Month: August 2015

Pistons arena being renovated

It’s always fun to see the new version of an NBA arena after it’s been renovated. Even slight changes, if done well, can make a place seem new. Looking forward to the final result. Here’s the Detroit Free Press reporting:

For those fans hoping that the Pistons eventually would move back to downtown Detroit: Forget about it.

Owner Tom Gores has put $40 million into renovations in the Palace over the past four years.

The current project is replacing all the seats in the Palace and refurbishing the floors, a project that will take three years to complete, according to Kevin A. Grigg, vice president of public relations for Palace Sports & Entertainment and the Pistons.

“This is the first phase of what’s going to be a three-year seating renovation inside the Palace,” Grigg said Wednesday. “The first stage that you see now will be completed per the start of the preseason. That involves from the lower-level suites all the way down to the floor. We’ll have new courtside seats and new seats going into the stands up to the first-level suites.”

Kings to hire Roland Beech for analytics job

Here’s ESPN.com reporting on the Sacramento Kings, who have found themselves a new analytics guy:

The Sacramento Kings have come to terms with Roland Beech to hire the longtime NBA sabermetrician to head up their analytics department, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that Beech is poised to join the Kings as their vice president of analytics under Vlade Divac, Sacramento’s new head of basketball operations.

Beech will thus fill a void created after another of the league’s foremost analytics experts — Dean Oliver — recently left the organization.

Jimmy Butler says he is a point guard

Here is the Bulls.com blog reporting on Jimmy Butler, who, according to himself, is really more of a point guard. The position played by teammate Derrick Rose, who incidently happens to score a lot of points for a point guard. Anyway:

“First off, I think I am a point guard,” Butler said without joking. “So I’ve done a heck of a lot of ball screen work, ball handling, getting into the paint and still handling, floaters, all that stuff point guards do. If I get a chance, high pick and roll more. I want some triple doubles. I’ve got to get my handle right so I can pass and get it to guys where they can make shots. I told Fred. You ask what position I play, I say point guard.”

It sounds like a joke for the guy who was supposed to be a small forward replacement for Luol Deng. But having another guard who can handle the ball and allow Rose to play off the ball with Butler’s defensive prowess provides a potentially exceptional and previously unknown element to the Bulls arsenal.

“I’m very excited because I think a lot of people think my last season was a fluke,” acknowledged Butler, who is the 32nd lowest drafted player on the USA roster. “I really don’t care what they think. But I want to prove to myself it wasn’t. I want to show I can get better from last year to this year. That’s my goal, continue to get better every year like I have.

“The main thing is confidence,” Butler continued.

Zoran Dragic signs in Russia

Here’s Euroleague.net reporting news on a player NBA fans will be familiar with:

Reigning Eurocup champion Khimki Moscow Region continued to bolster its roster ahead of its return to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, signing a two-year deal with swingman Zoran Dragic, club announced on Thursday. Dragic (1.96 meters, 26 years old) has spent last season in the NBA, playing first part of the season with Phoenix before getting traded to Miami, but has appeared in a total of 16 games. He previously spent two seasons with Unicaja Malaga, and has played 44 Euroleague games during that time.

Will Kobe Bryant be on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team?

Will Kobe Bryant be on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team? Probably not. But that it’s even a distinct possibility is a fascinating discussion topic. So, don’t expect it, but at the same time, here’s ESPN Los Angeles reporting:

Will Kobe Bryant be on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team?

Could the lasting image to cap Kobe Bryant’s basketball career be of him donning a gold medal at the end of the 2016 Rio Olympics?

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo revealed Thursday at the conclusion of Team USA’s minicamp that he’s had a conversation with the Los Angeles Lakers guard about that very scenario and has not ruled out Bryant for the 12-man roster next summer.

“I was quoted on Kobe,” Colangelo said after USA Basketball’s intrasquad scrimmage at the Thomas & Mack Center. “In response to a question about him, I said it would be a great story if he did [play in Rio].

“And so, he also mentioned to me in a private conversation that if he had his druthers, he would love to ride off into the sunset playing one more time and winning the gold medal. And that would be the end. But he was very quick to say, ‘But, I don’t want a spot. I need to earn the spot. I need to be capable of playing at that level to be considered.’ And I said, ‘You got that. That’s always there for you, Kobe.'”

DeMarcus Cousins steps up in USA Basketball scrimmage

Here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting on Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, who stepped up in Thursday’s Team USA exhibition game in Las Vegas. The squad isn’t involved in international competition this summer and is just focused on narrowing the roster down for the 2016 Olympics.

DeMarcus Cousins steps up in USA Basketball scrimmage

In a USA Basketball scrimmage that featured a couple of Kings, a number of players with little or no chance to make the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, and six “ringers” who filled in for their more high-profiled peers who sat out the voluntary event because of injury, fatigue or cautionary measures, DeMarcus Cousins produced the most prodigious stat line of the night.

Sacramento’s sixth-year center celebrated his 25th birthday Thursday with 24 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three assists, including a nifty shovel pass to Blake Griffin for a jam.

Cousins also missed all six of his three-point attempts – yes, he hoisted six shots from beyond the arc – but who was counting? His White squad also defeated the Blue team 134-128, but again, who was counting?

Rudy Gay, playing for the Blues, scored nine points and collected three rebounds, but, well … no one was counting.

Michael Jordan cologne deal worked out great for Jordan

Here’s the Chicago Sun-Times reporting just how great it is to be Michael Jordan when it comes to business deals:

Michael Jordan reportedly made huge money off cologne deal

Jordan simply gave his permission to the fragrance company XEL to sell Michael Jordan cologne. A close adviser testified Thursday that Jordan did nothing else — but the company still paid him $10.6 million between 2002 and 2012.

Estee Portnoy, a long-time marketing manager for Jordan, also testified Thursday that a Japanese TV station hoping to produce a documentary about Jordan once offered him $100,000 to use footage of his days with the Chicago Bulls.

The footage belonged to the NBA, Portnoy said.

Draymond Green says he needs another ring

Here’s CSN Bay Area reporting on Warriors forward Draymond Green, who has declared that one championship ring isn’t enough and he needs another:

Draymond Green says he needs another ring

The Celtics won eight straight from 1959-66, the Lakers won in ’87 and ’88, the Pistons took home the crown in ’89 and ’90, the Bulls three-peated ’91-’93, the Rockets were champions in ’94 and ’95, the Bulls three-peated again ’96-’98 and the Lakers won three titles in a row from 2000-02.

There is a long history of repeat champions in the NBA, and Draymond wants more jewelry.

“I need to find a second ring,” he said. “That is enough motivation for me personally. I have plenty of things I want to do. I want to be great. I don’t just want to win a championship and sign this nice little contract and I’m done.

“I want to do some special things and if you want to be special, it doesn’t stop after you win one championship or sign a deal. It just starts. It’s just starting for me.”