NBA Insider with Ken Berger

Team USA spent a whirlwind day in the city today, unveiling their newly designed uniforms in a fan event at Rockefeller Plaza and spending the better part of two hours with the media (including yours truly) at the Plaza Hotel.

Everyone is on board with the "Redeem Team" motto, saying all the right things about how a coaching change (from Larry Brown to Coach K) and the three-year commitment imposed by managing director Jerry Colangelo will avenge the bronze-medal debacle from the Athens Games in 2004.

But the item that will make the most news in these parts came from LeBron James, who was peppered with questions about speculation that both the Nets and Knicks are rearranging furniture in a bid to target LeBron as a free agent in the summer of 2010.

This exchange with ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan might -- and I stress might -- have provided a glimpse into how LeBron will be making a very big decision two summers from now.

"LeBron, what are your favorite cities?" James was asked.

"My favorite cities are New York; Washington, D.C.; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California, and Akron, Ohio," James said, pausing only before offering his hometown of Akron, which was suggested by me.

"What's your favorite borough?" LBJ was asked.

"My favorite borough?" he said, without a hint of hesitation. "Brooklyn."

Will be heading to the Plaza Hotel this afternoon to catch up with Team USA. After a one-day minicamp in Las Vegas, Coach K's group is in the city for a promotional tour. Will get you some updates after the players meet with the media from 2:30-4:30.

The team charged with redeeming the 2004 bronze medal debacle in Athens has only gone through one practice, and already there are problems. Dwight Howard couldn't participate in Saturday's workout because he has a stress fracture in his sternum. The injury occurred during Orlando's second-round playoff series against Detroit. Coach K said Howard's recovery time was 6-8 weeks, and he's in Week 6. But if this holds him back at all this summer, managing director Jerry Colangelo's decision to go with only three big men -- Howard, Chris Bosh, and Carlos Boozer will be called into question.

Injured players can be replaced until Aug. 9, but as Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com reports, the injury must be verified by the IOC and USOC.

The players will have three weeks to rest before reconvening in Las Vegas for training camp July 21. They will play their only pre-Olympic exhibition game on U.S. soil July 25 against Canada at UNLV.

The roster, announced last week, is as follows:

Carmelo Anthony , Jason Kidd, Carlos Boozer, Chris Paul, Bosh, Tayshaun Prince, Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd, Howard, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Deron Williams.

If not for flip-flopping the 13th and 14th picks, Elie might have been in the leadoff spot. But there were no issues making deadline, so Elie, the floor is yours ...

Hey Ken, Thanks for the opportunity to "guest blog."

Being that this blogging opportunity fell into my lap as a result of the NBA, I thought it appropriate to revolve my post around the previously mentioned National Basketball Association.

As any avid follower of the NBA should, I have several pet peeves regarding "The League." I will try to keep it short and sweet.

Every summer, as the latest NBA season becomes a thing of the past, it seems that much of the NBA takes yet another step backwards. Every season without fail, the NBA Finals victor is constructed with the same elements as all of the past NBA champions. Defense and a commitment to team-oriented basketball will always trump flash, style and the dreaded P word, potential. One can go all the way back to the Knicks' championship teams and notice the same elements. Nevertheless, year after year, teams will try to reinvent the wheel, and year after year, they will fail.

There is no better example of this than this year's NBA Finals. The Celtics commitment to playing defense and team-oriented basketball resulted in their first championship in years. It is astonishing to see how many GMs ignore these two elements (among others) when constructing a team. There is a reason that Chris Paul and the "inexperienced" Hornets were able to succeed in the Western Conference the way they did this past season. On the flip side, there is a reason (well, there are many) that the Knicks were so pathetic.

Obviously my comments on this short blog are just a taste of what it really takes to build a successful NBA team. The job of any general manager is harder than one can imagine. The expectations, fast-paced environment and fleeting job security all contribute to the hardships that a GM faces while on the job. However, too often it seems like NBA general managers forget to use good old common sense while constructing their rosters and all too often it comes back to bite them in the butt. NBA GMs are often expected to play the role of prophet, and while this is objectively difficult, it seems to be unbearably obvious that the best predictor of future success is past success. Unfortunately, more often than not, this isn't the blueprint that they follow.

Ken- thanks for letting me blog. I apologize if this blog is lacking content, fact, etc... there are obviously many more things that go into building a successful NBA team, and I have so many more pet peeves but I tried my best to keep it short and sweet so as to not bore the readers and to put forward my most pertinent points.... thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. I would love to hear your thoughts.

It's time to hand the mic to Bryan, a loyal Fixer who was kind enough to stop by my blog yesterday and make a mockery of me in my mock draft contest. Great job, Bryan. Here's his post, which is almost as good as his mock draft was ...

First off, I'd like to thank Ken Berger on behalf of all his readers (and my fellow Fixers) for yesterday's live Draft blog and all of his NBA insights.

Honestly, I was surprised the draft was a calm as it was; I figured there would be more trades in the lottery. Anyway, good game Berger, and Elie, I thought it was yours when you went 5-for-5 to start off. I'll use my opportunity to write the Blog Du Jour to identify, in my opinion, some of the draft winners and losers, and the overall state of the New York Knicks. Without further ado, here we go:

Winners:

1) New Jersey Nets - Staying local with this one, I was extremely impressed with the Nets draft. Starting with the trade of Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, the Nets shed some salary for the 2010-2011 offseason and traded a player (Jefferson) whose value was as high as it was going to be (I think he'll be less productive when he's not being spoon-fed passes from Jason Kidd) and picking up a talent like Yi. The drafting of Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson and Chris-Douglas Roberts infuses the team with even more young, talented players.

2) Memphis Grizzlies - They ultimately end up with O.J. Mayo and Darrell Arthur.

3) Portland Trail Blazers - Jerryd Bayless to go along with Greg Oden and Brandon Roy. Any coincidence that the Blazers were able to put this team together only after they dumped Zach Randolph? Sheesh.

Losers:

1) Charlotte Bobcats - Drafting D.J. Augustin means they know drafting Raymond Felton was a mistake. Alexis Ajinca at 20 was a need pick, not a value pick. Stick to hardwood, MJ.

2) Minnesota Timberwolves - Trading O.J. Mayo for Kevin Love and Mike Miller looks even worse in light of them trading Mario Chalmers to Miami.

3) Sacramento Kings - Jason Thompson at 12? To borrow a phrase from Bob Glauber... Oy.

And finally, our beloved New York Knickerbockers. Well, we knew this wouldn't be easy, but after last night it became even more obvious just how much Isiah Thomas doomed this proud franchise. Donnie Walsh did not have the assets to either trade up in the draft, or even to get into the late-first round, early-second round to grab Mario Chalmers. This team, right now, is a mess, but I personally trust Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni. Danilo Gallinari was the right pick, given the circumstances. If anyone can develop him, it's D'Antoni, and Bayless, Eric Gordon or Joe Alexander would have merely added to what the Knicks already have in Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford (in the case of Bayless and Gordon) and David Lee (in the case of Alexander). I personally would have been happier with Russell Westbrook, but you can't blame Donnie Walsh for that.

The best hope Walsh and D'Antoni have of resurrecting this team is to let Marbury play out his contract and let him come off the cap, while not adding any substantial, long-term contracts and getting the untradeable players on the roster to play themselves into tradeable assets. If it's possible, Walsh should trade David Lee for any young, cheap player or the best draft pick(s) that he can. Is Lee the most popular and untainted player on the Knicks? Absolutely, which is why he is the only one with real trade value. However, he doesn't fit into the D'Antoni mold, and before he hurts his stock by playing in that system, the Knicks should deal him. Heartbreaking, I know, Fixers. Again, the best hope the Knicks have is to pray D'Antoni can get the likes of Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson to play well enough so that they become attractive to other teams. Knicks fans, this seems to be the only conceivable way the Knicks will become better in the foreseeable future. Get under the cap, draft well and let D'Antoni work his Italian magic. It's been fun, hope you all enjoyed, and thanks again Ken.

When it comes to basketball stat gurus, John Hollinger of ESPN.com is as good as it gets. Hollinger, inventor of the player efficiency rating (PER) -- which measures a player's per-minute effectiveness -- has a detailed, interesting take on how to project an international player's production in Euro baskets to the NBA game.

Check it out, it's a good read. The basic point is that you can expect Gallinari's scoring to go down, and his rebounding and assists to go up. He has a formula that was pretty accurate in projecting the effectiveness of Marco Belinelli, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Luis Scola last season. Basically, Hollinger projects Gallinari's PER to be 13.21 -- pretty good for a 20-year-old, and essentially halfway between Navarro and Scola.

Hollinger also offers his top 12 players who were available in last night's draft. The results might surprise you. His rankings:

1. Michaeal Beasley
2. Kevin Love
3. Derrick Rose
4. Joe Alexander
5. Darrell Arthur
6. Gallinari
7. Jerryd Bayless
8. Marreese Speights
9. Brook Lopez
10. D.J. Augustin.
11. Mario Chalmers
12. Roy Hibbert

Despite more traffic on the blog last night than on the Major Deegan, only two contestants stepped forward to take me on in the mock draft contest. For this, I am grateful, because both of them beat me.

Both of them smoked me, is more like it.

The rules were, anyone who got more points than I did would get to post an entry on the blog on any topic of their choosing. It's a chance to offer your opinion on anything draft- or NBA-related -- the Knicks' pick, the biggest winners or losers, anything you want. If the posts are as good as your mock drafts, someone with the handle "Admin" may follow up with a post asking you to submit your resume.

Since both Elie and Bryan both outscored me, you both get to submit a post. The official winner is Bryan, who had seven direct hits in 14 picks and two other partial hits for 23 points. Elie checked in with six direct hits for 18 points -- and would've had more but flip-flopped the 13th and 14th picks, Brandon Rush and Anthony Randolph. Yours truly could only muster five direct hits for 15 points. So it goes.

I think the best way to do this is to have Elie and Bryan post your entries here in the comments section. I'll pull them out and post them separately in the main section. The only requirement is that you keep it clean ... and don't write better than I do.

UPDATE -- 9:15 a.m.

We've got some housekeeping to do from last night's fast-paced, dizzying NBA draft.

First, four of the five picks to start the draft are freshmen (Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love). Maybe David Stern should just scrap that one-and-done rule?

There were a mind-boggling 14 trades. A late trade, reported by Chad Ford of ESPN.com, sent O.J. Mayo from Minnesota to Memphis for Kevin Love and Mike Miller, among others. It was an eight-player deal.

Darrell Arthur, who apparently has some sort of kidney problem that scared teams away, fell all the way to New Orleans at No. 27. But wait -- the Hornets traded him to Portland, then he went to Houston and finally to Memphis. So Arthur, who was the last player in the green room, had to wait longer to find a home. He was traded three times and was a member of four teams last night.

Now, winner and losers (in no particular order).

Winners

Portland: The rice get richer. After trades, the Blazers eventually ended up with Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu. Portland had the No. 13 pick, but get a lottery player with Bayless. Diogu is a good player who was sent over from Indiana. The Blazers also drafted Joey Dorsey, before trading him to Houston. Portland also had Darrell Arthur for a short time. Imagine if Portland kept Dorsey and Arthur. Wow.

Miami: Pat Riley did a nice job after that smoke screen he threw up. The Heat got Beasley and then acquired Mario Chalmers from Minnesota. So the Heat get a power forward and potential starting point guard. Great draft.

Memphis: The Grizz end up with Mayo and Donte Greene of Syracuse. A lot of teams liked Greene, who has loads of potential. But will he stay in Memphis with Rudy Gay around? Anyhow, getting Mayo from Minnesota makes it a good night. And they shed Brian Cardinal's contract in the trade.

Nets: I wasn't sure about New Jersey after the selections of Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson in the first round. I mean the Nets acquire Yi Jianlian earlier in the day and already have Josh Boone and Sean Williams. Anderson is another power foward in the logjam. But they stole Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis with the 40th pick. Plus, they've positioned themselves for the summer of LeBron.

Losers

Minnesota: What exactly are the T-Wolves thinking? They draft O.J. Mayo to go along with Al Jefferson as a solid inside-outside combo, then trade him for Kevin Love? Doesn't Love play the same position as Jefferson? Then the T-Wolves get Mario Chalmers in the second round and trade him to Miami? Isn't this the team with Sebastian Telfair? Who's playing center? One bit of reasoning I see with Love is perhaps a trade to Charlotte. Love fits better in Charlotte with Larry Brown. Plus, the Bobcats surprisingly picked D.J. Augustin. Could Raymond Felton be headed to Minnesota?

Sacramento: What are the Kings thinking? Who's running the scouting department there? Jason Thompson from Rider at No. 12? I hope Patrick Ewing Jr., a good bargain in the second round, works out.

We'll see .....

Indiana: The Pacers were busy last night. They ended up with Brandon Rush of Kansas and Roy Hibbert of Georgetown. They could both end up being solid players.

Milwaukee: The Bucks really stockpiled a lot of small forwards yesterday -- Richard Jefferson (in Nets trade), Joe Alexander (at No. 8), and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (No. 37). We'll see where this is going.

(Updated 6:02 p.m.) The trade was finalized during my drive into the city, and the Nets have struck the first major blow in the LeBron James derby scheduled for the summer of 2010.

In a trade first reported by SI.com, and approved by the NBA this afternoon, the Nets send Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. The deal not only gives New Jersey a smooth, blossoming big man in Yi, but even more importantly, a $10.5 million contract that comes off the books in 2010 -- when LeBron hits the unrestricted free-agent market.

By contrast, Jefferson was due to make $15 million in 2010-11, so this deal makes the Nets major players in that blockbuster free-agent year.

"We felt that we were not going to improve enough to become a championship caliber team in the next year or so," Nets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. "The quickest way to improve is to give yourself maximum flexibility and accumulate the best young assets you can."

Assuming the Nets keep their first-round picks this year and next, the deal brings their cap number down from about $44 million -- not enough to make a play for a max free agent -- to about $36 million. They're in the game now for LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.

There's another deal pending for tonight, and its completion depends largely on what Minnesota does with the No. 3 pick. If they take O.J. Mayo, as expected, the Sonics will be ready to trade the 4th pick to the Clippers for the 7th pick anad L.A.'s 2009 first-rounder. The Clippers covet Indiana guard Eric Gordon, according to a team executive familiar with the Clippers' plans. If so, that trade doesn't figure to affect the Knicks' plans much. If the Clippers want Russell Westrbook, though, there will be some sweaty palms and dry mouths in the Knicks' draft room up in Greenburgh. Especially if the Nets are successful in parlaying their 10th and 21st picks to move up to No. 5 and take Danilo Gallinari. Stay tuned.

This is always a dangerous exercise, but what the heck. Here are the top 14 (lottery) picks in my mock draft. (To go any deeper than that, in my opinion, would be tedious and irresponsible.) So after pick No. 14 tonight, I'm going to grade myself here in the blog. Three points for a direct hit (team, pick number, and player correct), two points for a glancing blow (team and player correct, regardless of where he's selected), and one point for what I'll call a blind squirrel (player and pick number correct, but selected by another team via a trade).

If there are any disputes, such as trades that are announced after the selection, we'll have to go to an unbiased arbitrator for a ruling. The arbitrator will be appointed by me.

Here's where you come in. Post your top-14 picks in the comments section before the first pick is announced and I'll grade your mocks, too. Anyone who outscores me will get to submit a blog entry on any subject you want (as long as it's clean) and I'll post it with a byline on Friday.

I wish the prize could be more lucrative, but the economy is tough these days.

A front-office executive in the league and another person familiar with the Knicks' thinking continue to say that Donnie Walsh will use his first selection as team president on Italian swingman Danilo Gallinari. Whether that selection is made with the sixth pick remains to be seen.

The Knicks continue to have interest in trading forward David Lee to Memphis for the fifth pick, which would allow Walsh to land not only Gallinari, but also UCLA point guard Russell Westbrook. But the team executive cautioned that Walsh is exploring other trade scenarios for Lee, and The New York Times has confirmed what Newsday reported in today's paper -- that Portland is one of those scenarios.

The Knicks and Blazers are said to be discussing a deal that would send Lee to Portland along with the No. 6 pick and another player for Portland's 13th and 27th selections and Steve Blake or Jarrett Jack. Such a deal would indicate that Walsh knows he won't get the player he really wants at No. 6 -- USC guard O.J. Mayo -- and prefers to accumulate extra picks, add a veteran point guard, and unload Lee in the process. Lee, a fan favorite and elite rebounder, isn't a natural fit for Mike D'Antoni's system and soon will be due a hefty contract extension.

Alan Hahn tells me that, despite Toronto's interest in Lee, the Raptors have yet to engage in any trade talks for him.

The Knicks also continue to shop Zach Randolph, but haven't found any takers for the three years and $48 million left on his contract.

With the usual rumors and erroneous, agenda-driven reports swirling in the hours before the draft, an Eastern Conference executive has told Newsday that he believes the Miami Heat will, in fact, select Michael Beasley with the second pick in the draft tonight. Late speculation that Pat Riley has reservations about Beasley's character and prefers USC guard O.J. Mayo, is a smokescreen, the executive said.

We''ll find out in a few hours.

There's gamesmanship galore around the NBA, and it's only going to get more frantic in the coming hours. Someone obviously wants the notion out there that Riley is looking to deal the second pick, and the character issues with Beasley are being used as the pawn in that trick, the executive said.

The Beasley pick, of course, is predicated on the Bulls selecting Memphis point guard Derrick Rose with the first pick. A person with knowledge of the Bulls' thinking told Newsday earlier this week that you can "take it to the bank" that Chicago will select Rose.

Bulls general manager John Paxson met with reporters Tuesday in Chicago for one of the most pointless exercises in sports journalism: The pre-draft media briefing. Paxson – like every other executive in the two sports whose drafts matter, the NBA and NFL – didn’t tip his hand as to whether he’ll select Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley with the No. 1 pick Thursday night.

Let’s end the suspense for him: A person with knowledge of the Bulls’ plans said Tuesday that while the team has given no guarantees to either player, Chicago plans to take Rose with the No. 1 pick.

“You can take it to the bank,” said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the team’s plans.

Plenty of scenarios will continue to play out between now and draft night, but the Rose-Beasley debate isn’t one of them. After the Bulls select Rose, Miami Heat president Pat Riley faces a no-brainer with the second pick. Beasley clearly will be the best player available to Riley, and some NBA front office sources have him slotted ahead of Rose. Riley is said to be investigating numerous possibilities, including drafting Beasley and trading him, but at this point there is no realistic scenario that involves trading the second pick. Riley’s attention is focused more on trading Shawn Marion, who has decided not to opt out of the final year of his contract at $17.8 million.

As Alan Hahn has reported, there’s legitimate traction to Memphis’ desire to trade the No. 5 pick to the Knicks for David Lee. The Memphis situation revolves around Marc Gasol’s decision to return to the United States and play for the Grizzlies, who hold his rights after he was dealt by the Lakers in the trade that sent his brother, Pau, to Los Angeles in February. Memphis can’t begin negotiating with Gasol until July 1, but they appear to be operating under the assumption that he will serve as this year’s lottery pick. Gasol’s return to the States gives Memphis the flexibility to use the fifth pick to bring in an experienced veteran who complements Gasol – which is where Lee enters the equation.

The Knicks would then have the fifth and sixth picks and would be leaning toward taking Italian forward Danilo Gallinari and UCLA guard Russell Westbrook. Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni would love to find a way to get O.J. Mayo, but would need some dominoes to fall their way to have any chance.

Time to bring you up to speed on a few NBA developments with the draft only three days away:

· Team USA roster finalized: No surprises. Well, the only minor one was Dwyane Wade, but his spot was solidified when he worked out for USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo in Chicago – proving that his surgically repaired left knee is ready to go.

· Legal battle between Tim Donaghy and the NBA continues. The court papers continue to cost the taxpayers money in Brooklyn federal court, with the latest accusations coming today from Donaghy’s lawyer. John Lauro contends that the league’s decision to increase its restitution demand from about $1 million to $1.4 million is about nothing more than settling a grudge with Donaghy. There’s a hearing tomorrow on the restitution matter, and you never know what sensational tidbits might emerge in a case that clearly has gotten personal.

· The Nets won an important legal victory today in their bid to move to Brooklyn when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case brought by tenants and landowners of Atlantic Yards who were seeking to stop the government from seizing their property under the provisions of eminent domain. I’m just glad the Nets didn’t decide to move to Whitestone. The last legal hurdle in the move, tentatively set to occur sometime during the 2010-11 season, is a pending appeal of an environmental lawsuit. The result there figures to be in line with almost every other legal case related to the Atlantic Yards development, all of which have gone the Nets’ way.

· Carmelo Anthony addressed trade rumors today at the official announcement of the Team USA roster in Chicago. Despite the fact that his agent, Calvin Andrews, told the Rocky Mountain News, that Anthony wants assurances from Nuggets brass that he won’t be traded, Melo was singing a different tune today. “Right now, I am a Nugget,” Anthony said. “No trade has happened yet. They came out and said they were not going to trade me, which is a good thing. I don’t plan on going anywhere. I plan on staying in Denver.”

· Various bizarre scenarios in which the Knicks are able to unload Zach Randolph’s contract continue to thrive on the rumor mill, the latest being a three-team trade involving Detroit and Dallas. The Knicks would get Rasheed Wallace and Jason Maxiell from the Pistons. The deal looks convoluted, and it will have to be if the Knicks are successful in dealing away Randolph’s massive contract, which they acquired on draft night 2007. The only way dealing Randolph makes sense is if the Knicks can avoid taking back long-term money. Sheed’s deal expires after next season, and Maxiell – a player on the rise whose athleticism would fit Mike D’Antoni’s system – has a player option in 2009-10 at only $2.8 million. The Knicks are known to be shopping Z-Bo, but so far no interested takers have been confirmed.

Boston -- Some final thoughts after witnessing the Celtics hoist their 17th championship trophy last night:

* I was telling Michael Lee of the Washington Post and Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News last night that I couldn't believe I didn't see how soft the Lakers were going into this series. They beat a very physical Utah team, after all, and knocked off the defending champion Spurs, who get down and dirty at the defensive end with the best of them. But we settled on two conclusions: 1) The Lakers' victory over San Antonio was obscured by Manu Ginobili playing on one leg, and 2) All of us totally underestimated the Celtics' defensive prowess. Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau deserve duckboat-loads of credit for getting everyone -- superstars and role players -- to buy in.

* The Lakers will be better -- much better -- when Andrew Bynum is healthy next year. Pau Gasol is good, but he can only be great with a rebounding, shot-blocking big man playing next to him.

* Kobe Bryant is no Michael Jordan. The Boston fans told him as much, serenading him in the third quarter with chants of, "You're ... not ... Jor-dan!" A couple of reporters tried to goad Kobe into a retro-rip job of the roster with leading questions about whether the Lakers need a major overhaul. Kobe chuckled and said, "No, we're fine. What we have to do is continue to work and understand that this isn't guaranteed to anybody."

* While we're on the subject, Harvey Araton of the Times says there is a new Jordan. His name is Tiger Woods.

* I couldn't agree more with Alan Hahn that the Celtics' one-year turnaround shouldn't signal to teams like the Knicks that they can do the same thing. The KG and Ray Allen trades were the perfect storm, and the Celtics had patiently accumulated the right pieces and assets to get those deals done. I'm getting a little nervous that, after Mike D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh preached patience and getting under the cap, we're beginning to hear rumors about trades for high-priced veterans like Baron Davis and Ben Gordon. Now that the Celtics have gone from a 24-win team to a 66-win team that won a championship, the temptation to go for the quick fix will only grow for the Knicks. Warning: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

* With the disclaimer that I don't know Doc Rivers in any sort of personal way, I was struck by how he skillfully guided his team through this postseason. The Celtics had a tendency to be mentally fragile, and Doc pushed all the right buttons. It's difficult to remember a team that went after it as hard as the Celtics did last night in a clinching Finals game. The Lakers never had a chance. Even more, I was struck by Doc's genuine display of emotion at the end of his news conference when he spoke about his first thoughts being about his late father, Grady, who passed away last November.

* After the Celtics shut down Kobe Bryant and put on as impressive a display of team defense as we've seen in recent Finals memory, do you think some teams -- Knicks, Bulls, Pistons, Suns -- are regretting that that didn't wait for Thibodeau?

* Has anyone seen a stranger postgame TV interview with a winning athlete than the one Michelle Tafoya had to endure with Kevin Garnett last night?

* Paul Pierce is better than anybody thought, myself included.

* The officiating scandal isn't going away. Although Newsday reported yesterday that there will be no state charges brought in California over Tim Donaghy's allegation that Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals was fixed, the matter is being turned over to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles for review. Dwyane Wade, the 2006 Finals MVP and beneficiary of some officiating miscues against Dallas, appropriately was in the building last night as the league braces for more Donaghy revelations. I'm afraid that just because Dick Bavetta was assigned to work two games in the Finals -- after the NBA knew the FBI was asking everyone with a pulse about Bavetta's activities -- it doesn't necessarily mean Bavetta is out of the woods. First, the feds must have been asking about something. Second, they wouldn't have told the NBA what it was. Stay tuned.

* Only eight days until the NBA draft. Rest up.

Boston -- I'll say this for David Stern, Stu Jackson, and/or Ronnie Nunn: Whomever assigned the referees for Game 6 tonight obviously doesn't give a horse's patootie about appearances.

And the officiating crew for Game 4 tonight is .... Pope Benedict, Mother Theresa, and Ghandi.

No, really, it's Joe DeRosa, Steve Javie, and Tom Washington.

Matty O'Shea at Pregame.com has the breakdown on their tendencies. Check it out and see if you find any clues.

One problem those in the sports gambling business have with the notion of Game 6 between the Lakers and Kings in the 2002 Western Conference Finals being fixed is this: It's extremely difficult to orchestrate a fix without the bookmakers -- both legal and illegal -- knowing about it.

Bookies make millions on the premise that point spreads and over/unders are on the up-and-up. If suspicions arise, thus causing the point spread to move an inordinate amount, the game is taken off the board and Las Vegas books are obligated to notify the authorities immediately.

There are checks and balances in the illegal betting world, too, and they typically involved steel pipes making contact with knees.

So here is my question: If the fix was in for the Lakers in that game, why did the closing line barely move from the opening line? I suppose it's possible that only one NBA official and two of the referees knew about it, but that doesn't pass the smell test to Jon Campbell, a handicapper at Covers.com.

Campbell says the Kings opened as a 2.5-point favorite in that game and closed as a 2-point favorite. That's not nearly enough of a movement to illustrate that the fix was in and crazy money was coming in on the Lakers. As for the over/under, it moved from 195 to 194.5 -- also insignificant.

Again, none of this proves no one did anything wrong. But I haven't seen anyone prove that someone did, either.

A huge point-spread swing in and of itself wouldn't prove that a fix was in, either. For example, in Game 2 of the Finals last week, the Celtics opened as a 2-point favorite, closed as a 2-point underdog, and won the game straight up. The officiating crew was Bob Delaney, Dan Crawford, and Ken Mauer.

What does that mean? Who knows? The point is, bookmakers monitor point spreads more closely than seismologists study earthquakes. People have talked about something being wrong with that game for six years. Don't you think bookies who lost their shirts on the game would've gotten to the bottom of it before Tim Donaghy's lawyer?

I love Letterman -- full disclosure, we have the same attorney -- but I was suspect of his show last night as soon as I saw that Scott McClellan was a guest. Anyway, Dave did come up with a humdinger of a Top 10 list last night on the latest in the NBA ref scandal.

The NBA is like a pinata right now. Everyone step up and take a swing, whether you're on steroids or not.

Here we go:

“Top Ten Signs An NBA Game Is Fixed:"

10) “Game begins 20 minutes before visiting team arrives.”
9) “Tip-off always goes to the player with the largest salary.”
8) “At the end of the first quarter, the score is 179 to 2.”
7) “Missed three-pointers count for two points if they're ‘pretty close.’”
6) “One of the Laker Girls looks suspiciously like Pete Rose.”
5) “Whenever he's open, referee takes a shot.”
4) “Scoreboard has disclaimer: ‘All Scores Approximate.’”
3) “The team loses even though it led in points, delegates and the popular vote.”
2) “Jack Nicholson scores 25 points from his seat.”
1) “The Knicks win.”

Now Bob Delaney has been dragged into Tim Donaghy’s officiating scandal. We all know that Delaney used to work as a New Jersey state trooper, and that he wrote a book about infiltrating the mob as an undercover agent.

Now we all know that Delaney, Dick Bavetta, and Ted Bernhardt officiated Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Donaghy has alleged in court papers that two of those officials had been instructed to favor the Lakers to extend the series to a seventh game.

But what do the facts say about how Delaney officiates?

Here is the story I wrote last night on David Stern's state of the league address before Game 2. Due to technical and other glitches that are causing great angst in the newspaper industry, it has yet to be published -- until now.

Boston – It took nearly 40 minutes for David Stern to hear a question about Tim Donaghy last night, so from that standpoint, the NBA commissioner’s annual state of the league address was a success.

After the officiating scandal that rocked his league last summer, no news is good news as far as Stern is concerned as he presides over his 25th NBA Finals as commissioner.

“We’re coming off what we think is one of our best seasons in years,” Stern said before Game 2 between the Lakers and Celtics. “It’s exciting because of the basketball.”

The Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals in 1984 at the end of Stern’s first season as commissioner. So he allowed himself to reminisce about the signature franchises meeting again a quarter century later.

“It was the old Garden, the fabulous Forum, the differences in the crowds, the difference in the ambiance,” Stern said. “I just was like a kid. And I can remember, I guess, being at a Marriott and having something to eat with Red Auerbach after a game. I mean, to me it was like, ‘It doesn’t get any better than this. Look at my job.’ It was very exciting.

“But the good old days sometimes were not quite as good as people say they were,” Stern said. “And these may be the good new days. … I’m a fan, and I think it’s as good as it’s ever been.”

There were no news bulletins from Stern last night, and none was needed. After nearly a decade of paltry TV ratings for the Finals, the 8.7 rating for Game 1 Thursday night was up 38 percent from Game 1 of the Spurs-Cavaliers series last year. Ratings on all networks have been up substantially throughout the postseason, which explains Stern’s playful mood.

“I don’t know why Big Brown didn’t win,” Stern said. “Can’t explain it.”

On the subject of 9 p.m. start times for the Finals, which ensure that most young fans on the East Coast can’t watch the games, Stern said, “Nothing is set in stone,” but noted that the networks dictate the late starts to maximize the national audience. He also said he is “not married” to the 2-3-2 format, which minimizes travel but forces the team with homecourt advantage to play a critical Game 5 on the road.

“Everything is open,” Stern said.

Knicks fans no doubt cringed when Stern referenced Frederic Weis in response to a question about international players, such as Tiago Splitter, opting to play in Europe rather than sign with the NBA teams that drafted them.

Other highlights from Stern’s address:
· Stern has not made any sentencing recommendation for Donaghy to U.S. District Court Judge Carol B. Amon, but did contact the court to correct what he believed were errors in pre-sentencing papers filed by Donaghy’s attorney.
· Stern said he’s willing to put the playoff seeding format on the agenda at the Board of Governors meeting in October, but said there has been no groundswell to change it.
· He again sidestepped a question about China’s failure to end human rights violations in Darfur, an issue that will be prevalent during the run-up to the Beijing Olympics this summer. Several NBA players have denounced China’s policies, and Stern said, “Our players are free to speak out and have their views.”
· Though no action has been taken to punish “flopping,” Stern said, “It’s not the best part of our game, because it’s designed to fool the official or make the crowd think the official did a bad thing by not giving him the call. So we’re struggling with exactly the best way to deal with it, if at all.”
· He said he wasn’t trying to undercut the officials by publicly acknowledging that a foul should have been called on the Lakers’ Derek Fisher, who collided with the Spurs’ Brent Barry at the end of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. “The league gave an honest answer to an honest question,” Stern said. “Serves us right. … If everybody knows it, it doesn’t seem like a good idea for us to deny it.”
· If the infamous clothesline by the Celtics’ Kevin McHale against the Lakers’ Kurt Rambis in Game 4 of the 1984 Finals happened in today’s game, Stern said, “I think there might have been some games lost by the player involved. We have, over the years, made a determination that the sport is quite beautiful and quite graceful and quite extraordinary, and that our players are capable of inflicting great harm on each other if we don’t regulate it.”

Boston -- I read recently where Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell -- who still owns Newsday until its sale to Cablevision is approved -- has conducted productivity surveys on all the company's reporters. I have no idea what my study showed, but just in case, here's proof that I'm actually working here at the NBA Finals.

Every interview conducted in the news conferences -- and most of them conducted on the practice floor during availability time -- is transcribed and printed out for all the media's benefit. (That even goes for the media who aren't here.) So the only way to get something different is to talk to guys when no one else is around. That was my approach with Paul Pierce yesterday, so I fired a couple of questions his way as he limped from a TV taping to the interview room.

The pic was snapped by my former colleague, Cleveland AP photog Mark Duncan, who for some reason decided not to move it onto the wire. So he emailed it to me instead. That's Cleveland AP sports writer Tom Withers trailing me. He got my former job when I moved from Cleveland to Philly in 1998 and evidently utilizes the same reporting tactics. I don't know if he learned them in Cleveland or at West Islip High School; it's a little known piece of trivia that Tom and I are the only WI grads covering the Finals.

But enough about me. David Stern gives his state of the league address at 8 p.m., and then it's time for Game 2.

Boston -- The last question posed to Kobe Bryant in the interview room today had to do with comparing the current Celtics-Lakers rivalry to the old days. Kobe's answer was a slam dunk.

"I've heard stories in the past of them coming here and not getting room service and stuff like that," Bryant said. "I mean, my room service is cool. I got the nice apple pie with the ice cream on top, á la mode. I didn't even ask for the ice cream, but they hooked me up."

Red Auerbach must be rolling in his grave ...

Boston – Paul Pierce proclaimed today he is “definitely” playing in Game 2 of the NBA Finals tomorrow night after being carried off the floor in Game 1 with a sprained right knee.

“Swelling is down a little,” Pierce said. “Still some stiffness – can’t quite all the way bend it like I want to – but it’s definitely a step forward from [Friday].”

Asked if he’s expecting to play tomorrow night, Pierce said, “Definitely.”

Boston – Paul Pierce said today there’s a “great chance” he’ll play in Game 2 of the NBA Finals Sunday after spraining his right knee in Game 1 and being carried off the court by two teammates.

Despite what he described as “sharp pain” in his knee, Pierce decided to put off an MRI until after the Finals.

“At this point, with two weeks left and six games to go, we can figure this out after the season,” Pierce said. “It’s either I can play or I can’t, regardless of what the MRI says.”

Intrigue over Pierce’s injury – and his theatrical exit in the arms of teammates Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine, who carried him to a wheelchair – coupled with a seemingly miraculous return only minutes later, was not lost on Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

Asked if Pierce trotting out of the tunnel reminded him of Willis Reed’s heroics in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals against the Lakers – which Jackson witnessed as a member of the Knicks – Jackson scoffed at the comparison.

“Well, if I’m not mistaken, I think Willis Reed missed a whole half, almost three quarters of a game, and literally had to have a shot, a horse shot – three or four of them in his thigh – to come back out and play,” Jackson said. “Paul got carried off and was back on his feet in a minute. I don’t know if the angels visited him in that timeout period that he had or not, but he didn’t even limp when he came back out on the floor. I don’t know what was going on there. Was Oral Roberts back there in their locker room?”

Pierce laughed off Jackson’s comments as gamesmanship as he walked from the interview room to the Celtics’ locker room – with an ever-so-slight limp. He didn’t practice today and won’t practice tomorrow in preparation for Game 2 with the Celtics holding a 1-0 advantage after last night’s 98-88 victory.

Boston – Cheesy bets between mayors of cities competing for pro sports championships got old a long time ago. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa agrees with me, so he sent a memo to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. It goes like this:

“To commemorate this historic event, I say we scrap the tired tradition of wagering regional trinkets or cuisine - and go big,” Villaraigosa wrote. “Let’s really put it on the line: jobs, tradition, pride.

“So here’s my proposal: If the Celtics win, we’ll send you the best professional football team L.A. has to offer: the Arena League’s Los Angeles Avengers. If the Lakers win, we get the Patriots.”