Points in the Paint

» June 16, 2009 9:01 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Brandon Jennings on lessons learned playing abroad, via Dan Steinberg at the D.C. Sports Bog: “‘That over here, it’s just great over here,’ he said of the U.S. ‘Over there, you know, they have a lot of struggles. You know, the economy’s not that great, they don’t make a lot of money, just the way they live is different from here.’ See, I always thought living in Rome would be sort of a dream. I asked him what was different. ‘Well, we [didn't] have a drier,’ he said. ‘We have to hang our clothes outside. So that was one thing that was really tough for us, you know, hang drying our clothes. You know, not having all the fast food. Just the way they live is totally different. A lot of things be closed on the weekends and things like that. Panda Express, he said, was the fast food he missed the most. Plus, he noted, Italians take three-hour lunch breaks, when you can’t go shopping or anything.”

Kings.com: “Ricky Rubio is currently in Sacramento for his official pre-Draft visit with the Kings. Rubio will undergo a physical conducted by the Kings medical staff today and then go to dinner this evening with Geoff Petrie and other members of the Kings Basketball Operations Department.”

Fran Blinebury of HOOPSWORLD: “If Howard needs to talk to one person over this summer of his discontent, it is Hakeem Olajuwon, who could take him to the next level. You look at Howard’s long, lean, muscular body and you can see a 21st –century version of Hakeem the Dream. You watch Howard aggressively chase down rebounds and loose balls and challenge any penetrator into the lane and it’s Olajuwon Redux – but only at one end of the floor. Olajuwon had progressed from being a mere dunking machine before he left the University of Houston and joined the Rockets. If I’m Howard, I’m making phone calls, e-mails, tapping out text messages, sending up smoke signals, whatever it takes to make contact with Olajuwon at his home in Amman, Jordan. The fact is that Olajuwon does return to Houston every summer and he has been willing to tutor eager students. Several summers ago, I sat inside a Houston gym on a handful of mornings and watched Olajuwon run the Charlotte Bobcats Emeka Okafor through drills that both boggled the young player’s mind and tied his body into pretzel knots.”

Chris Mannix of SI.com: “The 76ers’ Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young will be among the 24 players invited to participate in the U.S. minicamp in Las Vegas next month, according to an NBA source with knowledge of USA Basketball. Iguodala and Young will join a group that includes Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, Portland’s Greg Oden, Chicago’s Derrick Rose, Memphis’ O.J. Mayo, Utah’s Paul Millsap and Ronnie Brewer and projected No. 1 pick Blake Griffin.”

Mannix on the Rondo trade rumors: “Well they don’t like his contract demands first of all. Rondo’s not the kind of guy who’s going to take a hometown discount to stay in Boston. He’s going to sign with whoever offers him the most dollars at the end of his contract, whenever it’s up. He’s going to be a guy who’s going to go out there and try to get the most money.”

At The Dream Shake, Tom Martin notes every team’s strength of schedule this season (the Lakers, Magic, Nuggets, and Cavs are ranked in the bottom half), and wonders why the NBA handicaps teams with divisions.

Scott Ostler with an amazing Jerry West stat: “In the 42 seasons between the Lakers drafting West and him leaving the team in ‘02, the Lakers went to the playoffs 39 times. Two of the misses were the two years (1974-75 and ‘75-76) West was disconnected from the team. During West’s 40 Lakers years, they went to the NBA Finals 21 times. Twenty-one. You could make the case – so I’m going to – that West has had a greater influence on an NBA team than any man ever. Sorry, fans of Red Auerbach and Michael Jordan.”

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