warrior_4life

Two weeks ago, the Giants went into the All-Star break after a 7-3 homestand that fortified all the hope from a season of promise. That was negated by a 3-7 trip that not only returned them where they were July 2, at six games over .500, but also justified the underlying fear they would be exposed. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/26/SPG418VCME.D…

PITTSBURGH — Sue Burns, the Giants’ largest shareholder and a beloved team mom to her players, died at her home in Atherton on Sunday morning after a short illness. She was 58. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy gathered the team on the field at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park just before batting practice to deliver the news. With their heads bowed, outfielder Randy Winn led them in prayer.

Five years ago, ex-NBA point guard Avery Johnson was told that Denver’s Nikoloz Tskitishvili was scoring big in the Las Vegas Summer League. Without hesitation, Johnson responded, “Well, that’s summer league.’’ Johnson’s words eventually spoke volumes, as Tskitishvili became one of the NBA’s biggest busts. While it’s just summer league, it’s hard not to pay attention to what two of the Warriors’ promising forwards did in Vegas last week. Anthony Morrow scored 47 points (a Vegas Summer League record) in one game, after teammate Anthony Randolph had scored 42 in another.

The Pistons’ youth movement continues. With the addition of free-agent center/power forward Chris Wilcox, who agreed to a two-year, $6-million deal Saturday night, the Pistons got even younger. Wilcox, despite seven seasons in the NBA, will be only 27 when the season opens. And free-agent additions Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon are 24 and 26, respectively.

As the Heat continues to try to sign the Lakers’ Lamar Odom, Miami learned Sunday that restricted free agent small forward Jamario Moon has signed an offer sheet with the Cleveland Cavaliers, reducing the likelihood of the Heat retaining him. After the offer is submitted to the NBA office Monday, the Heat would have seven days to decide whether to match. Terms were not revealed, but the offer is for at least two years, and the first-year salary cannot exceed the $3.2 million that Cleveland still has available from its $5.9 million midlevel exception.

WASHINGTON — Before he joined the Cubs, Alfonso Soriano went seven years in the major leagues without being placed on the disabled list. Since then, he has suffered hamstring and calf injuries, a broken hand, sore knees and now a dislocated right pinkie. All of a sudden, Soriano is beginning to wonder if there’s really something to this “Cubbie occurrence” stuff. “I don’t want to say it,” he said, laughing. “But I played seven years before and nothing happened. How many more months left? Two and a half? That’s my goal this year.