Bill King explained why he resisted the idea of hiring Jason Kidd at first, from Mike Mazzeo of ESPN New York: “Nets GM Billy King says he was “resistant” at first about the possibility of Jason Kidd being the team’s next head coach. “The idea was brought to me by his agent [Jeff Schwartz] and ownership said, ‘You should talk to him,'” King said Tuesday at the Barclays Center partnership summit. “I was resistant because the timing — going right from player to coach — might not be beneficial. But then I said if you believe that somebody is going to be a very good coach — and I always felt Jason would be — why wait. “It’s like if you believe LeBron James is going to be a very good player, you take him No. 1. You don’t wait for him to have two years’ experience before you want him. That was my thought process: Let’s get him and help him grow and develop, because he’s been coaching really in the 19 years that he’s played.”
Tim Duncan accepted the idea of not being in the game for defensive reasons, from Mike Monroe of Express News: “It’s what we’ve done all year in that situation,” he said. “We’re going to switch a lot of things. It’s just unfortunate the way it happened. We got the stop and then got a bad bounce, right out to Ray Allen for a three. “It’s just unfortunate the bounces that we got, but that’s how basketball goes.” Duncan’s teammates supported Popovich’s decisions, too. Duncan said he and his teammates have no choice but to forget Tuesday’s crushing disappointment and get themselves prepared for Game 7. “We’ll do exactly that: recover,” he said. “We’ll use these next 48 hours to recover and energize. We’ll watch film and make some little tweaks. They made plays down the stretch to take it from us, but we know what we can do. We know that we can win games either here or anywhere else, and we just have to execute for a longer period of time. “We had a lapse for a couple of minutes here and there.”
The Spurs never looked more defeated the day after Game 6. Manu Ginobili was particularly devastated, from Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports: “Me, personally, I trust Pop,” Parker said. “I’ll go with whatever Pop decides.” None of that makes this easier. The Spurs looked not so much defeated after, but shell-shocked. They’d played brilliantly. Duncan went for 25 in the first half alone, the future Hall of Famer abusing Bosh up and down the court, doing everything in his power to seize that fifth title. Parker had struggled but also made big shots. Leonard had been a beast at both ends of the court. LeBron and Dwyane Wade were controlled for large swaths of the game. This was supposed to be over. This was supposed to be won. They brought out the damn yellow rope. Now, the Spurs must return in less than 48 hours, backs against the wall, another chance at this final title, but facing questions about whether they have the spirit to do this again. “I have no clue how we are going to be re-energized,” Ginobili said. “I’m devastated.”
Ray Allen talked about his special game-tying shot in regulation of Game 6 and admit how lucky the Heat were, from Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld: “It’s going to be a shot that I’m going to remember for a long time,” Allen said. “There’s a lot of shots that I’ve made in my career, but this will go high up in the ranks because of the situation. “Just being able to be in that situation where the ball bounced in our direction. We’ve been a part of many plays where the ball has a funky bounce to it. And I’ve known my whole career sometimes you just get lucky. When you win championships, it involves a little luck. That right there was luck shining on our side.”… “It’s tough, but believe it or not, I work on it quite often,” Allen said. “I try to put my body in precarious situations coming from different parts of the floor, different angles to try to get my momentum going moving forward. I honestly can say I gave myself a great opportunity, a great chance to make that shot. And it wasn’t unfamiliar to me. When it went in, I was ecstatic. But at the same time, I was expecting to make it.”
LeBron James remembered the days when Allen used to hit those kinds of shots against him, from Kennedy: “James added, with a laugh, “If it’s not me taking the shot, I have no problem with Ray take that shot, man. He’s got ice water in his veins.” This is exactly why the Heat signed Allen over the offseason. He drained his share of big three-pointers in Boston en route to one championship and another Finals appearance. He even burned the Heat a few times. “I’ve been on the other end of seeing him get them feet down, putting them stupid two fingers after he make the shot,” James said with a laugh. “Not so stupid anymore now that he’s my teammate; I love it. He’s big#time.We’re so happy to have him, man. He creates so much for our team. And to have someone as dangerous as that on our roster, man, it means so much.”
Allen talked about the importance of James getting off on the right foot for the Heat, from Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today: “Everything we do starts with him,” Allen said. “If he has great energy, if he has bad energy, we feel it, the rest of the team. So one thing I always try to make sure I do with him is to make sure he understands how his aura, his energy has an effect on the rest of the team. And we always need it to be great energy. “He has a great motor out on the floor, the way he starts games, the way he closes out quarters, defensively the way he plays. With that we follow suit. So it’s a terrible burden, but for one guy, he has to make sure that he always keeps the energy and that positivity flowing in the right direction, because we do all follow suit.”
Isiah Thomas says Roy Hibbert has become the best center in the East, and explained why he’s still proud of the team he put together in New York as the President, from Marc Berman of New York Post: ““Most definitely,’’ Thomas said when asked if he’s proud of his draft picks. “History has a way of telling the truth. When immediately watching in the present, you don’t fully appreciate what it is that’s happening. The development of Zach, Lee, Jamal as Sixth Man of the Year, Nate playing the way he is and Wilson Chandler. “You look back at the team of young player we had and had we been able to keep them all together in the system we were trying to develop, it would’ve been a very good basketball team that could’ve challenged. I don’t know if it would’ve won the championship but those guys staying together for three, four, five years, it would’ve been a good basketball team.’’
Thanks for posting about this, I would love to read more about this topic. James I hope you keep writing more blogs like this one. Nice work James.
garnett is THIRTY-SEVEN years old; rivers is a coach. i don’t get why anyone would give up more than a 2nd round pick for a coach, and very much for a THIRTY-SEVEN year old (see e.g., how things are working out for lakers with nash)
Clippers should do the Garnett deal first, while interviewing all the potential coaches for a second time. That should be enough for CP3 to re-sign.
However, once KG is gone, Pierce would be gone too, by June 30.
At that point Rivers will not want to return to the Celtics.
If Ainge doesn’t have an unhappy Doc, he will have no choice but to allow him to go to Clippers, without compensation.
If Pierce clears waivers, he too could sign with the Clippers for the mini-MLE.