- Charles F. Gardner and Tom Enlund of the Journal Sentinel: "One anterior cruciate ligament tear can be devastating to a professional basketball player. But two? Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Redd is facing career-threatening ACL and medial collateral ligament tears in his left knee after going down in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. It's the same injury he suffered - to the same knee -- almost one year earlier in a home game against the Sacramento Kings. 'You don't know why," he said before the Bucks played the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. 'I don't question why. My faith is in the Lord and I'm going to stay strong as best I can. 'I've gotten an incredible response from my teammates and the organization ... comforted me and encouraged me and loved on me. But it's been a hard, hard day today. But I'll get through it.' ... No details of plans for surgery were immediately available. Redd's surgery for the previous ACL and MCL tears was performed on March 3 last year by Chicago Bulls team doctor Brian Cole."
- Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: "For others in the organization, including those who pull the strings and those who sign the paychecks, tonight's measuring-stick game against the NBA's best team has been a longer time coming. When Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and coach Gregg Popovich took their team in for its extreme makeover last summer -- adding Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Keith Bogans, Theo Ratliff and a whole lot of pennies to the payroll -- they did so with the Lakers on the brain. 'They're the champions,' Tony Parker said. 'They're the team we have to catch.' In a sense, today is weigh-in day for the Spurs, a chance to stand back-to-back against the team they've been chasing since June, when Kobe Bryant hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy in the middle of Orlando's Amway Arena. Nearly every move the Spurs have made since tracks against their pursuit of the champs. ... 'You always look at the best in your league and say, ‘If we're playing them in the playoffs, how do we match up?' Popovich said. 'That's where you start.' The Lakers should provide the Spurs with a formidable litmus test. L.A.'s 29-8 record, though cooled since an 18-3 start, remains tops in the NBA."
- Jeff Eisenberg of The Press-Enterprise: "When the league-leading Lakers play San Antonio tonight for the first
time this season, it will be a matchup of the Western Conference's two best teams during the past decade. The Spurs and Lakers have combined to win the conference 10 of the past 11 seasons, with both teams looking as though they should be among the favorites to make the Finals again this season. 'I think they're playing probably the best ball they've played all year,' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of the Spurs. 'They were probably disappointed with their Dallas loss last week, but they've been playing well enough to sit right in there. After a slow start, I think they can come back.' " - Ken Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "This was the Hawks' third win over Boston in as many tries and their second in four days. After getting swept by the Celtics (26-10) in the past two seasons, the Hawks (24-13) have a chance to go 4-0 against them Jan. 29 at Philips Arena. The last time the Hawks swept a four-game season series from Boston was the 1995-96 season. It was a considerable departure from the Hawks' 113-81 surrender to Orlando on Saturday. 'An emotional game,' center Al Horford said. 'Unlike the Orlando game, we didn't get down on ourselves. We kept on fighting, kept on scrapping and this is a big for us on the road, to be able to come back and beat a team like this.' "
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "It would be patently improper to say that the Boston ‘T’ party in which coach Doc Rivers was served twice and assistant coach Armond Hill once was a valid excuse for the Celts to slunk away down the stretch. The most direct effect of the sequence is that the assistant coach who took over, Tom Thibodeau, didn’t make a single substitution in his 18:16 in charge, leaving the fatigued five to languish in the late going. Playing on a back-to-back and for the third time in five days, the Celtics went on to squander a 14-point lead and fall to 0-3 against Atlanta this season with a 102-96 final in the Hawks’ favor."
- Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: "The screamed four-letter expletive that emanated from the showers in the Raptors’ locker room aptly summed up what might have been the most frustrating loss of the season. The Raptors, in a 105-101 loss at the hands of the Indiana Pacers, suffered the second biggest blown lead in team history, squandering a 23-point advantage at the Conseco Fieldhouse. 'It was a very stupid loss,' Andrea Bargnani said. 'We let them come back, it was all on us. We went 20 points up and we lost our concentration.' "
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: "Eduardo Najera suppressed it for two days. But on Monday, he couldn’t hold back. The big grin made it onto his face, and would not go away. 'It feels very, very good,' Najera said about returning to the Mavericks, where he had his best seasons. 'I really didn’t want to celebrate over the weekend. I just wanted to make sure nothing went wrong, so I didn’t get too excited. Today is the first time I’ve been able to smile.' Najera estimated he’s received more than 100 congratulatory text or e-mail messages, which is unusual for a guy who was just traded. But when going from the Nets, who own a 3-34 record, to the Mavericks, it’s cause for celebration."
- John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune: "Ours is not to question why Sacramento wanted Hilton Armstrong. Ours is just to sit back, giggle and pat the New Orleans Hornets on the back for finally managing to unload Armstrong, whose first name became 'underachieving' while with New Orleans. The No. 12 overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft averaged 3.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in four seasons with the Hornets, 2.8 and 3.4 this season. And, yes, those are embarassingly pathetic numbers for a 6 feet 11 player who was as athletically gifted as Armstrong, who easily should've been able to post those numbers in a decent quarter or a bad half. The fact that the Hornets were able to swap him for a second-round pick in 2016 says everything, because serviceable big men simply aren't exchanged for the equivalent of a bag of sneakers and compression shorts. ... Ours is not to question why the Kings wanted him. It's just to be happy, for the Hornets' sake, that they did."
- Jerry Zggoda of Star Tribune: "Like the Shakespearean moneylender Shylock long before him, Nuggets coach George Karl vowed to exact a pound of flesh for a debt owed Monday night. That's just what his once-again-healthy, Northwest Division-leading Nuggets did with a 105-94 victory over the Timberwolves. Six weeks ago, the Wolves arrived at Pepsi Center with a 15-game losing streak and walked away winners after their stunning 31-12 third quarter helped overcome a 17-point first-half deficit. Twenty one games later, the curmudgeonly coach and his Nuggets still smarted from what Karl called 'one of the worst games' his team has played all season. 'I think we all know it and probably have a little pain from it,' Karl said before the game. 'Hopefully, we'll start paying back guys who have made us feel painful after certain losses.' "
- Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: "Memphis' bench players might want to try and score by any means necessary, given their combined offensive ineffectiveness this season. The Grizzlies' reserves haven't provided much offensive firepower to the team's success this season. There is growing concern that little-to-no bang off the bench could hold back a Grizzlies team that has postseason aspirations. ... Memphis entered Monday's NBA action just two games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoff standings. ... Memphis' reserves have averaged 20.3 points this season while opponents' benches average 33.3. The Grizzlies' bench outscored its counterparts just six times, meaning it's been rare when the reserves provided significant support for the starters or could be credited for winning a game."
- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "From the moment the ball reached Carl Landry's grasp, the Knicks came charging from every angle. They swarmed him , determined to keep him from taking over Saturday night's game. This was not, however, the inside family-secret type of information Knicks rookie Marcus Landry promised to use against his older brother. It was the same strategy Landry has seen for weeks since he became the Rockets' go-to scorer in the fourth quarter and most reliable offensive force. It also is a technique he expects to see often, especially tonight at Charlotte, N.C., against the Bobcats, the team that signed him to the three-year, $9 million offer sheet that was matched by the Rockets before last season. The trick now for Landry is to beat those defenses as well as those he conquered to inspire the change. 'I just have to keep working,' Landry said Monday. 'Today after practice, I worked on passing out of the double team. That's just something I have to get used to, when the double team comes, I have to be able to find the right guy in the right position, just like my teammates find me in the right position. It just means I'm doing something right. Before, I felt like if it was any one guy, they couldn't guard me one-on-one. Now, it's not about me scoring; it's about the guy on my team who has the best position to score. If that's not me due to a double team, I just have to find the right guy.' "
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "Before walking out of the Ford Center on Monday night, Mike D’Antoni tossed out a confession that no coach has ever claimed about the Thunder, an admission that said everything about where this team is and where it might be headed. 'They were impressive and long and got after us, and I think we were a little shocked at first,' said D’Antoni, the Knicks coach, after watching the Thunder thrash his team 106-88. Let that marinate in your minds for a moment. Less than three months into this NBA season, a team that finished with 23 victories a year ago is now collecting compliments for how it overwhelmed an opponent."
- Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "Heading into Monday's game against the Golden State Warriors, Anderson Varejao had unofficially drawn 18 offensive fouls this season. Charges taken isn't an official stat tracked by the league, but is monitored by various Web sites and individuals. Varejao remains the team leader in that statistic -- Anthony Parker is second with 15, according to Cavs' broadcaster and odd statkeeper Fred McLeod -- but it was way down from Varejao's past rates. Last season he was second in the NBA when he drew 53 charges in 81 games. Over the 2006-07 and 07-08 seasons, Varejao averaged more than one charge a game. The reason Varejao's numbers started dropping perhaps was because officials started tightening how they called them. The league also warned players they could be fined for exaggerating contact, i.e. flopping. It was clear that Varejao and players like him were being legislated against. So Mike Brown came to Varejao before this season and they talked about his defensive priorities. The decision was reached that Varejao should look to master another rule. The Cavs call it the 'rule of verticality,' which means that a player may jump straight up to defend a shot and not be called for a foul. That goes whether the player is inside or outside the no-charge zone. 'His awareness, especially when he's been off the ball, has always been tremendous and now he's using it in a different way,' Brown said. 'The way he used to play might have started to work against him because they say he flops. And when he gives up his body to take a charge, he may not get the call. Then he's been taken out of the play. But when he uses the rule of verticality, he's always in the play.' "
TRUEHOOP CONTRIBUTORS
Henry AbbottTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
J.A. AdandeTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Kevin ArnovitzTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris BroussardTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chad FordTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Israel GutierrezTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
John HollingerTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Beckley MasonTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Marc SteinTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
HoopIdeaTrueHoop @HoopIdea |
You must be signed in to post a comment