- I've speculated about Doug Collins going another round with the Bulls and a lot of other people have as well. Turns out it is not going to happen. Seems reasonable.

- Speaking of coaches from the Central Division. Flip Saunders' firing struck me as both incredibly surprising and unsurprising at the same time. I can't remember the last time that happened. Although prior to Saunders getting his pink slip I did get the sense, from where escapes me, that the Pistons' players did not regard him highly. Chris Sheridan recently said the same. Two final thoughts here:

1. The Pistons could conceivably get a new coach and realize that's not the answer.

2. Saunders knows the game. I realize not everyone loves him as a coach but I wish I knew half as much about basketball as he does.

- If I were a fan of say the Lakers or many other NBA teams I would be screaming "Faker, faker!" after learning that Paul Pierce refused a MRI. Of course I'm a fan of the Cetlics. So my reaction is as follows - what a bad ass. I just hope we're able to talk about basketball over the next few days.

- Rudy Fernandez is going to be a Blazer. He's supposed to be sick. I'm intrigued.

- Still awesome.

- At some point in time I'll be able to fully comprehend what's going on here and perhaps even offer up some sort of analysis. That time is not now.

- Sam Cassell will consider signing with Denver when he becomes a free agent. That begs the question. Are the Nuggets interested? If so, do they have cable?