Doug Robinson of the Deseret News: “John Stockton, who will be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame this week, could be difficult to work with for the media. The Utah Jazz’s point guard hid out in the training room after games and gave only cursory answers to questions. He never would sit down for profile interviews. He reserved his great wit and warmth for teammates, friends and family only. Still, watching him from a distance for years, I couldn’t help but admire him, and here’s why: John Stockton was and is his own man. … Larry Miller, the Jazz’s late owner, marveled that Stockton never looked at the stat sheet — not at halftime, not even after the game. Miller knew this because he used to visit Stockton in his postgame training-room hideout as the latter iced his feet, and Stockton never looked at the stats. Most players check their points, rebounds, assists, etc., but this was of no interest to Stockton. The only stat he cared about was whether his team won or lost.”
Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune: “When Stockton was named to the original Dream Team in 1992, he got the roster spot many thought would go to Isiah Thomas. For that reason and others, Stockton’s selection of Thomas as his presenter was a huge surprise — at least to outsiders. ‘First of all, he set a huge standard for all little guys,’ Stockton said. ‘At the time, the NBA was going toward bigger and bigger guards. But he showed everyone that little guys could play, too.’ Thomas, who played high school basketball in Chicago, also taught Stockton an early lesson on how much he needed to elevate his game to be a success outside of Spokane, Wash. ‘I ran up against him once in high school and he changed my entire view of basketball,’ Stockton said. ‘We played in an AAU tournament and I have never seen anything like it.’ Beyond the game, Thomas caught Stockton’s attention with some good deeds. ‘He’s done some things behind the scenes that people don’t know about,’ Stockton said. ‘I’m certainly not going to talk about them now … but he’s shown a lot of class.’”
Shaun Powell for NBA.com: “Count Rick Barry as a big Kobe believer, even during the days of the post-Shaq era when backing Kobe wasn’t fashionable. ‘You heard all the garbage about Kobe being so selfish,’ said Barry. ‘Those people had no clue. Kobe shows up every night and is a great competitor. He tried to do too much early on because he didn’t have the confidence in his teammates. It made him look selfish, but he wasn’t. Once Kobe got Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher back and Lamar Odom started playing the way he’s capable of playing, he adjusted. He respected those guys. I was so happy for Kobe this season. I admired his professionalism and commitment.’ Barry has an appreciation for LeBron as well, although his enthusiasm is slightly tempered. ‘Put this down and underline it: I’m a huge LeBron James fan. But he was never taught how to shoot properly, which isn’t his fault. He has a flaw in his shot. I want to see him become even better, and this guy is scary good. He just needs to become a better shooter, especially from the free throw line, where he’s less than 80 percent. I believe there were times when LeBron didn’t even want to get to the line.’”
Dave George of the Palm Beach Post: “Dwyane will get a good look at LeBron and Shaq together in Cleveland, plus Dwight Howard and Vince Carter together in Orlando, and various other fresh combo platters whipped up by general managers around the league. That’s right now. That’s real. All the rest, that’s just Riley, who says what needs to be said and generally does what needs to be done, just not always on a particular player’s personal timetable. For instance, he might not spend all of his loot next summer on any one particular star, such as Toronto’s Chris Bosh. ‘If you go back to the last time that we had significant (cap) room,’ said Riley, ‘we were able to sign Alonzo Mourning, Juwan Howard, P.J. Brown, Dan Majerle and Tim Hardaway, all in one year. Why do I want to take a big chunk of money and give it to one guy? Why wouldn’t I want to spread it around to get two or three starters that fit better?’ Back we go, then, to the waiting game, which is so much tougher for a star to master than the game of basketball. ‘We feel like we have great flexibility,’ Riley said, ‘and we’re going to be able to build a team that Dwyane wants to be a part of.’”
Steve Perrin of Clips Nation: “True Shooting Percentage is of course what truly set the rookie Eric Gordon apart from the rest of what was without question a stellar rookie class. Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Russell Westbrook, Michael Beasley – these young players all carried heavy loads for their respective teams, and performed better than rookies have any right to, distinguishing the class as one of the best of all time. But most of these guys used a LOT of shots to get their points. Look at the TSP’s of the rookies. Gordon led all rookies in the stat. Moreover, compared to his more publicized perimeter rivals like Mayo and Westbrook and Rose, it wasn’t even close. Of the 13 rookies who averaged double digits in scoring, Gordon was of course first in TSP – Mayo was 9th, Rose 12th and Westbrook 13th. But how does he compare to a player like Kevin Martin, on whom Arnovitz and John Krolik of SLAM Magazine heap so much praise specifically because of his gaudy TSP? What they say about Martin is of course true – high volume scorers, guys who average 20+, almost never approach 60% TSP. You have to pick your shots wisely and have a conscience to keep your efficiency high, while those traits are anathema to leading your team in scoring. But Gordon is less than one percentage points behind Kevin Martin in TSP (.601 versus .593).”
Truman Reed of Bucks.com: “One of the first and most dramatic moves Milwaukee made during the summer of 2009 was selecting 19-year-old point guard Brandon Jennings with its first-round draft pick, the 10th overall. Jennings endured far more transitions and challenges than he envisioned while playing for Lottomatica Vitus Roma, but he believes his Euro experiences taught him some valuable lessons in patience and perseverance. Hammond monitored Jennings’ every move during the Vegas stint and came away encouraged, excited and intrigued as well. ‘In summer league, Brandon showed he has some good floor vision,’ Hammond said. ‘But more important than that, I think he showed that he’s very willing to share the basketball, and he wants to share the basketball. If anything, we walked away from summer league saying to him, ‘Continue to stay aggressive, and continue to look to score.’ I think the perception of him was that that’s really what he wants to do: he really wants to score the ball and pass it second. But I think the reality is that he wants to be a guy that wants to pass it first and score it second. For him to be the player he wants to be in this league someday, he’s going to have to look to score the basketball and distribute it when necessary.’”
Alex Raskin of HOOPSWORLD: “Since principal owner Bruce Ratner purchased the team in 2004 and the subsequent hiring of president Brett Yormark in 2005, the team has continued to think big. In the case of their move to Brooklyn, it has been costly. Ratner’s development group, Forrest City Ratner, has fought through countless legal and community issues but hopes to reveal plans for the proposed $800 million arena later this month, according to The New York Observer. But the team’s efforts away from the planned move have been every bit as interesting. Whether it’s been picking up valuable foreign sponsors such as PEAK shoes, or offering a reversible opponent/Nets jersey to ticket holders, Yormark has been on the cutting edge. Selling a team to a state you intend to leave in the near future is difficult; but you can’t say Yormark hasn’t tried. During Yormark’s tenure the team has paid tolls for fans on the New Jersey Turnpike, invited season ticket holders to watch a road game at its practice facility, and even come up with a creative ticket-exchange program with the NHL’s Florida Panthers (for which Brett’s twin brother, Michael, is the president).”
Michael Vega of The Boston Globe: “Bill Belichick lauded Celtics coach Doc Rivers yesterday for addressing the team Monday as part of an NFL-sponsored life-skills presentation, saying it was ‘one of the best presentations that we have heard,’’ Belichick said. ‘He was awesome and talked about a lot of things that he had dealt with and experienced through his career, from not making the basketball team in the fifth grade – or whatever it was – to being an All-American in high school, to going to college [at Marquette], to being a point guard in the NBA, to having some injuries he had to deal with, losing championship games as a player to winning them as a coach.’ Belichick, who has attended Celtics playoff games, said Rivers ‘gave a lot of personal insight into his attitude and his approach as a player, as a coach, as a broadcaster and all the things he learned along the way. It was tremendous. I think every coach and every player there gained a lot of insight and took things out of it that can help us personally, each one of us. ‘I know a lot of us took notes, either wrote them down or mentally took them and then wrote them down, things that he said that really struck a chord and hit home. I’d say when you look at Doc, there are very few people [who] have done what he’s done and experienced what he’s experienced in his life. He’s a remarkable man.’”
Harvey Araton of The New York Times: “When Yao Ming landed in Houston in 2002, China was forecast to be the next major talent pipeline, based on its huge basketball-loving population. But Chinese players, limited in part by conservative coaching techniques, have not yet demonstrated the improvisational and freewheeling athleticism necessary to survive in the American game. Africa is beset with its own issues, mainly a lack of resources and quality coaching, but there apparently is an abundance of talent waiting to be offered a serious alternative to soccer. ‘I remember the report back from our first camp,’ said Kathy Behrens, the N.B.A.’s executive vice president for social responsibility and player programs. ‘It said these kids are wonderful athletically but woefully unsound and raw.’ Ever watchful of the world from his perch in Manhattan’s Olympic Tower, David Stern, the N.B.A. commissioner, said: ‘In Africa, we’re beginning to see new countries challenging the traditional powers like Angola — the Ivory Coast, Tunisia. I’ve said this before: Africa could be a continent as important to the development of players as Eastern and Western Europe combined.’”
