Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times: “In nine days, he’ll be 21 years old, entering his fourth NBA season, which is exactly how long it took another Lakers high school draftee to win his first championship, a guy named Kobe Bryant. For Bynum, it’s graduation year. Which doesn’t give him an excuse for senioritis. This is not a time for him to be late for practice, which happened last week. This is not a time for him to be tentative with his rehabilitated knee, which has happened during training camp, Bynum yet to show the Lakers the full-court energy they require. More than anything, this is not a time for his agent to be publicly popping off about the Lakers giving him a new contract. A new contract for what? He might be the key to the Lakers’ championship run, but in three seasons he has played only about a month’s worth of important games for them.”
Ramona Shelburne of The Los Angeles Daily News: “Friday in practice, Jackson commented that Bryant’s shot still seemed a bit flat to him, and that Bryant might still be a little tired from all his summer activities. ‘Kobe still looks to me like his legs might be a little tired,’ Jackson said. Well, Saturday night Bryant answered that jibe both on and off the court, scoring a team-high 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting in the Lakers 108-104 win over FC Barcelona. Then afterwards in the locker room, when I playfully asked him what he’d thought of Jackson’s comments about him, Bryant laughed, shrugged his shoulders, then said: ‘I think it’s the other way around to be honest with you. I think Phil’s a little tired. I feel fantastic.’”
Ira Winderman of The Miami Sun-Sentinel: “There is something to be said about a team finding itself during the preseason, especially a young team. For the Heat, the advantage of its European swing was the right to open training camp three days in advance of the rest of the league. Yet now, less than two weeks from the Oct. 29 season opener in New York, there is a question of whether the Heat is moving forward at all. There still are no answers at center. The only way to get point guard play seemingly is to play two at a time. And the offense, well, it sure looks a lot like get the ball to Dwyane Wade (or Michael Beasley) and get the heck out of the way.”
Travis Heath of HOOPSWORLD: “Let me set the record straight on this one: Boozer is one of the best people in the NBA. He’s a pleasure to have a conversation with and never exhibits that ‘too cool for school’ kind of attitude so many superstars in pro sports do these days. In talking to Carlos last week about his Olympic experience, his honesty and selflessness was on full-display. You see, there’s been this idea floating around that Boozer was okay with his role on Team USA. Truth be told, he wanted a bigger role. But that’s the very reason why what he did this summer in taking a backseat to others at Team USA was all the more remarkable.”
Jan Hubbard of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “When Johnson’s move from TNT to ESPN was announced last week, he criticized the Mavericks on a conference call by saying the biggest problem the team has always had is a lack of mental toughness. Johnson shifted tenses during his analysis and said at one point, ‘They’re not mentally tough.’ If he is talking about the current team with Rick Carlisle as coach, then the analysis is absurdly premature. It also ignores the fact that Jason Kidd will be in his first full season as a Maverick, and no one has ever questioned his toughness. When Charles Barkley was in Dallas last season, in fact, he said Kidd ‘is the best leader we have in the NBA right now.’ Great leaders, presumably, are not mentally soft.”
Janny Hu of The San Francisco Chronicle: “Maggette ranked second in the league last season in attempted free throws (13.07) and made (10.61) per 48 minutes. Per game, Maggette shot about 10 free throws – or nearly twice as many as the leading Warrior, Baron Davis, attempted. Better still, Maggette has shot 82 percent from the foul line over his 10-year career. Only Stephen Jackson (83 percent) was better last season for the Warriors. ‘Free throws are the two easiest points you can get in a game besides a layup,’ Jackson said. ‘We get him to the line 10 times a game, that’s good points for us. That’s good money.’ There’s another bonus, too. Someone has to be doing the fouling for Maggette to be going to the line. And if he can get opposing players in foul trouble, then all the better for the Warriors. As for pacing, Nelson believes that Maggette’s knack for getting fouled won’t interfere with the Warriors’ up-tempo style, so long as Golden State isn’t also sending its opponents to the charity stripe. In fact, the coach said the fouls would double as mini timeouts for his players.”
Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune: “In two seasons together, the trio has formed a chemistry that’s been able to bring out the best in each player. While Paul, who averaged a league-best 11.6 assists last season on his way to finishing second in the league’s MVP voting, is the floor general, West is a versatile scorer and a good rebounder, and Chandler is the big rebounder and defensive stopper in the middle. Last season the trio combined to average 53.5 points, 24.6 rebounds and 14.9 assists. Those figures compare favorably with the Celtics’ big three — Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen — which averaged 55.8 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Spurs’ — Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker — which averaged 57.6 points, 19.3 rebounds and 13.3 assists.”
Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: “In this era of cliche-spewing athletes, Andersen is refreshing, saying whatever comes to mind. ‘What I like about him,’ Karl said, ‘is he likes who he is, he knows who he is, and so many people at his age — and who had his problems — don’t know who they are and don’t like who they are. Chris, over this process, has a very good belief in himself and is ready to show the world that he’s learned from his experiences.’ For all the colorful tattoos and colorful qualities of Birdman (The Peacock?), there is a hidden humility. The guy, after all, nearly lost it all. Now he speaks to underprivileged children in Denver, sharing his stories of growing up poor, becoming rich, falling to rock bottom, and climbing back to the mountaintop.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “The attention and expectations appear to be weighing on Oden, stealing some of his charisma. I went on to tell Oden that for the greater part of the past month, teammates Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Steve Blake and Channing Frye, as well as general manager Kevin Pritchard and coach Nate McMillan had all gushed about Oden, telling me he was ’special,’ ‘dominant,’ ‘a man-child’ and ‘one-of-a-kind.’ After watching Oden work out twice in the summer, both in a half-court setting, I too was convinced Oden was ready to make an immediate and emphatic impact on the NBA. The combination of his size, quickness and explosiveness is unique. But during Oden’s first four exhibition games, anything outside of a dunk has looked awkward, hurried or forced.”
Sam Smith of HoopsHype.com: “Delonte West didn’t say it when he returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers last week after a leave of absence to treat the effects of depression and mood swings. But he, like Vin Baker and Kendall Gill and Dennis Rodman and Brian Williams and Ricky Berry and Chamique Holdsclaw and Jason Caffey and many more-and many now still reluctant to come out of their dark closet-believe they know what people are thinking, really, what most of their coaches and teammates are thinking, if they acknowledge suffering from depression. ‘You’re making $4 million and you are professional athlete. It’s the American dream. And, oh, by the way, the country is going into the crapper and people are losing their jobs all over the place and they’re losing their homes and their retirement money and they can’t get health insurance. And you’re depressed! I’d gladly be depressed for $4 million a year. Gimme a break!’ A break is what they want, and what they need, but what is so difficult to get from the doubting glances, the stigma that still goes with it in society in general.”
