With both Dwight Howard and Rudy Gay reluctant to participate in this year’s dunk contest, and Jamario Moon playing like the 12th man on a WNBA roster this season, we’ve taken it upon ourselves at BATB to find some worthy replacements for three of the competitors from last season.

We’re assuming that Gerald Green will accept an invitation if he gets one, because really, what else is he good for? Plus you know he’s been crossing out days on his calendar since last year’s contest. 

Now onto the prospective dunkers…

Russell Westbrook – OKC Thunder

Bill Walker – Boston Celtics

Keep reading. We’ve got four more high-fliers after the jump.

Derrick Rose – Chicago Bulls

O.J Mayo – Memphis Grizzlies

Nick Young – Washington Wizards

Joe Alexander – Milwaukee Bucks

Do you disagree with our picks? Feel like a player got snubbed? Drop a comment and let us know.

Jay and Jose enjoy a softer moment.

Shortly after the firing of Sam Mitchell was announced yesterday afternoon, the attention turned towards possible replacements with the names being thrown including some of the top coaches currently collecting unemployment cheques. It appears that most of that speculation was premature, however.

Jay Triano – an assistant coach who served seven years in Toronto under Lenny Wilkens, Kevin O’Neill and Sam Mitchell – will reportedly get a chance to lead this team for the remainder of the season. Or until things get really ugly.

NBA.com tells us…

 

The Canadian-born Triano, 50, has been an icon in his native country as both a player on and, later, coach for the national team. He joined Toronto’s staff four years ago as an assistant under Lenny Wilkens, becoming the first Canadian assistant coach for an NBA team. He continued to impress Bryan Colangelo with his work as an assistant on the U.S. Men’s Select Team that trained with the U.S. Olympic team in 2007. Triano was picked by Jerry Colangelo, Bryan’s father and the majordomo of the U.S. OIympic men’s basketball program.

“Jay has an opportunity to cut his teeth in a significant way,” Bryan Colangelo said.

 

With Chris Bosh’s impending free agency in 2010, Colangelo must truly believe in Triano to give him the keys for the rest of the season. I doubt he would risk throwing away one of the two years he has to impress Bosh by having a lame-duck coach in there. I have a funny feeling that Bosh was “consulted” before the coaching switch went down too, so I’m assuming he’s cool with the move too.

Things could obviously change if the ship continues to go down, but the talk out of Raptorland seems like they are extremely confident with Triano at the helm. I know Triano was extremely popular with his players as head coach of the Canadian National team, so much in fact that Steve Nash refused to play for the program anymore when Triano was let go in 2004.

And oh yeah… Triano becomes the first Canadian born coach in the NBA’s history. Yay Canada! The Niagara Falls native makes his debut as bench boss on Friday night in Utah.

Here’s a couple videos we found of Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague doing his thing. The first dunk is just bananas. The second one is pretty ridiculous too, although the referee called it a charge. Don’t get me wrong, it was the absolute right call… but it’s still worth checking out.

Check out the other video after the jump…

Gold Performance

The Boston Celtics avenged one of their only losses of the season, thumping the Indiana Pacers 114-96 last night in Beantown. The C’s got hefty contributions from the big 3 (Ray Allen – 31 points, KG – 26 and 14), but it was Rajon Rondo who ultimately stole the show. The third year guard got his first career triple double with 16 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists and 3 steals.

Silver Performance

 Kobe Bryan returned to his old stomping grounds of Philadelphia, a city that saw him become a high school phenom and likely helped develop him into the two-faced snake oil salesman that he is. Nevertheless, Kobe got busy against the Sixers – 32 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. The Lakers avoided dropping their second game in a row too, handling the Sixers 114-102 on the second night of a back to back.

Bronze Performance

The T-Wolves trotted out a number of different big men to try and slow down Dwight Howard last night, ranging from good (Al Jefferson), to not very good (Jason Collins), and all the way down to comically terrible (Calvin Booth!). As you might have guessed, their efforts were mostly useless. Howard had 23 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals and swatted away 6 shots, and the Magic rolled over the Wolves 100-89.

Stinker of the Night

Chris Duhon has been getting a lot of love in New York this season, and for good reason. In a season filled with turmoil, Duhon is enjoying a career season on the court and carrying himself with a maturity and grace off of it that could serve as a good example for a lot of the Knicks (including the front office). He sort of stunk last night though – 6 points on 1-9 shooting and more turnovers (6) than assists (4).

Forbes Magazine is a publication usually read exclusively by intelligent people, but they just happened to drop something for all of us common folk out there this past month. They rank all 30 NBA teams in order of value, and also provide us with some financial trends for the league as a whole.

Despite the average American having to pawn off most of their belongings over the past 12 months, most NBA franchises are living pretty large.

Forbes.com writes…

Last season was a rousing success for the National Basketball Association. The league’s two marquee teams, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, met in the finals, and television ratings soared 51% over the prior year. The league’s two biggest stars, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, were on winning teams and getting a lot of prime-time exposure, wowing fans and sponsors.

League-wide revenues hit a record $3.8 billion during the 2007-08 season, 6% more than the prior campaign, and the average team posted a profit (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $10.6 million, the highest amount since Forbes began tracking NBA finances 10 years ago.

 

Check out after the jump for some highlights from the 30-team ranking…

• The New York Knicks are tops in the Association for the fourth consecutive year. Their value is up 1% from last year’s report and lies at approximately $613 million (they can’t give Marbury 21 million to shut him up?). On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Milwaukee Bucks, who are worth $278 million.
• The biggest jumps in value were enjoyed by the Trail Blazers, who saw their worth shoot up 21% over the past 365, and the Celtics who had a 14% jump. I guess that’s what happens when you replace Ryan Gomes and Gerald Green with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. The two biggest drops were the Nets (-12%) and the Pacers (-9%).
• The Raptors came in the list at numero eleven with a value of $400 million (7% jump)

Check out the entire list at Forbes.com

Can we try to be friends?

After an 8-9 start, and on the heels of a 39 point loss last night in Denver, the Toronto Raptors axed Sam Mitchell this afternoon.

Am I surprised? No, not at all.

ESPN tells us…

“This is a difficult but necessary step the franchise must take,” Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo. “We appreciate all that Sam has done for the organization, applaud him for his successes and wish him nothing but the best with his future in basketball.”

Mitchell will be replaced by Raptors assistant coach Jay Triano on an interim basis. He is in his seventh season as a Raptors assistant. A native of Niagara Falls, Triano coached the Canadian men’s national team from 1998-2004, posting a 52-42 record.

 Well at least this is ending on relatively good terms. I always liked Mitchell on a personal level, and he did do a lot for the team and the development of Bosh and Calderon. TJ Ford would probably give Mitchell a lot of credit for revitalizing his career too.

Make it happen, BC.

I have to admit though, I’m pretty psyched for the move. I’ve already heard some pretty big names being thrown around as possible replacements for Mitchell(Jeff Van Gundy, Flip Saunders), but the man I’d like to see get the chance is Avery Johnson. I know he messed up in Dallas but I think he’d mesh well with O’Neal, Bosh and Calderon, all in a different way. 

In the meantime, Jay Triano will be getting his Head Coaching shine on. I’m not going to hate on JT, I’m sure he’ll do a fine job given the circumstances (team is playing awful, in the middle of a tough road trip…), but the sooner the Raptors get their new guy — the better. I wouldn’t sacrifice finding the right guy over speediness by any means, but at the same time I doubt Colangelo made this move without someone else in mind.

Here’s the video of the day. Enjoy. 

Click the photo above or the link below to read my article from bleacherreport.com that pleads for Sam Mitchell’s dismissal from the Raptors. 

Sam Mitchell walked down the dark corridor on his way to the visitors locker room, the light from a nearby camera casting his six-foot eleven inch shadow on the red jersey-ed Raptor contingent walking behind him. His eyes were low. His paces methodical. 

He had just witnessed his team play themselves out of yet another contest. With a chance to hold for the final shot of the first half, the Raptors opted to try a series of unnecessary passes on the perimeter, before finally turning it over after being whistled for a travel with 3 seconds remaining. That was more than enough time for Chauncey Billups to stroll down the hardwood and nail a buzzer beating three pointer – stretching the Nuggets lead to 64-45 at the break. 

Things would only get worse in the second half. The Nuggets continued to score, and the Raptors continued to put up little in the way of resistence. Mitchell watched from the sidelines, looking every bit as shellshocked as you’d expect from a man who realizes that his days as the head coach of this team seem to be numbered. The final score read 132-93 – the type of game that could make a case for the “mercy rule” to be implemented in the NBA rulebook.

I’m not going to pin all of the Raptors struggles on their coach. Injuries to Jermaine O’Neal and Jose Calderon have prevented this team from firing at full capacity for most of the year, the supporting cast have given new meaning to the word inconsistency and the trade rumors that swirled around this team through the first month of the season certainly didn’t help either. 

But it’s time to fire Sam Mitchell.

His effect on this group has been slowly eroding away, dating all the way back to last season. Last night’s debacle in Denver however, was the final wave that washed away the remaining land in which Mitchell was standing on. It went much further than a lack of defensive intensity or a streak of cold shooting – those are attributes of this team that have been evident all season. It was the overall effort, or lack thereof, that was truly depressing.

I’d use the word humiliating to describe the contest, but that would suggest that the Raptors were actually embarrassed by their performance. From what I saw last night, it’s like they were expecting the beat down. When the Nuggets began their onslaught in the first quarter, they showed little anger, frustration or surprise. It was a game that they were expected to lose, and most members of the team appeared satisfied with doing so.

Whatever Sam Mitchell is preaching in the locker room these days is obviously not working. He was never the strongest X’s and O’s guy in the league, but for a long time he was able to light the proverbial fire under his players ass. He coached the same way he played the game… fiery and intense. Not anymore. 

Two seasons removed from a Coach of the Year award and an Atlantic Division title, Mitchell has seen his status in Toronto go from savior to scapegoat. But such is the life of an NBA coach, where even some of the sport’s greatest minds have a limited shelf life. Look at the names who are rumored to replace Mitchell – Avery Johnson, Flip Saunders, etc. Most of them have been fired themselves in the past year, and yet they’re now being heralded as the answer for the Raptors problems.

I don’t think Mitchell is a terrible coach. His substitution patterns leave me scratching my head a lot of the time, and I have serious doubts about his defensive strategies, but I think this is more a case of complacency in the T-Dot. I’m convinced that Mitchell has reached his expiration date. The Raptors have tuned him out, and that has never been more obvious than in last night’s blowout.

Maybe the Raptors just need a new voice to guide them, or maybe their problems are rooted much deeper than a coach that has worn out his welcome. But with a particularly difficult stretch of games scheduled for December and the Raptors toiling beneath the .500 mark, this is not the time to play the waiting game. 

It’s time to fire Sam Mitchell.

Gold Performance

The Indiana Pacers became the first team to beat the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers with their 118-117 comeback victory over the Lakeshow last night, and as you might expect, Danny Granger was a big part of that. The Lone Granger had 32 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds as the Pacers knocked off Kobe and Co. with a Troy Murphy tip-in as the final buzzer sounded.

Silver Performance

Should Chauncey Billups be getting some MVP buzz? Mr. Big Shot only had to play 32 minutes in the Nugs 132-93 destruction of the Raptors, but still found enough time to drop 24 points and 14 dimes. Maybe I should start reserving a spot on these nightly awards for whatever point guard happens to be playing against Jose Calderon or Steve Nash from now on… It seems to be a safe bet.

Bronze Performance

Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks as the Mavericks mounted a comeback of their own over the lowly Clippers, 100-98. The Mavs celebrated like homeless people who had just won the lottery as the game concluded, which I don’t know is a good thing or not. Regardless, Dallas is above .500 with a record of 9-8 after their miserable start. 

Stinker of the Night

After losing his starting spot to Spencer Hawes, Mikki Moore of the Sacramento Kings did little on Tuesday night to make Reggie Theus reconsider the decision. Moore had only 3 rebounds and 3 fouls in his 12 minutes on the floor. He was 0-3 from the field.

Our favorite basketball playing lesbian.

The economic crisis in America has claimed yet another victim – The Houston Comet franchise of the WNBA. It was announced Monday that the team was folding after failing to find a new owner to take the team off of Hilton Koch’s hands. It could be worse of course… it could have been something we cared about.

WNBA.com tells us…

 The Houston Comets will suspend operations for the 2009 season it was announced today by WNBA President Donna Orender. A WNBA Dispersal Draft involving Comets players will take place on Monday, Dec. 8.

“Multiple investors have come forward and expressed significant interest in purchasing the Comets and having them continue to play in Houston in 2009,” said Orender. “However, we made the judgment that we would not be able to complete a transaction with the right ownership group in time for the 2009 season. The WNBA is extremely grateful to the Comets organization, to the city of Houston and to the team’s loyal fans for helping build both the WNBA and the game of women’s basketball.”

The WNBA was just getting off the ground when I first began to fall in love with basketball, and I can vividly remember those first few Comets teams that dominated the league after it’s inception. I was so enthralled with the game of basketball at the time that I would actually sit through entire WNBA games, although I was like 10 and did all sorts of stupid things back then. So give me a fucking break.

Just sell off the entire league and put the $700 bucks towards that stupid money thing you American’s keep blabbering on about…