The Fundamentals

FLCeltsFan of Loy’s Place:  “Last year at this time, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were all in Boston and working out along with the majority of the younger players who had been there much of the summer. They had a hunger right from the beginning to get that ring that had alluded all three of them throughout their careers. They were on a mission to win the title right from the beginning.  Fast forward to this off season and from all the reports, Paul Pierce is still celebrating the championship. He is in Las Vegas coming home from a club at 3:30 PM. He is hosting Mike and Mike. He is working out some, but no where near the extent he worked out last off season. There has been no word from Kevin Garnett and knowing him, he is already deep into his off season work out regimen. But, he isn’t working with the other two as a team like they did last season. Ray Allen has been taking it easy and playing a lot of golf and that in itself isn’t a bad thing. He needs to get some rest after the playoff run, but the point is, there just isn’t that drive and that hunger like they had last summer.”

Hardwood Paroxysm:  A look at the Timberwolves’ new uniforms

Ball in Europe:  “But first of all, talking about Euroball requires an explanation of what Euroball is. Some purists may say that there is no Euroball at all, with everything seen in Europe a copy of something that has previously existed in the United States. I don’t agree with this. Euroball is something like a mix of the famous “Greek battles” of the 1990s, the ex-Yugoslavian or Lithuanian passing game and shooting, the Spanish passion, the Italian style mixed with some Turkish blood and Russian money. Added to all this, you imagine seven footers that shoot three pointers and point guards that are slower than your grandmother but flopping with every contact they get on defense. Somewhere in the middle of all this, you will find Euroball.”

John Lombardo and John Ourand of The Sports Business Journal:  “The NBA is poised to become the first major U.S. sports league to stream live games in local markets, an aggressive offering that will set up a showdown between cable operators and regional sports networks. The move marks the latest evolution in digital rights and adds fuel to one of the most contentious issues in local sports media as teams look to broaden their reach while operators look to protect the rights to their most expensive programming. The NBA has authorized its teams to launch three distinct digital services by the start of the 2008-09 season in late October: video streaming, interactive TV and video-on-demand.” (Via BallHype)

Greg Jones of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:  “Sonics fans pursuing a class-action suit against Clay Bennett have laid out exactly what they’re seeking from the Oklahoma City ownership group: free tickets for the next two seasons of basketball at the Ford Center. In the latest legal volley from the lawyers representing three Sonics season ticket holders, Seattle attorney Frederick Schoepflin outlined a potential remedy for U.S. District Judge Richard Jones. Noting it would be extremely difficult to force the team back to Seattle in order to fulfill its promise to provide tickets for the same guaranteed price at KeyArena through the 2009-10 season, Schoepflin suggested an appropriate solution would be offering nearly 1,400 Sonics fans tickets at Oklahoma City’s arena at those same prices for the next two years.”

The Wages of Wins Journal:  Jannero Pargo’s departure will help the Hornets?

Marcus Thompson II of The Contra Costa Times:  “There are plenty of athletes who overcame a lack of talent by working harder than everyone else. There are plenty of athletes who are good enough to thrive with putting in the practice time. But not many combine special talent with a persistent grind to get better, as does Ellis. As a result, his three-year career has already produced a spectacular ascension from high-school hopeful to franchise figure. That’s why he was given a six-year, $66 million contract and the reins to the Warriors franchise last month after Davis opted out of his contract and signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. Members of the organization are showing no concern about putting so much responsibility on Ellis’ 22-year-old shoulders. Instead of spending the summer swimming in his newly acquired wealth, Ellis is already preparing to meet expectations. He is doggedly working on his ball handling this offseason and has plans to improve his endurance and strength by working out with trainer Virgil Hunter, boxing coach of undefeated super middleweight Andre Ward of Oakland.”

Tim Kawakami of The Contra Costa Times:  “Obviously, bigger players are easier to judge when they’re young because their skills remain about the same, only the refinement changes. For instance: Howard was always better than Emeka Okafor, LeBron was always incredible, Kobe Bryant was always a mid-sized whirlwind who could play wing/point guard/whatever… For guys under 6-5, and Rubio is about 6-3, it’s different. It’s harder. They develop their skills in random ways–sometimes they blossom out of nowhere, sometimes they just get stuck at age 23 or 24 and never get any better. Their careers are less dependent on strength and physical dominance and tethered to subtler things like court vision, speed through the lane, leadership, coach-friendliness, system-friendliness, health and shooting ability.”

KGW.com:  Video of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Jason Kidd talking about Coach Nate McMillan and Kobe reportedly races a news reporter (Via RealGM’s Forums)

Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times:  “He’s tucked away outside a remote gate of a city park, no markers on a tourist map, no signs on the street. He’s surrounded not by incense, but public toilets. He’s staring not into the future, but at a parking lot. Those who visit offer him gifts not of gold and myrrh, but projectile spit and empty water bottles. But former Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t seem to mind. Here, nobody can accuse him of not hustling, because he literally is nailed to the ground. Here, nobody can exhort him to work on his wooden hands because, well, the dude actually has wooden hands. And here, finally, nobody can ever dare say that Kobe Bryant is bigger. Here, the self-proclaimed Superman really is a super man. All 50 feet of him.”

Chris Tomasson of The Rocky Mountain News:  “Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony is enjoying his Olympic experience so much he’s interested in returning for the 2012 Games in London. “Hell, yeah,” he said. “I’ll be 27 years old (actually 28)… Depending on what the process is, I am open to 2012. We shall see what the process is.” However, with the current Olympic team having made a three-summer commitment, starting with the 2006 World Championships, Anthony didn’t sound too keen on doing that again. “It is a grind, but I don’t think that, from what I’m hearing there will be another three-year commitment or something like that,” he said. “So I will have to see that. But, if it’s come to play and try out in ‘11 or ‘12, then I’ll be good for that.” Perhaps Anthony has good sources. But USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo, his team set to face Australia in a Wednesday quarterfinal, said it hasn’t been decided yet how the 2012 Olympic team might be selected.”

John Hollinger of The New York Sun:  “It’s also worth nothing that while Australia defended the U.S. effectively in Shanghai, they haven’t stopped anybody in Beijing. For the tournament as a whole they’re allowing 51.3% shooting and an almost absurd 46.4% on 3-pointers; even their wins have been largely the result of superior offensive efficiency rather than anything brilliant they did on D.”

X’s & O’s of Basketball:  Scouting Australia’s Offense in Preview vs USA

20 Second Timeout:  “Wade won the 2006 NBA Finals MVP and then he averaged 19.3 ppg while shooting .576 from the field in the 2006 FIBA World Championship as Team USA won the bronze medal. Wade keeps claiming that last year he was written off faster than any other player of his caliber but while that is certainly a good motivational tool for him to use it is not really a fair or accurate statement; there is a difference between correctly stating that Wade did not play well last season versus making a blanket statement that he will never play well again. Wade is obviously healthy now and he has regained the explosiveness that enabled him to play at such a high level in 2006. However, the Wade that we are seeing in FIBA play is not new, nor does this necessarily indicate how he will perform during the upcoming NBA season. Wade’s style of play results in him taking a physical beating and it remains to be seen if he will be healthy for an entire 82 game NBA season while playing at an All-NBA level. Based on how Wade looks now I certainly expect him to start out strongly in the 2008-09 NBA season but we’ll see what happens after that. Bryant and James have proven to be more durable–and simply better all-around players–than Wade, so Wade’s numbers versus FIBA teams do not convince me that he is a better NBA player than Bryant or James.”

Alex Boeder of SLAMOnline:  “Oh, about those? After the Celtics’ unexpectedly sank the Lake-show, they’re like the Boston Tea Party: history. That’s for the best, because as the second best player on three championship teams, Kobe was more Pippen in the first place. But unfair Jordan comparisons (and by nature, they all are) aside, how can we give a pass to the “greatest” going into the Finals as a clear favorite and losing handily? At the very least, it draws into question who exactly is the greatest player in the world. So, are we left to argue for yet another decade? On the contrary. A new number 23 in America’s heartland will win his first MVP as he enters his mid-twenties, just as Michael Jordan did in 1988, though the performance won’t be a replica. And while I’m taking clairvoyant notes, he’s also going to lead Team USA to gold in a short time from now.”

Marcel Mutoni of SLAMOnline:  “For the past week or so, LeBron James and his Team USA mates have beat up on a bunch of helpless foreigners whose names you can barely pronounce. They’re dunking, rebounding, and defending all the way to an all-but-assured Gold medal, and a return to glory for USA Basketball. James has been tremendous during the tournament; Kobe Bryant has not. Though he played well in the most meaningful contest thus far (the Revenge Game against the Greeks), Bryant has otherwise struggled. Kobe has at times forced things offensively, he’s occasionally been over-eager on the defensive end, and has generally failed to adapt himself to FIBA play. LBJ and a reborn Dwyane Wade have been this team’s stars. Bryant has quite simply not risen to the occasion. This does not make LeBron James the best basketball player in the world. The Olympics are not a reflection of hoops being played at the highest level.”