October 6, 2010
NUMBERS GAME
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| Brandon Jennings hopes to improve his FG% this coming NBA season. |
“He's got to be able to finish in the restricted area. If you really looked at his attempts, he was near the bottom of the league in percentage at the rim. And that is not all that uncommon with young guards.
“And he's got a wide array of shots. He can shoot a little floater, and he can stop and shoot, and he can go all the way. When you're closing in and penetrating and guys are coming, a lot of it is just knowing which shot to go to and get it up and in. If he would have shot a better percentage just in layups, I don't know that anybody would be talking about his overall percentage.”
MASTER DRIBBLER
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| Chris Paul, "The Master Dribbler." |
“I pride myself on my ballhandling. I take it personally when a guy steals the ball from me or a referee calls a carry or double-dribble on me. I think that frustrates me just about more than anything. One thing I hate is turnovers. I'd rather get a missed field goal than a turnover. Since I was a little kid, if somebody tells me I can't do nothing else, I know, I know how to dribble that basketball.”
GROWING UP
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| Monta Ellis of the Golden State Warriors. |
“At times in the past, it would waver a little bit with Monta. He would give someone a look or coast through some drills. This year, it hasn't been like that.
“Monta has always worked, but there is a positivity that is coming off of him. People have talked about growing up and maturing in the past, but now he has a positivity that is going hand-in-hand with that maturity.”
FEELING YOUNG AT 38
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| Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns is still going at it at 38. |
“I know I'm 38 chronologically but I don't feel it. I don't buy into the fact that I'm a certain age and supposed to be doing certain things. I feel great. I really do feel young. I feel like people have been waiting for me to slow down. I don't feel like I'm slowing down at all.”
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
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| Joakim Noah dunks one in against the GS Warriors in file photo. |
“I'm pretty happy. It's very exciting. I'm very happy that I'm going to be able to be here for a while. I feel like the Bulls definitely did me right. But I promise I'm going to give 150 percent every time I'm out there, and I understand with a lot of money comes a lot of responsibility. I'm excited for the challenge.
“It's always very weird when negotiations are going on. But I understand that there's a CBA going on next year, the collective bargaining agreement, so not a lot of players in my class got contract extensions, and I feel like [the Bulls] definitely did it because they like me and I'm pretty happy about it.”
October 5, 2010
BIG PART OF THE FUTURE
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| Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks goes for a twinner in file photo. |
“How do you see yourself with the team? Do you think the team is going the right way? Obviously, you have to factor in do you like the city you are in? All those things favor me because I feel like we are in a good position. We’ve been playing together. This is my fourth year with the team, and I love the city of Atlanta.
“I think with coach (Larry) Drew’s new mindset, he plans to play me more at [power forward], which is encouraging to me. I am happy about that. Obviously I still would like to play center, but if I can spend more time at [power forward], that would be great.”
FRENCH DELIGHT
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| Mickael Pietrus looks forward to a great year with the Orlando Magic. |
“It meant so much to me. I’m not going to lie to you, I was very surprised that he came. What I liked about it was that when coach came to Paris it wasn’t like we were talking about why I wasn’t playing more or why I was only getting a few shots. It was about coach coming to see me like a member of my family. I showed him how people love me in France. I took him on a tour of France. We ate a little French cake.
“We talked about basketball and the upcoming season. I’ve never had a problem with coach, to me he’s a great coach and he’s a part of my family. We’ve always had a great relationship, but we needed a deeper relationship.”
MOVING FORWARD
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| Chris Wilcox of the Detroit Pistons. |
“I want to bring energy to this team, I want to play my role. I want to leave everything that happened last year. Some mornings I woke up and couldn't touch my toes. Now, I feel great and hopefully I can move forward. I'm happy with the way everything has gone so far. The only thing that's going to hold me back is me.”
YAO'S REAL TEST BEGINS WITH THE SUPERMAN
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| Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic (left) vs. Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets. |
“That's a good test for me. No question, he's one of the best … big men in this league. I didn't play against him for one year. I believe in that one year, he continued to improve. I didn't do anything.”
October 4, 2010
FIFTY-FIFTY
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| Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets scores on a slam off Spencer Hawes of the Sacramento Kings in file photo. |
“I don't know, man. I don't know. I'm taking it day by day. It's possible that I will be here opening night. Possible means 50-50. As long as I'm here, I'm going to lead this team. I have some say-so, some leverage. But right now, I'm loving basketball, being here in the gym, working out, playing, having fun, talking trash to the guys, that's what keeps me going.
“Whatever decision I make is for me and my family, nothing else. It doesn't have anything to do with me not liking the team or anything like that. Everybody has an opinion, everybody's been calling and wondering what I'm going to do. It's funny to me.”
NO TO CRITICISMS
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| LeBron James (left) and Charles Barkley. |
“You have to ask Charles. I have no idea. You can't stop what people are going to say about you. You're going to have people comment on your game. You're going to have people comment on you, personally. At the end of the day, if they don't actually know you, or know about you, then you don't look too far into it.
“Have you seen me every downplay anybody? Anytime somebody asks me about future Hall of Famers -- guys in the game, all I do is praise guys. We're all in this together. But when they ask a question about LeBron, it's always the other side. But it won't change me as a person.”
HATING THE LAKERS
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| Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz against the LA Lakers in file photo. |
“I hate ’em, you know. I hate the Lakers. They’re so good. I hate them because they win all the time. They’re a tough team. … We definitely talk about it. It’s not a secret. We hate the Lakers.”
LOVING DELONTE
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| Delonte West is back with his original NBA team, the Boston Celtics. |
“Let me tell you something, man, I know Delonte’s having his issues - whatever and however - but I’m glad we got him, man. The situations in life - we all have difficulties. We’ll back him 1,000 percent. The fact we have him on this team makes us dangerous. He just buys into our system. He’s grit, he’s not going to back down, all fight and blood, I like that.”
PLAYER TO WATCH
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| J.J. Hickson slams one in for the Cleveland Cavaliers. |
“I think he’ll have a great opportunity to really shine and be one of the most improved players in the league. We want to get him in space where he can operate. If he’s not on the wing, we’ll pin him down (near the basket). I’m trying to get him comfortable in the 15-foot area.
“He’s improved his mid-range game. He’s been able to post-up. He came to me and said, ‘I can do a lot more’.”
SLOW RECOVERY GROUNDS K-MART
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| Kenyon Martin of the Denver Nuggets. |
“It is physically impossible right now for me to play basketball. If they brought $20 million cash here and put it in my locker, I couldn’t do nothing with it. I would have to give it back because I physically can’t go right now. It’s impossible.
“(The story) tried to make it seem like I never had surgery. That’s what that statement meant to me – like I never had surgery. Like I’m just out here, since I don’t have a contract, I’m just going to sit out until then. That would be a holdout. Totally different. That’s not the case. The question was stated as, ‘Since this is the last year of your contract, do you feel the need to rush back?’ That was the question. And I said, ‘No, I’m not going to rush back. Nobody’s in a hurry to give me a contract, so why would I rush back?’ I said that, but I didn’t say that if I had a contract, I’d be playing right now. I didn’t say that at all.”
KOBE TO BEAT LEBRON IN A ONE-ON-ONE
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| LeBron James drives against Kobe Bryant in file photo. |
“I’d win, I’d win. That’s what I do. One on one is..that’s easy for me, you know. Playing one on one is how I grew up playing, it’s like my thing. Lebron is more like a Magic Johnson, he’s a great passer and plays an all around game. At the core of me, I’m a one on one player. I’d do that in my sleep.”
October 3, 2010
Video: 2010-11 NBA PREVIEW - MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Video: 2010-11 NBA PREVIEW - OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
October 2, 2010
WAKE-UP CALL
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| Alaska Aces team owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu. |
“A lot of the burden falls on our new commissioner but it is
incumbent upon all teams to reflect on what is right. They must think league
first. Is winning at all costs really the right thing to do?
“If the oldest professional basketball league in Asia deserves to have the respect of a broader audience,
then it must toe the line. Rules cannot be bent and one cannot simply look the
other way when dubious trades are made. Selling prized talent to a richer team
for the other team to make its own payroll is not good for the league. The
parity will be distorted and we will return to the old days of a two or three
dominant teams.
“Is it really believable that some teams can be so
talent-laden that 10 or even all 12 players on their bench – all could be
starters on most other teams – are within the cap? What about players that are
offered sizeable amounts above and beyond the maximum individual cap? Where is
the parity in that? If we need to review maximum amounts, then so be it. But
you can’t have rules that are not enforced.
“I would rather lose with honor than win with shame.”
October 1, 2010
Video: 2010-11 NBA PREVIEW - LA CLIPPERS
Video: 2010-11 NBA PREVIEW - PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
Video: 2010-11 NBA PREVIEW - DALLAS MAVERICKS
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