The Fundamentals

Michael Cunningham of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:  “Spoelstra has been able to manage Wade’s minutes: He has played 36.8 minutes a game, ranking just 24th-most in the league and so far the lowest average since his rookie season of 2003-04 (34.9). Spoelstra said he is mindful of minutes considering the Heat’s new faster-paced philosophy. He doesn’t want to wear out his main guys but doesn’t doubt Wade could go longer. ‘No question he is in the best shape of his career,’ Spoelstra said. Physical conditioning has never been an issue for Wade. He said the difference now is that he can train harder since he is feeling healthy for the first time in a long time. ‘When you are [hurt] and trying to get in shape, it’s not the same,’ Wade said.”

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal:  “After leading the U.S. men’s basketball team to Olympic gold this summer, LeBron James was expected by many to show some wear and tear this season. That’s not necessarily the case. One of the benefits of the Cavs blowing their opponents off the floor: James rests plenty. After the past four seasons, when he’s averaged more than 40 minutes per game, the superstar forward’s minutes have taken a relatively big tumble thus far this season to just above 35 per game. Coach Mike Brown discussed reducing James’ playing time after he returned from China this summer. ‘I don’t want to do anything that will affect his career or his family’s well-being,’ Brown said.”

Jeff Caplan of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:  “During the rocky start, Nowitzki met several times with Carlisle behind closed doors to discuss the team’s direction, why players were uncomfortable with the offense and how to go about finding a more complementary mix. ‘The last two weeks I like what we’re running,’ Nowitzki said. ‘We’re mixing it up with moving plays, pick-and-roll plays, simple stuff, and I just think we found a good mix with coach together.’ The Mavs have increased their scoring to 100.2 a game, one of eight teams to average at least 100. Improvement has come at the other end, too. Dallas ranks third in field-goal percentage defense (42.6). While this run of success has hardly been flawless, Nowitzki said it became possible through teamwork at a critical juncture when fracturing seemed not only possible, but also plausible.”

John Reid of The Times-Picayune:  “Since mid-November, West has been more active on the offensive end, taking the ball to the basket even after drawing double-teams. He has made 48 percent of his shots and is the team’s second-leading scorer, with a 20-point average. Against Phoenix, he grabbed 10 defensive rebounds and made six of 12 shots, scoring 23 points. ‘I like that D-West is an all-purpose guy for us, ‘ said Paul, who leads the Hornets with a 20.6-point average. ‘Whatever we need, he usually does it.’ With enormous expectations this season, Scott wants West to give the same all-out commitment defensively as he does offensively. ‘At times, he still has to understand where he is forcing guys to the help, and a lot of that comes with not only him understanding who he is playing but the guys also talking to him and telling him where to lead them, ‘ Scott said. ‘But there’s no doubt he has made some strides; there’s no doubt about it. But like I tell everybody, we can still get better in that area.’”

Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger:  “His game is all about sustained high speed, but there is something extraordinary about Devin Harris’ game, and it has to do with front-end collisions. One of the hardest things to do in the NBA — at least for those who weigh 182 or 183 pounds — is to take a body check from a 250-pound defender and still finish the play, but it is something that the Nets point guard has excelled at this season. Harris claims it’s all about practice and weight training. But he also says he weighs around 190 pounds, which no one believes.”

SLC Dunk:  “AK-47 is arguably the best offensive player on the Jazz.  Now before you laugh, you must realize that AK is certainly the most efficient offensive player on the team.  His offensive numbers ( 12.6 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 offensive rebounds) are impressive when you consider that he rarely has the ball in his hands and shoots less often than 10 other Jazz players.  In fact, AK takes a shot every 3.6 minutes he’s on the floor compared to the most shot-happy player on the team, Carlos Boozer who shoots every 2.3 minutes.  He is 3rd on the team in field goal percentage (48 %) and has the most assists for a player that isn’t a point guard.  But the thing that might be the most impressive is how often he gets to the free throw line.  John Hollinger mentioned that Andrei gets to the free throw line more than he used to, last week in his “most surprising performances” piece.  I decided to look into this statistic.  Getting to the free throw line is so important, because free throws are free points if you make them and it gives you a chance to get everyone back on defense.  I will warn you: these free throw stats are surprising. Andrei Kirilenko shoots a free throw every 5.15 minutes that he is on the floor.”

Blazer’s Edge:  “Kevin Garnett had his bag of tricks open again tonight.  The crowning moment came when he got down like a dog on all fours after Jerryd Bayless on an inbounds play late in the fourth.  (I don’t know if the local TV cameras caught it but the ESPN cameras did.)  The national announcers were flabbergasted, saying they’d never seen anything like that.  I am not into giving Garnett credit or attention for his antics but that grandstanding, combined with the drubbing we took, needs to be enough.  I will tell you that should that ever be repeated I would have zero problems with Bayless or anyone else turning and kneeing Garnett upside the head when he’s down there like that.  Either that or fire a bounce pass hard off the floor and up into his face.  I know a suspension would follow, but how long could it be after provocation like that?  The guy was down on all fours crawling across the court in a game where his team was up by 13.  If this were the old ABA back in the 60’s and 70’s somebody would have done worse than that.  They probably would have slapped him in a headlock or laid an elbow across the back of his neck for showing them up and then the benches would have cleared.” [Via Tom Ziller]

Ian Thomsen of CNNSI.com:  “‘I’m very serious about what I want to accomplish in my life. I’ve talked to a couple of the great players — Hakeem [Olajuwon], Dikembe [Mutombo], Patrick, even Tony Battie — that while I’m young, while I’ve got all my talent and my legs, my body, I’ve got to try to get as much done as I can now instead of trying to wait until I get older. Start building now while I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m still kind of raw, so try to do as much as I can now to put myself at a level where I’ll be remembered for something. Not just for a dunk contest as Superman, but for other things — blocking shots, rebounding, stuff like that.” If Howard is playing at 25 percent of his potential, the rest of the league isn’t looking forward to the day he crosses the 50 percent threshold. ‘Once he gets that 5-to-10-foot range taken care of, it’s over,’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of Howard’s mid-range jump shot. ‘I mean, it’s over. And it’s going to happen, because he works on it. He’s one young player who works diligently on his game. I hear about him all summer, I know where he’s at, my son works out with him. So you just know it’s coming.’”

Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News:  “Nuggets coach George Karl said he has delegated assistant coaches this season to primarily deal with guard J.R. Smith, and doesn’t believe he has a communication problem with him. Smith earlier this week said he and Karl ‘never talk’ and he wished they would because ‘you never want to not even talk to your coach.’ ‘Six months ago, basically it was better we felt to communicate through other people because of the anger, frustration, stubbornness, whatever the phrase is,’ said Karl, who has had some clashes with Smith since his 2006 Denver arrival. ‘I’ve done it with other players. I don’t have one-on-one sitdowns with every player on our team. There are assistant coaches who walk J.R. through what I want probably on a daily basis.’”

Jason Friedman of Rockets.com:  “After wins, the rugged forward emphasizes everything he and his team need to do to realize their seemingly enormous potential. Following losses, Artest shifts gears and becomes the world’s biggest optimist, promising better days as the club learns to absorb the lessons offered in defeat. For some (read: those of us in the media), such comments can often come across as boring and bland. Others might find Artest’s analysis strangely counter-intuitive: How can someone be so seemingly upbeat after losses and critical after wins?  But the reality is that this approach is more than a decade in the making for a man who owes so much of his effectiveness to his nearly unmatched passion and fire.”

Charley Rosen of FOXSports.com:  “While Corey Maggette is a quick, powerful and talented scorer — especially when he attacks the hoop — he’s also incredibly selfish. Forget about the points he scored (23 on 7-for-14 shooting), the most telling stat is his touches-to-shots ratio. For the game, Maggette had his hands on the ball in the offensive half of the court 29 times, and passed the ball only nine times. The other 20 possessions resulted in his shooting the ball, turning it over or being fouled in the act of shooting. At the other end, Maggette — like most of his teammates — wasn’t particularly interested in playing defense.”

Scott Nadler of DraftExpress:  Rookie Retrospective: Derrick Rose

Basketbawful:  Happy (early) Birdmas!!

Lang Whitaker of SLAM:  With a GREAT take on the Marbury situation

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News:  “The guy some fans refer to as Jerry Sloan Jr. – and if they don’t, maybe they should – was back on the court for the Utah Jazz tonight. And while Matt Harpring got plenty of playing time, his coach wasn’t about to give him much sympathy for bouncing back into action four days after getting an epidural shot to relieve pain in his strained lower back. He missed five games with that injury. When asked after Utah’s 114-87 win over the Raptors if he’s ever seen someone play so soon after getting that type of a shot to the spine, Sloan quickly responded: ‘Myself. I’ve had about eight of them. I’ve come back every time. Matt’s not that tough.’”

Chris Bosh for FanHouse:  “What’s up?! I know…. It’s been a while since I’ve written. A lot has happened, but I’ll keep it brief. As you all know, we recently had a coaching change. First of all I would to thank Sam Mitchell for everything that he gave to the organization. I wish him nothing but success as he moves on in the future. Tonight is our first game under Jay Triano. I’m comfortable with Jay because he’s been with the Raptors since I’ve been there. I think he is going to do a great job. As a team we have to make sure we bounce back and play the type of basketball I know we can play.”

Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune:  “An 11-year veteran on Canada’s national team, Triano went to training camp with the Jazz in 1984, but he remembered his stay ending once a certain rookie point guard from Gonzaga arrived. ‘I remember watching TV in my room,’ said Triano, who was roommates with Kenny Natt, ‘and they were talking about how great this Canadian kid’s doing, [saying], ‘If John Stockton doesn’t want to sign the rookie contract we’re giving him, then this Canadian kid’s doing well. ‘The next day we’re stretching for practice and John Stockton walked in, he had signed his deal, and I got the tap on the shoulder that said, ‘Coach would like to see you,’ and I was gone. I think they made the right choice.’”

Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News:  “The Nuggets generally have looked like knights in shining armor since the arrival of point guard Chauncey Billups. Still, there are a few chinks in that armor. The Nuggets (13-7) are 12-4 since Billups first suited up following his Nov. 3 acquisition from Detroit. But they are 4-4 in that stretch against teams with winning records, dropping them to 4-6 this season in such games. The Nuggets did score a huge Nov. 14 win at defending champion Boston. But in the past 1 ½ weeks, they’ve lost at the Pepsi Center to New Orleans and San Antonio, two teams some observers believe the Nuggets should beat at home to be regarded as an upper-echelon outfit.”

Jamie Samuelsen of the Detroit Free Press:  “The Pistons are unique. They’ve been one of the best in the league because they’ve never relied too much on one guy. Six different guys could be the leading scorer on any night, and they still win. There aren’t too many other teams this decade (Spurs? Mavs?) that could say that. So if Iverson became the A.I. of 2001 every single night, it would disrupt one of things that made this team what it is. I have to keep reminding myself that Iverson is here to win, not just help the salary cap. He’s not supposed to be some sort of sideshow who will just entertain the fans like Automotion or Hooper or Amir Johnson (just kidding, just kidding). I’m mildly disappointed that watching Pistons games hasn’t changed all that much. The wow factor hasn’t been quite what I expected.”

Chris McCosky of The Detroit News:  “Late game situations have exposed Stuckey’s inexperience, as well as, to a lesser extent, Michael Curry’s. They both have the same fiery competitive nature, which serves them both well most of the time. But there are situations, particularly late game crisis points, where a cool, confident hand is needed and right now, that hand is missing. The Pistons, in both the Blazers loss and the 76ers loss, seemed to get panicky and lost poise down the stretch and nobody stepped up to take control. Here’s the question. Wouldn’t that be the time for Allen Iverson to take control? Everybody (well, fans and media) are asking the Pistons to let Iverson be Iverson. Well, who’s stopping him? Where was he in the fourth quarter? He was 1 for 2, three points, one fatal turnover down the stretch in 11 minutes. He had two points and was 1 for 3 in seven minutes against Portand in the fourth. If this is going to work, Iverson has to start asserting himself when the game is on the line.”

Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer:  “There it is. The win. The win for which we were all waiting: The one that makes a statement. Sure, the Pistons aren’t the Lakers or the Celtics. Sure, they’re struggling with adding Allen Iverson into the mix. Sure, at one point the 76ers were down 15 points – late in the third quarter. This is – by far – the best win of the season for the Sixers, who are now 9-11. There is one glaring problem, though: What about Elton Brand? Is it odd that the best performance of the season came with Brand in a different city, sidelined with a strained right hamstring?”

Clips Nation:  “There’s no such thing as a quality loss.  If you have a chance to beat the Nuggets on the last shot, and you miss, it’s a loss.  Period.  Nothing quality about it.  Certainly nothing quality about losing a 12 point lead in the last 5 minutes in Dallas. Much more telling than the team’s mis-adventures in losing close games to decent (not even particularly good, just decent) teams is their record against the bad teams.  The Clippers have now played 4 games against teams with 5 or fewer wins.  They are 1 and 3 in those games, and none of the three losses were close.  (Some red hot three point shooting at the end of the Kings game made the final score respectable, but the game was not really close.) This, dear Citizens, is a bad team. I’m not really sure why they’re as bad as they are.  The parts seem to be pretty good.  But the total is clearly less than the sum of the parts – call them the inverse synergy team.”

Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee:  “Entering Friday, they ranked 28th in points allowed per game (105.1), 29th in opponents’ field-goal percentage (47.95), and 30th in opponents’ three-point percentage (43). But with swingman John Salmons (strained left thigh) expected to return to face the Nuggets and a full-strength roster for the first time this season, the Kings know the losses will continue to pile up if they don’t lock down defensively. The factors range from the effect of youth and inexperience on this roster to the reality that injuries have led to eight starting lineups and inconsistent rotations. Theus, who works with assistant Chuck Person to handle defense, said the recent woes have started on the perimeter. ‘I’ve said this to Beno, (that) I sympathize with him because I’ve been in that position,’ Theus said. ‘But it starts up front. He has to put the effort in up front so that it filters back to the other guys. That’s the responsibility of a point guard.’”

Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com:  “How much longer Wittman continues to lead the team down that path remains to be seen, but McHale’s body language and facial expression spoke volumes Friday night. Remember, Minnesota was a .500 team with a true superstar and emotional leader back on the January morning in 2007 when Casey was blindsided by his firing and Wittman took over. They haven’t been over .500 since — except for those wondrous, heady days earlier this season when they emerged from October with a glistening 1-0 mark — and even as McHale decides whether Wittman is the right man to coach them, Taylor must eventually decide whether McHale remains the best person to run them.”

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:  “In the first 10 games of the season, the Rockets averaged 91.5 points per game, reaching 100 just once. If they were averaging 91.5 per game now, they would rank 29th in the NBA. In the 10 games since, they have averaged 101.66. That would rank fifth in the NBA. They have scored 100 seven times in the past 10 games and are 8-0 this season when scoring 100. The ball movement has been better. Yao Ming has been better. His teammates have been better at looking for him, returning the ball to him inside when he gives it up and then battles for better position. They have grown accustomed to running their offense through him again and he has become increasingly determined to attack, sometimes even when double-teamed. Everything looks better when the shots go in, and the Rockets’ 3-point shooting has been ridiculous lately (51.6 percent in the past three games).”

Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic:  “As this season began, O’Neal was going to be a post-up option in the offense, and he repeated his deference to Amaré Stoudemire, saying he would settle for fewer shots and touches. Instead, O’Neal went from 8.2 shots a game with the Suns last season to 9.6 this season and more-frequent touches. He has talked about championships being won from the inside-out and mentions an affinity for regular double-digit shot games. He had seven consecutive games of 10 or more shots before the Suns’ current four-game losing streak, during which he has played three times and taken 6.7 shots per game. But between O’Neal’s presence and coach Terry Porter bringing in an offense that resembles the one run by the Detroit team he left, the Suns feel their offensive strengths have been swallowed up in awkward adjustments and resistance.”

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register:  “As dominant a defender as Bryant can be, Jackson has awfully high expectations of him — as Jackson always has in the past when dismissing a gambling Bryant’s All-Defensive Team nominations from opposing coaches as rubbish. ‘We’re trying to work with Kobe in staying inside the team framework of how we play defense,’ Jackson said. Jumping passing lanes for steals is a huge part of the Lakers’ new swarming defense based on zone principles, but Jackson said the new alignment makes it even more dangerous if Bryant gambles for steals too much. ‘Because he’s such a good defensive player with great anticipation, sometimes he might take a foray into the steal market and come away empty-handed, which compromises our defense,’ Jackson said. ‘The way we’re playing our defense now, it really does (compromise us), because we overload (one side of the court) and sometimes it leaves us naked.’”

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:  “Lakers Coach Phil Jackson did not like what he saw, so he picked up a marker and started writing on the white board in the locker room. When he was done, Dallas, New Orleans, Phoenix, Indiana, Philadelphia and Washington were arranged in a neat vertical line, representing the teams that had come back from double-digit deficits in the second half against the Lakers. Derek Fisher, a veteran of five NBA Finals and 13 seasons, took it a step further. He approached the board and wrote ‘Boston Finals,’ followed by the number 24, a reference to the 24-point lead the Lakers blew in a Game 4 loss to the Celtics in last season’s championship round. On one hand, the Lakers improved to 16-2. On the other hand, nobody seemed excited about it.”

Jeff Eisenberg of The Press-Enterprise:  “Jackson said he plans to bring his reserves in earlier in the third quarter and then remove them by the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter, ensuring that he finishes the game with his best lineup on the floor while still being cautious not to overtax his stars. The change was inspired by a disastrous fourth-quarter stretch on Friday in which the backups surrendered a 10-0 Wizards run that forced Jackson to reinsert Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol with 5:41 remaining and the Lakers’ lead down to nine. The second unit also contributed to Tuesday night’s breakdowns, throwing up quick shots and turning the ball over to help Indiana overcome a 16-point deficit. ‘I think it’s poor coaching, putting too much trust or faith in a young second unit that perhaps can’t hold it on the road,’ Jackson said. ‘They can’t withstand the fury or intensity of the fourth-quarter game, so I’m going to have to change it up a little bit.’”