ESPNNBA

Remember that draft? It was actually pretty fun. In the days leading up to it, nobody knew who'd go first. There was some sentiment for LaMarcus Aldridge, who had length and skill but couldn't bench press much. Tyrus Thomas -- an incredible athlete -- earned some consideration. But in the end, a relatively unknown young Andrea Bargnani was the top pick.

As that crew enters its fifth season, it's time for the 2006 draft class to stop trading on potential. These players are squarely in their primes, and some things are coming into focus:

• Neither Aldridge, Bargnani nor Thomas should have been the top pick.
• Based on production thus far, the seven best have been Rajon Rondo, Brandon Roy (although his production is way down), Rudy Gay, Aldridge, Bargnani, Tyrus Thomas (his 23.2 PER this season is 15th in the NBA) and Paul Millsap (who leads the class with a 24.9 PER).
• That was a terrible draft.

The lottery included Adam Morrison, Patrick O'Bryant, and Saer Sene who have already been sent packing. The first round also included Cedric Simmons, Shawne Williams, Oleksiy Pecherov, Quincy Douby, Josh Boone, Sergio Rodriguez, Mardy Collins and Joel Freeland -- none of whom has played a game in the NBA this season, nor are expected to anytime soon.

And if you're looking for middle-of-the-road players, there aren't even many of them. After the seven "stars" listed above, the only first-rounders with current PERs over 13 (15 is average) are Ronnie Brewer, Shannon Brown, and Jordan Farmar.

Williams, Randy Foye, J.J. Redick, Hilton Armstrong, Thabo Sefolosha, Rodney Carney, Marcus Williams, Maurice Ager and, especially, Kyle Lowry have been playing this season but not producing anything much that shows up in PER.

First-round pick Renaldo Balkman, it should be noted, has a current PER in negative numbers.

The second-round wasn't much better. Feast your eyes on the entire draft board. But for the occasional Millsap or Boobie Gibson, it's all James White and Damir Markota. Not pretty.

Usually the media trashes the front offices who pick badly. In 2006, maybe it's simpler just to give everybody a pass, and praise those very few teams -- the Celtics and Jazz, for instance -- who found real players.

• Brad Rock of the Deseret News: "When 19th Century German author Christian Morgenstern wrote 'Home is not where you live, but where they understand you,' he clearly didn't have the Utah Jazz in mind. Here in Salt Lake, nobody understands the Jazz. They're as enigmatic as cold fusion. Hence, the Jazz are in the midst of one of the wackiest starts in franchise history. Has there ever been an early season with so much drama? So far, here are the early returns: talent and heart, but a propensity for easing up on the gas just when they're picking up speed. Monday night at ESA, the Jazz led by 12, trailed by 13 and lost by seven (115-108). If they proved anything in last week's four-game road sweep, it was that they need to take care of their own place first. Miraculous comebacks and road wins are nice, but they're also just icing. Home is where you bake the cake. All those good years in the 1990s, the Jazz were a monster in the market. 'That's, in the coaching business, what you look at the most, see ... hope it doesn't fall apart,' said coach Jerry Sloan, when asked about defending the home court. 'If guys stay together and work at it, we'll be all right.' "
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "So much has been so bad for the Oklahoma City Thunder that the last thing this team needed Monday night was a tough start. But the Thunder found itself in a nightmarish start when Utah point guard Deron Williams promptly splashed his first three 3-point attempts through the net, opening a nine-point lead less than three minutes into the game. And with the way OKC has underachieved all season defensively and sputtered at times offensively, there was little to suggest the Thunder could dig itself out of a hole in one of the NBA's toughest buildings. After securing a hard-fought 115-108 victory over the Jazz, however, the Thunder showed there is at least one characteristic from last year's lovable 50-win team that has indeed spilled over into this season of inconsistency. Pride."
• Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com: "Is it possible that the Dallas Mavericks actually enjoy playing defense, and even find themselves challenging one another to rise up when games get down and dirty in crunch time? 'I think it would be better to ask the players that question because we identify defense as the No. 1 variable to us being a true contending team,' Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. 'If the answer is yes, then we're making some real progress. If the answer is something else, then we've got to take a hard look at where we're at.' 'But,' Carlisle continued, 'I think our guys realize that hard, consistent defense and staying with a system is the most important part of our success and it's the most important part of continuing the success that we're having.' Monday night was another example that the answer just might be a resounding, 'Yes.' The Mavs trailed the previously unbeaten New Orleans Hornets by 10 points with 7:44 left in the game. From that point, Dallas' defense, which entered the game ranked third in the league in points per possession, allowed eight points on 3-of-16 shooting and turned stops into a 3-point barrage at the other end to pull out a dramatic 98-95 victory."
• Kevin Spain of The Times-Picayune: "The adage, attributable to NFL Hall of Fame coach John Madden, is that winning is the best deodorant. So Hugh Weber should smell pretty good right about now. The New Orleans Hornets were 8-0 entering Monday’s game against the Mavericks in Dallas, the best start in franchise history, a start engineered by first-year General Manager Dell Demps and first-year coach Monty Williams. And, rightfully, accolades have been showered on the two rookies. But neither likely would have a job in New Orleans if it wasn’t for Weber, the Hornets’ president and the link between what appeared to be a too-long search for a head coach, and a too-quick pick for a general manager. Weber adamantly maintained he was looking for the right fit in each case. We couldn’t blame him now if he decided to issue an 'I told you so' or 50. Wisely, though, he won’t. 'The objective of building a culture can’t be evaluated in seven games, 10 games, 20 games,' he said. 'We haven’t seen how this team performs with higher expectations, we haven’t seen how this team performs under different types of challenges. But I will tell you that the mindset of Monty and Dell and the character that they bring and the preparation they bring, that puts you in step to be able to deal with those things. I don’t want the person who’s got all the answers. I want the team of people who knows how to find them, because we don’t know what the questions are yet.' "
• Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: "It remains to be seen how this season will play out for the Pistons. But after the fireworks of Monday night, it’s safe to say it won’t be boring. After a first half that featured a confrontation between Pistons coach John Kuester and Tayshaun Prince and a whopping deficit of 32 points, the Pistons (4-7) forged a furious second-half rally only to fall, 101-97, to the Golden State Warriors. The Pistons will come home to face the Lakers on Wednesday night after a 2-2 West Coast trip, but fans will probably show up at the Palace to see if they can catch another dramatic episode. Monday’s drama started with what Prince said was a disagreement over how to defend the Warriors, who were carving up the Pistons. Prince’s man scored three consecutive baskets as the Warriors upped their lead to 25 points. Kuester called time-out at the 4:27 mark, and Prince barked at Kuester as he walked to the bench. Kuester started yelling back and the two kept exchanging words. As Kuester was drawing up a play, Prince slammed a towel on the Oracle Arena floor. Kuester stood up and walked toward Prince, then assistant coach Darryl Walker got between the pair. At the end of the time-out, Kuester walked toward Prince again, yelling at him, but Prince, a towel wrapped around his shoulders, just waved off his coach. The Pistons trailed, 65-42, at the half."
• Howard Beck of The New York Times: "The clamoring for a talent infusion may only grow louder, with all signs pointing to Carmelo Anthony, a three-time All-Star who badly wants to join his good friend Amar'e Stoudemire in New York. The Broadway pairing sounds attractive. But Anthony may not solve the Knicks’ problems and in fact -- given his salary demands and style of play -- could even prolong them. Anthony is an elite scorer but a below-average playmaker and a mostly indifferent defender. He can provide 25 points a night and a go-to option in the final minutes of a tight game, but he would not give the Knicks what they need most: a player who elevates everyone around him. To get that player, the Knicks will have to wait for another antsy superstar to hit the trade market: Chris Paul. 'They need a lot of pieces,' said an Eastern Conference scout, who did not want to be named while evaluating a rival team. 'A point guard would be the first thing that I would look for.' ... 'Carmelo needs the ball in his hand all the time to be a factor,' the scout said, concluding, 'Carmelo is not the immediate answer.' It also bears noting that Anthony did not win a playoff series until 2009, after Denver acquired a great point guard (Chauncey Billups) to lead the offense. The Knicks need outside shooters and improvement at shooting guard and center, but they need a playmaker most of all. They would be better off with a short-term rental of Steve Nash (if the Phoenix Suns make him available) until they can chase Paul or Deron Williams. But it is Anthony who is available now, and it is Anthony who will stand in the Knicks’ path Tuesday night, bringing equal measures of intrigue and angst."
• Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times: "The University of Clippers suffered a major blow to their NCAA chances on Monday night. (Well, there always is strength of schedule.) Kidding aside, when you present a starting lineup consisting of five players all still possessing NCAA eligibility, it's always going to hold an element of peril and high risk. The Clippers' starters were two 20-year-olds (Eric Bledsoe and Al-Farouq Aminu) two 21-year-olds (Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon) and one 'veteran,' 22-year-old DeAndre Jordan. So this team might look terrific in March in the NCAA tournament, but this is, for better or worse, the NBA in the opening month. And the Clippers (1-10) are off to their worst start in 12 seasons, bringing back bad memories of the 0-17 opening in that lockout-shortened campaign of 1998-99. Loss No. 10 didn't exactly come against an NBA heavyweight, as the Nets defeated the Clippers, 110-96, at Staples Center, lulling them into a slumber in the first half and rolling over them with a Brook Lopez onslaught in the second."
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: "Luc Richard Mbah a Moute knows what he's up against Tuesday night. Just call it Kobe duty. It could be the toughest task facing an NBA player, trying to control Los Angeles Lakers all-star Kobe Bryant. But it's a challenge the Milwaukee Bucks third-year forward relishes as the Lakers make their only Bradley Center visit of the season. 'He's the best at what he does,' said the 6-foot-8 Mbah a Moute. 'I feel every team has a player like that who can score the ball. 'But Kobe does a lot of other things. He's got a motor and he gets his teammates involved even when he's not scoring. We've just got to do it as a team. He has the ability to turn it on whenever he wants to. You've got to come out and make it tough on him no matter what. Sometimes it feels like he can go 0 for 10 in the first half and 15 for 20 in the second half. Mbah a Moute and Bucks shooting guard John Salmons will be the primary defenders against Bryant, the NBA Finals most valuable player each of the past two seasons. 'You've just got to know coming in that he's going to get touches and he's going to make tough shots,' Salmons said."
• Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal: "Desperate to find a way to cure their second-half collapses, the Cavaliers have considered everything from dancers to Hollywood movie characters. The past few nights, the second half of games have played out like a horror script. One assistant coach half-jokingly recommended treating the start of the third quarter like the start of the game, complete with music, handshakes, dancing cheerleaders and a fire-breathing scoreboard. Coach Byron Scott on Monday channeled Norman Dale, the Gene Hackman character in the movie 'Hoosiers'. Scott demanded the players make four to five passes during practice before attempting a shot -- just like the legendary coach in the movie -- to get the players in the habit of creating good ball movement, making hard screens and learning proper spacing. Those have all been areas of concern that continually seem to break down in the second half lately. The Cavaliers drag a four-game home losing streak into Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers (2-8). They have been outscored in the third quarter of all but one game this season and those offensive problems have lingered into the fourth quarter of each of the past two games. 'Somehow we have to trick ourselves into thinking we're down 15 to 20 points [at halftime],' Scott said. 'We have to come out with that type of attitude. We all know we can't come out and play the way we've been playing in the third quarter, and the last two games, the entire second half.' "
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: "It is what it is. Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins realizes his team's early schedule is difficult to say the least. But Hollins is asking the Griz to not dwell on the degree of difficulty. 'You've got to survive,' he said, alluding to his desire for the Griz to hover around 500 this month. The Orlando Magic presented Memphis with its ninth opponent in 11 games with a record .500 or better. The Grizzlies' seven losses have come against teams with a combined 40-18 record. Portland enters FedExForum tonight as the fifth straight Memphis opponent that has the distinction of reaching the playoffs last season."
• Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee: "After scoring 20 points with 11 rebounds Friday in Phoenix, Carl Landry had 19 points and eight rebounds against Detroit on Sunday. Perfect, no, but even he noted that he's closer to having his confidence and feel on the court back after a slow start in training camp. Still, he's not satisfied. He may be finishing stronger around the basket and is quicker off the floor, but he said he would like to drop three or four pounds and wants to continue to improve his overall game. 'I wouldn't say I'm all the way there yet,' Landry said. 'I'm not 100 percent, but I'm still working every day.' Landry said the last time his confidence peaked was after he was traded to the Kings in February. As the key player in the deal that sent Kevin Martin to Houston, Landry flourished. After averaging 16.1 points and 5.5 rebounds as a reserve for Houston, Landry averaged 18 points and 6.5 rebounds in 28 games with the Kings. 'I was playing at a high level,' Landry said. 'I've just got to get it back. It takes repetition. It takes watching film. It takes practices. It takes playing with your teammates.' "
• John Canzano of The Oregonian: "I'm concerned that the Blazers gave Brandon Roy a max contract without looking at an MRI of his knees. They looked, right? Please tell me they did. This is a major concern for an organization that feels like it's guessing right now. This doesn't feel like a training staff issue. It feels like a management issue. Roy won't play tomorrow at Memphis, and his long-term prognosis feels iffy. I think GM Rich Cho has to seriously think about life without Roy, and start thinking about how the organization might use the expiring contracts of Andre Miller and Joel Przybilla to keep the Blazers from falling too far behind the rest of the Western Conference."
• Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: "A day and night off in South Beach. Endless possibilities right? The Dolphins were in town. Miami’s famed nightlife was there to be enjoyed. So what did Jarrett Jack do? The Raptors point guard went to a 2-year-old’s birthday party. Of course this particular 2-year girl happens to have Chris Bosh for a father, but come on Jarrett, days off in the middle of the schedule in South Beach don’t come down the pike every day. Jack made it very clear he had no regrets with his decision. 'It was cool,' Jack said. 'I hadn’t been to a children’s birthday party in a very long time. I know with Chris’ schedule, him being gone so much, it was really special for him to be able to spend it with his daughter.' ... The party was held at the children’s museum across the street from American Airlines Arena, but Jack got invited back to Casa-de-Bosh afterwards. 'It’s amazing,' Jack said of Bosh’s new home. 'Very nice. It’s unbelievable, man. It’s modern, but it’s not George Jetson.' "
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "According to the NBA, Matt Bonner on Sunday became just the third non-starter in league history to be perfect on at least seven 3-pointers in a game, a slice of basketball trivia entirely appropriate for a self-described New Hampshire nerd. Of course, the backup center-forward said the submarine sandwich he consumed before Sunday’s game deserved much of the credit for his success. 'Just mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, American cheese, a good old-fashioned sandwich,' he said. Bonner was unaware he was one 3-point hit shy of Steve Smith’s club record for consecutive 3-ball hits. 'I didn’t know that,' he said. 'I definitely would have jacked more shots up.' Sam Perkins made all eight 3-pointers he attempted for Seattle on Jan. 15, 1997, and the Hornets’ Bobby Jackson went 7 for 7 on threes on Jan. 11, 2008."
• Frank Fitzpatrick of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "In eight days, when a four-ton wrecking ball begins to pummel it like a Broad Street Bully, the Spectrum, a landmark arena that launched a sporting renaissance in Philadelphia, will crumble into oblivion after months of pre-demolition ballyhoo but almost no opposition. Its impending demise points out something contradictory about this sports-mad city: No matter how rich their history, Philadelphia venues such as Convention Hall, Connie Mack Stadium, Municipal Stadium, the old Arena, and now the Spectrum seem to be expendable in a way that more historically authentic or architecturally appealing structures often are not. While threats to old and ornate buildings or to prized works of art (remember the battles that kept Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic and Maxfield Parrish's Dream Garden in Philadelphia?) frequently ignite fruitful outrage, the disappearances of these urban sports palaces rarely has. Why? 'I'm not quite sure,' said Scott Doyle, director of grants and state historical markers for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 'But there has been no concerted efforts that we're aware of to preserve the Spectrum. And there weren't any when Municipal/JFK Stadium came down, either.' "

• Why did Kobe Bryant shoot two 3s so quickly in the final minute? Probably because he was playing for an extra possession, as the clock approached 24 seconds left in the game.
• Plus/minus is imperfect, and lacking in some ways. One of the things it has been lacking, I realize now, is a chart loaded to the gills with crazy facial expressions.
• Derrick Rose is magical in his ability to avoid defenders. But if he avoided them a little less, especially in the lane, wouldn't he get to the line more?
• The Mavericks may offer some insight in how to defend Rajon Rondo. They went crazy chasing Celtic shooters -- his passes are less deadly when the guy on the receiving end is covered. They also switched a ton on the perimeter -- if you want Rondo to shoot, who cares who's guarding him out there? In the paint, however, it was a total team effort, with almost everyone collapsing. That lets him pass it back to Kevin Garnett at the elbow, but that's not the worst thing in the world.
• A nice little chart comparing the average age of NBA rosters and the average age of who actually gets the minutes. For instance, the Cavaliers' average age is pretty young, somewhere below 27. But the average age of who actually plays (weighted by minutes) is older than 28.
• John Hollinger says Monty Williams is the coach of the year so far, because New Orleans was the NBA's 22nd ranked defense a year ago, and now they're first.
• Kyle Singler, Duke star, indulges his inner eighth grader with a video camera.
• Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks star, indulges his inner eight grader with a still camera.
• And they say Kobe Bryant doesn't like to pass. He likes passing so much, he found a way to pass to himself! In all seriousness, it's beautifully executed, and he was wide open in the lane ...
• Serge Ibaka is so jumpy.
• Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic quoting Alvin Gentry: "We're just so (inappropriate term) small but we fight. We tried everything we could to get Pau moved out. That guy's so (inappropriate term) long and he's a lot stronger than anybody thinks he is. We don't have that real physical guy that can be physical with him."
• Does the Suns' fast pace really make opponents run their own offenses more quickly? It sure looks like it on this video.
• Some tough talk from Kobe Bryant about the collective bargaining agreement.
• Jeopardy's big loser: Tim Duncan.
• Who's the better Raptors point guard. Jose Calderon or Jarrett Jack?
• Rashard Lewis has been a bad offensive player this season.
• Recently retired NBA journeyman point guard Kevin Ollie has an optical mishap with of one of those stretching bands.
• Jacob Mustafa of Rockets blog Red94: "Of all of the terrible things that can be said about the 2010-11 Houston Rockets, no one can ever say that they are the New York Knicks. And for that, we should all be very, very grateful."

• Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune: "OK, knock those wacky grins off your faces. This is getting stupid now, and you all darn well know it. This whole uncharted Jazz-winning-five-straight-games thing -- the last four coming on the road -- after trailing in each by more than 1,000 points. Yeah, so that’s a lie. But it doesn’t feel like one. The Jazz have consecutively charged back from deficits of 18, 22, 18, 11, and 19. And, in the process, they’ve done something even more remarkable. The Jazz have come back from a dark, cold place in the NBA called … Nobody Gives a Crap. They were simply idling in near-anonymity, nothing more than another Chicago or Milwaukee or Houston or Phoenix or Portland or Oklahoma City or Denver or any other team that is OK to good but that has no overwhelming quality or characteristic about them to make them anything beyond weak sisters to the Lakers. Suddenly, the Jazz have what even Kobe’s team doesn’t: A weeklong string of regular-season miracles. These comebacks are not miracles, technically, at least not as front-line definitions go."
• Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: "Suns Hall of Fame announcer Al McCoy has never uttered 'Shazam!' as much as he did Sunday night at Staples Center. The Suns made beating the world-champion Los Angeles Lakers a side achievement Sunday by setting a franchise record with 22 3-pointers in a 121-116 road victory. Phoenix sank 22 of 40 3-points, also breaking the Lakers' opponent record and coming within one of Orlando's NBA record of 23 3-pointers in a game. The Suns' previous record was 20, set in April 2006 against New Orleans/Oklahoma City and January 2008 against Denver. Phoenix needed them all, especially Hedo Turkoglu's fifth 3-pointer that gave Phoenix a 115-109 lead with 34.7 seconds to go, sending the Suns to their fourth win in five games to make them 5-4 this season. 'We really talked about trying to amp up the tempo a little bit, to play a little faster and see if we could get in the open court,' Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. The Lakers, who started the season 8-0, suffered their second consecutive loss with guard Jason Richardson leading the 3-point brigade with seven makes on 10 tries. Richardson scored a team-high 35 points, still second this season to his 38-point game against Memphis. 'I was feeling it,' Richardson said. 'It was one of those nights you have sometimes where you feel like every shot you have is going in.' "
• Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times: "You say you want a devolution … Suggesting the West isn't what it was, the Lakers and Suns, last spring's conference finalists, met with less fanfare Sunday night. Actually, there was no fanfare at all. No talk of payback for last spring's 4-2 Lakers victory. No talk of a Western Conference finals preview. Also, no Amare Stoudemire, who doesn't play for Phoenix anymore. So if Steve Nash, Jason Richardson and vaguely familiar people showed up wearing Phoenix uniforms, it looked like the end of the Suns' world as they've known it. Of course, whoever they were, they put on a fireworks show that broke even the Suns' team record, making 22 three-point shots in a 121-116 victory over the Lakers. That made two losses in a row after the Lakers' 8-0 start, suggesting their midseason ennui has kicked in early. Remember when they ruled the West? After three No. 1 finishes, they're going to have to come from behind this season. Well, not too far behind yet, but they're now No. 3 behind 8-0 New Orleans and 8-1 San Antonio. Even that is a novelty. Two seasons ago, the Lakers led wire-to-wire after starting 21-3."
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "It was a historic night for the Spurs at Ford Center on Sunday, so it was fitting that it will be remembered for one of the greatest shooting performances in club history. Never in club history has a Spurs team opened a season better than this season’s version, which is off to an 8-1 start after extending its win streak to seven games with a 117-104 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Matt Bonner, off the injured list and playing just his third game of the season, was a perfect 7 for 7 on 3-point shots, one of only three Spurs who made at least as many shots as he missed. Only once, when Steve Smith made all eight 3-pointers against the Trail Blazers, on Nov. 3, 2001, has a Spur had a better night beyond the arc. .... Bonner said he was surprised how open he was all night, each shot seeming to be easier. 'I always think every one of them is going in, but this was just one of those nights when all of them did fall,' he said. 'You hit the first one, the second one, the third one, and then the hoop just keeps getting bigger and bigger.' "
• Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times: "The Knicks’ last winning season was a decade ago. New faces cycled in and out. Then at his signing this summer, Amar'e Stoudemire proclaimed, 'The Knicks are back.' They are back, but to the familiar state of losing. Houston, without two of its primary scorers, Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks, handed the Knicks their fifth straight loss. It is their longest stretch of losses since an eight-game streak last February, long before the roster makeover. The Knicks are 1-4 at home this season and 3-7 over all. They depart this week on a trip that will further test them, against Denver, Sacramento, Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers. 'I don’t understand why we’re not playing with the urgency,' said Stoudemire, who scored a team-high 25 points. 'I’m not used to that. We’re not playing like we’re on a four-game losing streak, now five. We don’t have that sense of urgency. It’s almost as if it doesn’t matter.' After reporters had moved on, Stoudemire remained at his locker, gazing down. Both knees were wrapped in ice, and Stoudemire said he had been hit on his thigh twice."
• Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee: "Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace didn't win Defensive Player of the Year four times in his career because he doesn't know a few tricks. That's something Kings rookie DeMarcus Cousins learned during the Kings' 100-94 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at Arco Arena. Wallace, who is in his 15th season, knows how to get away with 'a lot of holding,' Cousins said. ... Wallace offered Cousins some encouragement after the game, telling him to relax and have fun. 'The sky is the limit,' Wallace said. 'He has a lot of talent, and he is going to have every opportunity to be a star in this league. He just needs to keep working and not get frustrated.' Patience is key for a rookie, Wallace said. He noted that the game can be frustrating, but it is for most young players. 'The boys that can settle down, control their emotions and continue to approach the game with a positive attitude are the ones that usually take off the fastest,' Wallace said."
• Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The Hawks are 7-4. There are a couple of ways to look at that. One is that 7-4 really isn’t bad. The Miami Heat – they’d love to be 7-4. (Maybe they need to make a splash in free agency.) The other way to look at 7-4 is the Hawks could be better. They should be better. They followed an impressive six straight wins to open the season with four straight losses. That streak came to an end Sunday at Philips Arena with a sloppy 111-105 win over 3-8 Minnesota. Don’t celebrate too much. The Timberwolves are the equivalent of the gum under your shoe among NBA teams. ... If this continues, the issue of whether the Hawks can take the next step as currently built will linger. Do they need a tough guy on the front line? Do they trade popular Crawford, who’s in the final year of his contract? Do they explore dealing Smith (which seems rumored every other week)? At 7-4, it’s too early to draw conclusions. But it’s not to early to conclude that they should be better."
• Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "They are the widest and the thinnest players on the Celtics. They reside at different levels of the height spectrum, as well. Yet these opposites attract, and the combination is becoming even more attractive. Shaquille O’Neal and Rajon Rondo are a poster waiting to happen, the juxtaposition jumping from the photo. Or maybe they could star in one of those buddy movies about two detectives who see crime from different angles. On Saturday in Memphis in the 116-100 victory, O’Neal had five authoritative dunks among his 7-for-10, 18-point night. Rondo, the lightning to Shaq’s thunder, is always looking his way. Rondo and Goliath have found a groove. 'He’s definitely adding assists to my game, and that’s going to increase,' said Rondo. 'If his man’s off his body, all you’ve got to do is throw it toward the rim. He’s going to finish it.' O’Neal returns the salute, saying, 'All I have to do is work to get space and he’ll find me. I play my game and he gets me the ball.' 'Yeah, it goes both ways,' said Rondo. 'I love playing with him, and vice versa. I think he enjoys playing with me, as well.' It is a measure of Rondo’s burgeoning greatness that his locker was not surrounded with media after he delivered 17 assists (and 11 points) at FedExForum. Seventeen? Yawn."
• Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: "If a show of hands was requested from those who had the New Orleans Hornets as the last remaining undefeated team in the NBA, all it would do is reveal who the fibbers are. Nobody had this, not even Tyson Chandler, who has good friends there from when he was a Hornet from 2006 to 2009. Like everybody else, the Mavericks' center is surprised and impressed that New Orleans comes to American Airlines Center at 8-0 tonight. He also figures it's up to him and his new teammates to introduce the visitors to their first loss of the season. 'Trust me, it's definitely on my mind and I made it known in the locker room that it would be huge for us,' Chandler said. 'They're the only undefeated team in the league and everybody's got to lose at some point, and it would be good for them to get that loss here.' The Mavericks will have two cracks to do it since they visit New Orleans on Wednesday. It's one of those rare scheduling quirks that teams don't like because it's hard to beat a team two games in a row. The Mavericks found that out against Denver during a home-and-home pair a couple of weeks ago."
• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: "Kevin Love apparently set a high standard for himself Friday when he produced the NBA's first 30-point, 30-rebound game since Moses Malone did it in 1982. On Saturday night, NBA TV whisked Love away to its Atlanta studios for an interview with Cheryl Miller and Dennis Scott as soon as the Wolves arrived from Minnesota. On Sunday, the Hawks paid extra attention to him and held him to 22 points and 17 rebounds while he played 40 minutes in consecutive games for the first time in his career. 'He never did that before?' forward Michael Beasley asked. 'I did that once or twice. It's very tiring. And I'm pretty sure he's going to play 40 minutes tomorrow [Monday in Charlotte]. He still had amazing numbers, 22 and 17. How many assists? [Zero.] Oh. ... He still had great numbers. Getting 31 and 31, that's just an out-of-body experience.' "
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "Gilbert Arenas, who made seven three-pointers and scored a season-high 30 points against the Bulls, spoke to John Wall in the locker room afterward to ask him what he had learned playing against Derrick Rose. Arenas said he talks with Wall after every game to make sure he is taking notes and making progress. Arenas said he could see Wall improving each game. When asked who was faster between Wall and Rose, Arenas said: 'John Wall's faster. But at that speed they're going, it really doesn't matter.' Wall said after the game that there is a simple explanation for why the Bulls have been successful. "Look at the point guard. You got a point guard that's that talented, he puts a lot of pressure on the defense. He can score, and he does a great job.' When told that the same description could work for the Wizards, Wall chuckled and hobbled out of the locker room. He understands his team has some room for improvement -- and needs to get healthy as well."
• Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: "Rodney Stuckey had 17 points, seven assists and three rebounds to help the Pistons win their fourth in five games after starting 0-5. ... Stuckey gets knocked because he isn't considered a true point guard by the fans. And more eyebrows were raised earlier this season when he had to sit out a game as a disciplinary measure. But he has played well since, averaging nearly 18 points and six assists since he missed the Nov. 5 victory over Charlotte. 'I don't even think about it, to tell you the truth,' Stuckey said when asked about his play since his issues with coach John Kuester. 'That's the past. That (stuff's) over.' "
• Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: "Coach Byron Scott has been harping about J.J. Hickson's lack of rebounding. The other day at practice, he was asked how someone who jumps so high isn't a better rebounder. 'I was wondering the same thing,' Scott said. If Hickson paid as much attention to hitting the boards as he does scoring, he could be on the verge of an All-Star selection. But he doesn't, and until he does, he's going to have some problems with Scott. 'Rebounds are about desire and effort,' Scott said. 'Just go get it.' "
• Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Rookie Evan Turner has started the past four games. In his two starts with Andre Iguodala sidelined with an Achilles' injury, Turner averaged 14.5 points and shot 12-for-24 from the field. With Iguodala back the past two games, Turner has five points total and is 2-for-9 from the floor."
• Kate Fagan of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Andre Iguodala has not formally requested a trade, and the Sixers are not actively trying to deal him. There is no 'For Sale' sign in front of Iguodala, but the Sixers would listen if you fell in love with the place and knocked on the door anyway. If you ask those around him, Iguodala "just wants to win." That's the answer to any number of questions: Might he ask for a trade by the all-star break? He just wants to win. But wouldn't it be nice, having a fresh start? We don't care about that, just winning. How happy is he in Philly? He just wants to win. Well, the Sixers aren't winning. If you walked into a vegetarian restaurant and made it clear only a steak would satisfy you, the easiest remedy would be to leave, not wait until they changed the menu. Right now, the Sixers aren't serving winning. But that's what Iguodala would like to order. The temperature on this situation is rising, but it's nowhere near the boiling point. So we could continue on like this for another few months, possibly into the off-season, but players tend to carry more value when they aren't pressing the phone into your palm and demanding that you find them a new home."
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: "Stan Van Gundy already has had a heart-to-heart with Rashard Lewis, so he got to him before the rest of us. Remember that scene in the movie, 'Airplane,' where all the passengers line up to smack another who loses it because the flight is apparently doomed? I got a feeling a lot of fans might want to, uh, help Rashard snap out of it. Something's amiss. Van Gundy says that it's simply Rashard's shot. 'My only concern with Rashard, as I told him, is he lets something as minor as a shooting slump affect his energy and enthusiasm for playing,' Van Gundy said. ... This is a guy who led the NBA two seasons ago in 3s attempted and made. Lewis takes 3s when he steps out of his car. Hey, Rashard: Maybe you need to take another trip to GNC for some human-growth goodies. I'm kidding. If you're wondering whether Van Gundy would bench Lewis, the answer is no. Not now, anyway. If Stan didn't sit Vince Carter through a horrid January last season, I don't think he'll turn Lewis into a sixth man."
• Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune: "Repeat after the Bulls: 'This is not a road trip, this is not a road trip, this is not a road trip …' The Bulls will travel to Houston to face the Rockets on Tuesday and will be out of town through Nov. 27. After Houston, the Bulls head to San Antonio, Dallas, Los Angeles (Lakers), Phoenix, Denver and Sacramento. 'We can't think of it as a road trip,' said Bulls forward Luol Deng of the team's two-week odyssey. 'It's just a bunch of away games. We've just got to focus on one game at a time.' Coach Tom Thibodeau has also convinced Derrick Rose that this circuitous 'circus trip' is nothing to fear. 'We're just thinking about Houston,' said Rose, who scored 24 points and handed out eight assists in the Bulls' 103-96 win over Washington Saturday night that capped a three-game winning streak at the United Center."
• Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: "Toronto’s trip through Florida on the weekend was something of a coming out party for DeMar DeRozan, who laid waste to both the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat on back-to-back nights. He had 21 points against the Heat on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor in Saturday’s loss after pouring in a career-high 26 points on 8-13 shooting in Friday’s win in Orlando. The most significant statistic was his ability to get to the free throw line: He was 7-for-11 in Miami and 10-for-12 at the line against Orlando. That was in stark contrast to his previous three games when he was a pedestrian 7-for-21 from the floor and hadn’t attempted a single free throw. ... Part of his emergence can be attributed to a decision by the coaching staff to give him more responsibility down the stretches of close games. On a team starved for someone to take control in those one-possession games that come up so often, allowing DeRozan to learn what it takes to make those significant plays is one of the major goals of this season. ... At just 21 years old, DeRozan is still very much a work in progress and his ability to win close games in the dying seconds is certainly not a given. But the wishes the coach expressed last April are starting to come to fruition in a Raptors season that’s as much about development as it is anything. 'He’s getting better,' said Triano. 'He’s still a university basketball player (but) he’s starting to get it, yeah.' "

• Jackie MacMullan of ESPNBoston.com: "The point guard was clairvoyant. Rajon Rondo doesn't talk much, but he sees plenty. Before the Miami Heat suffered another big-time, big-game meltdown against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, before Rondo dropped 16 assists on the star-studded (and noticeably sagging) South Beach caravan, before he spurred his team on to 60 percent shooting in the first half, he calmly predicted Miami would have no answers for him. He also hypothesized they would make a concerted effort to squelch his creative juices by throwing a variety of defenders his way, including the one Rondo feared most -- LeBron James, the 260-pound power forward. 'He's like Kobe,'' Rondo explained before the sufficiently hyped Celtics-Heat rematch that Boston won 112-107 at American Airlines Arena. 'He can give me space and still challenge my shot because of his incredible wing span. But if they put LeBron on me, who guards Paul? Who guards Ray?' Clearly, the answer was no one. The Heat did intermittently shift LeBron on to Rondo in the first half, which meant Pierce was left to gleefully feast on post-up opportunities against Dwyane Wade, Jerry Stackhouse and, later, old friend Eddie House. It should come as no surprise Pierce finished with 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting. ... he Heat will get better. Their chemistry will develop and they have enough talent to become a legitimate threat. In the meantime, don't mind Rondo and the Celtics if they move on and start concentrating on teams that are ready to challenge them now. The point guard sees what could be with this Celtics team. He knows they could win it all. And this time, his fingerprints will be all over it."
• Israel Gutierrez of The Miami Herald: "Uh-oh. You can almost feel the tidal wave of disappointment and furor and scrutiny forming. You can practically see an entire community of basketball fans hovering over the panic button ready to press. You can actually see Dan Gilbert wringing his hands in diabolical pleasure. This Heat team that wasn't supposed to lose two games in a row all year just lost three of four, including two in a row at home. This Heat team that was supposed to be relying on its defense while its offense caught up has given up 196 points over the past 77 minutes of basketball (that's about 31 points per 12 minutes). This Heat team that was supposed to challenge the Celtics for superiority in the Eastern Conference has been handled twice by those Celtics and at 5-4 is closer to the Pacers, Cavaliers and Bucks than it is to the top of the conference. If someone would've predicted before the season that the Heat would start off with this record, which included back-to-back home losses, you probably would've assumed some drastic change was on the way."
• Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star: "Chris Bosh, the former Raptors all-star, has enumerated another reason why he’s happy to be playing in his native United States. Bosh told reporters in Miami on Thursday that his seven years in Toronto deprived him of what he called 'the good cable.' He was speaking of cable TV. He said he was glad to be living in Miami because he can now subscribe to League Pass, the pay package that carries every NBA game. NBA types in Toronto couldn’t help but break out laughing, as they’ve been doing frequently when they’ve watched Bosh’s abysmal (albeit early) failure to fit into the Heat’s game plan. Bosh’s comments suggested that he spent more than half a decade in Toronto apparently unaware that League Pass is widely available in Canada. While Bosh clarified that his Etobicoke waterfront condo was exclusively loyal to a TV carrier that didn’t give residents that option, he was also apparently dumb to the fact that anyone with a brain and a bit of money -- and Bosh made $15.6 million (U.S.) in his final season in Toronto -- can arrange to have a grey-market U.S. satellite package installed in their home with one phone call. 'We should have informed him that he could have got (League Pass),' Jay Triano, the Raptors coach, said with a laugh. 'I don’t remember one day when he came into practice and said he was mad because he didn’t have good cable.' "
• Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "Kobe Bryant's shot abandoned him. Pau Gasol no longer scored with ease. Shannon Brown, of all people, tried to keep the Lakers among the undefeated, but it all dissolved in front of an overjoyed Pepsi Center crowd, the Denver Nuggets dropping the Lakers on Thursday, 118-112. The Lakers surrendered 33 points in the fourth quarter, their defense sputtering badly, matched in ineffectiveness only by Bryant's outside touch. Bryant had 34 points but made only 11 of 32 shots. Gasol wasn't much better: 17 points on six-for-17 shooting as New Orleans (7-0) became the NBA's only undefeated team. 'Just another game in November,' Bryant said, not taking the loss all that hard. The Lakers (8-1) blew a chance at the second-best start in franchise history, though it could almost be predicted based on their recent play. They were sloppy against Toronto, stellar against Portland, but again apathetic in a slim victory against Minnesota. It all seemed to catch up to them Thursday."
• Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune: "If the Jazz were a stock or a tradable commodity, everybody would be buying. Everybody should be buying. They’re going to get better. They’re going to gain in value. And here’s the best part: The risk factor is low. What’s happened during the past few games, especially the last two, is just a glimpse at their potential. Skeptics might call it dangerous good fortune, this habit the Jazz have of falling behind by major double-digits and then finding a way, some stupid way, to come storming back to win. Living on the edge, some figure, is no way to invest. If Paul Millsap has to score 46 points and hit three three-pointers to give the Jazz a chance, then what’s sound about that? If the Jazz trail by large margins, not just against the Heat in the first half and the Magic deep into the third quarter on the road, but early against the Clippers at home, how is that supposed to create confidence? If the Jazz need to be yelled at by Jerry Sloan or inspired by Raja Bell during halftime speeches to wake up and play ball, again, where’s the assurance there? Well. The assurance comes in a simple equation that applies to any team, but especially to this particular version of the Jazz: E + E = W. Energy plus efficiency equals wins. It takes no Einstein to grasp that. Even Al Jefferson will understand it, and it won’t take him until January to do so."
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: "After tonight’s big win against the Lakers, Carmelo Anthony was asked about the Nuggets front office shakeup. Nuggets president Josh Kroenke and executive VP of basketball ops Masai Ujiri got rid of longtime front-office adviser Bret Bearup, who had been helpful in many past trades -- and had his hand in cooking up recent deals for Melo. Asked about the Nuggets getting rid of Bearup from the front office, Anthony said, 'That’s a step. I think that was a big step, not just for Josh (Kroenke) and Masai (Ujiri) but for the whole organization -- for the whole league to know what they’re doing here, to make progress. Positive (step). They made some changes obviously for the better of the organization. That’s their decision.' Also, asked about his looming trade possibilities, Melo said: 'TNT loves drama, don’t it?'
• Kerry Eggers of The Portland Tribune: "When the Trail Blazers invade New Orleans Arena Saturday night, they’ll be walking into a Hornets’ nest. Defense is New Orleans’ calling card. Opponents are averaging 90.1 points (tied for second in the NBA); so far, none have scored as many as 100 points. Foes are shooting .425 from the field (fourth). The Hornets are also committing 13.5 turnovers a game (third). 'We’ve been talking about defense from day one, and guys are buying in,' says Monty Williams, an assistant on Nate McMillan’s Portland staff the previous five years. “We’re taking care of the ball. It’s our guys who are doing this. They’re playing hard and have committed at the defensive end.' ... Williams deflects credit for the Hornets’ start. 'These guys would have responded to anyone,' he says. 'Our guys are motivated by competition, by trying to win games. They would have played this way regardless. I wouldn’t attribute it to me.' "
• John Rohde of The Oklahoman: "Heading into today's 8:30 p.m. contest against Portland inside Oklahoma City Arena, the Thunder is shooting 87.3 percent from the free-throw line, which easily leads the league. That is a monumental 4.1 percent higher than the NBA season record of 83.2 percent by the Boston Celtics in 1989-90. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said it is unrealistic to expect his team to stay at such a lofty percentage, but he does expect a level of excellence to continue. Brooks has set a standard of at least 80 percent for his team. The Thunder finished second in free-throw shooting last season at 80.5 percent. 'That is the personality of our offense,' Brooks said. 'We want to get to the rim, attack the basket and get to the free-throw line. It's a great asset to have.' Not only is the Thunder's charity stripe prowess an asset, it's a weapon, particularly late in contests when an opponent fouls to stop the clock while playing catch-up."
• Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon-Journal: "In the first half Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena, the colleague to my left said he believed Ramon Sessions would prove to be the best player on this season's Cavaliers. The colleague to my right wasn't so sure, adding J.J. Hickson and Daniel Gibson to the list of one. That question might be answered sooner than either thought. The groin injury suffered by point guard Mo Williams in the 95-87 loss to the New Jersey Nets thrusts Sessions to the forefront. Although Williams echoed a postgame query that he hoped to be ready to play Saturday, his body language indicated otherwise. He missed almost a month of preseason and the first three games with the same injury in a different spot. Asked how he was feeling, Williams sighed and said, 'I wish I could say good.' Later he added, 'It's emotional for me because I'm thinking about so much stuff.' That certainly does not sound like someone who will play any time soon. The Dec. 2 showdown with the Miami Heat when LeBron James returns to Cleveland might even be out the window. But the low moment for Williams could be the breakout moment for Sessions."
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: "Stan Van Gundy sent a message to Brandon Bass before the Orlando Magic started training camp. The coach told Bass that his playing time would be determined by how well he rebounds and plays defense. Message received, loud and clear. Perhaps no Magic player has improved from last season to this one as much as Bass. His rebounding numbers have soared. His defense has become more reliable. And, not coincidentally, his playing time also has increased. 'I think what he's done this year is exactly what we wanted,' Van Gundy said. Bass could play a significant role when the Magic play the Toronto Raptors on Friday night at Amway Center. Van Gundy has been disappointed lately with power forward Ryan Anderson, and Anderson's difficulties might open the door for Bass to play more in the days and weeks ahead."
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: "For nine-plus NBA seasons, Tony Parker has walked a high wire every night. He is the Spurs’ point guard, so he is supposed to facilitate the offense. He is also one of the Spurs’ best scorers, so his job is to put the ball in the basket. It’s a fine line Parker admits he hasn’t always walked with ease. 'That’s always the tough part, since I’ve been here,' Parker said. 'When to shoot, when to pass. Every year, I try to get better at it.' Through the first seven games of his 10th NBA season, Parker has tiptoed that tightrope with a skillfulness fit for both Barnum & Bailey. He is averaging 16.7 points, a tad off his career mark, but is also averaging 8.4 assists -- a number which, were it to hold for the entire season, would mean a career best by nearly two per game. While the Spurs’ season so far has been headlined by the scoring exploits of Manu Ginobili, the stunning resurrection of Richard Jefferson and the untapped promise of Tiago Splitter, Parker’s metamorphosis into a facilitator has been an overlooked facet of the team’s 6-1 start. 'Tony has done the best job that he’s ever done here, as far as playing that role between scorer and passer,' coach Gregg Popovich said. 'He has shown great leadership running the show, distributing the basketball and scoring when it’s appropriate for him.' In Popovich’s view, Parker’s approach has been more of a tweak than a transformation."
• Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post: "The look on Allen Iverson's face in that moment he was introduced to his new life was one of pure amazement, equal parts shock and fear. And that gave way to the realization that these people halfway around the world - in a place he never thought much about and would never have reason to - loved him, adored him. The expressions on Iverson's face when he landed in Turkey the other day, and again at the soccer game where they stood and chanted for him, were priceless. Don't get me wrong, Allen Iverson shouldn't have to play in Turkey - or anywhere in Europe or Asia. Iverson, now 35 years old, should be taking his curtain calls here, at home, for an NBA team, preferably a contender. You can't convince me that Iverson can't help a good team, that he can't come off the bench and be an asset. ... Iverson will be playing with, as one writer put it recently, a bunch of guys who a few years ago would have been paying to see him play. The players, according to scouts, will be college-level, in terms of talent. His team plays in the Turkish league, not the superior Euroleague. Even so, the Turks will want to see the player they idolized as kids, the one who crossed over Michael Jordan as a rookie, who led the NBA in scoring four times, who led his team to the NBA Finals once, who was the league's MVP. And perhaps, if it's meant to end sweetly, Iverson will play up to expectation in Europe and the real curtain call will come in the NBA, in America, at home, where his final bows ought to come."

Michael Beasley, the number two overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft was basically given away this offseason by the Heat for a 2011 Timberwolves 2nd-round pick.
Wednesday, he exploded for a career-high 42 points against the Kings... 12 more than his previous career high. Beasley made 17 of 31 shot attempts and grabbed nine rebounds. The 42 points for Beasley are tied for the 5th-most in Timberwolves history. The only players to score more in a game for Minnesota are Kevin Garnett (47 and 44), Wally Szczerbiak (44) and Tony Campbell (44).

The Timberwolves needed the big game from Beasley as their win in Sacramento was their first in their last 18 road games.

Speaking of 18 games...

FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU:
The Spurs posted their 18th consecutive win over the Clippers. It's the longest current team-versus-team winning streak in the NBA. San Antonio has fashioned a longer winning streak against only one team: 21 in a row against the Grizzlies from 1997 to 2002. The Clippers' 18 straight losses to the Spurs is the second-longest losing streak against one team in franchise history. The only longer streak began with the inception of the franchise, when the Buffalo Braves lost their first 22 games versus the Celtics (1970 to 1974).

• Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News: "It does not seem to matter that Allen Iverson is 35, that his best days are behind him, that he struggled last season in three games with the Memphis Grizzlies and 25 with the 76ers. All that matters is, Allen Iverson is coming. In true Iverson fashion, he was supposed to be there Saturday, to be greeted by throngs of people, to sign autographs, to be introduced to his new teammates with Besiktas. But he missed his flight, supposedly because he arrived at the airport without his passport. (Where, oh where, have we heard something like that before?) He is holding a 2-year contract worth $4 million, but the celebration was delayed until yesterday, when he was surrounded (mobbed?) by dozens of photographers and media members at Ataturk Airport, with giddy fans singing what seemed to be fight songs. He wore a jersey from his new team - with the No. 4 because European basketball rules forbid anything lower - and a red Phillies cap, and put on his flashy earrings once he cleared security. In various photos and video clips, he seemed almost dazed. The welcome party will continue today with a light and music show, the team said. ... Former Sixers teammate Aaron McKie feels a certain sense of sadness in seeing Iverson pursuing his career overseas rather than in the NBA. But no NBA team tendered an offer this season, and Iverson clearly wanted to continue playing. ... But if there is a tinge of sadness in seeing Iverson, unwanted in the league in which he grew up, going to Turkey to play, there is another positive aspect. 'He can bring excitement,' said Eric Snow, a former teammate and now the Sixers analyst for Comcast SportsNet. 'If he's well-conditioned, he can bring excitement to any team in any league. He can bring an audience. People love to watch him play.' "
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "And when the man of the hour stepped on the floor, his signature long strides taking center stage just after 3:30 p.m., he entered to a chorus of applause from a small crowd of children. Kevin Durant couldn't have been further from the big-time. Yet this makeshift moment served as the scene from which Durant would promote his latest endorsement deal, a partnership with Degree Men. The event exemplified how Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder's franchise player, has bucked the allure of big cities and bright lights -- which often lead to big dollars -- and instead has seized sponsorships in small-market Oklahoma City. 'I always told myself if I play the game the right way, if I always get better, things like this are going to come to me,' Durant said. 'I don't have to go other places just to get this. I don't want to sound like a prima donna. But if companies want to come out here and be a part of what I have going on, they're going to have to come to Oklahoma City.' That's precisely what's taking place before our eyes. ... has turned down marketing opportunities out of concern that certain endorsements would take too much attention away from his Thunder teammates and the organization. 'I didn't get into the game of basketball just to get endorsements,' Durant said. 'I always want to put basketball first and that's what I'm doing. And stuff is starting to come my way now.' "
• Manny Navarro of The Miami Herald: "Both times the Heat has lost this season, two of the NBA's elite point guards -- the Celtics' Rajon Rondo and Hornets' Chris Paul -- have shredded them. Is it just a coincidence? Or are dangerous distributors the kryptonite for a team with three Supermen built to win a championship? The answer could reveal itself in the next 11 days when the Heat faces three of the best point guards in the business -- Utah's Deron Williams, Rondo and Phoenix's Steve Nash -- during its six-game homestand. First up: Williams and the Jazz (3-3), which visit AmericanAirlines Arena at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. 'We'll see if it's a trend or not,' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. 'I don't know. The New Orleans game [last Friday] -- I can't even say that's who we were, particularly in the first quarter when we were disjointed. The Boston game [Oct. 26] was a while ago. But it certainly wasn't who we've become. [This is] a new game, a new challenge. Our guys understand that and [Utah] is certainly not a one-man team. [Williams] is a dynamic, world-class point guard that can really put your defense on its heels. He can do it all. He can shoot it. He's great in transition, he can post it, he can break it down, he can get into the paint. We have to prepare for that.' "
• Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: "There's talk around the Pistons that there have been other clashes between the two (Rodney Stuckey and John Kuester) -- specifically during the team’s workouts, which are closed to the media. Such friction points to a larger issue facing this franchise: The Pistons are caught between trying to move to their next phase while also paying proper respect to the past era, which produced the 2004 NBA title. The team needs to play its young core -- yet veterans Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace have done a lot for this franchise. Of course, they also can help the team win now, as evidenced by Hamilton’s 27-point night against the Warriors. Not to mention that it’s hard to trade Hamilton and Prince if they're sitting on the bench. Caught in the middle of this situation is Kuester, who probably would admit privately that he has navigated the minefield clumsily at times. Still, that’s no excuse for a player to openly ignore his coach. The underlying tension on the team probably will flare up again -- unless it can build upon its small, much-needed winning streak."
• Geoff Calkins of The Commercial-Appeal: "Zach Randolph gets the ball on the block just long enough to draw the double team, then finds O.J. Mayo for the jump shot. Mayo misses. So Randolph hauls down the rebound and puts in himself this time. 'Z-Bo!' yells the little girl behind me. She keeps this up pretty much the whole game. She yells 'Z-Bo!" and "Zach!' and 'Zach Randolph!' Then she yells, 'Daddy!' and Randolph waves. The little girl is his 5-year-old daughter, MacKenly. 'I like coming to the games when my daddy plays,' she says. Out of the mouths of babes, eh? Grizzlies fans -- and coaches and players -- like it a lot, too. The Grizzlies evened their record at 4-4 Monday night, defeating the Phoenix Suns, 109-99, and looking a lot like the team fans hoped to see when the season began. ... Randolph finished with 23 points and 20 rebounds. You don't have to be related to the guy to go crazy over that. "
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Larry Drew told his players to forget the close loss to Phoenix the previous night, and never mind they had no healthy small forwards. He said don't believe they can't beat the Magic after the numerous lopsided defeats in the series. 'We wanted to be able to show the Orlando Magic we can come in and make a game out of it and not just hand them the game,' Hawks forward Josh Smith said. The Hawks accomplished that goal but still couldn't end their futility against the Magic, who won 93-89 for their 10th victory in their last 11 regular-season and postseason games against Atlanta. The Magic's previous nine victories in the series were by an average margin of 23 points. This time they had to come back from a 13-point deficit in the first half and take back the lead in the final five minutes. It was a stark contrast to most of Atlanta's nine previous losses to Orlando, which included a four-game sweep by an NBA-record margin of 101 points in the Eastern Conference semifinals last spring. 'There is no consolation to coming up short just because we came close,' Drew said. 'I thought our guys competed. That was something, to be honest, I was a little concerned with at the start. I thought there would be an emotional letdown after last night but I thought we came out and performed and played hard.' "
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "Though Yao Ming took just two second-quarter shots Sunday, the Rockets considered the stretch among his best this season as a consistent force inside, with the Timberwolves unable to defend him without repeatedly fouling. 'I think he did a good job of kicking it out and then re-establishing himself,' coach Rick Adelman said. 'He was aggressive in getting to the basket. It's going to be something we have to keep working on. Shane (Battier) and Kevin (Martin) … did a nice job finding him. But Yao said he did not do anything special. He had 11 points in the second quarter. He made three of five shots for 13 points in 17 minutes in a 120-94 win over the Timberwolves. 'I think that's what I always did the last couple years, not including last year,' Yao said. 'That's the game I know: post up; try to back down people; if they double me, kick it out; re-post; rebound.' "
• Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "Flip Saunders was the first to arrive at practice on Monday, so excited about preparing to correct the mistakes that have led to the Washington Wizards' disappointing 1-4 start that he showed up more than three hours early. But Saunders was also the first to leave practice, when he watched his players lethargically push through a scrimmage while complaining to assistants about every call, rather than communicating with each other. With about 30 minutes still scheduled before practice ended, Saunders got up from his chair on the main court at Verizon Center and stormed to the locker room, shouting, 'If you want to get better. Come back at 4.' ... A seven-year veteran, Josh Howard added that he had never seen an entire team kicked out of practice but understood Saunders's decision based on how the Wizards have performed to start the season. 'I told some of the guys. 'We getting ready to get a paycheck on the 15th.' For right now, they getting a paycheck for nothing,' he said. 'I can honestly say that. I don't think guys are really buying into this. If anything, we need to work for this paycheck.' "
• Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal: "Long after the formal portion of practice has concluded, after most of the players have vacated the floor, J.J. Hickson remains. He is working with assistant coach Chris Jent, who is instructing him where to stand, how to cut and where to go next in this sometimes complex Princeton offense. Over and over, they run the same drills. Jent moves Hickson off to the side, then demonstrates where to catch a pass, how to return it and how to make a hard cut to his next spot on the floor. These are the extra tutorial sessions required of Hickson if he is to become a top power forward in this league. After coach Byron Scott ripped his focus and lack of knowledge of the offense late in the preseason, the study sessions seemed to increase. 'He's been a lot better,' Scott said after a recent practice. 'He understands a little bit of what I was talking about. I'm always going to be hard on him because I think he has a lot of potential. He can be even better than he has been through the early part of the season.' And thus far, Hickson has been really good. As the Cavs prepare to face the New Jersey Nets tonight, Hickson is the second-leading scorer (behind Mo Williams) at 16.5 points per game. He set a career high with 31 points last week against the Atlanta Hawks, and his mid-range jumper seems to get better with every game."
• Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News: "Terrence Williams threw down the challenge Saturday when he put his shoulder into a flagrant foul on LeBron James. Monday, Brook Lopez and the rest of the Nets picked it up. After being manhandled by the Magic and embarrassed by the Heat, the Nets focused on toughness. 'It was way different. A lot more fouls today,' Williams said of practice. 'We've played six games now and I think guys are kind of taking offense at what other teams and players think of us around the league. Hopefully it changes and we just go from there.' Williams is not the only one who expects a more rugged Nets team Tuesday night when they host the Cavaliers in the first game of a back-to-back, home-and-home series. Monday, the practice was long and physical and William's teammates seemed to buy into the idea. It began, however, with the Nets having to face up to their soft reputation. To do so, Avery Johnson said he played 'a long horror movie,' the video of their loss in Miami. And then the coach played it again. 'Avery was talking about tissue paper the whole film session,' Lopez said. 'He was practically looking at me.' "
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "The wait is finally over for Indiana Pacers swingman Brandon Rush. After more than two months of dealing with the embarrassment of failing three drug tests and having to sit out an NBA-mandated five-game suspension, Rush will make his season debut tonight against the Denver Nuggets at Conseco Fieldhouse. 'It wasn't fun,' Rush said. He will come off the bench as part of the four-man rotation on the wing with Danny Granger, Mike Dunleavy and rookie Paul George. 'I think he's anxious to play,' coach Jim O'Brien said. 'He feels bad for what happened. He should feel bad. He's excited because this is his opening night. He knows he's improved over the summer. He's improved on his decisions off the dribble and finishing at the basket. Mentally he should be in a good place.' O'Brien thought about starting Rush in place of the struggling Mike Dunleavy tonight but decided against it because he likes how well the starting unit has played defensively. Rush's return allows O'Brien to decrease Granger's playing time by about nine minutes game."
• Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News: "Gary Neal clearly isn’t a typical rookie. His three seasons of overseas experience has proven to be beneficial in his early assimilation with the Spurs. Neal’s big game off the bench helped jump-start a struggling San Antonio offense and helped boost the Spurs to a 97-93 victory over Charlotte. He was described in the Associated Press account of the game as 'surprising rookie Gary Neal.' The Spurs coaching staff thought they had an underrated player in the 26-year-old Neal when they signed him after a blistering shooting display in Las Vegas this summer in rookie camp. But I bet them didn’t think they had a player who would average 9.5 points in 14 minutes, shooting 50 percent of his threes like Neal has done in games this month. Neal’s offense and a strong finish by Manu Ginobili helped the Spurs improve to 5-1. It’s their best start in three seasons and is a nice beginning to two winnable games later this week that will include games against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Saturday."
• Hannah Sampson of The Miami Herald: "The Miami Heat starts a string of five home games Tuesday against the Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Bobcats -- and all those visiting teams have to stay somewhere. Traveling NBA teams are big business for downtown Miami hotels. A team on the road might need more than 40 rooms, which could add up to more than $15,000 a night depending on the place. Some of the area's newest hotels have consulted with the Heat to find out how to make their rooms as attractive as possible for professional athletes, who might bang their heads in the shower or knees on the vanity in a room made for regular folks. With taller-than-average guests in mind, Miami's riverfront Epic Hotel at 270 Biscayne Boulevard Way, across from the Marriott, was built with high rain-style shower heads, roomy ceilings and raised vanities. ... According to the Heat, teams also have spent time at the InterContinental Miami, Ritz-Carlton on Key Biscayne and Four Seasons Hotel Miami on Brickell Avenue over the past several years. Four Seasons marketing director Tony Rodriguez said Heat competitors from the Atlanta Hawks to the Washington Wizards have stayed at his property. Teams can be superstitious, he said, sticking with a hotel if they've had success and switching if stays have coincided with losses. He recalled the 2006 playoffs, when the Dallas Mavericks stayed at the Four Seasons -- until the Heat kept winning."

• Phil Jackson explains 72 wins is not something to aim for.
• The Hornets have gone from one of the worst defenses in the NBA last season to one of the best this year, with the NBA's fourth best defensive efficiency. Here's a look at how.
• Nikola Pekovic's shoelace may have ruined Michael Beasley's season. Not really. But closer than you'd imagine.
• John Hollinger says that Darko Milicic has been, so far, the worst free agent signing of the bunch. As one who owns stock in Milicic, of a sort, I am taking the long view.
• Take a look at Allen Iverson's new teammates in Turkey. One of them went to Virginia Commonwealth, not far from where Iverson grew up in Hampton, Virginia.
• This Sudanese "Lost Boy," now a collegiate basketball player in Canada, fled a massacre by swimming to safety with his sister on his back when he was just 11 years old. His best friend did not survive.
• What's up with Chris Bosh?
• It's hard to overstate how thoroughly the Lakers dominated the Blazers. Key stat: A 49 to 25 rebounding advantage.
• Manu Ginobili put himself in position to draw a charge from an airborne Aaron Brooks. Brooks landed on his foot and will be out a month. NBA referees always harp on the fact that you have to let the airborne player land ... The slow-motion replay shows a foul certainly should have been called on Ginobili -- Brooks was in the air before Ginobili moved into his path. But was that just an inventive bit of aggressive defense, or a dirty play?
• Stephen Jackson says he was fined for something he said to no one but himself, based on people reading his lips on camera. I have no idea if that's true or not, but be aware the NBA is concerned about how players appear to the people watching on TV. If I were a coach I'd make sure my players understand that, if you want to stay out of trouble, realize that being nice to referees is less important than looking like you're being nice to referees.
• Walt Frazier says he still has a coat made of raccoon fur.
• As this Kevin Love vs. Kurt Rambis thing plays out, it's worth noting that Rambis was once not unlike Love.
• Former Sun Casey Jacobsen is playing in Europe, writing for SLAM, and (although he is not yet 30) he's staying closer to the ground with age: "What I am struggling with is the fact that my body is slowing getting older and that I can’t do the things that I once could. A perfect example of this came this past preseason during an exhibition game in Germany. In the third quarter, a teammate stole the ball under the basket while I was guarding my man towards the top of the 3-point line. As I saw my teammate knock the ball loose, I just released (a.k.a. 'cherry picking') and sprinted towards the other basket looking for a long pass. When I caught the ball, there was nobody around me. Ever since I was 15 years old, this was an easy dunk for me; a 100 percent shot. I don’t think I can think of a time when I didn’t dunk the ball in this situation during my pro career. So, without thinking, I went up for my usual two-handed “white boy” finish. As I jumped to attempt the dunk, everything felt fine. There was just one problem; I wasn’t high enough. I got the ball over the rim, but not enough that I could throw it downwards. The ball squirted off the side of the rim and my opponent grabbed the rebound. As the crowd moaned in pity, all I could do was smile (it was a preseason game, after all!) and run back on defense. That was the first time in my life that I had missed a dunk…and it will probably be the last. The reason it might be the last is because I think I’ll be laying the ball up from now on. Writing that sentence hurts me a little bit inside, but I have to be honest with myself."
• Dwight Howard's offense is better than ever.
• A very cool concept: A blog post based on watching one player for an entire game. First up: Gilbert Arenas.
• Suddenly Richard Jefferson is a great 3-point shooter, which lets the Spurs run plays like this.
• Alvin Gentry says that whatever they signed Al Horford for, it's a bargain.

Coaches stop at nothing to inspire their players.

About five seconds in to this video, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich pulls Tim Duncan's shirt over his head, like a hockey player in a scrap. About 11 seconds in, Pop charges right at Duncan like a rhino, head first.

The whole thing is in jest, and tremendous.

Also, note in the background: George Hill is 6-2 with long arms, but that fridge is so high in the wall that he has to leap to snag a Gatorade. No refreshments, I guess, for the short and unathletic.



Thanks to Darryl for the heads up.

• There's a man on the George Washington University women's basketball team. I salute Kye Allums, George Washington and the NCAA for all handling this gender transition in what appears to be a very cool way. As a society, and as sports fans, we are rabid in demanding everyone fall into male or female categories. But the truth is those categories are not nearly as tidy as everyone once believed. In organizing sports -- and in organizing society -- we're going to have to adjust to that reality. There's no victory in telling someone like Kye to lie about who they really are to make sports fans feel good about themselves.
• Bulls opponents are making 14 percent of their 3-pointers this season, shortly after hiring a defensive-minded coach. It's "small sample size theater" at this point, but this year's Bulls team could be a good test case for the importance of coaching.
• Newark's Prudential center long seemed destined to have zero NBA teams. Now, thanks to the Nets' temporary move, and Madison Square Garden's asbestos issues, it could have two for a little while.
• Tests apparently show the fibers found in Madison Square Garden were not asbestos. The D.E.P. says there's no risk. No one will convince me there isn't more to this story, though. Explain to me, please, very clearly, why then that game was canceled, and we're still not certain when the building will re-open.
• Ted Leonsis won't sell Wizards tickets based on what the Heat are doing.
• Carmelo Anthony is shooting less, which appears to be helping the Nuggets.
• Rick Fox was robbed! He's off "Dancing with the Stars," somehow, before Bristol Palin or Kurt Warner. Yes, I watch that show. No, I'm not ashamed.
• King Kaufman on HoopSpeak: "Look at the last 10 years in the NBA: Five teams have won the championship. In the last 20 years, only seven teams have. The Lakers, Spurs and Bulls have won 15 of the last 20 titles. In baseball, eight teams have won the World Series in the last 10 years, and 13 teams have in the last 20. The Yankees have five titles, and nobody else has more than two."
• 65% of voters in this poll say Rajon Rondo is the best point guard in the NBA, which tells you a hell of a lot about who is being polled.
• Anthony Morrow, maybe the best 3-point shooter ever. By the way, that article is in the Wall Street Journal. And it is there, I'd wager, in no small part because as a Net, Morrow is local to that paper's editorial staff. No one will ever convince me that all markets are created equal in terms of raising one's profile outside the game.
• Doug Collins stressed out and humorless. Doug Collins relaxed and jovial. Doug Collins having his team foul intentionally, holding a 3-point lead. Doug Collins drawing up a nice play.
• Pick your favorite Javale McGee dunk. To me, the second, over Spencer Hawes, is the best.
• Isiah Thomas, talking Heat, on 790 the Ticket in Miami (via Sports Radio Interviews): “Hate is not a bad thing in sports. You need the good guy and the bad guy and not everyone can be the good guy. When you have the good guy matched up against the bad guy, that’s what we all want to see. We don’t want to see two good guys go at it. We want to see the adversaries and the rivalries. Right now I think it’s great for the NBA and it will be great for all these guys in their careers as time moves on that having a little hate and being a little despised that’s not bad all the time. That means that you’re pretty good, you’re touching people’s emotions, a little controversial, and you’re being talked about. That’s what sports is all about. It’s not about the good guy all the time. If they’re chosen as the bad guys that means they’re going to be on television a lot, they’re going to be written about a lot, and they’re going to win a lot of games.”
• Yao Ming makes a lot of money for somebody who plays short minutes and hasn't been producing all that much. But that does not mean the Rockets would be better off without him, for a number of reasons.
• Matt McHale of By the Horns on Joakim Noah's play so far this season: "Noah is, quite simply, outstanding, and anyone who thinks (or thought) that he should have been included in a ‘Melo trade should have their head examined." Matt's less bullish on Derrick Rose's 3-point shooting.
• Watch Travis Outlaw not precisely where he ought to be on defense. Somewhere Nate McMillan nods knowingly.
• Ever wish you could peek at Gregg Popovich's clipboard, and see the play he diagrammed? Now you kind of can.
• Jeff Lind of Salt City Hoops on Blake Griffin: "The guy has no regard for his body, which should excite and terrify all Clippers fans. ... Every time Griffin comes down in a tweak like that, the fans in the Staples Center collectively gasp (all 66 of them). It’s delicious fear, and it’s a great show."
• Euroleague power rankings.
• The play the Wizards ran with the game on the line.
• The ways to measure a team's performance, stat geek-style.
• Handing out grades after the D-League draft.

For the Los Angeles Clippers, it’s a matter of good news and bad news. Then maybe some even better news. Let’s start with the bad news.

• Bad news: The Clippers are now 0-4 after Monday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs, marking the third straight season they’ve started 0-4 or worse. The Clips have also lost 22 of their last 26 games going back to last season.

• Good news: Rookie Blake Griffin, a possible ray of light for the slumping franchise, is averaging a double-double through four games, with 16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

• Better news: The Clippers only have to face the Spurs twice more this season, and not again after Dec. 1.

Why is that such great news for the Clippers? Well, if they’re going to make any sort of playoff run, they don't want to see the Spurs anywhere near their schedule down the stretch.

Monday’s loss was the Clippers' 17th in a row to the Spurs, and the Clips have lost 25 of their last 26 games to San Antonio. If anyone should forget the Alamo, it should be the Clippers.

The last time the Clippers beat the Spurs was March 7, 2006. Former Clipper Elton Brand led all scorers with 30 points, and Sam Cassell chipped in 15 points and 11 assists.

That also happened to be the last season the Clippers went to the playoffs, getting the No. 6 seed and knocking off the Denver Nuggets in the first round before bowing out in seven games to the Phoenix Suns.

The loss didn’t bother the Spurs much, as they finished the regular season with a Western Conference best 63-19 record.

More bad news for the Clippers: They'll have to play the Spurs again in less than two weeks; the two teams are slated to meet Nov. 10 in San Antonio.

• Jason Quick of The Oregonian: "Jack Ramsay, the legendary coach of the Trail Blazers who led the team to its only NBA Championship, said he had a chance to say goodbye to Maurice Lucas a couple of weeks ago when he visited Portland. Lucas, one of the greatest Blazers ever, died Sunday after a more than two-year battle with bladder cancer. 'I was so happy that I saw him,’ Ramsay said. 'He sensed then that he wasn’t going to make it, you know. So we had a long chat. It was very nice. I really feel blessed that I had that time with him. I’m doing games (on the radio) for ESPN, and we have a game in Portland on Dec. 9. As I was leaving, I told him I was planning on seeing him then. 'He said, ‘OK. Let’s do that,’ ' Ramsay recalled on Sunday. 'But that’s not gonna happen.’ Ramsay said Lucas should go down as one of the best Blazers, simply because he was the driving force, with Bill Walton, on the 1977 Championship team. 'He was the strength of the team,’ Ramsay said. 'He was The Enforcer. He was really the heart of that team. And he liked the role. He enjoyed it. He really liked being the enforcer-type player.'"
• John Canzano of The Oregonian: "Maurice Lucas wasn’t around the Blazers much in the last couple of years. He was in and out of the hospital, visiting with doctors, enduring chemotherapy. For a while there, even as we knew Lucas had cancer, we all expected 'The Enforcer' would kick its butt. It's what Lucas did. And Darryl Dawkins knows what I’m talking about. Lucas lost his battle on Halloween. I won't ever think of the holiday the same way. The Blazers media relations department made the call they’ve been dreading for weeks, one by one, reaching out to pass the message to the public. And while I’ve covered the Blazers for eight seasons, and seen some disappointing things, this is the worst news I’ve ever had to write about. Losing a game stinks. Losing a legend is unspeakable."
• Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald: "Part of the theory on how to defeat the Heat is to zone them, make them shoot jumpers and just make sure you outrebound the Heat. Well, the Nets played zone. The Nets outrebounded Miami, particularly working the offensive boards, getting a 19-5 edge in that stat. And yet the result was the same as Friday's against the Magic, a lead never smaller than 19 points in the fourth quarter. Granted, it was just the Nets, but if it's height that people think will be the Heat's downfall, it's clearly not going to be something the team can't overcome. For two games in a row, a quality big man put up impressive numbers in the first half, first Dwight Howard then Brook Lopez, then did little to nothing in the second half."
• Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: "There was a moment as the team bus rolled down Mulberry Street Sunday morning that LeBron James claimed to have turned to Chris Bosh and observed, 'This was the (place) where we could have ended up,' noting that if Dwyane Wade took the early bus, he would have mentioned it to him as well. Ah, yes. The road not traveled. Heartwarming. Titillating. That should give the blathersphere its latest reverie, or inspire hopes and dreams about that opt-out in 2014. And if you believe that, he has an urgent business offer from a guy in Abu Dhabi that he believes might interest you. It’s not really relevant anymore whether James and his mercenary allies considered taking their show to Newark, but Newark’s first reaction to this Miami circus Sunday was noteworthy, as we’re guessing that it represents the reception the Heat will receive at every NBA station over the next six months. Basically, James gets booed on every touch. Loudly. Then he gets cheered whenever he does something else, whether it be good, bad or indifferent. It sounds like 17,000 people on clozapine, or some other antipsychotic: They’re peeved, then pleased; they’re chagrined, then cheered. And so on."
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "When Yao Ming was last on that floor for a game that mattered, he left it limping, heading to surgery that would cost him all of last season and leave him and the Rockets pining for the day he would be back. But three games into the season, two with Yao playing, bringing him back has proved more complicated and challenging than they might have imagined all those months waiting for his return. Yao has progressed steadily, averaging 11.5 points in 23 minutes per game, making 46.5 percent of his shots. But the Rockets often seem caught between their split personalities, between the up-tempo, open-court team they had to be without Yao and the halfcourt, low-post team they can be with him. 'We're just not really close to being there in how to play with him,' coach Rick Adelman said. 'We're almost to the point where you have to have certain people on the court with him to take advantage of him. We're a work in progress right now.' Adelman has insisted he wants the Rockets to attack quickly, as they did when at their best last season, even with Yao on the floor. That also could help Yao by forcing defenses to take on the initial thrust, rather than load up to battle Yao."
• Harvey Araton of The New York Times: "That Marcus Camby has lasted long enough to become a tenured dean of enforcement is something of a cruel irony for the Knicks after a lost decade we can’t be officially certain is over. When they traded him in his prime to Denver along with the seventh pick of the draft -- the burly Brazilian center/forward Nene -- the rap on Camby was his inability to stay on the court. Alas, after all these years, Camby is still what the reconstructed Knicks do not have, an interior defensive presence that will not soon be addressed, and certainly not by Carmelo Anthony. How less profligate would the decade have been had the ruinous trade for Antonio McDyess (thank you very much, Scott Layden) never been made and the paint had been patrolled by Camby and Nene? Or consider this fateful mindbender: what if Layden had kept Camby and had the vision to draft the mercurial leaper out of high school, a fellow named Stoudemire, who went ninth that year to the Suns?"
• Kate Fagan of The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Often, an NBA game mirrors this pattern: In the first quarter, as each team warms up and attempts to set a tempo, speed and athleticism can be just as important as skill and execution. But at some point, the game is squeezed into a smaller space. It's in these chunks of time that the Sixers' skills -- running, dunking, jumping, filling lanes -- are virtually worthless, easily trumped by an opponent with a go-to low-post presence, or a highly skilled wing player, or an effective point guard. Or some mix of the three. Right now, when the game contracts to the half court, and then sometimes further inside the three-point line, the Sixers are unsure, back on their heels, ill-equipped to counter an NBA team's defense with poise and precision. And it's in these 'bad stretches' that the Sixers go from competing for the win to competing for respectability. There are solutions -- none as effective as a change of personnel, of course -- which Doug Collins will attempt to implement. He'll simplify the offense even further."
• Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: "O.J. Mayo didn't get much of an opportunity to dream about the Grizzlies' potential last week after their season-opening loss. You see, Mayo couldn't sleep that night. He stayed awake thinking about his passive performance in a depressing defeat to the Atlanta Hawks. 'I wasn't even tired after that (Atlanta) game,' Mayo said. 'I didn't give it all I had in me, and I don't want to feel like that ever again. From now on, I've got to leave it all out on the floor so I can sleep at night.' If there was a tinge of concern about Mayo because of his slow start to the regular season after subpar shooting during exhibition play, then Griz fans can rest easy. Mayo sure seems to have entered a comfort zone. And it's not just that the third-year, 6-4 guard averaged 24.5 points over the past two games -- both Grizzlies victories. The pep in Mayo's step was noticeable."
• Marc Berman of the New York Post: "Eddy Curry was excluded during Saturday's elaborate player introductions during the home opener -- the lone Knick not presented. But the embattled center still plans to make his return to practice today. Curry has not practiced since the second day of training camp when he strained his hamstring. A Knicks official said Curry was in the locker room during intros and the game. It is unclear whose decision it was to not be introduced. The other 14 players were introduced separately amidst a laser-light production. Curry, whose expiring contract is a trade asset, likely would have been booed heavily."
• Chris Iott of Booth Newspapers: "It is tough to imagine a way for an NBA team to lose three consecutive games to start a season in a more deflating manner than the Pistons did in losses to New Jersey, Oklahoma City and Chicago. The Pistons have played very well at times. Gordon and Rodney Stuckey have been bright spots. Their aggressiveness has been the centerpiece of an offense that promises to provide fans with more excitement than last season. But all the positives have been overshadowed by the manner in which they have suffered all three losses. Pistons coach John Kuester preaches taking it one day at a time because it is a long season, but the Pistons need to pick up a victory as evidence that their hard work is paying off."?
• K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: "Most of the problems James Johnson created in his inconsistent rookie season were because of poor play. Thanks to Johnson's dominant fourth quarter in Saturday's victory over the Pistons, the second-year forward has created a positive pickle. Specifically, how to fit him in the rotation? 'It's kind of hard on Thibs,' guard Derrick Rose conceded of the decision facing coach Tom Thibodeau. The Bulls' coach had sat Johnson down before the season opener in Oklahoma City to tell him he wouldn't be playing following a solid preseason. One game later, with the Bulls trailing Detroit by 20, Thibodeau inserted Johnson and rookie Omer Asik in an attempt to find any energetic combination. Eight points, nine rebounds, three blocks and several solid decisions later, Johnson obviously ran with his opportunity."
• Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman: "Those who counted the Jazz among fallen Western contenders were rebuffed Sunday night. The Jazz took the Thunder to the woodshed, 120-99 in a game that was a blowout the entire second half. Just because America has fallen hard for the Thunder, anointing our heroes as the chief threat to the Laker reign, doesn't mean the Blazers and the Nuggets and the Spurs and the Mavs and the Rockets and the Suns and the Hornets are on board. The Jazz, who arrived in town 0-2, hasn't signed the petition, either. 'They still have Coach Sloan, right?' asked Thunder coach Scott Brooks. 'They're going to be successful.' "
• Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: "Spurs coach Gregg Popovich doesn’t need a crystal ball or a flux capacitor to predict what his team might look like in three years. All he needs is a copy of the current roster. 'You’re looking at it,' Popovich said. 'That is what it will look like.' The announcement Saturday that All-Star point guard Tony Parker had agreed to a four-year extension worth nearly $50 million was the latest stanza in a seven-month shopping spree meant to lock down the core of the team for the immediate future. Since April, the Spurs have also given multi-year extensions or new deals to guard Manu Ginobili, small forward Richard Jefferson and backup center Matt Bonner, all of whom are already in their 30s. The Spurs’ front office, headed by Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford, places a premium on continuity. To them, it is comforting to know the team that returns to Staples Center tonight to face the L.A. Clippers will look awfully similar to the team that will take the floor for years to come. 'Continuity and corporate knowledge have always been something that’s helped us over the years,' Popovich said. 'We obviously think it’s very important. That’s why we did it.' "
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel "Earl Lloyd politely objects when people call him 'the Jackie Robinson of basketball.' But Lloyd shattered a color barrier. On Oct. 31, 1950 Lloyd became the first black person to play in a regular-season NBA game. Lloyd played forward for the Washington Capitols against the Rochester Royals in Rochester, N.Y. 'The game was nondescript almost,' Lloyd says. 'What you have to understand is that the NBA in 1950 did not enjoy the notoriety that the game is getting now. The league was only four years old. We were still babes in the woods. I guess people expected to see the Ku Klux Klan there with ropes and robes. It never happened.' NBA Commissioner David Stern refers to the 82-year-old pioneer as 'a precious resource,' especially for young players who don't know the history of segregation. Few sports fans know about Lloyd's accomplishments, even though the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrined him as a contributor in 2003."

• Brendan Jackson of Celtics Hub on losing to the Cavaliers: "Last night was not Celtic basketball. Or was it?"
• A Laker fan wrings his hands over the fact that advanced stats prefer the Heat and LeBron James to the Lakers and Kobe Bryant. It's pitched as an intuition vs. machine debate, but I don't see the stats movement that way at all. Instead, I think everyone agrees the only contest that matters takes place in June. In the meantime, the question is, in clumsily predicting what will happen then (and stats or no, all such predictions are clumsy) do you want to use all of the best available information, or not? That's the debate about stats in the NBA, if there still is one.
• Kevin Love -- perhaps the best player in the NBA in the preseason -- sat almost all of the second half of a close game that the Timberwolves lost to the Kings by a mere point. In crunch time, the 'Wolves had played some ugly basketball. The story was that Anthony Tolliver was playing better, but it's certainly odd.
• Russell Westbrook, at full speed. (Via Daily Thunder)
• Two bad choices: Does Kevin Durant have a stalker, or is everything on the internet a cheesy attempt to drive revenues to big corporations? While we're on that topic ... Have you seen Dwyane Wade's mysterious Dominate Another Day campaign? When I saw that, I immediately thought of his recent tweet about entering a new phase of his life, as a father. I'll bet you ten bucks that when this whole thing is resolved it has something to do with those D.A.D. initials in the name of the campaign.
• It takes a village to create a vastly oversized, garish, Winnebago of a ring. Has anybody ever noticed that people outside of athletics and fraternities and maybe the military, nobody ever wears jewelry shaped like that? (Via Lakers Blog)
• Monta Ellis is amazing when he can't miss.
• Wesley Johnson welcomes himself to the NBA with a nice ol' dunk.
• The Andray Blatche bobblehead loves burritos.
• Devin Harris lost the ball on one of the game's biggest plays, but stayed after it and, thanks to Rip Hamilton's half-hearted steal attempt, created a career highlight for Anthony Morrow.
• Watch Dwyane Wade after Evan Turner embarrasses him with a crossover. He's clearly torn between complaining about something -- a carry, perhaps? -- and trying to honor the new technical rules.
• The Spurs are playing fast and loose.
• Getting to know someone who has been a stat geek for various NBA teams since the 1980s.
• Police and firefighters will stage a rally that is likely to make attending Friday night's Heat home opener a hassle.
• How to get to the rim.
• The play that almost got the Pistons a game-tying 3 from the corner at the buzzer.
• The play that almost got the Raptors a game-tying 3 from the corner at the buzzer.

• Marcus Thompson II of The Oakland Tribune: "Warriors coach Keith Smart said before the season opener that his team's calling card would be teamwork. The reason, Smart said, was the Warriors 'don't have that dominant guy.' Wednesday night, however, guard Monta Ellis begged to differ. So might the Houston Rockets. Ellis scored 46 points, tying his NBA high, while leading the Warriors to a 132-128 season-opening win over the Yao Ming-less Rockets (0-2) at Oracle Arena. 'I'm just happy we got the win,' said Ellis, who made 18 of 24 shots. 'It was just one of those games where shots were going in early on and they just kept falling.' Wednesday marked Golden State's first season-opening victory since 2005, when it routed visiting Atlanta under then-coach Mike Montgomery. The Warriors had lost their previous four openers, including a one-point loss to visiting Houston last year."
• Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: "I have covered the Cavaliers since 1996, and I'm not sure I've covered a more important game that their 95-87 victory over the Boston Celtics on opening night Wednesday night at The Q. If they had lost, we'd all have written, well, it's the Celtics after all. Defending Eastern Conference champions and all that. But to be able to rally against the Celtics and prove to the fans -- and to themselves -- that there really is life -- and success -- after LeBron James was major. I know the Celtics are old and that they played the night before. But that's missing the point. The Cavs are young. They're still learning this offense. They're going to have to play hard every minute because, on most nights, other teams are going to have better -- and often taller -- talent. They are going to take their lumps. But from an emotional standpoint, they had to have this victory to get over the summer-long hangover. Byron Scott admitted the team was nervous and anxious in the first half. That was exactly how their fans felt. But now everybody can exhale and get on with things. It was loud in The Q on Wednesday night. It was fun. Life goes on and, finally, the Cavs can get on with it."
• Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe: "The Celtics were force-fed a valuable lesson in humility last night at Quicken Loans Arena. The Celtics arrived in Cleveland still buzzing from their impressive and emotional victory over the new-look Miami Heat Tuesday night, and believing a mediocre effort against a lesser team would be enough. And deep into the third quarter, they were correct. The Celtics dominated the first few minutes of the second half, built an 11-point lead, and waited for the LeBron James-less Cavaliers to fold. But in the final 15 minutes of the game, the Celtics’ arrogance came back to haunt them. The predominantly jump-shooting Cavaliers began finding a rhythm. Daniel Gibson, relegated to a bench player the last two years, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. And finally, the Celtics lost their composure and eventually the game, 95-87, in front of a sellout crowd of 20,562 eager to see the Cavaliers move on without James. .... Doc Rivers already has seen enough in two games to determine that the Celtics are a very good team, but lack consistency. 'When we got a lead, you could see us relax, you could feel it,’ he said. 'It’s more the mental toughness part as a group. I didn’t like the way we played for a lot of the game. We’re a better team than that.’ "
• Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Even by the second quarter, the fan holding the sign, 'Cleveland Will Never Forget,' couldn't sustain the venom. When LeBron James entered the game, the fan held the sign a few seconds then dropped it to his side. Spent. Done. Bored. It's all so temporary, this typecasting of James as America's villain. The booing of him in Boston Tuesday night had no hatred behind it. The booing Wednesday night in Philadelphia was pro forma treatment of an opposing superstar. In other words, it's already time to move on to the fascinating subject about LeBron: LeBron as point guard. 'Man, he's Magic [Johnson], isn't he?' Philadelphia coach Doug Collins said after the Heat's 97-87 win. 'That's who he reminds me of.' That's the name Heat President Pat Riley invoked this summer upon meeting James, the same meeting Riley set a sack of championship rings on the table and said, 'Try one on.' "
• Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: "The Heat certainly aren't bending over backward to LeBron James. Sources say trainer Mike Mancias and former Cavs liaison Randy Mims, who followed James to South Beach, aren't allowed to fly on the Heat's team jet to away games. Neither was hired by the Heat."
• Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post: "Part of George Karl's desire to not overdo things this season is handing off more tasks to his assistant coaches. That started before Wednesday night's season opener against the Jazz, when he allowed assistant Chad Iske to write the game plan on the dry erase board in the Nuggets' locker room at the Pepsi Center. 'It was the first time in my life I didn't do the board,' Karl said. 'I think I write a lot on the board, (but) I want you to know Chad Iske destroyed the board. Talk about taking opportunity and grabbing it.' "
• Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times: "In a variety of ways Wednesday, Blake Griffin made you believe. During a brief welcome speech before the game, he flashed a huge grin for the fans. After a brief lockup in the third quarter, he angrily stared down Andre Miller. Griffin was more than strong, more than skilled, he was also entertaining, and when is the last time the Clippers have had someone who could even make you smile? He was so much fun that even his teammates became giddy, as evidenced by a second attempted alley-oop pass thrown to him by Davis -- from the other foul line. When he left the floor in the final moments of the first half, several fans even gave him a standing ovation and, yeah, we've all sort of been waiting for this."
• John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Sure it was only one game, a game the Sixers lost, but Evan Turner's performance in his first real NBA game afforded Sixers fans an opportunity to exhale. Fair or not, there have been concerns about Turner, the second overall pick in the 2010 draft. And then there was his disappointing performance in the Orlando Summer League. And much of the talk coming out of Sixers training camp has been about the struggles Turner has had making the transition from being a primary ball-handler to playing without it in his hands. ESPN the Magazine recently lit up Turner in its NBA preview, with four of its five experts tagging him as the biggest bust in the draft. Criticism has been a bit harsh on a kid who hadn't played a meaningful game since Ohio State was eliminated from the 2010 NCAA Tournament. One night isn't likely to change many minds, but when that one night is the first night of Turner's NBA career, it has to ease some concerns."
• Jason Jones of the The Sacramento Bee: "Midway through the fourth quarter, the Kings looked as if they were about to falter, as they did in many of their 57 losses last season. There were plenty of reasons to do so. They were on the road. They didn't have Tyreke Evans to save the day. And they were missing free throws at a rate that could have led to another close loss. But things were different during Wednesday's season-opening game. The Kings threw the ball inside to their prized draft pick, DeMarcus Cousins, he made plays, and the Kings beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-116 at Target Center. The Kings trailed 100-98 with 5:32 left when Cousins came through with two free throws to tie the score. He scored five points in a little more than a minute to help stabilize things and allow the rest of the Kings to get going again and eventually put away Minnesota. 'DeMarcus has fantastic poise,' Kings coach Paul Westphal said. 'The tougher it gets, the more faith I have in him. His mind wanders a little bit early in the game or when he's not challenged. But he really makes plays when you need him the most.' "
• Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "Talk about a tone-setter. Somewhere in the Oklahoma City Thunder's film room should be a special spot for Game 1 of the 2010-11 NBA season, a place so prominent it sits on display like a trophy piece. Because what transpired in the final 12 minutes of the team's 106-95 season-opening victory over Chicago could very well serve as the definitive blueprint for this club's success this year. And it started with one simple edict. Just before the start of the fourth quarter, Scott Brooks huddled his team around and commanded it to do something it couldn't do all night. The Thunder coach ordered three straight defensive stops. Mind you, the Bulls spent the first three quarters shooting 50 percent while bullying the Thunder on the offensive glass and watching their star point guard deliver a superb performance that the Thunder couldn't seem to counter if the game stretched eight more quarters. But when the horn sounded for the start of the final period, the Thunder's defense came alive. One by one, Thunder players pitched in."
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The Hawks turned back Memphis' third-quarter rally with just enough defense and all kinds of offense and went on to a dominating 119-104 victory. It was an impressive debut for under new coach Larry Drew, whose goals include developing the Hawks into a team that can win big away from Philips Arena. 'I always look at it as a real time to grow as a team,' Drew said. 'Playing at home there is a slight tendency to let your guard down because you fall into a comfort level. When you go on the road, it's you against the road. It kind of forces you to grow up.' No doubt the Hawks won't always look this good for their remaining 81 games. But in their debut they showed few shades of the disorganized, mentally suspect team that regularly squandered second-half leads on the road last season."
• Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com: "When he has fresh legs, the old man is still a premier point guard. Jason Kidd proved that during Wednesday night’s 101-86 season-opening win over the Charlotte Bobcats. He stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points (5-8 FG), 18 assists, three steals and only one turnover. But Kidd’s favorite number in his line was the first. He played 31:46, and he hopes that’s the beginning of a trend. 'If I’m playing 31 minutes and we’re winning, maybe we should have tried that a long time ago,' said Kidd, a 37-year-old who was out of gas in the playoffs after averaging 36.0 minutes per game last season. If Kidd keeps playing like this, it’ll be a lot easier for coach Rick Carlisle to limit his minutes. He can rest comfortably on the bench for the final few minutes when the Mavs have a double-digit lead. However, the Mavs will have to get better play from their bench for that to happen on a regular basis. They outscored the Bobcats by 30 with Kidd on the floor. The Mavs were outscored by 19 with J.J. Barea playing point guard."
• Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: "Someday, the housing market will recover. Someday, they’ll produce a car that runs on tap water. And maybe someday ... The Charlotte Bobcats will beat the Dallas Mavericks. Make that 0-13 all-time versus the only NBA team still undefeated against the Bobcats. A brutal third quarter did in the Bobcats for good in a 101-86 loss at American Airlines Center. Whenever the Bobcats beat the Mavericks, it figures to be after Jason Kidd retires. Kidd controlled this game as few point guards could, finishing with 12 points, 18 assists, three steals and a single turnover."
• Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail: "As a third-year coach heading into the final season of his contract with a losing career record and scant chance of that changing this year, Jay Triano would seem to have as much riding on this season as anyone. It’s only his career, after all. But there is no one better positioned to benefit from what every major publication predicted would be either a really bad season for the Toronto Raptors (out of the playoffs) or a horrible one (last in the Eastern Conference). Last night’s 98-93 loss to the New York Knicks wasn’t an ideal start, but Triano’s team scrapped, and when you’re coaching a bad team, moral victories count. After all, there are only two sure ways to prove that you’re making an impact in a job with as many dependent variables as coaching in the NBA: Make like Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich and win championships with established stars, or take a team with weak talent and elevate them. Since the first scenario is clearly not happening, Triano can count himself lucky to have little choice than immersing himself in the time-honoured tradition of coaching them up."
• Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "Jim O'Brien has no problem with the NBA suspending swingman Brandon Rush five games for failing the league's mandatory drug test three times. The Indiana Pacers coach also doesn't have a problem with Rush losing nearly $115,000 in salary for the suspension. The problem O'Brien has with the situation is the Pacers have to pay the price for Rush's inability to leave drugs alone. The Pacers can dress only 11 players a game during Rush's suspension. 'I understand them suspending the player and withholding his wages for five games,' O'Brien said. 'The nature of the situation is that we're not informed a player has failed the drug test the first or second time, and we're not told he has a problem. Then they turn around and penalize a franchise. I don't understand where that comes from, frankly. If we were the ones drug testing and we were the ones that knew and were responsible to get him back on track after the first one, I understand that, but I can't follow this.' Rush can travel and practice with the team, but he's not permitted to attend games. He is eligible to return to the lineup Nov. 9 against Denver. 'There's no way of sugarcoating it: This is a disadvantage, especially with our group,' O'Brien said."
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "How frustrating has rookie center Tiago Splitter's absence from the court been since he strained a muscle in his right calf a month ago? He doesn't even enjoy a post-workout massage. 'I've never met anybody who didn't enjoy a massage, so I figure he's pretty frustrated,' Gregg Popovich said. Popovich believes Splitter may be ready to make his Spurs debut -- he didn't play a single minute of his first preseason -- next week. 'I think after New Orleans he's got a good shot to be ready,' Popovich said. 'He's been playing three-on-three now, and he's been in contact in competitive situations. If we can get another practice or two in, five-on-five and get up and down and see how he comes out of that, I think he'll probably be ready. I wouldn't expect him for Saturday, but after that I think he'll be beating my door down.' "
• From NBA.com "The Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., has been selected to host the 2011 NBA Draft, scheduled for June 23, 2011, NBA Commissioner David Stern, Chairman and Managing Partner, Devils Arena Entertainment, Jeff Vanderbeek, and the Honorable Cory A. Booker, Mayor for the City of Newark, announced today at the Prudential Center before the New Jersey Nets' home opener against the Detroit Pistons. This marks the second time the NBA Draft is being held in New Jersey. 'We are delighted to bring one of the NBA's premier events to Newark,' said Stern. 'The Prudential Center is a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose arena that will be a great host for another exciting NBA Draft.' "

• Steve Kerr says the primary reason the NBA is in financial trouble is because salaries "really exploded." The Players' Association, for the record, says negotiated salaries have declined three straight years, despite the greatest free agent class ever, and that total player compensation is up just about three percent annually over the current collective bargaining agreement. Kerr has also been a voice in opposition of a hard salary cap. "In 1999, Steve Kerr was the biggest advocate of the mid-level exception," says Wasserman. "It benefited him enormously. He was one of the loudest voices, among players, in supporting that."
• Hugely underrated point, concerning Gregg Popovich: There's tremendous value in being a decent, caring human being.
• Kevin Love is blogging for GQ. Here he talks about his GM, and I suspect he did not mean the implied put-down in the last sentence: "Over the summer, the president of our team, David Kahn, took out a full-page ad in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and he wrote an open letter to our fans, in which he said that while our team is young and exciting, we probably won't be contenders again this season. The letter caused a bit of a fuss, but we didn't really pay it any mind. We don't want to worry about what the front office is saying, or what anybody else is saying. We just want to go out and win ball games. They're not going to help us do that."
• It's against the rules for NBA team staffers to train draft hopefuls. But that doesn't mean it has never happened.
• Billy Hunter releases a statement, on letterhead, threatening the cancellation of next season. David Stern's response: Essentially to deny Hunter really said that. Amazing cojones. In the same interview, Stern called Jim Rome "a barrel of cherries."
• That LeBron James commercial ends not with a dunk but a layup. Speculation as to why.
• There are 84 international players in the NBA right now, which is a record. Turkey has the second-most, with five. But another country has more than double that, with 11 NBA players. Which one? The answer is here, and it's good basketball PR for a country that has certainly taken a hit or two.
• If the Heat lose, at this Miami bar, the drinks are free. If they get down double-digits in the third quarter, people are going to start some serious binging.
• Tony Gervino, writing at The Awl: "Individually, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are likable enough, with talent to spare, but collectively, they’re a bully, at a time where we've finally all decided that bullies are the greatest menace facing this country." Tony is a tremendous man who gave me my first work as an NBA writer. But is he really putting LeBron James ahead of say, unemployment, heart disease and Al Qaeda?
• Alex English suggests he was a better offensive rebounder, thanks to following his shot, than a typical player today. This is the kind of thing a stat geek could potentially confirm or deny.
• Kevin Arnovitz previews tonight's Heat vs. Celtics.
• Get it right: "Sergeballu LaMu Sayonga Loom Walahas Jonas Hugo Ibaka." Fantastic name.
• M. Haubs of The Painted Area on the Lakers: "This has quietly become an older team. Every key player other than Andrew Bynum is on the decline, even if ever so slightly (especially considering that the margin of error last spring was not that great). It feels like this could be a long slog of a year for the Lakers, with Bynum still a month away, and with Bryant looking terrible in the preseason, as both recover from knee surgery. Coupled with three long playoff runs, it wouldn't surprise us if L.A. struggles to get it going during the regular season, and has to make its run from a 3 or 4 seed."
• What would it take for the Timberwolves to really run the triangle offense? An intense video examination.
• Knicks center Timofey Mozgov, translated from the Russian by Alexander Chernykh on Rush'N Hoops: "One should not forget that if an opponent crashes into you in your paint, in the NBA the foul is on you."