Michael Grange on GlobeSports.com: "Since 1959, only 10 players who could be called franchise players - someone who subjectively and objectively defined his team - made their NBA Finals debut before their 25th birthday. When you limit the list to those the same age as James - who turned 22 on Dec. 30 - or younger. Only two players, Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson, led teams to the Finals before their 23rd birthday, and both had considerable help. And if you sift through all those young stars under 25, no one is doing the job without a recognized second-in-command, a fellow all-star to carry some of the weight."
Mark Cuban talks to the Freakonomics blog: "The one variable that makes most Moneyball-type scenarios unworkable in the NBA is coaching. The difference in styles between MLB teams is minimal, while the difference in style between the Spurs and Suns is dramatic. A player may thrive in one and struggle in the other."
I have written more than a few times about high-scoring point guard Bobby Brown of Cal State Fullerton. And each time, I have adhered to the Associated Press style, that dicates I should write Cal-State Fullerton, with a hyphen. But I have come to learn from an influential alum (cough -- Marc Stein -- cough) that people at Cal State never wanted thay hyphen, and wish it would go away. I'm a big believer that you get to determine what people call you (I grew up in the state that the AP tells me is "Ore.") so from here on out, I'll be writing "Cal State," and encourage you to do the same.
Also yesterday we heard about how hard it was to follow the NBA in Italy? I heard from Italy, and the story is that the games are primarily on special pay TV. I also heard from Ryan, who is from Texas but is studying in Spain: "I've been studying abroad in Valencia, Spain, since September, and I can tell you that the Spanish basketball league, the ACB, is not all that popular here. I see many more people on the street wearing Carmelo, LeBron and Jordan jerseys than, say, Fran Vázquez's jersey. That said, the NBA isn't exactly well followed here either. I don't have cable in my apartment, but watching the national news, we get NBA highlights every once in a while -- but only of Blazers, Raptors and Grizzlies games. And you can't exactly call them game highlights -- more just highlights of the Gasol, Calderón, Rodríguez, etc., and maybe the final score. People sometimes ask me if I follow the NBA, and what team I'm for. They know the names of all the teams, but when I tell them I'm a Magic fan, and that I'm not too happy with Fran Vázquez, they don't make the connection. In fact, most Spanish basketball fans don't even know what the NBA Draft is. They don't know who the good teams are, but they know who Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are. Also, the other day, one of the guys I play basketball with impressed me by telling me that he knew the Grizzlies just hired a Suns assistant as their coach. One thing that's really funny to me is that people ask me if I know who Pau Gasol is. When I say, 'Yes, of course,' they usually respond with surprise and say, 'Oh really? He's famous over there?' Worth noting: In one of the local papers, there's a page in the sports section called ŃBA -- that´s right, ŃBA. It's devoted to Spanish players in the NBA, and it provides all NBA scores and standings every day. Also, that streak of 50-point games by Kobe earlier this season was a pretty big deal over here."
There are more than a few "stalking Boris Diaw" stories out there. This one is the best (PG-13).
All kinds of reports, including this one, saying the Blazers are going crazy trying to get another first-round pick. Boston's fifth might be available for established talent. Chicago might be willing to move the ninth pick for a proven inside scorer, and there's a lot of talk about Atlanta's 11th pick too. Memphis has the fourth pick, which seems to put them in position to draft a great prospect like Al Horford or Brandan Wright, who may or may not make sense on their roster.
Portland and Seattle are about to be besieged by interview requests for their new stars. Thoughts about handling life in the spotlight. Also, Portland just announced that Cheri Hanson will run their public relations -- I dealt with her when she was in Milwaukee and found her to be a tremendous professional.
Dr. Herb Greenberg, psychological consultant to NBA teams, talks to Jeff Wong of Hoops Addict. Plenty of interesting stuff, including this: "This player is still in the league, I believe. He was a lock for a lottery pick, and we liked him. Only one thing: we said, 'Draft him, but you can't beat him up. You gotta tell him you love him. He needs support. He doesn't have the self-esteem. He couldn't take a beating, but he's got the competitive fire.' Okay. They drafted him. He did very well in training camp. Now, opening night, national TV. He's playing quite well. Things are going great. Suddenly, a teammate intercepts a pass, passes to him, and he flings the ball halfway down the court. The other team re-intercepts it, comes down the court and scores. Four-point turnaround. Coach calls timeout, charges out onto the court, grabs him literally by the ear, drags him to the sidelines, and on national TV, chews his tail out like you wouldn't believe, calls him every name under the sun. Ended his career. That was it. He couldn't play the rest of the game. He was talented enough that he hung onto the league for a few more years, but as a ninth, tenth man. It destroyed him. He could've been a total superstar with the right coach." Hmm ... wonder who that was.
Recently the thinking was the Kevin Durant was about to become the highlight of Nike's marketing. LeBron James was underwhelming, and Kobe Bryant's contract was expiring. Now James has exploded, and Bryant has reportedly re-signed. A couple of sources tell me Durant is taking adidas more seriously than ever.
Gregg Popovich has plenty of interesting stuff to say in a media session transcribed on InsideHoops, including this: "Well, you know, the success we've had, very frankly, as we all know or should know, when David Robinson was followed by Tim Duncan, your major job is not to screw that up (laughter). A lot of people would have liked to have that opportunity to be successful under those circumstances. That's important. And the second thing is that our owner, Peter Holt, allows us to do our job. You know, R. C. Buford with management and myself coaching and the staffs that we have, I can't remember, if ever, Peter calling any of us in and saying why did you do this, what's the deal, no, you can't do that. We have done whatever we've wanted to do for a decade, and that's just an unequivocal fact. If you have an owner that's going to allow you to do your job, you know, whether you fail or not -- I mean, if you fail you're gone obviously, that's the business we're in. But if you have that, then you have the former situations I mentioned, and you've got a pretty good chance to do something good."
SI.com's Kelly Dwyer offers five reasons why the Cavaliers could win. (I know, I'm all pro-Cavs these days. Trying to be a counterpoint to all those "Spurs in five" claims I see everywhere else.)
Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post:"'I hope I turn out to be wrong as hell,' Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo said, 'but I think it's going to be a much better series than people think. They've played us well not just this year [when Cleveland won both regular season games], but last year, too. They're way above average. They're the best rebounding team in the league. The way they play and the way we play will probably produce games that are, what, 83-81, something like that.'"
Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express-News on Seattle's new general manager: "After joining the Spurs as a $250-a-month intern in the summer of 2000, [Sam] Presti worked his way up through the organization, becoming one of the franchise's most valuable advisers. He becomes the NBA's youngest general manager at 30 years old. 'It's a well-deserved opportunity and one that Sam has prepared for diligently from the day I first met him,' Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. Sonics owner Clay Bennett, a former minority owner of the Spurs, met with Presti last week in Orlando, Fla. They met again Wednesday in Colorado Springs, Colo., with Seattle's president of basketball operations, Lenny Wilkens. The team is expected to announce the hiring today."
Plenty of tragic perspective on the Finals for the Cavaliers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas's nightmare of stillborn twins a few months ago, and the death of David Wesley's brother. Basketball? Just a game.
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