Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: "Eight years ago, in the wee hours of Sept. 25, Tony Battie was driving at breakneck speed to a Boston hospital. Paul Pierce, his Celtics teammate, was lying in his car, drenched in blood. Battie was imploring him to hang on. Pierce, Battie and Battie's brother, Derrick, had been at a nightclub where Pierce was jumped by three men, stabbed 11 times, punched and kicked repeatedly and hit over the head with a champagne bottle. He was carried to Battie's car by security personnel after the fight. 'It was frantic,' recalled Tony. 'We didn't know how badly injured he was at the time. I guess it was probably better not knowing.' ... Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said, 'I was watching him hold that trophy, and I was thinking to myself, 'Paul Pierce was not just almost out the league. He was almost dead.' And now he is the Finals MVP. You tell me. Who else has had a turnaround like that?' For Battie, the brutal attack on Pierce made him prioritize his life while also opening his eyes. 'We're all people before we're players. This is what we do; this is not really who we are. Outside the bright lights and jerseys and screaming fans, we're fathers, we're brothers, we're sons. We're just regular people, but something like that does put things in perspective. For some reason, ... somebody wants to do you bodily harm, whether you're a celebrity or a regular Joe,' he said."
Marc Berman of the New York Post: "On the eve of today's Westchester buyout summit with team president Donnie Walsh that is expected to put an end to his turbulent five-year New York Knicks career, suspended Stephon Marbury yesterday took parting shots at his teammates, particularly Quentin Richardson, for never supporting him during his season-long exile. ... 'I sat there for three weeks and didn't say one word. I didn't hear one of my teammates say, 'Why isn't Stephon Marbury playing? This is a good system for him, even to play with the second unit to bring more firepower.' When things got bad and then worse, guys like Quentin Richardson say, 'I don't consider him a teammate. He let his teammates out to dry.' He didn't care I was his teammate when I was banished. They left me out for dead. It's like we're in a foxhole and I'm facing the other way. If I got shot in the head, at least you want to get shot by the enemy. I got shot in the head by my own guys in my foxhole. And they didn't even give me an honorable death.'"
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "Kobe Bryant could play five more years, 10 more years, 55 more years, and the topic of '81' would always come up whenever the Toronto Raptors came to town. Bryant scored 81 points against Toronto in January 2006, making 28 of 46 shots on the way to the second-highest point total in NBA history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point effort in 1962. It's impossible to imagine it happening this season with such a deep Lakers team, and Coach Phil Jackson suggested it would be better if '81: The Sequel' never took place, going back to last season's NBA Finals to prove a point. 'We know that Boston literally said, 'We've got to take Kobe out, we just have to throw our defense at them,' ' Jackson said. 'We have to have more guys fit into our offense if we're going to be a team that can compete with those clubs.'"
Al Iannazzone of The Record: "When the Nets left, I was thinking 1-3, maybe 2-2 if the Nets got a break. Late in Wednesday's game in Sacramento, I started seeing 0-4. But that's why they play the games. Anything can happen and you can't predict when a team is going to fall apart or someone is going to get hot like Devin Harris did, scoring 47 last night to lead the Nets to the 117-109 win in Phoenix. This trip proved all of that that. This 3-1 trip proved a lot of things. The Nets showed fight, heart, passion and no quit. Harris is playing like an All-Star and should be the East's Player of the Week. Vince Carter is quieting his critics with his leadership, clutch play and passion with which he's playing. And Lawrence Frank should get some recognition for Coach of the Month."
Jerry Brown of the East Valley Tribune: "The Suns and the Spurs are the only two NBA teams that have won at least 30 homes games in each of the last four seasons. But at this rate, the Suns aren't going to get there this time. After back-to-back home losses to Eastern Conference teams they had dominated with regularity (Miami and New Jersey), the Suns are an unsightly 4-5 on their home floor -- a complete reversal from their 7-2 mark on the road. 'I think on the road, we've played with more energy and focus,' Terry Porter said. 'I don't know why that is. Granted, we've played some tougher teams at home. But from an energy standpoint, we have more of a 'me against the world' mentality on the road. We haven't come out well and let the crowd get into games, although tonight was an exception. But when we make mistakes, it leads to easy baskets and things really start rolling in the wrong direction.'"
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: "Allen Iverson is averaging 17.7 points per game for the Pistons, but the offense is still trying to get used to his game, as evidenced by the early 25-11 hole the Pistons dug for themselves against the Blazers. Also, Iverson isn't used to playing reduced minutes; he has typically been in the position of having to carry teams. 'My rhythm is not there,' Iverson said. 'It's kind of a different situation for me. I'm sitting more than I usually do, more than I have for my career.' But Iverson is keeping the faith. He believes the timing, the rhythm and, more important, the wins, are coming. 'All you can do is stay with it and realize it's early in the season and we got to get back,' Iverson said. 'I'm positive and I got a lot of confidence in my game and I know it will come back.'"
Mike Fine for the MetroWest Daily News: "Somewhere along the way, every NBA team is going to make a defensive stand that stands out. The Celtics might be in one of those periods right now, having limited the Sixers to 78 points and the Bobcats to 84 over the last two games. The fact of the matter, though, is that the Celtics remain the best defensive team in the NBA, so this is just a heightened response to what's already been a superb performance."
Martin Frank of The News Journal: "Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert were instrumental in leading the 76ers to the playoffs last season during their second-half surge. This season, both seem lost, when both were expected to prosper with the acquisition of Elton Brand during the summer. Iguodala is averaging 13.0 points per game this season, down from 19.9 last season. Incredibly, he hasn't reached his average from last season in any game this season. Iguodala, who signed a six-year, $80 million contract extension last summer, scored just eight points on 3-for-9 shooting Sunday in the Sixers' 103-92 loss to the Chicago Bulls. 'I'm trying to figure it out, just like you guys are,' Iguodala said. 'I'm going to continue to keep working. That's all I can do.' 'It's a lot of stuff,' Dalembert said, refusing to elaborate. 'Everything can be fixed.'"
Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "The Pacers are averaging 99.1 points a game this season, which is down five points from what they averaged last season. They've scored at least 100 points just seven times this season. You can point at Mike Dunleavy's absence being part of the issue. At the same time, though, Marquis Daniels has done a heck of a job filling in for Dunleavy at shooting guard. It's more than that. The biggest issue I have with the Pacers offense is the same one I had during the summer - they don't have anybody to score for them in the post. Starters Troy Murphy and Rasho Nesterovic are perimeter big men. The Pacers tend to settle for jump shots too often when the game gets tight."
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "While I still think the Heat has to find a way to make things work with Michael Beasley in the starting lineup, the growing pains clearly had made such an immediate role a bit too painful. As witnessed by Beasley's second-quarter, 17-point outburst Saturday against the Clippers, there is something to be said about having a scorer on the court when Dwyane Wade goes to the bench. In fact, one of the players indicated that the ball tends to stop too often when Beasley is on the court, something that does not seem to be as much of a concern when Wade is on the bench and points otherwise would be scarce. But that doesn't mean that this is the ultimate answer. Too much has been made about Beasley's defense. There are plenty of talented scorers in this league who have endured, even thrived, for years as one-way talents."
Mike Jones of The Washington Times: "The broken record that is the Washington Wizards' season continued to play on Saturday night as the downtrodden team fell 102-98 to the visiting Atlanta Hawks after continuing every negative trend that has plagued it during a franchise record-tying 2-12 start. The Wizards, who last went 2-12 in 1966-67 as the Baltimore Bullets, continued their poor perimeter defense, again gave up easy drives to the basket, again struggled to move the ball on offense, again got little production from starters other than Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, and again couldn't close the game after a fourth-quarter rally. 'It's like a broken record, but we've got to keep positive,' said shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson, who missed two foul shots with less than 10 seconds left. 'It's tough losing games like we're doing. It's frustrating, man. We need to get a win.'"
Janny Hu of the San Francisco Chronicle: "As bad as the Warriors looked at times during their winless five-game road trip, none of their veterans are about to concede the season. 'I think the worst is behind us,' said guard Jamal Crawford, who makes his home debut tonight against Miami. 'The more practice time, the more we get used to each other, the (better). We'll pull it together.' We'll be alright,' Andris Biedrins said. 'It's just a really tough stretch.' Optimism still exists in Golden State these days, though with a considerably darker edge. Ask players what's gone wrong during their six-game losing streak, and the answers are as erratic as their shooting. I don't know, it's really hard to say,' Biedrins said. 'I think we lost a little chemistry,' Corey Maggette added. 'I was out four games, and me battling my hamstring and not being able to perform at a high level like I need to kind of hurt, too. But we just also need to be better. And we need to understand each other's game.'"
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "Ron Artest is completely well-intentioned. He is willing to accept any role, including role player around Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady as planned. The problem with that is that McGrady has rarely been the McGrady that Artest planned, and McGrady has not played at all the past three games (the past four if you count his statue imitation in Miami.) With the Rockets short-handed and Artest so determined to solve their every need, he has apparently decided that the Rockets need him to play as he did for the Kings last season when Kevin Martin was out. Artest carried that offense and led the Kings to a surprisingly solid season. This season, however, he is playing more minutes and on a still-sore right ankle. Far too often, we get dribble, dribble, dribble, force a shot."
Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun: "Jermaine O'Neal is serving as co-producer for a Los Angeles company that has two scary flicks in the works. ... O'Neal also has given some consideration to acting. 'He has received some offers, but I don't want to say from whom,' O'Neal's business manager Deddrick Faison said. 'All this past summer was spent getting into shape from his knee injury, so there wasn't a lot of time he could devote to other things. Once he gets into Toronto and gets settled, we might look again. But he has dabbled in the entertainment industry before.' O'Neal once financed a recording studio and served as its CEO in part to support some childhood friends' business venture. But he cut ties when his enthusiasm for the project began to wane."
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.
