- Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel: "Brandon Jennings wants to be in tip-top shape when training camp rolls around about one month from now on Sept. 29. And the Milwaukee Bucks' rookie admits he is looking forward to another date on the calendar - Oct. 30. That will be the night of his official National Basketball Association debut, when the Bucks play at Philadelphia in the regular-season opener. So he's already toiling daily at the Bucks' training facility, spending plenty of time on the court and in the weight room. 'The organization felt it was good for me to come here early and start working,' Jennings said Thursday. 'As I get older, I will get stronger. I just want to get my legs going and get my conditioning up, so when the first day of training camp comes, I'll be ready.' ... 'The fact he's in here working is most important,' Bucks general manager John Hammond said of Jennings, the 10th-overall pick in the June draft. "If a guy like that weren't in here, then you would be concerned. It's easy to talk the talk. What he's doing right now is talking the talk and walking the walk.' "
- Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun: "Teams looking to take that next step look to Joe Smith, whose value can't be measured in points, rebounds or blocks. Atlanta is loaded with young, explosive talent that simply needs Smith's calmness and maturity. The Hawks' rotation among bigs features Smith, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia. There's no Shaq or Superman, but as a group it's damn good and deep. If Joe Smith can somehow summon the best out of Josh Smith, the Hawks then become even more of a threat. There's scoring and versatility in the Hawks backcourt and wing positions with the likes of Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford, Maurice Evans, Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams."
- Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: "And as usual, Eduardo Najera was in a talkative mood. First thing: The Nets denied the 33-year-old forward permission to play for Team Mexico in the FIBA Americas, because ostensibly, his abdomen has yet to heal. Come again? It still hasn't healed five full months after his sports hernia operation? 'They were right. I wasn't ready,' Eddie conceded. 'I learned from the best that I have to slow down, especially with my age and this injury. I want to play so bad; I was under a lot of pressure to play, and I felt like I let them down. But my loyalty has to be to the Nets, and luckily they kicked some sense into me. The doctor and trainers -- and Kiki and Rod -- all said they don't think it's a good idea to risk being reinjured.' Still, this had to be rough. Eddie is one of Mexico's most beloved athletes, and the NBA's greatest (only?) ambassador in a country of 110 million -- a country where the league hopes to place a franchise someday. He's a sponsor's dream down there, the kind of guy who can be used to sell everything from milk to Gatorade to beer. 'Oh, I can't tell you -- it was extremely hard to say no," he said. "But I explored every option. The interest in the team was so high. The media was pushing for it. I was supposed to compete, and this could be the last year I can play for the national team at a high level. But it basically came down to not being ready physically. And if I didn't re-injure the abdomen, I'd injure something else.' "
- Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer: "They're both guys with Carolina ties and each supervised Allen Iverson over parts of his first 12 NBA seasons. Former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Billy King warns that Iverson can be stubborn and self-absorbed, and doubts he'd change that as a Charlotte Bobcat. Denver Nuggets coach George Karl is more complimentary. He acknowledges Iverson puts up some ill-advised shots and lacks ideal size for a shooting guard. But Karl says Iverson's respect for Bobcats coach Larry Brown could make this notion work out. ... This could either be a quick-fix and marketing boost or a threat to the Bobcats' fine chemistry. Depends on who you ask. King, a former national defensive player of the year at Duke, spent 10 seasons in the Sixers' front office, eventually trading Iverson to the Nuggets. "Everything is about Allen, and it can't all be about Allen at this point in his career,' King told the Observer. 'He's no longer that intimidating figure who can just blow by everybody. So he's got to do other things, and I'm not sure he will.' King believes Iverson is so conditioned to a certain mindset that it's too late, at 34, for him to re-invent himself. '(Iverson's) personality is to say, 'I can still do this. I can take all the shots and stay out late and do everything I did in my 20s,' '' King described. "He needs to get to the foul line (to be effective) and if that doesn't work, he'll be very quick to yell at the referees for not giving him calls. ... Allen never made the people around him better in the first place, because it's always about Allen.' ... The problem, King says, is that indestructibility can breed hubris. 'It's like telling Jack Nicholson he has to start playing bit parts,' King said. 'Once he gets on that stage, he's going to say, 'I'm Allen Iverson!' It's going to be about him because it's always been about him, and I can't see that ever changing.' "
- Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse: "Courtney Lee knows it won't happen in just one season -- he won't make New Jersey forget Vince Carter --- but he wants to make the Orlando Magic regret the day they traded him. 'I'm going to be a man on a mission,'' Lee said Thursday afternoon after a training session at the IMG Academy. 'I just hope they'll be happy for me when I grow into the player that they wish they had. I'd like them to one day say 'I wish we would have kept him.' ' Lee, who had a surprisingly-strong rookie season, was stunned to become a major part of the deal this summer that brought Carter to Orlando, while the Nets started to rebuild around younger players, hoping to put him in the starting backcourt alongside Devon Harris. ... 'I'd like to be Dwight Howard's teammate again -- in the All-Star game,' Lee said. 'They [Magic] have a history of trading good players [Ben Wallace, Tracy McGrady, Corey Maggette, Mike Miller] who did well afterward. I hope that's me. My goal will be to go out and dominate every game, but especially those games [when I play the Magic]. I'll be jacked up for sure.' "
- Paola Boivin of The Arizona Republic: "Are you paying attention, Amaré Stoudemire? This man you've come to admire, this military theorist whose moniker you've chosen to adopt, has some valuable insight on leadership. Surely somewhere in the Chinese general's book, The Art of War, is a chapter that says conjecture about your possible departure a month removed from Suns training camp is not the right approach to unifying a team, let alone a fan base. Sigh. Stoudemire has done it again, irking some with his comments Tuesda
y that the 2009-2010 season 'might be my farewell tour.' Poor timing? You bet. Worthy of an uproar? Hardly. Stoudemire is an enigma. His choices at times are ill-advised but rarely ill-meaning. You hang around this game enough, you can smell a bad seed. He's not one of them. His challenging upbringing meant his didn't learn many life lessons until he arrived in the NBA. The arts of teamwork and camaraderie come easier for players such as Grant Hill because they have benefited from years of constant parental tutelage. For those who learn on the fly, such as Stoudemire, attempts at leadership can be clumsy at times. So although the Sun Tzu bit might seem contrived to some, it's Stoudemire trying to flex his leadership muscles and, sure, maybe trying to market himself a little bit. This is the NBA, after all." - Marc Berman of the New York Post: "It is sad that one month from training camp, David Lee is unsigned and his agent Mark Bartelstein doesn't know for sure if Lee will be signed by Sept. 28th when the Knicks bus to Saratoga. That was my story Thursday and don't let anyone misrepresent it. I spoke to Bartelstein this afternoon, not realizing he had told someone else his quote was misrepresented in the piece. Not true. Bartelstein was angry with the headline but he had no problem with the way the story read. He said the story was accurate. 'But people read the headline,' Bartelstein said, which stated 'Lee could be a holdout.' Bartelstein feels the headline portrays his client in a bad light. But facts are facts. If Lee is unsigned, he won't be coming up to Saratoga. And three times I asked Bartelstein if he thinks he'll be signed by then and three times Bartelstein said he couldn't be sure, that he never expected it to last this long. Obviously a frustrated agent. Imagine how Lee feels."
- Kevin Allen of the Chicago Sun-Times: "It may be an understatement to say it's been a busy summer for Bulls guard Derrick Rose. In the midst of controversy, the 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year is looking to avoid a sophomore slump by waking up early every morning to hit the gym. The negative press surrounding Rose didn't stop 2K Sports from making him the face of their new lead-up demo to the NBA 2K10 video game -- 'NBA 2K10 Draft Combine.' With 'Draft Combine' you experience the same thing the players do as they get ready to make the transition from college to the pros -- from the scrimmages to the drills, workouts and game situations. And while it's not the cover of the main game (that honor went to Kobe Bryant) it still has to be encouraging for Rose to see companies looking to him to represent their product."
- Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times: "No easy jokes here. The Clippers have a new, long-term, exclusive television contract with Fox Sports Prime Ticket and that deserves congratulations. It's a win for a team with a history of losing. In this financial climate, the Clippers have cause for celebration for negotiating an agreement that gives the team a solid and predictable broadcast home. The deal is set to last seven years, according to three sources, none of whom were authorized to speak publicly. The sources also said the deal is worth substantially more than the $12.5 million a year in revenue the Clippers had received in their previous arrangement with over-the-air KTLA and Fox Sports. No one was happier with Thursday's news than Ralph Lawler, the veteran Clippers broadcaster. 'I can't tell you how pleased I am to have all of our games on one carrier,' he said. 'I've been frustrated for years because it's been so easy for Lakers fans. If it's a road game they're on Channel 9, home game, Fox [Sports West]. We haven't had that advantage ever.' "
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