Toronto 89 New Orleans 95

The undermanned Toronto lost to New Orleans last night. It was a rather physical game between the Raptors against the much bigger Hornets .
Toronto managed to give coach Byron Scott's team a scare by narrowing the lead, primarily through the efforts of Mike James who had 36 pts, 4 assists , 5 rebs.
The game was held in Oklahoma where Joey Graham played his collegiate years. He got a good round of applause during introduction of the starting five for T.O.

There was an NCAA feeling in the Ford stadium according to Chuck Swirsky. The people there
were very much involved in every action. It's like the Sacramento Kings' crowd . George Shinn
Most of the crowd were white as I noticed when I surveyed the people shown on TV when the camera focused on them . Sometime ago , Charles Barkley retold the TV audience in his TNT show that he kidded one Hornets player how come he wanted to play there, ' there are no brothers in Oklahoma ' .
George Shinn, team owner , and his wife were there. I guess she was watching him very closely while he watched the Hornets girls during breaks in the game.
George was once accused of sexual harassment by one of his team's dancers. One wonders whether the team will return to N.O. when things fully normalize after the effects of Katrina.
I think George Shinn prefers to stay in Oklahoma seeing the big crowd in every game . I read that Phil Jackson was quite surprise the league chose New Orleans when the team relocated from Charlotte. I guess, Phil thinks there not much in N.O. to support a pro team then. N.O. certainly does not have the support now.

By the way , why does a relocating NBA team carry their previous name when this tag does not have any connection to the new place at all ? In the , the Minneapolis Lakers became the Los Angeles Lakers . Lakers in LA ? More like Fakers in LA la land is appropriate !
Even the previous New Orleans Jazz of the legendary Pete Maravich days .did not drop its Jazz txg when it moved to Utah. The team should have called itself the Utah Mormons instead of the present Utah Jazz. Unless, of course , there are many jazz playing residents in Utah. Jazz asking.


Nom De Guerre

Francisco Elson of the Denver Nuggets is the latest NBA player to earn a basketball name .
The Dutchman Elson was given the name Geikko by teamate Marcus Camby . This was after seeing a Geico Insurance TV commercial with its famous lizard. . You see , the Denver coach , George Karl considers Elson as the one who ' insures' the game for the team .

It's funny how NBA players earn their nom de guerre. Dr. J , Julius Erving , was so named for his uncanny ability to operate his way to the basket. Jerry West was Mr. Clutch because he always delivered at so called clutch time. Talking about delivery, The Mailman , Karl Malone , was supposed to give the team the baskets through hell or high waters just like a real mailman. I wonder if he ever went on strike . Like the real one. I know that in one of the Finals game against the Bulls held on a Sunday, Scottie Pippen whispered something to Malone's ears before he attempted a very crucial free throw in the dying seconds of the game. ' The Mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays ' whispered Pippen . Malone missed. Don't worry , the Mailman still got his pension , I mean statue from grateful Utah fans when he retired.