the most common pronunciation is Bay-zhing.

Huh, must be my ears then. Every time I hear my Chinese friends say it, I hear more of a “jing” sound instead of a “z-” sound.

and the stupid announcers won’t stop calling it “bay-jing.” i hate australian media sometimes.

Wait, isn’t that how Beijing’s supposed to be pronounced? Or were the announcers putting a pause in there or something?

7. Walsh said that Balkman was traded because they had “nine forwards,” and he was not going to play. And when that happens, a players value declines, and also it creates “chemistry problems.”

More fodder for the Balk fans on this site. Personally, I might have jettisoned someone else, but I don’t have much of a problem with this logic. Certainly not enough to sour on Walsh. To reiterate, notable defenders that had poor offensive skills initially, like Wallace, Bowen, Ratliff, Bo Outlaw, etc. have tended to bounce around the league until landing in the right situation. I would rather create the right situation first and then look to add one of these guys.

on a basketball note, USA looked good. greece just looked slow. now kobe just needs to stop jacking up threes from 2 metres behind the arc.

http://blogs.trb.com/sports/basketball/knicks/blog/

“Donnie Walsh speaks to season ticket holders
Longtime Fixer “david” and his son attended the season ticket holders’ “town forum” meeting with Donnie Walsh. Here are some of the highlights david had to share:

1. Walsh said that Marbury has been a very good player in this league, and he’s not sure what has happened here but he’s worked hard this summer and has a clean slate. They want to see what he can do when he gets to training camp.

So it sounds like they are keeping Marbury around for awhile.

(Bloghost note: Stephon is currently working out with some NBA players in Vegas at Tim Grgurich’s camp).

2. He said that the rumor about trading Zach Randolph with a first round pick for nothing is a rumor and he won’t comment on it. But he also said that if they Knicks don’t value their own players, then the rest of the league won’t either. And he is not giving away and of the Knicks for less value.

(Note: david and I both agree this is a non-denial denial…but time to move on)

3. Walsh said that he watched the Knicks last 7 games last year once he became GM, and that it was hard to tell how good they were because Curry was out, Marbury was out and “Zach was half playing.”

(DW is being generous to Zach here)

4. When asked about the starting line up to start the season, he said he has no idea but a lot will depend upon who plays well in training camp, who works hard, who is a team player.

(That would have eliminated most of last season’s roster)

5. Naturally, he loves Gallinari. He said he is not saying he is another Larry Bird, but he also said he’s not going to say he can’t be that kind of player. He said Gallinari, has “an unusual package,” as he handles the ball like a guard, is big and tough and shoots the lights out.

(Howard Stern plans to have Gallo on the show to discuss this ‘unusual package’ Walsh keeps talking about)

6. When asked if the Knicks might trade Lee at the trade deadline because they don’t want to sign him to an extension, he said “I like Lee, so why do people keep asking about trading him?” He got big applause for that. But then he said, something to the effect of, “but we could trade him if we get great value for him.”

(Rent David, don’t buy.)

7. Walsh said that Balkman was traded because they had “nine forwards,” and he was not going to play. And when that happens, a players value declines, and also it creates “chemistry problems.”

(Chemistry? Aw man, crazy.)

The overall sense was that the Knicks are rebuilding, that he is not going to make any more moves this summer, that they believe the talent on the team is better than its played, and that they will evaluate the players in training camp.

(Translated: Brandon Jennings could be the PG of the future….so many teams in the East got better – and have you seen Dwyane Wade in the Olympics? Dude….)”

off topic, but Stephen A. Smith says in the new ESPN magazine that the Knicks will win a title in 2013 (assuming they get LeBron James). submitted for your amusement…

Why must you lay this knowledge on all of us innocents, jon abbey? Such a comment from Stevie A. ensures that a title will not be won in ’13, and it is your pointing out this quote that lays the burden of knowledge on us.

Cursed we are…at least we still have David Lee and Mardy.