Speaking of LeBron, here is what he had to say about the Brooklyn Nets and their revamped roster, from Mike Mazzeo of ESPN: “LeBron James likes what the Brooklyn Nets have done this season, and believes the NBA will benefit from Brooklyn’s potential success. Asked specifically about Brooklyn’s additions of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, James told ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst, “I thought they brought three champions to their team. They’ve added a championship coach (Jason Kidd). So I think they’re gonna be good. “Chemistry is always the issue when you bring new guys to a new team, but I think those guys have sacrificed before, so it shouldn’t be a problem, and I think it’s good for the league.”
LeBron also shared what he expected from Greg Oden in the upcoming season, from Shandel Richardson of Sun Sentinel: “The Heat return most of their core from last year, recently adding center Greg Oden to keep pace with the improving contenders. James said being patient is the key with Oden, the 2007 No. 1 overall pick who has only played 82 games because a series of knee injuries. His last game was Dec. 5, 2009. “We’re not going to put any pressure on him,” James said of Oden. “He hasn’t played in almost four years. We want him to work his way back into shape. It’s going to take him a while to get back into game shape … We don’t expect anything out of him except being a professional and showing up for work everyday. Whatever we get from his is extra.”
Jerry Stackhouse says LeBron James’ comments about the NBPA was like a kick in the stomach, from Ken Berger of CBSSports: “”He’s the best player in the game right now and we want the entire league to be involved,” Stackhouse said in a phone interview while in New York on union and other business. “But he needs to be informed in speaking on our union business.”… Stackhouse, one of seven executive committee members elected at All-Star weekend in Houston this past February — when longtime executive director Billy Hunter was ousted — said James’ comments felt like a “kick in the stomach.” “I don’t think he’s had any dialogue with anybody since the All-Star break, but it is what it is,” Stackhouse said. “To make that statement about where we are as a union right now, he was misinformed.”
Jeremy Lin has been working on different aspects of his game, from Jason Friedman of Rockets.com: “Shooting and doing a lot of lefty stuff – hopefully that will show that I’ve gotten a lot better at those things. I would say another big thing has been posture. That might not sound like much, but it’s a big deal for me because it made me slower in the past. That’s more of a defensive-oriented improvement I’m trying to make… My strength coach, Daryl Eto, thought that I had really bad posture and knew that that meant, as an athlete, I was moving less efficiently than I should be… The idea is not so much to be more upright, but to have less concave of a back. One example is that if you look at Derek Fisher in his stance, he looks like an athlete. If you look at me, I look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame (laughs).”
- Lin also explained how he handles a pick-and-roll situation on offense: “First and foremost, I look at the big man who’s guarding whoever is setting the pick. That’s the first read because if he’s not there then you don’t have to worry about everything. Then it’s important to see how he’s playing you because if it’s a Miami trap type thing, you need to know ahead of time that, ‘I need to get the ball to my big or to some other release, and I need to do it quickly.’ Now if it’s Tim Duncan and he’s kind of “soft” showing and he’s kind of zoning you up, then you know you’re going to have a little more time to make your decision and he’s not going to give you anything right away; you’re going to have to be patient. Then there are some guys who just aren’t disciplined and you can split the screen and blow by them, or some guys are slow and you can exploit certain things. So that’s the first thing I look at.”
After being a late draft pick for the Phoenix Suns, Archie Goodwin says he will give other teams that passed on him hell, from Tzvi Twersky of SLAMOnline: “It would have been great to have been drafted where I thought I should have been,” Goodwin told SLAM during last week’s Panini photo shoot portion of the Rookie Transition Program. “Now every team that didn’t pick me, I’ve got to give them hell.”… “I’ve been working a lot on my shot, just getting it more consistent,” said Goodwin. “I just needed to be able to showcase my skills and showcase what I’ve been working on.”… I know a lot of guys in this [Draft] class are not better than me,” said Goodwin. “I’m blessed to even be here, but to see how far I slid down—it was a surprise. Every game I go into, I’m showing every team that didn’t pick me that they made a mistake.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
Clearly Kobe is only interested in winning that 6th Championship, to tie Michael Jordan.
However, it was that mentality that drove Dwight Howard away, and with it any chance to win a 6th. With 6 teams (Spurs, Clippers, Thunder, Rockets, Grizz and Warriors) a lock to make playoffs, and Nuggets and about 5 over teams competing for the last 2 spots, Kobe likely will be “pressing” again this season, regardless of when he starts playing.
Kobe’s injury happened because he played too many minutes and was pushing himself too hard, as he saw the playoffs getting away from him. This season may be even more difficult, so I see a repeat of a season ending injury for Kobe. Lakers are an outright bad team, when you get past Kobe (post surgery), Gasol and an old Nash.
Kobe would be wise to be precautionary and sit out the start of the season.
Regarding LeBron being an NBA executive, I haven’t seen any reporter with the courage to remind people that he never went to College. People like Stackhouse have a big advantage over LeBron. Surely there are demands on the position to deal with Legal stuff and lots of CBA documentation. College people have written lengthy reports and have a clear advantage. Derek Fisher impressed me as being very capable. So does Stackhouse. LeBron just talks and plays a good game. He’s not book smart, which that position requires.