SportingNews

Some controversy, some surprises and a rookie with apuzzling injury-another week in the NBA, and more lessons.

1. Tyler Hansbrough(notes) is puzzled. There have been some great stories among this year’s rookie class, but one of the oddest has been that of Pacers power forward Tyler Hansbrough, who has missed 16 of the last 20 games with what is believed to be a persistent inner ear infection. But, an inner earinfection can’t really be diagnosed-it’s   just assumed that’s the problem because Hansbrough has struggled with dizziness for weeks now. Hansbrough has had trouble traveling, but he saw a specialist in New York on Tuesday.

"I am still dealing with this inner ear infection," he told Sporting News this week. "When I get healthy, I can get back on the court, but until then, it’s just frustrating. It’s tough to travel, it is tough to fly, there is pain there. It’s difficult to deal with because you don’t really know what the timetable is, and it not the kind of injury that you are used to. I haven’treally been injured at all in the past. But I feel like I am making some progress, so now we’ll just wait and see." 

2. Rajon Rondo(notes) is leading. Perhaps Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo shouldn’t have said anything, and perhaps in past years, as a young player on a veteran-laden roster, he wouldn’t. But Rondo caused much bluster in Boston when, early in the week, he told the Boston Herald, "I can’t really elaborate on it too much, but I think we’ve just got to be a team with no agendas. We’ve got to play unselfish, you know? That’s on defense and offense. You’ve got to want the best for the next man outthere regardless if you’re in the game playing well or you’re out of the game not playing well."

But Rondo was right-the Celtics have been lethargic, especially on the defensive end. They’re second in the league in points allowed (93.8), but in a 6-8 January, they allowed 96.3 points per game and gave up a shooting percentage of 44.9. Maybe the Celtics have more experienced players than Rondo (Kevin Garnett(notes), most notably), but none of those veterans was doing much to call out the team’s shabby effort. Perhaps Rondo, who made his first All-Starteam this year and signed a five-year, $55 million extension early in the season, is feeling comfortable enough as a leader to do that himself.

3. Sonny Weems(notes) proves himself. Second-year Raptors shooting guard Sonny Weems admits that, coming into theyear, he wasn’t sure what kind of playing time he was going to be getting-ifany. After all, Weems scored just 19 total points in 12 games with the Nuggets last year, and he saw more than 10 minutes of action just once. With the Raptors looking to rookie shooting guard DeMar DeRozan(notes), Weems had reason to expect more of the same. "I started the year in a suit," he told Sporting News. "To be honest, I was thinking, ‘I am not sure how much I am going to windup wearing a uniform this year, other than in practice.’"

But an injury to DeRozan has gotten Weems on the floor. He’s started the last five games, and he put up 14 points and 11 rebounds in a win over the Nets on Wednesday. In five games as a starter, he’s averaged 8.6 points and 4.8 rebounds. "I have come a long way, now getting to be a starter on an NBA team,"Weems said. "I feel like I can play with the guys in this league, though. I feel I can play with anybody."

4. Saying bye-bye to Ben was right. The Bulls have lost two straight, but the team is still comfortably in playoff position, with a chance to land one of the East’s top six spots-despitelosing leading scorer shooting guard Ben Gordon(notes) in the offseason and, essentially, not replacing him. Considering the rough season Gordon has had in Detroit (he’s missed 19 games, and his scoring average is his worst since hisrookie year), the decision to let Gordon walk has obviously worked out for the Bulls, and the salary-cap flexibility the team will have this summer as aresult of not paying Gordon more than $50 million over the next five years willbe an even bigger boon.

"You never want to lose a good player," coach Vinny Del Negro said, "but it keeps our flexibility going forward. We felt that the development of ouryounger players, Derrick (Rose)’s growth and Joakim (Noah), players we have, wefelt that was the best decision moving forward. … And it keeps our flexibilityto be a player next summer and hopefully improve the team that way."

5. The Hornets are in a tough spot. The loss of point guard Chris Paul(notes), who’s likely out for a month after having knee surgery, is obviously devastating for the Hornets. But now that the shock of the injury has settled in, New Orleans must figure out whether there’s any way to salvage its playoff hopes. That certainly would mean adding a player because the team is now starting an all-rookie backcourt-Darren Collison(notes) and Marcus Thornton(notes)-and has no backup guards. New Orleans shipped out two guards, Bobby Brown(notes) and Devin Brown(notes), last month in order to pare salary and slip belowthe league’s luxury tax limit. But the team remains only about $300,000 below the tax, so adding a player by trade is likely out. The Hornets’ only option to add guard depth is getting free agents on 10-day contracts.
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