July 2011 – Page 2 – NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog

Acie Law reportedly signs in Serbia

Sportando reports:

After week of negotiations, Serbian Champion KK Partizan from Belgrade signed NBA guard Acie Law (Texas A&M – NCAA, agency – Priority Sports & Entertainment). After college Acie spent four years on NBA courts, drafted 1st round,11 pick by Atlanta Hawks, followed Golden State, Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls and previous season started in Memphis Grizzlies. In December 2010 moved to Golden State Warriors where in 40 games he averaged 15 minutes per game, scoring 5.1 points per game, 1.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, most scored in game against Dallas on March 16 hitting 15 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals.

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Ricky Rubio expects to increase his weight training coming into the NBA

Small-sized point guard Ricky Rubio is finally making the leap from European basketball to the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA this coming season. And one of the biggest changes he foresees is the need to increase his weight training, as NBA guards try to smack him around.

FIBA reports:

Rubio can expect the changes to be big, both on and off the court.

“I think it will be physically harder than Europe – I will need to do more weights,” he said of the NBA’s playing style.

As for his living arrangements, he is having to consider things that were never a factor in Barcelona.

“I need to find a house where I won’t get snowed in,” he said. “My new colleagues have already told me where to look.”

The Timberwolves are hoping Rubio can give them a huge lift after they struggled mightily last season.

He is used to heavy expectations, having been hyped up since he first began playing. But Rubio is trying not to get caught up in it.

I don’t expect Rubio to have a huge instant impact for the Wolves. Although we’ve heard about him for years, Rubio is still just a kid, still developing his game, and needs to improve his shot. But it’ll be fun watching him develop.

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Dwight Howard training with Hakeem Olajuwon again

If I was an NBA big-man, I’d follow guys like Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin McHale around all day, offering to wash their cars and do their laundry if they’ll help me work on my low-post game and all-around moves.

And this summer, when he isn’t laughing, smiling, mugging for the camera, putting wigs on and doing other assorted fun wacky stuff, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard will take some time to once again learn from one of the best:

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports:

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard is training again with former NBA great Hakeem Olajuwon and says he’s working on shooting more and on raising his notoriously poor free-throw shooting to above 75 percent.

In messages back and forth with some of his Twitter followers, Howard said he’s in Houston working with Olajuwon for the second consecutive summer.

Asked whether he’s working on his outside touch, Howard responded that he is working on becoming “more complete” as a player.

When a follower asked what Howard meant, Howard answered: “shooting more” and “free throws above 75.”

Howard spent a couple of days last summer working with Olajuwon, and Howard has said the sessions made him more confident and made him more willing to try new things in games. In the season that followed, Howard unveiled a more diversified low-post arsenal that included some effective midrange bank shots.

I’m sure Magic fans look forward to seeing the results. Howard is already the NBA’s best center, but he can definitely keep refining his offensive moves.

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Keyon Dooling may sign in Turkey

Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Bucks guard Keyon Dooling is nearing agreement on a contract with Efes Istanbul, the Turkish team which recently signed New Jersey Nets guard Sasha Vujacic.

Kenge Stevenson, the Dallas-based agent for Dooling, said progress is being made and a deal with Efes could be completed in the next few days.

Dooling is the first vice president of the National Basketball Players Association and has been active in the process to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. League owners imposed a lockout on July 1 when the previous CBA expired, and no real progress has been made since then.

Stevenson said Dooling would expect to play in Turkey next season even if the lockout ends and any opt-out clause would be for legal purposes. The veteran has one year and $2 million remaining on his contract with the Bucks, but Stevenson indicated he thought an agreement could be reached to allow Dooling to play in Europe in the event the lockout was settled.

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Trail Blazers to honor Arvydas Sabonis

The Columbian reports:

The Portland Trail Blazers will honor former Portland center and basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis on Thursday, Aug. 18, following his 2011 induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Sabonis, who played for the Trail Blazers for seven seasons (1995-2001, 2002-03), is known globally as one of the greatest centers to ever play the game. He will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., Aug. 11-13, before returning to the Rose City.

The team will honor Sabonis and reunite him with fans in a public celebration at Pioneer Courthouse Square at approximately 1 p.m., where Sabonis will be added to the Trail Blazers Hall of Fame banner displayed in the Rose Garden.

PJ Tucker signs in Germany

Eurobasket.net reports:

German League champion Brose Baskets added more fire power to its team by inking versatile forward PJ Tucker to a one-year deal, the club announced Friday. Tucker (1.96 meters, 26 years old) arrives from Quebradillas Pirates, where he finished a very eventful 2010-11 season, averaging 15.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in 15 Puerto Rican League games. He started the season with Aris BSA 2003, where Tucker averaged 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds in 12 Eurocup games. He ranked ninth in scoring and third in rebounds and performance index ranking (18.2), helping Aris to reach the Last 16 and being chosen as the regular season Week 1 MVP.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau had knee replacement surgery

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reports:

Being of single-minded focus, Tom Thibodeau is preparing for next season as if there isn’t a lockout. Whenever that ends, expect the reigning Coach of the Year to be healthier and prowling the sidelines with even more gusto.

That’s because Thibodeau underwent partial right knee replacement surgery on July 13 to fix a painful arthritic condition dating to an injury from his playing days at Salem (Mass.) State.

Thibodeau tore cartilage in college and had his meniscus completely removed during the ensuing surgery, leaving bone to basically rub on bone for the last 30 years. Colleagues said the condition began affecting what little sleep Thibodeau bagged last season. Befitting the tough-minded team he led to a league-high 62 victories and Eastern Conference finals berth last season, Thibodeau never discussed the situation, even making light of it on Thursday.

Steve Blake adding arc to his jumper

Mark Medina of the Los Angele Times (blog) reports:

In between increased family time and rest at his Portland, Ore., home during the NBA lockout, Lakers guard Steve Blake took the first step in what he hopes will lead to a better performance in the 2011-12 season.

“I’m trying to get more arch on my shot,” Blake said Thursday in a phone interview. “That’s what I’ve been working on this summer. I’m trying to shoot the ball a little higher and see if that will improve my jump shot. I didn’t shoot the ball horribly this year, but I didn’t shoot it as well as I wanted to.”

Blake shot 35.9% from the field last season, the lowest shooting percentage for the eight-year veteran since the 2004-05 season. Even though Blake often worked on his shot after practices and before games, he averaged a career-low four points in 20 minutes per game. Blake’s overall shooting consistency reflected a significant problem for the Lakers: the lack of a reliable outside shooter.

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Kobe Bryant to play in Celebrity Soccer Challenge at Kastles Stadium, Washington D.C.

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times (blog) reports:

Had he remained in Italy, Kobe Bryant may very well have been honing his footwork on the pitch instead of the hardwood.

He’ll have a chance to do that Sunday when he appears in the Celebrity Soccer Challenge at Kastles Stadium in Washington D.C., an event sponsored by former U.S. women’s soccer player Mia Hamm and her husband, ex-Dodger Nomar Garciaparra. But incidentally enough, Bryant may not have been making a token appearance on the soccer field had he seriously kept up with the sport.

Sure, it’s easy to imagine the uber competitive and athletic Bryant dazzling fans wearing an A.C. Milan uniform (his favorite childhood team) or an FC Barcelona jersey (his current favorite team). Bryant, however, sensed his skills kicking a soccer ball nowhere matched what he could do with a basketball, a sport he got serious about once his family moved to Philadelphia in 1991.

“I wasn’t anything spectacular,” Bryant once told the Chicago Tribune’s Luis Arroyave. “I would have moments of doing something crazy that really wasn’t done on purpose. I’d pull off a nice move that was unintentional.

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Shortly after being sentenced for drunken driving, Jalen Rose gets speeding ticket

The AP reports:

Shortly after being sentenced to nearly three weeks in jail for drunken driving, Jalen Rose was stopped for speeding in a Detroit suburb.

Clawson Police Chief Harry Anderson says Rose was clocked going 46 miles per hour in a 25 mile-per-hour zone Wednesday night. He was given a citation at 8:47 p.m. for going 10 miles per hour over the limit.

InsideHoops.com says: Driving properly really isn’t this damn difficult, folks. Stop it, Jalen!