Points in the Paint

» April 30, 2009 6:44 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com: “Ron Artest made quite a stir yesterday when, during an interview with Craig Sager, he noted Brandon Roy was ‘probably the best player I’ve played against.’ Sager, not surprisingly, followed up immediately asking if Artest did indeed think Roy was better than NBA golden boys LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, to which Artest restated that Roy was ‘the best player I’ve played against.’ But less than 24 hours later, Artest isn’t so sure. Confronted by the media today after Rockets shootaround, Artest declared another player the best in the NBA: himself. ‘I don’t know,’ said Artest of whether Roy is the best player in the game. ‘That was yesterday; this is a new day. And I feel I’m the best, so it’s a new day.’”

Kings Director of Player Personnel Jerry Reynolds on the qualities that separate star players from their peers: “Maybe the most important thing, in my opinion, is competitive spirit — somebody who loves to compete. What you don’t know, and maybe it’s the toughest area to judge, somebody may have a nice competitive spirit at 19 but may lose it at 22. Others have it and never lose it — the fire burns brighter. That’s what you’re looking for, somebody who you look at and you’re like, ‘boy, this guy wants to be good. It’s not something he likes to do. It’s something he loves to do.’ I go back to a saying Larry Bird once told me. ‘Every player in the NBA wants to be a star,’ he said. ‘But, some guys need to be.’”

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “What the Heat needs to extend this series against the Hawks is the type of defensive grit that has too often proven fleeting since the midseason trade of Shawn Marion, which especially was the case during Wednesday’s Game 5 loss in Atlanta. What it needs is to end Flip Murray’s candidacy for Sixth Man of the Postseason, keep Mike Bibby from even thinking about going to the basket, re-plant the seed of doubt with Joe Johnson. That’s not about hard fouls. That’s about getting in front of your man and staying in front of your man. And, yes, that includes Dwyane Wade. Counting on homecourt as the prime factor for extending this to a Game 7 only would expose this team’s immaturity. Don’t kid yourself, the Heat got way too full of itself after taking its 2-1 lead.”

George Karl isn’t a fan of the Chuckster: “Barkley gets paid to make crazy statements,” Karl said. “He gets paid to assassinate personalities and coaches. Charles and I, at one time, were really good friends. I’ve told Charles this: ‘Charles, you assassinate too many people for me. And you think it’s funny.’ Everything is funny. Well, it hurts. . . . It hurts.”

Chris Colston of USA TODAY: “Fewer games, however, would produce big-picture benefits, according to Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. He thinks with a shorter schedule more fans would tune in because each game would hold more gravitas. ‘The NCAA tournament, in 63 games, makes more money than the entire NBA regular season of 1,200-plus games,’ Morey said at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in March. ‘It would be hard to tell the owners you’d have to take a revenue hit, but you might get it back later because more people are tuning in.’ Any reduction of games would require a requisite cutback of salaries. No problem, says Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen, who is making $17.4 million this season. ‘I’d give some of my check back,’ he says. ‘And I venture to say the quality of the games would go up another notch.’ Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy would take the corresponding pay cut, ‘because it might add years to the end of your career.’”

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