Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Stephen Jackson, who twice this preseason has demanded a trade, hasn’t changed his tune, but his relationship with Nelson apparently has taken a turn for the worse. Coming into training camp, Nelson said he understood Jackson and could coach the swingman through his disgruntlement. That’s not so believable anymore. ‘Anytime somebody takes $150,000 from you, your relationship is going to change, regardless of who it is,’ Jackson said. ‘If my mom took some money from me, I’d still love her to death, but I’d still be upset about it. He’s not my mom, so you can imagine how I feel. … I have to listen to him on the court and that’s it.’ Jackson, however, would be interested in listening to a conversation about a buyout or any other means of getting out of Golden State. ‘If they want to send me home and pay me, I’m fine with that. No question,’ Jackson said. ‘If they decide to send me home and still pay me, I’ll still be playing basketball somewhere. That’s not going to stop. This is not the only team in the NBA.’”
Greg Johnson of The Grand Rapids Press: “It was a long Detroit Pistons day in the NBA, even as long days go. A 10 a.m. shootaround at the practice facility in Auburn Hills to start. A trip to Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids for a 7 p.m. preseason loss to the Washington Wizards (101-98) and a trip back at the end. Pistons coach John Kuester arrived to work at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, and noticed another new face in the franchise also was in the house. Ben Gordon, the new shooting guard — with the emphasis on shooting — was, well, shooting. ‘He’s always trying to get better, and he is as hard a worker as I’ve ever been with in the NBA,’ Kuester said. Sure enough, he was talking about the big-ticket free agent of the offseason signed to a five-year, $55 million contract by the Pistons. For some, it would be 55 million reasons to coast. That apparently is not the case with Gordon.”
Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune: “Joe E. Brown, a famous actor and comedian from yesteryear, once said, ‘I don’t like money, actually. But it quiets my nerves.’ In today’s NBA, long-term contracts worth millions of dollars can do the same thing. Players who were previously hungry become content because their incentive to work and improve is no longer part of the equation. Think John Amaechi, who scored in double digits on a regular basis with Orlando before signing a $10 million deal with Utah and scored 3.2 and 2.0 points a game in successive seasons. ‘I guess it could be a problem,’ said Sloan. ‘… Sometimes, you see guys who already have it made and they don’t seem to get any better. But Paul has always been willing the pay the price. He’s got some toughness about him.’ Millsap, whose scoring and rebounding averages have jumped in each of his first three seasons, promised himself he’d keep working. ‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘With me, I try to improve every day. I try to get better.’”
Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: “As the old saying goes, there is no ‘I’ in team. But there is a ‘me,’ and Sixers forward Elton Brand has had to concentrate on the selfish part of the game a little more than usual this preseason. Besides having to absorb the new offensive and defensive schemes that have been brought in by coach Eddie Jordan, Brand has had to make sure his surgically repaired shoulder and Achilles’ tendon are ready to endure what he hopes to be an 82-game regular season. He also has had to find out whether he still has what it takes to be the 20-point, 10-rebound-a-night player he has been throughout his career. Sometimes that might take away from what Jordan is trying to accomplish. But for now, the coach is OK with it. ‘I like that he’s aggressive,’ Jordan said of the player the Sixers signed in the summer of 2008 to a 5-year, $80 million contract. ‘He’s putting the shoulder down, he’s really looking to be assertive in the paint area.’ Then came the caveat. ‘I want him to execute a little better, as far as spacing for his teammates, his cutting for his teammates, not for himself,’ Jordan said.”
Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star: “Troy Murphy likely needs to be at least that good or better this season to end his playoff drought. Murphy, entering his ninth season, is the second-longest tenured active player not to play in a playoff game. Atlanta’s Jamal Crawford is in his 10th season and has yet to make the playoffs. ‘We would like Murph to be more of a playmaker from a standpoint of running the offense through him at the elbow, like we do with Roy (Hibbert) and Jeff (Foster),’ O’Brien said. ‘Murph, if you look at his whole career, he has a really strong assist-to-turnover ratio.’ Murphy basically kept his same offseason workout plan during the summer in New York. He shot at least 400 jump shots a day. He spent a lot of time in the weight room. He did a lot of running and conditioning drills. And he usually finished the night by playing in some pickup games. The two noticeable changes are that Murphy spent extra time working on his midrange shot and he did the workouts at a more intense pace. ‘One thing you’ll see different is that I won’t just shoot 3s when I’m on the perimeter,’ Murphy said.”
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: “Hedo Turkoglu will play alongside Jose Calderon, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani and, likely, rookie DeMar DeRozan, which right now looks like the starting five for opening night against Cleveland. ‘If he’s restricted to 12 minutes, I’m going to try to keep him on the floor with Chris and Jose and Andrea for the majority of those 12 minutes just so he gets used to playing with those guys as fast as possible and Chris gets used to playing with him,’ Triano said of Turkoglu. What fans won’t see, though, is what’s expected to be the bread-and-butter of Toronto’s offense, a high screen-and-roll set that takes advantage of Turkoglu’s ball-handling and passing skills and takes some of the constant attention from Calderon, who can spend some time playing off the ball. Triano has been emphasizing ball movement in the first half of the eight-game pre-season and he wants to see more of that now that he’s got almost all his players healthy and available. ‘Right now, all of our offense is continuity-based,’ he said.”
Eddie Sefko of the Fort Worth Star Telegram: “Size matters in the NBA, but that doesn’t always mean bigger is better. Small is a size, too. And when it comes to lineups, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle believes in diversity. Yes, he likes to have big men in the game. Most NBA champions have a strong inside presence. But he also likes to use a three-guard lineup and has done so frequently in the preseason, especially with J.J. Barea occupying one of the spots. The 6-foot Puerto Rican has played 80 minutes in the three exhibitions, behind only Dirk Nowitzki (81 minutes) and Jason Kidd (83). Barea’s been on the court with Kidd and either Jason Terry or rookie Roddy Beaubois a lot. ‘I love it,’ Barea says. ‘I love playing with point guards at the same time. It makes the job a lot easier for all of us. It gets the ball moving and I like that.’ Until Beaubois gains some experience, Barea figures to keep the job of backing up Kidd. But it can be argued that he’s at his best when playing with Kidd, which allows Barea to look for his shot more. Throw in Terry and the smallish backcourt instantly gives the Mavericks plenty of offense in support of Nowitzki, Shawn Marion or whoever else is on the floor.”
Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Jonny Flynn hasn’t played a real NBA game yet, but already Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis knows his rookie point guard can run successfully the two-man pick-and-roll play at the sport’s highest level anytime and anywhere he so chooses. That’s why he’s not letting Flynn do it. At least not yet anyway. Rambis wants Flynn to concentrate on skills he hasn’t mastered — and those his team needs most — in a preseason that’s two games old. ‘He’s learning the importance of the point guard in this league,’ Rambis said. ‘I need him to orchestrate the offense and get his teammates involved. They’re counting on him.’ Oh, is that all? At the age of 20? At a position Rambis calls the most difficult to learn in the NBA? All he needs to learn, really, is how to organize his teammates, how to manage the game clock, how to establish the tenor for an inexperienced team at either end of the floor without relying at least for now on what he does best.”
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel: “Mario Chalmers’ scholarship ended Sunday. Suddenly, for the first time since Chalmers was named last season’s Miami Heat opening-night starter, there is legitimate competition at point guard with the signing of free agent Carlos Arroyo. Until the Heat made the move for the eighth-year veteran, Chalmers’ competition had been limited over the past year to the likes of Chris Quinn, Marcus Banks, Shaun Livingston, Luther Head and current camp longshot John Lucas III. But now there is a veteran in the mix who has started 113 NBA games, one who has served as an understudy to the likes of John Stockton, Mark Jackson and Chauncey Billups. ‘I think he’s landslide better than everybody,’ Heat forward Michael Beasley said of Chalmers’ previous competition.”
John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times: “Things are dramatically more stable this season. Hinrich has a defined role — sixth man and first guard off the bench — and his future with the team seems secure for now. ‘I’m excited,’ Hinrich said before the Bulls’ 87-86 preseason victory Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center. ‘I feel like I have an opportunity to play big minutes and help this team make another step forward and get better and get to the playoffs and that type of deal.’ Hinrich also is hoping to bounce back from last season, when he averaged a career-low 9.9 points, to the level he was at in 2006-07, when he averaged a career-high 16.6 points. ‘I’m focusing on just playing aggressive offensively, keeping my defensive intensity and just trying to help some of the guys learn,’ he said. ‘I realize I’m in position to be somewhat of a leader and try to do that.’ Although Rose is the starter, Hinrich is a mentor of sorts for the talented 21-year-old. While he has been sidelined during the preseason with an ankle injury, Rose has been studying Hinrich, hoping to pick up a few pointers. ‘I’m really just paying attention to Kirk, especially what he does on the defensive end,’ Rose said.”
Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com: “Roy is the first to say he needs to reach out to USA Basketball officials to let them know he is interested in playing — even if that message is accompanied by the potential deal-breaker that he won’t commit to tournaments so far in the future. That’s how tenuous the surprising disconnect has become: He can easily move back into prime consideration with as little as a conversation, but being left out becomes an increasing possibility with each month that passes without contact and now there is the chance Roy won’t sign up anyway because of the time involved. Roy declined invitations to join the Select Team, the feeder club of young NBA players, the last two summers, opting to rest a knee injury in 2008 rather than practice against the Beijing-bound Dream Team and in ‘09 preferring to focus on a contract extension instead of participating in a mini-camp. When he did not attend this offseason, if only to watch or attend meetings to be involved with the program without risking injury, it struck a particularly bad chord with the program. When he did not express a desire in the ensuing months to still be considered for a future role, it officially became an issue for Roy to fix.”
Michael Lee of the Washington Post: “Gilbert Arenas’s pockets were $25,000 lighter on Tuesday after the NBA fined him for passing on every interview request since media day on Sept. 28. So after his most explosive offensive outburst this preseason — scoring 24 points with five assists in 28 minutes — in the Wizards’ 101-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons, Arenas was finally forced to make a comment other than, ‘I’m not talking.’ Would he return to being his old, quotable and entertaining self? Or would he keep his answers shorter than Earl Boykins? You already know the answer. Paging Muggsy Bogues. The highlight of the 95-second deluge was when Arenas channeled his inner Rasheed Wallace and said, ‘Both teams played hard.’ It was that kind of night. The buildup for Arenas’s first post-game media interview this preseason was far more entertaining than his actual responses (which were entertaining for other reasons).”
Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: “Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown says the NBA game is flawed in ways that transcend whether replacement referees are making the calls. Brown will be relieved when this labor dispute is resolved and the veteran officials return. But he’s seen a pattern the past few years – too many whistles, too many contrived rules – that rob basketball of its natural flow. ‘Until we figure out a way to get more shots and have more of a flow up-and-down the court – which is the beauty of the game – it’s gonna be tough’ to entertain fans, Brown said. So if Brown were basketball czar, what would he do? Standardize rules worldwide for the NBA, college and international games. Move the NBA 3-point line in slightly. Permit teams to play any defense they choose without violating some anti-zone rule. Brown believes those changes would both allow and compel teams to run more and shoot more, and that’s what the game needs. ‘If you allow any defense, then (offenses) are going to rush the ball up the court because you’re going to be afraid of zones,’ Brown said.”
Elliot Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News: “Phil Jackson doesn’t do predictions. It’s not his style. The Lakers’ coach usually refers questions about how many games they might win to ‘the pundits,’ the reporters, columnists and TV commentators who are unafraid to go bold when it comes time to make predictions about the fate of the team. It’s not as if Jackson doesn’t care whether the Lakers win 72 games and match the NBA record set by his Chicago Bulls team in 1995-96, it’s simply that he would rather not set a public goal. Setting the bar that high might only invite failure. Besides, the Lakers have made it clear that a 72-win season isn’t their ultimate goal for 2009-10. Winning a second consecutive championship is about all a few of the Lakers have talked about since training camp began earlier this month. ‘I don’t want the players to get that as a goal,’ he said when asked Tuesday about chasing the league record of 72 victories. ‘That’s not a goal. The goal is to go through the season in an orderly fashion and build momentum through the end of the year. I think it just takes so much out of you to push that all the time, to just keep pushing it.’”
Steve Politi of The Star-Ledger: “There are benefits to being the last man standing against an NBA owner hellbent on taking your home. For starters, there are no nosy neighbors when your family lives alone in a nine-story condominium building. Plus, the elevator is always waiting when you push the button. ‘It’s a perk,’ Daniel Goldstein says with a smile. He has taken that elevator to the roof so his visitors will have the perfect view of the Nets’ new home — or, more to the point, where that new home is supposed to be. Had everything gone the way the team had hoped, there would already be a $1 billion sports palace over the railyard below. Instead? There is a modest Brooklyn neighborhood, one that hasn’t changed noticeably in two years. New Jersey still has a professional basketball team, and it’s not because a passionate fan base or savvy politicians kept it here. The Nets are still here in large part because Goldstein dug in his heels against a billionaire developer and a political machine. Wednesday, his fight comes down to the buzzer. The State of New York Court of Appeals will hear arguments in Albany about whether the state has the right to seize Goldstein’s home and other properties to build the Nets’ new arena and the rest of the Atlantic Yards project.”
