- Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer: "Seven years ago, when LeBron James first came into the NBA, The Plain Dealer tried to play up his initial meeting with fellow rookie phenom Carmelo Anthony by creating a replica of an old fight poster. The matchup -- a 93-89 loss in James' home debut -- was pretty much a dud, and although a friendship developed, the rivalry never really did. Instead, the duel that has tongues wagging renews Thursday when James and the Cavaliers host Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat in a TNT game. This is the sort of heavyweight fight that deserves one of those catchy names like the Thrilla in Manila between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. The Throwdown in C-Town, perhaps? Or how about Whoo-Hoo at The Q? Just last week, James and Wade traded amazing shot for amazing shot and defensive stop for defensive stop in a 92-91 Cavaliers victory in Miami. James finished with 32 points, nine rebounds and four assists. He won the game with two free throws after stealing the ball from Wade with 6.9 seconds left and then defending Wade's final shot at the buzzer. It's unlikely either of the young players ever heard of the musical 'Annie Get Your Gun,' but this was the NBA version of the song 'Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better.' "
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: "Shaquille O'Neal started his career in Orlando, but had an incredible run with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won championships in three consecutive seasons (1999-2000, 2000-01 and '01-02). He added another ring in Miami ('05-06). 'I like to put it in business terms. I ran three different corporations my way,' O'Neal said. 'I ran them successfully. Now I'm an older guy and I'm on my way out. Now I'm a consultant to overlook a new, upcoming CEO (LeBron James). 'We have a young, exciting CEO. I'm a consultant, a guy who has been there and done that and is a master of his craft.' O'Neal said he was forced to rub some people the wrong way during his career. 'When I was the CEO, I had to do it my way,' he said. 'I probably burned some bridges I shouldn't have burned. I'm in charge and I had to do it my way. My thing is if I'm going to get blamed by (the media) and the organization for not winning, then I'm going to do it my way. Period. It actually worked.' O'Neal had a strained relationship with Lakers guard Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. 'Me and the other guy are not the best of friends, but if you look how that organization was run, we won three out of four,' he said. 'We had three great years out of four. This is totally different. It's (James') show. It's our job to make him look good. This kid at 25, he's not something I've seen before.' "
- Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Things are different now for Hawks guard Mike Bibby. His minutes are down
to a career-low average and so it follows that his other numbers are, too. He’s not a primary scorer. He’s not even the finishing point guard some nights. This is after Bibby, 31, signed a three-year contract before the season. 'I didn’t expect it,' Bibby said, 'but whatever Coach wants me to do, I’m going to go out there and do it. I’m not out there trying to score 20 points. I’m just trying to get the team into the flow of the game.' Bibby’s assists are up a bit on a per-minute basis. And he said of a recent shooting slump: 'Mostly it was just confidence. Once you miss a couple like that, you start to aim and you think about it too much.' Hawks coach Mike Woodson said he only needs Bibby to score in spurts now." - Michael Wallace of The Miami Herald: "Heat center Jermaine O'Neal learned the painful way that it might not be wise to sacrifice his body to draw a charge on Cleveland forward LeBron James. 'I'm going to have to rethink my defensive approach,' O'Neal half-jokingly said about his collision with James in a Jan. 25 loss to the Cavs. 'I think I'm getting too old to keep doing that.' O'Neal returned to the starting lineup Wednesday in Boston after he sat out Monday's game against Milwaukee with back spasms that have lingered for a week. Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem also have been slowed by back pain. Whereas Wade and Haslem have played through their discomfort, O'Neal said the medical staff recommended he sit out on Monday."
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: "The notion of Stan Van Gundy as a numbers-cruncher flies in the face of the image he presents during games. He perhaps is best-known as an intense, emotional coach who shouts instructions to players in a raspy voice. Yet Van Gundy takes a reasoned, almost scientific, approach to many aspects of his work. Statistics enable him refine his own thinking and convey concepts to his players. In that way, he bases his coaching style as much on objective data as he does on subjective perceptions. 'If I have a gut feeling on something I generally like to check it out,' Van Gundy says. 'I don't think you can quantify everything. I don't think you can go by the numbers [alone]. But I think they can certainly help you a great deal. And I think anything that can help you support what you think or change the way you think is important. I just don't think you can do it without looking at that stuff.' ... For each opponent, Van Gundy said the team prepares a folder that contains statistics and traditional scouting data. Van Gundy doesn't have time to examine all the numbers, but he will review certain figures to gauge whether his perceptions are correct. Sometimes, his players are surprised by the figures he cites. 'He's pulls 'em out of nowhere,' Anthony Johnson says. 'We don't really know if it's true or not, because we're too lazy to look it up.' "
- Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: "Though the Spurs have gone a combined 40-16 on seven previous rodeo trips, Gregg Popovich said the annual effect it seems to have on his team has 'probably been mythologized a bit.' 'We really do try to use it to come together and get distractions away,' Popovich said. 'We take it as an opportunity to make a jump, but it has been exaggerated to some degree.' "
- Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Samuel Dalembert isn't just planning a return trip to earthquake-ravaged Haiti to help his native country with money and supplies. The 76ers center, who lived in Port-au-Prince until he was nearly 14, is going back to build. Before last night's game against the Chicago Bulls, Dalembert mentioned that he has been granted a parcel of land by the Haitian government, and that he intends to build a center for children that will include recreation facilities, classrooms, a computer center and a cafeteria. He has a business model in mind, and hopes that - if he can get it built, just get it under way - he can raise additional funds to build more. 'I talk to people there, and they tell me there are so many kids on the street, thousands, and with no school there's nowhere for them to go, nothing for them to do,' he said. 'I have a location that will be easy for them to come to. It will be a place where, if I bring players over, we can have a camp, have something really nice for the kids.' "
- Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: "To Jazz fans with a certain nostalgia, the news will be music to their ears and eyes: More than just a throwback jersey this season, the Jazz are considering bringing back their old logo on a full-time basis. Jazz president Randy Rigby confirmed that the team has talked to the NBA about the possibility of returning to the music note logo worn through the team's history by everyone from Pete Maravich and Darrell Griffith to John Stockton and Karl Malone. 'We're looking at that,' Rigby said, adding, 'We've kept that mark so that we can look at maybe doing a redesign.' The Jazz used the music note logo from the team's founding in New Orleans in 1974 through the 1995-96 season, before switching to the current logo with the team name against a background of mountains."
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune: "Instead, popcorn, pizza and the critically acclaimed independent film 'The Hurt Locker' awaited them. Al Jefferson, after screening the film about a U.S. Army bomb-squad unit in Iraq, was not impressed. 'It was terrible,' Jefferson said then. 'It was a war movie, but there wasn't enough killing in it. The pizza and the food were good, but the movie. ... It got our minds off basketball, but I would never watch it again.' On Tuesday, the movie received nine Oscar nominations, tying it with James Cameron's big-budget 'Avatar' for most nominations. Included were nominations for best picture, director, screenplay and best actor. ... Wolves coach Kurt Rambis chose the movie for his players because it illustrates teamwork, and he thought it might remind them that, despite a 3-21 record at the time, they don't have things so bad. The next night, the Wolves went out and beat Utah at EnergySolutions Arena, one of the league's most forbidding arenas, for their fourth victory. 'He's Al Jefferson,' Rambis said. 'He's not Siskel or Ebert.' "
- Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "Do you need a Reggie Miller fix of clutch 3-point shooting and nonstop trash talking to help you get through another Indiana Pacers season? Miss the playoffs? All that can be seen in the documentary 'Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks.' The film starts with Miller playing second fiddle to his older sister, Cheryl, moves to the Pacers drafting him over Indiana All-American Steve Alford and focuses on his well-documented rivalry with the Knicks and Spike Lee. ... The 68-minute film, part of ESPN's '30 for 30' documentary series, will air on the network March 14 after the NCAA Tournament selection show. ... The film, which took eight months to make, features appearances from Miller, Lee, current Pacers radio announcers Mark Boyle and Slick Leonard, Walsh, Cheryl Miller and Knicks players Patrick Ewing and John Starks among others."
- Terry Foster of The Detroit News: "Earl Lloyd doesn't like being called the Jackie Robinson of the NBA. Sure, he was the first black player in the NBA, but the struggles he went through were nowhere as severe as Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier in 1947. Lloyd faced some of the same prejudices -- he couldn't stay in the team hotel or eat in certain restaurants -- but he didn't face as much racism and hatred as Robinson did. But he still has a great story. 'I take polite umbrage to (being compared to Robinson) because you know what I had to go through paled to what Jackie had to go through,' said Lloyd, in Detroit on Wednesday to promote his book, 'Moonwalker, The story of Earl Lloyd.' 'To perform in that hostility and he made the Hall of Fame in the first blush. And to compete at that level and to go through that was unbelievable. My life was a cakewalk.' There is, however, a dispute whether Lloyd, 81, actually was the first black in the NBA. He wasn't the first player drafted in 1950, (he was selected in the ninth round), but he made his debut with the Syracuse Nationals on Oct. 31, four days ahead of Nat 'Sweetwater' Clifton and a day ahead of Chuck Cooper, who played with the Boston Celtics. Still, Lloyd had an impact."
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