Mike Bresnahan and Mark Heisler of The Los Angeles Times: “The first time the Lakers saw Bynum, then a plump 300-pounder, was that spring in the McDonald’s All-American game in South Bend, Ind., and they couldn’t imagine taking him. Jerry Buss, who paid Tomjanovich $6 million, as much as he paid Jackson, had no intention to rebuild. Lakers people didn’t even say rebuilding. Rudy T called it “the R word.” However, a month after the McDonald’s game, personnel director Ronnie Lester saw a trimmer 275-pound Bynum at a workout in New York and told Kupchak they had better check him out. Bynum then worked out in secret for Kupchak, Lester, scout Bill Bertka and Jim Buss at the pre-draft camp in Chicago and once more in Los Angeles for Jackson. Jackson was impressed but, with only a three-year contract, preferred someone such as Arizona’s Channing Frye, who could play for him immediately.”
Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal: “Nestled comfortably in his native West Virginia digs, Jerry West sounded at peace. Asked if playing countless rounds of golf is the way he’s mostly spent the past year outside of basketball, West, an otherwise regular on the links, made a quick correction. “No,” he said, “that’s not fair to say. I’ve been reading a lot.” Studying history is now West’s game. Writing it, too — he plans to soon pen the story of his life.”
Paul Coro of The East Valley Tribune: “How much can the Suns expect out of O’Neal? The law of diminishing returns does not bode well. O’Neal missed 86 games over the past three years and he will be 37 by playoff time. He pledged to be in Phoenix this summer but that proved to mean only drop-ins. His weight is close to where he was in the spring. O’Neal’s summer workouts mostly consist of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The hope is that a full camp with O’Neal will make a big difference with the Suns seeking to slow the game more often by using him.”
Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald: “Their hunger will be questioned. Veterans Paul Pierce [stats], Garnett and Ray Allen, all over 30, finally have the one accomplishment that had eluded them. Can they make themselves play with that kind of desperation for an entire season and postseason again? “We’ll see,” Rivers said. “They’ve never been in this situation. None of us have. I want to see if they end up like Vanilla Ice, a one-hit wonder, or if they become part of the conversation about repeat champions.””
Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer: “This surprised me: the Cavs have only five players left from the start of last season: Daniel Gibson, Sasha Pavlovic, Varejao, Ilgauskas and James.”
Mike McGraw of The Chicago Sun-Times: “Gordon said he has ”no idea” if a contract could be agreed upon in time for him to be present when two-a-day practices begin Tuesday. ”We’ve been talking here and there,” Gordon said. ”But from where I stand, I think both sides are far apart. It is what it is. I can’t say I’m discouraged or surprised.” Bulls general manager John Paxson ”anticipates” Gordon will be in camp on time. ”There is some time out there for us, but the reality is we’ve just been so far apart for so long,” Paxson said. ”We believe we’re closer to what the market is in the league. But anything can happen when there is a deadline and all that. The qualifying offer stands until Wednesday.””
Eric Musselman’s Basketball Notebook: Being in charge sometimes means pissing people off
Ivan Carter of The Washington Post: “When Etan Thomas says that the process of recovering from open-heart surgery began with “baby steps,” he really means it. “It started with just walking,” said Thomas, who missed all of last season after undergoing surgery last Oct. 11 to replace a leak in his aortic valve. “Just getting up and taking a little walk around this little track they had at the hospital. I’d walk around maybe twice and I’d be exhausted for the day. Not tired. Exhausted. Wiped out. There would be older people out there doing the walking too, and they were whizzing by me. I was like: ‘Man, I’m doing bad.’”"
Jeff Caplan of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “With Johnson imploring Kidd to become a slasher and a shooter, the offense tended to bog down, becoming stale and predictable, Nowitzki said. “Avery had a really strong will and a strong head of what should go on out there, and I think he controlled the game a lot and really wanted a lot of post-ups,” Nowitzki said. “I don’t think there was enough movement going on to where people were just sitting on our stuff when they were scouting us, especially in the playoffs.” Carlisle is promising a motion-oriented scheme in the half-court that should allow Kidd to handle the basketball and use his vision and quick wrist passes to connect with cutters. The Mavs are hopeful that a new offensive approach will also better integrate Howard, the team’s most athletic and best slashing forward, into the offensive flow.”
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “It didn’t take long into the interview — maybe five minutes — before Nuggets coach George Karl dropped this season’s first hammer of optimism about his team. “There’s fans out there, there’s people out there writing the doomsday of the Denver Nuggets,” Karl said. “I like my team. It’s faster and quicker than it’s ever been. It could be deeper than it’s ever been. And it has defensive weapons more so than ever before.”"
Don Seeholzer of The St. Paul Pioneer Press: “Love, who turned 20 on Sept. 7, said he expects the NBA to be an adjustment, especially the 82-game schedule. He has no doubt, though, that he’s good enough to succeed at this level — and that he’s athletic enough, too. “That’s a bad rap, but I feel it can be a motivating factor,” he said. “If people say I’m not athletic, I’m going to go prove them wrong.” With Jefferson temporarily sidelined by a sprained knee ligament, Love hasn’t had much chance to work with his new frontcourt mate, but he said he’s excited about the possibilities. Of the top five teams in June’s draft, he said he always felt Minnesota was the best place for him, and Jefferson was the main reason why. “Not to disrespect any of my teammates, but I had never played with a really dominant post player,” Love said. “I feel like he is that, and he’s still so young. Another attractive thing for me was, on and off the court, we’ve got a young nucleus here so I’m not hanging out with guys that are 30, 31, 32 years old that have a wife and some kids.”"
NBA Noise: New Oklahoma City Thunder uniforms leaked?
NetsDaily: “It doesn’t take much to get CDR, aka “Buckets”, to recall the indignity of dropping into the second round, not that many weeks after being named First Team All-American or Conference USA player of the year, after playing in the NCAA Championship game. On the day the Nets introduced him to the media, Douglas-Roberts admitted that he was “extremely angry” when he fell into the second round. “Being picked 40 is horrible and I don’t know what people were thinking, but overall I’m happy.” “That is the biggest motivation ever,” he continued. “I have the biggest chip on my shoulder. I’ve had a chip on my shoulder forever, but now, it’s huge. I’m gonna prove a lot of GM’s wrong. A lot of them are going to lose their jobs.””
Frank Isola of The New York Daily News: “D’Antoni says the Knicks will be a running team, which is a style most players say they enjoy until they realize you actually have to run. It is an entertaining style but no one ever runs to the NBA title. Defense still wins and throughout his informal 30-minute interview on Friday at the Garden, D’Antoni never mentioned defense once. Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and David Lee have the physical tools and the right attitude to play in D’Antoni’s system. Of course, Robinson and Lee are due for contract extensions and if no deals are reached by opening night, you wonder what impact that may have on two young players.”
Mike Lupica of The New York Daily News: “She talked then about Donnie Walsh, brought in by Dolan to run his basketball operation after Thomas had run the thing into the ground, after Thomas had brought more dishonor to the Knicks’ brand than anybody in the history of the Garden. She talked about the new Knicks’ coach, Mike D’Antoni. This was the Brooklyn girl who grew up a basketball player talking, the one who went on to play at Northwestern and later dreamed about being the first woman president of the Garden someday until Thomas came along and was given the run of the place by a rich man’s son named James Dolan. “I wish Mike D’Antoni well,” Browne Sanders said. “I know Donnie Walsh is a good man, and from everything I’ve heard, he’s brought good people into the organization. I just hope for a change that [Dolan] allows good people to do their jobs. So maybe there can be change.”"
Sam Amick of The Sacramento Bee: “As NBA salaries have skyrocketed over the past 20 years, more players have hired individual coaches. The salary cap, $6.2 million in the 1987-88 season, was $55.6 million last season, with the average individual salary $5.2 million. Martin is among the many who reflect the change, having signed a five-year, $53 million extension last summer. As a result, most players have embraced a reality that they are each individual corporations, mini-companies who are more willing to invest in their own brand than ever. Thorpe, Martin’s behind-the-curtain coach since the summer after his freshman season at Western Carolina, estimates 10 to 25 percent of NBA players rely on outside consultants/coaches. Some players spend as little as $10,000 in a summer for detailed offseason workouts. Others employ a full-time individual coach who lives in their adopted home city and travels to away games for what often is a low six-figure salary.”
