Points in the Paint

» August 13, 2009 3:41 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Rosen lists the NBA’s best man-to-man defenders. Brian Skinner makes the cut, but Dwight Howard and LeBron James, the top two vote getters for last season’s Defensive Player of the Year award are, of course, excluded. Rosen: “Dwight Howard does block shots, but in his eagerness to do so, smart teams (like the Lakers) can run their offense in such a way that he’s lured out of shot-blocking position. Plus, opposing centers who are able to face up and go can usually find a driveable lane. I seem to recall that Pau Gasol ate Howard’s lunch in June. Why, then, was Howard selected as the NBA’s best defender? For the same reason that Larry Hughes was named to the First All-Defensive team in 2005. Numbers.”

Could LeBron sign with Adidas? Kurt Helin, writing for NBC Los Angeles, says it’s possible.

Click this link, read Lang Whitaker’s take on Stephon Marbury, and make sure you watch the video at the end.

Adrian Wojnarowski: “Beyond Pitino’s ill-fated dalliance with a blonde townie and the $3,000 to bankroll an abortion, there are several layers of issues which offer disturbing reminders of what comes with the hiring of Pitino in the pros. First, there was the personal assistant, Vinnie Tatum, watching the door for him during his escapade in 2003. That’s one thing. But here’s the story that’s getting too little attention but speaks prominently to Pitino’s world: His assistant equipment manager – a pseudo-make-believe position given to his driver with the Boston Celtics – took a stunning, sobering bullet for his boss. Six months after Pitino’s ‘indiscretion’ with Karen Cunagin, crony Tim Sypher married her. Maybe Pitino didn’t order it, but he had to think it was a good idea. It would’ve never been allowed otherwise. Pitino must have feared her on the loose, feared the information she possessed. He had to want her quiet, wanted her looked after, and this was the easiest way. What a dysfunctional, bizarre universe that existed at Louisville. Yet those are the lengths his yes men will go to stay on the payroll, to protect the mythology of Rick Pitino. This is how it works with Pitino, and this is the reason he’ll never again get offered anything but a lousy NBA job for a lousy franchise.”