Blake Griffin talked about a funky move that Zach Randolph made against him in Game 2, from Jimmy Traina of SI: “SI.com: I asked that previous question because you’re all over the blogs today thanks to an incident Monday in which it looked like Memphis’ Zach Randolph grabbed you in a sensitive area. Griffin: [Laughing] I didn’t even realize it at the time, but I was told his hand got pretty close. I don’t remember him grabbing it. I don’t think he did it on purpose. When I was watching the film last night, I saw it, but there wasn’t grab. SI.com: You were involved an incident earlier this season in which Serge Ibaka hit you below the belt. You said after you were going to start wearing a cup. Do you wear a cup? Griffin: No, but maybe I should now. That was all a joke, but as this series goes on, I might think about it. Maybe if we make it to Oklahoma City, I might actually have to bring it out.”
- Rick Reilly and Stephen Curry got half naked for a good cause. Watch to find out why they had a shootout (via Ballislife):
Nate Robinson says he dislikes C.J. Watson and uses it to channel positive energy, from ESPN Chicago: “We’re just competitors,” Robinson said Monday after helping the Bulls even their Eastern Conference quarterfinals at a game apiece. “I don’t like him, he don’t like me. That’s how it’s going to be. There’s animosity between the two of us, and for us, that’s good.” The cause of the animosity isn’t certain. Robinson signed with the Bulls after Watson was waived last offseason. The animosity and chirping between the two hasn’t negatively affected either on the court. Robinson is averaging 14 points over the first two games while shooting 52 percent from the field. Watson is averaging 12 points while shooting 59 percent. “When you don’t like somebody and you’re playing against somebody, you want to destroy the other person,” Robinson said. “You want to shut that person down. You want to do good, so for me, it’s just a lot of confidence. “He makes it competitive, and that’s how it should be. That’s how the game should be played. When you play against guys on other teams, you shouldn’t like them.”
Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld discussed the possibility of bringing back Martell Webster and touched on the subject of struggling young players, from Michael Lee of Washington Post: “On bringing back Martell Webster: “I think Martell played very well for us. He had a very good year. He was a free agent, and he was very good value for us, but not only was he valuable on the court, he was one of the better 3-point shooters, he stretches the defense, and it complements John and Nene both. But he’s also a good presence in the locker room, and he had nice leadership to him. obviously, he’s a free agent, and at the appropriate time, we’ll sit down with his representatives to see if we can work out something that works for him and works for us.” On the regression of young forwards Jan Vesely, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin and Chris Singleton: “I think this is a big summer for all of them. They all need to improve, they all need to work hard. They all have a plan this summer, they will all be doing different things. Obviously, we did add six new players and those players got significant playing time. Consequently, those players didn’t play as much as they did the year before because we probably had better players this time at those positions and more experienced at this time.”
Amare Stoudemire may be looking to return by the second round, according to Peter Botte of New York Daily News: “If everything goes great, then I’m willing to play, and sooner than later, hopefully, if everything continues to improve. So we’ll see,” Stoudemire said. “I’m doing pretty good, actually. I’m progressing well, for the most part. Everything is on schedule, for the most part, as far as the recovery.” “It’s the same exact procedure, and it may take the same recovery time, depending on the body. The body is unpredictable. Hopefully it heals sooner than eight weeks. If not, then I just have to be patient,” Stoudemire said. “The blessing is that we have such a great team and they’re doing so extremely well in these playoffs so far, with a 1-0 record. If we continue to win, that gives me more time to really heal up 100 percent. That’s kind of the blessing that we have right now.”… “Once I start moving around at full-speed, we’ll check the reaction from that and see how it reacts. If there’s a minimal reaction, we can kind of go from there and judge whether we’re going to take the next step forward and do more,” Stoudemire said. “It’s really a precautionary measure, just taking our time and figuring out exactly how it reacts to hard load or a hard workout. And if I can handle that, we can go up a notch. That’s great and now we’re looking for hopefully playing soon.”
The Cavaliers want the services of LaMarcus Aldridge, but don’t have the proper pieces to acquire such talent, from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: “Yes, James loves Northeast Ohio and will always keep a home there, but the idea of returning as the conquering hero is probably much more romantic than reality. Outside of Irving, there’s still little infrastructure to these Cavaliers. Privately, the Cleveland front office has pitched a fantasy of trading young players and picks to Portland for All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, sources said. Only, that’s never going to happen. Cleveland is far higher on its two top-five picks, Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters, than the rest of the NBA. Outside of winning the lottery for Irving, it’s hard to make the case for one thing the Cavaliers have gotten right in the wake of James’ departure.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridanhoops.com. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.