Pour myself a cup of ambition

Geez, it's been a little bit. This is going to only cover through Tuesday for the most part, and only the NBA. I'll have another post up soon (hopefully today) with WNBA and FIBA as well as stuff from last night. Sorry, I know all two of you wait with baited breath for these posts.

The Suns
Win number four was terrific on Saturday night. I didn't get to listen or watch stats, but a friend (smileyqueen114) was at the game and she texted me with excitement and awesomeness. For instance, did you know that it was the Gorilla's birthday on Saturday? Neither did I. Happy 28th, Go!

Win number five wasn't too shabby either. They're really playing well and having fun and earning the respect of their opponents. I seriously couldn't ask for more.

Recaps: Associated Press, Arizona Republic, East Valley Tribune

With those wins, the playoff picture looks a lot better.

Monta Ellis wants to have a race with Leandro Barbosa. Ok, so maybe he doesn't *want to* per se, but he definitely talked about it.

Bell's defense has gotten markedly better lately. I really think that he missed Marion when the trade first happened. Or as he put it: My energy level personally went through a little down period when that trade happened.

Whaddya know, the Boris Diaw that won the Most Improved Player in '06 still exists somewhere in there. Maybe he's trying to win it again this year. He's thinking, if I take every other year off and really step it up in the even numbered years, that award is mine! Ok, maybe not.

Permit me some Sports Night quoting for this next link.
JEREMY Not fitting in is how qualified people lose jobs.
ISAAC Yeah, but a lot of time it's how people end up working here.
I just love my team!

I worry about articles like these. It just sounds like Marion all over again. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentences as Lebron and Kobe and KG, but I just... When I hear him say things like, I put in the time and the effort and the work to be an elite player and ... my teammates and coaches notice, even if other people don't notice it, it's like listening to Marion talk last summer. And that scares me a bit.


Other NBA News
Shawn Marion was out for two games because of back problems (or if you read comments on azcentral.com, because Pat Riley wants to get a good pick in the draft lotto). What I want to know is: was he in a car when he backed into an object in a garage? Because I really didn't read it that way, and I laaaughed.

One of the reasons that I was unable to listen to the Suns beat the pants off the Kings on Saturday night was because I was at the Wizards v Clippers awesomefest. Seriously, I wanted to shake some sense into all those people who left before the end of regulation. Let that game be a lesson to them. Four points in seven seconds to take it into over time! And Chris Kamen on the kiss cam! Awesomesauce!

Arenas thought he'd be back this week, but then on Monday the doctors said not yet. Who knows when he'll be back. If he doesn't come back this season, he might not come back to DC at all. I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

The Rockets lost! Finally!

The Nuggets score points like it's going out of style. I care very little about either team, so that article is going to stand on it's own.

The Seattle SuperSonics and Oklahoma City reached a preliminary agreement on a lease at the Ford Center, pending NBA approval of the team's move. Considering how Stern seems to feel about Seattle, it looks like a pretty definite move.

*puts on armchair psychologist hat* This guy seems like he's running from something. But he'll have great stories when he stops running.

What I'm burning is your attire

Sometime this morning we should know if Brent Barry will be wearing purple and orange.

The after-shocks of Sunday's mind-numbingly embarrassing 116-86 loss to the Pistons. I'm divided on this. Yeah, they need to have some time to build a cohesive team, but at the same time Shaq's mouth appears to be writing checks that his body (and the team as a whole, it seems) can't cash. I guess we have little choice but to wait and see what happens.

To quote Sports Night, "it can't rain at Indian Wells." This article is especially cool, because I didn't know that this had been done before, and it was interesting to read the players' recollections.

The "big man club" doesn't really talk to one another, but that's alright with Shaq. I'm glad to see that he's not mad at Dwight Howard for taking on the nickname Superman. Even though "you can't give yourself a nickname." Why yes, I am feeling like quoting Sport Night as much as possible tonight. Thanks for asking.

Butler, Thomas, and Arenas all have setbacks in their returning from injury. I feel really bad for the Wizards, as they're an awesome team, but just can't escape from being injury laden.

Tony Parker is back to practicing with the Spurs. Damn.

One of the men responsible for the death of Michael Jordan's father is having trouble getting parole. Legal jargon and loopholes commence.

WNBA free agency is open. In list form here's some highlights:
* The Washington Mystics re-signed Alana Beard. YAY!
* The Minnesota Lynx signed Nakia Sanford (of the Mystics) to an offer sheet. The Mystics had five days to match or beat the offer.
* The Mystics matched the Lynx's offer. YAY!
* The Lynx picked up Anna DeForge.
* The Connecticut Sun (boo hiss) re-signed Lindsay Whalen (who I actually kind of like).
* Katie Douglas (boo hiss) (of the Sun) went to the Indianapolis Fever in exchange for Tamika Whitmore.
* As predicted, Swin Cash went to the Seattle Storm from the Detroit Shock in return for the number 4 pick in this year's draft.

Speaking of the Draft Day, the WNBA draft will be held on April 9th to coincide with the NCAA Women's Final Four.

The Mystics are holding open tryouts a week after the draft. I don't know what else to say about that, but it's kind of interesting. I wonder if other teams do that.