Inside Hoops – Page 1353 – NBA Blog

Portland Trail Blazers hire Nate Tibbetts as assistant coach

The Portland Trail Blazers have hired Nate Tibbetts as an assistant coach, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey.

Tibbetts, 35, joins Head Coach Terry Stotts’ staff from the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he served as an assistant coach for the past two seasons.

“Nate is an exceptional addition to our staff and I am very excited to welcome him to the Trail Blazers,” said Stotts. “He possesses a strong work ethic and a passion for coaching. He has been instrumental in developing young players in the D-League and in the NBA. Additionally, his successful head coaching experience in the D-League provides a unique ability, which will complement our current staff.

“Along with the rest of the staff, he will also assist in game plan preparation and execution.”

Prior to joining the Cavaliers, Tibbetts spent two seasons as head coach of the NBA Development League’s Tulsa 66ers. He guided the Oklahoma City Thunder’s D-League affiliate to a 64-41 (.610) record and two trips to the playoffs during his tenure there.

Tibbetts was selected to be the United States head coach in the 2011 Pan American Games, where he led the group of D-League players to a bronze medal, USA’s first medal since 1999.

Tibbetts was a member of the D-League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce coaching staff for four seasons and was promoted to head coach after his first two campaigns. The former University of South Dakota standout was an assistant coach at the University of Sioux Falls from 2001-05.

He joins current assistants Jay Triano, David Vanterpool, Kim Hughes and Dale Osbourne on Portland’s coaching staff.

2012-13 NBA All-Rookie Teams

The Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the unanimous selection for the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year, headlines the 2012-13 NBA All-Rookie First Team, the NBA announced today.

Lillard was the lone unanimous First Team selection (58 points, 29 First Team votes), while the Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal and the New Orleans Hornets’ Anthony Davis totaled 57 points each, including 28 First Team votes. Rounding out the 2012-13 NBA All-Rookie First Team are Dion Waiters of the Cleveland Cavaliers (50 points, 21 First Team) and Harrison Barnes of the Golden State Warriors (47 points, 18 First Team).

The voting panel consisted of the NBA’s 30 head coaches, who were asked to select five players for the first team and five players for the second team, regardless of position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team. Two points were awarded for first team votes and one for second team votes.

Lillard, the sixth overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, made a clean sweep of the NBA Rookie of the Month Award in the Western Conference this season. Among first-year players, Lillard ranked first in scoring (19.0 ppg), assists (6.5 apg) and minutes (38.6 mpg). According to NBA.com/Stats, the Trail Blazers had an offensive rating of 105.0 points (per 100 possessions) when Lillard was on the court compared with 93.5 points when he was on the bench.

For the season, Beal averaged 13.9 points to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. On the season, he recorded 13 games of 20-plus points and six games with a least four three-pointers made. The overall top selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, Davis excelled after the All-Star break, averaging 15.3 points on .520 shooting from the field and 9.3 rebounds. He posted 11 double-doubles. Overall, Davis averaged 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds 1.8 blocks and, 1.2 steals in 64 games.

Sporting averages of 14.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 28.8 minutes per game, Waiters scored in double figures 45 times, including 14 games of 20 points or more. While his 81 regular-season starts ranked second among rookies, (Lillard, 82 games), Barnes helped the Warriors secure a playoff spot by averaging 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25.8 mpg.

The NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of the Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond (35 points, 10 First Team), the Toronto Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas (31 points, six First Team), the Charlotte Bobcats’ Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (29 points, three First Team), the Detroit Pistons’ Kyle Singler (17 points, one First Team), and the Cavaliers’ Tyler Zeller (15 points, three First Team).

Grizzlies assistant coach Barry Hecker leaves team

Grizzlies assistant coach Barry Hecker left the team during the Western Conference semifinal against the Thunder for what Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said is a “personal matter.”

Hollins said after the team’s shootaround Monday morning that Hecker’s departure is “nothing that’s public consumption.”

Hecker was with the Grizzlies for their Game 2 win in Oklahoma City but was not with the team in Memphis for their Game 3 win Saturday night. Team officials said only that Hecker is no longer with the Grizzlies.

Hecker had been on Hollins’ staff in Memphis the past five seasons.

Reported by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman

Kobe Bryant auction dispute headed for June trial

Kobe Bryant and an auction house that wants to sell memorabilia from his high school days and early pro career are heading for a trial next month, unless they can work out a deal before then.

U.S. District Judge Renee Bumb on Monday set June 17 as a trial date, but also set a court-guided mediation session for Friday in a case that’s the manifestation of an ugly family dispute that all sides seem to want to resolve quickly.

”Maybe I should have had you bring your witnesses today and we would have tried the case,” Bumb said at a hearing. ”You’re all so ready to go.”

The main reason she didn’t schedule the trial for an earlier date was that Bryant’s father, Joe ”Jellybean” Bryant, said he could not get to a trial sooner because he’s coaching a Thai team in the Asian Basketball League playoffs.

Reported by Geoff Mulvihill of the Associated Press

Iman Shumpert dealing with sore knee

The New York Knicks might be without Iman Shumpert for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal with the Pacers.

The guard has a sore left knee. He did not participate in Tuesday morning’s shootaround after missing practice Sunday and Monday.

Coach Mike Woodson says a team doctor is flying to Indianapolis before the game to examine Shumpert. He was hurt during an awkward, twisting landing in Game 3. This is same knee that was operated on last May for a torn ligament.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Grizzlies beat Thunder in OT for 3-1 series lead

The Grizzlies are proving they know how to grab an advantage and hold onto it this postseason.

Tony Allen scored on a driving layup to open overtime and the Grizzlies held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-97 Monday night to push the defending Western Conference champions to the edge of elimination.

The Grizzlies shook off a first half in which they couldn’t hit shots and the Thunder seemingly couldn’t miss in building their largest lead in this series at 17 points. But the Grizzlies have yet to lose on their home court this postseason, and they won their third straight and seventh in eight games to grab a 3-1 lead in the series…

Kevin Durant scored 27 points but missed all five of his shots in the extra period, including a layup in the final seconds. Durant went 2 of 13 in the fourth quarter and overtime and had only five points. The All Star played 48 minutes and was just short on his shots as the game wore on.

Durant got the help from his teammates that he had been needing. Kevin Martin scored 18 points, Serge Ibaka had his best game of the series with 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Reggie Jackson had 15. Nick Collison even added 10.

Mike Conley led Memphis with 24 points and Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph each had double-doubles. Randolph had 23 and 12, while Gasol had 23 and 11 along with six blocks on the day the Defensive Player of Year was named to the NBA’s second All-Defensive team along with Conley, who had four steals.

Allen, who finished with 10 points, had three steals on the day he edged LeBron James for most points for the NBA’s All-Defensive team.

— Reported by Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press

Heat crush Bulls, take 3-1 series lead

LeBron James and the Miami Heat didn’t even give the Chicago Bulls room to breathe, practically squeezing the playoff life out of them to take a commanding lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Another effort like this will seal it.

James scored 27 points and the Heat nearly matched a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a playoff game, pounding the listless and short-handed Bulls 88-65 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the series.

”We worked for it,” said Heat forward Chris Bosh. ”I never like to say that things are easy.”

The Heat sure made it look that way, though.

The 65 points allowed were only two more than the all-time postseason low for a Miami opponent, and it was easily the worst offensive performance by a Chicago team in the playoffs.

Never before had the Bulls scored fewer than 69 in a playoff game nor 10 or less in a quarter during the postseason, but both those marks fell on a night when they were dominated on both ends of the floor.

Miami led by 11 at the half and put this one away in the third quarter, outscoring Chicago 17-9 in the period.

Bosh finished with 14 points after scoring 20 and grabbing 19 rebounds in Game 3, and the Heat won again despite another quiet night from Dwyane Wade (six points), whose right knee was bothering him again. He appeared to land hard on it taking a fallaway jumper in the third quarter but was able to return to the game after getting re-taped.

— Reported by Andrew Seligman of the Associated Press

Kobe Bryant`s parents accuse him of lying

The obstacles facing Kobe Bryant no longer consist of healing from a torn left Achilles’ tendon.

Lately, it involves something far more suffocating than navigating a double team.

Bryant’s mother, Pamela, and father, Joe, filed statements in federal court in Camden, NJ. on Monday suggesting the Lakers’ star has lied during his recent efforts to Pamela’s hope to give a New Jersey-based auction house more than 100 of his basketball memorabilia from both his high school and early portion of his Lakers career.

In a declaration filed in federal court in Camden Monday, Pamela insisted sworn statements from Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, “contained many false statements.” That included Kobe’s account of a May 2 phone conversation, in which she allegedly agreed he had never told her she could have his belongings.

Pamela Bryant claimed sworn statements by her son and daughter-in-law contained “many false statements.”

— Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Blog)

After 19-rebound effort, inside approach will not change for Chris Bosh

In the current playoff series against the Bulls, Bosh had six rebounds in Game 1 and five rebounds in Game 2. So, it begs the question: What happened in Game 3 for Bosh to pull down 19 rebounds, a career postseason high?

Bosh said on Monday after shootaround that much of his effort in the post during the regular season was focused on boxing out opponents, which allowed his teammates to grab rebounds. In Game 3 against the Bulls, Bosh’s strategy shifted. With everyone crashing the boards, securing rebounds became his primary objective.

“Boxing out, there’s a bunch of different techniques you can use and everything,” Bosh said. “I’ve really been searching this season to find what works best for me and a lot of times I’m in situations where people only pay attention to numbers. I never really got caught up in that.”

— Reported by Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald (Blog)

Carmelo Anthony plans to have a chat with Tyson Chandler

Carmelo Anthony wants to have a couple of words with Tyson Chandler before the Knicks try to even their series against Indiana Tuesday night.

Anthony didn’t sound too happy about Chandler saying the Knicks are playing selfishly and guys are trying to win games on their own. Chandler never mentioned anyone by name, but it’s widely believed he was referring to Anthony, who seemed eager to get his teammates’ point of view.

“I really don’t want to go back and forth about that, because I really don’t know exactly what he was talking about,” Anthony said after practice Monday. “But if he feels that way, we’re about to get together . . . we’ll discuss that among ourselves and figure that out, just get his take, his perspective on that comment.

“We’ll handle that internally and figure it out amongst ourselves.”

— Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday