- Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post: "Nobody knows how long Carmelo Anthony will be absent from the Denver lineup. The team is built of strong enough stuff to survive without its leading scorer. But could the Nuggets thrive for long without Anthony? Don't kid yourself."
- Frank Dell'Apa of The Boston Globe: "The Celtics failed to match the New York Knicks in both effort and tactics in a 100-88 loss Sunday, and they can expect a similar brew of energy and strategy when they visit Charlotte tonight. But the defeats - the 29-6 Celtics have lost four of six - have served more to galvanize the team than discourage it. 'The adversity we've gone through the last two years, we almost revel in it,' guard Ray Allen said. 'We always bounce back from it. As a team, we've always gotten closer. I think when you lose, most teams gravitate away from each other. We have a tendency to gravitate toward each other even more.'"
- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "'I criticize myself,' Tracy McGrady said Monday. 'I can take it from anybody, from everybody. I know my ability. And when I do get right, all that ... is put to rest. So kick me when I'm down, because I swear to you, I'll be back up. And when I get back up, I'm going to sit back, and I'm going to laugh, man, because I'm going to have the last laugh. Right now, I'm down. I'm physically down.' Sometimes contrite, other times defiant, McGrady, 29, said he has been shaken by poor play he believes to be brought on by his struggles to get over knee surgery eight months ago today. He said he thought he had played harder against the Raptors than what he saw when he reviewed video of the game and that he did not realize the scoring opportunities he ignored. Though McGrady said 'I haven't played well all year' and that it was 'crazy' that he is second among Western Conference guards in the All-Star voting, he said his particularly poor play in a 94-73 loss to Toronto on Friday came from the frustration over his physical limitations."
- Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: "The issue of crowd support came up again Monday night for the second time in four days, because not only did the 12,314 patrons groan when the Nets were awful in the first half, some even booed and taunted Josh Boone -- who had been played superbly -- when he missed a free throw during the Hack-A-Husky portion of the game, in the last 3:15. Vince Carter called it 'unfortunate.' Keyon Dooling said more. 'We don't like the boos at home. It doesn't make us play better,' the reserve guard said. 'If they come and cheer us, that will be more helpful. We want to get it right. We don't want to lose, especially on our home court. We want to give them a good show. We want to play hard, we want to play with intensity we want to do all the things that make them happy. But in this league, sometimes you have rough starts, and cheering would help us get through it.' Is it that bad? Put it this way, Dooling suggested: 'I played for the Clippers, and it was never like this,' he said."
- Mike Wise of The Washington Post: "The truth, the one Abe Pollin and friends can't ever let on to their season ticket holders: Concede that this is a lost season. Now. Make every important decision today based on next year. That means don't take a chance on bringing back Gilbert Arenas or Brendan Haywood early from injury, if at all. Don't clear either player to participate in full scrimmages until Arenas's knee and Haywood's wrist are completely rehabilitated. Even then, limit their minutes considerably. Keep giving the youngsters big minutes. Let Nick Young, Dominic McGuire and Andray Blatche make every dumb, knucklehead mistake on the court until they either learn a better way or play themselves out of the league. And if they haven't already, start putting every amount of scouting effort into the five top players to be chosen in the June draft -- envision how a Blake Griffin, James Harden, Hasheem Thabeet, Jordan Hill or Brandon Jennings might fit into the rotation a year from now, who duplicates a need already met by another player and who can bring something unique to the lineup. It's simply too late for anything else."
- Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: "Nenad Krstic is officially a member of the Thunder after having his work visa approved Monday. And with a new team comes a new nickname. Krstic, the 7-foot center who was signed Dec. 30, is no longer affectionately referred to as 'Curly' as he was during his four seasons with the New Jersey Nets. Thunder players have taken to the nickname 'Krispy.' While the nickname is more of a play off Krstic's last name, it could carry a double meaning for how crisp Krstic has been in his first week of practice. 'He's looking good,' Desmond Mason said of Krstic, who could make his Thunder debut tonight against the New York Knicks. 'He's a skilled basketball player. I've played him before, and he can definitely shoot the heck out of the ball and has some great moves around the basket. So I'm excited for him to get on the floor and see what he's going to bring to us. I think he's going to be an asset to this team.'"
- Garry D. Howard of the Journal Sentinel: "After knocking off the Toronto Raptors on Monday night at the Bradley Center, Skiles has had 36 games to work his magic on this new collection of basketball players wearing Bucks on the front of their jerseys, and the results are encouraging enough for all involved to think playoffs. Playoffs? Yes, you heard me right, we're talking playoffs. They will not win the NBA championship this year (not even close, yet) but if all continues to blend together as it has over the past 30 days, the Bucks will have a chance at the Boston Celtics or the Cleveland Cavaliers when David Stern raisesthe curtain on the 2008-'09 postseason. And that alone will signal success for a franchise that has been devoid of just that over the past 1,095 days."
- Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "The Grizzlies turned Kevin Love and Mike Miller into O.J. Mayo. They turned nice players into a burgeoning star. 'I think the trade worked out for both teams,' said Chris Wallace, and how great is that? He was being gracious! When have the Grizzlies ever had to be gracious? Gracious is what other teams do. Now the Grizzlies get to give it a whirl. Because Love and the Timberwolves are at FedExForum tonight. Because gloating over the draft-night deal of Love and Miller for Mayo would probably be bad form. But make no mistake, gloating is in order. The Grizzlies won this one, big. ... The Grizzlies have done a lot of dumb things since they arrived in Memphis. They've succeeded in making themselves just about as irrelevant as an NBA team can be. But if they ever do recapture the imagination of this city, it will be in large part because of the deal they made on the evening of June 26. Looking back, it's hard to believe the trade was controversial, but it absolutely was."
- Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "We live in look-at-me world, but the Spurs are an exception. They don't produce YouTube videos promoting the All-Star merits of their players, as the Nets recently did for Devin Harris. And when the regular season nears its conclusion in April, media voters won't get cheesy promotional packets urging them to support this Spurs player, or that, for the various postseason awards. A big part of The Spurs Way is subjugation of the individual to the good of the whole. They even had a marketing campaign: Team Is Everything. It wasn't so much a slogan as an expression of an organizational way of life. So, when the final results of the fan voting are announced in a couple of weeks, and Tim Duncan is first among Western Conference forwards, he will be astonished yet again, and call such worldwide support gratifying."
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: "When you've banked well over $100 million during a 14-year NBA career, you don't need a job for the paycheck. Why, then, did forward Juwan Howard become a Charlotte Bobcat? 'When Michael (Jordan, the team's managing partner) told my agent they were interested, I was flattered,' Howard recalled. 'They're not a lock to be a playoff team, but they're very talented. They have enough talent to win ball games and the right coach.' Ask Howard, a member of Michigan's Fab Five recruiting class in 1991, how he's lasted so long, and he answers 'passion.' He injects that word into nearly every sentence concerning basketball. To him, 'passion' is tested on the practice court and in the weight room. Howard has enticed Ryan Hollins and Alexis Ajinca to lift more with the argument that strength staves off injury."
- Jason Quick The Oregonian: "Remember the movie 'Shawshank Redemption', where Andy Dufresne wrote a letter every week to the state to get books for the prison library? Well, the same concept is underway with the grandmother of Blazers center Joel Przybilla. The octogenarian plans to write NBA commissioner David Stern a series of letters complaining about the $7,500 fine Przybilla received for his part in an altercation with New Orleans center Tyson Chandler on Friday. Chandler was ejected and suspended a game for throwing a punch. Przybilla said he was stunned at the fine, but was handling it better than his grandmother. 'She said she is going to keep writing Stern until she hears back from him,'' Przybilla said smiling. 'And believe me, she will.'"
- Jan Hubbard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "In keeping with the grand self-image that is so near and dear to Texans, the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA are planning to stage the biggest basketball game in the history of the sport -- at least in terms of attendance. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game will be played at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, and the seating capacity will be at least 100,000. And if those plans aren't big enough, how about the first open-air moment at an All-Star Game? Plans are to open the roof for the flyover of military jets, which could make for an interesting February moment."
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