NBA On TNT Playoff Notes: Barkley: “I didn’t say they weren’t making shots, I say they can’t shoot.” Wade: “I didn’t want to say that.”
(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)
The clamps: Once Iggy got past Prince, Roscoe was there waiting
Wade on getting in shape to play on the US National team this summer: “My body will be good. Next week I start working out with my trainer, Tim Grover in Chicago. My trainers from Miami all come down and we all get to work on my body. I’m trying to get as healthy this year as I’ve ever been in my life. They Olympics are very important, not only for me but for the USA…I’m 100% in, unless somebody else tells me that I can’t play.”
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Game 1: Detroit Pistons (100) @ Philadelphia 76ers (77) – Detroit wins the series 4-2.
Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins with Dei Lynam reporting
Collins on Detroit Pistons forward Jason Maxiell: “(Jason Maxiell is) a high energy, tough, aggressive guy. He’s terrific against the screen roll and he was a big part of their bench in the regular season…Maxiell fits very, very well in the starting line-up.”
Collins on Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince: “(Making jump shots is what) Tayshaun Prince has done this whole series. He’s made a few jump shots and that’s the game plan on him. As his game continues to grow, for him to take the next jump into the elite, he’s got to improve his outside shooting.”
Collins on the importance of your bench during the regular season versus the playoffs: “I always felt like benches were overrated in the playoffs, I think they are important in the regular season. I think benches are very important in the regular season to help get you through, but in the playoffs, if you’ve got seven and a half guys – a guy off the bench who can play on the perimeter in a couple of spots, the guy who can play a big couple spots, if you’ve got a specialist, a three point shooter, a defender- I think you’re golden.”
Collins on Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey: “(Rodney Stuckey) reminds me of Joe Dumars, the guy that drafted him. Combo guard, he’s strong and I think he’s going to be a terrific player.”
Collins on contagious shooting: “Rip Hamilton got (Detroit) off to a good start and it’s contagious. We saw the other night in the San Antonio/Phoenix game how free throw shooting can be contagious when you miss, well good shooting can be contagious as well. The Pistons are rolling here tonight.”
Collins on Pistons forward Antonio McDyess: “(Antonio McDyess is) class personified…All he wants is a championship, that’s why he signed with Detroit and that’s what he’s hoping and praying for, and that’s why he playing with a broken nose.”
Collins on the Lakers’ expectations of Pau Gasol this year: “I think the Lakers are hoping that Pau Gasol is going to be their Rasheed Wallace this year.”
Collins on the Detroit offense: “What Detroit likes to do, is get into their stuff quickly and have the ball go side to side, move bodies, move players and make the extra pass; that’s when they get good shots. When the ball sticks, they really don’t have one-on-one players so they really need each other to get good shots.”
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Halftime
Johnson, Barkley, Smith and Wade
Wade on the poor shooting of the Sixers: “I agree with what Charles said, (the Sixers) can’t make any shots tonight and if you can’t make any shots you’re in for a long night.”
Barkley: “I didn’t say they weren’t making shots, I say they can’t shoot.”
Wade: “I didn’t want to say that.”
Barkley on Sixers forward Andre Iguodala: “(Andre) Iguodala has so much talent, but (he’s got to) improve his jump shot. He should spend the entire summer shooting 500 to 1,000 jumpers a day because at some point he’s going to have to get a jump shot. He’s got a bright future if he can just work on that.”
Smith on the spotlight of the playoffs: “What the playoffs really do, they expose your weaknesses or highlight your strengths. When you see Philadelphia, who has a lot of energy, a lot of athleticism but then all of their weaknesses are exposed – like the jump shooting of (Andre) Iguodala.”
Wade addressing rumors that he’s dating Star Jones: “I’ve been waiting until I got on TNT to say anything about this.”
Smith: “About what? I don’t even know what’s going on, could you fill me in? I heard something about you dating Star Jones…you’re dating a cougar, you’re dating Star Jones.”
Wade: “Star is an unbelievable woman, we have a great, great relationship, as friends though. We’re friends, just like a lot of celebrities, we are friends…”
Smith: “Are you close friends? Are you the kind of friends that drink out of one cup with two straws? Are you those kinds of friends?”
Wade: “We’re good friends…that’s all, just friends.”
Barkley: “(We’re) just asking. I like Star Jones, she’s a cougar…preying on young Dwyane Wade.”
Wade on Pat Riley stepping down as the head coach of the Miami Heat: “I’m not really surprised about Coach Riley stepping down, he’s still the president of the team and we’re happy with it. Erik Spoelstra is a guy who has been very big in my development, he’s a guy I work very closely with…I’m happy for Coach Spoelstra, I think he’s going to do a good job. He’s young, but he’s very wise. He’s been the shoulder to lean on for Stan Van Gundy and Coach Riley.”
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Collins on good defense: “One of the keys to Boston’s defense is that Kevin Garnett is so good at defending the pick and roll. Rasheed Wallace, (Jason) Maxiell and (Antonio) McDyess are very good at pick and roll defense. If you cannot defend the pick and roll in the NBA you cannot be a good defensive team.”
Collins on former Pistons scout Will Robinson, who was also his coach at Illinois State: “(Will Robinson) was my life coach, he wasn’t just my basketball coach, he was my life coach. I think you are going to see an outpouring of love and affection for this guy over the next couple of days…You’re going to see people come from all parts of the United States, doctors, lawyers, athletes (to his funeral). The lives that this man touched, I think he was more happy about the guys he was able to send to college and get college educations more so than the athletes’ lives that he touched.”
Collins on the graphic showing he and Harlan with mohawk haircuts similar to Sixers center Sam Dalembert: “You look like Wesley Snipes.”
Harlan: “I don’t want to look like Wesley Snipes, I’d have bars in front of me.”
Collins on the Dallas Mavericks firing head coach Avery Johnson: “(The Mavericks firing Avery Johnson) did not surprise me. They are going to have to turn that team over and do a lot of things (next season). I think Avery handled it very well. I think they wanted to let him go early enough, there are going to be plenty of coaching vacancies open if he wants to coach somewhere else. He’s a terrific coach, he did a lot of things for that organization…in terms of the discipline and the way they play.”
TNT’s Dei Lynam interviewed Pistons guard Chauncey Billups after the game.
Billups on whether or not the criticism of the Pistons was warranted after they lost two games to the Sixers: “Probably so, probably so. If you look at the series from the outside looking in at the start of the series you say, ‘It’s going to be a cake walk for Detroit.’ But it’s the NBA, there’s not bad players in this league, there’s bad teams and that team had some capable players and they got going and they got a lot of confidence and they had us down.”
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Inside the NBA
Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Dwyane Wade
Barkley: “How tall is Maurice Cheeks?”
Smith: “6’1″ I think.”
Barkley: “He has the ears of a seven footer.”
Wade on the upcoming Orlando/Detroit series: “I think Orlando has a chip on their shoulder. Last year Detroit swept them I don’t think they forgot that at all, so I know they have a chip on their shoulder. Dwight Howard is a year better, he’s the best big man in the game right now and he’s acting like it and he’s playing like it. I think that’s going to be a great series and I’m looking forward to it.”
Barkley: “Who is the guy (on Orlando) from Houston?”
Smith: “Rashard Lewis. C’mon, Paula Abdul.”
TNT Insider David Aldridge joined the show via satellite.
Aldridge on the possibility of Kenny Smith becoming the GM of the NY Knicks: “It’s funny. I wonder what’s going to happen there with Kenny (Smith). I would say Kenny would be that 20-1 shot at the top of the stretch in the (Kentucky) Derby that’s about five or six lengths off the pace. We’ll see if he has some last second kick. I think Billy King or some other people may have more of an inside track, but I never, ever count Kenny Smith out of anything.”
Barkley on two people who deserve GM jobs in the NBA: “Billy King did a great job (with the 76ers). That’s his team, those are his draft picks and those are his trades. No disrespect to Mr. (Ed) Stefanski, other than trading Kyle Korver for Gordan Giricek, who’s no longer on the team, that’s Billy King’s team. And the one guy that’s overlooked is Mark West in Phoenix. He has been an assistant GM for six or seven years now. He got passed over for the (Phoenix GM) job, no disrespect to Steve Kerr. Billy King and Mark West deserve a chance to be GMs or presidents of basketball operations in the NBA.”
Wade on Miami trading Shaquille O’Neal to Phoenix: “(Shaquille O’Neal’s) departure in Miami was a sad day for all of us. He was an unbelievable friend to everyone, from the owner to the trainers in the locker room. It was a sad day for all of us and to hear the comments going back and forth (between O’Neal and Heat management) was not ideal, it wasn’t what we wanted. We had an unbelievable run in Miami. We have a great relationship and we want to keep it that way. (I hope for) much success to Shaq in Phoenix and I hope that one day he can get back to the Finals and we’ll meet him there.”
Wade on how Phoenix utilized Shaquille O’Neal: “I don’t think he got the ball enough (in Phoenix). I think if you brought him there to be that post presence and slow the offense down, Shaq is a great passer out of the post. He can make a lot of guys better and I don’t think he was utilized enough and he was in a lot of foul trouble. When Shaq gets the ball, he plays a lot smarter and he’s not going to get those fouls. Maybe if he was utilized more, they would still be in the playoffs right now.”
For a full replay of Inside the NBA log onto TNT OverTime on NBA.com or check out the “Daily Top 5 of Inside” at http://www.tnt.tv/sports/top5/
Not to change the subject but can someone explain to me this whole mess of Paul Pierce throwing up gang signs.
He11 that fool peter vecsey swears paul threw up a gang sign.
For all we know that brotha is a Kappa and threw up a Kappa sign.
Reminds me how folks in the media swore that Mcnair was throwing up gang signs when he was throwing up a que dog sign. It wasn’t until shaun salisbury mentioned it on ESPN that folks (except black people) understood that it wasn’t a gang sign.
Same with Penny throwing up the kappa sign sometimes when he was a young kat in the league.
Hilarious!!!
I’ve never seen a gang sign in my life described to me as what they said Pierce supposedly threw.
They were saying its a blood sign, but realize the Kappa Alpha kappa also uses the same sign and have used it for 100 years.
Its no different then the Latin king sign and the Masonic sign that the Masons use. Its the same sign……….except that the masons have been using it for hundreds of years.
Anytime black folks do any type of signs folks swear it involves gangs.
Remember how Vick had that photo in the limo with that young. In the AJC Folks were swearing that he was throwing a blood sign also. However many of the black readers were stating that he might have been throwing up a Kappa sign.
@origin,
Good points and i agree.
Does anybody have a video clip of Pierce’s hand gesture?
I’ll look for it on youtube.
I’ve been watching NBA ball most of my 53yrs of life and I think I know the game pretty well for just being a Big Fan but what I dont know is how many regular timeouts & 20 second timeouts does each team get per NBA game, Thanks.
Kenny Mc
How many timeouts does each team get in a regular NBA game?
Each team has six timeouts for each game, four of which are mandatory and are used at specific times in each of the four quarters. Each team also has two 20-second timeouts which can be used (one in each half, and they cannot be carried over or saved). In overtime, each team receives three full timeouts.
From NBA.com
Thanks for stopping by Kenny
B Peace
Everyone Blast Charles,but He’s absolutely Right!! on his comments on the state of the NBA.Players now have no sense of committment to the Game,as well as no basic Skillls(post moves,ball handling skills,etc)Greg Oden ,Andrew Bynum,and tyson Chandler, are a few who come to mind .These players needed more time in college or wherever they came from.Charles, like I am, are from the “old school’.Charles made his comments during the Portland-utah game Dec.11,08
Bring back Charles pleasw