The USA men’s national basketball team will be rocking some new gear to wear as they dunk on international opponents’ faces at the FIBA World Championships this summer. These make average NBA uniforms look like sumo suits. Supposedly, Nike has managed a way reduce the amount of fabric used in these uniforms by 13-inches, compared with standard uniforms.While the jerseys should look very familiar to the previous version, the shorts have been re-engineered to be about half the weight of normal basketball shorts. Pretty soon, players will just wear one light-weight compression-suit unitard.

Head on over to Ball Don’t Lie for more details on these uniforms and additional pictures from the uniform reveal.

It was only a matter of time before NBA Noise made its way on to Facebook. Honestly, I’m surprised its taken so long, but we’re up and running now! Feel free to “Like” the NBA Noise page on Facebook if you want even more Noise on a daily basis (and why wouldn’t you?). I’ll be sharing new articles as they are published, interesting news and videos, and talking hoops with you guys  on topics ranging from my man-love for Sebastian Telfair to the Birdman’s latest hairstyles – or whatever legitimate topic you want to discuss.

Also, you may have noticed these handy “Like” buttons on the top of each post. If you feel like sharing any of the NBA Noise articles with your Facebook friends, give that button a (gentle) tap and we’ll magically share the link on your Wall.

As always, you can find NBA Noise on Twitter. I’m also finalizing details on NBA Noise carrier pigeon service right now, so stay tuned.

Don Nelson solidified his place amongst the NBA coaching elite tonight as he claimed his 1,332 win, tying him for first all-time with Lenny Wilkins. The win came in a highly contested road game versus the Toronto Raptors, where Chris Bosh missed a layup at the buzzer to seal the win for the Warriors. The Warriors players mobbed and hugged Coach Nelson to celebrate his prestigious accomplishment. Nelson’s all-time coaching record is now 1,332 wins and 1,060 losses.

Nelson, who turns 70 next month, likely had his doubts that this accolade would be realized this season. The Warriors have been plagued by injuries and illnesses this year, and have only been able to muster 23 wins this season. Don’t let this abysmal season fool you though, Nelson has put in some serious work over the years. His teams have breached 50 wins 13 times in his career. He has coached his teams to four Conference Finals. And who could forget leading his eigth-seeded Warriors over the Dallas Mavericks in one of the biggest playoff upsets of all-time. The only thing you can really hold against Nelson as a coach at this point is that he has never led his team to the NBA Finals.

Golden State has six more games to make help Nelson surpass Wilkins for the record, and they should have a great chance to do it this week. While their next three games are on the road, they are all against struggling non-playoff teams: Washington, Minnesota and the L.A. Clippers.

The Milwaukee Bucks continued to jostle for optimal playoff seeding on Saturday night as they grabbed a win against the Phoenix Suns. And while they are only a half-game out of the fifth-seed in the East, their playoff expectations might already be hopeless before the postseason even begins.

Late in the first half of Saturday night’s game, Andrew Bogut broke out on a fast break for an impressive two-handed dunk. While going up for the dunk, Amar’e Stoudemire  trailed immediately behind Bogut. Stoudemire grazed him enough to cause Bogut to fall from the rim in an off-balanced fashion. As Bogut landed, he braced himself with his right arm and had clearly sustained a dislocated elbow. We would come to find out that the injury was more severe than had originally been expected, as Bogut also broke his hand and sprained his wrist in the fall. Now Bogut is out indefinitely, and the possibility for a playoff return is in serious doubt.

This is a crushing blow for the Bucks, who have been one of the most surprising success stories this season. Even after losing their franchise player, Michael Redd, early in the season, the Bucks have rallied together with scrappy defensive play and solid teamwork to put together their best season in recent memory. Bogut has been having one of the best seasons of his young career, with career-highs in points (15.9 ppg) and blocks (2.5 bpg). While the Bucks have had fantastic contributions from players like John Salmons, Carlos Delfino and rookie Brandon Jennings, Bogut has been the consistent force that Milwaukee has been able to rely on game-in and game-out.

In his absence, the Bucks will have to rely heavily on Kurt Thomas to hold down the center position. While Thomas is a capable defender and rebounder, and he has a solid mid-range shot, he is far from the same high-impact player that Bogut is. Bogut had the ability to draw double-teams in the post and create space for Milwaukee’s outside shooters. Thomas won’t be able to draw the attention of opposing defenses in the same way. With Bogut, none of the top seeds in the East really wanted to face Milwaukee – who had developed a competitive swagger as the season developed. Without Bogut, beating the Bucks in a seven-game series is expected if not a given.

The Bucks will still have to fight for position in the East, and the next three games will be crucial. Coming up this week they have the Bulls, Nets and 76ers. These are must-have wins for them if they want to keep a hold of their six-seed, especially because the Bucks close out the season with two games against the Celtics and one against the Hawks. While I don’t expect the Bucks to make any noise in the playoffs this year, just making it to the playoffs represents a significant step forward for Milwaukee. This year we’ve seen their confidence grow to the point where they expect to win every time they step on the floor. That kind of winning mindset should pay big dividends for them next year when the whole group is back at full strength.

Amidst the All-Star action going on tonight, the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks were wheeling and dealing. The result of their efforts was a power-shifting seven-player trade. The Wizards have agreed to send Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavericks in exchange for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross and James Singleton.

This trade should improve the Mavericks substantially, as both Butler and Haywood should prove to be upgrades over  Howard and Gooden. While Howard has been a key component of the Mavs’ core over the years, his ankle troubles have limited his effectiveness and forced him to miss a substantial amount of games. However, in my mind, Butler is simply the better all-around player. He will give the Mavs yet another versatile, high-octane wing player that will more than fill the void left by Howard. It will be interesting to see how he fits into the Dallas lineup, but he could potentially start alongside Shawn Marion on the wings to give the Mavericks a tall and tenacious duo capable of shutting down opposing scorers. If nothing else, the Mavs will have one of the best sixth-men in the league if they have to bring Butler or Marion off the bench.

Haywood is certainly more than a throw-in for the Mavericks, and should also help bolster their front line in a conference that ebbs and flows on the shoulders of dominant big men. If the Mavericks hope to compete with the likes of the Lakers and Spurs down the playoff stretch, they will need as many big bodies as possible. The addition of Haywood came at the right time for Dallas, as the aging Erick Dampier has missed several games due to knee issues and other ailments. At 30-years-old, Haywood is at the prime of his career, and is averaging more rebounds this season (10.4 rpg) than at any other point in his career.

Washington certainly didn’t get better in the short-term, but there was meaning to their madness. At first glance, the trade seemed like an act of lunacy from the Wizards’ brass. But, as many trades are these days, this was a financial move for Washington that could pay big dividends for them in the future. The first thing to consider is that at 17-33 this season, with Gilbert Arenas suspended for the year, and no signs of improvement in sight – this season is a wash for them. The acquisition of Howard gives them a serviceable replacement for Butler this season, but more importantly gives them what amounts to a major expiring contract. Next year is a team-option year for Howard, but the Wizards are unlikely to pick up his contract given that he’s due more than $11 million next season. Additionally, they get rid of the seldom-utilized DeShawn Stevenson who will be overpaid next year with a $4.1 million player option. This will give Washington some luxury-tax relief and put them in a position to rebuild their fledgling franchise through the coveted 2010 free-agent market. It’s not a sexy trade for the Wizards, but it just might help them out in the long run.

Gooden will also get some serious run in Washington, who is now glaringly undersized up front. They now have no true centers, and will rely on a collection of marginal power forwards to man the middle. They’ll need to get more consistent play from Andray Blatche as well, who should see a significant boost in playing time given Haywood’s departure.

Who do you think got the best end of today’s big deal? Will the Wizards’ salary-savvy moves be worth the drop in talent? Let me know what you think.

I’m as stunned to be posting the second Corey Brewer “Nightly Noise” post as you likely are reading it. You may remember Brewer threw down one of the best dunks of this season, but his highlight tonight is beyond amazing. After Houston’s Carl Landry made just one of two free-throws to put the Rockets up by three points with 2.4 seconds left remaining. Brewer would go on to make one of the most amazing overtime-forcing shots you could hope for. It puts the Antoine Wright highlight from the other night to absolute shame, given the insignificance of that shot. This game continued to have high drama as it would eventually take three overtimes for the Rockets to put down the Timberwolves. Still, you can’t knock Minnnesota’s fight in this one.

Wizards’ coach Flip Saunders on his team’s questionable shot selection (from Wizards Insider):

“I’ll say this, in all my years in coaching — 15 years in the NBA and the CBA, college — I have never yelled at a player for taking bad shots in a game — until this year,” Saunders said. “It’s a catch-22. You try to give them freedom so they can figure out, and try to give them their confidence as far as where they are at, but if you keep talking to them about what’s a good shot and a bad shot, if it doesn’t get through, at some point you have to say, ‘To hell with that.’ “

Celtics’ coach Doc Rivers when asked if he was disappointed with Rasheed Wallace’s ejection from last night’s close loss to the Clippers (from The Boston Globe):

“Yeah, I am. I’m disappointed when anybody gets thrown out of a game. You know, whether he’s right or wrong doesn’t matter – you’ve got to control yourself to stay in the game. But he didn’t. And I didn’t – I wasn’t going to try to stand there and talk him out of it. He’s a grown man. And, you know, at some point, it’s him – he understands his value to this team, and his teammates understand his value to the team, and I think, at some point, that’ll get to him.”

It just keeps getting worse for the New Jersey Nets. Nets’ guard Chris Douglas-Roberts on their blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors (from the New York Post):

“Pitiful. Horrible. Horrible effort. Awful…It was definitely, definitely, definitely a low point.”

Recent Knicks free-agent signee Jonathan Bender on his dramatic first game in action after being out of the league for three years (from NBA.com):

“I was really excited and had a lot of adrenaline going out… I just wanted to get out and do good and definitely make my first shot. After I got that off my back, I felt pretty good from there.”

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the vintage Kobe Bryant heroics we saw this evening. The Milwaukee Bucks forced an overtime game against the top-dog Los Angeles Lakers, and even had them at their mercy during the extra period. Up by four points with less than a minute left to go, Bryant drew a (highly questionable) foul on a made basket and converted the three-point play. After getting a stop on the other end, the Lakers would have 5.4 seconds on the clock and a final chance at stealing the victory. At this point I turned to my friends and acknowledged that the Lakers had this game in the bag. It is all too familiar, too routine, for the Lakers and Bryant. The Lakers inbound it to Bryant who hustles down court and jostles into position around the left elbow. After a quick hesitation-shake to the left, Bryant spun to his right shoulder and lofted a fadeaway over the outstretched arms of Charlie Bell. All net. Game over. Don’t even get me started on Bryants heroics earlier this season against the Miami Heat. Is Bryant the best closer the NBA has ever seen?

Dirk Nowitzki on his thoughts on potentially opting out of his contract to sign another long-term contract before the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires in the summer of 2011 (from NBA FanHouse):

“I’ve always said it wouldn’t feel right if I left the Mavericks,” Nowitzki told FanHouse after his Mavericks crushed the Heat in Miami 106-93 on Friday night. “I’ve played my heart out in Dallas for 12 years, so going somewhere else doesn’t sound good to me. I’m not even sure how a championship would feel somewhere else. I know what it would feel like to do it in Dallas.”

Stan Van Gundy downplaying Rashard Lewis’ refusal to enter the game in the 2nd quarter against the Jazz on Thursday night (from NBA FanHouse):

“I think it was no big deal,” Van Gundy said. “I really wasn’t that upset, I got asked why he sat out so long and I explained it. I said I was baffled by it, but I really wasn’t upset by it.”

Nets rookie Terrence Williams after being asked about being benched the past two games (from NorthJersey.com)

“Let me ask you a question,” Williams said. “What do you guys get out of asking me these questions? You guys get a better story? You guys feel better about yourselves asking me these?” Asked if he’d rather the media not speak to him, Williams snapped back, “Yeah. Ask the coach, man.”

Ex-Kings coach Reggie Theus suggests the utilization of Beno Udrih to be a major difference between the Kings success this season (and lack thereof) last year (from The Sacramento Bee):

“They took Beno (Udrih) out of pick and roll,” he said with exasperation. “They’re playing better now because, why? He’s in pick and roll. Why would you take Beno out of pick and roll? Those kinds of things I thought were depressing. He was having a subpar year anyway, but taking him out of pick and roll was the worst thing for him.”

Interim Blazers coach Dean Demopoulos on whether or not LeBron James’ monster block on Brandon Roy should have been a goaltending call (from OregonLive)

“I don’t make enough money to get fined,” Demopoulos said.