General NBA insight – Page 152 – NBA Blog

George Karl doubts Knicks plan

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl is often quite outspoken about his opinions and it’s always worth listening to what he has to say. In this case, Karl casts doubt on what the New York Knicks are trying to do.

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

Nuggets coach George Karl said the Knicks master plan of tanking two seasons to get to the 2010 free agency usually does not work and believes it’s been grossly unfair to coach Mike D’Antoni.

Last week, Karl recommended to D’Antoni that signing Allen Iverson would be a boost, but added a caveat. Karl, who coached Iverson in Denver for nearly two seasons, told D’Antoni to sign Iverson only if he plans to start him exclusively.

With the current roster, Karl said he thinks D’Antoni has no shot of having success and believes Knicks team president Donnie Walsh should make him a front-office executive who runs practices, but has an interim coach to absorb the losses on the resume. Karl thinks a coach in D’Antoni’s situation is being “thrown to the wolves.”

It’s definitely unfair to blame Mike D’Antoni if a rebuilding team that is trying to start from scratch loses, but as long as the owner and upper management understands that is the situation, I think D’Antoni is safe. But a problem could result if the team doesn’t at least play hard and look properly coached.

Derrick Rose returning to form

Dirk Facer, for the Chicago Sun-Times, reports:

Derrick Rose is getting better. The injured right ankle that has slowed him since the preseason is on the mend.

Monday in Portland, Rose opened the second half by elevating over Greg Oden for his first dunk of the season.

”I really couldn’t believe it when I was up in the air,” said Rose, who said it felt great. ”It’s getting there. I’m getting a little bit explosive, so you’ll probably see more dunks in some other games.” …

In a loss to the Nuggets on Saturday, he scored a season-high 28 points. Over the last three games — all on the road — he’s averaging 20.7 points, 4.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field (27-for-54).

We’re just starting to see the real D-Rose now. His early season games were more about returning from injury than shining like the young star that he is.

Andrew Bynum putting up big stats

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports:

Bynum had 25 points on nine-for-11 shooting in the Lakers’ 101-85 victory Sunday over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also had nine rebounds and made all seven of his free throws in almost 29 minutes.

Toronto forward-center Chris Bosh is the only player in the league averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, though Bynum is close to being there too.

He is now averaging 19.9 points and 11.2 rebounds.

Are the All-Star voters paying attention?

“I hope to make it,” Bynum said. “That’s really a goal I had coming into this season. I think I’m playing at the level I need to be playing. All I can do is get votes now. I’ve got to keep it up.”

I still consider Bynum more of a product of a great team system (and great teammates) than a go-to center, but he’s winning me over regularly lately.

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Chris Bosh wants respect

Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh tends to be left out of conversations involving top players in his draft class. He’s noticed, and gotten annoyed about it, and used the motivation to make himself better.

Doug Smith of the Toronto Star reports:

“It’s mentality, mentality,” [Bosh] said when asked where the numbers come from, a mentality buried and finally brought to the fore by being held out of conversations about the game’s greats.

“Was it hidden? Yeah, I guess so,” he said after Toronto had dropped a 104-91 decision to the Utah Jazz. “I always thought of myself as a good basketball player, but after a while I really wanted to turn the corner. I looked at all the other guys who are considered top guys and I was tired of not having my name mentioned.

“I wanted to do the necessary work to make sure I put myself in a situation to be successful.”

This season Bosh is putting up monster stats. In 35.9 minutes per game he’s averaging 26.8 points and 12.3 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field.

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Pistons shooting guard spot is crowded

Two of the best Detroit Pistons players are shooting guards Ben Gordon and Richard Hamilton. Both are too small to play small forward, and neither one is a true point guard. While they can play together for stretches, it isn’t an ideal, permanent solution.

So far this season, an injury has caused Hamilton to miss all but one game, leaving plenty of two-spot minutes for Gordon. But Rip returns soon. Will there be a rotation issue?

Ian Thompson of Sports Illustrated writes:

Both Gordon and Hamilton have insisted there will be no friction when Hamilton returns from a badly sprained ankle. Gordon will be willing to come off the bench, which was something his predecessor, Allen Iverson, wasn’t willing to do for Detroit last year.

“It’s about winning,” said Gordon, who was a sixth man in half of his games with Chicago over his five years there. “At the end of the day I know Rip is a winner, and you’re not able to say that about a lot of other guys. I don’t think he sees me as a threat; I think he sees me as someone to help win games.”

At the same time, Gordon’s job, as he sees it, is to continue to push Hamilton for the starting position. “It’s always positive to have some competition out there, and have somebody [who], if you’re not performing well, they can come in and challenge you. Even though we have an understanding that we want to win, we’re also going to challenge each other and that’s going to make both of us better.”

Both players have good attitudes and care about winning, so there’s likely no big problem looming.

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Monta Ellis not looking to increase his leadership role

Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group reports:

After Tuesday’s 114-108 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Warriors guard Monta Ellis was faced with the same, obvious question. With Stephen Jackson traded to the Charlotte Bobcats, does he see an opening for him to increase his role?

“I told you all,” Ellis said after totaling 23 points and eight assists, “I’m not putting any more on my back.”

The Warriors are hoping just the opposite. According to team sources, Warriors officials are watching closely to see if Ellis assumes the role as face of the franchise, being the team’s highest-paid, and perhaps best, player. How he responds could determine whether he is around for the long term.

Reports surfaced Tuesday about the Warriors actively shopping Ellis on the trade market, and Ellis’ agent, Jeff Fried, is set to meet with general manager Larry Riley this week, possibly to talk about a trade.

On the one hand, I get what Monta is saying. He’s doing all he can, so he can’t step up and do more, because he’s already doing it. On the other hand, the team needs emotional leaders as well as floor leaders more than ever, and he certainly can have the ball more, create for others more, and raise his star-level even higher. But, he’s apparently not interested in that. Which isn’t really too impressive.

Spencer Hawes missing shots early

Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports:

No one can say Spencer Hawes looks at his performance through rose-colored lenses.

When asked to assess his progress nine games into his third season, the Kings center was blunt.

“Not terribly excited,” Hawes said. “But I think that has mostly to do with offensive stuff, shooting the ball. But the other things I’m feeling pretty good about.”

While the other things – rebounding, defense and setting screens – have drawn praise from the coaching staff, Hawes has been inconsistent on offense.

Hawes has made just 41.8 percent of his field-goal attempts. One of Hawes’ strengths is his outside shooting, but the 7-foot-1 center is 0 for 12 on three-point shots. Hawes, however, is second on the Kings with 7.2 rebounds per game and tied with Jason Thompson for the team lead in blocked shots, averaging 1.3.

Despite this, the Kings are off to a better than expected start to the season, even with super-scoring, shooting guard Kevin Martin injured.

League-wide retirement of no. 23 jersey is unlikely

The AP reports:

LeBron James may persuade NBA players to give up their No. 23s, but a leaguewide retirement of Michael Jordan’s number seems unlikely.

James said on Thursday that he is considering switching his number next season and wants other players to do the same in honor of Jordan, the Hall of Famer who is often regarded as the league’s best player ever.

Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 and the NHL did the same with Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99, but that hasn’t been done in the NBA. Spokesman Tim Frank said on Saturday that ”retiring a player’s number is a decision that has been made by the teams” and not the league.

Kings attendance is lacking

Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reports:

The Kings’ attendance is still lagging. After selling out only one of their first two home games as part of the Sellout 2009 initiative, the Kings had crowds of 11,751 and 10,760 in their following two home games. But Westphal said he’s confident the fans will come out if the team continues to compete as it has recently.

“This town is watching,” he said. “Whether this building is full yet or not, people are paying attention to see what we do. We can’t guarantee any records. We know how tough this league is. But we do have a lot of players with a lot of fight in them, and we’re doing that on purpose.”

The Kings have actually been worth watching lately and are playing better team basketball ever since Kevin Martin went out. That’s not a knock on Martin; he’s a super-scorer and the entire team has stepped up in his absence. They’re also playing better defense without him, though.

Channing Frye now a three-point shooting threat

New Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye began his NBA career in 2005-06 with the New York Knicks.

His rookie year was solid. Playing 24.2 minutes per game, Frye averaged 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds on good shooting, looking versatiel and talented.

Frye stayed with the Knicks for his second season, then spent two years with the Portland Trail Blazers. But of his first four seasons, his rookie year stood out the most.

Now with the Suns, something crazy has happened. The 6-11, 245-pound big-man has become a huge threat from three-point range.

In his first four seasons, Frye’s three-point shooting totals were: 3-of-9, 3-of-18, 3-of-10, and 11-of-33.

This season, in the six games Phoenix has played, Frye has fired 33 three-pointers and hit 16 of them; a 48.5% clip.

The team, meanwhile, is off to a great 6-1 start.

Playing a faster style of basketball now that Shaquille O’Neal is gone, the Suns are playing fun, winning basketball and are worth watching. Steve Nash is playing great. The fans are entertained. And Frye has been a great surprise.

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