NBA Insider with Ken Berger

Mark Cuban has expanded his war against bloggers, refusing to admit two more to the Mavericks' locker room. Henry Abbott of TrueHoop and Andrew Kamenetsky of the L.A. Times joined Tim McMahon in trying to gain entry to the locker room last night and were denied.

Here's Henry's post on the situation, as well as the latest from Cuban explaining his stance. It appears that this isn't going away. While I agree with Cuban's analysis of how newspapers have diminished their product by using blogs as a catch-all for content, I can't say that commissioner David Stern is going to respond kindly to credentialed members of the media being denied access to pre- and postgame interview areas. Stern and Cuban have a not-so-fabulous history, and this situation will do nothing to improve that.

This is a blog for NBA content, but the fact that it’s a blog, by definition, means anything goes. So today I’m going to address a topic that is near and dear to my heart. That is, the newspaper business and its role in the rapidly transforming world of online media.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a Mark Cuban fan. Not because both of us went to Indiana, and not only because he single-handedly turned a moribund NBA franchise into a model NBA franchise. What I really like is the fact that he’s interested and knowledgeable about online media, he’s generous with his advice on the media business in general and newspapers specifically, and his ideas have merit. His success speaks for itself, as does the current level of success being experienced by the newspaper business.

He’s also not afraid to stir up the hornet’s nest and challenge traditional thinking. He’s done it again by banning a full-time blogger who works for the Dallas Morning News from the Mavericks’ locker room.

Does he hate bloggers? Think they don’t deserve access? Far from it. Cuban himself is a blogger. Not only that, he’s a billionaire NBA owner who replies to emails from reporters like myself and fans like you, offering no greater access to me than Joe from Bayside. Unlike the owner of the Knicks, James Dolan, who has refused to utter a word to the media – and by extension, the fans – in more than a year, Cuban is accessible and offers tens of thousands of words on his blog. Forgive the mischaracterization if it is one, but Cuban is a populist. So why is he banning a blogger?

His lengthy explanation is here, but long-story-short, Cuban believes all bloggers are created equal. He doesn’t think a blogger employed by a large media company should get privileges that your average, garden variety blogger can’t get. And since there are thousands, maybe even millions of bloggers, and there isn’t room in the locker room to credential all of them, then the Dallas Morning News’ blogger shouldn’t be there, either. Also, Cuban denies having anything personal against the blogger in question, Tim McMahon.

There is a freedom of the press issue here with sound arguments to be made on both sides. I don’t want to get into that, because there’s a secondary issue that Cuban brings up that is far more important, IMHO. Cuban likes newspapers and comments often on their failing grip on market share in a media environment that is shifting toward online content. One way that newspapers have tried to combat this online threat is to give just about every reporter on staff a blog. Bad idea, says Cuban. And he makes some unassailable points:

Newspaper blogging is probably the worst marketing and branding move a newspaper can make. The barriers to entry for bloggers are nonexistent. There are no editorial standards. There are no accuracy standards. We bloggers can and do write whatever we damn well please. Historically newspapers have set some level of standards that they strived to adhere to. By taking on the branding, standard and posting habits of the blogosphere, newspapers have worked their way down to the least common denominator of publishing in what appears to be an effort to troll for page views.

He expands on the notion in another item posted yesterday under the headline, “Blogging and newspapers: A lesson in how not to brand and market.”

Consider this a rule in marketing that could be added to my Startup Rules.

Failure to do so will pull your brand down to that of the masses or elevate the masses to a position of being better able to compete with you.

Basically, Cuban says newspapers shouldn’t have blogs. They should have additional online content that is unique to the talent and experience of their actual journalists – something that is different from the stream-of-consciousness stuff that is a dime-a-dozen on the blogosphere. He suggests that newspapers re-brand this content by another name: RealTime Reporting. Give me some time and I’ll think of a catchier name, but it’s hard to argue with his concept.

If I worked for the NY Times, or any other media company with any level of brand equity, I would have done everything possible to define the section of our website that offers ongoing as anything other than a blog. I would make up a name. Call it say.....RealTime Reporting.

I would also market it as an extension of the print version. All the news that can’t fit in print. In the sports world, I think this is where mainstream media really has dropped the ball. There is no shortage of speculation and opinions on the net. There is an incredible lack of depth when it comes to game and team coverage.

All I ever wanted to be was a newspaper writer, and it’s troubling to see the business struggling this way to transition to the new media environment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

As an aside, Cuban seems to have spent a lot of time thinking about the New York Times and how it does business. If you follow newspapers, you know that the Times – like every publicly traded newspaper company – is under pressure from investors to improve financial results and raise its stock price or sell. Hmmm. Cuban has never expressed an interest in buying a newspaper to me, and he hasn’t replied to my email yet asking if he’s flirting with the Gray Lady. He will though. He’ll probably respond to you, too, if you ask him or comment on his, um, blog.

Twenty in a row is an unbelievable accomplishment by any measure, a streak accomplished by only two NBA teams other than the Rockets -- the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33 games), and the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20).

Houston will try to surpass the Bucks for the second-longest streak tomorrow night at home against Charlotte. If they win, there will be plenty of buzz surrounding Sunday's nationally televised tilt against Kobe and the Lakers (3:30 p.m., ABC).

Here are some links to get you caught up on various theories for why the Rockets -- even without injured center Yao Ming -- are the toast of the NBA:

Rick Adelman: In 17 years as a head coach, his teams have made the playoffs every season but two.

Luis Scola: The MVP of last summers Tournament of the Americas in Las Vegas has been a difference-maker in his first year in the NBA.

Tracy McGrady: He won't win the MVP, but he's carrying the hottest team in the league right now.

By the Numbers: Everything you need to know about the Rockets' streak from 1-20.

Rafer Alston: The former Cardozo star and NYC playground legend has become the steady distributor that every winning team needs.

GM Daryl Morey: Hired at 35 with a computer science degree from Northwestern and an MBA from M.I.T., Morey lacked the PhD in NBA. But his "Moneyball" approach has worked, and the Knicks should be considering someone of his ilk if and when they replace Isiah Thomas. (See my column in today's paper on this topic.)

And last but not least ... Steve Francis! (Just kidding.)

Strange that triple-doubles would be a topic of conversation before the Jason Kidd-less Nets hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight in New Jersey. But with LeBron James back in town a week after he nearly recorded a rare 50-point triple-double against the Knicks, it was worth asking.

Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press posed the question: Does LeBron ever think about becoming the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season? Oscar Robertson (30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists in 1961-62), of course, is the only one to do it.

"If we’re winning?" Yeah," James said. "You hear Oscar Robertson’s name so much and Magic Johnson’s name so much and Jason Kidd, yeah it crosses my mind. If I can do it and we’re winning, that’s the ultimate goal. But when you’re losing, who cares? At the end of the day, I just do what I've got to do for our team to win and I’ve been pretty successful with that so far."

Incidentally, LeBron's No. 1 fan -- the guy who ran across the MSG court last week because he wanted to meet the guy who'd just scored 50 points -- is not at the game against the Nets tonight. At least not as a guest of LeBron.

"That never happened," James said. "I don’t know where that rumor started. I don’t know where it came from. I have no idea where that came from."

Something seems a little off, but whatever. I'm just relieved that LeBron wouldn't make a mistake like that. He's usually so careful about public perceptions. A guy who endangered himself and others by recklessly sprinting toward an international superstar in the middle of the most famous basketball arena in the world shouldn't be rewarded with a free ticket. That would only encourage more imbeciles to do the same.

Here's the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's story about Miami's Dwyane Wade shutting it down to get his knee right.

An injury is never funny, but all I can think is: Does this mean the Knicks have no shot at the No. 1 pick?

The Rockets' Shane Battier shared his thoughts with the Houston Chronicle on his favorite NBA arena. "Madison Square Garden," Battier said. "It smells of Frank Sinatra and elephant poop."

Which reminds me: Agent Keith Glass, the son of Larry Brown's longtime agent, Joel Glass, has written a book you should check out. Glass, a Hewlett High School graduate, authored an entertaining, candid, and critical take on the league titled "Taking Shots: Tall Tales, Bizarre Battles, and the Incredible Truth about the NBA." It's about to come out in paperback.

There's a chapter in there about the absurdity of the Knicks. The title? "Here Come the Elephants."

Hey, what's that smell?

How big is Eddy Curry? So big that the following quote from Pistons center Theo Ratliff after Friday night's game wasn't much of an exaggeration. "He's a load," Ratliff said. "He's got me by 100 pounds, probably."

Ratliff is listed at 230; Curry at 285.

UPDATE: Now Alan Hahn reports that Curry may need season-ending knee surgery. No surprise there.

Rockets guard Rafer Alston (Cardozo) is understandably miffed that the dropping of assault charges against him isn't nearly as big a story as the filing of those charges was in the first place.

"You can deal with things when you know you didn't do it," Alston said. "Now the whole case is over with and they want to keep it silent. I was on the front page when it happened."

A judge's decision to drop the charges related to a nightclub incident last August was mentioned prominently in Newsday.com's NBA Insider blog, for the record.

This exactly why I don't believe in farewell tours. Now that Yao Ming is out for the season after fracturing his foot, Dikembe Mutombo is getting extended minutes and contemplating coming back next season. "Let's see how things go," Mutombo said. "If I wake up one morning and change my mind, God forgive."

UPDATE: By the way, so much for the idea that the Rockets can't win without Yao. They carry a franchise-record 18-game winning streak into tonight's game against the Nets, including six straight without the big fella.

When the Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 90-78 Wednesday night - clinching a playoff berth, taking the season series from Detroit 2-1, and earning an advantage in the race for homecourt advantage in the playoffs - the defending Eastern Conference finalists from Detroit took exception to how the boys in green celebrated. I can't blame them, either. The Celtics carried on as though they'd won the NBA title.

"It was a huge game for us and we knew that from Day One," Kevin Garnett said.

The Pistons dismissed the hyperbole and mocked the Celtics for getting ahead of themselves.

"Yeah, they did, they did," Pistons guard Rip Hamilton said at Madison Square Garden Friday. "We've been there before and we know what it feels like to actually win a lot of games."

The Boston-Detroit regular season series was extremely physical, a prelude to what would be a compelling Eastern Conference Finals. As long as Boston can hold onto its four-game lead over Detroit for the No. 1 seed, there's no reason to doubt that the Celtics will be there.

There's only one problem for the Pistons: The Cavs still have LeBron James, and once they adapt to the addition of Ben Wallace, Delonte West, and Wally Szczerbiak, they'll be a better team than they were last year when James single-handedly knocked the Pistons out of the conference finals.

The LBJ-KG matchup notwithstanding, a Cavs-Pistons conference final would be more compelling due to the obvious dislike festering between the teams.

UPDATE: These teams typically struggle after facing each other, but not so far after the regular season finale. Both are 2-0 since last Wednesday's tilt, with the Pistons beating the Knicks and Bulls and the Celtics beating the Bulls and Grizzlies.

After the Heat dropped to 11-47 with a 108-93 home loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, Pat Riley snapped.

"Just a lack of effort and a horrible attitude," Riley said. "The attitude they showed, I should write a check to each season-ticket holder."

If Isiah Thomas wanted to get fired, all he'd have to do is say something like that and he'd be in violation of James Dolan's policy not to say anything negative about the Knicks. But hey, at least Dolan abides by his own policy.

As he marched stonefaced past reporters after a loss to the New Orleans Hornets last Monday night, Dolan uttered something to the effect of "that wasn't so bad" to one of his henchmen on their way out of the Garden. There's no way of knowing if he was referring to the Knicks' performance or a stale knish he'd saved for his postgame snack. Either way, troubling.

The MVP campaigning is in full swing, with Kobe Bryant putting up 52 points on national TV last Sunday and LeBron James dropping 50 on the Knicks Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

In case you didn't catch this, James called the ovation he received at the Garden "one of the greatest things that's ever happened to me." Kobe and LeBron are both making a case for MVP, but who is most deserving?

"You hear it every day," James said. "I'm a fan of the game, I watch TV, I see the debates every day. So there's no way you can get away from it. But I go out and just play my game every night and try to be the MVP of my team every night."

Asked if his numbers speak for themselves, James said, "Well, I would think so." He's averaging an NBA-leading 30.8 points, with 8.0 rebounds, and 7.4 assists.

Chris Paul and Kevin Garnett deserve consideration, but the most formidable challenge to LeBron is the other player in the league who only needs one name.

"If you give it to LeBron, it's like, 'Wow, that was quick,'" said Kobe's teammate, Lamar Odom, who believes Bryant's 12 years in the league should give him the edge.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson offered another reason: "[James'] team doesn't have quite the record we have."

Either way, there was no denying how special James' MSG performance was. He was only two rebounds shy of a rare 50-point triple double, which hasn't been done since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 50 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists on Jan. 19, 1975.

It's easy to fall in love with statistics when evaluating the MVP race. The Web site www.82games.com has compiled stats for "clutch minutes," which it defines as fourth quarter or overtime, less than five minutes left, neither team ahead by more than five points. Very fair assessment of crunch time.

UPDATED: Through Sunday, James was averaging 61.5 points per 48 "clutch minutes," compared to Bryant's 57.4. Both are significantly ahead of the next-closest clutch scorer, the Wizards' Caron Butler (47.2). That's proof enough to me that it's a two-man race; Garnett, for example, has 67 players ahead of him in clutch scoring (23.0). The highest-ranking Knick? Jamal Crawford, of course. He's 50th at 26.7.

UPDATE: James is ahead of Bryant in every major clutch-time category except three-point percentage, which Kobe leads .333 to .319. That's great, but I'd like to see their numbers, and their team's records, in games that come down to the last possession - at either end of the floor.

In choosing the MVP, I have to ask these questions: If I'm strategizing for the last shot, who is taking it if I have the ball and who is defending the opponent's best player if they have the ball? In both cases, I choose Kobe over LeBron.

In a couple of years? Things will be different.

So here's the new blog feature I was telling you about. Every Sunday (or almost every Sunday), I write a notes column about things going on around the NBA. The unlimited space and interactivity available online makes for a more extensive column and also makes it easier to get comments from you.

So every Monday, I'm going to follow up in the blog with separate entries for each item in the Sunday column. That will allow you to scroll through headlines, read what you want to, and ignore what you don't. (It's even easier if you subscribe to my blog feed, which will put a live bookmark in your browser and give you a headline every time I post something new. If you use Firefox, simply click the orange icon in the address bar. If you use IE, the live bookmark icon is at the lower left of the screen.)

It also allows you to post comments on each individual item separately. Better for you. Not so much for me -- that is, if you disagree.

I already see some good feedback on the lead item in which I make the case for Kobe over LeBron for MVP. Looks like most of you agree with me. If you're old fashioned and want to read the column in its entirety, here is the extended online version.

Otherwise, check out the next few posts to read each item individually.

This is my blog, so I can do whatever I want. Glauber, Best, and Hahn do, so why not me?

I'm going to add a new weekly feature starting this Monday that I think you'll like. Each item in my Sunday notes column from around the league will be broken out and posted as an item in the blog. That way, in case you didn't catch the stuff in the paper or get a chance to read the whole column online, you can click on whichever items interest you, breeze through them and post your comments. It'll make things easier on you, and it'll also let me know what sort of stuff works and what doesn't in the notes column. Plus, if anything has changed since I did the reporting on each item, I can update away on Monday mornings.

It'll give me something to do besides reading about some new lookalike Glauber has dreamed up while playing in his dorky weekend soccer league.

P.S. I also have some reader emails to answer, which I'll get to this week. If you have anything on your mind -- questions, complaints, whatever -- don't email them to me. Post them here and I will respond by Friday.

Even when Rasheed Wallace is dressed in street clothes and doesn't sit on the bench, he gets blamed for technical fouls.

As teammate Rip Hamilton was leaving MSG tonight after the Pistons' 101-97 victory, Wallace -- of all people -- was giving him grief from the stands, where he was entertaining some schoolchildren who'd attended the game.

Hamilton motioned toward Wallace and told an acquaintance in the stands above the locker room tunnel: "I would've never gotten thrown out if I didn't play on the same team as him."

Flip Saunders was none too pleased with Hamilton's two technicals and automatic ejection in the second quarter, saying his scoring guard needs to keep his composure better. When Wallace returns from his ankle injury, he's the one who's supposed to be getting tossed out of games.

Larry Krystowiak, who is coaching China’s Yi Jianlian with the dreadful Bucks for this season and only this season, had some very interesting thoughts on the risks to NBA teams whose star players compete in the Olympics. Yi’s countryman, Yao Ming, is out for the season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot. You don’t have to be an orthopedic surgeon to know that it could be linked to his participation in international competition in addition to the NBA schedule.

“It’s a real concern for teams and everybody involved because really this is the first generation of professional basketball players being involved with the Olympics,” Krystkowiak told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We want to send the best players. But the down side of that is if you play 100 games in the NBA, and then you have a month off and then you starting training for the Olympics, you’re going to see some stress fractures. That’s normal. So it’s a big risk.”

And what about the Bucks’ owner, Sen. Herb Kohl?

“If I’m Sen. Kohl, I should have the right to say, ‘Hey, we don’t want you to play [with your national team],’” Krystkowiak said. “It’s a fair request when you’ve got that much tied up into one of your assets to try and protect him. But I don’t know, it’s kind of a new territory.”

When Yao’s stress fracture was discovered, the reaction in Houston paled in comparison to the international outrage they he might miss the Olympics. Yao now says he expects to be ready for Beijing.

UPDATE: Now comes word that Yi flew to Los Angeles Friday to have his sore right wrist examined by three doctors. Pretty soon, the Chinese national team is going to be in sorrier shape than the Bucks.

It was nothing unusual for the Pistons to be watching a replay of the Knicks’ most recent performance in the locker room before tonight’s game. But they did get to see bits and pieces of the first 50-point game by a visiting player at the Garden since Detroit’s Rip Hamilton scored 51 in a triple-overtime game in 2006.

Jarvis Hayes was especially inquisitive about LeBron’s night, amazed not so much by the 50 points but the fact that they came on only 30 field-goal attempts. I got Jarvis up to speed, pointing out that LeBron also had 10 assists and eight rebounds, leaving him two rebounds shy of a rare 50-point triple-double.

Of course, I shouldn’t have sparked Jarvis’ interest without being prepared. He’s obviously a student of the game, and so naturally he asked: “Has that ever been done?”

With Rasheed Wallace (ankle) in street clothes and not even on the bench – thus virtually assured of avoiding any technical fouls – I had time to look it up during the game.

According to www.basketballreference.com, no one has recorded a 50-point triple double since the 1986-87 season, which is as far back as their records go. Larry Bird was the closest, with 49 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists on March 15, 1992 against Portland.

UPDATED: My pal Bob Finnan from the News-Herald of Elyria, Ohio, reports that the last player to score 50 points as part of a points-rebounds-assists triple double was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Jan. 19, 1975. Who knew?

Speaking of Hamilton, there will be no 50-point game for him tonight. With 43 seconds left in the second quarter, Rip was just assessed his second technical foul and was ejected with six points. You should have seen the look he got from Flip Saunders as he ripped off his headband and headed to the tunnel.

Greenburgh, N.Y. -- I know all of you are clamoring for Stephon Marbury news the way you are looking for a bus to run you over on your lunch break. Anyway, here goes:

Marbury was at the MSG Training Center this morning rehabbing his foot, but declined through team spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz to speak with reporters. Isiah Thomas reiterated that Marbury is "expected" at the game tonight against the Cavs, but of course whether he shows up and/or talks is another matter.

Thomas' shootaround session with reporters was over in 3 minutes, 49 seconds today, shut down by a question about whether he has a strategy for ending this senseless controversy.

"I'll talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers," Thomas said. "Thank you, and you guys have a very good day."

News: Zach Randolph (foot) participated in the shootaround and said he will play tonight. Renaldo Balkman, who has previously undisclosed back spasms, also will not be available tonight.

Hey, you guys have a very good day.

Greenburgh, N.Y. – The circus moved a few miles north, but the tricks remained the same.

Stephon Marbury was rehabbing his surgically repaired left ankle at the MSG Training Center today, according to coach Isiah Thomas. But that was all the information offered about the whereabouts of the team’s wayward point guard and the Knicks’ plans for him.

Marbury was not seen at the complex and had already left by the time vice president of public relations Jonathan Supranowitz agreed to ask Marbury if he would speak with reporters. Supranowitz said he didn’t know if Marbury was in violation of team rules by not showing up at last night’s game against New Orleans after Thomas had stated he was expected to attend.

Supranowitz wouldn’t say if Marbury was subject to a fine for failing to attend home games while injured. Reports have suggested that Marbury has been banned from attending games at the Garden, but Thomas has contradicted that notion twice in the past two days by saying Marbury was “expected” to be there.

Why so many questions and answers for Supranowitz? Because his media briefing lasted longer than Thomas’. The Knicks’ beleaguered coach and president walked away from reporters after the fifth consecutive Marbury question exactly 2 minutes, 9 seconds into his media availability. It was Thomas’ fifth walkoff in as many days, over nine media availabilities.

Here’s how it ended today:

Q: What’s the situation with Stephon today after the no-show last night?

Thomas: He’s inside rehabbing.

Q: Isiah, are you disappointed that Steph didn’t show up last night?

Thomas: You know, we have our hands full with Chris Paul and LeBron James, and when you have the opportunity to speak with Steph, you can ask him all the questions that you need to ask him.

Q: Is this his decision not to show up?

Thomas: You can ask him when you talk to him. We expect him at the game tomorrow and we go from there.

Q: A confidant of his said that he wasn’t invited to the game last night. Any reaction to that from your end?

Thomas: I have no reaction

Q: How often do you guys communicate?

Thomas: Um, any questions about Lebron? LeBron James? Going once? Going twice? Ok, thanks.

It used to be that Supranowitz would end Thomas’ media sessions, which typically last 10-12 minutes, with a cheery, “Thanks, Isiah!” I was half expecting Thomas to blurt out a hearty, “Thanks, Jonathan!” as he squeezed past me and into the sanctuary of the trainer’s room.

That’s all, folks!

Lots going on in the NBA, but nothing more important than what's going on in Long Island's corner of the NBA universe: Cold Spring Harbor's Wally Szczerbiak will have a couple of sleepless nights under his belt Wednesday night when he faces the Knicks with his new Cleveland teammates at the Garden.

Wally few home to New York last night to be with his wife, who gave birth Saturday to a son: Maximus Jack Szczerbiak. The family isn't releasing other details, such as length, weight, or shooting range. But clearly, someone is a Gladiator fan ...