Inside Hoops – Page 795 – NBA Blog

Pregame Cameron Payne, Russell Westbrook dance routine: Swagdaddies

Look, people. Pregame NBA dance routines from players are important. They set the tone. Bad dance routine? Expect a loss. That’s just the way it is.

OK, maybe not quite. Perhaps we’re just being silly. Still, pregame dance routines are fun, so we support them and any coverage they receive.

Here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Cameron Payne says there’s a simple name for it.

“Swagdaddies,” he says.

Hyphen?

“No hyphen. One word. Swagdaddies.” With an emphasis on swag.

Payne has used that word to describe other things, like a ridiculous Euro step, but in this case is talking about his now moderately infamous pregame dance routine — if you want to call it that — with Russell Westbrook. It goes like this: Actually, it doesn’t go like anything. You’ve just sort of got to see it. And then watch the next game’s routine, because no two are the same.

“Every game is something new,” Westbrook said.

Nuggets front office staff get contract extensions

The Denver Nuggets have signed General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly, Assistant General Manager Arturas Karnisovas and their staff to multi-year contract extensions, President and Governor Josh Kroenke announced today.

“Over the past few years Tim, Arturas, and the rest of our front office staff have worked tirelessly in reshaping our roster and our entire organizational vision for the future,” said Kroenke. “Whether through the draft, trades, or free agency, we have an excellent mix of players and are extremely well positioned moving forward.”

Connelly took over as General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations in 2013 after spending the previous three seasons with New Orleans serving as their Assistant General Manager. Prior to his time in New Orleans, Connelly spent 10 years with the Washington Wizards organization where he rose to director of player personnel.

Karnisovas came to Denver after spending five years with the Houston Rockets organization, where he most recently was the Director of Scouting. He spent four years with the NBA league office prior to that.

“We’re excited and honored by this opportunity to continue what we have started here in Denver,” stated Connelly. “We have a locker room full of dedicated players and staff, led by head coach Michael Malone, who look forward to winning in this great city for years to come. As a staff we would like to thank Josh and the entire Kroenke family for their continued support; we are unbelievably fortunate to work for such committed ownership.

Number of NBA preseason games may be reduced

Here’s Michigan Live reporting on the NBA preseason landscape and how it is expected to change in upcoming seasons:

It is anticipated that there will be a movement to reduce the number of preseason games by 2017, when the players and owners both can opt out of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who was in Detroit for his first Pistons home game since taking the job in February 2014, said he has a position on the matter “but it’s something that we’re going to save for bargaining with our players.” Teams typically play eight preseason games. Some coaches and general managers, including Pistons president-coach Stan Van Gundy have advocated for a reduction. “It’s something that we’re currently discussing,” Silver said. “Obviously, it has an economic impact on the league if we reduce the number of preseason games, but I’m also sympathetic to the wear-and-tear issue on our players as well.”

Wizards have below .500 record at home

Here’s CSN MidAtlantic reporting on the Wizards, who are 10-8 on the road this season yet a disappointing 9-13 at home:

Six teams have a sub-41 winning percentage at home: Wizards, Nuggets, Nets, Lakers, Timberwolves and 76ers. Overall, the Wizards are 19-21 this season, having reached .500 last week before losing two straight. Those other five teams are a combined 54-156 (.346).

Portland’s 3-point shooting barrage highlighted a major difference for Washington at home over the last two season.

Opponents are shooting an NBA-best 40.1 percent from beyond the arc (on 23.4 attempts per game) at Verizon Center this season. That’s a steep fall from last season’s 32.1 clip.

Overall visiting teams are sinking 47.3 percent of their field goal tries in Washington. That’s also the worst in the NBA. Last season, opponents made 42.2 percent.

Quinn Cook named D-League Performer of Week

Quinn Cook of the Canton Charge, was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played Monday, Jan. 11 through Sunday, Jan. 17. The honor is the first of Cook’s career.

Cook (6-2, 179, Duke) led Canton to a 3-0 week, with all three wins coming on the road, to extend Canton’s winning streak to six games, bringing them back to .500 with an 11-11 record. Cook averaged 26 points (fourth in the league) on 52- percent shooting (30-for-58), including his connection on 8-of-15 attempts from behind the arc.

On Jan. 15, in the first game of a back-to-back vs. the Maine Red Claws, he scored 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting to go with six assists and four rebounds in a 105-93 win. On the following night, he recorded career highs with 32 points and three steals in a 96-83 victory over Maine.

For the season, Cook is pacing Canton with 19.0 points to go with 4.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

Other top D-League performers considered for this weekly honor include Bakersfield’s Xavier Munford, Idaho’s Bryce Dejean-Jones and J.J. O’Brien, Iowa’s Lazeric Jones, Los Angeles’ Vander Blue, Oklahoma City’s Marquis Teague, Sioux Falls’ Jarnell Stokes (on assignment from the Miami Heat) and Texas’ Brandon Ashley.

Magic sign Keith Appling to 10-day contract

The Orlando Magic have called-up guard Keith Appling from the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League and signed him to a 10-day contract, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today. In addition, guard Devyn Marble has been recalled from Erie.

Appling (#15, 6’1”, 185, 2/13/92) has played in 17 games this season with Erie, averaging 16.8 ppg., 5.6 apg., 4.1 rpg. and 2.12 stlpg. in 31.3 minpg. He was leading the BayHawks in scoring, assists and steals at the time of his call-up. Appling appeared in five preseason games with Orlando, averaging 1.2 ppg. in 8.7 minpg., before being waived on October 19.

Not drafted by an NBA franchise in 2014, Appling appeared in 38 games last season with both the Los Angeles D-Fenders and Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, averaging 10.5 ppg., 3.9 apg. and 2.7 rpg. in 24.4 minpg. He also played with the Orlando Magic “White” team during the 2015 Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League, averaging a team-high 15.6 ppg., 3.0 apg., 1.2 rpg. and 3.00 stlpg. in 26.2 minpg.

Appling played in 142 games (123 starts) during four seasons at Michigan State University from 2010-14, averaging 10.6 ppg., 3.3 apg., 3.0 rpg. and 1.06 stlpg. in 29.8 minpg. He finished his collegiate career tied for third on the Spartans’ all-time list in games started, fourth in games played, seventh in free throws made (389), eighth in three-point field goals attempted (413) and steals (151), ninth in assists (465), tenth in free throws attempted (520) and 18th in points scored (1,509). Appling was named Second Team All-Big Ten as a junior (2012-13) by the league’s coaches and named Third Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore (2011-12). He helped Michigan State reach the Sweet Sixteen three times during the NCAA Tournament (2012-14) and the Elite Eight in 2014.

Marble (#11, 6’6”, 200, 9/21/92) has appeared in six games this season with Orlando, averaging 0.3 ppg. in 2.3 minpg. Originally selected in the second round (56th overall) by Denver, his draft rights, along with Evan Fournier, were acquired by Orlando in exchange for Arron Afflalo on June 26, 2014. Marble has also played in 14 games this season with Erie, averaging 14.8 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 2.2 apg. and 1.57 stlpg. in 30.9 minpg.

The Orlando Magic and the Erie BayHawks are in the second year of a three-year single affiliation partnership. Orlando became the 16th NBA team to have a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA D-League team. The partnership, also referred to as a “hybrid affiliation,” allows an NBA team to control the NBA D-League team’s basketball operations, while the existing local ownership maintains primary responsibility for the team’s off-the-court business operations and community initiatives.

Suns sign Lorenzo Brown to second 10-day contract

The Phoenix Suns announced today they have signed guard Lorenzo Brown to a second 10-day contract.

Brown signed his first 10-day contract with the Suns on Jan. 8. The 25-year-old guard has appeared in three games with Phoenix, totaling 13 points and six assists in 34 minutes.

A 6-5, 189-pound guard, Brown is a third-year NBA player who appeared in 55 total games with Philadelphia in 2013-14 and Minnesota in 2014-15. Originally selected with the 52nd overall pick by Minnesota in the 2013 NBA Draft, Brown played in 29 games (seven starts) with the Timberwolves last season seeing action in each of their final 22 games. Brown has four career double-digit scoring games, including a career-high 13 points in his final appearance of last season on April 15 against Oklahoma City.

The sixth Call-Up of 2015-16 at the time he signed with the Suns on Jan. 8, Brown averaged 16.4 points, 6.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 16 games this season with the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League.

Warriors not scared by a few losses

The Golden State Warriors are an amazing 37-4. But two of their losses have come in their last three games. As you’d expect, the squad isn’t exactly worried. Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting:

The Warriors’ post-practice session Sunday started with Draymond Green playfully mocking Luke Walton’s work ethic and ended with Stephen Curry proudly wearing a Carolina Panthers cap while signing the team’s theme song.

If the Warriors are panicking about their declining play during the past 11 games, including an 18-point spanking from Detroit on Saturday, they sure weren’t conveying it before flying to Cleveland for an NBA Finals rematch.

“There’s no need to panic, turn on each other or point a finger. We all sucked,” Green said. “… You want to keep the environment loose. You don’t want to tense up and feel like it’s the end of the world and play like that. Yeah, we have to play with a chip on our shoulder, and we have to play with that fire and intensity, but you don’t want to play like you’re in a panic.”

The Warriors (37-4) will have a good barometer for their keep-it-loose approach during the next five games. They play road games at Cleveland and Chicago before hosting Indiana, San Antonio and Dallas — teams that went into Sunday’s games a combined 131-68 (.775).

Sixers enjoy blowout win vs Blazers

On Thursday night, the Philadelphia 76ers let a 24-point lead slip away in an especially difficult overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Two days later, they made sure that wouldn’t happen again.

Jahlil Okafor had 25 points and 10 rebounds and the 76ers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 114-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.

Richaun Holmes added 17 points, and Ish Smith and Robert Covington scored 16 apiece for the Sixers. They improved to 5-37 with their most lopsided win of the season, erasing many of the lingering bad feelings that come from blowing a game they thought they had in the bag.

— Associated Press

Pistons beat Warriors 113-95

Before the game, Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy said Golden State simply has more margin for error than other teams, meaning the Warriors can win even when they don’t play their best.

Not on this night against Van Gundy’s Pistons.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope held his own against Stephen Curry for most of the night, scoring 20 points as the Pistons handed the Warriors their second loss in three games, 113-95 on Saturday.

Much of the pregame talk centered around how well Caldwell-Pope might be able to defend Curry. The Golden State star scored 38 points, but Caldwell-Pope gave the Pistons a boost offensively.

“I think we know that we’re capable of beating anybody,” Van Gundy said afterward…

Drummond had 14 points and 21 rebounds, and Reggie Jackson scored 20 points for Detroit. The Pistons had six players in double figures, while Golden State had only three. Klay Thompson scored 24 points for the Warriors.

— Associated Press