Ian Thomsen of CNNSI.com: “This image of the two stars yelling at one another led a reporter to ask West after the game if his relationship with Paul was in trouble. ‘No, it’s nothing,’ West recalled saying. ‘I was just on him about missing a free throw when we were trying to put the team away, and things happen like that.’ Said Hornets coach Byron Scott: ‘On the court, people probably would misconstrue their conversations because they are screaming and yelling.’ Scott said this because he himself has misconstrued those arguments. ‘I asked them a couple of years ago if they were having problems,’ the coach said. ‘Because I didn’t know. I’m looking at them screaming at each other, and I had to pull them to the side individually and say, ‘CP, are you having a problem with D-West?’ ‘D-West, are you having a problem with CP?’ And they’re like, ‘No, coach, we’re cool.’ And I’m like, ‘Are you sure? Because I see you guys screaming and yelling.’ But they both said, ‘Coach, we’re just trying to win.’”
John Reid of The Times-Picayune: “The latest Paul has gone before getting a steal 3:12 remaining in the fourth quarter against Portland last January. Paul did not get his first steal in Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors until 5:44 remained in the game. ‘He studies the game a lot,” said Hornets guard Devin Brown said. ‘What I mean by that C.P. is always watching teams on tape because he loves the game of basketball. He knows what certain teams are going to run and he makes the most of it. Brown, who grew up in San Antonio, said as a kid he used to attend Spurs games and watched Robertson play. Brown said also he played pick-up games when he played at Texas-San Antonio with Robertson. ‘I know what type of player Alvin was, seeing him first-hand. He guarded everybody on the floor,” Brown said. ‘So it’s a tremendous honor for C.P. to have the record among everything else he is going to do.’ Prior to playing the Spurs, Paul had helped the Hornets win seven of their previous nine games. When the Paul was the free throw line with 17.1 seconds, the crowd began to chant MVP. Paul seemed to enjoy the scene, flashing a smile.”
Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star: “‘I don’t think our guys stopped competing,’ coach Jay Triano said after the game. ‘I can’t fault our effort. We just can’t sustain what we start.’ If the coach is satisfied with the effort, that means however it can get here, these guys need help. They’ve already used up the coaching change, so forget anything there. They can’t get any rest or stretch of extended practice time, so perhaps Bryan Colangelo will be forced to pull the trigger on a trade to change the atmosphere – with all due respect to the impending debut of Jake Voskuhl. The Raps now set out on a six-game western trip – three on each side of Christmas – and don’t play at home again until New Year’s Eve. If that one is anything like this one, at least some early celebrators in the stands won’t feel any pain. Going west is never a recipe for success and, while it’s still early in the season, at 10-15 with at least four losses looking possible if not likely on this trip, they can dig themselves a hole that will take a long time to escape. So time is becoming critical.”
Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald: “Speaking before Wednesday’s victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, Paxson admitted he’d like to make a trade, but conversations typically don’t get serious until closer to the Feb. 19 trade deadline. ‘I’m trying right now, honestly,’ Paxson said. ‘We’ve had a lot of conversation, as a lot of teams have. But there’s nothing right now that we’ve been able to lock in on. We’re trying to find some things that fit.’ The Bulls could go in several different directions. They could try to do something to get better by the end of this season, wait to see if some of the 2010 free agents hit the trade market next year, or make a deal to try to clear cap room in 2010. Not all of the Bulls’ pieces are in play. Ben Gordon cannot be traded without his permission, Kirk Hinrich is out until mid-February with a thumb injury and few teams are likely to take on Luol Deng’s $71 million contract.”
Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer: “On Saturday, DiLeo coached his first game – a win over the Washington Wizards – since replacing the fired Maurice Cheeks. The interim coach then had two practices with his guys before last night’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wachovia Center. DiLeo spent those two practices moving screeners three feet to the left or turning shoulders from facing the baseline to facing the sideline. ‘It’s about the right spot, the right angles,’ DiLeo said. ‘There were things I knew we could improve upon, and offensive execution was one of them.’ ‘He’s changed attention to detail when it comes to running plays,’ said reserve guard Lou Williams. ‘Telling the big guys to move over three, four feet in plays we’ve already been running in order to change the angles.’ Effective angles are to basketball what gas is to most automobiles: necessary for movement. ‘He saw things that would open up the floor,’ said point guard Andre Miller. For DiLeo, the problem has not been a roster incapable of executing the desired style – run-and-gun – but rather missing the attention to the details that create openings.”
X’s & O’s of Basketball: Breaks down the Memphis Grizzlies Spread Offense
Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The Celtics aren’t going away anytime soon, but the Hawks keep getting better. And they match up with the C’s in a way nobody else in the league does. Surely the reason only Rondo looks consistently comfortable against this team is because he, alone among Celtics, can match quick on quick. The difference is that the Hawks aren’t yet skilled enough to make the elegantly simple plays Garnett makes as a matter of course. (‘Anything to sell some tickets,’ was Garnett’s postgame appraisal of the program cover.) The Celtics are a finely finished product; the Hawks are still finding their feet. They’re down 0-2 on the season series, but there are miles to go before either of these teams sleep. Many around the NBA regard Cleveland and LeBron James as Boston’s biggest threat come the 2009 playoffs, but if I’m the Celtics I’m hoping the Hawks aren’t seeded No. 4, 5 or 8 in the East.”
John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Mike Dunleavy put up career numbers last season and said Wednesday it wouldn’t have happened if he still were a Warrior. ‘That wasn’t possible out there,’ said Dunleavy, referring to Oakland. ‘It’s no coincidence so many guys who come from Golden State go elsewhere and succeed. The proof is in the pudding. I take responsibility for certain things. You look at guys who went elsewhere after leaving Golden State, they found a way. Whatever that means or says, you could read it through.’ Dunleavy hasn’t played this season because of a sore right knee but said he still hopes to play a significant number of games ‘and pick up where I left off.’ He’s coming off his first full season in Indiana, and the Pacers’ style apparently suits him. His 19.1 points per game in 2007-08 nearly doubled his career average for his first five seasons. He also had career highs in assists and steals and shooting percentages from the floor, three-point arc and free-throw line.”
Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: “The Pistons are a strange team. They’re asking two of the most prolific scorers in the game — Allen Iverson and Richard Hamilton — to defer more than they’ve ever had to in their careers to help facilitate Tayshaun Prince’s growth as a go-to option. Their fourth offensive option is Rasheed Wallace, one of the most diversely skilled big men the game has known. They have two former starting frontcourt players — Kwame Brown and Amir Johnson — who don’t get off the bench anymore. On most nights, two of their best players most likely will be on the bench in the final minutes of close games down the stretch. ‘It’s crazy, right?’ said Hamilton, who was the one who sat out the fourth quarter on Wednesday. ‘We just have so many guys, so many guns, we just like to feed off each other. It might be my night one night, or it might be A.I.’s or Tay’s or Sheed’s. Just feed off that and keep winning.’”
Jerry Brown of the East Valley Tribune: “Suns coach Terry Porter, who had his jersey retired in Portland on Tuesday, said he feels the team has turned a corner. The offensive numbers are going up, the turnovers are coming down and the trade has somewhat settled an uneasy dressing room. But the players are more cautious before declaring the 15-10 Suns back on solid ground. They look at the Celtics, Lakers and Cavaliers and see legitimate championship contenders. They look at themselves and see a lot of work ahead. ‘Turned the corner? Not yet. We still have to develop our style,’ center Shaquille O’Neal said. ‘You look at the three elite teams right now, they have mastered their style. We have been going back and forth. ‘But the last four, five games, especially the last four home games, I think we have shown what we can be.’ But will everyone be happy? Over the last few weeks, each of the Suns’ big three – O’Neal, Steve Nash and Amaré Stoudemire – have given insight to their view of how the team would best work going forward. But in each view, the ball happens to be in their hands.”
Broderick Turner and Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “Jackson is not trying to stifle Farmar’s creativity, but he wants the 22-year-old to be a better decision-maker. ‘I think there are some things about playing his game kind of thing and conforming to our style,’ Jackson said. Farmar, who is averaging 19.7 minutes a game this season, is shooting only 39.5% from the field and 32.8% from the three-point arc, well below his career averages. Farmar also said he has issues with the team’s defensive concepts. ‘I was trying to go out there and do what I was told. Every time I would do what they asked me to do, it seemed like it was the wrong thing at that time, the wrong choice. I’m just trying to figure it out and do what they ask me in any capacity, whatever it is,’ Farmar said.”
Frank Isola of the Daily News: “Phil Jackson’s feuds with Knick coaches go all the way back to Pat Riley, and include Jeff Van Gundy famously calling Jackson ‘Big Chief Triangle’ and Jackson countering by referring to Van Gundy as ‘Gumby.’ It shouldn’t be any surprise that Jackson already has a history with Mike D’Antoni, whose Phoenix Suns eliminated the Lakers from the playoffs in 2006 and 2007. Last season, Jackson and D’Antoni butted heads when the Lakers coach called a timeout with 4:45 remaining and his team leading 111-78. ‘I thought he disrespected our players, but he likes to play the mind game, and that’s fine,’ D’Antoni said at the time. ‘He might want to try and do it in playoff time when we bust them every time.’ Jackson responded by saying that he wasn’t trying to ‘showboat or grandstand’ and later said that D’Antoni ‘wasn’t thinking straight.’ It would seem only natural for Jackson to heighten the tension between the two coaches now that D’Antoni has the seat that Jackson’s mentor, Red Holzman, once had. But Tuesday, before his Lakers played host to the Knicks, Jackson was complimentary of the job D’Antoni has done with his new team and said he believes Knick fans should be optimistic that the franchise is headed in the right direction.”
Steve Aschburner of CNNSI.com: “For quite a while now. San Antonio recently commemorated Duncan’s unofficial 1,000th pro game, adding up his regular-season and playoff (155) outings (but neglecting the preseason, his 10 All-Star appearances and a 2004 trip to the Olympics). It’s a heavy load made heavier by the Spurs’ routinely long postseasons. ‘I don’t care what anybody says, when you start getting to 140, 160, 180 playoff games, that’s a lot,” McHale said. ‘That’s not like two extra seasons, that’s like three or four extra seasons because of the intensity.’ In Duncan’s case, then, it is both the years and the mileage. ‘There are lots of things that change along the way,” he said. ‘I’ve never been the most athletic guy, but my athleticism has gone down since I started. I’m not as quick, I don’t jump as high, all that stuff. So [it has taken] a conscious decision about playing harder, positioning better, getting to spots, getting your feet set, giving yourself another half second to react to something, things like that.’”
Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “The Wolves, acting on a tip from one of their obscure European scouts, brought a skinny Lithuanian youngster to town before the 1996 NBA draft, hoping they had stashed away a sleeper they might pluck with a second-round pick. While here, Ilgauskas discovered he was playing on a broken foot. While here, he almost was struck down by a heavy camera tripod accidentally dropped from a balcony by a videographer taping a workout while Ilgauskas watched from the sideline. Ilgauskas remembers the tripod skimming his head and hitting his leg before it landed and removed a chunk of the wood floor. ‘That’s when I had hair, and it went just like that,’ he said, motioning where his bangs might have once been. ‘That thing weighed a ton. Maybe not killed me, but it would have hurt. It would have been the ‘Z’ Center, not Target Center: I would have been owner, GM and coach.’”
Jeff Rabjohns of the Indianapolis Star: “Eric Gordon plays his first NBA game in his home state Friday, but the rookie still sometimes thinks about the turmoil that wrecked his one season at Indiana University. Coach Kelvin Sampson was embroiled in a recruiting scandal that led to his ouster, but Gordon said there was another key reason for the rift in the team. ‘It was the guys that were doing drugs that were separate,’ Gordon told The Indianapolis Star in an exclusive telephone interview earlier this week, speaking publicly for the first time about the issues that played a part in a once top-10 team failing to win a single postseason game. The Hoosiers started 17-1 but lost their first game of the Big Ten Tournament and first game of the NCAA Tournament.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “Inside and outside the organization, Miles is an unpopular player in Portland. Several NBA executives and agents insist that the Blazers didn’t hesitate to disparage Miles to teams who considered signing him. Pritchard declined comment on the matter, insisting, ‘We can’t talk about another team’s player.’ Yet, the truth is unmistakable. The NBA’s rule has thrust everyone into an impossible situation. If Miles plays, the Blazers pay a steep price. Portland could sign a superstar in 2010 that could make it a championship contender. Yes, the stakes are immense. ‘Most of the stuff about me is coming from Portland, not coming from any other place,’ Miles said recently after a workout at Tim Grover’s Attack Athletics facility in Chicago. ‘But I don’t want to point fingers. I wish I really wouldn’t have to hurt them by coming back. I just want to continue my life and my career. I love the guys in the organization. I want them to make the playoffs. I want them to go as far as they can go. But I’ve got to do this for me and mine. I wish I could do this without messing up their salary cap. I feel like then they wouldn’t really worry about me. They wouldn’t care that I was gone. But now they seem really worried if I do come back.’”
Rick Ditto of Draft Express: Rookie Retrospective: Michael Beasley
Free Darko: “High school big men were drafted on size, athleticism, and some semblance of coordination. Scoring wings or guards didn’t just have to have outlandish numbers—who doesn’t in high school—but also the size and physical ability that made them sound pro prospects. The likes of Williams, Ellis, and Miles might as well have been playing with counterfeit dollars. And then when you get to point guards, it’s just impossible to judge how well they play with others until they’re 1) forced to by stronger competition 2) given the opportunity to do so in a complex way, by having a coach 3) have teammates who can really take advantage of their brilliance. Don’t believe me? Take a look at Chris Paul’s assist numbers in high school (thanks to Kyle for that one) and college. So if we all agree that guards, especially the pointy type, are gaining in value, but require more scouting, and big men are drafted on crude factors and no longer rule the game, the age limit makes perfect sense. Put simply, it gives the greatest opportunity to the greatest number of players, not just those born with tremendous height.”
Sam Alipour of ESPN.com: “LeBron James’ star just got bigger—by one round, rapping fellow mogul. As reported in the current issue of ESPN The Magazine, the Cavaliers superstar has partnered with O’Shea ‘Ice Cube’ Jackson and ABC for a one-hour drama based on James’ experiences as a high school hoops phenom. The series, described as ‘Friday Night Lights-meets-Entourage,’ will follow an inner-city 15 year-old prep star who is transplanted to a small town school and forced to come of age while dealing with media pressure, unscrupulous moneymen and the jealousy of his peers. The pilot script is expected in the coming weeks and, if the network approves, production on the pilot could begin in the spring for a fall ‘09 premiere. CubeVision and James’s newly formed entertainment entity Spring Hill Productions will oversee for the network, while James and Cube will serve as co-creators and executive producers.” [Via The Hoop Doctors]
Dan Bickley of The Arizona Republic: “O’Neal has had a storied career. Few athletes have ever played to the crowd like this guy, whether he’s rapping about an ex-teammate or jumping over a row of fans. Few have stirred the pot like Shaq, a guy who isn’t afraid to tell the truth or just make stuff up. And he’s been influencing young minds in a good way for a very long time. Any in particular? After all these years, the faces become blurred. But back when Shaq was playing for the Magic, O’Neal remembers one high school kid who just loved Anfernee Hardaway, a kid who hoped to meet one of his idols. ‘Penny kind of shunned him off,’ O’Neal said. ‘He loved Penny, and Penny blew him off. I saw the look on his face, and I gave him a shoe. ‘Here you go, man. Nice to meet you.’ According to O’Neal, that kid was Kobe Bryant. ‘It’s true,’ O’Neal said. ‘Ask him the next time you see him.’”
Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel: “In April — months before this fall’s stock-market collapse and bailout frenzy — NBA Commissioner David Stern met with the league’s owners to discuss downward economic trends. He had good reasons to be concerned. Last season’s attendance fell 2percent from the all-time high during 2006-07. Eleven of 30 teams hit the league goal of 10,000 full-season tickets sold entering this season, slightly exceeding last season. But league-wide, season-ticket sales came in averaging just 8,500 per team last month — down 4percent from the same point a year ago. The league’s average ticket price is about $49 per game, according to Team Marketing Research, a firm that analyzes pro-sports-ticket prices.”
