Loading ...NBA.com: The Pedowitz Report
Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake Tribune: “The report acknowledges some jealousy regarding Bavetta’s playoff assignments, practically comparing referees to junior high school girls in their gossiping and preconceived opinions. Still, in clearing Bavetta of wrongful manipulation of any game’s outcome, the report makes clear he’s not always right. According to the review of Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals, Bavetta is charged with nine of his three-man crew’s 15 errors - the compliments being that he treated the Lakers and Kings about evenly and was error-free in the controversial fourth quarter. So, 10 years later, it is hardly a stretch for Jazz fans to conclude that Bavetta also messed up Game 6 of the NBA Finals, perhaps not so evenly.”
Jeff Eisenber of The Press-Enterprise: “Instead of simply relying on training camp scrimmages to develop chemistry with Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol believes he and his new frontcourt mate need to build rapport away from the court. Gasol pledged to make every effort to get to know Bynum better before the season opener, even if that means attending car shows, playing shoot-’em-up video games or expanding his musical horizons. “I don’t see him going to the kind of concerts I like going to, but he mentioned he might go to the Jay-Z concert,” Gasol said Thursday. “I might go to that. Stuff like that I think is important. If we’re able to develop a relationship off the basketball court, I think it will help us on the basketball court.”"
Don Seeholzer of TwinCities.com: “”I started about six years ago where my whole workout is making shots,” he said. “I’ve always believed that anyone can come in and shoot 1,000 jumpers a day. It’s how many you make. They’re not paying me to shoot jumpers. They’re paying me to make them.” So Miller shoots, and makes, not only during practices but before and after. Practice might not make perfect, but there are days when he comes pretty close. “I make around 1,500 threes a day,” he said. “I’ll go to seven different spots (around the three-point line). I try to hit every place I could get one. Once I got traded here, I really started working on the spots where I think I’ll get the ball from Al (Jefferson) when he’s doubled.”"
Janny Hu of The San Francisco Chronicle: “Jackson has seen time at both guard and both forward positions in Nelson’s mad-scientist lineups, but a move to point guard - even for selected matchups - presents a few problems. He is not a natural ballhandler or distributor, as evidenced by his assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5), and the Warriors are already counting on him to be their top perimeter defender. Golden State would also be ripe for trapping without a true point guard on the floor. Still, Jackson says it would be “fun” to start at the point if need be.”
Ray Ratto of The San Francisco Chronicle: “The Warriors learned that, because of the staggering lack of originality displayed by the Oklahoma City franchise (formerly Seattle), they no longer can bring us the mute acrobatic stylings of Thunder. He’s had to be let go, and on behalf of the entire sentient planet, let us offer our heartiest congratulations to the Warriors on this, the day of their deliverance from their least inspired moment since the Wilt Chamberlain trade. The Oklahoma City people, who in selecting the nickname Thunder showed the same gift for imagination and creativity one finds in a copying machine, usurped the rights to Thunder, the dim steroidal Warrior mascot who fit the franchise like a kidney stone.”
Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake Tribune: “It is hardly a mystery why the Louisiana Tech football coaches wished Paul Millsap would have played for them, while developing himself into an NBA power forward. That body, those hands. The way he pursues rebounds, the 6-foot-8, 258-pound Millsap is easy to picture as a tight end, running down the field and grabbing passes out of the air. Except he wanted to be on the other end of those deliveries. He would play quarterback or nothing. “They tried to get me at tight end,” Millsap said. “That’s not my position.”"
Jeff Caplan of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “”Nowadays these great players, LeBron James, other guys, come in hugging you in the morning and ready to kill you at night. We want to get that edge back to where we don’t want to be hugging. We just want to come out and be ready to play and play with a toughness that a lot of guys on this team are capable of playing like.” Still, instead of being Pistons Bad Boys, the Mavs often are criticized for having no killer instinct. Under Carlisle, players such as soft-spoken power forward Brandon Bass and jovial 7-foot center DeSagana Diop will be asked to assume a more fierce stance.”
Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle: “Rockets owner Leslie Alexander attended Thursday’s practice for the first time in this season’s training camp. Though he said he would not make any judgments based on practice and especially just one practice, his expectations for this season were clear. Alexander said he expects the Rockets to be a “championship-caliber team. That’s what we think we are,” Alexander said. “That’s a good way to phrase it. “We obviously have a team that’s going to win a lot of games in the regular-season, be one of the top seeds in the West, and we’ll see how well we do from there, really.” Alexander did not, however, agree with the notion the Rockets are gambling on this season, adding that Ron Artest is not necessarily a one-year player, even though he is going into the last season of his contract.”
Don Walker of The MilWaukee Journal Sentinel: “The Bradley Center’s plans for development on land it owns around the arena cannot secure the future of the Milwaukee Bucks, Ulice Payne Jr., chairman of the center’s board of directors, said Thursday. “It cannot ensure the survivability of the Milwaukee Bucks,” Payne told business leaders at a breakfast forum sponsored by the Business Journal of Milwaukee. Asked about a new arena for the National Basketball Association team, Payne said: “The question of a new arena is a community question. It’s not a Bradley Center question.””
Fred Kerber of The New York Post: “The Nets thrilled to have a guy they didn’t think would last to them, Douglas-Roberts more than a half-million dollars (at least) poorer because he did. The 6-foot-7 wing still is ticked by the snub, still has a chip on his shoulder. “I feel like I have to keep a chip just to stay motivated,” said Douglas-Roberts. “That’s an extra boost for me. I come into the gym with that on my mind every day. As crazy as it seems, that’s still on my mind. But it helps me.” Not nearly as much as he is helping the Nets. Douglas-Roberts comes to the NBA from Memphis, where John Calipari ran the dribble-drive attack that coach Lawrence Frank is installing for the Nets. Who better to give player-to-player advice than a guy who played in the system? The pupil is the teacher in this instance as veterans seek Douglas-Roberts’ advice.”
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: “Some of the play in Suns scrimmages has embodied the team’s revamped identity. There has been reliable midrange shooting, defense creating transition opportunities, versatility to lock down different players and second-string upsets. And that’s just a few minutes from Matt Barnes. Whether it was Steven Hunter, Eddie House or Grant Hill, the Suns came out of recent summers with a free-agency value. It appears to be Barnes this time. The slender 6-foot-7 forward fills priorities for improving defense and depth as he aims to recapture his 2006-07 form.”
Michael Grange of The Globe and Mail: “Just two years after they spent the first full training camp of the Bryan Colangelo era aspiring to hoist 100 shots a game in a tribute to the Phoenix Suns, the Raptors came into camp this week with visions of being able to grind it out in the half-court at both ends when required. “The thing I’m telling our guys is: ‘Your first look is going to be inside, your second look is going to be inside and if they throw it out, your third look is going to be inside,’” Toronto head coach Sam Mitchell said before camp opened. “If they throw it out, then you can shoot the basketball.””
Tim MacMahon of The Dallas Morning News: “Mark Cuban asked the other day whether these Mavericks are better than the ‘06 team that went to the Finals. Then he answered in the affirmative. He has a point, based on a quick comparison of the rosters on paper. And old Jason Kidd over a young Devin Harris? Kidd, if you’re playing for just one season. Brandon Bass over Keith Van Horn? C’mon. The rest of the core is basically intact with a new coach on the bench. Unfortunately for these Mavs, the ‘06 squad isn’t the competition. It’s the rest of the West.”
Nathaniel Friedman and Tom Ziller for Gelf Magazine: Why stat-heads and scouts need to kiss and make up to advance the sweet science of the NBA [Via Detroit Bad Boys]
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com: “Though Prince’s assists, field-goal and free-throw attempts all were greater in games when the Pistons were missing one or more starters, his efficiency is where the gap was most noticeable. He averaged 13.6 shots in the 13 short-handed games, 11.4 in all games; and 4.0 free-throw attempts in short-handed games, 2.9 in all games. Those numbers wouldn’t suggest a five-point-per-game difference and roughly 20 percent higher totals in rebounds and assists. The lesson seems to be that Prince has more to offer if the Pistons figure out ways to get the ball in his hands more without diminishing the efficiency of their other All-Star-caliber players – all while facilitating Curry’s intent to deepen his bench.”
Marc Berman of The New York Post: “Welcome to the Quentin RichardsonQuentin Richardson Revival Week - a Skidmore College production. After spending last season overweight and clanking shots all over the country, Richardson has been a revelation during this week’s Knick training camp. Yesterday, during 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 scrimmages, Richardson sank, unofficially, 8 of 9 3-pointers, from all corners of the Saratoga gym. The performance echoed memories of his wonderful season in Phoenix under Mike D’Antoni in 2004-2005 when he set the NBA record for most 3-point attempts (631, compared to 214 last year).”
Posting and Toasting: Conversations with the Knicks [Video]
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: “Coach Nate McMillan gathered his team before practice earlier this week and delivered a message the Trail Blazers organization hasn’t been suited to hear for some time: This team can be anything it wants to be. It can play small. It can play big. It can operate a fast-paced, run-and-gun offense or it can methodically grind out a half-court slugfest. It can be physical or it can use finesse. And, most impressively, the Blazers can do all of these things, and more, at any point in any game. “My rookie year, we felt like we were missing something,” Brandon Roy said. “My second year, we felt like we were missing something. But this is the first training camp where I don’t feel like we’re missing anything.”"
Bijan Bayne of NBA Outsider: “The most likely candidate for a new or relocated NBA franchise is the world’s largest city, has very few native-born NBA players, and is within one of the “American” time zones. It is Mexico City. Though no billionaires have stepped forward, and there are no rumors afoot, Districto Federal makes perfect sense in the long run. The flight from several NBA cities is not that long. Local fans already follow the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs. Exhibition games played there have been highly successful. And sports channels such as ESPN have their Deportes version for Spanish language broadcasts. Cable networks Telemundo and Univision already serve some 17 nations. In addition, the largest so-called non-white population in the U.S. is those classified as Latino. Mexico City would just be another stop on a southwestern road swing. It may not happen by 2011, but there’s a lot better chance than St. Louis or Pittsburgh getting a team.”
