Mike Woodson wants to go big for the foreseeable future and doesn’t blame Andrea Bargnani for the team’s recent defensive woes, from Al Iannazzone of Newday: “The Knicks fell behind 40-19 at the end of the first quarter, but Woodson said he doesn’t think it’s because of the lineup. The Knicks were down 18-13 when Bargnani left the game and were outscored 22-6 after that. “When Andrea went out of the game, it was like a three or four-point game yesterday and I took him out at the four-minute mark,” Woodson said. “I can’t blame it on Andrea. He was over with me on the bench so. “I think that lineup, I think he is getting a little bit more comfortable but we just haven’t played him a lot of minutes. Tomorrow, I am going to start the big lineup again. Maybe I am hard-headed but I am going to start it again and just see what it looks like.”
No one on the Chicago Bulls have struggled quite like Derrick Rose to begin the season, but no one is all that worried either. K.C. Johnson of Chicago Tribune has details: “I’m not worried about Derrick,” Joakim Noah said. “You know, his competitive nature and all that, we’re in this together. When he struggles, we all struggle. We’re all mad that we’re not clicking, but we will. I’m confident in this team.”… “I know his makeup,” Thibodeau said. “Derrick’s nature is to work. He’ll be in the gym. He’ll study. The only thing he has to do is play in the game, shake some of that rust off and we have to work as a team in practice. We do that and we’ll be fine.”… “Not at all,” Rose said, when asked if his confidence is shaken. “Amnesia. I have games like this and I’m coming off a big surgery or whatever. All I can do is get the most out of every practice, every shootaround and every shooting session.”
Chris Kaman wants to play alongside Pau Gasol and get more playing time, from Mark Medina of Daily News: ““The hard part about playing 10 guys is they can’t get the rhythm they want to get,” Kaman said. “It’s not a knock on coach or anybody else. But it is what it is. When you have 10 players to coach, it’s hard to figure out what you want to do.”… “I’d like to have more minutes with [Gasol],” Kaman said. “I think coach is getting there. We’ll see. It could go in any direction. When we play a team that plays small like tonight, you want to play Wes and Shawne more. And that’s fine. But there’s times like when we’ll go to Houston it’s going to be a bigger lineup and bigger matchups. I’m not sure you want to play Shawne or Wes against Dwight Howard. But at the same time, those guys have to guard them in the perimeter.”
It has only been a week, and Larry Sanders is already frustrated with the lack of minutes he has gotten, from Steve Aschburner of NBA.com: “I feel like I’m capable of being in the game at the end and helping my team win, coming up with blocks and rebounds,” Sanders told NBA.com before exiting the locker room swiftly. “I haven’t been able to get my rhythm out there. I understand foul trouble situations, but tonight I wasn’t in foul trouble. “Last year I finished so many games. I feel like that’s when I lock in the most. But I haven’t been able to get in the game to finish. That carries over to the next game. When you sit the last three quarters of each game, I can’t have no carryover. And it’s hard for me. I’m still a young player. It’s only my eighth year playing basketball.”
Russell Westbrook denied the notion that he was on a 4-6 weeks timetable, from Brian Windhorst of ESPN: “I don’t know who made [the 4-6 week projected recovery] up in the first place, I was never on that timeline at all,” Westbrook told reporters before the game. “I was just taking it day by day. Taking it one day at a time until I was ready to play.”… “It could be better. It was all right. But that’s expected. I didn’t expect to come back and be bionic,” he told reporters afterward… “Rehab is a tough process,” Westbrook said. “I’m going to continue to rehab throughout the season, before the game, whatever I need to do to stay healthy throughout the year.”
Anthony Bennett has been struggling to begin his career, and feels like there is a lid on the basket. Mary Schmitt Boyer has details: “I just feel like there’s a lid on the basket,” he said quietly after the Cavs’ 89-74 loss to the Pacers on Saturday night at Bank Life Fieldhouse. “Three games and no shots went in, but I just have to keep working.”… When he was asked if he’d ever been through a stretch like this before, Bennett shook his head and said, “Nooooo,” drawing out the word for a surprisingly long time. “Never. I also went through surgery and stuff. This is all kind of new to me. Basically this is my 11th game coming back off of surgery, haven’t played the whole summer. It’ll come to me.”
- Dwight Howard says he still talks to certain members of the Los Angeles Lakers. Guess who’s not one of them? Ramona Shelburne of ESPN has the answer: “Dwight says he still talks to Jodie, Sacre, Jordan Hill. But no, he hasn’t spoken to Kobe since the summer.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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