Points in the Paint

» May 5, 2009 7:43 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Ian Thomsen of SI.com: “Pending the health of his right leg following his knee-to-knee collision Monday with Kobe Bryant, Yao’s ability to exploit the free-throw line is going to be a big issue in this series. ‘The whole key is getting into the bonus,’ Rockets forward Shane Battier explained when I was around the team in March. ‘When we get into the bonus, Yao becomes the best center in basketball and a top-five player in the game — it’s because of the numbers, because he’s so good at the free-throw line.’ Battier was basing his claim on stats compiled by the unique front-office staff of general manager Daryl Morey, who declines to say how many analysts he has hired to break down the NBA statistically because he doesn’t want to create a standard for rival teams. ‘It’s a big factor for us,’ Morey conceded of Yao’s foul shooting. ‘Yao goes from being a very, very good player to a great player when we’re in the bonus.’”

Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “Karl, who had past run-ins with Martin, thought he’d be the toughest to get on board with the changing philosophy he wanted to implement – more discipline, improved professionalism, better leadership, and a focus on defense on the court. He was wrong. ‘The guy that jumped in really quick, was Kenyon,’ Karl said. ‘We thought Nene and Kenyon were the hardest guys. Kenyon basically said this is the only way we can survive. And as soon as he got back (for training camp) we met and he said ‘You’re not going to have any problem with me. I’m going to be your leader.’ He jumped in and basically called himself out. ‘We had our first (team) meeting of the season and he said ‘I’ve been a problem for coach, but it’s not going to happen anymore, and I’m going to be the policeman.’ Our off the court activity was part of it, too.’”

Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com crunches the numbers and finds evidence that official Danny Crawford has it in for the Mavs.

The Columbian: “Interesting comment from Kevin Pritchard on the radio Monday night about Greg Oden: . . . ‘For us to take the next level up, it has to come from Greg,’ Pritchard said on 95.5 FM. . . . ‘He can take a 54-win team and take it to another level.’ This might seem painfully obvious to all of you. It’s probably painfully obvious to the Blazers’ front office. But the interesting part is that Pritchard publicly articulated it. The perception is that the franchise has coddled Oden this year. There were reports that Oden had access to Paul Allen’s private suite on the team plane, and that he often distanced himself from the rest of the team.”

Alan Hahn of Newsday: “He did nothing to quell that fear of abandonment in Ohioans or give reason for New Yorkers to believe The King had his sights on Broadway. ‘A mission is not starting and ending in six years or seven years,’ LeBron said. ‘It’s a long journey. It doesn’t mean just basketball. It’s a mission in life to become a better man, better basketball player, better role model, better father, teammate, friend — everything you can think of. So to answer your question, my mission won’t be done.’ We can psycho-analyze the choice of words — the ‘mission in life to become a better man’ — as hinting to looking for the next challenge once he accomplishes the goal to secure a long-awaited championship for the city of Cleveland. We also know he has talked openly about another mission: to be the world’s richest athlete. He certainly has the tools, and the opportunity, to do it. With that in mind, we could wonder about the role Nike may play in all of this 2010 talk as they negotiate his contract extension in 2010.”

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