April 2012 Basketball Wiretap

Heat Confident In Point Guard Situation

Jun 29, 2012 3:30 AM

The Heat enter the offseason comfortable with their production at the point guard position.

Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole take the vast majority of minutes at the position.

"We feel good with our point guard position, because we don't need a real prototypical point guard that needs the ball all the time," said Riley.

Ira Winderman/South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Tags: Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Miami Heat, NBA, NBA Misc Rumor, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Grant: Waiters Brings Explosion As Great Fit To Cavaliers

Jun 29, 2012 3:17 AM

The Cavaliers picked Dion Waiters with the fourth overall selection and also ended up with Tyler Zeller later in the first round.

“We knew we needed to add scoring and more playmaking and we were able to do that with Dion,” said Chris Grant. “He’s an aggressive, athletic, explosive player that is a great fit for our team. We also knew we needed another big man that can shoot, rebound, defend and get up and down the court with our style of play. We were able to do that with Tyler and we feel he is also a great fit for our team.”

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Wall Encouraged By Adding Beal To Progress Made After Nene Trade

Jun 29, 2012 3:13 AM

John Wall is encouraged with the recent acquisitions made by the Wizards in adding Nene and Bradley Beal to the roster.

“After we got Nene last year we were a different team," said Wall. "We finished the season strong and I think he (Bradley Beal) can come in and help us continue to get better. He’s a good shooter so he will help spread the floor us and he can defend on the end. We need to move forward so we can get better as a team and look towards the playoffs.”

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: John Wall, Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
LeBron Not Ready To Commit To Power Forward

Jun 25, 2012 4:49 PM

LeBron James often played power forward during Miami's title run with Chris Bosh moving to center.

While Bosh said he would be comfortable playing center fulltime, James said he isn't ready to commit to the position on a permanent basis.

"I don't see a 32-, 33-year old LeBron playing power forward," said James.

Ira Winderman/South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Tags: LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Miami Heat, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Jackson: Increased Role For Bynum Took Gasol Out Of His Game

Jun 19, 2012 11:01 AM

Phil Jackson believes Jim Buss' appreciation of Andrew Bynum changed the rhythm of the Lakers in their first season without their former coach.

The Lakers hired Mike Brown in the offseason and part of that was to increase the role given to Bynum, but Pau Gasol's play was sacrificed in the process.

"You know, Jim is a guy that, you know, saw Andrew as a kid-- and thought Bynum was gonna be a great pick for our team," said Jackson. "But in the process, I think you know, he's wanted Andrew to have a bigger and bigger role. And I think he's hired his coach to have Andrew have a bigger and bigger role. And that kinda disjointed the symmetry of what the Lakers were really about this last year. You know, Andrew is All-Star center. He was-- did a wonderful job. But, you know, it-- what happened was, it took Pau out of his game. And it took the team away from some of their game. So they changed the style dramatically."

Reid Cherner/USA Today

Tags: Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Riley Taking Active Advisory Role To Spoelstra During Finals

Jun 17, 2012 11:51 AM

Pat Riley has taken an increasingly active role in communicating with Erik Spoelstra during The Finals.

“It’s almost as if he’s a member on my staff," said Spoelstra. "If I’m not calling him, if I’m not bumping into him at the office, I’m texting him. Our dialogue has been very good. It’s most relevant with a team like this. He’s walked in my shoes before.”

Barry Jackson/Miami Herald

Tags: Miami Heat, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Big 3 Praises Spoelstra For Being More Receptive To Suggestions

Jun 17, 2012 11:49 AM

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh praised Erik Spoelstra on Saturday for being more receptive to suggestions than in the past.

“Something was made of that blowup in Indiana, but that shows how our relationship has grown,” Wade said. “We’ve been together for a long time. You don’t have those kinds of moments if you haven’t been together. It’s just like family members, just like a brother.

“We have moments, but we love each other, and we move on from it. We grow from it. I’ve enjoyed seeing him grow. The biggest growth in him this season has been his openness to ask other guys what they think. … That’s key for players to feel they have that openness with their coach, that he’s going to listen to what they have to say, and sometimes use it, sometimes not.”

Bosh said Spoelstra has “become a better listener, taking our opinions a lot more … to make better adjustments.”

Barry Jackson/Miami Herald

Tags: Miami Heat, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Bosh Wants Heat To Look For More Opportunities To Attack Rim

Jun 13, 2012 10:29 AM

Chris Bosh wants the Heat to forgo jump shots in favor of aggressive drives to the basket in Game 2.

“We have to do a better job of executing our offense,” Bosh said. “Sometimes we have to attack the rim, because if you're not making shots and you're shooting jumper after jumper, (Oklahoma City) is getting out in the open court, and that's what they do.”

Dwyane Wade missed 12-of-19 shots in Miami’s Game 1 loss.

“We'll get him opportunities to attack,” Erik Spoelstra said of Wade. “He had a couple of good opportunities to get into the paint there in the fourth, a couple of them he wasn't able to convert. But he was aggressive in that quarter, and so we'll try to get him in places where he can continue to be aggressive.”

ESPN.com

Tags: Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Competition Committee To Address Flopping, Expansion Of Instant Replay

Jun 13, 2012 10:27 AM

David Stern equated flopping with trickery and said the competition committee will discuss ways to eliminate its prevalence. 

"Flopping almost doesn't do it justice," Stern said Tuesday just prior to the start of the NBA Finals. "Trickery. Deceit designed to cause the game to be decided other than on its merits. We'll be looking at that.

"We'll be looking at a number of things that make it easier for us to say to our fans what we all know to be true: Our referees want to get everything right."

The committee will also consider expanding instant replay.

AP

Tags: NBA, NBA CBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Durant Leads League In Top Of Key Three-Point Percentage

Jun 12, 2012 12:13 AM

Kevin Durant shoots 38 percent from the three-point line and is particularly accurate at the top of the key.

Kirk Goldsberry, a professor of geography at Michigan State, uses shot chart data to measure shot frequency and shot potency.

Goldsberry said some NBA teams are well-versed in such analytics, while others, like the Lakers, are "notoriously behind the curve." Goldsberry pointed to Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, when Durant hit a game-winner in front of Metta World Peace for a 3-1 series lead.

"Everybody knows that Kevin Durant is a great three-point shooter, but few know he's the best in the NBA from that exact spot," Goldsberry says. "A lot of teams don't know that, but some teams certainly do."

USA Today

Tags: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA, NBA B-Ball IQ

Discuss
Brooks Sees Similarities Between Thunder, Heat In Use Of Screens

Ryan Aber/Oklahoman

Windhorst: 'Behavior Modification' Has Helped LeBron

Berry Tramel/Oklahoman

Parsons Credits College Experience For Successful Rookie Campaign

Gainesville Sun

Wade Had Never Seen LeBron So Locked In

Adrian Wojnarowski/Yahoo! Sports

LeBron: Frequent Changes To Lineup Have Been Challenging

Brian Windhorst/ESPN

Popovich Wants Spurs To Make Extra Pass, Cut Down On Turnovers

San Antonio Express-News

Rivers Won't Adjust Game Plan To Account For Bosh

Boston Globe

Spurs Conceding Open Jump Shots To Ibaka, Perkins, Collison

San Antonio Express-News

Brooks Allowing Perkins, Ibaka Discretion To Switch On Pick-And-Rolls

Oklahoman

LeBron Likely To Spend More Time Defending Garnett In Game 4

Boston Herald

Kobe Shot 37.3 Percent On Isolation Attempts

Los Angeles Times

Ibaka Effective In Defending Ginobili On Pick-And-Roll

Tim Griffin/San Antonio Express-News

Wade Smothered By Celtics' Defense

Amalie Benjamin/Boston Globe

Smart Sees Kings Developing Offensive Identity Similar To Spurs

Ailene Voisin/Sacramento Bee