Points in the Paint

» September 29, 2009 8:29 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Carmelo Anthony said today that he has committed to play for USA Basketball at next summer’s FIBA world championships.

Stephen Jackson on signing a contract extension, only nine months before requesting a trade: “Well, who’s going to turn down that money? I’m not stupid. I mean, I didn’t go to college but I’ve got a lot of common sense.”

FanHouse’s Matt Steinmetz on the Warriors’ dysfunction: “Yes, it’s a problem that Monta Ellis said on Monday he can’t play alongside rookie Stephen Curry. But there’s likely a bigger problem looming: coach Don Nelson might start to think Ellis is right. Not only were Ellis’ comments a shot at Curry, whom the Warriors selected with the No. 7 pick in the June draft, but he also seemed to be sending a clear message to Nelson. What Ellis essentially said was that the strategy Nelson was planning on employing this season was destined to fail. And to a larger extent, it very well may have come across to Nelson, entering his 31st year of coaching in the NBA, as a slap at his offensive philosophy, of which small ball is a significant part. Nelson is known to be sensitive when it comes to criticism, and it’s not too much of a stretch to think he’s none too pleased about Ellis’ comments. Regardless of how he might downplay them publicly.”

Broderick Turner at the LA Times reports Kobe Bryant stayed away from the court for “about a good month and a half to two months” after the Lakers won the title. Bryant says his “legs feel rejuvenated.”

Bryant on Twitter, via Darren Rovell: “I don’t see myself really twittering too much. If I had something to say, I’d probably just ask Ron [Artest] to write it for me.”

OKC coach Scott Brooks says he likes Twitter because it helps his young team build chemistry during the off-season.

Saunders hired a hypnotist to play mind-games with players at their hotel in Richmond, Virginia, where the Wizards are holding training camp. Michael Lee writes that second year guard Nick Young succumbed to the hypnosis, and was seen galloping around the stage with a balloon, as if he was riding a horse.

Magic GM Otis Smith on Dwight Howard and the center position in the NBA: “All the good teams in our league have very good and strong players at the center position, both on the inside and out. With him, when we’re talking about Dwight, as we talk about developing his jumpshot, it’s that fifteen foot standstill *points to the free-throw line*. If he can do that, he shot more free throws than anybody in the league last year, if he can shoot the fifteen foot standstill at about 70%-75% clip, he will turn the world upside down.”

Ian Thomsen of SI.com: “Of all the moves made by all of the ambitious contenders in the offseason, the most important deal may be one the Celtics declined to pursue. ‘We weren’t close to trading him,’ Celtics president Danny Ainge said of point guard Rajon Rondo. He admits to talking with rival teams about Rondo as well as a number of other Celtics players. Ainge is one of the few NBA executives bold enough to consider trading anyone on his roster. He is not afraid to expose himself by making an unpopular trade, and so the rumors of a surprise blockbuster involving Rondo emerged before the June draft amid reports that the Celtics were occasionally frustrated by their young point guard. ‘When somebody calls, it’s my job to find out what options we do have for all of the players,’ Ainge said. The truth, however, is that the Celtics initiated some of the trade talk — as several league sources have told me — to help them gauge Rondo’s value.”