Jonathan Givony for NBA.com: “As is often the case when you put every NBA general manager, head coach, director of player personnel and scout together in one small gym the conversations in the bleachers are often far more interesting than the action going on the court. Many grizzled, veteran scouts–fresh off a long year of being on the road for weeks at a time seeing every prospect in this draft dozens of times expressed their concerns about this pre-draft camp influencing their front office more than it should. ‘The general managers and coaches see certain things here that might not match up with everything we saw during the college season,’ one regional scout grumbled. ‘But these are just drills. This doesn’t tell us anything about how these guys will perform once the lights come on.’ Almost on cue, Ohio State freshman 7-footer B.J. Mullens soars from a foot inside the free throw line to tomahawk jam home an uncontested offensive rebound. An NBA head coach sitting nearby shakes his head in disbelief and scribbles notes down furiously, clearly astonished by the amazing display of athleticism. The regional scout rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed. ‘Where was that during the season?’”
Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: “‘You don’t trade for superstars,’ says Rick Sund, the Hawks’ general manager. ‘You draft them.’ The lottery is, by design and definition, pure luck. The Hawks were participants in 2003 (LeBron’s year, when their No. 8 pick was made by Milwaukee as part of the Glenn Robinson trade) and 2004 (Dwight’s year, when they settled for Josh Childress with the sixth pick), and both times went unblessed by the ping-pong balls. There’s no strategy involved. It’s the bounce of ball in a hopper. A little exercise: Take one player – any one, from Josh Smith to Speedy Claxton – off the Hawks and replace him with LeBron/Kobe/Dwight. Know where the Hawks would be? Preparing for Game 1 of the NBA finals. This is a very good team that lacks only one great player, but that’s a massive lack. We tire of the NBA’s blather about its stars, but nobody can deny that it’s a star’s game. And stars are hard to get. Of the 15 men who comprised the 2009 All-NBA teams, 13 were top 10 draftees – the exceptions are Kobe Bryant, taken No. 13 when high schoolers weren’t yet the rage, and Tony Parker, who arrived from France as the 28th pick in 2001 – and 10 went in the top five.”
Tom Moore of The Intelligencer: “In his system of back cuts and player movement, Jordan relies on the old-school lineup of two guards, two forwards and a center, as opposed to today’s typical point guard, shooting guard, small forward, etc. Jordan would love to have veteran point guard Andre Miller return to the Sixers, but Miller is an unrestricted free agent who could choose to go elsewhere after July 1. If he leaves, Lou Williams could conceivably initiate the offense. The Sixers would like to select a perimeter player with the 17th pick in the June 25 draft, though Jordan said, ‘You can’t replace Andre Miller with a rookie, that’s for sure.’ Jordan said he plans to use Andre Iguodala at forward to start the season, though Iguodala could play some guard in ‘December or January,’ depending on how he masters the Princeton offense, and Elton Brand will see time at forward and center. It’s possible Jordan could start Iguodala and Thaddeus Young at forward, mimicking his use of Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison there in Washington, with Brand at center. ‘If you’re a basketball player with a basketball IQ, (the Princeton offense is) easy to learn,’ Jordan said.”
Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer: “For their part, the players on hand yesterday said the right things about the new coach and his new system, about how difficult it was to guard when Jordan was coaching Washington, and how excited they were to learn it. If nothing else, the system, if it is run properly, will make the Sixers a tough out during the regular season. There is little time for preparation by opponents, little ability or inclination to change one’s entire defense on the fly for a team that plays the game differently from the others. It will also help a team such as the Sixers that has several redundant, interchangeable parts and about seven rotation players for the 2-3-4 positions. It won’t matter as much that Iguodala is an undersize forward or that Thaddeus Young has no determined position or that, as of the moment, the team doesn’t shoot well from distance. ‘It’s not the typical stand-around-watch-the-guy-in-the-post-with-the-ball, or linger-on-the-perimeter-waiting-for-a-kick-out-to-shoot-a-three,’ said Sixers scout John Nash, who was the general manager in New Jersey when Jordan was an assistant there. ‘His offense gets shots. Now, if you’ve got talented players, you’ll make a high percentage of them. If you don’t, you won’t.’”
Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post: “If Denver wants to keep pace with up-and-coming Portland or avoid getting kicked by the ornery old San Antonio Spurs, much less seriously challenge the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Kobe Bryant scowls his way to success, the Nuggets will have to make another move as bold as the one that landed them Billups in trade. ‘In all honesty, if we’re not thinking a championship, then we shouldn’t be here,’ Nuggets vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman said. Improving the team won’t be easy, unless Kroenke approves a payroll of at least $75 million. Standing pat, however, would be a mistake for the Nuggets. Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen, Dahntay Jones, Anthony Carter and Linas Kleiza gave the Nuggets cheap thrills that got the team rolling and the home crowd on its feet. Denver paid these four key role players a total of $5 million, a steal by NBA standards. All these men want, and probably deserve, a raise. But as much as there is sentiment to keep the team together, all might have to go if the Nuggets want to get better.”
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: “The Lakers will be making their 30th appearance in the Finals, beginning with Thursday’s Game 1, in search of the franchise’s 15th championship. Count on most of the league’s fans that don’t count purple and gold among their favorite colors to be rooting for the Magic. Lakers Hatred is an extension of fan jealousy, and it makes for great rivalries. ‘Lakers Suck’ T-shirts would have sold briskly in Boston during the 1980s had it not been a time of more sensitive restraint. Then, ‘Beat L.A.’ shirts ruled the day, and the chant would begin at the Boston Garden an hour before tip-off of the three Lakers-Celtics Finals of the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson era. A large measure of modern-day Lakers Hatred derives from outright jealousy that Kobe Bryant is the game’s most skilled closer, turning even great defenders into helpless witnesses. That he takes such obvious delight in his own exploits fuels the antipathy. Bryant has spent the bulk of his career trying to be Michael Jordan. He has matched Jordan’s ability to make the most difficult shots when they matter most, but he hasn’t replicated His Airness’ universal appeal. This is because he can’t stop himself from falling into the playground ethos demanding that bravado accompany every on-court success.”
Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: “If this is the new face of the NBA coach — disheveled as Van Gundy may seem at times — the league may actually draw a larger audience than it thought it had. In other years, this venue was for the hip, worldly, keep-your-distance guys — coaches such as Riley and Jackson and Popovich, all brilliant men with savoir faire who tend to treat their office as if it’s the imperial presidency and divide every game between ethos and pathos. But Stan Van Gundy is going to the NBA Finals, leading a bunch of upstarts against the most glamorous team in sports, and whether the Lakers and the world beyond are ready or not, here he comes. ‘He’s like no other coach I’ve worked with,’ said assistant coach Brendan Malone, who has worked with the best since he broke in with the Chuck Daly Pistons. ‘Very bright, very prepared, and he has an assistant’s mentality as far as preparation and attention to detail. But you can argue all night with him, because he’s in the trenches as much as the assistants are — that’s rare. And you better know this: The reason we won the Eastern Conference is because he goaded and nagged this team — he got them to stop with the short-cutting, and the lazy habits, and the sloppiness.’”
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Orlando Magic all-star center Dwight Howard, publicly addressing his long-term future for the first time, told the Sentinel on Monday that he’d love to finish his career in Orlando. As long as Orlando wants him, he says. ‘It is an interesting question,’ Howard said. ‘You know what? I’ll be here as long as the fans want me to be here. They have a lot of do with it.’ Howard, 23, is a five-year veteran and has four more years left on his $85-million contract. ’I tell my friends this: I want to stay here. It will be based upon the city. We want the support of our fans. That’s what carries us, that’s what inspires us, that’s what keeps us motivated. You want to feel loved. That’s the biggest thing. I show my love to the community. I show my love to this city by stepping on the floor every night and playing as hard as I can. That’s all we want back.’”
George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Nelson, a gritty point guard, was heading to the NBA All-Star Game until suffering a ’season-ending’ shoulder injury on Feb. 2. He needed surgery days later. The question now becomes: Why would Orlando want to slice and dice its playbook, its momentum, its chemistry, everything, on the off-chance that a guy who hasn’t played in four months might be able to suit up and take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals? Sure, the Magic are going to Hollywood this week. But this isn’t one of those Rudy moments, where a bench-warmer gets a few charitable minutes of PT and snags a sappy movie deal in the process. Nelson’s presence in the lineup may even be awkward, like an old boyfriend who shows up after the girlfriend has moved on, is dating somebody new, and has sold on eBay all the Audioslave CDs he left behind. The Magic still love this guy. And they should. ‘Jameer is fearless,’ Dwight Howard said. But there’s also a fear factor for the Magic to consider.”
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “It’s not official yet, but it looks as if the Lakers have settled on a defensive plan for an Orlando team that made it this far with a strong post presence, in Dwight Howard, and a number of perimeter shooters. In the frontcourt, Andrew Bynum will guard Howard, Ariza will guard Hedo Turkoglu and, perhaps the key match-up of the series, Pau Gasol will try to stay with Rashard Lewis. Lewis is a 6-foot-10 power forward, but he does most of his work from the outside. He led the league with 220 three-pointers in the regular season. ‘Most of the power forwards in this league, they move around 15, 18 feet in,’ Gasol said. ‘With Lewis, you got to work 18 feet out all the way out to the three-point line, even deeper. So you have to be aware of that. That changes a little bit of your moves and your instincts. Hopefully, during these couple of days, I’m going to get used to that and make sure he doesn’t get clean looks and good shots at the basket.’ In the post, Bynum collected nine fouls in two regular-season games against Howard, but Jackson didn’t seem overly concerned about foul trouble. ‘We have three big guys with solid bodies that could play him,’ Jackson said.”
Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: “The Lakers weren’t prepared for the Boston Celtics in last year’s NBA Finals. It didn’t have as much to do with the Celtics’ fine play while defeating the Lakers in six games to claim the championship; it had everything to do with the moment. The Lakers simply weren’t ready for it last June. They weren’t battle-tested or experienced enough to win. So said Lakers coach Phil Jackson on Monday afternoon. ‘I felt they got there a year early as a team,’ he said of the 2007-08 Lakers. They didn’t have as much experience together. We got there on our emotion and energy, and some things fell ahead of us. San Antonio won a series in New Orleans and sat a whole night on a plane (because of a mechanical problem), and we ended up having a series against San Antonio that we just didn’t anticipate. We thought that was a best-of-7 series, and we were able to get away with that series in a little less time (winning the Western Conference finals, four games to one). So, we got there (to the Finals) without testing ourselves as much as we had to.’”
William C. Rhoden of The New York Times: “Since Saturday’s game, James has taken a publicity hit for his display in public, though his defenders say LeBron’s not a bad sport, just a competitor who hates to lose. Dwight Howard hates to lose; so does Kobe Bryant. You win and accept the praise, you lose and accept defeat. In April, Cleveland hosted the Celtics for a game that happened to be meaningless. Both teams had clinched playoff berths, and the Celtics were playing without Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe. The Cavaliers routed Boston and celebrated as if they had knocked off the full-strength Celtics in a playoff game. What struck me was that LeBron was something of a facilitator for the good times; he did a dance near the bench for the benefit of an in-stadium camera. Later, sitting on the bench, he led a chorus-line-type celebration as Cleveland poured it on. At the time, the spin was about how great it was that a superstar was having fun with his guys. That’s fine, but when you lose a heartbreaking series, you have to go out with your guys and shake hands with the team that beat you. You can’t have it both ways. Even when you’re king.”
Lenn Robbins of the New York Post: “Surely the NBA would love to see a superstar of LeBron James’ caliber in the world’s largest media market, right? ‘Those are only the questions New Yorkers ask,’ NBA commissioner David Stern said yesterday. ‘The league is going great, and I think we’re going to continue to have very good numbers with Orlando [in the finals]. And we haven’t had a New York team in the finals for a number of years, but the league continues to go.’ It’s hard to imagine Stern not wanting to see a marquee player’s name in the big city. ‘New Yorkers will love it, and, of course, to the extent that media impressions get formed out of New York, at least they used to, that I guess would be helpful but it doesn’t make a significant difference overall,’ he said. … Stern said he understood LeBron James’ actions after the Cavs were eliminated from the Eastern Conference finals. James walked off the court without shaking hands with any of the Orlando players. ‘I think he was reflecting the emotion of the minute, but he made up for it the next day by making his statement,’ said Stern. ‘I think he was greatly frustrated and I understand.’”
