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Reports: Blazers to sign C Joel Przybilla

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:21:06 +0000

Posted by Ben Golliver

It takes a brave man to play center for the Portland Trail Blazers, and no one ever accused Joel Przybilla of being weak-hearted.

Przybilla, an unrestricted free agent center, has reportedly agreed to sign a 1-year contract with the Blazers for the remainder of the 2011-2012 season, according to Yahoo Sports and The Oregonian. The deal, which reportedly isn't expected to be official until this week, will reunite Przybilla with the team he spent 6.5 years with, prior to a 2011 trade deadline deal that sent him to the Charlotte Bobcats.

The news of the expected signing comes just days after the Blazers announced center Greg Oden underwent season-ending microfracture knee surgery.

Jeremy Evans replacing Shumpert in dunk contest

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:07:13 +0000

Posted by Royce Young

It's no secret that this year's dunk contest field is a bit lackluster. That's not to say it won't be good, but when the four names were announced -- Derrick Williams, Chase Budinger, Paul George and Iman Shumpert -- there wasn't exactly a big buzz about it.

But with Shumpert suffering from a little patellar tendinitis, and won't be participating in the dunk contest after all. His replacement? Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz. Evans opened a Twitter account Tuesday night and tweeted, "Hey everybody! I'm brand new to twitter and hopefully will have a big announcement about All Star Weekend soon," along with a video of him dunking. Assuming that's legit, combined with a report saying Evans was in and the fact the Jazz has a video on their website announcing it. So yeah, Evans is in.

Charles Oakley calls out Garnett, Barkley

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:06:36 +0000

Charles Oakley called out KG and Charles Barkley over their behavior on Jime Rome's show. (Getty Images)

By Matt Moore

Charles Oakley has opinions. And he will tell you them. And you will listen. Or he will destroy you. And now the former Knick has turned his attention to two outspoken NBA personalities in Kevin Garnett and the Chuckster, Charles Barkley.

Rajon Rondo named East All-Star replacement

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:04:18 +0000

Rajon Rondo is headed to Orlando. (Getty Images) Posted by Ben Golliver

Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo has been named as an injury replacement for the Eastern Conference All-Star team, according to the Boston Globe and Celtics Radio. The NBA confirmed the selection on Wednesday afternoon.

Rondo will replace Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who was diagnosed with tendinitis in his left knee and is sitting out two games this week, in this Sunday's All-Star Game at Amway Center in Orlando.

He will join an Eastern Conference roster that includes starters Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, plus reserves Chris Bosh, Roy Hibbert, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala.

LeBron says he’ll guard Lin some Thursday

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:51:23 +0000

Posted by Royce Young

Thursday could be the ultimate test for Jeremy Lin. Not because his Knicks will be taking on Miami Heat. But individually, because LeBron James, one of the best on-ball defenders in the game, says he'll likely guard Lin some.

"I know I'm going to end up guarding Lin at some point," LeBron told reporters Wednesday.

LeBron, as I'm sure you recall, switched to guard Derrick Rose for lage parts of the Eastern Conference Finals and essentially locked down the MVP. And while Jeremy Lin has had quite the start to his time in New York, he's not Derrick Rose.

Reports: Rondo named East All-Star replacement

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:47:30 +0000

Rajon Rondo is headed to Orlando. (Getty Images) Posted by Ben Golliver

Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo has been named as an injury replacement for the Eastern Conference All-Star team, according to the Boston Globe and Celtics Radio.

Is Anthony Davis the No. 1 pick? Yes. Very Yes.

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:45:48 +0000

Anthony Davis is the No.1 prospect by most evaluators, including CBSSports.com's Jeff Goodman. (Getty Images)

By Matt Moore

To start you off, Jeff Goodman and I sat down to talk about the college season through the lens of th NBA draft. We talk about Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (MKG), Tony Wroten, and the quality of character and coachability of guys in this draft. You will enjoy this. Let's start there.

Midseason Report Team Grades: Cream rising

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:35:45 +0000

Familiar faces are back on the top at the halfway point of the season. (Getty Images)

With 30+ games under everyone's belt, there's been sufficient time for NBA's thirty teams to adjust to the breakneck lockout-shortened season. The midterm results? The cream has mostly risen to the top, with preseason favorites Chicago, Miami and Oklahoma City continuing their dominant play. Traditional powers in San Antonio and Dallas have also emerged after slow (by their standards) starts.

CBSSports.com's Eye On Basketball staff sat down to grade each team based on potential and expectations, graded on a curve. Here's what we came up with.

Atlantic Division Grades The Sixers continue to lead the way in the Atlantic. (Getty Images) by Ben Golliver

Chase Budinger dunks over Yao Ming (well, a cut out of him)

NBC Pro basketball talk — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:27:28 +0000

Clearly this is a staged video, with the Rockets’ Chandler Parsons “talking to the media” while Chase Budinger just happens to do a dunk over a cardboard cutout of Yao Ming in the background. Coincidentally. Still, pretty cool. And this is why I hold out some hope for this year’s All-Star Dunk Contest — Budinger…

LeBron James and a question of taste

Eye on Basketball : CBSSports.com Blogs — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:22:06 +0000

LeBron James likes his steak cut and dry. Can he really be the alpha-dog? (Getty Images)

By Matt Moore

On Tuesday, the blog Cleveland Frowns posted an interview with a server at XO, a Cleveland steakhouse regarding LeBron James. It described his eating behaviors, including the infamous stories about his tipping habits, among other things. There's the usual stuff about James acting like one of the most pampered people on earth, because, well, he's a guy who has "Chosen One" on his back, makes $16 million a year and calls himself King. You kind of have to prepare yourself for some stuff.

But this? I was not prepared for this (emphasis mine): (S)he also told us that LeBron liked to drink apple martinis, which comes as no surprise because apple martinis are delicious, and if you had a job where you could take a four-hour nap every day to sleep off the sugar hangover, you would drink them, too. Relatedly, LeBron would ask his servers to have his steak (well done) already cut up for him, which corroborates a report by a (former?) server at Johnny’s who once told Grzegorek that LeBron would order his spaghetti cut up as well, and also of course enhances the credibility of our source. via “LeBron liked me because I didn’t put up with his crap” — Exclusive Interview with Former XO Steakhouse Server Who Frequently Waited on the NBA Superstar.