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 Draft will not show answers anytime soon - Grading the draft in the days, weeks or even months immediately following is a venture into the fruitless tedium held far from the truth of what the future holds. It's a task that has seen respected analysts consider the Charlotte Bobcats' haul of Adam Morrison (taken third overall) and Ryan Hollins as a strong draft, the same for Maurice Ager, a first round pick for Dallas who failed to ever make an impact in the NBA, as well as Hilton Armstrong (12th overall) and Cedric Simmons in New Orleans … and this is looking no further than the 2006 selections. READ MORE
Howard still much apart of the Dallas area - Although he is no longer a member of the Dallas Mavericks, Josh Howard was rooting for his old teammates during the NBA Finals. Before hosting a celebrity basketball game Saturday at the P.C. Cobb Complex, the former Mav said he was especially pulling for Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and assistant coach Darrell Armstrong. "Those guys were there when we went to the Finals in '06," Howard said. "It was great to see those guys get the opportunity to win, and pull it out." Howard said Armstrong came by his Dallas home the day after the Mavericks' Game 6 victory in Miami. Armstrong was a teammate of Howard's from 2004-2006. "That was a great time," Howard said. "I got to talk to him about the experience. It's just so good to see those guys get out there and do it, so I'm happy for them." READ MORE
Flynn's Hip Injury Nets Rockets An Additional Pick In Draft Day Trade With Timberwolves - On Thursday, the Houston Rockets sent Brad Miller plus their 23rd and 38th picks in the draft to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Donatas Motiejunas and Jonny Flynn. On Friday when Flynn was examined by Houston team doctors, the deal hit a bit of a snag. Flynn, 22, was the sixth overall pick in the 2009 draft, but he had hip surgery after a torn labrum last July that limited his availability in 2010. It was not made clear whether or not Minnesota was up front with Houston about the current status of Flynn's hip, but to push the deal through, the Timberwolves had to cough up a second round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey said there are no issues and that Flynn is fine. So fine, apparently that the Rockets had to be given another draft pick before they would clear him on his physical. READ MORE
NBA Draft 2011: Reviewing the Houston Rockets' Night and Previewing the Future - The Houston Rockets have gone through a lot as an organization since trading for Tracy McGrady and drafting Yao Ming. The turnover on the roster has been tremendous. Remember the days of Rafer Alston and Juwan Howard? What about Luther Head and Bonzi Wells? I’ll let you ponder that for a little bit. Almost forgot they once dawned Rockets uniforms? That just shows how much change this team has gone through. The front office could never get all of this team healthy at the same time. Now we have a roster filled with excellent role players and no superstar power. With all due respect to Kevin Martin, he is not a superstar—he is a very good number two option in the NBA. After draft night, the Rockets got better, but they are nowhere close to being a finished product. READ MORE
UT gaffe won’t define Spurs’ Joseph - Maybe he could have been a little more proactive about getting the ball in bounds. Maybe he could have been a little quicker in calling timeout. Given a do-over, Cory Joseph certainly would have done something to change what became the unfortunate enduring moment of his one-season college career at Texas. Absent the ability to time-travel, Joseph has settled on the next-best option for dealing with crushing defeat. “The Arizona game?” asked Joseph, the former UT point guard turned Spurs’ first-round draft choice. “I can’t dwell on it. I put that one behind me.” With all that now lies ahead of Joseph, the 19-year-old taken by the Spurs with the 29th overall pick in last week’s draft, letting go and moving on seems to be as sound a strategy as any. READ MORE
ProjectSpurs: Writer suggests Hill trade a purely financial move - The motives behind the trade that sent shock waves through the San Antonio Spurs community is being questioned by at least one media member. In his Sunday column, Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News wonders if George Hill was traded for purely financial reasons. Lawrence questions if Hill was only traded because the Spurs didn't want to pay him more than his rookie contract after this coming season. Lawrence adds that once Tony Parker backed off his previous statements he made to the French media, the franchise deemed Hill expendable. Lawrence even questioned whether Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford was being truthful when he said trading Hill was one of the hardest days in franchise history. "You would have thought that they had moved Duncan in his prime. General manager R.C. Buford called it "one of the most difficult nights in Spurs history since we've been here." In fact, it wasn't. As much as they liked Hill's work ethic, they had no intention of meeting his salary demands." READ MORE
Rangers angry at umpires after losing to Mets - An umpire's call, said Ian Kinsler, never costs a team a victory, and the second baseman said that after the four-man crew headed by Tim Welke didn't do the Texas Rangers any favors Sunday against New York. Kinsler had the best view of the worst of three calls that went against the Rangers. The third bad call led to the ejections of manager Ron Washington and shortstop Elvis Andrus. But Kinsler, along with 37,879 fans at Rangers Ballpark, saw the Mets collect 14 hits and take advantage of a passed ball and an error earlier behind Derek Holland. The Rangers' lineup went only 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine base runners. The umpires were bad, but the Rangers weren't exactly perfect in their 8-5 loss. READ MORE
Rangers season could wind up fried by this mini-June swoon - If the defending American League champs don't make the playoffs this season -- and if you think that can't happen, you clearly haven't been paying attention -- the Texas Rangers can blame these past four days. Four days in June. Four games against the New York Mets and Houston Astros, neither of which will ever be confused with the Philadelphia Phillies. And the Rangers could only win one of them. A homestand against interleague foes who, before Saturday, were a combined 23 games below .500. Sunday's 8-5 loss to the Mets was only the latest, a frustrating three-hour agony of unheeded opportunities, Mets bleeders that fell for hits and umpires whose weekend pay needs to be docked. READ MORE
Rangers vie for Silver Boot on Houston's turf - The Rangers and Astros will resume their quest for the Silver Boot on Tuesday, when the teams square off in Houston. The Rangers won two of three games last week, when the two teams met in Arlington. Overall, the Rangers have won four consecutive Silver Boot trophies, which goes to the victor in the Interleague matchup between the two clubs each year. In the absence of a designated hitter at Minute Maid Park, expect Michael Young to start at first base and Mitch Moreland to move to the outfield. The Rangers, who are 3-3 in National League parks this season, are hitting .259, with .308 on-base percentage and a .330 slugging percentage without the benefit of the designated hitter. READ MORE
Evan Longoria powers Tampa Bay to sweep over Astros in back-and-forth slugfest - Three-time All-Star slugger Evan Longoria went deep twice and B.J. Upton blasted his third home run of the series, while Casey Kotchman and Matt Joyce each drove in two runs, to spark the offensive explosion and rally the Tampa Bay Rays to a commanding 14-10 victory over the Houston Astros Sunday afternoon in the weekend finale at Minute Maid Park. Longoria and Upton combined for nine RBI for a Rays squad that has won four straight en route completing the three-game sweep over Houston. READ MORE
In fight to finish, Astros can't stave off loss - Offense erupts, but Happ, bullpen unable to hold leads against Rays. Even when the Astros were filling every nook and cranny of Minute Maid Park with baseballs and wearing out the basepaths, they couldn't keep the Rays from doing the same Sunday afternoon. The relentless Rays offense walloped relief pitchers Wilton Lopez and Mark Melancon for nine runs, including seven in the last two innings, to strike the final blows in a wild back-and-forth game and outlast the Astros, 14-10, and finish off a three-game sweep. The Astros, who have lost six of their last seven, tried to go toe-to-toe on offense with the defending American League East champions, bashing out 14 hits -- including a season-high 10 extra-base hits -- and hitting a pair of home runs. Houston put up its most doubles and extra-base hits since Sept. 12, 2003, against the Cardinals. The Rays simply had too much firepower. READ MORE
Martellus Bennett discusses offseason, 'trying to stay sexy' - Unable to workout at their team's official practice facilities, NFL players have had to find other ways to stay in shape. Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett has been doing his offseason training at the Michael Johnson Performance Center in McKinney. The Texas A&M product has even added boxing to his conditioning regimen. "I've been trying to stay sexy," he joked before a celebrity basketball game at the P.C. Cobb Complex in Dallas on Saturday. Bennett confirmed that he and his Cowboys teammates worked out for a month at an undisclosed location. He added that he has also worked with Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo and reserve quarterback Stephen McGee when Romo is not around. READ MORE
Bryant appears ready for the season - Judging by the game he played Saturday, Dez Bryant's ankle appears to be in good physical shape. Basketball shape, that is. While participating in former Dallas Maverick Josh Howard's 5th Annual Celebrity Weekend in Dallas, Bryant held his own on a court that included NBA stars like Howard, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rashard Lewis. The Cowboys wide receiver, who played in 12 games as a rookie in 2010 before a broken ankle ended his season, didn't show any signs of physical weakness at the P.C. Cobb Complex, effortlessly throwing down dunks during pregame warm-ups before playing the majority of the 40-minute game. READ MORE
Thrown for a loss - At a time NFL players and coaches usually would be preparing to open training camp, they instead find themselves sidelined by labor strife. We caught up with four individuals with Texans ties to get an up-close look at what it’s like to be locked out. The NFL lockout has surpassed 100 days. While the owners and players continue to meet toward compromise on a new collective bargaining agreement, we decided to take a look at how the lockout has affected four individuals affiliated at the moment or most recently with the Texans. READ MORE
Houston Texans’ Steve Slaton Traded to the St. Louis Rams? - In 2011 Steve Slaton will play at the league-minimum base salary. In the last year of a rookie contract Slaton will be eligible for free agency after this years NFL season. Slaton was chose in the 3rd round by the Houston Texans in the 2008 NFL draft. That year Slaton had a great rookie season totaling 1659 yards from scrimmage with 50 receptions and 10 touchdowns on the season. Slaton has been hampered by a shoulder injury the past two seasons and has been overcome on the depth chart by last years league leading rusher Arian Foster. With last years 2nd round pick Ben Tate about to return at 100% and Derrick Ward recently being resigned it would seem that Slaton is expendable and should command decent trade value since Slaton is playing at the league-minimum base salary this season. READ MORE
Dallas Stars Expected To Hire Paul Jerrard As Replacement For Huddy - Friday afternoon the Dallas Stars parted ways with defensive assistant coach Charlie Huddy, now it seems as though they have his replacement in Paul Jerrard, Glen Gulutzan's defensive coach in Cedar Park last year. Jerrard was drafted by the North Stars in 1988 and played five games for them, though mostly had a minor league career. He has been an assistant coach with the Hershey Bears, and the Iowa Stars (then subsequently the Iowa Chops), so he has solid connections to the Stars organization throughout his career. Gulutzan mentioned the hiring on News-8 this evening, though an official confirmation from the team is still forthcoming. TSN's draft coverage on Friday night mentioned that Jerrard would be hired by the Stars but confirmation never came from the team, but now it's believed to be true, straight from Coach Gulutzan himself. READ MORE
GM Joe: Stars' budget to exceed cap floor - Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk was on Channel 5's Out of Bounds with Newy Scruggs and talked about free agency and the team's budget, which he indicated would be higher than the $48 million salary cap floor. Here's what he had to say on free agents: "I think we're in good shape," Nieuwendyk said. "Obviously we're not going to be able to sign Brad Richards, so along with his dollars and the budget we've been given by the National Hockey League, we're in a position where we can spend some money this time around. I am looking forward to it. We'll be busy all this week and come July 1 we'll be active pursuing free agents." READ MORE
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