http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/113826093122420.xml&coll=1
Padgett following the bouncing ball
Thursday, January 26, 2006 BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
Star-Ledger Staff
LOS ANGELES -- Forget Artest, Isiah and Kendra Davis. The NBA has a real scandal that is about to blow, and Scott Padgett has the skinny:
Utah cheats, he says.
In fact, the Jazz has been cheating for years.
"They overinflate the balls," the Nets forward said.
Come again?
"They have an offense geared toward the layup, so they want your jumpers bouncing out," he explained. "The whole time I was there (1999-2003), the balls were hard. I'm gone now, and the balls are still too hard. They overinflate them, I'm telling you."
Padgett was smiling as he spread this malicious gossip because, well, he knows that nobody really cares. But shooters care. Especially shooters who clanged two wide-open shots from downtown at the Delta Center, as he did Monday night -- on a team that shot 2-for-21 overall from international waters.
"I'm not levying a charge, it's the truth," he said. "Ask anybody."
Actually, if you ask Jacque Vaughn, another Jazz alum, he makes a noise with his lips that sounds like a truck backfiring and walks away quickly.
"Or just look at their stats -- their field-goal defense at home and on the road," Padgett suggested.
Actually, they're a .500 team at home, and a .500 team on the road.
"I'm telling you, if one of those balls hits you straight on, you're breaking a finger," Padgett said. "I dislocated one here (right pinkie) and one here (left pinkie), and both happened when I was in Utah."
Actually, referees are supposed to ensure that each game ball is filled with seven to nine pounds of air ... but come to think of it, Nenad Krstic got a ball-jam Monday night, and thought he broke his finger.
"See, it's not a conspiracy theory," Padgett said triumphantly. "It's strictly fact-based."
Padgett following the bouncing ball
Thursday, January 26, 2006 BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
Star-Ledger Staff
LOS ANGELES -- Forget Artest, Isiah and Kendra Davis. The NBA has a real scandal that is about to blow, and Scott Padgett has the skinny:
Utah cheats, he says.
In fact, the Jazz has been cheating for years.
"They overinflate the balls," the Nets forward said.
Come again?
"They have an offense geared toward the layup, so they want your jumpers bouncing out," he explained. "The whole time I was there (1999-2003), the balls were hard. I'm gone now, and the balls are still too hard. They overinflate them, I'm telling you."
Padgett was smiling as he spread this malicious gossip because, well, he knows that nobody really cares. But shooters care. Especially shooters who clanged two wide-open shots from downtown at the Delta Center, as he did Monday night -- on a team that shot 2-for-21 overall from international waters.
"I'm not levying a charge, it's the truth," he said. "Ask anybody."
Actually, if you ask Jacque Vaughn, another Jazz alum, he makes a noise with his lips that sounds like a truck backfiring and walks away quickly.
"Or just look at their stats -- their field-goal defense at home and on the road," Padgett suggested.
Actually, they're a .500 team at home, and a .500 team on the road.
"I'm telling you, if one of those balls hits you straight on, you're breaking a finger," Padgett said. "I dislocated one here (right pinkie) and one here (left pinkie), and both happened when I was in Utah."
Actually, referees are supposed to ensure that each game ball is filled with seven to nine pounds of air ... but come to think of it, Nenad Krstic got a ball-jam Monday night, and thought he broke his finger.
"See, it's not a conspiracy theory," Padgett said triumphantly. "It's strictly fact-based."
