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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
>> NBA
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2008
Last minute trades decide players' fates
NBA players like Sacramento Kings guard Mike Bibby have been subject to the last-minute trade. The Atlanta Hawks traded four players and had a high draft pick on Saturday for Bibby
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — Only a few days left in the NBA's version of "Let's Make a Deal."
The Lakers were already winners, and the Suns and Mavericks could start playing with their new toys Wednesday. Now it's up to teams like San Antonio and New Orleans to see if they want to make a trade to help put them over the top in the loaded Western Conference.
They have until Thursday afternoon to decide, and with nine teams separated by fewer than five games in the standings, standing pat could mean standing still.
"We've never had a race that close at this point in the season," commissioner David Stern said. "The trades seem to have piqued interest."
So who's next? And who's left?
The big deals involving Shaquille O'Neal and Pau Gasol and the expected trade of Jason Kidd have swung the attention to Phoenix, Los Angeles and Dallas.
Largely forgotten is that the Hornets came out of the All-Star break with the best winning percentage in the West.
New Orleans finally got some attention by hosting a successful All-Star weekend, which ended with MVP LeBron James leading the Eastern Conference to a 134-128 victory against the West on Sunday night. The Hornets have been largely overlooked, but there is some thought the NBA will be right back here in the same building in mid-June.
"I think we feel pretty good about the way we played so far," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "Obviously, we haven't made any move like a few teams around us have. But we feel we have a very good basketball team. When it's all said and done, we feel we're going to have something to do with it."
The unofficial second half starts with 10 games tonight. Much of the attention, however, will be saved for the next night, when O'Neal could
make his Phoenix debut — against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, no less — Kidd might suit up for Dallas, and Mike Bibby makes an immediate return to his old home when Atlanta visits Sacramento.
The trade deadline comes the following afternoon, but it's clear many teams aren't interested in waiting until the last minute.
The Lakers kicked off shopping season by acquiring former All-Star Pau Gasol from Memphis. Phoenix went even bigger by bringing O'Neal from South Beach to the Southwest, and the Mavs were hoping their deal to bring Kidd back to his original team would go through Monday.
Any one of those moves could make the difference in a conference where Houston has won eight straight games and was 32-20, and that was still only good enough for a tie with Golden State and Denver for the final two playoff spots. They would be tied for fourth place and home-court advantage in the first round if they resided in the East.
Yet, the West being powerful is nothing new, which is why the defending champion Spurs don't think they have to react to the moves made around them.
"It's going to be tough and people are going to have be playing well at the right time," All-Star forward Tim Duncan said. "It doesn't matter what moves you make, if they're not playing well for you, if you're not jelling, if you don't find the right rhythm or the right people to put on the court at the same time, it's not going to work for you."
The Gasol deal has worked so far for the Lakers, who won the final four games of their road trip leading into the break despite a torn ligament in Bryant's right pinkie finger. If center Andrew Bynum's knee injury heals and he returns at full strength, Los Angeles could be the favorite to reach the Bynum finals.
Or, they could be gone in the first round for the third consecutive year. To reach the finals, the Lakers would likely have to survive a field that
looks every bit as tough as the one they navigated in 2001, when they swept Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio — all 50-game winners — in the West playoffs to give Bryant his second of three straight championship rings.
"Even the bottom tier teams, if you can call them bottom tier teams, the eighth seed, ninth seed, they're tough," Bryant said.
"When we made our run, we obviously had Portland to deal with.
we had San Antonio to deal with. Sacramento was just starting to come into its own, and then a couple of years later they were the team to beat. But there were a handful of teams that were really tough. Now, you have nine, 10 teams that could really do some damage in the playoffs."
Things seem more settled in the East, where Boston and Detroit, which has won 10 in a row, have been head and shoulders above the rest of the field. But as James proved last year in the playoffs and reminded everyone during the All-Star game, he can still take over when it counts, so don't write off the defending conference champs.
"We know we're still not going to get the respect we should get. That's never been a problem for us." James said. "We don't care. We just go out and play. We're always going to be the third or fourth or fifth best team in the Eastern Conference.
"We still go out there and win ball games and we know when the postseason happens, you've got to come get it from us, because we're very good."
MLB
Pettitte arrived at spring training earlier in the day and threw a bullpen session at the minor league complex. Later, he met reporters for about an hour.
Pettitte apologized to the Yankees, Houston Astros and his fans for the "embarrassment" he caused them by
caused them by taking HGH.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte answers questions at a news conference Monday in Tampa, Fla. Pettitte, who reported for spring training baseball camp on Monday, answered questions about his use of human growth hormone.
TAMPA, Fla. — Andy Pettitte has not spoken to Roger Clemens since giving a sworn statement which implicated his good friend in the use of human growth hormone.
"I think it's put a strain on our friendship," Pettit said in an eagerly awaited news conference Monday at the New York Yankees' spring training complex.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pettitte discusses strained friendship
ANDY PETTITTE New York Yankees Pitcher
"All I can tell you, from the bottom of my heart I know why I did this. I did it because I was told it might be able to help me."
"I never want a young person to do what I did," Pettitte said. "I'm sorry for the mistakes I have made."
come out and face you guys and whatever circumstances that come I'll take it, I'll take it like a man and I'll try to do my job," he said.
often paused to collect his thoughts and several times patiently asked reporters, "Did I answer your question?"
With Yankees teammates Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada in attendance, along with two of his lawyers, Pettitite acknowledged he had considered not playing because of the ongoing situation.
Pettitte was excused from testifying publicly at a con-
It had been about a month since he had spoken to Clemens, Pettitte said.
"That wouldn't be the thing to do as a man. I felt like I needed to
Pettite sat alone at a podium,
taking dozens of questions. He
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gressional hearing last week after he gave a deposition and an affidavit. In addition to his December admission that he used HGH for two days in 2002 while with the Yankees, he said he injected himself with HGH for one day in 2004 while with the Astros after obtaining two syringes from his father.
Pettitite said in his previous statement that Clemens had discussed nearly a decade ago using HGH. In addition, Pettitite testified Brian McNamee, the former personal trainer for Clemens and Pettitite, had spoken in 2003 or 2004 about steroids use by Clemens.
The 35-year-old lefty with 201 regular-season wins and four World Series championship rings said he did not feel as if his accomplishments were tainted.
Clemens claims Pettitte "misre-
members."
"All I can tell you, from the bottom of my heart I know why I did this. I did it because I was told it might be able to help me," he said. "If people think I'm lying, then they should call me a cheater."
Pettitte said there were no other times he used performance-enhancing drugs. "There are no other surprises out there," he said.
"I think Roger knows how I feel about him. He knows I've admired him and continue to admire him. He's a great friend to me," he said.
Pettitte said he did not watch the Congressional hearings last week in which Clemens and McNamee testified. Pettitte professed his friendship for both men and said he hoped to remain on good terms with both of them.
"This has been a horrible situation for me," he said. "I'm hoping and praying I don't have to do anything else with this."
Pettite does not appear to be at risk of a suspension for his admissions. HGH was not banned by players and owners until January 2005.
"If it was illegal in baseball, I wouldn't have done it," he said.