BallerBlogger.com » Points in the Paint

» October 1, 2009 3:35 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Ballard is a fantastic columnist, and today he writes about what it’s like to play basketball in San Quentin State Prison.

Vincent Thomas for NBA.com: “I’m sure David Stern doesn’t sit in his midtown offices, twiddling his thumbs, waiting for the annual TIDES Racial and Gender Report Card to drop every year. But it must feel good to hear, year after year, that the NBA runs racial/gender diversity laps around its professional sports peers. Every year, TIDES (The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports), headed by Richard Lapchick at the University of Central Florida, takes a look at the racial and gender makeup of players, coaches, team and league staffs and issues a report card on how diverse each is. The NBA got an A — again.”

Joshua Parrott of the Lousiana Gannett News reports Hornets coach Byron Scott wants to play Chris Paul off the ball more this season: “Playing Paul away from the ball will keep him from wearing down as the team’s primary ball-handler, give him more open looks at the basket and an opportunity to more freely look for his own shot. ‘It gives us an opportunity to get the ball in his hands with a live dribble,’ Scott said. ‘You get the ball in Chris Paul’s hands with a live dribble and get in the spot on the floor where he can be effective then it’s almost impossible to stop him. Scott added that he recently spoke with Paul about a particular spot on the floor where he would ‘love for him to catch the ball’ 12-15 times a game. He did not go into any further detail on that place on the court.” (Via Hornets247)

Matt McHale at By the Horns charts Derrick Rose’s assists from last season, and offers this assessment of Rose’s playmaking ability: “At this point, Rose’s evolution as a player — and the Bulls’ evolution as a team — seriously depends on his ability to start creating easier offense for everybody on the roster…epecially without Ben Gordon as a bailout option.”

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic: “It is interesting to see what players do once Alvin Gentry breaks practice. Typically, in the morning, some Suns go to a lifting session while others get in some shooting and vice versa. Steve Nash shot jumpers but this is constant with him. While other players stand on the sideline and watch when they are out of the practice action, Nash is at a side hoop constantly moving and shooting. It’s for him to stay loose as much as anything but he works on the shots he takes in games.”

Amare Stoudemire is, according to Coro, taking his new role as team captain seriously. Stoudemire read several books on leadership this summer, including “The Art of War,” as well as Wikipedia entries on the subject.

Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald: “The Heat may go only as far as the point guard position takes them. And that’s a spot Wade only hopes to play in limited doses. He’s up for handling the ball and distributing to teammates. But when it comes to guarding opposing point guards, Wade is not exactly up for that chase over 94 feet or being hounded defensively by smaller, quicker point guards the distance of the floor. ‘I feel comfortable with it,’ Wade said. ‘It’s something I’ve done since I came into the league. It’s something, hopefully, we don’t have to do for a whole game. You don’t want to deal with it 94 feet.’”

Kobe Bryant on teaming with Ron Artest, via Sports Radio Interviews: “I think now it allows me to do is play passing lanes more. Create turnovers more. Get more steals and things like that. He can just be our lock down corner and I could be more of a Troy Polamalu.” Bryant has the top-selling jersey in Europe, according to CNBC’s Darren Rovell.

Kevin Ding on Lamar Odom: “Say he should be more responsible; NCAA investigators have. Say he should be a better parent; the mother of his two children has. Say he should be a greater player given his skills; well, just about everyone has gone there. He has always been a piece of work … and an incomplete work of art. In a vibrant life plagued by loss of life (his grandmother, his mother, his infant son), Odom is starting to make the kind of mark on the world he has always wanted. He has achieved his longtime goal of proving he’s “not a loser” – his words – by playing a key role in the Lakers’ championship. He is thankfully re-signed, happily married and proudly portrayed on the cover of OK! Magazine – his sideways grin dancing behind all three Kardashian sisters. Whether you believe it’s real life, this is the life for L.O. It’ll be interesting to see who he is now that he’s finally playing from ahead, not behind.”

Henry Abbott’s series with Wayne Winston, a professor at Indiana University who developed a plus-minus rating for the Dallas Mavericks, is must-read. Click here to read Part 1, where Winston tells Abbott that the Bulls were “stupid” to let Ben Gordon sign with the Pistons. And a link to Part 2, which sheds some light on the rating’s real value.

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