"28 משפטים" מבית מל

1. ויכוח על "מי טוב ממי" מייקל ג'ורדן או לברון ג'יימס" בין שני בני דורים, מייקל לנדרוס וארמנדו אנקינאס בפיטסבורג הסתיים בקרב סכינים, והשניים נאסרו.

2. דל דמפס, המנכ"ל של ניו אורלינס פליקנס, אמר שהבאת דרו הולידיי לקבוצה היה "הדבר הטוב ביותר שקרה לנו; מונטי ויליאמס הוסיף: I LOVE THE DUDE!

3. קווין מקהייל אמר אחרי משחק האימון בו קלע האווארד 19 עם 10 ריב' ב-20 דקות שהיתה זו "ההצגה הגדולה ביותר של סנטר שראיתי מאז קרים".

4. ג'ייסון מקסייל מאורלנדו מביא חזרה למשחק את משקפי הגוגלס "מקסי-רטרו" של הוראס גארנט שחקן הבולס לשעבר.

5. ג'ף גרין ניתר לחסום את די ג'יי אוגוסטין, ובמהלך החסימה לא רק שחסם אותו, אלא ניתר מ-ע-ל-י-ו  ונחת בצד השני. אולי האשך ימצא וידיאו.

6. דטרויט אקספרס ערך שאלון בין קוראיו וג'אש סמית' ניבחר כשחקן החשוב ביותר בקבוצה.

7. סטיב בלייק קלע 16 בנצחון הלייקרס על הנאגטס 88-90

8. אמארה סטודמאייר התאמן פעם ראשונה עם הניקס.

9. מי שרצה לראות איך קבוצה של 183 מיליון נראית, היה צריך לחזות בנצחון הנטס על הויזרדס בהארכה 111-106, כשפול פירס הראה לכולם מאיזה צד משתין הדג לעיניו המחייכות של פרוקורוב שהגיע בטיסה פרטית ממוסקבה למשחק האימון, וחזר מיד אחריו בטיסה הביתה – כמובן עם שלוש בלונדיניות יפהפיות.

10. קווין דוראנט אמר שהשחקן שהוא הכי מעריך ב-NBA הוא דרק נוביצקי, ושהוא "לומד ממנו את הפיידאוויי ג'אמפ 'FRAME-BY-FRAME'.

11. קווין דוראנט נישא שלשום לשחקנית ה-WNBA ששכחתי את שמה.

12. פרנק ווגל, מאמן הפייסרס, אמר שהרוקי סולומון היל הוא "הפתעה נדירה" עבורו.

13. נוריס קול הוא שחקן ההיט היחיד עם חוזה ל-2014-15.

14. סקוט ברוקס אמר שהדאנק של דוראנט במנצ'סטר, אנגליה, שעשה במשחק נגד הסיקסרס היה לדעתו "הדאנק הגדול אי פעם שנעשה על ידי שחקן NBA".

15. גולשיי האינסיידר בחרו בטיירק אוואנס כמועמד מס' אחד ל-"שחקן הששי" של הליגה, ואחריו הריסון בארנס, ג'מל קרופורד, ג'רט ג'ק, וג'יי אר סמית'.

16. ההפתעה הגדולה ביותר ביוטה ג'אז בינתיים הוא המשחק של הסנטר הרוקי רודי גוברט, שהוגדר בג'אז נשיון כ-OUTSTANDING!

17.  כותרת בעתון של סקרמנטו: Vasquez Already a Hit with Sacramento

18.  כותרת בעתון טורונטו: Raptors Duo Spend a Dream Week with Hakeem Olajuwon (רודי גיי ואוסטין  דיי)

19.כותרת בעתון של שרלוט: Charlotte Bobcats Love Coach Steve Clifford's 'Listener' Quality

20. קודי זלר יהיה הסנטר הפותח של אטלנטה האוקס, לפחות לפי האטלנטה קונסטיטיושיון שכתב "WE HAVE FOUND OUR CENTER!"

21. השלט ב-SCOREBOARD באולם של פיניקס:

BE PATIENT!

LOSING IS PART OF THE PLAN!!!

"TRUST US, THIS CRAP YOU'RE WATCHING IS GOING TO PAY OFF!!

22. מוריס צ'יקס:  Billups to Start

23. כותרת ראשית ב-"פיניקס רפבליק": Too bad the Suns can't play Maccabi Haifa every week.

24.  עוד בפיניקס רפבליק: Bledsoe, Dragic 'on the Same Page Already, וג'ף הורנסק אמר שהם משחקים "כאילו שהם נולדו יחד ומשחקים יחד מאז היו בעריסה".

25. מטה וורלד (1)

26. מטה וורלד (2)

27. דאג קולינס חוזר כאנליסט של ESPN

28. גרטלנד קבע את ארבעת המועמדות לאליפות:

The Contenders, Group A

Miami Heat

It was true in July 2010, and it's true now: If all three of Miami's stars are healthy, both of mind and body, nobody is going to beat this team four times in seven tries in May and June. But that "if healthy" stipulation has happened exactly zero times since the Heat threw that little pep rally for themselves — DOS MINUTOS! — in July 2010. LeBron James fell apart in the 2011 Finals, Chris Bosh battled injuries through the 2012 playoffs, and Dwyane Wade has dealt with serious knee issues in each of the last two seasons. Miami had to unfreeze Mike Miller to loosen spacing in both championship runs, and it chose cash over title odds in using the amnesty ax on Miller instead of the borderline useless Joel Anthony.

Miller was the team's primary "big wing" insurance against a Shane Battier shooting slump, since Erik Spoelstra is reluctant to overtax super-small lineups featuring three of the Heat's smaller guards (Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Ray Allen, Wade) next to LeBron and a lone big man. Defending power forwards wore Battier down, perhaps contributing to a prolonged slump he corrected in the Finals in part by aiming left.

The Heat are going to be on the precipice at some point in the playoffs. They always are. They'll need an extra oomph from someone along the way, and with almost zero financial flexibility, Pat Riley has tried to find it with high-upside minimum-salary gambles on Michael Beasley and Greg Oden. Both will likely flame out, leaving the oomph burden on guys left over from the repeat titles.

But that's still enough for Miami to maintain favorite status, especially since Spoelstra will likely ease up a bit this regular season. That might mean fewer minutes for the stars, and more "big" lineups that spare James and Battier from too much jostling with David West types. Beasley and Oden provide some interesting lineup flexibility, and a full season of Chris Andersen will help. So would something — anything — from Rashard Lewis. But in Year 4, this team knows exactly what it is on both sides of the floor — a pace-and-space, 3-point shooting machine that has an extra pick-and-roll blitzing gear on defense.

San Antonio Spurs

They're favorites in the Western Conference, given Russell Westbrook's knee issues and the lack of a proven third option on the wing in Oklahoma City. San Antonio could have nabbed big-time cap room by renouncing both Tiago Splitter and Manu Ginobili, and it surely flirted with a home run free-agent acquisition. But it settled on bringing back last year's group, banking on staying power from the old guard and continued internal development from the young core.

We know what we're getting here: the league's most diligent motion-based offense, with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan as its hubs, and a defense that revived itself based on Duncan's nimbler game, Kawhi Leonard's ascension, and Gregg Popovich's patience in building the Duncan-Splitter pairing. The Spurs were basically co-champs last season, and though we should expect some decline from Duncan and Ginobili, the younger guys are ready to pick up the slack. Leonard especially showed he's ready for more in the Finals. Marco Belinelli provides some Ginobili meltdown insurance; he's bigger than Gary Neal, nearly as good a shooter, and much more polished at all the other stuff — ballhandling, passing, and defense.¹ The world is curious to see what the Spurs do with Jeff Ayres (formerly Pendergraph) after using their mini midlevel exception to offer him nearly twice the minimum salary. The Spurs also have some trade flexibility, with two midsize expiring contracts (Matt Bonner, Boris Diaw) and some interesting, seldom-used international prospects.

In a conference filled with teams facing (very intriguing) questions, the Spurs are a known commodity that may still have some upside.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls' starting lineup — Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah — has logged exactly zero NBA minutes together. Ditto for that same lineup, only with Taj Gibson in Boozer's place, a switcheroo Tom Thibodeau likes to pull in crunch time of close games.

Rose and Butler logged just 74 minutes together in 12 games in 2011-12 before Rose blew out his knee, and Rose returns now to find Butler entrenched as the two-way starting shooting guard Chicago has dreamed of while cycling through Keith Bogans, Richard Hamilton, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, and others. Rose's health is a bit of an unknown, but he has looked fine in the preseason, and all the noise coming out of Chicago is positive.

This team lurks as the biggest threat to Miami. It's had the league's best record in both healthy Rose-Thibodeau seasons, and home-court advantage in Game 7 might prove essential against the champs. We know it'll bring it on defense, when both of the above lineups could prove terrifying; the Gibson group will be in the running for stingiest heavy-usage lineup in the league. Chicago is about flooding the strong side with extra help defenders, and with Butler alongside Deng and Noah, no team will have more tenacious help-and-recover quickness on the floor. And remember: Chicago in 2011-12 solidified itself as a top-10 offense before Rose's injury.

There are questions about depth, since both Kirk Hinrich and Mike Dunleavy are aging and the guys behind them are totally unproven. Ownership could mandate a tax-slashing salary dump at some point. But this team is going to be brutal to play against.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Go ahead and write them off. Westbrook's hurt, and the James Harden trade has turned into exactly zero players with an NBA footprint. The Thunder run a stagnant offense, and even if Westbrook's injury only costs them two or three wins, that may still knock them down to the no. 4 or no. 5 seed in the perilous Western Conference. (Seriously: Being in the Western Conference is like playing one of the final levels of the original Zelda for Nintendo. If you open a door with less than half your health remaining and see 10 of those blue sword-wielding dudes who dart around the room carrying giant shields, just run back through the door.)

But they're staying in the top tier as long as Kevin Durant and Westbrook are around, with a good chance to be healthy when it counts, each with upside still to realize. Same goes for Serge Ibaka, who just turned 24, and for several young guys with a chance to learn on the fly before the games really start to matter. Oklahoma City has completed its evolution into a long-armed, paint-clogging defensive menace, tying the Spurs for the no. 3 spot in points allowed per possession last season.

The Harden void will continue to hurt, especially in the early part of the second and fourth quarters, when Harden and then Kevin Martin terrorized bench units via pleasing two-man stuff with Nick Collison. But the centrality of that role always declines in the playoffs, when Durant and Westbrook play more. Jeremy Lamb especially should be ready for some responsibility. And if he's not, I'm betting on Sam Presti to spin some of his young assets, plus a potential unprotected pick from the Mavs, into an impact veteran cog.