- Geoff Calkins of The Commercial-Appeal: "Memphis Tiger, Lorenzen Wright. Irrepressible Lorenzen. Relentless Lorenzen. Somehow, impossibly, dead at 34. His body was found in a wooded area off Hacks Cross. Fans gathered by the dozens just beyond the yellow police tape. 'It’s difficult to fathom,' said Elliot Perry. 'It’s a tragedy. This is a guy who lived out his dream to play in the NBA.' All too often, we read about murders in this city. All too often, we read about men who died too young. Some of them have been Tigers, like Taylor Bradford and Baskerville Holmes. Antonio Burks survived a gunshot wound not long ago. Hardaway was shot in the foot when he was a kid. But Wright was one of those who made it out, who played in the NBA and earned tens of millions of dollars and wore big diamond earrings just because he could. He represented the very best of Memphis. He didn’t want to live or play anywhere else."
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: "Mike Krzyzewski doesn't particularly value traditional positions in basketball, and I suspect that approach will come in handy coaching this version of Team USA at the World Championships next month. Krzyzewski was asked continuously during a media conference call Wednesday about the lack of height on this team. They had some bad luck: David Lee's hand injury, Amare Stoudemire's insurance complication and the after-effect of Brook Lopez's mononucleosis. That means ex-Charlotte Bobcat Tyson Chandler is the only healthy true center and most everyone might have to play out of position. But when has that bothered Duke's Hall of Fame coach? I did a magazine article with Krzyzewski years ago, and I asked him why he cares so little for conventional position labels. Krzyzewski answered that if his small forward fouls out, he'd rather put in his next-best player than his next-best small forward, because that next-best small forward might be his fifth-best player not already in the game. Fast-forward to Wednesday, and Krzyzewski made it clear he won't fret over what he lacks. Instead, he'll put in his best five and hope the other teams have to match up with his odd-ball combinations."
- Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News: "The NBA is a league of stars,
and while one set shines brightly, another quietly fades into the background. Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady were arguably the premier players in the NBA for the early part of the decade. Not in 2010. All three are looking for a job, and trying to cope with the fact they are no longer what they once were. McGrady, the youngest scoring champion in history, worked out for the Bulls this week, but believes he's ready to be a starter on a championship-caliber team, as opposed to being a valuable contributor off the bench. ... O'Neal, who played relatively well for Cleveland last season, still considers himself a top-tier big man and prefers to be paid as such. Never mind the 38-year-old has made nearly $300 million since 1992 or that his 2009-10 averages of 12 points and six rebounds are half his career numbers. O'Neal is balking at the midlevel exception, believing there's a team willing to pay him based on box-office sales and past glory. Iverson's case is different, yet more concrete. After insisting he would do whatever it took for the sake of "team" in Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia, his ego made his promises null and void. There's no doubt Iverson still can help, if he agrees to come off the bench. Those three are painful reminders careers are not only fragile but finite, and the twilights of great careers often don't bring happy endings. Particularly if the player doesn't know his star has long since faded." - Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press: "The Minnesota Timberwolves plan to keep on trying until they get it right. Last season was to be an evaluation season, to determine which players could play in new coach Kurt Rambis' system. It turned out not many could, and the team won just 15 games. Rambis had no problem with the players' effort. But he needed players who played his style, which is passing and defense. So immediately after the season, he went to president of basketball operations David Kahn and requested a different type of player. Kahn obliged and continues to do so. Team owner Glen Taylor got involved, too, after seeking reasons for Rambis' request for more athletic players. 'Kurt said they were really good kids, but that he just couldn't get them to play the defense he wanted,' Taylor said. So Kahn and Rambis and Taylor are trying something else. 'We talked about what I would call taking some risks,' Taylor said. 'The idea is, you bring in these young guys and some of them probably have the potential. We've just got to coach them better, or differently, or maybe give them a second chance. I think what we have to do as a team to get up there faster is take some risks.' That means getting more out of some players than other coaches could. For instance: 6-foot-10 forward Michael Beasley and 7-foot center Darko Milicic."
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post: "Josh Howard agreed on Wednesday to a one-year deal with the Wizards, according to his agent Derek Lafayette. Lafayette said the details within the contract have not been finalized, but a league source said it is expected to be worth close to $4 million with incentives based on games played, minutes played and minutes averaged. The deal was confirmed by a team source. Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld was unavailable for comment. 'He has made a decision to return to the Wizards,' Lafayette said. 'We're just happy that he's happy.' ... Lafayette said Howard is 'ahead of schedule' and doing 'very well' with his rehablitation. Howard visited with doctors this week, is expecting to soon start running and is scheduled to be back going full speed by late October. 'They are really satisfied with the way that he is healing,' Lafayette said of the doctors. 'All the reports are coming back good and that he is ahead of schedule post-surgery.' "
- Bud Shaw of The Plain Dealer: "This deal sent Delonte West and his bag of hot sauce to Minnesota along with Sebastian Telfair. The Cavs received versatile guard Ramon Sessions and 7-0 center Ryan Hollins. Nothing against Sessions, the central figure in the trade. He should fit in well. It's just that in an off-season highlighted by LeBron James' departure and followed by the exits of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, West and Shaquille O'Neal to come, the Cavs' next move was almost certain to fall short on the excitement meter. I mean, no matter how much resentment there is toward James, we had the Cirque du Soleil in town for the last several years. Guaranteed contention. A top seeding. Wins that came with the price of admission. Every show started with a talc-heavy cloud of abracadabra. There was magic in the air. Ramon Sessions and Ryan Hollins? They make perfect sense for the Cavs at this point in what surely will become a rebuilding. But for now it's like replacing the flying trapeze with a poetry reading."
- Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times: "A growing number of executives running N.B.A. franchises incorporate knowledge about what happens on the basketball court and in the courtroom, while others bring advanced college degrees to their work. Together, they have created what the Portland Trail Blazers’ owner, Paul Allen, termed 'the new generation of N.B.A. executives.' Allen hired Rich Cho as his general manager earlier this month. A day later, the Phoenix Suns introduced Lon Babby, a prominent agent, as their president of basketball operations. Both Cho and Babby pursued law degrees before delving into basketball full time. Cho started as an intern with the Seattle SuperSonics 15 years ago. Neither Cho, 44, nor Babby, 59, claims to have all the answers for success in the league. But their legal backgrounds could serve them well in those moments when the basketball court and the courtroom intersect, particularly in arbitration cases. They should certainly come in handy when the league’s collective bargaining agreement, which expires after next season, is renegotiated, requiring a new encyclopedia of details, many of them highly nuanced. With some N.B.A. teams staggering economically, there is a heightened emphasis on an executive’s ability to allocate resources properly. 'You use that background and knowledge to help you make trades, in contract negotiations,' Cho said. 'That’s one thing where it helps me and Lon.' "
- George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: "I had a nice conversation with Magic Bob Vander Weide -- now the chief executive officer and vice chairman of the franchise -- following Wednesday’s press conference. Glib and insightful as always, Vander Weide addressed the team’s style of play last season. Not surprisingly, Magic fans can expect some changes. As many people have barked about in columns, blogs and casual conversations, expect to see Brandon Bass get a lot more playing time at power forward [four slot], a switch that will allow Rashard Lewis to shift to the small forward [three] slot in the lineup. The organization -- including coach Stan Van Gundy -- seems to have a twinge of regret that Bass didn’t get enough playing time in the regular season to be effective in the playoffs, especially since teammates didn’t have a feel for that particular lineup. It hurt them against a physical and bigger Boston team."
- Harvey Araton of The New York Times: "With his hopes of playing in the world championships dashed because of the Knicks’ inability to insure his nearly $100 million contract, Amar’e Stoudemire has apparently embarked on another intriguing international adventure. Several reports out of Israel along with messages on Stoudemire’s Twitter account said he was visiting the country. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Stoudemire, the Knicks’ new power forward, decided to go after recently learning that he had Jewish roots on his mother’s side. An Israeli Army report said Stoudemire was learning Hebrew, and Stoudemire said on Twitter: 'This is going to be a great trip. The holy land. Learn about it. This ze ha’halom sheli,' using the Hebrew for 'this is my dream.' "
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "In many ways, a fifth, swing guard makes the most sense behind Wade, Miller, Chalmers and Arroyo. And that is exactly what Hasbrouck is. A bit undersized to be an NBA shooting guard. Not enough of a playmaker to be considered a point guard. But if you watched Hasbrouck during summer league, he was the closest thing the Heat had to an NBA presence. Yes, even more so than Randolph, the league veteran. When healthy, Hasbrouck continually has impressed the Heat staff, outplaying Chalmers in many summer workouts. The developmental commitment with Hasbrouck is now into its second year. He could be the type of find the team was producing before the developmental well ran dry in recent seasons. Yes, Hasbrouck remains somewhat of a longshot to make the opening-night roster. But he is far more than mere camp fodder."
- Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "The seven-month mystery surrounding Tyler Hansbrough's health problems produced its first lead earlier this month when Indiana Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said the power forward is dealing with vertigo. ... Vertigo is an abnormal sense of movement or spinning when no movement is occurring. 'A normal response to vertigo would be if you put your head on a bat and began running around in circles with the bat on the ground,' Dr. Vincent Ostrowski of the Midwest Ear Institute said. 'Then you get up and start to run. ... Any problems with the eyes, the legs or the ears can ultimately cause a symptom of vertigo.' ... Hansbrough is back in the weight room and participating in full-speed, non-contact basketball drills. The Pacers are limiting contact because they want to avoid setbacks. 'He's out there working out very hard and practicing very hard to get back to playing full time,' Pacers president Larry Bird said. The highly-energized Hansbrough averaged 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 29 games as a rookie last season."
- Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle: "New Warriors power forward David Lee spent much of Wednesday, his first full day in the Bay Area since being traded here last month, shaking hands despite the splint on his dislocated right middle finger. With each hand he properly and firmly shook, Lee sent a message to Warriors fans that he plans to be fully healthy in advance of training camp in September. More importantly, he made it clear that he's going to do all the right things for the entirety of his six-year, $80 million stay in Golden State. The 6-foot-9, 250-pounder visited El Dorado Elementary School, located on a hill above Visitacion Valley in San Francisco. Lee joined the Warriors and the Good Tidings Foundation in an agreement to refurbish the outdoor basketball court at the school, which has one dilapidated hoop and some metal scraps where the other should be standing. 'Part of what you play for is the franchise and your teammates, but you also play for the community and the city you live in,' said Lee, whose local blacktop had metal nets. 'What better way to start that off than to do something for the kids of the community?' "
TRUEHOOP CONTRIBUTORS
Henry AbbottTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
J.A. AdandeTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Kevin ArnovitzTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris BroussardTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chad FordTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Tom HaberstrohTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
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Marc SteinTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
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