Frank Isola of the Daily News complimented James Dolan for guaranteeing a Knicks’ victory against the Atlanta Hawks: “Dolan will go down as the first owner in the history of major professional sports to get on stage and with a guitar in one hand put his team on notice. You have to admire a musician who, instead of taking requests, gives them. The signature moment of the Knicks’ season took place on Sunday night in a midtown Manhattan club when Dolan told an audience of friends, models, media and minions that his Knicks will win “the next game. That’s a guarantee.” Lord knows if Dolan’s blues band, JD and the Straight Shot, ever record a hit record but the group’s lead singer is solid gold, that’s for sure. If not for his inexplicable decision to marginalize the Knicks City Dancers, Dolan would be the early favorite for team MVP.”
Josh Smith did not take it to heart that Mo Cheeks went with other options against the Warriors on Tuesday, from Keith Langlois of Pistons.com: “Smith went into Tuesday’s game at Golden State a close second to Greg Monroe in scoring at 17.5 points a game while also doing what he usually does to register numbers across the statistical spectrum. But he played just 19 minutes in the Pistons’ first real clunker of the season, an 18-point loss in which they trailed by 19 in the first quarter. Maurice Cheeks sat both Smith and Chauncey Billups when he sent the Pistons back out to start Tuesday’s second half. Cheeks adamantly said he was just looking for a spark from different lineups and Smith defused questions soliciting his view of the move in the postgame locker room. “Just got to cheer my teammates on,” he said. “I can’t really focus on decisions that people make higher than you. You just have to be able to adjust around it. And as long as I’ve been in this league, that’s what I’ve been willing to do, just learning how to adjust.”
The Brooklyn Nets are in “desperation mode” after losing to the Sacramento Kings, from Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com: “We win the next one, you’ve still got a long way to go,” Terry said. “It’s a long season. You’d like to say, ‘Stay even-keeled.’ But for us right now, this is desperation. Everyone that steps on the floor on Friday should feel desperation and come out and play with a sense of urgency. If you don’t you’ll be looking at another loss. It’s what it is. These teams that we’re playing are desperate, they’re playing with a much more sense like this is their championship. We’re not meeting that intensity level. “Talking’s over with. There’s too much talking. We’ve done enough talking and now it’s time for some action.” And: “…. If we were playing five-on-five pickup at the park, you’ve been getting your ass whooped three or four runs now, OK? When are you going to pick it up and get a game, get a win, stay on the court? That type of mentality.”
Kendrick Perkins will miss two games due to a death in the family, from Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: “Oklahoma City center Kendrick Perkins has returned to Texas because of the passing of his grandfather and will miss the Thunder’s next two games, league sources told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. Perkins won’t play against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at Staples Center, nor against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night in Oakland, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Steven Adams is expected to replace Perkins in the Thunder’s starting lineup. Adams, a rookie, has cut into Perkins’ minutes this season. Perkins, 29, is averaging three points and nearly four rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game. Perkins had been back and forth to Texas in recent weeks to spend time with his ill grandfather. The Thunder (5-1) are on a four-game winning streak.”
J.R. Smith says he is one of the veteran leaders of the Knicks now, from Marc Berman of New York Post: “J.R. Smith had interesting stuff to say about the team’s leadership and communication this morning. Smith believes club still is missing their ancient veterans from last season. One of them now coaches the Nets. Smith said he’s now looked upon to be more of a leader and “voice.” “The last two years, I didn’t have that voice on this team,’’ Smith said. “Some other guys had that voice. Now it’s a good voice to have. Smith added, “We miss our vets. The difference between Jason Kidd, Kurt Thomas, the Rasheed Wallaces is the communication. Last training camp we were 100 percent better on our communication skills on the defensive and offensive end. Myself, Melo, Ray have become the vets. We have to do better policing that.’’
Joe Lacob explained why it was easy to sign Andre Iguodala over the summer, from Rusty Simmons of San Francisco Chronicle: ““It’s interesting, during one of the playoff games in Denver, I was sitting on the floor. It turned out per chance, that one of his cousins was sitting behind us. We introduced and got to know him during the first game. When we came back for the second game, he made it pretty clear that Andre liked the Warriors, liked the organization. Obviously, I couldn’t talk about that at the time, but when he did become a free agent, I didn’t have to sell a lot. He was pretty sold. He sees how we do things, and the word gets out among the players. We get approached all of the time by agents with really big names who say, ‘Hey, when my guy’s contract is up, we’d really like to consider playing for the Warriors, because you’re building something the right way.’ We can’t talk to them, because it’s illegal, but you can see that we’re building something for the future, and people can sense that.”
- Lacob also admits that he feels the pressure now that the Warriors have expectations: ““Yes, I do. It’s only human to know that now we’re a situation that there are expectations. While I feel that, it doesn’t really bother me. It makes you feel alive. I’d rather be sitting here and feeling expectations than hopelessly wandering around the desert and trying to figure out what to do to turn things around. We welcome the challenge, and this is fun. There are times it’s not going to be fun, like when you get booed by 20,000 people. It’s going to be like that again at some point, probably, but I can’t worry about that. I’m worried about the future and about building something. If we keep pushing hard and keep pushing all of the right buttons and hiring all of the right people and never settling, I think more often than not, people will see that.”
Kenyon Martin is not happy at all with how he has been utilized by Mike Woodson, from Berman of NY Post: “Martin is also on a 15-to-20 minutes restriction as set by the Knicks medical staff. Martin said it was “difficult’’ to sit during the San Antonio debacle. “That’s been y’all and Woody,’’ Martin said edgily of the platoon and minute-restriction guidelines. “I’ve told you all I’m fine. Every time you ask me, I’ll give you the same answer, I’m fine — whatever the minutes is.’’ Referring to Tyson Chandler’s broken leg, Martin snapped: “Tyson wasn’t there but I was available. Tyson couldn’t play. “It was difficult for me to watch any game from the bench, not just a loss. I want to play. I’m a competitor, man. It’s all about winning. It’s all about the team. [But] I want to play.’’ When asked if he’s certain of the platoon guidelines, Martin railed: “You keep talking to Mike about the guidelines. I’m going to worry about us getting better as a team. “I told you all before. I’m not going to go back and forth with the medical and those numbers. You keep throwing out these minutes. I don’t care about all that. … Guidelines are something for the papers.’’
Danilo Gallinari has no timetable for when he may be able to return, from Pat Graham of The AP: “At the moment, Gallinari has “no idea” when he will return to the court as he recovers from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The Italian forward is limited to rehabbing in the weight room from the injury he sustained in April. He said that while he does occasionally shoot free throws, he hasn’t really been able to run the floor. Frustrating? “A little bit,” Gallinari said. “You always are frustrated a little bit when you can’t play.”… He spends around five hours a day working out under the supervision of Steve Hess, the team’s strength and conditioning coach. Gallinari was hoping he could be at full speed and possibly back in the lineup by next month, but he would rather just wait until the knee feels completely healthy, not speculate on a return date. “Once you feel strong, you’ve got to be able to translate everything on the court,” Gallinari explained. “The mental part is going to be the most important.”
Dwight Howard explained why he does not want to talk about his free throw shooting, from Jenny Dial Creech of Houston Chronicle: “I don’t want to talk about it,” Howard said. “So much has been talked about free throws, just let it go. We talk about it too much, I think about it at the line. I don’t want to think about it. I want to shoot. “That’s what I do in practice. I shoot in practice and I dont miss because I am not thinking about it.” Howard said that he is overthinking free throw shots in games, and missing them because of it. He said he is making up for the lack of free throws in other ways. “I get in the game and I think so much that I tend to miss,” Howard said. “The best thing to do is to let it go. If I make it, I make it. If I don’t, it’s not the end of the world. Even if I do miss, I will be out on the other end, playing defense, getting rebounds, blocking shots and paying back for fouling in that way.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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