Hooped Up

“Right now, they are a league-wide joke,” Reggie Miller said of the New York Knicks . “It’s sad because they are an historic and iconic franchise. But people think they are late night comedy jokes.” Don’t hold back or anything Reggie but, I do suppose the only thing looking worst than the Knicks these days is Oscar De La Hoya what’s up with that.

New York Daily News

The Raptors lost their best player in the second quarter. The Grizzlies lost the game around the same time.

Anthony Parker scored 19 points and Jose Calderon added 13 points and 10 assists to help the Raptors beat the Grizzlies

Chris Bosh limped off in the second with a strained right groin. It didn’t matter as Memphis was outscored by 20 points in the quarter and the Raptors ran away from the lifeless Grizzlies. 103-91 on Wednesday night.

Yahoo

Wolves point guard Marko Jaric recently began dating Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima. She is one of the highest paid models in the world, most famous for her work with Victoria’s Secret. Years ago, she was engaged to rock star Lenny Kravitz, but the relationship didn’t survive. She was once even falsely linked to Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Lima is supportive of Jaric. She flew to Denver on Thanksgiving and attended the Wolves’ game there the next day.

St. Paul Pioneer Press

The Raptors only reluctantly tolerated Garbajosa playing in the Madrid-based European championship after the Spanish basketball federation bought an insurance policy that cost about $1 million (all figures U.S.) for approximately three months’ coverage on Garbajosa’s NBA contract. The $1 million sum underlines the huge risk Garbajosa was taking. Projected over a full year, the policy was worth about $4 million. The two-year remainder of Garbajosa’s NBA contract only totals approximately $8 million. It was as though he owned, say, a $100,000 Porsche and, so mortified was the insurance company of the prospect of him driving it, his annual premium was set at $50,000. The policy expires Friday, so the Raptors are hoping the insurer will pick up a large chunk of Garbajosa’s salary. It will almost certainly be the club’s contention that Garbajosa has sustained further injury since the policy was purchased.

Toronto Star

Andrei Kirilenko was asked about his summer of discontent prior to the Jazz’s 113-109 loss at New York on Monday and shed some light on just where things stand.

“It was tough year last year, and it’s been a lot of disappointments for me,” the forward from Russia said. “And, you know, in your mind you start just talk to yourself a little bit. It’s like, ‘Man, it’s not everything.’ You need to think about basketball, but, you know, in a positive way. Right now, I’m changed completely. I feel way different.”

“It’s way different,” Kirilenko added. “It’s way different. I feel much better.”

Deseret Morning News

It would appear that Dan Fegan is going to stick to his guns until the Cavs cave, and considering he’s the agent who got Shandon Anderson $42M and Howard Eisley $41M, he’s a bloody genius with big guns. Of course, it was an entirely different market in those days, and while everyone likes Andy, it’s hard to justify giving $9M per to a 7-and-7 guy. As for sign-and-trades, the guy never received an offer sheet, so how many other teams are really willing to go that high?

Newark Star-Ledger

Scottie Pippen will play a basketball game in Sweden for the Sundsvall Dragons in January.The former Chicago Bulls great will join the team in northeastern Sweden for the Jan. 11 game against rival Akropol. The deal came about because Bulls assistant coach Mike Wilhelm is friendly with Sundsvall Dragons chairman Anders Ohrn.

Basketball’s Hottest Wives and Girlfriends

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Hooped Up

Sam Mitchell set the record for most wins as a Raptors coach Sunday as the Raptors continued the Bulls’ misery, winning 93-78 in Toronto.

The victory marked No. 114 for Mitchell, vaulting him past Lenny Wilkens for most wins in franchise history.

“It means you had a job for a while,” the coach said, shrugging off the honour. “I’m just proud of the way those guys played.”

The Sixers are open to fielding offers for Andre Miller (Cleveland and Miami are seen as his prime suitors) and plan to give Lou Williams more minutes at the point.

In the meantime, Andre Iguodala, who didn’t get the contract extension he was looking for, is taking more shots and turning the ball over more than anyone on the team and complaining more, too. “His body language is worse than Iverson’s ever was,” reports one teammate.

New York Daily News