Amare Stoudemire said the team didn’t always buy into Mike Woodson’s system and addressed the importance of his own leadership, from Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN NY: ““I think next year we got to take more of a mindset of trying to master the game,” Stoudemire said before the Knicks’ season finale against Toronto. “I mean, again, certain strategies were placed upon us with Coach Woodson. There were times when we didn’t quite buy into it and as a result of that, we lost games.”… Stoudemire said the Knicks couldn’t overcome the loss of leadership from last year’s 54-win squad with Jason Kidd, Kurt Thomas and Rasheed Wallace moving on. “We lost a lot of vets,” Stoudemire said. “And those vets were definitely key leaders for us. And it was tough for me to be the leader that I know I am because I was still on limited minutes and I wasn’t playing much so it was tough for me to lead by example. “Once I got into the starting lineup, then my leadership qualities [resurfaced],” he added. “So, next year, we should be focused a little bit more and it’ll be a much better year.”
Jordan Hill had some interesting comments about his future, Mike D’Antoni and Chris Kaman, from Mark Medina of Daily News: “Why he thinks he would attract teams during free agency: “I feel like I ‘m a good fit for any team, rebounder, energy guy and go out there and play hard 24/7. I can definitely alter and block shots that come to the basket and get your buckets. I feel like I’m a great fit and want to go out there and play on any team that needs a guy like me.” On if will he return to the Lakers: “It’s tough to say right now because of how the season panned out. I had a great time here and whatever happens and I didn’t take Lakers out of my teams I would play for.” On Mike D’Antoni’s assessment that his inconsistent minutes stemmed from having fatigue when he logged heavy minutes: “It gets tiring at times. But I feel like I have that adrenaline flowing” Hill on D’Antoni: “We didn’t have any problems. We never argued. I never snapped out on him. He never snapped out at me. We communicate.” Hill on Chris Kaman’s frustrations: “Chris Kaman was a butthole sometimes. But I can definitely understands where he comes from.”
Kaman once again opened up about how frustrating this season has been, from Medina: “-On not playing with Pau Gasol: “I anticipated that. I didn’t think that worked out how I anticipated either. My frustration through the year and me coming off the bench and not play for five games … I don’t think coach did any of that on purpose. Two bigs don’t fit into his style of offense. It might be a tough spill to swallow. That’s something more on my fault and I should’ve paid more attention going into this.” -On Mike D’Antini: “I had my issues with me and coach. He knew I was frustrated and knew I was struggling through the situation. At the end of the day, we both came to an agreement that it wasn’t going to work and change around the way he was coaching. I thought that was part of the issue.” On what changes Mitch Kupchak said the team will make: “They don’t have plans yet. They’re trying to finish up exit interviews with all the guys.”
Former NBA player Smush Parker punched a 16-year-old for apparently showing him up, from Richard Johnson of NY Post: “Wolfgang Novogratz — the basketball-playing 16-year-old son of HGTV stars Robert and Cortney Novogratz — shouldn’t have shown up former NBA player Smush Parker last week in a pick-up game at Basketball City at Pier 36. Parker, 32, punched Wolfie in the jaw, and the teen — a star at Brooklyn’s Poly Prep, where Chicago Bull Joakim Noah played — was taken to the hospital. Wolfie, who is 6-foot-2, 185 pounds and being heavily recruited already by colleges, was guarding Parker, who is 2 inches taller and lot heavier. “Wolfie scored back-to-back baskets on Smush,” said my source. “At the other end, Smush went up for a shot. There was a hard foul, and they both went down. Smush got up and punched Wolfie in the face.”
Anthony Bennett reflected some on his rookie year, from Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: “Cavaliers power forward Anthony Bennett admits his rookie year was “interesting.” That’s an understatement. The Cavs dusted him off on April 16 against the Brooklyn Nets. He had missed the previous 17 games with a strained left patellar tendon. Seconds after entering the Nets game, the 6-foot-8, 259-pounder threw down a dunk. “I’ve learned a lot,” Bennett said. “You’ve always got to be ready to work. (You have to) go hard all year.” Someone compared his rookie season as a redshirt year. He disagreed. “I played a lot (this year),” he said. “Obviously, I could have been a whole lot better. I just got to be prepared for next season.” The UNLV product appeared in 52 games this season. He averaged 4.1 points and 2.9 rebounds entering the finale. “I definitely want to finish off my rookie season on a good note,” he said. And, yes, he said he’s going to play on the Cavs’ summer league team in Las Vegas.”
Shane Battier explains why going big against the Miami Heat isn’t necessarily the formula to beat them, from Ethan Skonick of Bleacher Report: “I think it’s been countered,” Heat forward Shane Battier said. “If you compare numbers from game to game, our rebounding numbers aren’t indicative of our win-loss record. Rebounding is probably the biggest indication that a team is bigger than us, and more active on the offensive boards, and when we’re out-rebounded, we’ve still proven that we can win.” That statement deserves a deeper dive. The problem with rebounding statistics is that they are subject to other factors, such as how well each team defends, since defensive rebounds are easier to accrue than offensive rebounds. The most common measure, rebounding differential, is especially imperfect… Yes, the Heat were 19-5 when they out-rebounded opponents this season, compared to 33-22 when they were out-rebounded and 2-1 when they tied the other team in that category. But that was hardly definitive proof of rebounding’s relevance to their results. Miami beat the Mavericks, Clippers and Wizards while being out-rebounded by 22, 21 and 17, respectively, in those games.”
Dwight Howard says all he wants to do and care about at this point is sacrifice and win, from Sam Amick of USA Today: “”We have a well-balanced team,” Howard says. “And for me at this point, it’s all about sacrifice for all of us. We have to find ways to sacrifice ourselves, sacrifice our bodies for the benefit of the team. That’s the biggest thing.”… All I want to do is win,” said Howard, who averaged 18.4 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game this season while helping Houston improve four spots in the defensive ranking category (16th to 12th). “That’s the only thing that matters to me. If we win, then everything falls into place. I can’t control how people feel. I can’t control any of that stuff, so that’s not my focus. People are going to say whatever they’re going to say about me, say I’m not playing as great or they don’t talk about me as much. But that’s fine. All you have to do is win. When you win games, nobody can say anything. So that’s the only thing I’m going to do.”
Mike Woodson doesn’t believe it’s fair for the Knicks to let him go, from Steve Popper of The Record: “What’s fair? What do you think is fair?” said Woodson, who fell short of a playoff berth but did guide the team to 16 wins in the final 21 games. “No, really. I was given an opportunity two years ago to take over a team that was struggling and I made the most of it Unfortunately this year just didn’t go according to plan. Is it fair to let me go? I don’t think so. Again, I don’t make that decision. That’s got to come from the top. “You can point the finger in a lot of directions man. and at the end of the day, normally the coach is the guy that gets blamed and that’s just the nature of our sport .It’s like that it any sport. Should it be that way, maybe not. But what are you going to do about it? You’ve got to continue to do your job while you’re doing it. When you’re services are no longer needed, you’ve got to move on and pick up the pieces and regroup and try it somewhere else.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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