Jason Kidd has lofty expectations from Deron Williams, from Stefan Bondy of Daily Nes: “On Sunday, the rookie coach revealed a statistical goal for Williams. It concerns passing, not surprisingly. “I’m going to push him. I want the best for him,” Kidd said after signing autographs at the Nets’ merchandise store in Coney Island. “When we sit down and talk about goals, team goals and also individual goals, I’m going to push him and I want to get him back to double-digit assists.”… “You don’t want to take away from Deron’s freedom and creativity of putting pressure on the defense,” Kidd said. “And I thought he did a great job of that in the second half of last season. When he lost the weight, physically he felt better. His strength is when he’s in the open court. So we’ll definitely talk about that on the daily, about him making things happen without having to set the ball up.”
Kidd also touched on some issues that Brook Lopez needs to work on, from Bondy: “For him, he probably will see some double teams so he has to be able to pass out of those,” Kidd said. “He’s still young, so he has a lot to learn about the game. At the same time he’s a smart kid, he’s worked extremely hard to become one of the best centers in the game. So passing is something that will come as he gets to see more double teams.” The other concern is an old one: rebounding. For the last two or three seasons, depending on if you want to count his five-game cameo in 2011-12, Lopez has benefitted from a workhorse power forward to gobble up the rebounds. It was either Kris Humphries or Reggie Evans putting up career numbers, while Lopez, a legit 7-footer, was content boxing out his man and averaging less than seven rebounds… “I think we all agree, (Lopez) probably agrees, that he should probably rebound a little bit better than he has,” Kidd said.”
Lamar Odom is not missing but is dealing with a drug problem, according to ESPN: “Free-agent forward Lamar Odom is in a Los Angeles hotel where friends are trying to get him help for an unspecified drug problem, a source told ESPN on Monday. The information comes after Odom’s agent refuted a TMZ report Sunday that his client had been missing for 72 hours after a dispute with wife Khloe Kardashian. Agent Jeff Schwartz would not reveal Odom’s whereabouts, telling ESPN.com’s Marc Stein earlier Monday: “Lamar is not missing. His wife knows exactly where he is.” TMZ also reported that people close to Odom feared that he was involved with drugs. Kardashian reacted angrily on Twitter to ongoing speculation about her husband, saying: “Really hard to sit here and listen to people talk s— about my family.” Without disclosing further specifics, Schwartz added: “Playing in the NBA is still very much a part of Lamar’s plans.”
Dave Joerger wants to change up some schemes for the Memphis Grizzlies next season, according to Chip Crain of 3 Shades of Blue: “For instance, it is Joerger’s intention of crossing mid-court with at least 20 seconds left on the shot clock, something that rarely if ever happened last season. To accomplish this Conley may be used more as a decoy allowing other players to quickly bring the ball up the court. When informed he would have greater responsibility bringing the ball up the court, Tony Allen was reportedly happy. How this translates onto the court is another question. The thought of Tony Allen bringing up the ball may sound shocking but that idea of getting the ball up quicker was clearly the correct thing to say to the fans. Joerger also mentioned spreading the court more with perimeter shooters such as Prince, Miller, QPon and Bayless being given a green light more. However, it is not to go away from the interior game but to open things up inside for Randolph, Gasol and Conley to have more room to operate.”
John Wall expects to run a mini-camp with all of his teammates before the start of training camp, from Ben Standig of CSN Washington: “Wall returned to D.C. earlier this month for his youth basketball camp – and in preparation for late September’s training camp and the upcoming season. “Working out with the coaches and stuff,” Wall said about his schedule since re-joining teammates for training sessions.” Getting everybody organized, to have like a mini-camp before we start training camp.” Wall expects the entire roster together following Labor Day. He also anticipates training with former NBA All-Star point guard Gary Payton at some point before the start of camp on September 28.”
Stan Van Gundy went on a rant about putting a minutes-restriction on players, from Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN: “I think the most frustrating thing for a coach is those kind of things. Where you’re being criticized for things that have no basis in reality. They’re simply just opinions. We all got into this on the NBA level knowing, fairly or unfairly, we were going to be judged by winning and losing. And that’s OK. But now you’re Tom Thibodeau and you’re winning. And you’re still being judged because you’re playing guys too much. My brother’s always asked the question: Does the human body really know the difference? Are you really more fatigued after having played 38 minutes over 36 minutes? Over the course of the year you’re talking about, let’s say it’s 40 minutes over 36. You’re talking over the course of five and a half months, a difference of 328 minutes on your body. Over five and a half months. Are you telling me there’s an appreciable difference in fatigue at the point? I’m not buying that. But people just accept it.”
