Without Zeke, this picture would not be possible:

http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/thom...lace_061003.jpg

Scott Skiles looks like the short guy at the end of the bar, just
drinking and staring straight ahead before he pays the bartender with
exact change, walks out into the parking lot and dismantles your car
with his teeth for no reason at all:

http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/skiles_061003.jpg

I'm not sure what's worse: the photographer who suggested this shot or
PJ for agreeing to it:

http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/brown_061003.jpg

Between walking on water and curing lepers with his golden hands, John
Paxson addresses the media:

http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/paxson_061003.jpg

Ben Gordon looks different. He's got more muscle but it's kind of like
seeing that niece you only see at weddings every seven years:

http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/gord...lace_061003.jpg


By the way:

http://www.nba.com/news/mediablog2006_central.html

Indiana Pacers
Posted by Al Harrington on Oct. 2, 2006 at 4 p.m. ET

"Ive had a very hectic offseason. It was really busy trying to get a
deal done, but once I signed with the Pacers I just started working on
my game and getting settled in back in Indiana. When you get as old as I
am though, theres not any specific thing to work on. Ive been around for
a long time so Im just trying to sharpen all my skills."

---

I guess no one pointed out to Baby Al (or is that Old Man Al now?) that
he led the league in fouls last season.

---

Posted by Stephen Jackson on Oct. 2, 2006 at 4 p.m. ET

"My offseason has been very busy. Ive been getting my school, the
Stephen Jackson Academy, set up and running, so that took up some time.
Other than that Ive really been trying to find myself and get back to my
roots of my game. Now I just want to get into camp and start going with
basketball again."

---


I'm sure it's something cool for charity or disabled or disadvantaged
kids, but I just get my rocks off pondering the curriculum of a "Stephen
Jackson Academy".

---

Posted by Andrew Bogut on Oct. 2, 2006 at 1 p.m. ET

"One disappointment this summer was I was a big fan of Steve Irwin and
what he did for Australia was amazing. He was such a great man who gave
all his money to charity and conservationist groups like Greenpeace. He
will be regrettably missed."

----

Brad, are they going to have like a national holiday for this or
something? I mean, Phil Hartman was pretty kick ass too, but...

---


Posted by Stephon Marbury on Oct. 2, 2006 at 4:15 p.m. ET

[N.B.: :-)]

"This summer has been a real busy one for me as most people know with
the Starbury clothing line that came out. Weve been touring all around
the country. It has been great. It has definitely been a life-gratifying
experience. I think once you get the people on your side, and people
understand that you are down with the people and youre not above them, I
think they have a different perspective about you as a person. Because a
lot of people in the places that weve been, they never even heard of
Stephon Marbury or Starbury, so being around those people was more
gratifying for myself just as a person than being somewhere where
everyone knows you."

---

Starbury, Hombre de los Pueblos.

---


Posted by Gilbert Arenas on Oct. 2, 2006 at 12:50 p.m. ET

Whats poppin Pippen? [N.B.: Go look, I did not make that up.] When we
had a break during the Olympic try-outs out in Las Vegas I went to do a
promotion in L.A. and I got a tattoo of a tigers face on my chest. I had
the original eyes, nose and mouth and I just decided Im a stronger tiger
now than I was before when I first got it, so I got it filled out.

My summer also included going to a boot camp out in San Francisco for a
week, probably the hardest workout Ive done, ever. It was a lot of
running up hills, sandy hills, and running on soft sand on the beach. I
also got the Colorado altitude tent put in my house. Its not the
hyperbaric chamber; its the altitude tent so Im always above sea level.
Right now altitude is at 21 in Washington, and Im sleeping anywhere from
15-12. It pumps more blood, and gets your blood thicker. The tent
company came to our facility and I liked their presentation very well,
so I had to have one. I also got into video gaming now. I hooked up with
a company called MLG and Im trying to be, not the David Stern, but a big
head in the organization. I sponsor a team called Final Boss, they are
the number one Halo team in the world.

My individual goal this year is to become a defensive player. To
actually stick those scorers out there, the Kobe Bryants of the league,
the LeBron James and Dwyane Wades. Im going to take the challenge this
year. For team goals, weve been to the playoffs. We have to do better.
We have to go deep. We have to go to the Eastern Conference Finals, we
just have to get there. First and second round is no good anymore. Its
the same cast with the addition of Songaila and Stevenson that actually
helps us in scoring and helps us on defense.

---

I wish there were an emoticon to express how I feel about Gilbert
Arenas. Maybe a Yiddish keyboard or something would suffice...

I can't do this, Gilbert has spoiled me for all other NBA blogs. Someone
else can read the Western Conference.

Well, okay, one more...

---

Posted by Tyson Chandler on Oct. 2, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. ET

I kind of just stayed close to home and worked out this summer - a lot
of free throws, working on my shot.

Granville Waiters' Ghost wrote:

Dude,

T Thomas is HUGE for a 20 year old. Wait til he has two years in an
NBA weight room. He'll be bigger than Ben...

Rizzo

On 2006-10-03 22:23:28 -0600, "Frank Rizzo" <champ91917@yahoo.com> said:


You know who else is huge?
Check out the trunks on Sweet Knees.

Granville Waiters' Ghost wrote:

Somewhere in America, there is a top three lottery pick who will stand
next to them in one year's time.

ISIAH WOULD DO IT ALL AGAIN.


That is the kind of accuracy that either comes from extraordinary
insight into the human condition or personal experience. I won't press
you on which.


You really get the sense that, as soon as that photo was taken, PJ
swayed to the right, repeated the pose, and then swayed back to the
left. I'd like to believe better about him than that, but...


Because of how they set that picture up, it looks like Ben Gordon is
all of two or three inches shorter than Ben Wallace. Which would be
nice. Luol knows how to grow taller on demand, so maybe he's teaching
it to other players, I don't know.


"As old as I am"? I know he came into the league straight out of high
school, but he's 26, and he's been with the Hawks since he was 22.
Anyone else not terribly confused about why we didn't pursue him this
offseason?

(To be fair, Al Harrington himself probably mumbled "Pacers", "Indiana"
and "game" and let a publicist take it from there.)

Also, he looks like a dinosaur.


Stephen Jackson is the starting guard on Neil Funk's "That Guy Is An
Idiot. (Bill: "Yeah") Just Really Stupid" team. He and starting small
forward Darius Miles run happily up and down the court until the ball
comes between them.


He's just being modest. Everyone has ever even heard of Starbury.


My Japanese cell phone isn't a particularly elite model, but it comes
with a few hundred emoticons. I've found that I can express more or
less anything with a combination of two or three of them.


Does anyone know what Eddy has been up to this summer? I saw something
on the RealGM Wiretap a few days ago about a undrafted free agent
"giving (Eddy) all he can handle", but that's it.

Granville Waiters' Ghost wrote:

Well, the Pistons appear to be a little disoriented after losing Ben.
Apparently their Media Day theme is the Village People. Check out the
picture of Dale Davis, half way down this page (detnews.com):

http://tinyurl.com/rurxr

It's 'extra-zesty', if you know what I mean.

Oh, and for those people wondering about Eddy, rest assured, he and the
Knicks are doing just fine (from today's NY Daily News):

"Jared Jeffries, the Knicks' newly minted $30 million small forward,
shot one air ball from the foul line and launched a couple of bricks at
the end of Isiah Thomas' first practice yesterday, resulting in
Jeffries' teammates running a few extra wind sprints.

Three additional "suicides" were added because free agent Nikoloz
Tskitishvili, a player without a guaranteed contract, suffered the
misfortune of having his cell phone ring in the locker room while
Thomas was addressing the team on Monday.

The punishment for those transgressions seemed particularly cruel for
Eddy Curry, who was huffing and puffing from end line to end line and
finished last each time. He eventually needed Quentin Richardson and
David Lee to pull him along. But at least Curry finished. His backup,
Jerome James, resumed his familiar role of hobbled spectator after
suffering an injury on the first day of practice for the second
straight year."

If Isiah kills him with wind sprints, does his salary come off the cap?

Dave wrote:

I take back what I said about the PJ photo. Clearly, the Bulls could
have hired someone who was much, much worse at his job.


This is phenomenal. If Knicks fans claim they didn't read the words
"three suicides" and immediately start thinking about cap ramifications
(or quickly make a top-three wish list), they are liars. Look, there's
no shame in it. I'd have done the same.

Isn't Q like a foot shorter than Eddy? How many photos were taken of
the tall, skinny white guy and the short guy carrying Eddy along? When
can we get access to those photos? How soon can they be assembled into
a montage set to the song "Lean On Me"? How long are we legally
permitted to detain that guy who was lecturing us about Eddy last
December and all those unemployed Homewood loyalists who used the last
couple of days before their phones were disconnected to call The Score
to blast Pax - and force them to watch that montage at deafening volume?

On 2006-10-04 00:43:49 -0600, "Marc Heiden" <m.heiden@gmail.com> said:


I've got the same self hypnosis "grow taller on demand" mp3 file as the
Denger. It works!

But the thing that's weird, when I go to the doc and get measured?
Same numbers as in the "before" pix.

At Walmart I'm taking things off the top shelf without asking for
assistance, but walk into a doctors office, and I shrink!

Can't explain that one!

On 2006-10-04 00:43:49 -0600, "Marc Heiden" <m.heiden@gmail.com> said:


Really.
I saw him in a Raptors uni this summer as part of the euro game
overhaul up there in Toronto. Just a mirage as it turned out.

BoneDry wrote:

A puzzler! But if you bring the mp3 into iTunes and check the
"Comments" meta tag, it says, "It is as being one with the ebb and the
flow. It is as the universe the tide." (Assuming you downloaded the
same torrent that I did. The .nfo says the same, but in giant ASCII
letters.) So it's like how we've all seen Deng lock down Earl Boykins
when that's his match-up, and the next night, put fear into the heart
of Vladimir Radmanovic. Nothing is permanent. All is change.

On Tue, 3 Oct 2006 23:23:28 -0500, Frank Rizzo wrote
(in article <1159935807.968155.95280@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.c om>):


Which Ben?

Be specific....