Donuts: Debates, Drafts, Dummies & Devin?

     Thursday Morning Donuts, with a supposed Mavs draft target rising and the rival Suns maybe setting. … Shaq vs. Hakeem? It’s not even a debate?! … Plus, you want more pro basketball in the Dallas area? You’re gonna get it. ... Which sport features the dumbest athletes? ... And are the Nets offering Devin Harris for Memphis' pick at No. 2?

     DONUT 1: How about Amare to Minnesota for Al Jefferson and pick No. 6?

     DONUT 2: Staying in my native land: Headline in the Minny paper: “Wolves Looking For McHale-Type Coach.’’

    Um. … I … er. … fellas. … I know of one. Tall guy. Minnesota native. I think he’s down the hall, in his office. Packing boxes and shit. You can probably still catch him.

    DONUT 3: The Suns say they’ve “spoken to about 15 teams’’ about Shaq. Of course, it’s all about how you write the headline. Phoenix GM Steve Kerr said it just like I wrote it: “I’ve spoken to about 15 teams about it.’’ HoopsWorld’s headline on the story?

    “15 Teams Want Shaq?’’

    Notice the subtle difference? The headline (accidentally, I suppose) creates the impression that it’s a seller’s market. Kerr’s quote says nothing of the sort.

    Let me tell you something: Kerr might’ve spoken to 15 teams. But there are NOT 15 teams interested in/capable of acquiring Shaquille O’Neal.

    P.S.: A very general piece of advice from an old man to people who want to be writers. You can’t really write unless you really read. I’m not telling you that you must bury yourself in Homer or The Bible; just read. It’ll help you know how to spell. It’ll help you know how to turn a phrase. It’ll keep you from making the mistake of mentioning a famous book but demonstrating your ignorance by mangling the meaning of the title, the catchphrase that it has become, and of course, of the book itself.

    There. End of Journalism 101 lesson. Class dismissed.

     DONUT 4: Who is greater, Shaq or Hakeem? Good debate, right? Nope. Here’s a newspaper guy who refuses to accept that it’s even worthy of debate!

    P.S.: Guess which city this newspaper guy’s from?

    DONUT 5: Mock Drafts are exercises in foolishness – unless you really have NBA talent evaluators willing to whisper to you. I won’t be specific here, but one very prominent news outlet has posted its latest Mock, and while it will be cited and copied across the land, it’s nothing more than a chucklefest to actual NBA folks who’ve read it. So buyer beware, I guess is what I’m saying.

    DONUT 6: Luke Walton v. Bill Walton. … Awwww, you big ol' coupla red-headed goofballs! Just in time for Father’s Day! 

    DONUT 7: Jordan Hill. Up, up, up. Another Mock Draft bet: At this point, today, if your Mock doesn’t have Jordan Hill going in the top eight, your Mock is a fraud.

    Is Dallas trying to get up to Hill? Were the Mavs ever trying to do so? No real confirmation there. But this is clear: The Mavs like him as a top-eight guy. As do the Warriors and the Knicks and others.

    DONUT 8: I’m told Kobe was on “Conan’’ last night. Didn’t see it. I assume Mamba went all “Artie Lange’’ on his ass?

    DONUT 9: Tracy McGrady to the Knicks? Give the track record of the media outlets involved in this one, we can assume this is simply the millionth “_________ (fill in the blank with “big-name’’ player) to the Knicks’’ story created by the NY rags.

    DONUT 10: I tweeted this yesterday at 4:01 pm:

    look for thurs anncement regarding Frisco, the NBA, a sweet facility and the Mavs. Hmmmm. ...

    My man Eddie Sefko wrote the news of a D-League franchise coming to Frisco (with details, not just my silly “hmmm'ing’’) at 4:11 p.m.

    Does that mean I get credit for a “scoop’’? Or was I too silly, too obtuse?

    But anyway, here’s the point – and the point of Twitter, in the way I think it’s serving me: I don’t announce to my friends and followers (1,300 or so now on Twitter/Facebook) when I’m going to the restroom or what I’ve putting in the microwave or that it “Looks like a warm day in Dallas today.’’ I use it as a resource to spit out stories, announcements, one-liners, teases, whatever, with expediency.

    So. …

     Twitter. Join me. Be a follower. Which essentially means simply having access to the website Twitter.com/fishsports

    UPDATE: We're apparently pulling the Mayflower van up to Broomfield, Colo., and dragging the Colorado 14ers to town!

    DONUT 11: ‘FISH on ESPN’’  last night? A big ol’ time from 6-8, with the 103.3 show done my favorite way: Fact-based opinions and guests contributing the same. Thanks to Tony Casillas, NFL scout Brian Broadus, Joe Avezzano, Chuck Cooperstein and Everson Walls for dropping into a studio so crowded with golden goodness that we couldn’t quite squeeze in Michael Irvin and Chad Hennings.

    Thanks, guys. And thanks to y’all for listening!

    DONUT 12: I’ve often said that contrary to popular opinion, the dumbest pro athletes in America are baseball players. College? Lots of the fellas from outside the borders don’t even go to high school. Here’s confirmation of my thoughts, of a sort, from the Wall Street Journal: out of all current Major League Baseball players and managers, only 26 have four-year college degrees

    More evidence that baseball players are undereducated? The commissioner of Major League Baseball is Bud Selig.

    I rest my case.

    DONUT 13: The Memphis paper states pretty strongly that NJ is offering Devin Harris to get the Grizz' pick at No. 2. Because Ricky Rubio is going to obviously be superior to what Devin is now? You sure about that?