Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “There isn’t a sports figure willing to speak as loudly and forcefully on issues of race as Barkley. He was right railing on his alma mater Auburn’s hiring of Gene Chizik over Gill as football coach. When everyone else is too fearful to talk about race and sports, he’s unafraid. He fears no repercussions. He doesn’t lose endorsements and he doesn’t lose jobs. In that way, Barkley is strangely immune. What he’s losing is the chance to be taken seriously, to have a legitimate platform beyond bugging on EJ and the Jet. More than anything, Barkley is costing himself the chance to be a serious commentator on issues. He’s lost tens millions of dollars gambling. The stories of unpaid debts and binge betting became such an embarrassment for the NBA that commissioner David Stern had to talk to him about it. Barkley could do a lot more than celebrity golf tournaments, commercials and two nights a week cracking wise on TNT. Yet, there’s a sad, self-destructive bent to him that suggests he’ll never graduate to bigger things.”
Mike Moreau of HOOPSWORLD: “Name the only four teams in the NBA in the Top 8 in both offensive and defensive efficiency? Cleveland, Boston, Los Angeles and Orlando. Name the top 3 teams in the NBA in defensive efficiency? Boston, Cleveland and Orlando. Name the top 3 teams in defensive field goal percentage? Boston, Cleveland and Orlando. Get the picture? While the Magic have that reputation as a running, three-point shooting soft team, they have very methodically put together the third best defense in the league. While Dwight Howard blocking shots and intimidating is the obvious major factor, Coach Stan Van Gundy has established a culture of effort on every play, which has translated into players like Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu getting down in their stance, contesting shots harder, and the Magic cultivating some grit and toughness that seemed lacking last season.”
Tom Enlund of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “It is a surprise that the Bucks have lacked consistency in shooting. Most recently, they shot 30.4% in a home loss to Detroit, 51.3% in a road victory over San Antonio and 45.1% in a loss at Houston. Milwaukee is shooting 43.7% overall and only Minnesota (43.3%) and the Los Angeles Clippers (42.4%) are shooting worse. Skiles remains undaunted and has said often that his players will start to shoot a more typical percentage. Part of the reason for Skiles’ patience is the team’s strides on defense and on the boards. In training camp, the coaches weren’t sure where the rebounds were going to come from, but the Bucks have been one of the top rebounding teams all season. Slowly but surely, the players are buying into Skiles’ defensive system and there have been times this season when the Bucks have cracked the league’s top 10 in defensive field-goal percentage.”
Queen City Hoops: “I am not denying that Boris has had a positive impact – the team is passing better and the offense is scoring more efficiently (again, in part due to the schedule) since his arrival. But 2 other players are the ones who have really stepped up their production (and if you do not know who they are, I am not sure you have been paying attention). Who else would it be but Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor. Since Boris’ arrival, Gerald has been unreal – 20.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks – good for a WP48 mark of .438. Prior to the trade, Gerald was at 15.3, 7.6, 2.2, 2, and 0.8, with a WP48 of .199 (I am including the WP48 number as it includes shooting efficiency and turnovers, to give a more complete sense of the turnaround – .1 is average – .438 is Chris Paul/LeBron James type territory). I had mentioned is my post-trade writeup that I thought the trade would benefit Gerald – but I did not expect it to be this dramatic.”
Martin Frank of The News Journal: “The Sixers are 4-4 in the Tony DiLeo Era, as it were. All four wins were against teams with below .500 records, while three of the four losses were against teams with well over .500 records (they also lost to Indiana, a sub-.500 team). That should tell you that the Sixers are good enough to beat the bad teams, but bad enough to lose to the good teams. Basically, it means a .500 team. It’s just a question of whether a .500 record will be good enough to make the playoffs. Typically, in the Eastern Conference, it’s good enough to steal one of the last 2 spots. This season should be no different. Currently, Milwaukee is holding the 8th and final playoff spot in the East with a 15-18 record. The Sixers are a game behind. They are just 1 1/2 games behind 7th-place New Jersey, which is 15-17.”
Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star: “O’Neal’s 70 games of post-season work dwarf the combined totals of the rest of the club. The nine other Raptors averaging 10 or more minutes a game this season can together claim 67 playoff outings. And though Jason Kapono is the only resident owner of an NBA championship ring, he saw action in four games of Miami’s 2006 title run. Indeed, the club’s lack of athleticism is an oft-chronicled weakness that needs to be addressed, and management, from president and GM Bryan Colangelo to aides Marc Eversley and Masai Ujiri, spent a lot of post-practice time huddling with Chris Bosh yesterday, presumably showing the all-star the calluses on their BlackBerry thumbs as proof of serious pursuit of possible team-improving deals. But O’Neal pinpointed a breach in the roster that isn’t as often dissected: Their tendency toward venison-in-the-headlights demises. ‘I’m interested to see how many double-digit leads we’ve given up this year. I would have to say 16 or 17,’ said O’Neal.”
Scott Howard-Cooper of the Sacramento Bee: “The Boston Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas, to the Golden State Warriors a night later, and to Portland on Tuesday despite the Trail Blazers missing their best player, injured Brandon Roy. That made it official. The Celtics are tired. They’re the defending champions getting everyone’s best game and laboring to keep up with the demand, and that’s in addition to being the Celtics, a demand unto itself. People come at them no matter what. It is a strange concept two months into the season for a veteran roster and a practiced coach, all of whom know about pacing and how there’s nothing real to win in December. It’s also in underlined contrast to the recent franchise-record 19-game winning streak and the 28-5 record even after the three losses in four games that, heavens, set them all the way back to a 70-win pace. Except that the Celtics themselves admit they are feeling it.”
Frank Dell’Apa of The Boston Globe: “‘If you want to work on things, I’m in here every day. I have a bit of a cold, but I’m in here. My leg is messed up, but I’m in here. So, if those guys are willing to work hard, I’m here.’ Garnett said he spent extra time training as a young player with former Celtic Kevin McHale and former teammates Tom Hammonds and Sam Mitchell in Minnesota, and drew inspiration from Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. ‘Kevin said, ‘If you want to get better, then show me,’ ‘ Garnett said. ‘Sam used to say, ‘If you want it, then you’ll work on it.’ They are in the back of my mind and carried me to this point. We all need to work on every phase of the game. Kevin McHale would grab me and we would go through footwork on the post countless times, and I’ve been able to acquire some of that knowledge. Now it’s my turn as a vet to try and instill this in some of the younger guys. Whether they want it or not, I’m here to give it to them.’”
Jerry Brown of the East Valley Tribune: “O’Neal is in the midst of a renaissance season. The Suns’ medical staff has relieved the pain in his hip, nursed him through a sore knee that hampered him in early December and has him feeling powerful again. The daily update no longer includes a countdown to retirement – it’s now all about how many touches he needs to guide the Suns where he is beginning to believe they can go. ‘I’m feeling good. I wasn’t sure if I would ever feel like this again. But now that I do, let’s not waste it,’ O’Neal said. ‘My career always been plagued by knickknack injuries, but now I have a young, unorthodox (training) staff here … there might be a little pain, but they fix it right away. As long as I stay away from the fiddling, I’ll be fine.’ The Suns can’t argue with the results. With a few nights off here and there for maintenance, O’Neal is averaging 17.2 points and nearly nine rebounds in just shy of 30 minutes a game. He’s second in the league in field-goal percentage (.598) and is making more than 60 percent of his free throws for the season after making nearly two out of every three (60-for-91) over the past nine games.”
John Schuhmann of NBA.com: “Averaging 17.4 points and 6.1 assists through 32 games with the Bulls, No. 1 pick Derrick Rose has clearly adjusted well to the NBA. His next adjustment will be to being the focus of NBA defenses. Rose has the quickness to get around guards on the perimeter and the strength to finish against big men at the basket. One on one, he’s nearly unstoppable. He may still be getting the rookie treatment from his teammates, but opposing defenses have begun to give Rose the star treatment: double-teaming him on the perimeter. They’re trapping him on high pick-and-rolls and, at times, even running a second defender at him after he crosses midcourt.”
Mike Trudell of Lakers.com: “Though we should acknowledge that Fisher’s 34 isn’t the usual 34 – not after he takes such terrific care of his conditioning – do we know if playing six more minutes a game, on average, since Farmar’s injury makes a big difference on a body that hasn’t missed a game in four years? Maybe not. Fish has maintained throughout his career that he trains his body to play 48 minutes a night, and he honestly doesn’t appear to be fazed in the least – not that it should surprise us. ‘I think it’s fun to compete,’ said the veteran after Wednesday’s practice. ‘Guys that have made it to this level of professional sports – the drive and the persistence and determination that you have to show to get to this point – you don’t get here to want to sit on the bench half the game, and that goes for everybody.’”
Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: “Dirk Nowitzki couldn’t care less about the All-Star Game. Truth be told, he might just as well appreciate a weekend off where he could kick back and do a little midnight shooting, followed by some 1 a.m. beers with few people knowing about either one. All the New Year and Thursday’s all-star fan balloting results shows is that Dirk is getting old. He’s only 30, but he knows he’s been around forever. ‘I was always the young German wunderkind and now I’m just one of the old guys,” he said. ‘It’s amazing how the time flies. I’m enjoying the rest of my career, make the best of it and have fun and see where it takes us.’ Asked if he could remember the young kid that showed up in 1998, then had to wait through the lockout before the season started early in 1999, Nowitzki said: ‘With the bad teeth and the bad haircut and the terrible earring. I think I had a pinkie ring at one point. Yeah, that was a bad look back in the day. I’m glad I’m over those times.’”
Jan Hubbard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Kidd, who will be 36 in March, is the 165th leading scorer in the NBA with 8.9 points a game. That is a career low for him. But he leads all guards — even Kobe Bryant — in rebounding with 6.5 a game. He ranks fourth in assists (8.6). And he has defied age and outperformed younger players by ranking second in the league in steals with 2.6 a game. Only New Orleans’ Chris Paul, who is 12 years younger than Kidd, has more. Kidd said that ‘anticipating a steal,’ is one area where he is improved with age. ‘I’ve gotten my hands on a lot more balls than if I was 21 years old,’ he said, and smiled again, ‘or 22 … or 23. I don’t know why if it’s because of wisdom, understanding, putting myself in a spot of anticipating or knowing the tendencies of everybody in the league.’”
Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Cleveland Plain Dealer: “There was concern early when James sprained an ankle in one of the first Olympic practices. He missed an exhibition game against Canada, but he quickly returned to full strength for the rest of the summer and, so far, the season. With a couple of notable exceptions, that has been the case since NBA players began taking part in the Olympics in 1992. Of the 49 players who have occupied the 60 roster spots on the past five U.S. Olympic teams, only 11 have played fewer than 70 games in the next NBA regular season.”
Matt Steinmetz of The Examiner: “As for executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin, he’s barely in the picture at all these days. Once a regular at every one of Nelson’s team practices, Mullin is now a rare find on the team’s practice court at 1011 Broadway. Mullin also used to be a regular at Warriors home games, sitting in his usual mezzanine suite high above the Warriors’ bench. He’s hit or miss these days, and when Mullin isn’t there he’s assumed to be scouting a college game somewhere. All this is significant because when and if the Warriors make a personnel move, Mullin isn’t going to be in on it. Just like he wasn’t in on the Jamal Crawford trade. Or other recent moves.”
Janny Hu of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Now the assistant general manager in Minnesota, Hoiberg was the first in a scary parade of NBA players when he underwent heart surgery June 28, 2005. Turiaf and Robert ‘Tractor’ Traylor had procedures done that year, followed by Wizards center Etan Thomas in 2007. By the time Turiaf underwent his six-hour operation five weeks after Hoiberg, the 10-year-veteran already knew the grueling toll – emotionally and physically – of going from being a professional athlete to relearning everyday tasks. So he reached out to Turiaf, the rookie-to-be, and began a series of weekly telephone conversations that doubled as counseling sessions. Sometimes they traded rehab stories. Always, Hoiberg offered insight and encouragement about the road ahead. ‘He summed it up,’ Turiaf recalled. ‘No matter how bad things are right now, it will always get better.’”
Wages of Wins: “If nothing else besides the productivity of KG and Pierce had changed, Boston would only be on pace to win 62 games in 2008-09. In other words, Boston should have been passed by the Lakers. After 33 games, though, Boston’s efficiency differential is 10.85, or nearly exactly what this team did last year (and this is after their less than successful recent trip to the West Coast). So how has Boston remained a dominant team? The answer is almost entirely Rajon Rondo. While KG and Pierce are on pace to produce 8.1 fewer wins this year, Rondo is on pace to provide 8.2 additional victories. Consequently, Rondo is now the most productive player on the Celtics. Yes, Rondo is offering more than KG, Pierce, or Ray Allen. If we look at the individual stats, we see that Rondo – relative to last year – is a more efficient scoring, tallying more assists, and getting more steals.”
Mike Baldwin of The Oklahoman: “Team officials are close to finalizing the character. But there’s still work to be done before the mascot makes it highly anticipated debut, most likely in February. ‘Once we choose the character, there are a ton of minor details,’ Byrnes said. ‘How big are the eye holes? How big are his hands and feet? What’s the weight of the costume, his depth perception? What type of material do we use to make sure he’s athletic? It’s all part of the process.’ After the organization moved from Seattle in July, the top priorities were to develop a new nickname and hire a staff to prepare for the season opener. Similar to Benny the Bull in Chicago or the Gorilla in Phoenix, creating an athletic mascot was a priority.”
Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News: “The story goes that on Dec. 20, 1972, with his 76ers 3-30 and on their way to a 141-113 loss, coach Roy Rubin was ready to take forward John Trapp out of the game in his native Detroit. Trapp motioned for Rubin to look into the stands, where one his buddies opened his coat and showed a gun. ‘That is a true story,’ said Fred Carter, a guard on that team and now an NBA TV analyst. So what happened with Trapp? ‘He stayed in the game,’ Carter said. Trapp eventually would be let go, and he finished that season – and his career – with the ABA’s Denver Rockets. But the Sixers continued to careen downward. They finished 9-73, the worst mark in NBA history. But now Carter believes the Thunder could challenge that.”
48 Minutes of Hell: “Young fans and future basketball players aspire toward numbers because they are inspired by the numbers they read after each game. This is basic psychology. “Hey, man, did you see that Dwight Howard put up a 30-20? I’m gonna do that.’ This is far more common to hear than a comment along the lines of, ‘Did you see that Bowen held McGrady to 4-16 and forced him into two offensive fouls?’ It would only benefit the world of basketball if young players had more measures to aspire toward, especially helpful defensive measures. In this way, the NBA has some obligation toward box score reinvention–stat hawking plays a large role in the formation of young players, not to mention its contribution to understanding the game. If basketball is religion than its moral values are stats. If, as one example, charges drawn showed up in the box score, players would listen more intently to their coach when he was explaining defensive rotations. But that, of course, would also cause Joe Player to think more deeply about defensive schemes. It’s a new year. What better time is there to suggest that the NBA and its media partners accelerate their movements toward a more comprehensive set of box scores?”
