NBA Weekly Digest – February 19, 2008

Here’s what’s happening around the league…

George opts for the money…

Devean George’s move to block a trade that would have sent Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks even sooner than he currently is being sent has gotten him into a lot of trouble with the fans of Dallas.

But Could there be a more hypocritical sentiment than them booing George for going after his money?

There is not a single member of the Dallas fan base that wouldn’t do what George opted to do by rejecting the initial Jason Kidd trade. If someone was asked by their employer to switch over to a less prominent department, that had a lower ceiling on their ability to earn money and would relocate them and their family, and then gave them the option to stay in their current department, there is no way that that person is going to change departments just to do something good for the team. Instead, that person would do what’s best for their family, their career goals, and their monetary interests. But if the fans of Dallas want to act like they can’t relate to George, then so be it. Fan will always be a derivate of the word fanatic, and there is no better example of that than in George’s situation.

The Knicks couldn’t block a doorway…

My team, the New York Knicks, suck at something else. I know that is not new news to anyone out there, but everytime I find out something new, I feel the need to share that tid-bit of information with the world so that people understand exactly what Knicks’ supporters are going through. The Elias Sports Bureau has found that the Knicks have now recorded nine games this season where they did not get a single block against the other team. No team in the NBA has gone “block-less” for more than two games. The Knicks are on pace to achieve the fewest blocks since the dawn of blocking! Not since the NBA started recording blocks as an official category has there been a team that has averaged as few as 2.35 blocks, which is what the Knicks are set to do.

Artest anyone…?

I am completely surprised that Ron Artest has not been traded away yet. I actually thought that he would have been sent packing by the Sacramento Kings before the start of this current NBA season. However, the basketball Gods have is such that he is still on the team, and that makes him the perfect candidate to be traded to a Western Conference team looking to regain some of edge their team has lost with the flurry of blockbuster trades that have been made over the past month and a half or so. Artest could really have a major impact on a contending NBA team, probably more so than some of the players that have already been traded like Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, and Jason Kidd. I say that because the difference between Artest and them is that he can do every single thing that all three of those players can, when each of those three individuals has a very limited skill set. Some may argue Kidd is an all-around player because of his stats, but realistically, he can’t post-up or defend the post-up. Artest, however, can do that, and he can facilitate the offense, he can be the offense, he and defend perimeter players, and he can block shots. Not to mention, we saw what his energy and all-around versatility could do when injected into a lineup in mid-season. Just two years ago, it was his arrival and his play alone that boosted the Kings from the Western Conference cellar to within a game of pushing the San Antonio Spurs to a Game 7 in the first round of the 2006 NBA Playoffs.

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