Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “There was not much to report from the workouts or the pickup game that followed. It was not as if Tracy McGrady walked in and played in a five-on-five, pick up game as if he never had that microfracture surgery back in February. That happened the day before in Chicago, rather than in Toyota Center, and on a day that Daryl Morey was in town to check on his progress. Morey seemed determined to be cautious about expecting too much, too soon, but when pressed about how he thought McGrady looked, he said, ‘More or less, I would have to say, very good. He’s way, way ahead of schedule,’ Morey said. ‘He’s already playing. I don’t think anyone could have predicted he would be playing now. He still has a long way to go. There is a lot of rust to shake off.’ OK sure, but rust is not damage. While the Rockets have spent the summer forced to dramatically reduce expectations while refusing to assume anything about what McGrady might be able to contribute, it has been impossible to not at least consider the potential impact of the NBA’s top-paid player. If he is ready to even just try a few full-court five-on-fives, he would seem on pace from training camp in a month.”
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle: “They’re not going to win a championship this season, and they might not even be a playoff team. They have no idea when or if Yao Ming will play again and don’t know if Tracy McGrady is capable of playing at a high level. Championship talk has been replaced by the realization they’ll have to fight and claw to make the playoffs. Yet they’ve made something out of nothing. Rather than stitch the roster together with old guys, they’ve constructed a team of speed, youth, defense and passion. If you love basketball, if you love a team that plays hard and competes and won’t back down, you might love these Rockets. ‘We signed players not just for now, but for two steps down the road,’ general manager Daryl Morey said. Who doesn’t love Aaron Brooks? Remember the Rockets that stunned the Lakers twice in the playoffs? That’s the team they want to be in 2009-10. ‘We’re not going to lose because of a lack of effort,’ Morey said. ‘If a team shows up and thinks it’s going to win because it has better players than the Rockets, they’re going to lose.’ It’s funny how fans react when they perceive a franchise has a sensible plan and is willing to stick to it. The Rockets have sold more tickets than they had sold at this time last year.”
Truman Reed of Bucks.com: “The competitive edge is one of those components that separates a professional athlete from his opponents. When an athlete sustains an injury, he can encounter difficulty keeping his competitive edge sharp. Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut missed 43 games — including the last 31 — of the 2008-09 season with the most serious injury of his career, an incomplete stress fracture of his lower back. The doctors’ prescription for Bogut’s injury, a small crack in the bone inflicted by repeated trauma, was complete rest. From February until late July, Bogut could not play basketball. So what did Bogut do to sharpen his competitive edge as he spent most of his summer in Europe and his native Australia? ‘I’ve been playing a lot of UNO and other card games … ping pong,’ Bogut said with a smile. ‘I want to get back out there and get ready to go.’ Bogut’s commitment to the Australian National Team haven’t left him much time for rest and relaxation during past off-seasons, so his layoff during the summer of 2009 might just have a silver lining. Being a card shark instead of the center for the Boomers for a change could prove to be beneficial to Bogut.”
Tim Povtak of FanHouse: “Kevin Martin looked healthy this week during workouts at the IMG Academy, where he has spent time every summer for the last eight years. He sounded enthused about returning to Sacramento for another season, but even he admitted it’s tough to be too excited about the Kings chances. They added first-round picks Tyreke Evans (4th pick from Memphis) and Omri Casspi (23rd pick from Israel), but it is difficult to envision them being anywhere but near the bottom again in the Western Conference. The Kings are preaching patience to their fans, that the building process will be painful. They won’t have any room under the salary cap to sign a high-profile free agent until next summer. ‘I understand that people sometime don’t want to be part of something that takes awhile, but hopefully, we’ve already hit bottom,” Martin said. ‘My first couple years in the league, we were fighting for playoff spots. Now, you’ve just got to adjust the way you look at things. We’ve got some nice young players. I have to help them get better.’”
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “As for Beasley, a source familiar with the situation confirmed that a misstep by the 20-year-old forward while participating in an outpatient program resulted in more stringent guidelines being established. The source said the lapse was not related to drug use but rather adherence to program rules. The current stay is not voluntary, but is the only avenue for a return to the court. Under NBA policy, neither the league nor the Heat is allowed to comment on the substance-abuse program, including whether a player even is part of the program. It was learned earlier this week, however, that Beasley was entered into the program for an infraction during last year’s NBA rookie symposium. While the forward still is expected in time for the Sept. 28 start of training camp, his new timetable in the league’s program could have him away from South Florida until just days before the start of those sessions at AmericanAirlines Arena. Because the program is under the auspices of the NBA, Beasley will be able to continue basketball training in the interim, but likely will not be able to work out with teammates. Typically, Heat players spend the opening weeks of September working out as a group in informal sessions in South Florida.”
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “The NBA’s last few months ultimately might be remembered as ‘The Summer of Twitter.’ Though all of North America’s major pro sports leagues are utilizing social media, the NBA and its fans have embraced Twitter and Facebook at warp speed — and not always smoothly. Players’ tweets, messages of 140 characters or less, have generated news headlines. In June, Minnesota forward Kevin Love broke the news that Kevin McHale wouldn’t return as the Timberwolves’ coach. Shaquille O’Neal used his feed to congratulate his old teammate and rival Kobe Bryant for winning the NBA title. And, in recent days, Allen Iverson announced that he had received a contract offer from Memphis. ‘We’ve always tried to be at the forefront of embracing and looking at new technology — anything that enhances our fans’ experience and their engagement with the game,’ said Dan Opallo, a director of marketing for the NBA who is involved in the day-to-day management of the league’s Twitter feed and Facebook page.’ … The NBA’s official Twitter feed has roughly 1.25 million followers, while the official feeds for Major League Baseball, the NFL and the NHL have about 1.3 million followers combined. The NBA’s official Facebook page has approximately 1.42 million fans, which is nine times more fans than the NFL has on its page and 38 times more fans than Major League Baseball has on its page.”
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports: “The days of $5 million-plus coaching salaries, expected extensions and hefty raises are increasingly being reserved for only the most successful coaches like the Lakers’ Phil Jackson and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, who also heads his franchise’s basketball operations department. NBA commissioner David Stern chastised the league’s owners this summer for spending too much money on their coaching and scouting staffs. With the NBA about to begin negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, one league source said Stern told team owners that the Players Association will likely protest a reduction in the players’ salary structure unless the salaries of coaches and team executives also are decreased. ‘Stern has been hammering the owners about that,’ one Western Conference executive said. ‘The owners have been taking it to heart. … There is some significant downward pressure with coach and front-office salaries. I’m in that boat, too. I’m in the front office. I’m feeling it just like everyone else.’”
