IUPUI squandered a 21-point lead but recovered to beat Oral Roberts 69-65 Monday night in the Summit League Tournament semifinals in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The No. 2 seed Jaguars (24-9) will play top-seeded Oakland (Mich., 25-8) in tonight’s championship game (9 p.m., ESPN2).
Robert Glenn led IUPUI with 18 points, while Alex Young had 17 and Leroy Nobles 16.
The Jaguars led 50-29 with 17:22 remaining on a Nobles basket.
The Eagles rallied to take a 61-60 lead with 4:22 to go on two Dominique Morrison free throws.
A Billy Pettiford basket with 3:30 put IUPUI up for good at 62-61.
In the other semifinal, Oakland defeated IPFW 71-58.
Nick Daniels scored 16 points and Antwone Snead had 11 points and 12 rebounds for IPFW.
Oakland made 19-of-19 free throws. IPFW (16-15) made 1-of-1.
IPFW scored the last eight points of the first half to take a 33-32 lead.
Keith Benson’s two free throws with 15:08 remaining in the game gave Oakland the lead for good at 40-39.
Posted: Mar 8, 2010 1:45 PM
Updated: Mar 9, 2010 11:25 AM
SUPERIOR – a former St. Regis man has been sentenced to 60 years behind bars after pleading guilty to Sexual Abuse of Children after taking, and possessing, sexual photos of an 11-year old girl.
Charles W. “Clem” Moore, 47, was sentenced to the Montana State Prison for 100 years, with 40 years suspended by District Judge Ed McLean on Monday. Moore is also ineligible for parole for the first 25 years of the sentence.
Federal Department of Homeland Security Agent Troy Capser testified that in July of 2008 over 70 videos and other images of child pornography were discovered on two of Moore’s computers that were seized from his St. Regis home.
Charges for possession and or distribution of child pornography are also being considered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Missoula according to Mineral County Attorney Shaun Donovan.
The Pre Sentence Report reviewed by McLean prior to imposing sentence indicated the child, whose family has since moved from Mineral County, continues to have nightmares, trouble being alone and fears about reprisals from the Defendant.
Moore’s defense lawyer, Kirk Krutilla, emphasized that the Psychosexual Evaluation his client had undergone rated him as a low to moderate risk to re-offend, and asked the Court to deviate from the statutory minimum sentence.
That request was opposed by Donovan, who recommended the 100 year sentence be without any chance of parole for the first 25 years. Donovan argued Moore’s rehabilitation was unlikely and the community should not bear the risk of his future release.
Moore is also facing charges of Sexual Assault and Sexual Intercourse without Consent involving the same child. According to Donovan, those charges are still pending and will be set for trial after further discussions with the victim and her family.
Moore was immediately taken into custody and taken to the Montana State Prison at Deer Lodge.
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Kate Gosselin about to debut her new hairdo on Dancing with The Stars. Kate spent all that money – a ton of money, actually, on getting the long hair extensions put in. Now she doesn’t like them and wants them out.
More pictures of Kate’s hair after the style….
I wonder if the flying hair in Kate’s [...]
Dale Ford is know to some as the paintball news man. through his paintball news letter and website, The Ford Report, he is able to keep the people who are interested upto date with all the latest happenings in the paintball world. he takes time out of his busy day to talk to PaintBaller.ie about his paintball background, his thoughts on the sport, his website and his Magazine.
Richie: hi Dale, thanks for taking the time for this interview
Dale: of course, sir. thanks for taking the time to do the interview!
Dale on Dale
R: Lets get the basics out of the way first, how long have you been playing paintball?
D: I started in 1988, at a field near Bloomington, IN. I’d just gotten out of the Army, and my high school friends thought it’d be fun to try, and they figured I’d have an advantage because I was in the Army…as it turned out, I got lit up hard by a guy with a SMG-60. I did just about as badly as any other new player out there, but I had a great time!
R: how did you get into it? was it the typical story of trying it out for fun and getting hooked?
D: I tried it an liked it, played a few times in the 80’s and 90’s, then I went to school and didn’t play but once or twice during that time period. After I got out of school, got a job, got married and all that, I used a bonus from work to buy a Tippmann M98 in March of ‘99, and I’ve been pretty much non-stop ever since. I moved from the T98 to a ‘cocker, then into an Angel LED, several LCD’s, and then into the Angel 1 and nowadays I use Egos. Over the years I’ve developed a strong preference towards English paintball guns, but I do have a strong liking for the Alias Timmy, just because they sound so cool.
R: what attracted you to paintball?
D: Initially it was the adrenalin rush and the excitement. as I grow older, it’s a way for me to vent frustrations and cope with stress. The adrenalin is still there, and I still love being out there, but nowadays it’s that release I want and paintball gives it to me. my bosses at my day job know when it’s been too long since I’ve played, and start subtly hinting that I ought to go out and shoot someone.
R: what type of paintball do you play these days, woodsball or speedball?
D: Woodsball/Scenario these days. I’m too old and too beat up physically to try and keep up with the kids playing X-Ball these days. Most of the successful X-Ball/tourney players are short, light, and stupidly fast. I’m fairly tall for a paintball player (5′10″) and overly heavy (190 pounds) and both of my knees have had work done on them, so trying to keep up with a 17 year old kid is really out of the question.
R: do you play for any teams and enter any tournaments ( speedball or woodsball)
D: I play for The South Beach Pimps, a group of old/former tournament players who’ve taken it into the woods. We’re what is best described as “Hybrid” players, in that we play a tournament style game out in the woods we are the nastiest, most violent team in the south-east U.S.!
Dale’s Markers
R: what was your first marker?
D: Splatmaster Rapide. when I got serious about paintball in ‘99, it was the M98.
R: do you still have it, or would you like it back?
D: got rid of the Rapide long ago, but I still have “Fat *******”, the M98, and by God, it still shoots good, too!
R: are you a marker whore as such and have to have all the latest paintball gadets?
D: I have a primary gun and a backup. The Primary I try to have as new as possible to satisfy my cravings for the latest and greatest, but the back up is something that I’ve put a lot of time and emotion into Right now my Primary is an Avalanche ‘09 Ego that Frank Connell sold to me, and the backup is a Vicious ‘07 Ego 7 that I put a lot of work into both are pure evil.
R: what is it that you like about egos?
D: The biggest thing about the Ego is the reliability…they’re plug and play. The accuracy and performance are added bonuses to me.
R: are you a poppet marker man or would you / have you tried the Geo?
D: I’ve tried the Geo, and I was very impressed with it, but I’m a poppet guy. when I’m playing I need that noise and visual stimulation that the bolt flying back and forth, though.
R: what do you think is the best marker out there currently for a new person starting off playing woodsball?
D: probably the Proto SLG or the SP Vibe, assuming SP can work their way through their current financial issues. They’re great little guns that shoot like much more expensive guns but without the sticker shock.
Dale at Work
R: are you working, or have ever worked within the industry? Or would you just class your self as a player?
D: I’ve owned a shop with friends, but that’s about the extent of my involvement with the industry. I’ve always worked a day job outside of paintball. I do the writing, magazine, and consulting stuff on the side.
R: The Ford report is a great resource for people looking to keep in touch with the main stories. how did it all come about?
D: I was partnered with a couple of friends in 68Caliber.com, and over time one of them decided that he wanted out. I’d been doing the Report as a part of 68 for quite a while, and when Steve and Karen Davidson bought the majority of the business, I kept TFR separate. as things went along with those two, I felt it necessary to develop a separate website for TFR as insurance, and sure enough in November 2008, they pulled what can best be described as a hostile takeover of the business. Rather than spending alot of money on lawyers to run them out of business, I decided to focus on TFR, and let them run 68 into the ground.
R: when you started the Ford Report.com, what were your hope and aims for it?
D: when I started it, it was just going to be a place for people to find out about the report itself, see old reports, and have a place to sign up. as I’ve moved forward, I’ve branched out into game coverage, reviews, and the like. It’s really taken on a life of its’ own and I’m having a grand old time with it.
R: how is it progressing within those plans, still growing I assume?
D: slow but steady growth. There’s such a thing as growing too fast, and even so I’ve had to double my bandwidth with my hosting company to keep up.
R: where do you see the website in 2 years?
D: It’ll likely look even better than it does now, but the quality of the content will be the same. Hopefully even more people than now will know about it and I’ll have to quadruple my bandwidth!
R: are you making a living from it or is it just a hobby that pays for itself?
D: Not even close. It’s a place for me to express myself, and it helps pay for my paintball addiction. in its’ best year during my tenure, 68Caliber.com made $40,000, but I had to share that with 2 other partners, so no, I’ve never made my living in paintball. Oddly enough, alot of people think I do.
R: do you know of anyone apart from PBNation who is making a full time living from paintball online?
D: I think John Amodea is making his living from running Paintball X3, but I’m not sure about anyone else.
R: what is your day job?
D: I work on copiers and printers for a dealer here in the Tampa Bay area.
R: Is a goal of your to be able to give up the day job and concentrate and get paid to do what you do, or would that be just too much paintball stuff for you?
D: It’s not necessarily a goal, but if the right opportunity came along, I’d certainly be willing to give it a try. one of the nice things about having a day job is that I’m not directly connected to the people I’m reporting on, so the possibility of threatening me with my job really doesn’t come into play.
R: Over the years of the Ford Report, what was your favourite story?
D: Probably the one I did with TechPB, at Kohn Sports here in the Bay Area. Mike, Willie and I are all friends, and one of my supervisors at work is a mutual friend of me and Willie’s, and we’d both been on him to come out and play paintball. he finally relented and came out with his son. They watched us playing all out, and then we introduced them to the game using this idea that Mike had come up with. It gives you the rush of playing, without the possibility of getting shot. On the other side of the equation, it’s a great movement drill. my supervisor got to fulfill the fantasy of all supervisors, by shooting his employee! he not only shot me, but he was using my gun when he did it! http://thefordreport.com/2009/<wbr>01/the-fun-way-to-introduce-<wbr>people-to-paintball/
R: what was your most controversial?
D: I tend to specialize in controversial, because I have that detachment from the industry, and being from the Midwest I tend to be pretty blunt. probably the worst of the lot was when I commented a few years ago on the discovery that Patrick McKinnon of MXS (now gone, obviously) was a convicted rapist. I didn’t necessarily report on it directly, because I found the details of McKinnon’s crime disturbing, but I received several threatening letters from lawyers about it because I was thought to have been the one that distributed the original information. as it turned out, I didn’t but it was rough there for a while.
R: what was your strangest?
D: Just recently I put up a video on the site showing this guy running down the road with skates strapped to his body. It had to have been someone in Europe, since American police would arrest someone doing something insane like that.
R: where do you get your stories? do you make phone calls, is it all emails being sent to you or do you spend a few hours a day crawling forums and other places?
D: I talk to people on a daily basis, emails, crawling forums, and of course I have a legion of minions who tell me things. Minions are the faceless ‘they’ and ‘them’ who are out there hearing things, talking amongst themselves and generally finding things out that may or may not be things those being reported on want me talking about.
R: The internet has a big part to play in paintball, from gear news to watching tournaments live online. what are the bad points with having information travel so fast?
D: Paintball has always had a massive rumour mill, and the internet has made it worse. Now some twit sitting in his room chatting with his buddies can ‘hear’ something and go post up on whatever forum, and the next thing you know some poor ******* working at XYZ company is having to deal with total bull**** that some moron created for whatever reason. Alot of it is competing companies talking **** about each other, and they develop into rumours. I hear lots of it every day, and you develop a sense of what’s real and what’s not. if it smells true, then I’ll ask whoever wherever and get a comment, or not, depending on how juicy it is.
Dale on Shooting Hot
R: did you read many print mags back before most of them went digital?
D: I liked Paintball 2 Xtremes the best, but SPLAT was always good too.
R: You are involved with a relatively new Paintball Mag, Shooting Hot. Tell us a little about its content and intended audience.
D: We’re getting ready to put out our 4th or 5th issue now. Most paintball magazines are targeted towards the younger audience, in the 12-24 year old range. our target audience is aimed more at the the mature player, the 24-54 year old who is still playing or came back to the sport after a period of time, who likes to play the game his way, rather than how the younger crowd does. There are enough people now that were demanding this more mature look at the game that the decision was made to move forward.
R: so you saw a gap in that particular demographic and decided to go for it. Who was the main driving force behind its start up?
D:Billy Smith is the publisher. he runs a very successful field and store in Georgia, and we’d been working together for some time. We’re also friends, which makes a huge difference to me. He’d been busting my balls for well over a year to head up a new magazine, and I finally got it into my head that it was time to stop criticizing my editors at the magazines I wrote for at the time and do it my way. Along with Billy, we have Joe Holleran, who’s my Associate Editor, Bill Murray who does alot of our graphic work, and Rich Struth, who handles the hotties.
R: how do you gauge the success of an online publication like this, is it based purely on page views?
D: Page views, and the buzz that we create. Lots and lots of people are talking about what we’re doing.
R: There may be some people with stuff to say out there, are you looking for contributors or photographers?
D: We’re always looking for people who want to give their voice to the game.
R: what does it take to put together an online publication, how many hours a month do you put into it?
D: Joe generally spends the last week of every month working with Bill to put the content I’ve either created myself or edited from our writers. It’s not as intensive from my end as it is for The Ford Report, but it’s something that I have to do every month, or there’s no magazine. It’s challenging, but I’m working with an amazing group of people, so it’s a labor of love.
R: where do you see Shooting hot being in 1, 2 and 5 years?
D: we got the groundwork laid in 2009 by getting our first issues out…2010 will be building our base. by 2012, we’re going to be the magazine of choice for players who want the real deal, and in 5 years, all of my old editors will be working for me.
R: where do you find the hot ladies for photo shoots, paid models or friends?
D: Rich Struth has a way with the ladies. The first few issues were paid models, but now we’re getting interest in posing by wives, girlfriends, and real women that play. Models are great, but I’m older now, and looking at a woman closer to my own age is more fun than some 19 year old model. I know that sounds odd, but I’m old enough to be a 19 year old’s dad, which is kinda gross. Besides, I wouldn’t want to bother with teaching a 19 year old what I like…my 42 year old wife is as sick and demented as I am, which is one of the many reasons I love her!
R: so shooting hot would be aimed towards a more mature audience, Will be still be readable by younger people or will the articles be based on the older man. I.e. would a 16yr old looking for info about the latest gear still get his fix from it?
D: if that 16 year old was into scenario play, yes. our target audience isn’t as tournament oriented as the younger crowd is. Alot of the stuff we’re going to be doing is going to be scenario/woodsball related, because that’s where 95+ percent of the play is happening. It’s always been that way, but it’s taken this massive downturn in the economy for the industry to fully understand it.
Dale on Paintball Club 21
R: what is Paintball Club 21 all about?
D: PaintClub 21 is an event ONLY for adults over the age of 21. during the day, we hit the field and play all out. Nobody will tell you how fast to shoot, give you hard time about cursing, and you won’t have to worry about lighting up a 12 year old. It’s specifically geared for experienced players, and the food and entertainment is geared for adults as well.
R: Why did you start it?
D: PaintClub 21 is the brainchild of Billy Smith, Joe Holleran and me, and our frustration with what we called the “Disney Effect”, where everything associated with paintball has to be politically correct and sanitized. we feel that paintball is the antithesis of politically correct, and we went about creating PaintClub 21 to appeal to that player.
R: Who is involved with it?
D: Billy Smith is the creator, along with Joe Holleran. I was brought on to help with the PR aspects of the event, and because at my core I believed in what we were doing. as a bonus, we managed to piss off just about every paintball media person out there.
R: Year 2: Project Chaos, can you give us some details about it?
D: Bigger, Badder, more Epic. We’ve had a hard time upping the ante from the first event, but I believe we’ve figured out a way to do it.
R: Would be be worth travelling over from Ireland to take part in ?
D: Absolutely!
R: what other projects have you got going on that you want to mention?
D: I have a couple of consulting gigs that I’m working on right now, nothing I can talk about at this point, though. The Ford Report, Shooting Hot Magazine, my day job and my hot wife keep me busy, which is how I like it!
R: Paintclub21, what are the costs involved for those thinking about attending?
D: $150 covers your paint, air, and first case of paint, as well as dinner and beer. You’re on your own for mixed drinks and tips for the entertainers…
R: Is it a ‘what happens at paintclub stays at paintclub” type thing?
D: Precisely.
Dale on Paintball
R: Giving the current climate, how would you describe the current state of paintball as a whole?
D: We’re right in the middle of a reset. For years and years, the industry poured the majority of their PR and advertising budgets into the tournament side of paintball, and with the economy the way it is, it’s no longer feasible to support tournaments and teams at the levels they were previously enjoying. Everyone’s going back to the weekend recball/woodsball/scenario players, because that’s where 95+ percent of paintball is, and always has been.
R: if left as it is, where do you see paintball in 5 years time?
D: National Tournaments will be a thing of the past. There will be regional series that do well, but on the national level there’ll be nothing.
R: if tournament paintball were every to fail for what ever reason, do you think that woodsball / rec ball will always remain there as an activity?
D: of course! Tournament paintball is not the core of paintball, the guys going out on the weekends at their local fields are the core.
R: what changes, if any would you like to see with in the industry and tournaments?
D: well obviously they all need to be advertising with The Ford Report and Shooting Hot Magazine. aside from that, build in margins for field owners and store owners to make a reasonable living. On the competitive side, I’m not really sure what the solution is. I’d probably leave that answer to someone who’s more current with the way things are in the tournament world than I am. I basically walked away from tournament paintball after the 2007-2008 season, and I don’t regret it one bit. Paul Richards is the guy to talk to, I’d say. him or Camille Lemanski. Alot of people discount her because she’s a pretty girl, but the fact is that she’s extremely intelligent and has her finger on the pulse of the game at that level.
R: can you ever see a world body for paintball to govern the various aspects and standardise rules etc, or would it be a bad thing?
D: It’s probably something that needs to happen, but I can see lots and lots of pitfalls in making it happen.
R: Who do you admire in the paintball world, and for what reason?
D: There are so many people that I look up to and admire in the game, that it’d be impossible to name them all in a reasonable amount of space and be fair about it. The standouts right off the top of my head are Billy Smith, Joe Holleran, Bill Murray, Eric Stork, Frank Connell, Brian Barno, John Navarro, Larry Cossio, Kristie and Andy Graham, “Georgia” Joe Hamilton, Mike Phillips,Willie Galarza, and of course, my wife, Jamie “The Tiny Blonde Goddess” Ford.
R: Who do you despise / hate / not like etc… or who would you not buy from etc.
D: Steve Davidson can kiss my ass. Other than that, I can pretty much get along with most people in the game today.
Quick fire questions:
- Favourite Alcoholic beverage: Yeung Ling or Amaretto Sour
- Burger King or McDonalds: Burger King
- On tank or remote line: On gun set up
- Spray and pray or precision: one Case one Kill
- Speedfeed or lid: Lid
- Rotor or Prophecy: Rotor and my Versa Shelled Invert Too
- Pbnation or TechPB: TechPB all the way !
- Favourite Pro-Team ( psp or nppl etc): I’m friends with Frank Connell and Rocky Cagnoni, so definitely Avalanche. Jeff Stein rocks too, so Hurricanes as well.
R: thanks for the time dale, if your every in Ireland, make sure and hit us up.
D: Once the magazine starts bringing in income, going to Europe is definitely on the list. We’ll stop by for a pint!
Links and References:
Pictures: Jamie Ford & PBuprising
Rapide
NSG Splatmaster Rapide in Box – mcarterbrown.com
Shooting Hot Magazine
Paintball News – Paintball Uprising
by Linda Holmes
• The Hurt Locker may have won Best Picture, but it’s already available on home video, and that means theaters are reluctant to make it more widely available on the big screen.
• Sticking with the Oscars for a moment, the explanation being offered for Farrah Fawcett’s exclusion from the “In Memoriam” segment on Sunday night is that she was better known for television. this would be a better argument if the inclusions in past years of folks like John Ritter and Phil Hartman (according to Wikipedia, which has a tendency to get this kind of non-axe-grinding indexing of past segments correct) didn’t set a precedent that major TV stars are generally included if they have any noteworthy film background at all. Fawcett, who was an Independent Spirit Award nominee for The Apostle and a Golden Globe nominee for Extremities, would seem to have just as valid an argument regarding the Oscars as Phil Hartman, who did just about all of his significant (and great) work in television. It’s true that you can’t cover everybody, but given Fawcett’s long, and ultimately successful, struggle to be taken seriously, it seems like a regrettable final snub.
• a commentator in The New York Times argues that perhaps the end of the idea of “free” television would be a good thing.
Jesse Ventura, good credits wonderfully ruined forever, and Krasinski’s next move, after the jump.
• The words “Jesse Ventura” and “secret futuristic war movie” go together in some kind of natural and yet terrifying way I can’t entirely explain.
• John Krasinski has had a very uneven movie career, for a guy who launched so successfully on TV. Frankly, though there’s been a lot of chatter about him and the role of Captain America lately, I’d go the romantic leading man route myself. those Emily Giffin books are perfectly nice; I approve.
• if you’re a Parks And Recreation fan, I’m going to warn you that if you watch this video that reinvents the title sequence, you will never, ever not hear the music this way. On the other hand, it’s so funny that it was tweeted by Mike Schur, one of the showrunners, who said last night that they’ve “watched this 1000 times in the writers’ room.” But seriously, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Morning Shots: Another 'Hurt Locker' Uphill Battle, Farrah, And Credits Comedy
Rob Lowe is hot, give him that much! Lowe is turning 46 next Wednesday and dude is looking good. Move over Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Methinks Lowe is way hotter.
more Rob’s hot candids after the jump…
Rob Lowe enjoyed lunch with friends at the famous Ivy restaurant on Robertson Blvd in West Hollywood earlier [...]
Enjoying her tropical surroundings, Sofia Vergara was spotted out and about in Maui, Hawaii yesterday afternoon (March 9).
The Columbian cutie looked lovely as she filmed scenes for her hit show “Modern Family,” sporting a gre…
Sofia Vergara: Hot Maui Mama is a post from: BuzzVee.com
There has been no shortage of recommendations for players the fans think the Denver Nuggets should sign. we know the Nuggets will have to sign (or trade for) at least three more players. I am working under the assumption that Anthony Carter is going to return to his regular one year, veteran minimum contract. to fill the other two spots the Nuggets will likely sign an offensive minded swingman and another big. Today we will poke and prod two shooters that the Nuggets are undoubtedly interested in and tomorrow we will investigate a couple of bigs that may be on the radar.
At small forward there are two players that have received quite a bit of attention, and they are Steve Novak and Wally Szczerbiak. Novak is the people’s choice, but it is unclear if the Nuggets have made contact with him or his agent. Szczerbiak, who was featured in an article by the wild and wooly Woody Paige in the Denver Post, probably has the inside track with the team and in the aforementioned article claims they had shown interest in him more than a month ago. which player should Denver choose? I am glad I asked.
Both players can shoot, but does one have an edge over the other in that department? Szczerbiak has converted over 40% of his three point attempts in seven of his previous eight campaigns (trust me, I did the math for the seasons he played for more than one team). Novak does not have quite the track record that Wally does, but he did hit 47.9% of his threes in 2007-08 while playing for the Houston Rockets, but he only attempted 71 three pointers that season. last year with the Clippers he drilled 41.6% of his three point attempts on a much greater number of attempts. Plus due to the fact he was playing with the Clippers, they were not all open looks.
At this point in their careers, I think Novak is the better marksman. on a team like the Nuggets where open looks will abound thanks to the talent around him I suspect he would have a chance at hitting 45% of his threes. Wally would capitalize on his chances in Denver as well, but I do not believe he would convert quite as high of a percentage as Novak would although the difference would not be significant.
However, there is more to basketball than catching a pass and shooting an open three pointer. When it comes to the other facets of the game I believe Wally has Novak beat. Szczerbiak has carried the offensive load in the past and has a more diverse arsenal to call on. that is not to say Novak is not capable of adding a midrange game, or a post game or a pull up jumper to his quiver, but Wally already has those in the bag. Neither player is asked to do much more than shoot, but you want to be able to trust someone to do more than dribble away from the defense and pass the ball to the point guard to reinitiate the offense, Wally is your man. As soon as Novak dribbles he is looking for someone to pass off to.
Defensively both players are underrated. if you ask most fans to rank them both on a scale of one to 100 you would probably get a lot of zeros. actually they are probably both twenty-fives, thus the underrated tag.
Novak is very attentive and does a good job of being in the right place on the floor and ready to help. Szczerbiak is also attentive, but as on offense, he has just a bit more to offer. despite being six years older than Novak, Szczerbiak is still a slightly better athlete. Plus he has some craftiness on defense that Novak is lacking. For example when the Cavaliers played the Nuggets in Denver this season Wally drew two charges and a third offensive foul when he was boxing out Chris Andersen. Believe it or not, the Cavs played Wally at power forward for a few minutes in that game and Szczerbiak actually guarded Andersen. Novak has three inches on Wally, but Szczerbiak plays bigger and he moves slightly better too.
Even though Szczerbiak would appear to be the better player right now I still have a difficult time endorsing him over Novak. Maybe it is the thought of having to type his last name over and over again. The tipping point in my mind is their respective contract statuses. Szczerbiak is an unrestricted free agent while Novak is restricted.
The most the Nuggets can offer Novak would be the $2.1 million they have left over from their mid level exception although they could also use their biannual exception that starts at $1.99 million. The question is would either one of those be too much for the Clippers to match? Los Angeles is over the salary cap by around $3 million, but they are nowhere near the luxury tax line. of course Donald Sterling has the reputation of being cheap, but he has proven he will spend money when he wants to. The kicker is the Clippers have about $21 million coming off their books next season from players they are unlikely to bring back. Adding around $2 million a year for Novak is not nearly as costly for the Clippers as it would be for Denver.
I have no idea how much Szczerbiak is expecting to sign for, but I bet Denver could sign him for the veteran minimum. that would clearly not be possible with Novak.
I believe when all is said and done the Nuggets will sign Szczerbiak to be their shooter off the pine, but before I offer the deal to him, and despite the fact my head tells me he is the better player, I would like to see Denver make a play for Novak.
I say sign Novak to an offer sheet using their biannual exception and dare the Clippers to match it. I think it would probably be a futile gesture because I do think the Clippers would match that offer. The good news is at this point Denver will get one or the other. if Los Angeles does not match the offer sheet, Denver would get the shooter they need to replace Kleiza. on the other hand if the Clippers do match, Wally will still be available. Szczerbiak has waited this long, and as I pointed out previously, there are no other contending teams with playing time available to be had. Wally waited Kleiza’s contract situation out, he would have no choice but to wait Novak’s out as well.
The bottom line is in Denver the bottom line is the bottom line (think it over, it makes sense, in fact, that should be the Nuggets marketing slogan this season) and I doubt the Nuggets are interested in offering anyone more than a minimum salary. that means no Novak, but do not fret. Szczerbiak will be just fine playing a handful of minutes off the bench. It is not a signing to jump for joy over, but I would take Szczerbiak’s savvy and shooting any day over Kleiza’s one track mind. you can complain and grouse all you want, but Szczerbiak would provide another small upgrade for the Nuggets heading into 2009-10.
6 Responses to “Things that end in ‘K’”
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b.archy6 Says: August 13th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Very interesting read jeremy. especially the part about Wally being an upgrade over LK. I also like the idea of throwing an offer sheet at Novak before committing to Wally. we really have nothing to lose at that point. oh see how I avoided writing Wally’s last name, so I guess we can sign him after all, lol.
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Baldbonsaiguy Says: August 13th, 2009 at 6:09 am
I have trouble getting excited about Wally! especially defensively, while an upgrade from Lk, and whle he gets himself in position to take an occasional charge, any fast swingman has a quicker first step than Wally! His best days are behind him.
I can’t help but wonder why there is no activity on the two Knicks. David Lee the big and Nate Robinson the quick. Perhaps Nate could be a change of pace off the bench, much like the Birdman is down low, from and energy standpoint….granted another small, but inserting him at the right time in the game could catch a weiry team overguard and lift his own tired team up.
Nuggies could have a very long season with their conservative approaches to the offseason.
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Stumbleweed Says: August 13th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Wally is definitely an upgrade over LK, even at this stage in his career. He’s a pure shooter and always has been, and like Jeremy said, he’s a pretty smart player who won’t do too many stupid things on the floor. I remember watching Cavs games last year and being impressed with his effort on defense — I think a lot of his previous criticism on that end came because he was a main focus of the offense and neglected the defensive side… the last few years, he’s been a spark off the bench and any time I’ve seen him, he has at least shown a commitment to defense. He’s not the quickest guy laterally, but we have Balkman and Afflalo to play that kind of defense… Wally would just need to shoot the ball and make smart passes, which he’s good at. there aren’t many backup SFs in the league that I’m scared of, so I don’t think his defense would be much of an issue.
Plus, as we found out with Chauncey, having a player who shoots 85%+ from the line is a HUGE asset at the end of games. if we have 2 (or more, if Melo/JR get their numbers up) players that solid from the line, it’s very tough to lose a close game.
But yeah, he’ll actually spread the floor better than Kleiza just because everyone knows he’s a 40%+ shooter compared to LK’s mega-streaky 34%. The 2nd unit with Lawson, Afflalo, Wally World, Balkman, Birdman would still be able to score (especially with Lawson pushing the break with 2 extremely athletic bigs) and normally there’s a starter in the mix too (Melo at the 4, Nene at the 5 with Bird at the 4, etc.). I dunno, but that’s a big upgrade through the 10th man of the roster from what we had last season, especially shooting and defense-wise. and if AC comes back for the minimum, all the better. I complain about AC, but as long as he’s not taking a bunch of Lawson’s minutes (assuming he’s as good as he looks), he’s a great 3rd string PG to have on a fairly young team.
I’m fine with Novak too, but I think when we’re trying to really contend, it’s a good idea to get some veterans… especially if they can be had for cheaper and leave us some flexibility should a team get desperate down the road and wants to make a crazy trade.
Viva Wally World! It’s a natural pairing considering Kronenke’s wife… come on, that’s gold, Jerry, GOLD!
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Stumbleweed Says: August 13th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Oh, and I hope they’re still thinking about Coby Karl. He’s a perfect 12th man and would be super cheap… nepotism be damned.
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abs Says: August 13th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Here is a list of the players the Nuggets lost from their playoff roster, with their replacements (or potential replaces with a question mark), assuming they resign Carter:
Jason Hart – Ty Lawson (huge upgrade)Dantay Jones – Arron Afflalo (bigger upgrade than u think)Steven Hunter – Malik Allen (upgrade only bc he’ll play)Linas Kleiza – Wally Szcerbiak? (upgrade)Johan Petro – Joe Smith? (huge upgrade)Sonny Weems – Cobly Carl? (upgrade)
If the Nuggets go out and get Szcerbiak, which seems highly likely, sign Cobly Karl, which also seems likely, and sign Joe Smith, which seems somewhat unlikely, the Nuggets have upgraded every single player they lost. and, with every player except Petro (counting the sale of the 2nd round pick against Lawson’s deal), they all cost less money, and in some cases (Hunter) a lot less money. if they don’t get Smith, worst case scenario is they bring back Petro, or replace him with Dupree, and in that one position they stay basically the same. not too bad in an offseason where shedding payroll was the number one objective…
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Frontrange Says: August 13th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I am willing to take bets that at the end of the year, people will miss LK. There is a reason he gets 6M/yr offer with an opt-out at 1 yr while Wally is sitting and waiting.
The only difference between LK stats last year and previous are ~1 missed FT and 1 missed FG per month, despite a 2 month long shooting slump. 36 pts over the course of the season – 9FT and 9 3 pointers. Overlooked is that he actually improved his turnovers, rebounding and defense. (See Basketball reference: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kleizli01.html )
Klieza is stronger than both of those players, runs the court better, drives better, and I think is the better defender. At times he was a bull inside on the offensive glass.
Losing Klieza is not the end of the world, but in 2 years the chance to sign him back when Keyon contract comes off the books (or K-Mart is resigned at a market rate), could look good.
I can’t see Denver paying Novak more than min. too many better NBA players are signing for at or close to min (e.g. Leon Powe, Shelden Williams, Matt Barnes). Fry had multiple suitors, brings more to the table, and he ended up @ 2M.
If Denver takes on salary in the 2M+ range expect it to come from a trade and not FA signing, none of the players left are worth more than min contract to Denver.
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Roundball Mining Company – Denver Nuggets Blog » things that end …
Kim Kardashian and a Khloe look-a-like took a trip to Robertson Blvd. in Los Angeles yesterday. We would have thought Kim was hanging with sister Khloe Kardashian until we took a closer look.
more Kim doing her shopping rounds after the jump…
Girlfriend has similar features as the Kardashians, could this be another socialite in the making or a [...]
A season-best home crowd of 4,923 saw IUPUI defeat SDSU 86-76 on Feb. 27 on senior night in the final tune-up before the Summit League Tournament.
The Jacks started slow out of the gates, making only two shots the first seven minutes. despite the slow start, the Jacks were only down four at halftime. What kept SDSU in the game was their shooting from beyond the arch. Half of the Jacks’ 58 shots came from three-point range, led by Clint Sargent’s five 3s and his team-high 22 points.
On the other side of the ball, IUPUI caused SDSU all sorts of problems with their athleticism.
“Defensively, we were forced to go to a small lineup,” said Nagy. “When you look back on it, what does that matter? They shot 72 percent (in the second half). You can almost stand underneath the basket with your hands straight up and not give up 72 percent. When we went to that lineup, we had no inside game at all.”
Before the game, three Jackrabbit seniors, Garrett Callahan, mark Engen and Kai Williams, were honored and the emotions were high.
“I’ll have very, very fond memories of these three guys just because they were the ones that stayed committed to us when things were really tough and helped us get this thing turned around,” said Nagy. “We have made good steps every year they have been here; steps in the right direction. The next step is to become a championship contender. if we do that, we did it on these guys’ back. most people will forget about them, but I won’t.”