MVP Tamika Catchings tried to give it a go last night at Conseco FIeldhouse, but in the end neither she nor her Indiana Fever teammates had enough in the tank to challenge the Atlanta Dream, dropping the ECF-deciding Game 3, 83-67. Another tough end to the season for the Fever with Tamika's ill-timed injury leaving "what if?" as the only consolation.
Hard to believe we have to look to the NBA labor negotiations for some good news, but that's what we seemed to have yesterday afternoon when those meeting on behalf of the owners and players parted ways after just two hours of discussions giving off the indication that they were taking an altered offer back to their constituencies.
Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the owners softened their stance a bit on the hard salary cap and in turn expect to diminish the size of the Larry Bird exception and mid-level exception while jacking up the luxury tax penalties for teams exceeding the cap. So the Lakers and Knicks can exhale but at least they'll be dumping more money in the pot to help other teams utilize the exceptions.
With the chance to still salvage the start of the regular season, both sides plan to meet today. Hopefully that positive momentum continues without one of the sides blowing it to smithereens.
Plenty more on this in the links along with a Tyler Hansbrough sighting as he talks Tar Heels.
- Kravitz: Catchings plays tough, but not that well | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
- Even with Tamika Catchings, the Dream dominate the Fever 83-67 to advance to the WNBA Finals - fox59.com
- PACERS: Caught in the Web Indiana Pacers blog - Roundfield’s pro career hard-earned
- Psycho T's thoughts on his UNC Tar Heels - CBSSports.com
- Pacers Forward Danny Granger Really Hated the Movie 'Drive' - Daily Blend - NESN.com
- Dakota Wizards name former NBA player Vitaly Potapenko as assistant - chicagotribune.com
- NBA owners budge on hard cap demand - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
- Sources: Owners drop insistence on hard cap - CBSSports.com
- Fisher: 'Maybe we can put a deal together' - CBSSports.com
- NBA Lockout Could Lead To Interesting Training Camp Rosters - Ridiculous Upside
- NBA players, owners meet for two hours; to meet again Wednesday - AP - SI.com
- Sources -- NBA owners move slightly off hard-cap demand - ESPN
- Donnie Walsh in Indiana, waiting to make next move | New York Daily News
- Is today's NBA like "Moneyball"? - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN
- Bill Simmons and Jonathan Abrams determine which contracts should be paid for and forgotten - Grantland
- Arenas and workers can't afford NBA labor troubles. - latimes.com
- NBA 2K12 does Nowitzki wrong, doesn’t list him with elite | ProBasketballTalk