Paul Millsap has game

With a record of 13 wins and 9 losses, the Utah Jazz are playing fairly decently considering they’ve suffered constant injuries all season. Carlos Boozer has played 12 games; Deron Williams just 9.

While D-Will is currently active, Boozer remains out. But there’s been a bright spot in the frontcourt. The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports:

Paul Millsap has started Utah’s last nine games in Carlos Boozer’s place and has had scoring-rebounding double-doubles in each of his past eight. During those 10 games Boozer has been absent, in fact, Millsap has averaged 16.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks. That’s exactly double the points and nearly the double the boards he averaged last season, his second after being taken from Louisiana Tech in the 2006 NBA Draft’s second round. At eight, it’s also double the number of double-doubles Millsap had all of last season.

Millsap has proven that at the very least he can be a prime backup on a winning team. He should have a successful NBA career for years to come.

Amare Stoudemire has a 32-inch waistline

The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: Some argue that Amare Stoudemire, who has a 32-inch waistline, can’t get as solid of a base as the NBA’s top rebounders. Porter said Stoudemire’s build reminds him of his former San Antonio teammate, David Robinson, who weighed the same as Stoudemire but is 7-1. “You really have to be down and engaged in those situations to maintain your balance,” Porter said. “He’s got to be low and have a thrust.” Stoudemire prefers to maintain broad shoulders and a narrow waist. “I don’t want to be big and bulky,” he said. “My advantage is quickness when it comes to rebounding. A lot of guys I cover are a lot bigger in the post. I can’t push them off the post, so my best thing to do is use my quick feet to get around them or don’t let them get the ball. Quickness helps on offense. Guys can’t guard me.”

Bucks rookie better at home

Milwaukee Bucks rookie forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has turned out to be a better basketball player than most observers expected. Playing 27.4 minutes per game, he’s putting up 8.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.09 steals, and contributing in ways that don’t show up on the stat sheet.

Sure, the Bucks haven’t played very good basketball this season, but at least Mbah a Moute’s turned out to be a decent contributor.

At home, at least.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Tom Enlund) reports:

The most glaring contrast in Mbah a Moute’s home and road statistics is his field-goal percentage. He is shooting 49.2% at home and 40.0% on the road. He is scoring 8.8 points per game at home and 8.5 points on the road. He is rebounding better on the road, 7.2 per game compared with 5.9 at home. On a recent four-game trip to Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta and Detroit, Mbah a Moute averaged 6.5 points on 37.5% shooting and 6.2 rebounds. On a trip to Denver and Utah, he averaged 9.5 points on 40.0% shooting and 5.5 rebounds. “I’ve been struggling a little bit on the road,” he said. “The teams we’ve been playing the last couple weeks have been really good teams. All those teams are good teams and you go against those teams it’s always going to be hard.”

Charlie Villanueva is still the better player, though the team wants him to keep improving his basketball IQ and remember to hustle every second he’s on the floor, at both ends of the court.

Suns improving

The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports: In the last two games, Steve Nash has gone back to holding the ball longer, breaking down the defense and finding more space to operate. The Suns had more fast-break points (18) than turnovers (17), put up 21 3-pointers and went to the line 40 times as Amaré Stoudemire (22 points, 20 rebounds) and O’Neal (15 points, 10 rebounds) each had a double-double and the team collected a season-high 54 rebounds vs. the Jazz. “Our flow and rhythm is improving and there are some positive signs offensively,” Nash said. “I think we’ve gotten to a better place spacing and tempo-wise, where I can penetrate, be a nuisance, get in the paint and make plays. “Those are obviously strengths of mine, so the more I get to do that the better I’m going to feel, and I think it’s better for the team.”

Rodney Stuckey now a starter

The Detroit Pistons have been pretty unimpressive recently, and head coach Michael Curry is making a change. The Detroit News (Ted Kulfan) reports:

Rodney Stuckey is moving into the Pistons’ starting lineup. After strongly hinting of a change after Sunday’s loss in New York, coach Michael Curry announced the move Monday after practice at the Verizon Center. Stuckey and Allen Iverson will start in the backcourt, with Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince at forward and Rasheed Wallace at center tonight when the Pistons take on the Wizards.

Coming off the bench, young Stuckey hasn’t quite burst into stardom as many hoped he would. That’s not a knock on him, though. We’re only a month and one week into the new season. He’s good, contributing 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, but has shot just 41.1% and an awful 22.2% from three-point range.

Stuckey’s future is bright. I’m not sure he’s ready to explode just yet, even with a bigger role. But he has the ability to. You can’t say that for most young point guards.

Australia: Player of Week is Justin Bowen

Gold Coast Blaze import Justin Bowen has taken out the National Basketball League (NBL) Player of the Week award for Round 12 after guiding his team to an upset victory over the Perth Wildcats.

Bowen exploded for a round-high 35 points for the Blaze in their emphatic 129-97 victory over the Perth Wildcats at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Sunday afternoon. The 201cm forward had 20 points in the third period alone, helping the Blaze to a game-winning 45-17 edge in the quarter.

The former Illinois-Chicago University standout also racked up five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. He shot the ball at an amazing 71% from the field (12-of-17), 75% from the three-point line (3-of-4) and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

The win was just the third for the cellar-dwelling Blaze this season, who improved to 3-13 with the victory, and came against a much higher-seeded opponent in the Wildcats (currently 9-9; fifth).

Bowen edged out Adelaide’s Luke Schenscher for the weekly honours. Schenscher was remarkable for the 36ers as they recorded an upset 102-94 win over the third-seeded Melbourne Tigers. The redhead had 17 points and an astonishing 22 rebounds, despite matching up against reigning league Most Valuable Player and fellow seven-footer Chris Anstey.

Others in consideration for Player of the Week included Kirk Penney (New Zealand), Luke Whitehead (Gold Coast), Chris Anstey (Melbourne), James Harvey (Gold Coast), Shawn Redhage (Perth), Julius Hodge (Adelaide), Alex Loughton (Perth), Matthew Knight (Sydney), Mark Worthington (South), Brad Hill (Adelaide), David Gruber (Sydney), Joe Ingles (South) Rod Grizzard (Melbourne), Brad Williamson (Townsville), Larry Abney (Cairns) and Glen Saville (Wollongong).

Australia: Cairns Taipans in trouble

The National Basketball League (NBL) released the following statement from interim Chief Executive Officer Scott Derwin in response to the announcement by the Cairns Taipans that the club had been placed into voluntary administration.

“I received a call from Cairns Taipans majority owner, John O’Brien late last night informing us that he had placed the club into voluntary administration,” said Derwin.

“The decision to hand the club over to administrators has come as a shock to the League as it had received no previous indication from the Taipans that the club was experiencing extreme financial difficulties.

“There was also no prior indication from the club that it intended to take this course of action when the recent issues surrounding the Sydney Spirit were being addressed, which is disappointing.”

“The League understands that John O’Brien is acting in a responsible and ethical manner by appointing an administrator, choosing not to run the risk of trading while insolvent,” said Mr Derwin.  “We are confident the appropriate administrator has been appointed to make sound business decisions regarding the financial viability of the club.

“I will be meeting with the administrator today to determine the extent of the club’s financial situation and to explore all possible options for the Taipans to continue to play in the NBL.  However, it is the administrators, which will ultimately decide the future of the club.

“We remain hopeful that a way can be found for the club to play out the rest of the season.”

Derwin stated that the recent issues surrounding the financial viability of some NBL clubs highlighted why basketball in Australia was undergoing significant reform.  “Basketball now has a unified national governing body to run the sport with a revised management structure focused on delivering strong commercial and community benefits for the sport.

“The need for greater accountability and commercial viability will see the introduction of a more stringent criteria for the ‘New NBL’, in terms of ownership guidelines and financial guarantees, when it is launched next season.”

Derrick Rose OK after rolling on knife

Chicago Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose is having a great rookie season and appears good at everything, including injuring himself while lying around at home eating fruit. The Chicago Tribune (K.C. Johnson) reports:

Rose missed Monday’s practice after he needed 10 stitches to close a gash suffered when he said he rolled onto a knife while eating an apple in bed. “It was a silly incident,” Rose said. “I was cutting up some food and I laid on a knife getting lazy in bed. I went to go get a bottle of water, came back, forgot the knife was there, then sat down and sliced my arm. “I panicked when it first happened and called my trainer. It was painful but I should be alright.”

Rose told the Tribune he’ll have stitches in his arm for 10-14 days.

Along with OJ Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies, Rose is one of two early-season InsideHoops.com favorites to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Malik Allen is day-to-day

Milwaukee Bucks forward Malik Allen left yesterday’s game against the Lakers with a sprained rib and did not return. He is listed as day-to-day.

Allen this season in 11.6 minutes per game is averaging just 3.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

The Bucks have 9 wins and 13 losses this season and are currently in 12th place out of 15 Eastern conference teams.

McHale replaces Wittman as Wolves coach

Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor seems religiously devoted to Kevin McHale. This trend continues today as the Timberwolves have fired coach Randy Wittman. Who will take over? An experienced, proven coach? Nope. McHale!

Click that link for the full story.

As for Wittman and the Wolves, I can’t say that I have a firm grasp of how good a coach Wittman is. He hasn’t had much success in the brief stretches of time he’s spent running a team.

But the Wolves roster is so limited, it’s hard for any coach to succeed with it. I’d say they’re doing about as well as could be expected, so even if Wittman isn’t one of the league’s better head coaches, it’s doubtful anyone else could have done much better.

Maybe a little. A few more wins, perhaps.

But there isn’t much to work with on the roster.

Al Jefferson is playing well. Mike Miller should be shooting more. Kevin Love hasn’t had the instant impact Minnesota was hoping for. Other than that the team is mostly bench guys.

How many wins should such a roster have?