Gary Neal knew he made the right financial decision in the offseason. The team he chose? Maybe not so much in hindsight, from Jeff McDonald of Express-News: “He could have remained with the Spurs had he accepted a qualifying offer of $1.11 million last summer. Instead, Neal chose two years and $6.5 million in Milwaukee, where he had not played in the previous six games until Sunday, when he went 1 for 8. “When you’re evaluating job choices, the financial aspect comes into it,” said Neal, 29. “I think I made the best decision for me and my family. I didn’t know the team would struggle in the manner of 7-33, and I didn’t know I’d be getting DNPs.” Asked what he misses most about his time in San Antonio, Neal did not hesitate. “If you just look at the record, winning,” Neal said.”
Danny Ainge is happy with where his team is despite the poor record, from Baxter Holmes of Boston Globe: “When asked about the state of the team at the halfway point, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said, “I’m happy with where we are. “I’m not really happy with our record, but I really don’t spend much time [on that],” Ainge continued. “I’m looking at each individual, trying to figure out who we want with us in the future. I couldn’t be happier working with Brad and what he’s doing. We’ve got some guys that are really developing that I see that are getting better.”… “I think it’s slowly getting there, slowly getting a little more settled,” Ainge said.”
Deron Williams said it was his idea to come off the bench against the Knicks, from Devin Kharpertian of The Brooklyn Game: “Not many max-contract players like coming off the bench, and fewer would suggest it themselves, but Williams is one exception. After a little over two weeks off to rest after a sprained left ankle, platelet-rich plasma treatment in both ankles, and cortisone shots in both ankles, Williams elected to come off the bench for the first time since February 2, 2006. “We’ve been playing so well with that (starting) lineup, why shake things up?” Williams explained after the team’s 103-80 victory over the Knicks. “It doesn’t matter if I come off, start, whatever. The way Joe (Johnson)’s been playing in the first quarter, first half, I don’t want to disrupt that.”
Dwyane Wade and other members of the Miami Heat were asked what they’d want to ask Martin Luther King Jr., from Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report: “I know that to be the first to do something, to step out on a limb, you have to have courage to do it. I would want to know how scared he was to be that person, to take that stand. Non-violent, just wanting to be different. And a lot of us are scared to do what we want to do because of what other people may say or what other people may do. He wasn’t. “But I would want to know: Was he afraid, was he nervous, was he scared for his family? All those kind of questions would come, because it was a tough situation he was in. We would talk for a long time. All kind of questions. I got all kind of questions for the man.”
O.J. Mayo explained why he’s been so bad this season, from Charles F. Gardner of Journal Sentinel: “It’s the same thing it’s been night in and night out,” Mayo said. “It’s been the same result, whatever the game plan has been. “It’s hard to get a rhythm when you don’t know what’s going to happen for you night in and night out. You may get 6 minutes, 30 minutes. There’s no staple to what we’re doing. You can hang in there, compete and keep it close. “If you don’t have a backbone to what you do, whether it’s going to be a defensive thing, an up-tempo thing, a pound-it-in-the-paint thing, a drive-and-kick thing. We’ve got to find a staple as a team… Here we are at game 40, we don’t know what we are right now. It’s going to be hard to collect wins when you don’t know what to expect.”
Manu Ginobili doesn’t think the Spurs are ready to beat the NBA’s best right now, from Jabari Young of Express-News: ““When it happens the first three times, four times, five times,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said, “then you say, ‘Okay, things happen. The schedule and…’ Now it’s eight (losses), so there has to be a tendency now.” The eight losses Ginobili is referring to: The Spurs’ 1-8 record against the NBA’s elite teams; 1-7 against the Western Conference’s best… Asked about their struggles against the good teams, Ginobili told the Express-News: “I guess at the moment we’re not ready to beat them. They’re very talented; everybody is more athletic than us. To beat these types of teams, we’ve got to be even sharper, more precise, and at this point, we are not.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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It makes you question wheehtr Josh Kroenke’s involvement is a hindrance more than a help and if his new GM is able to assert himself this early in his tenure. Donnie alluded to their lack of knowledge about the Knick roster add that to the Nets trade fiasco and it seems like amateur hour in Denver’s front office