- Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Crittenton pleaded guilty this week to a misdemeanor charge of possession of an unregistered firearm. He was sentenced to probation and apologized for his actions, but an apology might not be enough. Arenas will surely have less trouble finding another NBA job than Crittenton for the simple reason that Arenas is a better player. Crittenton, alas, turned pro with a pro body -- he’s 6-foot-5, 200 pounds -- but not yet a pro game. Another year at Tech and he’d have become more skilled and more seasoned and would surely have gone in the 2008 lottery, and teams treat lottery picks differently than later first-rounders. Crittenton has been traded twice already and will reach the end of the crucial third NBA season without actually playing a game. Put simply, he’ll have a tough time finding work next fall. The hope is that he grabs hold of himself and his spiraling career and writes a redemption song worthy of Bob Marley. Crittenton isn’t a bad guy, and he has it within him to be a good player. But having gotten so much wrong these past three years, he needs to set things right posthaste."
- Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: "Nobody is incurring more internal disappointment than Amare Stoudemire, whose teammates wondered after recent games about his effort and focus. Stoudemire has said trade talk would not affect him, but his energy on the court has made him look as though he's halfway packed and ready to leave. It has reached the point that the Suns are more inclined to trade him before the Feb. 18 deadline if a palatable deal arises. At least nine teams are exploring a trade for Stoudemire. The Suns met with Stoudemire's agent a week ago but have not made him an extension offer and won't approach his desire for a five-year, maximum-salary deal. ... On Tuesday, the Suns ran the first play for Stoudemire, and it capsulated how he does not look like the same explosive, fearless player. He struggled on a misfired drive and lasted 5:40 in the first half before leaving because of foul trouble. Asked if Stoudemire was fine physically after another sluggish outing and more uncharacteristic poor ball control Tuesday, Suns coach Alvin Gentry said, 'He says he is.' "
- Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star: "Ah, but could Kobe Bryant and LeBron James look over a defense populated by 11 angry men and make a hair-trigger decision with those large, ill-tempered types bearing down
on their sternum? Could Bryant or James deftly drop a pass into a three-foot window as Austin Collie breaks deep over the middle? 'He's phenomenal,' Bryant said of Peyton Manning. 'It's funny, I texted him; I told him every time I watch him play, I come away from the game thinking, 'I don't prepare for (expletive).' That guy is incredible.' The rest of us mortals, we can watch Manning and Bryant and James, and we can celebrate them. But only those athletes in that very select fraternity can truly understand. Bryant sees Manning and knows. Manning sees Bryant and knows. What makes a transcendent athlete? It starts with raw talent. Without winning the genetic lottery, there's no hope. But there are scores of insanely gifted former athletes who are left with nothing more than memories. There are other ingredients. Like the old John Wooden saying about the will to prepare to win, the manic competitiveness that moves one person better than all the rest in whatever profession he has chosen. The truly great ones are killers. They have that primal instinct, that refusal to yield under any circumstances. We've seen it from Manning more times than we can count. We've seen it from Bryant, saw it again from him Wednesday as he took over in the third quarter, lifting a tired Lakers team playing the fifth game of an eight-game trip." - Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post: "The only shock is how long it took the Nuggets to wise up. Guard J.R. Smith is a loser. Trust him? No way. Any NBA team truly serious about winning a championship cannot have Smith on the court, the bench or the team bus. So what is Denver going to do about Smith, with the trade deadline looming in February? Absolutely nothing. It would be a dream scenario if the Nuggets could somehow trade Smith, his $6.1 million salary, tantalizing athletic potential and forever childish attitude for a reliable big man. How perfect would Brendan Haywood, who averages 9.8 points and 10.6 rebounds for Washington, look at center when Denver meets the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs? Heck, I would even advocate that the Nuggets throw in a future first-round draft choice to get the deal done. But dream on. It ain't happening. Why? It can be extremely hard to develop a consensus in a Denver front office where vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien might be recognized as the league's reigning executive of the year, but vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman and adviser Bret Bearup also have input. While coach George Karl has lost whatever faith he ever had in Smith, there might be too much of Warkentien's ego involved in seeing the development of a player he acquired. If Nuggets brass couldn't even agree on suspending Smith for a lousy attitude, how are they going to find common ground on the trade value of a guard who averages 14.5 points per game?"
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: "There wasn't much wondering about how Sonny Weems felt about Raptor teammate DeMar DeRozan being left out of the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge that's part of next month's NBA all-star weekend in Dallas. 'That's bogus,' an incredulous Weems said Wednesday morning. 'That's bogus ... that's bogus right there. That's bogus.' DeRozan, the 20-year-old rookie shooting guard, was left off the nine-man team voted on by assistant coaches, who took Tyreke Evans of Sacramento, his teammate Omri Casspi, Stephen Curry of Golden State, Spurs' DeJuan Blair, Jonny Flynn of Minnesota, Bulls' Taj Gibson, Bucks' Brandon Jennings and Jonas Jerebko of Detroit. DeRozan said he was 'frustrated' at missing out. 'I was definitely hoping to participate and go out there and have some fun,' he said."
- Brian Windhorst of The Plain Dealer: "Recently, Shaquille O'Neal pulled J.J. Hickson aside and this is how the conversation went, according to Shaq: Shaq: 'J.J., you could be Cedric Ceballos.' J.J.: 'Who's that?' Shaq: (Sigh.) J.J.: 'I was born in '88.' Shaq: 'I played with Cedric Ceballos, who never got any plays called for him but he averaged 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds) and I think you can do the same thing.' Hmmm, should it be pointed out that Ceballos only played eight games with Shaq, averaging 10 points, before he was traded for Robert Horry? Nah. Anyway, Hickson doesn't suffer from a lack of support on the Cavs. Last season LeBron took an interest immediately and had Nike sign him up to wear his shoes. All last off-season, LeBron wanted Hickson to hang out with him and took him on his private jet to San Diego, where he was doing a camp."
- Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: "Tanking would seem to be the popular solution for miserable fans who think the pingpong balls will go in their favor. The bottom line is this: Tanking doesn't pay off, especially if a team doesn't have competent leadership. Yes, once-in-a-lifetime players come through the draft, but there's a reason those guys come along only twice a decade. What happens when a team tanks to draft Michael Olowokandi (1998) or Kwame Brown (2001)? ... Championship teams are built through trades, free agency and yes, the draft. It might take luck, but intelligence on how to build is more important. Just like teams preparing for this summer's free agency, there will be one or two winners and the rest will have wasted two years hoping. The same goes for tanking. When a team gives up on a season, it makes it increasingly difficult to evaluate its players, to see who fits and who should be let go. With a possible labor dispute coming in 2011, many teams will be reluctant to go through a housecleaning."
- Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News: "For those 76ers fans fervently wishing and hoping for the team to lose games in order to have a serious NBA lottery shot at, say, Kentucky guard John Wall ... As long as Ed Snider is the chairman, that never will be the plan. 'I could never, ever condone wanting to lose for any reason ... Period,' Snider said yesterday as part of an interview that appeared on Comcast SportsNet's 'Daily News Live' and the station's 'Sports Nite' show. During the two segments, Snider said that he was pleased with the progress of forward/center Elton Brand and that he was on board with coach Eddie Jordan's decision to bring Brand off the bench for a period of time. As for the return of Allen Iverson, who signed Dec. 2 as a free agent, Snider said: 'I've seen the perfect citizen. He's been good in every possible way, on and off the court. He's done a wonderful job for us, and I think the fact that he's on the court, people have to double-team him; they don't know whether to double-team him or double-team Elton. It frees it up for all the other guys. We have a lot more room now to score.' "
- Scott Souza of the MetroWest Daily News: "Were the Cavaliers not available on Saturday? That must have been what some in the Celtics organization were thinking when the schedule came out this summer and they looked ahead to facing the two NBA finalists - the Magic and the Lakers - within 68 hours of each other in late January. Just for fun, throw in the playoff-bound Hawks in between in a back-to-back with Orlando. Perhaps the only thing more ridiculous would be to put Cleveland on the one off day of the four-day stretch to create the truly impossible gauntlet this weekend. 'Go ask TV,' said Celtics coach Doc Rivers of how such a scheduling nightmare occurs. 'It is an unbelievable three games. I don't mind the three games. I just wish you had a couple of days in between them to get ready. But that's the regular season and that's what happens.' "
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "The Magic continue to have an interesting relationship with the Celtics. Orlando knows what beating them last spring meant to its franchise, but heading into tonight’s meeting, the Magic remain aware of the hammer in the Green satchel. The Celts’ 86-77 win here on Christmas still rings in the Magic ears, so don’t expect the locals to buy into the notion that the Shamrock sky is falling. 'Well, they’ve got the second-best record in the East and they’ve had some injuries, so I think all of that is a little bit overstated,' coach Stan Van Gundy said. 'Obviously they’re a very good team and a very, very strong contender. They’ve had people out of the lineup; that’s going to affect you.' Not many of the Magicians are willing to offer the Celts any type of pass because Kevin Garnett was missing last postseason. But the biggest beneficiary of the punched Big Ticket knows that score. 'It gave us confidence that we were able to beat them in a seven-game series in Boston, but then again, KG wasn’t out there,' said Rashard Lewis."
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: The main Amway Arena scoreboard tonight will display the words 'Magic' and 'Celtics.' But maybe one of those team names should be changed to 'Graybeards.' Haven't you heard the criticism the Boston Celtics have faced all season? Supposedly, they're too old to win an NBA title. On paper, the Celtics look ancient for the rough-and-tumble world of pro basketball. Paul Pierce is 32. Kevin Garnett is 33. Ray Allen is 34. Rasheed Wallace is 35. Detractors argue that Boston cannot depend on its aging nucleus once the playoffs arrive. The argument goes that the Big Four will be worn out from the regular season or one of them could miss the playoffs because of injury, as Garnett did last year. The Celtics don't share that pessimism. 'I think we're an older team from the sense of experience,' Allen said. 'We're more mature. I think we're deeper. Our bench is better.' Allen uttered those sentences a month ago, just before the Celtics defeated the Magic 86-77 on Christmas Day. The two Eastern Conference rivals will meet again tonight before a packed house at the Am and a national-television audience."
- Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "Asked before tipoff about a Yahoo! Sports report that the Spurs had 'researched and debated' getting involved in the bidding for Suns All-Star center Amare Stoudemire, head coach Gregg Popovich said he had no knowledge of the report. 'What the heck is Yahoo?' Popovich said. 'Is it one of those computer things? Is that like Twittering? It's that time of year, I guess. Trade deadline. Everybody's going to come up with something.' League sources insist the Spurs have had no direct conversations whatever with the Suns about Stoudemire."
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "For a team suddenly thrust into an unexpected playoff race, performances like Wednesday night needn’t be the norm. It’s possible the Thunder simply shakes off this most recent setback and picks up the pieces against Denver on Friday. But the reality is Oklahoma City’s losing streak has reached three, tying its season-long skid. And while the losses mount, the majority of the remaining 37 opponents are only going to pick up their play while jockeying for position from here out. Now is when we find out if the Thunder is ready to step up and punch its postseason ticket or play like the pups they were supposed to be and miss the playoff party altogether. 'I think how we bounce back is going to show what kind of team we are,' said Kevin Durant."
- Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: "In one sense, being elevated to team leader in the wake of Stephen Jackson's exit has boosted Monta Ellis' stock. He has seized the opportunity to join the league's scoring elite, which isn't as easy as it looks, and has done so without being a selfish jerk about it. His defense has improved, as has his passing, and he has become a feared pickpocket. He has assumed a leadership aura, saying the right things. Ellis is opening eyes around the league, performing highlight feats - but he can't get a sniff of All-Star cologne. Inevitably, frustration will take hold. Not because Ellis is a prima donna, but because no excellent NBA player is happy playing year after year for a dead-end team. Top-level players don't stay happy for long with sub-.500 teams. Take any of the players who suits up for the All-Star Game, stick him on a franchise with one playoff appearance in the last 15 seasons, and you will start to see his SOS signal flares. Not everyone will adopt an exit strategy as brazen as that of Jackson, but every great player gets restless."
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: Charlotte Bobcat Stephen Jackson forced his way out of the Golden State Warriors, so he's not deluding himself about how he'll be treated in his return to Oakland Friday. 'I know I'm going to get booed,' Jackson told the Observer Tuesday night. 'I was booed while I was playing there, so I know I'm going to get booed. But I won't pay any attention; I get booed in 15 (NBA) arenas. This won't be any different to me.' Jackson pushed for a trade because he felt the Warriors weren't committed to winning. Wouldn't the fans understand that with all that's gone on since the Warriors upset the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs a few seasons ago? 'Just some people are bitter. But that's part of the game,' Jackson said. 'It's not really going to be a factor of what the outcome of the game will be. This is about us being focused.' "
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