The Fundamentals

Sean Meagher of The Oregonian:  Video footage of Greg Oden’s rehabilitation

Eric Musselman’s Basketball Notebook:  “A key difference between a “favorable” and an “unfavorable” schedule is back-to-back games.  If your club has more of these than most clubs, it’s going to be tough.  The more off-days between games, the better as it gives your club more time to prepare.  Finally, go through and count how many times you have four games in five nights.  That’s a difficult stretch for any team and it wears on a club — players and coaches alike.  As an example, just looking at the Knicks’ schedule, they have three sets of four-games-in-five-nights.  If I could design the perfect schedule, I’d keep it to around 50 games.  This would allow for more practice time.”

Scott Howard-Cooper of The Sacramento Bee:  “Whenever the Pedowitz Report comes out — the next few minutes, the next decade — it will be a measure of the NBA’s promise to make its referee program more transparent in hopes that a greater level of understanding among fans and media will help restore the lost credibility. The ultimate handling of his work will be symbolic as much as practical. (In truth, much of the lack of understanding among reporters is because too many don’t take the time to understand. The league has been more than willing to pull back the curtain. Fans can’t know if the press doesn’t get the stories out.)  It’s a bad start that the NBA isn’t able to say, nearly a year after Pedowitz was hired for the internal review, whether all the findings will be made public or some will be held back.”

Free Darko:  “James may be messianic in that vague, “Basketball Jesus” sense (in retrospect, doesn’t Ray Allen’s acting job seem more about LeBron than anything Ray ever was?), or in the ways he alters the formal parameters of the game. Increasingly, though, I’ve begun to think of him as that kind of figure when it comes to the business of basketball. Hired his boys when everyone said it was stupid. The mini-max. And now Europe, which could be about money—or it could be about altering domestic revenue streams for athletes. Whose to say this couldn’t become the model for many, or all, players, not just LeBron or Kobe? That’s how Vitamin Water so easily recruited all those celebs; it’s not unsustainable in the way that cap-less mayhem—here or abroad—is. And the best part is, it’s at once uber-capitalistic and vaguely socialist.”

Mark Cuban:  “And one last question thats been getting asked a lot. What about a guy getting far more overseas than he could get paid in the NBA ? Yes, yes, yes. Nothing better than competition for the NBA.  With the exchange rate, 25mm a year paid in Euros is the equivalent of about 12mm paid in Euros just a few years ago. So NBA players look like bargains. If we lose a few players, thats not a bad thing. in fact a couple All Stars going over there is a GREAT GREAT thing.  Let me explain why. Lets say for the sake of example a couple players got 25mm, 50mm or whatever a year pay and they play on teams that just dominate. They rip apart every team they face. What happens next ? People wonder who the best teams in the world are. When that discussion becomes serious, the NBA and those winning overseas teams get paid.”

Ian O’Connor of Foxsports.com:  “Bryant is the Redeem Team’s No. 1 redemption seeker, the American basketball player with the most to gain. Kobe can’t dominate these Olympics the way Michael Phelps can, and he can’t touch his countrymen the way Yao Ming or Liu Xiang can.  But by winning a gold medal and reestablishing America’s dominance in a sport it was supposed to forever own, Bryant can go a long way toward cleansing his legacy.”

Marc J. Spears of The Boston Globe:  “In lieu of a report that Cleveland star LeBron James would strongly consider playing in Europe for $50 million for one season when he becomes a free agent in two years, when asked by The Boston Globe about the report Bryant said he would take a similar deal by a pro team in Italy if offered when he becomes a free agent next summer. Such would be a devestating loss for the NBA since the Los Angeles Lakers star is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player last season and considered its most popular player. The Associated Press originally reported that Bryant could have interest in playing professionally in Europe.  “I’d go. I’d probably go,” said Bryant, during a USA Basketball press conference on Friday morning. “Like Milan or something like that, where I grew up or something like that… Peace out.””

Dan Labbe of The Cleveland Plain Dealer:  “From a purely basketball standpoint, Cleveland makes no less sense than any other team. He could go play for Mike D’Antoni in New York, but D’Antoni’s won just as many championships as Mike Brown, and we have yet to see if D’Antoni’s system even works sans Steve Nash. He could go to Brooklyn to play for the Nets, but what do the Nets have to offer as far as championship credentials? Certainly the jury’s still out on Danny Ferry and Mike Brown and their championship ability, but they’re no more questionable than any other potential LeBron James suitors.  Where it all gets a little dicey for Cavs fans is when it comes to the global icon/marketing portfolio thing. Imagine the “We are all witnesses” sign displayed prominently in Times Square. Think about the people clamoring for the new New York No. 23 jerseys.”

M.A. Mehta of The Cleveland Plain Dealer:  “James, one of the faces of the Redeem Team composed of NBA superstars looking to erase the United State’s recent failures on the international stage, denied an ESPN report that he had spoken to any overseas teams about a deal that could land him $50 million a year, but didn’t dismiss the possibility of packing his bags if the right offer came along.  “You never know,” James said at Team USA’s media briefing today before the Americans play Olympic host China in their first game of pool play Sunday.  “I can’t just throw all my eggs in one basket. There’s going to be a lot of opportunities for me in 2010 to decide if I want to stay with Cleveland or if I want to go elsewhere. Could I ever imagine it? No. Is it a possibility? Yes.”"