The Fundamentals

Dave Krieger of The Rocky Mountain News:  “I mentioned that Anthony, perhaps second only to coach George Karl, is a popular target of criticism for the Nuggets’ failure to get out of the first round of the playoffs in any of his five pro seasons, particularly because his 2003 draft classmates, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, have both been to the NBA Finals already.  “My belief is, it’s about players and about teammates and who you’ve got on your team,” Boeheim said. “You can’t do it alone in the NBA. I don’t think he’s had enough with him to enable him to get his team to the Finals.  “Obviously, the West is much more difficult, top to bottom, than the East. Dwyane had Shaq. LeBron had a great run and LeBron’s a great player.  “But Carmelo won a national championship, so he can win. Dwyane Wade didn’t win a national championship (in college). So Carmelo’s already proven he can win. I believe he can win in the NBA.”"

Chris Perkins of The Palm Beach Post:  “Dwyane Wade was spectacular once again Tuesday in the United States’ 97-76 victory over Angola.He finished with 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field, defended aggressively, and created plays for his teammates.  But no matter what you see from Wade in these Olympics remember there is only meaningful health checkpoint for him: the end of the season.  With all due respect to Wade’s return to form, he’s missed 31 games each of the last two seasons, and missed 21 games in his rookie season. He’s missed almost 25 percent of his regular season games (95 of 410) in five years.”

Craig Kwasniewski of The Association:  “Frankly, after two games I’m not seeing anything like that from the NBA’s reigning MVP. Olympic Kobe is playing like it’s the Paul Pierce Wheelchairity Invitational or whatever crappy All-Star exhibitions that NBA ballers do in the summer.  So far he’s shooting an atrocious 1-15 from beyond the arc against Angola and China. And instead of driving the lane and establishing some sort of offensive rhythm with a few easy hoops, Kobe simply passed off many uncontested layups and dunks.  Plus his defense has been worse.”

Rock King of WaitingForNextYear:  “In case you haven’t heard, LeBron told reporters that he would consider a $50 million offer to play for a European team. This is the part where we’re supposed to act surprised, I guess. LeBron would “consider” getting paid $50 million for one year’s worth of basketball? How incredulous! You don’t even want to know the kinds of things I might “consider” for $50 million, and my aspirations for world domination aren’t even in the same stratosphere as LeBron’s are. But that’s not what this post is going to be totally about (yes, I’ll touch on it, but we’re going to try to scratch the surface a little deeper).   This post is about my beloved NBA and what is happening to it. I can only watch with equal parts sadness and disbelief as the fundamental truths about the NBA that I hold so dear as a fan of a mid market team (restricted free agency, bird rights, luxury tax revenue sharing, etc) are slowly falling under attack. The problem is, we live in a rapidly changing world, and everything we used to think we knew about sports seems to be changing on a daily basis.”

Russ Bengtson of SlamOnline:  One Day in the Life of Isiah Thomas

Rajon Rondo:  “After Vegas was the ESPYs. Yall know I think I’m the best dressed on our team, so it was just another opportunity for me to get fly. Me and my girl went out there and had a really good time. We ate good, partied, and hung out with the rest of the team and their families. The show was real nice too. I hadn’t ever been to an award show before, so it was a good experience…it was even better because we won! After the ESPYs, I came back to Louisville. I finished up my camps, golfed, and, of course, skated. My golf game has actually improved. I think I’m kind of good now. I’ve been going pretty regularly to play, and I’m a lot better than I was last year. I’m killing all my homies that I usually go golfing with. Other than golfing, the only thing that I’ve been doing is skating. Yall know I love to skate. The whole summer, I’ve been going skating every Friday and Sunday when I’m in town. Skating is a way for me to relax. I go and just be in my own world.”

Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman:  “Team chairman Clay Bennett has recently said the number of fans who’ve signed up for the ticket request list is approaching 18,000. He’s said the team will not sell out the building with season tickets, but rather leave plenty of single season tickets available and enough for ample mini-plans and group sales. Also, the team has repeatedly said more than the league-mandated 500 $10 seats will be available. Although the organization has said ticket prices will be higher, I’m told the number of $10 seats will be more than 3,000. That certainly should help out a lot of folks.”

Sean Meagher of OregonLive.com:  “His knee wasn’t an issue, and doesn’t seem that it will be an issue. The work Oden and trainer jay Jensen have done to rehab his surgically repaired knee seems to have made it stronger, and he even mentioned today that it’s now stronger than his healthy knee. Besides Oden’s explosiveness (which only fares to get better) and touch at the rim, I liked seeing the pick and roll from Steve Blake and Oden. The few times we saw that today, Oden seemed to have that drill down pat. His ability to catch the ball six or seven feet from the rim, spin and pack it was also a very nice sign of things to come. Oden also put the ball on the floor well near the basket, dribbling to the rim and using his large frame to separate his defender from the hoop. There was a hint of a turnaround J like we saw at Ohio State, but I think his legs were a little tired to fully execute that move.”" (Video)

Ball in Europe:  Jose Calderon reponds to the Spanish team photo that appeared to mock their Chinese hosts

John Hollinger of The New York Sun:  “Their guards are the key. Former Houston Rocket Vasilis Spanoulis scored 23 points against Germany and excels at driving to the basket off the pick-and-roll — a play that killed the U.S. in the loss two years ago. Theodoros Papaloukas is a clever 6-foot-7-inch point guard who will be Kobe’s toughest defensive test thus far, while Dimitris Diamantidis is an elite defender who can shift between either guard slot.  Defense is Greece’s other major strength. They like to slow the game down and play a physical, half-court style, so it will be up to the U.S. to try to pick up the tempo. Tomorrow, there’s little doubt that they’ll pack in the defense and try to make the U.S. beat them from outside, and if Kobe and Kidd are as bad at doing that as they were in the first two games, Greece just might succeed.”

Hardwood Paroxysm:  Highlight video of Greece guard Vasilis Spanoulis

Marc Isenberg of Money Players: “Is fantasy sports gambling? According to the NCAA, its not if there is no entry fee. But whether money is wagered or not, this hardly reconciles with the NCAA’s position that sports competition “should be appreciated for the inherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches and institutions in fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.”  What happens next? The NCAA lawyers will come down like a ton of bricks on this company that dares to offer fantasy sports, right? Well, that’s what they would like to do, but the company exploiting this opportunity happens to be NCAA’s biggest benefactor, CBS, which provides over 90 percent of the Association’s total annual revenues through the NCAA’s men’s basketball tournament. The NCAA’s in a tough position: It doesn’t want to fight its media partner, but it also doesn’t want its athletes to be exploited for financial gain by anyone outside the Association.”