October 2011 – Page 13 – NBA Blog

Bill Walton thinks season may start on time

After Bill Walton made a speaking appearance Thursday in Costa Mesa, I asked him if he had any thoughts on the continuing NBA lockout that threatens the start of the 2011-12 regular season.

He said he didn’t want to comment on it then, hinting anything he said would soon become outdated.

“They’re close,” he said, grinning widely, as if he knew something he couldn’t share about the negotiations between owners and NBA Players Association.

Does that mean he is confident there will be a full season?

“Oh, yeah,” Walton said, grinning again. “They’re close.”

— Reported by Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register

NBA lockout hitting some cities hard

The loss of one game, let alone 10 or maybe all 82, will have a devastating impact on workers with jobs dependent on pro basketball’s six-month-plus season. A few teams have already trimmed their staffs and more layoffs could be forthcoming if the discussions drag on. Then there are those who don’t work directly for an NBA team but who still depend on the excitement the league brings to town.

Ushers, security personnel, parking lot attendants, concession workers, restaurant employees and others all stand to have their hours cut or join the country’s 14 million unemployed.

“Yeah, financially, I’m worried,” said waitress Jeannette Lauersdorf, a single mother of two, who on a quiet Wednesday afternoon is serving six guests at three tables inside Harry Buffalo. On a night the Cavs are playing, the place has a 30-minute wait for a table. “We’ve got bills to pay.”

Nerves, already frayed in a depressed economy, are unraveling.

As it was during the NFL’s labor dispute, certain cities around the league will bear more of a burden than others until the NBA gets bouncing again. Markets like Orlando, Memphis, Salt Lake City and Portland, with no other income being generated by a major professional sports franchise, could be facing a long winter.

At this point, there’s no telling how long the lockout will last, but NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver projected losses if the season’s opening two weeks are canceled in “the millions of dollars.”

— Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press

Zaza Pachulia likely signing in Turkey

According to the Sportando blog, Zaza Pachulia reached an agreement with Turkish team Galatasaray Istanbul, where he will be playing until the end of the NBA lockout. Pachulia spent the last eight seasons in the NBA averaging 6.8 ppg and 5.1 rpg in 579 games. He’s played with the Atlanta Hawks since the 2005-06 season.

Spirou Charleroi tried to sign him as well, but Pachulia preferred to pen a deal in Istanbul, the city where he grew up.

The deal will be official soon.

— Reported by Sportando

Portland Trail Blazers to start general manager search over

After more than four months of research and interviews, the Trail Blazers’ ongoing search for a new general manager has come to this: The team is starting over.

A league source said the Blazers have decided against hiring any of the candidates they have interviewed to date and that Blazers president Larry Miller spent Thursday calling them to relay the news they were no longer being considered for the job.

The Blazers have compiled a new list of candidates, with a strong emphasis on people with extensive general manager experience, and will, essentially, restart the search.

“I don’t want to get into specific details, but what I will say is that we are expanding our search,” Miller said. “We’re going to expand our candidate pool.”

— Reported by Joe Freeman of The Oregonian

Trail Blazers expected to name Larry Greer assistant coach

Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan plans to promote advance scout Larry Greer to assistant coach to replace the departed Bill Bayno, a team source has told The Oregonian.

The Blazers are finalizing Greer’s contract, but it is 99 percent complete and the source expects the deal to become official within the next few days.

Greer has been an NBA scout for six seasons, including the last four with the Blazers. He worked two seasons with the Houston Rockets, under coach Jeff Van Gundy, prior to joining the Blazers.

Before arriving in the NBA, Greer was a college college coach for roughly 15 years, including a nine-year stint as an assistant at Boston University.

— Reported by Joe Freeman of The Oregonian

Under new coach Mike Brown, Lakers offense will change

Mike Brown envisions an offense called “strong corner.”

“At the start of the shot clock, it will be ‘four out, one in,’ meaning that if we get the ball down the floor quick enough, we’ll have four guys along the perimeter and one of our bigs in the low post,” he said. “If the ball does go in at an early point in the shot clock, hopefully that big will have a chance to go to work without the double team.”

It certainly isn’t Jackson’s triangle offense.

Brown also plansto use assistant coaches differently than Jackson, who designated a defensive coordinator and gave the other coaches specific positions to monitor (forwards, centers or guards).

Brown’s assistants won’t have specific on-court responsibilities. He wants them to “just coach the game of basketball. Whatever they see offensively, speak up. Whatever they see defensively, speak up.”

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Due to insurance issues, Andrew Bogut will not play in Australia

Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut will not play for the Sydney Kings or any other Australian team due to insurance issues, Bogut’s agent, David Bauman, confirmed Thursday.

Bogut had hoped to play for the Sydney team in the Australian national league (NBL). Two other teams – Adelaide and Gold Coast – also had expressed interest in signing Bogut.

Bauman said Bogut needed coverage for the $39.5 million and three years remaining on the 7-foot center’s contract with the Bucks.

“If Andrew goes back with a broken leg or a broken ankle, the Bucks might say, ‘Cancel the contract,’ ” Bauman said in a phone interview Thursday. “This is something players get, but the Bucks still might be in a position, given a new CBA (collective bargaining agreement), to terminate the deal.

“There was no way to resolve that type of issue. It was too much of a risk.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Timberwolves will hire Terry Porter as an assistant coach

The Minnesota Timberwolves won’t be hiring any of new coach Rick Adelman’s assistants until the NBA lockout is resolved. But when it is, former Wolves guard Terry Porter will be among them.

Porter, 48, who coached the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, played for Adelman for six seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. He also interviewed for the Wolves’ head coaching job.

— Reported by Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Warriors add to training staff

The Warriors announced on Thursday that a pair of additions to their training staff.

Chad Bergman, who had been with the San Antonio Spurs for the past six seasons, was named the Warriors’ head athletic trainer and JoHan Wang was named the team’s director of athletic performance.

Tom Abdenour, who had been the Warriors’ head athletic trainer for 23-plus seasons, took a job at San Diego State University in January. He was replaced on an interim basis by Troy Wenzel.

— Reported by Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area

Cavaliers announce new radio broadcast team

The Cleveland Cavaliers today announced their new radio broadcast team. John Michael has been selected as the team’s new play-by-play announcer, Jim Chones will join the broadcasts as the game color analyst and Mike Snyder will return as the studio host anchoring pregame, halftime and postgame shows, as well as serving as host of the weekly Coach Byron Scott Show. All Cavaliers games are broadcast on the team’s flagship station News Radio WTAM 1100 AM, Akron’s AM 1590 WAKR and across the Cavaliers Radio Network.

“We feel great about our new radio broadcast team and having John, Jim and Mike deliver the best radio listening experience possible for our fans. John is a great play-by-play announcer that we feel is the perfect style and fit for the future of our game broadcasts. Jim brings a very credible and deep level of understanding and insight to the game, our team and the league, and Mike is simply the best studio host in the business,” said Cavaliers President Len Komoroski. “This trio will complement and support each other’s contributions to our radio broadcast experience in a new, exciting way as we now enter a new era of Cavs radio.”

Michael has over 10 years of pro sports play-by-play experience. He joins the Cavaliers from the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL, where he served as the team’s television game host, in-game reporter and pregame and postgame contributor on FOX Sports Ohio for the past two seasons. Immediately prior to that, he served as the first-ever radio/TV broadcaster with the Lake Erie Monsters for the first two seasons of the AHL franchise that also calls Quicken Loans Arena home. Prior to embarking on his broadcasting career, he practiced law as a trial attorney after graduating from the University of Notre Dame with mechanical engineering, law and MBA degrees, all cum laude.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be back in Cleveland, while also being humbled to be selected for this tremendous opportunity. I will work extremely hard to help carry on the tradition of radio excellence with the Cavaliers. Of course, Joe Tait can never be replaced or replicated. He’s a Hall of Famer that many of us in the broadcasting community will always consider the best that ever was,” said Michael. “With that in mind, our focus as a new broadcast team will simply be to do everything we possibly can to enhance our fans’ enjoyment of the game. Our fans will always be the focus of what we are doing and why we’re doing it.”

Chones becomes the full-time game analyst after filling in last season along with studio host Mike Snyder, when Tait missed 77 games due to health issues in his 39th and final season. Chones had spent the previous four seasons as the radio team’s postgame analyst. An eight-year NBA veteran, Chones played five seasons with the Cavaliers, including the “Miracle of Richfield” season in 1975-76, when he averaged a career-best 15.8 points and 9.0 rebounds in 33.4 minutes per game. He has also been an active member of the Cavaliers Legends player alumni group.

After subbing in for Tait as the play-by-play announcer for the majority of last season, Snyder returns to his previous role as the Cavaliers Radio Network Studio Host for his 20th season. He will launch each Cavaliers Radio Network game broadcast with the “FirstMerit Tip-Off Show,” host the halftime report and follow each game with the “Verizon Wireless Call-In Show,” which features game analysis, special guests and player interviews, as well as Head Coach Byron Scott’s postgame press conference. Snyder will also continue to host the weekly Byron Scott Radio Show on WTAM 1100 and the Cavs Radio Network as well.