Jerome Soloman of the Houston Chronicle: “NBA players look at Aaron Brooks and aren’t impressed. Then they play against him. Seriously, if you have ever played any real basketball — against big-time competition or not — you probably think you could handle him. At 6-foot, 160 pounds, he has little more than his goatee to distinguish him from those sixth- seventh- and eighth-graders at Chrysalis. But when the NBA season starts, the Rockets hope to have a new star in Brooks, who led the team in points in last season’s playoffs. In the conference semifinals against the Lakers, Brooks averaged 26.3 points in the three victories and 11.8 in four losses. Basically, when he played well the team won. When he didn’t, it lost. It would be unfair to say success this coming season depends on Brooks’ play, but when it comes to the Rockets’ offense, you’re not going to read an endless stream of ‘Get the ball inside to Yao’ stories.’ Brooks’ stat line will be the first one checked after most games. ‘I think there’s going to be more pressure on me to make plays, not just score,’ he said. ‘We added some great pieces, so it’ll be more on me to initiate the offense and get us some good looks.’”
Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald: “Rajon Rondo made major strides in his third NBA season last year, establishing himself as one of the league’s top point guards with a breakout postseason. After averaging 16.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.8 assists in the Celtics’ two playoff series, it would be understandable for Rondo to be looking back on that performance as a springboard heading into this season. But as he spoke yesterday at the opening of a Boost Mobile store in Mattapan, it was clear Rondo’s focus is centered on Oct. 27, when the Celts open the 2009-10 season in Cleveland against the Cavaliers. ‘I just want to get the season started,’ Rondo said. ‘What I did last year is behind. It’s a whole new season. Stats start over, everything starts over. The record is 0-0 so I’m ready to start.’ The past few months have been quiet after Rondo’s offseason got off to a tumultuous start, beginning with rumors of a trade to the Detroit Pistons. Things took another turn in late June when general manager Danny Ainge publicly criticized Rondo and said he was not a ‘max contract player.’ With Rondo entering the final year of his rookie contract, he is in line for a major raise. Ainge said the sides would discuss a contract extension this fall, but Rondo reported that talks hadn’t begun.”
Frank Dell’Apa of The Boston Globe: “The Celtics are looking forward to the return of Kevin Garnett, and he is progressing in his recovery from knee surgery, according to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. ‘Kevin looks good, he’s in here working out every day,’’ Ainge said yesterday from the team’s practice facility in Waltham. ‘He’s doing his training, but he’s not playing full-court basketball yet. We’re taking it as slow and as cautious as we can with him. He’s anxious and he has a ton of energy, but I think he gets it. We don’t have bodyguards on him to keep him from working too hard. He’s on the program with the staff. We don’t have timetables on this. We are going week to week and we’ll make a decision on where he is.’ Guard Rajon Rondo, especially, is anticipating Garnett’s return. Garnett played 57 games last season, sitting out the playoffs, then undergoing knee surgery. ‘That was four assists a game,’’ Rondo joked of his alley-oop connection with Garnett. ‘With Kevin, it’s about timing, and it won’t take long for him to get that. It’s all about the read, as well. He does a great job at setting his man up, and if the guy bites, he makes the cut, and I just try to get the ball there.’”
Adam Lauridsen for the San Jose Mercury News: “Stephen Jackson didn’t win any fans when he expressed his displeasure with the Warriors’ organization last month, but David Stern shouldn’t be winning any now with his recent $25,000 fine of Jackson for those comments. Putting aside the sheer hypocrisy of Stern’s ‘for the good of the NBA stance’–already raised by many–the NBA’s action likely hurts what really matters: our ability to either move past the statement or move Jackson. … The timing was reminiscent of the Sprewell situation 12 years ago, when the team decided to take relatively light internal action against the guard, then the NBA dropped a much more dramatic sanction on him. The end effective of the NBA’s hard-line policy was to completely destroy Sprewell’s trade value and to dig an even deeper hole for the Warriors. The effect on Jackson isn’t likely to be as dramatic, but it will still make it harder to move him. Rather than simply being a player frustrated with the Warriors lack of winning (easy to spin to fans of another team), Jackson once again rises to enemy of the state status (much harder to sell in most NBA markets). Is it likely to scuttle existing Jackson deals? No. But if the long-term plan is to find Jack a new home, Stern’s actions certainly didn’t make it any easier.”
Paola Boivin of The Arizona Republic: “The Diamondbacks are stagnant, the Coyotes irrelevant and the Cardinals worrisome. If you are in need of a dose of positive Valley sports karma, spend a few minutes with Jared Dudley. Training camp opens in 11 days and no one is more excited about wearing a Suns jersey than the third-year forward. If you’re looking for a tangible example of what’s right with professional sports, for a guy who won’t go Serena Williams on an official or suffer repeated bouts with unsportsmanlike behavior off the court, Dudley’s your man. He’s an NBA anomaly, a 6-foot-7 forward with questionable hops, so questionable that when he dunks in practice, his teammates stop action and demand it’s recorded on video. If you put Dudley through NBA pre-draft workouts, ‘in the combine portion, he’d come out undraftable,’ David Griffin, the Suns senior vice president of basketball operations, said smiling. ‘But in the Wonderlic category? He’s a lottery pick.’ Dudley’s best trait is that he knows his role and embraces it. The Suns need him to come off the bench and wear down the defense as well as space the floor for Amaré Stoudemire on offense. Gentry wants him to give the reserves an identity. If they follow Dudley’s lead, they’ll not only provide a dose of energy but always be in the right position.”
Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star: “The Simons’ stewardship of the Pacers has always been driven by the best intentions. NBA franchises aren’t money trees, not until you sell them. This is a small market, and generating revenue is an annual, uphill battle. There are a million business propositions out there that are far more profitable than ownership of an NBA team. In the past year, we’ve seen Herb take a more active, hands-on role with the franchise, helping repair the reputation of a franchise that was once a model, only to fall into temporary disrepair after the Pacers-Pistons brawl in 2004. The Simons were (are) the best kinds of sports owners: low-key, background sorts who have left the basketball to the basketball people and have given those basketball people the financial help they need to build a team. ‘Mel was a giant of a man, and I suspect he was more responsible for making Indianapolis a big-league city than anybody,’’ said Morris, who is now the Pacers Sports & Entertainment president. ‘His generosity, his unselfishness, his love for downtown. It’s an extraordinary story how Mel came here, chose to live here, built his business here. He could have lived anywhere in the world.’”
Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: “It isn’t an infallible rule, but quite often in professional sports winning can make a franchise recession proof. As the shockwaves from last year’s financial meltdown slam the NBA — the teams were insulated to a certain degree last season because season tickets and sponsorships had mostly been sold before the September crash — the Cavaliers find themselves cautiously above water. The team is doing relatively well financially and officials are saying it is not planning any layoffs or salary reductions. In fact, over the last year the Cavs have been adding to their staff. ‘We have been very fortunate, our fans have continued to show us tremendous support,’ said Len Komoroski, the president of the Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena. ‘We have seen it in many different levels from record ticket sales, television ratings and Web hits.’ Komoroski said the team has also been helped by strong regional support, especially from the Pittsburgh and Columbus areas. Last season, 23 percent of the team’s individual ticket sales came from out of state.”
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: “Midway through the third quarter, the Rockets have a nice lead. There is a long way to go, however, and a tough opponent to beat. Going against an economy that is taking its toll on efforts to sell tickets in many NBA cities and competing with the Tracy McGrady/Yao Ming injury factors, the Rockets are ahead of their usual ticket sales pace. Success in NBA season-ticket sales, however, is largely determined from Labor Day to Thanksgiving, making the weeks to come the key to the Rockets’ hopes of claiming a business victory. ‘We are not only ahead of where would previously be (in mid-September), we have sold more tickets to date than any other year we have been in Toyota Center, more full-season tickets,’ Rockets chief executive officer Tad Brown said. ‘Certainly, our momentum began toward the end of the season and ran through the playoffs, but it hasn’t slowed.’”
Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune: “Facing the possibility of a roster with about a half-dozen new faces, Hornets Coach Byron Scott figured some early bonding might be in order this season. What better way to accomplish that than having his team be a captive audience at the outset of training camp, where closeness for a week in Lafayette, Scott hopes, will breed brotherhood. ‘With six or seven new faces, I just wanted us to get away,’ Scott said Wednesday at the announcement that the Hornets will spend six days working at Louisiana-Lafayette’s Leon Moncla indoor practice facility. I didn’t want practice to end and everybody go home. I wanted us to be in a hotel close to one another. ‘We’re going to be at the hotel after practice having lunch together and then dinner; they are basically on their own. But you know when you’ve got guys in the same hotel, they’ll start calling each other to see where they want to go for dinner, and that’s just to speed up the camaraderie and the togetherness.’”
Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: “It’s not often that rookie free agent center Garret Siler is forced to look up to someone on a basketball court. But that’s exactly what happened to the 7-footer Wednesday when Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum cut through the door of the Hawks’ practice facility to get a workout in at the John ‘Beans’ Beckett Invitational. Bynum and Siler matched up in two different games and Siler acquitted himself well, neither big man dominated the action – that honor belonged to veteran pro Jerry Stackhouse (who has been on a tear this week on both ends of the floor against players much younger). Siler said he was just happy to have the chance to compete against a pro of Bynum’s caliber. ‘This is the best test for me to see guys like [Hawks center] Al Horford and [Bynum] out here,’ Siler said. ‘It helps mentally when you can say, ‘hey, i’m d’ing this guy up and he plays for the world champions. He’s got a ring.’ So if you can hold your own going against and he’s not just destroying you, hey, you must be doing something right.’”
Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun: “If LeBron James were to leave Cleveland for, say the bright lights of New York, the Cavs will have to start from basically scratch because the players they’ve lined up long term can only excel with James on the floor. The painful remnants of a Heat team minus Wade was evident when Miami tried to defend its 2006 crown. Without Wade, the Heat won 15 games. The Raptors are better with Bosh, but they are not as vulnerable when compared to Miami and Cleveland. If Bosh is forced to miss any games for whatever reason, Andrea Bargnani can slide into his natural position at power forward. There’s a late-game creator and scorer in Hedo Turkoglu, who will have the ball in his hands late in the shot clock, or at least he should have the ball in such scenarios. Miami is reliant on Wade just as much as Cleveland relies on James. The Raptors don’t have to lean on Bosh and the team doesn’t need the daily reminders of Bosh’s future, which may become a distraction. That is why the Raptors can afford to trade Bosh. ”
Howard Beck of The New York Times: “In a last-ditch effort to avert a lockout, the N.B.A.’s 57 referees have instead locked themselves in, setting up camp indefinitely at a Chicago airport hotel until they reach terms on a new contract. The referees met for seven hours Wednesday and unanimously rejected the N.B.A.’s latest offer. But they apparently sensed enough progress in the talks that they decided not to leave town. ‘The referees are locking themselves in, in an effort to get a deal done as soon as possible,’ Lamell McMorris, the referees’ chief negotiator, said just after midnight, following the marathon meeting. He characterized the lock-in as a symbolic gesture that showed the referees’ commitment to getting a deal done, even if it meant spending several days in a hotel, rather than with their families. ‘Every referee is here, from all around the country,’ he said. ‘They’re not leaving.’”
