The Fundamentals

The Arsenalist:  “If you add up Bosh’s 1-5 FG and O’Neal’s 3-10 FG, throw in a little -14 in the rebounding department and its surprising that this one was even close. Our top three scorers came off the bench with Kapono, Willie and Bargnani chipping in an efficient 14, 12 and 10. The worst thing that can happen to the Raptors is Bosh and O’Neal offsetting and preventing each other from having good games. This was a game where having them on the court at the same time worked out against us because there wasn’t a plan on how exactly to use our weapons. Contrast this with Philly who recognize that Samuel Dalembert is a defensive force and consistently clear out space for Brand to make his move. The Raptors simply alternate Bosh and O’Neal touches which is basically high-school coaching. But its preseason so there’s no point in ringing any alarm bells. Yet.”

Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register:  “It was merely Exhibition Game No. 3, but the Lakers won something quite real Sunday night. Lamar Odom proclaimed before the game his cooperation with Coach Phil Jackson’s preferred plan to remove Odom from the starting lineup for the team’s greater good. Then Odom went out and played like he meant it. Odom brought a youthful energy to the court — almost as if flashing back to ninth grade, which was the last time he accepted a reserve role on his team.”

Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune:  “Another interesting thing was how much Kirilenko’s postgame comments suggested that he was truly thinking about the game as he sat on the bench. Kirilenko said he wanted to spark the Jazz in the first quarter by getting inside and trying to throw some quick passes around the basket. He also talked to Brevin Knight about taking advantage of the Blazers’ overplaying defense and got two backdoor alley-oop dunks. There’s still four preseason games left, but I think Kirilenko is destined to start the season as the Jazz’s sixth man. It should be noted that what the Jazz are doing is remarkable. They’re taking their highest-paid player and choosing to bring him off the bench. Only two bench players in the entire league, in fact, would be paid more than Kirilenko ($15.1 million) this season.”

The Associated Press:  “NBA commissioner David Stern said Sunday the league likely would play regular-season games in London before the British capital hosts the 2012 Olympics. Stern, however, also said the possibility of taking meaningful games to Europe was nowhere near a done deal. ‘Although we have no plans on the drawing board, it has been suggested to us that we should schedule in the next three years or so some regular-season games here — more than just one — on some regular basis,’ Stern said before the New Jersey Nets-Miami Heat preseason game at the O2 Arena. ‘It’s fair to say that we’ll see a minimum of one and possibly more regular-season games by 2012.’”

Jeff Caplan of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram:  “Diop’s camp and tournament work in conjunction with the SEEDS Academy, which Fall, a 6-9 native of Senegal who never made it to the NBA, created in 2003. SEEDS stands for Sports for Education and Economic Development. The academy does not promise a career in basketball, but rather a platform for a greater education and future. Diop, 26, hopes to bring teammates and other NBA players to his camp in the future to open eyes to the vastly differing perceptions of poverty and opportunity. ‘We survived; I was eating,’ Diop said of his childhood. ‘Poor there is like nothing here. People say they grew up poor; they’re not. They grow up in the ’hood; that’s not the ’hood, man. In Senegal, poor is you don’t have electricity, you eat once a day.’”

Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News: “Tony Parker picked up his cell phone one day in August, took a deep breath, and prepared for the most nerve-wracking moment of his career. Only hours before, Parker had watched on television as Spurs teammate Manu Ginobili went down in a writhing, injured heap at the Olympics. Now, Parker was about to call his coach and request permission to play with his French team in an international tournament as well. That is, if Parker could keep his hands from shaking long enough to dial. ‘I almost had a heart attack,’ Parker said, recalling that phone call.”

Doc’s Head Games:  Feeling Fear, and Acting on It

Hardwood Paroxysm:  Sweatin’ To The Oldies With Starbury

Lang Whitaker of SLAM:  “Last season, Melo finished fourth in the League in points per game (25.7 ppg — low for him, his lowest ppg in the last three seasons). He also averaged 7.5 rebounds per game and, surprisingly, was 25th in the L in steals per game. That last stat is something of a surprise because steals are a defensive category, and Melo has never been much of a defensive player. This has been the knock against him, the easy way to denigrate his game. Of course, criticizing a George Karl player for not playing defense is like saying a Mike D’Antoni player shoots too many ill-advised shots. George Karl either doesn’t stress defense or he doesn’t care about it, and as a result Melo is both demonized and blamed for this.”

CelticsBlog:  “The next logical options seems to be Darius Miles, who has an non-guaranteed contract.  Nobody really expected to see him ever play again, so nobody would be super surprised to see him sent home.  Still, he’s a lottery ticket that you’d hate to toss out before you get a chance to scratch it.  Besides, costing the Blazers cap room is still in the best interests of the everyone not from Portland. So what’s the next best option? How about sending Sam Cassell to the bench a year early?  This is hardly an original idea.  As soon as he talked about becoming an assistant coach after the year, many a fan uttered the phrase “why wait a year?” under their breath (or shouting it on a rooftop).”

Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal:  “When Conley started out as the third point guard, didn’t play in FedExForum for the first six weeks of the regular season and suffered a pair of bizarre injuries last season, he grew depressed.’It affected me mentally more than anything because I wouldn’t know what was going on,’ Conley said. ‘I’d get in an away game, and I’d feel like I did pretty well and the next night I wouldn’t play and it was a home game. Then, I realized I wasn’t playing at home so there was a bunch of things going on in my head. It was a roller coaster. That’s when I had to talk to my father. He kept me calm and focused. He kept saying it’s about being patient. You’ll get your time in this league.’ Amazingly, the pair keeps work and family so separate that Conley has a business phone number programmed for his dad. ‘When Mike Conley Sr. comes up on my phone, I know he wants to talk business,’ said Conley, who also credits Iavaroni for his insistence on a nurturing relationship that goes beyond coaching.”

Brian Windhorst of The Cleveland Plain Dealer:  “For months leading up to July 1, when the Cavs could start official talks about a new contract, Byron Gibson researched how NBA deals are structured. Once last season ended, Daniel Gibson talked with some attorneys to learn about negotiating tactics and studied up on what other guards similar to him around the league were earning. ‘I’ve never been a big fan of agents,’ Byron Gibson said. ‘And I owed it to Daniel to do as much research as possible and prepare him. It was a short conversation, I asked him if he liked playing in Cleveland and he said ‘yes’. After that, we just wanted to get it done.’ Working without an agent saved the Gibsons roughly $840,000 in standard fees. Nonetheless, agents around the league admonished him behind the scenes as they were convinced he could’ve gotten more and he may have changed the market for other free agents.”

Alan Hahn of New York Newsday:  “What can the Knicks do with Curry if he doesn’t fit? Not that I want to see Eddy Curry gone or am pushing for a trade here (we have to stress that sometimes because things we discuss here are often misread as agenda-driven instead of conversational and to merely spark debate and discussion), but there is the reality factor to consider. Something has to give when it comes to minutes in the rotation and spots on the roster. So the following few graphs are purely speculated for your pleasure. We’ve already tossed out a scenario that involves the Washington Wizards, who have a need at center after the wrist injury to Brendan Haywood will keep him out at least until the all-star break. Any deal would have to include Oleksiy Pecherov. This 7-foot Ukranian can really shoot it. I’ll toss this scenario out there, too…purely speculative…but would the Cleveland Cavaliers consider taking on Big Eddy to give them a much-needed low-post presence?”

Blazer’s Edge:  “If you have a good Plan A you can win a lot of regular season games.  If you have a great Plan A and a good Plan B you will probably win most of them.  In the playoffs they take away your “A” option and most of your “B” option and get you down to “C”.  At that point one of two things happens.  Sometimes your Plan C is good also, which breaks their back because they can’t contain everything at once, which then allows your Plans A and B to shine through again.  Then you win.  Sometimes your Plan C isn’t good enough and you fold like a barbeque napkin when they decide to take away your favorite stuff.  There’s a reason Kobe needed Shaq.  There’s a reason Jordan needed Pippen and at least a couple of important game-winning shots came down to Steve Kerr and John Paxson anyway. This is where the playoff experience–and just regular old NBA experience–comes in for a team like the Blazers.”