I know that many people like to pick on Chris Webber for anything from the timeout he called in the NCAA Finals game to the fact that he took money in college (and then lied about it to a Grand Jury) to not being able to push the Kings over the Lakers and into the Finals. But the man has just announced his retirement from professional basketball and it’s time to show him some love.

I, for one, have always liked him. And why not ? He’s been the center-piece of the team that brought back fun, high scoring basketball after the defense took over during the 90’s and got to a level where there wasn’t much difference between an NBA game or a rugby match. True, he did not lead his team to the promised land, but the Kings had to face a Shaq in his prime helped by a young Kobe and a pretty good cast of role players, including amongst others Robert “the Ring Magnet” Horry. Worth mentioning that the Lakers were coached by the best coach of all time. Some might say that the Kings had to face not just the Lakers, but the 3 zebras as well.

And while his decisions on or off the court might have not been the wisest, Webber remained a wonderfully talented player, and the most versatile PF I have ever seen. He was an excellent passer and had very good handles for a guy his size. Charles Barkley probably still remembers the behind the back dribble followed by a dunk that sent Chuck’s fat ass straight into a courtside camera. Webber was a good scorer and rebounder too, and averaged almost a 20-10 for his career. This is no small feat considering there are people in the Hall of Fame with similar averages.

It’s a damn pity he got injured while in his prime and had to go through the dreaded micro-fracture surgery at a time it was pretty much equivalent with early retirement (see Hardaway, Penny; Mashburn, Jamal; Houston, Allen). It took him about 2-3 years to recover from it and the recovery was not complete. He lost a lot of his mobility and speed, which were a big part of his game. The injury might or might not have robbed him of a title, but it sure robbed the fans of a few more years of watching a really entertaining player leading a high octane offense.

So for the highlights, for the great passes, for giving Kenny Smith something to tease Barkley with, for the creativity and the entertaining basketball played by the Kings, thanks, Chris.

When Skiles was fired lots of people (Bulls players included) said he was very similar in philosophy (or, as I like to call it when the term refers to Skiles, stupidity) to Scott Skiles. Of course he assured everyone that “he was his own man”. But so far it looks like when he cleaned up his stuff, Skiles left behind his coaching manual and Jim Boylan was happy to find it. The only thing he actually changed was to play Thabo Sefolosha more and Thabo proved he can actually play. In Boylan’s defense, he was forced to play Thabo because of injuries to the other G’s of else Thabo’d probably still be pinned to the bench while Adrian Griffin was getting 20 min per game.

Post game press conference in Chicago

Unfortunately, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, not even with the trade of Ben Wallace and Joe Smith, which cleared the log jam at PF/C: Tyrus Thomas does not get enough play time. Not even after he has one or 2 good games, not even if he plays well in the few minutes he receives. And even when he plays well in limited minutes, Tyrus still manages to get thrown under the buss by the coach (cause, of course, just like his good friend Skiles, Boylan isn’t guilty himself - it’s ALWAYS the players’ fault).

For example, last night against Washington Tyrus had 2 points on 1-2 FG, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 TO in 9 minutes. That would have meant about 7 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists per 30 minutes. For most players that would have guaranteed more minutes during the second half. But Tyrus was yanked early in the 3rd and then left on the bench.

That apparently happened because “coach” Boylan (and I use the term “coach” very loosely) decided to play small ball. Which may not be such a bad decision if your guards were not named Larry Hughes (who had 5-16 FG and, of course, a website asking him to stop taking so many bad shots), Kirk Hinrich (3 ast, 5 TO) or Ben Gordon (2-9 FG, 3 ast, 3 TO).

Not to mention that going small against a team that shoots 11.1% from the 3p line is basically inviting them to beat you inside if they can’t do it from the outside. It’s like Boylan thought “These guys can’t shoot from the 3p line, so lets make things easier for them. Let’s go small so they have the size advantage”. And it worked. The Wizards said “Thank you for giving us the game” and then proceeded to kick the Bulls’ asses.

There are 2 things to say about this: First, when Tyrus is finally traded and blossoms into an all star and people will wonder “why didn’t this guy produce while he was with the Bulls ?” just remember: it’s Boylan’s fault. Second, considering Paxson already made a statement in which he endorsed Boylan by saying “Jim Boylan is an NBA head-coach”, don’t be surprised if in the summer you’ll see Boylan get the head-coaching job. After all, he’s cheap, just like Jerry Reinsdorf. That’s a match made in heaven.

Brent Barry will be flying back to the Spurs. Well, not really cause he can’t fly anymore, and he never left San Antonio in the first place.

You read it here first: as soon as the Spurs - Sonics trade involving Kurt Thomas and Brent Barry was done, I said that Brent Barry will return to the Spurs, just like Stackhouse was supposed to return to the Mavs:

Gregg Popovich vehemently criticized the Gasol trade and would have probably opposed the initial deal between the Mavs and Nets that had Stackhouse returning to Dallas. But I suspect he wouldn’t be nearly as upset if the Spurs managed to do the same thing (only much more quietly) with Barry.

Well, guess what ? He did “chose” the Spurs after being waived by the Sonics. But not before “think ing about his choices”. Yeah, right. He even claimed he considered the Suns for a while, but in the end he decided to “return” to the Spurs.

So where’s the outrage ? Are the GMs that were criticizing the Mavs-Nets trade so easy to fool ? Isn’t the media able to connect the dots ? Sam Presti worked for the Spurs for the past 7 years before taking the job of GM with the Sonics. He’s been the assistant general manager since 2005, so one figures he worked pretty close with Spurs GM R.C. Bufford. It’s only logical that the 2 reached an agreement were the Spurs would take on Thomas’ salary and receive Brent Barry back and send a 1st round pick to the Sonics for their trouble. Where’s David Stern disallowing the trade ?

Well, I guess when it’s the Spurs, they are allowed to do stuff others aren’t. Not the first time David Stern seems to have a soft spot for the San Antonio team.