Deceptively Quick: “Considering Portland’s strength of schedule, six wins is something to be proud of. The Blazers have victories over San Antonio, Houston, Minnesota (twice), Orlando, and Miami. The losses come from Los Angeles, Phoenix, Utah, and New Orleans. They have also won five out of their last six. Go ahead and be ecstatic over Rudy Fernandez. Rookie of the Year may not be enough, if he continues to contribute like this and the Blazers land in the playoffs he would be in the Sixth Man conversation as well. As of this posting, Rudy is #25 in the League in PER. That is better than any other rookie, and second on the team only to Brandon Roy. Another massively positive development has been the solid play of Greg Oden in the last two games. After all the injury-induced hysteria, nothing calms the nerves like watching Oden make solid contributions over the course of an evening. In his last two games he has averaged 12 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks in 24 minutes.”
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: “It was early in his first NBA start, and already Spurs rookie George Hill had made a mistake. He scraped past Tim Duncan on a high screen, then threw a perfect bounce pass to the power forward rolling to the basket. At least, it would have been a perfect bounce pass, had Duncan been 4-foot-11 instead of 6-foot-11. As the ball caromed off Duncan’s shin and out of bounds, giving the ball to the visiting New York Knicks, Hill shot a nervous glance at his head coach. Gregg Popovich responded with three encouraging hand claps and three encouraging words: ‘Let’s go, Georgie!’ With the Spurs crippled with key injuries, and with a kiddie corps of 20-somethings poised to play major minutes, Popovich sees little good in losing his cool over every inevitable miscue to come. ‘We’re going through some growing pains right now,’ Popovich said. Throughout the ups and downs of the Spurs’ 3-5 start, Popovich has been less fire-and-brimstone preacher and more X’s-and-O’s professor.”
SpursReport: Rockets announcer Matt Bullard tells viewers that former Spur Brent Barry thinks Bruce Bowen is a dirty player [Video]
Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee: “Now, while I have very little in common with billionaires or even millionaires, I disagree with very few of Joe Maloof’s points. I also appreciate his willingness to vent to us media types, even though the prudent move would have been to summon Theus privately and remind him he won the job with promises of a disruptive defense, an aggressive, entertaining offense and a consistently energetic, unwavering effort, etc., etc., etc. But putting Reggie’s immediate future in jeopardy only 10 games into the season? With Kevin Martin, Francisco García and Quincy Douby hurt for most (or all) of them? This is where I part ways with the chatty billionaire. The timing is lousy. The timing is all wrong. The reservations within the organization about Theus’ long-term future notwithstanding and the list of skeptics is lengthy and expanding placing this much pressure on the head coach is unfair and unwise.”
Wolves Watch: “The most obvious solution to this problem may be to fire Coach Wittman, and although that may help somewhat in the short run, it still comes down to the holes on this roster that make the team susceptible to a loss on any given night. The uncertainty at the point guard position, with Telfair as the starter but Foye getting more minutes, makes it really difficult for the team to have any consistency on offense, and that’s part of the reason they shut down offensively at the end of games. When the other team is really cranking their defense up, not having a guy at the point who can handle and distribute the ball is a real disadvantage for a team, especially when the best offensive player is a big man who is going to be taken out of the game with double teams.”
Marc J. Spears of the Boston Globe: “‘Listen, to play eight games in 12 days and then hang in there and win this game and go 7-1 in this eight-game stretch, you’ll take it,’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ‘If someone would have told me before [the season] that we’d go 7-1 during this stretch, I’d say I’d take it.’ Boston (9-2) will be without a game for two straight days for the first time since Nov. 2-3. The Celtics have won four straight road games and five straight against Milwaukee (5-6). The Celtics also were playing on back-to-back nights after losing to Denver in Boston a night earlier. ‘It was pretty grueling. I’m not going to lie,’ said Allen, a 13- year veteran. ‘That was one of the tougher stretches I’ve faced in my career.’”
Red’s Army: “The only shot Rajon Rondo hit last night was the shot he delivered to Paul Pierce’s temple. And at this point, his offensive production is hurting the Celtics almost as much as nearly taking out the captain. The Celtics are currently averaging 6 points less per game on offense this year. Their point differential is half of what it was last year. And a huge reason for that is Rajon Rondo’s lack of willingness to take the open shots he was taking last season. Let me get one thing straight: Rondo is still a defensive menace and he has shown no drop off in his ability to find his open teammates. He’s getting the ball to guys in spots all over the floor where they can finish. But he won’t do that for much longer if he doesn’t show a willingness to shoot.”
Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: “After a Nuggets game last week, Carmelo Anthony, in olive green slacks and matching dress shirt, squeezed the Windsor knot on his necktie, and then meticulously applied an autumn-leaf orange sport coat and then, yes, a scarf. Anthony entered this season promising maturity. After five first-round playoff oustings and rumblings about his inability to lead, Anthony has, at least, shown maturity in his fashion. First came the cutting of his cornrows — ‘I think he wanted a new beginning, a fresh start,’ Cleveland’s LeBron James said, ’so he decided to start it with cutting his hair.’ And whereas Anthony’s game-night wardrobe used to include baggy jackets, jeans and jewelry, this season he has made a point to wear neckties, sweaters and sweater-vests. He went from Will Smith to Carlton Banks.”
Marc J. Spears of the Boston Globe: “Green is averaging 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds. His highlights include a season-high 17 points against the Lakers, and a 13-point, 12-rebound game against the Clippers. ‘I remember when I used to take those last two minutes of a game for granted,’ Green said. ‘I wasn’t maximizing my opportunities. In Boston, I wish I would’ve maximized the opportunities I got. That’s what I am trying to do in Dallas.’ The Celtics shouldn’t be second-guessing themselves about Green since he helped them acquire Garnett, but Minnesota and Houston must be. Green was very green. ‘One of the things we always said about Gerald is you’ll never know if he can play until he grows up and matures as a person,’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ‘And it looks like he’s starting to do that.’ And now that he’s maturing and blossoming, Dallas (or his fifth NBA team) will reap the benefits.”
Bill Ingram of HOOPSWORLD: “‘You know, Mighty Mouse is what we call him, and he’s going to do a good job for us from here on out,’ says Dwight Howard. ‘He can shoot the ball, he can pass the ball, but I think the biggest area for improvement for Jameer is on the defensive end and pressuring the ball more. It starts with him on both ends. If he’s being aggressive on defense he kind of gets everybody else in line. On offense, pushing the ball and making us run is a good thing.’ It certainly is; in fact, the Orlando Magic are now 6-3 on the young season and tied for fourth in the incredibly tough Eastern Conference. It’s been Nelson, who has upped his scoring average to 12.7 this season, pushing the team to keep them winning.”
A. Sherrod Blakely of MLive.com: “When it comes to running drills in practice, you’ll find Rasheed Wallace somewhere near the end of the pack. ‘Saving my strength,’ he said recently. ‘That’s all.’ He certainly has needed to this season. The 34-year-old comes into tonight’s game averaging 36.1 minutes per game, the most he has averaged since becoming a Piston in 2004. Only four times in his 13 NBA seasons has he played more than that, with the most recent being in 2003 in Portland when he averaged 36.2 minutes per game.”
David Moore of The Dallas Morning News: “Eight months and the Atlantic Ocean separated Devin Harris from his days with the Mavericks. Harris was in Europe with his new team, the New Jersey Nets, to open the preseason. The first game was in Paris, the next in London. Once Harris got back to the states, his cell phone rang. It was Avery Johnson. The former Mavericks coach had watched the games on satellite and called to tell Harris what he was doing wrong. ‘I mean, he gives me a few tips here and there, things that he’s seen,’ Harris said. ‘He’s still a point guard, a very successful one. I like to pick his brain.’”
Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald: “Rose can already drive to the hoop and finish at the rim as well as any 6-foot-2 guard in the league. If defenders have to respect his outside shot on top of that, Rose will be nearly impossible to guard. Rose has been working on his outside shot relentlessly, in part because he wants to beat teammates like Ben Gordon, Demetris Nichols and Luol Deng in post-practice shooting contests. ‘I hate to lose,’ Rose said with a laugh. ‘We had contests today in practice and my team lost all three of them, but we’ll win some next time.’”
Terry Pluto of The Cleveland Plain Dealer: “After their first nine games heading into Saturday night, the Cavs are a much better offensive team than at any time in the Mike Brown Era. They are averaging 100.7 points, sixth-best in the league and well above the 96.4 (ranked 24th) last season. The reason is the addition of Mo Williams, the decision to sometimes play a small lineup with LeBron James at power forward and the revival of Delonte West (10.0 points, 54 percent shooting). James has said he’s faced the fewest double teams at any point in his six-year career, and that’s because opponents have to defend Williams, West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Cavs are shooting 48 percent, third best in the NBA.”
Ivan Carter of the Washington Post: “When the news broke that Wizards center Brendan Haywood was expected to miss four to six months with a wrist injury before the season even began, the Wizards expected to go through a painful adjustment period defensively. Indeed, Washington entered yesterday ranked 27th in the NBA in points allowed (104 per game) and 29th in opponents’ field goal percentage (48.9 percent). However, with two returning all-stars in forwards Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison and several players deeply familiar with Coach Eddie Jordan’s system, the Wizards didn’t expect to have issues scoring points. The Wizards (1-6) rank 23rd in scoring at 94.1 points per game — down from 98.8 last season — and are shooting 43.8 percent (18th) while averaging only 17.7 assists (25th).”
Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune: “Let’s give Lakers Coach Phil Jackson his due: He wins basketball games. If you want to offer the opinion that Jackson has been the fortunate beneficiary of having some of the greatest players in NBA history on rosters that he has coached — Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant come to mind — you’ll get no argument here. But when it comes to New Orleans, Jackson should keep his mouth shut.”
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: “Even after Shaquille O’Neal’s February arrival in Phoenix, the Suns scored more per game for the remainder of last season than they had averaged without him. Fast-break scoring was nearly a wash. What altered instantly was rebounding, a stat the Suns have won in 30 of 39 games with O’Neal. The real changes are O’Neal and the system. With an offense designed to post him more, O’Neal has been dominant at times with two 29-point games in the past week for his two highest scoring games since the 2006-07 season. ‘One of the things I’ve realized is he’s a different player than he was last season,’ forward Grant Hill said after O’Neal’s 43-minute, 29-point, 13-rebound, six-assist line in Phoenix’s overtime win Friday at Sacramento. ‘When he first came, there was an adjustment period and we got into a nice rhythm. I think he’s better than he was even when he was in that nice rhythm. So now we’re adjusting.’”
Jack McCallum of CNNSI.com: “It’s last Friday morning, and Brown has been up since six. It’s now eight, and his favorite time of day is two hours away. That’s when practice starts. ‘When I was out of coaching this last time [an interregnum that lasted two years after he was fired by the Knicks in June 2006], I didn’t miss some of the other stuff, like talking to guys like you,’ he says during an interview in his office at the arena. ‘But I did miss practices. The games are hard, worrying about whether you prepared the team enough and for the right things. But practice is always fun.’Despite ongoing complications from left-hip surgery four years ago, Brown looks fit and at least a decade younger than his 68 years. His energy—perhaps it comes from his beloved 103-year-old mother, Ann, whom he visits often at her assisted-living quarters in Charlotte—amazes the players. ‘The only time I think about how old he is,’ says reserve swingman Matt Carroll, ‘is when he calls me Adam Morrison.’ (Brown’s explanation? ‘I tell Matt and Adam [who shares Carroll's role] that I’m not used to coaching white guys,’ he jokes.)”
