Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Nobody in Philadelphia is expecting these Sixers to be the offensive gurus that the Jazz have been under head coach Jerry Sloan. But the problem lately is that the Sixers have been doing the things they said they needed to do to win. They are scoring in transition (25 tonight), shooting well from the floor (48.7 percent), scoring off of turnovers (20 points tonight), and yet, losing by 17? It would be one thing if this were a five-point game. But it wasn’t. The Sixers were down by 20 at one point. Here’s a glaring statistic: The Sixers have given up 23 three-pointers in the last two games (15 to the Denver Nuggets, eight tonight). Open outside shooters has been a thorn in the Sixers’ side since last season. What makes it even tougher is the Sixers own outside-shooting woes … well documented, of course. Especially when former Sixer Kyle Korver scores 12 points and hits two three-pointers tonight. The Sixers were 1 for 9 from beyond the arc. But it’s not just the misses. It’s the timing of those misses.”
KnickerBlogger.net: “The 2009 Knicks have been tough to watch. After a promising early start and a couple of trades, the team has been on a losing streak. New York has dropped their last 6 games and are a Jets-eque 3-10 in December. Although I’ve said many times that I don’t care how many games the Knicks win this year, it’s clear what’s causing New York’s woes: interior defense. When you think of the Knicks in a historical context, you tend to think of good defense. Stalwart centers like Ewing and Reed first come to mind, followed by Clyde, Debusschere, Oakley, Harper, and Camby. But watching the modern day version, there are few good defensive players on the roster. It’s hard to pinpoint which is the Knicks best defensive player. Chandler? Jeffries? Duhon? Jerome James? The list of candidates is short and laughable. It really doesn’t matter what lineup the Knicks put on the floor, because there aren’t many capable defenders on the team. New York only has one player in their rotation that averages at least one block every 36 minutes: Wilson Chandler (1.0 blk/36). Their second best rotation player is Tim Thomas (0.5 blk/36), and that speaks volumes of how bad the Knicks are in this department.”
John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune: “Other than a home victory against San Antonio on Dec. 17, there has been no win of substance. And that lack of a showcase win includes the victory over Cleveland in the third game of the season; the Cavaliers of Nov. 1 were nowhere close to approaching the Cavaliers of today, who are 26-4 and have the second-best record in the NBA. Lately, it’s the Lakers and Orlando Magic who have embarrassed New Orleans, the latter in a nationally televised game on Christmas day. But add to those woodshed beatings another, earlier home loss to the Lakers in which the Hornets also appeared to decline to compete for about three quarters, and an earlier road loss to Boston in which the Celtics weren’t seriously threatened, and what you have is a team that repeatedly has come up short against the cream of the crop. One that seems to believe it can show up late, play in spurts, and beat the elite. And that method isn’t working so well for them.”
Third Quarter Collapse: “Nelson has sizzled from the field this season, in large part due to his ability to create for himself off the dribble. He has three major weapons: the mid-range jumper, the drive to the basket, and the three-point jumper. With the help of 82games.com, we’ll explain just how lethal he is with any of the three options. Make the jump to read the full story. He does most of his damage with the mid-range jump shot, which he gets courtesy of Dwight Howard’s solid screens. Opponents still go under that screen and dare Nelson to shoot, but that’s become a simply awful strategy this season. As of December 27th, Nelson led all NBA players in FG% on two-point jumpers, nailing 55% of them. The next closest player was Ray Allen at 52.6%. More notable than Nelson’s percentage is how infrequently he needs anyone else to create for him. Nelson is assisted on only 9% of his two-point jumpers, which makes a ton of sense given the nature of the Magic’s offense. He comes off a screen, sees that the defense is conceding the shot to him, and pulls up. And, more often than not, he connects.”
Marc J. Spears of The Boston Globe: “Garnett’s minutes have been going up of late, so Rivers is making a concerted effort to reduce them in hopes of getting better production from the 11-time All-Star. Rivers said the idea is to keep Garnett about where he was last season. ‘He was at 34 or 35 or 33 on a lot of nights,’ said the coach. ‘Then that way, once in a while you could extend it. That would be a great number.’ Said Garnett, ‘Whatever Doc says, I’m with. I wish I was perfect. But I feel really, really good. I haven’t always had the chance to say that this year.’ Before the Sacramento game, Garnett, 32, had played at least 37 minutes in four of the previous seven games. His minutes became a major concern for Rivers during the Celtics’ first back-to-back losses of the season, to the Lakers and Warriors last week.In the 92-83 loss to Los Angeles on Christmas Day, Garnett had a solid game with 22 points and nine rebounds in 37 minutes. But the next night the fatigue factor set in, and he had just 14 points and four rebounds in 38 minutes in the 99-89 loss at Golden State.”
Don Seeholzer of the Pioneer Press: “Coach Kevin McHale predicted a bright future for his rookie forward before the game, while stressing that he’ll have to earn a starting role. ‘There is part of that where you try to give him time and stuff like that, but I just am a believer that if you earn something, it always means more,’ McHale said. ‘I think some of the best lessons learned in life are earned. I know I had to work when I got a bike. I knew where that bike was every minute of the day. My kids, I gave them bikes. ‘Where’s your bike?’ ‘I don’t know. It could be at my friend’s house.’ I was like, ‘You’re kidding me.’ My bike was my only thing I had. I knew where it was at every moment of the day because I had to work for it.’ McHale said he has had that talk with Love and believes that’s why young players who go to good teams figure it out faster.”
Dave D’Alessandro of the Star-Ledger: “Young players, more often than not, are dumb players. There are exceptions. But by and large, there is a distinct difference between having physical talent and knowing how to play. One NBA head coach likes to call it his ‘NRA analogy.’ It goes like this: ‘I can have a big gun that makes a lot of noise, which will scare the crap out of everybody,’ he told us the other day. ‘But if you don’t have a sight on it, it ain’t gonna hit (anything).’ That’s basically what the Nets have in Sean Williams, which is why they’re sending him across the country – to get a clearer vision on his target, whatever that may be. World-class hops don’t make you a player. Power dunks don’t make you a player. Working on your skills until every movement becomes automatic — leaving your mind free for the nuances you have to master on every play – that makes you a player.”
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: “This isn’t Quantum Physics: The closer you get to the basket, the better your chance of putting the ball through the hoop. So, with the Charlotte Bobcats averaging an additional 12.6 points in the paint since their recent trade, is it any wonder they’re a respectable 4-4 in that span? The NBA tracks points in the paint as any basket scored within the lane, so it’s a good measure of how well a team drives and posts up. Before the trade with the Phoenix Suns, the Bobcats averaged 35.13 points in the paint – near the bottom of the league. Since the trade, the Bobcats average 47.75 points in the paint. If they did that over the full season, they’d likely lead the NBA in the category. Things changed when Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and Sean Singletary became Bobcats. Specifically, power forward Diaw’s ballhandling – particularly as an interior passer – remade a team that was too dependent on jump shots.”
Pickaxe And Roll: “The Nuggets defense is not as good as it was early in the season. In fact, the Nuggets have had eight straight games with a defensive efficiency of over 100 and over their previous 20 their defensive efficiency has been over 100 in 16 of them. During that 20 game stretch Denver’s defensive efficiency has been 109.1 which would place them in the bottom third of the league for the season. That is not the team we put our faith in early in the season. It is frighteningly similar to what they did last season. Their defensive efficiency was actually in the top five for much of the first month or two of the season. They ended up a top ten team, but their efficiency was very poor the last four months of the season. What has been the problem? First and foremost it has been a lack of desire. The Nuggets knew that in order to run with the big dogs they needed to be able to get stops when it counts. They did a great job of playing with that mentality for all four quarters. They were a good defensive team and they knew it. Instead of working to build on that foundation they have chosen to turn it on only when they have to.”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “The NBA is a results business, and any other team considering adding Marbury — either through a farfetched trade or by signing him to the veteran’s minimum once the Knicks buy him out — has to take an unbiased look at what Marbury would bring to the table. Fortunately, Alan Hahn — author, bloghost, and capable leader of the Knix Fix — has done the math. Based on the Knicks’ win-differential with and without Marbury during his four seasons with the team, Hahn computed (on his way to the airport) that Stephon-a-non-grata raised the Knicks’ winning percentage by a measley .072. Seems like nothing, but over 82 games, Marbury is worth 5.9 victories. Over the 50 or so games most teams have left, Marbury would be good for 3.6 wins. Such a number would be irrelevant to the Knicks, who are focused on the future — not the playoffs. But do any borderline playoff teams out there need three or four more victories to get them over the hump? Miami, Milwaukee, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Dallas come to mind. (That’s not to say any of those teams has interest, but they would appear to benefit the most from chalking up a few random Ws.)”
Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: “In basketball years it may sometimes seem like James is already middle-aged, but in reality he is still very much of a young man, even if it doesn’t feel that way to many fans who have been following him for nearly a decade now. ‘Someone asked me how old I was turning,’ James said. ‘I told them ‘24, I’m young but I have an old soul.’‘ His soul has indeed aged quicker than his body. He’s grown from local raw talent to phenom to superstar to Olympic champion. He’s gone from being a freshman to father to captain to head of an international business enterprise under his name. ‘At the end of the day I am not perfect, but I have a good sense about life and my family’s life and what direction we want to head it,’ James said. ‘That keeps me calm, the security we have is under control.’”
Dave McMenamin of NBA.com: Western Conference Insider: Ranking the offseason moves
Julian Garcia of the Daily News: “With 18,786 on hand, the Nets lost for the seventh time in their last eight home games, falling to the Bulls, 100-87. The Nets are now 5-12 at home. With a 10-4 record on the road, the Nets (15-16) are the first team in NBA history to be at least five games under .500 at home and five games over .500 on the road at any point in a season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “After 31 games, the Blazers (19-12) have improved by one game from last season, when they were 18-13. The 13th loss last season ended a 13-game winning streak in December. ‘Last year, it took 13 in a row to get to this record,’ Brandon Roy said. ‘And this year, I don’t know, it just feels like we are better because we are older.’ So what do the statistics say? As a team, the most notable improvement has been offensive rebounding, where this year’s team has 97 more offensive rebounds. That’s more than three extra possessions a game.”
Kerry Eggers of The Portland Tribune: “‘In Spain, there’s a big difference,’ Fernandez offers. ‘In my city, everybody knows me. When I’m walking somewhere, they may say hello, but they respect my privacy. Here, it’s, ‘Hey, hey, hey.’ I don’t like that part so much.’ Fernandez, 23, is unfailingly polite in public, though, in keeping with the players Portland’s NBA franchise has brought in to win back fans who tuned them out during the ‘Jail Blazer’ era. But Rodolfo Fernandez Jr. is more than just a nice guy. He is an extreme talent, a star on the 2008 Spanish Olympic team that lost to the United States in the Gold Medal game at the Beijing Olympics. A first-round draft pick acquired by Portland in 2007, the 6-5, 185-pound shooting guard signed a five-year contract worth more than $9 million last summer. Had he stayed in Europe, where he played professionally the past three years, Fernandez could have made three times as much money, says his agent, Gerard Darnes.” [Via The Rip City Project]
Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times: “Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson spent some quality time with Davis, his buddy and former teammate, over the weekend in Los Angeles, bonding and talking about old times. Jackson said that Davis wants to return to the Warriors. ‘That’s all we talked about. . . . He wants to come back. And if he wants to come back, I want him back,’ Jackson told the Contra Costa Times. Davis denied that he is ready to bail off the listing 8-21 Clippers ship. ‘No, I don’t want out,’ he told The Times on Monday at practice. ‘I don’t know what Stephen Jackson got from my conversation. That never came out of my mouth. I’m here. I’m here doing the same thing I did at Golden State. The first year I got to Golden State it was rough. It was a tough season. We were figuring each other out, figuring out the system. That transition year is always a tough year.’”
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “The Celtics see the Wizards coming to their gym and they see blood on the water. They don’t assume the win; they crave it and move in for the kill. It is not as if the best teams, the Lakers, the Cavs, the Celtics, never lose to a bad team, but there is a merciless competitiveness to most of the top teams. Think Jordan’s Bulls, or for that matter, Hakeem’s Rockets. You don’t have to be a championship team to have that, and you don’t have to have that to be a champion. There was a year in which the Lakers repeated as champions but often lost to poor teams. It is a personality that some teams, usually the best teams, have and that these Rockets don’t. ‘We just thought we could turn it on in the fourth quarter and win this game against a team that the record doesn’t show they’re a good team and it really backfired on us,’ said Tracy McGrady. ‘For whatever reason, our energy wasn’t there. We weren’t making shots. We just weren’t a smart basketball team defensively.’ They almost decide when to play and when not to, as if calculating what is necessary.”
Matt Watson of FanHouse: “Just when will the Pistons cross that bridge? The fact that he’s openly talking about it as a possibility leads me to think it’ll happen as soon as Hamilton is ready to return. Earlier this month I asked Curry if he’d thought about benching Iverson for Stuckey (which, to be honest, seemed more plausible than simply starting three guards and playing four players out of position) and he looked at me like I was crazy. But last night? He admitted in front of a dozen reporters and a couple of television cameras that it’s not only a possibility but perhaps inevitable, at least so long as defense is a priority. Curry was careful not to specify which player might head to the bench, but if a move is made, I’d be shocked if it were any player but Iverson. Hamilton struggles to create his own shot, so it’d be pointless to ask him to anchor the second-unit.”
Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee: “The housing market is in a serious slump. Retail sales are at their lowest point in decades. The auto industry is buckling. The governor is talking furloughs for state workers. Businesses are laying off employees by the dozens.I thought about the ushers and concession workers who have worked the Kings’ games, many of them after already pulling 9-to-5 shifts elsewhere. And then I looked at The Bee’s list of Kings salaries and player statistics for last season and immediately went into psychological sticker shock: Brad Miller earned $15,419 per rebound. Beno Udrih, $2,978 per assist. John Salmons and Kevin Martin, $4,682 and $1,253, respectively, for each point scored. For all the bashing we’ve done to the organization’s business and marketing departments and we have the suits and salespeople are scoring more points and producing a better effort than the basketball team. The Vlade Divac and Chris Webber retirement plans, for instance, and ticket packages are brilliant. The billboards provide a nice touch. The season-ticket plans are much more reasonable. Even the game operations staffers have entered the modern era; while the fan prompts remain fake and obnoxious, at least the decibel level is reduced. But how do you sell a flawed product? The days of unconditional love are history, and frankly, the Kings are sleepwalking right through the recession.”
Celtics Assistant Coach Kevin Eastman: “When I heard people talk about our championship team this past summer I almost always heard ‘you guys were so talented.’ And we did have talent. But if physical talent alone were the only ingredient to winning a championship then we could all name a number of teams that should have won one at all different levels. I would never argue that we had talent, and physical talent at that. What truly separated us from the rest, though, was that we also had mental talent. Physical talent alone will win regular season games, but you need more than that to win championships.”
