• Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is making bold predictions again. He said last summer he thought Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters could quickly develop into the NBA’s best backcourt “fairly soon.” Now he’s touting Georgetown small forward Otto Porter Jr. as the best small forward in Big East history and the No. 1 pick in the draft.
• Boeheim once had a pretty good small forward himself in Carmelo Anthony, who carried the Orange to a national championship in his only season there. But apparently he believes Porter is better. “If I’m picking, I pick him first in the draft,” Boeheim said Friday after Syracuse knocked Georgetown out of the Big East Tournament. “I don’t even look at anybody else. I pick him first in the draft. I think he’s the best. I think he’ll be a great pro.”
• After the Indiana Pacers lost at home Friday to the Los Angeles Lakers to a predominantly pro-Lakers crowd, George Hill ripped Pacer fans for their lack of support. “They always say your fans are your sixth man and you feed off that energy,” Hill told the Indianapolis Star. “Energy is down and we turn the ball over and we’re hearing cheers. We’re missing shots and we’re hearing cheers. That kind of brings your head down cause you know you’re at home. It shouldn’t be like that. Now we see how it is. We have to move forward. Stay focused on what’s in this locker room and don’t worry about the rest.”
• The ongoing feud between Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban and former majority owner Ross Perot Jr. is fairly comical. Cuban bought the team from Perot more than a decade ago, but the two don’t like each other very much and their bitter feud has at times spilled into the courtroom. Perot still owns a slice of the parking garages around AmericanAirlines Arena, so he uses that power to be a nuisance on game days. The garages Perot owns do not open until two hours before the game, which makes life difficult on workers and media trying to get into the arena. Boys will be boys.
• ESPN.com writer Marc Stein wrote this weekend that if the Brooklyn Nets had kept the sixth pick in the draft last summer, they likely would’ve selected Cavs big man Tyler Zeller. Instead, they traded the pick to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the deal that sent Gerald Wallace to the Nets. The Blazers selected Rookie of the Year favorite Damian Lillard with the pick, and Zeller slid all the way to the Cavs at No. 17.
• Former Cavs guard Delonte West was expected to suit up for the Texas Legends on Saturday, the Development League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. West hasn’t played in a game this season and is ineligible for the NBA playoffs because he missed the deadline to qualify for a roster spot.
• The Milwaukee Bucks’ Larry Sanders, who leads the league in blocked shots, was ejected in consecutive games. Bucks coach Jim Boylan said he’d talk with Sanders about being more of a professional.
• Lester Hudson, who dazzled at times for the Cavs late last season with some explosive offensive performances, signed with the Austin Toros this week and is back in the Development League.
