What a joke!  Jerry Stackhouse can't keep himself from dropping a dime on himself and what the plans of the Nets / Mavericks regarding his playing after the trade.  You see, what was supposed to go down was this: the Mavs get Jason Kidd and bodies and the Nets get bodies, draft choices, and $.  One of those bodies was going to be a short-term deal, Stackhouse.  He would report, the Nets would release him within a month's time, and he would resign with the Mavs.  He would lose no money, go from a team that is thankful the Knicks are in their division, rest a little, and then refreshed go back to a team that is going to contend for a title AND with J Kidd running the show!  But he had to inform on himself to the NBA police and the deal was off.

Or so it seemed.  You see, here is where the double-standard kicks in.  The NBA didn't want the teams to get around the intent of the trade just to satisfy the salary cap requirements on trades.  Here, Stackhouse was going to return to the Mavs after a short term, so he really wasn't "traded".  Ah, but you have to love loopholes.  When a player no longer is playing but hasn't filed with the NBA office his retirement papers, he can stay the property of the team he last played for.  Therefore if he wants to "unretire", such as Chris Webber last year halfway through the season (we should call this the Roger Clemens Rule), he can play for the team he last played for.

And that is how this trade got done.  By some miracle (read, a new contract for going to the Nets, "attempt" a comeback for a period of time, and then decide that your legs just won't carry you the rest of the season) Keith Van Horn decided it was time to attempt to add to his career stats.  Lets be real.  While the NBA says they looked into the reasons for Van Horn coming back and they are legit (if you are faking they will know - now how in the world will they know?, not everyone is Stackhouse and is going to tell everyone what they really are thinking), why in the world would he comeback to a team that has lost the season series to the Knicks?  He can't be trying to make a post-season push like Kidd.  But for sweating for a month or so he will collect some good $$$.  Enough dollars that you and I could retire on.  For a month's fake work.  And you thought the supposed college jobs wre you wouldn't even have to show up to the booster's business to get paid were a scam.

But our question is, NBA, why is one okay but the other not?

The on-again / off-again /on-again trade of the Nets point guard supreme to the Dallas Mavericks is a joke.  Besides the questions as to why Dallas wants Kidd (we know, he is a great guard, but they need help in hte forecourt, not the backcourt if they want to challenge LA and Phoenix).  The affair became funny when Devean George envoked his right not to be traded.  We could all understand that, why leave the playoof contender and luxury conditions that Mark Cuban provides for the swamps of New Jersey?  But then Jerry Stackhouse had to open his mouth.

Here is where the silliness begins.  The plan, as according to Stackhouse, was for him to join the Nets and after a short period of time (and probable rest), he would be bought out of his contract (after all, New Jersey already has two players that play his position in Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter) and he would resign with the Mavericks in time for the stretch run.  But he had to open his mouth and now, supposedly, the NBA has stated that Stackhouse cannot be a part of the deal because of the deception (David Stern denies that the league office says Stackhouse cannot be part of the deal).  Deals like this happen all the time, but its done so the NBA doesn't take it in the face when its to get around its rules.  All Stackhouse had to do was shut his mouth, spend a month or less in dreary New Jersey, get bought out, and return to the Mavs.  And the beauty - they would have Kidd to lead them to a potential Western Confrence Final.  Now its possible he will remain a Mav and without getting Kidd, which means the team will be poorer.

It is possible the deal will be ressurected, and it sounds as if it is with Keith Van Horne replacing Stackhouse.  But it was so close that to his own benefit that Stackhouse not only blew it for himself but for his team by being heard, whereas he should have just been seen.

A week ago Bobby Knight stpped down as the head basketball coach of Texas Tech University.  A firestorm ensued for his timing - it was selfish, it was irresponsible, he would have taken a chair to any of his players if they were to quit on him, and it was loyalty.  In Coach Knights own code of ethics, he saw that with a new president coming in at Texas Tech they potentially may not honor the agreement to have Knight's son, Pat, take over as head coach when Knight steps down.  What are some more wins on a Hall of Fame career when he could step aside and allow his son ten games to get his resume together in case he is released at the end of the year when Texas Tech conducts a formal search for its next head coach.

There is no question regarding Bobby Knight's antics over the course of his career.  They taint his accomplishments.  It makes it difficult to answer the question "would you send your son to play for Coach Knight?".  There are no ifs here, you either say yes or no.  And if its no, its because you base it on chair throwing, reporter dumping, whipping of a player at a news conference, etc., etc., etc.  Poor choices at humor and expression.  Things that would get his players in trouble if they did it.  At the same time he was a coaching genius.  Revolutionizing game preparation.  There was a time where you didn't want to give "Coach Knight two days to prepare" because that was all he would need to defeat you.  There is also the loyalty that he shows to his former players, such as Landon Turner who is confined to a wheelchair after an auto accident.  It was Knight that arranged for him to be taken care of.  Now he is trying to do the same for his son, as any father would do.  Yes, he has not completed his contract, and he has left the players that he recruited, but he was going to leave at the end of the year, the team is not perfroming at a championship level, therefore, there is nothing for the team to lose and everything for it to gain if the "new" Coach Knight shows that he has learned at the knee of his father how to coach the game.

Wow, the new Spit Ball results are crazy.  Two weeks ago T-Gauge had a lead so large it seemed all the excitement was sucked right out of the competition.  It was like watching Flavor of Love 3 or the Knicks play the Spurs .. . Ya know the end result so why bother.  Not so fast, Taron's spit caught fire.  The voters in 2008 felt the flow and have spoken, over 2,000 voters have pushed Taron into the top spot past T-Guage.  There is still time in this round and we will be announcing the prizes very soon.  What's the deal with Lil Slice everyone who peeps her spit says she's got fire in her flow . . . She needs the votes to be crowned the Queen of Spit Ball.  Brooklyn we are surprised by the lack of support.  To all you Spit Ball fans holla at your friends and tell them to vote!

The Phoenix Sunsa are banking on a change of scenery and a little rest before the play-offs will allow Shaquille O'Neal to rise from the ashes of poor health to lead the Suns to the NBA Finals.  When it comes down to it, the Suns lost nothing in the transaction.  Shawn Marion was leaving at the end of the season for a pay day and has been disruptive in the lockerroom.  It might be a simple case of addition-by-subtraction.

But from the Suns view, they know the game they play of going up-and-dwon the court will not exist during the play-offs where the game changes to a half=court battle.  Sop Shaq won't make it up and down the court like a gryehound, but they don't need him to and don't want him to.  They want his half court presence to give the explosive Suns another dimension and take away the chance of playing the jump shooters tight.

Will Shaq make a difference?  Maybe not on the court, but who here doesn't expect to be glued to the television during the Western Conference play-offs.  Oh, and by-the-way, you got to think that the Mavericks are seriously considering Jason Kidd as a means to counter-act the acquisition of Pau Gason by the Lakers and now Shaq by the Suns.  PLay-offs cannot come quick enough.

Just got the 411 from Jay "Real Game" Boogie on some of the  top courts for comp in L.A.

Oakwood Rec Center Gym in Venice Beach where such notables as Baron Davis, Jelly Bean Bryant.  Filming is also done there such as Ball Don't Lie featuring the Professor, Ludacris, Jay Boogie, and Nick Cannon.  Pan Pacific Rec Center, Baldwin Hill Rec Center, Westwood Rec Center, Washington Park-South L.A. gym.  And by the way, check out Jay talking on the changes in the game of bball.  http://www.wsbchoops.com/home.html

Regards, Dan the Man   

Check out all the Urban Legends at http://www.gameovernyc.com/basketball/urban-legends/

That tremor you felt all the way back here to the East Coast was a shift in power that started in Los Angeles.  With the acquistion of Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies yesterday the Los Angeles Lakers have to be considered serious contenders for the NBA title.  They become younger, more athletic, and well, add one heck of a scorer.

All for four players (If we really consider Kwame Brown that), two (future) first round draft choices (read that as low first rounders because NBA champions and almost champions never eat early at the draft), and a bag of balls and photos of Jenny Buss.  Guess the Mets weren't the only ones to steal a trade this week.

And look what patience has done for Kobe.  Even though we are a bit more East Coast centric and are more concerned about the events of the "As The Knicks Turn" and the Nets.  We even look up north towards all the changes with the Celtics.  But we spent many a day talking about the desire of Kobe to be traded.  And the Lakers insistence in not just giving him away to the Bulls.  And to be patient.  As they told Kobe.  That they would find him some help.  And they have.  All for a lot of luggage.

That earthquake you feel is the Lakers feeling smug, getting back to the elite.  All we need now is for them to face the Celtics.  Like the old days.