Daily Links: Where we ignore Michael Jordan to focus on Goran Dragic

Ignoring the Hall of Fame Section

• Naismith Hall of Fame Annual Awards Dinner - NBA Videos and Highlights
  You might have noticed I haven't said much about the Hall of Fame induction Michael Jordan love fest. It's not that I don't care as much as that I don't care all that much

Amare Can See You Section

• Doctor gives Amaré's recovery rave reviews
  "This injury is more serious than any he's had before," Dugel said. "This was more career-threatening. We came very close to having a lot of difficulty. With a traumatic detachment like he had and a lot of tears and scars in a person this young, the risk of losing vision is very high." - wow
  
• The Official Phoenix Suns Blog " Blog Archive " Stoudemire Faces Media Blitz

The Best Basketball Team in Phoenix (except not last night) Section

• MERCURY: Postgame Notes and Quotes: Mercury vs. Storm - Sept. 10, 2009
  You’re talking about a team coached by one of the best coaches in the world. You could have put in five Seattle Storm fans and they probably would have given us a game today. -Diana Taurasi
• I guess the right thing to do is credit the other team, but the reality is the Mercury played like crap for 40 minutes. They were lucky not to lose the game in regulation before finally waking up and playing five decent minutes of basketball. Of course, it only took five decent minutes to beat a Seattle team missing their 3 best players, another key bench player and needing big and productive minutes out of two replacement girls who last week were an admin assistant at a school in Texas and working in a warehouse in North Carolina
  
• It's best just to move on and it is somewhat understandable that the team would struggle in this type of situation. And most importantly a W is a W. Still, the defense was horrible. Gaines played a match up zone almost the entire night leaving all kinds of mismatches on the perimeter that the Storm were able to exploit
  
• With this win and a loss by the Indiana Fever, the Mercury secure the best record in the WNBA (they own the tie break with the Fever) and with that home court advantage through the finals....should they get that far
• I hope you hard core Mercury fans understand my skepticism. Twice, I've seen Suns teams blow the doors off the regular season by putting up huge point totals and secure the best record only to get beat in the playoffs by better defensive teams (and yes, suspensions and injuries did play a role)
• WNBA.com: Rookie Rankings: September 11, 2009
  I just don't get it....more consistent, more valuable to her team by doing more with less opportunity...and far more fun. How could they not pick Bonner for ROY?
• Phoenix's Diana Taurasi edges peers in race for WNBA regular-season MVP - ESPN
  A half dozen players could make a solid argument for WNBA regular-season MVP honors. But if we have to stick with one vote, it's Phoenix's Diana Taurasi. I have some MVP thoughts I am working on but I can't disagree with this choice except I sort of kind of do
  

Goran Dragic European Vacation Section

• SLAM ONLINE | " European Championships, Day 3
  Dragic was interesting to observe, and our Slovenian friends told us that he’s a vital energizer for their team. He was given the reins at times in the Spain game, but generally in the tournament played more of a shooting guard role while Jaka Lakovic ran the offense. Dragic had a useful knack of making big plays at the right times though, such as a big block on a weak Rubio drive. But he also made careless mistakes that he’ll need to cut out. While we didn’t see much of Dragic’s outside shot, his drives were decisive and strong, and he seemed to be a tenacious defender.
• The Painted Area: Eurobasket 2009: Qualifying Round Preview
  Phoenix Sun Goran Dragic has been a defensive pest once again--gave Rubio & Spain issues--and is even adding a little scoring to the mix with 11 ppg. - I wonder how well this defense will translate to the NBA where they don't allow as much perimeter contact...

• RealGM • View topic - Goran Dragic = the most underated player in the NBA?
  Just throwing this out there for discussion

Other Section

• Tests show world champion runner Caster Semenya is a (sexy) hermaphrodite | World News | News.com.au
  Well, I can't say I am surprised. In fact more surprising is that this hasn't happened before. The world is a big place and the variety of human...variations...is something to be celebrated. At the same time, competition isn't a right and the organizers have a greater responsibility to create a level playing field for all the athletes
• Orlando steals rights to former Sun and self-proclaimed "CP3 stopper" Linton Johnson