Wade speaks on Shaq trade

Here’s Dwyane Wade at All-Star weekend:

Q: Talking about the trade … what does Shaq bring to the Suns and Marion bring to your team?

Dwyane Wade: Well, first of all, Shaq … is really made for the Playoffs — to slow the pace down for them and really give them a halfcourt dominance. He’s really going to make Amare [Stoudemire] and them tougher. They’re really going to be able to compete with guys on a different level than they have been in previous years. But what Shawn [Marion] brings to us is excitement and consistency. He’s a guy that’s going to give you what he gives you every night and he’s a guy that, with myself, is [part of] the rebuilding tools … for the future. Two totally different directions: Phoenix is looking to win now and we’re looking to rebuild now.

The interview is short and the rest is about All-Star stuff, but read more here.

Doc Rivers: No curfew for East All-Stars

Here’s the head coach of the Boston Celtics and the 2008 East All-Star team, Doc Rivers

Q: Do the players have a curfew on Saturday night?

Doc Rivers: No, I’m going to tell them all to go out and I’m going to play all the guys, but my guys as many minutes as possible. That’s the key for me.

Q: Would you be in favor of a change like in baseball where the winner of the All-Star Game gets home court in The Finals?

Doc Rivers: No, I don’t like that. There’s some guys who may be in the game whose team has no chance of being in the playoffs, so what vested interest would they have in the game? I would, and I certainly do. I like the way it is. I’ve always said that I would love winner take all. I don’t know what the pot is — the winners get a certain amount of money and the losers get a certain amount of money. I think they should make it one, and the winners take all. I think that would change it a little bit. Other than that, I like it exactly the way it is.

Q: Are you worried about your team peaking too soon?

Doc Rivers: Well, no, because we have so much room for improvement. I know, at least I hope, that because we’ve not been together but five months – it’s not like we’ve been a team that’s been together for a long time. We understand that we’re playing catch-up to all the teams. We don’t go by record. We don’t. We look at Detroit, Cleveland, San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix, all those teams have gone through everything that we’ve not gone through. So we understand that we can’t relax and that we have a lot of room to improve.

Report: Hawks may get Mike Bibby

The Sacramento Bee (Martin McNeal) reports: The Kings have reached an agreement in principle to send veteran guard Mike Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks for guards Anthony Johnson and Tyronn Lue and forwards Lorenzen Wright and Shelden Williams, sources told The Bee on Saturday. The deal is contingent upon league approval that could come as early as today. According to sources who did not want to be identified because of ongoing trade discussions, there is a 1 p.m. conference call scheduled between the two teams and league officials.

Discuss this on the InsideHoops basketball message board. 

Dwight Howard speaks

Here’s Dwight Howard talking to the media at All-Star weekend. He’s one of the four dunkers in the upcoming Slam Dunk contest.

Q: Have you talked to the other contestants about their dunks at all?

Dwight Howard: Well you know, we talked, but nobody is going to tell their dunk secrets to anybody. It’s just going to be a lot of fun, I just can’t wait.

Q: Is it safe to say your dunks will be things we’ve never seen before?

Dwight Howard: I think about three of my dunks have never been seen before. Well, all of them have never been seen, so hopefully I get a chance to do it. If not, I do have two of my dunks on Youtube.

Q: What’s your favorite Bourbon Street memory here in New Orleans?

Dwight Howard: Ah, man, I haven’t really been out on Bourbon Street, but I did go to a restaurant and they had some fried barbeque oysters and they’re awesome.

Q: Are things easier for the Magic now with trades sending players to the West?

Dwight Howard: No, we still got a tough road in front of us. We’re fighting to be a great team and some teams that we look up to as far as the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics, you know, they’re great teams and we want to be right there in the mix. I think people always forget about the Orlando Magic when they talk about good teams in the East, so we really want to build on becoming a good team.

Q: Do you think there will be years ahead of Yao versus you, two true centers?

Dwight Howard: Oh yeah, I think there will always be that between me and Yao. Like everyone says, big men are like dinosaurs, they’re becoming extinct. Me and Yao and Andrew Bynum, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, there’s not a lot of us. We’re trying to keep centers going and let everyone know you still need a good center to win basketball games.

Report: Kobe wants out of All-Star

The New York Post (Marc Berman) reports: Kobe Bryant has said he doesn’t want to play in tomorrow’s All-Star Game because of a pinkie injury, but likely will be forced to make a cameo, according to a league source. An NBA rule says a player can’t skip the All-Star Game if he plays the game before and the game after. That would subject him to a suspension. “I’m not going to play,” Bryant said. “The important thing is for me to get as healthy as I possibly can within the rules of the NBA and get ready for Tuesday.” The Lakers and league officials have been in negotiations for two days to figure out how to handle this. Having Bryant miss the game entirely would be a massive blow to the event, as he’s the leading candidate for MVP this season and the league’s most electrifying and best-known player.

LeBron guarantees Team USA Olympic gold

This summer, the USA Basketball senior men’s team and other top national basketball teams around the globe head to China to compete in the 2008 Olympic basketball competition.

Team USA are clearly a favorite, and on paper the top favorite, but as we know from past international basketball competitions, many other countries put together some extremely effective squads who play very well together. But LeBron James today made a loud, clear statement. The Akron Beacon Journal (Marla Ridenour) reports:

When questioned by an international reporter, LeBron James guaranteed a U.S. victory in the 2008 Olympics in Bejiing. ”We will win. We’ll be Olympic champions this year,” James said.

Asked why he was so confident, James said: ”I think we have a great coach in (Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski) who allows us to do what we want to do as long as we abide by some of his rules. Then we have leaders and guys who don’t want to lose. We have a guy like Jason Kidd, who has not lost in FIBA sports his whole life. He’s like 30-something and 0. ”We’ve got Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard that hold down that starting lineup and guys coming of the bench who are going to be good for us, Dwyane Wade. We’ve got so many players, it’s going to be unbelievable. It’s going to be hard for us to be beat.”

InsideHoops.com will provide full previews and coverage of the summer’s competition.

Rumor: If dealt, Stackhouse can’t return to Mavs

ESPN (Chris Broussard) reports: The chances of Jason Kidd wearing a Dallas Mavericks uniform this season are shrinking by the day. First, Devean George refused to consent to the trade to New Jersey. Now, according to a league source, the league will not allow the Mavericks to bring back Jerry Stackhouse if he is traded and subsequently waived by the New Jersey Nets. According to one league source, the NBA has already made one of the teams aware of its position. “The league has taken Stackhouse out of the deal,” the source said. “They said, ‘He can be in the trade, but he can’t go back to Dallas after that.’ “

Kobe interview about his injury

Friday afternoon Kobe Bryant talked about his injury. Here’s a bit of what he said:

Q: Kobe, can you tell us how your finger is and your injury?

Kobe Bryant: It’s sore. Just trying to rest it. Doing what we can to try to get it as healthy as we can for the second half of the season.

Q: So you were offered surgery as an option, and didn’t like it?

Bryant: Well, no, that’s bad timing. I’ve been playing with it, so it’s kind of routine to do that. But we have a great medical staff and we’ll stay on top of it.

Q: Can you protect it more than you did at Minnesota?

Bryant: You’ve just got to be careful. It’s tough though. Especially when you’re rebounding, offensive rebounds. It’s always tough. But what more can I do? It’s torn anyway.

Read the full interview here.

Raptors local TV ratings soaring

The Toronto Raptors announced Friday that their local television ratings for the 2007-08 season have increased by an average of 22% over this same time last year.

Rogers Sportsnet has enjoyed a 46% lift in audiences in its first seven of 12 Raptors televised games, averaging 157,000 viewers per game. The Score is averaging 122,000 viewers per game, a 20% increase in audience size from November to January of last season. The channel has aired 19 of its 30 Raptors games so far this season. TSN’s average of 158,000 viewers per game represents a 6% increase, with 9 Raptors games remaining on its schedule.

The largest ratings gain was recognized by Raptors NBA TV which saw a 197% increase in ratings for its Raptors broadcasts. The basketball-themed sports network also added 700,000 new households to its subscription base from last year.

“The Raptors’ success on the court is starting to translate into success off the court in virtually all areas of our business, and certainly the significant growth in television audience reflects the ever-increasing interest in the team,” said Tom Anselmi, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment executive vice-president and chief operating officer.  “Our broadcast partners have done a great job of showcasing the tremendous excitement of Raptors basketball. We’re confident these numbers will continue to grow even more.”