Inside Hoops – Page 1334 – NBA Blog

Playoffs not fun unless you win, says D-Wade

He is playing on basketball’s greatest stage in front of adoring crowds and a global TV audience, but for Dwyane Wade there is little joy to be found at this late stage of a grueling season.

The 31-year-old Miami Heat shooting guard knows all too well the rigors of playoff basketball as he is competing in his third consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.

“Playoffs ain’t fun, man. I’m sorry to bust anyone on the outside’s bubble. As a player in the playoffs, you have no joy until it’s over and you won,” Wade, a two-time NBA champion whose Heat trail the best-of-seven Finals 1-0, said on Friday.

“If you don’t win, you have no joy for a while. So for us it’s the grind every day as a team of trying to win the series, trying to win four games in the series.”

Reported by Simon Evans of Reuters

Trail Blazers continue NBA predraft workouts

The Trail Blazers on Friday continued their predraft workouts, evaluating six more players at the practice facility in Tualatin.

The group of prospects included multiple players with NBA bloodlines (Glen Rice, Jr., a 6-foot-5 guard from the D-League and Larry Drew II, a 6-2 guard from UCLA) and another with ties to Oregon (E.J. Singler, a 6-6 forward from Oregon). The rest of the workout included: Ian Clark, a 6-3 guard from Belmont; Ed Daniel, a 6-7 forward from Murray State; and Trevor Mbakwe, a 6-8 forward from Minnesota.

Reported by Joe Freeman of The Oregonian

Playoffs: Chris Bosh struggling with shot lately

Chris Bosh was 6 for 10 from 2-point range, 0 for 4 from 3-point range, including a miss from long range that would have gotten the Heat within one point with about a minute remaining.

The Heat have no problem with Bosh taking the long shot, though the Spurs were clearly trying to ensure that the likes of LeBron James, Ray Allen and Mike Miller did not have any good looks from 3-point land in the final minutes. Bosh was alone, the shot missed, and the Heat wound up falling in Game 1.

”No mattter what the situation is I have confidence in myself and I know my teammates have confidence in me,” Bosh said. ”Every shot I shoot I expect to go in. Some do, some don’t.”

He’s now shooting 14 for 50 – 28 percent – in his last five games.

Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Tiredness and late turnovers cost Heat in Finals Game 1, says Wade

Miami guard Dwyane Wade said the Heat may have paid the price for their gruelling seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers as the San Antonio Spurs took advantage of late turnovers and missed opportunities to win game one of the Finals 92-88.

The Spurs took care of Memphis in four games in the Western Conference final, a full week before Miami’s game seven against the Pacers and while there is always a debate over ‘rust v rest’ as an advantage, Wade felt the Heat had tired.

“I thought that we were a little fatigued, honestly, in the fourth quarter, looking around,” Wade, who had 18 points, told reporters.

“We looked like a team that came off a seven-game series. I thought we got some shots we wanted but we were a little careless at times as well. We turned it over,” he said.

“We did a great job all game but having five turnovers in the fourth quarter isn’t going to win you a game, especially not in the Finals.

“We’ll be better prepared next time and hopefully make better decisions in the fourth quarter.”

The five Miami turnovers in the final quarter resulted in six points for the Spurs.

Reported by Simon Evans of Reuters

Tony Parker stepped up in 4th quarter of Finals Game 1 for Spurs

Tony Parker led a masterful fourth quarter performance from San Antonio as the Spurs beat the Heat 92-88 in the opening game of the NBA Finals in Miami on Thursday.

The Heat led 72-69 at the end of the third quarter but the defending NBA champions were out-scored 23-16 in the fourth and Parker sealed the victory with a superb late basket as the shot clock expired.

With the Spurs possessing a two-point advantage and on their likely final play of the game, Parker dribbled and wriggled and yet was still faced with the daunting presence of LeBron James in front of him.

With time and space running out, Parker slipped to his knees but managed to leap back up and find the basket with a jump shot from 16 feet (4.8 metres) that put San Antonio four points up with just 5.2 seconds remaining.

“We were very fortunate. It looked like he had lost it two or three times… but he stuck with it,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters.

“He got control of it again and then got it up there on the rim. It was a great effort by Tony,” he said.

Reported by Simon Evans of Reuters

Spurs beat Heat 92-88 in NBA Finals Game 1

The San Antonio Spurs still have that winning NBA Finals formula of good defense and a little luck on offense.

Tim Duncan overcame a slow start to finish with 20 points and 14 rebounds, Tony Parker banked in a desperation jumper on a broken play with 5.2 seconds left and the Spurs withstood LeBron James’ triple-double to beat the Miami Heat 92-88 on Thursday night in a thrilling Game 1.

Parker ended up with 21 points after referees reviewed his shot to make sure it just beat the shot clock, giving San Antonio a four-point edge in the game that was close the whole way.

”We got a little bit lucky in Game 1,” Parker said. ”Sometimes that’s what it takes to win games.”

Playing for the championship for the first time since sweeping James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 for their fourth title, the Spurs improved to 5-for-5 in Game 1s, hanging around for three quarters and then blowing by the defending champions midway through the fourth.

Manu Ginobili, the third member of San Antonio’s Big Three that has combined for 99 postseason victories together, finished with 13 points, and Danny Green had 12.

”It doesn’t matter how we’re categorized – old, veterans, whatever you call us, we’re in the mix,” the 37-year-old Duncan said.

San Antonio turned up its defense in the fourth quarter, limiting Miami to seven points in the first 8 1/2 minutes in returning to the finals just the way it left – with a victory over James.

James had 18 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists in his second straight NBA Finals triple-double, but he shot only 7 of 16 against some good defense by Kawhi Leonard, and Miami’s offense stalled in the fourth quarter.

Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Phoenix Suns announce basketball operations staff changes

The Phoenix Suns today announced a series of moves within the team’s basketball operations department. Pat Connelly has been named to the role of Assistant General Manager and Trevor Bukstein has been promoted to Assistant General Manager. Ronnie Lester has been named a scout and Emilio Kovacic has been named International Scouting Consultant. John Treloar will remain the team’s Director of Player Personnel; John Shumate and Bubba Burrage remain scouts.

Connelly joins the Suns following seven seasons in the Washington Wizards organization, most recently as the Director of Player Personnel where he was one of the team’s top scouting sources of collegiate and international talent.

Similar to Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough, Connelly has worked his way through the ranks. Before joining the Wizards, Connelly was a graduate assistant at Baylor University while earning a Master’s degree in speech communication (2004-06). That followed a stint as an assistant coach of the Bright Bears in England during the 2003-04 season when he helped lead the club to a league title.

Also like McDonough, Connelly comes from a successful sports family; his brother, Tim, is the assistant general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans. A native of Baltimore, Connelly earned an undergraduate degree in business from Mount St. Mary’s in 2002.

Bukstein, 31, has spent the last three seasons as the Suns’ Director of Basketball Administration, aiding Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby with interpretation and application of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, salary cap management, and trade and contract negotiations.

Bukstein joined the Suns after six years as an athlete representation specialist at Williams and Connolly, LLP, where he assisted the sports law practice with its NBA, WNBA and MLB clients. Bukstein earned his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and did his undergraduate work at the University of Michigan.

The Suns’ scouting staff will be buoyed by the addition of Lester, a standout college player whose NBA career led to a 24-year run in the front office of the Los Angeles Lakers. A seven-time NBA Champion (one as a player, 1985; six as an executive, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010), Lester was a top talent scout for the Lakers from 1987-2001 before being named the team’s assistant general manager, a role in which he served for 10 seasons (2001-11).

A two-time All-American at the University of Iowa who finished his career as the program’s all-time leader in both points and assists, Lester was selected 10th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1980 NBA Draft before a draft-day trade sent him to the Chicago Bulls. Lester, 54, played the final two seasons of his injury-shortened career with the Lakers, winning the NBA title in 1985.

For six years, Kovacic has been the European General Manager of Synergy Sports Technology, a scouting service used by all NBA teams. After stints as a player development coach in Europe, Kovacic joined the scouting ranks using an expertise established over a 20-year playing career, including 12 years as a professional in Europe.

A member of the international basketball community for more than 30 years overall, the 45-year-old Kovacic is a native of Zadar, Croatia. As a freshman in college, Kovacic attended Grand Canyon University in Phoenix and under then-head coach and Suns Ring of Honor member Paul Westphal, won the 1988 NAIA Championship. After transferring and graduating from Biola University in 1992, Kovacic was a member of the 1992 Phoenix Suns summer league squad.

WNBA trying something interesting: Ref Cam

Bringing fans even closer to the game, the WNBA announced today that “Ref Cam” will be used for the first time during the broadcast of a U.S. professional basketball game on Saturday, June 8, when the Phoenix Mercury meet the defending champion Indiana Fever in a nationally televised game on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The use of the new angles and points of view provided by “Ref Cam” was part of the recent announcement by the WNBA and ESPN regarding the extension of their partnership through the 2022 season.

During Saturday’s live telecast from Indianapolis, Ref Cam – a wireless high definition (HD), mini point of view camera paired with an HD mini transmitter – will be positioned at eye-level on one of the game’s three officials, allowing viewers to virtually be on the court as the referee’s first-person perspective is incorporated into the live broadcast in real time.

In addition to the camera headgear, the fully remote system – designed by Maryland-based Broadcast Sports, Inc. (BSI) – includes a vest, which will be worn underneath the official’s shirt. The vest will contain the transmitter and batteries that provide the power and video. BSI will have two engineers on-site at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to assist in the deployment of the gear and to help the game official with the fit. An industry leader in wireless point of view systems, BSI previously provided “Ref Cam” equipment for use during the telecast of a rugby match in France this spring.

Denver Nuggets fire coach George Karl

Coach George Karl fired by Denver Nuggets

Coach George Karl will not return for the final year of his contract in 2013-14, Denver Nuggets President Josh Kroenke announced today.

Hired on Jan. 27, 2005, Karl orchestrated one of the most successful eras in Nuggets history. He guided Denver to nine consecutive playoff appearances and a regular-season record of 423-257. His victories rank second in franchise history to Doug Moe (432).

It’s a surprise to most observers that the Nuggets aren’t keeping Karl. The team had a successful season. Karl did a great job getting the most out of his squad. It’s a weird move to say goodbye to the man who just won the league’s Coach of the Year award.

“George has been an instrumental part of our success over the past decade, and we appreciate everything he did to keep us among the top teams in the Western Conference,” Kroenke said. “He is a Hall of Fame coach whose legacy in Denver will last for years to come. George is a legend in the game of basketball and I could not have more respect for him as a person and coach.”

The Nuggets will begin the search for a new coach immediately, and an announcement will be made when the process is concluded.

Karl, 62, was named the 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year after leading the Nuggets to a team-record 57 games and the No. 3 seed in the West, but Denver lost to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

The Nuggets advanced past the first round once under Karl, reaching the Western Conference finals in 2009.

According to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post, “Team president Josh Kroenke informed Karl on Thursday morning that he would not bring him back. He said the combination of Karl pushing for a contract extension, and the uncertainty surrounding Karl’s possible interest in the Los Angeles Clippers job this week, led him to believe it was best to go in another direction and bring in a new coach. Karl has one year left on his contract. Karl did not return calls seeking comment, but sent out a tweet: “I want to thank Nuggets fans for their support over the past 8 yrs. The karma on the street was incredible. Denver will always be home.” The Nuggets are expected to target two primary candidates to replace Karl: Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw and Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins, according to a league source. Hollins has been given permission by Memphis to look at jobs around the league, although his preference is to return.”

Heat vs Spurs NBA Finals Game 1

Before reaching the top of basketball, LeBron James was run over by the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs swept James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2007 NBA Finals, so long ago that the winning game plan focused on exploiting James’ weaknesses. Those are nearly impossible to find now, and James essentially warned the Spurs that they shouldn’t bother looking.

The Spurs already know.

”He’ll be a lot more of a problem than he was in ’07, that’s for sure,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Wednesday.

Tim Duncan told the beaten James minutes after that series that the league would someday belong to him, and he was right. The NBA’s MVP guided Miami to last year’s championship and the league’s best record this season.

Now the Spurs will try to take it back.

But James is now the best player in the game, is surrounded by more talent in Miami than he ever had in Cleveland, and still carries the memory of the beating the Spurs laid on him six years ago.

”I have something in me that they took in ’07. Beat us on our home floor, celebrated on our home floor. I won’t forget that. You shouldn’t as a competitor. You should never forget that,” James said.

He joined the Heat in 2010, experienced more finals failure a year later, then was finals MVP last year when Miami beat Oklahoma City in five games. Another title now would put him halfway to the four that Duncan and Popovich have won together.

”That’s what I’m here for,” James said. ”I’m here to win championships, and you’re not always going to be on the successful side. I’ve seen it twice, not being on the successful side.”

Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press