Spurs waive Antoine Hood and Doug Thomas

[ace3g]

per twitter @spurs

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/111218_spurs_waive_hood_thomas

[Interrohater]

Isn't that an indicator that they're about to sign someone else?

[ace3g]

not necessarily, with only 2 preseason games they might just be speeding up the elimination process for the roster

[ace3g]

yo ace what do you have on frank hassell

nothing, lol, I had to ask that during the game chat last night, I thought at first #33 was Lawal

[Interrohater]

I read that dude has scoliosis. Instead of Scola, we get scoliosis. Go figure.

[timtonymanu]

So it's down to Hassell, Lawal, Zeller?, and Green?

[Interrohater]

At least hassell had some hustle, but none of those guys were impressive in their 3-5 minutes

[G-Dawgg]

How is anyone supposed to look impressive in 3-5 minutes? I don't even think Lebron James could get anything done in 3 minutes.....

[Interrohater]

Grab a rebound, stay in front of your man, don't be a traffic cone... to be impressive doesn't necessarily mean score 30 points.

[Hooks]

Is he staying with the team as the 5th big since Dice retired? Haven't heard anything about him being released.

[Russ]

yo ace what do you have on frank hassell

I'm kinda rooting for this guy . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/sports/ncaabasketball/17odu.html

Player Called Tank Leads Tough Team

When Frank Hassell arrived at Old Dominion in 2006 as a lanky 6-foot-7 freshman, he tried to make a name for himself by making a name for himself. After declaring at one of the Monarchs’ first workouts that his teammates should call him Flight, he drove toward the rim, awkwardly tried to dunk and landed on his backside.

The nickname did not take off, either. After Hassell grew two inches, put on 30 pounds and turned into the Monarchs’ bruising inside force fans began calling him Frank the Tank, a more fitting namesake of Will Ferrell’s character in “Old School.”

Hassell still does not jump high, but he clears space like a snowplow and chases rebounds as if they were dinner. And now, as a fifth-year senior forward with a Tank tattoo on his arm, he is the face and the body of the Monarchs, who might be the toughest team in the N.C.A.A. tournament.

“Frank’s a gentle kind of guy off the court,” said Hassell’s father, Frank Sr. “I’m not sure how he turns into such a beast when he plays, but it’s a wonderful thing to see.”

Ninth-seeded Old Dominion, which will face No. 8 Butler in a Southeast Region second-round game Thursday in Washington, outrebounds its opponents by 12.2 per game, best in the nation. Pittsburgh, at 10.4, is a distant second.

The Monarchs also allow just 58.3 points per game, fourth in the nation. They often practice with a lid on the basket, when every shot is simply a rebound-in-waiting.
“It’s like letting pit bulls fight over a scrap of meat, and it’s pretty fun,” Hassell said. “Whoever gets the ball, you can foul them and do whatever to them. Once you get the ball, you have to be strong.”

Hassell, who averages 15 points and 9.6 rebounds, was a first-team all-Colonial Athletic Association selection and was the most valuable player of the conference’s tournament. But his success did not come easily.

When he was a child, his classmates sometimes called him Frankenstein because of his height and awkward gait. He would come home from school, take a small basketball hoop from the family room to the backyard and play until sundown.

He was cut from the junior-varsity team as a freshman at Indian River High School in Chesapeake, Va., and did not make the varsity until he was a junior. And even though he grew up in the football-crazed Tidewater area, his second sport was volleyball, which improved his lateral movement and jumping ability, but did not make him appear to be a Division I athlete.

“He was kind of skinny and clumsy and had those big feet,” Frank Sr. said. “I told him once he got older, those big shoulders would be an asset to him.”

Old Dominion Coach Blaine Taylor looked at those shoulders and saw a recruit unpolished enough to be overlooked by major programs, but intriguing enough to offer a scholarship.
At the end of Hassell’s first practice with the Monarchs, he was unable to complete the team’s second wind sprint, and Taylor told him to leave the court. As Hassell pulled himself onto an exercise bike and started pedaling, Taylor yelled that he would stay on him until he became a player.

“Frank didn’t think he had all the answers, and he wanted someone to help him with the answers,” Taylor said. “He just absolutely went to work.”

Hassell began an exhaustive weight-training regimen and phased out fast food in favor of grilled chicken breasts and rice. He drinks protein shakes and takes multivitamins. He still eats plenty; his plate is just filled with better decisions.

“I always hated salad, too,” he said. “But for the past year, salad’s been a good friend of mine.”

Hassell, who has increased his scoring and rebounding averages each season, can now bench-press 185 pounds 20 times, up from 5 as a freshman. He also raised his one-repetition maximum to 310 pounds, from 225. He was so committed to his training that he skipped a family cruise in the Bahamas last summer, giving his ticket to a friend.

Now he is able to endure and dominate Old Dominion’s practices, which are sometimes more cutthroat than its games. The sessions are focused on rebounding and defense, and in many drills shooting and dribbling are discouraged.

“For us, when the ball goes up, that’s when the action really starts,” Taylor said.
Hassell used to touch the ball on offense mainly when he rebounded it himself. But he has refined his post moves, developed a turnaround jump shot and become an offensive threat.

“He’s very good at creating angles to catch the ball and score,” Virginia Commonwealth Coach Shaka Smart said. “He walks up the lane, and as you’re fighting around him, he creates an angle so he can catch and finish. He does his work early.”

Of course, Hassell knows he is at his best when he is tussling for the ball rather than shooting it. Before each game, he receives a text message from his father that says, “Don’t forget to rebound.” And during games, Hassell keeps a running tally in his head.

He no longer tries to be something that he is not, but he is quite comfortable being Frank the Tank.

[ace3g]

today they waived Novak

[timtonymanu]

today they waived Novak

Really??? That was quick.