Loading ...Bill Ingram of HOOPSWORLD: “The obvious answer here is that if Kobe Bryant were playing for Greece a great many people would be asking if they won the championship. In fact, games would be broadcast worldwide to enormous audiences and interest in those games would rival interest in NBA games. Add LeBron and a few other big names and it’s not hard to see international basketball becoming bigger than the NBA. At the end of the day, professional sports is an industry. . .a “business,” as we hear time and time again from players and executives alike. If the money is better in Europe, many players will go to Europe. As one NBA insider told HOOPSWORLD yesterday, conditions in Europe are improving by the day, with new arenas, better amenities for players, and a rabid fan base eager to cheer on NBA athletes. The threat of Europe is very real, and unless things start turning around with the American economy we might even see Barkley over in Italy doing irritating analysis for TNT’s new European bureau.”
Ken Berger of NewsDay: “Gabriel has been hired to a newly created position called director of pro scouting and free agency. His primary duties will be evaluating current NBA talent and recommending future trades and signings. Gabriel’s hallmark with Orlando was clearing a massive amount of cap space, which allowed the team to acquire Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill. This earned him executive of the year honors for the 1999-00 season. After he was fired by Orlando in 2004, Gabriel went to Portland and cleaned out a closet full of massive contracts, egos, and bad apples to set the table for what is now one of the best-run front offices — with one of the most promising rosters — in the league.”
Jayda Evans of The Seattle Times: “The latest game to hit Seattle will be 3BA International, a proposed three-on-three basketball league whose rules emphasize speed and stamina. Sonics legend Shawn Kemp will play in the Seattle vs. Portland exhibition game set for 7:30 tonight at KeyArena. “It’s the Arena Football version of basketball,” said former NBA player A.C. Green, who will coach the Portland team. “I got involved because I wanted to be part of something new and different.” Well, 3BA is different. Teams made up of aspiring pros and former college players average about 150 points a contest. KeyArena will be re-formatted for the players to play on a league-regulated court that’s 50 feet wide and 72 feet long, using an 18-second shot clock.”
Dave Feschuk of The Toronto Star: “Li Ning’s answer to Nike’s swoosh is suspiciously swoosh-ish, albeit more of a check mark. And “Anything is Possible,” Li Ning’s equivalent to Adidas’ “Impossible is Nothing,” isn’t exactly a reinvention. Every poet is a thief, mind you, but Li’s company, it has been reported, came up with its catchphrase first. There are other adventures in ad copy that dot the retail stores. T-shirts are printed with the messages: “Excellence is not a singular act but a habit,” and “The real enemy is just yourself. Run together,” and “People have infinite potential to surpass oneself.” Maybe it doesn’t always scan, and maybe it’s not as slick as say, “Just Do It.” But the prices are cheaper than they are at the globally available competition. And there are a few beacons of world-class design. A T-shirt bearing the likeness of Shaquille O’Neal, another Li Ning endorsee, is a perfectly executed rendering of Shaq’s features made to resemble the iconic image of Chairman Mao, the father of modern China.”
20 Second Timeout: Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker talk about what it takes to make it to the NBA Finals
The Wages of Wins Journal: Takes a look at the Spurs odds of winning the championship. If history is any indicator, they’re the favorities, but Wages has other observations.
The Hoop Doctors: Top 40 Dunks of the 2008 Season
David Friedman special to SLAMOnline: A Scouting Report of Kobe Bryant Vs. LeBron James
Indy Cornrows: Another audio interview with Larry Bird
TrueHoop: The Philadelphia 76ers hold a Q&A session with Henry Abbott of ESPN and a few Sixers bloggers
3 Shades of Blue: Takes a look at different NBA workout regimens
Clips Nation: “It’s a little over five weeks until the opening of NBA training camps on September 30th. I would expect Livingston to sign somewhere before then - teams will want to take him through a full camp, I would think. I still hold out some hope that he could be a Clipper, but it depends almost entirely on what other teams are willing to offer him. If he gets what he thinks is a better offer, good for him. If not, the Clippers can make room on the roster by waiving second round pick Mike Taylor, whose contract is not guaranteed until the season starts. The Clippers are the one and only team who can have Shaun’s Bird rights for next season, so all else being equal (i.e. if he only gets one year minimum offers, and his opportunities are not significantly better) one would think he’d choose to sign with the Clippers in that scenario. But if he signs with the Lakers and eventually becomes an All Star, then just put a bullet in my temple.”
Scott Howard-Cooper of The Sacramento Bee: “Actually, he turns 30 on Saturday in the aftermath of the heaviest workload of his career, 103 games and 4,055 minutes with the Lakers, from the start of the regular season to the end of the playoffs without missing a tip, and during a summer dramatically shortened by the Team USA schedule. And now he’s got finger surgery pending. The age thing is just a numbers milestone. Figure it will matter not at all. He was the best player in the league at 29 years and five or seven or nine months, so a few extra pages on the calendar won’t change that much. If anything, a full season with Pau Gasol and a healthy Andrew Bynum, per the Lakers’ hopes and dreams, would mean less heavy lifting for Bryant in 2008-09. It’s an interesting coincidence, though, Kobe crossing the threshold at the very moment he’s being taxed more than ever. He just had his longest season. Never before had Bryant played all 82 and then logged another quarter-season in the playoffs.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “Ginobili was 7 years old when he started watching those NBA tapes with a religious fervor, forever hustling outside to mimic the moves just like the kids in the United States would do. It wouldn’t be long until his passion for basketball melded with his love of nation. He witnessed Maradona win the World Cup for Argentina in 1986, a spirit that never left him. “I admire him probably the same way I did with (Michael) Jordan,” Ginobili once told Yahoo! Sports’ Johnny Ludden. “But the difference was he was representing me with the Argentine jersey. That changes everything.””
Pete Thamel of The New York Times: “Clearly, the influx of better players like Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd have combined with the continuity that comes with a three-year team commitment to lead Team USA’s dominance at this Olympics. But perhaps the biggest change behind the scenes that shows just how seriously the Americans are taking the competition involves the evolution and sophistication of their scouting department. There are basically three decorated N.B.A. scouts on USA Basketball’s staff. Tony Ronzone, the director of international player personnel, combines with Branch and Quinter to form an exponentially more nuanced and detailed-oriented scouting staff than past iterations.”
Mark Heisler of The Los Angeles Times: “In the very first play of last summer’s Tournament of the Americas, Bryant tipped the ball away from the Venezuela point guard, dived on the court trying to get it, got back up, stole the next pass and started a fastbreak. They’ve defended like banshees ever since. “That’s the clip Coach K [Coach Mike Krzyzewski] always uses, Kobe diving on the floor,” says U.S. scout Tony Ronzone. “You’re talking about an MVP player in the NBA who just made a statement to USA basketball. . . . And what that did is it took our defense to another level. “What you’re seeing is something that started last summer in Las Vegas, which is amazing.” Now Bryant is having the time of his life (”It’s like being 5 at Disneyland, with no lines and the characters running around all over”).”
Sam Adams of The Rocky Mountain News: “The Blue Devils’ identity with Krzyzewski is unmistakable. They like to run. But you’re not a Dookie unless you slap the floor and crouch into a defensive posture. Look at our Olympic men’s basketball team coached by Krzyzewski. The roster is composed of highly paid, supremely gifted star athletes, some of whom don’t need a last name for worldwide recognition. On talent alone, the “Redeem Team” should run the opposition out of the gym. But the players aren’t without flaws. This is where Krzyzewski comes in and does what he does best. Teach.”
Bethlehem Shoals of The Sporting News: “Well, here we are, just shy of the medal round that gives the Redeem Team a chance to earn its name. They’ve faced little in the way of real opposition and, while LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and the rest haven’t been flawless, they’ve certainly dominated and enthralled millions. Dunking at will, wreaking havoc on defense and spending about two-thirds of each game in transition — and covering up their weaknesses with raw ability and invention — it’s some of the most exhilarating basketball in recent memory. Sounds a lot like the NBA, doesn’t it? Or — even worse — an idealized version of the All-Star Game. We were told that, to take back America’s honor, the NBA would have to get over itself, put its bad habits behind it and acknowledge the plurality of basketball in the world today.”
