Milwaukee Bucks: If the Bucks haven't completely quit on coach Larry Krystkowiak, then how do you explain last night's ugly -- and I mean Jocelyn Wildenstein-ugly -- loss to the Chris Quinn-led Miami Heat? (Yes, that Chris Quinn.) Milwaukee scored 73 points (a season-lnow), shot 35 percent (27-for-76), and committed 19 turnovers (to only 11 assists). And unlike the Heat -- who featured a makeshift starting lineup of Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Earl Barron, Daequan Cook, and Quinn -- the Bucks weren't hampered by injury, unless you count Charlie Bell and his sprained right knee...and you don't. A few notable bad performances amid the jetsam and flotsam of this loss include Mo Williams and his 7 turnovers, Chuck Villanueva and his 2-for-11 shooting, and Dan Gadzuric's four trillion.

Donnie Walsh: Yesterday, the news was that he had turned down James Dolan's offer to take over the Knicks' front office doodies, er, duties. Then Walsh suddenly announced that he'll be stepping down as President and CEO of the Indiana Pacers. Suspicious, no? And while there hasn't been any official word as of yet, every rumor and anonymous report has Dolan signing Walsh to a three-year, $15 million presidential deal. Who knows what's fact and what's fiction at this point, but the whole thing seems petty shady, especially considering that Walsh is still under contract with the Pacers. And what about Isiah, the Knicks' current GM? He seems completely unaware of what's going on. I mean, sure, Zeke has destroyed the team and turned the franchise into a league-wide laughingstock, but sticking the knife in his back under the cover of darkness isn't cool. Although, come to think of it, after the Jerome James signing, he probably had it coming.

New York Knicks: The Knicks rallied around their soon-to-be-totally gone coach and delivered a stirring tribute to all he's done for them by losing 106-91 to the New Jersey Nets. At home. New York shot 39 percent and "held" New Jersey to 54 percent shooting, including 59 percent from beyond the arc. Zach Randolph returned to the Knicks lineup to block zero shots. He did have two of his shots blocked, though.

Madision Square Garden fans: Knicks fans are mad. At everybody. In addition to booing the home team -- as usual -- they were also going after the Nets. One fan yelled to Vince Carter, "You don't want to make the playoffs!" Vinsanity's retort was, "Neither do you!" The fans also harrassed Darrell Armstrong, who tends to coach his Jersey teammates from the bench. "Why are you yelling at me?" Armstrong shouted while pointing at the Knicks. "You should be yelling at them!" Just another night of fun at the Garden.

Boris Diaw: If you're wondering why the Phoenix Suns lost lost night -- other than some iffy officiating throughout and at the end of the game -- look no further than Diaw's 2-point, 1-for-7 performance. I'll tell you what, if I ever invent a revolutionary new vacuum cleaner with incredible sucking power, I'm naming it The Diaw.

Boston Celtics: The Green and White seemed to be coasting to another routine homecourt victory -- they were leading 80-69 lead with 8:20 to play -- then pulled a Rip van Winkle as the Philadelphia 76ers went on a 19-0 run to totally bogart the game. After establishing that 11-point lead, the Celtics didn't score again until Paul Pierce hit a free throw with 1:38 left. How does a team with three superstars go almost seven minutes of the fourth quarter without scoring? You'll have to ask them. Once they wake up, of course.

Darko, Brian, and Kwame: These guys fill my life with mirth and laughter, God bless 'em! Milicic started at center for the Griz, scoring zero points (0-for-4), grabbing 4 rebounds, and almost fouling out in 11 minutes of lack-tion. Cardinal snuck into the game for a couple minutes and rewarded his team with a single missed shot attempt. And [former number-one overall pick alert!!] Brown got another DNP-CD to add to his growing collection.

Casey Jacobsen, Taurean Green, and Steven Hunter: These men formed a new group I have dubbed the Two Trillionaire Club. They each played two minutes and eight seconds and went zero-for-everything. The interesting thing is that while they all accomplished this feat in the same game, Jacobson playes for Memphis and Green and Hunter play for Denver.

Portland Trail Blazers: They lost to the Sonics? Seriously?!

Fun fact: Basketbawful reader Sun Devil reminded me that Joel Przybilla absolutely bludgeoned the backboards in Portland's 83-72 win over the Clippers last Saturday: "You might want to note that the Clippers allowed Przybilla to play like a Vanilla Godzilla and grab a mind-boggling 25 rebounds. I get that Fazekas is their tallest player, but man, this team fell apart before the season started." Am I the only one who loved the "Vanilla Godzilla" part? I'm going to use that forever. Thanks, Sun Devil.

Bob Delaney: Oh, man. Delaney absolutely ruined the end of a classic Lakers/Warriors game by making one of the worst "last ten seconds" calls I've ever seen. With four seconds left in overtime and Golden State trailing by two points, the Warriors were trying to inbound the ball when Monta Ellis got tied up with Derek Fisher, who grabbed Ellis and flopped backward, and both men tumbled to the ground. Offensive foul on Ellis, game over. Terrible, terrible officiating, and Ellis wasn't shy about saying so: "It wasn't a foul. (Fisher) pulled me. Just look at it. He pulled me. They made the call, it's over with now, it's done." Golden State coach Don Nelson was only slightly more diplomatic about it. "I like the referee a lot. He's a great referee. I don't know why he would call something like that, especially with a flopper. Usually they just ignore that stuff." Even Fisher admitted it wasn't a foul. "I thought it was going to be a no-call, just two guys fall down and the play goes on. So when the whistle blew, it caught me off-guard as well. I don't think anybody was necessarily guilty of anything, but from the angle that Bob had, it looked (Ellis) had his hands to my chest, which he did. But like I said, I wasn't trying to fall down at all in that situation." Uh huh.

Anyway, here's a video of the final three-plus minutes of overtime. You'll need to fast forward to the 7:14 mark to see the phantom foul. Oh, and enjoy listening to the hometown announcers go berserk: "This is just wrong. It's not even basketball!"


Update! ESPN Daily Dimers: Josh from The Dinosty noticed that the folks at ESPN's Daily Dime thought Shawn Marion was still a Phoenix Sun. "This is doubly incorrect. Not only is he on the Heat now (in body only), but I think Shawn's missed more than 6 of the last 7 Suns games, don't you?" Some astute edit checker spotted the gaffe and fixed it, but not before Josh snagged a screenshot.


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Labels: Boris Diaw, Boston Celtics, Darko, Isiah Thomas, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, referees