Inside Hoops – Page 1333 – NBA Blog

For some NBA Finals assistant coaches, future talk starts now

Mike Budenholzer is in his final series on the staff with the San Antonio Spurs. David Fizdale is now often mentioned as a candidate for jobs that could take him away from his job with the Miami Heat.

Meanwhile, all either of those guys could care about is beating the other in the NBA Finals.

Whenever a head-coaching vacancy is created in the NBA these days, it usually isn’t long before some of the league’s top assistants get mentioned as candidates to fill the role. Budenholzer was hired by the Atlanta Hawks last month as their new coach, and Fizdale has been mentioned as a potential hire in several cities so far during these playoffs.

It can be quite a distraction. But in the cases of Budenholzer and Fizdale, the task at hand in these finals takes absolute priority.

”For me he’s been a confidante for a long time, a really trusted professional and friend all at the same time,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Budenholzer, who’s been with him for all four of San Antonio’s previous championship runs. ”Highly gifted, highly intelligent young man who is going to do a great job, I believe.”

Budenholzer’s future is crystal clear: He’s moving to Atlanta.

In Fizdale’s case, any talk of his future is all speculation, most of which seems like news to him.

Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Tony Parker having fun, happy to be back in NBA Finals

Despite the notion they’re old, the Spurs are actually overall the younger, less-experienced team in these finals. Miami has nine players in their 30s to the six on the Spurs, and their Big Three and Bonner are the only Spurs to have played in the NBA Finals.

That makes it easier for the Spurs to enjoy this trip more than when they were the team expected to be here every year.

”We definitely are having fun,” Tony Parker said. ”I think we appreciate every moment. We don’t take anything for granted, because it’s been a long time. It’s been six years. Felt like forever. After the Memphis series, there was a lot of emotion.”

Heat veteran Shane Battier wasn’t exactly sold on the notion of this Spurs transformation into a happy-go-lucky group.

”Don’t believe them, first of all,” he said. ”They are extreme competitors and they have a level of self-deprecation I think that is part of them, but don’t buy it for one second. Those guys are killers. They’re cut-throat and they will stomp on you if need be, and we’re the same way.

”We appreciate the opportunity to play in the finals. Difficult to get here. Hardest thing you’ll do in this game is to try and win a championship, so we appreciate the opportunity and we want to make the most of it,” he said.

Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Mo Cheeks should be new Pistons coach soon

The Detroit Pistons appear poised to make Maurice Cheeks their next head coach, in the effort to end the revolving door at that spot.

Cheeks and the Pistons have been engaged in negotiations in recent days, as multiple sources expressed optimism this saga, that began with the team firing Lawrence Frank at season’s end and wound up with the Pistons going through the complicated process of interviewing multiple candidates, has reached its end.

The Pistons hope to get a deal done before the end of weekend. Frank being due to receive nearly $4 million next season — the last guaranteed year of his contract — along with a portion of his fourth year could complicate matters as far as Cheeks’ contract length and amount.

Currently an assistant with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cheeks has helped with the development of guards Russell Westbrook, Reggie Jackson and former Thunder guard Eric Maynor, who was traded to Portland this season. It’s a background the Pistons liked, especially since they’re still figuring out what they have in 2011 first-round pick Brandon Knight and they hope Cheeks could be a good mentor for him…

Cheeks’ consistency probably outweighed his tangible resume, as his career record doesn’t jump out at anyone (284-286 in nine seasons in Portland and Philadelphia), but he’s highly regarded around the league, especially in Oklahoma City.

Reported by Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News

Jason Collins marches in Boston gay pride parade

NBA veteran Jason Collins has marched in Boston’s gay pride parade with Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy III, his onetime roommate at Stanford University.

Collins wore a T-shirt that read #BeTrue when he joined thousands of marchers Saturday.

In April, Collins became the first active player in one of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues to come out as gay. He wrote in an article for Sports Illustrated that the decision to go public came when Kennedy marched in last year’s parade and Collins didn’t feel that he could join him.

Reported by the Associated Press

LeBron rethinking game plan against Spurs

Coming off a Game 1 loss when he saw his triple-double go to waste and was outdueled in the fourth quarter by Tony Parker, James knew he’d be hit from all sides about his approach for Sunday. The basic underlying tone was, why was he so content in the opener to set up misfiring teammates right until the final gun, rather than “go Cleveland’’ on the Spurs and try to win the game all by himself?

But he wasn’t about to tip his shooting hand.

“We’ll see what type of game plan I come out with,’’ he said. “It will be dumb of me to reveal it today.’’ …

He doesn’t need to reveal anything to anyone, but he does need to figure out how to solve a defense that is entirely different than the one that the Pacers presented in the Eastern Conference finals. Dwyane Wade talked about the need to “crack the code’’ in this next game to avoid a 2-0 series crater, and the one who that really falls on is James.

Reported by Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News

76ers may not pick new coach until after NBA draft

According to two sources with knowledge of the 76ers’ search for a coach, Sam Hinkie, president of basketball operations and general manager, probably won’t name a coach until after the June 27 draft.

One Houston-based source said Hinkie “will probably find a coach after the draft.” The source also said that Hinkie believes that the coach “is secondary in the process because [Hinkie] will have an idea of what type of players” the Sixers will need to select.

The Sixers have the 11th pick in the draft.

Reported by John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Ricky Ledo says he can help Knicks

Ricky Ledo, one of the top recruits out of high school a year ago, spent all of last season at Providence unable to play because of eligibility issues with the NCAA. So, in order to show off his skills, Ledo has been doing somewhat of a barnstorming tour around the NBA’s practice facilities this spring, as curious teams see what the 6-foot-6 shooting guard can do.

“I just [want to] show them that I belong and that I am more than capable of playing at this level,” Ledo said yesterday after working out for the Knicks at their practice facility. “Especially with me not playing [last season], showing I can compete and hold my own against anyone.” …

Ledo said he thinks if he winds up in New York, he immediately will be able to give the Knicks help as a shooter off the bench — with a chance to develop into more than that.

Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post

Unclear if Larry Bird, who stepped away last year, will rejoin the Pacers

Larry Bird’s future with the Pacers remains in limbo, his decision on whether to return as team president a mystery even to the man he would replace.

Donnie Walsh, who returned to the role last summer after Bird decided to step away, last talked with Bird shortly before the playoffs began and didn’t learn a thing about his plans. “I told him he should come back, but he didn’t really give me an answer, so I said that’s the last time I was going to ask,” Walsh said Friday. “And it was.”

Bird, the NBA’s Executive of the Year in 2012, has lived in Naples, Fla. and Nashville, Ind. for the past year. He attended a Pacers’ practice early in the season and a game against Cleveland on April 9, but otherwise has been a ghost hovering over the team he mostly built.

He has been rumored to be a candidate to take over the basketball operations of the Sacramento Kings, who are under new ownership.

Reported by Mark Montieth of Pacers.com

Kevin Durant may sign with Jay-Z and Roc Nation Sports

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is only 24 years old, yet for years already recognized as a top NBA superstar. He’s one of the league’s top scorers, a leader, and his future is bright. The sky is the limit.

And having the opportunity to be the agency that represents him is a big deal.

According to Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal via Twitter, Durant is “leaving Landmark Sports. Sources expect him to join Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports.”

If this happens, landing Durant would be a huge win for Roc Nation Sports, which is just beginning to enter the world of representing NBA athletes.

Jay-Z still owns a sliver of the Brooklyn Nets, and needs to sell his shares before he can start representing NBA players. It’s not yet known when that will happen.

Mark Cuban funding research on flopping

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is funding research into the practice of flopping.

Cuban is paying Southern Methodist University $100,000 to conduct an 18-month study to investigate whether or not video or other motion capture techniques can differentiate flops from genuine player collisions.

“The research findings could conceivably contribute to video reviews of flopping and the subsequent assignment of fines,” SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand said in a statement.

Cuban wrote on Twitter: “Is it a flop? Let the scientists figure it out . im paying for the research to find out.”

Meanwhile, NBA commissioner David Stern has requested the league to expand its anti-flopping rules.

Reported by the Sports Xchange