NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
NBA teams blog
|
Brook Lopez has some good news for Brooklyn Nets fans.
With training camp a little over a week away, Lopez says his surgically repaired right foot is 100 percent healthy.
“It’s great, it’s back to 100 percent,” Lopez told ESPNNewYork.com Saturday from an NBA Cares event. “I’m out there doing everything.”
That’s great news for the Nets, who are expecting big things from Lopez and the rest of their star-studded starting five.
Reported by Ian Begley of ESPN New York
|
Hawks training camp begins in 11 days – on Oct. 1 – and the team has no timeline on the return of Lou Williams from a torn ACL. According to team officials, Williams is progressing well with his right knee injury. However, he has not yet been given medical clearance by doctors to participate in training camp.
While Williams still could be cleared in time for camp, he most likely will not be ready to immediately assume the role he had last season. It could take a month for him to be at full strength. Williams’ season ended after just 39 games last season when he tore the ACL Jan. 18 against Brooklyn. Such an injury typically takes about nine months to heal.
The shooting guard minutes will be split between Kyle Korver, John Jenkins and DeMarre Carroll but there is room for a fourth player in the rotation.
Reported by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Blog)
|
One of the biggest moves the Nets made was convincing Andrei Kirilenko – one of the linchpins of those Utah teams alongside [Deron] Williams and [Carlos] Boozer – to sign for one year at the mini-midlevel exception, giving the Nets one of the league’s most versatile players as well as an excellent perimeter defender. Having Kirilenko will allow coach Jason Kidd to deploy all kinds of different and creative lineup combinations.
And Williams, who has remained friendly with Kirilenko since being traded from the Jazz in 2011, did his part to recruit his old running mate to Brooklyn.
“Once I saw that he had opted out and free agency was kind of drying up,” Williams said, “I was like, ‘Man, just come play for us for one year, and you can make more next year [in free agency].’
“[Kirilenko] has made a lot of money in his career, so it wasn’t about money. He wants to come to a team where he gets to have fun and has a chance to win, and I think he’s going to have a chance to play here and we’re excited about that addition. That’s as big of an addition as [Pierce and Garnett], if you ask me. “
Reported by Tim Bontemps of the New York Post
 |
France ended Spain’s reign as European basketball champion Friday with a 75-72 overtime victory behind 32 points from Tony Parker and set up a final against Lithuania.
Two-time defending champion Spain led by 14 points at halftime, but Parker led France’s comeback after the break. His 3-pointer with 2 minutes left gave France its first lead of the second half at 64-63.
“We wanted to be aggressive, but until halftime we weren’t really playing,” France coach Vincent Collet said. “We talked about it during the break and we came back very different. They couldn’t score for five minutes in the third and even when they started hitting shots again, our spirit stayed the same.”
Parker had a chance to put France ahead in regulation with the score tied at 65-65, but his drive to the basket was blocked by Rudy Fernandez with 11 seconds left. Jose Calderon then missed a 3-point attempt at the other end.
In overtime, Parker and Antoine Diot scored France’s last eight points from the free-throw line to keep France in front. Marc Gasol missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer after Rodriguez had missed a previous attempt to tie it.
Reported by Nesha Starcevic of the Associated Press
Spain looked home and dry at the interval. France had missed their first 10 attempts from three-point range while Parker scored 14 of his team’s 20 first-half points as his colleagues appeared overawed by the occasion.
The tide turned after the break as France hit nine of the next 10 shots from behind the arc with the unstoppable Parker producing blistering lay-ups, lethal perimeter shots and defense-splitting passing having also racked up six rebounds.
Reported by Reuters
|
Vince Carter led the Mavericks’ reserves last season, averaging better than 13 points per game while playing less than 26 minutes per game.
His per-minute scoring was his best since 2009-10 when he was in Orlando and was just slightly behind Dirk Nowitzki’s average points per minute.
And Carter likely will have more help on the bench this season. The addition of Wayne Ellington, Devin Harris and DeJuan Blair, all figuring to be backups, should again make the Mavericks’ reserves formidable.
The question, of course, is how they all come together. What the Mavericks have working for them is that most of their bench players have put in a lot of years in the league. Even the still relatively young Ellington and Blair are entering their fifth seasons.
“Yeah, it’s easier now than the first time,” Ellington said about getting adjusted to new players on a new team. “Just being able to make that adjustment and fit in where you need to be on that new team, it doesn’t take forever. We’re all professionals and we have experience. They’ll be some growing pains, but we’ll get there.”
Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News
|
Dwyane Wade’s appearance on NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno early Friday morning offered more insight into his personal life than his professional one.
“I’m going to tell you something personal,” Wade said when Leno asked him about his relationship with actress Gabrielle Union.
“Celebrity relationships is very hard. This was a big year for us in our relationship from the standpoint of she was shooting her show Being Mary Jane. … I was dealing with my injuries, trying to win a championship. We kind of took a step back. We supported each other, but we took a step back for a little while. At the end of the day, we came back together and said, ‘Listen, we want to continue this. We want to try to continue to get better each day.’ She’s been with me and I’ve been with her all summer long. We’re going strong now.”
Reported by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald
Steve Clifford, never before an NBA head coach, is on the clock to fix the Charlotte Bobcats.
He’ll run his first-ever training camp at UNC Asheville starting Oct. 1. There’s some uncertainty, with the players new to him and some of them new to each other. But the roster has been improved, particularly with the additions of center Al Jefferson and rookie forward Cody Zeller.
|
Clifford says Jefferson instantly becomes the Bobcats’ best offensive weapon, a scoring big man teams will have no choice but to double-team in the post. The Bobcats haven’t had that type and quality of scorer before, and it’s Clifford’s job to find efficient ways to get him the ball. It’s also the coach’s charge to teach the other Bobcats how best to play off Jefferson, to punish defenses for helping on Jefferson.
Clifford is excited both by Jefferson’s track record and Zeller’s potential. And he sees a breakthrough season for second-year pro Jeff Taylor.
Reported by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer
 |
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed rookie forward Ryan Kelly, it was announced today.
Kelly, a 6-11 forward out of Duke, was selected by the Lakers in the second round (48th overall pick) in the 2013 NBA draft. The former McDonald’s All-American, who earned a 2010 NCAA Championship as well as two ACC Championships with Duke, played all four seasons for the Blue Devils where he averaged 7.5 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 46 % from the field. As a senior, Kelly was named ACC Player of the Week twice and earned honorable mention All-ACC honors despite missing 13 games due to injury. Kelly finished his final season with the Blue Devils averaging 12.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocked shots in 28.9 minutes.
According to the Los Angeles Daily News blog, “The Lakers selected Kelly, however, because the 6’11′ Duke forward could space the floor with his trusty shooting. That skill enabled Kelly his senior season with the Blue Devils to average 12.9 points with a 42 percent mark from three-point range. Should Kelly fully heal, he would compete for a roster spot during training camp against Marcus Landry, Elias Harris, Xavier Henry and Shawne Williams, all whom signed one-year deals this summer with the Lakers. The Lakers have a league-maximum 15 players under contract, though they’re expected to field 18-20 players during training camp.”
|
On Thursday afternoon the Boston Celtics rookie continued to immerse himself in all that is New England with a trip on the T train that not surprisingly, was running on the Green Line.
Olynyk rode the MBTA Green Line from Kenmore Station to the North Station which is just a few steps away from the home of the Boston Celtics, the TD Garden.
“Time flies when you’re on the T,” Olynyk said.
While the ride by Olynyk was done in part to encourage the use of public transportation in general as well as for attending Celtics games, it also served as yet another opportunity for the 7-footer to connect with the people.
As passengers boarded the T train, Olynyk didn’t hesitate to sign t-shirts or pose for pictures when asked.
Reported by A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE
|
The Magic will bring second-round pick Romero Osby to training camp along with free agents Solomon Jones, Michael Eric, Manny Harris and Kris Joseph, according to a source close to the team.
The Magic are working on coming to terms with Osby, the former Oklahoma forward whom the club selected 51st in the second round.
Jones, a 6-foot-10 center-forward, who grew up in Eustis and attended South Florida, is a seven-year NBA veteran.
He played just two games with the New York Knicks last season, and only 23 over the last couple seasons with the Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans.
Reported by Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel (Blog)