Points in the Paint

» October 26, 2009 5:02 PM | By Brandon Hoffman
  • Jack Carey of USA TODAY:  “Anyone believing that Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski might be contemplating stepping down anytime soon now that he’s coached an Olympic gold-medal winning team can put the thought to rest. Speaking at the Atlantic Coast Conference’s annual Operation Basketball meeting with media members Sunday, Coach K said he feels like coaching for the forseeable future, and it’s largely because of the great experience he’s had with USA Basketball, working with pros and pro coaches. ‘I’m sure somene who’s really smart has said this because I’ve heard it: ‘When you stop learning, you stop living,’ ‘ Krzyzewski said. ‘In our profession you can win so much that, where do you keep learning? Where are your avenues to learn? That’s one of the big things from (the Olympic experience). I’ve learned so much. Instead of reducing shelf life, it’s increased shelf life.’” (Via @BothTeamsPlayed)
  • This is really rich:  “When Lionel Hollins daydreams about how the retooled Grizzlies will function on offense, he closes his eyes and sees a basketball purist’s delight. The Grizzlies’ head coach pictures the ball shifting from hand to hand, mimicking a pinball machine with strong offensive threats O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and Allen Iverson serving as the flippers. It doesn’t matter who ultimately scores, as long as the attempt was made easy by sharing.”
  • Frank Isola of the Daily News:  “There was also talk of the Knicks using an advance scout again to better prepare the team for games, which is a common practice for most NBA teams. (D’Antoni fired the Knicks advance scout when he took the job, saying that the coaching staff can scout an opponent by watching game films.) Of course, D’Antoni’s reputation is that of an offensive coach who cares little about defense. He disputes the charge and Walsh, whose best teams in Indiana were strong defensively, also feels D’Antoni gets a bad rap. ‘I know this, Mike knows defense because I’ve been with him a lot,’ Walsh said. ‘And he has some really brilliant ideas about defense. I think the more he gets after the team, the better we’ll be. I saw us win a couple of games last year just on some defensive moves he made that we’re unusual. I know he’s a really good defensive coach.’”
  • From Luke Walton’s blog:  “Players have reputations, for better or worse in the league. Ron’s rep is pretty well documented: a hard-nosed player, one of the best defenders in the game and someone who’s got your back. Plus, Ron has always embraced the challenge of trying to lock down Kobe. ‘Ron’s a great player but will he upset the Lakers chemistry?’ ‘Ron’s a great player but will he be a distraction for the Lakers to repeat?’ I’ve heard all of this talk over the summer, really, leading up to training camp and I simply laughed. Ron’s been in the league for 12 years, the guy, like all of us, has grown. Divisive force? Polarizing figure? I’ve seen just the opposite since he started showing up at El Segundo. The guy has been nothing but professional, going above and beyond trying to fit in. Plus, the guy is hungry and I’m not talking Carl’s Jr. burger hungry, I’m talking Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy hungry. Label jars, not people. Ron’s rep is outdated.”
  • Caron Butler on kicking his Mountain Dew habit:  “A lot of people don’t know I’m a Mountain Dew addict so I guess this is my confession. To try and give this up was CRAZY for me! I was going through withdrawals. I was in the bed sweating. My wife would turn over in the bed and ask ‘Are you OK?’ Honestly, those first two weeks without The Dew was the roughest two weeks of my life. I’m talking headaches, sweats and everything. Before that I drank at least six 12 ounce Mountain Dews a day. It was so bad at one point that I had to have a cold one right there at the night stand before I went to bed. I had to get the coasters and let it drip a lil’ bit and just have it waiting on me. Come 2 a.m.., I’d wake up out of my sleep, I’d pop one open and hear the fizz sound…and just down it!  Then I always had to have another one in the morning when I woke up. Before practice I had one too and before games I would knock back two.” (Via @Truth_About_It)
  • Rockets GM Daryl Morey on the adjustments the Rockets will have to make without Yao Ming, as transcribed at SRI:  “We’ve got to use our quickness to our advantage.  We’ve got to use our ability to switch screens; we’ve got to use our ability to keep things on the perimeter relative to Yao.  ‘Cause Yao was actually a very good defensive player.  That’s why we’re a little more worried about the defense.  Yao gave us that presence behind, which people talk about and I agree with.  But in the past when Yao went out we had guys like Chuck Hayes coming in.  Now we have Chuck Hayes in and when he goes out now we’re obviously not as strong.  I think that’s really our worry.  In the past, we had this luxury of having an underrated, very good player in Chuck and now he’s thrust into a very prominent role and now who will step up behind him to help us out?”
  • Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:  “Before the regular season begins Tuesday, the Lakers will take one more trip to the memories of last season. The championship ring ceremony, scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m., will be memorable for Kupchak. He’ll apparently be taking home a very big piece of jewelry. ‘The boxes will be a lot heavier,’ he said. ‘I’ve had a chance to preview the rings, and the box is going to be heavier and a little bigger than past boxes.’ It can mean only one thing. ‘A lot of bling,’ he said.”
  • Brian Windhorst of The Cleveland Plain Dealer:  “When the Cavaliers made their roster cuts to get down to 15 players this week, fan Brent Gummow sent an e-mail remarking the team has nine players who were second-round picks or not drafted at all. ‘Is it unprecedented that a ‘championship-caliber’ team be comprised of so many underdogs?’ Gummow asked. Well, it isn’t unprecedented — though it is among the most in the league. However, this as an astute observation and an interesting viewpoint at this time of year, when teams make decisions on final cuts as well whether they pick up contract options on recent first-round draft picks. There are indeed nine Cavs who were not picked in the first round on the roster. Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson, Leon Powe, Darnell Jackson and Danny Green were picked in the second round. Jamario Moon, Jawad Williams and Coby Karl were not drafted. This roster isn’t set in stone, but it will be probably the one that opens the season Tuesday against the Celtics. The NBA is a little like the NFL, where late-round draft picks and undrafted players often end up as key role players for long stretches. There’s several reasons for this, but there’s two main tenets. One is the salary cap and the second is the team’s legacy.”

Category: Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, International Basketball, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks, Points in the Paint, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards

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