Dalembert Moves Well, Dunks Better

The Sixers center said that he was pleased, but that he still had a way to go.

DURHAM, N.C. - In a week that had little news or excitement, Samuel Dalembert's appearance in a 76ers intrasquad scrimmage yesterday was more than just a footnote.

Dalembert moved well and dunked even better during the training-camp scrimmage at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The center suffered a stress fracture in his left foot while competing for Canada in last summer's Olympic qualifying tournament. He complained of pain after Canada's last game, on Aug. 30, and had to wear a boot and cast for about a month. The boot didn't come off until Monday.

"I am very pleased with my performance, the way I came in," Dalembert said afterward. "I've got a little limitation in terms of jumping and turning."

During the time reporters were able to observe the workout, Dalembert scored on two emphatic dunks and a nice turnaround jumper.

"He hadn't done a whole lot this training camp, so to go out and play the way he did this day, I was pleasantly surprised," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Now we're not going to know how he feels until [today], so we will have to wait until then."

The Sixers will have two practices today, and Dalembert is limited to just one per day at this point. He said he would likely practice in the evening session to give himself more time to recover.

Dalembert said that he was disappointed in his jumping but that it was going to come back the more he was on the court.

While Dalembert had been participating in limited contact during the first three days of practice, this was by far his most work.

After practice, he experienced pain in his calf and went immediately for treatment.

"The calf was killing me because I was starting to stay away from putting pressure on my foot," Dalembert said.

While the Sixers will be staging competition for minutes at most positions, center is where they have the least depth. Much-traveled veteran Calvin Booth is Dalembert's backup. The only other player on the roster listed as a center is rookie Herbert Hill, who is no certainty to make the team.

The players realize how much Dalembert means to the team, especially after last season, when he started all 82 games and averaged 10.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.94 blocked shots in 30.9 minutes.

"Today was a good start for Sam," swingman Andre Iguodala said. "He looked pretty good, ahead of his normal schedule in training camp."

source : philly.com

NETS GET FIRST LOOK AT ARMSTRONG

October 6, 2007 -- Darrell Armstrong kept pondering his decision in the shower Wednesday night - five, 10, finally 20 minutes. The veteran guard walked into his bathroom all but a Maverick, but walked out a Net - and they say they're a better team for it, better for having one of the most infectious leaders in the NBA.

Armstrong cleared waivers Wednesday and signed with the Nets, practicing for the first time yesterday. He reached the 2005-06 NBA Finals with Dallas and came to the Nets because he's convinced he can help them go one step further.

"I fell like this team's very close. This team is a contender. This team has a lot of weapons. If I can bring my leadership off the bench while Jason [Kidd] is not on the floor it can help big," Armstrong said. "Every year I'm here to win a championship. I know I can play, so I felt New Jersey could be a great fit.

"To be honest, about 7 o'clock I was in the shower. . . . I was already leaning toward Dallas. Just kept thinking, water running over me, just thinking. I just kept thinking about New Jersey, and made up my mind, told my wife when I came out of the shower that I'm going to New Jersey."
He knew the Mavericks wanted him back, but Marcus Williams' broken foot created immediate playing time in New Jersey.

"He can still play. He's one of the best leaders in the NBA. The injury to Marcus Williams and the opportunity to come in and play right away (swayed him)," said agent Glenn Schwartzman, who got Armstrong a one-year, $1.2 million deal, ostensibly to compete with Mateen Cleaves and Eddie Gill.

"He's extremely high-energy, very, competitive," said Lawrence Frank. "Those traits carry over. That's why he's been so effective for so long."

Though the 39-year-old was the NBA's third-oldest player last year and his only offseason exercise is golf, he says he'll be ready by the opener.

"I can get 10-14 points, get stops, get pressure, and change the game," Armstrong said. "That's my job, put pressure on the ball, get the tempo changed if it's not already in our favor. That's what I've done my whole career."

source : nypost.com

Knicks Return Likely For Allan Houston

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Allan Houston is leaning toward rejoining the Knicks but likely will wait until tomorrow before making a final decision, according to a person close to the veteran shooting guard.

Should Houston choose the Knicks over the Nets, there is no guarantee that he will make the 15-man roster. Isiah Thomas currently has 15 players with guaranteed contracts and would have to make one roster move in order to keep second-round pick Demetris Nichols. If the Knicks elect to keep both Nichols and Houston, the club would have to eat two contracts, which wouldn't make fiscal sense.

When asked why he would go to such great lengths to bring in Houston at the expense of possibly releasing a younger player, Thomas said: "It's out of respect. He's a great Knick. He wants to come back and give it a shot."

Yesterday, Thomas hinted that Nichols could have trouble making the team while at the same time strongly endorsing veteran guard Fred Jones. The Knicks would have held Nichols' draft rights had the rookie from Syracuse played overseas.

"That ship has sailed," Thomas said. "It was an option for him and team-wise for us down the road it would have been great to hold onto his rights. But we don't have that option now."

Nichols wants to play in the NBA and could be in danger of being cut, especially if Houston comes in and proves that he can be a contributing player. Houston, who was forced to retire because of chronic knee pain, has a lot of catching up to do considering he has already missed the first week of camp.

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source : nydailynews.com

Monta Ellis Released from Hawaii Hospital After Spraining Neck

LA'IE, Hawaii, Oct. 6 (AP) -- Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis was released from the hospital after injuring his neck in practice.

He left Castle Hospital in Kailua on Friday night on his own accord with what the team said was a neck sprain. Ellis underwent a battery of tests, including an MRI and CT scan, and all were normal.

He hit his head on teammate Brandan Wright's knee. He lay face down for 20 minutes, showing only slight movement before he was carried off the court on a stretcher.

His status was listed as day-to-day and his availability wasn't immediately known for preseason games against the Los Angeles Lakers in Honolulu on Tuesday and Thursday. The Warriors' training camp is on the campus of BYU-Hawaii.

The 21-year-old Ellis averaged 16.5 points and 4.1 assists for the revitalized Warriors last season, his second in the NBA. He was chosen the NBA's Most Improved Player.

source : NBA.com

Yao Lends Ear Tto New System

AUSTIN — For all the changes rushing toward Rockets center Yao Ming in his first practice of the season Friday, his first adjustment came before the first beads of sweat dripped to the floor.
There would be time to get accustomed to the new offense, get to know new teammates and coaches.

First, however, he needed to brush up on lip reading.

"After Jeff Van Gundy, his voice is much lower than Jeff," Yao, who is almost deaf in his left ear, said of Rockets coach Rick Adelman. "That's another challenge for my ear. Everybody knows I have a bad ear. I think our trainer did not tell him that. I need to stay closer to our new coach."
After that, however, Yao seemed to have little difficulty, despite missing the first three practices of the Rockets' training camp.

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Lakers’ Walton Strains Hamstring In Practice

HONOLULU, Oct. 5 (AP) -- Luke Walton and Derek Fisher sustained minor injuries Friday during Lakers' training camp.

Walton strained his right hamstring and is listed as day-to-day. Fisher received a deep, 1-inch gash to the forehead when he took an elbow from center Larry Turner.

Walton sat out the remainder of the workout, while Fisher did not require stitches and returned. Kobe Bryant didn't participate in the final minutes of practice as he iced his left knee.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said injuries during camp are inevitable.

"They're going to happen,'' he said. "Guys are getting in shape and in the process they've got tight muscles and things get stretched, pulled, etc.''

"We think we've got this early enough so we have avoided anything that's a long-term injury, but we'll wait and see.''

Jackson said he's aware some players are more susceptible to injuries than others.

"We do know who the toilet tissue paper players are. We make a note of that. Right now we have a few of them,'' he said.

Two years ago in Honolulu, Walton strained his left hamstring late in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' preseason game with the Golden State Warriors and missed a few weeks of the regular season.

"We're aware that he's sweating a lot - low potassium here in Hawaii. He's got to eat more bananas,'' Jackson said.

In July, the 27-year-old Walton, who has played all of his four NBA seasons with the Lakers, had become an unrestricted free agent and received a six-year deal to remain with the team.

The 6-foot-8 Walton averaged career highs of 11.4 points, five rebounds and 4.3 assists in 60 games last season, all starts. He played 33 minutes a game, led the team in scoring twice, five times in rebounds and 18 times in assists.

The Lakers face the Warriors in two exhibition games next week.

source : NBA.com

Iverson Guarded In Desire To Stay

Two years is a lengthy period of time, unless you're talking about the world of athletes and contracts.

Nuggets guard Allen Iverson has two seasons remaining on his contract: this year and next. Thursday, the eight-time NBA all-star said he would like to finish his career in Denver but will go wherever a good chance to win a title takes him.

"I'd rather be here," Iverson said. "But I mean, I'm going to do what's right for me. And that's just as far as being able to win a championship. That's the most important thing to me.

"So, after this contract is over, I would like to stay here. But, you know, I'm going to try to do what's right for me and my family."

Iverson is owed $20 million next season, but he has an early-termination option following this season. Exercising that option and leaving the money on the table, however, are unlikely. Neither side has broached the idea of a contract extension beyond next season.

Iverson was brought to Denver in a December trade after he spent his first 10 full professional seasons in Philadelphia, where he signed two contract extensions, including his current four-year, $76.7 million pact that expires in 2009.

"I don't think about contracts," he said. "When my time is up, I'll weigh my options after the season after my contract is up. I don't get into it like guys do when they're coming into the last year of their contract, and then they start worrying about if they're playing well and thinking about their money. The only thing I think about is basketball. I got enough money."
Still, how he plays will be key to how long Denver commits to him.

Nuggets coaches have talked about monitoring Iverson's regular-season minutes in order to keep him as fresh as possible for the playoffs. Iverson insists he's still playing at a high level.

"Obviously, nobody is the same as they was two, three years ago," he said. "But I still feel strong. I can do the same things that I've been able to do on the basketball court. I can still go wherever I want to go on the court. I can create whatever I want to create.

"I've seen Michael Jordan dominate at 37. I'm 32 years old and people are trying to put me in a wheelchair already. It's not going to happen. Not going to happen. I don't get in that wheelchair until God says, 'You need to be in it."'

Nuggets coach George Karl appreciated the impact Iverson made with the Nuggets last year.

"A.I. is such a plus, that I can't even fathom anything negative," Karl said. "The guy came in here with negative baggage, and the first game I remember saying to my assistants, 'This guy says the right stuff all the time.'

"We had moments where he got emotional and angry, but the man wants to win. He's a tremendously talented fun guy to watch play. Even the coaches love watching him play. He'll be better (this season). Eighty games is a lot better for playoff preparation than 35 games that he had in some turmoil situations last year."

source : denverpost.com