The Fundamentals

Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus:  “Forgive me if I’ve got ratings on the brain. With the BCS prominently in the news, I’ve been thinking about how teams rank. Naturally, in the NBA this isn’t usually a big deal. For one thing, we have a playoff system that probably does the best job of any of the major sports of crowning the league’s best team as champion. For another, by year’s end schedules have largely evened out–conference imbalance aside–meaning that with the exception of the issues we statistical analysts raise with regards to point differential, records can be compared on a level playing field. A little over a month into the season, neither of those factors quite applies. We’re months away from the playoffs, and schedules are still uneven, especially when it comes to home/road differential. The Charlotte Bobcats have played 14 of their 20 games at home, while the Portland Trail Blazers have been on the road 15 times in 22 games, which makes their 15-7 start especially impressive. If there were an NBA BCS, it would face a challenging task picking between the three contenders who have separated themselves from the pack.”

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:  “Suddenly, the pieces are starting to fit. Need a defensive stopper? Yakhouba Diawara steps up Monday against the Bobcats’ Jason Richardson. Need a few timely 3-pointers? There is Mario Chalmers against the Thunder the game before. Defensive deterrence needed? How about four blocked shots in a decisive second-half sequence by Joel Anthony against the Jazz? An all-or-nothing shot at desperation time? That would be Chris Quinn in the corner against the Warriors. Sprinkle in a steal here against Golden State by Michael Beasley, an aggressive rebound there by Jamaal Magloire or some streak shooting by Daequan Cook, and the good feeling the Heat is enjoying clearly transcends Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem and Shawn Marion. To that end, Erik Spoelstra deserves credit for squeezing the most out of this roster. While it still mostly is all Dwyane all the time, there also has been deft use of the supporting parts.”

Tom Moore of The Dallas Morning News:  “The Mavericks will not reach their full potential until Howard returns. They do not threaten the league’s elite when he sits on the bench in a walking boot. This was painfully obvious in Tuesday night’s double-overtime loss to the Spurs. But Howard must accept something as well. When the forward returns, he will be the one who must adjust. He must respect the identity that has developed, which is the Mavericks are at their best when Jason Terry is the second offensive option behind Dirk Nowitzki, and J.J. Barea is part of the mix. A blow to Howard’s ego? He may take it that way. Howard has become increasingly sensitive to anything said or written since his indiscretions have become public fodder.”

Steve Adamek of The Record:  “Mike D’Antoni was nothing if not diplomatic Tuesday in discussing why he took the Knicks’ job instead of the Bulls’ and about the man who ended up with the latter, Vinny Del Negro. Which was better than saying he thought Del Negro, as an assistant to Suns’ GM Steve Kerr, helped stab him in the back in Phoenix, which is well known throughout the league. Which was also better than saying he much preferred working with Donnie Walsh, who’s given him carte blanche (e.g. the Stephon Marbury matter), than he would have with meddling Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and his GM, John Paxson.”

Alan Hahn of Newsday:  “The Cuttino Mobley situation is expected to be settled this week, when Mobley and his representation sit down with the Knicks to discuss the results of a battery of tests on his heart condition and what it means for his career. And if, as Steve Francis suggested last week, Mobley is forced to retire for medical reasons, the Knicks will have an interesting issue to take up with the NBA regarding what happens with Mobley’s contract and the roster spot. For instance, there are two elements of the collective bargaining agreement that the case could fall under. One would be the Disabled Player Exemption (DPE) and the other is the Medical Retirement clause. With the DPE, the Knicks would be allowed to sign a replacement for 50 percent of Mobley’s $9.1 million salary this season (a little over $4.5 million), even while being over the cap. The Medical Retirement only removes the salary from the payroll, but there are no exceptions that allow the capped-out Knicks to sign a replacement.”

Tim Kawakami of the San Josey Mercury News:  “Barring some amount of panic or brainlock, by my estimation and after conversations with scattered NBA execs, the Warriors’ Corey Maggette, who signed for five years and $50M just last summer, is quite close to the Untradeable Line. At least for another year or two, while that contract trundles forward and Maggette keeps firing up those quick jumpers. I say this pointing out that I recommended that the Warriors sign Maggette in the summer, once Baron Davis had departed. I say this after a few days ago typing that Maggette isn’t a terrible player, if he’s kept at small forward. But I also must acknowledge: Maggette came to the Warriors with a reputation as a brittle, single-minded, one-dimensional, selfish player, and that’s exactly what he has shown himself to be so far.”

Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger:  “Nobody expected this — at least not from the eighth-youngest team in the league. Except, well, wait — you, sir. The one with 34 on your shirt and rockets on your shoes. ‘We knew we were going to be a playoff team,’ Devin Harris said. ‘We knew we were going to be competitive. And we knew we could be a good team on the road. And we’re all that right now. ‘We’ve established how we want to play. All the things we talked about prior to the season, we’re accomplishing on the floor. So this surprises nobody, really. Not anybody around here, anyway.’ It would have been nice if he gave everybody a heads-up. Even at 25, the Nets point guard has the gravitas to speak this way.”

Forum Blue & Gold:  “The offensive side should be easier to fix. The Lakers need to run the triangle offense. They need to get the ball inside to their bigs more and get their jumpers on passes that go inside out. Bottom line, against Sacramento Gasol and Bynum combined to shoot 59% and get to the line 10 times. Good teams see that and go to that well over and over, not become an isolation team on the perimeter. The Kings tried to take the ball out of Kobe’s hand and he seemed to take it as a personal challenge. Just run the offense inside out and this team will thrive. On defense, some have concerns with the scheme, the traps and aggression the Lakers have shown. I think at the NBA level, defense is more about desire, about who wants it worse, than it is about schemes and pure talent. Right now, the Lakers do not look like a team that cares about defense, and they get away with that bad habit because they can still win games that way. A lot of games. But not a title.”

Bill Livingston of The Plain Dealer:  “Minutes earlier, James had almost reluctantly grabbed a missed free throw by Toronto’s Jermaine O’Neal. He shot a quick, admonishing glance at Z after taking it. It showed how much his teammates care about Z. It also showed how little individual goals mean to the object of their affection. ‘It means more to me what Z did than what I did myself,’ said James, who broke the Cavaliers’ career steals record in the first minute of a rout over Toronto Tuesday night. ‘It will be something I will cherish, one of the top moments,’ said Ilgauskas. ‘But it was good to get it out of the way in the first half and go play the game.’ It was fitting that Z and James set their records on the same night. Few players have more respect for each other.”

Ryne Nelson of SLAM: LeBron Channels His Inner Mailman [Video]

Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune:  “The Hornets are wearing throwback Bucs uniforms tonight, honoring the memory of the Crescent City’s first professional basketball team, which came within a game of capturing the first ABA title, led by the diminutive individual — Larry Brown — now wearing designer suits while leading the Bobcats. Red Robbins was a 6-foot-8 center on that Buccaneers’ team that was orchestrated on the floor by Brown, who led the league in assists during the inaugural 1967-68 season, one in which the Brown-led Bucs lost in seven games to the Connie Hawkins-led Pittsburgh Pipers. Tonight, there’ll be another little guard — wearing No. 3 — handing out assists in throwback duds who’s leading the NBA in that category. And it’ll bring Robbins, for one, back to those days when the Bucs played at Loyola Field House. ‘Larry was the best I ever saw until I saw Chris Paul bring the ball down the floor, ‘ Robbins said.”

Tyson Chandler for NBA.com:  “It’s a totally different feeling with a boy. First of all, Sacha’s attitude was very noticeable when she was a baby. So, that’s one huge factor. And when you have a girl, you’re like, ‘That’s my little angel. I’m going to protect her.’ But when you have a boy, it’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s my little man.’  The way you think is totally different from the way you think about your little girl. She’s like Daddy’s little sweetheart, but he’s my little man. It’s just two different things. You’re thinking about fishing trips, playing sports and all that stuff. I’m already thinking ahead about how I’m going to act when he starts playing sports, and how I’m going to communicate with him and help him without putting pressure on him, or without being overwhelming. I’m already thinking about that stuff. Sacha came out at 22 inches long, and my son came out at 20 inches long. But my daughter did come a week after her due date and my son came two weeks before his due date. So, I’m hoping that’s what it is, because if my daughter stole all my genes and my son is going to take after wife, I’m going to be one upset father.”

CelticsBlog:  Record Pace, Reasonable Minutes

Empty the Bench:  Ranks all 30 NBA teams in order of youngest to oldest

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel:  “Magic F Brian Cook was unapologetic for taking action and retaliating after teammate Dwight Howard was thrown to the floor Monday night in the final period by L.A. Clippers F Zach Randolph. Cook shoved Clippers PG Baron Davis a few possessions later, drawing a Flagrant 1 foul — the same penalty Randolph had received for his mugging of Howard. He also suggested teammates must immediately protect each another and send a message at times — physically. ‘I was upset because, I mean, it was a flagrant foul. [Howard's] my teammate. Everybody should be over there. … Everybody should be over there,’ Cook said, repeating himself to emphasize the point. I know it was a key point in the game, but you can’t let people treat people like that.’”

Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:  “In the games immediately following the losses to the Blazers, Lakers, Spurs, Pacers and Grizzlies, Yao has averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds, making 52.2 percent of his shots in those games. Those are not dominant numbers, but they win. So far, when the Rockets lose, the next chance they get, they win. No one game proves anything, no matter how loud the shouts after a loss or cheers following a win. But if you never lose two in-a-row, you can accomplish some things. ‘Actually, that’s a good thing when you have a tough loss to come back strong, because we are mad,’ Yao said. ‘We feel bad about those losses. We cannot forgive ourselves to play a game like last night. It’s really tough. You want somebody to pay for it, your next opponent.’”

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star:  “The former Indiana Pacers forward still is learning how to play alongside Chris Bosh, the Toronto Raptors’ All-Star forward and first option on offense. O’Neal also has been dinged up — no surprise to Pacers fans — and his coach was fired last week. But despite the early hiccups and subpar stats, O’Neal is at peace. That wasn’t the case his final two years in Indiana, he said. ‘I really didn’t feel wanted from a management standpoint of view,’ he said during a telephone interview Tuesday, one day before facing his former teammates for the first time. ‘There were comments made behind the scenes. You just want to feel support. ‘If you don’t have a relationship with the person that runs the team, you want to move on. Nobody can do their best job if they don’t feel like they’re wanted.’ O’Neal’s comments were directed at Pacers president Larry Bird.”

Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune:  “McHale coached 31 games after firing Flip Saunders a few years ago, and needed to be talked into this second stint. Tuesday, he repeated his complaints about NBA travel. So on one bench last night there was Sloan, a good NBA player born to be a coach who has never wavered in his commitment to his vocation, and on the other bench there was McHale, a great NBA player who considers coaching a hobby that impinges on his lifestyle. The shame of this is that McHale, given the right attitude, would make a wonderful coach. As many shots as he deserves for his construction of the Wolves, McHale did good work the last time he paced the sideline, when he took a team rife with resentments and contract disputes that had tuned out Flip Saunders and went 19-12. When McHale coached that team, you could see design on offense and effort on defense.”

Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune:  “Let me say it again, once and for all: It’s an absolute shame the NBA scheduled Jerry Sloan’s 20th anniversary game on the road. The Timberwolves announced a crowd of 10,745 for the game. If you walked out for the opening tip, you’d have sworn you’d seen bigger crowds for high school games. They had a 5th grade chorus sing the national anthem in an empty arena. One fan brought a sign pleading to bring back Flip Saunders as coach. I don’t know whether the NBA dropped the ball or the Jazz didn’t push hard enough when it came to scheduling, but there’s no way Tuesday’s game should have been played anywhere but EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. Even if Sloan didn’t care about the milestone, if I was a Jazz fan paying thousands of dollars for season tickets, I would have felt cheated not getting to attend Tuesday’s game. There might not be another NBA coach in our lifetime who stays in one job for 20 years, and the milestone should have been acknowledged properly.”

Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News:  “‘I have no doubt that Jerry has been remarkable in his longevity,’ Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before Tuesday’s 133-126 double-overtime victory at Dallas. ‘I also have no doubt there’s no way I’ll get to 20 as a coach.’ Popovich, who took over on the Spurs’ bench 18 games into the 1996-97 campaign, has spent each of his 13 seasons as a head coach with the team. He is under contract through the end of the 2011-12 season, not coincidentally expiring at the same time as Tim Duncan’s latest deal. After that, who knows? Just don’t expect to see Popovich around to pick up his 20-year service pin in 2016. ‘You have to really love it to want to do it for that long,’ Popovich said. ‘For me, that’s too long. I have other things that I might want to do.’”

Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post:  “It’s possible that our guy here in Denver, George Karl, could become a ‘Basketball Man.’ A former player, he’s been a head coach in the NBA since 1984 – with a stint overseas – and on Tuesday, Karl said he will ‘probably stay in coaching a long time, but I don’t know if it’ll be in the NBA. It will be maybe at a lower level or a lower position.’ The 57-year-old Karl is coaching his fifth NBA team, and still enjoys the process of coaching. He hinted that when his Denver days are over – though there is no timetable set – he could go overseas, especially if his son, Coby, ends up as a player there. That, I think, would be pretty cool. George Karl is already a pretty wealthy guy, but he would keep coaching because its his passion – and he could pass the passion along to his son.”

Bill Ingram of HOOPSWORLD:  “The Atlanta Hawks were unstoppable to start the 2008-09 season. They jumped out to a 6-0 start by defeating the likes of the Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, and New Orleans Hornets, and came within one Paul Pierce miracle shot of going to 7-0 with a win over the defending NBA champs. Unfortunately, the injury bug hit hard the next night, claiming Josh Smith for 12 games due to an ankle sprain. The Hawks’ losing streak would hit four before they righted the ship. Atlanta would win four of their next six before Smith’s return, something head coach Mike Woodson points to as progress for his team. ‘It says a lot about our team,’ Woodson told HOOPSWORLD. ‘I think if we hadn’t lost that Celtics game we probably wouldn’t have lost four in a row. That kind of just smacked us for a loop. We celebrated a little too soon, thinking we had that game won, and then Paul Pierce makes a pretty good play and wins the game. But we survived that 0-4 steak. We could have easily continued to lose, but guys stepped up and made a conscious effort to turn things around.’ That’s something that wouldn’t have happened with this young Hawks team in the past, and it’s a sign that the team is growing up.”

Chris McCosky of The Detroit News:  “Philadelphia thought it made itself a contender in the East by adding the low-post muscle of Elton Brand. Turns out the 76ers are struggling in the half-court, and their best chance of winning might be with the small-ball lineup they used last season. And the Pistons? They have struggled to find a complementary frontcourt player to fit alongside Wallace since Ben Wallace left. Now, at least for the short term, they have given up on that. They are moving Tayshaun Prince to power forward and deploying three guards. Who knows where all of this is headed? It could be just a phase — though I don’t see a huge influx of traditional low-post players coming any time soon. And the wide-open play, speed and athleticism are fun to watch. But I don’t know how legitimate it is. Four of the top five teams play big ball, and no small-ball team has won a title in the modern era.”

Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports:  “Already, there is speculation among some general managers, who also happen to represent the vast majority of NBA conspiracy theorists, that the Knicks have locked up both James and Bosh. ‘It’s a total setup,’ said one. Bosh smiles at such talk. He played with James and Wade during Team USA’s march to the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, and admits the subject of someday teaming together was an occasional topic of conversation. But never more so than when James used the roster’s star-filled alliance as a rallying cry. James told his Olympic teammates that he had always wanted to play with a center like Dwight Howard, with a point guard like Chris Paul. Now that all of them were surrounded with so much talent there would be no excuses if they didn’t win the gold medal. ‘Him just saying that kind of let us know that playing together would kind of be surreal,’ Bosh said.”