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Gilbert Arenas, Eddie Jordan mini-interviews

Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas has returned to practice. Here’s what he said today:

Gilbert Arenas on practice: “It felt good. I was surprised about my wind…I wasn’t as tired as I thought I was going to be. I was just excited to get out there and play basketball.”

Gilbert Arenas on his knee: “My knee is fine so far. We’ll see how it acts tomorrow after a day of rest.”

Gilbert Arenas on regaining his confidence: “Little by little it comes back, the more you play, the more you interact on the floor, the more you watch. Just to go out there and do things you are used to doing…you just have to get your confidence back little by little.”

Gilbert Arenas on the team’s potential with a healthy roster: “We know how good we are. We showed it last year when we were blowing teams out and playing great basketball. They are still playing great basketball without me and Caron (Butler), and that shows a lot.”

And here’s Wizards coach Eddie Jordan:

Eddie Jordan on today’s practice: “It was great…the guys were active and were into it. Gilbert (Arenas) had a good first practice, and Etan (Thomas) practiced today and had some physical contact.”

Eddie Jordan on Gilbert Arenas: “We are trying to allow him to come into practice and do a lot of non-contact drills, and when we do get into contact, we want to allow him to see where the contact is coming from. So we limited back screens and pick-and-roll screens when he can’t see it. We want him to react to seeing a screen coming, and as we move along we will get him in more normal situations. I thought he handled it well.”

More from Eddie Jordan on Arenas: “What was great was that Gil brings energy. His passing was phenomenal. The way he found people with his passing was phenomenal. His team got a lot of easy baskets in practice, not just Antawn (Jamison) and Brendan (Haywood), but also (Oleksiy) Pecherov and Dominic (McGuire).”

Eddie Jordan on the Orlando Magic: “They are a good team and I hope that we have some kryptonite somewhere in our lineup, because Superman (Dwight Howard) is pretty good, and they have a good supporting cast around him. They are good all the way around and they have a good coaching staff, so it is going to be a great challenge for us.”

Wang Zhizhi postpones knee surgery until after the Olympics

Fiba.com reports: China national team center Wang Zhizhi has decided to postpone a knee operation until after the Beijing Olympics. The 30-year-old, who experienced pain in his knee this season with Bayi, travelled to the United States after Bayi’s CBA play-off exit and doctors discovered the big man has a bone spur that needs to be removed. Having surgery now would leave the 2.14m Wang needing two to three months of recovery time, causing him to miss the first part of China’s intensive training ahead of the Olympics.

Kapono forgot how to hit threes

The Toronto Sun (Steve Buffery) reports: Jason  Kapono still is among the NBA leaders in three-point percentage, having nailed 50 threes in 99 attempts (51%). But in the past 19 games, he has been a complete non-factor from beyond the arc, and that has the Raptors faithful wondering why general manager Bryan Colangelo went out and signed the former UCLA star to such a long-term deal. Kapono has not made a basket from three-point range in 11 straight games. His last three-point shot made came on Feb. 4 in Miami, when he went 1-for-2.

Pistons to honor Jack McCloskey

Jack McCloskey, General Manager of the Detroit Pistons from 1979 to 1992, and the architect of the Bad Boys’ two World Championship teams in 1989 and 1990, will be honored in a retirement ceremony at halftime on March 29 versus the Cleveland Cavaliers. A banner with his name will be raised to the rafters that night, the team announced today.

McCloskey, nicknamed “Trader Jack” for his many astute trades during his tenure as the clubs’ GM, assembled the Pistons’ teams, which brought two NBA World Championships here in 1989 and 1990. Jack’s banner will join Owner Bill Davidson, Coach Chuck Daly, and players Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie Johnson and Joe Dumars from that era who previously were honored. From earlier Pistons’ teams, both Dave Bing and Bob Lanier had their numbers retired.

The Pistons’ teams assembled by McCloskey made nine straight playoff appearances, with five straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, three NBA Finals, and those two World Championships.

In the draft McCloskey, would select a pair of future Hall of Famers in Isiah Thomas (1981) and Joe Dumars (1985). Then in 1986 he drafted both Dennis Rodman and John Salley. But his nickname “Trader Jack” was acquired because of the shrewd trades he pulled off with other NBA teams. Most notably, Jack traded for Bill Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson. Later McCloskey acquired Rick Mahorn, James Edwards and Mark Aguirre, all via the trade route. That group of players would comprise the World Championship Teams of 1989 and 1990. McCloskey would hire another future Hall of Famer Chuck Daly in 1983, and he would coach the Bad Boys.

During the halftime ceremony on March 29 versus the Cavaliers, among those to honor the former Pistons’ General Manager will be, former coach Chuck Daly, current Pistons’ President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars, WNBA Detroit Shock Head Coach Bill Laimbeer, Shock Assistant Coach Rick Mahorn, and the “Microwave” Vinnie Johnson.

Chris Andersen reinstated to NBA

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today granted the request of Chris Andersen to be reinstated as an NBA player, after Andersen was expelled from the league on January 27, 2006, for testing positive for a prohibited substance under the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.

The rights to Andersen’s playing services belong to the New Orleans Hornets, provided that the team tenders a player contract to Andersen within the next 30 days. If the Hornets do not make such a tender, Andersen will become an unrestricted free agent eligible to sign with any team.

Celtics re-assign Gabe Pruitt to D-League

The Boston Celtics announced today that they have reassigned rookie guard Gabe Pruitt to their NBA Development League affiliate Utah Flash.  Pruitt is the team’s fourth assignment to the NBA Development League this season and the third time for Pruitt.
 
Pruitt was averaging 2.0 points in 5.7 minutes per game at the time of the assignment.  The 6’4 guard had appeared in nine games since his recall from the Flash on December 13, 2007. 

Pruitt scored a career-high seven points in his first game returning to the Celtics from the Flash on December 14, 2007 against the Milwaukee Bucks in five minutes of play.

Report: Theus fines Artest for comments

The Sacramento Bee (Sam Amick) reports: Kings coach Reggie Theus fined small forward Ron Artest $5,000 for comments he made after Sunday’s win over Miami, according to a source close to the team. On Sunday, Artest questioned Theus for how he coached the Kings’ loss at Miami last Tuesday, wondered if the coaching staff shared his desire to make the playoffs.

Dorell Wright out for season after left knee surgery

The Miami HEAT announced today that Dorell Wright underwent successful surgery this afternoon to repair a meniscal tear on the lateral joint line of his left knee. The surgery, a one-hour and 15-minute procedure, was performed by team physician Dr. Harlan Selesnick at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables.
 
Wright will miss the remainder of the regular season and will be in a straight-leg brace for one month. He will begin rehabilitation immediately.
 
Wright was injured with 9:40 remaining in the second quarter in the HEAT’s loss to the Sacramento Kings on March 2.
 
Currently in his fourth NBA season, Wright has appeared in 43 games (33 starts) for the HEAT this season, and has averaged 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.2 minutes per game.

Yao Ming has left foot surgery

Surgery for Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming was successfully completed this morning at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. Houston Rockets Team Physician Dr. Tom Clanton and his associate Dr. Bill McGarvey performed the surgery to repair a stress fracture in the tarsal navicular bone of his left foot.

“Yao is comfortable and recovering well after surgery,” said Clanton. “At this stage, we will continue to monitor his recovery and begin an aggressive rehabilitation once he is physically deemed ready.”

Statement from Yao Ming: “I am very relieved that everything went well with my surgery today.  I am looking forward to getting better and starting my physical rehab as soon as the doctors say I can.  I would like to thank everyone for their kind wishes during this time and I look forward to the day that I can rejoin my Rockets teammates on the bench.”