Mike Moreau of HOOPSWORLD: “Now as we compare both in the current day, with LeBron in Year 6 and Kobe in Year 13, Kobe is still the better individual defender and a consistently better foul shooter. James is the better rebounder, passer and a more dominant physical presence. He has also consistently been a better teammate and better leader. Last shot to win the game? Right now, it’s The Black Mamba. No one strikes more fear at crunch time, which may be the best comparison of all when trying to determine who is truly the best at this moment in time. Best player in the first five years of their career right out of high school? LeBron James in a landslide. Best player right now? That may have to wait until this summer, for a tie score in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, with each player guarding the other, and each with a chance to win it.”
Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register: “The discord arose after Ariza had the ball under the basket and passed it out to Vujacic on the wing. Rather than move it back to Ariza or another teammate, Vujacic just held it for a beat and then launched a 3-pointer out of the flow. The shot missed badly, and Vujacic was soon called for a foul, leading to an automatic timeout with 8:37 left in the second quarter. That’s when Ariza got in Vujacic’s face and stayed there as the players walked from the far corner of the court back toward the Lakers’ bench. Bryant shepherded Ariza toward the end of the bench and stood in his way while Ariza, who has a temper that his furtive demeanor belies, remained so keyed up that he just kept pacing. Jackson benched both Ariza and Vujacic. As play was resuming, Jackson did something he never does: He left his usual area and walked to the end of the bench to address the matter directly with Ariza.
Steve Aschburner of CNNSI.com: “‘He’s better than a player who spent four years in college,” McMillan said Saturday. ‘He’s been in big games his whole life. You can see that out on the floor. For years, he’s been the go-to guy on his team. We go to him here, too, but he’s also having to play off some of our other guys.” Said Fernandez, in improving English: ‘Brandon is a superstar. When he’s playing, he makes more space for the shooters.’ McMillan at times this fall has been muted in his praise of Fernandez — a noticeable shift from August — in what some Blazers insiders see as a motivational tactic, a way of challenging him and keeping him grounded. But get the Blazers’ coach talking about the potential of using Fernandez and Roy together in the backcourt — something they’ve done so far only in stretches of six or seven minutes — and his eyes light up.”
Tim MacMahon of The Dallas Morning News: “Van Gundy said it’s premature to make harsh judgments about the Mavs, but he sees a team that has lost a lot of depth in recent years. When we chatted, we didn’t know that Jerry Stackhouse and the Mavs were in the preliminary stages of a divorce. But Van Gundy, who said he hadn’t seen enough of Stack this season to determine how much he’d declined, believes the Mavs miss No. 42’s presence on the floor. ‘He has great, great, great competitive spirit,’ said Van Gundy, who described Stack as an underrated passer who can score in flurries. ‘He’s nasty, and he competes with tremendous will and spirit. To me, if he’s not capable of playing more minutes, they’ve not only lost his scoring punch off the bench but they’ve lost his heart.’”
Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: “Don’t expect any major moves right away for two very important reasons. First, the club still feels like its current roster can win. ‘I think guys are honestly really committed to turning this thing around,’ Clippers forward Marcus Camby said after practice Tuesday. ‘We still feel like we have a chance to make the playoffs. It may seem bleak because of where we’re at right now, but we still have 70-plus games to go.’ And second, because by league rules, nearly a quarter the roster can’t be traded until Dec. 15 because they were acquired in the offseason via trade. Three players are rookies, and the club has no intention of letting any of them go. So essentially, half the roster is off-limits until Dec. 15, which is 23 games into the season, approximately the amount of time club officials have always felt was necessary to fairly evaluate how all the pieces on this roster are fitting together.”
Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News: “The increased athleticism is not an accident. It is how Stefanski sees the modern NBA game, how he wants his team to be, and gives a defensive-oriented coach a chance to see his concepts come to life. ‘If we hang our hat on defense and really get after people, that will start our fastbreak,’ Stefanski said. ‘Our fastbreak has been good. I think we’re No. 1 in the league in fastbreaks, again 10 games into it . . . Each game, we have to get better, but I think it’s going to take a while for us to jell.’ They have a while, 72 games to be exact, until the playoffs they expect to be in are scheduled to commence. The Sixers are not only more athletic; most of their best athletes are also their youngest players - Lou Williams, Marreese Speights, Thaddeus Young. Why the Sixers have won three straight is no secret to Cheeks: It is the defense, he said. Defense gets them in the open court so there is less of the plodding halfcourt stuff that made them appear confused in the first few games.”
Dan Dunkin of PhillyBurbs.com: “The Elton Brand-adorned Sixers have shown some expected early growing pains. The unexpected development is that 20-year-old small forward Thaddeus Young is growing up unbelievably quickly. After 10 games he’s leading the team in scoring — a 16.3 average, .515 field-goal percentage and a stunningly good .394 percentage from 3-point land. The athletic, aggressive and intelligent 6-foot-8 gamer’s offensive diversity — scoring on offensive rebounds, fast breaks, spot-up jumpers and slashes to the hoop — stokes the imagination about what he can be. ‘And the amazing part,’ Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said, ‘is we don’t run any plays for him.’ Hmmm. Let me be the first to suggest you start doing that pretty soon, coach. Because ultimately, the kid will be the man. Thaddeus Young — not Elton Brand or Andre Iguodala — will be the face of this franchise.”
Steve Weinman of CelticsBlog: “This is a team that didn’t just jump out to a 6-0 start, but it did so with style, picking up four particularly noteworthy wins in that span. Orlando, Toronto and Philadelphia all project to be playoff teams in the East, and New Orleans is considered a title contender. That four of the first six wins came on the road and that the home opener included a comeback from a 23-point deficit only made the start all the more impressive. Even though losing to the Celts put a blemish on their record, the Hawks gave the champs everything they could handle in a 103-102 thriller. But it hasn’t been the same since then. The Hawks lost both ends of a home-and-home this weekend to a mediocre-at-best Nets, and they followed it up with the wipeout in Indiana. The team’s defensive efficiency has fallen to 21st in the league, and after giving up 100 points just once in their six wins, they have done so in each of the four losses.”
Cavs.com: Asks Jawad Williams, Tarence Kinsey and assistant coach Chris Jent what it’s like to play overseas
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: “The Bobcats are allowing only 93 points per game, but their collective opponent shoots 46.2 percent from the field (fifth-worst field-goal percentage defense in the league). Translation: There aren’t a lot of possessions per game when the Bobcats play, but there’s also not much the Bobcats do well defensively, either in preventing easy baskets or getting the ball back off misses (last in the league in defensive rebounds). One more interesting stat: The Bobcats have the third-worst assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA (1.11 assists for every turnover). That is a telling measure of a team’s offensive efficiency.”
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: “Sloan, who used to replace John Stockton at about the same time toward the end of the first quarter, has adapted in ways that might come as surprise to some. He’s strayed from only using Ronnie Brewer in the odd quarters and Korver in the even periods. On Monday, he kept the hot-shooting Miles in longer than usual. Even bringing Kirilenko off the bench was an unexpected move that has paid off. Though he calls zones ‘gimmicky,’ Sloan has also switched away from his preferred man-to-man defense multiple times this season depending on the situation. He did just that against the Suns, who scored 32 points against Utah’s man D in the first quarter and then cooled off against a Jazz zone for just 22 second-quarter points. Even this old dog doesn’t mind mixing in some new tricks if the end result helps the team out. ‘I’m trying to win,’ Sloan said. ‘That’s the only thing I’m trying to do.’”
Don Seeholzer of the Pioneer Press: “Miller is shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from the three-point line, and as Wittman noted, ‘That’s best by far from a perimeter standpoint of anybody we’ve got.’ The problem is Miller has put up just 87 shots, which ranks fourth on the team behind not only center Al Jefferson (165) but also guards Randy Foye (113) and Rashad McCants (95). Considering that six of the Wolves’ eight losses have come by six or fewer points, two or three extra shots per night by Miller could make all the difference, but he said he’s not going to change his style. ‘I’m not going to force any shots,’ he said. ‘That’s not the way you’re supposed to play basketball, I don’t think. It’s not the way I was raised to play basketball. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to play basketball the way it’s supposed to be played. If I have shots, I’m going to shoot them. If I don’t, I’m going to find other guys and hopefully make them better.’”
Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune: “Hornets All-Star guard Chris Paul has been surpassing records and milestones as fast as autumnal leaves fall, and each time he collects a steal in the next 12 games, he draws closer to the NBA mark for thefts in consecutive games. The record is held by former San Antonio Spurs guard Alvin Robertson, who had 105 consecutive games with a steal from Nov. 6, 1985, to Dec. 29, 1986. Paul ranks second with at least one steal in 93 games in a row.”
Marc Berman of the New York Post: “The Knicks (6-5) sliced with their words in the locker room afterward. They felt the Celtics rubbed it in with taunts and trash-talking, with Quentin Richardson naming Paul Pierce. Richardson sounded threatening, as if ready to brawl with Boston in the parking lot, saying he has ‘no respect’ for them and questioning their toughness. ‘I think a few of those guys know they can’t just say anything to us,’ a fuming Richardson said. ‘I’m just real curious to see what those guys will be saying if we weren’t in a basketball league and didn’t have referees. It wouldn’t be the same story. ‘They are the world champions, rah-rah-rah, but the tough part I don’t factor. Some of those guys have a ring, but you ain’t been in the league long enough to talk to people like that. I don’t have a lot of respect for that.’”
Detroit Bad Boys: Rasheed, Tayshaun, and Rip Hamilton make fun of Kwame Brown’s fashion sense [Video]
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: “For the past few weeks, Vaughn, 33, has been equal parts big brother, camp counselor and sounding board for Hill, 11 years his junior. ‘Jacque has helped me out with a lot of different things,’ Hill said. ‘He’s a real big part of my life right now.’ Off the court as much as on it, Vaughn has been a crucial cog in the Spurs’ three-game winning streak, which they will put to the test against the Chauncey Billups-led Denver Nuggets tonight at the AT&T Center. He is the closest thing to a player-coach the Spurs have going. In that, Vaughn is only paying forward the veteran guidance he received when he was a rookie with Utah in 1997. There, one of his mentors was future Hall of Famer John Stockton. ‘I remember when I was a rookie,’ Vaughn said. ‘What I want to do, if there’s a question, (Hill) should always feel free to come to me — any time, any day.’”
Waiting For Next Year: “At 9-2, we are seeing what looks like it could be the best team in Cavaliers history. It’s hard to go against the 2 Mark Price era Cavaliers teams that won 57 games, and it’s way too early to start making such comparisons, but it’s hard not to be encouraged by this team. A game like this, a pure trap game that in past years you would have expected the Cavaliers to struggle with and even possibly lose, the Cavaliers are putting them away with ease this year. They are taking care of business against teams they should beat.”
Wendell Maxey of HOOPSWORLD: “While the schedule makers sit comfy in a league office in New York, Nate McMillan and company still have to play 82 games regardless. Yet sitting at 6-5 on this young season the Blazers have already accomplished a feat they didn’t achieve last season until December 16 at Denver – they’ve won three road games. They won a total of 13 road games all of last season. So while Portland has overcome their initial sticker shock of the NBA schedule and have managed to find ways to win away from the Rose Garden (despite a Tuesday night loss at Golden State), the Blazers continue to look themselves. No doubt they boast an impressive roster – Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Fernandez. The list goes on. But do the Blazers know what they are capable of this season? Do they know who they are? Not yet.”
Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times: “To the crack of the bat, the cadence of the quarterback and the thwack of a tennis racket, add a new element to America’s sports soundtrack — the shrieks, cries and shouts of N.B.A. players as they try to put the ball in the basket. In part, the emoting is designed to deceive, with players trying to persuade referees they were fouled in the act of shooting, even if they were not. It is hardly a new tactic, but it has become a more popular one and is now as much a sound of the game as the squeaking of sneakers. ‘Anytime anybody goes to a hoop, they yell or scream,’ said Bernie Fryer, who has seen it all, and now heard it all, as a former N.B.A. player and referee who now oversees league officiating. ‘You hear it all the time. It’s kind of like a tennis player who grunts every time he hits the ball.’”
