Dwyane Wade admitted that hearing criticism while down frustrated him. He also wondered if he’d ever be himself after surgeries, from Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today: “When you’re doing it front of the public eye and people are taking shots at you and you’re not feeling well, it frustrates you,” he said. “If I’m not crying about, if I’m not out there saying ‘Woe is me,’ then I don’t feel it needs to be discussed.”… His good friend and teammate LeBron James nods in agreement. He hears the comments and sees Wade’s frustration. “It was pissing him off more than anything while he was getting jabbed by everybody saying he’s not the same,” James told USA TODAY Sports… “Night time, sitting by myself, I had a couple of moments,” Wade said. “The quickest thing to do is shake it off and get it out of your mind. But doubt creeps in. It always creeps in. I’ve had it creep in many times after different surgeries. When I came back from my shoulder surgery, I didn’t know if I would ever be the same. Doubt creeps in. You just have to get it out fast.”
How Denver does in the playoffs without Danilo Gallinari will depend on the health of Ty Lawson, from Zach Lowe of Grantland: “The numbers suggest that Denver should be able to do that without Gallinari, provided Lawson returns at something like top form. “If we get Ty back at 80 percent, I think we’re going to be fine,” Karl says. “I think we have enough pieces, and that we can do it like we’ve been doing it all year — with some defense, with our little lineups, and with old man Andre [Miller] at the point.” Karl isn’t sure Lawson will reach 80 percent, though. “That’s the variable people aren’t talking enough about,” he says. “Will Ty be at 60 percent? Seventy percent?” Karl hopes to get Lawson into one or two games before the playoffs, he says. “I don’t want to put him in a playoff game without even playing on an NBA court for weeks before.”
- Watch Jamal Crawford talk about his tweeting tendencies after winning “Tweeter of the Year”, from Hoopshype.
After watching Kenyon Martin suffer a severely sprained ankle, Mike Woodson regretted not taking the power forward out of the game earlier, from Barbara Barker of Newsday: “Kenyon Martin, the one healthy Knick capable of mixing things up inside, went to grab a rebound and ended up stepping on Chris Singleton’s foot. Seconds later, Martin was face down on the court pounding it in pain. A half-hour later, Mike Woodson was in some pain of his own as he announced that Martin had a “severe sprain” of his left ankle and tried to explain why Martin was still in the game at that point. “In hindsight, maybe I should have pulled him out,” Woodson said after the Knicks’ 120-99 win. “But I didn’t get him out quick enough. I can’t sit here and cry over it. It happened. I just have to get him back and nurse him back.”
Jay-Z is looking to divest ownership shares in order to become an NBA agent, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: “Entertainment mogul and rapper Jay-Z has started the process of divesting his small share of ownership with the Brooklyn Nets to extend his Roc Nation Sports representation business into basketball, sources told Yahoo! Sports. Jay-Z – whose real name is Shawn Carter – owns less than 1 percent of the Nets, but has been a central public figure in the franchise’s marketing and move from New Jersey to Brooklyn. Selling his share of the Nets is a necessary prelude for Jay-Z to obtain his National Basketball Players Association certification as an agent. NBA rules mandate that no one individual affiliated with a player representation company can have an ownership stake with an NBA team. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company has partnered with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to launch a sports representation business that recently secured New York Yankees star Robinson Cano.”
Blake Griffin is confident about the Clippers chances against any team to contend for a championship, from Broderick Turner of Los Angeles Times: ‘Still, Griffin was asked after practice on Tuesday how he thinks the Clippers are viewed by fans, the media and their NBA brothers. “To everybody else, I don’t know,” Griffin said. “To us, we feel like we’re a team that’s capable of contending for a championship. “We’re not afraid to see any team in the playoffs. That’s where we are. We’re not really worried about what everybody else is wondering [about] what we are or where they are going to put us as far as being able to contend with the top teams.”
Despite another forgettable season, Brandon Roy hasn’t given up on his career yet, according to NBA insider Ric Bucher: “Brandon Roy is travelling with the Timberwolves and while he doesn’t expect to play Wednesday at the Clippers or Friday in Utah, he told me he’s hoping to play at least one more time this season and he’d like it to be in one of the team’s remaining home games, either April 13 vs. the Suns or April 15 vs. the Jazz. As for next season, apparently his contract with the Timberwolves is written in a way that he’s not completely clear if he still will belong to Minnesota. His agent and the players union, he said, will examine the language of it to determine whether he has the ability to be a free agent. (More to come on this subject.) In any case, he is looking to continue his career.”
Brandon Jennings believes the Bucks match up well against the Miami Heat, from Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida: “Brandon Jennings says Bucks match up well with Heat and could maybe “steal one” by winning 1st round series: “Just for us, personally we know everybody is going to be watching the Miami Heat because they’re the champs from last year,’’ guard Brandon Jennings said before his Bucks faced the Heat on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena. “So there will be more pressure on them than us. So maybe we can probably steal one hopefully.’’ “It’s just something that we get up for, the fact that the Miami Heat is the best team in the NBA, and we’re trying to make a name for ourselves, too. It’s not easy at all. I’m not going to say it’s going to be easy (to beat Miami in a series), but I think we’re up for the challenge. … As a team, I think we’re confident and we’re ready for the challenge. … It will be national coverage. Everybody will be watching. But we’re going to try to fight for the 7 spot too. We’ll see what happens.’’
I’m glad the GSW made the playoffs, and their level of intensity, coupled with the fact that NOONE thought they could do it, should provide some fireworks in the early rounds. I’m a huge Nuggets fan too, and Step Curry scares the bejeesus outta’ me, lol. I’ve been watching GSW games over the last few weeks to try and get a sense of what we’re going to be up against, and it should be pretty darn exciting to watch. I work a lot of late nights at DISH, but I have a new app at home that saves me time finding games. My DISH Game Finder locates all the games on TV in a matter of seconds, which is a great tool to have living outside that market. I also like that it lets me set reminders and recordings for upcoming games, so by playoff time I’ll have a pretty good idea as to how the games will end up!
Still no guarantee of who will end up facing who, but most of the matchups for the Warriors will be pretty tough, including the Nuggets.