I watched the final seconds of game six of the NBA finals in Redstone restaurant in Eden Prairie Minnesota with some friends.  More than anything, I'm happy that Shaq is going to get some more hardware.  The rings they made for the Lakers were big enough, but Shaq still wanted something that would fit his hand better, so after the third championship, he had his own custom jeweler replicate the regular Lakers ring and made it into a HUGE ring that was much bigger than the already huge "normal" rings that the Lakers had made. 

I hate to say this, but I thought that Miami would probably have a big letdown tonight in the game and lose game 6 and really have to fight for game 7 on Thursday.  The X-factor tonight was Alonzo Mourning.  It's amazing that a guy with a kidney condition, who must be about 37 years old can still play the game as if he were 21.  Alonzo Mourning was everywhere on the court tonight....especially with his shot-blocking.  It's just really refreshing to see a few NBA warriors like Alonzo, Gary Payton, and Antoine Walker get championship rings.  Those guys have been showing up AND playing hard for years in the NBA and they deserve to win the big one.  I'm really happy for all of those guys.

I'm also glad that Mark Cuban is part of the NBA.  I look at what Mark Cuban has done for the Dallas Mavericks franchise and it is nothing short of miraculous.  When we go to the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, it feels like a college atmosphere with people painting their heads, bands playing, and a bunch of "texas" people on the front row with big old cowboy hats and boots.  It's an awesome place to play with great fans and I think Cuban has been a big part of that.  I heard he wrote some stuff in his blog about the NBA hierarchy and took some heat and had to pay a big fine.  I just went to his blog which is pretty cool and I wanted to show an excerpt from Mark Cuban's blog for you guys.

One Last Last Note: (Taken directly from Mark Cuban's Blog)
Im a competitive person. My blog is an outlet for that intensity. I dont blog about the normal things in my life that make up 99pct of my day. I like to blog about things that get me fired up in the Sport of Business. The things i get fired up about.  Ive been accussed more than once of having HID (Hyper Intensity Disorder….ok, i just made that up, but if it were truly a disease, I would claim that I had it). Not everyone likes that.

Tonight's game showed the wisdom of how Pat Riley has built the roster of the Miami Heat.  Dwayne Wade was the man tonight, but without Gary Payton on the Miami Heat, it's possible Dallas might already have won the series.  Pat Riley built the Heat with veteran players and they have been coming through in this series. 

We all remember Gary Payton's big shot in game three along with the steal by Udonis Haslem which basically brought the Heat back into striking range.  But tonight, it was Gary Payton's left handed shot that went high off the glass late in the game to keep the Heat around.

During the season I am a basketball player so I basically feel like Dallas and Miami are the enemy.  But now, because we didn't make the playoffs, I have reverted back into "fan mode" and I am definitely a Miami Heat fan.  First off, I would love to see Shaquille O'Neal get his fourth ring.  When someone like Shaq gives so much in the community (with the cameras turned off) and when he cares so much about his teammates of course you want to see him do well. The funny thing is that people tell me all the time right now during this series, "I want the Heat to do well b/c I'm a Shaq fan."

Jerry Stackhouse's foul on Shaq was definitely a flagrant and uncecessary foul, but to suspend a key player like Stackhouse in game 5 of the NBA finals for something like that might be a little bit excessive.  I'm still trying to figure out what I think about that foul.  Still and all, there may not be another player in the NBA that has the self-restraint that Shaquille O'Neal has.   Having played with Shaq as a teammate and against him, I can tell you that he doesn't care about hard fouls as long as it's a "clean" foul.  He will shrug them off, play through them and basically play as if he's got a few mosquitos swarming around him.  But anyone in the NBA who is foolish enough to try to give Shaq a cheapshot might as well check himself out of the game because Shaq will come back and  punish that opponent by scoring on him every time down the court in a very physical way.  Those are the rules of the game.

I've been away fromt the blog for a while lately, but I'm now starting to get back into it.  I did want to share a brief moment from the Annual Gala event that I attended last night in St. Paul which involved www.sotheworldmayhear.org 

I have two friends (Justin Osmond and Heather Sauber) who work in Minneapolis for the Starkey foundation.  They invited me to attend this year's "Gala" event and it opened my eyes to the lives of the hearing impaired.  Starkey Foundation takes hearing aids all across the world to donate them to those in third world countries that are hearing impaired.  This year, the Gala event honored the Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor for his involvement in community and in helping the Starkey mission.  Glenn and his family have an annual mission trip to build homes in south america and this next year they committed to go to Africa to help share hearing aids with those in need. 

The greatest line from the evening came from Lou Ferrigno's speech. (Lou used to play the Incredible Hulk in the TV series years ago and is slightly hearing impaired).  He thanked Bill and Tani Austin (founders of Starkey) and said that this couple has helped promote "better relationships in the world" through their hearing aids and charitable giving of hearing aids because women "like to be listened to" and now "I can listen better to my wife!"  Lou has been using the Starkey, cutting edge, hearing aids for some time now and they have changed his life.  I have to say that I am a big fan of Lou.  I'm not sure how old he is, (maybe 55 or 60) but he looks like he is still in good enough shape to enter a boxing ring for a prize fight.  (I am dead serious).  When I asked him what the secret to staying in shape was, he said the biggest thing is "consistency."   He was extremely personable. 

Bill and Tani Austin put on an evening for charity I will never forget.  In the past I've always been cynical and skeptical of celebrity charity events and I have never attended a single one.  Bill and Tani Austin, you guys made me a believer and it was an honor to be an attendee and to be part of such an inspiriational cause.  THANK YOU!!!

Phoenix vs. Clippers

Sam Cassel is my man, but the Suns will win game 7 vs. the Clippers on Monday night.  When the Suns run, they are almost unstoppable.  Sam Cassell has taken a very good team and with his leadership and shooting ability, and huge personality, Sam has made the Clippers great.  Elton Brand may be the best running big man in the NBA, but trying to chase Shawn Marion up and down the court in a game 7 situation in Phoenix could wear him down.  I really think that Shawn could be a world class 400 runner if he wanted to. 

San Antonio vs.  Dallas

Jason Terry was disspointed that he was suspended for game 6 of the series.  I watched the "incident" where Jason took a little shot at Michael Finley at the end of a little pile up.  To suspend Jason Terry for a game for something that was so small is tough.  It's one thing if someone grabs below the belt in the normal course of the game, as happened in the Denver series.  But Jason and Michael and Manu were all in a scrum and they were just scrapping.  Sometimes you react when you're getting hit and you just do things in the heat of the moment.  I definitely do not think that Jason's actions were premeditated in any way.  Here are some of Mark Cuban's thoughts taken from an article by Art Garcia of the Star-Telegram:

“I had some choice words for the league,” owner Mark Cuban said. “It’s certainly not consistent with what the league has done in the past.”

“The league also said they didn’t know if the Finley pile-driver with his hip to Jason’s head while Ginobili was lying on him was intentional or not,” Cuban said. “So they couldn’t do anything about it. Finley went berserk like the world ended, while Ginobili was on top of Jason, staring at the whole thing, and didn’t even react.”

“Unbelievable,” Cuban said. “When it’s all said and done, this series could end up being talked about for all the wrong reasons.”

Detroit vs. Cleveland

I'm cheating a little bit here because it's halftime of the Detroit Cleveland game right now and I'm sitting here watching it.  I still think that Detroit is going to win this game.  Flip Saunders is at his best in close game situations as are Rasheed and Chauncey and Rip Hamilton.  I am picking the Detroit Pistons to win the NBA championship this season.  I am also giving the "best beard" award to Zydrunas Ilgauskas.  

Chris Kaman



The Phoenix Suns are beginning to re-define the way NBA basketball is being played.  Starting in 1999, the NBA was really a strength league in some ways.  When I first got to the Lakers, Phil Jackson's "Performance Enhancement Coordinator", Chip Schaeffer, told me that in the Western Conference you had to be ready for a lot of great, tough, big men.  He went down the list and named the following players:  Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, Tim Duncan, Vin Baker, Chris Webber, Dirk Nowitzki, etc. 

Now it seems that the Suns have completely bucked the trend.  A few years ago, Boris Diaw was playing point guard for the Atlanta Hawks.  Now he is starting at Center for the Suns.  But the real reason why the suns can get away with going so small can be found with one person--Shawn Marion.  Shawn Marion is about 6'7 or 6'8" and skinny, but he is one of the best rebounders in the entire NBA.  People around the leauge say that Shawn Marion jumps as if he's on a pogo-stick. 

If the Suns win this series, look for other teams around the league to use the draft and free agency market to find a way to get "smaller, faster and quicker".  If the Clippers win this series, all of the experts will come out of the woodwork and say "Well, once again, we see that 'small ball' can't win a championship in the NBA.'"

I watched the Lakers vs. Suns first round playoff series faithfully and thought it was one of the best first round matchups in recent history.  I was extra interested given that I used to play for the Lakers and since two of my high school teammates played college basketball with Steve Nash at Santa Clara University.  Kevin Dunne and Randy Winn were seniors when I was a sophomore at San Ramon Valley High School.  The next year I watched them a lot at Santa Clara where along with Steve Nash they all helped Santa Clara's team to several years of greatness and some amazing upsets.  I would have never thought at that time that I was watching one of the greatest point guards who would ever play in the NBA.  It is amazing what hard work and perserverance can do and how Steve Nash's passing and shooting ability has changed the fortunes of an entire NBA franchise.  

It was also great to see a couple of old friends play for the Lakers.  Notably, it was a lot of fun to watch Kobe Bryant, Devean George, and Luke Walton make big plays for the Lakers and almost pull off a huge first round upset.  Kobe Bryant never ceases to amaze me.  Amost everywhere I go, people ask me what it was like to play with Kobe Bryant.  Random people I have never met ask me the question.  I thought that now would be a good time to talk about my interactions with Kobe on and off the court.  When I first got to LA, I remember meeting Kobe in the training room.  Kobe was there with his personal trainer and the first thing I thought in my mind is "Wow, Kobe must really be 6'7"!"   You never really know how tall people are until you're next to them.  Shaq is definitely 7'1" and Kevin Garnett is definitely taller than 6'11".  Kobe is easily 6'7" and it's crazy because I play center in the NBA sometimes and I'm about 6'8" and Kobe can play point guard and he's basically the same height.  The first year I was there, I can't tell you how many times I came into the game and Kobe tried to get me a dunk or a wide open layup to help me build some confidence.  One time after a tough game at Memphis he invited me to meet up with him and his high school buddy for a steak dinner.  Another time he stayed around after a game to meet up with the ten year old daughter of a buddy of mine for an autograph and a photo.  Still another time when I was upset about a certain on-court team issue, Kobe took the time to listen to everything I was going through and tried to help the situation.  Kobe Bryant went out of his way a lot when I was just figuring out what it was like to play in the NBA.

I felt badly after the game 7 loss that some members of the media tried to criticize Kobe for not shooting enough in the loss to the Suns.   It's extra interesting to me, because I watched that game very closely and analyzed the Suns' defensive schemes against Kobe.  In the first half it seemed like Suns threw a "soft double team" at Kobe whereas in the second half they trapped Kobe aggresively with two men and forced him to throw the ball out of the double team.  I actually thought that Kobe was doing a good job of trying to hit his open teammates but their shots weren't falling.  I guess if you are Kobe Bryant and you get 81 points you get criticized for shooting too much and if you only score 20-25 points then people say you are not shooting enough.  I thoroughly enjoyed the series and watching my old teammate Kobe play so well.  I think that the Lakers are back on the map.  I hope I get to see Deaven George this summer in Minnesota and maybe I'll see Luke Walton at some Pac-10 reunion.  (We never really had the Answer for Arizona basketball when I was at Stanford).  At any rate, I still hope we go 4-0 against the Lakers next season and 4-0 against the Suns.

Trenton Hassell Saves the Day

Last Thursday, the day after our loss to Memphis, we had to report to the Tria Medical Center in Bloomington for our end-of-season physicals.  It was probably the last time our entire team will be together until next fall.   Trenton Hassell came to the 7:30 AM physicals and he was talking about how he was bummed out  because he had to cut off his dream he was having that morning.  When we asked him about the dream he said that in the dream he was on a plane that had been hijacked and he was in the middle of "saving everyone on the flight" when the alarm clock sounded.    He'd be the right guy though in a situation like that--I can tell you that for sure.

Lake Calhoun

Today I decided it was time to do some long distance running so I went over to Lake Calhoun to see if I could run the entire lake.  I did some sprinting and walking and finally finished running two thirds of the lake at a good pace.  I was shocked at how many people were out there running and rollerblading.  It was awesome to be out there doing something normal during the summer time.  I'm glad to be here in MN for some of the warm months too.  I really love it out here.  If any of you readers are ever at the lake be sure to say hello.  I'll be the tall guy running on the dirt path getting passed by all of the marathon runner people with the heart rate monitors on.  Hopefully by the end of the summer I'll be one of those people and I'll be going fast like them too.   I'll head to Nebraska soon to see my sister and her husband and four kids and then out west for a while, but I'm really looking forward to doing my kids basketball camp in Champlin in late June at Champlin High School.

Kevin Garnett

I think the question the media and fans ask the most is "does KG want to stay in Minnesota" and "How is KG doing?"   Most of the questions I get from people are related to Kevin.  Well, let me address both of those questions by saying that of all the teammates I've had, Kevin is one of the guys who always is going to speak from his heart whether he's talking to us behind closed doors or whether he's talking to reporters.  So whatever he says to the media is a pretty accurate portrayal of what he's thinking about because he's upfront about things.  I know that towards the end of the season he took some time to himself to focus on training and having a little bit of privacy, but the answer that I give people is to just let Kevin have a normal few months free from worrying about all this stuff.    Until then, I think that he's taking some much deserved time to spend with his loved ones and friends.  Personally I think that there are a lot of national media members that like to stir up the pot and try to put words into the mouth of KG.  Of course fans and media people in NYC, Chicago and L.A. are going to fill message boards and chat rooms with rumors about KG going each place because those markets would love to have him.  Personally, I think that the mojave desert would freeze over for ten years straight before Mr. Taylor would trade Kevin Garnett.   There is no trade that would give MN equal value for Kevin. 

Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls

Just a little while ago I was watching the playoffs on TV.  I have to admit that it's very tough to watch other teams still playing.  Two nights ago, I got so frustrated that I called one of my friends and we went up to Flagship Athletic Club in Eden Prairie where he rebounded for me to help me work on my jump shot/set shot.  But tonight I was able to see what was going on in the Bulls/Heat series.   At halftime, Craig Sager highlighted the fact that In the first twelve posessions of the game, Shaq only touched the ball twice for the Miami Heat.  That was the reason why they lost the game tonight.  They never got Shaq involved.  I still remember game seven against the Sacramento Kings a few years ago when I was with the Lakers.  Before the game, Shaquile told everyone in the huddle to find him and to "give him the ball."  When you are the big man like shaq it is tough to watch your teammates hoist up a lot of threes without getting to touch the ball a lot.  Sometimes he'd come to the huddle in LA and say, "Fellas, just let me touch it."   When we got him the ball it opened things up for everyone.  If the Miami Heat will give Shaq more touches it will open everything else up for the rest of the team and Antoine Walker will be knocking down threes and Jayson Williams and Gary Payton will have a field day.  If not, it's going to be the Chicago Bulls getting long rebounds and turning the series into the proverbial "track meet" with all the runners they have on their team. 

Kenyon Martin

Let's start off by taking a look at the statement issued by Kenyon Martin.  It's refreshing when someone like Kenyon immediately comes out and apologizes for whatever happened.  To me that shows he's a man.

"First and foremost, I want to apologize to my teammates and coaching staff for my actions on Monday night," Martin said in his statement. "There is nothing more important to me than being a good teammate and giving 110 per cent effort each and every day. Nothing will ever change that.  I sincerely regret if this situation has been a distraction for the team, (Nuggets owner) Mr. Kroenke and the Denver Nuggets organization," Martin said. "I take the responsibility of representing the Denver Nuggets very seriously and I truly hope that Nuggets fans understand that."

I know Kenyon Martin as an opponent, but more importantly I know Kenyon as a friend.  This man is warrior and a GREAT basketball player.  He may be the quickest big man in the nba and one of the smartest players in the association.  I roomed with Kenyon Martin on a World University Games USA college team and this man is a class act.  I feel badly for what Kenyon is going through right now and I think his immediate statement that he issued shows he is very contrite.  I also saw George Karl's interview on SportsCenter and Coach Karl seemed to really show that he felt for what Kenyon was going through and seemed to express empathy for the tough knee injury that Kenyon has been fighting through.

As I'm sitting here watching the Denver/Clippers game the commentators are saying that Kenyon wants to talk to Coach Karl about the incident but Coach Karl does not want to talk about it right now with Kenyon because it's the playoffs and it's a busy/stressful time.   Who knows if they really know what's going on or not but having been through the playoffs I kind of understand where both sides are coming from.  I remember two years ago Kevin Garnett telling Ndui Ebi something like "Just get prepared because things in this locker room are about to get really intense during the playoffs and just know that nothing said in this room is personal even though it might seem like a hostile place." 

Now, I wasn't there for whatever incident took place, but the sooner the Denver staff can meet with Kenyon and the sooner they can crush whatever happened in the "incident" the sooner they will get one of the best players in the league back on the court as a contributor and a dominant force.

I thought that the following excerpt from Dave Campbell's Associated Press Article gives a small glimpse into some of the factors that helped Fred Hoiberg come to the decision of his retirement.

*****************

Though nobody has played in the NBA with a pacemaker, Hoiberg said that his aortic root -- which was dangerously enlarged when he found out a year ago during a routine life-insurance exam that it needed to be fixed -- was the biggest concern.

"Even though the risk of something serious happening is very low, there is a risk," Hoiberg said.

His wife, Carol, and his four children -- ages 8 and younger -- ultimately meant too much.

"They are the most important thing in the world to me, and I can't even imagine how nervous they would be every time I stepped on the floor," he said. "Not only during games, but also every day in practice. I just can't put my family through that."

He already gave his wife a huge scare last summer, when he fainted face-first on a hardwood floor at their home the day after the pacemaker was installed.

"I still think about that incident almost every day, and I think about the look on her face when I came to after being unconscious for two minutes," Hoiberg said. "I think about when I finally did come back, being in her arms and her saying, 'Don't leave me.'

"I just can't imagine what that must have been like for her."

******************

I saw Fred at his Chaska home about a week after the above-described incident and he was so weak that it was hard for him to speak and he could barely move.  To see Fred's progress over the last nine months has been inspirational.  The fact that Fred got himself in shape to play again is incredible.  I played a few three on three games with him on my team during the past three months (we didn't miss too many shots....ok...Fred didn't miss too many) and he looked great.  I guess right now everyone on the team is just happy for Fred's decision to stay with our organization.  Now he can take his basketball knowledge upstairs and really continue to help build the team and help this franchise through his basketball knowledge and his leadership.  Fred's wife, Carol and Fred's four children are a huge part of the organization already as are Fred's parents who routinely came to support the team even when Fred wasn't on the court.  Last year ESPN.com wrote an article that said Fred Hoiberg may be the best shooter in the history of the NBA. When you lose such a talented teammate who opened things up so much for KG, it's a blow.  But Freddy....and I know you're reading this because I've told you about this blog.....I'll still be seeing you at the Target center every day and I'll be knocking on your door in Chaska to get some of your BBQ ribs at least once a month!!  I'm coming to your shooting camp too for some free throw consultations!!!

I shouldn't have to get excited about this, but hey, tonight we won a game on the road for the first time in about 13 tries.   I thought that Marcus Banks had a great quote to describe our attitude towards this game when he said to the media, "I hope those guys back home [were] watching...Kevin, Ricky, Rashad, Troy....we did it for you."  Before the game we learned that Rashad wouldn't be suiting up tonight due to a severely sprained ankle.  Everyone is a little bit beat up, but Rashad's ankle was really bad; we hope he can make it back in a few days, but we'll see.  Even Marcus Banks had to get some physical therapy.  I watched our Therapist, Andre DeLoya, pull out an electric hammer and basically hammer all over Marcus' legs and back to loosen up his sore muscles.  Behind the scenes in an NBA locker room is watching a lot of grown men on the training table getting treatment for all kinds of injuries.  After the game, Coach Casey looked at Eddie Griffin and said, "Well Eddie, should we have a day off tommorrow in Indiana?"  Eddie smiled and gave coach an emphatic "yes".   Eddie Griffin dominated the game tonight in almost every way.  It seemed like Houston's players were afraid to drive into the paint and shoot knowing that Eddie would likely block their shot.  It will be nice to be able to sleep in tommorrow.  These late night flights can really tire you out. 

As pro-athletes, a lot of our time is spent on our back, in bed, in our hotel room watching shows like Larry King Live, Anderson Cooper, FoxNews, etc.  In order to be ready for practices and games we have to rest.... a lot.....Tonight on the bus ride from the airport to the hotel in Indiana Mark Blount and Trenton Hassell and a group of us on the bus talked about every major news story from the last couple of days including the 911 call in Detroit and probably every other major news topic that's been talked about.  Mark Blount likes to joke around with the younger players and tell them they are part of "Generation W" and they only care about the latest technology and being up with all the fashions.  Mark Blount is a GREAT guy to have on this team and has really emerged into a great leader of this team.