Loading ...Marc J. Spears of The Boston Globe: “With respect to the Pistons, LeBron James and the Cavaliers, and the other talented teams in the Eastern Conference, the Lakers don’t want to see you when it’s all said and done this season. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are seeking revenge, and their preference is to see their bitter rivals, the Celtics, in the NBA Finals again in hopes of making amends for last season. ‘Of course, [I want Boston],’ Bryant said. ‘If you see a guy that you fought at lunchtime and he knocked you out, oh, I’m coming back the next day. I don’t want the little 4-foot guy. I want the big football player, that’s what I want.’”
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “He could play out the remaining years on his contract and become a free agent in July 2011, the most doubtful scenario because he’ll be closing in on his 33rd birthday at that point. He’ll want some end-of-career job security before then. More likely, he will terminate his contract next July and become an unrestricted free agent who can sign with any NBA team for up to five years. The Lakers could then offer Bryant about $135 million over five years, while other teams could offer about $129.5 million over the same time period. (The league’s collective bargaining agreement allows most free agents to sign contracts of up to six years unless they turn 36 during the contract, which is why Bryant can sign for only five years.)”
Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: “I’d heard a few weeks ago that Andrew Bynum is a car guy. Normally in the NBA, that means a guy spends a bunch of his rookie contract on fancy, tricked out, fast cars. But in Bynum’s case there’s a little more to it. Apparently, when he grows up, or finishes his NBA career, whichever comes first, Big Drew wants to become a mechanical engineer and build cars. ‘I like cars alot. I work with them on the weekends,’ he said. ‘That’s something I think I want to get into after I’m done playing. Maybe go to school and become like a mechanical engineer.’”
Ian Thomsen of CNNSI.com: Making the Great Leap Forward
Jerry Brown of the East Valley Tribune: “Shaquille O’Neal sat out the second of back-to-back preseason games Tuesday in Los Angeles, and Suns coach Terry Porter said he may employ a similar regimen for the 36-year-old center during the regular season – limiting minutes or sitting him out completely when the matchups are favorable. ‘We may do a little bit of both. Of all the guys who have played that position, he’s probably been fouled the most and beaten on numerous times,’ Porter said. ‘We want to be proactive in giving him enough minutes to stay sharp, but looking at the big picture and giving him ample time to get rest. He might go 28-30 minutes (in the first or second game of a back-to-back) and then the second night he might be limited or not play.’”
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: “‘I’m trying to establish myself as a leader, and be more vocal,’ Parker said. ‘I want to take more responsibility. My biggest role this year will be to get everybody involved.’ That part of Parker’s game has taken a while to come out of its shell. When he arrived as a 19-year-old rookie in 2001, he experienced considerable and understandable trouble imposing himself on a team overflowing with veterans. Somehow, he sensed, a 37-year-old NBA graybeard like Terry Porter wasn’t going to be taking basketball advice from a teenager fresh from Paris. At the time, Parker felt it better to be seen, but not heard. ‘When you have David Robinson and Steve Kerr and all those guys, you just watch and you listen,’ Parker said. ‘Now, this is my eighth year, (and) we’ve got a lot of young guys. It’s my job to help them.’ Popovich saw signs of that leadership emerging in Parker last season. Finally comfortable in his own NBA sneakers, Parker had no qualms about bossing around even a future Hall of Famer like Tim Duncan.”
The Hoop Doctors: Top 10 NBA Fights [Video]
HP: Paul Pierce Attends a New Kids On The Block Concert [Video]
Joe Dumars via the Detroit Free Press: “On the surface, I can understand if you think we had a quiet summer. But it really wasn’t. That headline-grabbing trade a lot of people expected never happened. We talked to lots of teams and I was open to anything that made sense for the Detroit Pistons. But nothing that came across my desk was going to make us a better basketball team. Nothing was going to put us closer to winning an NBA championship. That’s how we measure ourselves around here because that’s the standard we’ve set and the one we embrace. And we’re not going to run from it this year, either. But we’re not coming back as the same team that lost to Boston in the Eastern Conference finals. Even though a lot of the names will be the same, we’re not going to be the same team. You never are, even if you come back with all of the same players. Some players get better, some get worse, some spend their summers productively and others don’t. As I sit here today with another season around the corner, I can tell you I feel good about all of our players. And one of the reasons is I have gotten nothing but positive feedback from each and every one of them about playing for our new coach, Michael Curry.”
Keith Langlois of Pistons.com: “Amir cracked a wide grin after Wednesday’s preseason win over Cleveland when I asked him if he would have found it intimidating three years ago - when he was a rookie, during his one season as a teammate of Ben Wallace - to go up against Big Ben as opposite starting power forwards? ‘Most definitely,’ he nodded. ‘He was way bigger than me. I was about 215 and he was like 245 or 250. So I was a little intimidated by him. But now it’s no problem. I just treat him like a regular guy.’ The truth is, Amir got the better of Big Ben in Wednesday’s preseason game, though to be fair, a 34-year-old four-time Defensive Player of the Year nursing a tender back is going to approach a preseason game with a tad less fervor than a kid trying to prove his coach was right to thrust him into a starting lineup composed of four virtual All-Stars.”
The Associated Press: “Dwight Howard wants to be Superman not just one day a year. Howard, the talented Orlando Magic centre who wore a red cape and ‘S’ on his chest in winning the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Competition, doesn’t want to just be the NBA’s best big man. He wants to be the best player. The tools are there. The 6-foot-10 Howard can bench press 225 pounds 25 times; has a 38-inch vertical leap; is the third-fastest player on the team and has 6.6 per cent body fat and a 7-5 wingspan. Add to that instinct, court awareness and improving maturity.”
Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Skiles outlines five-point plan
Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: “As the numbers mix and tumble in his head, Lawrence Frank wants to believe they aren’t an accurate measure of what his team is all about. But he looks at them and winces: The Nets have yielded a total of 232 points in their last two preseason games, not to mention 26 3-pointers on 52 attempts, and 78 free throws. But this is what they are, for now, and the coach knows it. The only thing he wants to know is how long they’re going to tolerate being a team that just can’t stay out of its own way. So he’s reminded of this daily: Most of them are young. They still haven’t a clue about team defensive concepts. They still haven’t caught up to the professional pace.”
The Arsenalist of Raptors Republic: “We Raptor fans have never been satisfied with a coach - ever! Even when Butch Carter was running the show with Vince and T-Mac, we still found reason to complain. Simply put, nobody is good enough for us. Nobody. Mitchell’s talents and skills are probably somewhere between Darrell Walker and Butch Carter’s. He’s definitely got more control of the team than what Walker had and he’s simply not as sharp a basketball mind that Carter was. On a side note, how Butch Carter never got another league coaching gig is beyond me. So given what we’ve seen of Mitchell over the last four seasons, is he on the threshold of finally becoming a coach that can actually get the majority approval of fans? Remember, there has rarely been a time when this was actually true. My personal opinion is no, he won’t and I can point to his playbook, his arrogance, his refusal to admit that he’s wrong, his know-it-all attitude, his substitutions, his handing of rotations, allocating player time, resource utilization etc. As you can see the man has shown us a lot of his flaws over the last little while.”
Adam Lauridsen of the San Jose Mercury News: “On Mullin and Nelson, I’m also willing to give Rowell the benefit of the doubt. This is obviously a make-it-or-break-it year for Mullin. The team doesn’t need to land a winning record for him to survive, but the young bodies he’s stockpiled over the past two years need to show potential. While Rowell holds the purse strings, everything I’ve heard suggests it is still the GM and coach who control the draft, meaning that Mullin’s fate will likely be judged on Biedrins, Ellis, Diogu, POB, Wright, Belinelli, and Randolph more than any other players. The last five players are the sum total of the Warriors’ past four drafts. If we’re left with little to no contributions from those drafts at the end of the season, it’ll be time for Mullin to go. Given this record, there’s no reason for Rowell to make guarantees. Mullin was blasted two years ago for saying Richardson wasn’t on the block, then trading him. Rowell appears to be avoiding promises he can’t keep.”
Cuzoogle: Bizarro world NBA predictions
Bullets Forever: Nick Young is……The Red Rooster
Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press: “Even with the current financial crisis, he said the NBA sold out four preseason games in Europe and two in China earlier this month, and doesn’t expect the economic slowdown to have any real affect on the league’s overseas plans. ‘We don’t think that that’s going to impact us in any harsh or painful way other than perhaps our rate of growth,’ he said. ‘But growth it will be.’ Stern held the call after completing the league’s Board of Governors meetings, where he said the owners discussed the economy at length. The commissioner recently said the league will eliminate about 80 jobs in the United States because of the turmoil. The league recently extended sponsorship agreements with four key partners, and Stern said he had no fears of any franchises falling into significant financial difficulty.”
Art Thiel and Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “A new plan to divert a portion of hotel-tax money from the state convention center to a remodel of KeyArena could help Seattle begin pursuing a replacement NBA team as soon as 2010. NBA Commissioner David Stern said Thursday ‘positive’ talks have gone on between the league and a potential ownership group headed by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who led an ill-fated plan to save the Sonics earlier this year. Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis confirmed the talks, and said he was optimistic that this time around the city’s request for state authorization will meet little resistance when the Legislature convenes in January.”
The Global Hook: Brandon Jennings Makes His Euroleague Debut [Via Ball in Europe]
John Reid of the Times-Picayune: “After winning a franchise-record 56 games last season, Paul said they have championship aspirations and just making the playoffs is not good enough. ‘I feel we win and learn at the same time, whether it’s preseason or the regular season,’ said Paul, who had six points and 15 assists. ‘We don’t want to lose and we don’t care what the situation is, so we can get that personality. Before camp, we emphasized never approaching it like it was a preseason game, we’re trying to get better now.’ Against the Heat, the Hornets’ edge in talent was noticeable as they took a 13-2 lead. Dwyane Wade, who played on the USA Olympic team with Paul, is one of the top players in the league, but he could not keep Peja Stojakovic or Morris Peterson from making perimeter shots.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “If one thing appears certain, it’s that McMillan has eliminated the possibility of Fernandez starting. That move would require Roy to slide from shooting guard to small forward, which McMillan fears makes the Blazers too small. That leaves Batum and Outlaw to vie for the position. Batum plays better defense, but Outlaw has experience. And starting Batum would allow McMillan to keep intact what he feels can be a special second unit of Sergio Rodriguez, Fernandez, Outlaw, Channing Frye and Joel Przybilla.”
Blaze of Love: Sneak Peek at the O-Fon! The Greg Oden Special Edition Cricket Phone
Jack McCallum of CNNSI.com: “Though Kevin Durant, the other tempting choice in the ‘07 draft, has beguiling offensive talents, Portland focused on Oden from the outset. Pritchard said he felt even better about the pick after Oden woke up from the surgery on his knee. ‘I said, ‘Greg, you had microfracture surgery. You’re probably going to be out the whole year.’ And his response was, ‘I’m so sorry.’ He kept saying it over and over. ‘I’m so sorry.’ It was at that point I told everybody, ‘This is the exact guy we want for our franchise.’”
