Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: “There is another wound. Shaquille O’Neal’s wounded pride. So he’s unhappy that the Suns talked about him in prospective trades, particularly when things heated up near the deadline with Cleveland after talks with Portland. O’Neal talks infrequently with the media anyway, picking his spots. After shootaround Friday, he told me, ‘Never again,’ when asked if he was talking. He told another reporter that he wasn’t part of this team. And after the game, he told KTAR-AM’s Craig Grialou, ‘I’m not supposed to be here,’ when he saw him in a hallway. O’Neal does not change in the locker room after games but occasionally comes back to talk to the media. But on Friday, his locker was cleared out. But say this for Shaq. The strike didn’t carry over to his play. He played hard and well, particularly down the stretch with the three alleyoops on the 30-15 closing run. And he offered his fun, doing the stare into the left hand all the way downcourt (even avoiding Steve Nash’s extended hand) to accentuate how he had flushed one home with his weak hand.”
Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports: “The Suns hired Porter to make Stoudemire more accountable, something Mike D’Antoni had either been unable or unwilling to do. For all of his athleticism and strength, Stoudemire remains a terrible defender and his rebounding rates only slightly better. Porter was supposed to change that, but he eventually realized what all of Stoudemire’s coaches have. ‘Amare is only going to give you what he wants to give you,’ one Suns official said. ‘It doesn’t matter what you say or do. On some nights Amare decides to play hard and with a lot of energy. On some nights he doesn’t.’ Stoudemire proved as much during a 10-game stretch in January when he averaged only 5.7 rebounds. It was around that time that Suns began to aggressively explore his value. After learning he might be traded, Stoudemire complained he was receiving too much blame for the team’s struggles. ‘It’s not my job to rally the troops and get everybody on board,’ he said. ‘It’s the captains’ job to do that.’ Sound like a franchise player?”
Travis Heath of HOOPSWORLD: “No doubt Billups deserves the lion’s share of the credit. What’s amusing to me, though, is how Karl is still not getting any credit whatsoever. In fact, there are those in Denver who are implying the Nuggets are winning in spite of Karl. Really? Can a team be 20 games over .500 in spite of its coach? At this point one really has to suspect there are just people who have some sort of personal issue with Karl because to not give the guy any credit for what has happened this season is pure lunacy. The team instituted a new defensive philosophy in training camp and veterans like Kenyon Martin bought in from the get go. Acquiring Billups simply gave the Nuggets a piece – albeit a significant piece — that was a better fit for the philosophical direction the team was already headed. The bottom-line is Karl and his coaching staff instituted a no B.S. approach to playing defense and backed up their rhetoric about defensive effort being tied to playing time.”
Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times: “Even if they’re unloading salary, owner Jerry Buss can afford anyone he wants to afford, such as Pau Gasol, who represented a potential $90 million in additional salary and taxes over three seasons when the Lakers acquired him. ‘It makes it a little difficult when you have an owner that’s willing to spend whatever it takes and money is not an object,’ said Scott, the former Laker. ‘We’re in a smaller market and obviously money’s a lot tighter. But that’s the money side of it. I can’t think of that stuff. . . . I care about playing and winning and I’m going to coach the guys that I have here and try and do the best job that I can.’ Scott’s teams always fight and this one did too. Imagine what he could do with more help, rather than less. Chandler, asked if he might take less money next season to help Shinn out, didn’t think so. ‘You’ve got to feel loyalty before you can do something like that,’ Chandler said, ‘and, obviously, in this situation, you don’t feel that right now.’”
A. Sherrod Blakely of MLive.com: “Detroit’s defense ranks among the league’s best in several categories, but the offense has been stagnant most nights. Only Charlotte (92.5 points per game) and Memphis (93.2) are scoring less than the Pistons, who average 93.5 points per game. ‘Offensively, it comes with time,’ Detroit coach Michael Curry said. ‘I thought coming into the season, we would be good in both parts.’ While some point to the departure of point guard Chauncey Billups as the beginning of Detroit’s offensive problems, Curry thinks the loss of Antonio McDyess for a month did even more damage. McDyess was included in the Billups trade for Denver’s Allen Iverson on Nov. 3, but McDyess agreed to a buyout with the Nuggets and re-signed with the Pistons in December. ‘I think we’d be top five in both categories real easy if we had Dice the whole time,’ Curry said. While McDyess would have helped, Detroit’s offensive problems seem to run much deeper than not having one player for a few weeks.”
Tim Twentyman of The Detroit News: “The NBA can be an unforgiving place for a young point guard. Midway through his second season, Rodney Stuckey is coming to that bitter realization. Stuckey has made a name for himself with his aggressive style and ability to get to the basket and finish. That same style prompted Pistons coach Michael Curry to insert him into the starting lineup. But over the last six games, Stuckey has been in a funk. He’s averaging eight points and three assists and shooting 33 percent (18-for-54). He took only three shots in Thursday’s 83-79 loss to San Antonio, but finished with eight assists. ‘I think that’s the learning curve for not just a point guard, but for any young player,’ Curry said Friday. ‘I’ve always said in this league there’s a difference in getting 20 points when you’re not the focal point of the defense and you’re pretty much playing off everyone else. Now, his 20 points will always be a hard-earned 20 because he is going to be the focal point of the other teams’ defense, at least one of the focal points.’ It’s no small coincidence Stuckey’s struggles have coincided with the Pistons’ current slump — five straight.”
Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: “Try as they could, the security guards just couldn’t get people to leave the Bradley Center tonight. Kids 13 & under were allowed to stay and take free throws but people of all ages were trying to get down to the floor and just be there. They crowded around the exit of the loading dock to watch the Cavs bus leave. And in something I personally never seen before, a camerawomen from a local TV station put down her equipment and asked for LeBron James’ autograph in the locker room after the game. Perhaps this wasn’t LeBron’s best-ever game, but the first few minutes of the third quarter had a buzz rarely felt and most here seemed to be swallowed by it.”
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: “‘My journey is what made me who I am,’ says Mason, in his first season as the Spurs’ starting shooting guard. On the surface, Mason’s upbringing seems like a spinoff of ‘The West Wing.’ He grew up the son of a well-connected D.C. doctor, an ophthalmologist with friends in high places, and attended middle school with Chelsea Clinton.Tonight, as the Spurs face the Wizards, Mason returns home an established NBA player, the embodiment of a hometown kid made good. For Mason, life is good — ‘a dream come true,’ he says. But life has also given him scars. The one on his chest was made by a surgeon’s scalpel, meant to repair a torn labrum in his shooting shoulder that had threatened to derail his pro career before it began. There are other scars, too. Some tangible. Some metaphorical. Some self-inflicted. All serving as a reminder of the price he paid to get where he is.”
Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: “Fabricio Oberto brought company with him on the final leg of the Spurs’ rodeo trip. Oberto’s father, Raul, made the trip from Argentina to follow his son to New York, Detroit and Washington. It is Raul Oberto’s maiden voyage to America. According to his son, he likes what he’s seen so far. ‘It’s good,’ said Oberto, a reserve center. ‘He’s getting to know some of the cities. The main thing is, he’s trying to spend time with me.’ Raul Oberto has not seen his son play in a pro basketball game since 2000, when Fabricio Oberto was playing with Tau Ceramica in Spain.”
Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune: “Boozer is a public-relations nightmare. But there is a way out, if Boozer is willing to stay on the path and make the climb. Kirilenko will tell him, all he has to do is give good effort when he’s actually on the court and act like he really wants to play when he’s off it. Communicate that openly and effectively to fans, and they’ll love him, too. Throw out the egocentricity and throw in a more adamant statement, preferably genuine, about enjoying playing in Utah, and the free flow of good feeling for him will flood out the negativity of the present. The irony in that is this: Boozer’s eagerness to play and his desire to play here, and the overall resultant positive effects, would make him more attractive to potential suitors elsewhere. Instead, he comes across as untrustworthy and as a malcontent. It will be interesting when Boozer finally returns to the Jazz lineup how fans here will react. A Kirilenko-style standing ovation? Doubtful. Boozer has the advantage, in his name, of having boos soaked up and cloaked in the approving chant that used to greet him.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “Back in 2006, when Brandon Roy was a rookie, I remember checking into a Los Angeles hotel while traveling for the Trail Blazers’ final exhibition game. In the lobby, I ran into Dick Bavetta, one of the NBA’s veteran referees. We struck up a conversation, and unprompted, he started to rave about Roy. Bavetta said he was impressed with Roy’s game. But he was even more impressed with how he carried himself, particularly in respect to the officials. ‘He never says a peep,’ Bavetta said. Later, I relayed that story to Roy, and told him that attitude would benefit him in the long run. Fast forward to today. If you’ve been paying attention to the Blazers lately, you might have noticed a change in Roy. It has nothing to do with his shot. Or his defense. Or his ball handling. It has to do with his interaction with the referees. More than at any time in his career, Roy is complaining. Throwing his hands in the air. Shaking his head. I brought it up to Roy before Friday’s game against Atlanta. Roy didn’t argue that he has become more demonstrative with the referees, but he had an interesting reason why. He is complaining not so much for himself, but for the team.”
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News: “The language is clear and the David Stern mandate is not wise to ignore: The Warriors have NBA territorial rights to every piece of potential hoops-harboring land within 75 miles of Oracle Arena. There’s no by-law that says Warriors owner Chris Cohan has to use his veto power to block another NBA franchise (say, the Sacramento Kings) from re-locating to the Bay Area… But I guarantee you that Cohan would block such a proposed move, unless somebody is ready to plop $20M or so (probably more, depending on Cohan’s mood) into his pocket, and right now, I do not see that happening. 75 miles. Yes, that includes San Jose, as I think we have discussed in previous years, when, for instance, the Seattle SuperSonics cast out some feelers about a potential re-location at the arena. The territorial rights situation, like the Giants with any A’s thought of moving to San Jose, is a deal-stopper. Period.”
Ben Winslow of the Deseret News: “Larry H. Miller’s philanthropy toward law enforcement earned him the rank of an honorary colonel in the Utah Highway Patrol, a position as honorary warden in the Utah Department of Corrections, numerous other accolades and a special place in the hearts of many cops. ‘He was a true friend and supporter of law enforcement,’ said Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Lance Davenport. Miller bankrolled the multi-million dollar police academy in Sandy that bears his name, helped fund a memorial at the Capitol for murdered police officers as well as other things that didn’t make headlines. ‘We tried for years to get the Legislature to appropriate money to build an academy,’ Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff recalled Friday. ‘We finally went to Larry Miller and told him our problem. He said, ‘No problem. But I’m not going to give the money to the state and have the state build it because you guys take too long. I’ll build it.’ He built it and handed over the keys.’”
Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: “Miller learned eight days ago he was suffering from calciphylaxis, a disease that left calcium deposits in his blood vessels, leading to tissue death. Instead of healing after the amputation, he watched as infection and ulcers crept up his thighs and into his fingers. ‘That really I think was what made it clear to Larry that at that point he had fought all he could fight,’ said Dr. Bill Dunson, Miller’s physician at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, ‘we had done everything we could do, and it really was time to take a different approach.’ After his father came to grips with the news, Greg Miller said he made two decisions — first to call a meeting with his management team Monday morning in the hospital — and then to spend his final days at home. ‘Once he internalized it, he just went about it very methodically,’ Greg Miller said. ‘He knew what he needed to do. He knew what the important issues were, at least in his mind, that needed to be wrapped up.’”
Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: “You couldn’t ask for a more hands-on owner than Miller. He had a locker in the Jazz locker room and paid visits at halftime. He slapped hands with the players during introductions, sat courtside and even made weekly appearances on the sports radio airwaves. When I first came on the Jazz beat, I asked to sit down with Miller to introduce myself. I thought I was going to get 15 minutes. He gave me 2 1-2 hours at Jordan Commons – - the first hour talking not about basketball, but about cars and racing. He said so much in our interview that I was able to write a three-part series looking at some of the central issues to the Jazz’s future. If nothing else, Miller kept the Jazz in Utah and was as open and accessible as you could ask from an NBA owner. Korver came to Utah last season in a trade from Philadelphia and was given the locker next to Miller’s. He said he had no idea what he was in for, with Miller grabbing a stat sheet at halftime and following along with what the coaching staff had to say.”
