Category: General NBA insight

General NBA insight

Rookie Russell Westbrook rocks

The Oklahoman reports: Thunder officials like to point out how Russell Westbrook’s averages of 15.8 points, 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds nearly place him among an elite list of players who are averaging at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists — Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Cleveland’s LeBron James, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala. Since 1990, the only rookies to pull the feat have been James, Paul, Grant Hill, Steve Francis and Anfernee Hardaway. “Those are incredible numbers,” Brooks said. “We can’t expect him to be a 24-year-old point guard at age 20. He’s only 60 games into his career. And he’s improved a lot.”

Knicks dislike Jermaine O’Neal’s bulky knee brace

This from Saturday’s Knicks vs Heat game in Miami – The New York Times (Howard Beck) reports: The game was delayed for several minutes in the second quarter after the Knicks complained about Jermaine O’Neal’s bulky knee brace. Wilson Chandler, Jared Jeffries and Nate Robinson all hurt themselves banging into the brace’s hard plastic. Ken Mauer, the lead referee, initially signaled for the Heat to replace O’Neal, but O’Neal chose to ditch the brace instead. He put it back on for the second half, with a sleeve over it.

How LeBron can make the most money

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Brian Windhorst) reports:  Purely from a financial perspective, LeBron James would probably be best to pick up his option for the 2010-11 season and then extend that contract this summer to 2013 or 2014 to protect himself from the expected salary cap drop and subsequent reduction in max salary. By setting the start of the extension at 2011, James would be in position to reap the rewards of a favorable new CBA for max contracts because his deal would be automatically revised to meet the new max level. But if the cap collapses he’d also be assured of getting a raise on his $17 million salary in 2010-11 and there’s a chance he could actually be above the max contract level after the cap goes down. He would also be wise to build in a series of termination options to continue to apply pressure to the Cavs to surround him with talent while protecting a massive salary for many years. In his position, he will get whatever he asks for as long as it is allowed under the CBA.

Nuggets notes

The Good: The Nuggets win vs. Atlanta on 2/25 snapped a three-game losing streak, which had matched their longest losing streak of the season (also dropped three-straight from 12/16-12/20). Additionally, the Nuggets once again avoided losing consecutive home games with their win on 2/25. They have not lost consecutive games at the Pepsi Center since the 2006-07 season (2/5 and 2/7/07).

The Bad: The Nuggets allowed 120 points at Milwaukee on 2/22, tying a Nuggets opponent season-high for total points. With the loss, Denver is now 5-6 so far this season when giving up 110 or more points.

And the Ugly: The 114-76 loss for Denver vs. Boston on 2/23 tied the second-worst home loss in Nuggets NBA history, while it tied the third worst home loss in Nuggets franchise history as well. With the 38-point loss on 2/23, this is now the first time since 1997-98 that the Nuggets have suffered two losses of 38+ points during the same season (also lost by 44 at New Jersey earlier this year on 2/7).

Analysis: Marbury can help Celtics

Former New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury has signed with the Boston Celtics.

Although Marbury was a starter pretty much his entire career and is capable of putting up 20 points and tossing around eight assists over the course of a full game, the Celtics already have championship-level chemistry, and having Rajon Rondo run things is working out just fine. So they’re not changing that.

It’s expected that Marbury will be used as a prime scoring option off the bench, alongside Eddie House.

But the Celtics win with defense and teamwork, so they’re not looking to have Marbury merely put the ball in the hoop a few times. He’ll be expected to defend as hard as he’s ever done in his life. And move the ball properly.

If he dominates the rock more than the team wants him to, or lets his man go by him too consistently, or doesn’t grasp their team defense schemes, coach Doc Rivers won’t hesitate to sit Marbury down.

If a problem develops, they’ll get rid of him immediately.

It’ll be interesting to watch, but I think in limited minute and a clear backup role and his head on straight, Marbury makes the Celtics better.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Erik Spoelstra plays Tupac at Heat practices

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Dave Hyde) writes: Most days, Erik Spoelstra opens practice with Tupac Shakur rapping in the background, which is the Heat coach’s way of finding someone to “motivate the motivator,” as mentor Pat Riley says. Tupac motivates Spoelstra. “He’s of my time,” he says. It’s an interesting storyline if you freeze it there, the young coach relating to hip-hop players in a manner few NBA coaches do. Early on, Heat players took it to mean their new coach might be one of them, and lobbied for other, newer music. “Then they found out I only liked Tupac,” Spoelstra, 37, says.

Knicks want 40 wins

The New York Post (Brian Lewis) reports:  The Knicks need to go 16-9 to reach their 40-win goal, but as of yesterday, 14 of their 25 upcoming opponents would be in the playoffs if the season were over. They play six of their last nine and 13 of their last 21 on the road. Most worrisome, they have played poorly since the trades for Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox. “We’ve got to somehow to get to 40 wins. That’ll give us a good chance to get in the playoffs,” D’Antoni said. “We’ve just got to eke out wins wherever we can. I didn’t sit down and work it out, there was no formula. I just thought 40’s pretty good. The last years have been what, about 35, 36? There’s no reason we can’t win 40. “I told them about 1,000 times, individually, collectively, talked about it with coaches. That’s our goal. I don’t know if we will [get it], but why not shoot for it?”

Antawn Jamison likes Dominic McGuire

Here’s what Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison said about teammate Dominic McGuire: “He’s awesome.  He’s one of the young guys that you trust night-in and night-out.  He’s going to bring it.  He’s going to give you 100 percent and he’s going to play with the energy and effort that you need.  That’s why I like him.  I like a young guy that’s going to come out there and just play and not make any excuses.  He accepts criticism.  He wants to do well and he wants to win.  He’s not worried about numbers or anything like that.  He’s just going out there and keep playing basketball the way it should be played.”

Bulls to visit President Obama

The White House has announced that the Chicago Bulls team will be visiting with President Barack Obama at approximately 2:45 p.m. CT in the Blue Room of the White House this afternoon.

“The opportunity to visit President Obama at the White House is a great honor for the Chicago Bulls organization,” stated Steve Schanwald, Executive Vice President of Business Operations for the team. “The President has been a fan of the Bulls for many years and we are very appreciative of this opportunity to say hello to him and pay our respects.”