- “Quietly, ESPN and longtime NBA reporter Ric Bucher parted ways last month. A fixture on Sportscenter, and ESPN.com for much of the last decade (and ESPN the Magazine, to a much lesser extent), Bucher’s contract ended recently and his new gig is as a radio host on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco. It’s been a busy few weeks for ESPN on the NBA front. The network revamped its NBA show, ESPN Countdown, and sources also say ESPN tried to hire Yahoo NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski to beef up its basketball reporting. (He’s not the first Yahoo writer ESPN has tried to acquire – 11 months ago, the WWL nearly poached Charles Robinson.) A source says Wojnarowski decided to stay at Yahoo. The Executive Editor of Yahoo Sports, Bob Condor, didn’t return a call seeking comment.”
- Grant Hill has a bone bruise in his right knee and could miss weeks of action, according to Daniel Woike of The Orange County Register: :”Veteran forward Grant Hill will likely miss opening night on Oct. 31, and it could be weeks into the regular season until he returns. An MRI performed on Hill’s right knee showed a bone bruise, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said Tuesday. After the Clippers’ 88-71 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Monday, Hill said his injury will keep him out “at least a couple of weeks.” “We want him to take his time and really feel healthy,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. Hill was expected to compete with Matt Barnes and Willie Green for the starting shooting guard spot until Chauncey Billups returns. Hill has appeared in two preseason games, both against the Miami Heat in China.”
Deron Williams says the media is blowing up the Knicks-Nets rivalry, according to Roderick Boone of Newsday: “But they downplayed any extra incentive in knocking the Knicks off Wednesday night. “Nah, it’s just another game,” Williams said. “This rivalry with them is getting blown up by the media, but internally we haven’t talked about it. We haven’t said anything about it. We are looking forward to playing these guys. We are looking forward to forming a rivalry. But it’s not there yet.”
- Chuck Person compared Dwight Howard to Andrew Bynum and based on what he said, the differences are night and day. Mike Bresnahan of Los Angeles Times has the story: “Dwight’s body is far more genetically gifted than Andrew. Andrew has had some issues obviously in his lower extremities in both knees,” said Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person, who worked with Bynum last season and now Howard. “Andrew is gifted within his own right, but Dwight brings much better force because he’s faster, quicker, more explosive, and he understands the game a lot better at this point than Bynum does. “We have a much more gifted player on our hands, no doubt. Dwight understands who he is and what he’s trying to accomplish. ‘Drew understands where he needs to go, but he’s still searching on how to get there.”
How motivated is Glen Davis to lead the starless Magic? Read this piece by Josh Robbins of Orlando Sentinel to find out: “Glen Davis hungered to be a leader from the moment the Orlando Magic acquired him last December. He spoke often, loudly and boldly. But he discovered words alone weren’t enough to earn teammates’ respect. Now, almost a year after he joined the Magic, he thinks he’s learned to “walk the walk.” Davis has emerged as the team’s steadiest player this preseason, and his coach and teammates say they’re excited about his contributions off the court, too. “It’s like a whole different world, a whole different person,” Davis said Tuesday. “When you’ve got the organization, as far as the GM, motivating and saying good things as far as ‘keep it up,’ and you’ve got so many people behind you, that confidence grows. And you start really believing. “I’ve always seen it: One day I will have an opportunity to lead. But I never had that opportunity. Now, the opportunity is here, and the organization and the coaches and the team just keeps feeding that fire. Now, there’s a responsibility. You start believing in that character. You start to walk the walk, because it’s important.”
Dirk Nowitzki says he took some heat for the timing of his knee surgery, from Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News: “He said he felt like having the surgery done last Friday was good timing, but he got the impression others didn’t see it that way. “I think it was the right moment to do it,’’ Nowitzki said. “Obviously, I took some heat for the timing of it, but if I would have fought through it this whole season – swelling off and on, having it drained here and there – I think it’s a bad situation for all involved.” It’s unclear who Nowitzki was referencing when he said he took some heat. But a 14-year veteran who has been a perennial all-star and is a sure-fire hall of famer probably deserves a little latitude on things like this.”
- DeMar DeRozan said Brandon Jennings disappears when he is working on his game, and well, Jennings mostly disappeared over the past summer. Stephen Brotherston of Hoopsworld has the story: “One thing about Brandon, when he wants to get away to work on his game, you won’t see him,” said DeMar DeRozan, who is friends with Jennings. “That’s one thing about this summer. I saw him a couple of times here and there, but he definitely stayed isolated working on his game. He doesn’t like anyone figuring him out or letting people know that he is working on anything. You can tell as he doesn’t really play in too many leagues back home, so he won’t give away what he has been working on for the season.”… “That’s one of the things he always did, shoot a lot of threes,” DeRozan said. “Even when he played in the summer, that’s all he did was shoot threes from three feet behind the pro line just to extend his range.”
- Gerald Green continued to show his amazing athleticism, this time against Omri Casspi:
Carmelo Anthony ready to play power forward