Points in the Paint

» June 22, 2009 4:34 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: “Bob Hurley Sr., the famed high school basketball coach who ran a camp at the Belmont Hill School last week, has conducted camps in Italy for the last three years, and was able to watch the 6-foot-3 guard play for DKV Joventut and the Spanish national team. ‘I know this is going to sound a little different, but as something people up here could identify with, (Rubio) is kind of like a Tom Brady [stats] on the floor,’ he said. ‘Maybe he’s not that great an athlete. But he’s calm, collected, and keeps everything on the floor under control.’ Though Rubio didn’t come in for official measurements at the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago, the talk about his unusually long wingspan apparently has merit. (‘That wingspan makes him 3 inches taller,’ Hurley said.)”

Phil Jackson on the MJ/Kobe comparisons: “I think that he’s the icon of the sport. We have two great players in the league right now, more than two I should say, there’s a number of really terrific players in Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony and guys that are really, really terrific players in helping their team win. And, then there’s LeBron James, who’s like an heir-apparent to that kind of closeness that everyone wants to equate to Michael Jordan. My guy, Kobe Bryant, has been at that level now for a number of years and everyone’s been pointing towards him, but they’re different. Kobe’s a different player than Michael even though he grew up teething on Michael Jordan videos. So, his competitive drive is like MJ’s and that’s the thing that’s a key for a coach, is to go out there and have a guy that wants to win, wants to beat people, wants to carry the torch so to speak in every game, and he has that ability. He’s physically a different player, he’s about the same size, but his physique is considerably different, there’s just nothing quite compared to Michael Jordan.” Jackson also addresses his future with the Lakers.

Game 5 of the Finals was Jackson’s 300th playoff game: “It is more playoff games than 25 current teams, with the Lakers, Celtics, 76ers, Pistons and Knicks as the only exceptions. The Bulls, which Jackson led to six titles, have played 282 all-time playoff games.”

LeBron James rocks another self-promoting t-shirt while on vacation in France. Ryne Nelson says LeBron’s ego deserves a pass. Russ Bengston comments: “I’m not seeing how Wilt holding up a piece of paper that someone wrote ‘100′ on right after the game where he scored 100 compares at all. The story as I’ve heard it (from Wikipedia): ‘It was a matter of improvisation: when Warriors PR manager Harvey Pollack entered the Warriors locker, he took a paper and scribbled the number on it, and an Associated Press photographer who was there at the game (not for professional reasons, but rather because he wanted to give his son a treat) took the photo.’ That said, to make an issue of a t-shirt when it’s being worn by a guy who prefers the nickname ‘King James,’ meh. Wonder how ‘Emperor Jordan’ and ‘Lord Russell’ feel about that?”

Marc J. Spears of The Boston Globe: “And for the NBA’s next trick, it’s trying to conquer India. The NBA Finals were shown in 215 countries this year and the league has had a lot of success showcasing itself overseas, most notably in China. Three years ago, the NBA began its toughest challenge trying to sell itself to cricket-loving India. Considering that India is the world’s second-most populous country, with the fastest-growing economy, it’s worth a try. ‘Our goal is to make basketball the No. 2 sport in India over the next five years,’ said NBA director of international development Akash Jain. In 2006, a 10-member NBA staff went to India to look at basketball facilities and to meet politicians, coaches, players, and corporate leaders as well as current league sponsors with India ties. While paling in popularity to cricket, field hockey, and tennis, basketball is played in schools in all the key urban areas, and kids are gravitating to the sport, according to Jain.”

The AP: “Growing up in Nigeria, Robert Ojeah fretted over the demands of everyday life, the sort of things that shouldn’t be a burden to a child. Would he have a roof over his head that night? What was he going to do for money? Where was his next meal coming from? ‘We would catch animals. Cook them, roast them, eat them,’ he said. ‘Rabbits. Snakes. Squirrels.’ No matter what life dealt him, Ojeah kept growing. And growing. All the way up to 6-foot-10, with muscles upon muscles on a hard-as-a-rock, 220-pound body that’s still only 16 years old. Meet basketball’s new wave. At the top is Tanzania’s Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-2 center who played at UConn and is expected to be one of the top picks in Thursday’s NBA draft. He and Ojeah are part of a vanguard of African youngsters who have found their way, through hoops, from a continent mired in poverty to America — landing on the rosters of high school, AAU and college teams across the land.”

Austin Burton of Dime: “Every good NBA squad has at least two or three key guys who were drafted in the second round, or not drafted at all: Mo Williams and Ben Wallace in Cleveland, Rashard Lewis and Rafer Alston in Orlando, Trevor Ariza and Luke Walton in L.A., Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap in Utah, Eddie House and Leon Powe in Boston, and the list goes on. The ‘09 Draft will be no different, as impact players litter the field of projected second-rounders, with UConn forward Jeff Adrien, Florida State guard Toney Douglas, Villanova forward Dante Cunningham, Temple guard Dionte Christmas and North Carolina swingman Danny Green leading the way. What they’ll miss in guaranteed money right off the bat, history says at least a couple of them will make up for it with some diamond-encrusted Godfather jewelry down the line.”

On FOXSports.com, Randy Hill has a good roundup of opinions regarding Rubio’s place in the draft: “We’ll close with the distinct assessment style of Witness D, another NBA scout who is pretty blunt when it comes to Rubio.‘I just don’t think he’s that good,’ Witness D said with a sniff. ‘There’s the speed and quickness issue, sure, and I think for a guy supposedly loaded with intangibles and court sense, he turns the ball over a lot. Can’t really shoot it from mid-range, either, and European kids generally spend more time on shooting than kids over here. So that’s another concern.”

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