Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the NBA Playoffs – Wednesday, May 13, 2009: (Anthony) is not on the same level as those two guys, but as far as instant offense, he can score on anybody. He’s got a better jump shot than Kobe and LeBron. LeBron is the best player though.”
(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
TNT’s schedule will be confirmed at the conclusion of Game #6 of Boston Celtics @ Orlando Magic.
TNT NBA Tip-off presented by AutoTrader.com
Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith
Barkley on the Mavericks inserting forward Jason Terry into the starting line-up: “That means they are going to try to outscore the Nuggets, I don’t think they can outscore the Nuggets in Denver. If you put Jason Terry in you’re saying ‘we’re going to try to outscore them’. As good as Denver is at home they want to run and gun. I don’t like that decision. (The Mavs) tried to run with Denver for two games and got run out of the building. They played well in Game #3 and they won Game #4. Why would you go back to the strategy and try to outscore the Nuggets? You can’t outscore Denver in Denver and it’s going to make the crowd more important. They need to play better defense. They are giving up too many points, that’s the reason they lost Game #1 and #2. You can’t give up 115 points on the road and expect to win.”
Smith on the Mavericks putting guard Jason Terry in the starting line-up for Game #5: “It becomes a defeatist attitude when you change your line-up this late into a series, the fifth game in, especially after a win. If you really want a guy to play more just put him in earlier, put him in at the nine-minute mark. What’s the difference?”
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Dallas Mavericks (110) @ Denver Nuggets (124) - Denver wins the series 4-1.
Announcers: Matt Devlin and P.J. Carlesimo; with Marty Snider reporting
Carlesimo on why Mavericks forward Josh Howard is an ‘X’ factor: “Josh Howard is a tough match-up for most every team in the league, I call him the ‘X’ factor. I always assume that Dirk (Nowitzki) and Jason Terry are going to give you numbers, that hasn’t been the case with Jason Terry so far in the playoffs, but Josh Howard is the one who you can’t deal with. When you’ve got a third scorer as explosive and talented as him and the fact that he can create his own offense, it is really a problem.”
Nuggets center Chris Anderson on his normal look and the change into his ‘Birdman’ persona: “Pretty much on a day-to-day basis I look like this, until I’ve got to take care of some business and then I bring the ‘Birdman’ out of the cage. The roar of the crowd definitely brings out even more energy, and pushes the tempo of the game even quicker. Every time they get loud I get loud, too.”
Carlesimo on the lack of production from Mavericks center Erick Dampier: “(Erick Dampier) is somebody that Dallas needs something from. Damp is giving them hardly anything, nothing on the offensive end, not nearly as much as he should defensively or rebounding. They need Erick Dampier to give them something inside.”
Carlesimo on Mavericks guard Jason Kidd playing poorly in the Pepsi Center: “Jason Kidd is out of sorts again. This building has been terrible for him all two and a half games of the playoffs in Denver.”
TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony at the half.
Anthony on the flow of the game in the first half: “I’m trying not to (slow down), they are trying to be aggressive. (I’m) trying to get to the hole, give me open shots and knock them down. We’re playing together today. I’m not coming out of the game, we need this one. We’ve got to close this one out.”
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T-Mobile Halftime Report
Announcers: Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on his pick for the best scorer in the NBA being Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony: “LeBron is the best player and Kobe Bryant is No. 2. I’ve elevated LeBron past Kobe, but the best scorer in the NBA is Carmelo Anthony.”
Smith: “I would say (Anthony) scores the easiest.”
Barkley: “(Anthony) is not on the same level as those two guys, but as far as instant offense, he can score on anybody. He’s got a better jump shot than Kobe and LeBron. LeBron is the best player though.”
Barkley on why he hated that the Mavericks started forward Jason Terry: “I hated it and I’ve got three reasons why: first, (the Mavericks) were going to try to beat the Denver Nuggets with offense. You’re not going to beat Denver in Denver with offense because it gets the guys on the team fired up and it gets the crowd fired up. Second, it takes the ball out of Dirk (Nowitzki’s) hands. They can’t match up with Dirk, so it takes the ball (from him) and he’s going to get less shots. Third, it hurts (Dallas’) bench. (Terry) is the only guy on their bench who can get 20 points.”
Smith: “Fourth, they really were only five seconds away from being 2-2 (in the series). You’re offense and defense and strategy were pretty consistent.”
Smith on the impact legendary NBA coach Chuck Daly had on those whose lives he touched: “How many lives did (Chuck Daly) change? If they never met Chuck Daly, what type of player, what type of person, what type of lifestyle, what type of life would they have had if they never met Chuck Daly? That was mind-boggling to me to see the amount of people who were there that he actually touched and changed their whole life and changed everything about them and their persona and what people thought about them as a person.”
Barkley on the fraternity of sports: “I look at the world in two ways, you either play sports or you don’t. It’s the greatest fraternity in the world. Once you play sports, you understand what people go through in other sports, but all the people you meet along the way is really cool.”
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Carlesimo on the impressive performances of Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki and Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony: “They’ve been unbelievable, a lot of other players are playing well, but these two are playing at an incredible level. These two are playing at a very, very special level and they are sustaining it all throughout the playoffs. The thing that is most impressive to me is that they are doing it in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line.”
Carlesimo on Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin’s aggressive defense: “Kenyon (Martin) is one of the better big defenders in the league because he’s got quick feet, he’s strong and he takes pride in defense. He’s an aggressive, nasty player; a good nasty. Kenyon Martin, with very little recognition, maybe it’s because of the couple of years with the injuries, I don’t think he got a vote for Defensive Player of the Year. He’s one of the better four man defenders in the league.”
Carlesimo on the dominant performance in the playoffs of the Denver Nuggets: “It’s not an accident that a number two seed coming into the playoffs, if anything (the Nuggets) are playing better than anyone else in the Western Conference right now. Not that the Lakers and Houston aren’t worthy opponents, but (Denver) has been the most consistent. They and Cleveland have dominated the playoffs to this point.”
TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony and guard Chauncey Billups after Denver defeated Dallas to move on to the Western Conference Finals.
Anthony on how the Nuggets got to this point of advancing to the Western Conference Finals: “It’s special, we worked hard in the offseason, training camp, throughout the whole season. We stuck through everything, we overcame a lot of adversity and stayed complacent and stayed humble. The hard work paid off, but we’ve still got a lot of business to go take care of.”
Anthony on what guard Chauncey Billups brought to the Nuggets after being traded from Detroit for Allen Iverson: “(Billups) is a leader, he came to this team and brought a business-like attitude to this team, something I was looking to bring in the offseason and he brought it. He brought the defensive mindset we were looking for and the things we were working on in the offseason.”
Billups on the standing ovation from the Denver fans: “It was great to know the fans appreciate the hard work we put in all year, we’re just trying to keep it going.”
Billups on how they will approach playing in the Western Conference Finals: “We’re very dangerous, if our defense is locked in and paying attention to the small things, our offense is explosive. We’ve got so many guys who can beat you and hurt you, it’s just about being locked in and focused. It’s not over, we’re still on a roll, the road ain’t over yet, we don’t really have time to celebrate. We’re moving on to bigger and better things and hopefully we can remain successful.”
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Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Announcers: Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on the needs of the Dallas Mavericks for next season: “(Dallas) has got problems, they’ve got a great player in Dirk Nowitzki, they’ve got to make a decision on Josh Howard and Jason Terry is a great guy to bring off your bench. The big question is Jason Kidd. They’ve got issues, they’ve got to get much younger, they’ve got to get some help for Dirk, they need to find some guys who can be physical around him. The Rockets brought some pit bulls for Yao Ming because he’s a finesse player. Dirk is a great player, but he’s a finesse player. They’ve got to bring in some big guys to help him rebound because he isn’t a great rebounder, and they need some depth on the bench. You look at their bench, you’ve got Brandon Bass, (Jason) Barea and that’s pretty much it.”
Barkley on the future of Mavericks guard Jason Kidd: “Jason Kidd is a great player and a Hall of Famer, but he’s at the end of the road. I don’t think he can be a point guard on a championship team. He can be a guy coming off the bench, he can be a great influence in the locker room, but as far as him being a starting point guard against the elite point guards in the NBA, those days are past him. There is a reason Chauncey (Billups) went ballistic tonight he can’t stay in front of those guys anymore. That’s why there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes it’s a train.”
Barkley on his pick for the NBA Finals matchup: “Denver and Cleveland are the two best teams I’ve seen in the playoffs. I’m going to stick with my pick, I think the Denver Nuggets are going to the Finals. The Lakers have been too inconsistent, the Denver Nuggets have everything, they’ve finally got leadership, they’ve calmed down a couple of boneheads and Carmelo Anthony is the best scorer in the NBA right now.”
Smith on picking the Rockets to beat the Lakers in the series: “I’m not counting the Rockets out. We’ve seen the Lakers, they are the most skilled team in basketball, probably the best personnel from 1-12, and they know it and they are arrogant about it. Because they are arrogant, they get complacent. The only way the Rockets know how to play is hard. When the Lakers couple their effort with their skill they are too much, but if they don’t couple that effort and the Rockets play with more effort…if you don’t play with effort your skill doesn’t matter.”
Log onto TNT OverTime on NBA.com for a full replay of Inside the NBA and exclusive reports from TNT announcers.
On Birdman:
Ah, I remember the days when the media and NBA fans hated ALL players who had tatoos and engaged in over the top antics (especially cheap fouls and flopping) — especially when they had minimal talent. It’s nice to see that things have changed.
They have changed, right?
Ah…the cult figure personified. So live, so flawed, so true…he’s just like me and you.
T3, Miz -
They liked Jason Williams, aka White Chocloate.
Temple,
I’m with you on that. I’m really upset at how the media has covered the whole Cuban/Martin situation. Trina and Kenyon Martin’s mother had things thrown at them during the last game in Dallas. The fans who did this were asked to leave. The media has said nothing about two woman having had things thrown at them while sitting in the stands of an NBA game. Could you imagine the reaction if these woman were another players family? People of color are still not getting respect from the media. I was listening to ESPN 950 the other night on my way to work around 10:30 pm. the topic was the Cuban/ Martin incident. First of all the one host didn’t even bother to gets the facts correct saying that Kenyon’s mother said something to Cuban first to justify him pointing at her and insulting her son. It gets better though. He then went on to say these guys who don’t pay child support and disrespect woman all the time have the nerve to get upset if someone says something to their mama. I was so mad I had to take a minute to calm down before going into my job. WHEN ARE BLACK ATHLETES GOING TO STOP BEING 40 MILLION DOLLAR SLAVES????? This is station owned by ESPN. Talk radio or not that statement was racist and unacceptable.
Mizzo…LOL
Michelle — ESPN is essentially like Fox. At its upper echelons it is owned and managed by persons who have a clear disdain for Black folk. I find there are two solutions: 1) stop consuming their products. 2) consistently and publicly hold them accountable for peddling in false information or charged and volatile images.
There are so many content outlets available now that ESPN need not be your provider of first, second, third or fourth resort.
The interesting thing about the network is that it has changed so much since its “Golden Years” when Olbermann and Patrick did “The Big Show.” In the late 80′s and 90′s (before they hired hacks like Marriotti and Kuselias and so many others), you didn’t get all this nonsense. They were still trying to build the brand. Now, the brand is ubiquitous and they don’t need to do anything but pander to a specific demographic. So, that’s what they’re doing. Olbermann and Patrick left. Why don’t you?
Temple,
GOTCHA!!!
Message to Mark Cuban:
Dirk will never bring Dallas a championship.
HAHA Vleeflo…..man folks in Dallas are saying Dirk is a top player after the Denver series.
Man weed is a hell of a drug….LOL!!!
Anyway I am glad that they were eliminated……tired of the racial undertones from the fans and media here in Dallas when it came to the nuggets.
Oh and Michelle…….bless your soul sista….I am gonna tell you like I tell my wife who is named Michelle too. “You got to turn that stuff off baby its bad for your brain” LOL!!!
But I feel you sista………these bigots here on the radio in Dallas are unreal how they have been doging out the nuggets.
I bet my boy Avery is laughing his @ss off counting Cuban money talking about “I told Mark them boys were soft”….LOL!!!!
Oh and cosign Temple.
What did you say that one time brotha…….the volume control is the greatest invention ever given to black folks.
vleeflo
That should say folks in Dallas are saying Dirk is a top 3 player
I see Howards proving he is the best center in the league (after Duncan who is a center, I don’t care what the media says).