Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the NBA – Thursday, February 4, 2010
TNT’s NBA coverage continues Monday, February 8 at 8 p.m. ET with a doubleheader featuring the New Orleans Hornets @ Orlando Magic followed by the San Antonio Spurs @ L.A. Lakers
CLIP OF THE DAY
(click on link below to watch)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal on the NBA on TNT crew: “Those (TNT) guys do a great job. Ernie (Johnson) and Charles (Barkley) do a great job. Reggie (Miller) does a great job. My man Marv (Albert) does a great job. (Mike) Fratello does a great job. That other guy needs to be replaced and when I retire, he will be replaced.”
TNT’s Craig Sager: “Are you talking about Kenny Smith?”
O’Neal: “Oh yeah, I’m comin’ for you Kenny.”
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TNT NBA Tip-off presented by AutoTrader.com
Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith
Barkley on Clippers GM and head coach Mike Dunleavy stepping down from his coaching duties: “In the long run it’s going to be a good move. The Clippers are a team of the future. Mike Dunleavy has been coaching for a long, long time. I love their nucleus; they’ve got a bright future. I think they are going to make the playoffs in the next couple of years. They have a good nucleus and a great bargaining chip in Marcus Camby. These teams aren’t good enough to beat the Lakers so they are going to make a move. He’s a terrific player so he’s a bargaining chip and the rest of their players are young and they are built for the future.”
Smith on the Clippers having a ‘dead season’ where they couldn’t show their true potential: “The question was are (the Clippers) in the direction of Memphis, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Sacramento? We haven’t seen Blake Griffin play this year. Without him, they haven’t matched what those other teams are starting to do; with him, great possibilities and more. At this time, for Mike Dunleavy to go through a ‘dead season’ when you are going to finish eleventh in the NBA is a detriment to what he probably wants to do at this point in his career. It’s a good move, it gives him a chance to really focus in on being a GM. I heard this once, there is really no way to be a GM and a coach.”
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade on the team’s struggles on the court: “The only thing I can do is go out there and play the game. Outside of basketball I really have some great guys on my team who are really trying to do everything they can every night. Once you see that you realize that you’re not perfect either and you make mistakes. You kind of get over it. But on the court it’s a frustrating time where we go through stretches where we can’t get it done. That’s the thing that’s probably been the most frustrating.”
Smith on the Heat having too many players who need to have the ball in order to be effective: “Miami is a team that has to make some moves after the All-Star break. They are in a position where they are going to slide even further. They don’t have enough size and enough athleticism except for D-Wade in certain positions and their best players need the ball in their hands. You can’t have three guys who need the basketball to score, who can’t move without the ball, can’t get it off the rim, can’t get it on the defensive end. They all have to have it and you can’t win that way.”
Barkley on Cavaliers forward LeBron James being the best player in the world: “Let me reiterate this because there is some discussion in the world. LeBron James is the best player in whole world to me and anyone who knows anything about basketball. Kobe Bryant has a lot more help. Even without Mo Williams and Delonte West, the Cavaliers keep rolling because of one guy. LeBron James is that good. If you gave him Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odum, they’d be 72-10 (tying the all-time best single season record).”
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Game 1: Miami Heat (86) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (102)
Announcers: Marv Albert, Mike Fratello and Reggie Miller with Craig Sager reporting
Miller on whether Cavaliers forward LeBron James is a worthy Defensive Player of the Year candidate: “A lot of people get caught up because of the fantastic and spectacular from-behind blocks by LeBron James and certainly he would be in the discussion, but it’s hard to go against a big guy like Dwight Howard with the rebounds and the block shots.”
Fratello: “Don’t go on blocks, just because he makes the come-from-behind blocks, how about his straight-up defense at the end of games?”
Miller: “That’s the end of games though. If he would guard Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade from start to finish then I could certainly consider that.”
Albert: “If LeBron played 40 minutes straight at that intensity defensively he would have nothing at the other end of the floor. It would be tough for a guy to do that.”
Fratello on Miami’s problem on offense: “The problem with Miami very often is the quick shots, the tempo isn’t always what they need it to be. They come up, get shots up too quickly and they are not in position to rebound and it’s a problem.”
Heat guard Dwyane Wade on why he loves to play against Cavaliers forward LeBron James: “I love it. I love the challenge more so than any other game that we play in the NBA. I love going against LeBron because I know inside he has something against me and I have something against him. It’s a friendly rivalry, but at the same time we both want to kick the other guy’s butt and lately he’s been kicking our butt.”
TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Cavaliers forward LeBron James at halftime.
James on handling the ball more due to a lack of healthy point guards: “I think I’m in good enough shape where I can last, but there are disadvantages because I can’t run up and down the court and get ahead of the ball. But it’s a sacrifice I have to make for my team with three of our point guards out. I will do whatever it takes for our team to win. I have no choice but to handle (the ball) at certain points in the game because we have two very, very good point guards on the injury list, so I have no choice.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on the Cavaliers needing forward LeBron James to start getting more assists in order to beat good teams: “If LeBron James doesn’t go crazy the Cavs are going to have a tough time night in and night out of beating the really good teams. Miami is not a good team and this game is close. LeBron has to have more assists. We talk about guys on Miami who can’t get their shots, but if you look at the Cavaliers there’s not one person on their team that you look and you say that guy can get his shot anytime he wants it. LeBron needs seven or eight assists because those other guys can’t get it. He can get his points anytime he wants to, but unless he makes those other guys better they can’t beat those good teams.”
Smith on the Cavaliers’ improvement since last year: “(LeBron James) puts so much pressure on a defense. Honestly, what he’s gotten a lot better at is he’s helped out on defense. He runs you down, blocks shots. So to me the way the system is with Cleveland, they do a better job this year of getting them him the ball on the post and they do a better job of getting him the ball in the open floor so he can get some easy baskets, but they still don’t do a great job.
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TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Cavaliers coach Mike Brown during the second half.
Brown on how they changed their defense against Heat guard Dwyane Wade to hold him scoreless in the third quarter: “(Dwyane Wade) can come back and score 40 in a quarter, that’s how good he is. We didn’t try to make more adjustments, we just tried to be more aware of where he is and at times we did double him. We are trying to stay in front of him and keep that paint crowded.”
Fratello on the Miami Heat being in limbo due to the high amount of unrestricted free agents they will have on their roster at the end of the season: “It’s very difficult to be in the spot that Miami is to hold still and say, ‘we’re going to go through a whole season and be patient so we really have room to improve.’ Right now they only have two players who will be here on contract at the end of the year, (Daequan) Cook and (Michael) Beasley. You could have a whole new cast of characters here.”
Miller on Heat guard Dwyane Wade needing to trust team president Pat Riley to add high-caliber players alongside him in Miami: “If you are Dwyane Wade and you have a history with Pat Riley and you have trust in your head coach Erik Spoelstra (than you have to have trust) that they will try to do the right thing and surround you with championship players. You’ve won a championship with them, you understand their philosophy and there has to be a trust factor there if you’re Dwyane Wade.”
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Game 2: San Antonio Spurs (93) @ Portland Trail Blazers (96)
Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins with Craig Sager reporting
Collins on both teams playing the previous night: “You are seeing both the coaches going to their benches (in the first quarter), they understand that this is going to be a game that fatigue could be a factor with both playing on the road. Normally when you come home the home team who has the energy would have the edge so they are really going to need that bench.”
Collins on Spurs guard Manu Ginobili making a between the legs pass: “That’s the creativity, (Ginobili) makes them special, he gives them flair, he gives that dramatic play that nobody else would ever bring. Nobody else would every try that. That’s why Gregg Popovich has white hair, he has absolutely aged since the championship. But those are the plays that you’ve got to give Ginobili the credit and the freedom to make.”
TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy who is anticipating a return from his injury on Saturday.
Roy on having additional players back in the rotation: “The good thing about it is we’ll be able to give some of these guys a break. With Travis Outlaw coming back he’ll be able to give LeMarcus (Aldridge) some time to rest and recoup. The biggest thing is we’re going to try to attack teams with our depth, we’ll have 30 games left to make a run down the stretch and we’ll have to do it with everybody because we have faced a lot of injuries this season.”
Collins on the Spurs’ confidence: “I think they are still a very confident team, but I think they need to see some results. You can talk all you want to players but when you’re 9-9 on the road and you’ve lost 10 games at home there’s got to be a little bit of doubt in the back of your mind about ‘can we still do this?’”
Collins on Trail Blazers center Juwan Howard: “(Juwan Howard) is a winner, he’s a guy you love around your younger players, he’s a very, very had worker. You can see what he’s done as a starter, what his numbers are off the bench. He was brought in here as a guy who can fill some minutes, but you lose (Joel) Przybilla, (Greg) Oden and (Travis) Outlaw, he went out there and had to play a lot of minutes and I think he went through a period where he got a little tired. He’s been a guy who has been very valuable to this team this year.”
TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Spurs guard Tony Parker at halftime.
Parker on the Spurs’ goal for their annual rodeo road trip: “We just need to improve, we have a lot of room for improvement. Over the years playing with the Spurs we always play well on the road and this year it’s going to be huge because it’s so tight in the West. We need to play good on the road, we had a good game against Sacramento and a good first half here against Portland so hopefully we can keep it going.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on whether the Spurs could fight for a spot in the NBA Playoffs down the stretch: “(The Spurs) are too good for that. If they can get everybody healthy, they have (Gregg) Popovich who is a genius and (they) understand how to win. In the West the Lakers are the only team who knows how to win. Denver is the second best talent-wise, but (the Spurs) are the proven winners. Their experience, the big three, they only fear the Lakers because they are smart enough and well coached enough to beat any team except the Lakers.”
Smith on Cavaliers forward LeBron James against the Miami Heat: “LeBron James has (the Heat) on Gilligan’s Island and nobody’s coming to help. He’s just leaving them with the Professor and Mary Ann.”
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Collins on Spurs forward Tim Duncan’s offense: “It’s like running water, you turn on the spicket and know it’s going to be there.”
Collins on a catch by Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum from guard Andre Miller to score: “How about that catch by Batum? The wide receivers in the Super Bowl this week hope to do that.”
Collins on the Spurs’ poor execution down the stretch: “I can see why the Spurs have lost some games this year. You can just see their execution has not been crisp, they had the lead, they were playing well, but Portland turned up the heat. We’ve seen them in the past go through those droughts where they haven’t been able to score but their defense has always been so good it’s given them a chance to win. Let’s see if their defense can win this one for them tonight.”
TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge after the Blazers defeated the Spurs.
Aldridge on how the Trail Blazers came from behind in the fourth quarter: “It was tough, we started playing better defense and trying to contain (Tony) Parker and (Tim) Duncan and I think we forced them into bad shots and we ran out with it.”
Aldridge on how the Trail Blazers have continued to persevere despite an injury-plagued roster: “It’s tough but we have a bunch of guys who want to play basketball and a bunch of guys who are good. Juwan Howard is playing 35-40 minutes for us so we’re just playing hard.”
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Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on the Spurs struggling in back-to-back games: (The Spurs) are going to make the playoffs but they are going to struggle in back-to-back games. The one thing I remember about Clyde (Drexler), Hakeem (Olajuwon) and me playing (together) in my last year in the NBA (with the Houston Rockets), we lost every back-to-back (game). It is tough on those old bodies to get loose, especially when you are flying and getting in (town) in the middle of the night. But they are going to be fine, they know how to play and they know how to win.”
Smith on the Spurs continuing to do the right things on the court despite losing: “Sometimes when you lose, you win because you still do the same things that will make you win in the long run. The San Antonio Spurs are not deterred from the things that will help them win.”
Smith on the creativity of the Spurs play-calling: “(The Spurs) have more end-of-the-game plays that I’ve never seen before and I’ve been around basketball for years. Normally, when a team runs a play you say, ‘I’ve seen that before.’ They run plays that I’ve never seen before.”
TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal following the Cavs victory
O’Neal on missing the All-Star Game for the first time in his career: “Doesn’t hurt at all (to miss the All-Star Game). I’ve been fortunate enough to be very consistent for this long. I always tell my sons that I’ve been the man for four different (US) Presidents. So I’m very, very happy.”
O’Neal on the NBA on TNT crew: “Those (TNT) guys do a great job. Ernie (Johnson) and Charles (Barkley) do a great job. Reggie (Miller) does a great job. My man Marv (Albert) does a great job. (Mike) Fratello does a great job. That other guy needs to be replaced and when I retire, he will be replaced.”
Sager: “Are you talking about Kenny Smith?”
O’Neal: “Oh yeah, I’m comin’ for you Kenny.”
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