Inside Hoops – Page 1782 – NBA Blog

Andray Blatche unhappy with role in loss to Nets

Washington starting forward Andray Blatche was among the most distraught players in the locker room following a 90-84 loss to New Jersey, and it wasn’t only because the Wizards wasted a 21-point lead in their season opener at Verizon Center.

Blatche finished with 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting, taking mostly jumpers. That didn’t sit well with the team captain who addressed the announced crowd of 17,102 before tip-off.

A reporter asked Blatche to address Coach Flip Saunders’ comments that players were relying too much on individual production once the Wizards went comfortably ahead early in the second quarter, 37-17.

“He probably was talking about me for the simple fact that I said I need the ball in the paint to be effective,” Blatche said. “You can’t keep having me pick and pop and shooting jumpshots. Gimme the ball in the paint. That’s where I’m most effiective at. I’ve been saying that since training camp. I need the ball in the paint. I don’t wand to be the pick-and-pop guy I used to be because it’s not working for me.”

— Via Gene Wang of the Washington Post Blog

Dirk Nowitzki thinks Mavs look old and slow

The question isn’t what ails the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, but can they fix it in time to make another run at the playoffs in this 66-game season?

Their offense showed signs of life Monday, then grew anemic after the first quarter, and the defense was uneven throughout the 115-93 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Denver guard Ty Lawson led all scorers with 27 points. “There are a bunch of good players on this team and I knew that we were going to come out strong,” Lawson said.

It was the second blowout loss in a row at home for the Mavericks, who fell 105-94 to the Miami Heat on Sunday. In that game, Dallas trailed by as many as 35 points.

“We look old, slow and out of shape,” Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki said. “I still think this team has a lot of potential. We just need to work. … We probably needed extra weeks of training camp. But we don’t have it so the young teams, the athletic teams, look better right now than we do.”

— Via J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today

Knicks sign guard Jeremy Lin

Help was needed in the New York backcourt. Mission accomplished — at least a little.

New York Knickerbockers Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations and Interim General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has claimed guard Jeremy Lin off waivers.

According to the Associated Press, “the Knicks are short-handed in the backcourt. Iman Shumpert could miss four weeks with a knee injury, Baron Davis might still be weeks away because of his bulging back disc and Mike Bibby missed the opener with a sore lower back.”

Lin, 6-3, 200-pounds, averaged 2.6 points, 1.4 assists and 1.2 rebounds over 9.8 minutes in 29 games with Golden State last season and in 20 games for Reno of the NBA D-League, he averaged 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 20 games. The Torrance, CA-native, signed with the Warriors as an undrafted free agent on Jul. 21, 2010, following a four-year playing career at Harvard University where he appeared in 115 games (87 starts) and averaged 12.9 points on .481 shooting, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.96 steals over 29.3 minutes. Waived by the Warriors on Dec. 9, 2011, Lin was claimed off waivers by Houston on Dec. 12, and later waived on Dec. 24.

A Knicks, Nate Robinson reunion not likely

Not that the Knicks were loaded at point guard to start with, but with Iman Shumpert out, they are dangerously thin now at the position. Even so, don’t expect Nate Robinson to make a triumphant return with his former team.

“We’ll look into it,” Mike D’Antoni said.

They’ll look, but they won’t touch the high-maintenance Robinson, who played in New York for four-plus seasons until he was traded to the Celtics at the trading deadline in the 2009-2010 season.

When D’Antoni was initially asked about re-signing Robinson Monday at the team’s practice facility in Greenburgh, he shot a look as if to say, are you kidding ? But his answer was more on the diplomatic side, saying reporters would have to check with interim GM Glen Grunwald.

— Via Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News

NBA decides not to suspend Kevin Garnett

The NBA has decided to not take any disciplinary action against Kevin Garnett for his scuffle with New York’s Billy Walker at the end of the Celtics’ 106-104 loss to the Knicks Sunday, which means the C’s will have him available for Tuesday’s game in Miami.

Trailing by two points with just a few ticks on the game clock, Garnett missed a jumper in which he was defended by Walker. The two exchanged words and Garnett put his hands around Walker’s neck, but was unable to grip him as Walker was moving back in an effort to avoid the contact.

When asked about the incident after the loss, Garnett scoffed, “Next question.”

— Via A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE

Kyrie Irving to start for Cavs

Kyrie Irving will start at point guard for the Cavs tonight in the season opener against the Toronto Raptors. Irving came off the bench during the two preseason games, but coach Byron Scott said he wanted Irving with the veteran starters and Ramon Sessions to provide a veteran presence to a young second unit.

“We need somebody with some experience with that ball. That is perfect for Sess,” Scott said. “Sess understood. Obviously Kyrie on the first team is surrounded by veterans, which is going to help him. I really think it’s going to work out for the best.”

Scott still wants Irving to improve defensively and believes surrounding him with good defensive communicators like Antawn Jamison and Anthony Parker will help him get there.

— Via Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal

Lamar Odom ejected from 1st game with Mavericks

Lamar Odom has been ejected from his first game with the Dallas Mavericks.

Given a standing ovation when he entered during the first quarter Sunday, Odom still had fans cheering him when he walked off shaking his head midway through the third.

Odom was called for charging and didn’t like the foul. Whatever he said about it was bad enough to draw a pair of technicals and an automatic ejection.

— Via the Associated Press

Shawn Marion breaks finger in loss to Heat

Shawn Marion suffered a broken left pinky in Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat, but said he doesn’t expect it to keep him out Monday against Denver.

“It hurts like hell,” he said. “But I’m a warrior.”

Marion said he hurt the finger – which already was mangled from previous injuries suffered in his career – during the third quarter when he was trying to make a defensive play.

— Via Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

Iman Shumpert sprains knee ligament, may miss 2-4 weeks

Knicks rookie guard Iman Shumpert is expected to miss two to four weeks because of a sprained right knee ligament.

The first-round pick from Georgia Tech was hurt in the second half of New York’s 106-104 victory over Boston on Sunday when Celtics reserve Chris Wilcox appeared to bang into his leg. The Knicks say Shumpert sprained his MCL.

Shumpert scored 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting in 22 minutes in his debut.

— Via the Associated Press

David Stern hears boos at Dallas opener

NBA Commissioner David Stern opened his lockout-delayed season by hearing boos from Mavericks fans.

Stern was in Dallas for the NBA finals rematch between the Mavericks and Heat, and he was on the court for the start of the Mavs’ banner-raising ceremony honoring their first championship. The jeers came as soon as he started speaking, but he quickly turned them into cheers by offering his congratulations to team owner Mark Cuban.

Cuban’s often contentious relationship with Stern could’ve been as much of a reason for the boos as the lockout, which pushed the opener from Nov. 1 to Christmas and cut the season by 16 games.

Cuban and Miami’s Micky Arison were among five owners who voted against the labor deal. Stern said “it doesn’t send any signal whatsoever” that the two owners in the most recent finals were against the agreement.

— Via Jaime Aron of the Associated Press