We're more or less on record with hoping that Lawrence Frank keeps his job. The Nets haven't won in 14 tries, which actually makes sense when you think about it, because the Nets were built to lose. And then they lost their best player, for a good stretch.

Of course, we could be daft as usual on the whole subject, which is why you'll ‘ve a chance to shout me down in our weekly Hump Day Chat!. With an exclamation point.

Click the jump at 3 p.m. Eastern.

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Zaza Pachulia and Al Horford pose for a photo during the Hawks' Thanksgiving Feast in Atlanta. Best caption wins some bird. Good luck.

After the jump, our generation's Bird, Parrish and McHale.

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Monday to Friday, The Basketball Jones look at the big games and story lines from the night before with a mix of in-depth analysis and irreverent humor. As always, questions and comments are appreciated.

On today's show, Skeets and Tas recover from their tapeworms and empty the mailbag. Who are this season's disappointing players? Are coaches overly cautious in sitting stars with two early fouls? Which team has the best "first point" ritual? All that, plus the Nets' growing pains, the Wiz try to give one away and the season's first book-off ends.

Embrace the turkey, Pilgrims!

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Washington 108, Philadelphia 107

Washington's ball movement was good enough in this close win. The team didn't exactly break through any self-inflicted barriers on either side of the ball in its 13th game, but it did pull a win. Good enough.

Philadelphia was pretty miserable itself save for three people.

Thad Young worked 23 points on 19 shots, Sam Dalembert managed 15 and nine rebounds (with four blocks), and L. Williams was a beast. Especially down the stretch. Worked a screen and roll to perfection, dominated Gilbert Arenas' "defense" save for one possession. One that we'll describe in the next paragraph.

Lou finished with 26 points and five assists, and actually had a chance to win it. His pull-up three-pointer (a shot that, considering the circumstances, I don't even think Lou wanted to go in) with the buzzer droning rimmed-out, and the W's made a small step toward ... something.

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Washington Sports & Entertainment Chairman Abe Pollin passed away Tuesday at the age of 85. Pollin, who owned the Wizards, purchased the team in 1964. Here's what they're saying out in the ether about the great Washingtonian.

Dan Steinberg, D.C. Sports Bog: "Gilbert Arenas's return to his Agent Zero persona sort of coincided with the death of Abe Pollin, which led to a surprising number of laugh-out-loud obituary moments after Tuesday night's one-point win over the Sixers. This is, apparently, how the Wizards mourn. For example, a reporter asked Gilbert for his favorite Abe Pollin memory. 'You know, after every win he would slap the [bleep] out of you in the face,' Gilbert said, cracking up the room. 'He'd be walking around, slapping everybody. I just remember the players used to come in, and when he was getting ready to slap you, they'd just give him the duck-in.' Then Gilbert showed us the backwards dodge move he'd use to avoid getting hammered in the face.I asked Gilbert whether he ever slapped Pollin back: 'Ooooooh, no,' he said."

Bullets Forever: "Abe Pollin was professional basketball in this city. He was a truly titanic presence, the rare owner that cared so much about others. He built a new arena in downtown DC, initially out of his own pocket, to try to revitalize a decaying area of the city that needed new life. He has given tremendous amounts of money to charity and done numerous great deeds that are too many to count. In short, this is a monumental loss for the NBA and for the Wizards fan community. We should all take a moment to truly appreciate the great man that Abe Pollin was."

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Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your Maxell tapes.

Broderick Turner, L.A. Times: "[Shannon] Brown, a Lakers reserve guard, hasn't been invited to participate in the 2010 All-Star game slam-dunk contest in Dallas — yet. But the more the acrobatic, high-flying Brown throws down the electric dunks that have made him a YouTube sensation and a staple of ESPN highlights, the bigger the groundswell grows for him to be included in the contest. His teammates are in awe of his dunks and are pushing hard for him. Lakers fans go berserk when Brown defies gravity with elevates his 6-foot-4 frame before a dunk. As for Brian Shaw, he couldn't help but chide Brown about his dunking exploits. Shaw told Brown about his former Boston Celtics teammate Dee Brown (1991) and former Miami Heat teammate Harold Minor (1995) winning the dunk contest. Shaw even told Brown about his former Orlando Magic teammate Darrell Armstrong (1996) failing to win the dunk contest. 'When I had Dee the first year, he won it. Harold, I said, 'Every team I've been on, somebody won the slam-dunk championship.' He held up his end of the bargain,' Shaw said. 'Baby boy [Armstrong] kind of let me down a little bit. So I'm trying to get back on track.'"

Marcus Thompson II, Oakland Tribune: "Guards Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry and Anthony Morrow. Forwards Anthony Randolph and Vladimir Radmanovic, and center Mikki Moore. That's all it took, six players, for the Warriors to score their biggest win of the season, a 111-103 upset of the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. Six guys, an assistant coach in the big chair and a spirited, unified brand of basketball. The Warriors came back from nine points down with just over six minutes left in the game to post their first winning streak of the 2009-10 season. That's four straight impressive performances since trading swingman Stephen Jackson to the Charlotte Bobcats. 'This win went out to our man in charge,' said assistant coach Keith Smart, who filled in for pneumonia-ridden head coach Don Nelson. 'Our guys pulled together for him.'"

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Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin died today, the team announced. He was 85.

It's a true loss for Washington, D.C. and the NBA family.

Rest in peace, Abe.

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: Complex. A collection of humiliating, in-your-face jams that should be worth more than two points.
PF: Pounding The Rock. This Spurs post is a thing of beauty. Read it. Consume it.
SF: Cleveland Frowns. On LeBron's latest off-court travails: the mural, and the missing memorabilia.
SG: Hoop Heads North. Even Dwight Howard(notes) boos Vince Carter(notes).
PG: SRI. Rick Carlisle thinks Dirk Nowitzki's(notes) improved play is because he didn't ball with the Germans.
6th: Depressed Fan. In the words of Kenny "The Jet" Smith, the 76ers lack an identity right now.
7th: The Hoop Doctors. It's never too early to rank some of the NBA's leading candidates for MVP, right?
8th: Thoughts From The Jock Strap. I would love to watch Jerry Sloan guard Phil Jackson.
9th: New York Times, via FH. The Nets have cleared the last major legal hurdle blocking Brooklyn Arena.
10th: The Good Point. Brandon Jennings(notes), potentially filled with snakes.

Got a tip or link for Ball Don't Lie? Hit me up at jeskeets [at] yahoo.ca or follow me on Twitter.

NBA Twitter Top 10 is the new NBA Power Rankings. (Or something like that.) Combining advanced algorithms with your comments, BDL's NBA Twitter Top 10 cuts through the fat (see: lottery teams) to determine the best of the best on a weekly basis. Want to get involved? Follow the yellow brick road.

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Trey Kerby of The Blowtorch searches high and low across the Internet for NBA-related goods you never knew you needed. You know, phenomenal swag. Email Ball Don't Lie any relevant products you find here.

Darryl Smits: "Hey, let's design a Phoenix Suns shirt."

Rick Dagilio: "Really? That seems kind of two years ago. Maybe even four."

DS: "No, it's cool. I've got a really good idea."

RD: "Alright, hit me."

DS: "Phoenix Guns. Boom! 30 bucks."

RD: "Phoenix Guns?"

DS: "Yeah. Boom!"

RD: "That's your really good idea?"

DS: "Boom!"

RD: "You're joking right? Because that's not really a good idea. It kind of sends the wrong message, and it's kind of dumb on top of that."

DS: "But 'guns' rhymes with 'suns.'"

RD: "I guess you're right."

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