SH Blog: Sheed ejected for a catchphrase

Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee has an interesting look at the future of the Kings in Sacramento. There’s this little note at the end which I’ll post over here, but be sure to click through for a well-written, well-informed look behind the curtain in Sacramento: “The team’s lack of improvement and charisma have left Petrie with few allies among the owners. His contract expires at the end of the season, and if the trend continues, he could be gone within weeks. The Maloofs wholeheartedly endorse Keith Smart and are adamantly opposed to firing another coach.”

If you read one piece of basketball writing today, make it Dan Le Batard’s piece in the Miami Herald. He talks to Keyon Dooling, and it’s immensely moving. Here’s how it starts: “Fun and friendly Keyon Dooling kept so many burdens hidden behind that perpetual smile. He lost his father, then had family and friends asking him for money even while he was grieving at the funeral. He wanted to retire from basketball, but nobody in the family he supported would support his decision. He lost a child in the womb. And then there was all that sexual abuse he endured and kept hidden for so long — hidden from his wife, from his mother, even from himself when you consider how unaddressed it had been until he arrived broken and scared recently at a psychiatric ward. ‘You’d be amazed at what you can block out of your mind,’ Dooling says now. ‘As an athlete, you block out pain and noise to create focus. If I had addressed my sexual abuse earlier, I don’t know if I could have reached my potential. The pain and hurt were so deep that it was almost shattering to deal with. Meltdown might be an understatement for what I had. Some people might call it a midlife crisis or losing your mind.’ ”

The first of a couple interesting tidbits from Lang Greene at HoopsWorld today: Omri Casspi’s Cleveland future isn’t looking bright. Greene writes: “Casspi, the 23rd overall pick of the 2009 draft, was eligible for an early extension but both parties couldn’t agree to a deal before the Oct. 31 deadline. The Cavs now have until June 30 to offer Casspi a qualifying offer, which would then make the forward a restricted free agent and give the franchise the right to match any offer received for his services during free agency. The fourth year forward says the contract and playing time issues won’t become a distraction, but makes it clear he is now looking forward to testing his market value in free agency and confident his skills will bring in suitors. ‘I’m looking forward to free agency to see what’s going to happen and see what [deals] are out there,’ Casspi said. ‘I’m pretty confident where I’m at.’ “

Also from Lang Greene and HoopsWorld, here’s some news on DeSagana Diop: “Veteran center DeSagana Diop has been through some of the most recent tough times in Charlotte since being traded to the Bobcats in January 2009. The No. 8 overall pick of the 2001 draft will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and makes it clear he wants to end his career wearing a Bobcats uniform. “I like Charlotte a lot,” Diop said to HOOPSWORLD. “I get along with the coach [Mike Dunlap], the general manager [Rich Cho] and the good people of Charlotte. I’m just going one day at a time this season and see what happens this summer.” Diop, now in his 12th season, readily admits the rigors of playing in the NBA all these years have started to take a toll on his seven-foot frame, but feels he still has a few years left in the tank before he walks away from the game for good.”

Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes that the New Orleans fanbase isn’t happy with the Hornets’ start to the season: “Attendance has declined 10 percent from a year ago, from 15,109 to 13,695. The figure is the third lowest in the NBA and the lowest in the club’s nine seasons in New Orleans. This isn’t how it’s supposed to work in Year 2 of a rebuilding campaign, especially after you land the No. 1 player in the draft and secure popular local ownership. The Thunder went to the playoffs in Year 3 of the Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook era. The Spurs won it all in Year 3 of Greg Popovich’s tenure. The Hornets, meanwhile, are spinning their wheels and spinning rhetoric about the promising future. Eric Gordon has missed 72 of 81 games and has been banished to the West Coast to rehab his mysterious knee injury. The imbroglio has alienated fans and derailed momentum. The entire organization has been held hostage by the situation. It’s the E! False Hollywood Story. No one can provide a straight answer. And with each passing day it makes the Chris Paul trade looks worse and worse. It might one day rank alongside the Gary Cuozzo and Ricky Williams deals in infamous New Orleans trade history.”

Here’s ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Ramona Shelburne with some words from Dwight Howard: “The “Dwightmare” may be over, but on the eve of his first game against his former team, Dwight Howard was in a reflective mood about what happened over those final furious six months with the Magic. ‘I’ve had a chance to sit back and think about it and there are some things I could’ve done better. There are some things that could’ve been done better on both sides,’ Howard said in a lengthy, wide-ranging interview after Los Angeles Lakers practice on Saturday. ‘But at the end of the day, we all learn some lessons and we’ve got to move forward. I’m happy here, I’m having a lot of fun. This is a place that I’ve always prayed that I could be a part of something very special. So I want to take advantage of it.’ “

Dan Malone is a third-year journalism student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He blogs on weekends for Sheridan Hoops.