Ask an NBA Ref

The Dawg has been barking up too many trees lately. Therefore he will leave you with this cat from espn magazine.

And Now, Playing Towel Boy for the Los Angeles Lakers...

Check out the 411 I gathered on the Lakers' Towel Boy.

And Then There Was Only One Fan Left For Kwame

Opportunity Knocks: The Anthony Carter Story

The Nuggets Anthony Carter knows about second chances. As a high school drop-out, he didn’t have many options. It was either sell drugs and rob people, like his friends were doing, or play ball.

Carter chose the latter, and he became one of the best basketball hustlers on the streets of ATL. But he still feared he would have to turn to harder crime – like his seven uncles, all of them who had been in prison at one time or another. Fortunately, Carter found another way out.

That avenue presented itself on a night when AC had torched an opponent for thirty in midnight rec-league game. That same player asked Carter if he wanted to go back to school. He also handed him the number of a JC coach out in California.

Carter had to be prodded by a mentor, but he eventually made the call, headed west to the OC, and his legit basketball career was off and running.

But last season, after seven years in the Association, it looked like the 32-year-old Carter’s NBA run might be over. Without any interest from the league, he was forced to play for the Scafati Basket of Italy. It was the worst basketball experience of his life: a ratio of six days of practice a week to one game played, eight hour bus rides to away games, and a language barrier which made it difficult to even order at restaurants. FYI: Carter often phoned his teammates to assist him.

He grew so disenchanted, he cut a deal to buy out his contract for $75,000. He and his wife missed home, and Carter was anxious to see if there was one last shot in The Show. It was - what Carter calls - one of the biggest gambles of his life. But it paid off when the Nuggets signed him in April for one year, at $1.1 million.

This season, Carter has seized another opportunity. With Chucky Atkins sidelined, AC has moved in to the starting PG position and put up career numbers across the board.

"He's not one of these guys who puts up huge stats," says Nuggets TV analyst and former NBA player Scott Hastings, "but he always impacts the game. He's the calming force on the team, like Moses calming the seas."

Teammate Carmelo Anthony says you can count on Moses to bring toughness and energy to the floor every night. "He pushes everybody on the team," says Melo. "When he has the ball, all you have to do is keep moving and he'll find you."

Carter has become the Little Engine That Could on a team hungry for the Northwest division crown. Capturing that would mean a top three seed in the tough Western Conference playoffs. From there?

“Our leadership and character still probably isn’t championship caliber, too many emotional breakdowns on and off the court,” says coach George Karl. “But we're improving, and Anthony’s been a part of that. Anyone who says they expected this from him is crazy. Without him, we might be 15-29.”

So what has Carter done differently this time?

“I stopped drinking, and I’ve kept my body right,” Carter says. “When I was in Miami, my wife and I partied a lot. We had a lot of fun. But you gotta grow up sometime.”

He can only hope his teammates aren’t that far behind.

NOTE: The same weekend the Nuggets were in L.A., and I spoke to AC, OJ Mayo was quoted in the L.A. Times as saying he was surprised Melo was out so late the night before a game.

Snapshots From Laker Land

Just thought you might appreciate a few images from the Nuggets vs. Lakers game. Ya know, a look inside the huddle, the locker room, and underneath the Laker Girl's hula-like skirts. My God, where was the luau? Ssssssssmoking. Game? What game? Can I please play pin-the-#@%# on the Laker Girls?



Hey, true story: combined weight of the Laker Girls, 98 pounds, give or a take a rice cake, or a turd the size of a fig newton.



6 Snapshots From Laker Land

1. I saw it the first time, couldn't be certain it was actually what I saw: Kobe, while on the floor, checking out something other than the game. Saw it a second time and there was no denying it, must've been the hula skirts:

"Give me a K..."

Note to Kobe: PASS!

2. Dumbass fan talking smack to Kenyon Martin. Dumbass Martin for returning serve. Dumbass Fan gets booted by Dumb & Even Dumberass security.

3. Melo struts through the tunnel like he is Al Capone leading the city of Chicago to war. I imagine Capone was tough enough to avoid the banana peel (aka Kobe's foot) and ankle sprain.

4. A.I. in the locker room commandeering the TV play-by-play. Let's hope he doesn't quit his day job anytime soon.

5. George Karl tells me if it wasn't for Anthony Carter, the Nuggets would be 16-24 and not the other way around.

b. Von Wafer refuses to comment on story I am writing about AC. Maybe a little something to do with, um, playing time? FYI: Wafer does look sharp in the layup line.

6. Chicks in the L.A. crowd know exactly what to do when they get on the Jumbotron: shake their brand new assets. Somewhere, a Beverly Hills surgeon is smiling.

b. As am I, Laker Girl. So thanks for that. I could tell you about the scenario I dreamed up but...gotta work tomorrow. And I have sheets to change.

How NBA Coaches Feel After the New Mandatory Quarter Break Interview

The Latest NBA Atrocity

I can't think of any NBA call that angers me more than this one: The shooter, who is at the 3-point line, pump fakes, waits till his man commits, then flails through the air until he makes contact with the defender -- who has probably been standing still since like the National Anthem.

Oh, say can you see NBA refs? That you side with the shooter far too much on this call. Even though their bombs have burst in mid-air long before you have blown your little whistle/pacifier.

I watched Iverson do it against Eddie House the other night. AI pump-faked, House leaned in, just a little, put his hands up, then hung out there for a spell, maybe a week, until Thug AI practically mugged him.

Kobe is another one who gets that call a lot, as does Wade, and generally, now that I think about it: This is a blatant Superstar Call.

Reggie Miller used to get it a ton. In fact, I would surmise, if he wasn't the one that invented the tactic (see: Chorus Line leg-kick), he was the one who perfected it and brought it to the attention of his fellow superstars.

Note to David Stern: After you're done cleaning up your ref's gambling probs (like that's ever going to happen), can you please go to work on this one?

FYI: Believe it or not, I've seen kids do this CRAP on the playground. Hey, punk: Like anyone is going to the free throw line in a pickup game? Yet they still do it. Odd.

P.S. You know how the Vets are always taking the rookies out for a bite to eat, or buying them fancy clothes? I think that should flip on the Celtics. I think the two youngin's in the starting five should take those Vets out, a lot. Do you realize how many table scraps Kendrick Perkins is going to get this year? And if Rajon Rondo could ever hit an outside shot, he wouldn't be fairing too badly himself.

Predictions...Predictions...

Pistons beat Celtics in Eastern Conference Finals. In six games.

The Warriors Pirate Ship Taking On Water

"I'm going to give him a clean slate till something happens."
- Reggie Miller on Stephen Jackson coming back from suspension.

"It's like Reggie said."
- How SJ would probably respond.

Overheard the same telecast:

"Shot selection has always been a problem for Baron Davis."
- Mike "The Rug" Fratello

Yo Coach,

Couldn't it be said that poor shot selection is true for every member of Golden State? With the possible exception of rookie Marco Bellinelli* and Kosta Perovic, because you know he isn't ever getting off the bench.

But look at their roster of gunners: Al "hey, mom, I'm on TV" Harrington, Troy "I'm in the building let me shoot" Hudson, Monta "can't get off this pogo stick" Ellis, and, oh yeah, Stephen "I can get a shot off anywhere (even Cell Block C) " Jackson. The list goes on -- don't think we forgot about you Matt Barnes.

Here's my point: Isn't that GS's strategy in the first place? Play all Helter Skelter, get their opponents off balance and finish them off with a few dozen throat slashes? Seriously, GS has about as much team discipline as a pirate ship, and I might even side with the pirate ship if I had to trust one or the other. Speaking of ships, the Warriors' has certainly taken on some water.

BTW...During the game with Dallas, something else came to my attention: Devin Harris is making an early push for the All-Flopper First Team. Jesus, dude, take some acting lessons. And I'm not talking about from Mark Cuban.

* Predictions, Predictions...

Marco Bellinelli will be more successful than Peja Stojakovic. They're similar players, but Bellinelli seems savvier than Peja, and definitely a better passer, and he's only 21. Just try to roll that number Stephen J.