The Fundamentals

Blazer’s Edge:  “Brandon Roy is having surgery.  It’s not an uncommon procedure.  He’s going to take a while to recover, probably between six weeks and three months.  There is no reason to assume at this point that it will be any more serious than that.  We will know more as soon as the surgery has been completed, which should be today.  That’s it.  No more, no less.  Now let’s talk about the ramifications a little.  As our source reminded us, we are still 80-some days away from the start of the season.  At the short end of the recovery time would be back well before the season started.  He’d probably be back before training camp even.  At the long end of the recovery scale would miss the first couple weeks of the season.  Stretching it out to avoid making him take a long road trip first thing, he’d probably miss 11 games out of 82.  The latter would be disappointing, but hardly a fatal blow to our season.”

The Painted Area:  “First, I’m going to call him a defensive version of Steve Nash. It’s interesting to me that scouting reports of Rubio almost always question his lateral quickness and his athletic ability as a whole, yet he manages to be everywhere defensively. The thing that springs to mind in comparison is how Nash might not be the quickest PG (though I think his athleticism is underrated), yet he’s just so damn quick and efficient with the ball. It’s probably one part superior basketball IQ, one part being underestimated, one part knowing the angles. Who knows? Though Rubio is certainly gifted with excellent height (6-4) and length (6-9 wingspan) for the PG position, as well.  As I mentioned, Rubio’s defense is way ahead of his offense right now, and he has a long way to go in terms of becoming a scoring threat, but his poise, basketball IQ, court vision and flair are already evident.”

Frank Madden of BrewHoop:  “Talent-wise the Bucks would clearly get the short end of the stick, but then again the questions about Mo have never been related to talent.  Clearly the Bucks view this as addition by subtraction, though that might be tougher to sell to the average fan. The Bucks will get some financial benefits over the next two years and then even more flexibility once Ridnour’s deal is up in 2010, but the near-term benefits won’t be the same as they would have gotten in a straight salary dump. That suggests Hammond and Skiles do see Ridnour as more than just cap relief, though it’s not clear what the point guard pecking order will look like once the dust settles.  As for Mo, he could be a terrific fit next to LeBron in Cleveland, where he’ll also be surrounded by a more defensive starting lineup than in Milwaukee.”

Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman:  “Today’s acquisition of Desmond Mason and Joe Smith will add more experience, depth and, quite possibly, wins to the team this season. Having covered Mason during the two years the Hornets were, I can say without a doubt Oklahoma City just became 10 times more competitive.  Of Mason’s two seasons with the Hornets, one stretch during the 2006-07 season defined what he’s all about. With the Hornets playing without injured key cogs Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic, David West and Bobby Jackson from late December to mid-January, Mason stepped up and became the team’s go-to guy. In one 11-game stretch over that span, he averaged 17.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 40.4 minutes.”

Bill Livingston of The Cleveland Plain Dealer:  “Statistically, Williams in 2007-08 had his best 3-point shooting season, was deadly at the foul line — which is needed here in the final minutes — and had over a 2-to-1 assists/turnovers ratio. He also has the mid-range jumper that the estimable Smith provided.  Scouts say Williams needs the ball to be effective. The oddity is that James, a great player, has never found his second banana. The fault is not all in the sidekicks. James is going to have to post up and play off the ball more.”

The Cavalier of YAYsports!:  “Getting back to actual trade analysis, the potential problem with this deal is Coach Mike.  Considering he has the most dangerous offensive basketball weapon in the world, and has no idea how to use him, we’re not sure adding an offensive specialist in Mo Williams is going to do anything at all.  Will he even put up with him, considering he’s not exactly known as a defense-loving player? Hopefully this was just the bi-product of being in Milwaukee, but that still doesn’t address the Coach Mike thing.  We have no idea how this will go, but we’ll recommend the same thing we’ve recommended for like 3 or 4 years now - post up Lebron more, and hire an offensive coordinator.”

RockKing of WaitingForNextYear:  “Obviously, though, Ferry’s main priority is still to win a Championship this season. Sure, it’s sounds all rosy that the Cavs added a good player while not giving up too much, but that’s not what matters right now. Right now, what Cavaliers fans want to know is, did this move improve the Cavaliers chances of winning the NBA Championship this season? The answer to that question is a resounding ‘YES’.  How couldn’t it? The Cavaliers biggest area that they needed help in was scoring. Can you believe that since LeBron has been with the Cavaliers no player other than LeBron himself has scored more than 17 ppg and only one (Ilgauskas) has averaged more than 16 ppg (once)? Mo Williams has averaged over 17 ppg in each of the last two seasons. By that merit alone Mo Williams is going to be an enormous asset to LeBron and the rest of the Cavaliers and will make them a more formidable playoff opponent.”

Michael Lee of The Washington Post:  “But after spending several years as the primary scoring option for Greek power Panathinaikos, he struggled to find a role on a team that already boasted Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. Former Rockets Coach Jeff Van Gundy rarely played him and Spanoulis rarely made much of his minimal minutes, as he averaged 2.7 points, 0.9 assists and shot 32 percent in 31 games off the bench.  Van Gundy was in a contract year and the rookie was turnover prone. The two feuded over playing time and Van Gundy once said, “He says, ‘I was McGrady back home.’ Great. McGrady is McGrady here.”"

Michael Lee of The Washington Post:  “Maybe Bryant is just doing another Michael Jordan impersonation. Huh, you ask? I went back and looked at the three-point shooting for past Olympic teams and I wanted to see Jordan’s three-point percentage. Believe it not, Jordan shot 21.1 percent (4 of 19). That means that Bryant would have to make three of his next four three-point attempts to tie Jordan.  (Another interesting side note about Jordan’s performance in Barcelona in 1992. He took a team high 113 shot attempts - 30 more than Charles Barkley, who came in second - and shot 45.1 percent. That was the second-worst field goal percentage of any Dream Teamer. Who was worse? Who else? Christian Laettner, who shot 45 percent.)”

Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post:  “Back home, there are U.S. corporations who washed their hands of Bryant and walked away after he was accused of sexual misconduct in Colorado. Kobe can kiss his big Aristotle, insists Shaquille O’Neal. With baseball slugger Barry Bonds in exile, No. 24 for the Lakers just might now be No. 1 on America’s list of love-him-or-hate-him athletes.  “He’s a polarizing figure in the United States,” said New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, working as an assistant for Team USA. “But, in China, he’s off the charts. Everybody loves him.”  Like the smog, Bryant has been all over the Summer Games.”

Art Thompson III of The Orange County Register:  “Would Kobe, K.G., Chris Paul or LeBron James jump overseas? Basketball nomad Jason Crowe says it could happen.  “Russia has the most billionaires in one country in the whole world,” Crowe said. “International basketball has changed a lot in the last five years. They don’t have a salary cap over there like they do here. You have professional soccer teams over there that when they want a player, they’ll pay another team $200 million for that player, and still have to pay his salary. I could see a team doing that for a Baron Davis or a Kobe. Basketball is getting bigger every year. They’re about to make a big splash over there.”  The 31-year-old Crowe has played all over the world – South America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Australia.  Born and raised in Los Angeles, Crowe was a senior starter alongside a junior starter named Paul Pierce at Inglewood High. Crowe’s college stops were brief – a year at Los Angeles Trade Tech College, a year at American University in Washington D.C., a year at Cal State Northridge.”