Zach Randolph was fined $25,000 by the NBA, from The AP: “Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for confronting Oklahoma City’s Kendrick Perkins following both their ejections in a game last week. The fine was announced Monday by Stu Jackson, the league’s executive vice president of basketball operations. Randolph and Perkins were each ejected for an altercation with 2:05 remaining in the fourth quarter of Memphis’ 107-97 win in Oklahoma City last Wednesday night. Perkins and Randolph confronted each other between Russell Westbrook’s free throw attempts and were both tossed.”
- Is Deron Williams upset with Dwight Howard? That appears to be the case, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles:
Dwight on Deron Williams: "If he doesn’t want to be friends cuz I’m on another team, then so be it. There’s no need to smooth things over"
@mcten
Dave McMenamin
Roderick Boone of Newsday has further details on Howard’s thoughts on Williams: “Howard hasn’t spoken at length with the Nets’ All-Star point guard since he decided to waive his contract’s early termination option in March, basically turning his back on the Nets. The franchise had been in pursuit of Howard for two seasons, knowing Brooklyn was his preferred destination, but Howard reversed course and flip-flopped again in the summer before the Magic had enough and shipped him to the West Coast. But if Williams is still ticked, Howard doesn’t worry about it. “That’s my decision,” Howard said following practice as the Lakers (5-5) prepared to meet the Nets (6-2) at Staples Center Tuesday night. “It’s my life, so if he’s upset because I made a decision for me, so be it. If he doesn’t want to be friends because I’m on another team, then so be it. There’s no need to smooth things over, you know?”
- Howard, by the way, does not think his team should get booed over tacos, from McMenamin:
Jeremy Lin believes he might still be a Knick if Mike D’Antoni was still coaching them, according to Fred Kerber of New York Post: “If he was still there, honestly, I would guess I’d have a higher chance of being there,” Lin said after the Rockets’ morning workout today. “But I think the decision at the end was a management decision and I actually don’t know for whatever exact reasons. But I really enjoyed playing for him. It was kind of the time of my life.” Pretty much D’Antoni’s too. He said as much Saturday – “It leaves me with an unbelievable memory of two weeks that were incredible,” said D’Antoni. “I’ve kept in touch with him ever since he resigned in New York,” said Lin.
- Lin also discussed how he is enjoying the new environment of Houston, from Howard Beck of The New York Times: “It’s really, really low-key,” Lin said Sunday morning after the Rockets’ shootaround. “And it’s really peaceful. When I walk around, I don’t wear a hat or glasses or anything — unless I want to.”… “I think the beautiful thing about this opportunity is there’s less of a spotlight,” Lin said. “There’s room to grow, room to improve, growing pains, things like that — the stuff that has to happen with each player. I’ve only started 30-something games in three years in my whole career. There’s a lot of sophomores out there with more experience than me. I’m going to have to go through a lot to get better.”
- Here’s something interesting for you: Marc Gasol has a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Chris Paul, according to Tommy Beer of Hoopsworld:
Chris Paul ranks 2nd in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio; he trails only Marc Gasol. Yes, Gasol leads the league (5.9 ast-to-TO ratio)
@TommyBeer
Tommy Beer
Raymond Felton was so disappointed about being traded from the Knicks that he had to have his mother come to Denver to calm him down. That’s what he told Steve Serby of New York Post: “It took me a while to get over that. I never wanted to leave. I had to get my mother to come to Denver to calm me down and put things in perspective for me. She came to town for a few days to be there with me and get my head back into it. Q: Any specific advice she gave you? A: Just motherly love.”
- Coach Nick of Bballbreakdown thinks the Knicks have one too many knuckleheads on the team: “There’s a rule that exists in the NBA that goes something like this: You can only have ONE knucklehead on a team. A good example of this is the mid 90′s Chicago Bulls teams. Dennis Rodman’s knuckleheadedness was balanced by the professional drive of Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. While Dennis was acting the fool (and rebounding the sh*t out of the ball too), Michael kept him in line, and Phil Jackson laughed it off. This Knicks team has three knuckleheads in Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, and Rasheed Wallace, plus a third that has slightly less propensity for losing his sh*t in Tyson Chandler. This is a combustible mix to say the least, and when things are going well, the narrative quickly becomes about these guys maturing. But it’s not how you react during the good times that reveals character.”
Top five video clips from November 18, 2012