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The NBA and a Chinese partner say they plan to open a basketball center near Beijing.
The partners say the facility in Tianjin, a port city east of the Chinese capital, will include NBA-style basketball courts, a fitness center, a restaurant and other features, according to NBA China and the Yatai Lanhai Investment Group.
The announcement was made as the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers played exhibition games in Beijing and Shanghai.
— Reported by the Associated Press
It didn’t take long for the Milwaukee Bucks’ power forward depth to be tested.
Reserve forward Ekpe Udoh suffered a strained left knee in the team’s preseason opener against Cleveland on Tuesday, and Bucks coach Scott Skiles said Udoh would be sidelined 10 days to two weeks.
Fortunately for the Bucks, they have starter Ersan Ilyasova, Drew Gooden, Larry Sanders and rookie John Henson. All four can play power forward.
“We don’t think it’s anything serious with Ekpe, but we are very deep there,” Skiles said. “We are going to play at least two or three games without him and see where it goes.
“We’d like him ready for opening night (Nov. 2 in Boston). We’ll just go by what the doctors say.”
— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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If Brandon Bass is upset over potentially losing his spot in the Celtics starting lineup, he isn’t saying. Then again, Bass isn’t saying much on the topic at all.
“I have no comment on that question. No comment,” Bass responded when asked if he cared whether he started. “We have to keep getting better as a team. I think (coach Doc Rivers) will make the best decision for the team.”
Rivers raised eyebrows earlier in the week when he speculated about employing different starting lineups. The variations could send Bass to the bench in favor of rookie power forward Jared Sullinger or free agent center Darko Milicic.
“We may go to a transitional starting lineup, you know, have three different lineups,” Rivers said Wednesday. “We put a lot of thought into it. We just will figure it out.”
— Reported by Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald
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A veteran of 15 NBA preseasons, Duncan remains in the early stages of gearing up for games that count. At 36 years old, he has learned how to pace himself through October and how to conserve energy for the regular season.
That all went out the window early Friday.
Duncan hit his first five shots, including a basket-and-a-foul against Denver’s Kenneth Faried. Six minutes in, Duncan had 11 points, and the Spurs had a 15-2 lead. He would finish 8 of 11 from the field [with 21 points and 8 rebounds] before taking a seat for the fourth quarter.
“That’s what Timmy does,” Spurs guard Danny Green said. “We’re going to need that from him this year.”
At this stage of his career, Duncan isn’t a lock for these kind of games every night. If nothing else, coach Gregg Popovich’s meticulous handling of Duncan’s minutes often serves to depress his nightly box score.
— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News Blog
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Q: You were overseas the entire year. What was the calculation behind that decision, considering the labor situation the NBA faced at the time?
Chris Douglas-Roberts: It was actually great for me, because during the lockout — I’m was a fairly young player, I (had just finished) my third year — so it was about basketball for me. It wasn’t about money, I just wanted to play basketball. But I went over there, and made that commitment to stay. It definitely made me a better basketball player, and it made me a better person.
It made me more appreciative, because some days I didn’t have heat. The living conditions were terrible. I had to heat up water to give my daughter a bath, some days. If you had the microwave on and the washer on, the electricity may go out in the whole house. It was very small. The shower at the gym that we practiced at, it was filthy. There was mold everywhere. You couldn’t put your feet on the ground, barefoot. Guys were getting staph infections. It was basically back to when I was growing up in Detroit. But when I look at it, it just made me a better person and a player.
Q: Did you know what you were getting into?
CDR: Not at all. I had no clue. When you think of Italy, you think of beauty. You think of good food, great people. Which was the case, but it’s a different game over there. They look at basketball different, they look at the athlete different. You’re practicing two times a day, regardless. Very hard practices, two hours both sessions, and there aren’t any days off, really. It’s more about the organization, really. It’s not about the athlete, really.
— Reported by Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles
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After close inspection, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki is very impressed with the speed point guard Darren Collion has displayed thus far in training camp.
“He’s one of the fastest guards I’ve ever played with,’’ Nowitzki said of one of his new teammates. “Obviously, he’s got to use that speed to our advantage.
“He’s got to push the ball off makes, misses — it doesn’t really matter. He’s got to fly up the court and get the wings running with him.’’
— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Blog)
The Oklahoma City Thunder hired Mike Wilks as a Pro Scout and Amanda Green as Basketball Operations Coordinator/Legal & Administration in addition to promoting Paul Rivers to Director of Basketball Operations, Will Dawkins to Director of College Player Personnel and Brandon Barnett to Director of Minor League Operations/Pro Scout, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
“We are pleased to welcome Mike and Amanda to the Thunder,” Presti said. “We believe that they will each make positive contributions as we maintain our focus on building and enhancing our basketball operation. We are also pleased to see the continued development and promotion of Paul, Will and Brandon within the organization. Each of them have been integral to our growth and progress as a team and organization.”
Wilks, who played for the Thunder during the 2009-10 season, appeared in 233 career NBA games over seven seasons averaging 2.5 points, 1.2 assists, 1.0 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per contest. Wilks most recently played in Poland prior to announcing his retirement from his playing career.
Green joins the club from Proskauer Rose LLP where she served as an Associate, after working as an IP Attorney in the NBA Legal Department from 2010-11. Prior to receiving her law degree from Georgetown, Green obtained her undergraduate degree from Duke, where she served as manager for Duke’s Men’s Basketball Team from 2002-2006.
Rivers enters his sixth season with the Thunder. He served as the Director of Minor League Operations and Basketball Technology each of the previous two seasons and prior to that as the Director of Basketball Administration and Technology. He began his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator in 2004 before spending two seasons with the Detroit Pistons in a similar capacity.
Dawkins begins his fifth season with Oklahoma City, after first joining the Thunder as a front office intern in the summer of 2008. During his time with the Thunder, he has served as assistant video coordinator and scouting coordinator before assuming his current position.
Barnett starts his fifth season with the Thunder. He most recently served as Director of Minor League Scouting and Manager of Minor League Operations. Barnett originally joined the Thunder as the team’s Manager of Minor League Operations after spending two years in the NBA league office in New York.
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The Utah Jazz will be without Paul Millsap and Jamaal Tinsley for tonight’s preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The players have been excused from the team to attend to unrelated personal matters. The team did not announce when either will return or why they are absent.
Millsap is traveling to Louisiana to attend the funeral of his paternal grandmother, a source confirmed. The funeral is on Saturday, meaning Millsap will also miss the Jazz’s road game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday at Staples Center.
— Reported by Jody Genessy of the Deseret News
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Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki put in a full practiced today after getting his swollen right knee drained.
Though he seemed more optimistic about the knee than he did during last week’s trip to Germany and Spain, he didn’t rule out the possibility that he’ll have to have arthroscopic surgery.
“We’ll see how it responds over the weekend,” Nowitzki said. “I’ll be all right, hopefully.”
“Hopefully” is probably not the prognosis Mavericks fans want to hear about the status of Dallas’ 15th-year, perennial All-Star. Nowitzki didn’t specify which day he had the knee drained, but said it’s the second time he’s had it drained in recent weeks. He said he also had it drained “a couple of times” last season.
— Reported by Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News
Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has waived guards Kyle Fogg and Demetri McCamey.
Fogg (6-3, 188, Arizona), who saw action in one game with Houston during the 2012 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, scored three points with two rebounds in the preseason opener vs. Oklahoma City (10/10/12). Over four seasons at Arizona, Fogg averaged 9.6 points (.404, 193-478 3FG), 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 139 games (119 starts). He finished his career ranked in the school’s top-10 in six career statistical categories: games played (139/1st), 3-point field goals (193/T-4th), games started (119/T-5th), minutes played (3,829/7th), 3-point field goal attempts (478/8th) and 3-point field goal percentage (.404/8th). Fogg was also 22nd all-time in points scored (1,341).
McCamey (6-3, 200, Illinois) played in all five games with the Chicago Bulls during the 2012 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. In 2011-12, McCamey saw time overseas with Mersin B.B. SK of the Turkish Basketball League and with Hapoel J-M of the Israel-Winner League. As a collegian, McCamey finished his four-year career at Illinois tied with Mike Tisdale for the most games played (139) in school history. He was also second in school annals and third in Big Ten history in assists (733) and ranked sixth on the all-time scoring list (1,718 points). He was the only active player in the nation during 2010-11 with at least 1,600 career points and 700 career assists, becoming just the second player in Big Ten history to reach both of those milestones.