Ryan Schwan of Hornets 247: "Through March, Paul's been shooting 59% from the field, 48% from deep. He's averaging 25.8 points, 13.6 assists, 2.7 steals, and a measly 2.8 turnovers. The team has won six of nine with David West injured for four of them. He's taking a flawed team through their toughest stretch, and doing it in style." And check out this pass.
Amare Stoudemire's claim to MVP status can be supported by points per possession. He's very close to 1.2 PPP, which is right there among the best rates ever recorded. And, as much as he says no one is mentioning him as a candidate, check this out: the blogosphere had your back last week, Mr. Stoudemire.
Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the Imelda Marcos of the NBA: "What started out as a hobby is now a passion for Hawks guard Josh Childress. Just scan row after dizzying row of shoes in his closet -- there are more than 500 pairs. Some are worn but most never have been anything more than admired. Every pair is meticulously cared for. It's clear that this is more than just a shoe fetish. Childress is a bona fide connoisseur of 'kicks.' That's the word he uses to describe his unique collection of Nike footwear. It includes many of the popular Air Force 1's and Air Jordan collections in colors and styles rarely seen at your local shoe store. 'It's my passion,' Childress said. 'Some guys play cards. Some guys collect watches or cars or whatever. My thing is shoes.'" Also, one thing to point out: if ever he threatens to sign with Reebok or Adidas, Nike will have to know that they won't have to pay too much to keep him, because he is unbelievably in love with their brand.
The Arizona Republic's Paul Coro quotes Portland's Joel Przybilla on the Shaq-centric Suns, who have won five in a row: "They're playing like the team they were talking about they were going to be."
I have been telling people that I think the Cavaliers would beat the Celtics in a playoff series. And I still think they might. But man, have you seen the Celtics lately? Adding P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell just makes them feistier than ever, and now reasonably deep. I'm half way to requesting a do-over on my prediction. But I'll hang in, what the hell. Maybe time will make me look smarter, though. As for the Cavaliers ... Brian Windhorst of The Akron Beacon-Journal:"Since the calendar turned to March, the Cavaliers have been spinning their wheels. They have not made the improvement expected after executing a team-altering trade at last month's deadline. They are 5-4 this month and 8-6 since the trade, and there hasn't been enough evidence to determine what is working and what isn't so far. In the disappointing loss Monday in Orlando, Fla., to the playoff-bound Magic, the Cavs gave up a 10-point lead in the second half. All of this makes the game tonight a significant litmus test as to where the Cavs are right now."
Bruce Arthur of the National Post: "T.J. Ford's season was derailed by injuries, and a period of adjustment was expected. But right now Ford is lost, and he's screwing the entire team up."
Art Thiel of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer quotes cheery Sonic guard Earl Watson, in the wake of Seattle's historic beatdown at the hands of the Nuggets: "Earl Watson offered a concise summary. 'I've been saying all year,' he said Tuesday, 'that this season is about humiliation.' Or, as owner Clay Bennett might have put it: Here's to you, Seattle. From the git-go, the season has been a tank job. That doesn't mean that individual players and coaches have quit as much as their options have been curtailed by the deliberate pursuit of another high lottery draft pick and the economics of franchise sabotage. None of this is a scoop to the players, who buy it -- to a point. 'After humiliation comes success,' Watson said. As far as giving up on the season, I think management has a plan. I don't know, maybe it's right and maybe it's not -- who would have thought we would lose Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis? 'You have to trust they do have a plan and do want to win.'"
Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News on the Warriors' loss last night to the Kings: "Don't want to pick on Monta Ellis, but I suspect Don Nelson pulled him early in the first quarter, then later kept him on the bench for the entire 4th quarter, mostly because of his terrible defense. The 3-for-9 shooting didn't help, but maybe that's part of itMonta wasn't doing anything on offense, so he totally zoned out on defense. Kevin Martin's a tough guard for Monta ... and he didn't come close to doing it well. Didn't get back on defense, didn't do much when he did, lost his man ... it was bad. I know Monta had some personal issues before this game, but these defensive problems are not new. He played 28 minutes, was a -17 in the plus/minus and it looked worse than that."
Benjamin Golliver of BlazersEdge saw some warm-ups, and notes this teaching point from the Blazer coaching staff: "Sergio [Rodriguez] was practicing for an extended period of time, letting Coach Bayno hit him with the pads to work on finishing strong. He also spent some time on his pull-up jumpers. At one point, a Blazers staff member talked to Sergio about jumping more vertically rather than carrying his body forward during his follow through. The idea was to protect Sergio's ankles from defenders sliding underneath him. Bruce Bowen's name was mentioned."
Sun Sports broadcaster Whit Watson: "I performed a highly unscientific survey of a few of Sun Sports & FSN Florida's professional team partners -- the Miami Heat, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Orlando Magic. Media relations officials from all three teams told me essentially the same thing: as long as a blogger represents an established media outlet, be it a newspaper, TV station or network, or a website like Yahoo or ESPN.com, there is no policy against credentialing those writers. All three teams used some version of the phrase 'case-by-case basis.' In other words, no blanket policy required. Take a little time, ask a couple of questions, and then use your professional judgement to determine whether or not a credential request is legit. It's not that hard, and it's part of the job in media relations."
It's killing me that I still haven't had time to watch "Black Magic." Here's an interesting discussion, inspired by the film, about early black NBA players who were apparently asked not to score very much. And back then, they didn't track rebounds. (UPDATE: My bad -- they did track rebounds when, for instance, Earl Lloyd played in the NBA. But they had just started, so it's not like they were really understanding the value of rebounds.)
Yes, please. I wholly support this call for someone to create a database of marketing deals. Agents sell themselves to superstars based on their ability to get endorsement dollars. But there are not good objective measures of who is getting how much endorsement money for their clients. It's something I'd like to write about more, but lack good evidence to prove or disprove essentially every agent's claim that they are gifted at this part of the business. And this is where a lot of the money is in the NBA. In a somewhat related note, one of the biggest names in NBA marketing is looking for a new marketing representative. Aaron Lopez of the Rocky Mountain News: "[Carmelo Anthony] has terminated his marketing and public relations agreement with BDA Sports Marketing. Calvin Andrews of BDA Sports will continue to represent Anthony as his agent in NBA contract matters. 'I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for me in the future,' Anthony said in a statement released by the Nuggets. 'I look forward to teaming up with a new group that can help me achieve my goals and maximize my potential.'"
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