- The Magic's Adonal Foyle: "This team has a lot of qualities that I really like. One of them is that we are determined. We lose a game? The mood is OK, let's win the next one. We're stubborn, and I think that's wonderful."
- I spent a little time recently re-reading Phil Jackson's 1995 book "Sacred Hoops." Orlando nightspots, don't expect to see a lot of late night Laker action next week. Phil Jackson is wise to your ways. Jackson says his first real tirade as a Bulls coach -- he kicked a soda can which shocked the players -- came after his Bulls had been partying too much in Orlando. "The players had been hanging out in Florida all week, chasing women and partying every night. I was angry because we had blown a 17-point lead, and it was clear that the players' extracurricular activities were sapping their energy."
- In today's L.A. Times, Broderick Turner quotes Laker Assistant Coach Brian Shaw: "I wouldn't be surprised at all if Jameer Nelson is starting in Game 2 on Sunday. He didn't show as much rust as a lot of people think that he would." I could not have been more surprised to see that. During Game 1, I talked to three different basketball experts who were all pretty clear that they thought it might be smarter to keep Nelson on the bench more -- as he clearly appeared rusty. Some talked about missing Anthony Johnson, and the possibility that Rafer Alston underperformed because of the psychic toll that came from the return of the guy he was brought in to replace. While they were generally positive, I ever head Magic players use the word "rust." On the other hand, Nelson is an All-Star, and he appears to be healthy. So maybe Shaw is just expecting him to get back into rhythm. Or maybe saying you expect Nelson to start increases the pressure on both Nelson and Alston. What seems clear to me is that the Magic are supposed to have an advantage at point guard, but so far have been outplayed, and I'm sure the Lakers would like to keep that up as long as possible. In any case, Stan Van Gundy insists Rafer Alston will continue to start.
- John Hollinger, reacting to David Stern's recent comments that revenues may be down as much as 10%: "One source I talked to said even a 5 percent drop in revenues would push the luxury-tax levels into the low $60 millions, which would in turn put the majority of the league's teams over the tax line in 2010-11 unless they made some serious adjustments to their payroll. It would also dramatically reduce the projected cap space for teams hoping to get in on the bidding for prospective free agents like LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire." All those teams becoming luxury tax payers could be really good for those teams that receive tax payments. One other thought: Let's just say the salary cap and luxury rax numbers come way down as expected, and many teams slash payroll drastically for next season. But then, let's also say that the economy rebounds fairly quickly. Then we could have a bizarro situation, where lots of owners might like to spend more on player salaries, but are not allowed to according to the salary cap. The Players' Association is always all for more dollars allocated to player salaries. So my question is: If a big bunch of owners and the union all want to raise the salary cap say, next January, does the current CBA allow for that? If all parties agree to do it, does the current CBA matter?
- The most authoratative and thorough examination you will ever see of whether or not Derek Fisher really beat the buzzer against San Antonio, in Game 5 of the 2004 Western Conference Finals, when he made a shot in four tenths of a second.
- David Thorpe and Mike Moreau preview Game 2: "Rashard Lewis has a tendency to try to finesse drives to the basket instead of attacking with toughness to draw the foul. It would be wise for him to do the latter. He has attacked the basket on many drives this postseason. But it just so happens that they all came before Thursday's Game 1."
- Dwight Howard is playing in a product adidas calls a "Techno Fit elbow sleeve with Power Web." So, what does that do for you? Keep your elbow warm? Protect opposing big men's heads? Hold your joints in place? "Man," says Howard, "I just wear the sleeve because I like how it looks."
- John Krolik of Cavs the Blog: "As for Kobe, 38 attempts to get 40 points doesn't seem so overwhelmingly awesome. But against a good defensive team like the Magic, the ability to create 38 opportunities for yourself and have all of them have a relatively good chance of going in is an amazing skill-it takes the team out of extended offensive lulls, which is what great defensive teams live on. And with the 8 assists, Kobe accounted for 54 of the Magic's 100 points. Really impressive. And to use 46 possessions and make one turnover is amazing."
- Poking at the idea that the Thunder might have been better without Kevin Durant.
- Portland's GM, Kevin Pritchard, as quoted by Ben from BlazersEdge: "We're willing trading partners. We're willing to move up, move down, move out ... It's never been dull and I can't imagine it will be dull this year."
- New Sixer coach Eddie Jordan is open about the fact that the team is looking for shooters.
- SLAM's Lang Whitaker: "I noticed a moth hovering around the court and was told by someone that the Staples Center has been battling a moth problem for a while now. I actually killed one in the press box during Game 1. I figured the moths must have something to do with the Clippers -- perhaps they came from the closet where Mike Dunleavy locked away his fastbreak schemes."
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has wearing a t-shirt with the word "Skyhook" across the front. I have been told that he does so as a kind of promotion for his sideline business. What's his sideline business, you ask? Consultation? Motivational speaking? Fantasy camps? A training system? Turns out I was way overthinking it. The sideline business, in fact, is selling t-shirts with the word "Skyhook" across the front. Then I was thinking, what if we all had t-shirts with our trademark work product across the front. Kevin Arnovitz could walk around in a shirt that says "video breakdown." I could walk around in a shirt that says "bullets."
- If you're in Los Angeles and can hang out before Game 2, I'll be at ESPN Zone from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. Game starts at 5 p.m.
- A tidy video look at good Laker defense, and timid O
rlando offense, in Game 1.
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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 |
