The San Antonio Express-News (Jeff McDonald) reports: Manu Ginobili, the Spurs’ leading scorer last season, will miss at least all of November while recuperating, coach Gregg Popovich said. “Manu will be out 20 to 25 games – until mid-December at the latest,” Popovich said on the eve of Spurs training camp. Doctors initially gave Ginobili a timetable of 8-12 weeks for recovery. The most optimistic end of that spectrum would put him back in uniform for the start of the regular-season. For now, it appears the Spurs will approach Ginobili’s return more cautiously. When training camp begins today, Ginobili, 31, will be a non-participant. He has been able to walk without crutches and without pain for some time but has not been cleared to participate in any activities other than swimming and weightlifting.
InsideHoops.com editor says: For the good of the Spurs and his NBA career, Manu needs to stop playing international basketball. Or else he should just start paying money back to the Spurs for all the times he’s not 100 percent because he keeps playing for Argentina in the summer.
The Detroit News reports: Rasheed Wallace said that he didn’t really have a disconnect with former coach Flip Saunders, though it was clear that Saunders had lost the respect of the older players. “It was just with us as vets and he really didn’t want to listen to us,” Wallace said. “That’s what really hurt him.” Speaking on radio station WDFN, Wallace used this analogy: “If you mess up a guy’s desk and throw coffee on it every day and he doesn’t do anything to stop you, are you going to respect him?” Wallace, though, didn’t blame Saunders for the team’s failures against the Celtics. “Basically, it was just not our time,” he said. “That’s just the way the ball bounces sometimes. I think we were all positive and thought that we would beat Boston. But we can’t cry over spilled milk now. We just have to go out and prove to all the naysayers that are saying we’re too old and our window is closed and all this and that — we have to prove them wrong.”
The Dallas Morning News (David Moore) reports: Mark Cuban said multiple players told him they wanted to be traded if Avery Johnson returned as coach this season… Cuban said these sentiments were relayed to him by the players or their agents over the course of last season… When asked if more than five players requested a trade, Cuban said yes. More than seven? “Close,” Cuban said.
The Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Mike McGraw) reports: Bulls general manager John Paxson on third-year forward Tyrus Thomas, who seemed to regress after a promising rookie season: “I don’t want to put a lot of undue pressure on Tyrus, but this is a big, big year for him,” Paxson said. “I was really pleased at the commitment he made this summer, because he spent time in the gym. He still has a long way to go, but I hope that he has a great camp, because he did put the time in this summer to put himself in good position.”
The Press-Enterprise (Jeff Eisenberg) reports: Luke Walton said he’s still “a couple weeks” from playing in 5-on-5 games during practice, but his surgically repaired right ankle is strong enough for him to run and lift weights in the meantime. “It (stinks) because there’s so much you get done in training camp,” Walton said. “Everyone knows we have a deep team and guys who can play multiple positions, so there’s going to be a lot of competition for playing time. To be out early, is a little disadvantage, but hopefully they know what I can do.”
InsideHoops.com editor says: With Lakers center Andrew Bynum healthy and ready to go, Pau Gasol will play his natural position of small forward. The versatile Lamar Odom can play either small or power forward, but he’s really more of a PF who happens to have a few SF-like skills. So while making Odom the Lakers starting small forward puts the team’s most talented players on the floor, it’s possible he’s best used off the bench to fill in at multiple positions. Here’s more:
The Press-Enterprise (Jeff Eisenberg) reports: Kobe Bryant looked relaxed and rested Monday as he ambled around the Lakers practice facility during the team’s annual media day, cracking jokes with teammates and reporters and making funny faces for the armada of cameras that escorted him throughout the room. The Lakers star spoke with reporters on the eve of training camp about a litany of hard-hitting topics such as winning Olympic gold, celebrating his 30th birthday and why he’s just so gosh, darn smiley these days. “There’s just a lot to be happy about, a lot to be thankful about,” Bryant said. “We’re in a much better position than we were. That’s one thing I tell the guys — we’re the favorites for a reason. We’ve got all the tools here, all the pieces of the puzzle, and now it’s on us to make it work.”
The Sacramento Bee (Sam Amick) reports: Kings coach Reggie Theus is implementing the vaunted triangle offense. The ambitious plan was first introduced in summer league in July. Theus passed word to his assistants to begin coaching the players on the ins and outs of the system, one made famous by coach Phil Jackson with his Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers teams and is as difficult to master as it can be to defend. The goal is to eliminate stagnant feel on the floor and rely more on creative freedom and athleticism, and the change in personnel should aid the cause. Although Ron Artest’s talents were indisputable, so, too, was the reality that the forward, who was traded to Houston in August, was notorious for breaking set plays and relying too much on isolation play.