Chris Perkins of The Palm Beach Post: "Dwyane Wade and President/Coach Pat Riley believe the race to rebuild is full speed ahead for the Heat, starting with Thursday's game at Houston. 'We're going to turn this around as fast as we can,' Riley said. Forward Shawn Marion is the biggest key. Marion, a four-time All-Star, came over from Phoenix along with guard Marcus Banks in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal. Marion has a few options that could determine Miami's future: he can opt out of his contract after this season; he can play next season for $17.8 million and then become a free agent; he can sign a multiyear contract extension; or he can be used in a sign-and-trade transaction. Once that matter is settled, the Heat can move forward with draft plans -- center or point guard, perhaps -- and develop a free agency strategy."
Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "The first-place Wild will play the Vancouver Canucks tonight in St. Paul. The hockey club will announce that 18,568 tickets were sold and 95 percent of those people actually will be in attendance. The last-place Timberwolves will open the post-All-Star portion of their schedule tonight by playing Philadelphia at Target Center. The crowd will be announced in the low five figures and that will be generous by 2,000 to 3,000. NBA interest in the Twin Cities is at its lowest point in the 19 seasons since the league re-emerged here with the expansion Timberwolves in the fall of 1999."
Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "Barring injury, there is no earthly reason the Pistons shouldn't be fresh and flying high going into the playoffs. There is no reason to think they can't win it all. Except the same things were said the previous three seasons and the Pistons found a way to fall short of a championship each year."
Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Mike Bibby got his playbook, practice gear and plenty of love from teammates, who were energized by the addition of one of the league's best point guards. 'Sometimes it takes some change to get you going,' said Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson. 'It's a new ballgame,' Josh Smith said. 'We're in a unique position right now, with a chance to sort of reinvent ourselves on the fly here, and guys have to be ready to take advantage of it.' Bibby sat courtside until getting the go-ahead to join his new teammates. The minute he got on the floor, the tenor of the session changed dramatically."
Michael Obernauer of the New York Daily News: "Either a bold leap of faith or, more likely, a shortage of interest from possible trading partners led Isiah Thomas Monday to declare his faith in the futures of his young big men and deny that he has written them off as succeeding on Broadway. 'For as much talk as there has been about Eddy and Zach, they're still 25 (Curry) and 26 (Randolph), and there's still a lot of good basketball left for them to play,' the Knicks' president/coach said Monday as his team reconvened in Greenburgh for its first post-break practice. He admitted that 'it's possible' Curry and Randolph simply aren't suited to playing together. 'However, you're not just willing to throw it away just yet,' he added."
Jean-Jacques Taylor of The Dallas Morning News: "In his own high-pitched, squeaky way, Avery Johnson has been complaining about his point guards since he became the Dallas Mavericks' head coach with 18 games left in the 2004-05 season. Well, Johnson is on the verge of getting Jason Kidd. You can't really get much better than that, even though Kidd soon turns 35. Assuming the trade goes through, Avery Johnson will have a point guard he can trust, a player who could match the toughness and intensity the coach displayed as a player and far exceed his talent on the basketball court. The trade, which will be reviewed today by the league, does come with a catch: It's Johnson, not Dirk Nowitzki, who will find himself at the epicenter of scrutiny. That's never happened before. Think about it."
Matt McHale of the Los Angeles Daily News: "Even though young center Andrew Bynum is behind schedule in his comeback from a knee injury, he is expected back by the end of March. Kobe says he can't walk away from all that. But with surgery, he can return by the first week of April, fine-tune with some games against conference heavyweights New Orleans and San Antonio and be ready for the postseason. Stay the course and get hurt again, and the Lakers don't get out of the first round. Granted, this isn't the rough and tumble NBA of Nate Thurmond, Maurice Lucas and Kevin McHale. But a torn ligament on the shooting hand can get reinjured anywhere, in practice, even on the team bus. There is too much risk."
Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee: "But as the Kings near the final stretch of this season of survival, Theus' rookie status has been more of a help than a hindrance. His growth as a coach has been praised in relation to his relative inexperience, his downfalls mostly forgiven and often cast aside as, well, rookie mistakes. The coach's coaches, meanwhile, approve thus far. 'It's a learning and growing experience for him, and I think that's going to go on for a while,' Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said by phone last week. 'Even though (he) played in the (NBA) years ago, then had two years as an assistant coaching (at Louisville) and two years as a head coach in college (at New Mexico State), just learning the league is not an instantaneous process. ... That goes from everything from learning the other players in the league to the other coaches in the league and your own players, and the fact that the games -- once they start -- the preparation time is really limited. It's all those things. To this point, he's holding up well.'"
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: "They went for the splash, lured by the idea of an enigmatic, burly force lifting the franchise to untouched championship heights, even if the trade had to be made at the sacrifice of a popular Suns star. It worked 15 seasons ago to an extent, when the Suns acquired Charles Barkley and reached the NBA Finals for the first time in 17 years. Will a similar premise work again after Phoenix's trade for Shaquille O'Neal, who figures to make his Suns debut this week, possibly Wednesday at home against the Los Angeles Lakers. There is a glaring difference with Barkley coming in his prime at age 29 and winning the Most Valuable Player award for the 1992-93 season and O'Neal working in his career's after hours as he nears age 36. But O'Neal brings something foreign to Barkley and Phoenix -- championship rings - in the form of a center the franchise has longed for over four decades."
Jerry Brown of the East Valley Tribune: "When the Suns and the Denver Nuggets announce their plans today to play an exhibition game at a tennis stadium in Indian Wells, Calif., next October, it will mark the first NBA outdoor game of the league's modern era. The stadium is enclosed, and features rows of swanky suites and many other creature comforts of an NBA arena. But the weather -- wind and maybe rain -- will be a factor for the first time. Well, not the first time. The only other NBA games held outdoors were 36 years ago, and the Suns were involved in both of them. On Sept. 24-25, 1972, the Suns and Milwaukee Bucks went to Puerto Rico to play two outdoor exhibition games in the cities of San Juan and Ponce -- one on a dusty baseball field inhabited by insects, the other in what might best be described as a bull ring with a suspended roof."
John DeShazier of The Times-Picayune: "NBA Commissioner David Stern isn't a man given to making rash decisions during moments of anger or euphoria. Obviously, he's capable of making a wrong decision -- implementation of the synthetic basketball, issuing a dress code for players, mic-ing up coaches during games are a few that come to mind. But few would argue his edicts aren't well thought out. So he likely will think long and hard, and gather a ton of information, before determining the sites of future All-Star Games. He'll look at deserving candidates and make a decision based on what he thinks is best for the league. And after all of that, he should send his league's midseason extravaganza back to New Orleans as soon as possible."
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
H
