Charley Rosen of FOXSports.com: “Cleveland’s offense was too one-dimensional. Big Ziggy was posted only twice (both in the first half) and responded by dropping a pair of turnaround jumpers — but was never sent into the pivot again. The Cavs stubbornly stuck to their penetrate-and-kick game plan, with LBJ dominating the ball. For sure, LBJ had 12 of the Cavs’ 22 assists (no other teammate registered more than two), but LeBron reverted to his massage the ball and/or dribble-in-place and/or undertake several jab steps and ball-fakes before going on the attack. It was fitting that in a critical end-game sequence, James attempted to power his way through a collapsing triple-team only to commit a costly turnover. Meanwhile, the Cavs were schooled on defense. Every turn of the head, every failure to box out and every slightly hesitant rotation yielded layups and dunks. Moreover, the Cavs’ transition defense was also faulty, frequently allowing long 50-foot lead passes to catch them flatfooted. It was folly to expect that the Cavs would never lose a game at home. But in their initial loss at the Quicken Loans Arena, they were simply out-played, out-hustled and ultimately out-coached.”
Bud Shaw of The Plain Dealer: “The first time had the feeling of unfortunate circumstance. Sunday’s repeat, in which the Cavs were once again convincingly cast in the role of Lilliputians, indicated a growing problem. So to speak. February is no time to worry yourself sick — at least that part of February that comes before the trade deadline. One thing we know, though, the Cavs aren’t going to get any taller on their own by late May or June. ‘We have to get healthy,’ LeBron James said of how the Cavaliers measure up against L.A. ‘It’s a long way away to see if we match up against them in the finals.’ Their locker room is a lab brimming with good chemistry, but they’re also light in one ingredient. It’s why acquiring Marcus Camby has its merits. If not him, Joe Smith. When the Cavs lost in L.A. while missing Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the Lakers scored 42 points inside. You could’ve predicted it. But Sunday with Z on the court and the Lakers minus Andrew Bynum, L.A. scored 62. That’s not NBA basketball. It’s Pop-a-Shot at the local sports bar.”
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times: “Of all the noise that rocked the rafters of the NBA’s last unbeaten arena Sunday, nothing was more compelling than the sounds coming from a tiny room off a narrow tunnel. It was Kobe Bryant, vomiting. ‘I heard that when I walked into the locker room,’ said Lamar Odom. ‘I was like, ‘OK, this is about me.’ This is about me? Lamar Odom says that kind of thing about as often as he grows hair. It’s never about him. Even when the Lakers have begged it to be about him, it’s never about him. It’s about teammates to whom he gently deferred when moving to the bench. It’s about his late son, whose face is sadly tattooed on his back. It’s about losing himself in the flow of others, disappearing in the drama of the moment, dissolving his ego in the search for his elusive championship, 6 feet 10 and darn near invisible. ‘He’s even in a contract year and he’s acting like that,’ said Jordan Farmar. ‘We notice it and, in a lot of ways, we really admire it.’”
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: “The NBA trade deadline is a week from Thursday and there is no question there’s major room for improvement on the 19-33 squad. And while Colangelo said last week he’s not going to make a move simply to make a move or do something that would jeopardize the team’s financial flexibility this summer or next, the need for an upgrade is more acute now than it ever has been. The six straight losses have included defeats managed in every possible way. They’ve trailed for entire games and blown late leads, they’ve given up 17 points in a row in a fourth quarter (Friday in New Orleans) and allowed 11 straight points after mounting a comeback to take the lead (Saturday in Memphis). They’ve shot well (51 per cent against the Hornets) and lost; they’ve also shot poorly (29.5 per cent against the Grizzlies) and lost. The only consistent thing has been losing. ‘Sometimes it happens when you have a bad record, everything goes bad,’ said point guard Jose Calderon. And for the Raptors, this season at least, nothing has gone right.”
Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle: “Rick Adelman, having been around long enough to see pretty much everything, had seen this before. By now, he recognized the signs of a locker room with potential to splinter and knew the damage that could cause. He did not believe the Rockets’ mix had become too toxic to correct. But even before public comments last week indicated signs of finger-pointing, Adelman said he saw the signs of a team becoming a collection of individuals. ‘I see things,’ Adelman said. ‘I’ve been doing this a long time. There’s not too much that slides past me: body language, comments, whatever. Once you’ve seen it over and over and over again, you get a pretty good sense right off the bat. That’s why it’s important as coaches we keep trying to talk to them about it. I think it’s important as a team that individually they talk to each other about it. You’re going to have times throughout the year you’re going to have guys irritated or whatever. It’s important it does not carry over and stay and fester. That’s what I keep trying to tell them.’”
Ethan J. Skolnick of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Winning. Misery. Contending. Pretending. No meaningful in-between. That’s the stark lens through which Pat Riley has traditionally seen sports. Dissatisfaction with moderate success has inspired his activity since he assumed control of the Heat’s basketball operations in 1995. That’s what motivated him to deal stalwarts like Glen Rice, P.J. Brown, Jamal Mashburn, Lamar Odom and Caron Butler. The Heat has usually fared better when Riley has gone for broke, casting sentiment and doubters aside while changing the cast. He has erred when inert, whether late in the 1990s or after the 2006 title. One suspects he won’t make the same mistake now, if there’s an opportunity for a franchise-shaking move for the likes of Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire before the Feb. 19 deadline, even if that means forfeiting the potential of Michael Beasley.”
Marc Berman of the New York Post: “This one rots. And it doesn’t smell like roses in the Rose City for Mike D’Antoni either after their buzzer-beating loss to the Blazers tonight. He’s an excellent coach, not a great late-game coach. His misjudgement on the final possession with a foul to give on Brandon Roy is alarming. The Blazers had 4.3 seconds left on an inbounds. In the huddle, D’Antoni doesn’t mention you may want to try to wrap the guy up immediately with a foul to give. That could cost the Blazers another second or two and leave Roy little time to make his moves on the next inbound. D’Antoni is afraid of getting a continuation call. But referees know the deal and they’re not going to give the opponent something cheap like that to decide a game. Refs realize a team has earned that last non-shooting foul and respect it. Walt Frazier was up in arms. The Knicks show so much moxie so often and yet they can’t get it done in the last two minutes. That goes for D’Antoni, too, who acted as if a reporter had asked him why the sky is blue after the game when wondering if he thought of putting Nate Robinson back in the game.”
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: “Normally teams crawl to the All-Star break, looking forward to a chance to relax and rejuvenate before the stretch run of an NBA season. But Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace wishes the calendar read November. The team is enjoying a positive trajectory since Lionel Hollins took over as head coach Jan. 25. The Griz are 3-4 since then with an improved defense, and a more productive and fan-pleasing offensive brand of basketball. It’s enough of a turnaround that Wallace is somewhat leery of an interruption. ‘Lionel and his staff are positioning us to have a successful close to the season,’ Wallace said. ‘In a way I wish the All-Star break wasn’t coming up. We’ve got some momentum. It’s been a positive transition. Lionel, in a short period of time, has made a positive impact. Even though two weeks is a short time, we’re getting beyond the newness stage and Lionel is settling into the job.’ Hollins’ focus has been on installing chemistry, defense and discipline. Along the way, the Griz have won three of their past four games heading into tonight’s contest against the New Orleans Hornets in FedExForum.”
Britt Robson of Secrets of the City: “General manager Kevin McHale envisioned this could happen. After acquiring Jefferson from Boston in the KG deal, he gushed about Big Al’s menagerie of low post moves like a proud papa. We’d never heard so much gushing from the Lone Iron Ranger about a player who hadn’t retired in the 80s. But then GM McHale pulls off another huge swap on draft night and lands Love, and the gushing starts anew, about what a great kid with an unbelievable motor and knack for rebounding he’s just obtained. Who’s the big guy? some sensible people wondered. How are those two going to play with each other? McHale just twinkled and kept gushing. Okay. At the offensive end, we see your point. Jefferson and Love are formidable, and perhaps two-thirds of a strong–meaning contending–frontcourt rotation if a dynamic defensive-oriented big is added. That’s an exciting future to contemplate. So why aren’t you grooming it? Why does coach McHale lack the vision of GM McHale?”
Sekou K Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Of all the things uttered during after the Hawks’ inexplicable home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday night, these words from their captain and All-Star sting the most. ‘Had I known we were going to stink this bad, I’d have come in a suit,’ Joe Johnson told a crowd of reporters around his locker after the Hawks deflating 121-97 loss, just their sixth this season at Philips Arena. Surely those were not the kind words of encouragement the rest of the Hawks were looking for after winning back-to-back road games earlier in the week without him. Johnson couldn’t have been more brutal in his assessment of how things had gone (although, before anyone assumes he was throwing his teammates under the bus he did say ‘we’ and not ‘they’). Truth be told, the chill in Johnson’s tone and game dating back to early last month have been unmistakable. He’s not feeling his best these days. There’s been no real indication as to why, other than the extensive minutes he’s logged all season and his growing frustration with the way teams are scheming to stop him.”
The AP: “Indiana forward Danny Granger vowed not to let his aching right knee keep him from playing in his first All-Star. Granger, the NBA’s fifth-leading scorer at 25.5 points per game, missed practice on Saturday to rest the knee. Before the Pacers played the Washington Wizards on Sunday night, Granger said Wizards he’s ruled out missing the Feb. 15 All-Star game in Phoenix. ‘No chance. I’ll hobble through that game if I have to,’ Granger said. ‘No way am I bagging that one.’ Pacers coach Jim O’Brien agrees with Granger’s decision.”
Mike Barrett of Blazers.com: “Brandon Roy has now had eight attempts at potential game-winning shots in the NBA this season. He’s hit five of them. That puts him tied for first the league lead in such shots. Travis Outlaw, who hit a bucket that proved to be just about as big with just over 30 seconds left, is six for seven on game-winning shots in the past two seasons. In other words, that’s clutch. Portland now leads the NBA is games won decided by one point. They are 5-1. That shows good coaching, and a team that’s playing with maturity, even though it’s the second-youngest team in the league. The Blazers are 7-1 this season in games decided by 4 points or fewer.”
Melody Gutierrez of the Sacramento Bee: “Spencer Hawes isn’t one for innuendo. He’s more the billboard type. As the Kings’ second-year center strolled through Ford Center on Sunday, his message was clear from the yellow suit and green dress shirt to the Space Needle tie. ‘I was a big Sonics fan growing up, born and raised in Seattle,’ Hawes said. ‘I think it’s a travesty that they were taken away after 40 years, and this is my way of showing it.’ And his public display of his disdain for the franchise’s relocation to Oklahoma City didn’t begin when he walked into Ford Center. Hawes wore a SuperSonics jersey on the team flight. ‘I left my (Gary) Payton (jersey) back at home,’ said Hawes, who had 15 points and six rebounds against the Thunder. ‘That one is a little too tight. If I had the old Payton in the size I wear now, I’d be in business. It looked more like a wife beater.’ So, that left him with Nick Collison’s former colors. ‘The only one I had was Collison, so I had to wear that,’ Hawes said in the visitors’ locker room as his spirited suit hung inside his cubby.”
Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News: “In his first 20 seasons as an NBA coach, North Carolina graduate George Karl never had a former Duke player on his team. Once, while coaching in the Continental Basketball Association, he had a former Blue Devil. He cut him. But somehow, some way, the Nuggets coach and 1973 North Carolina alumnus ended up this season with guard Dahntay Jones, Duke class of 2003. ‘Well, I checked with Carolina, and Dahntay deep down inside knows it, that he wanted to go to Carolina and requested to go to Carolina,’ Karl said of when Jones transferred from Rutgers to Duke in 2000. ‘But Carolina didn’t have any scholarships when he was going to transfer.’ Asked his response, Jones said, ‘I plead the fifth.’”
Buck Harvey of the San Antonio News-Express: “When the 3-pointer was introduced to the NBA in 1979, it was as if the ABA had never existed. Teams were hesitant to shoot from behind the line. Including the Celtics with Larry Bird. He would later win the 3-point shooting contest at the All-Star Game for three consecutive years. But in his second season, when he won his first championship, Bird attempted only 74. Ginobili, last season, took 389. That number also should shock those who thought the Spurs of the ABA were the long-shooting crazies. They averaged more points than the current Spurs do, but not because of 3-point shooting. In their last year before merging with the NBA, they attempted 113. So what happened? Doc Rivers said a generation grew up practicing from 23 feet. Teams began to do the math, eventually coming to the conclusion that the least efficient shot in basketball is the long two. And coaches such as Popovich reacted accordingly. Like his mentor, Larry Brown, Popovich would prefer a game without the 3-point shot. ‘I’d also like a 45-second clock,’ Popovich kidded, ‘so I could run more sets.’”
