Coast to Coast: 12/26/08

Let’s go coast to coast with the stories and views from around the league:

• Steve Dilbeck of the LA Daily News: “The Lakers came into their showdown with the Celtics an impressive 23-5, and very much needing to beat Boston down. Needing reason to truly believe they are as good they like to think they are, that they are that much better than the team Boston drummed in the NBAFinals last June.  The Celtics came into Staples Center on a roll, having won a franchise- record 19straight games. Still looking focused and determined, and playing with a mature consistency that has eluded the Lakers.  But the Lakers needed this one more, needed to brush aside the perception they were soft, too weak mentally, just too inferior to the mighty Celtics.  Despite the great run the Celtics were on, despite the glare of a nationally-televised Christmas Day game, this game was more important to the Lakers, and ultimately they played like it.  They may not have been dramatically better, but it was the Lakers who answered the challenge, who made plays down the stretch and came away with the 92-83 victory that reeked of playoff intensity.”
• Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Which brings us to the Cavs, the surprise team of the NBA after Thursday’s 93-89 victory over Washington. The 25-4 Cavs are right behind the 27-3 Celtics in the race to be the best in the Eastern Conference.  Was it reasonable to expect the Cavs to win 50 games this season? Of course, assuming LeBron James stays healthy. But a 25-4 start with only five players remaining from this time a year ago?  It’s a product of chemistry…make that trust…much like Boston a year ago.”
• Mark Heisler of the LA Times: “Yet to be determined is whether the Lakers have undergone an actual attitude adjustment and will play hard all the time.  On the other hand, when you think of their fans booing them off the court at halftime in their last game here, when they trailed the New York Knicks by 15, followed by losses in Miami and Orlando and a rally from five points behind in the last 3:30 to win in Memphis, Christmas marked some turnaround.  The Lakers defended energetically, if not always well.  They showed that their physical advantages over the Celtics in size and depth matter.”
• From the Detroit News: ”Chris Paul of the Hornets saw his league-record string of 108 games with at least one steal end in the Hornets’ 88-68 loss to the Magic on Thursday. Paul, the NBA steals leader (3.7 average), and most of the starters came out early in the fourth quarter with the Magic up by at least 20. “Half the time when I got a steal I didn’t even know it,” said Paul, who was unaware his streak ended until after the game. “It was going to end at some point so why not Christmas?”“
• Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News: “The NBA went all out to make the late-night portion of its Christmas Day extravaganza a real yuletide experience. The uniforms were green for the Mavericks, red for Portland.  Given the festive atmosphere, you half expected the teams to come out wearing Santa hats.  But by the third quarter, good tidings were officially over.  A flurry of technical fouls and some elbows-first kind of play turned the game into a nasty, rugged affair devoid of any Christmas cheer.  That was just fine with the Mavericks, since they ended up grinding out a 102-94 victory over the Trail Blazers in probably their most commendable victory of the season.”
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: “Irate, Duncan grabbed Stoudemire so that referee Jason Phillips was forced to call a foul, and that gave Duncan time to give the whistle blower his opinion.  Fifty-nine seconds later, Duncan rued the momentary loss of his stoic demeanor. Whistled for bumping O’Neal as the Suns center looked for a cutting teammate, Duncan knew he was one foul shy of disqualification.  Somehow, he managed to avoid a sixth personal while stopping three drives to the basket by Stoudemire in the final 1:53, each time rebounding the miss.  It was a clutch performance Popovich called “absolutely spectacular.”  Duncan’s defense kept things just close enough for the dramatic ending. Spurs guard Roger Mason Jr. launched a 3-point shot from the left corner that beat the buzzer as it left his hand and beat the Suns when it went in the basket.”
• Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic: “Being plucked from a bad franchise and put into a successful one two weeks ago was like a Christmas present for Jason Richardson.  The new Sun wants so badly to help. Too badly.  His decision to help on defense Thursday against San Antonio’s Tony Parker made the NBA’s third-ranked 3-point shooter, Roger Mason, look as alone in the corner as a Christmas tree once the presents are gone. Mason, subbed in for that play, made good on the 3-point shot to beat the buzzer and the Suns, 91-90, at US Airways Center.”

Coast to Coast: 9/25/08

Let’s push the ball up the court as we go from coast to coast with the stories from around the league.

• KTAR.com is reporting Goran Dragic of the Suns had his first practice with the Suns and he is comparing his game to Tony Parker’s.  ”I like to penetrate, play pass basketball,” he said. “I’m a good defender, I like to play defense and make some [opportunities] for other teammates.”  Remember the backup to Steve Nash is a very important position.  You don’t want to have to go into a funk offensively when Nash is on the bench.
• The Seattle Post Intelligencer is reporting that the Spurs have signed George Hill, the team’s first round draft pick.  Hill and free agent addition Salim Stoudamire need to help rejuvenate the Spurs bench.  Their bench was old and ineffective last year and was their ultimate undoing.]
• The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that the Nuggets are bringing Nick Fazekas to training camp on a nonguaranteed contract.  I can see him as a good fit in Denver because of his scoring ability and his indifference towards playing defense.
• Frank Isola of the Daily News is wondering the same thing as all of us: how is what Jay Z doing not tampering with LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Says Isola, “Did you happen to see the photo of Jay-Z and LeBron James in last Friday’s Daily News? The Nets minority owner and the NBA’s second best player were together attending a fundraiser in Manhattan (and no, it wasn’t to help finance the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn.)  These two guys are spotted together so often that Beyonce is starting to ask questions. At what point will the Cleveland Cavaliers start accusing the Nets of tampering?”  Yes Frank, it is enough to make you sick.  Maybe the Nets should consider getting some NBA level talent before expecting LeBron to come to a terrible team.
• The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Hedo Turkoglu will likely opt out of his contract at the end of the season.  This is somewhat of a problem for Orlando.  Sure he is old but he is still arguably the best scorer on their roster and someone they look to in the clutch.
• The Orange County Register had an interesting Q & A with Andrew Bynum.  The most interesting quote was this: “Yet perhaps the most revealing and key bit of information Bynum shared with a near-capacity room of Lakers fans during the Register-sponsored Q&A was that his surgically repaired knee is in “super” condition.”  Look out Western Conference.

Coast to Coast: 9/22/08

Let’s push the ball up the court as we go from coast to coast with the stories from around the league.

• There are some professional athletes that get it and there are some that don’t get it.  Dwayne Wade gets it.  LeBron James gets it.  So does Chris Paul.  You can tell how smart and bright these guys are by the way that they carry themselves.  However, Josh Howard is one of those that just doesn’t get it.  A moron said something really stupid.  Let’s just move on.  Realgm.com explains the situation in detail including labeling him as the problem child.
• Meanwhile the AP is reporting that Mark Cuban has said on his blog that Howard realizes his comments were wrong and that he apologized.
• We have talked about the Zach Randolph situation plenty but one possible destination floating around for him to land is Golden State.  The 3 years and $48 million left on his deal is a huge roadblock though to any potential trade.  The San Francisco Examiner is reporting that for the Warriors to acquire Zach, they would likely have the unload another bad contract in the deal such as Stephen Jackson or Al Harrington.  Unlike Randolph, Jackson and Harrington only have 2 years left on their deals.  Also Harrington can opt out after this season but he is set to make a whopping $10 million this year regardless.  It just makes it hard to imagine a trade between the two teams.  I don’t think the Warriors would trade one of their bad contracts for an even worse contract that lasts for one extra year.
• The Orange County Register is reporting that Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has made the most obvious statement of the day: that the Lakers gave up less to get Pau Gasol than the Grizzlies originally wanted.  Thanks for that hard hitting analysis Mitch.  You fleeced them, I understand that.
• Slow news day in basketball so that is it for today.  I do want to say congratulations to the US Ryder Cup team who played wonderfully all weekend long in their upset over Europe.  Hunter Mahan, Boo Weekley, and J.B. Holmes were all huge for the home team.  Golf fans need to get to know these names soon.

Quick Rewind: USA 118, Spain 107

Redemption complete