- John Denton of Florida Today: "With Orlando possessing a gaudy 33-8 record and clearly one of the NBA's most dynamic collections of talent, Dwight Howard senses his Magic are in the midst of something truly, well, magical. Talk of playing into June doesn't sound so hollow anymore and dreams of a title seem more of a reality. And Howard wants the Magic to embrace all that comes with pursing a championship. 'I've talked to my teammates about us having a special opportunity and we need to take advantage of it,' Howard said. 'We have a great group in the locker room, the staff and in the organization and this chance may only come once in a lifetime. We have to go at it knowing that this may be our only opportunity to come close to winning a championship. We want a championship, that's our goal. And I won't stop until I get it.'"
- Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post: "The Heat isn't likely to be appreciably better or worse than what it is right now -- a down-the-list Eastern Conference playoff team -- with or without O'Neal on the roster. The real crux of the issue is the manner in which Miami chooses to clear salary-cap space. Does it want Marion off the books after this season (facilitating, for example, the possible signing of Utah forward Carlos Boozer as safety-net consolation)? Or would it want O'Neal off the books after next season (facilitating, for example, the possible signing of Toronto forward Chris Bosh in a risky chase for a bigger prize)? This is Pat Riley being Pat Riley at his speculative best and worst. He has said only that any talk about a significant trade is a matter of other folks placing the 'cart before the horse.' True enough, but Riley could move the cart back behind the horse simply by being definitive on the subject of a trade. But that's not how it's going to work, because Riley has made an art form out of being vague or downright misleading. He wasn't going to trade Shaquille O'Neal right up until he did, remember?"
- Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail "As one leather-lunged fan kept yelling at Bosh at the Raptors' bench: 'We got a spot for you in 2010.' It's not clear whether Bryan Colangelo could hear the heckler -- the general manager was seated in the lower bowl on the other side of the arena -- but it's not as if he needs to be told. 'I hear that everywhere I go,' Bosh said. 'They get on me now. I just try to play basketball.' The rumour of the day yesterday had Bosh, a potential free agent in 2010, heading to Cleveland to team with LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Heading off Bosh's departure is Colangelo's No. 1 priority, which is why the Raptors' efforts to trade O'Neal have been so widely circulated -- salary cap relief to pave the quickest path to reconstruction. One trade rumour that won't go away took a brief respite last night: Despite O'Neal's return to action, there was no scout from the Miami Heat present."
- Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: "Is Baron Davis here yet? It's been over sixmonths since Davis decided he'd try to go home again, and while he's certainly found his way over to the house in Compton he grew up in a few times, his impact on his new team hasn't amounted to much yet. Wednesday's marked the midpoint of the Clippers' season, and in a nice symmetry, it came against the Lakers, the same team they began the season against Oct. 29. Since then, Davis had played in 30 games, scored 518 points and dished out 241 assists. Really? It's not just that the Clippers are in the throes of another injury-plagued, losing season. That Davis is shooting a career-worst 36 percent from the field, or that most of the news he's made this year has been for whatever his latest injury is, or whoever the latest Golden State Warrior he might have vented to. It's that as things have fallen apart for the Clippers, Davis has been in the shadows."
- Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: "When Jose Calderon comes back from a hamstring injury, he'll continue his bid to make NBA history. He already has the third-longest streak of consecutive made free throws with 79 and will be chasing No.2 Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (81) and Micheal Williams (97). It's a streak that carries with it some pressure that even the calm Calderon feels every now and then. 'When you're on the court, you don't hear the people, you don't see what they're doing, you are just concentrating,' Calderon said yesterday. 'You just try to go there and don't think too much.' But, as he approaches Abdul-Rauf, the pressure and attention keep growing. 'It's difficult the last couple of times. Everybody's interviewing me about that, everybody's talking about that,' he said."
- Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: "The Nets did their due diligence on Larry Hughes weeks ago, and one instance on March 4 was widely interpreted as telling: Three weeks after he was traded from Cleveland to Chicago, the 11th-year vet essentially said that he'd rather get shots with the Bulls than play in the NBA Finals for the Cavs, as he did the year before. ... What was often under-reported, however, is that Hughes was also dealing with a personal tragedy: His 20-year-old brother Justin had died from a heart ailment during the playoffs in May 2006."
- Darryl Maxie of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Mike Woodson, the Hawks' 50-year-old coach, felt good enough Wednesday to scrimmage and banter with the reserves who worked out on the team's practice court at Philips Arena. 'Come on out here!' he barked from the top of the key, challenging any nearby guard to stop him. The occasional nothing-but-net shot that followed wasn't his only reason to smile. The Hawks are looking better at the midseason point than they have in 12 seasons. Their 25-16 record through 41 games is easily the best of his five seasons. All that talk about when Woodson would be fired has faded away."
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: "John Paxson was matter-of-fact and candid in delivering a midseason state-of-the-Bulls address Wednesday at the Berto Center, admitting the Bulls are 'not very good right now' and acknowledging that he had failed to create the team he wants. Know this about the Bulls' general manager: For all those who criticize him for failing to make a move or perhaps making the wrong one, Paxson already has pummeled himself over it. On the first day of training camp, Paxson said his top priority was to re-create the selfless, hustling, lunch-bucket teams that made three straight playoff appearances under Scott Skiles from 2005-07. Asked his assessment of where this season's team stood in that category, Paxson said, 'It's not good enough.'"
- Fran Blinebury of the Houston Chronicle: &
quot;What would you do if Daryl Morey climbed to the roof of the Toyota Center and proclaimed that he'd just reeled in a point guard who could average 21 points and 7 assists a game, while shooting shooting 51.1 percent from the field, including knocking down exactly half of his 3-pointers? You've got to figure there'd be a stampede of people setting up lawn chairs on downtown street corners, getting ready for the parade in June. Looking beyond the stack of x-rays and MRI readouts and past the suspect backbones, hasn't that position always been the hole in the bottom of the bucket for these Rockets? The Spurs have Tony Parker. The Jazz have Deron Williams. The Hornets have Chris Paul. The Nuggets have Chauncey Billups. The Suns have Steve Nash. Suddenly the Rockets have Rafer Alston. Again. Those are his gaudy numbers over the last three games." - Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "Veteran forward Darius Miles, who is working on his second 10-day contract with the team, continues to amaze. Miles scored a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Kyle Lowry with 5:15 left in the second period and said afterwards that he knew the play would unfold hours before the game. Miles said he told Lowry pregame that play happened in his dream the night before. 'It's like Kyle was looking for it after I told him that,' Miles said. So far, Miles' physical condition, coming off major knee surgery, hasn't proved to be a major setback. 'When I went to training camp with the Celtics they established in me that you play hard every time you're in a game and in practice,' Miles said. 'Seeing what a championship team does made me realize that you have to work hard every time and that's what I'm going to do.'"
- Scott Howard-Cooper of the Sacramento Bee: "Geoff Petrie knows the value of waiting. He always knows the value of waiting, and any good personnel boss knows that a sense of timing can be as important as cap management or evaluating draft prospects. Strike now as the numbers trend upward ... or wait another three weeks for Feb. 19 to get real close and hope some suitor increases the offer in a deadline-induced panic ... or wait for the offseason and the possibility/probability the bidding will remain strong for a playoff-tested center who can pass and shoot and will be heading into the last months of his deal? All with the chance that Brad Miller could regress to November status? It's a great blinking contest."
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