- Brian T. Smith of The Columbian: "During what has already been a surreal, unbelievable season, the sight nearly defied reality. The image: A recently fired Tom Penn, former Portland Trail Blazers vice president of basketball operations, carrying boxes filled with possessions out to his car. This was it for Penn. This is what it had all come down to. The Blazers had just wrapped up another practice at the team’s workout facility in Tualatin, Ore. And as a mid-March sun shined down Thursday afternoon, Penn -- the former golden boy who at times shined as bright as his friend and ex co-worker, Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard -- was suddenly on the outside looking in. Once the boxes were inside his car, Penn hopped in, closed the door and drove away. But while he was able to watch three years with the Blazers suddenly disappear and dissolve in the rearview mirror, questions surrounding his unexpected departure — and the implications of what his firing means for the future of the organization — are not going anywhere. Moreover, they are mounting and gaining weight. 'In my many years of doing this, nothing was more baffling or befuddling than this action with Tom,' said Warren LeGarie, agent for Penn and Pritchard. 'This is one I can’t explain.' Reached late Thursday night by telephone in Los Angeles, Blazers president Larry Miller attempted to explain. Miller said he could not reveal specific details about what caused Penn to be relieved of his job Tuesday, in a move that was originally chalked up to 'philosophical differences.' But Miller did make an effort to paint a broader picture. He said it was not one person who decided that Penn and the Blazers should suddenly part ways -- it was a group senior management decision that involved executives in Seattle and Portland."
- Israel Gutierrez of The Miami Herald: "You know what? This wouldn't be so bad. Heat-Magic in the playoffs? If the records held up, this would be the matchup in the first round, and in terms of entertainment value and intrigue, this would be the best option right now. Forget the fact the Heat actually has a chance against the Magic, which the regular-season series would indicate, as would Dwyane Wade's history of success against Orlando and his former coach. That's too obvious a reason. This goes even deeper than that. So many story lines that it actually would be a shame if it didn't happen, at this point. ... Wade-LeBron would be fun, sure, but it wouldn't be much of a fair fight. Heat-Celtics would be OK, if you want to see the Heat against an aging team, but it doesn't have the same pizazz. Heat-Hawks might give the Heat its best chance at winning, but my goodness, it's just plain boring. Heat-Magic would be must-see. Let's see if someone can make that happen."
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: "Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was asked if regular season games
between teams translates in any way to the postseason. He shook his head. 'I've studied enough to know,' he said, 'that it doesn't hold true.' At least Van Gundy hopes that's the case. The Magic will have the higher seed if they face the Miami Heat in a possible playoff series, and they'll be favored. But hit rewind. When the Magic look back at their four games against the Heat, including Thursday's night's thrilling 108-102 overtime victory at American Airlines Arena, they certainly wouldn't be strutting into a postseason match-up with their chests puffed out to here. They've been warned. The Magic needed to play bonus basketball just to emerge from the season series with a 2-2 draw. 'You can't sleep on these guys,' said Rashard Lewis, who scored seven of his 24 points in OT." - Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Four weeks ago, the Hawks lost consecutive games at Phoenix and Golden State. There were signs of settling. At 34-20, they basically were a .500 team (15-14) after a meteoric 19-6 start. But since then, they’ve won nine of 13. A win at New Jersey actually put them 20 games over .500 for the first time in 13 years. Can’t remember seeing that in any headlines. They’re doing it in ways you want to see, particularly in March. When Johnson missed consecutive games with an injury, others stepped up their game, particularly at the offensive end. Even Jeff Teague played. Remember Jeff Teague? 'I like the fact that everybody is making a contribution,' general manager Rick Sund said. 'I like our chemistry.' So here’s the question: Has anybody noticed? The Hawks rank 20th in the NBA in home attendance at 16,092. Of the 10 teams behind them entering Thursday’s games, seven have losing records. Eight are out of the playoff picture. The two exceptions: Charlotte and Milwaukee. Both play in significantly smaller markets. ... Maybe this will get people’s attention: The race for the Southeast Division title and the No. 2 seed in the East isn’t dead yet. Nobody is catching Cleveland. But the Hawks play four games in the next six days, the last one coming against the Magic. They have only 15 games left. It’s safe to say if they’re going to make a move on Orlando, it’s now."
- Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer: "I just asked new Bobcats owner Michael Jordan a question and liked the answer I got -- he said he's open to changing the nickname of the Charlotte NBA franchise he just bought if enough people think that should happen. Jordan said this after his big press conference Thursday, in a smaller interview session with five local print reporters, including both myself and The Observer's Bobcat beat writer, Rick Bonnell. I've been advocating a name change this month in my column which Jordan said he had read. So when I asked him about a possible name change, he teased: 'How did I know you were going to ask that?' Then Jordan said this, word-for-word: 'The thing is that I’m open for anything. It’s a commitment. We have to go through the league. It’s a process. It’s a financial commitment. Am I willing to look at that and say can we go down that road? Yeah. If I get the understanding from the community, from the public, that we need it and it signifies change, yeah, I would do that. But once again, it’s a process. It’s a $3-million to $10-million investment to do that. I’m not afraid of that, as long as at the backside of that, the public is going to be happy about that, that it’s going to be great for the organization. I think it [could be] a new beginning. Yeah, I would do that. I would consider that.' "
- Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald: "From a local perspective, the most interesting line in Michael Jordan’s 'Welcome to NBA ownership news conference' on Thursday was this one: 'The thing that I can get out of this, I want to have fun,' Jordan said. 'I want to provide entertainment to the public and to the city of Chicago … I mean, to the city of Charlotte. Or Chicago, too. I want to provide entertainment to everybody.' Was Jordan secretly wishing he was being introduced as owner of the Bulls instead of the Charlotte Bobcats? Well, from a business standpoint, of course he’d rather be running a large-market NBA team. But that’s the biggest reason Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t invite Jordan to join the Bulls’ ownership group -- there’s too much money being made to get out now."
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: "Some people can't get past his 8.9-point scoring average. For those who are hung up on forward/center Anderson Varejao's meager average, wake up. One could make a case the 6-foot-11, 260-pounder is the Cavaliers' second-best player this season. He's not well-loved around the league by the players. He's respected, but they can't stand playing against him. Many players don't want anything to do with how hard Varejao plays. Varejao has a major fan in Detroit. Pistons coach John Kuester said Varejao is simply 'the best.' Said Kuester: 'You're talking about one of the all-time best people.' Kuester isn't thrilled when his team faces Varejao, who is second on the Cavs with 7.9 rebounds per game. 'I hate him,' Kuester joked. 'He's the kind of guy you love coaching and hate coaching against.' "
- Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News: "Tim Duncan did something Wednesday night in Orlando that he'd not done in 962 career games. The Spurs are hopeful he won't soon do it again. Duncan went 1 for 10 in the Spurs' 110-84 loss to the Magic, the lowest shooting percentage of his career. Duncan's teammates weren't sure what to make of his poor shooting performance, which resulted in a season-low five points, but they remain confident Duncan will rebound. They've seen Duncan recover from bad games before, though never one quite as nightmarish as this. 'I totally, blindly trust him,' guard Manu Ginobili said. 'It was one of those games. Things happen. He's going to bounce back for sure.' ... Asked after the game if Duncan had just experienced an off night, coach Gregg Popovich chuckled and said, 'I hope so.' "
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "Lost in the non-stop national nitpicking of Kevin Durant’s defense is another player whose performance on the defensive end could be even more problematic for the Oklahoma City Thunder. That player is Jeff Green, who has had more than his share of highs and lows this season. But it’s one recent four-game stretch in particular that raises the question of whether his defense could eventually pose a problem in the postseason. In consecutive games against Denver, the Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento and New Orleans, Green struggled to defend Carmelo Anthony, Craig Smith, Carl Landry and David West. At the time, Green’s performance could be overlooked because the Thunder went 3-1 in those games and had won 12 of 15. But with the stakes soaring higher as the season winds to an end, it seems Green’s efforts will be the key to the Thunder’s fate from here out and into the postseason. Oklahoma City has built its season on defense, and the next chance for Green to prove he can put the clamps on a premier frontcourt player comes tonight when the Thunder takes on Toronto at 6 inside Air Canada Centre."
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "The Kevin Garnett you’re seeing now isn’t the same Big Ticket who gained the Celtics admittance to the Garden rafters two years ago. You know it; the Celtics know it. But Danny Ainge believes it is as much about the logical career progression for someone who’s played 1,184 games as it is his right knee issues. The C’s general manager acknowledges Garnett doesn’t have the same lift, but he’s encouraged that he’s getting up and down the floor better. ... What’s critical is that Garnett recognize the changes and adjust. NBA people have been saying for years that he is not the best when it comes to some of the positional minutiae, but Garnett always has had the energy, desire and physical gifts to recover when an opponent gained a step on him. Now the foes are finishing. 'I think now he has to be a little more sound fundamentally,' Ainge said. 'He’ll have to do it more, because he’s not the same athlete. He’s had some adjustments to make, for sure. KG’s got to do a better job of keeping guys in front of him because he can’t catch up. But that’s the case with everyone on our team.' The question is whether Garnett can perform as well as the Celtics need him to in the postseason. 'Yes,' Ainge said. 'Absolutely.' "
- Jim O'Donnell of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Tonight, LeBron James and his polka averse will be at the United Center to mercy-throttle the spring-broken Bulls. At 54-15, they own the league's best record. The Los Angeles Lakers (50-18) are second. If the script plays out -- always a massive 'if' in Cleveland -- the Cavs will blow through the Eastern Conference playoffs and then dispatch Kobe Bryant and the Lakers for the franchise's first NBA crown. If that happens, it would be Cleveland's first major championship since 1964, when Brown, Frank Ryan, Gary Collins, et al., shut out young Don Shula and the Baltimore Colts at the old lakefront Municipal Stadium. It is a dream scenario -- really, a scream-dream for encrusted Clevelanders. Because when life looks like Easy Street around Public Square, there is departure at the door. And on July 1 -- as every basketball fan worth his video streaming from Shaker Heights to Shanghai knows -- LeBron James is a free agent. Will he stay or will he go? No one outside of James' innermost sanctum -- headquartered at his $15 million, 33,000-square foot mansion near Akron -- knows for sure. Even there, the issue may still be on the table. Around Cleveland, fans -- by Jungian conditioning -- are braced for the ominous 'whatever.' "
- Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: "Things are clear again for Andrea Bargnani and that’s a huge deal for the Raptors. The Raps centre had lost his focus over the past few weeks with his role changing in the absence of Chris Bosh and then again when Bosh returned. On Wednesday night, however, Bargnani was back to being the guy who not only produced points on one end, but was productive on the defensive end of the floor, as well. 'We need him to focus,' head coach Jay Triano said. 'When we were rolling, he was doing more things and it becomes a confidence building thing for him. If he’s not making shots (he has to) do something else so we can keep him on the floor. Defend, be there on the help side, rebound and box out.' "
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News: "The Knicks gave a no-show performance in Boston the other night which isn't the first time that’s happened. If only the Knicks can find a way to be as reliable as Burke Wallace. He always shows up in Boston when his favorite team is in town. Wallace is the Knicks most loyal fan in New England and he’s been crossing enemy lines for 18 years now, all in the name of his beloved Knicks. How’s this for loyalty (or insanity): Wallace has attended every Knicks preseason and regular season game in the Boston area since April 8, 1982. That’s a total of 41 games, including Wednesday’s Knicks-Celtics game on St. Patrick’s Day. Wallace, who was raised in Albany and served in the United States Coast Guard, is such a cockeyed optimist that he worries that his streak will end when the Knicks face the Celtics in the playoffs. Not if but when. As Hubie Brown likes to say, '….and you love the passion.' "
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "Fabricio Oberto said he felt a little freer, a little lighter during Thursday's practice, the first time in nearly a week that the Washington Wizards reserve forward was allowed do his regular routine without being linked to a heart monitor. Oberto played in four of the past five games with three wires and patches attached to his chest and an electrocardiography monitor connected to his shorts. The device and wires were attached to him continuously for seven days -- when he slept and showered -- and was a part of his continued care following a procedure Oberto had last June to correct an irregular heartbeat. 'I don't worry about it. It's just when you move, you feel all the sticks and patches on your chest. But it's always good when you finish,' said Oberto, who had to complete the same exercise in late December. 'It's just to see if my heart is in rhythm at all times, if it has some skips or something.' Oberto said a company in New York observed his heartbeat via computer throughout and sent the results to Andrea Natale, the Austin-based doctor who performed the procedure last summer."
- Patrick Hayes of The Flint Journal: "To me, the mark of success in the NBA Draft is simply one thing: does the GM consistently find players who turn into contributors at the NBA level? All of the 'he took player x when player y was available and player y is an All-Star now!' gripes are certainly fun, but they are a waste of time. Every GM can be subject to that kind of revisionist history, and Dumars certainly is. But overall, Joe Dumars is far from the worst GM in the league when it comes to finding talent. He's right in the middle of the pack, actually. There are far worse guys teams could have overseeing their drafts than Dumars. I write this knowing it will surely lead to the typical, 'Yer just a Joe D apologist, LOLz!!!' comments, but that's not why I write it. Context is always a good thing. To say that Dumars is bad at drafting players based on a couple high profile failed picks is only part of the picture. Sure, his only two lottery picks as GM were epic fails. And yes, he has to get the team's lottery pick right this year. But I like comparisons, and compared to other current NBA GMs, Dumars does an adequate job at finding talent in the draft."
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