Posts Tagged ‘Bulls’

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Should Cavs Take Any Risk With Irving?

March 8, 2013  ·  2:12PM

 

HANG TIME, Texas — You certainly can’t blame Byron Scott for keeping one eye on the future.

After all, it’s now less than two years until LeBron James can pull back on that Cavaliers jersey and run the floor on a fast break in the same lineup with Kyrie Irving.

Yes, yes, we know it’s just rank and scurrilous speculation (the best kind) that The King would return to the Cleveland throne he abdicated. But we’re more concerned right now anyway with Irving, the 20-year-old wunderkind and his own future.

After Irving mentioned the other night that the only way his sore right knee could get better was to sit out the rest of the season, the coach caused a stir by saying he’s open to the possibility.

“If Ky is hurting, I have no problem sitting him down,” Scott said.

According to the indomitable Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the alarm bells were ringing prematurely and it was simply a case of lines getting crossed.

But team sources told ESPN.com there was a miscommunication between Irving and Scott. The team will continue to monitor Irving’s knee and he’ll continue to get treatment on it, but there are no plans of sitting him down for this injury.

Irving is expected to play against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.

The 20-year-old Irving played almost 38 minutes against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, and didn’t seem to be slowed by the knee, which he banged against teammate Omri Casspi’s knee in a practice two weeks ago.

That being said, one does have to wonder if the Cavs wouldn’t be wisest to at least consider putting the 2012 Rookie of the Year on the shelf. They’re a 21-40 team going into tonight’s game against the Grizzlies and going nowhere except back to the draft lottery.

It is understood that virtually everyone in the NBA is playing at this time of the year with bumps and bruises, aches and pains. It is also admirable that Irving wants to be out there on the court every night battling with his teammates, further establishing his credentials as a leader down the line.

But there are times when the head must rule over the heart and competitive instincts and it is a hyperextension of the knee, that most critical body part for any player. Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf still shudders at memories of the time back in 1986 when Michael Jordan talked his way back onto the court prematurely after a broken foot. Nothing happened, but it could have. And you can be sure it’s rolling around inside Reinsdorf’s head now about Derrick Rose.

Contrast that with one of the best decisions that Gregg Popovich has made in his illustrious coaching career. After Tim Duncan tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee in the 78th game of the 1999-2000 regular season, he was still champing at the bit to go in the playoffs. The Spurs were defending champs, a 53-win team. They had a chance to go back-to-back. Duncan was running up and down the floor every day at practice, trying to prove that he was capable and ready.

Yet Popovich shut him down and the Spurs were bounced from the playoffs in the first round by the Suns. Then, of course, they came back to win three more titles in ‘03, ‘05 and ‘07.

Don’t simply conclude that Scott might have been overreacting. It’s what you do with a franchise player, think long term.

And remember, you’d want Kyrie in tip-top shape when LeBron comes back in two years.

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Rose Return A Slam Dunk Away?

March 8, 2013  ·  1:01PM

 

HANG TIME, Texas — Lace up the adidas. Cue the music. Put the Heat, Pacers and Knicks on high alert.

It looks like The Return of Derrick Rose is getting ready to jump from very cool TV commercial to red hot reality.

According to Melissa Isaacson of ESPNChicago, Rose’s doctor has given him clearance to return to the Bulls’ lineup. Of course, like most of us, he’ll be using the “left-foot dunk test” to make his final decision.

Rose, who had surgery to repair a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on May 12, has been videotaped dunking off each foot, but more casually than he would during a game. A source said that although he has been practicing and scrimmaging hard, he told the Bulls that until he feels “in his mind” he can confidently dunk off his left foot in a game situation, he is not 100 percent mentally ready to return to competition.

The team is not pressuring Rose, the source said, but the Bulls are confident he will return this season and are still hoping for a mid-March return, which would mark 10 months after his surgery. The Bulls play at Golden State on March 15.

The source said the team has been assured by Rose’s doctor that there is no more chance of the former MVP getting injured upon his return than anyone else and that the doctor told the Bulls that physically “he can play now.” Rose is now dealing with the psychological side of trusting his body.”

Since Rose collapsed in a heap at the end of Game 1 of last year’s playoffs, it has always been most prudent for the Bulls to take the long view for the benefit of their MVP, All-Star guard’s career, not to mention the five-year, $94-million investment that was made with his 2011 contract extension. But over the past month, there have been dramatic swings in the situation as word got out that Rose was making solid progress.

Even as Rose has been taking part in 5-on-5 scrimmages with his teammates over the past three weeks, he also raised the possibility of not returning at all this season when he last spoke with reporters on Feb. 13. Then his brother Reggie told ESPNChicago that the team’s failure to improve the roster would be a “big factor” in Rose’s return. Derrick Rose said he did not share his brother’s sentiments.

Though the Bulls are currently in sixth place in the playoff race, a return by a fully recovered Rose changes the entire landscape of the Eastern Conference, vaulting them clearly into that second tier of contenders with the Pacers and Knicks and could even make LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the defending champion Heat sit up and take notice.

Once he gets that left-footed dunk down comfortably, it’s time for the next step. The Return of Derrick Rose isn’t the end of the road, just the beginning of a new story.

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The Hunted: Warriors, Rockets & Jazz

March 7, 2013  ·  9:48AM

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It’s not a question of if we make the playoffs. We will. And when we get there, I have no fear of anyone — Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver…whoever.
– Kobe Bryant

Over his 17 seasons in the NBA, Bryant could always guarantee that he’ll do something absolutely amazing with the basketball just about every time he steps onto the court.

He can shake off an 0-for-10 shooting start to bury a half dozen jumpers and an opponent in a fourth-quarter blink of an eye.

He can duck and whirl through traffic, change hands with the ball and squeeze through a crack in the defense for a clutch how-did-he-do-that bucket.

He can rise up with a hand in his face, almost down his throat, and knock down an impossible 3-pointer with the sheer grace.

He can lead a 20-0 comeback in the final 6 1/2 minutes to pull out a dramatic and critical 108-106 win over the Hornets.

But no matter how many times or how emphatically he says it, what Bryant cannot guarantee is all that can happen with the teams in front of his underachieving Lakers in the Western Conference standings. For even if the Lakers put on a strong finishing kick — say 14-6 or 13-7 — they will still likely need one or more of the Warriors, Rockets and Jazz to tumble.

Can it happen? Sure. Will it happen? Nothing guaranteed. Sometimes it’s not about the hunter, but the prey.

No. 6 — Warriors (35-27)

Back in those long ago days of early February when his team was threatening to compete for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the playoffs, coach Mark Jackson liked to shake his head and scowl at the doubters who didn’t think his Warriors could run and shoot and play defense all at the same time. Maybe those doubts were just premature. Over the past five weeks, the Golden State defense has fallen off any one of the area’s picturesque bridges and sunk to the bottom of the bay. (more…)

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Host Harden Leads All-Star Reserves

January 24, 2013  ·  8:35PM


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While James Harden of the hometown Rockets will be in the lineup to serve as unofficial host for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game in Houston, evidently the voters — fans and coaches — haven’t received the memo that the NBA is making a big splash in Brooklyn this season.

allstar-13-200Harden, who was traded from Oklahoma City four days before the season opener and made a splash by scoring 37 and 45 points in his first two games, will make his All-Star debut in his brand new home town.

Yet despite their being the hottest team in the league with nine wins in the last 10 games and currently holding down the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference, the Nets were shut out when the reserves were announced for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game Thursday night.

A poll of the league’s head coaches added seven players to each team.

Chris Bosh joined teammates LeBron James and Dwayne Wade on the East team, making the defending NBA champion Heat the only team with three players that will take part in the 62nd All-Star Game, which will be played at Houston’s Toyota Center on Feb. 17 (TNT, 8:30 p.m. ET).

In the Western Conference, the Spurs’ old reliable twosome of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were voted in for their 14th and fifth times, respectively, while the vote split up potential duos from other teams.

Eastern Conference

east-reserves

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Chris Bosh, Heat — If they were the Three Tenors, LeBron James would be Pavarotti, Dwyane Wade would be Domingo and Chris Bosh will always be “that other guy.” Numbers aren’t flashy, but he sacrifices his game to make it all work. | Highlights

Tyson Chandler, Knicks — He averages a double-double of 12.1 points-10.9 rebounds, leads the league in shooting (.674) and defends the rim as if he were a hungry fat man protecting the last cheeseburger on the planet. Justice is done. | Highlights

Luol Deng, Bulls – Coaches love the lunch pail players, the guys who show up for work every night. He leads the NBA in minutes, is his team’s top scorer and top defender in a season when the Bulls are surviving without Derrick Rose. | Highlights

Paul George, Pacers — He’s not just keeping the seat warm for Danny Granger, but playing like the Pacers’ MVP. With six double-doubles in the last two-plus weeks, he closed fast and has led Indiana’s surge after a slow start. | Highlights

Jrue Holiday, Sixers – In a season when Philly fans search for rare and exotic sightings of Bigfoot and Andrew Bynum, the dynamic guard is the reason to go to the games. He’s the only player in league averaging 19 points and nine assists. | Highlights

Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers — Look past the Cavs’ 11-32 record at these more pleasant numbers: 20.7 points, 5.7 assists, 39.9 3FG%, 20.7 PER. And the kid is only 20. Are the coaches already buttering him up for free agency? | Highlights

Joakim Noah, Bulls — The numbers say it all — 12.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.1 blocks, 1.3 steals per game. The hyperactive one is having the finest season of his career and symbolizes coach Tom Thibodeau’s driven attitude. | Highlights

The lowdown: The pair of Bulls on the frontline probably squeezed Nets center Brook Lopez out of a spot. Deron Williams would have been everyone’s preseason pick, but struggling with his shot didn’t help. Maybe coaches also didn’t like his griping that led to his coach, Avery Johnson, getting fired. You could have made a case for Boston’s leading scorer Paul Pierce, but with Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo already voted in by the fans, it’s unlikely the coaches wanted to reward the 8th-seeded Celtics with a third man. Do you really see a group of coaches warming up to J.R. Smith? Brandon Jennings of the Bucks and Greg Monroe of the Pistons are just too far under the radar.

Western Conference

west-reserves

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LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers — The plan was to build Blazers into a playoff team next summer. But on a roster with less depth than a wading pool, L.A. scores (20.6), rebounds (8.6) and keeps them as a surprise club in the mix this season. | Highlights

Tim Duncan, Spurs — Oh, so you foolishly left him out of the All-Star Game for the first time last season? Well, the 36-year-old geezer responds by turning back the clock and turning up the heat to keep the Spurs as a real threat in the West. | Highlights

James Harden, Rockets – A bit ironic that The Beard’s first All-Star honor comes just when he’s shot 28-97 (.289) in his last five games. But he’s shown he can carry the mantle of the top dog and will represent the home team in Houston. | Highlights

David Lee, Warriors — Statistically, a no-brainer as the top PF in the West — 19.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists. His biggest challenge was probably splitting votes with teammate Stephen Curry on a Warriors team that has truly surprised. | Highlights

Tony Parker, Spurs – Coach Gregg Popovich keeps ratcheting up the pressure on him every season by raising the bar of great expectation and Parker goes right on clearing it. Seems the coaches understand just how hard that is to do. | Highlights

Zach Randolph, Grizzlies – You could make an argument for teammate Marc Gasol anchoring the defense. But flip the light switch every night and there’s Z-Bo with 16.1 points and 11.6 rebounds, which add up to a league-leading 27 double-doubles. | Highlights

Russell Westbrook, Thunder – The most polarizing player in the NBA has struggled all season with his shot, but ranks in the top five in steals and the top six in assists while churning away with fellow All-Star Kevin Durant to build OKC’s league-best record. | Highlights

The lowdown: As difficult as it was to pare down the list, imagine how much harder things might have been if Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Kevin Love were healthy/up to par. In many cases in the West, it became an intramural competition with Lee beating out Curry, Randolph elbowing Marc Gasol aside and Aldridge getting the nod over rookie Damian Lillard. The surging Nuggets were overlooked, maybe because they’re too well-balanced. The Clippers’ turbo-charger off the bench, Jamal Crawford, was also snubbed. But if anybody’s got a reason to complain here, it’s Curry.
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All-Star Reserves Named On TNT Tonight

January 24, 2013  ·  9:38AM

The San Antonio Spurs are so accustomed to flying under the radar by now that it’s surprising they haven’t changed the name of the team to the Stealth Bombers.

allstar-13-200So in a way, it’s business as usual as one of the biggest questions when the reserves for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game are announced tonight on TNT (7 p.m. ET) is whether the longtime partners Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will somehow get overlooked for their sterling work in the first half of the season.

The 36-year-old Duncan has been spry, spirited and splendid in his work at both ends of the floor and Parker continues to raise the level of his game with each season.

Yet the Spurs, who currently have the third-best record in the NBA, did not have a player voted onto the Western Conference starting lineup in the fan balloting. The reserves, seven for each team, are selected by poll of the league’s coaches.

Much of the focus in the Eastern Conference will be in the middle of the lineup, where Miami’s Chris Bosh hopes to join Heat teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in the All-Star Game, but faces strong competition from Tyson Chandler of the Knicks, Joakim Noah of the Bulls and Brook Lopez of the Nets.

The 62nd NBA All-Star Game will be played Feb. 17 at Houston’s Toyota Center (8:30 p.m. ET).

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Dwight’s Bail Leads To Lakers Fail

January 20, 2013  ·  6:15PM


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HANG TIME, Texas – The Lakers open a critical three-game road trip in Toronto and Dwight Howard plays 17 minutes.

That’s one for every year of his maturity.

If it wasn’t finally evident with last season’s antics in Orlando that the 7-footer is more senior prom than senior lead of a real contender, then he offered up the latest proof.

Howard made one field goal, scored five points and grabbed two rebounds before he was ejected with 1:18 left in the second quarter when he and the Raptors’ Alan Anderson were hit with a double technical.

Dwight the Innocent walked away with his palms outstretched, wondering what in the world he had done to deserve this, much like the teenager caught smoking in the boys’ bathroom.

“They didn’t explain,” Howard said when asked why he picked up the second technical foul. “I didn’t do anything to get ejected.”

Howard’s teammates were quick to come to his defense.

“What’s a player supposed to do when a guy, he’s confronted, trying to walk back up the court?” Kobe Bryant said to ESPNLA.com’s Dave McMenamin. “An official told me, ‘Well, he should just walk away.’ I said, ‘Which direction should he (walk)?’ Should he turn around and just walk to the bench? He’s walking down to the other end of the court, to get back on defense. There’s nothing he can do. A guy steps up to him, puts a forearm in his chest, what’s he supposed to do? You say one thing, now it’s a double technical. Now, I just don’t agree with that.”

What is harder and harder for a lot of us to agree with is the notion that at 27 Howard is ever going to change his stripes from being talented big man and a good-time frontrunner. When all is going well, he leads the cheers and cracks the jokes. When there is the slightest hint of difficulty, he simply cracks.

We won’t get into a frame-by-frame analysis of the video replays that just might show Howard delivering a hefty shove in the back to Anderson as they come off the lane following a Metta World Peace elbow. That second technical could be debatable and perhaps the Lakers will even get it wiped off Howard’s record with an appeal to the league.

But Howard earned himself the first technical first quarter when he went too far whining to referee Ken Mauer following a missed layup.

If the Lakers aren’t already deader than disco, then they embarked on this three-game mini-trip as their latest self-proclaimed springboard back from zombie land. Each loss is not just another on the wrong side of the ledger, but knocks another day off a shrinking calendar. Now the Lakers must win at Chicago on the end of a back-to-back Monday or squeeze out a victory in the Memphis Grind House just to avoid another losing road trip.

The Lakers need Howard on the court and he needs to do whatever it takes to stay out there — keeping his composure, knowing when to back off from complaining and not putting himself into a position where a questionable double-technical might send him to the showers.

But that would require Howard to accept the burden that comes from being a franchise foundation and accept reality, hardly his strengths.

Earlier in the week Howard proclaimed, “When we play the way we played the last two games, I don’t see anybody beating us.”

That was following back-to-back home wins over the Cavs and Bucks. Sheesh.

The voting may show that Howard is once again a starter in the NBA All-Star Game next month, but that says more about the cache and star appeal of the Lakers than his own play. He has numbers, yes. But he also has a free throw percentage that would embarrass blindfolded shooters and has rarely looked dominant.

Blame it on coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense. Blame it on the referees. Blame it on global climate change.

Just don’t dare blame it on Howard. He can’t take the increasing heat.

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Bumps In Road Don’t Rattle Heat

January 12, 2013  ·  2:12PM

HANG TIME, Texas – Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

There’s a team currently on the West Coast that is struggling to find its swagger, identity, the stuff that was supposed to make for an easy cruise into the NBA Finals.

They’ve been pushed around by Chicago, taken down by Indiana and caught from behind down the stretch in Portland.

Five losses in eight games and the sky is falling.

No, not the Lakers.

It’s the defending champion Heat, who are so worried that they’ve barely noticed, according to Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“Damn, it’s five of eight?” (Chris) Bosh asked.

“You have to find that gray area between a sense of urgency and staying calm. Panicking isn’t going to get you anywhere. You have to go through so many different experiences in order to get to that point where you can handle it the right way.”

“The biggest thing is that it’s not the end of the world,” guard Dwyane Wade said. “I think the first year [in 2010] when we lost a couple games, it was tough. But we still stuck together. That’s the same thing we do here [now]. We move on from it because we understand just as well as you can lose five of eight, you can run off 12 straight. That’s just the way it works.”

Miami’s reaction to the struggles is not so much a nonchalance as evidence of how the Heat have come to understand that the regular season is simply a long process where a contending team learns to grow together, develop a bond and a rhythm that is established by the time the playoffs start.

Two years ago, in the first go-round for Bosh, Wade and LeBron James as teammates, the bar of expectation was set absurdly and unnecessarily high and they themselves bought into it, reacting and overreacting to every win, loss, criticism, praise and blip on the radar screen. Now they hit tonight’s third stop on a season-long six-game road trip in Sacramento and their heads aren’t exploding because they started out 0-2.

What last season taught was that if they closed the doors and windows to the noise and treated the ups and downs of the season as just that, the Heat could keep their sanity and keep their edge.

They are not the Lakers, tires blown, muffler dragging and spewing black smoke down a potholed side street where they can’t even see the playoffs. None of their core three are suffering from back problems like Dwight Howard or sidelined with a concussion ala Pau Gasol. They’re not grasping desperately to get a clue, just working their way through the blues.

The recent losses to the Bulls and Pacers only reinforce what the Heat already knew. There will be times in the playoffs when they’ll be tested, maybe pushed to the edge, perhaps even tempted to reach for the panic button. This is not it.

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History: Fear The Streaking Clippers

January 1, 2013  ·  9:51AM

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HANG TIME, Texas — It might be time to change the name of Lob City to Titletown or Bannerburgh.

Either way the streaking Clippers are on the verge of moving into a rather exclusive neighborhood that merits quite serious attention. It’s a ritzy place that comes with lots of shiny gold hardware.

When Chris Paul and his pals won back-to-back games over the Jazz to run it up to 17 consecutive wins, they squeezed into a tie for the ninth-longest single-season streak in NBA history.

With one more win tonight at Denver — No. 18 — the Clippers would take another step toward forcing themselves into the conversation as honest-to-goodness contenders.

Of course, the 1971-72 Lakers top the list with their all-time record 33-game win streak that many consider to be unbreakable. But of the eight teams currently ahead of the Clippers, five of them went on that same season to win the NBA championship and two others advanced to the conference finals. Only the 2007-08 Rockets failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs.

1971-72 L.A. Lakers
Streak: 33

Coach: Bill Sharman
Stars: Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich

Start: Nov. 5, 1971 (110-106 over Bullets)

End: Jan. 7, 1972 (120-104 to Bucks)

Record: 69-13

Playoff result: Won NBA championship

2007-08 Houston Rockets

Streak: 22 games
Coach: Rick Adelman
Stars: Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming

Start: Jan. 29, 2008 (111-107 over Warriors)

End: March 18, 2008 (94-74 to Boston Celtics)

Record: 55-27

Playoff result: Lost in first round

1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks

Streak: 20
Coach: Larry Costello
Stars: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson

Start: Feb. 6, 1971 (111-105 over Warriors)

End: March 8, 1971 (110-103 in OT to Bulls)

Record: 66-16

Playoff result: Won NBA championship

1999-2000 L.A. Lakers

Streak: 19
Coach: Phil Jackson
Stars: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal

Start: Feb. 4, 2000 (113-67 over Jazz)

End: March 13, 2000 (109-102 to Wizards)

Record: 67-15

Playoff result: Won NBA championship

2008-09 Boston Celtics
Streak: 19

Coach: Doc Rivers
Stars: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen

Start: Nov. 15, 2008 (102-97 over Bucks)

End: Dec. 25, 2008 (92-83 to Lakers)

Record: 62-20

Playoff result: Lost in conference semifinals

1969-70 N.Y. Knicks
Streak: 18

Coach: Red Holzman
Stars: Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley

Start: Oct. 24, 1969 (116-92 over Pistons)

End: Nov. 29, 1969 (110-98 to Pistons)

Record: 60-22

Playoff result: Won NBA championship

1981-82 Boston Celtics

Streak: 18
Coach: Bill Fitch
Stars: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish

Start: Feb. 24, 1982 (132-90 over Jazz)

End: March 28, 1982 (116-98 to 76ers)

Record: 63-19

Playoff result: Lost in conference finals

1995-96 Chicago Bulls

Streak 18
Coach: Phil Jackson
Stars: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman

Start: Dec. 29, 1995 (120-93 over Pacers)

End: Feb. 4, 1996 (105-99 to Nuggets)

Record: 72-10

Playoff result: Won title

2012-13 L.A. Clippers
Streak: 17
Coach: Vinny Del Negro
Stars: Chris Paul, Blake Griffin
Start: Nov. 28, 2012 (101-95 over Timberwolves)
End: ???

* 20 consecutive wins by 2011-12 San Antonio Spurs was split between 10 regular season and 10 playoffs and thereby does not qualify officially.

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Can Rockets Prove They’re For Real?

December 24, 2012  ·  5:14PM


HOUSTON — When the Rockets wore down and sprinted past the creaking Celtics, it was youth over age.

When Jeremy Lin recreated the old magic at Madison Square Garden and the Rockets wore out the Knicks, it was hope over their own struggles.

When James Harden made it all look easier than a walk in the park in a thumping of the Grizzlies, it was speed over power.

Now after winning five of their past six games, the Rockets have to prove they are as much substance as style.

While hanging around the .500 mark (14-12) through the first third of the season, this totally reconstructed Houston lineup has been equal parts entertaining and unfulfilling.

So as they enter the meat of the schedule, our very good buddy Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle notes this might be as good a time as any to determine whether the Rockets are legitimate playoff contenders in the Western Conference.

Beginning with the Christmas Day game in Chicago, the Rockets will play four games in five days, facing the Bulls, Timberwolves, Spurs and Thunder. Only the final game of that stretch, against Oklahoma City (21-5), will come at home.

“This road trip is key for us,” guard James Harden said. “It will be a good test having three games on the road against really good teams. In order for us to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to win some road games, and this is the time. I think we’re on a roll now as far as us playing together, so this is going to be big for us.”


Assuming some of that stretch will be difficult, the Rockets said they are better prepared for what will come than they were a week ago, when they crumbled.

“We are different,” guard Jeremy Lin said. “We made some big differences in terms of figuring out what works with our identity and what doesn’t work. A week ago, I would say we were not as sure of what to do as we are now.”

Since returning from his leave of absence two weeks ago, coach Kevin McHale has repeatedly stressed that the young Rockets lineup has to remain committed to the team’s up-tempo style of play.

“Every team has a style,” McHale said. “A lot of teams are trying to find that style. Once you find what works, you have have to be dedicated to doing it.

“I liken back to the old Hakeem Olajuwon days. The team didn’t one day say, ‘We’re never going to throw the ball to Hakeem tonight. We’re going to ice him out. We’re just going to shoot jumpers.’ They threw the ball to him every single time. That was their style.

“As a team, we’ve got to find our footing where we play the same every night. We may not shoot it as good and may not do a lot of stuff, but we have to play the same style.”

That is, besides pushing the tempo, sharing the ball, moving it side to side to create open jump shots and open lanes for Harden and Lin to drive through.

Since losing at Toronto eight days ago, the Rockets have averaged 118 points, 25 fast break points per game and hae made 53.6 percent. In Saturday night’s whipping of Memphis, they assisted on a season-high 32 of 44 field goals.

But now Houston starts a difficult week with a Christmas night game at Chicago, where the Bulls rank third in the NBA defensively, allowing 90.3 points per game on 42.4 percent shooting and 32.6 percent 3-point shooting.

The Bulls are quite good at stifling opponents’ pace by playing solid half-court defense and having the hyperactive Joakim Noah blow up the pick and roll and many attempts in the lane.

Often this season when they’ve been slowed down and forced to play deliberately, the Rockets have deteriorated into a group of individuals that stand and eventually tried to do too many things 1-on-1.

They say they’ve grown. They say they’ve changed. They say they are for real.

Now they are staring at a short, difficult window — four games in five nights, ending with OKC at home — to prove it.

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Knicks-Bulls Seems Like Old Times

December 22, 2012  ·  11:52AM

 

HANG TIME, Texas — The only things missing were Charles Oakley and Patrick Ewing clubbing Michael Jordan like a baby seal as he drove through the lane, Charles Smith missing layups or maybe Jeff Van Gundy derisively referring to Phil Jackson as Big Chief Triangle.

It was just like old times when the Knicks and Bulls collided on Friday night at the Garden — tempers flaring, heads butting, technical fouls flying and, in the end, of course, Chicago winning.

Where else but the Big Apple would it be more appropriate to make snap judgments and leap to hasty conclusions? Especially since the New York media have spent the first third of the season once more pounding the drumbeat of hope — or fantasy — for the Knicks’ first championship since 1973.

This was the second time in two weeks that the feisty Derrick Rose-less Bulls had stuck the Knicks, who are more earthbound at 5-3 since that soaring flight over Miami on Dec. 6.

First, let’s go over the gory details of the Friday Night Fights from main man Marc Berman of the New York Post (that’s BOTP, if you’re a Twitter follower of our hilarious good buddy @FisolaNYDN):

In the worst Garden night of the season during which they fell behind by 25 points late in the third quarter, the Knicks fought the referees, fought the Bulls players, but didn’t fight hard enough to win. As the final buzzer sounded on a discouraging 110-106 loss, coach Mike Woodson, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler — all ejected — weren’t around to hear it.

The loss dropped the Knicks (19-7), percentage points behind Miami (17-6) for best record in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks, who also lost to Chicago two weeks ago, shot 33 percent in the first three quarters and trailed 83-61 and then blew their cool.

First, Anthony got ejected with 6:45 left for a hard slap on the ball held by Joakim Noah, picking up his second technical foul. Then Woodson followed Anthony to an early shower 1:30 later, earning his second technical for profanely berating the referees. Woodson, outcoached by Tom Thibodeau, appeared to mouth “terrible bleeping call,’’ then adding “bleep you.’’ as a kicker.

Bad move as all hell broke loose after that.

Fact is, despite all the talk about the Knicks’ excellent defense and chemistry and coaching and cohesion and Anthony, so much of their sizzling start has been based on their shooting the ball at a record-setting pace from behind the 3-point line. When Jason Kidd, Raymond Felton, Steve Novak, Anthony and virtually anyone in a NY uniform are connecting at a 40 percent clip while Tyson Chandler takes care of business on the inside, that’s a recipe for success.

However, the question has always been whether the Knicks could keep up that pace from downtown? In their last three games, the outside temperature has cooled with the Knicks shooting 28-for-86 (32.6) from long range, which has included a pair of losses this week to the Rockets and Bulls.

Is the answer as close as the Erie Bayhawks of NBA D-League, where Amar’e Stoudemire is putting the final touches on his rehab from knee surgery?

On one hand, Woodson says: “We’re going to post Amar’e some when he comes back. We will stick him down there and try to get him the ball, and let him work a little bit and see what happens.”

On the other are reports that the Knicks have tried to peddle the contract of the 30-year-old Stoudemire to every other team in the league unsuccessfully. The dilemma was spelled out wonderfully on Friday by Howard Beck of the New York Times:

In his prime, Stoudemire was the N.B.A.’s most lethal finisher in the pick-and-roll. But that role has been usurped, too, by Chandler, who is taller and longer, with a bigger bounce and healthier knees.

The obvious solution is to have Stoudemire anchor the second unit, running the pick-and-roll with Pablo Prigioni, while Novak, Smith and Rasheed Wallace spread the floor with their 3-point shooting.

But playing as a reserve means fewer minutes and a diminished profile. For all his public diplomacy, it seems doubtful Stoudemire would be content. On Thursday, he told reporters he was ready to “return back to dominance,” which hardly sounds like the words of a player ready to cede the spotlight.

Ask those who have worked with Stoudemire, and they eventually invoke the same word: prideful. Not selfish or egocentric, but simply prideful — a man who views himself in grand terms and spends every minute trying to live up to the image. At age 30, even after multiple knee operations and back problems, Stoudemire still views himself as an elite player.
Reintegrating Stoudemire — whether as a starter or a reserve — might be the greatest challenge the Knicks face this season. (His famously poor defense is also problematic.)

It is a cruel crossroads for Stoudemire, one he never could have foreseen. He surely deserves a better fate.

But considering the way the Knicks opened the season with a bang, stirred the passions in New York and raised the possibility of challenging Miami’s supremacy in the East, they do too. Old times against the Bulls weren’t such fond memories.

 

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