Southwest Notes: Popovich, Cuban, Collison, Hornets
The latest news and notes from the Southwest Division on Sunday afternoon:
- Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News wonders whether Spurs coach Gregg Popovich cost himself the opportunity to coach Team USA at the 2016 Olympics with his controversial decision to rest several starters on Thursday.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he understands the NBA's decision to fine the Spurs, although he may have done the same thing in Popovich's shoes.
- Darren Collison, on the last year of his rookie-scale contract, doesn't think he got a fair shot at starting for the Mavs, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com, but Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News thinks the numbers support coach Rick Carlisle's decision to go with newly acquired Derek Fisher as the starter.
- Hornets forward Jason Smith tells John Reid of the Times-Picayune that it is the responsibility of the veteran players to set an example for younger players on the struggling team.
- Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune writes that the Hornets so far are failing to deliver on their promise of a brighter future.
Odds & Ends: Popovich, Lopez, Wizards, Bucks
The latest news from around the NBA on Friday evening:
- CBSSports.com's Ken Berger reports that the NBA is considering instituting a new policy on resting players following Gregg Popovich's controversial decision on Thursday.
- Howard Beck of the New York Times writes that Brook Lopez' foot is not seriously injured, despite indications to the contrary.
- The New York Times' Dan Duggan writes that the Wizards are trying to put their horrific start to the season behind them.
- Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Bucks have still not set a time for Luc Mbah a Moute's return.
- Sam Amico of FoxSportsOhio.com writes that Hawks GM Danny Ferry has turned the team around faster than expected.
- Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer writes that Cavs rookie Kevin Jones is not expected to find his way into the rotation anytime soon.
NBA GMs Weigh In On 2012/13 Season
The results are in on NBA.com's annual survey of the league's general managers, with all 30 NBA GMs weighing in on dozens of questions about the 2012/13 season and the 2012 offseason. We won't round up all of their answers here, so feel free to check out the full results at NBA.com, but here are a few of the more notable responses:
- 70% of respondents believe the Heat will repeat as NBA champs, while 96.7% think Miami will win the Eastern Conference. Since GMs aren't allowed to vote for their own teams, that means the rest of the league's 29 GMs picked the Heat to come out of the East.
- The Lakers are the favorites to come out of the West, earning 60% of the votes. The Thunder (36.7%) and Nuggets (3.3%) were the only other teams mentioned.
- LeBron James is the player most GMs would start a franchise with, earning 80% of the votes.
- 86.2% of GMs believe the Lakers made the best offseason moves, with Dwight Howard (70%) and Steve Nash (20%) earning the most votes for the summer addition who will make the biggest impact. Los Angeles' sign-and-trade for Nash was also voted the summer's most surprising move.
- Besides the Lakers, the other teams receiving votes for the best offseason roster moves were the Nets, Hawks, and Warriors.
- The Nets (62.1%) ran away with the votes on which team will be most improved, while Andre Iguodala (16.7%) topped the choices for most underrated acquisition — the Celtics' duo of Jason Terry and Courtney Lee also received support in that category.
- Anthony Davis (76.7%) and Gregg Popovich (80%) were the runaway picks for rookie of the year and the NBA's best coach, respectively.
Western Notes: Stephen Curry, Bogut, Spurs
Here are some rumblings out of the Western Conference tonight:
- Grizzlies guard Wayne Ellington is in the final year of his rookie contract and aims to be more aggressive in order to earn consistent playing time in Memphis, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal).
- Brad Townsend of SportsDayDFW discusses the importance of Rick Carlisle's leadership skills as it relates to the Mavericks' ability to succeed this season (subscribers only).
- Kevin McHale commented on some of the coaching challenges he's encountered with his inexperienced Rockets team (Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets notes).
- According to this report from CSN Bay Area, Stephen Curry received no concerns from Dr. Richard Ferkel after the orthopedic surgeon evaluated his ankle today. Dr. Ferkel also checked out the progress of Andrew Bogut's left ankle and determined that his rehabilitation has been on schedule. Warriors GM Bob Myers says that while Bogut does not need clearance to participate in full-contact practice, the team wants to make sure that he is completely free of any pain or discomfort before they let him scrimmage.
- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters that the their final roster spot will come down to deciding between Derrick Brown and Eddy Curry (Jeff McDonald of Spurs Nation reports).
- Dwight Howard fully participated in today's practice with the Lakers and is prepared to make his debut tomorrow under the approval of their training staff (says Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN Los Angeles). Also, forward Jordan Hill was cleared to practice with the team today after being diagnosed with a herniated disk less than two weeks ago, and told reporters that he could possibly return before the season opener on October 30.
- According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, forwards Louis Amundson and Dante Cunningham have emerged as "energy guys" for Rick Adelman and the Timberwolves.
Poll: Who Should Be Team USA’s New Coach?
Mike Krzewzyski is set to step down as head coach of USA Basketball. He will finish with an all-time record of 62-1. Following the USA's victory over Spain to capture the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics, people including LeBron James and Doc Rivers weighed in on who should be his successor.
James and Rivers both endorse San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to succeed Krzewzyski, although Rivers adds that Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins would also be a strong candidate, and that Rivers himself would accept the position if offered to him.
Who do you think should coach Team USA going forward? Should it be Rivers, Popovich, Collins, or someone else? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Who Should Coach Team USA?
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Gregg Popovich 34% (624)
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Doc Rivers 34% (618)
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Doug Collins 19% (351)
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Someone Else 12% (222)
Total votes: 1,815
Olympics Notes: Bryant, James, Popovich
Kevin Durant's strong performance throughout the Olympics served as a major reason why Team USA's leaving London with gold. The three-time reigning NBA scoring champion averaged 19.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 2.6 APG over the course of the Olympics. Let's catch up on the latest news and headlines from London…
- Doc Rivers endorses Doug Collins to succeed Mike Krzyzewski as head coach of Team USA.
- One of the many secrets to Kobe Bryant's success has been Dr. Judy Seto, the Lakers' physical therapist, writes Mike Trudell of NBA.com. Dr. Seto's so important to Bryant that she's accompanied Bryant to the last two Olympics to ensure his health while playing abroad. Bryant wanted to have Dr. Seto's services entirely to himself during the 2008 Olympics so he didn't tell Lakers teammate Pau Gasol that she was in Beijing.
- LeBron James joined Michael Jordan as the only players to win NBA title, Olympic gold, NBA regular-season MVP and NBA Finals MVP in the same year, tweets Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Durant stands as the most likely player to join this elite club in 2016 when the Olympics head to Rio.
- With Krzyzewski set to call it an Olympic career, much conversation has come up regarding his replacement. Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports says both Rivers and James believe Gregg Popovich should be the next USA Basketball head coach (via Twitter).
Spurs Notes: Salary Cap, Free Agency, Popovich
The Spurs' season came to an early conclusion on Wednesday evening as they fell to the Thunder 107-99 in Oklahoma City. The loss marked the second consecutive season in which the team finished with the best regular season record in the Western Conference but failed to reached the NBA Finals. With an aging roster and Tim Duncan's pending free agency, the Spurs face a summer of slight uncertainty heading into the 2012/2013 season. Here's the latest news and notes out of San Antonio…
Odds & Ends: Celtics, Heat, Thunder, Spurs, Lakers
Let's go coast to coast to catch up on the latest news and headlines before King James and the Heat look to make it a series against Indiana…
- Celtics head coach Doc Rivers has been using whatever time off his team is afforded to allow them to rest and get healthier, reports the Associated Press (via the Boston Herald).
- ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst says Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra needs to make adjustments to his strategy if Miami wants to have any chance of winning against the Pacers.
- Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have matured and proven that they can co-exist in Oklahoma City, writes Sam Amick of SI.com.
- Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski believes the Thunder look like a team with legitimate title aspirations thanks to strong play by Durant and Westbrook.
- The Spurs relied on heavily-efficient play to overcome a 24-point deficit to the Clippers on Saturday, writes Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com.
- Tom Ziller of SB Nation says the Lakers should trade Andrew Bynum so that the 24-year-old center's talents don't go to waste in Los Angeles.
- Gregg Popovich's decision to sit Tim Duncan during the 2000 NBA playoffs proved to be the right decision 12 years later, contends J.A. Adande of ESPN.com.
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com believes the Celtics need to find a better balance in terms of getting Kevin Garnett more involved in the game on Monday evening against the Sixers.
Odds & Ends: Olympics, Howard, Bulls, Mavericks
A few Thursday afternoon odds and ends from around the Association….
- When Mike Krzyzewski steps down, Gregg Popovich is the logical choice to coach Team USA, argues Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
- Roy Hibbert told Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida that he attempted to get his release from Team Jamaica so he could potentially play for Team USA, but that it's a dead issue and he has moved on.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel wonders why, if Dwight Howard truly wants to stay with the Magic, he doesn't come out and say so.
- Ronnie Brewer told ESPN 1000 in Chicago that he hopes both he and Kyle Korver can return to the Bulls next season, as ESPNChicago.com notes. Both players are on non-guaranteed contracts for 2012/13.
- According to Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com, Rick Carlislie's comments on Dallas radio open the door for speculation that the Mavericks could explore packaging Lamar Odom in a trade for a player on a large contract.
Gregg Popovich Named Coach Of The Year
Gregg Popovich has been named the NBA's 2011/12 Coach of the Year, the league officially announced today. It's the second Red Auerbach trophy for the longtime Spurs coach, who also took home the award in 2003.
Popvich's Spurs entered the season as something of an afterthought in a Southwest Division that also featured the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. Although the Spurs didn't receive much recognition in experts' preseason predictions, San Antonio finished the season tied for the NBA's best record at 50-16.
Popovich led the team to three separate 11-game winning streaks and a number one seed in the West, while managing to rest his stars frequently during the lockout-shortened season. He also integrated other teams' cast-offs like Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson into his rotation over the season's final few weeks, and was responsible for arguably the box-score highlight of the year.
Tom Thibodeau of the Bulls, Frank Vogel of the Pacers, Lionel Hollins of the Grizzlies, and Doc Rivers of the Celtics were among the other candidates for the award, finishing second through fifth respectively.