The Houston Chronicle (Jonathan Feigen) reports: A day after Tracy McGrady expressed concern about whether he would be ready for the Rockets’ season opener Oct. 29, he was so encouraged by his play in Sunday’s scrimmage-heavy practice that he spoke confidently about playing in the preseason finale Thursday night in Sacramento. “Actually, I felt pretty good today,” McGrady said. “I wanted to really push myself in practice, to start today a push toward the game on Thursday. I came in here, did what I wanted to do, went hard and felt pretty good. “I am (encouraged.) It’s better for my psyche coming out here and knowing I can get up and down and I can do some of the things I had trouble with earlier. Still struggling a little bit defensively, but I’m coming around.”
Category: General NBA insight
General NBA insight
Yi Jianlian glance
The New York Daily News (Julian Garcia) reports on Nets forward Yi Jianlian’s preseason play so far: Yi has been pretty good offensively (14 ppg) but has struggled to grab rebounds (five in three games) and on the defensive end. Yi admitted he had a hard time with defending the pick-and-roll in his first two preseason games, but Frank said “it’ll happen” as long as Yi continues to work at it and learn how to play aggressively on that end “without committing needless fouls.” Frank added this, too: “I think the thing you can’t discount too is there’s a little bit – not much – but a little bit of a language barrier. So he’s got to do a little bit more thinking initially until he gets comfortable with voice recognition. He’ll get it. It’s just going to take some time.” As for rebounding, Frank said, “In the Olympics he was one of the leading rebounders, so I think he has it in him.”
Cavs starting SG job uncertain
The News-Herald (Bob Finnan) reports: Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said recently the starting job at shooting guard is still up for grabs… Many observers think Sasha Pavlovic will retain that starting job once the regular season starts on Oct. 28 in Boston… Pavlovic missed a week of training camp after spraining his ankle. Veteran Wally Szczerbiak, another candidate for the starting job, has also been bothered by soreness in camp… The plan going into camp appeared to be for Delonte West to start opposite Mo Williams in the Cavs’ backcourt. But he missed 12 days of camp battling depression and a mood disorder and might be better suited coming off the bench.
Raptors starting SF battle
The ultra-athletic, defensive-minded Jamario Moon started at small forward for the Raptors last season. Will he retain the job? Or will Joey Graham shock Raptors faithful and move ahead of Moon in the depth chart? The Toronto Sun (Mike Ganter) reports:
After the game, Sam Mitchell muddied the starting small forward waters a little bit more. “Does Joey start or Jamario come off the bench?” Mitchell asked in his post-game comments. “Does Jamario start and Joey come off the bench? I don’t know yet.” Mitchell’s problem right now is his second unit is giving him almost nothing. Anyone who witnessed the second quarter last night, when the Raptors were outscored 34-20 and turned the ball over seven times with the starters on the bench, is aware of that. “We know Andrea (Bargnani) can score,” Mitchell said. “We know Jason can score and get some shots, but we have to find that other guy. One thing Joey has shown an ability to do is put the ball on the floor and get a shot for himself or get to the basket and create some contact.”
Obviously whichever player best fits in with the starters should be the one to start. Simple formula that applies to every team.
Getting to Nets games from NYC now harder
InsideHoops.com editor here, typing on my pocket pc phone. I was on my way to the Celtics at Nets preseason game and discovered that there is no longer a bus to the Meadowlands from the Port Authority.
It is now even harder to get to Nets games from Manhattan.
Now you must go to Penn Station and take the NJ transit train to Sekaukus. (I still don’t know how to spell it.) It is the first stop on the train. The good news is, the train leaves constantly, at least during rush hour.
Once you get to Sekaukus you go outside to the bus stop area where an unlabelled bus was waiting to take people to the Meadowlands. A group of fans were waiting and had no idea the bus 50 feet away was the Nets bus. I went over, asked, then yelled over to everyone.
On the bus now. Should be at the game soon.
Also, in the port authority I met two fans from Spain (a guy and his girl) who were trying to get to the game. So I brought them with me to make sure they got to the game. They are from Madrid and have now tod me six times that they’d have gotten lost without the help. Yay me.
And then, getting off the bus I asked the driver what the gate is, to know where to exit after the game. She had no idea, and seemed confused by my even asking the question. Obviously after walking for a minute I saw for myself what the gate area was but I bet most fans who came from NYC, a huge number of which are tourists who speak very limited English, may have to wander a while after the game.
Anyway, forward this blog entry to any NYC Nets fans you know.
–Jeff
Raptors backup PG competition
Now that TJ Ford is gone, traded to the Pacers in the offseason for Jermaine O’Neal, Jose Calderon is the official point guard of the Toronto Raptors. But who is his prime backup? The Toronto Sun (Mike Ganter) reports:
Up for grabs, it now appears, are the backup minutes to point guard Jose Calderon. Those minutes initially appeared destined to find their way to Will Solomon, the former Memphis Grizzlies player who has spent the past six years honing his craft in the European leagues. And that may still wind up being the case, but rather suddenly Croatian rookie Roko Ukic is getting some consideration there as well… “Right now we are giving (Solomon) an opportunity,” head coach Sam Mitchell said. “I haven’t decided yet because Roko is getting better every day. Roko is doing some things and I have to get him more (court time). I’m probably going to be trimming Jose’s minutes back a little bit and start playing those two guys more so I can really, really get a good look at both of them.”
The Raptors host the Timberwolves for a preseason matchup tonight.
Discuss the team on the InsideHoops Toronto Raptors message board.
Nash OK after sprain
Steve Nash sprained an ankle yesterday, but good news reported by the Arizona Republic (Paul Coro):
It sounds like Steve Nash is going to be just fine. Suns general manager Steve Kerr was called by head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson at halftime of Wednesday night’s 102-100 victory in Atlanta to let him know that Nash had suffered a mild right ankle sprain. Nash tried to continue and wants to practice today but the Suns aren’t going to let him do that or play on Friday. This is where the emphasis on resting Nash will come into play more this season. A year ago, Nash probably talks the staff into letting him play. This year, they will use any chance to give him a break and be safe at the same time. Plus, Goran Dragic could use the minutes and the practice situation of having the onus of running a game plan. You can see instincts in Dragic but he is still feeling his way around an overwhelming amount of new things.
Since it’s preseason and NBA league pass doesn’t operate yet, I still haven’t seen the new, slower Suns play yet. I will be at Celtics at Nets tonight, to see Boston’s bench go out it with all the young kiddies on New Jersey.
China loves Joe Alexander
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Charles F. Gardner) reports: It didn’t take long for Milwaukee Bucks rookie Joe Alexander to be discovered by the Chinese media. Before the Bucks’ practice Tuesday at the Guangzhou Gymnasium, the 6-foot-8 Alexander was swarmed by a huge group of reporters. His fluency in Mandarin was one reason for his popularity, and the fact he spent much of his youth living in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taiwan. “They enjoyed me a little bit,” Alexander said in a phone interview. “There was a pretty fair amount (of media), more than I’m used to.”
Mike Wilks keeps hanging on
For a guy who is never sure he has a job, point guard Mike Wilks is doing OK. The 5-10, 180-pound point guard is entering his 7th season and has already played for the Hawks, Timberwolves, Rockets, Spurs, Cavaliers, Sonics, Nuggets and Wizards. Here’s a report from the Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz):
He has never had a guaranteed contract heading into a season, and this one marks No. 7. “Every year I go in with a non-guarantee — every year,” Wilks said Tuesday. “I’ve been blessed where it’s worked out every year, where I’ve done enough to impress the team.” Wilks, 29, looks as if he’ll make the opening-night roster as the Magic’s third point guard behind starter Jameer Nelson and Nelson’s backup, Anthony Johnson. But he won’t know how long he’ll be with the team until next year. The Magic have until January to guarantee his contract, valued at around $1 million. Wilks’ value to the club increases when the Magic closely monitor Nelson’s health.
Considering Anthony Johnson’s advanced age, I say it makes sense for the Magic to keep Wilks for now, though he really needs to raise those career shooting averages of 40.0% from the field and 31.1% from three-point range.
Rashard Lewis ready to break out
The Orlando Magic roster includes Dwight Howard and a pair of star small forwards in Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. Because there’s no great power forward on board, Lewis wound up playing as an undersized PF last season, and he’ll be doing so this year as well. Though his offense remains that of an outside-shooting SF, defensively he’s up against rugged players. Lewis took a bit of a back seat to teammates last season but this year plans on being more assertive. Here’s more about Lewis from Florida Today (John Denton):
“(Being more selfish) is something that I need to do, but not necessarily trying to do,” Lewis said. “It’s just my nature to play the right way. When I’m double teamed, I’m going to look for the open man. But at some points in the game, I do have to be more selfish to score more points when we need baskets. I’m more comfortable with the system, with the guys and now I’m more ready to be a little more selfish.” General manager Otis Smith has been prodding Lewis to not defer so much to small forward Hedo Turkoglu, who had a breakout season in part because Lewis kept defenses honest. And head coach Stan Van Gundy has pushed for Lewis to try and get to the rim, and ultimately the free throw line, more by resisting the notion to shoot so many 3-pointers. After all, the Magic didn’t reward Lewis — a one-time all-star during his playing days with the Seattle SuperSonics, — a six-year, $118 million contract for him to just fit in. He has the skill set to be a dominant scorer, but often his mellow demeanor saps some of his aggressiveness. The Magic are trying to change that aspect of the 6-foot-10, 230-pound Lewis.
The Magic should remain one of the best teams in the East, but they aren’t true championship contenders just yet. Their big question mark remains their backcourt. Watch the performance of their guards this season. If no one steps up, it’ll limit how far the Magic can go in the playoffs.