- Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "Did the Orlando Magic really just bury the storied Boston Celtics 101-82? Did they actually destroy the defending champions by 19 ... in Game 7 ... on Boston's home court? Mark this down as one of the greatest days in Orlando sports history. This is the night, the Magic, the resoundingly resilient Magic, ignored all of the Celtics legend and lore and started building their own legacy of triumph and tradition. 'This is about as big a win as you can have -- for our organization and our team,' Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. Hey, Shaq, do you still think Van Gundy is the 'Master of Panic'? Or does he now qualify as the Patriarch of Pressure? Hey, Sports Illustrated, do you still think Dwight Howard smiles too much to lead the Magic to playoff success against the NBA's elite? Or has he finally proven you can grin -- and win?"
- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: "According to coach Doc Rivers, his guys looked focused and ready in the morning shootaround. 'And then,' Rivers said after the 101-82 Game 7 loss at the Garden, 'we come out and lay an egg.' The Celtics dispensed with any suspense fairly quickly. Let it be recorded that their last lead of the season was 2-0. 'Tonight it just really felt like we ran out of gas,' captain Paul Pierce said. Look, the Celtics weren't going to win a second consecutive title without Garnett anyway, so you are free to ask if it really matters when they chose to leave the party. But the manner in which they departed didn't seem quite appropriate."
- Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: "It's a strange feeling. To have watched someone play for more than a year and just now feel like you know them. Admit it. Before he rocked the Houston Rockets for 21 points and 18 rebounds in Sunday's 89-70 Game 7 victory, you hardly knew Pau Gasol. Other than being the obscenely talented center the Lakers acquired in the middle of last season from Memphis, your impression of the splendid Spaniard was pretty limited. Great player, nice guy, scraggly beard. Sunday, with his howling, scowling effort in the Lakers' most important game of the season, Gasol finally put his stamp on this team. He growled. Fixed his jowl hard and fierce, and screamed into the purple-and-gold-colored afternoon."
- Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "As nice as it was to have demonstrated the resilience and determination they had shown throughout their often rocky season, those watching closely along the way already knew that about them. It was only those that only started watching in the postseason that picked up on that when the Rockets pushed the Lakers. They did, however, gain something by playing 13 postseason games, something they lacked and desperately needed in those dozen seasons unable to get past the first round. The playoffs are when teams really learn what it takes to be more than their talent allows, when they learn about themselves and how they must play to be their best. It is a process and it's not easy, as the Rockets' Game 7 loss to the Lakers showed. In the end, to win big in the NBA requires stars, even superstars, and by the time the series ended, the Rockets did not have them. The Rockets had to ask Aaron Brooks to fill that role, and that was a bit much to expect."
- Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "The gist of his call contained words that were just as pointed and emphatic, but filled with skepticism. ''If,' the man said, 'the Oklahoma City Thunder wins the lottery, I'll never watch the NBA again.' Of course, he spoke of Blake Griffin -- the consensus best player in college basketball and top prize in this year's NBA draft lottery. Griffin also hails from Oklahoma City, so naturally he'll end up there as a pro, right? Just like Chicago native Derrick Rose ended up with this hometown Bulls in 2008 and Cleveland-area product LeBron James went to the Cavaliers in 2003. Never mind that Oklahoma City has the fourth-best odds of winning. Forget the playoffs for a moment. This time of year seems to present a different, albeit familiar, season. There's autumn, winter, spring, NBA draft lottery conspiracies and summer. When the NBA lottery unfolds Tuesday in an NBA Entertainment studio at Secaucus, N.J., it has to be rigged, right? Surely, the NBA wants to send Griffin home or hold back the team with the worst record (in this case, Sacramento) or adhere to a conspiracy theory to be named later?"
- Bill Bradley of the Sacramento Bee: "The league needs to follow the lead of the NFL and Major League Baseball. The team with the worst record should get the first pick. And it should not matter how a team got that pick. It's that simple."
- Tom Enlund of the Journal Sentinel: "The Bucks will be represented at the lottery in Secaucus, N.J., by GM John Hammond, who will be on stage for the televised portion of the event, and assistant general manager Jeff Weltman, who will be in the private room where the actual lottery takes place. Before joining the Bucks last season, Hammond was with the highly successful Detroit Pistons organization and the 2008 lottery was the first he had attended. 'It's an atmosphere where I don't know that anyone wants to be there because you don't equate the lottery with success,' Hammond said. 'You equate the lottery with, we're here because we're not where we want to be (the playoffs).' In other words, it's not a very enjoyable experience. 'You don't want to be sitting at the lottery, you want to be playing,' Hammond said."
- Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "Larry Bird is expected to represent the Pacers at the NBA draft lottery Tuesday. Don't expect Bird to carry a lucky rabbit's foot or wear a pair of his old socks from his playing days with the Celtics. Bird doesn't believe in carrying a good-luck charm. 'I'd probably carry something in my pocket if we had like a 25 percent chance to get No. 1,' Bird said, laughing, at this time last year. 'With one percent, you just hope they don't call your name too early.' The Pacers, who are currently slotted to have the No. 13 pick, have a 0.6 percent chance of moving up to one of the top three spots. ... The Pacers had a chance to get the 10th pick but they thought beating Milwaukee in the season finale was more important than getting a higher draft pick."
- Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman: "Blake Griffin, the plum of this mediocre draft, stands 6-foot-9 in his bare stockings, 6-10 in shoes, which he is likely to wear during important games. This information comes from multiple sources, including my eyeballs. I've stood next to basketball players for going on 30 years. I know a fraud when I see one. Griffin is no fraud. He's a long tall boy w
ho clearly stands a hand above the 6-foot-6 crowd that heavily populates college hoops. Mike Houck is an even better primary source. OU's long-time basketball publicist measures all the Sooner players himself. 'I don't like being accused of fudging numbers,' Houck said. His findings on Griffin? Six-foot-10 in shoes, which is legitimate size for an NBA power forward and should answer what might be the only question left about Griffin's pro potential. Not that it matters much. Height is the most overrated attribute in basketball. Quickness is the most underrated." - Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: "Director of player personnel George David and strength-and-conditioning coach Arnie Kander will put players through workouts in an environment that the Pistons control. ... Kander, who has worked for the Pistons since 1992, will conduct the workouts that emphasize a prospect's strength, speed and jumping ability -- with a twist. Instead of just having a player jump, Kander will have him run around obstacles and then jump -- kind of simulating an actual game situation when going for a rebound. 'A lot of guys in the NBA can jump out the gym, but can't get a rebound,' Kander said. The team will conduct workouts for two to three groups of up to six players at a time."
- Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald: "The Bulls could be one successful move from becoming LeBron James' opponent in next year's conference finals. There was no real mystery to the Bulls last season. Their strengths are team speed and a variety of offensive weapons. The weaknesses are defense and lack of an inside scorer. The availability of power forwards Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire has been discussed in recent months, but a more realistic target for the Bulls this summer might be Utah's Carlos Boozer. The 6-foot-9 power forward plans to opt out of his contract and become a free agent, which presents the Jazz with an interesting dilemma. ... Point guard Deron Williams is locked up long term, but Utah could use a makeover and an infusion of defense. Would a sign-and-trade sending Boozer to the Bulls for Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng make sense? To even out the salaries, Utah might include swingman C.J. Miles and/or point guard Ronnie Price, who could be quality backups for the Bulls. There is no easy solution for the Jazz, which slumped to the No. 8 seed in the West with an injury-marred season."
- Kerry Eggers of The Portland Tribune: "Looks like Tom Penn is the next general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports Penn -- the Blazers' assistant GM -- will handle the salary cap/numbers side, with current Timberwolves assistant GM Fred Hoiberg as his top basketball personnel evaluator. It will be a loss to Portland GM Kevin Pritchard, who has a tight circle of execs around him, notably Penn, director of college scouting Chad Buchanan and director of NBA scouting Michael Born. The quartet seems inseparable at games, both at home and on the road, when they are not off doing their jobs individually. There's a chemistry there, and Pritchard may have a tough time recreating it with Penn's replacement."
- Martin Frank of The News Journal: "The role of the media is to serve as a conduit between the team and the fans. The more the media knows, the more the fans know, and hence, the better the fans feel about the team. Conversely, if the team is stonewalling the media, it's a disservice to the fans because they don't know what's going on. It's hard to get enthusiastic about the team in those situations. Never has that difference been more apparent than in the coaching searches for the only two teams with openings -- the Sixers and the Sacramento Kings. Ed Stefanski has refused to comment throughout the search process. That includes naming potential candidates or even describing how interviews went. The Kings are taking a different approach. They have posted on their Web site each candidate they have brought in for interviews, with comments about them from general manager Geoff Petrie. ... Does that information make Kings' fans more excited about the team than Sixers' fans? Not necessarily. But it does make them better informed."
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