Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune: “The start of training camp for the Trail Blazers is – gulp – Sept. 29, only a few weeks away. One sort of significant member of the team says he is rested and ready. ‘Can’t wait to get going,’ Brandon Roy says. You might remember Roy from his first three seasons in Portland. NBA Rookie of the Year in 2006-07. NBA All-Star the past two seasons. Recently signed a maximum contract that calls for him to make something in the neighborhood of – double gulp – $77 million to $83 million for five seasons. Now a full-time Portland resident, Roy recently played in some four-on-four pickup games at the Blazers’ training facility with, among others, Martell Webster, Greg Oden, Steve Blake, Jerryd Bayless and Ime Udoka. Roy passed on a chance to work out with the U.S. national team at Las Vegas in July to rest his body. Nothing against his country – Roy’s priority is elsewhere. ‘This summer was an important one for me to take some time to get healthy,’ he says. ‘As much as I would love to play for the USA, I want to make sure I’m healthy to start the season for the Trail Blazers, for the fans, for management and for my teammates. I owe it to them, that I’m the best I can be.’”
Scott Howard-Cooper of SI.com: “Trevor Ariza was a second-round pick and has never been close to being a featured performer. His money moment was the ‘09 playoffs, but that was still as the fourth-leading scorer on the Lakers. Now, it’ll be Ariza, Scola, Shane Battier, Aaron Brooks and Yao replacement David Andersen, so he figures, with good reason, this will be the chance to expand his game. It’s no sure thing that Yao or McGrady will be back this season, or at all, so it may not be a temporary opportunity either. Ariza will play more than the 24.4 minutes he averaged during the Lakers’ regular season, a number that climbed to 28 in the 20 starts and 31.4 in the playoffs. He and Battier will work defensively just as Artest and Battier harassed opposing wings. But becoming that focal point is mandatory for any Rockets success, not just his hopes of breaking into a higher territory of relevance. A contract at $33.95 million makes it so. He got the new opportunity, plus everything that goes with it. ‘I embrace it,’ Ariza said. ‘I’m ready for it. This is what every player in the NBA wants. A chance to be able to do more. I don’t run away from all that stuff. I actually embrace it. I’m ready for it.’”
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News: “Deron Williams admitted that some behind-the-scenes things will need to be smoothed over if the Jazz and Boozer remain together, which didn’t seem likely earlier this summer after the Duke product went public with a claim that Utah promised to trade him. That announcement came shortly after Boozer took a $12.7-million player option to stay with Utah for the final year of his contract. ‘He went on the radio and said he wanted to play elsewhere. If he feels that way, that’s fine. But he opted in, so he’s a member of this team,’ Williams said. ‘Regardless if you like somebody on or off the court, as far as I’m concerned I’m going to play with him regardless because I want to win. So,’ he added, ‘when you step on that court, there’s no bad blood at all.’ That’s not to say, however, that some scorched bridges might not have to be reconstructed inside the locker room. ‘Chemistry is a big part of winning, so we’ll have to establish that again, I think, once he comes back,’ Williams told Rome. ‘I don’t know how hard that will be, but I look forward to doing it because I want to win. I think the rest of my teammates feel the same way, and I’ve known (Boozer) for four years now and I know he likes to win as well.’”
Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: “It’s fairly clear to everyone that Brook Lopez probably will be one of the top five scoring centers in the league this season, and ultimately grow into one of the top three a few years down the road. So we’re not bringing this up (again) for any reason other than to be a nuisance: Is this the year he gets to score in the way he is best suited to score? As you recall, Senor Pez was purely a post 5 in college — and always from the right block — until the Nets turned him into a pick-and-roll center last year, with (often stunning) results that proved how smart and agile this kid is. But now he should be thinking in terms of a comfort zone, and — through actions and production — demanding the ball on the box. ‘He hasn’t told me much yet, but I’m sure we’ll talk,’ Senor Pez said Wednesday, when we asked if the coach has raised the possibility of a larger post component this year. ‘I know he wants me to watch Gasol tape.’ Actually, L-Frank is having him watch Gasol, Duncan, and some Bill Walton. The coach himself went back and watched the ‘77 Finals to see if he can glean something to pass along to his center, and it all covers the standard precept of the Wooden coaching curriculum: Work quickly, but don’t rush.”
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Mikki Moore was in Oakland on Wednesday to officially sign his one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Warriors, take his physical and commence his responsibilities as the most experienced player on the youngest roster in the league. ‘My role is to kind of mold some of the younger guys into being defensive-minded,’ said the 33-year-old 7-footer. ‘I’m, by far, the oldest guy on the team, and I don’t have a problem with that. I have to lead by example and show a certain work ethic every day.’ Moore has averaged 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.5 blocks a game for nine different teams in an 11-year career. He was careful not to call himself the new leader of the Warriors. ‘I just want to be a positive influence in the locker room,’ Moore said. ‘It’s not my job to be the leader. That role has already been established, but I can bring some plusses to the team.’ Moore will be asked to give the Warriors depth at both the power forward and center positions. He also has an infectious energy and an on-court nasty streak that could help the Warriors’ lackluster defense. He openly talked about ‘elbowing’ opponents and ‘catching people in the stomach’ during the heat of competition.”
Matt Watson of FanHouse: “NBA TV’s Eric Snow recently sat down with Allen Iverson who admitted that being a free agent for the first time in his life hasn’t been quite what he expected. ‘I thought it would be a fun process,’ Iverson said. ‘Obviously it hasn’t been.’ (The full interview can be viewed after the jump.) Objective observers saw Iverson’s present predicament (being low-balled by basement-dwellers, unwanted altogether by contenders) coming as soon as he protested a reduced role in Detroit last April — a role, incidentally, he still doesn’t believe he should have to accept. ‘Everybody [made] a big deal out of the ‘coming off the bench’ thing,’ he scoffed. ‘It was never even an issue until it happened in Detroit. Nobody ever talked about me coming off the bench until the situation happened in Detroit, and then that put it in people’s minds, and gave them something to think about and something to talk about.’ In other words, it’s Detroit’s fault that teams dare think of him as a sixth-man, not the fact that his skills have declined. It was always difficult to construct an efficient offense to revolve around his unique skill-set (just ask Billy King); now that he’s lost a step or three (and never developed a consistent outside shot), it’s virtually impossible.”
Terry Foster of The Detroit News: “Michael Jordan will go into the Hall of Fame next week (Sept. 10-12) as perhaps the greatest and most marketable player of all-time, but he won’t go in as a friend of the Pistons. The rivalry between the Pistons and Bulls was so intense, bitter feelings lingered for years and probably kept Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas off the 1992 Olympic Dream team. You always knew Jordan was a Hall of Famer. He simply needed to overcome the Pistons and make teammates better to become great. The Pistons eliminated the Bulls in the 1988, 1989 and 1990 playoffs on their way to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances. Even though Jordan lost to the Pistons in the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals, he was on his way to being great. The Bulls lost that series in seven games and Jordan had a meltdown after the Game 2 loss, throwing chairs and refusing to speak to teammates for three days before Game 3 in Chicago. The Bulls responded and the series ended up being one of the greatest of all-time.”
Jerry Briggs of the San Antonio Express-News: “David Robinson said the low point for him personally was the 1995 loss to Houston in the Western Conference finals. The Spurs entered the playoffs with the best record in the league at 62-20. But Robinson couldn’t stop Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon, and the Rockets won the series, then went on to capture their second straight world title. ‘For me,’ Robinson said, ‘that was the lowest point and the most discouraging.’ A little more than a year later, Robinson threw out his back, then broke his foot, forcing him to sit and watch for the last 31/2 months of the 1996-97 season. A frightful, 62-loss disaster ensued. ‘Ridiculous,’ Robinson said, recalling the year in which most of the Spurs’ front-line players went down with injuries. ‘It was a mess.’ It was also the start of something divine. The Spurs won the lottery in 1997 and claimed the No. 1 draft pick, power forward Tim Duncan. Duncan has since led the Spurs to four NBA titles. Robinson, who evolved from a big-time scorer to defensive stopper after Duncan arrived, won his long-coveted championships in 1999 and 2003. In that sense, Robinson’s misery in his lost season was nothing more than a mirage.”
Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD: “Cavalier’s All-Star LeBron James will begin the NBA season just like he has every other season with aspirations of a NBA championship. The Cavaliers will return six of their top six scorers from last season and will add Shaquille O’Neal, Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker to the mix. That combination seats them at the front of the class in the Eastern Conference and an early favorite for the Eastern Conference Finals. The media world will watch James’ every move this season as this could very well be his last season in Cleveland if he opts out of his contract next summer, a move he is expected to do regardless of the outcome of the season. James is sensitive to this situation, after all it’s the question he is asked most often, and he has virtually the same answers – when he’s in the Cleveland area, he says he loves the situation and hopes to sign a long term deal. When he’s away from Cleveland he says he loves the situation but wants to keep his options open. Both answers keeps his name in the press, and that’s good news for someone pitching products. The marketing world is driven by Q Scores – The higher the Q Score, the more well-known and highly-regarded the person is… As long as every media outlet in the world hangs on LeBron’s every word his Q Score in the NBA will remain high and that’s good for business.”
