Shannon Brown Scored 26 Points, Gibson Out

Team China Basketball 85, Cleveland 84

Shannon Brown had a game-high 26 points, 11 of 16 from the field  in 32 minutes of action for the Cavs against Team China, while Daniel Gibson produced 14 points, 2-4 from the field and 10-11 free throws in just 17 minutes of play.

In the second quarter, Gibson suffered a left ankle sprain and did not return.

But Yi Jianlian’s turnaround jump shot from the right corner with 0.4 seconds left gave Team China an 85-84 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

“We didn’t execute down the stretch,” Gibson said of the Cavs play. “We gave them a lot of easy baskets. We had a lot of fouls which gave them a lot of easy points.”

Mike Brown Impressed By Darius Rice

Darius RiceMike Brown, the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, asked Rice why he isn’t in the pros?

Darius Rice lead the Cavaliers summer league team past the Spurs in Las Vegas last Saturday.

He scored 19 points off of 7-for-13 shooting and pulled down five boards in the win. He also hit three treys.

Rice is hoping the Cavaliers will sign him next season, “Cleveland is a good spot and I hope they keep me,” he said. “In the playoffs they were missing their three point shots. I just want to come in and give them that. I feel if I work hard, I can guard anybody and play defense and play hard, and that they’ll give me a shot.”

Rice is versatile big man, he scored 52 points off the bench for the Dakota Wizards in the NBDL Championship.

“I’m a hard worker and I have NBA skills,” said Rice. “I can shoot the ball and I just want teams to know that if they want a shooter, I’m here. I’m going to play hard, I’m going to defend, and I’m going to give them 110%.”

Cavaliers Practice Facility

Cleveland Clinic Courts is the official name of the new practice facility and it is being called the most complete basketball training center built by an NBA team.

Dan Gilbert, not one to cut corners, will look forward to moving his Cavaliers to the $20-million facility in Independence, Ohio.  The 50,000 square foot building will become headquarters for the players and coaches.  Some of the amenities include:

-Two adjacent regulation NBA courts with a total of six hoops
-Extra large strength and conditioning areas overlooking the playing court area
-A theater-style meeting room
-Three large locker rooms
-Executive offices
-Video and editing rooms
-Studio facilities for media interviews

Source: Reed Construction Data

Kenny Natt is now with the Kings

The Kings announced Saturday afternoon that Kenny Natt, a former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach, has been hired to take a similar position in Sacramento.

Reggie Theus is the new head coach for the Sacramento Kings and played with Natt in Kansas City in 1984-85. 

I am hoping that this may free up a spot for a strong offensive minded assistance coach for the Cavaliers.

Source:  Sacbee.com 

Nocioni Re-signs With Bulls

Andres Nocioni agreed to a five-year deal with a team option for a sixth year to return to the Chicago Bulls, ESPN reported.

“He’s glad to be back,” George Bass, Nocioni’s agent, said Friday. “We’ve been very aggressively working on it.”

This will end all the rumors we heard about the Grizzlies interest in Nocioni. With this deal, the Grizzlies might go after their second option, Anderson Varegao.

Chauncey Billups And The Pistons Have Come To An Agreement

Chauncey Billups agreed to multi-year deal with the PistonsAfter Billups’ agent denied media reports that the point guard had reached an agreement, ESPN’s Ric Bucher reports sources say that Billups has now agreed to multi-year deal with the Pistons.

The terms and length of the deal are unknown at this time. Billups said he would prefer to stay with Detroit after they were eliminated by the Cavaliers.

Grant Hill may be heading to Phoenix

Grant Hill is reportedly leaving the Orlando Magic.  The Phoenix Suns appear to be his new destination.  The 34-year-old forward agreed to a two-year deal worth about 1.8 million for the first year with a player option second year of about 2 million agent Lon Babby said.

The Deal Behind Nocioni and Varejao

The Deal Behind Anderson Varejao Andres NocioniEarlier this week, many sources suggested that Anderson Varejao received an offer from the Memphis Grizzlies.

According the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Cavaliers restricted free-agent forward Anderson Varejao has not received any offers from the Memphis Grizzlies or any other team.”. According to several reports, the Grizzlies are running after the Chicago Bulls restricted free-agent forward Andres Nocioni. Continue reading “The Deal Behind Nocioni and Varejao”