Tim Kawakami on the Mercury News on Baron Davis, after Golden State's amazing win against San Antonio (highlights): "Baron Davis is the largest figure in Warriors' history since Rick Barry. (In the 'player category.' I'd say Nelson is a tie in the overall history.) Bigger than Chris Mullin. Bigger than Tim Hardaway. Bigger than Sprewell or Mitch Richmond or, yes, even Troy Murphy. Davis can dump a game here or there and at his high-minute pace, he knows he's allowed and he doesn't always play solid defense. (For instance, well, tonight against Tony Parker, and why did Andris Biedrins have all those fouls? Because he had to come over when Parker slashed easily into the paint right past BD.) But Baron is BARON because he does stuff maybe two or three other guys in the league can do at the end of games, when he should be exhausted, and when his teammates are locked in place and praying BD is up to it. He knocks himself past people to get to the rim, and makes the shot after a bump from a big guy. He draws the triple-team, holds onto the ball when Ginobili reaches in to strip, then flings it to Stephen Jackson for an open 'three.' He demands that Jackson take it, and make it. That's Baron. Tonight: 48 minutes, 34 points, 14 assists, 6 rebounds and overflowing life force in the last minutes of regulation and OT. There's nobody like him."
The Jazz have played Portland four times in recent weeks, making Jerry Sloan as good an expert as anybody on the resurgent Blazers. Sloan described the Blazers to the Portland Tribune's Dwight Jaynes: "'They get the ball to the right guys about as good as anybody in the league,' Sloan says. Usually that guy is Brandon Roy. 'He's one of the best players in the league. A great player,' Sloan says. OK, what makes Roy such a great player in only his second year? 'He can get to just about any spot on the floor he wants to get to,' Sloan says. 'He's big and strong, can get to the basket, get to the free-throw line and get the ball to open teammates. I knew he was going to be a great player the first time I saw him.'"
Basketbawful with some nice eighties video: "Now, I'm not a French designer jean commercial expert, but I do know this: If I'm paying money to film a commercial starring Larry Bird, that commercial is actually going to star Larry Bird. After watching it 20 times or so, I'm not convinced Larry even realized he was in a commercial. He was probably just hanging out at the local arcade in his French designer jeans, playing with his basketball and watching girls ride around on their roller skates...you know, just like everybody else in the 80s was doing."
Eric Weiss of DraftExpress breaks down Linas Kleiza and concludes: "As long as Denver has Iverson, Anthony, Martin, Nene and all the rest of their high-priced veterans, Kleiza will a remain role-playing bench contributor. But with age and salary cap issues becoming an ever-increasing concern for the Nuggets, they may be wise to invest some time developing Kleiza for a larger future role. Two or three years down the road, when JR Smith is playing on the And-1 circuit and Iverson is transitioning into a supporting role, Kleiza may have the opportunity to show more."
Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports on his blog that Steve Kerr fired up the Suns with a spirited talk: "A few players talked about how Steve Kerr's lecture at the morning shootaround fired them up. 'You can't expect Steve to make a Knute Rockne every day,' Nash said. It sounded like accountability and trust were major themes in what Kerr and D'Antoni spoke about. Kerr was surprised, even embarrassed, that the players were talking about it, saying, 'They're the ones who made 20 threes.'"
This is not a good halftime show. If that's what you have got, how about no halftime show? Just time for snacking, waiting in bathroom lines, or quiet reflection. Would that be so bad?
TrueHoop reader Kevin points out that two Knicks are about to slip lower on the all-time assist rankings. Jason Kidd is about to pass Isiah Thomas for fifth, while Steve Nash is creeping up on Stephon Marbury for the 22nd spot.
The Oregonian's Geoffrey Arnold talks to Chris Paul about the art of the steal: "Paul credits his successful thievery to learning opponents' tendencies and remembering a few fundamentals. The 6-foot, 175-pound Paul said he tries to anticipate the move a player is going to make and if the player will continue dribbling or decide to pass. 'I sort of bait them into doing one thing. If they're coming at full speed, dribbling with their left hand, I can sort of tell by watching his feet if he is going to do a certain move,' Paul said. 'Then what I'll make them do is make them think I'm going for their first move, but know that I'm going to attack their second move. 'If a big guy is dribbling using his right hand, I can sort of time it to when he's going to put it down on the floor. I'll know when to steal it.'"
Kevin McHale talks losing with the Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda: "I can tell you that a veteran group going through this would not have the same resilience. A veteran group, they'd all be like, 'Get me out of there.' These guys are like, 'How do I get better?' Sometimes the youth is a positive. It is as good a group as I've had since I've been here. You put what has been happening with some other groups and it would have been an implosion of epic proportions. These guys are still trying, still working. The character is there."
You've probably seen LeBron James and the women in the front row having a great back-and-forth. Of course, they turned out to be Chris Bosh's girlfriend and cousin. Doug Smith of The Star: "The chatting was played repeatedly on sports highlight shows in the United States yesterday, lending far more importance to the affair than it probably deserved. In one clip, James apparently tells the two women it was their fault he carried Cleveland to the win. 'I saw a lot of people were trying to make a big deal out of it but they probably don't know that we all know each other,' said Bosh. 'We all talked after the game and it was cool.'"
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