Owner Mark Cuban said the Mavs might reach into the NBA retirement basket and sign former Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller to a contract for the rest of the season.
Huge win for the New Jersey Nets tonight over the visiting Wizards, and much of the credit goes to Jason Kidd. The point guard with the cheesiest pre-free throw routine in the NBA was at the top of his game once again in the 12-point victory at dreary Continental Airlines Arena. Fantasy owners will be absolutely giddy with these stats: 26 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 10-17 FG, 6 three-pointers… and just 1 turnover. With all the time Kidd handles the ball, it’s hard to believe he only turned it over once; then again, he was playing the Wizards.
Honorable Mention: Steve Nash with 25 points, 11 assists, 1 steal, and 11-18 FG.
If you can stomach the overly cutesy introduction (just skip on down to the list), Brad Evans has a handy cheat sheet for the fantasy baseballers out there that lists his top 30 base stealers in Major League Baseball. Evans has New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes in the #1 slot, projecting 62 steals for the 2007 season:
Reyes has become the preeminent base stealer in the game today. The NL leader in swipes the past two seasons, the 24-year-old tire-squealer has totaled 124 steals since 2005. His dramatic 54-point rise in on-base percentage and discernable eye (54 walks) in ’06 arrows to another steals crown. Clearly the second best player in fantasy behind Albert Pujols this year, he’ll become the first person to reach the coveted 20-60 milestone since Rickey Henderson 17 years ago.
Everyone gets a little tipsy from time to time. No big deal, at all. But c’mon…. when Orlando Magic C/F Darko Milicic is the one who’s had way too many drinks, Empty the Bench considers it a high-priority news item. So have at it—Darko drinking with The Faceless Man.
1 CommentPosted by Brian Spencer on Feb. 27, 2007 at 6:10pm in NBA
The so-called “Holy Grail of Baseball Cards” was auctioned off yesterday to a Southern California card collector who has concealed his identity so that the neighbors can’t rib him for spending $2.35 million on a baseball card. The uber-rare tobacco card for Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner has long been described as the most “off the hook” baseball card one could possibly own, as there are believed to only be 60 still intact. This particular card was once owned by hockey great Wayne Gretzky, who sold it when realizing the value would decrease if put in the spokes of his BMX.
According to seller Brian Siegel, his Honus Wagner card is in waaaayyyyy better condition than the other ones in circulation. Still, you could put one in the bottom of your cat’s litter box for a month, dust it off, and still sell it for a cool $100 grand.
The others “you could stick in the middle of the street and let cars drive over it through the day, take it in your hand and crumple it up, and it still would be a $100,000 card,” said Seigel, CEO of Emerald Capital LLC, an asset management company, who lives in Las Vegas. “The Wagner card gave me a tremendous amount of pride, excitement and pleasure. I hope the new owner will have the same satisfaction I enjoyed over the years.”
Seigel went on to say he slept with the card, bathed with the card, took the card for walks, even dated the card for a short spell. He cited “irreconcilable differences” for the break-up.
Trevor Ariza is a little know player who could have a big effect on the Eastern Conference playoff race. Orlando Sentinel columnist Brian Schmitz recently detailed his expected impact, not only for this season but on the Magic’s future. Ariza returned to action Sunday versus the Rockets (14 points, 5 rebounds, 10-12 FTs), his first game since spraining his knee on January 10th. The Orlando Magic were 22-14 with Ariza in the lineup, and just 5-16 while he was out. One of the most important things Ariza brings to the table is youth and athleticism from the wing, something the Magic desperately need. They weren’t getting that from Hedo Turkoglu, J.J. Reddick and Grant Hill (when he plays). Trevor also plays some pretty mean defense outside, where they’ve been lacking.
While the season averages as a starter of 10.7 points, 4.6 boards and 1.7 steals on 53.5% from the field are very respectable, they don’t indicate the valuable energy and hustle he puts forth nightly. As Brian Schmitz said, “Ariza does so many things well that he makes an impact without launching a shot.” Because he is a 21-year-old, significant improvement is expected from him, especially on offense, over the next few seasons. Those in deeper fantasy basketball leagues should give him a look, as he can provide superior FG% and steals. Ariza will likely be inserted back into the starting lineup sometime this week. A second-round pick out of UCLA in 2004, Ariza has been making a name for himself around the league with his ups and hustle and has been in high demand since the Knicks included him in the Steve Francis trade last year.
We just wanted to take a second to thank the “Blog of the Day Awards” for recognizing Empty the Bench this afternoon and naming us as one of their “Blogs of the Day”. Very cool, and we appreciate it very much. If anyone is finding us from the awards site, thanks for visiting, and please bookmark EmptytheBench.com as we have tons of scintillating NBA, MLB, and NFL coverage always in the works.
Usually meek NCAA hoops analyst Dick Vitale’s mouth got him in trouble yesterday, as he accidentally revealed the contents of a confidential conversation with Florida coach Billy Donovan on air. Known as a master of subtlety, it’s shocking to learn Mr. Vitale actually missed one of his colleague’s cues and that the demure commentator speaks so freely when the mics are off. At the time of the slip up, he was doing a radio bit with Mike Griffith and John Adams of the News Sentinel.
Griffith tried to get Vitale’s attention but the popular basketball analyst continued his conversation with someone at the Broken Egg restaurant in Siesta Key, Fla. , while he was on the air with Griffith and Adams. Vitale said Donovan told him in confidence that NBA scouts were making a big mistake if they rated Florida’s Joakim Noah ahead of teammate Al Horford.
Perhaps what’s more surprising than his obliviousness is that Vitale’s babblings were actually in the form of a coherent thought.
