Travis Heath of HOOPSWORLD: “‘It’s funny because, of course, you know my favorite number has always been number one,’ said Billups. ‘That’s gone, K-Mart has that. When I went to Detroit I wore number one because Joe Dumars’ (number four) is retired. So over the last few days when I was sitting back packing in Detroit, packing my clothes to come home, and (Nuggets’ director of public relations) Eric Sebastian and (equipment manager) Sparky (Gonzalez) kept calling me and they were like, ‘What number are you going to wear?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know. I’ll call ya’all back.’ ‘I just continued to think, it just came to me and I started thinking about me coming home and what a wonderful opportunity it could be. I just thought about how John Elway ended his career and the legacy that he left on this city. It just created a lot of motivation and inspiration for me. So I said I’m going to wear that number, and I’m going to try and wear it proud for awhile. Hopefully we can get lucky and the same things can happen.’ And with that, Denver’s favorite son had returned home. Whether or not Billups will be able to end his career in the same fairytale way Elway did remains to be seen.”
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: “Rip Hamilton couldn’t hide it. It was in his face. And it was definitely in his voice as he spoke for the first time about the trade that sent his backcourt partner since 2002, Chauncey Billups, to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Hamilton said he is looking forward to playing with Iverson, but he had come to view Billups as family. ‘I lost a brother, and when you come to a team like we did … we pretty much came in as nothing when we first got to Detroit,’ Hamilton said Thursday after a team workout. ‘When you win a championship with somebody … it’s just like the situation when we lost Ben (Wallace). … You lose a brother. You lose a guy you’ve been in the trenches with. You always think that we’re going to play together forever, but in life nothing’s ever forever.’”
Mike Barrett of Blazers.com: “Roy is as clutch as they come. Some have said that he’s gotten off to a tough start this season. Let’s consider for a moment why things have been tough for him. He’s had to deal with the best four perimeter defenders in the NBA in the first five games of the season. In this one he had to go against Ron Artest. He’s faced Kobe Bryant, Raja Bell, and Bruce Bowen. Late in the game at Utah, the Jazz put Andrei Kirilenko on him. Add to that the fact that he’s the focal point of every opponent’s defensive game plan. I’d say he’s doing okay. In this game, Roy had a potential game winner, had to deal with the emotion and disappointment of fouling Yao on his final shot, and then came back and hit a wild shot, the true game winner, to end it. Incredible.”
Blaze of Love: Video of Brandon Roy’s game-winning jumper last night
Greg Oden: “Tonight we had a game against the Houston Rockets, man, this game was crazy. There were 3 game winning shots made in the overtime. Brandon Roy hit one over Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest, Then Yao Ming hit one over Joel Pryzbilla and Brandon Roy and made the free throw, Then Brandon hit a 3 over everyone to seal the game. It was the highest shot ever, the fans went crazy it was fun to be in that gym tonight. What would of made it even better if i was playing. Its been about a week and a half since ive been out and it sucks. Im getting that feeling like i did last year like im just here not contributing. Im not gonna rush back though because i dont want to make it worse, but as soon as its to a point were i can play through it im back on the court.”
Fran Blinebury of the Houston Chronicle: “Before Brandon Roy could catch the inbounds pass from Steve Blake, turn and launch the rainbow dagger that finished off the Rockets, Tracy McGrady let him run as free as a young colt in a pasture to get wide open. Before Yao Ming nearly redeemed his second straight horrid game with that that clutch turnaround on the baseline and three-point play with 0.8 seconds remaining, Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady both fell down on Portland’s previous possession, allowing Roy to stroke in another clutch shot. Those were just individual plays. But collectively, the Rockets’ defensive performance for much of the night against a green team that is barely old enough to drink a beer was lackadaisical if not plain pathetic. For the past two seasons, under Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Adelman, the Rockets’ calling card has been a hard-nosed, always grinding team defense that made opponents feel like they’d been run through a meat grinder each time down the floor. But in the past two games against Boston and Portland, there have been long stretches where have been no teeth in the defense. The Blazers shot better than 50 percent in the first half and, even after they were limited to 38 points in the third and fourth quarters, still hit 46 percent for the game.”
Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: “Odom is second on the team in minutes played (26.8), and he has been on the court at the finish of games. He is fourth in scoring (10.0), third in rebounds (6.5) and last in complaints. He played 10 minutes in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game against the Clippers and delivered season-highs in points (15) and rebounds (9). ‘I thought he played emotionally,’ Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. ‘Sometimes that’s a concern; he got a technical. But he had some good moments out there.’ Right after Odom got the technical foul with 9:19 left, he collected himself and scored all eight of his points in the quarter. Odom said he now approaches the game differently. He talked about watching a game Tuesday night between the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics and how it helped him pick up nuances of the game. ‘I was watching the game almost like from a coach’s eye,’ Odom said. ‘Now I’m coming off the bench and having to kind of watch the pace of the game, figure out who’s hot and who’s not, how things are going.’”
Tom Ziller of FanHouse: “Only one player turned out nine picks in a game in ‘07-08 — Chris Paul, who had 10 extra minutes of work to rob the Mavericks last February. But the Chalmers thievery explosion against Philadelphia isn’t necessarily a complete lie: in Miami’s other three games, Chalmers has six more steals. And it’s all a part of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s master plan. Spoelstra has developed an attacking, active defense for the extremely athletic Heat, putting the team through a long, grueling Monday practice devoted entirely to perfecting improving it. It’s worked terrifically in two of Miami’s game: the Heat forced 25 Philadelphia turnovers on Wednesday, and 25 against Sacramento last Friday. Overall, Miami is second in the league in defensive turnover rate, up from ninth in ‘07-08.”
Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: “The theory is that if James gets the ball on that pick-and-roll out on the floor, Ilgauskas’ man will go to double-team James defensively to prevent a drive. That will leave Ilgauskas wide open. The veteran center admitted he was skeptical when the coaches designed the play. ‘They’ve always been telling me in the summer, ‘We’ll let you shoot threes, so practice, practice,’‘ he said. ‘Then when the regular season comes, that kind of goes away.’ Now that the coaches really want him to do it, Ilgauskas said it’s more of a mental challenge than a physical one. ‘When I’m standing there in the corner I feel like I’m doing something wrong,’ he said, cracking up the press corps. ‘I feel like 20,000 people are staring at me saying, ‘He’s not supposed to be there.’”
Peachtree Hoops: “Josh Smith has played 199 and one-half minutes through 3 games. While he’s been on the court, opponents have had 221 offensive possessions and have scored 190 points on those possessions. Team Defensive Efficiency With Josh Smith On The Court: 85.97 Josh Smith has not played 24 and one-half minutes through 3 games. While he’s not been on the court, opponents have had 44 possessions and have scored 62 points on those possessions. Team Defensive Efficiency With Josh Smith Off The Court: 140.91.”
Ball in Europe: “Jennings’ debut – Ok. So far he was just testing the water. @Olimpija Brandon Jennings made his real first appearance in the Euroleague with 14 points, index of 16 in less than 19 minutes, but there’s still one more task for him. In the first two games he missed all of his 2pt range shots, but scored from long range. Last night he hit his first ever 2pt basket in the Euroleague to finish with four, but missed both long shot attempts. Balance is needed.”
20 Second Timeout: Where Does Tony Parker Rightfully Rank Among NBA Point Guards?
Brian McCormick for Hoops Addict: Tales of the U.S. Development System
48Minutes.net: “Biedrins, who Thursday received a wooden plaque from the league commemorating his league-leading field-goal percentage in 2007-08, is shooting 58.3 percent this season; the remainder of the Warriors are hitting at a combined 39.7 clip. ‘He’s playing the best out of anybody on the team right now and he’s shooting the best, so I think it’s only right that he touches the ball more,’ Jackson said. ‘We’ll see what kind of momentum he can give us, and see if he can get our offense going.’ The ‘one flop’ series, which was installed recently, gives Nelson more options in terms of delivering the ball to Biedrins. That’s emblematic of the change in Biedrins’ status; after spending his rookie year glued to the bench and a couple seasons after that as little more than a glorified garbage man, he is fast becoming a focal point for the Warriors.”
Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: “It’s safe to say that Jerry Sloan never could have imagined when he took over as Jazz coach on Dec. 9, 1988 – the end of the Reagan administration, it should be noted – that he would have the chance to win 1,000 games with the team over the next 20 years. Even more absurd probably would have been the thought that Sloan could reach the milestone with a Jazz victory over a team from Oklahoma City, yet that is exactly the possibility that awaits tonight at EnergySolutions Arena. Not only does Sloan, 66, have the chance to make history tonight against the Thunder, as the first NBA coach ever to win 1,000 games with one team, but he has the chance to set a mark that might not be matched for generations, if at all.”
Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star: “‘It’s taking a while for me to get going because basically I’m trying to pick and choose when I can get in there and try to make a basket. It’s a lot different process for me this year,’ said O’Neal. ‘Obviously we have C.B. who really, really has it going right now. So you’ve really got to kind of just wait until the opportunity, and when opportunity comes you’ve got to make the best of it. But I just haven’t been able to make the shots.’ In other words, playing second fiddle, when you’ve spent a six-time-all-star career being the main guy, is no easy transition, especially when one’s physical skills have eroded. There are those who will tell you the Raptors are four games into an 82-game marathon; that O’Neal has merely stumbled at the starting line. Mitchell keeps talking about how it’s difficult to rediscover one’s form at age 30 after a handful of injury-riddled seasons, which is what O’Neal is attempting to do. The realist says: Precisely. The optimist counters: Give him time. But how much time, exactly, before the GM swings a tricky deal for athletically inclined help? If the Raptors continue being decimated on the glass, you wonder.”
Third Quarter Collapse: “Comparisons between the 76ers of this year and the Magic of last year tend to be a little overblown. Sure, both teams signed premier forwards from Western Conference teams after 40-42 seasons, but that’s about it. When the Magic signed Rashard Lewis, it was to further their existing plan to surround Howard with three-point shooters. When the 76ers signed Brand, it was because he was the best player available. ‘Sign first, develop offensive philosophy later,’ I suppose. Don’t get me wrong, getting Brand was a coup for the 76ers, who did not figure to be huge players in the summer’s free-agency period, but they’ve done a poor job integrating him into the offense. Philadelphia has no idea what it wants to do on offense. It’ll figure it out eventually, but for right now, it’s going to play a number of combinations of guys and see what works. Coach Maurice Cheeks emptied his bench last night, playing all 12 men in uniform. Not a good strategy for a team now in a 2-4 hole and in bad need of cohesion. In contrast, Van Gundy played a tight eight-man rotation, and the Magic had the look of a team nearly in mid-season form. They executed their offense crisply, got the shots they wanted, and remained aggressive.”
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News: “One source told Marcus it was about “insubordination,” about Rowell believing that D’Alessandro had the interests of agents and Mullin ahead of the Warriors, and really, that means Rowell believed that D’Alessandro had the interests of normal things ahead of his fealty to Rowell. That’s what it is: Political be-heading, to try to force Mullin to quit or resign peacefully, since Rowell isn’t sure he can take on the PR nightmare of a Mullin firing just yet. But Rowell may get there. OK, Rowell’s the Colossus. He can do what he wants and whack who he wants. Chris Cohan has invested him with all power to run the franchise. But Rowell didn’t do this to better the franchise or help the front-office structure. He did it, I’m quite certain, to hurt Mullin. To inflict public embarrassment, by wiping away Mullin’s top aide. To flex his awesome power.”
Randy Galloway of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram: “Carlisle, thus far, has been fine except for some rather strange substitution patterns that caused private yelping from within the locker room. No, a 10-man rotation won’t work. Rick needs to settle on eight players, and go with them, which, of course, is a problem for a fading Jerry Stackhouse, and that can lead to bigger internal issues. The transition period here is no excuse. I’ve also seen or heard nothing from Carlisle in the way of an excuse. There’s the ongoing vacancy at shooting guard, and there’s nobody on this roster who will solve that, same as before, which is why somebody new is starting there nightly. Otherwise, what is there to transition? The Mavs team that was once considered a powerful contender in the Western Conference is no more. How good it can be, like maybe 50-wins good, is the only question remaining. With a ‘bad’ offensive philosophy last season (that’s what I read, anyway), the Mavericks averaged more than 100 points a game. To start this season (four games) that average has fallen to a miserable 94.”
Marc Berman of the New York Post: “According to a source, Knicks brass felt Marbury, who has decided to cease participating in team scrimmages during practices, would be in violation of his contract and place himself in danger because he could lose his money if he gets injured. Last night when contacted at the team’s Washington hotel, Marbury, after learning about the Knicks opposition to the plan, told The Post he’s not going to try to persuade team officials to change their minds. ‘I’m not going to do it, if it’s going to be a problem,’ Marbury said. ‘I didn’t think it would be.’ Marbury may have needed ‘written consent’ from Walsh. According to a standard player’s contract, paragraph 12 states, in part, ‘The player agrees that he will not, without the written consent of the team, participate in any game or exhibition of basketball.’ The Player’s Association last night was reviewing whether that includes participating in a high school practice during a season. Before the plan fell through, Marbury, a 1995 graduate who won a state title for Lincoln, already had gotten the OK from the school’s coach Dwayne Morton, a close friend. ‘I called coach already and told them I was going to come,’ Marbury said yesterday after practice before flying with the team to Washington, where the Knicks face the Wizards tonight. ‘I’ll be able to run up and down with them and at the same time teach the younger guys the NBA game.’”
