Outlet Pass (10/13/08)

• Rick Carlisle gets his guy. I'm not sure what Shawne Williams is going to offer the Mavs at this point or where he lies on the depth chart due to how deep the Mavs are at the wing positions. The interesting thing is that despite all that depth, they still face the glaring weakness of being able to put a productive two guard on the floor who can effectively guard a dynamic scorer from the position. I'm not saying it's easy, but there needs to be improvement.
• D'Antoni went on a bit of a rant the other night on his teams' oft-criticized defense. Knickerblogger notes that the Suns were more average than bad on that end, and you've gotta feel for the guy; high volume points allowed turned the Suns defense into a punchline and a tagline, the easy way out for picking against the Suns and in turn, D'Antoni. I'd think it's probably a little old by now.
  
• Shortly after reading this, Jose Calderon reportedly said "Well...shit."
• Gilbert's interview with SLAM that hit the net last week is absolutely ridiculous. Nuts. Batso. And it reminded me of something that Truth About It also mentioned: Gil and Jamison have a pretty strong relationship. In terms of their on-court chemistry, that translates into something special.
• The Clippers hate old people. Well, Elgin Baylor thinks so at least. But you'd have to think that his potential case would be hurt a bit by the team's trade for Marcus Camby. Or employing Sam Cassell. C'mon Elgin, seriously?
  
• There have been whispers flying under the radar, but perhaps it's time that we seriously consider Kansas City as a potential NBA destination. It's no Vegas and it's certainly not China. The road to NBA basketball in KC is a long one, but fill up your tank and check your tires -- there aren't many NBA-worthy markets in the country left unexplored besides KC.
• Miss you, buddy. Don't forget to write!
• Pre-season is a strange time, filled with bizarre offensive explosions, unexpected struggles, abnormally cold temperatures, and plenty of minor injuries. Everyone's thankful for getting rid of the rust before the season starts up for real, but the Miami Heat should be especially thankful. I know it's not very nice to wish misfortune on other human beings, but Miami? The basketball gods may have just done you a huge favor.
  
• The more he writes, the more I'm convinced that Jamal Crawford's blog is the best player blog this side of Gil. It's not the most well-written blog in the world, but he oozes an honesty and a sincerity that makes it awfully hard to root against the guy...not that you ever wanted to anyway.
• Monta Ellis, please rise. The Warriors Management has sentenced you to thirty games suspension without pay...which is a lot more money than you'd think. Ziller also points out that for a guy who has been making the money of a second round pick (which Monta was, of course), this one definitely stings.
  
• Rookies are always looking to get noticed. You want your coaches, your peers, and the fans to take note of what you're doing on the court and respect you. Bill Walker has been getting some attention of the SportsCenter variety, but he may be getting a lot more of this kind of attention if he isn't careful.