Julian Benbow of The Boston Globe: “It was, as Doc Rivers said, the kind of night the Celtics had been waiting for out of their captain. Every shot seemed like a big one in a quarter that saw Pierce hit seven of nine attempts and drill two from 3-point range. During a timeout, Rivers pulled Pierce aside and said, ‘It’s about time. We’ve been waiting a couple games for this.’ After waiting seven games, Pierce made them wait another frigid 24 minutes. He was 2 for 10 in the first half, at one point streaking through the lane and missing a wide-open layup. Rivers never had any doubt that Pierce would keep shooting. Mostly because Pierce guaranteed as much in one of their huddles. ‘That’s why he’s a great player,’ Rivers said. ‘That’s why great players are great players. The average player could not have withstood that. The average player misses shots and he shuts off. The great player misses shots and he starts thinking the odds are on his side.’”
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Dave Feschuk of The Toronto Star: “A long list of Raptors helped the visitors build a lead as big as 15 points a few minutes into the third quarter. It was gripping stuff. But it’ll be unforgettable for Toronto’s almost cowardly deference to Kevin Garnett, the Celtics all-star. On a night when Garnett stationed himself in the shirt of Toronto all-star Chris Bosh for the duration, Raptor coach Sam Mitchell countered by essentially ignoring Bosh on the offensive end. “As a decoy,” was Bosh’s kind terminology for his role. Perhaps it could have worked if various supporting Raptors had made shots down the stretch. They didn’t. And in a league in which it’s seen as essential to get the ball in the hands of your best player with the game on the line, Bosh, who finished with a season-low nine points, took exactly zero shots in the fourth quarter.”
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: “One of the questions I suggested Scott ask was whether Jordan has the authority to spend up to, and maybe beyond, the projected luxury-tax number this season. (The luxury tax is a dollar-for-dollar penalty teams pay the league for being a certain level above the salary cap.) Jordan’s reply: ‘Obviously, he (majority owner Bob Johnson) or I don’t want to be anywhere near on the luxury tax. If you’re at the luxury tax or over the luxury tax, you better be winning championships. We’re in the (payroll) range that most teams in this league are at — $62 million for the year, which is over the cap, which is $59 million or $60 million.’ Jordan said if a superstar were available, he has the authority to spend an additional $11 million – up to the luxury-tax limit – to acquire such a player.”
Queen City Hoops: “While the Bobcats allow a low average score against, they are playing at the slowest pace in the league – 85.6 possessions per game. League average is 92.7, over an 8% increase on the Bobcats’ pace. When you account for the fact that teams average over a point per possession, those 7 possessions per game would quickly move the Bobcats down the defensive rankings. The good (well, kind of bad, actually) news: We know how to account for it. It is the whole reason for keeping track of possessions, and it allows us to look at defense on a per possession (or 100 possession) basis. When we do that, the Bobcats do not look so good – horrible in fact. The Bobcats defensive efficiency for the year is 110.0 – that number is 27th worst in the NBA, a far cry from that earlier mark of T-11th.”
Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: “Having two 7-footers in Gasol and Andrew Bynum this season has helped the Lakers on defense. Bynum is second in the NBA in blocked shots, averaging 2.8 per game. Gasol averages 1.4 blocks. ‘We’re both athletic 7-footers and that helps us,’ Gasol said. ‘That’s our responsibility, is to be there and protect our guys.’ Having athletic wing players on defense also has helped the Lakers. Trevor Ariza and Kobe Bryant are very good defenders against shooting guards and small forwards, usually the opponent’s top offensive threats. Fisher is solid on defense at point guard. Ariza is getting 2.0 steals per game, 10th best in the NBA. Bryant averages 1.8 steals per game, 12th best in the NBA.”
Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: “What gave him such confidence? During summer breaks, Ariza would often head out to one of the courts in L.A. where NBA players in their summertime pick-up games. A lot of high school players do the same thing. But not many have the guts or the game to really get in there with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Joe Johnson, T.J. Ford or Keyon Dooling. Ariza did. And even then he made an impression. ‘Oh yeah,’ Bryant said, when asked if he remembered Ariza from those summertime games. ‘He was super skinny and all that, but he still had the willingness to get better. ‘He had all the physical tools and then he had the work ethic and the drive to be something. You combine those two things and you got something special.’ In the mind of a 17-year-old you can imagine hanging in there with the likes of Bryant in a pick-up game is tantamount to irrefutable evidence of one’s ability. Fortunately, Ariza didn’t just leave it at that.”
Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post: “Michael Beasley challenged Dwyane Wade and the Heat’s superstar responded. Beasley, the rookie, teased Wade, the superstar, about his three-point shooting entering Monday’s game against the Nets. Wade had missed all nine attempts this season while Beasley had made two. ‘He said I couldn’t make more than him,’ Wade said. Challenge accepted. Wade established a career high with four three-pointers, three coming in a frantic fourth quarter, leading the Heat to a 99-94 victory Monday and preserving Miami’s perfect home record. The noisy AmericanAirlines Arena crowd watched Wade pour in 19 fourth-quarter points and finish with 33. He combined with Chris Quinn and Daequan Cook to help shoot the Heat back into the game. The three combined for eight three-pointers in the final 12 minutes. Wade has now scored at least 30 points in each of his last three games, equaling a career best.”
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: “Now more than ever, the Spurs find themselves in need of a defensive flashback. Just five seasons ago, they set NBA single-season records by surrendering 84.3 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot an arctic 40.9 percent from the field. Once as stingy as Ebenezer Scrooge in a bad economy, the Spurs have been uncommonly generous so far this season. They have struggled to defend in transition. In the half-court, weak-side help has often arrived late or not at all, abandoning the rim to all brands of aerial assault. In perhaps the most double-take inducing barometer of the Spurs’ defensive lapses to date, they have allowed an average of 22 points per game on dunks and layups. ’We can’t take defense for granted, just because we’ve been good at it the last couple of years,’ Popovich said. ‘It doesn’t work that way.’”
Melody Gutierrez of the Sacramento Bee: “The swap created a buzz around the league, while bolstering interest in a Detroit team that has made it to the Eastern Conference finals six consecutive seasons. Iverson said he welcomed the pressure associated with playing for Detroit. ‘People are saying if we don’t win a championship, it’s a bust,’ Iverson said. ‘I haven’t been on a team like that.’ Playing for his third team in three seasons, Iverson said he had a feeling he might be traded after hearing rumblings from players and agents. Then came the telltale sign. ‘I noticed something in the beginning of the season when I didn’t have a play called for me,’ Iverson said. ‘I thought that was weird.’”
Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: “As the Pistons try to reinvent themselves with Allen Iverson and without a true point guard, the guy they might turn to for stability, once again, is Tayshaun Prince . Among the modifications coach Michael Curry is making to his offense is using Prince in the role of a point forward, initiating the offense, while Iverson and Richard Hamilton work on the wings. ‘Tay is going to facilitate some of our offense,’ Curry said after the Pistons’ two-hour practice at Arco Arena Monday. ‘He will get into it with Allen handing it off to Tay. And there are other sets that Tay will start himself.’ Curry worries, though, about tampering at all with Prince’s role. He has averaged 23 points the last three games.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “For a player who almost exclusively hits three-pointers, perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise to hear Trail Blazers rookie Rudy Fernandez on Monday speak in the third person. ‘Rudy is not everyday a shooter,’ Fernandez said. ‘He’s defense. He’s passes. He’s assists.’ Fernandez was all of that and more on Monday, when his frenetic and flashy play keyed a 106-99 victory at Orlando, the Blazers’ first road win in four tries this season and their third victory in a row overall. In the first 6:13 of the fourth quarter, which the Blazers entered trailing 73-72, Fernandez had eight impact plays that defined the Blazers’ game-deciding 17-4 run. He had two three pointers, two assists — including one on the go-ahead basket — drew a charge and had three steals.”
Third Quarter Collapse: “This team showed far more poise last year, especially Rashard Lewis, who hit several clutch jumpers in November and December to ice games. Not so much this year. He’s missed 17 of his last 22 shots from the field. Awful. This team, on the whole, is struggling. I just keep telling myself, “It’s only November, calm down,” but that’s not such a great argument. None of Orlando’s wins have impressed, and all of its losses have raised concerns, specifically about depth and attitude. The former can’t be changed without a trade (or a change in coaching philosophy…), and while the latter is more malleable, it’s still unlikely to improve, given this team’s history of, frankly, blowing it.”
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Chris Herrington of The Memphis Flyer: “From the day Mayo was drafted, there have been three primary questions: How good can he be? What position will he ultimately play? Can he and Mike Conley thrive together in the backcourt? I’ve been agnostic on the question of whether Mayo would ultimately move to point guard and, to a degree, I remain so. But after eight games, I’ve seen enough to say this: Even if Mayo doesn’t become a point guard, he does need to be this team’s lead guard. That means that regardless of whether he technically starts at the one or two, he’s going to be the team’s primary ballhandler and playmaker. If he’s not Chauncey Billups, then he’s Dwyane Wade or Gilbert Arenas or Brandon Roy or Allen Iverson. He’ll control the ball and he’ll need a backcourt mate that meshes with him. And I don’t think that’s going to be Mike Conley.”
Jason Friedman of Rockets.com: “‘I’ve been doing community service work like this for a long time – not because I had to do it, but because it’s important to me. And I don’t want to only do it where I’m from, or where I play, I just want to do it as many places as I can.’ Believe it or not, that’s not as easy for Artest to do as it may seem. Some schools and community centers don’t want him. They hear the name Artest, and all the powerful preconceptions it contains, and say, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’ It’s strange to process that realization while watching him here today. He speaks to the children without a hint of insincerity or self-promotion in his voice. In fact, the instant connection between this massive, 6-7, 260 pound hulk of a man and these kids is borderline astonishing. Star-struck, their young, eager eyes don’t leave him for a second. Those too shy to speak receive one of his massive arms around their shoulders to help them feel more at ease. There is real, raw empathy here, as if everyone involved understands how much the other had to overcome just to make it to this moment, and it’s that commonality which helps Artest’s message hit home.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “Back home in Starkville, Miss., Markeeta hadn’t liked what she had seen from her middle child during the Blazers’ opening stretch of the season. So when Travis called, she told him so. ‘She said, ‘You don’t seem like yourself out there. You don’t seem like you are having fun,’‘ Outlaw recalled. Outlaw told her he was having fun, but really, he knew Mom was right. Internally, he was incredibly frustrated after having games where he shot 2 of 9, 5 of 12 and 3 of 7 from the field. ‘I felt like I wasn’t doing all I could do,’ he said. Back in his car, Outlaw listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. It was the same voice he often called at 3¤a.m. during his trying rookie season, once threatening to quit. Much like she did that one night six years ago when Outlaw talked of quitting, Markeeta talked sense into her 24-year-old son. Back when he was a rookie, she told him it was up to him to make something of the opportunity. And Thursday, as Outlaw neared the Rose Garden with the phone to his ear, she told him to let loose, have fun.”
Matt Barnes: “Steve Nash who is a father of twins himself has already offered to help in any way which I think is really cool. It’s definitely nice having somebody who is also going through the experience of fathering twins nearby so I may be asking Steve some parenting questions throughout the course of the season. It really opens your eyes having people introduced in your world that suddenly mean everything to you. I’m really excited and looking forward to them being out here within the next couple of weeks when they’re able to fly. Fatherhood is great. They’ve been sleeping through the night so I haven’t had a lot of the sleepless, waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-experiences I’ve heard about, but I’m sure they’ll be coming my way soon.”
Joe Gilmartin of Suns.com: “Steve Nash, although gamely trying to adjust to the team’s new offensive personality, obviously is more comfortable in a more wide open game. But the good news here is that in addition to being a good soldier, Nash is adaptable. Also, with the team obviously building its game from the inside out rather than the outside in, Shaq’s ability to survive the long NBA grind, even with regular nights off, has to be a concern. It must be remembered that when he came here he was penciled in for a much more modest role, and the more of your eggs you put in his basket, the more you have to hope they don’t come up scrambled. Ordinarily you don’t get all that excited about wins in November, but when you are trying to change a team’s basic ways and sell the players on more work and less fun, it is more important than usual to have some early success— and at 6-2 that mission has clearly been accomplished.”
Adam Lauridsen of the San Jose Mercury News: “A few weeks ago I defended Robert Rowell against charges that he was single-handedly destroying the franchise. He’s not, and frankly, neither is Chris Cohan. They’re running a conservative, safe, moneymaking operation. They are doing everything they can to make sure the Warriors are not awful — like signing Corey Maggette following Baron’s exodus and retaining Don Nelson for a few more years. Unfortunately, they also refuse to take the risks that could make this franchise truly great — like busting the luxury tax to take on a high risk / high reward player or sporting a team completely full of youngsters for a year, record be damned, to develop their games and score a very high lottery pick. The calculating way they’ve chosen to run the franchise is likely great for those with money in the team, but awful for those with only an emotional investment. They’ve placed the emphasis on business rather than sport.”
David Friedman for Pro Basketball News: “Free throw shooting is perhaps the biggest weakness in LeBron James’ skill set (along with his midrange and three point shooting, though those skills are obviously related). James’ career percentages are following a disturbing downward trend, from .754 as a rookie to .698 in 2007, with a slight improvement to .712 last year, his fifth season. As indicated above, most of the high flying, all-around greats who preceded James hit their strides as free throw shooters by their fifth seasons. James does an outstanding job of drawing fouls and that creates free throw opportunities for his teammates by putting the Cavs in the bonus but if he does not show marked improvement in his shooting this year it is unlikely that he will become an .800 or better free throw shooter in the mold of Wilkins, Jordan and Bryant; note that except for Worthy, every player on the chart shot better from the free throw line in his fifth season than he did overall during his career.”
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “Zeke Battier slept. The world he joined five months before Election Night might have changed around him, and perhaps someday his father will tell him the way much of his life was transformed when he was just a baby. For now, Shane Battier considered the redemptive potential of change and believed that hope was not audacious at all. Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, and Battier thought that perhaps his son would never feel the sting of childhood labels, would never deal with the awkward uncertainty, never ask the questions that filled his father’s childhood. ‘I think I share a very similar experience to Obama from the standpoint we both grew up mixed in a black and white world,’ Battier, 30, said. ‘It’s a very different experience, and it’s something my white friends don’t fully understand and something my black friends don’t fully understand. It’s about being sort of in between always.’”
