After a few weeks of family, holidays and turkey, the Musings is back to 100% and ready to take the court.  Here?s an abridged version of what we?ve missed, with more Holiday Musings to come.  Stay tuned through the week for more updates.  Oh, and thanks to Brian Scalabrine of the Boston Celtics for letting me use his apartment indefinitely.  It?s kind of a lease to own deal, I think he?s looking for a place in New Orleans.  Or Oklahoma City.

? What I learned this week: Marcus Banks might give the Celtics a spark now that he?s returned but they?re still two players short.  Rashard Lewis pleads innocent to drunk driving and then drops 30 on the Caron Butler and the Wizards. Talk about focus, Vince Carter went to his graduation and then laid an egg in the playoffs.  Rashard, you?re my DD any day.  The Bulls can shoot, and they do a lot. Grant Hill can still play, man. The Raptors are 2-12 at home and 6-10 on the road. Wha?  Must be the weak Canadian dollar.

? The Pistons have more road wins (12) than Boston, Sacramento, Portland, Charlotte and Atlanta combined. And 4 times as many as the Wizards or Knicks.  That?s after ? of the season.

? What?s half of Theo Ratliff and more than Theo Ratliff at the same time? Answer later.

? I went to the Celtics vs. Bucks game a few Fridays ago and at half-time a guy won a car by hitting a foul shot with a blindfold on.  He swished it, as a matter of fact.  Second after the 2nd half began, Kendrick Perkins was at the line and hit 1 of 2.

? If Donnie Walsh was so desperate to get rid of Ron Artest, and has been fielding calls non-stop as he claims, don?t you think Artest would be gone by now? It?s making me think that the offers he?s getting are low-ball b/c of the comments made by Walsh and Bird.  First rule of negotiating, never tip your hand.  In declaring Ron Ron had to be gone at all costs, Walsh and the Pacers have stripped themselves of the bargaining power and are getting offers like Mikki Moore and a #1.  Still, they?ve managed to win a few without Artest while keeping Jermaine O?Neal happy, and that?s really the most important thing right Jermaine?

? Answer: The Vanilla Gorilla, Joel Przybilla. Przybilla costs a mere $1.56 million per year and is averaging 6.6 PPG, 8 RBG, and 2.5 BPG in 27 minutes. For a cool $11.666 mil, Big Theo is bringing 3.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 1.75 blocks.  Who the hell gave him this money?

? Worst team tracker: Atlanta lost 3 in a row to drop to 7-21 on the season.  They now have losing streaks of 3, 6 and 9 games.  And they?re considering moving their best (read: only) player, Al Harrington and bringing in Jalen Rose.  There?s crazy, and then there?s insane.

? This just in: the Knicks, before their triple overtime win against Phoenix in NY, were tied with Atlanta for the worst record in the league.

? Quote of the week: Al Harrington on considering moving to Denver

"Definitely, if they got some money out there for me," Harrington said before Atlanta's 110-107 overtime win Sunday against the Nuggets. Denver is a place I would love to play. I think they've got a lot of pieces. They might be missing one piece, somebody like myself or Ron Artest."

Doesn?t tampering work both ways?