Cba

NEWARK, N.J. - Today, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren begins a busy week by attending he NHL's annual general managers meetings in beautiful Boca Raton, Fla. The meetings run through Wednesday. After that, Holmgren will head out on a scouting trip to check on some of the NCAA's hottest undrafted free agents in their respective conference tournaments. The Flyers already have inked Ohio State goaltender Cal Heeter to a new deal Sources say the Flyers are in the hunt for University of Minnesota-Duluth sophomore forward J.T. Brown, one of the premier scorers on the market this year.

The Albany Patroons yesterday gave coach Bill Musselman his fourth consecutive Continental Basketball Association title, rallying from a 14-point deficit for a 105-96 victory over the Wyoming Wildcatters in the seventh and deciding game of the league's championship series. Lowes Moore came off the bench to score 23 points, and series MVP Tod Murphy scored 21 as Albany captured its second CBA crown. Wyoming was in front for most of the first half. With Kenny Natt scoring 12 points and Michael Graham adding nine, the Wildcatters built a 33-19 lead early in the second quarter.

The Albany Patroons, of the Continental Basketball Association, suspended their coach, former NBA All-Star Micheal Ray Richardson, for anti-Semitic comments he made to the Albany, N.Y., Times Union Tuesday. Richardson was suspended for the rest of the best-of-five CBA championship series, which his team trails, 2-0, to Yakima. He made the remarks before Tuesday's playoff opener while discussing a new contract offer. "I've got big-time lawyers," Richardson told the Times Union.

Gerald Henderson is on a list, he's checked it twice, now he's trying to decide whether it's naughty or nice. The list is in the Continental Basketball Association's Dec. 12 newsletter. It counts 43 CBA veterans who were on NBA rosters Opening Day. It includes the Sixers' Scott Brooks, who played with Albany (N.Y.) last season, and recently cut Pete Myers, who spent 28 games with Rockford (Ill.) last season. But Henderson says the count is off, by at least one. "Not me," the 76ers' guard said after yesterday's practice at St. Joseph's University.

If Tim Legler seemed to play with particular intensity, well, he just might have been. Legler, the former La Salle star who is now with the Dallas Mavericks, was on the final day of his second 10-day contract for last night's game against the 76ers at the Spectrum. According to NBA rules, the Mavericks must release him today or sign him for the remainder of the season. After helping Dallas to an 89-87 victory with 10 points, three assists and some tough defense in 23 quality, off-the-bench minutes, Legler probably ensured his spot on the roster.

Former Lehigh star Daren Queenan, a 6-5 shooting guard for the Charleston Gunners, has been named the 1989 Continental Basketball Association rookie of the year in a vote by the league's 12 coaches. "Daren Queenan has been a true team leader and team player this season," Charleston head coach Tex Williams said after yesterday's announcement. "He's very unselfish. I would expect him to get a shot at the NBA next season. " Queenan, a Norristown High product who was Charleston's sixth-round draft pick, averaged 24.7 points per game last season, first among the rookie class and second overall in the league.

When Joe Courtney left the gym in Rock Island, Ill., Friday night, he was leading the Quad City Thunder in scoring, scorching the CBA for 18.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in 28 games. "I was thinking, 'How much more of this can I take?' " the newest 76er was saying. "I went back to my hotel, the message light was on, [Sixers general manager Brad Greenberg] asked me how things were going. Then he asked whether I was ready. I was halfway packed before I got off the phone. " The 6-9 Courtney caught a flight to Philadelphia Saturday morning, passed his physical examination, signed a 10-day contract, then took a seat on the charter flight to Indianapolis.

Isiah Thomas signed a letter of intent to sell the Continental Basketball Association to the union that represents NBA players, according to published reports yesterday. The move may clear the way for the former Detroit Pistons star to succeed Larry Bird as coach of the Indiana Pacers, although the NBA still must approve the move. NBA officials have said Thomas, who last month was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, couldn't take a coaching job while he owned the CBA. The Indianapolis Star reported that Thomas owes about $750,000 from his purchase of the CBA, which has a loose agreement with the NBA to develop players.

The Continental Basketball Association temporarily suspended play yesterday, with league owner Isiah Thomas attempting to sell the teams to local groups. "After a long and exhaustive process, the trustee for the Isiah Thomas blind trust has determined it is in the best interest of all parties concerned to return all CBA teams back to local ownership," the Phoenix-based league said. The league's value plummeted when the NBA decided to operate its own developmental league rather than relying on the CBA, though the NBA extended its partnership through the current season.

With 1 minute, 35 seconds left in last night's Non-Public South A boys' basketball championship at Jackson Liberty High, Holy Spirit coach Jamie Gillespie ran up the white flag. The Spartans were trailing Christian Brothers Academy, 58-33, and it was time for the subs. Third-seeded CBA (27-2), winner of 16 sectional titles, walked away with a 64-36 victory after running away with the game. The Colts are scheduled to play in Saturday's final at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.

NHL GENERAL managers ended 3 days of meetings yesterday with little discussion about upcoming collective bargaining negotiations between the league and the NHL Players' Association. The current agreement, that ended the seasonlong lockout in 2005, expires Sept. 15. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told the GMs to conduct "business as usual" according to the current agreement, including working under the salary cap of between $63 million and $64 million. "The update is, there was no update because there's nothing going on," Bettman said.

NEWARK, N.J. - Today, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren begins a busy week by attending he NHL's annual general managers meetings in beautiful Boca Raton, Fla. The meetings run through Wednesday. After that, Holmgren will head out on a scouting trip to check on some of the NCAA's hottest undrafted free agents in their respective conference tournaments. The Flyers already have inked Ohio State goaltender Cal Heeter to a new deal Sources say the Flyers are in the hunt for University of Minnesota-Duluth sophomore forward J.T. Brown, one of the premier scorers on the market this year.

THE PHILLIES WILL receive two draft picks in June's draft for losing reliever Ryan Madson to the Reds, but won't get a first-round pick in return, under terms of baseball's new collective bargaining agreement. The Phillies will get a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds, and the selection before the Reds' second-round pick. Those picks are currently Nos. 38 and No. 72. Madson is part of a special class of five players designated in the new CBA for the interim year before the new system fully goes into effect next offseason.

When the Winnipeg Jets moved from Atlanta last summer, it was certain the NHL would consider realignment. That proposal was all but rejected by the players association, and the NHL called off plans Friday to realign and adopt a modified playoff format next season. Defenseman Ron Hainsey, the player union representative for the Jets, discussed the travel concerns Saturday before the game against the Buffalo Sabres. "The playoff format, with eight teams in two conferences and seven teams in the other two, there was no willingness on the other side to have a conversation about how to possibly tinker with that," Hainsey said.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is expected to play in the season opener Sunday against the Chicago Bulls, saying his right wrist "should be fine," the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday on its website. Bryant, who tore a ligament in the wrist in Monday's exhibition game against the Los Angeles Clippers, sat out practice Thursday, saying his wrist was still "swollen and painful. " But, he added, "it's always been in my nature to try to figure out a way to play. " Bryant, 33, sat on the Lakers bench in a suit wearing a plastic brace on the wrist in Wednesday's final preseason game against the Clippers.

NBA BASKETBALL is back, and commissioner David Stern insists better than before. Maybe it won't be noticed right away, but Stern said the "tortured journey" of this 161-day lockout will prove to be worth it. Stern announced that owners and players ratified a new collective bargaining agreement yesterday, the final step to ending the 5-month lockout and paving the way for training camps and free agency to open today. The 10-year deal promises owners savings of perhaps a quarter billion dollars a year but largely leaves intact the soft salary cap system that the players fought hard to maintain.

WHEN IT comes to his daughter, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky doesn't play. The "Great One" not only laid the smackdown on opponents for years, but yesterday it was reported he dropped the hammer on his 22-year-old daughter, Paulina, too. Why? Why else? Twitter. According to the Los Angeles Times, Gretzky's daughter shut down her Twitter feed after her father reportedly didn't take kindly to racy photos she was posting to her profile. One of Paulina's last tweets read: "Having a nice sit down dinner with my dad about social media..haha.

The "trade association" formerly known as the National Basketball Player's Association began the process of recertifying on Monday night. The "trade association" planned to send out a letter to its 450 players on Monday night asking for signatures to recertify the union, according to an NBA source. This is the first step in the process of turning Saturday morning's tentative settlement agreement into the league's next collective-bargaining agreement. The union must recertify before it can vote on ratifying the next CBA. A majority vote is needed from both the player's union and the NBA Board of Governors - a collection of the league's 30 owners - for ratification.

As guard Evan Turner pointed out, it's "kind of a bummer" the Sixers will open the season with a string of away games. Turner is correct - the Wells Fargo Center will be holding its annual ice show over the holidays when the NBA season will open. But the bummer isn't as depressing when you consider the alternative of no season at all, which, until the early hours of Saturday, seemed likely. Although the deal was pending a slew of approvals, the 148-day lockout is likely at an end. The Sixers will be forced to play their first few regular-season games on the road, although the NBA has yet to officially release each team's reconfigured 66-game schedule.

Baseball announced its new five-year collective bargaining agreement Tuesday, and the ramifications for the Phillies were mostly positive. The new deal includes blood testing for human growth hormone (HGH) that is scheduled to begin in spring training next year. Major League Baseball will become the first North American professional league to test for HGH. Baseball already had testing in place for other performance-enhancing drugs. Testing positive a first time would result in a 50-game suspension, which is the same first-time penalty for other performance-enhancing substances.