Author: katadmin

Wrestler’s barbs body-slam the Spurs’ early playoff exit

First Jerry Lawler, then some loud-mouthed manager can’t wait to pile-drive the Silver and Black.

It seems that the Spurs and their quick exit in the playoffs are becoming an easy joke — even for those in professional wrestling.

During a taping of the WWE matches Monday night at the ATT Center, the Spurs’ loss in the Memphis series was afor some of the heels as they taunted local fans.

Take this exchange from Alex Riley, who told booing fans that they’ve underestimated the wrestler The Miz from the start of his wrestling career (hat tip ).

“Well, you people also said the Spurs (NBA team) were also going to make it out of the first round and we all know what happened with that,” Riley said.

If he was trying to incite the passion of the local crowd, it worked. Fans responded with a “You suck” chant that reverberated across the facility like Kobe Bryant, Jason Terry or Joey Crawford were there.

Maybe those soothsayers who claim the world will be ending on Saturday might be right.

After all, who would have thought that the most exciting event taking place at the ATT Center in mid-May would involve oily, pumped-up wrestlers rather than NBA playoff action.

What is the world coming to?

McHale agrees in principle to coach Rockets

Hall of Famer Kevin McHale has agreed to take over the vacant head coach job with the Houston Rockets.

The Houston Chronicle reports that . A remaining point to be settled will be for McHale and the team to agree on a top assistant coach to join his staff.

McHale was picked  by Houston owner Leslie Alexander over Boston assistant Lawrence Frank and Dallas assistant Dwane Casey.  

It’s an interesting choice considering McHale’s lack of previous success as an NBA head coach.  He has a career record of 39-55 in two previous stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves after earlier serving as the team’s vice president of basketball operations. After he was dismissed in 2009, he has been a popular NBA analyst for TNT and NBA-TV.

The Houston job will provide some unique challenges. The Rockets have a good influx of young talent, but their future is tenuous as long as oft-injured center Yao Ming is a focal point in their plans. The Rockets were the only team in the league with an above-.500  record that failed to make the playoffs this season.

And they will face a tough challenge in the Southwest Division, where all of the teams finished above .500. The balance in the Southwest is best shown by the fact that the Spurs led the division with 61 victories and two other teams from the conference — Dallas and Oklahoma City — played in the Western Conference Finals.

And it’s also a little unusual for a team to dictate assistant coaches that a new coach will hire.

Yahoo.com reports the Rockets will have much and may even dictate his style of play. Houston D-League coach Chris Finch of Rio Grande Valley will be promoted to McHale’s staff. And Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Dave Joerger is expected to be a candidate to become McHale’s top assistant, sources told Yahoo.com.

It will also bear watching as the Rockets transition from a team directed by a coaching veteran to a relative coaching neophyte. The Rockets formerly were coached by Rick Adelman, who ranked eighth in NBA history in coaching victories. McHale’s basketball reputation is based more on his playing career after he was a member of three championship teams with Boston and was selected as an all-time top 50 player in 1996. 

Alexander will receive more buzz by hiring McHale than either of the other two finalists. But it’s uncertain if that excitement will carry over once he starts coaching the team.

PTI weighs in on Tony Parker’s comments

Tony Parker pronouncement that he thought the Spurs could no longer challenge for a championship with their current roster was big news across the NBA.

Parker’s comments last week to a group of French reporters in Paris even got discussion on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” with Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser.

Here’s a link to the segment at , as well as a transcript of what Wilbon and Kornheiser had to say.

Wilbon: Tony Parker is spending time back home in France and that’s why perhaps he felt comfortable enough to say what he said about the Spurs in a recent interview unearthed by Sports By Brooks. ”I don’t think this current team will  play for the title in the future. We are aging.”

Kornheiser: So are we.

Wilbon:  ”We must be realistic. It was kind of our last chance this season.” Tony, should Tony Parker be saying this, even if he believes it.

Kornheiser: Sure, if he believes it. What he’s saying is the exact same thing that you and I have said. Everybody looked at the Spurs this year and said, “Wow!” Look at them.

Wilbon: Great run.

Kornheiser: We didn’t think they would be that good, so I’m O.K. with that. But what interests me is that I suspect that not only did he say this in France, but that the said it in French. I suspect that he did not think, because he’s in a foreign country that it would be unearthed back in the United States. I don’t think he would have told a San Antonio reporter this exact thing.

Wilbon: Maybe not, but Tony Parker’s been living ontwo continents since he was 15 years old. So I’m thinking … His dad is American so I don’t know. Maybe you have a point, Tony.

Kornheiser: If you were living in Australia and you were interviewed, would you think it would be seen in Kansas City?

Wilbon: Yeah, yeah.

Kornheiser: So you think you are actually that big?

Wilbon: Yeah. I actually know. I travel and you don’t and the world is actually a lot bigger to you than me. It’s small and you know stuff gets around. More importantly, Tony Parker is going to be the guy who gets traded.

Kornheiser: I forgot that I was with Conrad Hilton.

Wilbon: No, you’re with a guy who leaves the house every now then.

Kornheiser: My grid gets smaller.

Wilbon: Tony Parker is going to get traded. He’s the guy. But if Pop says no, but if they are going to get better.

Kornheiser (interrupting): They can’t trade Duncan, he will be 36 …

Wilbon: And Ginobili has some value. But Tony Parker is the guy. I’m surprised you aren’t lobbying for him to be a member of the Knicks. Or can he get there on a barge from San Antonio?

As you can see, Parker and his comments have proven to be so lively that they’ve moved past San Antonio and become a national topic of conversation.

Parker and his future with the Spurs will be talked about all summer — lockout or not — because of the comments he made in France last week.