Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "Joe Dumars saw the hang-dog looks. He saw the subdued demeanor. He saw, in short, Richard Hamilton not being Richard Hamilton. And he knew immediately what was wrong. It wasn't that the Pistons traded for Allen Iverson; it was who they traded away to the Nuggets. Chauncey Billups, Hamilton's backcourt mate the past six seasons. That was familiar emotional terrain for Dumars, so he quietly pulled Hamilton aside Wednesday. 'I told him, 'Look, I played with a great guard for a long time. And the first time I stepped out on that court and he wasn't there, man, that was a weird feeling,'' Dumars said. 'He was the only guy I had ever played with, so, yeah, I totally understand what Rip's going through.' Dumars was referring to playing for the Pistons after Isiah Thomas retired."
Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News: "Dan Issel was Denver's president and coach when he traded the third-year guard Feb. 1, 2000, to Orlando. Chauncey Billups, out that season following a Dec. 16, 1999, shoulder injury and due to become a free agent, left town quietly. But the Denver native has returned with much pomp and circumstance. The Nuggets got him Monday from Detroit along with Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb for Allen Iverson. Issel, retired since being forced out as coach in December 2001, is glad to see Billups back, saying he 'can really help the Nuggets.' Issel doesn't pretend to say he knew Billups would develop into the player he was in Detroit, being an NBA Finals MVP and three times an All-Star. 'When he was in Denver, he never got the chance to be 100 percent healthy,' Issel said. 'I didn't believe he was a true point guard, and, at that time, he wasn't one.'"
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post "The Mile High City is so close to Chauncey Billups' heart that he'll wear the town's ultimate sports number over it as proof. No. 7. Yep. The numeral synonymous with John Elway and athletic excellence in Denver -- and one of only two orange-and-blue numbers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- will now be worn by Billups, who bleeds any color related to the city. Talk about pressure. Nuggets coach George Karl and Billups held up the jersey at the guard's introductory news conference Thursday afternoon and joked about offseason smack talk. 'He hangs out with us in the summertime and gives us all types of grief about not winning championships,' Karl said. 'So now we give you grief to win a championship (for Denver).'"
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News: "I'm not sure what Pete D'Alessandro's precise job duties as assistant GM were, by the book (salary cap, mostly), but his firing by Robert Rowell today will forever put D'Alessandro in the Warriors' history books: This is the fireworks-red-glare beginning of Rowell's purge of anything to do with or anybody with a wink of loyalty to Chris Mullin."
Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times: "If Vinny Del Negro makes a change in his starting lineup and/or his offense tonight when the Bulls host the Phoenix Suns, he said it won't be because of strong statements by Ben Gordon and Luol Deng after a 107-93 loss Wednesday at Cleveland. ... 'No, no, no; they're the players, I'm the coach,' Del Negro said. 'The easiest thing is to look from the outside in and say we should do this or that. But when you go through it, it's a lot different. We're trying to put everybody in the most successful area we can. Sometimes it's not the system; sometimes it is. Sometimes it's the familiarity of everything.' The worry for fans should be that the ''personal agendas'' general manager John Paxson said infected the team throughout its 33-49 campaign last season are surfacing again in the form of forced shots and a lack of consistent defensive intensity."
Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun: "You don't think Jermaine O'Neal is taking this offensive funk serious enough? On the eve of a five-day, three-game Raptors trip that starts tonight in Atlanta -- where the Hawks are a surprising 3-0 -- he was up until 4 a.m. yesterday, poring over video, trying to determine why the ball isn't going in the hoop for him. The bad news is the late-night study session has landed him in the doghouse with his wife, who was upset with her husband spending their last night before he left on a five-day trip glued to the television. The worse news? That other than a tired set of eyes, all that video-watching didn't provide him with concrete answers to why, all of a sudden, he can't put the ball in the net. 'I don't know,' O'Neal said of his findings. 'I'm just not making the shots. When I look at the (tape) I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing as far as getting the position I want. I'm catching it deep. I'm clearing the space when I turn to the basket but I'm just not making the shot.'"
Melody Gutierrez of the Sacramento Bee: "Five games didn't seem too harsh when the penalty was handed out in July. But while serving the suspension, Brad Miller said time dragged on. 'The last two games were definitely the toughest,' Miller said Thursday, a towel draped over his head after working on his three-point shot with assistant coach Randy Brown. But today marks a transition. Miller, the remorseful center, is moving on. 'You have to. I learned from it already,' said Miller, who lost approximately $693,000 of his $11.3 million salary for failing his third drug test because of marijuana use. 'There is nothing you can do except look forward to the next 77 games.'"
Sekou Smith of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Any doubt about whether the Hawks trust each other was answered at crunch time of Wednesday's win in New Orleans. With the game on the line, the Hawks swung the ball from side to side repeatedly until they found the shot they wanted. It didn't matter who took the shot, only that it was a good one. And to think that a year ago this team, 3-0 heading into tonight's game against Toronto at Philips Arena, had trust issues. 'If you ask me that's the biggest difference between last year and now,' Marvin Williams said. 'We trust each other, and [Hawks captain and All-Star] Joe [Johnson] really trusts us. It's got to be hard when you're a veteran, an All-Star, playing with young guys. But he stuck with us last year and now he's trusting us more than ever and that makes us even more dangerous.'"
Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "The Spurs said, 'Merci beaucoups' to Tony Parker after he bailed them out of a loss to a mediocre Timberwolves team on Wednesday night. Had Parker not saved the Spurs from an 0-4 start, it would have been a collective 'Sacre bleu!' Parker's 55-point, 10-assist performance pushed him past all but two legendary Spurs, David Robinson and George Gervin, on the team's single-game scoring list. He also joined legends Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the only NBA players to get at least 55 points and 10 assists in a game. ... That the Spurs nearly fell to 0-4, even with Parker's Louvre-worthy masterpiece, is further indication of the problems they face until Manu Ginobili returns to a roster coach Gregg Popovich acknowledges is in transition."
Ross Siler of The Salt Lake Tribune: "Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor wouldn't call Jerry Sloan's record untouchable, but pointed to the 219 coaching changes that have taken place around the NBA during Sloan's tenure. 'It doesn't indicate that anybody's capable of that kind of longevity,' O'Connor said. To reach 1,000 with the Spurs, Popovich would need to average 53 victories for the next seven seasons. His contract, however, expires the same time as Tim Duncan's, after the 2011-12 season, and whether Popovich would continue without Duncan is unknown. Unlike Jackson with the Chicago Bulls or Pat Riley with the Miami Heat, Sloan remained in Utah through a rebuilding process following the departures of John Stockton and Karl Malone. 'He kept the continuity, he kept the respect of the Jazz in the NBA,' O'Connor said."
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic: "In five games, Amaré Stoudemire is shooting 69.6 percent from the field and averaging 25.8 points, but it is defense, rebounding and passing that will make him a candidate for MVP and a maximum-salary extension. 'I've probably been the most efficient the past few years in the game,' Stoudemire said. 'I'm just trying to stay sharp in those aspects. My ultimate goal is to be a complete player.' He averaged 3.7 fouls last season but is at 2.6 now. He has never averaged 10 rebounds for a season but is at 9.8. 'I'm trying to get more respect from you guys and everybody else from a defensive standpoint,' Stoudemire said. 'It's something I'm trying to improve and really set a tone early with that.'"
Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is a prince. Literally. Back home in Cameroon, his father is an elected village chief, so he's got that going for him. But this is why he is a prince in a basketball sense: 'The most important thing is defense,' he said. 'My main thing is to play defense.' A defense-first declaration from a Milwaukee Buck? And a rookie and a second-round pick at that? Believe this, he plays NBA defense the way it is supposed to be played. He gets it, really gets it, after all of five games in the league. Think about that for a minute. Who was the last rookie to actually help a team defensively? Probably Tim Duncan. For the Bucks, it was a guy named Sidney Moncrief. Already, this is the class Mbah a Moute is approaching."
Ramona Shelburne of the Los Angeles Daily News: "Through the team's first five games, Eric Gordon has played an averaged of 5 minutes, 24 seconds a game. His longest run came in the first game of the year, a 38-point blowout loss to the Lakers when he played nearly 14 minutes. Since then he's played 2:09, 3:41, 3:00 and 4:11. For a guy who has always played big minutes, and been counted on for big numbers, it's been quite an adjustment. 'I'm not used to it,' Gordon said. 'I'm not used to sitting down a lot. I'm used to playing a lot of minutes and getting my game flowing. But we've got a lot of veterans on this team, which doesn't always happen when you have a high draft pick. So I kinda (saw this coming). I know my time will come. That's what a lot of people have been telling me. I just have to wait until I get my opportunity. The main thing is, I just really don't want to have any negative impact on the team.'"
Brian Hendrickson of The Columbian: "Nicolas Batum has surprised so many people this fall with his defensive work, athleticism and fast-paced development that a grass-roots movement has already started pushing an idea to clear him room in the rotation. The suggestion: Trade Travis Outlaw. ... Let's slow down a bit, and try to think sensibly. Yes, Batum has shown potential. Yes, Blazers coach Nate McMillan inserted him into the starting lineup Wednesday night against Utah because he could provide the defense that Outlaw was lacking. And yes, Batum has drawn consistent praise from the Blazers' staff. But let's not get hasty. It's simply too early for making rash judgments."
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