Morning Wrap: Monta Ellis With Crazy Buzzer Beater Win for Mavs

Even the NBA sometimes has some crazy looking buzzer beaters.

Wednesday night, Monta Ellis of the Dallas Mavericks dropped a running, twisting, fadeaway 3 pointer as the buzzer rang in Milwaukee giving the Mavs a 108-105 win vs the Milwaukee Bucks.

Ellis sort of, may have travelled on the shot...he appears to have taken several steps before launching it. But traveling is rarely called in the NBA.

Still the play was reviewed as all shots at the buzzer in the NBA are and the refs called it good.

Game over...

Here's the shot, make the call for yourself:

Ooops! Bucks Sanders Nearly Scores for Opponent

((ht: cbssports.com))

Haha! This would've been almost as good as a wrong way fumble in football. And had Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders gone ahead and scored for the Philadelphia 76ers late in their game, it might have cost them the game.

Sanders ended up with the ball near the Sixers basket after a jump ball, turned with a drop step and began to lay the ball up towards the basket. He must have realized what he was doing, because he stopped in mid-move and passed the ball to a teammate.

But perhaps the best part--the replay showing the reaction of Bucks coach Jason Kidd and the slightly embarrassed look given by Sanders.

No Kidding. Jason Kidd Is Power Hungry. May Bolt Brooklyn For Milwaukee For It.

Will Jason Kidd run the basketball operations for the Milwaukee Bucks?

It's looking like current Brooklyn Nets head coach Jason Kidd is not happy with just coaching the team, he wants to run it too or he will take his ball and head to Milwaukee.

According to the New York Post, Kidd approached Nets ownership with a list of demands including running the basketball operations.

Nets Ownership denied Kidd's request.  According to a NY Post source the franchise did not feel Kidd was ready for that kind of responsibility.

Apparently the Milwaukee Bucks do.  The Nets recently received permission to talk to Kidd about the prospect of hiring him.

On the surface their doesn't seem to be any job openings in Milwaukee.  Head coach Larry Drew has two years remaining on his contract and general manager John Hammond was hired last summer.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel new Bucks owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry are interested in adding a president of basketball operations title.

Sounds like that would be perfect position for Kidd, whio appears to be salivating to run his own basketball team.

It appears power plays are nothing new to Jason Kidd. Those examples are displayed in this brilliant column by Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post.

What's making this even more bizarre is that Bucks officials apparently weren't aware of this as reported by CBS Sports.com.

Can this get any more awkward.

Here's One For You, Seattle... Think 2017...

((HT: Fox6now.com/Milwaukee Business Journal-Kirchen))

The clock is ticking on Milwaukee and the Bucks- whether they know it or not...

According to Fox 6 in Milwaukee, if Senator Herb Kohl and the two hedge fund guys buying the franchise from Kohl can't pony up another $200-million for a new arena, the NBA can buy the team back from whoever the owner is in 2017 for $575-million.

And the HQ is sure the team won't be on the market for long...

Just ask Chris Hansen and the folks in Seattle how interested they'd be in snapping them up if it all falls apart...

Wes Edens and Marc Lasry are supposedly picking up the franchise for $550 million, but the Bradley Center is thought of as "too small" since it was opened in 1988. NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed in September 2013 that the league had given Kohl the 2017 deadline...

From Kirchen:

Kohl pledged $100 million and the prospective owners another $100 million toward arena construction. A new arena would cost an estimated $400 million to $500 to build.

Leading arena supporter Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said after the sale announcement he believes public funding will be necessary for a new arena. MMAC also is working to attract additional contributions from private individuals and foundations to minimize public funding.

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio has even said he would contribute to the process...

Here's the first time of (probably) many the question will be addressed for the next few years...
((HT: WTMJ-TV))

Bargnani Knucklehead Move Almost Costs Knicks...

((HT: FSBucks))

The bottom line here is that the Knicks beat the Bucks in double overtime last night in Milwaukee- despite themselves...

In the first OT, Andrea Bargnani did this...
And the Bucks color guy, Jon McGlocklin, went after him...


“It was a mistake,” Bargnani admitted after the game, according to Newsday. “It was a bad decision.”

Slip Sliding Away: Bucks-Raptors Cancelled Due To Unsafe Court

((HT: NBA))

The new floor for the Milwaukee Bucks might have too much wax on it or something...

The Bucks-Raptors game was cancelled after a bunch of players hit the floor in a negative, non-fouling manner...

Here's the look at the slipperiness...


Head ref Danny Crawford said he and the other officials determined the floor was unplayable.

“We kept making eye contact out there and we saw the players were having issues with traction,” Crawford said, in an interview with a pool reporter. “Then when we had a few guys go down, we figured we should have a conference. And both teams wanted not to continue the game.”

ICYMI: Monta Ellis With The Walk-Off Buzzer Beater

Alrighty then. Nothing like winning a game with the crazy, off balance prayer of a 3-pointer and immediately sprinting off the court rather than celebrating.

That's exactly what happened last night in Houston when Monta Ellis of the Milwaukee Bucks let his team head out of town victorious with a 110-107 win over the Houston Rockets.

There's not much more narrative we can give here, so watch the NBA.com video: