The AP reports: J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza each finished with 19 points but were criticized by Karl for wanting to cheat out on the fast break instead of focusing on rebounds that would have sealed the win earlier. Deron Williams tuned up for his homecoming at Champaign, Ill., by scoring 22 points and collecting eight assists for Utah. Next up for the Jazz superstar is a trip to face the Chicago Bulls on Friday night at Assembly Hall on the Illini campus, where Williams is revered for leading the Illini to the 2005 NCAA championship game, where they lost to North Carolina… Carmelo Anthony finished with 16 points and five rebounds in 26 minutes, his first game action since the Americans beat Spain in the gold medal game in China.
Author: Inside Hoops
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Oct 15: Rockets 101, Grizzlies 97
The AP reports: Von Wafer scored 17 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, D.J. Strawberry added 20 points and the Houston Rockets put on a 3-point shooting clinic in beating the Memphis Grizzlies 101-97 in a preseason game Wednesday night… Aaron Brooks finished with 14 points and nine assists for Houston, while Rafer Alston scored 13. Darrell Arthur, the rookie from Kansas, and Rudy Gay led Memphis with 14 points each. Darko Milicic and Mike Conley had 12 points apiece. Hakim Warrick and Quinton Ross finished with 10 each. While the Rockets were hitting 18 shots from outside the arc, Memphis was 4-of-12 on the night.
Oct 15: Suns 102, Hawks 100
The AP reports: Grant Hill made an 18-foot jump shot with 5.6 seconds left and the Phoenix Suns beat the Atlanta Hawks 102-100 in a preseason game Wednesday night… Raja Bell scored 18 points and Boris Diaw added 15 points for Phoenix. Steve Nash scored 11 points before leaving with a sprained right ankle with a little more than two minutes left in the first half… Flip Murray led the Hawks with 23 points, including 15 in the first half. Al Horford, starting at forward, had 15 points and six rebounds. Zaza Pachulia, starting at center, had seven points and 10 rebounds.
Oct 15: Pacers 100, Mavs 93
The AP reports: Danny Granger had 18 points and rookies Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert scored 15 apiece, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 100-93 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in a preseason game Wednesday night… Antoine Wright scored 14 points, James Singleton added 11 points and nine rebounds, and DeSagana Diop contributed 10 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who dropped to 3-1 in the preseason.
Oct 15: Bucks 98, Warriors 94
The AP reports: Andrew Bogut scored 18 points and Luke Ridnour added 16 Wednesday night, leading the Milwaukee Bucks past the Golden State Warriors 98-94 in an NBA exhibition game. Milwaukee trailed most of the night but Bogut took control in the second half with 13 points. Kelenna Azubuike led the Warriors with 24 points while Corey Maggette added 16… Bucks rookie Joe Alexander, who finished with 11 points, was the crowd favorite in this southern Chinese city. He’s the first NBA player to be born in Taiwan and can speak Mandarin.
China loves Joe Alexander
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Charles F. Gardner) reports: It didn’t take long for Milwaukee Bucks rookie Joe Alexander to be discovered by the Chinese media. Before the Bucks’ practice Tuesday at the Guangzhou Gymnasium, the 6-foot-8 Alexander was swarmed by a huge group of reporters. His fluency in Mandarin was one reason for his popularity, and the fact he spent much of his youth living in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taiwan. “They enjoyed me a little bit,” Alexander said in a phone interview. “There was a pretty fair amount (of media), more than I’m used to.”
Eddie Jones and Pacers agree to part ways
Eddie Jones will not join the Pacers but the franchise will recoup the ability to sign another player as a result of an agreement reached today.
Jones was acquired by the Pacers from Dallas, along with two second-round picks and cash, in exchange for Shawne Williams on Oct. 10.
The 36-year-old veteran guard made it clear he preferred not to play this season.
The Pacers worked with agent Leon Rose and reached an agreement that lowers the salary-cap figure for the one season remaining on Jones’ contract, thus clearing enough room for the team to sign another player to a veteran minimum contract without exceeding the NBA Luxury Tax threshold.
Bobcats exercise two player options
Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins today announced that the team has exercised its options on Adam Morrison and Jared Dudley for the 2009-10 season.
Morrison, the third overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, played in 78 games for the Bobcats as a rookie in 2006-07, averaging 11.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He was named to the All-Rookie Second Team after ranking second among all NBA rookies in scoring and minutes played, while also ranking sixth in assists. Morrison missed the entire 2007-08 season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during the preseason.
Dudley, the 22nd overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, played in 73 games for the Bobcats last season, with averages of 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists. He ranked among the league’s top 20 rookies in field goal percentage (seventh), steals (eighth), rebounding (12th), assists (T-14th) and scoring (T-17th).
The Charlotte Bobcats will host their annual Cool School preseason game presented by Harris Teeter for middle school students at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 16, against the Orlando Magic. Approximately 16,000 students and teachers representing 31 regional cities and 14 counties will take part in this educationally geared event.
DJ White out 4-6 months after surgery
On Monday, October 13th physicians successfully removed the benign growth from D.J. White’s jaw, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced today.
Team physicians will perform the second phase of the surgery, where they will mend the jaw with a bone graft taken from White’s hip, in approximately six weeks.
White’s expected recovery time remains 4-6 months.
Grizzlies make training staff promotions
Current Memphis Grizzlies Assistant Athletic Trainer Jason Biles was promoted to strength and conditioning coach, General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today. In a related move, former University of North Florida Head Athletic Trainer Jim Scholler was named the club’s new assistant athletic trainer.
Biles enters his second season with the Grizzlies after he was appointed the team’s assistant athletic trainer in August 2007. In his new role, Biles will oversee the off-court conditioning of the Grizzlies, enhancing their performance through exercises in flexibility, strength, speed and power, while assisting Grizzlies Head Athletic Trainer Drew Graham with rehabilitation of injuries.
Prior to joining the Grizzlies, Biles worked at Athletes Performance in Las Vegas, where he served as the performance physical therapy manager and developed and implemented performance training programs for professional athletes in the NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA and ATP. He was also the lead physical therapist at the Bollettieri Sports Medicine Center at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., where he traveled with professional tennis players and provided rehabilitation for athletes training for the NFL combines and NBA offseason training programs.
Scholler spent nine of the last 10 years as an athletic trainer for the Ospreys, including the last four as the head athletic trainer, where he oversaw administration and supervision of all athletic training services provided to UNF student-athletes.
He served as UNF’s graduate assistant athletic trainer from 1998-2001, covering baseball and men’s soccer and as the Ospreys assistant athletic trainer from 2001-03, providing care to the men’s basketball, volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis, cheerleading and dance teams.
Scholler, who also served as the athletic trainer for the Greek National Baseball team in 2003 and 2005 that competed in the European Baseball Championships, spent one season as the assistant athletic trainer at Notre Dame in 2003-04, where he oversaw the health care of the men’s and women’s cross country and men’s lacrosse teams.
The Grand Haven, Mich. native earned his bachelor’s degree in movement science from the University of Michigan in 1998 and his master’s degree in healthcare administration from UNF in 2001.