NBA News Roundup: Ray Allen explains why he and Rondo didn’t get along

Speaking of the Celtics, despite losing Allen, they’re still lined up very well for the new season, thanks in large part to the return of Jeff Green, who Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com spoke to Saturday: ” ‘That’s my calling,’ Green said of his defense.

‘I have to be a guy who can go out there and guard the best player on the opposite team. Whether it’s Carmelo (Anthony of the New York Knicks), LeBron (James of the Miami Heat), Kevin Durant (of Oklahoma City), Kobe Bryant (of the Los Angeles Lakers), whether it’s a big, doesn’t matter. I see myself as being one of the top defensive players in this league. I just have to go out there and prove it.’ “

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe talked to Bucks GM John Hammond about, among other things, the Bucks’ intriguing backcourt tandem of Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis: ” ‘If you asked Brandon and Monta today, they’d probably say, ‘We’re comfortable now,’ ‘ Hammond said. ‘When we traded for Monta, he’s a guy who scored through his career. But we realized he’s a good passer, a willing passer. People look at Brandon and think he’s a scoring point guard. And he’s that because he’s had to score for us since his rookie season. I keep saying this: The better players we put around Brandon, the more effective he’s going to be as a true point guard. You put those guys together with the abilities they have, I think they’re going to fit together very well.’ ”

If the Warriors are going to make the playoffs this season, it’s going to depend heavily on Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut, so when Curry went down with an ankle injury Friday, things looked pretty bad. But Marcus Thompson II of the San Jose Mercury-News tells us that things are actually looking pretty good for the Warriors’ oft-injured star pair: “Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut won’t play in the Warriors’ final two preseason games, but the team received some good news about the duo’s injured ankles from their surgeons Saturday.Curry, who reinjured his right ankle Friday night in Portland, was checked out by Dr. Richard Ferkel at Saturday’s practice. According to general manager Bob Myers, Ferkel — who performed Curry’s arthroscopic surgery in April — wasn’t concerned about the point guard’s latest ankle issue. … Bogut had his surgically repaired left ankle examined by Ferkel, who performed Bogut’s surgery in April. Myers said Ferkel “liked what he saw” and concluded that the 7-foot center was progressing on schedule.Ferkel wouldn’t rule out Bogut’s playing in the opener Oct. 31. But Myers said no one can say for sure that Bogut will play. Myers did say that Ferkel’s plan all along was to give Bogut six months of healing and rehabilitation before returning to the court. That sixth-month mark is Oct. 27.”

The Clippers made the playoffs last year thanks in largest part to Chris Paul, and while he’s an unrestricted free agent next summer, he’s certainly acting like he wants to be a Clipper for a long time, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Sulia): “Paul aggressively recruited for the Clippers this offseason, contacting free agents and attempting to sell them on the

situation. His pitch was convincing, with talk about the promising future in Los Angeles and opportunity to compete for a championship. Paul’s recruiting pitch was instrumental in the team signing Jamal Crawford among other free agents, according to sources close to the situation. Most players who are planning to leave a team have one foot out the door as free agency looms. Paul, on the other hand, was working the phones and planning face-to-face meetings with potential teammates. Not only did Paul play a huge role in the Clippers’ pursuit of free agents, he spent the offseason working with several of Los Angeles’ prospects. Paul trained with Eric Bledsoe, Travis Leslie and Trey Tompkins in Los Angeles, pushing the three young players every day. Paul took Bledsoe, Leslie and Thompkins under his wing, pushing them to improve all aspects of their game and encouraging them as they continue their development. He also spent a considerable amount of time bonding with his teammates, hanging out with them in Los Angeles and flying several of them (including Leslie and Thompkins) to Las Vegas, where he hosted several parties. He also organized offseason workouts and many Clippers participated.”

The Rasheed Wallace wait continues. Here’s Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday (via Sulia): “The latest on Rasheed Wallace according to Mike Woodson is: ‘He’s back conditioning, and we’re just going to evaluate him when we get back there on Tuesday,’ Woodson said. ‘I’ve always thought highly of Rasheed as a player,” Woodson added. “He’s been out two years. That’s why he’s spent the last month with us basically conditioning just to see if he can still play. We will know something soon. We’ll go back and evaluate him Tuesday, see where he is. If he’s ready to get on the floor, we’ll put him on the floor next week and see where he is.’ “

Donnie Walsh isn’t with the Knicks any more, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to start slamming Jim Dolan. Here’s what he had to say in an interview with Harvey Araton of the New York Times: ” ‘All I can say is that Jim Dolan treated me very well, paid me well, and I have no ax to grind,’ he said. ‘With Jim, I think people only get part of the story, and that’s because he doesn’t want to put his being on display. When you’re the owner of a team, and the team hasn’t done well and people are judging you by what you do there, it’s usually not good. I mean, George Steinbrenner — who loved him when the Yankees weren’t any good?’ Walsh added: ‘Jim let me do some things he wouldn’t let other people do, and I think in the end, I did what I said I would do when I got there. I put them in a position so the next guy didn’t have to do the things that Isiah and Scott Layden had to do: try to keep their job by trading sideways, taking the worst contracts.’ Walsh shook his head and said, ‘No game-changers in that.’ “

HoopsWorld’s Lang Greene has this interview with Ryan Anderson, which includes this quote about Monty Williams: “One area Anderson believes the Hornets stand in a position of strength is their front office and, more specifically, at head coach with Monty Williams manning the sidelines. Anderson spent the last three seasons playing under Stan Van Gundy with the Orlando Magic, but has quickly become impressed with the dynamic Williams, a former NBA player, brings to the table. ‘Monty is a player’s coach,’ Anderson said. ‘Monty is real active on the court [during practice]. He’ll show you what he wants you to do rather than just tell you and I really like that. He’s done a great job with this young group getting everyone together and on the same page. The whole management staff has done a great job getting a good group of guys together who will really listen to Monty. He’s a really smart coach and he’s going to take us a long way.’ ”

And finally, here’s what former nine-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection Gary Payton had to say to Ed Odeven of the Japan Times about the mindset of current NBA players regarding playing defense, and the possibility of starting a camp to teach defensive skills to current players: ” ‘I can get 35 and you get 30 and I won. It doesn’t equal out to me,’ (Payton) told Hoop Scoop. ‘To let somebody get 30 points on you, and you feel good because you got 35 on them, that’s not good for me, you know what I’m saying? If I get 35, I want him to get 12 or 14 because that means I’ve done something. I’ve done my job. I went out there and played hard and did what I had to do. I’ve been thinking about doing that and I think guys would come to the camp, and I think I would get the guys who have that tough mentality to say, ‘yeah, I want to buckle down and do this.’ It would be good if I can get it started but my main concern is I would have to have guys who want to be dedicated to do that. I don’t want to waste my time.”

For previous blog entries, click here.

Dan Malone is a third-year journalism student at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He blogs on weekends for Sheridan Hoops.