Tony Mejia of Pro Basketball News: “There may never be another Shaquille O’Neal/Dwight Howard affair quite like Tuesday’s. From the morning shootaround to the final whistle, O’Neal went full bore into trying to recapture his place at the top of the NBA’s big man universe. And even though his Suns lost, 111-99, O’Neal came out and addressed the media with a sage peace about him, like someone who had accomplished a mission. It was Howard, not O’Neal, that got into early foul trouble. He finished on 9-of-13 shots and helped hold the NBA’s leading rebounder to only eight, also forcing him into five turnovers. Sure, the Suns lost the first of what could be a make-or-break week, with stops in Miami, Houston and San Antonio awaiting. Sure, they had opportunities to win, and O’Neal’s fourth-quarter technical foul in a quarter that Orlando won 33-18, might have been the beginning of the end. No matter, O’Neal made his point. Against the 23-year-old center everyone has crowned as the game’s best, the old man still imposed his will.”
Charley Rosen of FOXSports.com: “Of Howard’s total of 21 points (7-14 from the field) Shaq was directly burned for 18. Although both players made judicious passes when they were doubled, neither recorded an assist. But the most noteworthy play occurred in the middle of the fourth quarter when Howard received a pass on his accustomed spot on the left box, dribbled to the middle, then spun sharply back where he came from. And how did Shaq react to this swifty, nifty move? By flopping!! Hmmm. Remember when Shaq upbraided Vlade Divac, Anderson Varejao and others for playing like ’sissies’ and not playing defense like real men? Shame on the Big Flopper! Except for the opening minutes, when he was as powerful and ferocious as ever, Shaq appeared to be tired and a step behind the action. Perhaps that’s why he spent the entire game yapping at the refs — and earning a tech to match one that Howard had received earlier. It’s unreasonable to expect that Shaq could continue his recent stretch of super-human performances over a prolonged period of time. There are simply too many miles on his odometer. In any event, for this particular game, it was Howard who won the battle, and Howard’s team that won the war.”
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times: “In preparation for the playoffs, some NBA teams are slathering their bench with a fresh coat of paint. Joe Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Drew Gooden to the San Antonio Spurs. Stephon Marbury to the Boston Celtics. In preparation for the playoffs, the Lakers have occasionally been slathering their bench with a fresh coat of ain’t. Jordan Farmar to the basket. Miss. Sasha Vujacic to the air. Miss. Trevor Ariza to the floor. Foul.‘We like what we have,’ Coach Phil Jackson said Tuesday night. Well, yeah, the concern here is with what the Lakers don’t have. With 21 games left, they are not assured of possessing the two final pieces necessary to construct an NBA championship. They are not assured of consistency from their bench. And without a steady bench, they are not assured of home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. ‘We like our chemistry,’ Jackson said. Yeah, but what about their geography? Start with the bench, which Jackson acknowledges plays better at home because it feeds off the crowd’s friendly energy and the officials’ friendly whistles.”
Don Seeholzer of the Pioneer Press: “McHale gave up his duties as the Wolves’ vice president of basketball operations to become coach on Dec. 8, replacing the fired Randy Wittman. Taylor vigorously shook his head no when asked if McHale could return to his former front-office role, which apparently leaves him in a coach-or-nothing position. McHale, asked if he could envision himself out of the NBA after nearly 30 years as a player, coach and executive, broke into laughter. ‘Absolutely. What, are you kidding me?’ he said. ‘I’ve got a lot of stuff I like to do. I love the competition, but I knew when I was 22 years old and got to the NBA in Boston, I knew I wasn’t going to play forever. I knew the clock was going to tick. I knew that I was going to do something else. … I had a year to go on my contract in Boston (at retirement), and I just couldn’t play anymore. I didn’t enjoy playing. And once I don’t enjoy it at that level, I said I’m not going to do it. That hasn’t changed.’”
Jan Hubbard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “He did not mention Dirk Nowitzki by name. Nor did he say that he might not re-sign Jason Kidd. And he did not express regret that he did not trade Josh Howard before the trading deadline. Instead, Cuban was critical of the team in general. In an e-mail response to questions submitted to him Tuesday, Cuban said: ‘It’s only one game, which I keep reminding myself of today. But let’s just say I wasn’t happy with our preparation, execution or effort. Not only did it look like we had no idea what we were doing, but we did it without effort. The effort and energy, on both sides of the ball, by each player will decide their future with the Mavericks. If each player can’t take the personal initiative to make every game important and play like it, I don’t see them being here next season. The ball won’t always bounce the way we want it to, but every player can control their level of effort. If it’s not important enough to them to lay it out every game the rest of the season, they won’t be back. I don’t care what their contract is. I would rather turn over the roster 100 percent than subject fans to another game like last night.’”
Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports: “Gooden can score in the low post. And Tim Duncan really hasn’t had a guy like that alongside him, ever. The closest he ever had was Nazr Mohammed, in the 2005 championship run, and I’m aware that Duncan played alongside David Robinson from 1997 to 2003. Robinson, you’ll hopefully remember, was pretty inefficient as a low post guy following the broken foot that kept him out of nearly the entire 1996-97 season. Though the Spurs tried to force feed him the ball down there during Duncan’s rookie year, he was essentially a high post demon and defensive mainstay for the remainder of his career. And when the Spurs realized this during the lockout year, treating Duncan as the offensive star, the championships starting piling up. Duncan’s older now, and though he’s still a far more preferable option in the low post than someone like Drew Gooden, he could still use a break now and again. And that break can come with Duncan on the court, mind you, playing Robinson’s old role. While Gooden hooks (not the shot, but the illegal arm move) his way to quick position and a series of interior scores.”
Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle: “The economy is clearly tanking far more aggressively than the Warriors, especially in the key sports sponsorship areas – cars, banks and beer. Thus, the NBA’s willingness to tell people it has teams running short doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t true. It just doesn’t seem to be true in Oakland. Yet. It has long been believed that Warrior fans will accept anything and always have – maybe even Nelson’s latest brain cramp, er, brainstorm. The anecdotal evidence is clear enough: Since the Warriors traditionally underperform, any attendance is to be considered a gift. They have won 37 percent of their games since expanding their arena to 19,000-plus seats in 1997, and in most markets that would mean a lot of unpleasant nights in a half-empty building populated by angry customers. The Warriors have known some of those nights, but not since 2000.”
The AP: “With players making 55 percent of gross revenues, and ‘stars’ able to command 25 percent of the team’s salary cap, McHale thinks something has to give. ‘I think the whole thing has taken on a life of its own,’ said the Hall of Famer who starred for the Celtics [team stats] in the 1980s. ‘I think our guarantees are way too long with way too much money. I said that when I played.’ There were plenty of empty seats for the Warriors-Timberwolves game on Tuesday night, hours after Taylor announced the team will lower season-ticket prices next season on 95 percent of the seats and will refund money for any unused tickets if the buyer loses his or her job in 2009. ‘Corrections need to be made,’ McHale said, before adding a one-liner. ‘We’re kind of in the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac era of subprime loans. There’s some subprime contracts. We’ve got to be able to have the government absorb them.’”
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: “He suffered the injury a few weeks ago, but aggravated the back against the Miami Heat on Feb. 24. Iverson missed the last 36 minutes of Wednesday’s loss at New Orleans, and he was limping noticeably afterward. Curry told him Thursday night that he would become the sixth man and Rip Hamilton would return to the starting lineup. Iverson had an MRI on Friday and flew back to Detroit the same day for further tests Saturday. He was replaced in the starting lineup Friday by Hamilton, who scored 31 points in the 93-85 victory over the Orlando Magic. Hamilton led the Pistons again Sunday with 25 points in a win over the Celtics. It’s unusual for Pistons players to seek other opinions since they are considered one of the better franchises when it comes to player health, but Curry said it’s up to the individual.”
Jeff Caplan of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “For the Mavs to have a chance when the rivals reconvene tonight, Kidd will need something more akin to the 24 points and 12 assists he uncorked in the heateddouble-overtime loss to the Spurs in Dallas two months ago. The seasonlong trend doesn’t suggest it will happen. Kidd is not winning many one-on-one clashes when going up against Parker, Utah’s Deron Williams, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Denver’s Chauncey Billups and Phoenix’s Steve Nash. In those 12 matchups, Kidd has averaged 9.5 points on 37.1 percent shooting. His counterparts have averaged 23.7 points and 46.2 percent shooting. Kidd has outscored them twice. With limited scorers and no interior threat, the Mavs need an assassin at point guard. Kidd was born to pass, and the newly christened 10,000-assist man is doing it quite well. He’s averaged 8.4 assists in those 12 games. But his five counterparts have averaged 8.9.”
Frank Isola of the Daily News: “Two weeks ago, Curry vowed to resume practicing with the club after the All-Star break but he’s failed to keep his promise. There was no sign of him as the Knicks went through a 90-minute workout Monday in Greenburgh. ‘I think he’s sick,’ Mike D’Antoni said. ‘I think his knee still is bothering him. He does warm up and stuff, but that’s all his knee’s allowed him to do so far.’ With Stephon Marbury’s future finally resolved, Curry is now next in line as the ‘Most Likely to be Traded.’ With 23 games left in the regular season, it is unlikely Curry will play again. And in many ways it seems as if the current administration doesn’t care if he does. ‘I don’t know,’ D’Antoni added. ‘It’ll depend on his progress, but right now there’s no timetable that I know of and he still has pain in his knees.’ The Knicks tried to trade Curry at the deadline and were offering him in a package with David Lee.”
Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Shaq remains a juvenile in the geriatric part of his career. His final year and a half with the Heat soured most of the feel-good over his championship season for anyone who’s beyond the idea that a ring condones any behavior. To rewind: This franchise bent over Shaq-ward, trading for him, paying him a treasure, then firing Stan Van Gundy because Shaq infected the team against him and wanted Riley. Shaq was worth all that, of course. He sold out the arena and helped bring a title. No revisionism there. But in 2007 and 2008 he didn’t just get lazy and stay fat. He quit. He’d wrestle with players in the locker room, then say he was too hurt to play. He’d make pretty to Heat fans about hanging tough, then send word to Dallas owner Mark Cuban to trade for him. As Wade got hurt, as the season bombed, as Shaq held his breath until he turned blue, Riley had no choice but to trade him. Shaq landed in Phoenix, then acted even smaller by blaming the Heat training staff for his health issues when the real problem was he didn’t work in Miami.”
Jim Moore of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “Hey, Seattle, Spencer Hawes doesn’t drive around anymore with a ‘God Bless George Bush’ bumper sticker as he used to back home. The Sacramento Kings’ starting center has two vehicles now — his Mercedes doesn’t have a bumper sticker, and his Ford Expedition has one that supports his friend’s association with the Cornell lacrosse team. I caught up with the former Seattle Prep and Washington star Tuesday morning after a Kings shootaround at their practice facility. The NBA’s worst team played the Pacers at Arco Arena Tuesday night. I’ve always gotten a kick out of Hawes. He was his own man, even at 18 when you could barely call him one. Other motorists swore at him and flipped him off for having a Bush bumper sticker, but he maintained his right-wing stance, saying it was his goal to make King County ‘as red as it gets.’ When reminded Tuesday that he once said he loved everything about the former president, Hawes laughed and said: ‘When was that interview? That was before my stocks took a tumble.’”
Mark Madsen: “Ron Artest is known around the NBA as one of the best, if not the very best defender in the entire NBA. He recently emerged as one of the Houston Rockets go to guys (along with Yao Ming) and is helping them to a great record in the past few weeks. We’ve played them at home twice now and after our first game when I bumped into Ron, one of the first things he said to me was ‘How’s Corey Brewer doing?’ Corey had just suffered a season ending injury and Ron wanted me to pass along to Corey that he hoped Corey’s recovery went well. Then two nights ago in Minnesota some friends of mine came to the game and wanted to the chance to meet Artest and take some pictures with him. (and Yao Ming of course also). While Ron was shaking hands and meeting my friends his main focus at first was asking me how Al Jefferson was holding up after Al’s own season ending knee injury. To me it just kind of shows what’s inside of Ron. On both ocasions, the first thoughts Ron is having are about other people and what they are going through. And it makes it all the more unique given that Ron is one of the most intense, tough and respected players throughout the NBA.”
Stan Grossfeld of The Boston Globe: “Tempted by the chocolate muffins, he instead orders a fruit bowl and two chicken wrap sandwiches, washed down by a Diet Coke. Here, nobody bothers him. That’s not so everywhere. ‘Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t,’ Davis says. ‘But these are great fans here. They love the game of basketball.’ Davis says he feels ‘blessed’ that he won an NBA championship in his first year. The team bonding started in Rome, he says. So did the hazing. ‘When I was in Italy, I had to eat an octopus, and that was disgusting,’ he says. ‘It was kind of raw. Basically you have to pay rookie dues, which is a hassle. Waking up at 5 a.m. and going to get coffee, going to get doughnuts. Getting picked on . . . ‘The guys on the team have a wonderful understanding of family and what it takes to win a championship.’ Davis laughs. He hasn’t been dealt the greatest hand in life. His mother loved him, but she was a drug addict. He has never met his father.”
Jeff Miller of The Orange County Register: “Mbenga, a member of one of the most microscopically analyzed teams in the NBA, one of the most blogged about groups in all of sports, remains largely unknown. Even his name is a bit of a mystery, Didier Ilunga-Mbenga referred to as DJ in some places and D.J. — with periods — in others. You could start his story at Day One, Mbenga born in Zaire into a family with money and clout. ‘That movie ‘Coming to America,’ it was like that,’ he says. ‘I was living like that.’ Or you could start with the judo, Mbenga a black belt. Asked if he could seriously injure, say, a sportswriter, at this exact moment, Mbenga smiles and says, ‘If I wanted to, yes.’ Or how about starting where he didn’t, with basketball? Mbenga, 28, didn’t play the game until he was 17. Only seven years later, he was in the NBA, where, quite clearly, remarkable happens. But, no, his story can rightly start only one place, in prison, with the father who was strong enough to spare his two sons but didn’t possess the power to save himself. ‘My teammates ask me about it sometimes,’ Mbenga says. ‘Some of them understand and some don’t. You really have to see things with your own eyes to understand.’”
Gerald Narciso of The New York Times: “Weekdays are methodical for David Johnson. He works out at a park every afternoon from 3:30 to 6. Ninety minutes are devoted to shooting, passing and dribbling. The other hour is reserved for conditioning and lifting weights. On weekends, he trains harder. His mission: to make an N.B.A. roster. A year ago, pro basketball was nothing more than a pipe dream for Johnson, 25, a counselor at Frances Harper Junior High School in Davis, a city 11 miles west of Sacramento. Today, he is an N.B.A. prospect. No, he will not be a lottery pick in the draft in June. It is unlikely that he will even be selected at all. He is a free-agent pickup at best. But at least he is a prospect. ‘Everybody within the N.B.A. family knows who he is,’ said Donnie Nelson, the president for basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks. Johnson has Jessica Raumer to thank for that. Besides being his girlfriend and the mother of their two children (David Jr., 6, and Dajah, 4), she is also his agent.”
John Branch of The New York Times: “In the National Basketball Association, the average has been roughly 75 percent for more than 50 years. Players in college women’s basketball and the W.N.B.A. reached similar plateaus — about equal to the men — and stuck there. The general expectation in sports is that performance improves over time. Future athletes will surely be faster, throw farther, jump higher. But free-throw shooting represents a stubbornly peculiar athletic endeavor. As a group, players have not gotten better. Nor have they become worse. ‘It’s unbelievable,’ Larry Wright, an adjunct professor of statistics at Columbia, said as he studied the year-by-year averages. ‘There’s almost no difference. Fifty years. This is mind-boggling.’ There are measures in other sports that have shown similar consistency, like golf scores or batting averages, but none of them are as straightforward as lobbing a ball toward a basket.”
