Points in the Paint

» June 12, 2009 7:43 PM | By Brandon Hoffman
  • Preps to Euro pros baller Brandon Jennings says Ricky Rubio is “all hype.” Jennings, who played Rubio back in December, is asked how Rubio compares to some of the players coming out of college. Here’s Jennings’ response: “Well, when I played him he had 0 points, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. So you tell me how that works with him.” Another reporter makes a comment about minutes, and Jennings continues: “We had about even minutes. I had 12 points, about 6 assists. That was the most I ever played was 30 minutes so you know I was a little winded, but i still think I got the best of him.” Strong words, although Jennings twisted the facts. Rubio was limited to only eight minutes because he was still recovering from surgery on his right wrist, while Jennings played 22:54. Here’s the boxscore. Lang Whitaker attended the game.
  • Chris Paul on whether he’s as good as Kobe, LeBron, and Wade:  “I think so, I think so. I tell people all the time, one thing that all those guys have over me, definitely is just that dunk factor. I get in to the lane just as much as D-Wade and ‘Bron and those guys but when they get in to the lane with their athleticism, a lot of the time they just take off to dunk and guys don’t even challenge them at the rim. When I get in to the lane, everyone’s eyes light up and they wanna come over and block the shot.”
  • Orlando is willing to pay the luxury tax to keep Hedo Turkoglu, as reported by Tom Povtak of FanHouse:  “The intoxicating effect of reaching the NBA Finals for just the second time in franchise history will prompt the Orlando Magic to loosen the purse strings and venture into the previously-dreaded luxury tax territory this summer to re-sign free agent-to-be Hedo Turkoglu. Magic President and chief executive officer Bob Vander Weide told FanHouse that ownership likely would approve paying the luxury tax for the first time if it means keeping the nucleus of this team together. The Magic are one of 19 teams in the league who previously have avoided the luxury tax, which is a dollar-for-dollar tax paid to the league and distributed to teams that stay under the tax threshold.”
  • Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports:  “The Magic have shown their resilience time and again in these playoffs, but they sounded like a tormented team afterward. Van Gundy said the decision not to foul Fisher will ‘haunt me forever.’ Rafer Alston pouted over his lost minutes. Howard made sure everyone knew he wasn’t the only guy missing free throws. Turkoglu blamed himself for rimming out foul shots … and failing to call timeout on a busted inbounds play … and picking up a silly foul – a hat trick of mea culpas. The game, Turkoglu said, ‘just kind of slipped away from our stupidness.’ The Lakers were all too happy to grab it from them. After Howard seemingly corralled an offensive rebound late in the third quarter, Bryant wrapped him up, wrenching the ball from his hands and flinging the giant center backward. The officials whistled Howard for a foul, and he protested. Bryant snarled back: ‘Just shut the [bleep] up and play!’ Jackson and Van Gundy both later described the scene as the moment the game truly turned back toward the Lakers. ‘That just kind of showed the grit that this team has tried to develop over the last year,’ Jackson said, ‘to come back from circumstances that are dire …’ Howard looked stunned that Bryant could summon such rage.”
  • Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post:  “At 6:45 p.m., more than two hours before the opening tip, the arena was nearly empty. But there was Bryant on the court, practicing his jumper with an intensity golfer Tigers Woods would admire. At one point, Bryant made 23 consecutive shots.”
  • Mike Jones of the Washington Post talks to Gilbert Arenas about his offseason workout plan during halftime of Game 4:  “To avoid interruption, Gil suggested we move further down the hall just outside the VIP lounge, but the interruptions continued. Only these were of the star-studded type. Tiger Woods stopped on his way back to his seat, drink in hand, wife on his arm, and asked Arenas how his knee was doing. ‘Good. I feel good. Finally healthy again,’ Arenas said. ‘Glad to hear it,’ Tiger said. ‘Hey, I just got your game,’ Gil said with a laugh. ‘I’m alright at it.’ ‘Good,’ Tiger said with a laugh, then said his good-byes and went back to his courtside seat. A short time later, Chris Brown interrupts us. ‘Whatup, family,’ he said as the two shook hands then chatted for a bit. Two minutes later it was Rihanna (yes, in the same place as Brown), who walked by and waved at Gil. Then Lil Wayne walks up, stops and asks Gil if he’ll be back to his old self next year. (Never seen him in person before. He should be called Tiny Wayne. He’s beyond little). The Orlando players started heading out of their locker room and back onto the floor and nearly all of them asked Arenas how he was doing. It’s rather apparent, there are a lot of people beyond the Wizards faithful hoping for a dynamic return of Agent Zero.”
  • Casey Holdahl checks in with Brandon Roy:  “There’s nothing like a relaxing summer to cure the aches and pains of an 82 game season. It’s important to take some time after the end of a long year to heal after subjecting your body to countless collisions on the court. That’s exactly how Brandon Roy is approaching his offseason. Roy, anxious to begin working on his game after a 32 win rookie season, all but ran back to the gym after the buzzer sounded for the final time in 06-07. He took a little more time off last offseason, but he still pushed himself a bit too hard, which resulted in Roy need minor knee surgery before the start of training camp. But now he’s learned his lesson. After 54 wins and a first round exit from the playoffs, B.Roy is taking an extended sabbatical from basketball. ‘I’ve beginning to come out of my rest phase,’ said Roy, ‘but not really playing basketball. Just exercising. I’ll start biking again this month, lifting some weights. I feel like I’ve taken a good month, but I’m still a month away from playing basketball on court and shooting and things like that.’”
  • Janis Carr of The Orange County Register:  “More than 250 international media members from 32 countries are covering the action in Los Angeles and Orlando, with a total of 55 international media outlets (television and radio). At least 14 are providing live commentary, while the rest receive the feed that is translated into the varying languages. Spain has the most media outlets at the Finals with 32, while Poland sent 14 and Turkey, which is tracking Hedo Turkoglu, has eight representatives. There also are reporters from countries such as Lithuania, India, Taiwan, Latvia, Australia, Inner Mongolia and Japan. Coverage of the Finals also will be available with Arabic language commentary throughout the Middle East on Al Jazeera Sport. NBA fans also can log on to NBA.com and listen to live audio of the games in 10 languages: English, Czech, Dutch, Flemish, French, Hebrew, Mandarin, Polish, Spanish and Tagalog.”
  • ESPN’s Eric Neel on Phil Jackson:  “He looks down at the floor as he talks, and I step closer, and I’m listening to him, and I can hear the echoes of ‘Sacred Hoops,’ and I’m calling up the stories of gathering players in a circle for ‘om’ chants, and of recommended readings and inspirational film clips. I know on some level I’m supposed to listen with an ironic ear at a moment like this. That’s Phil’s shtick, I’m supposed to think. But that’s not what I’m thinking at all. I’m thinking, what if the operative shtick here is ours, not his? What if there’s some part of us, some cautious, analog part of our hearts that still clings to the idea that coaches are only coaching when they draw up plays on the chalkboard or stir up players with Gipper speeches? I’m thinking this cat has stayed true to his school on this stuff, talking about energy, connectedness, intuition and not being a stranger to the moment as you’ve imagined it, from the jump, for two decades now. At what point do we stop thinking of him as the eccentric? Will 10 rings do the trick? At what point do we consider the possibility, in earnest, with nary a wink or a nod, that the guy might be on to something? That over and above the X’s and O’s (which pretty much everyone knows cold anyway), in this era, in conjunction with truly elite talents such as Michael, Scottie, Shaq, Kobe and Gasol, at this level of competition, Jackson might be practicing just the sort of alchemy and philosophical framing that makes the difference between a team’s being good and being great, between simply making the playoffs and making the playoffs your plaything.”

Category: 2009 NBA Playoffs, International Basketball, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, NBA Issues, Orlando Magic, Points in the Paint, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards

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