NBA Notes: A-Davis out tonight, Beal ‘doubtful’

Published on Monday, 2/9/15, at 4:22 p.m. Eastern.

–Anthony Davis is ‘out’ for tonight’s home game vs. Utah. Also, New Orleans forward Ryan Anderson is ‘doubtful.’

–Atlanta point guard Jeff Teague is ‘questionable’ tonight at Minnesota after turning his ankle in last night’s loss at Memphis. The T-wolves will have Ricky Rubio, who is listed as ‘probable.’

–I think the Grizzlies and Hawks are going to meet in the NBA Finals.

–Blake Griffin will miss 4-6 weeks due to a staph infection in his shooting elbow.

–Washington guard Bradley Beal (toe) is ‘doubtful’ tonight vs. Orlando. The Wizards have been killing their backers, limping to a 1-9 spread record in their last 10 games. The Magic have taken the cash in four straight contests.

–Other key players who are ‘doubtful’ tonight: Utah’s Joe Ingles, Philly’s Michael Carter-Williams and Miami’s Hassan Whiteside and Milwaukee’s Kenyon Martin.

–Milwaukee’s leading rebounder Zaza Pachulia is expected to return tonight against Brooklyn.

—Dominique dishes on how much shit Bird talked to him in their first meeting when Wilkins was a rookie.

–Colin Cowherd’s rant about the Hawks today was total garbage. (No I never listen to that clown! It was pointed out to me and I listened to it afterward.)

–And in other sports….

–RIP to the great Dean Smith (1931-2015). He was the Father of the Four Corners, forcing college basketball to rightfully adopt the shot clock. He was the master of orchestrating comebacks. Smith created offense-defense substitutions, where he would bring in bench warmers to burn their fouls and put the team in the lead at the free-throw line. He would bring the starters back for the offensive possessions. He would burn his timeouts to set up the press and utilize the offense-defense substitutions. Smith taught/forced his players to always point to acknowledge the passer who delivered the ball to the scorer for a basket. And on that note, all you youngsters need to point at your teammate when he hooks you up with an assist. It’s one of many basic fundamentals that anyone with a clue about hoops knows to do (as a given), yet it’s nonetheless an inexplicable lost art. Smith did so many other great things on and off the court. He was a great coach, a great human being and he will be missed.

—Yahoo’s Pat Forde penned this column on Smith.

–Florida’s Michael Frazier II is in a walking boot and won’t practice this week. Frazier, UF’s leading scorer, sprained his ankle in Saturday’s home loss (but spread cover) vs. Kentucky. He’s not expected to play in Thursday’s home game vs. Ole Miss.

–Virginia leading scorer Justin Anderson had surgery on his fractured finger Sunday and is expected to miss at least a month. The injury is on his shooting hand. Tough break for the Cavs.

–I think LSU hands Kentucky its first loss Tuesday night.

–LSU has been an underdog four times this year, winning outright in each instance (at Florida, at Vandy, at West Va. and at Ole Miss. Most offshores had the Tigers as 10-point home underdogs vs. the ‘Cats as of late Monday afternoon.

—SportsByBrooks wasn’t “for everybody.” Nevertheless, I certainly found myself visiting the website quite a bit from 2009-2012. He was often right about many things, including coaching changes and breaking stories involving individuals in sports media. He had good sources in many cities. At the same time, his takes were sometimes a bit odd and often drew the ire of many fan bases. His seemingly obsessive coverage of the Jerry Sandusky scandal was….well, you can fill in the blank on your own. Let’s just say it certainly bordered on overkill. Anyway, the website is still up but it hasn’t been updated since June of 2012. Many on twitter have expressed curiosity about what happened to the dude. Well, Busted Coverage went deep into investigating where the dude disappeared to. They tried but didn’t find out much.

–Iowa’s Adam Woodbury poked an opponent in the eye Sunday against Maryland. It was the third time it has happened this year. Nevertheless, Fran McCaffrey won’t talk about it and scolded the media for inquiries about Woodbury, claiming the questions “weren’t intelligent.” That’s not a good look, Fran. You’re better than that.

–Maryland got run out of Iowa City yesterday. The Terps seem to be falling apart at the wrong time of year.

–If you missed ESPN’s story over the weekend about Michigan’s Austin Hatch, you have to check it out. It’s a must-watch.

–Big Nog has replaced Anderson Silva as a coach on the next series of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. The NSAC reportedly asks Silva to step down after testing dirty for PEDs before his fight over Nick Diaz. Silva won by five-round decision but the result is expected to be changed to a no-contest at a NSAC hearing next week. Reports also came out earlier today that indicated Silva’s second pre-fight test (on Jan. 19) came back clean.

—ESPN’s profile of Billy Walters.