Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the NBA – Thursday, March 26, 2009
TNT’s NBA Coverage Continues Thursday, April 2 at 8 p.m. ET featuring the Cleveland Cavaliers @ Washington Wizards followed by the Utah Jazz @ Denver Nuggets.
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TNT NBA Tip-off presented by AutoTrader.com
Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Chris Webber
Webber on his pick for Rookies of the Year between the Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo and Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose: “In my mind, I think you should do exactly what the NBA did the year (1994-95) that Grant Hill and Jason Kidd won (co-Rookies of the Year). If Derrick Rose doesn’t make it to the playoffs then he and O.J. Mayo are both out of the playoffs. Derrick Rose has much better players around him (on the Bulls) and Mayo is trying to change the mentality in Memphis. I would give them co-Rookies of the Year because both of their teams aren’t that great.”
Barkley on Oklahoma City Thunder forward Russell Westbrook: “(Westbrook) should be in the (Rookie of the Year) conversation. (Derrick) Rose is going to win it, because we expect him to win it, he’s the #1 pick. Let me tell you something, Russell Westbrook has a very bright future.”
Barkley on the current Detroit Pistons: “These aren’t our daddy’s Pistons.”
Smith: “These aren’t the Pistons my son grew up knowing.”
Barkley: “Joe Dumars is rolling over in his grave right now….they are mystery meat.”
Barkley on Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade: “I think what happens when you are a one man wrecking crew like Dwyane Wade, I think you have peaks and valleys. You do get tired. I’ve been a great player myself playing on a bad team. These are the dog days. What happens is people start crowding Dwyane Wade and beating him up, you get mentally tired and you get physically tired.”
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Miami Heat (87) @ Chicago Bulls (106)
Announcers: Marv Albert, Reggie Miller and Mike Fratello; Craig Sager reporting
Fratello on the Bulls’ additions of John Salmons and Brad Miller: “It stabilized this franchise’s roster. You bring in two veteran guys, (John) Salmons who can beat you over the dribble and score, and (Brad) Miller a big man who can pass it, shoot it and rebound. Two veteran guys who know how to play the game. Miller can help the young big men come along, (and) Salmons can play the two or three for them.”
Miller on his pick for Defensive Player of the Year: “I think Dwight Howard in Orlando probably has that locked up, leading the league in rebounds as well as blocked shots.”
Fratello on Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra: “Erik Spoelstra has just done an excellent job. One of the things that’s helped him is he kept that entire staff that was in place with Pat Riley in Bob McAdoo, Keith Askins, Ron Rothstein all together.”
Miller: “Another thing that helped him is getting back a healthy Dwyane Wade.”
Miller on NCAA Tournament rivals Derrick Rose (Memphis) and Mario Chalmers (Kansas): “Do you think Derrick Rose is looking at Mario Chalmers and thinking ‘you have my championship ring!’”
Albert, following a report by Craig Sager that Rose said he doesn’t think about the NCAA Championship loss at all: “Reggie, do you buy that Derrick Rose doesn’t even think about the (Memphis) loss?”
Miller: “Spoken like a true loser.”
Craig Sager interviewed CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, whose second installment of ‘Black in America’ airs on CNN on July 22 & 23.
O’Brien on what makes TNT analyst Charles Barkley such a good interview: “You know, I’m in the media, and when you have a guy who speaks his mind and never had a question he didn’t want to answer, he’s a valuable guy.”
Miller on the hiring of Chicago Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro: “John Paxson took a gamble bringing in a guy with no NBA head coaching experience, but these players have responded.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley, Smith and Webber
Barkley on the trade earlier this year between the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat: “That trade to me was a wash. Jermaine O’Neal was a very good player for a long time, but I don’t know if he has anything left with his legs. He’s just been injured too much. Shawn Marion made a mistake leaving Phoenix, he made a mistake, because him, Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire, they play well in a certain system.”
Barkley on Kobe Bryant and the Lakers versus the Detroit Pistons: “This is filet mignon versus bologna right here.”
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Miller on if he expects Pistons guard Allen Iverson back this season: “I don’t think he’s going to come back. Everything is pointing to him sitting out these last 10 or 11 games. I don’t think he is going to accept that role and come off the bench. I think he is holding the Pistons hostage. I love Allen Iverson as a competitor and I think he is making the wrong decision if he doesn’t come back.”
Marv Albert on the NBA MVP this season: “I have a vote.”
Miller: “So you’re representing us (Miller and Fratello). Should we huddle up? Should we have breakfast or coffee to discuss it?”
Albert: “Well, maybe coffee.”
Miller promoting next week’s TNT match up between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards and the potential return of injured Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas: “Agent Zero is out of protective custody? The Hibachi has entered the building!”
Albert on the Chicago Bulls having an upcoming “favorable” schedule: “I don’t know if there is something that can be called a favorable schedule when you are an under .500 team.”
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Phoenix Suns (109) @ Portland Trail Blazers (129)
Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins; Cheryl Miller reporting
Collins on the new rhythm of the Phoenix Suns: “For people who have not seen a lot of Phoenix this year, that free-wheeling long-shooting three-point team is no longer in vogue, it’s points in the paint now with Shaq (O’Neal) leading the way.”
Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy on what head coach Nate McMillan telling him he is the team’s leader means to him: “It just means that every game I go out there on the floor I have to be mentally and physically ready because every meeting that I have he asks me ‘who’s the team going to follow?’, and I say ‘me’ and he says ‘you’re right, so you’ve got to be ready to go out there.’ It’s not pressure. For me, early on I took it as pressure and I was thinking ‘man, I got to be ready,’ and as I grew I realized just go out there and be ready.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley, Smith and Webber
Barkley on Portland center Joel Przybilla: “This guy to me is probably the most underrated player in the NBA. If he played on a really good team he’d be scary. It’s going to be really interesting when they have to make a decision to resign him with Greg Oden. What do they call him? ‘The Vanilla Gorilla Joel Przybilla.’”
Johnson: “They do now.”
Barkley on Portland center Greg Oden: “I don’t think he’s ever going to be a great scorer. I think he’s going to have to block shots and get rebounds. People that expect him to come to the NBA and dominate offensively, that is not going to happen.”
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Collins on Suns center Shaquille O’Neal: “It’s probably his best season in the past five years (for O’Neal). You think about what would they be like if they had Amare Stoudemire next to him, and Matt Barnes coming off the bench? Some guy coming off the bench with some pop and another bigger guy on the floor. They weren’t really able to see what they could do.”
Collins on Portland head coach Nate McMillan: “No slippage, that’s what he wants. Just continue to play and do your job. You bring in the energy and listen to the game plan. Because that’s what you have to do in the playoffs, you have to be able to make adjustments. All the little things when you possible see a team seven times. Nate McMillan is a terrific coach. Nate has really done a nice job nurturing this team.”
Collins on the importance of rest at this late point of the regular season: “Three days of rest at this time of the year is like a week’s vacation.”
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Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Announcers: Johnson, Barkley, Smith and Webber
Smith on the disadvantage of teams playing a zone defensive system: “Most people say that teams play a zone defense to disguise guys who can’t play man-to-man (defense), but actually, I think it hurts them more. You really need man-to-man principles when you’re playing a zone. You’re going to have to run out of double-teams because now you are running after someone who is catching the ball with a live dribble. You are really at the mercy of someone when you’re not able to play one-on-one defense.”
Barkley on the Trail Blazers taking their up-tempo game on the road: “(Trail Blazers guard) Brandon Roy said the (Trail Blazers) play a lot faster at home. With all the athletic bodies they’ve got, I don’t understand why they don’t (play fast) on the road. They are one of the deeper teams in the NBA. They should just run-and-gun and keep bringing guys in all night.”
Webber on the Trail Blazers fitting centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla into their up-tempo style of play: “The Blazers need to figure out what they are going to do with (Joel) Przybilla and (Greg) Oden. They need to use their speed every night and Przybilla can move up and down the floor and he’s a little bit stronger. If they keep that speed along with those guys inside, they are going to be tough.”
Smith on the Suns having trouble returning to an up-tempo style of play: “(The Suns) have created an up-tempo style (of play) that they want to go back to. But they are going back to a style that their coach isn’t used to coaching. (Suns head coach) Alvin Gentry isn’t the guy that put that system in. (Former Suns head coach) Terry Porter isn’t the guy that put that system in. (Former Suns head coach) Mike D’Antoni put that system in and he knows the intricacies of it and he knows how it works. They are trying to go back to something but the conductor isn’t there.”
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