Frank Vogel Ready To Coach LeBron, AD
Frank Vogel talks about the excitement of coaching LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the opportunity that Dwight Howard has to revive his career and the wide open Western Conference playoff race in a lengthy interview with Steve Aschburner of NBA.com.
Few coaches going into a new situation have ever faced as much pressure to win right away as Vogel will. The trade that brought Davis from New Orleans has pushed the Lakers into a favorite’s role, and the sense of urgency for James has grown after missing the playoffs last year.
Vogel is also entering a situation where he clearly wasn’t the first choice for the job. He was only hired after negotiations with Tyronn Lue collapsed, and he was asked to bring along former NBA coaches Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins as assistants. Still, he’s eager for the chance to mentor what could be a historically great duo in James and Davis.
“Talent-wise, they’re the two best players I’ll ever have had the opportunity to coach,” Vogel said. “That brings a lot of fun, a lot of excitement to what we’re able to do on the court. It brings a lot of challenges too. You have to make sure you’re managing them the right way and putting them in the right positions to feel good about their roles and what’s happening around them. There are challenges involved with that. So I’m looking forward to how that all is going to play out.”
Vogel touches on several other subjects, including:
Howard’s return to L.A.:
“I think he’s excited about this opportunity with the Lakers. It’s very different from the first time he came through. Then, he was a mega-star coming in with two other mega-stars [Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash]. This time around, he’s had a few teams where they haven’t had great success. And he’s at a different point, age-wise, in his career. So he’s excited just to be part of something, in any way he can help. He knows it’s going to be more of a role player type of role.”
Whether Davis will see more time at power forward or center:
“To me, he’s effective in both positions. But I don’t think it’s wise when your mindset is to be at your best going into the playoffs, to have him banging with centers for 82 games full-time. Does that mean he’s never going to do it in the regular season? No, of course he’s going to play some center in the regular season. But we want to make sure we keep the end goal in sight and getting him to April, for that playoff run, the right way.”
The rivalry with the Clippers:
“They have a terrific team and a terrific coach, and their front office is doing really well. But we can’t focus on their location. We still have to focus on ourselves and the task at hand. Not just worry about what’s happening crosstown. There are a lot of teams capable of winning the West, so we’ll be focused on our process.”
Celtics Notes: Hayward, Smart, Walker, Ainge
Gordon Hayward is working harder than ever to get back to playing like an All-Star, Celtics assistant coach Scott Morrison tells Jay King of The Athletic. Morrison is among the staff members working this summer with Hayward, who has spent most of the offseason in Boston rather than his home in San Diego.
After signing with the Celtics as a free agent in 2017, Hayward saw his first season wiped out by a broken ankle on opening night. His 2018/19 season was filled with frustration as he tried to overcome the lingering effects of that injury. Now he’s determined to return to the top of his game.
“I think this year he’s just eager to get back out there and play well and play to where he thinks he’s capable,” Morrison said. “So he was very motivated to put the extra time in, put the extra intensity into his workouts. For me as a coach, that was kind of music to my ears.”
One area of emphasis for Hayward was to improve his ball-handling, even before the team knew that Kyrie Irving was signing elsewhere. Although Kemba Walker was added to take over lead guard duties, back-up Terry Rozier also departed, meaning that Hayward may sometimes run the offense with the second team.
There’s more today from Boston:
- Marcus Smart has been ruled out of Team USA’s final two World Cup games, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Smart had X-rays this week that came back negative on an injured left knuckle, but pain in his hand as well as the quad/calf area contributed to the decision. The Americans are out of medal contention after losing to France earlier today.
- The Celtics who are playing alongside Walker in China rave about his humility and willingness to fit in, relays Joe Vardon of The Athletic. That draws an obvious comparison to Irving, who wasn’t known for either of those traits during his two years in Boston. “I’m saying this about Kemba,” Jaylen Brown insisted. “I’m not saying this about everybody else. … I’m looking forward to this year. I’m not thinking about last year. Last year was what it was. Spend your time in the past, you’re blinded by it and you’re missing your future. I’m not painting that picture at all.”
- A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston examines whether president of basketball operations Danny Ainge will be more active on the trade market now that he’s not entering a season with a team that’s among the favorites to win the title.
Nets’ Interest In Carmelo Anthony May Be Growing
With Joe Johnson possibly headed to Detroit, several Nets veterans are pushing the front office to sign Carmelo Anthony, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
Johnson said he was planning to work out for Brooklyn this week, but sources tell Lewis it hasn’t happened yet. He had a session with the Pistons yesterday, and The Athletic’s Frank Isola said on SiriusXMNBA, “From what I’m hearing, Detroit is the favorite to land Joe Johnson.” (Twitter link)
That may leave Anthony for the Nets, who suddenly have a depth issue at forward. In addition to playing without Kevin Durant, who may be sidelined for the entire season, Brooklyn lost Wilson Chandler to a 25-game PED suspension and Rodions Kurucs may be suspended as well over domestic violence allegations.
The Athletic reported that Durant and Kyrie Irving were appealing to management to add Anthony, and GM Sean Marks recently watched him play. Anthony spent much of the summer working out in Los Angeles with a few Nets players.
Taurean Prince tweeted a video of Anthony from those pickup games, along with the following endorsement: “Guarded him for a month straight. Same Melo only thing diff is the narrative ppl throw on his name.”
The Nets are eligible to move a suspended player off their active roster after the fifth game, so talks with Anthony could heat up by early November, if not sooner.
L.A. Notes: George, Leonard, Howard, Wade
The health of the Clippers‘ two new stars will determine how much success they’ll have this season, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. The more immediate concern involves Paul George, who is recovering from surgery in June to fix a small labrum tear in his left shoulder.
George will likely miss all of October, according to Buha, and whenever he returns he will need time to rediscover his shooting rhythm and blend his talents with his new teammates. Buha considers the Clippers to be just “fringe contenders” until George is 100% and warns that they may get off to a disappointing start.
The concern with Kawhi Leonard is load management, which is something the Raptors happily agreed to last season to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Leonard played just 60 regular season games last year, and his availability will play a large role in where the Clippers finish in the standings.
There’s more today from Los Angeles:
- The addition of two elite players should mean a smaller role for Lou Williams, Boha suggests in the same story. He will still provide a spark off the bench, but won’t have the same control over the offense when George and Leonard are both active. Buha also states that Williams’ defensive liabilities could mean Landry Shamet or Patrick Beverley might take some of his late-game minutes.
- Shane Rhodes of Basketball Insiders examines whether adding Dwight Howard to their roster is worth the risk for the Lakers. L.A. reached out to Howard after DeMarcus Cousins was lost with an ACL injury, but Rhodes notes that Howard’s track record since 2013 doesn’t inspire confidence. Because of the roster turnover in the past two seasons, Rhodes doubts that the Lakers have the locker room cohesion to handle any problems that Howard may cause.
- Dwyane Wade isn’t actively planning a comeback, but he tells Arash Markazi of The Los Angeles Times that he’ll be working out with LeBron James at the Lakers‘ training facility and at Staples Center. James and Wade have been close friends since they entered the league, and their sons are now high school teammates. “You’re definitely going to see me out there,” Wade said. “I’ll be there early to work out with LeBron before the game starts. I just want to stay around it and be as involved as I can.”
World Cup Notes: Team USA, Barnes, Serbia, Protest
It’s an unusual situation for a team that usually features the world’s best offensive players, but the Americans are struggling to score during the World Cup, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Without Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry and other stars who have played in past international competitions, Team USA has needed to find other ways to win.
Through its first four games, the U.S. is averaging 87 points, which ranks eighth in the 32-team tournament. The Americans are 20th in field goal percentage at 42.6% and 18th from beyond the arc at 32.8%, even with a 3-point line that is much shorter than the NBA’s. Still, they are 4-0 and have a chance to clinch the top spot in their group heading into the quarterfinals.
“When you look at past USA teams, scoring has not been an issue. There’s been a lot of talent,” said Harrison Barnes, who was part of the 2016 Olympic team. “For us, defense is how we’re going to stay in games and compete and that’s what has been carrying us right now.”
There’s more World Cup news to pass along:
- Barnes isn’t interested in apologies from Greece’s Thanasis Antetokounmpo after a hard foul during Saturday’s game, relays James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area. Barnes was attempting a dunk late in the contest when Antetokounmpo pushed him in the back. “The game was over; probably a frustration play,” Barnes said. “Apologies only go so far. If I don’t get up and something would’ve happened, apologies aren’t going to help us in the next game. Luckily everything is all good.”
- Serbia, which had been considered possibly the strongest challenger to Team USA, lost its first game of the tournament to Spain today and saw star center Nikola Jokic get ejected in the third quarter. The loss puts Serbia and the U.S. on the same side of the quarterfinal bracket and ensures that they won’t meet for the title. “I did not like the stupid reaction of Nikola Jokic,” Serbian coach Sasha Djordjevic said after the game. “He has to keep self control and be one of our leaders.” (Twitter link from Emiliano Carchia of Sportando)
- FIBA has denied an appeal from Lithuania after a controversial loss to France, but all three referees who worked the game have been suspended, according to Carchia. Lithuania contends that Rudy Gobert should have been called for goaltending for touching the rim on a free throw attempt by Jonas Valanciunas that could have tied the game with 30.8 seconds left to play.
Anderson Varejao Hasn’t Given Up Hope Of An NBA Comeback
Anderson Varejao has spent two seasons out of the NBA, but he’s hoping a team will give him an opportunity during the upcoming season, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Now 36, Varejao was a valuable reserve big man for 13 NBA seasons, mostly with the Cavaliers. He has been playing in Brazil since being waived by the Warriors in February of 2017. He didn’t see much game action during his time with Golden State, but says the chance to play regularly has reinvigorated him.
“I feel a lot better, 100 percent better than how it felt back then, because I got to play again,” Varejao said. “I got to play and I got to be on the floor for more minutes and all of that. I’ve got more rhythm and that’s why I am feeling the way I’m feeling right now.”
Varejao’s contract in Brazil has expired, so he’s free to sign anywhere. He doesn’t expect an invitation to an NBA training camp, but is hopeful that an opportunity will eventually arise from a team that needs a veteran big man to play a few minutes a night and serve as a mentor to younger players. Although he still owns a home in Cleveland, he doesn’t expect that chance to come from a rebuilding team like the Cavaliers.
“I miss all the good years in Cleveland, the teammates I had during the 13 years I had in the NBA,” Varejao said. “The fans, the country in general. I miss America. I miss being away when I’m in Brazil. I do miss the game as well, but I miss the good times that I had with Cleveland and also with the Warriors.”
Varejao is currently participating in the World Cup, where his Brazilian team is preparing for its greatest challenge tomorrow against Team USA. It’s a crucial game for Brazil, which likely needs a win to advance to the quarterfinals.
“This won’t be my first time playing against USA,” Varejao said. “It is good, it brings memories and stuff like that. We’re just thinking about trying to win the game because if we don’t win, we’re going to be in a tough situation.”
Derrick Rose Says Phil Jackson Ruined His Knicks Experience
Derrick Rose blames former Knicks president Phil Jackson and his insistence on running the triangle for messing up his time in New York, relays Marc Berman of the New York Post. The paper published a segment from Rose’s new book, “I’ll Show You” in which he is highly critical of the way the organization was run during his lone season there in 2016/17.
Rose explains that he was excited for a fresh start after being traded to the Knicks in the summer of 2016. He thought teaming up with Carmelo Anthony and Joakim Noah gave the team a chance to be successful, but he quickly realized it was a bad situation.
“I played through it, 60-some games, but I could tell right away it wasn’t the season I was expecting,” Rose wrote. “Lot of different priorities. Melo’s there. You know how he plays. Can’t change that. That’s what I realized being there. And he’s a great dude; I loved being around Melo. He ain’t gonna rub you the wrong way. Great dude, great spirit, great person, great teammate. … I liked Phil, but, come on, man, you’re still running the triangle? He was still forcing them to run it. I’m a slasher, a driving point guard. The triangle is okay, but not for the personnel we had. Melo couldn’t play that way, didn’t want to.”
Rose adds that coach Jeff Hornacek seemed to understand that an up-tempo style was a better fit for his personnel, but he was reluctant to challenge the front office because he was new to the job and had just been fired by the Suns. He believes Hornacek got tired of having meetings about the style of play, so he just accepted what Jackson wanted.
Rose also addresses the incident in January of 2017 when he failed to show up for a game and didn’t notify anyone from the organization. He explains that he was considering retirement and needed to go home to talk to his family.
“I had decided I was done playing,” Rose wrote. “I saw the same thing that was happening with the Bulls was going on with New York. I could tell that the season wasn’t going to be the season everyone thought, that I thought. I didn’t know if I wanted to hoop anymore. Especially when it started to feel like a business. Of course, you know it’s a business. They always say that. But you know it’s also hoopin’. But it had started to feel like all business, no joy. That’s when I wanted out. I wasn’t having fun.”
Rose admits that he handled the situation poorly and it probably cost him the trust of the organization. New York drafted point guard Frank Ntilikina after the season, and Rose headed to Cleveland in free agency.
“I loved New York,” Rose concluded. “We were losing but I felt I was playing great. I felt like they still could have built something — or attempted to. They got rid of me but I definitely wanted to stay there. It was a new way of basketball life for me, to not be sure where I was going to play next. I knew I’d be playing, so I just focused on working out, keep up with rehab, get in shape, and have to show you again.”
Community Shootaround: Bring Back The SuperSonics?
Jack Sikma dedicated part of his Hall of Fame induction speech Friday night to campaigning for a return of the SuperSonics. Sikma was one of Seattle’s most recognizable players and part of its only NBA championship team in 1979. His number 43 is among seven that have been retired by the franchise.
“To all the diehard Sonic fans who proudly sport the green and gold … there’s a hole in Seattle that needs to be filled,” Sikma said in comments relayed by Anthony Olivieri of ESPN The Magazine. “Speaking for all Sonics fans, it’s our great hope that the NBA will soon find a pathway to bring a franchise back to Seattle. It’s time.”
The Sonics were a beloved part of the Pacific Northwest from their creation in 1967 until Clay Bennett moved them to Oklahoma City in 2008. Although it has since been broken, the team set a league attendance record by averaging 21,725 fans per night during the 1979/80 season.
Hope for a return was reignited by a new $900MM facility that will serve as home to Seattle’s expansion NHL team, which begins play in 2021. The building sits on the site of the former KeyArena, and fans in the area hope it will eventually house the Sonics as well.
Although Seattle has been rumored to be atop the NBA’s expansion list ever since the original team left, there’s no indication that the league plans to add teams any time soon. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has repeatedly thrown cold water on the idea.
“There’s no doubt there are a number of cities in the United States that could host NBA basketball, but we analogize it to selling equity,” he said in July. “I think we would want to make sure at the time we expanded we felt it would help grow the entire league and not just support the NBA in that particular city.”
What do you think? Does it make sense for the NBA to add another team or two right now? Or is it smarter to wait, regardless of the emotional attachment that many have to the Sonics?
Head to our comment section below to share your feedback.
World Cup Notes: Nurse, Team USA, Mills, Scola
Team Canada coach Nick Nurse is frustrated by the lack of commitment from the nation’s top stars, according to a Canadian Press report (link via Sportsnet.ca). The Canadians had a disappointing performance in this year’s World Cup, being relegated to the classification round rather than fighting for a medal or an Olympic berth. Seventeen NBA players were invited to Canada’s training camp, but Cory Joseph and Khem Birch are the only ones representing the country in China.
“I see it as a really interesting unique time in Canada basketball,” Nurse said. “The talent’s really pouring out, the young talent continues to pour out, the Raptors had a pretty good season, the fan base, the people are interested all over the country in basketball, I think it’s an important time for a group of six, eight, 10 guys to stick together for five or six years.”
Eight of the 12 berths for next year’s Olympics will have been decided once the World Cup ends, leaving Canada with an uphill fight to qualify. They will have to win one of four second-chance tournaments next summer, but they’ll likely be given a low seed because they didn’t advance at the World Cup. Former Gonzaga star Kyle Wiltjer agrees that a unified effort is necessary.
“It’s building that cohesion, and even for myself as a player, I didn’t really know what to expect because we brought in a new coach and with that comes a new system,” he said, “and if we have to play next year guys like Cory, Khem, me, we know the system now, we feel comfortable in it.”
There’s more World Cup news to pass along:
- Team USA had its best performance of the tournament in today’s win over Greece, and much of the credit should go to Gregg Popovich and his staff for devising a plan to control Giannis Antetokounmpo, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Even though Antetokounmpo posted 15 points and 13 rebounds, he wasn’t the dominant force that Greece needed and wound up sitting out the entire fourth quarter to rest for Monday’s game. “Everything is always a compilation of experiences. Obviously we’ve seen him play, and he’s a great player,” Popovich said. “It’s a little bit of everything. Overall we did a good job of being active.”
- Australia’s Patty Mills transforms from sixth man to superstar in international competition, writes Dan Devine of The Ringer. He’s the top scorer among teams that advanced past the first group stage.
- Luis Scola, the last link to Argentina’s “golden generation,” has remained productive at age 39, Devine observes. Scola averaged 17 points and nine rebounds per game as Argentina cruised through Group B with a 3-0 record.
Pelicans Notes: Zion, Ball, Holiday, J. Johnson
Zion Williamson appeared to be fully healed from a bruised knee during a promotional appearance today in Harlem, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. The first pick in this year’s draft performed two acrobatic dunks during the 15-minute session, delighting the crowd and a few fortunate youngsters who will appear alongside him in an ad for Air Jordans.
Williamson has been out of the spotlight since concerns about his knee ended his Summer League stint after one half. However, the Pelicans called it minor at the time, and Bondy said he looked to be 100% today as he soared to the hoop.
There’s more from New Orleans:
- During his appearance this week on teammate Josh Hart‘s LightHarted Podcast, Lonzo Ball said he is looking forward to teaming with Jrue Holiday in the Pelicans’ backcourt (hat tip to Christian Rivas of Lonzo Wire). Ball and Holiday both finished in the top 10 in Defensive Real Plus-Minus rating last season, and both were among the top five in 2017/18. “Jrue is one of the most underrated players, in my opinion; I can’t wait to play with him on both sides of the court,” Ball said. “That’s going to be a lot of fun.”
- Although the Pelicans could use another veteran presence, it’s unlikely that they’ll be the team to sign Joe Johnson, writes William Guillory of The Athletic. New Orleans already has 18 players under contract, including both two-way slots, plus reported deals with Jalen Adams, Javon Bess and Aubrey Dawkins. The team may get a Disabled Player Exception in the wake on an injury to Darius Miller, but Guillory expects his playing time to go to somebody already on the roster, such as Kenrich Williams or Nicolo Melli.
- The Pelicans told Williamson and fellow rookie big man Jaxson Hayes to be careful about bulking up over the offseason, Guillory adds in the same piece. The organization believes both players, who are still only 19, may grow a few more inches and they don’t want extra weight to make them more susceptible to injuries in the future.