really, I mean it. As I've often said here in the past, I have nothing against hockey and I used to enjoy it a bit. It was just that Bill Wirtz caused me to abandon the Blackhawks, and the strike caused me to abandon the sport all together.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who left for these reasons because now that Dollar Bill is dead, people are showing up to the United Center again, and people are actually talking about the team again. Seriously, you hear about the Blackhawks on sports radio in this city again. For the last five years or so, the only time you heard about the Blackhawks was if somebody was making fun of them.

Still, being back in the public consciousness also leads to problems. When nobody pays any attention to you, you can do whatever the hell you want and not worry about the consequences. When they are paying attention to you, you can get yourself in trouble from time to time.

Which is what seems to be happening at the moment. Remember last week when coach Denis Savard ripped into his team after a 1-0 loss, and told them they had to "commit to the Indian?"

Well, as you'd expect in this politically correct world we now live in, the phrase has rubbed some people the wrong way. Take the Chicago Sun-Times' Carol Slezak for instance.

The phrase has struck a chord with Hawks fans, many of whom would like to adopt it as the team's slogan. President John McDonough has been inundated with e-mails suggesting ways the Hawks can market the phrase, and you already can buy ''Commit to the Indian'' T-shirts online. Clearly Hawks fans are rediscovering their passion for the team, and that's great. But not everyone is happy about the way they've latched onto Savard's poor choice of words.

Count Podlasek -- executive director of the American Indian Center at 1630 W. Wilson on the North Side -- among the unhappy.

''For a fan base to use that statement as its motto is terrible,'' he said. ''What are they teaching the kids? These old symbols perpetuate the belief that American Indians are a thing of the past and that natives don't exist.''

Hey, it's Chief Illiniwek all over again!

I'm not going to get into a big debate about whether or not teams should have an Indian as it's mascot, but I will say that it doesn't bother me in the slightest. What I don't get is how the Blackhawks using an indian head logo is going to "perpetuate the belief that American Indians are a thing of the past and that natives don't exist."

Really?

I'm willing to bet that if the Blackhawks weren't named the Blackhawks that the majority of children in this city would grow up never knowing what in the hell a Blackhawk was, let alone whether or not they ever existed.

Now some people might say that I don't know what it's like since I'm not a native American, and I can't possibly know what it feels like to see my heritage exploited. These same people ignore the fact that as an Italian, I've spent my entire life seeing Italians in movies portrayed as nothing but members of the mob.

When I meet somebody and they hear my last name, I'm inevitably going to get the "Are you in the mafia?"

Does this bother me? No. Just like it doesn't bother any of my Irish friends that Notre Dame calls it's sports team the Fighting Irish, perpetuating the stereotype that all Irish people do is drink and fight. (Actually, that's not a stereotype. That's 100% true except they also eat a lot of corned beef and hash in between the two.)

The truth is that sports teams are just entertainment sources for people, they're not the moral compass of our society. Anybody who thinks otherwise isn't somebody you should be listening to.

Foul Balls

Bustin' Caps At Kams - I wrote about this at FanHouse last night, but I'm going to write about it here as well because I can. Yesterday it was announced that the Illini had suspended freshman linebacker Erique Robertson indefinitely for violating team rules.

That's all we got at first, but then later in the day Robertson appeared in court, and we all found out exactly what he'd done.

University of Illinois football player Erique Robertson has pleaded not guilty to felony charges for allegedly firing a gun at a Champaign bar.

The 19-year-old freshman is charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of weapons. Both are felonies.

Champaign police spokeswoman Rene Dunn said Robertson was arrested about 1:45 a.m. Sunday in front of Ellusions, a local bar. No one was injured.

I have no idea why Robertson brought the gun to the bar, and no idea why he fired the thing. What I want to know is where the hell is Ellusions? It sure as hell wasn't there when I lived in Champaign, and I don't remember seeing it anytime I've visited since then. Is it a townie bar?

No, wait, it can't be a townie bar. They wouldn't let a 19-year old into a townie bar, and everybody has a gun.

Any U. of I. students want to fill me in in the comments?

Gilbert Gives Leitch Two Thumbs Up - I got my copy of Leitch's "God Save the Fan" last Thursday, and I was finished reading it by Saturday. I don't tell you this to impress you with my reading skills (admittedly it goes over great with the ladies) I only say it so when I tell you it's a good book, you know I've actually read the whole thing.

But hey, if you don't want to take my word for it, take Gilbert Arenas'. From Gil's blog,

Have you seen the new book that came out, God Save the Fan? Will Leitch came out with the book. Thank you Will Leitch! Got to give a shout out to Will Leitch and Deadspin for coming out with the book God Save the Fan. I’m just going to tell you guys to go get the book, because I’m in Chapter 2. I mean, the title might be a little hard for some of you to read, especially since me and LeBron James are best friends. It’s about me and LeBron and it’s somewhere along the lines of “Why Gilbert is Better for the Game than LeBron” … it’s somewhere along those lines. I don’t want Cleveland fans to get mad at me, I didn’t write the book, I just read it. It’s kind of funny because me and him have been best friends over the five years since he’s been in this league. I was just grateful being mentioned with him. When I’m done playing and after all is said and done and he’s compared in Jordan likeness, I’m going to show my kids the book and be like, “Look at this here. Y’all see this, kids? Told you I was somebody. Y’all thought I was playing.” LeBron and I are really friends though, the whole free throw thing in the playoffs was just trash talking.

I know what you're thinking, and I'm shocked as well. I had no idea athletes could read either. Kinda makes me want to watch what I say around here.

Michael Wilbon Had A Heart Attack - When I sat down to watch Pardon The Interruption yesterday, like I do every day, I was pissed when I saw that Michael Wilbon wasn't on the show. Instead he was replaced by J.A. Adande, and I told myself "At least it's not Dan Le Batard."

Tony Kornheiser explained Wilbon's absence saying he was under the weather and had some minor chest pains. Turns out, Willy Buns had a heart attack.

Michael Wilbon acclaimed longtime columnist at the Washington Post and Pardon the Interruption (PTI) co-host suffered a minor heart attack this morning. It was reported that at 3 a.m. he complained of chest pains to his wife who took him to the hospital. Doctors found minor blockage in his heart and performed an angioplasty, which successfully removed the blockage.

Though he is weary he is expected to be back at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona tomorrow.

Get better, Wilbon. And lay off those sticky buns.

Gilbert Arenas Has Plans

Tonight on NBC we have our newest reality show debuting, and this one features Mark Phillippoussis, a tennis player. It's called Age of Love, and I will not be watching it. I suggest you all do the same.

There is one athlete filming a reality show this summer that I will totally watch over and over again should it ever reach the air. That's right, Gilbert Arenas has big plans for this offseason, and one of them is a reality show.

Right now I’m booking my trip to Tahiti with the family... I’m going to try not to get hurt or eaten by any sharks or stabbed in the chest by any stingrays...

I’m contemplating on a Reality TV show. I might do one this summer if ESPN will pick it up... That’s for this summer and then I have one next summer and it’s going to be the business side of me and that should be funny because I don’t know anything about business so I’m going to sound like Paris Hilton or Jessica Simpson. I mean, I’m not going to sound like, “Do buffalo wings come from buffaloes?” There ain’t going to be any comments like that, but for business people, I’m going to sound like a straight idiot...

I’m writing a book. It ain’t going to be the T.O. “I Need My Ball” or whatever that book was called. It ain’t going to be the Phil Jackson book. Mine is going to be more like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Mine is going to be like that with more funny stuff.

I'm also shooting a reality show of my own that has been picked up by FOX. In it you will get to follow me around and watch how all the blogging magic happens. There will also be glimpses into my personal life, like me just walking around with my shirt off and flexing, or running up to girls and punching them in the face.

I call it flirting!

(via With Leather)

Agent Zero Has Been Killed

For this season, anyway.

Wizards fans are now officially on suicide watch as the word on Gil's knee has come down. It's a meniscus tear and he's out 2-3 months, but the Wizards won't be playing basketball in 2-3 months, so his season is over.

From the Wizards Insider:

Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas will be out two to three months with a lateral left meniscus tear in his knee. The injury will require arthroscopic surgery, which will be performed today at Sibley Memorial Hospital by team doctor Marc Connell.

The Wizards (39-35) have eight games remaining in the regular season, are currently seeded sixth in the Eastern Conference and are one full game behind Miami in the Southeast Division. All-Star forward Caron Butler (broken bone in right hand) is already out for six weeks.

This is a sad day for bloggers everywhere, for we view Arenas as a Messiah. Well, with a lot better jump shot, anyway.

The Basketball Diaries - Gilbert Does It Again

Washington Wizards 108 Seattle Supersonics 106

Maybe every team in the NBA should find a way to piss off Gilbert Arenas. Giving him a reason to seek revenge against you may be the only way to stop him. After struggling in Portland during one of his "revenge games," Gil went to Seattle where he has no beef. He then went out and scored 42 points, including a runner at the buzzer that gave the Wiz a victory over the Sonics. Gotta feel bad for the Sonics Chris Wilcox though, the guy goes out and scores 27 points while grabbing 22 rebounds, and his team doesn't even win. That's gotta hurt.

Dallas Mavericks 98 Cleveland Cavaliers 90

Here's the difference between the Mavs and the Cavs. Both Dirk and LeBron struggled during the game, but Dirk actually has other good players on his team, and those teammates picked up his slack to give Cleveland it's second straight loss following their 9-game win streak. "That's why we are a great team, because other guys stepped up when we needed them," said Nowitzki.

Los Angeles Clippers 104 Milwaukee Bucks 103

Who the hell is this Jason Hart? The guy gets cut by the Kings last week, the Clippers pick him up and insert him into the starting lineup, and now dude is hitting game-winning jumpers. Hart's shot with 3 seconds left bounced around the rim a couple of times before dropping in, and the Clips got their second straight road win. There's some question as to whether or not Elton Brand may have tipped it in, but Hart isn't about to share any of the credit. "He didn't tip it," Hart said. "It was right there. It was clear as day. If he had tipped it, the way they were calling the game, they would have called a no-basket. The high flyers, they know not to tip the ball around because of the chance it is going to be goaltending." Hart was heard later crying to himself in the shower, "I'm the man. I'm the man."

Elsewhere...

• Heat 91 Hawks 83
• Raptors 92 Magic 85
• Bobcats 92 Celtics 84
• Spurs 90 Pacers 72
• TWolves 95 Kings 89

"And I Was Like..."

Sometimes other bloggers write something so unique you just have to link and get out of the way. Will Leitch, Big Daddy Drew, Free Darko... and now, Gilbert Arenas.

Agent Zero has a new blog entry and all I can say is I'm, like, amused.

The Basketball Diaries - Well, That was Boring

If you would have told me yesterday that I'd enjoy the Daytona 500 more than the NBA All-Star game, I would have punched you in the face. Not because I thought you were crazy, but because I am crazy and have anger issues.

Seriously, the All-Star game sucked last night. The highlight of the weekend was by far Barkley-Bavetta. The game itself was just sloppy.

The West beat the East 153-132, and Kobe took MVP honors with 31 points and 6 assists.

The best part of the game took place during a commercial break, when Gilbert Arenas joined a group of dunking Elvis impersonators and dunked off of a trampoline.

How in the hell Arenas' coach, Eddie Jordan, let him do that, I have no idea.

The prevailing feeling I got while watching the game, though, was pretty obvious to everybody involved. None of the players really cared. It was kinda like a glorified practice. Chauncey Billups didn't bother trying to hide his feelings about the game afterward.

"I didn't like it at all. I loved being here. I loved being a part of it, but I don't like it at all. We need something to make the guys play a little harder, to compete against one another...If I paid my hard-earned money to see KG and Kobe and Wade, I want to see them really play. You know what I'm saying? Not practice. I want to see them play."

I understand what Chauncey is saying, and it would be nice if the NBA did something to make the game mean more so that players tried harder. Of course, I don't mean that the NBA should follow baseball's lead and put home-court advantage in the Finals on the line, but they need to do something.

Infighting in Washington

Things are starting to come apart for the Washington Wizards. They're still in first place in the Southeast Division, but they've lost 4 of their last 5 without Antawn Jamison, and they're fighting each other.

Literally.

First there was the fight between Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas last week, the third between the two in the last couple of years, and now Gilbert Arenas and coach Eddie Jordan are fueding.

After promising to score 50 points against Portland in Sunday's game, and ending up with only nine points, it was obvious that Agent Zero was frustrated.

Gilbert thinks that the coaching staff is being too hard on the team in Jamison's absence to try and make up for his loss.

"It's easy to lose focus when you're just drilling us that if we make a mistake we're going to be coming out. Truthfully, that's how you lose concentration. You lose focus because you're scared to actually play basketball. His standpoint is that since we lost Antawn, we have to pick it up somewhere else and that's defense."

Eddie Jordan responded to Gilbert in his press conference.

"My reaction to that? That I emphasize defense? No reaction. Next question...You guys approach me with what Gil said about defense. I don't know why you ask me that. It's stupid. Plain stupid. The whole idea of us asking them to play defense better. Is that a problem? It's ludicrous."

Jordan then went on to take a little shot at his team, and said that nobody besides Jamison is a leader on the team.

"First of all, we didn't have the leadership out there that we needed with Antawn out. And no one else has stepped up into a leadership role. And frankly, we didn't have enough talent out there on the floor."

Jordan then went on to call Arenas a great scorer, but not a leader.

Arenas, of course, was not done talking to the media, and he's not so sure it's a lack of leadership that's hurting the team right now.

"First period of the game we had what, 11 players go in? I've never seen that before. We get taken out for any mistake we make on defense. At the end of the day, it's hard to play like that. You figure to get beat. It's the NBA. Players are going to beat you, players are going to get offensive rebounds on you, players are going to make great plays. If you get penalized for it, you're out there playing like a robot...It's just not the right time. We're focusing on the wrong things right now. We should focus on what got us here. That's all I'm trying to say."

Just because he isn't playing, doesn't mean Antawn Jamison has stopped leading the team. The only reason Gilbert stopped talking to the media after the game? Antawn Jamison pulled him away from reporters before he could say anything really bad.

It's hard to tell whether or not Arenas is actually frustrated, or if this is just his newest way to motivate himself. Whatever it is, the Wizards better get their stories straight or they could kill any chance they have of winning the Eastern Conference.

The Basketball Diaries-Kirk Hinrich is A Speedy White Point Guard Too

Chicago Bulls 116 Phoenix Suns 103

Oh sure, they'll tell you it doesn't really count since Steve Nash and Boris Diaw weren't playing. Don't worry. They're idiots. It's not like the Bulls weren't shorthanded themselves. They were without Andres Nocioni and PJ Brown. It's completely the same thing. Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng both had 29 points, and Ben Gordon had 27. When those three shoot like they did on Sunday night, I don't think Steve Nash or Boris Diaw make a difference. "When Steve doesn't play, it's not the same," Scott Skiles said. "He IS the style that they play, but that's why you've got to win the game. When somebody's short-handed like that, you've got to be able to win the game. I thought our guys were great today."

Portland Trail Blazers 94 Washington Wizards 73

Gilbert Arenas said he was going to score 50 against Portland. It was another of his revenge games. Arenas has vowed revenge against anybody who had anything to do with him being cut from Team USA last summer, and that included Portland head coach Nate McMillan. Gilbert didn't stick to his end of the deal. He finished with only 9 points while hitting 3 of 15 shots. He was also 0/8 from behind he arc. "That's like a dude saying he's going to punch you in your face." said Jarrett Jack. "With a guy like him, Kobe or LeBron, the easy way to guard him is don't let him get the ball back when he passes it. We did a good job of trying to deny him when he was one pass away, and my big guys did a great job of helping me whenever he got by me."

Minnesota Timberwolves 109 Boston Celtics 107

Before last night, when I've been watching a Bulls game lately, and they blow a late lead like they did in Sacto and at Golden State, I try to put things in perspective. "Well, at least I don't have to watch the Celtics." Though to be fair, I know what it's like to watch the Celtics. I watched the Bulls during the Eddy Curry/Tyson Chandler Era. Boston has now lost 18 in a row, with Sunday's loss coming in cruel fashion. Paul Pierce gave the Celtics a 105-101 lead late, but Minnesota battled back. Randy Foye found a wide open Ricky Davis in the corner, and he buried a jumper with 0.2 seconds left to bury his former team. "It is tough, the guys played so hard and deserve to win," said Paul Pierce. "We did everything we could. Down the stretch they made the last play. You can feel it in the locker room, each loss definitely hurts. These guys are going to keep playing hard. We just need to get it out of our head."

Elsewhere...

• Heat 100 Spurs 85
• Pacers 94 Clippers 80
• Cavs 99 Lakers 90
• Mavs 106 Sixers 89
• Hawks 106 Warriors 105
• Sonics 114 Kings 103

The Hibachi is Money

Sticking with the NBA players and gambling theme today, comes this story from our favorite, Gilbert Arenas.

According to Gil's blog, he'd been trying to get his teammates to shoot against him in practice to prepare for the three-point competition at the All Star game.

I’ve been practicing for the last two weeks for my three-point competition.

I have to bring that trophy home. I have to.

I’ve been making bets around the team because there’s a couple guys on this team that said they’re better shooters from the college three-point line than me.

One of them, Roger Mason, what he did was reasonable.

He made 81 out of 100 from the college three.

You know, I went and I don’t know how many I would have made out of 100.

I stopped at 82 and walked out of the gym. So I won that bet, but we wasn’t betting for money (wink, wink).

Gilbert then goes on to say how the entire team was rooting against him, including DeShawn Stevenson.

Then there was a sidekick of his, DeShawn Stevenson. I told him that I’d shoot with one-hand from college three better than he can shoot with both hands from NBA three.

He really doesn’t want to make that bet. He keeps brushing it off.

That was from Arenas' last post on Thursday. On Friday, Stevenson accepted the challenge.

Arenas was to shoot 100 college three-pointers with one hand against Stevenson shooting NBA three-pointers with two hands. They both put $20,000 on the line, and whoever hit the most shots won the money.

Luckily for all of us, somebody recorded the entire thing, and the Wizards website posted it on YouTube.

Long live the Hibachi.

The Basketball Diaries-Trade LeBron!!

Cleveland Cavaliers 124 Golden State Warriors 97

Seriously, the Cavs should trade LeBron. To the Bulls. For Chris Duhon. Just look at the results, they killed Golden State last night without him. Who needs LeBron James when you have a player like Sasha Pavlovic? Not only does he have a cool name like Sasha, but he also scored 24 points last night to lead Cleveland. It's not just last night, either, it's been this way throughout James' career. He's missed 10 games due to injury, and in those ten games, the Cavs are 8-2.

Washington Wizards 104 Detroit Pistons 99

The Wizards beat Detroit for the second time in five days behind Gilbert Arenas. Agent Zero had 36 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds to lead Washington, who hold the best record in the Eastern Conference. There is bad news though, as Antawn Jamison had to leave the game after banging knees with DeShawn Stevenson early. The Wizards don't know how long they're going to have to go without Jamison. "We've won some games even without Gilbert over the last year or two," coach Eddie Jordan said. "Look at Cleveland tonight -- they killed Golden State without LeBron (James), so things like that happen in the league. You can withstand it for a couple of games, but in the long run you eventually wear down."

Miami Heat 110 Milwaukee Bucks 80

Dwyane Wade did such a good job in the first three quarters of this game, that the Heat just didn't need him in the fourth. Wade had 28 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds in three quarters of action, and the Heat had a pretty easy time with Milwaukee. Hell, Wade outscored Milwaukee by himself in the first quarter, 16-14. "I came in tonight wanting to get my teammates involved in the game," Wade said. "Sometimes when I do that, it sets me up, too. I was getting a lot of open looks."

Elsewhere...

• Pacers 103 Celtics 96
• Knicks 99 Lakers 94
• Mavs 122 Sonics 102

NBA All Star Starters Announced

The NBA announced the starters for this year's All Star game in Las Vegas. There weren't many surprises, except for one: Gilbert Arenas made a late surge in the fan voting to surpass Vince Carter and earn the spot on the Eastern Conference roster.

Vince Carter didn't even know he was left off the roster. When he was asked about the All Star game yesterday, Carter responded as if he made the team.

"I'm thrilled. It's always a great feeling to be selected as an All-Star and as a starter, so I'm happy."

Vince was then informed he wasn't voted in this season.

"Hey, whatever. It's still an honor to be involved with it."

Here are this year's starters.

Eastern Conference

• Gilbert Arenas
• Dwyane Wade
• LeBron James
• Chris Bosh
• Shaquille O'Neal

Western Conference

• Kobe Bryant
• Tracy McGrady
• Kevin Garnett
• Tim Duncan
• Yao Ming

It only makes sense that both starting centers have missed significant time this season due to injury. The reserves will be announced next week, and it will be a crime if Luol Deng and Ben Gordon aren't included among them.

The Basketball Diaries - You Cannot Stop the Power of the Hibachi

Washington Wizards 99 New York Knicks 98

Gilbert Arenas has become so feared in the closing seconds of games, that even when he's not taking the game winner, he still beats you. With a one point lead late, the Knicks did everything in their power to keep Agent Zero from taking the shot. They succeeded too, except Arenas found Antawn Jamison, who found Deshawn Stevenson, who in turn found Caron Butler for an easy dunk with 2.2 seconds left to win it for Washington. "So much of the focus was on Gilbert, and that enabled us to get open," said Butler, who had 27 points and a career-high 10 assists. "DeShawn made a great play. We made eye contact, and he threw it to me on the backdoor slip and I just finished real strong on the dunk."

Chicago Bulls 99 Milwaukee Bucks 90

For the first three quarters the Bucks were able to make the Bulls do exactly what they wanted to. They got them involved in an up tempo game, and the Bulls played sloppy. Of course, when you're short four players due to injuries, playing a fast paced game is a bit shortsighted. In the fourth quarter the Bulls outscored the Bucks 32-17 to take the lead, and go home with a rare win in Milwaukee. "It was not a beautiful game, that's for sure," said Scott Skiles, after watching his team commit 22 turnovers. "We kept saying the whole game we were doing a good job of turning them over, but on many occasions we kept giving it right back to them."

Phoenix Suns 100 Houston Rockets 91

The NBA schedule makers were not kind to the Rockets this week. It's always tough to play back-to-back games, but when you have to do it against the Mavericks and Suns, well, that's just downright mean. The fact that Tracy McGrady was out with a ...wait for it...back injury didn't help Houston much either. Still, Houston had a 15-point lead in the third quarter before the Suns charged back thanks to 21 points and 14 assists from Steve Nash. "We weren't here mentally for the first quarter and a half and we didn't play great after that," said Nash, "But we played good enough."

Elsewhere...

• Raptors 101 Kings 85
• Nets 92 Bobcats 85
• Jazz 100 Pistons 99
• Hawks 105 Timberwolves 88
• Grizzlies 118 Sixers 102
• Lakers 100 Spurs 96
• Blazers 94 Cavs 76
• Clippers 115 Warriors 109

The Basketball Diaries-M! V! P!

Washington Wizards 114 Utah Jazz 111

If the season ended today, and we had an MVP vote, we'd give it to Gilbert Arenas. Not only is he the most entertaining player in the league, but we're pretty sure the Wizards would really suck without him. Yesterday, Gilbert hit a three-pointer as time expired to give himself 51 points and the Wizards a victory over Utah. It was his second game-winner in seven days. "MVP? That trophy is given out at the end of the year," Arenas said. "This is [37] games into the season so you can't do too much about it. Right now, Steve Nash is above everybody. You have to really do something dramatic in this league. If Kobe averages 35 with an 81 and he didn't get it, you have to do something else in this league to overtake what Steve Nash has done."

Los Angeles Lakers 124 Miami Heat 118 OT

The NBA has a rule that says the Lakers and Heat are only allowed to play each other on holidays. Whether it's Christmas or MLK Day, neither would ever feel the same without these two "rivals" colliding. Dwyane Wade had 35 points to Kobe's 25, but the Lakers emerged from the game victorious. Former Illini Brian Cook was also a large factor for the Lakers, scoring 25 points.

Minnesota Timberwolves 94 Detroit Pistons 90 OT

With the soon-to-be newest Piston, Chris Webber, watching from the front row, the Pistons lost in overtime to Minnesota at home yesterday. The Timberwolves are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now, winning 7 of 8 in January, including 4-0 in overtime. Kevin Garnett had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Ricky Davis dropped in 21 points. "It's huge that we've been through these games," Davis said. "Everything is a little smoother because we know we can win them and we've been there a whole lot of times. They picked it up on us, but we came back."

Elsewhere...

• Knicks 102 Kings 97
• Bucks 99 Bobcats 91
• Hawks 100 Celtics 96
• Bulls 99 Spurs 87
• Raptors 104 Sixers 86
• Nets 105 Pacers 95
• Warriors 108 Clippers 93
• Suns 137 Grizzlies 122

Violet Palmer is a Horrible Official

The Bulls lost to the Wizards 113-103 last night in Washington.

We're not here to make excuses, cuz even without the horrid officiating from Violet Palmer, the Bulls still would have lost.

But two ridiculous calls left us wondering how in the hell Violet Palmer has a job.

The first came at the end of the first quarter. With 3.2 seconds left, the Bulls had a foul to give. After the ball was inbounded to Gilbert Arenas, Hinrich fouled him immediately at 3 quarters court.

Arenas knew it was coming, so as Hinrich fouled him, he flailed his arms wildly into the air.

Violet Palmer awarded Arenas with three free throws.

Scott Skiles was so pissed off, he stormed to halfcourt and was hit with a technical.

It was one of the biggest BS calls we've ever seen. We don't blame Gilbert, we love him. In fact we think it was a brilliant move on his part, but the fact that Violet Palmer actually believes that Arenas was in the act of shooting is stupidity along the lines we've never seen before.

"In the 20 years that I've been in the league, I've seen that shooting motion hundreds of times from guys trying to get that call, and I've never seen it awarded before. I didn't get an explanation."

-Scott Skiles

Violet wasn't done, however. In the fourth quarter, with the outcome still in question, Kirk Hinrich was bringing the ball up the court. Tailing him the whole way was the Wizards Antonio Daniels. Daniels was running side by side with Hinrich, hand checking him the whole way.

Well Antonio wasn't looking straight ahead, so he didn't see Ben Wallace. Wallace, who was walking up court, didn't see him either.

So as a result, Daniels ran right into Wallace.

Violet Palmer then called Ben Wallace for an offensive foul.

We aren't the type to complain about officiating, in any sport, but Violet Palmer's performance last night was a joke. The NBA needs to address this matter, or just leave Violet Palmer to calling meaningless games between the Bobcats and Celtics.

The Basketball Diaries - Hibachi!!

Washington Wizards 147 Los Angeles Lakers 141 (OT)

The Hibachi was cooking last night for the Wizards. Gilbert Arenas set a franchise record with 60 points as he outdueled Kobe in Kobe's house. 16 of Arenas' 60 points came in the 5-minute overtime, including a stretch where he scored 14 consecutive. "It was bound to happen," Arenas said. "I'm a scorer, so I was going to have one of those days where I was clicking. Most of the time when I've scored 46 in three quarters, we were blowing the other team out, so I didn't get to play in the fourth. But tonight was that time. It was a close game and I stayed in. I found the rhythm, especially in the fourth quarter and in overtime, and I never looked back." Kobe managed a rather pedestrian 45 points in the Lakers loss.


Houston Rockets 108 Los Angeles Clippers 103

The Rockets proved to everyone and themselves that they can win a game without Tracy McGrady. Yao Ming scored 32 points and had 10 rebounds as the Rockets scored a tough road win against the Clippers. Rafer Alston added 24 points, and Luther Head scored 14 more to help lead the Rockets.


Detroit Pistons 97 Seattle Supersonics 93

The Pistons didn't have Rasheed Wallace thanks to some sore ankles, but they were able to find something out about seldom used Jason Maxiell. Starting in Wallace's absence, Maxiell scored 17 points and 12 rebounds, including hitting the game winning shot with 6.8 seconds left. "Mr. Big Shot had the ball, so I wasn't expecting to get it," Maxiell said, referring to Billups. "I was about to go to the rack when he dished me the ball."


Elsewhere...

• Raptors 120 Warriors 115
• Jazz 104 Pacers 94