The Sacramento Bee (Sam Amick) reports: The Kings will add a piece to their front office next month, when attorney and agent Jason Levien is expected to join the team as assistant general manager. The move, which sources within the organization and close to the team say should be official in the coming weeks, marks a rare addition to the Kings’ management team that Geoff Petrie has headed for 15 years. And with an on-court rebuilding and youth movement already in effect, the franchise also is taking the same approach upstairs.
Vinny Del Negro keeps it positive
The Bulls have been sorta somewhat OK so far this season. With 5 wins and 7 losses they have the potential to improve a bit and eventually become a .500 squad, which by their recent standards would be a big success. The Bulls bright spot in 2008-09 has been the great play of rookie point guard Derrick Rose, who has star quality.
Former Bulls coach Scott Skiles has a reputation of saying whatever is on his mind, which from a media and fan standpoint is terrific, because he creates lots of good conversation thanks to blunt honesty. That’s no longer the case with the team’s new coach, however. The Arlington Heights Daily Herald (Mike McGraw) reports:
Vinny Del Negro has demonstrated one constant, sometimes maddening, behavior so far this season. The first-year Bulls coach absolutely refuses to criticize his players in the media. This is quite a change from Scott Skiles, who was brutally honest when describing the state of the team. One often-repeated story is Skiles’ response when asked what Eddy Curry could do to improve his rebounding numbers. “Jump,” was the reply. Of course, some of Skiles’ comments helped escalate the turmoil last season when the Bulls went in the tank. He probably figured he was on the way out when he offered the “Tyrus Thomas has never run the floor once” rant during last year’s circus road trip… Del Negro will talk about what the team as a whole needs to do better. But when asked about poor individual performances, the coach tends to point the finger at himself.
I remember one day in New York when Eddy Curry was a fairly new member of the Knicks, and local NY reporters were trying to get coach Skiles to say something positive about the big center. Skiles wouldn’t bite. I thought that was terrific. More coaches need to be like him and Warriors coach Don Nelson in the “tell it like it is” department.
–Jeff
Thunder fans are booing
The Oklahoma City Thunder are living up to expectations, and losing. A lot. Here’s Thunder swingman Damien Wilkins talking tot The Oklahoman on hometown fan boos: “I’ve been hearing it. When you’re sitting you’re hearing it all. So I’ve been hearing it. It’s really not a whole lot you can do. You can’t go apologize to all 19,000 people. The only thing you can do is really just give a better effort. It’s embarrassing really. It’s embarrassing for us. It’s embarrassing for I know my family, I can’t speak for everyone else but I’m sure it is. To hear those boos after the excitement that was built up in this season, for us to come out and play like we played recently is just not acceptable. And some how some way we’ve got to turn this thing around.”
Nov 19: Blazers 116, Bulls 74
The AP reports: When Greg Oden entered to a standing ovation, the Blazers had a 23-7 lead. Oden didn’t wait long to contribute, dunking 21 seconds after coming off the bench. Playing 17 minutes, the 2007 first overall draft pick had 11 points, 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Oden played in Portland’s season debut in Los Angeles, then missed the next six games because of a foot injury… Brandon Roy scored 20 points to help Portland improve to 6-2 in its last eight and 7-5 overall. Chicago has lost four of its last six to fall to 5-7… Oden overshadowed the performance of Joel Przybilla, who scored a season-high 14 points and had nine rebounds and three blocks.
Nov 19: Jazz 105, Bucks 94
The AP reports: Ronnie Price played the entire second half and scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter when the Jazz outscored the Bucks 31-18… Carlos Boozer added 20 points and 11 rebounds before leaving because of a strained left quadriceps that wasn’t expected to sideline him long… Andrei Kirilenko, who played point guard at times for the depleted Jazz, had 16 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four blocks to help the Jazz stay undefeated at home and extend their mastery of the Bucks to eight straight games… Richard Jefferson scored 25 points, and Andrew Bogut had 16 points and 20 rebounds for Milwaukee, coming off a loss in Denver on Tuesday night. Charlie Bell and Ramon Sessions had 15 points each for Milwaukee.
Nov 19: Nuggets 91, Spurs 81
The AP reports: Chauncey Billups made big shots and the Denver Nuggets got plenty of key stops. Billups scored 22 points, Carmelo Anthony added 21 and the surging Nuggets cruised to a 91-81 victory Wednesday night over the injury-riddled San Antonio Spurs. Kenyon Martin added 18 points and Nene had 16 to round out a balanced attack by the Nuggets (8-4), who have won four straight and seven of eight overall since Billups joined the lineup following a blockbuster trade that sent Allen Iverson to Detroit… Still playing without All-Star guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs (5-6) failed to move above .500 for the first time this season. They shot 39 percent from the floor and were led by rookie George Hill’s 20 points. Michael Finley had 13.
Nov 19: Wolves 102, Sixers 96
The AP reports: Al Jefferson scored six of his 25 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to lift Minnesota to a 102-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, snapping an eight-game losing streak… Elton Brand had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Philadelphia, which committed 16 turnovers and missed eight free throws while losing for the first time in four games… Craig Smith scored a season-high 21 points and matched a career best with five assists, and Mike Miller had 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Wolves, who won for the first time since the season opener against Sacramento… Andre Miller finished with 20 points and six assists.
Nov 19: Mavs 96, Rockets 86
The AP reports: The way Jason Terry was shooting, the Dallas Mavericks hardly needed Josh Howard on Wednesday night. The Houston Rockets, meanwhile, sorely missed Yao Ming. Terry scored 31 points, and Dirk Nowitzki added 24 points and 12 rebounds in the Mavericks’ 96-86 victory over the Rockets. Howard, the Mavs’ second-leading scorer, was inactive because of a left ankle injury. Yao, Houston’s top scorer, missed the game because of a sore left foot… Jason Kidd had eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Mavericks, who have won three in a row and 11 of the last 14 meetings with their in-state division rivals. Tracy McGrady scored 16 points and Ron Artest added 14 for the Rockets, who shot 37 percent (29-of-78) from the field, including 6-for-25 from 3-point range. McGrady and Artest, both nursing injuries, each went 5-for-14 from the field.
Nov 19: Kings 105, Hornets 96
The AP reports: For three quarters, Bobby Jackson did nothing to make the New Orleans Hornets pay for trading him last February. Then he showed them exactly what they were missing in the fourth. John Salmons scored 29 points, and Jackson had all eight of his points in the final 5:10 to help the injury-depleted Sacramento Kings surprise the New Orleans Hornets 105-96 on Wednesday night. Jackson hit a 3-pointer to give the Kings the lead for good at 90-88. He followed with a baseline jumper and a steal that led to Salmons’ layup, then finished off the Hornets with another 3-pointer from the corner that made it 99-91 with 3:08 left… David West scored 22 points, and Chris Paul added 20 points and 15 assists for New Orleans. The Hornets, coming off three days off, fell to .500 (5-5) for the first time since the end of the 2006-07 season.
Nov 19: Clippers 108, Thunder 88
The AP reports: Cuttino Mobley had a season-high 23 points and a career-best seven steals. Kaman scored a season-high 25 points and had 14 rebounds. Al Thornton scored 20, and Baron Davis and Marcus Camby 14 each. Mobley scored six points during a 14-2 run that saw the Clippers (2-9) cut a 15-point second-quarter deficit to three at halftime. He stayed hot in the third quarter, with 12 points coming during a 23-4 spurt that put Los Angeles in front by 15. The Clippers weren’t threatened after that… Kevin Durant had 18 points for the Thunder and Damien Wilkins added 17.