Points in the Paint

» September 16, 2009 3:54 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Thanks to SBNation for noticing David Kahn’s meandering explanation of the decision to draft Ricky Rubio: “I feel like, the way this played out this summer, it became even more apparent to me that his value, because of what he has already accomplished as a professional, and the way he plays and the buzz around him, will mean that the value that he has will hold, and that however we choose to exploit the value — meaning whether he’s in our uniform or somebody else’s uniform, and I really hope he’s in our uniform, by the way, but I also have to acknowledge that I don’t know what will happen over the next couple of years — but clearly at that position, there wasn’t anybody else we could have taken that could have helped us for the future of this franchise like he could have, whether he’s here or elsewhere, and so I think you can make an argument down the road — I’m the first to say that five, seven years from now, we may be able to go back and look at the draft and clearly point out that it was the wrong thing to do.”

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald reports Pat Riley has high hopes for Mario Chalmers: “One reason Pat Riley feels adamant that Mario Chalmers should start — and doesn’t want to acquire a veteran or sign Jamaal Tinsley — is his belief Chalmers will blossom just as Boston’s Rajon Rondo has. Riley wants Chalmers to shoot more three-pointers, but defense is a concern.”

Chris Silva, writing for Thunder.com, caught up with Kevin Durant recently to discuss KD’s “summer vacation.” (Via Daily Thunder)

Led by a rejuvenated Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat achieved one of the greatest single season turnarounds in NBA history last year. With Miami’s 15-67 campaign but a memory, writes John Schuhmann, it’s hard to believe Wade will be motivated to maintain his 2008-09 level of play: “For one, he simply doesn’t have a history of consistently playing a full season. With how aggressive he is at attacking the basket, injuries will continue to take their toll. Second, it’s unlikely Wade will be as motivated as he was a year ago, when, coming off two frustrating seasons, he clearly wanted to prove to the world that he was on the same level as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. From Team USA’s first pre-Olympic exhibition game last July through the first round of the Playoffs in April, we didn’t just see the old Dwyane Wade — we saw the new-and-improved Dwyane Wade. Now, he’s proven his point. We can all acknowledge that Wade deserves to be in the best-player-in-the-world conversation. The level at which he played last season was ridiculous. Maybe if the Heat had improved their roster this summer, Wade might see the opportunity to get deeper in the Playoffs and have a new motivation. But that opportunity doesn’t seem to be there.”

Rosen posits that Kobe Bryant would have “scored three to five points per game less” in the Jordan-era.

Dennis Rodman wants to make the world a better place.

From Richard Lapchick’s article about Dwight Howard’s trip to South Africa: “I watched them closely as they went through the Apartheid Museum, which is an amazingly accurate and emotive display of the horrors inflicted on black South Africans over the course of the 20th century. The players sat down at certain spots to stare at the more powerful images. They seemed to freeze as we stepped into a room where more than 100 nooses hung from the ceiling representing South Africans who died fighting for their freedom during the early days of resistance. With the history of lynchings in the United States, the Americans in the room were chilled to the bone. They had the same reactions at the Hector Pieterson Museum. Pieterson was the first of 600 children killed in the Soweto Massacre in June 1976, a final turning point in world opinion about apartheid in South Africa. We drove through the streets of Soweto, including areas featuring new homes built since Mandela became president as well as mile after mile of shanties without sewage or running water that still exist because of the lack of resources to amend the wrongs of the racist century that preceded Mandela. We walked through those streets in Kliptown, one of the worst parts of Soweto. I saw Howard looking deeply reflective and appearing very, very quiet back at the hotel after the first day at the museums and in Soweto. Before we went out to dinner, I asked him what he’d been thinking. He said, ‘I have so much to share with people at home. I had no idea about all of this.’” (Via TQC)

Antawn Jamison to those that doubt the Wizards title hopes: “What do you mean about raising the bar too high? We won 19 games last year. And we didn’t have a lot of our horses. But, I’m not one just to sugar coat things. I don’t have anything else to play for. I believe. I believe we can compete with Boston, we can compete with Cleveland, we can compete with Orlando. If you can compete with those teams, you put yourself in the category of the teams that can contend for a championship. And if that’s not possible, there’s no reason for me to be here. That’s the reason I re-signed here, because I thought we could contend for a championship. Now we’re healthy, and we’ve added some veteran pieces that know how to win. I’m not afraid to admit it at all. If we come up short, then it’s going to be sad. I’m not going to just except smiling and playing hard and just getting to the playoffs. We’ve already accomplished that.”

Steve Kerr, blogging at Suns.com, on MJ’s acceptance speech: “Michael’s speech has been the subject of some controversy the past few days, because he definitely took some shots at people. The thing you have to understand about MJ is that he is who he is – there’s no fake in him whatsoever, and he says what he feels. He showed more emotion than I thought he would, crying before he could really get started. I was glad he thanked Scottie Pippen for helping him win 6 championships, and he also thanked many others who helped him ‘stoke the fire’ along the way: Dean Smith and Phil Jackson in particular. But he also thanked – in a sort of perverse way – people like Jeff Van Gundy, Bryon Russell, and Jerry Krause – for unintentionally motivating Michael to new heights by slighting him during his career. I guess the way I look at it is, Michael was the most dominant athlete of our time. Even in the alpha dog world of the NBA, he was The Man and reigned supreme over everyone. He knew he needed to be the lead wolf, in order to give him and his team a psychological edge. Well, that dominance wasn’t contrived. MJ knew he was better than everyone, and he used that confidence to spur him on. And he also used any other fuel he could find, including the words of his detractors, real or imagined. His speech reflected the attitude that made him so good, whether people liked it or not.”

Category: Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Points in the Paint, Washington Wizards