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#Post#: 532--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 10, 2012, 1:09 am
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DeMarcus Cousins Becoming a Leader?
DeMarcus Cousins is rarely at a loss for words. And the Kings
center is working to make sure his teammates hear them.
Cousins’ evolution as a leader continues in his third season.
It’s a role Cousins embraces, but he’s still learning the best
way to get his message across to teammates.
“I’m trying (to lead),” Cousins said. “Just in a better way that
will be accepted more and accepted better.”
Tyreke Evans said before the start of training camp that he and
Cousins needed to become better – players and teammates – for
the Kings to improve this season.
“He’s been doing a good job of just talking and not getting mad
too much,” Evans said. “Hopefully, he can keep it up for the
rest of the season, and we’re going to help him all the way
through.”
Cousins, meanwhile, remains committed to balancing his intensity
while making sure his teammates remain receptive.
“That’s just something I have to work on,” Cousins said. “I’m
still growing as a leader myself.”
#Post#: 533--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 10, 2012, 1:10 am
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Chris Paul Resumes Full-Contact Practice
Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul participated in
full-contact practice Tuesday morning in Beijing for the first
time since undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his
right thumb in August, according to the team’s official website.
“Chris practiced today pretty much the whole practice; that
obviously changes things when he’s out there,” Clippers coach
Vinny Del Negro told Clippers.com. “He played well. He’s just
got to get in better game condition. He’s been out for a while,
but there’s no question he’s a factor when he’s out there no
matter what kind of shape he’s in.”
Paul underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right
thumb in August after injuring it during Team USA’s training
camp in Las Vegas back in July.
Before leaving for China, where the Clippers will play two
exhibition games against the Miami Heat on Thursday in Beijing
and Sunday in Shanghai, Paul said he didn’t anticipate playing
overseas but did hope to play in at least one preseason game
before the regular-season opener Oct. 31 against the Memphis
Grizzlies.
#Post#: 534--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 10, 2012, 1:11 am
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76ers Searching for Iguodala’s Replacement
During the past two seasons, Sixers head coach Doug Collins
always had an answer. If his team was going against a team with
a great scorer, he could handle it with just one player.
Collins could take Andre Iguodala and put him on bigger players
like Paul Pierce or Joe Johnson, as well as guards like Andre
Miller or Rip Hamilton. Iguodala could guard anyone, and it was
his ability to play defense that earned him a spot on the U.S.
Olympic team.
But with Iguodala now playing for Denver, the Sixers no longer
have that elite-level defender on the perimeter. Oh sure, they
more than make up for it with defense in the paint with Andrew
Bynum. But Bynum isn’t going to come out on the wing to try and
take on Pierce or Johnson.
Just how are the Sixers going to replace Iguodala’s defense?
“By committee,” Collins said. “We’ll have to figure that out
when we get started. Evan [Turner] will do it some, [Jason
Richardson] will do it some and Dorell Wright will do it some.
We’ll use Thad [Young] in that position a little bit.”
“The great luxury we had with ‘Dre was that he was always able
to take that guy,” Collins explained. “So that’s something we’ll
have to work on every day. One of the things that we do
defensively is that we can trap or double. We haven’t had to do
that much at that position, but if we have to, we will. We’ll
work on that.”
#Post#: 535--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 10, 2012, 1:12 am
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Tracy McGrady Heading to China
After 15 often spectacular seasons in the NBA, Tracy McGrady is
finalizing agreement on a one-year contract with Qingdao of the
Chinese Basketball Association, sources told Yahoo! Sports.
McGrady, a seven-time All-Star, couldn’t secure a guaranteed NBA
contract for this season and decided against trying to make a
roster in training camp.
McGrady, 33, will likely complete the deal within the next
couple days and leave for China within the next one to two
weeks, sources said. McGrady’s long-time partnership with former
Houston Rockets center Yao Ming made McGrady a popular player in
China, and he’ll be afforded star status there.
The Chinese season ends in March, allowing McGrady to return to
the United States and possibly sign with an NBA playoff
contender.
#Post#: 538--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 11, 2012, 2:40 am
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Williams Didn’t Want to Wait For Howard
During one of their conversations in the summer before free
agency began, Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams told
general manager Billy King not to wait and see if he could try
to acquire Dwight Howard.
“One thing Deron did say to me, he said, ‘Please, just don’t
wait on Dwight. We can’t wait and not have a team,’” King said
during the premiere of NBA TV’s “The Association: Brooklyn
Nets,” which will air on Oct. 16.
“The team of Brooklyn is bigger than one person. I owed it to
the organization, I owed it to our fans, I owed it to Deron and
the players that we have to build for Brooklyn, and we went
forward and built our team.”
#Post#: 539--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 11, 2012, 2:41 am
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Nowitzki Battling Knee Problems Again
Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t want to sound any alarms, but he also
wants to be realistic.
For the second training camp in a row, his right knee is sore
and swollen. Last season, it took nearly two months to get
right.
Now, it’s back and Nowitzki would not duck the issue about what
will happen if this situation lingers.
“We’ll see how it responds,” he said. “But the longer we wait,
obviously the worse it is. If we have to do something, it’d be
better to do it quick.
“But we’re still hopeful that this is a temporary thing. If we
relax and rest it for a week and see how it goes, then we’ll
have a better idea.”
“To do something,” means to go in and clean up whatever is
inside Nowitzki’s knee that is causing the inflammation. Those
things that are done to alleviate wear-and-tear problems usually
are relatively minor arthroscopic procedures that only require a
few weeks of recovery.
#Post#: 540--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 11, 2012, 2:42 am
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Kobe Bryant Mum on Retirement Date
Time and NBA defenses haven’t caught up to Kobe Bryant after 16
pro seasons, but the dreaded R-word finally has.
The 34-year-old Lakers star addressed his retirement after
practice Tuesday, saying he remained uncertain if he would play
beyond his contract that expires after the 2013-14 season.
“We’ll see where it goes,” Bryant said. “It will be a lot of
basketball being played.”
What would it take for him to come back after his contract
expires?
“How the hell do I know?” Bryant said. “It’s three years from
now.”
“Oh my God,” Kobe said. “You guys want to ask me a million
questions about what I’m going to do three years from now. I
don’t even know in two minutes.”
#Post#: 541--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 11, 2012, 2:43 am
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Jeremy Lin: Speed, Agility Not There Yet
Though he has not had any setbacks or missed practice time,
Jeremy Lin acknowledged on Tuesday that he is still working his
way back from last season’s knee injury.
“My speed and my explosiveness and my agility (are not) there
yet,” Lin said. “I’m still trying to recover from knee surgery
and get to where I was pre-surgery. I probably won’t get to play
too much. Hopefully, as the preseason goes on I’ll get to play
more and more to build that endurance.”
#Post#: 542--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 11, 2012, 2:44 am
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Will Wade Play in Preseason Opener?
Dwyane Wade hopes to make his preseason debut Thursday when the
Heat plays the Los Angeles Clippers at Beijing’s MasterCard
Center.
Wade practiced Tuesday in Beijing and said his knee has
responded well to a gradual return from offseason surgery. The
Heat will practice Wednesday before a decision is made on
whether Wade will play Thursday or in the Saturday night/Sunday
morning game versus the Clippers.
On Tuesday, all signs pointed to him being medically cleared for
Thursday.
#Post#: 545--------------------------------------------------
Re: Around The NBA
DIR By: Phill23
Date: October 16, 2012, 1:27 am
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Raptors’ Kyle Lowry Returns From Injury
The Toronto Raptors’ big acquisition this summer, Kyle Lowry,
strained a thigh muscle at the end of the team’s training camp
in Halifax and missed Toronto’s first three preseason games.
Today after practice, head coach Dwane Casey announced that his
new point guard is available for Wednesday’s tilt versus the
Wizards.
“(Kyle Lowry) has been working at practice yesterday and today,”
Casey said. “So unless there are any setbacks and I don’t
foresee any, he should be able to go (on Wednesday).”
Much of the optimism in Toronto for the coming season has
centered on the former Houston Rockets starting point guard and
the changes he brings to the Raptors at both ends of the floor,
so Casey needs to get Lowry situated into his spot in the
rotation and acclimatized to his new teammates as quickly as
possible. Lowry will play as many minutes on Wednesday as is
safe and reasonable.
“It is very important and he’ll get some minutes,” Casey said.
“We’ll just see how many and what stretches. We’ll see what his
conditioning is. He is behind, but it’s not like he is out of
condition. He has done a great job of working with (Raptors
director of sports science) Alex (McKechnie) on his conditioning
while he was doing his rehab.”
Lowry was able to complete training camp and he has been at all
of the Raptors’ practices, so Casey believes his point guard is
ready for game action on Wednesday, aside from a little rust.
“He is a student of the game and is probably one of the smartest
players that we have, so he won’t miss anything intellectually,”
Casey said. “As far as knowing what we do offensively, he knows
that. The only thing he’ll be a little bit behind in is his
aerobic conditioning.”
“I had to get healthy, but I feel better now and I am back
practicing, so I look at that as the past,” Lowry said. “I have
been around, so it is going to be easier to get in sync with the
guys. It is still going to be a little bit different playing in
the games, but it is pretty easy in practice.
“I am going to be rusty, but I hope to pick up where I left off
earlier in training camp.”
The Raptors still have a full two weeks and four preseason games
remaining before they open at home on October 31 and Coach Casey
will need all of that time to establish his eight-to-nine-man
rotation for the regular season. Lowry is getting back in the
game just in time.
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