» April 13, 2009 7:54 PM | By Brandon Hoffman
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News: “Mullin and Rowell were never destined to be allies, but they almost certainly could’ve talked through Mullin’s contract talks with Davis–instead, Rowell fumed and then rejected the offered deal and Mullin threw up his hands. Rowell and Mullin could’ve discussed the dangers of letting Nelson have any say on personnel moves–instead, as Rowell started to plan his dethroning of Mullin, Rowell moved closer and closer to Nelson, which drove Mullin even further away. The two-year extension given to Nelson at the beginning of the season was Rowell telling Mullin that he had been replaced by Nelson in the hierarchy. The three-year extension given to Jackson was just Rowell delighting in over-ruling Mullin. But they never talked about or debated those decisions–the decisions themselves were the communication.”
- Brian Mahoney of the AP: “David Stern calls himself an optimist and considers his owners and players realists. So despite the economic turmoil, the NBA commissioner remains confident the two sides will work together this summer during talks for a new collective bargaining agreement. The central issue, according to Stern, will be division of revenue – the players now get 57 percent.”
- Denver Post beat writer Benjamin Hochman on covering Allen Iverson: “I enjoyed the experience of covering Allen Iverson, because he is one of the larger-than-life athletes, one of the guys who transcends an era. He was brutally honest with his quotes, which I obviously liked, and he played his heart out all the time, which is just so cool. He had flaws though, and even though Denver won 50 games last year, his lack of defense and lack of trust in teammates might have hurt the Nuggets a little bit. And personally, I remember the frustration during the playoffs when he wouldn’t talk to reporters, and I had to chase him down to his car, just to get him on the record. It was weird that he was a standup guy during the season, but when the going got tough in the playoffs, he wasn’t the captain-like leader one would hope he’d be.”
- HOOPSWORLD reviews Coach K’s new book: “The Gold Standard goes step-by-step through the process that brought the Gold home, beginning with the premise that Colangelo and Coach K set as their foundation: ‘Guys who play together can beat a group of all-stars on any given night.’ At their very first meeting to discuss the challenge of winning the gold, Coach K asked Colangelo why he was doing it. After all Colangelo had accomplished, why take on a project as enormous as the Olympics? ‘Because I love the game and the game’s been good to me,’ said Colangelo. ‘We owe the game.’ At that moment, Coach K was on board.”
Category: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, International Basketball, Los Angeles Lakers, Points in the Paint, Portland Trail Blazers
Tags: Allen Iverson, Boston Celtics, Chris Mullin, Cleveland Cavaliers, Daryl Morey, David Stern, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, International Basketball, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Mike Krzyzewski, NBA Teams, Points in the Paint, Portland Trail Blazers, Ray Allen
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Ray Allen on Cleveland celebrating during their 107-76 win over the Celtics: “I’m always going to remember that,” Allen said. “If I beat a team, as happy as I may be in victory, I’m always going to stay humble. … We play each other too much. Those are just great motivational thoughts for me.” An extra-motivated Ray Allen is probably music to Doc Rivers’ ears. Allen shot 32.8 percent versus Cleveland in last year’s playoffs, including a frigid 16.7 percent from the three-point line. Shuttlesworth connected on 36.6 percent of his shot attempts in four meetings versus Cleveland this season.
April 14th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Reading Kelly Dwyer’s rant….I feel like I’m reading myself.
It’s unbelievable that no one is talking about Chris Paul. This is EXACTLY WHY more objective analysis needs to go into things like this.
I mean, what’s a better story line? Chris Paul continues to amaze the hell outta people, but his team struggles and is no longer the feel good story? Or, Chauncey Billups goes back to his hometown and turns a selfish me-first offensive into the second best team in the West? Obviously number 2. Chris Paul is unbelievable. And it is comical that someone that follows the game as much as Marc Stein has Chauncey Billups ahead of him.
The NBA is all about a good story – but a good story is not always fair.
April 14th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Stein obviously puts a ton of emphasis on a player’s win-loss record.
CP3 is third on my ballot.