I guess the presence of newly hired coach Larry Brown was reason enough to let a higher-up go - ask Sam Vincent; according to Peter Vecsey of the New York Post, the Charlotte Bobcats have terminated the contract of Bernie Bickerstaff yesterday.  Bickerstaff had a year remaining on his $1 million a year contract.  It is being rumored that he is an actual candidate for the Knicks’ vacant general manager position and possibly as a mentor to Mark Jackson, assuming Jackson is hired by the Knicks as their next coach.

The New York Knicks’ list of coaching candidates gets narrower by the day as according to Marc Berman of the New York Post and verified by sources familiar with the Knicks’ situation, the list of candidates has been narrowed down to two - Mark Jackson and Mike D’Antoni; Walsh has the pleasant dilemma of whether to go with the more seasoned D’Antoni or the new kid on the block (although very familiar to Knicks fans) Jackson.  Walsh has said that despite reports floating around saying otherwise, he has not offered the position to any candidate.

There’s some pros and cons to Jackson being the next Knicks coach; first the pros: Jackson is a players’ coach.  Because he has played the game and obviously knows the game, that is to his benefit.  Assuming that Knicks guard Stephon Marbury is re-signed, Marbury will benefit under Jackson as they have a good relationship.  But there’s the very real possibility that Marbury will not be re-signed by the team, so that is a factor.  Now the cons: Jackson has never coached at the professional level.  That doesn’t mean that he will be unsuccessful at that level - it is just a fact that deserves to be pointed out. 

Now the good and bad in D’Antoni’s case: D’Antoni is a proven commodity; he utilizes the fast-break offense which worked for the Phoenix Suns for a number of years (before the trade for Shaquille O’Neal).  The Knicks have the deep pockets to nab D’Antoni as it looks like his asking price is in the $5 million a year or so range, so money isn’t the issue here.  And Dolan has said on more than one occasion that he will spend what it takes to help the Knicks lose the “laughingstock” label that’s been tagged on them.  Also working in D’Antoni’s favor with his situation with the Knicks is the fact that the Chicago Bulls probably will not spend what D’Antoni is demanding to hire their next coach.

So in essence, it is a 2-horse race: Jackson and D’Antoni.  The Knicks are waiting to see what the Bulls will offer D’Antoni before proceeding further; in the meantime, Jackson waits.  I think the Knicks can put this all to rest if they hire Jackson, and here’s why: while Jackson is brand new, he has the New York connection, he knows his basketball and is by and large a players’ coach.  The Knicks, no matter who they choose as coach, are not going to be sniffing the playoffs immediately, so why not give the shot to Jackson?  The head coach doesn’t make the personnel decisions, and personally, I do not see how even D’Antoni can right the Knicks’ ship, even with his pedigree.  When you weigh the pros and cons and also factor in the Knicks’ current roster, I feel that Jackson is the better fit - at a better price.

When you’re the San Antonio Spurs and you’re down two games to none, you probably are looking to revise your game plan to overcome the deficiencies that got you in the current position that you’re in.  The Spurs apparently did some revision as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili shouldered the load in Thursday’s game against the New Orleans Hornets, combining for 62 points, boosting San Antonio to a key 110-99 win over New Orleans at AT&T Center.

The Hornets took an early 8-0 lead before the Spurs regrouped and went into the second quarter only down by 2; San Antonio led by as many as 4 points in the period after Michael Finley drained a 3-pointer to give them a 41-37.  After Parker hit a jumper with 49 seconds left in the half, the Hornets’ Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson hit a trey each to give New Orleans a 56-49 lead with 23 seconds left; however, the Spurs’ Bruce Bowen hit a 3 and Ginobili drained a buzzer-beater which brought San Antonio to within 2 at halftime.

Unlike previous third quarters in this series, the Spurs didn’t collapse as Tim Duncan, Parker and Ginobili scored all but 3 of the team’s 29 points in the period; but the Hornets wouldn’t vanish as Chris Paul scored 11 points in the quarter.  Paul would hit a basket and would also make a 3-point play to bring New Orleans to within 77-76.  After trading leads most of the game, the Spurs would go into the fourth quarter leading 83-78.  Early in the final quarter, Ginobili led a Spurs charge as he would hit a rare 4-point play on an ill-advised foul by the Hornets’ Bonzi Wells; the play put San Antonio up 87-82 and another 3-pointer by Ginobili 38 seconds later made their lead 90-84. 

The Hornets would get to within 90-88 before the Spurs took over as they went on an 11-0 run to take a 101-88 advantage, icing the game for San Antonio.  San Antonio was led by Parker and Ginobili with 32 points each - with Parker grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists while Ginobili draining 3 three-pointers, grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists; Duncan added 16 with 13 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and 4 blocks.  New Orleans’ high scorer was Paul with 35 points, 2 rebounds, 9 assists and a steal while David West scored 23 with 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.  San Antonio, despite the win, are down 2-1 in the best-of-seven series; they look to tie the series as they host New Orleans again on Sunday at 8:00 PM EST.

Okay let’s remember Boston and Cleveland fans, all that has happened so far is that Boston has held onto home court advantage. Celtics fans who were ready to run coach Doc Rivers out of town on a rail up until Sunday, should not start looking into any west bound flights yet. Cleveland fans, take your heads out of the oven and put down the razor blades. The Boston Celtics took a 2-0 advantage over the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday as they defeated Cleveland in a defensive battle 89-73. After a strong first quarter by Cleveland the Green Team shut the Cavaliers down until garbage time in the fourth.

The Cavaliers came out strong in the first quarter, while the Celtics appeared to have left their game in the locker room, as Cleveland took a 24-17 lead at the end of the first period. But Boston turned the tables on the Cavaliers in the second quarter, and went ito the half leading 44-36. The Celtics basically repeated the same thing in the third quarter resulting in them going into the fourth quarter with a 70-51edge. The fourth quarter  was 12 minutes of garbage time.

Paul Pierce who scored only 4 points in game one led the Celtics with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. Ray Allen who was scoreless in game one scored 16 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound, Kevin Garnett recorded a double-double as he scored 13 points, grabbed 12 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. Leon Powe came off the bench and scored 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist.

LeBron James led all scorers with 21 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, Wally Szczerbiak scored 13 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 rebound. The series heads to Cleveland for game 3 Monday.

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The Associated Press reported Thursday that the NBA announced the All NBA-Team for the 2007-2008 campaign. Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was the only member of the squad that was an unanimous choice by the voters. The remaining players honored were New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, and Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard. The second All NBA-Team featured Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire, his teammate guard Steve Nash, Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, and San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan. Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, his teammate guard Tracy McGrady, Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce, Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer, and San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili made up the third team.

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The “New York Daily News” reported Thursday that former New York Knicks point guard Mark Jackson still appears to have the inside track to becoming the next head coach of the New York Knicks. Jackson has been one of many candidates that Team President Donnie Walsh has interviewed for the job but according to our old friends “Unnamed Club Sources” Jackson who was one of the first names to surface in the media still is considered the heir apparent.

© Copyright 2008 thesackattack.com