Hooped Up

All signs point to Raptor coach Sam Mitchell being named the league’s coach of the year for 2006-07 and being honored before Game 2 of Toronto’s Eastern Conference playoff series against the New Jersey Nets , the Toronto Star writes.

The league announced last night it would announce the coach of the year winner tomorrow and the league likes to allow the various winners their moment in the sun in front of a home crowd.

In a straw poll of writers and broadcasters who vote on the award, Mitchell had a slight edge on Utah’s Jerry Sloan and Avery Johnson of the Dallas Mavericks .

In the past, the league has made sure the winner of any significant post-season award has been honored before his team plays.

Neither the Jazz nor the Mavericks play tomorrow night.

Toronto Star

A great series would help DeShawn Stevenson earn back what he lost last summer when he turned down a three-year, $10 million offer from the Orlando Magic, believing he could get more. When that didn’t happen, Stevenson fired his agent, hired a new one and signed with the Wizards hoping to increase his value. This season, he’s being paid $932,000 and he plans to test free agency by opting out on the second year of the contract this summer.”

Washington Post

Booing him early and often, Detroit Pistons fans let Darko Milicic know they still begrudge him for being a bust.

The Pistons drafted Milicic second overall in 2003 — passing on Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — and traded him two-plus seasons later after he averaged fewer than two points a game as a seldom-used reserve.

Milicic said in the past, and reiterated Sunday, he just wants to play.

The 7-foot, 250-pound center from Serbia-Montenegro was jeered and taunted throughout the game, particularly while shooting free throws.

“I don’t really care,” he insisted. “Back home fans used to throw baseball [bats] at me. They used to try to kill me back home, that’s why I don’t even care.”

SI

Alright, now that it is essentially official that both of these players will pass up their final 3 years of the college experience in order to pursue a life in The League I feel safe discussing (a) who I think is the correct pick at the #1 spot (b) who will actually get picked at that spot (c) and who i think will in the long run be the better NBA player. Here goes:
The Sporting Rambler

Sam Mitchell has some words of advice for those still smarting over Vince Carter’s departure for the swamplands of New Jersey a season-and-a-half past: Get over it.

“Ya’all need to let this Vince Carter stuff go. It’s not about Vince coming back to Toronto. It’s about the New Jersey Nets and the Toronto Raptors . Vince Carter just happens to be a member of that team,” said Mitchell after the Raptors practice Friday.

It might not be that easy for the Raptors fans who felt jilted when Carter, who helped put the team on the map when he became a National Basketball Association superstar in Toronto before requesting a trade prior to the 2004-05 season.

Globe And Sports

Morris Peterson isn’t sure if he’ll be available this afternoon when the Raptors open the NBA playoffs against the New Jersey Nets .

Peterson, the longest-serving Raptor, hurt his right knee Tuesday night in Detroit and took part in a light workout yesterday wearing a brace.

He said he would be okay, but coach Sam Mitchell said he’d talk to the team’s trainer today before making a final decision.

Toronto Star 

Heat guard Dwyane Wade is a Chicago guy, someone still in love with his hometown. But the Chicago Bulls rarely give him a warm reception.

Bulls forward Andres Nocioni pushed Wade in the back and sent him sprawling after a play two years ago, then delivered more hard hits on him during last year’s Miami-Chicago series, won by the Heat in six games. This season, Kirk Hinrich tugged the Miami star’s arm so hard that Wade sprained a wrist.

And the Heat expect more ruggedness from the Bulls starting Saturday, when the teams open an Eastern Conference first-round rematch in Chicago.

“Am I concerned? Yeah. Knowing Scott Skiles, yeah,” Heat center Shaquille O’Neal said, referring to the Bulls’ head coach. “He’ll be saying foul him, foul him hard.”

NBA

Former Knicks great Walt Frazier will ask Isiah Thomas if he can work with rookie guard Marty Collins this offseason, The Post has learned.

Frazier said he wants the chance to work with Collins for a few days this spring because he sees himself in the 6-foot-6 rookie - a tall, tough-defending guard with deceptive quickness and a cool demeanor, but sans a jump shot. Frazier, now a Knicks broadcaster, developed a perimeter game after a few seasons.

“I’m going to ask Isiah because there’s a few things I can show him,” Frazier told The Post on Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C. “Once you get in the paint, control your body. Things very simple that he’s not thinking about.”

New York Post

Impressed with Corey Maggette’s transformation into a playmaker late this season, the Clippers hope to re-sign the veteran forward to a multiyear contract extension, The Times has learned. Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling recently reaffirmed his determination to keep Maggette after his contract ends in the 2008-09 season, team sources said, pledging the resources to retain the player who had a key role in a late push for a playoff berth that fell short on the regular season’s last day.”

Los Angeles Times

Boston Celtics point guard Sebastian Telfair was arrested early Friday morning after police said they found a loaded handgun in his car, according to a report from the Westchester Journal.

Telfair was stopped for speeding on the Bronx River Parkway in Yonkers, New York, police say. Police said they stopped the 21-year-old shortly before 4 a.m. when they witnessed his 2006 Land Rover going 77 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone, according to the report.

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