David Moore of The Dallas Morning News: “‘Some of the stuff that he was inventing out there offensively for us was just phenomenal,’ Carlisle says. Carlisle handed the keys of the offense over to Kidd in late January. The team is 21-11 with him calling the plays. Kidd has a feel for who needs to touch the ball. What may surprise you is that determination is not always made by which player on his team needs to find a rhythm. ‘I think about who on the other team doesn’t want to play defense,’ Kidd says. ‘There are a lot of guys in this league who don’t.’ A lot of them play for the Suns. But I digress. ‘You expose guys in that sense,’ Kidd says. ‘Most guys want to play on the offensive end. If you make them play defense, it takes a little starch out of their offense.’”
Bright Side of the Sun: “Speaking of defense, I take a lot of crap for daring to say anything negative about a certain two-time MVP and all around great guy but did anyone else have the sense that Nash was not all that interested in playing beyond April 15th? Is that just me being overly harsh or did you all see that too? We are know he’s not a great defensive player and that’s fine. But how does it look to the rest of the team when the ‘leader’ and ‘floor general’ stops even trying. Take for example the 8:15 mark of the 1st period when the game was in the pre-laughable stage and Steve hit a high screen set by Dirk. Most players at that point follow their man into the lane and at least try and bother the shooter or get into position for a rebound. Great defensive players fight hard through the screen and bother their man so much that they can’t get a clean shot off. Very few simple stop and watch their man go uncontested to the rim. And that wasn’t the only time but hey, let’s not saying anything bad about the guy that brought fun back to the desert. At least he didn’t take it too hard. After the game he was seen all smiles congratulating Jason Kidd for ‘..put[ting] us out of our misery.’”
Bill Livingston of The Plain Dealer: “Many fans consider assists to be the hardest part of a triple double to get because, like RBI in baseball, they depend on the ability of one’s teammates. The hardest part is really rebounds, though. Far fewer are available today. The 1962 Cincinnati Royals took 8,414 shots. With five games left to play, these Cavs are at 6,045. Oscar defined himself by numbers. ‘His name will live forever,’ said James. But Oscar won only one championship, when the first option on the team was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, not he. There were limits to what even a great guard could do in an era without a 3-point shot to spread the floor. The 1961-62 Royals, for example, were 43-37 and lost their only playoff series. James averages 6:24 less per game than Robertson because the Cavs are 62-15 and he can rest. The Cavs might have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. This spring and others to come will define James, not a box score.”
Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: “‘He’s shown as much improvement as anybody, if not more,’ said Granger, who scored a team-high 24 points Sunday and has seen his scoring average rise from 19.6 points to 25.3. Durant has increased his averages in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. He’s done so while becoming much more efficient, boosting his field-goal percentage from 43 percent to 48 percent and his 3-point percentage from 28.8 percent to 42.4 percent. Durant also is the focal point of opposing teams’ scouting reports. Granger is the only player in the running who faces similar challenges. But his rebounding is down and his assists are only slightly better than a year ago while his shooting percentages remain nearly identical.”
Frank Dell’Apa of The Boston Globe: “The verbiage of the Celtics’ defensive communication might be reduced without Garnett, but Perkins has upped the volume. ‘And when [Garnett] comes back I need to continue to talk,’ Perkins said. ‘It will make us a lot better defensive club. Kevin always gives me the speech to go out there and be the anchor on defense. So, I try to talk and be the loudest one. I’m going out there and trying to be consistent until he gets back. I’m just trying to finish the season strong.’ The Garnett-Perkins defensive tandem has functioned well, Garnett providing the choreography and versatility, Perkins the muscle. Lately, Perkins has been the Celtics’ defensive point of reference and Glen Davis has replaced Garnett, who has missed 20 games. And, despite Garnett’s absence, the Celtics lead the league in defensive field goal percentage (.427).”
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: “Memphis has won five of its past six overall and Conley sank 18 of 30 3-point shots during that stretch. Matching his career high with four 3-pointers in each of the last three games is one thing, but Conley’s marksmanship is impressive, too, because he’s making 3s in a variety of ways. Wide-open, spot-up? No problem. A launch to beat the shot clock? Count it. Catch and shoot? Kaboom! And none of Conley’s long-range attempts seemed forced or outside of the team’s offensive flow. ‘I feel like I can do no wrong when I’m out there,’ Conley said. ‘I’m having a lot of fun. We’re all having fun competing. But I’m able to take my game to another level because of my high confidence level.’”
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “To paraphrase Lakers assistant coach Frank Hamblen during a halftime interview with FS West, the ‘Bench Mob’ hasn’t been much of a mob this season. The Lakers were up 19 in the fourth quarter, but starters Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher had to check back into the game with 4:16 to play when the Clippers chopped the lead to 81-71 with a 9-0 run. By that time, momentum had been lost, not even the starters could find it, and all of the Lakers had to hold their breath as Baron Davis’ three-point attempt hit the back of the rim as time expired. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson was not thrilled, speaking for 33 seconds before leaving his postgame news conference without taking any questions from reporters. Lakers players weren’t enthralled, either. ‘We got up 20,’ forward Lamar Odom said. ‘Can’t hold the lead.’”
Marc Berman of the New York Post: “Unless you have a bad back and were born in Milan, nobody on the Knicks’ roster should feel comfortable about returning next season. That was the message from coach Mike D’Antoni yesterday before the Knicks beat the Raptors 112-103 at Air Canada Centre. One night after the Raptors eliminated the Knicks from playoff contention, the Knicks returned the favor and hit the 30-win mark. ‘Actually they’re going in the same direction we’re going — nowhere,’ said D’Antoni, whose team is 30-47. ‘We’re going to the beach after this, the same as you guys.’ D’Antoni was speaking before the game when asked if the Raptors were headed in the right direction because of their six-game win streak. He also had a sharp tongue when talking on whether he envisioned Larry Hughes as their starting shooting guard next season. D’Antoni gave a clear indication that the offseason will be eventful. Only rookie Danilo Gallinari — and Wilson Chandler — appear safe.”
Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “It’s not often Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan smiles before a game, but there he was Sunday, grinning ear to ear as he bolted unexpectedly out of his office and into the players’ locker room. ‘Here we go!’ McMillan said, clapping his hands. ‘We’re there! We’re there!’ ‘There’ was the NBA playoffs, a spot the Blazers were assured Sunday afternoon when McMillan learned Phoenix had lost in Dallas as the Blazers prepared to play Houston. It is the first time since 2003 the Blazers are headed to the postseason, ending the second longest drought in the franchise’s 39 seasons. The postseason appearance is the finishing touch on the franchise’s huge rebuilding project that has seen the Blazers The transformation has been so profound and the playoff accomplishment so meaningful that general manager Kevin Pritchard choked back tears Sunday afternoon.”
Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star: “If they’re going to be better next season, improved defence wouldn’t hurt. The Raptors, bottom 10 in the 30-team league in opposing field-goal percentage this season, allowed the Knicks to shoot a gaudy 51 per cent from the field last night, including a whopping 52 per cent from three-point range. So while there was giddiness in the locker room during the six-game winning streak, the truth is the Magic were the lone over-.500 team the Raptors beat during their late-season moment of prosperity. Toronto’s other five victories came against teams with an average winning percentage of .376. Beating bad teams hasn’t been a problem for the Raptors this season; they’re .588 against teams below .500. They’ve played .220 against teams with winning records.”
Brad Rock of the Deseret News: “Their common ground created a bond that was cemented long ago and resulted in some genuinely funny moments. Early in the 1992-93 season, the team was boarding the bus after a game in Denver that marked Sloan’s 300th coaching victory (he now has more than 1,000). ‘Jerry, congratulations,’ said Stockton, as Sloan swung into his seat in the front. ‘On what?’ said Sloan. ‘Three hundred wins.’ ‘Thanks.’ ‘What’d you win in Chicago?’ Stockton continued, clearly enjoying the moment. ‘About 10?’ Sloan was fired midway through his third season with the Bulls. They could tease one another, but when the games tipped off, their eyes got hard.”
Matt Steinmetz of FanHouse: “Every time I hear of a Basketball Hall of Fame vote, I actually get annoyed. I don’t want to get annoyed, but I get annoyed. I’d like nothing more than to stroll down memory lane, reliving some of the good times of the past. Maybe even have an argument or two over who deserved to get in and who didn’t. But you can’t even begin to get into any kind of discussion about Basketball Hall of Fame voting because you can’t get past one fact: WE DON’T KNOW WHO VOTES. And just like George Costanza couldn’t not think about the nose, I can’t not think about who gets to make the selections here. We’re told by the Hall of Fame’s website that the Honors Committee is made up of Hall of Famers, basketball executives, media members and other contributors to the game. C’mon. That could be David Stern, Jerry West and cousin Sal, who had the St. Margaret’s CYO squad at 11-4 this season. Why are these people not known?”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “The Basketball Hall of Fame is too political of a place. The voting belongs to insiders and the membership reflects it. The Hall of Fame should be for greatness and dominance, not the politically connected. It’s an insult to Jordan to have share that shrine with faceless administrators and clownish TV hacks. Nevertheless, Jordan delivers a dose of credibility to sports’ most flawed Hall. ‘I’m guessing the vote was unanimous,’ Tim Grover said with a laugh on his cell phone Sunday. Grover is the famous fitness guru out of Chicago, whom Jordan trusted with his most vital commodity: his body. Grover has a gym there, where he worked out ballplayers, but Jordan changed everything for him. When everyone else was gone – the adoring throng, the players, the press – there was Jordan and Grover. Sometimes, they were at Grover’s gym. Sometimes, they were on the road. Always, they were together. No other basketball player made a generation understand that greatness was an around-the-clock, around-the-calendar job.
