Slam Online

by Franklyn Calle

by Ryne Nelson
You probably thought we forgot to create the SLAMonline NCAA Tourney group this year. The truth be told: We did. If it wasn’t for a chat from Holly this proud, three-year tradition would have gone kaput. After strolling to my desk in a semi-allergic daze this morning, I opened my GTalk and our conversation went something like this:

Jax is getting T’ed up at almost twice the rate as he was ‘06-’07, his previous high season in technical fouls. How’s that for a fancy little stat? Jackson’s two-tech ejection in yesterday’s loss to the Suns put him over the 16-technical limit, tying him with Rasheed Wallace for this season’s complainer crown.

by Michael Tillery
R.I.P. Bill Davidson. Your teams were your mirror…lock, stock and barrel. The city of Detroit as well as true fans of the NBA will remember what you have given us forever more. Thank you sir. I wish your family peace.

Doc Rivers is one happy man: “Celtics coach Doc Rivers said before this afternoon’s game with the Bucks that there is a better than 50 percent chance that Kevin Garnett (sprained right knee) and Glen Davis (sprained right ankle) could return for Friday’s game at San Antonio. Neither player will practice with the Celtics in Chicago tomorrow since they didn’t make the trip.

by Marcel Mutoni
Phil Jackson has hinted time and again that his stay on the coaching sidelines is close to an end. After next season, Jackson insists that he’ll hang ‘em up, so to speak.

As if losing to the Clippers at the buzzer wasn’t bad enough: “They lost another game — in the most excruciating manner possible, against the second-worst team in the hemisphere — and now they’ve lost their best player until further notice. Just another night at the office for the Nets, whose season is now officially careening out of control…’Well, the X-rays are negative so I guess that’s the good news,” Harris said.