Tag Archives: basketball
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Greg Oden hasn’t fully given up on playing in the NBA.
He’s knows he is a long, long way from there, and said he plans to take next season off to recover and rehab from a third microfracture surgery. He seems more comfortable than ever with the possibility it might never work out.
Just don’t tell his agent that.
His agent was talking with the Miami Herald and upping the timeline on Oden’s potential return and saying if Oden returns he wants to play for the Heat. Of course he does.
But his agent, Mike Conley Sr., told us Oden is positioned be ready to play in December or January “as far as being effective and in shape” and will explore options in the coming months, with the possibility of joining a team next season. But nobody obviously can know for sure when he will be ready.
The Heat hasn’t called but “Greg has talked about Miami,” Conley said. “He has interest. He’s not retiring.”
Spoken like a true agent.
I’m no doctor, but a year away from the court just rehabbing his knee seems prudent. Then make the call. I’d root for Oden to return, just because he seems a genuinely good guy who has had his body betray him. But basketball needs to be second to health for him now.
Reuters
Few teams are going to have a more interesting off-season than the Atlanta Hawks.
From the general manager whose contract is up to the coach with an option hanging out there — not to mention the Josh Smith trade request — there are nothing but questions in Atlanta this summer.
In theory they could look similar at the start of next season — all five starters are under contract for another year — Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Smith and Al Horford… plus they have Zaza Pachulia, too.
But that’s it. Nine players are free agents for the Hawks — Kirk Hinrich, Tracy McGrady, Vladimir Radmanovic and Jerry Stackhouse are the biggest names.
It’s just hard to discuss what direction they will go until the status of general manager Rick Sund is cleared up. If ownership brings in a new general manager the status of coach Larry Drew and his contract option is certainly up in the air. It might be even if he stays.
Whoever is calling the shots will have a lot on their plate. That starts with Smith, who reportedly requested a trade last year and was shopped around, but with no takers. Smith is an All-Star quality big man owed $13.2 million next year in the last year of his deal, he could be moved but brining back equal value on the court would be very difficult.
The Hawks could keep their starting five — which went to the second round of the playoffs three straight years but couldn’t get by Boston missing Al Horford for most of the season and the start of the playoff series — and try to build a bench around them that could take the Hawks to the next level.
Ahh…but there is that little problem of money.
The Hawks at nearly $61 million in payroll are already over the salary cap and $10 million away from the luxury tax line. They have a mid-level exception ($5 million) and can re-sign the players on their roster they want to have back. But this is a team that does not go over the tax line, so it is about $10 million to fill in 9 roster spots. Do the math. You’re not brining in a whole lot of depth and quality with that money.
Does the Hawks bring back Ivan Johnson, showed flashes of good play and flashes of immaturity? What about Tracy McGrady? Jannero Pargo?
It feels like the Hawks could see a big shakeup this summer, with changes to the core of the team, starting with Smith. Horford is the anchor and Atlanta could start to rebuild around him.
They just need to decide who is doing the rebuilding.
Reuters
Chris Paul is the beating heart of a Clippers offense, one based around him using his immense skill and basketball IQ to carve teams up. Ask Memphis.
But behind Tony Parker, Danny Green and a team effort where San Antonio overloaded Paul’s side of the court they held CP3 in check — 3-for-13 shooting, 10 assists and 5 turnovers — and that kept the explosive Clippers in check. The result was a very Spurs-like 108-92 win in Game 1.
What should concern Clippers faithful is that while the Spurs started to figure out and adjust and go with what worked as the game went on, the Clippers found it harder to go to other options.
The Clippers did a good job of slowing down Tony Parker — 7 points on 1-9 shooting, but 11 assists and 4 turnovers. But the Spurs had other options: Tim Duncan had 26, Manu Ginobili had 22, Kawhi Leonard had 16 points and was 3-3 from beyond the arc. The Spurs core destroyed the Clippers core.
Part of that might have been the Clippers were tired — this was their sixth game in 11 days. But it doesn’t matter, this series goes plays again Thursday then back-to-back Saturday and Sunday. There is no rest coming.
Neither team was sharp all the way around on defense in this game, save for their point guards cancelling each other out. It was 57-49 Spurs at the half but the only real difference was the Spurs were 7-11 from three.
San Antonio finished 13-25 from deep, but they also shot 81 percent in the paint and got a lot of shots right at the rim. When the Spurs are getting baskets from layups and threes they will destroy any defense.
There were bright spots for the Clippers — Blake Griffin was moving better early on and had 10 points in first half. Eric Bledsoe was spectacular off the bench with 23 points and great energy. DeAndre Jordan at home in finesse not physical style of play with 7 points and 8 boards in first half. But the Spurs adjusted like they do and had 1 rebound only on the second half.
That’s because the veteran Spurs behind Gregg Popovich adjust. After a closer first half San Antonio the third quarter with a series of runs (one 8-0, another 7-0) by playing sharper defense, making the extra pass on offense. The Clippers had no answers.
But at the start of the fourth the Spurs started hurting themselves with bad decisions, like Tiago Spliter trying to take Kenyon Martin off the dribble from the top of the key (it wasn’t pretty). The Clippers went small with a Kenyon Martin at center lineup, a few quick Spurs turnovers and the 18-point lead was down to 8.
But San Antonio is not Memphis, they do not melt away.
The Clippers have to find some defensive answers. They have to figure out how to make the Spurs pay for overloading on Paul. It’s not easy, it’s growing pains. Something the Spurs have already been through and come out the other side.
Miami fans, the time to panic may be now.
Indiana certainly didn’t dominate Miami in their ugly 78-75 Game 2 win, but they did make the Heat look like a team that may be fatally flawed without the third member of their “Big 3″ in the lineup. The Heat had plenty of chances to win this game, but ended up giving home-court advantage to a team that nobody was predicting to win the series. Also, Miami simply didn’t look like a championship-caliber basketball team on Tuesday, which may be an even worse sign for them.
Miami was never able to get it going offensively, but they hid that in the first half by playing some absolutely suffocating defense on the Pacers, holding them to just 33 points in the 1st half and seemingly having an extra man on the court defensively.
In the 3rd quarter, however, Miami took their foot off the gas pedal defensively, Indiana was able to get a 28-point quarter, and Miami was unable to recover. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did their best, combining for 21 of Miami’s 23 fourth-quarter points, but LeBron missed 2 key free throws with 54 seconds remaining, and Wade missed a contested layup that would have tied the game for the Heat with 16 seconds remaining.
The Pacers missed a ton of free throws on their own to allow the Heat to stay in the game, but they were able to hold on after Mario Chalmers missed a game-tying 3 as time expired.
The story tomorrow will likely be about Wade’s missed layup and LeBron’s missed free throws (the latter more than the former), but the truth is that Miami’s offensive problems go much deeper than their ability to make shots down the stretch, especially with Bosh out of the lineup. Chalmers and Mike Miller played like they were shaving points. James Jones missed all 3 of his 3-point attempts. The team shot 1-16 from deep. Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony, and Ronny Turiaf combined for 7 points, and Erik Spoelstra seems to have lost faith in Haslem, the team captain, who only played 12 minutes.
No single Pacer had a great game, but that’s the beauty of this Pacer team — they don’t need big performances. They got what they needed when they needed it — a Leandro Barbosa floater here, a Danny Granger jump shot there, a David West post move on occasion, all the way down the line, and it was all they needed to beat the Heat on a night where Miami simply couldn’t get anything done offensively.
It’s simple for the Heat now — if they don’t win at least one game in Indiana, they’re going to go home early and have no rings to show for 2 years of having their “big three.” After Derrick Rose got injured, a lot of people expected Miami to have a fairly easy road to the finals, but the frontrunners should be feeling serious pressure right now.
AP
SEASON RECORDS
L.A. Clippers: 40-26 (5 seed)
San Antonio 50-16 (1 seed)
SEASON SERIES
Spurs took it 2-1. The Clippers won the most recent game but Tony Parker did not play for San Antonio.
KEY INJURIES
Clippers: Blake Griffin will play but says he is about “75-80 percent” with a sprained left knee. Chris Paul is fighting through what is being called a hip flexor, which could be an aggravation of a groin injury, however he looked just fine in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against Memphis to me. Don’t forget Caron Butler has a broken left hand.
Spurs: No major injuries and they have been resting since roughly Mardi Gras.
OFFENSE/DEFENSE RANKINGS (points per 100 possession)
San Antonio: offense 108.5 (1st); defense 100.6 (10th)
L.A. Clippers: offense 108.5 (4th); defense 105.7 (18th)
THREE KEY SPURS:
Tony Parker: The matchup of this series is Parker against Chris Paul, two of the best point guards in the game going head-to-head. In the two meetings against each other this season, Parker outplayed Paul, if he does in this series it’s over quickly. The Spurs are an offensive power (best in the NBA this year) because they get their shots at the rim or on good look threes more than any other team out there — Parker is the guy who needs to create that. The Spurs should score. The other test for Parker and the Spurs is pick-and-roll defense, because pretty much every page of Vinny Del Negro’s playbook is a variation of the P&R.
DeJuan Blair: Here’s the thing (pointed out by Zach Lowe at SI), the Spurs tend to put Blair on Blake Griffin and hide Duncan on DeAndre Jordan or whoever is playing center for the Clippers. Griffin is the one brutal matchup problem for the Spurs but he is not 100 percent. If Blair and Matt Bonner can keep Griffin in check (or in foul trouble by working him on the offensive end) the Spurs chances go way up.
Manu Ginobili: Expect him to be raining down corner threes on the Clippers all series long — Los Angeles doesn’t defend it well and the Spurs live by it. He’s also just a matchup problem because the Clippers don’t have a bench guy who can match him, plus Ginobili can do pretty much everything well so he just takes what you give him. Also, under/over of two Euro-step moves a game.
THREE KEY CLIPPERS:
Chris Paul: He is the beating heart Clippers right now, he is what makes them go. If he is not at 100 percent it will be difficult for Los Angeles. The Spurs big men are not great at defending the pick-and-roll and CP3 is going to have to make them pay for that, both by getting himself good looks and finding Jordan or Griffin for the alley-oop when Duncan slides over to help. Paul took over in close games against Memphis and he’s going to have to do that in this series — and do it against Tony Parker. Plus he needs to defend Parker well.
Blake Griffin: San Antonio doesn’t really have anyone who can stop him on the block. I know a bunch of Spurs fans just said “but all he can do is dunk,” this is you’re mostly wrong. Griffin has good footwork and can spin and drive for dunks, he’ll face up and go around you, he has a running hook in the lane and if you double him is a surprisingly good passer out of it. He’s better than you think. (Besides, the dunk is the most efficient shot in basketball, if you tell me all a guy can do is dunk but he’s athletic enough to get to the rim and do it five or more times every game, any coach will take that. Including Popovich.) Griffin is banged up but he has to exploit the defense for the Clippers to hang in these games.
DeAndre Jordan: If there is one thing that bothers the Spurs, it’s an active, athletics big man scoring points. DeAndre Jordan can be that guy — he was just nothing like that in the first round when he was often benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Reggie Evans. Jordan is going to have Duncan on him and needs to make the Spurs pay when Duncan leaves him to slide into the paint and protect against the slashing Paul. Also, the Spurs get a lot of their points at the rim and Jordan needs to defend this.
OUTLOOK
Consider this the anti Sixers/Celtics series — both of these teams can score and both struggle to consistently stop what the other team does well. Here are a couple specific areas to watch.
• The Spurs and the corner three. The Spurs live by this shot, it is at the heart of what they want to do on offense, while the Clippers were the third worst team in the league at defending the arc this year (teams shot 36.5 percent against them). In their three meetings this season, the Spurs shot 48 percent from the corner specifically, up from their season average of 41 percent. If Bonner and Ginobili get to rain down threes from there with impunity, the Clippers are in trouble.
• The Spurs going to the rim. This is the other thing the Spurs do well, both through Tony Parker penetration and just good ball movement — they get shots at the rim. The Clippers, with the athletic Griffin and Jordan, do a good job forcing teams out of the paint and do not give up a lot of easy buckets. If the Spurs still get the looks they want the Clippers are in trouble.
• Battle of the benches. The Spurs are not three old guys and a bunch of stiffs any more — Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson give them guys who can contribute in the system. The Spurs keep doing what they do no matter who ins on the floor, they are Terminator relentless. The Clippers bring shooters like Mo Williams and Nick Young, they bring the beard of Reggie Evans, but they don’t bring the same consistency. Someone from the Clippers bench needs to catch fire and steal them a game.
• Chris Paul on the pick-and-roll. Yes, I know that is the entire Vinny Del Negro playbook, but it also is the best way to attack the Spurs — expose their bigs lack of athleticism with the play. The Clippers should get looks this way, they should be the faster, more athletic team. Tony Parker is the problem here, but if the Clippers are going to be a threat in this series this is how it happens, because CP3 is the MVP.
• Gregg Popovich vs. Vinny Del Negro. Vinny deserves credit for getting the Clippers out of the first round for only the second time since they moved to the West coast. He’s got them playing better defense. He’s still no Popovich. If it’s close at the end of games the Spurs have the advantage.
PREDICTION
Spurs in 5.
I want to believe in Los Angeles, but this is a tough matchup and the two guys who can change things are banged up (Paul and Griffin). Unlike against Memphis, the Clippers will not win the fourth quarter execution game. The Clippers are a team still learning to win together — Chris Paul has never been out of the second round; Blake Griffin, Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan are getting their first taste of the playoffs. It’s not that the Clippers are just happy to be here, but they are still learning and when their weaknesses are exposed they do not have the counters yet to fall back on. This is what happens in the playoffs, teams and players learn the hard way what they need to improve to take the steps forward. The Clippers are still learning.
The Spurs know who they are and what they have to do. Someday the guard will change between these teams, but that time is not yet.
AP
Here is our daily look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points.
• How much respect does Vinny Del Negro deserve for the job he’s done coaching the Clippers this season and playoffs? Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo says more than he is getting. After a first round win I can’t see the Clippers making a change this summer, but that is different than saying he is the coach who can take this team to contender status.
• The NBA has rightfully rescinded the technical Reggie Evans of the Clippers got for giving Blake Griffin a high five (follow the link to see the video, I was there and we couldn’t figure it out).
• Thaddeus Young is a go for the Sixers on Monday night in Game 2 against Boston despite shin (or ankle, depending on who you ask) issues.
• Where is O.J. Mayo going to be playing next season?
• There are rumors out there the Pistons are looking to move Ben Gordon.
• The Indiana Pacers players would not discuss the foul disparity from their Game 1 loss to the Heat.
• Stephon Marbury was honored with a statue in Beijing over the weekend for leading his team to the Chinese Basketball Association title. Dennis Rodman flew out to honor him. I would love to have been at that party.
• The NBA viewership is skewing younger — that’s good for marketing. There are companies that will pay to reach a younger, multi-cultural, tech-savvy audience.
• A look at the Knicks season through New York Post covers.
• Shareef Abdur-Rahim left Cal after one season for the NBA, but he has gone back and will get his college degree on Monday. Good for him. He is currently an assistant GM with the Kings.
• A documentary on the Kings past and future in Sacramento will be released online Tuesday.
• Don Nelson got his college degree over the weekend, too. Just 50 years later than planned.
• Apparently LeBron James‘ son is now a Heat executive.
• NBA referee Bennett Salvatore is being roasted… no, not on a spit like some of you want. It’s for charity.
• Making ice cream with the Raptors’ Amir Johnson.
• You can now hire evil clowns for your child’s birthday party (via NPR).
It doesn’t change the big picture – the Heat are still going to win this series and there are still questions about the construction and future of the Knicks.
But for a day the Knicks got a measure of redemption — the Knicks made the big plays late, Carmelo Anthony outplayed LeBron James, the Knicks got the win and ended their 13-game playoff losing streak. New York got the 89-87 win and now the Heat lead 3-1 heading back to Miami for Game 5 on Wednesday.
It felt like a different Knicks team from the start, with Amare Stoudemire returning to the lineup. But more than that, the Knicks came out with a little fire and a sense of desperation — Stoudemire has 6 points and 4 rebounds in the first quarter, Anthony had 8 points. All game long the Knicks did a good job of having Stoudemire rolling after setting a pick for Melo, or Melo driving and kicking. There was ball movement in the offense.
But the second quarter turned and felt like the rest of the series — the Heat went on a 12-0 run, they suffocated the Knicks with defense and were the team attacking and getting to the line (Miami had 17 second quarter free throws).
But the Knicks would not go quietly into that good night and came back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to make it a game late.
Anthony finished with 41 and was attacking — with six minutes to go in the game he got the ball in transition and went right at Wade to get the And 1.
But the real key for the Knicks was that Anthony and Stoudemire played well off each other — that is the one sign of hope going forward. Both men were attacking the rim and creating space for the other. The Knicks ran crazy triple screens that the Heat did not defend consistently all game and for once the Knicks made them pay.
It wasn’t all good news for the Knicks — Baron Davis went down in the third quarter with what was later determined to be a dislocated knee cap. He had to be carried off the court. With the team already missing Jeremy Lin, they don’t need to be down another point guard.
And it still came down to a last shot and a last chance for Dwyane Wade three for the win (Stoudemire did a good job defending him on the switch and when Wade lost the handle for a second he was forced into a desperation shot). Wade finished with 22 points, LeBron had 27.
There will be a Game 5, and the Knicks can win a playoff game. There are still a lot of questions to be asked about this team, but for a day New York gets the win and should savor it.
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The USA Select team is the team in waiting — guys invited to the USA Basketball training camp in Las Vegas this summer to push and test the guys actually going to London. The Select Team are the guys Mike Krzyzewski and friends want to see up close, to consider for future Olympics and World Championships.
Here is the roster, a source told Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com:
DeMarcus Cousins — Kings
Jeremy Lin — Knicks
Klay Thompson — Warriors
Kyrie Irving — Cavaliers
John Wall — Wizards
DeMar DeRozan — Toronto
Paul George — Pacers
Gordon Hayward — Jazz
Kawhi Leonard — Spurs
DeJuan Blair — Spurs
Ryan Anderson — Magic
Taj Gibson — Bulls
Derrick Favors — Jazz
A few of these names had already leaked out and a number have now been confirmed.
Some of these guys — Wall, Irving, Cousins, Hayward, Thompson — have skill sets that could play well in the international style game, with its floor spacing and off-the-ball movement. Each though needs to mature and grow his game, and himself. Sometimes guys come out of this and the challenge of being against the best pushes them, helps their games grow.
We’ll see who gets that out of this year’s camp.
Reuters
Ty Lawson is at the heart of the Denver Nuggets’ future. That much was clear as the Nuggets played gutty, fun basketball and pushed the Lakers to seven games — Lawson averaged 19 points a game on 51.4 percent shooting and added 7 assists per game as the point guard.
After his fourth year in the NBA Lawson is now up for a contract extension and both sides want to work one out that keeps Lawson playing in the mile high city, reports the Denver Post.
Asked about possibly getting a contract extension from the Nuggets this summer, Lawson told The Denver Post: “It’s definitely a goal. I want to be here long term. I’m pretty sure my agent and Masai (Ujiri, the Nuggets’ executive vice president of basketball operations) will talk this summer.”
Asked Sunday about Lawson, Ujiri said: “He’s going to be a big part of the Denver Nuggets. We’re excited. Ty is going to grow even more. He made a little jump, and he’ll continue to make jumps as he gets older.”
Lawson will be back with the Nuggets either way, he either works out an extension or comes back for a fifth season then will try out the market as a restricted free agent next summer.
But if you’re committed to a guy and want to make him happy, you do the extension (they can talk about it after July 1). Denver has already done that with Danilo Gallinari (four-years, $42 million). I expect we’ll see the same here.
Lawson is not a max deal guy but he can get some long-term security and Denver can lock down Lawson for five years at what might be below market rate in a couple years (if Lawson keeps taking steps forward). While the numbers will be different, think of what Danny Ainge did in Boston locking down Rajon Rondo at a price he could no longer get.
Some work needs to be done to fill out the rest of the Nuggets roster if they are going to take the next steps forward, but Lawson will be part of that future.
JaVale McGee, on the other hand, is a restricted free agent this summer and it will be interesting to see what the market will bear for him.
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The Atlanta Hawks were able to pick up a victory in the opening game of their NBA Playoffs series against the Boston Celtics, but after watching Sunday evening’s game, it seems as though that might be the only win they post this postseason. The Celtics were able to get their offense going from the get-go and, unsurprisingly, it got ugly for Hawks’ fans soon after as Boston cruised to an easy victory.
There was a lot of optimism pre-game for a competitive contest when it was announced that Al Horford would return from injury and Josh Smith was good to go after missing Game 3 due to injury, but that optimism was all for naught, unfortunately. Boston got out to an amazingly hot start and couldn’t miss a shot — in spite of solid defense — and kept their foot on the gas on the resof the way en route to a 101-79 victory and a 3-1 lead in the series.
The Celtics moved the ball well in the early-goings, the jump shots were falling and the writing was on the wall at the end of the first quarter. For reference, the Celtics made six field goals in the first quarter whereas Rajon Rondo dished seven of his 16 total assists in the same stanza … and it didn’t get any prettier the rest of the way for Atlanta.
The Hawks’ offensive-isolation woes that have plagued them in previous games were there from the outset — they dished just two more assists as a team than Rondo did himself — and they were unable to get any sort of significant contributions from their best offensive players: Joe Johnson scored nine points on just eight shots, Jeff Teague had seven points and a less-than-stellar defensive effort while Smith returned from injury to score 15 points and grab 13 rebounds, though his six turnovers were a problem and he looked less mobile than he was prior to Game 2′s injury.
As far as Boston was concerned, really, it was just really good basketball. Rondo was able to penetrate and pass at ease after establishing that his jumper was falling early, opening up everyone else for good looks before the Hawks eventually just threw in the towel. It didn’t hurt, however, that Paul Pierce was amazing once again despite a knee injury that sent him to the locker room early in the first half. In less than 17 minutes of playing time, Pierce went 10-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, to score a game-high 24 points while Rondo added 20 himself amidst a solid scoring output that saw four other Celtics end up in double-figures.
The Hawks are headed home for Game 5 on Tuesday night, but after watching them have no answer for Boston on Sunday night, it’s hard to believe this series will last any longer than that contest. If it does, however, it’ll be because Johnson earns his max contract, Smith is healthy and Horford is able to play more minutes as he returns to health. Unfortunately for Atlanta, though, even those three players might not be enough if Boston’s offense is working as well as it did in Game 4.
