Stephon Marbury, following his team's ascension to the CBA finals (Courtesy Xinhua)

Stephon Marbury didn't just win a Chinese Basketball Association title with his Beijing Ducks, but he's made that league's finals, and that in and of itself stands as a career highlight for the former NBA All-Star. Though Marbury put up superb numbers throughout most of his 12-year NBA career, he played in 18 total playoff games and never made it out of the first round while playing with teams that featured him as a lead guard. His 14-game, second-round stint with the Boston Celtics in 2009 (one that saw Marbury average just 12 minutes per game) shouldn't really count.

So it comes as no surprise that Stephon was overcome by emotion after helping his Ducks make it to the final two, dropping some teams featuring players with legitimate NBA talent, along the way. From China Daily:

"I feel amazing, I can't really explain the feeling. It's my first time making it that far in my basketball career," said Stephon Marbury, who almost delivered a triple-double with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on Sunday to down his former team.

Kevin Garnett, being driven on by absolutely nobody (Getty Images)

"I don't know who you talking about. That guy's a nobody."

-- Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, as quoted by CSNNE's A. Sherrod Blakely, when asked if Jeff Teague's dunk on Ray Allen got the team's attention. Tough burn, KG. Tough burn. Here's the dunk, if you're interested in watching a show about a nobody:

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Dwight Howard and Stan Van Gundy, best buds (Getty Images)

Following a wonderful week and a half that saw the Orlando Magic beat both the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, and watch as All-Star center Dwight Howard announce that he was signing an agreement to not waive the early termination option to play for the Magic (or, at least, "play under his current contract") in 2012-13, Orlando has slid since Sunday. A loss to those same Heat, and on Monday night an embarrassing home loss to the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls in a game that saw Chicago limit the Magic to just 59 points. Again -- at home, no Derrick Rose.

The team is pretty well ensconced at the three seed in the East, set to play the up and down Atlanta Hawks in the playoffs' first round. Pretty good news on paper, until you realize that the Hawks still boast center Jason Collins, who has made a career out of shutting Howard down, and that Atlanta dispatched the Magic from the postseason in the first round last year. On top of that, Howard still refuses to comment on whether or not he'll re-sign a contract extension with the Magic this summer, leaving us all to wonder if the big man isn't just setting us all up for 2012-13 season full of uncertainty and whispered trade demands, especially because this Orlando roster doesn't boast many assets to trade in hopes of improving.

This is all the reason the team badly needs to commit to coach Stan Van Gundy (whose contract runs through 2013, like Dwight's) with a contract extension. Even though they won't. Even though they'll allow Howard to hold the team hostage, ignoring the idea that Stan Van Gundy might be the best coach in the NBA, and that his presence might be the franchise's greatest asset moving forward. Even more than an all-world center with MVP skills who is still a few years away from his prime, because that guy might take off in 2013 for no compensation. Without being as negative about Stan's future in Orlando, the Orlando Sentinel's Brian Schmitz seems to agree with me:

Ray Allen thinks he could probably make it from here, and he's probably right (Getty Images)

Boston Celtics sharpshooter Ray Allen has always taken excellent care of his body, watched his conditioning and passed on the sort of late nights and cloudy thrills that can cut an NBA career short. As a result, he's been effective at a young man's perimeter game deep into his 30s, though there has been some fretting over his stamina at times. When the Celtics traded for Allen in 2007, there was some concern about how his already-gimpy ankles would hold up as he entered the latter stages of his career. And by 2010, Allen was shooting a league-average (the horror!) mark from 3-point range.

Enter bigger shoes. Size 15s, to be exact. Allen entered the NBA in 1996 wearing a size 13 sneaker. As time went on, he went up to  14. Just two years ago, he made another jump that has helped his performance and his health.

From an interview with CSNNE's Jessica Camerato (via Bleacher Report), it appears as if a switch upward to size 15 shoes allowed Allen's doggies the room to breathe, and the

Conan O'Brien shows off his pumpernickel loaf of a high-top (Courtesy TeamCoco.com)

A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: Team Coco. Conan O'Brien displays his Guinness-styled Nike high tops.
PF: Birdman Stats. Breaking down, JFK-style, Chris Andersen's dive from last week.
SF: A Scout's Perspective. Clarence Gaines Jr.'s pre-draft take on Derek Fisher from 1996.
SG: Silver Screen and Roll. 'On Kobe Bryant, and the Difference Between Bad and Differential.'

The Eastern Conference's best two players in March work the two-man game (Getty Images)

The NBA, as we pointed out earlier on Monday afternoon, loves to troll so hard. And one week after declaring Milwaukee's Ersan Ilyasova the (probably, rightful) Eastern Conference Player of the Week, it has decided to endorse Bucks center Drew Gooden as the newest Eastern Conference Player of the Week, following a three-game stint that saw Gooden (heretofore known as "Tha Goodz") average 18 points, nearly 10 rebounds per game, and eight assists per contest.

(And before you, dubious as all get out, go to rush to check out what the East's leading lights did last week? Let me point out that LeBron James averaged 24.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists. Derrick Rose was mostly hurt, and Dwyane Wade managed 26.8 points, 7.5 caroms and four assists a contest. And the Bucks have won five straight.)

Dirk Nowitzki makes a jesture that we don't quite understand (Getty Images)

The dreaded back-to-back-to-back would seemingly hit just about all NBA teams equally, because even the youngsters in Oklahoma City or the bounders on the Clippers' roster would have difficulty overcoming the travel, expectation, and physical and mental fatigue that comes from preparing for three opponents and playing nine hours of live NBA basketball in a 72-hour span.

For the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, full of veterans on a team that played deep into June last season, that sort of commitment is something else entirely. Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins penned a terrific piece on the sort of months-long preparation the team put into preparing for such a tough turnaround (and subsequent turnaround on that third night) that can in a second go to pot because a scheduled-to-rest player gets a case of the giddies, or Grant Hill (the big jerk) accidentally knees your best player in the thigh.

In one snippet, Dallas Mavericks head athletic trainer Craig Smith and team head coach Rick Carlisle were left wondering if it was time to abandon a plan devised months before (after the NBA's truncated schedule was released) to sit Jason Kidd for part of a back-to-back-to-back. And though Kidd (who turns 39 this week) is the very definition of a heady veteran, he's also a player and by function a competitor who still has to be talked out of acting the part of a firebrand playing his second NBA season.

Here's Jenkins' lowdown:

Jeremy Lin, looking for comfort, reliability, safety, and teammates on the break (Getty Images)

Though New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin sports a particular brand of athletic shoe, and there have been heaps of rumors regarding his first major endorsement announcement following his startling ascension as Knicks savior, he's held off on making any major endorsement announcements. Partly a reflection of his schedule -- the second-year guard has had to fit quite a lot in during his six weeks as an NBA star, helming those flighty Knicks.

So it's with great interest that we can relay to you that Jeremy Lin is due to announce his first major endorsement deal on Monday evening. Starting soon, Lin will become a spokesman for … Volvo?

That's right, Volvo. Boxy, but good (clip features some rude language). The Swedish carmaker is attempting to ride Lin's coattails to stateside success, as well as take a greater hold of the Chinese market; as the automobile-crazy nation buys more cars than any other. Because boxy Buicks currently rule the roost in China, and Lin is of Taiwanese descent, the company thinks it can be in with a chance. We don't blame them.