The Denver Post (Benjamin Hochman) reports: The votes are in. The Nuggets’ players have elected co-captains for this season — forwards Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin. Allen Iverson, a tri-captain last season with Anthony and Marcus Camby, will not be an official captain. Karl said he wanted only two. Veteran Chucky Atkins was one of the players who voted for Anthony and Martin. “I picked those guys based on the fact that they’ve been around here the longest, and the expectations of our team, pretty much, rests on their shoulders,” Atkins said.
Category: General NBA insight
General NBA insight
Spurs hack-a-Shaq 5 seconds into game
UPDATE: See the video of it here.
The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports: With Shaquille O’Neal’s “coward” comment still ringing in the ears of Spurs fans before Wednesday’s game, a reporter asked San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich if he would consider a mock “Hack-a-Shaq” on the first possession of the game to jokingly prove that he wasn’t backing down from his strategy in last year’s playoffs. Popovich stopped. He ran his fingers through his new white beard. And then he started to grin. “You know, that’s not a bad idea now that I think about it. It’s a better suggestion than any of our (assistant) coaches have had all summer,” Popovich said. “I could get a couple of guys in front of me and act like they were holding me back … a typical NBA fight.” Funny guy. He was just kidding, of course. Right? Sure enough, the Suns won the tip and ex-Sun Michael Finley wrapped his arms around O’Neal to stop play five seconds into the game — a nonshooting foul. O’Neal quickly looked over at Popovich, who gave him two thumbs-up and the two shared a laugh. “Classic Pop. I loved it,” Steve Nash said. “It would have been a fine if he didn’t do it.”
2010 All-Star game to be at new Dallas Cowboys stadium
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Jeff Caplan) reports: Dirk Nowitzki is a big fan of bringing NBA All-Star Weekend to North Texas. “I always thought that [Dallas Mavericks owner Mark] Cuban, at the beginning when he took over, he wasn’t going to do an All-Star Game, so I was always in that mind-set that we’re not going to have it,” Nowitzki said. “If it’s really going to happen, it’s going to be something special.” A joint effort by the Mavericks and Dallas Cowboys will produce the 2010 All-Star Game at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, with the related festivities such as the slam dunk competition at American Airlines Center and the NBA Fan Jam at another Dallas venue. The NBA isn’t commenting, but multiple sources have confirmed that the official announcement is set for 4 p.m. today at Victory Plaza outside AAC.
Eddy Curry out of Knicks rotation
The New York Daily News (Frank Isola) reports: Mike D’Antoni would not back down from his decision to remove Eddy Curry from the rotation, announcing early Wednesday that the incumbent starting center isn’t physically ready and that the Knicks now have “standards” that Curry has not met. “This is not going to be easy where we’re all having lollipops and thinking we can turn this around,” D’Antoni said hours before the Knicks beat Miami, 120-115, in their season opener. Curry did not play, and had company on the bench in the form of Stephon Marbury. “There are going to be a lot of tears, yelling and screaming. There are going to be certain standards. It’s easy for me to go, ‘Yeah, OK let’s just do it the same way it’s always been done so no one will get mad.’ Now, we have standards.”
Jerry Sloan OK with wild player intros
The Salt Lake Tribune (Ross Siler) reports: As old school as he can be, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said he had no issue with the team¹s new player introductions, complete with glowsticks, fireworks and streamers: “Whatever entertains the fans, I don¹t have any problem with that.” Sloan was asked about some of the outlandish introductions he¹s seen around the league with flames and smoke. “I think that¹s happened here a time or two,” Sloan said. “They had a fire here one time they had to try to put out, so that¹s what worries me.”
Curry and D’Antoni talk it out
The Bergen Record (Steve Adamek) reports: Eddy Curry and Mike D’Antoni, meanwhile, spoke Wednesday morning and said they’re fine now. But D’Antoni also offered this about his non-rotation, former franchise player center: “This is not going to be easy, where we all have lollipops. There’s going to be a lot of tears and yelling and screaming, but there’s going to be certain standards. “It’s easy for me to go, ‘Yeah, OK, let’s let him do what he does so he doesn’t get made.’ But we have standards and we will keep them and expect everybody will.”
Nets team captain is Vince
The New York Post (Fred Kerber) reports: The Nets have a different team captain for the first time since Jason Kidd was elevated to the honor in 2001. And, as expected, it’s Vince Carter. Hardly a shock, but coach Lawrence Frank kept it a guarded secret in the a.m. so he told the results of the voting before the Nets opened their season here against the Wizards.
Rockets-Grizzlies team connections
Houston acquired Shane Battier from Memphis in exchange for Stromile Swift and the draft rights to Rudy Gay on July 12, 2006 … Rockets guard Steve Francis, who was selected after his junior season by Vancouver in the first round (second overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft, had his draft rights traded by the Grizzles to Houston on Aug. 27, 1999 … in the 2008 NBA Draft, Houston traded the draft rights to Nicolas Batum (25th overall pick) to the Portland Trail Blazers for the draft rights to Darrell Arthur (27th overall pick) and to University of Memphis forward Joey Dorsey (33rd overall pick) … the Rockets then sent the draft rights for Arthur to the Grizzlies for the draft rights to Donté Greene (28th overall pick) and Memphis’ 2009 second-round pick … Andy Greer, an assistant coach with the Grizzlies, joined Memphis after four seasons with the Rockets.
Pacers team notes
In addition to leading the team with an average of 15.1 ppg, T.J. Ford also led the Pacers with 38 assists (4.75 apg) and 12 steals (1.5 spg) in preseason.
Among those that played at least half the preseason games, Roy Hibbert led the team with an average of 6.0 rpg. He was also the team’s top offensive rebounder with a total of 18 and the best shot-blocker with 15 rejections. Hibbert recorded one of the Pacers’ two double-doubles in preseason with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the team’s win vs. Memphis, October 17.
The Pacers finished the 2008 preseason with a record of 4-4, their 16th preseason at, or above, .500 in the last 19 years. All-time, the Pacers have had a sub-.500 record in preseason just seven times.
Led by Roy Hibbert’s four, the Pacers blocked 13 shots against the Memphis Grizzlies at Conseco Fieldhouse, October 17. That was the most blocked shots by any NBA team during the preseason. The Pacers had four different players block at least two shots in that game.
The Pacers will start the season with a game on the road for the fifth time in the last six seasons, as they visit the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, 10/29. The Pacers head into that game having lost six in a row to the Pistons. But, their last win against Detroit came at The Palace of Auburn Hills, December 9, 2006.
When the Pacers host the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics on opening night, it will mark just the third time in the Pacers’ 33 NBA seasons that they have hosted the league’s defending champion in their home opener. The only other times that the Pacers played the reigning champion on opening night were in 1976 when they also hosted the Celtics in their very first NBA home game, and in 1983 when the Philadelphia 76ers provided the opposition on opening night.
JTerry says do not overlook Mavs
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Jeff Caplan) reports: Jason Terry has a message for opponents and pundits overlooking the Dallas Mavericks. “I can see that they’re doubting us and it’s been a long time since we’ve had that doubt about this team and this organization,” said Terry, who appears set to take on the sixth-man role when the regular season opens at home Thursday against the Houston Rockets. “So I think guys are going to be ready and teams are going to come in kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, we ran through the Mavericks last year, they’re the same old team,’ but it’s going to be a big shock to them.”
InsideHoops.com editor says: The Mavs should be considered a very good team, but a clear notch below a squad deserving of being called a true championship contender. They could surprise, though, but chances are they’ll be in the low/mid West playoff mix.