Marc Berman of The New York Post: “The upset of the first day of training camp at Skidmore College is Jerome James made it through the first session and Eddy Curry was nowhere to be found. Curry was back at the hotel room battling an infection and could be out a few days. Maybe he caught something from Stephon. This is costly days for Curry since he came into camp out of shape and has to change his entire game to fit Mike D’Antoni’s system. We are waiting word on a diagnosis. Curry was said to be vomiting all through last night. Mike D’Antoni, always the quipster, said it could be a blessing in disguise. Throwing up is a good way to lose weight, cracked D’Antoni.”
Frank Isola of The New York Daily News: “Wesley is also close friends with a guy named LeBron James. You may have heard that LeBron will be a free agent in two years and that the Knicks are trying to clear cap space for the summer of 2010. In recent days, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert called it an “insult” to speculate that James may leave. On Monday, LeBron reiterated that he’s never said he doesn’t enjoy playing for the Cavs. But when you see Wesley talking to Donnie Walsh you’ve got to the believe that the Knicks could be players in the LeBron sweepstakes, especially now that the Nets plan to move to Brooklyn is on hold because of financial reasons.”
Charley Rosen of FOXSports.com: The best two-way players in NBA history
Charley Rosen of FOXSports.com: One burning question for every NBA team
Tom Ziller of NBA FanHouse: “It’s hard to name an NBA love affair so basic and beautiful as Dwight Howard + Dunk 4-EVA. Thirty percent of Dwight’s FGAs last season came off ye old slam (he shot 93% on those, and less than 25% on jumpers). For comparison’s sake, Amare Stoudemire took 18% of his FGAs with his hands on the rim, and Shaq sat around 22%. Even among the ranks of ideological shock-and-awe dunkers, Howard rates as the most devoted missionary of the slam. The fantastic thing about this faith: the only way to stop Howard from dunking is to throw at least two bodies at him and hack hack hack.”
Tim MacMahon of The Dallas Morning News: “You might call it meddling. Mark Cuban calls it managing. And he thinks he made a major mistake by not doing enough of it last season. “The struggles that we had, as much of that was my fault as anything else,” Cuban said while holding court on the Mavs’ practice court yesterday. “It was my choice at the beginning of the year to say, ‘OK, Avery, we went to the Finals, you won 67 games. Rather than me being involved on a continual basis in management style decisions, take some rope and you take some more of the responsibility and I’ll back off.’ Responsibility is not the right word. But, ‘You do what you want to do, and I’ll back off.’”"
Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: “There is definitely a new sheriff in town. There the Pistons were on Tuesday — 2 ½ hours into their first full practice of the new season — running high-intensity, hard-hitting, five-on-five, half-court drills. Bodies were flying everywhere. There were Arron Afflalo and Richard Hamilton renewing their daily exchange of elbows and forearms. Afflalo, who at one point knocked Hamilton hard to the floor, came out of it with scratches up and down both arms. Welcome to the Michael Curry era. Hard, physically-intense, three-hour practices haven’t been seen around here since Doug Collins was running the show.”
Basketbawful: Mascot bloopers
Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle: “The Rockets did gamble on this season. It’s fine to talk big. There is no risk in that. The Rockets have bet on this season, wagering that they can go from playoff cameo to championship contention. And there is something to lose. Usually, the prudent course is to balance the chase of a championship with building long term. The Rockets’ only slight nod toward that is developing Aaron Brooks and keeping Carl Landry. If they are right and they are championship caliber, their emphasis on veterans will be the wisest course. If they flop again, they would have been better to keep more players who will be around for a presumably better future.”
Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: “O’Brien allows the media to watch scrimmages. He doesn’t hold back voicing his unhappiness if he doesn’t like what he sees. No one should be shocked that the Pacers spent most of Tuesday’s practice working on their defense. Jeff Rabjohns will have a story on their defense in Wednesday’s paper. One of the most surprising things I heard out of practice was O’Brien’s glowing regard for Rasho Nesterovic’s passing ability O’Brien stopped a drill and told his players to look to give Nesterovic the ball. Not for his scoring, but for his passing. “Rasho’s a weapon,” O’Brien said. “For the 15th time, if you pass him the ball something good will happen.”"
Philip Zaroo of MLive.com: “Wallace finally admitted that Saunders approach didn’t keep the players disciplined enough to garner their respect. “No, he wasn’t (tough enough). In my opinion, he wasn’t. He let too many things slide. And that goes as far as myself, and what some of my teammates have done. With L.B. (Larry Brown), I think really, honestly, it was a respect level. Everyone respected Larry. Even though then, we had more of a veteran team, but everyone respected Larry, and everyone respects Mike now.”"
Lisa Dillman of The Los Angeles Times: “First, the money. “Chris Mullin was always, like I say, as general manager, he was always in my corner,” Davis said. “From the time I got there to our playoff run, he told me that he wanted me there as the future of the franchise and he wanted to keep me. “I don’t think that was his decision.” As for Maggette’s comments, it sounded as though he wasn’t telling the Bay Area media anything he hadn’t already shared with Davis. Davis said he had spoken to other Clippers before making his decision to sign with the team as a free agent and didn’t want to dwell on Maggette’s influence or lack thereof.”
Travis Heath of HOOPSWORLD: “At the end of Tuesday’s practice the Nuggets ran sprints the length of the court with the team clapping and carrying on. The enthusiasm while this was taking place was striking in that it’s not something we’ve seen from the Nuggets anytime in the last few years. Perhaps most encouraging for Nugget fans is the fact that when the rest of the team finished running, Melo ran a couple of more sprints just for good measure. Might seem like a small thing, but the small things are exactly what have been missing from Melo’s approach to the game since he entered the league.”
Isreal Gutierrez of The Miami Herald: “Then there are all those plays. The ones Riley handed down to Erik Spoelstra, and Spoelstra added to and adjusted and insisted even a 19-year-old memorize like the alphabet. Fortunately, Spoelstra and his staff made learning them a bit more teen-friendly by filing them all in an iTouch device that makes an actual book unnecessary. Attention deficiency isn’t a major issue when, like the alphabet, you can sing while you learn it. ”The way I do it, I find one song and I put it on repeat, and I’ll go over the play while I’m listening to the song,” Beasley said. “So when I’m out on the court, if it’s that play, I sing the song and it’s just natural.” If Beasley’s mouth is moving as he’s setting a down screen, you’ll know why.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “There was a bit of a scare for Greg Oden and the Trail Blazers on Tuesday when the prized center withdrew from the last 30 minutes of the team’s first practice because of an slight injury to his right ankle. Oden said he “tweaked” the ankle while pushing center Joel Przybilla out of the lane while fighting for rebounding position. Oden, who missed all of last season while recovering from surgery on his right knee, walked with a pronounced limp after the incident, but said he was just being cautious. “I was just not trying to put pressure on it until I could get in the pool and get some ice on it,” Oden said. “There was no reason to try and do something to make it worse, so I just stayed out (of drills) and rode the bike.””
Sean Meagher of OregonLive.com: Blazers first practice of 2008 [Video]
Brian Windhorst of The Beacon Journal: “Now in his fourth season, Cavs coach Mike Brown opened the first two practices Tuesday by showing some new restraint. Once known for his marathon practice and shootaround sessions, he is attempting to think long-term and be concerned about some aging and overworked bodies on his team. Brown is revamping the way he’s conducting practices with an eye toward keeping legs, arms and backs fresh. ”I am going to try and be more efficient this season,” Brown said. ”As a coach, you always want to be learning and implementing new things and that is something we’re trying to do.””
Patrick Cassidy of Dime: I Don’t Believe LeBron James
Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: “Kobe Bryant said he doesn’t need to wear the tape job linking the smallest two fingers on his right hand this season because enough healing has taken place that he is not at added risk for injury. I asked Bryant if he is doing anything extra now regarding his hand, where there is a torn ligament but scar tissue has built up. He said he isn’t doing anything beyond the standard exercises he does for both hands and for each finger. Yes, he is that fantatical that he does exercises for each finger “to keep them nice and strong.””
Ramona Shelburne of The Los Angeles Daily News: “As for Odom’s psyche, which obviously seemed a bit bruised by the mere notion of becoming the Lakers version of Manu Ginobili, Jackson said he wasn’t concerned. “I think that if you look at teams that are really good, usually a starter is coming off the bench and playing for them, Ginobili for example,” Jackson said. “It’s hard for players to swallow in this league, because usually they’re like, ‘OK: my guy is a starter, he’s going to get X amount of dollars,’ but for people that understand the game, know what’s important. Sometimes it’s not who’s the best 5 on the floor, but how can your team best function for 40 minutes.”"
Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register: ““Whatever he wants, I guess I would do,” Odom said. “But I wouldn’t suggest (a reserve role), especially in a year where I want to be on the court for obvious reasons.” Jackson and Odom have spoken briefly about the matter, but Jackson remains set on waiting and seeing what kind of defense the tall frontcourt of Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum can deliver together for the starting lineup. Jackson brought up the name of San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili to reporters after practice as an example of how elite teams usually have a starting-caliber player coming off the bench. Jackson also offered this little dig when asked about the possible bench role motivating Odom to work harder: “I don’t know. I’ve never seen Lamar motivated before.””
