[THE PISTONS]

Anyone who dunks against Duke must not be liked.

[Jeff Hause]

Can't we just sign him for a few weeks to beat the shit out of the slackers on the roster once or twice?

[mn3]

No need. The forum's resident ass-thumper could be signed for a lot cheaper. Dynomite could beat the shit out of our team's slackers and not cut too deeply into our salary cap.

[hack]

Stack was very flawed as a player, but he brought every ounce of whatever he had. His passion helped turn us around and I'll always appreciate him for that.

Yes, well said.

[mn3]

He wasn't particularly flawed. The guy made all star teams - legitimately.

[Mainevent]

He couldn't shoot from outside from 18 feet out consistently, was a turnover machine, was decidedly un-clutch and his defense was mediocre at best. Those are some serious flaws.

That said, he was tough as nails, always played hard and would deck anybody around. Gotta love those traits.

[Nick]

Stack was on a team where he had to do too much. You put him on a team like our championship team and his role could have been more defined and wouldn't have had to force it as much. He could have been just as successful as Rip

[mn3]

Alright!!!!!! Rip v. Stack XXIV

[Money23]

Originally Posted by Nick

Stack was on a team where he had to do too much. You put him on a team like our championship team and his role could have been more defined and wouldn't have had to force it as much. He could have been just as successful as Rip

That's undeniably true. I don't know why anyone would even try to debate it. Plus, remember those lulls in scoring? Jerry would get trips to the line. He was tough as hell going to the rack, and he LIKED to do it, and he went in with the sole purpose of scoring or shooting freebies. He would drive on ANYONE.

This is funny, though...I dislike when writers do shit like this:

Stackhouse would team up with a 40-year-old Michael Jordan. Jerry actually had one of the best seasons of his career in 02-03, averaging 21.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game, yet despite the fact that Stackhouse led the Wiz in every major category, Jordan was getting all the credit, mainly because his name was "Michael Jordan", and Stackhouse would be snubbed from the All-Star team.

Feigning being appalled when the reasons were fairly obvious...Jordan's numbers were virtually identical (1 less point, 3 more boards per), plus he played in all 82 games whereas Stack missed double digit contests. And of course, Jordan's last season, he got the lifetime achievement award. Big deal. Stack wasn't snubbed. a 40 year old dude had the same numbers; how does that mean Stack should have went over him?

Not to mention, the dude's numbers are wrong. Jerry led in a few categories for the Wizards; Jordan led in the other 7, including FG%, 3P%, and (DUH), had less turnovers. So he led the team in "all major categories", except for rebounding, FG%, assists, steals, blocks...come on, man.

Then, it's somehow the NBA's fault that Stack fouled the shit out of Shaq and got suspended. Mavs were down 17, Stack had a major temper, and he tried to tackle him AND followed through with the other arm. It's a hard foul, and sends a message...and gets pretty much ANYONE suspended.

[TJPiston]

Stack would have been better with a better supporting cast but Rip always was a more efficient player.

[hack]

Same treatment as the whitewash of Chauncey's last few playoff flameouts. Stupid, I agree.

[Jeff Hause]

Oh bullshit. It was a nice article and Stack deserves the praise...

[Jeff Hause]

Ex-girlfriend says Nowitzki called her his 'little jailbird'

Cristal Taylor says she is 'alone and broke,' blames player's coach

09:21 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 20, 2009

By BRAD TOWNSEND / The Dallas Morning News
btownsend@dallasnews.com

Cristal Taylor told The Dallas Morning News that she is pregnant with Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki's child, that they were engaged and had set a July 18 wedding date.

Then, those dreamlike plans with Nowitzki collapsed with her arrest two weeks ago at his home.

Speaking by telephone from jail in Beaumont, Taylor said she had been unaware of the two outstanding warrants against her. She said Nowitzki knew about her past arrests, nicknaming her his "little jailbird."

She blamed Nowitzki's longtime German coach, Holger Geschwindner, for ordering a prenuptial agreement, an investigation into her past and turning Nowitzki against her.

"I've known Dirk for seven years – and, no, I didn't tell him everything about my past because I was afraid," Taylor said during a series of phone calls in which she sobbed frequently. "But, I mean, now I'm pregnant and alone and broke because he is my only source of income."

Privacy laws prevent officials from releasing medical records that would address whether Taylor is pregnant or whether she was even tested.

Attempts to reach Nowitzki and Geschwindner through the Mavericks on Tuesday were unsuccessful. Team officials declined to comment.

Taylor, 37, contacted a News reporter Monday night with the help of her mother, Shirley, who set up the three-party conversation from her St. Louis-area home. When the 10 p.m. cutoff for prisoners' phone use arrived, Taylor requested the interview continue Tuesday.

Taylor said she wanted to correct "inaccurate" media portrayals of her – in particular, she said she worked in a Beaumont gentleman's club as a waitress, not a stripper. But throughout the hourlong Tuesday interview, she left no doubt about her main motive for telling her side of the story.

"I'm actually hoping that Dirk will step forward and help, once he reads the article," she said, adding that Nowitzki has not contacted her, directly or indirectly, since her arrest. Nor was he present for her two court appearances in Beaumont.

Taylor was asked why she hasn't tried to contact Nowitzki or Mavericks officials. She said that after she was initially taken to Dallas County Jail, she realized Nowitzki had changed his phone numbers.

"Not only that, but they [the Mavericks] pretty much told him, after you guys put out all that crap on me, to just wash his hands of me – and I think he pretty much did," she said.

Team sources previously told The News that Nowitzki's own suspicion led him to question Taylor's past while allowing her to stay in his house. They said Taylor had been a divisive influence between Nowitzki and his teammates and family members.

She had first met Nowitzki by happenstance, Taylor said. Seven years ago, she said, she thought she had dialed her brother's number, but instead got Nowitzki. She said that they had spoken almost daily since, and that she had lived with him for the last two years. But Taylor said she doubts Nowitzki knows about her pregnancy.

"I didn't even know," she said. "Nobody knew until they tested me in Dallas."

Pregnancy test

She said she was referring to Dallas County Jail, where she was held for one week before her transfer last Wednesday to Beaumont, where she had an outstanding warrant stemming from a 2006 felony theft charge. She also had been wanted since 2001 on a probation violation out of the St. Louis area on felony forgery and stealing.

What compelled her to get a pregnancy test at Dallas County Jail?

"Well, they always give you a test," she said. "They give you a urine test when you walk in and they give you a TB test. And the lady was like, 'Oh, so when are you due?'

"I was like, 'I don't know when the court date is due.' She was like, 'Uh, no, you're pregnant.'

"That was at intake. When I went upstairs, she said, 'I'm going to start you on these prenatal vitamins.' I was like, 'If you could just test me one more time, I just want to make sure.' "

Taylor said that the second test also came back positive, and that she has taken prenatal vitamins ever since. Asked how far along her pregnancy is, Taylor said, "I'm very pregnant, about maybe four to 41/2 weeks."

Dallas County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Kim Leach said electronic records for prisoners reflected "no notation of any special medical needs" for Taylor.

"All I can tell you is, there's no indication," she said. "But you can take that with a grain of salt, because she could be [pregnant] and it could just not be in the system because of privacy."

Staffers at Parkland Memorial Hospital, which provides the jail's health care, would have been responsible for entering the information into the electronic records, Leach said. She wouldn't be able to disclose what the medical needs were, even if they were noted, because of federal rules prohibiting the release of medical information without a patient's consent.

"Most people realize because of HIPAA nobody's really going to be able to check your records," Leach said.

Leach and Sharon Phillips, Parkland's senior vice president in charge of jail health, said pregnancy tests are not automatically given to female prisoners.

When prisoners first arrive, staff members will interview them about their medical history – looking for information on pre-existing conditions and prescriptions they're taking.

If the prisoners cannot post bond after a magistrate sets bail and they remain in custody, staffers then will conduct physical tests, Phillips said. One, detecting tuberculosis, is administered. Others would happen if staffers believed they were necessary, based on information gleaned from the initial prisoner interviews.

"It would have to be something from a history or something that would [make somebody] say, 'Oh, OK, this is the test we need to do,' " Phillips said.

Filled in on her past

Taylor said that as she and Nowitzki grew close, she had indeed filled in Nowitzki about her past. That included financial crimes that spanned more than a decade and two states. It had been previously unclear what Nowitzki knew.

She said her past did not prevent Nowitzki from buying her a Yorkshire terrier named Luna this past Christmas, or proposing on New Year's Eve.

She said he put on their favorite song, "No Air," and laid a path of rose petals to their master bathroom, where he got down on one knee. She said reports that her engagement ring was worth more than $200,000 were exaggerated.

"Probably over $150,000, though," she said. "It's in a safe-deposit box, and I can't use it or sell it. It doesn't go toward my legal fees. I wish it did."

Regarding her past relationships published in The News, Taylor said she had platonic associations with former NFL quarterback Tony Banks in 1997 and a Beaumont man named Todd Nobles, whose last name she took. She said she never consummated her 1998 to 2001 marriage to James Westerhaus.

"I want you to put this in there, real plain for Dirk," she said. "For seven years, I waited for him. No other men. And I will be happy if one would line up and say I was with them.

"I was not having a pattern of anything, except that I came into the relationship with love. I was about to sign, and would still sign, a prenup that says I get absolutely nothing, and any future children get none of Dirk's money. We get zero. Nothing."

She said she once dated a more high-profile person than Nowitzki, but said she broke it off because she didn't want the type of digging into her private life that has occurred during the last two weeks.

"What I did was not murder," she said. "But they're acting as though I had murdered someone. I am sitting here with a lady who murdered her child. I don't see her on the news.

"I'm being broadcasted [on Beaumont TV stations] like I have murdered someone's children, or they dug up bodies in our backyard or something. What I did was bad, but it was not to the extent where I'm going to lethal injection tomorrow, and that is how people are portraying me out there."

Staff writer Reese Dunklin and staff researcher Molly Motley Blythe contributed to this report.

[Mainevent]

Not only is this chick crazy, but she's fugly. At least if you're going to date a crazy person, make it hot crazy person.

[bozo the clown]

I don't start caring about this story until the Mavs release Dirk and the Pistons pick him up...

[Joe_Loco]

It's just like Rodman said when they let Marv Albert back in: everybody got a little freak in 'em.

[Jangul]

I'm more than a little skeptical that a golddigger just happened to dial Dirk Nowitski's number on accident and didn't immediately apologize and hang up like 99.9999 percent of people do in that same situation. It can happen, i guess.... it's like the time this chick who had filed a restraining order against me for stalking just happened to catch me peeping in her bathroom window. It was an honest mistake... I thought it was my brother's window. So you see, I understand that these types of random coincidences can happen. But unlike my story, hers sounds just a bit suspicious.

[The King]

I read a story where she did the same "random phone call" thing to former QB Tony Banks. The chick is clearly insane.

[Willie B Random]

Just saw something about a riot in Greece after a playoff game. Josh Childress pissed off and wants to come back home.

[Orwellian O.]

LOL...that chick was a "waitress" in Beaumont.....I'm going to see who knows what...

[Money23]

Originally Posted by Jeff Hause

Oh bullshit. It was a nice article and Stack deserves the praise...

Stack deserves the praise, but it was a bullshit article, sorry.

[Money23]

Originally Posted by TJPiston

Stack would have been better with a better supporting cast but Rip always was a more efficient player.

OK, but would you agree that Stack was more of an impact player (in his prime)? Who do you think would do better with less around them? I think it's Stack, fairly easily. I think a fairly healthy Stack instead of a fairly healthy Rip would have gotten at least a few more wins out of this past season's team. If by virtue of absolutely NOTHING else, just because of his ability to get to the line virtually at will. Stack stopped an uncountable number of runs by opposing teams when he was in Detroit, pretty much by himself.

[The King]

"I'm not a stripper! I'm just a waitress!"

I wonder how many athletes she was blowing in the VIP.

[The King]

You know Pac Man was making it rain all over her.

[Dave Bing]

Brian Grant has young onset Parkinsons. Read this.

Former NBA star Brian Grant deals with diagnosis of Parkinson's disease - ESPN

[Dave Bing]

Behind the seemingly uncontested life of Clippers owner Donald Sterling - ESPN

Can anyone open the Sterling story? It is supposed to be quite salacious but for some reason, it won't open for me. Conspiracy most likely.

[Medz]

Try this link:

ESPN.com - Uncontested: The life of Donald Sterling

[ThaMaestro]

I now have an even greater distaste for Sterling. He's a pig, no wait that is insulting to pigs.

[Joe_Loco]

Brandon Bass, one of the few guys who seems able to push Maxiell around, is a free agent. Discuss.

[whoDean]

Bass and Maxiell are both of them marginal rotation players.

[Joe_Loco]

I see a guy whose fouls might actually be felt by LeBron. Which is a worthwhile strategic consideration for any team in the Central.

[mn3]

I'm just not all that interested in "o.k. to average" player signings. Either significantly improve the talent on this roster or let the bottom fall out, tank it, and start building the old fashioned way - by sucking, getting great lottery picks, and hopefully picking up a couple of big time bargains along the way.

[Money23]

Bass has a nice ceiling. He played extremely well against Denver, really made the most of his minutes. He actually went to the line 14 times in one of those games.

BTW, are any of those Sterling quotes in that article confirmed? Seems like they were all "testimony" and "according to a source". Not that it makes me feel any differently about him, but I wonder if he's ever been in public saying things like that.

[Dave Bing]

Sterling sure comes off as a total douchebag.

[Dave Bing]

This sorta doesn't sound great:

Healing of Amaré's eye slow, steady
by Paul Coro - May. 21, 2009 05:02 PM
The Arizona Republic

Slideshow profile: Amaré Stoudemire


Amaré Stoudemire is not jumping, jogging or biking.

The most important functions for the Suns All-Star forward three months after eye surgery are resorbing and regenerating.

After suffering a retina detachment that his surgeon believes has never happened to an athlete of his caliber, Stoudemire is enduring a healing process that moves in a stark contrast to how he has sped up and down the court for the Suns.
From an October poke that tore his right iris to a February strike near the same eye, Stoudemire had suffered cumulative trauma that led to the Feb. 20 surgical discovery of relatively large tears on his right eye's retina. A thick fluid under the retina must be removed for Stoudemire to heal but draining it was too risky in February, leaving Stoudemire to wait for his body to resorb the fluid and nerve cells to regenerate.

Dr. Pravin Dugel, Stoudemire's surgeon with Retinal Consultants of Arizona, was able to drain thicker pockets of fluid in Stoudemire's eye two weeks ago but there is more to wait on as Dugel follows a cautious approach to the 26-year-old's recovery. The team initially had announced that the surgery would put Stoudemire out for eight weeks, leaving some playoff hope open until Dugel ruled that out two weeks later, saying the recuperation could take months.

"It's happening slowly but it's headed in the right direction," Dugel said of the fluid resorbing. "The process is not just to let the retina be flat but the idea is to make it flat and resume his career. That bar is extremely high."

Dugel performed a similar surgery on former Coyotes player Landon Wilson after a puck struck him in the eye in 2002. Wilson is still playing in the NHL but Dugel said Wilson's torn retina and optic nerve damage was not as extensive as Stoudemire's trauma.

Stoudemire had scarring around and under the retina and blood in his eye.

"It's important for people to understand the severity of this when you have a retinal detachment that happens in a young person and one that happens this severely, it's about as serious of a condition as I can think of," Dugel said.

Dugel is seeing Stoudemire every week to two weeks and will require Stoudemire to don protective eyewear for the rest of his basketball career. Stoudemire now has 20/25 vision with glasses.

Suns General Manager Steve Kerr is in regular contact with Dugel and remains confident Stoudemire will be ready for training camp in October.

"Because of the sensitive nature of it, he'd rather not surgically repair it," Kerr said. "We have plenty of time."

Stoudemire has been able to travel and is in Atlanta this week for off-court interests. On Friday, he will appear on NBA TV's pregame show at 4:30 p.m.

[Joe_Loco]

After suffering a retina detachment that his surgeon believes has never happened to an athlete of his caliber, Stoudemire is enduring a healing process that moves in a stark contrast to how he has sped up and down the court for the Suns.

I guess his surgeon never heard of Dave Bing.

[hack]

OK, but would you agree that Stack was more of an impact player (in his prime)? Who do you think would do better with less around them? I think it's Stack, fairly easily. I think a fairly healthy Stack instead of a fairly healthy Rip would have gotten at least a few more wins out of this past season's team. If by virtue of absolutely NOTHING else, just because of his ability to get to the line virtually at will. Stack stopped an uncountable number of runs by opposing teams when he was in Detroit, pretty much by himself.

No doubt about it. Rip's a better player, but Stack could do that stuff. Stack's weaknesses blew up in the playoffs, though.

[TJPiston]

Originally Posted by Money23

OK, but would you agree that Stack was more of an impact player (in his prime)? Who do you think would do better with less around them? I think it's Stack, fairly easily. I think a fairly healthy Stack instead of a fairly healthy Rip would have gotten at least a few more wins out of this past season's team. If by virtue of absolutely NOTHING else, just because of his ability to get to the line virtually at will. Stack stopped an uncountable number of runs by opposing teams when he was in Detroit, pretty much by himself.

I loved Prime Stack but after watching Rip for about 10-15 games here I knew he was better than Stack.

Stack's slashing style, I think, would have been a help this season no doubt. Could he have won us a few more games? Maybe. But I don't blame Rip for this seasons struggles. His numbers are actually on par or better with his career numbers.

Trading away Chauncey and bringing in a guy who didn't do anything (AI), the injuries to Rip and Sheed , rookie coach, etc had more to do with the struggles.

[Whiteman]

So anyone here rather have Turk then Tay?

[Nick]

Can I vote neither? Both are good players for a team ready to compete for a championship next year. Unfortunately the Pistons aren't that team.

[The Oracle]

I would take Turk any day of the week over Tay and it's not close.

[Billl]

Turk is looking a lot better with Howard dominating the paint behind him on defense. If you don't have that, he stands out as a defensive liability.

We are going to need to use our assets to get legit bigmen. Swapping out perimeter players isn't going to make a big difference if you aren't getting an elite player.

[Orwellian O.]

I am not a fan of Turk....plus....he always looks high...

[The Oracle]

It's not like that swap is even an option so who cares? I'd still rather have Turk.

[Dave Bing]

Improving the small forward slot is a bit lower on my list of priorities. We need a four and a five. That's a gigantic hole. Turk does some nice things but I'm with Billl. He's much better with Howard behind him.

[mn3]

We need two guys who control the paint like Sheed and Ben used to. Until we get that, we're dreaming about winning championships again. Along with the PG position, that's the #1 priority for any team that isn't fortunate enough to end up with Kobe or LeBron or some player of that stature.

[TJPiston]

OTL: Mobley's Life-Threatening Condition - ESPN Video - ESPN

Shady

[Money23]

Are you guys kidding me? Turk as defensive liability? Did anybody watch Tayshaun try to guard Lebron lately? At least Turkoglu isn't terrified of being on the same court as "The Chosen One". Turkoglu WAAAAY over Tayshaun at this point, and it isn't even a tiny bit close. Turk has ice water in his veins. He'll look real nice next to Bosh.

[Billl]

You gotta be kidding me money!! Lebron is AVERAGING 41 ppg against orlando right now WITH Howard patrolling the paint. Turk may not look scared, but he isn't doing anything to slow lebron down. If Orlando asked Turk to do what we ask Tay to do, Lebron would be dropping 60+. We leave Tay on an island most of the time, even against the league's best players. You aren't going to stop those guys in 1-on-1's. You just need to play them honest and only let them beat you in the direction your help comes from. The last couple of years, there basically was no help to funnel to.

Both Turk and Tay got to play with the league's best defensive bigmen - Ben in his prime and Howard now. Tay looked like an all-nba first team defender. Turk still looks below average.

[Money23]

I'm not talking squarely about defense. Obviously there's no way Turk could do what we ask Tay to do, I agree. I'm talking about not being scared to go back at him offensively. Tayshaun was quaking in his boots everytime he got the ball. And I believe it affected him in every single psychological way possible, even defensively, where he looked absolutely helpless and terrified in that first round.

That said...Michael Pietrus has played him MUCH better straight up than Tay ever did. Even with the 40+ point games. He's actually working for those buckets. 11-28 is the type of game that used to get Iverson criticism.