http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~28780~1894265,00.html Rodman is ready to play By Frank Burlison Staff writer If you show up in the Pyramid tonight expecting to see one of the greatest rebounders and defenders in NBA history, he'll be there. But don't expect Dennis Rodman to look check that, make that play exactly like the tattooed and tight-muscled forward who led the NBA in rebounding for seven consecutive seasons, guarded people with a vengeance and was an integral part of five championship teams in Detroit and Chicago. Almost four years after he last played in an NBA game, Rodman, just shy of 43 years old, looks pretty much the same as he did when he helped Michael Jordan and the Bulls win the last of their titles in 1998. As for all of those prodigious hoops skills, well . . . they're still around. It's just going to take a while for his legs and the rest of his body to allow him to put them on full display. Rodman is set to make his debut with the Jam tonight when the ABA team takes on the Fresno HeatWave at 7:30. Team officials are anticipating something approaching a sellout, so those planning on showing up to see Rodman's return to basketball are advised to get there well before tip-off, especially if you're picking up tickets at will call. And then settle into your seat and get an up-close look at what Rodman and his advisors believe will be the first step on his way back into the league in which the facilities fit a lot more people inside them than does the Pyramid. No one, not even Rodman or his agent, Darren Prince, can say for sure how many games he'll play for the Jam before he gets the "right' (translated: ideally, a team that has a chance at a championship, or at least a nice run into the playoffs) opportunity with an NBA club. At least a half-dozen NBA teams including the Lakers are expected to have representatives in the building tonight to evaluate Rodman. And, like the curious among those in the crowd sampling the newest incarnation of the ABA for the first time, they should be guarded in their expectations. So believes the Jam's coach, who's directed five team workouts, including last Saturday, in which Rodman has participated. "His body is in great shape,' Earl Cureton said of Rodman, who had been working out 3-4 hours daily with trainers since deciding to make a comeback bid. "But there is no way he can get into 'basketball' shape in just four or five days, especially to play the kind of style (up-tempo offense and full-court pressure defense) that we play. Everything has gone pretty well during the practices. He's worked hard every day but it's a matter of rebuilding those (basketball) muscles. He's had some stiffness, and got a slight pull (of a hamstring). He got a lot of treatment (Thursday).' Cureton thinks it will take "a couple of weeks' before Rodman is truly able to go full-bore for extended periods of playing time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ How about Earl Curaton coaching Dennis Rodamn? What a trip!
here are some crazy ABA rules that Dennis better get used to: http://www.abalive.com/rules/index.html The Rules To encourage that defensive emphasis, the ABA realized that some rules needed to be changed. Rules that the ABA game will make use of are: * The 3-D Rule: When a team loses possession of the ball while it is in the backcourt, the 3-D rule is in effect: one additional point is added to the point value of the field goal. In other words, 2-point baskets count as three, three as four, and four as five. The 3-D rule remains in effect until the team scores, attempts a free throw, the other team gains control, or the period ends. When the defense commits a foul with the 3-D rule on AND free throws are to be attempted, the number of free throws will be increased by one. * Player's Sixth Foul Rule: Players in the ABA cannot foul out. On and after a player's sixth personal foul, the opposing team will shoot an additional foul shot and maintain control of the ball by taking the ball out of bounds at the closest spot to the foul. * Basket Interference Rule: Once the ball hits the rim, either the offense or the defense may make contact with the ball. * Super Foul Rule: On or after the 10th team foul, the team whose player was fouled may shoot the traditional two foul shots or may choose any player to shoot one 3-point shot from anywhere outside of the 3-point arc. All non-shooters are lined up on the foul line with the same restrictions as in traditional foul shots. All non-shooters not on the foul line cannot be lined up or standing within approximately a 10 ft. radius of the shooter attempting the 3-point super foul shot. These rule changes, among others, show that the ABA wants to provide the most exciting brand of basketball available.
let's sign him up! http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~28780~1897531,00.html Rod-zilla returns Pyramid packed for ex-NBA star By Frank Burlison Staff writer It may not have exactly reminded him of knocking heads and hips under the backboards with Karl Malone. But, nearly four years after anyone with any basketball common sense figured they'd watched the last of Dennis Rodman in an honest-to-goodness basketball game, Rodman was back in hoops action Friday night. And, after grabbing 14 rebounds in just short of 28 minutes of playing time while helping his new Jam teammates defeat Fresno, 130-110, in the Pyramid, there wasn't anyone in the building who didn't marvel at the soon-to-be 43-year-old's performance. Check that - there was one. "I'd give myself about a '6'," Rodman said afterward, when asked to grade his effort, one that kept the standing-room-only crowd announced at 4,373 on hand even as the game got out of hand. That might translate into about a C-plus in his estimation but it's hard to imagine anyone who popped for a Jam ticket for the first time Friday night giving the evening's entertainment value anything less than an A. Six or seven hundred were already on hand by 6:30 p.m. when Rodman - his hair dyed in orange and blue, Jam colors - made his first appearance on the floor as a few of his teammates warmed up. Jam coach Earl Cureton sparked the biggest responses of the evening, when he inserted Rodman into the game for the first time at the 5:13 mark of the first quarter and when he pulled him back to the bench for the final time, just 22 seconds before the final buzzer. And he liked what he saw out of Rodman - who didn't attempt a shot - in between those two ovations. "It's going to take some time," Cureton said, after his team improved its record to 13-4. "But he's such a hard worker. He's not in top (basketball) shape yet but he will get there." He also liked what he saw in the building. "People kept talking about this being a sellout," he said, smiling. "But I couldn't believe it until I saw it tonight." The Jam - and Rodman - will be back in action Sunday afternoon at 2 against the Jersey Squires in the finale of an eight-game, month-long homestand. Rodman's first stint of the evening lasted six minutes and a second, during which he grabbed three defensive rebounds - his first just 48 seconds after checking in - and committed a turnover the only time he touched the ball on offense. He spent his time on the bench bouncing on his toes at the end of the bench and during timeouts, sliding his feet, heel to heel with a towel around his neck, in an effort to keep his legs loose. Rodman returned six minutes into the second quarter, grabbing two more rebounds, giving him five for a half that ended with the HeatWave in front, 60-52. He started the third quarter and snatched five more rebounds while teammates Matt Barnes and DerMarr Johnson combined for 23 points as the Jam outscored the visitors, 42-18, and removed any suspense over the outcome. Well, if much existed, that is. Because, after all, most of the crowd came to see Rodman. And they couldn't have been disappointed in what they saw, and had to be pleasantly surprised at the rest of the Jam product, too. "The first half I was a little cautious," Rodman said afterward, wearing shades and a blue bandana. "But in the second half I was a little more warmed up and loose." He said those who show up in the Pyramid Sunday will see an even more active Rodman - and he dove head first into the courtside seats in an attempt to snag a fourth-quarter loose ball - in Game 2 of his "comeback" that he hopes will lead him back to the NBA. "Hopefully, I'll come out a little more vibrant the next time," he said. It was probably no coincidence that the Jam, mired in a slump (with two losses in their previous three games) of late, turned in one of their most impressive performances of the homestand. Barnes finished with 31 points and Johnson added 26, and the crowd got its first look the team's slick Japanese point guard, Yuta Tabuse, who drew the second most enthusiastic responses for his play. "A lot of people were exposed to a pretty good product tonight," team president Steve Chase said, seemingly with as much relief as joy, afterward. "This is what I have dreamed of. Now the anxiety is to see if we can keep it going."
