- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "It was LeBron James' birthday. So, of course, the Heat celebrated. Now 0-3 in the NBA on his birthday -- and that's not even counting last year's birthday, when he was pulled over for speeding in the early-morning hours while returning from a loss in New Orleans -- James this time saw his Cleveland Cavaliers fall 104-95 Tuesday night to the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena. 'We weren't into nice birthday presents,' Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ... 'It's sad. I'm going to cry,' James said with a grin. 'It would be nice to win on your birthday, but you want to win regardless of the occasion. I'm sure D-Wade wants to win on his birthday and Kobe wants to win on his birthday. D-Wade made sure that didn't happen tonight. He wants to protect his turf as much as I want to protect my turf.'"
- Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: "Suddenly, these guys seem pretty lost. They're getting nothing from the four-spot, they can never win without shooting well, L-Frank keeps issuing the same platitudes about patience and growing pains, and unless something changes pretty soon they'll be four under sea level before the week is out. The thing that we find most bizarre is this obsessive commitment to Yi lately. It's pretty clear that the kid has regressed in the last month -- now he hits the wall in December, not January? -- and if the coach is seeing something the rest of us are missing, we wish he'd share it. ... It's time to pull him (Najera) out of mothballs -- or move him. Here's an idea: Send Eddie to his hometown of Oklahoma City, throw Sean Williams into the deal, and see if the Thunder will hand over Joe Smith, who is the victim of another dubious youth movement."
- Howard Beck of The New York Times: "They just signed guard Fred Jones, who (like Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins) spent last season in New York. The Clippers now have one-fifth of a Knicks roster that won 23 games. Could anyone blame Baron Davis for wanting out? ... 'No, I don't want out,' Davis told The Los Angeles Times on Monday. 'I don't know what Stephen Jackson got from my conversation. That never came out of my mouth.' The truth is known to only Jackson and Davis. And the search is on for that goat."
- Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "I've gotten emails from a number of people over the past week or so saying maybe the Pacers need to tank the season so that they increase their odds for a high draft pick in June. Stop it right there. I don't think a team that's lost its past four games by a total of 12 points would considering tanking the season. Yes, the Pacers are 11 games under .500 heading into Friday's game in the Big Apple against Donnie Walsh's Knicks. And yes they can ill afford to head out West against four of the conference's varsity teams riding a six-game losing streaks. But I'm not a big fan of tanking the season."
- Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: "Don't look now but the annual minutes-played-watch for Tayshaun Prince has begun. He has logged three straight games of more than 40 minutes. He has played 40 or more in nine of the 13 games this month. But Prince's motto is, whatever it takes. 'The most important thing is how we've been playing,' Prince said of the Pistons' four-game winning streak."
- Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Hawks captain Joe Johnson said the sting of being traded in his rookie season has never dissipated. The coach of the Boston team at that time acknowledged Tuesday night that the trade was a disastrous move that looked good at the time. 'It was a good [move] in the short run. The people we ended up bringing in helped us get to the Eastern Conference finals,' Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. 'It was a horrible move for the long run.' O'Brien remains a fan of the progress Johnson has made since drafting him in June 2001, calling the two-time All-Star one of the league's most versatile players."
- Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Elton Brand sends his regrets. He will not be in Los Angeles with the 76ers tonight to face the Los Angeles Clippers, his employers for the seven previous seasons. But Brand, rehabbing from his dislocated right shoulder in the Philadelphia area, did send along e-mail Christmas greetings to Mike Dunleavy, his former coach. In fact, they exchanged very pleasant holiday greetings. In the light of Brand leaving in free agency after last season, signing with the Sixers in what became a contentious situation with the Clippers, should that come as a surprise? Wasn't it Dunleavy who, at the time, said, 'I don't know what poisoned him against us?' 'You shouldn't be surprised,' Brand said in a telephone interview with the Daily News. 'The NBA is a business, but there are personal relationships, too. It was just 'Merry Christmas.' ' And ... 'I joked, I said I was playing in the game [tonight],' Brand said."
- Tim Buckley of the Deseret News: "Paul Millsap's streak seemingly had ended at 15 when he scored 11 points but managed just nine rebounds in a Dec. 23 game at Milwaukee -- the same game in which he sustained a sprained posterior cruciate knee ligament, causing him to miss the Jazz's last three outings. But the Jazz, alerted to a statistical error by an attentive Deseret News reader named Brian Kingdon, submitted a proposed correction to the NBA. And on Tuesday, the league confirmed that the e-mailing reader indeed was right -- and amended Millsap's stats for the game to 11 points and 10 rebounds. That makes Millsap's now active-again streak of consecutive double-doubles the only one in the NBA with more than 15 since All-Star Kevin Garnett's run of 33 in a row from Feb. 1 through April 7 2006."
- Mike Baldwin of The Oklahoman: "Nenad Krstic was going to be one of Sam Presti's top targets in July. By signing him during the holidays, Krstic is off the market and becomes one of OKC's cornerstone players alongside Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook. How Krstic, 25, ended up with the Thunder is believed to be a first in NBA annals -- signing a restricted free agent overseas during the season. After playing four years for the Nets, Krstic signed with Triumph Lyubertsy of Russia's Superleague last summer. Presti heard Krstic was disenchanted and wanted to return to the NBA. Oklahoma City helped pay a $500,000 buyout for him to leave Russia and made a three-year offer the Nets declined to match. 'Triumph was incredibly easy to work with,' Presti said. 'They were great in communication and did a fine job throughout the process. It's a little unique, adding a player (from overseas) during the season.'"
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: "Dirk Nowitzki said it's more than a coincidence that he's been suspended for actions in each of his last two
trips to Utah. 'I've got to do a better job keeping my head,' he said. 'They don't call a lot of fouls there. I just think it's [Utah coach Jerry] Sloan having the boys play hard. ... Sometimes on the edge. And I just got to be ready to take more hits and play through it and not lose my head.' Nowitzki said the league wasn't interested in hearing him talk about things that may have precipitated the fourth-quarter incident. 'They only wanted to know about that one play,' Nowitzki said. 'I obviously never meant to hit him in the face. I just wish they would have told us Saturday so I didn't get my hopes up [of playing Sunday].' He also was disappointed in the way the investigation took place. '[NBA operations president Stu Jackson] never called me. I was going to tell him a few stories. But nowadays, it's some assistant or whatever,' Nowitzki said. 'They just write down what you say. ... I don't know why they interview you. They walk you through the whole spiel -- what were you thinking, what you saw. Then you tell them, and you get suspended anyway. I might not even call them back next time.'" - Jason Quick of The Oregonian: "To a player, being called soft is one of the worst insults around. It's like challenging one's manhood. It means you aren't tough. Don't like contact. Can be easily intimidated. And it is a word that has followed LaMarcus Aldridge since he was the No. 2 overall pick three years ago. Some see his feathery jumper and assume he must hate contact. Others see his lanky frame and equate that with finesse, not power. Wonder what people are saying today? Because for me, the Blazers' 91-86 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday will always be the game that proves Aldridge is not soft. He's played tough before -- he angrily went at Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire earlier this season and stood chin-to-chin, ready to go to blows, with the Lakers' Lamar Odom last season. But nothing compares to the 39 minutes of grit, toughness and shove-it-where-the-sun-don't-shine attitude Aldridge showed Tuesday against probably his most despised opponent, Kevin Garnett."
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "A columnist in yesterday's Oregonian called the C's arrogant, and opponents, too, have openly stated their trash talking is beneath a defending champion. For their part, the Celts would like to be known as a classy team - but they aren't campaigning for MySpace friends. 'Hey, look here, man,' Kevin Garnett said after yesterday morning's shootaround. 'We're not here to be liked. And when we're out there, a lot of times we're talking to ourselves. We're communicating amongst each other and it has nothing to do with the other team, and the other team likes to jump in or say little (expletive). A lot of that we let go. We don't even comment on a lot of stuff, because half the guys who are talking we don't even know their names. A lot of times we let our play do the talking. Doc (Rivers) doesn't really encourage us to talk. He encourages us to communicate amongst each other. But a couple of the times we do have conversations with some guys, now it's coming off like we're non-classy. But it's never told what's being said to us. I mean, class vs. class I can understand. But when you're dealing with idiots who don't know what they're talking about or guys who are just talking out their (tail) or just talking out their mouth, then that's a whole other level.'"
- Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: "The Lakers have had their stars over the last few decades -- Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Shaquille O'Neal -- but few have studied game video (or film, as it was called back in the day) more diligently than Bryant, who looks for the slightest advantage while sizing up an opponent. 'Hands down, he's the biggest video fiend we've ever had,' said Chris Bodaken, the Lakers' director of video services. 'I didn't know if it was possible to be more competitive than Magic was, but I think he might be. It carries over into his preparation, and this is part of that.'"
Sort comments by: Most Recent | First Posted
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
TRUEHOOP CONTRIBUTORS
Henry AbbottTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
J.A. AdandeTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Kevin ArnovitzTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris BroussardTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chad FordTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
John HollingerTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris SheridanTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Marc SteinTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
