Archives › Kurt Helin
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A few days into training camp, George Karl and Carmelo Anthony had a sit down that has been the focus of a lot of speculation. What exactly did Karl say. He opened up about that a little more on 104.3 The Fan in Denver the other day (transcript by Sports Radio Interviews). Karl is a…
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Doc Rivers might want to stay in Boston after big three leave
Oct 8, 2010, 9:00 PM EDT
Doc Rivers almost didn’t come back to the Celtics this season. He considered taking a year off, watching his Duke-bound son Austin’s last year of high school ball, spend more time with his daughter. But he came back. In part because of the very real shot at another ring. But also because of the bonds…
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Mavericks coach Carlisle out of hospital, back at work (but taking tomorrow off)
Oct 8, 2010, 7:52 PM EDT
Rick Carlisle was in good spirits, joking as he left the hospital Friday afternoon just hours after passing out on the court during a Dallas Mavericks practice. After he left the hospital he went back to work. Yes, I’m serious. NBA coaches are serious workaholics. Carlisle spoke to ESPN radio, as reported by Mike Fisher…
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It was one of the themes of the summer — big bad LeBron vs. the good Kevin Durant. LeBron spurned the team that drafted him, Durant got an extension there. LeBron had an hour-long, self-serving television show to announce his decision while Durant just quietly announced it on twitter after it was done. LeBron took…
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David Stern does not want to see what happened to the Knicks happen to anyone else
Oct 8, 2010, 4:59 PM EDT
This season, there is hope around the New York Knicks. Amar’e Stoudemire, Raymond Felton, Anthony Randolph all running Mike D’Antoni’s exciting system. That should be fun. It hasn’t been that way for years around Madison Square Garden. Bad decisions to take on (or give out) huge contracts to players past their prime (or without a…
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Bad news for Jeff Pendergraph, more bad news for the Portland Trail Blazers at center. Jeff Pendergraph tweeted today that he is done for the season after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee last night (via Blazers Edge). The injury happened at the start of the second quarter of a preseason game Thursday…
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Josh Smith has scared a lot of rims in his time, it seems only fair that one of them fought back. The dynamic Atlanta Hawks forward will be out for a week after cutting his hand on a rim, tweeted Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He said it happened in the preseason game…
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Last season: 15-67, second worst record in the NBA last season, although at the end of the campaign they were playing worse ball than the Nets. Head Coach: Kurt Rambis enters his second year with this question: How good a coach is he? I’m not sold we’ll get the answer. The Timberwolves brought him in…
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Thursday night, three-time NBA All-Star Steve Francis was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport, according to the Los Angeles Times. Francis was taken into custody about 10 p.m. by airport police for resisting arrest, officials said. He appeared intoxicated and became boisterous at one of the ticket counters, officials said. He was released after posting…
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Parties with LeBron James seem to follow him around like remoras to a shark. They go on virtually everywhere he goes. In part because some of the people around LeBron make good money throwing these parties or letting LeBron’s name get used in promoting them. LeBron was scheduled to be at a party Thursday night…
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Troy Murphy was to be the veteran counterbalance to the raw energy of Derrick Favors at the four spot in New Jersey, bringing good shooting range, underrated rebounding and a solid presence. The Nets will have to wait a while for that presence. Murphy is out indefinitely due to a lower back strain and inflammation,…
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Denver sends scout to watch Derrick Favors, but no trade movement on ‘Melo yet
Oct 8, 2010, 10:38 AM EDT
The holding pattern on the Carmelo Anthony trade front continues. Denver is asking too much. Anthony will only go to a couple of locations. Other teams are tired of playing this silly game. So we sit and wait for somebody, somewhere to come to their senses. But it should be noted that Denver had a…
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Barcelona, the defending champions of EuroLeague, just knocked off the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers Thursday. Europe’s best beat the NBA’s best 92-88. They did it on a night the Lakers starters got some real run — Lamar Odom played 41 minutes, Pau Gasol 36 and Kobe Bryant 25. Barcelona did it by…
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Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle collapses on court, now out of hospital
Oct 8, 2010, 10:00 AM EDT
UPDATE 6:00 pm: Rick Carlisle has been released from the hospital, according to the Associated Press. That is certainly a good sign. The same report says the Mavericks are not saying if Carlisle, 50, will accompany the team to California. UPDATE 3:49 pm: Art Garcia of NBA.com spoke to Carlisle and tweeted the coach said…
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Shaq wants to be Nets GM, keep them in New Jersey… but not for 745 days
Oct 8, 2010, 9:39 AM EDT
Shaquille O’Neal has scored more points than any player ever born in New Jersey. There you go, a little trivia to start your morning. And while some may think its death trap, a suicide rap, Shaq likes Jersey. Not enough to be on Jersey Shore… wait, we shouldn’t really put that past him. But enough…
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It’s not about the starting line, it’s the finish line. And in the NBA, the finish line is in June. That is where the Miami Heat want to be. With that in mind, they are not rushing guys back now. Dwyane Wade pulled his hamstring and as much as this preseason was about getting Wade…
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Jeff Teague looks good, Mike Bibby looks like he could lose his starting job
Oct 8, 2010, 7:20 AM EDT
Jeff Teague may have found his dog. That means Mike Bibby job is in jeopardy. Through the summer it was coach Larry Drew and staff, at camp it has been Joe Johnson and everyone on the roster telling Teague to be more aggressive. Maybe it has sunk in. In the Hawks first preseason game Teague…
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Welcome to our new flat. You like? A lot of smart people at NBC worked long and hard to come up with a new look for this blog that matches the recently redesigned NBCSports.com site. The carpet matches the drapes now, if you will. What’s more, the PBT team is pumped because some back-of-the-house tinkering…
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Blazers center Jeff Pendergraph injures knee, leaves court in wheelchair
Oct 8, 2010, 12:03 AM EDT
If you are a center for the Portland Trail Blazers, just make sure your health insurance is fully paid up. Portland’s second year center Jeff Pendergraph injured his knee and had to leave the court in a wheelchair during the Blazers preseason game against Utah Thursday. We’ll find out Friday how serious it was on…
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Lingering back issues continue to plague Delonte West this preseason despite playing well for the Celtics in a game against the Nets. West played 18 strong minutes — 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, six rebounds and three assists. It’s the kind of production that — along with the spotty hot nights from Nate Robinson —…
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David Stern takes blame for Knicks summer Isiah Thomas blunder
Oct 7, 2010, 7:31 PM EDT
The Knicks mistake this summer in trying to bring back Isiah Thomas as a consultant was really two mistakes in one. NBA Commissioner David Stern admitted he caused one of them. You remember the incident this summer, right? The Knicks ownership — over the head of GM Donnie Walsh who almost quit over it —…
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Nets now sponsored by Stoli vodka, team’s Russian owner might appear in ads
Oct 7, 2010, 6:27 PM EDT
In this economy, sponsorships for NBA teams are hard to come by. Teams are looking everywhere for new markets. Say, for example, Russia. And the hard liquor market there. Stolichnaya Vodka — most people call it Stoli — is now a sponsor of the New Jersey Nets, according to the twitter account of CNBC’s Darren…
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For the last week, Anderson Varejao was back in his native Brazil after the death of his grandfather, but Thursday he returned to Cleveland and the Cavaliers. Byron Scott told the Akron Beacon Journal that he was not just going to throw Varejao out there upon his return. “He looked great and it was good…
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Ronnie Brewer was the one guy who wanted to be in Utah, had to go to Chicago
Oct 7, 2010, 4:50 PM EDT
All summer long there was talk about players trying to get to Miami or New York or Chicago — nobody wanted to be in the small markets, everybody wanted to go big time. Not Ronnie Brewer. He wanted to stay on Utah, but they didn’t want him, Brewer told Chris Tomasson of FanHouse. So he…
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Amar’e Stoudemire may do another magazine cover… but clothed this time
Oct 7, 2010, 3:58 PM EDT
Few images get seared into your brain — whether you want it to or not — quite like Amar’e Stoudemire’s picture for the ESPN The Magazine’s body issue. I think Trey Kerby at The Score said everything I wanted to. And a few things I didn’t want to. But, you know, his knee looks good,…
