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American Thanksgiving Day.
A tradition passed on from the pilgrim settlers long long ago.
A day in which we take time to give thanks for all that we have and all of the blessings that have been provided to us.
NBA athletes are no less thankful than everyone else. Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard gives his thanks.
The NBA is back, and so is the weekly edition of The Bernucca List.
You remember how this works, right? I give you a list of players, or coaches, or teams, all of whom have something very specific in common. You try to figure out what that common thread is.
When you think you’ve got the answer, drop it in the Comments section below. Or you can send me a Tweet.
First correct answer gets a mention in next week’s list. Second correct answer gets nothing.
Here ya go. Knock yourselves out.
The Bernucca List
| Kelenna Azubuike |
| Jerome Dyson |
| Christian Eyenga |
| Jordan Farmar |
| Dan Gadzuric |
| Josh Harrellson |
| Jerome Jordan |
| D.J. Kennedy |
| Jon Leuer |
| Brad Miller |
| E’Twaun Moore |
| Jordan Williams |
| Sean Williams |
Twitter is a powerful tool, and sometimes it is a way to help you make up your mind.
When you have over 50,000 Twitter followers, as Josh Harrellson does, you can let them help you decide the answers to the life-altering questions of each day — such as, should I shave?
Should I shave or keep the beardinstagr.am/p/QabH5OqJBj/
— Josh Harrellson (@BigJorts55) October 5, 2012
Less than an hour later, Jorts tweeted this:
My face feels much betterinstagr.am/p/QaegCXqJET/
— Josh Harrellson (@BigJorts55) October 5, 2012
The chatter about the Los Angeles Lakers have been non-stop for much of the summer, thanks to their huge offseason acquisitions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. Doc Rivers and Kendrick Perkins aren’t so high on focusing on the Lakers like everyone else though, and are looking forward to another possible meeting with the Miami Heat instead. See what they had to say about the Lakers and the Heat, what lesson Dwight Howard learned from his debacles as a Magic, the expectations Metta World Peace has of the Lakers and more below:
Dwight Howard talked about the valuable lesson he learned about people, and said there were some lies about him that he didn’t appreciate (without elaborating) during his interview with Ric Bucher of ESPN: “I don’t have any regrets, you know. I think everything happened the way that it was meant to happen,” Howard said Saturday in an interview with ESPN The Magazine senior writer Ric Bucher. “I really just wish some of the lies and some of the things being said didn’t come out the way it did, you know.”… ”And it was a tug of war between my feelings and the fans and everybody else and their feelings and what happened to LeBron. And I saw him — everybody hated him for leaving Cleveland and what he did,” Howard said of LeBron James’ free-agent move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat in 2010. “I never wanted anybody to hate me, you know. I wanted everybody to love me, you know, like me, for sticking around and doing what they wanted me to do. And making everybody else happy. And that was a valuable lesson for me, you know. ”I can’t make everybody happy.”
Kendrick Perkins is focused on chasing after the Heat and the championship - not the Lakers, according to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: “Not only is Perkins unfazed, but he also echoed several of his Thunder teammates who already have refuted the notion that the Lakers are now the team to beat in the West. “We are the Western Conference champs,” Perkins said. “So at the end of the day, we’re not chasing nobody except for the ring. We’re chasing Miami to get a championship. It’s no guarantee who is going to be where. But we earned the Western champs so we’re not chasing the Lakers, we’re chasing a championship and that’s what it’s about.”
Perkins’ former coach Doc Rivers also touched on the subject of the Heat and why they matter a lot more than the Lakers, from Celtics Blog: “We have to get to the foul line because when you get to the foul line-that’s one of the big things now in our league-if you can get to the foul line, you can become a dominant defensive team because you get to set your defense every single time. If you keep missing shots against Miami, you’re going to let them run back and forth. I told our guys, “I’m smart enough to know that if we get in a track meet with Miami, they’re probably going to win, but if we get in a thinking meet, we will win that game.” We want them to think. We want them to play under thought, not with their instincts. Honestly, I don’t care about the Lakers…I have my eye squarely on Miami. I come up to my players during the year-they’re in the facility now-I bring up Miami every single day to them. I want them to hate them. I want them to beat them. That’s gotta be our focus.”
Metta World Peace wants to take full advantage of the expensive Lakers roster and try to beat the Bulls regular season record, from Sekou Smith of NBA.com: “What he thinks about the team possibly not having Dwight Howard at the start of Training Camp: “We definitely want to beat the Bulls record and go 73-9, that’s definitely something that I want to do. Whoever is out there at the beginning of the season then we gotta get it. It’s as simple as that. We just have to go get it. (Host: So that Bulls record is something you’re thinking about?) No question. You try to snatch records before you leave this earth. You gotta try to do a lot of great things so it’s definitely a goal. With Dwight Howard, (Steve) Nash, Kobe (Bryant), myself, Pau (Gasol) and then (Antawn)Jamison and a lot of great additions it’s something that’s possible.”
Dwyane Wade discussed the importance of his relationship with 3-point shooters, including the one he developed with Shane Battier last season, from Winderman: “During the run to the 2012 championship, Wade said he began to develop a similar bond with Battier, one that developed late, with Battier’s unlikely postseason insertion into the starting lineup at power forward. ”I think I did a little bit in the Finals,” Wade said. “With the matchup problems, sometimes I drove just to get guys shots. So I knew that once I drove, that bigger guys who were guarding Shane were going to come to the rim and protect the rim. Shane had a lot of open shots.” Wade said he expects to do more of the same this time around. ”My mind frame a lot would be when I get to the paint, when I attack, sometimes I’m going just to draw the defense, knowing I’ve got the shooters and I need to get my shooters shots,” he said. “I can always get my own shot. But when I’m in the game, my mindset is, ‘OK, I need to get these guys going,’ because they’re going to get things open for everyone.”
Eric Gordon was frustrated about being traded from the Clippers to the Hornets, but is happy now. Jorge Sierra of Hoops Hype has the interview: “How did you take the trade from the Clippers to the Hornets? EG: It was tough, a little frustrating, but as soon as I arrived to New Orleans I was just fine and ready to play basketball. How would you define those days during the summer when you were a free agent? EG: Interesting. You’re antsy to get a new contract, a new deal with someone and it worked out well for me. Was it stressful too? EG: It is because you don’t know what’s going to happen. You have to get the most for yourself. I guess that worked out well. Looking back, would you change any of the things you said after signing that offer with the Phoenix Suns? EG: Well, they came on to the table to give me this big contract, and that was a big motivation for the Hornets to step up and match. They did it and now they made me a big key of what they’re doing, so that’s what I looked forward to.”
Why is Hakeem Olajuwon so involved with the Knicks? It has a lot to do with his former teammate and current Knicks coach Mike Woodson, according to Howard Beck of The New York Times: “Having worked with Stoudemire for more than two weeks this summer, Olajuwon is clearly fully invested in assisting Woodson, and ultimately the Knicks, the team he beat in the N.B.A. finals with the Houston Rockets in 1994. “It was something I wanted to do for Mike,” Olajuwon said. “It’s always a joy for me to work with current players, especially for guys that you know you can help their careers.” Woodson and Olajuwon were teammates with the Rockets from 1988 to 1990. Woodson, a veteran at the time, helped the younger Olajuwon mature. Even then, Olajuwon could tell Woodson was interested in coaching once his playing career was over. The two formed a bond, and Olajuwon has watched Woodson become a respected coach in the league. “Mike showed a flash toward the last part of the season of what he can do,” Olajuwon said, referring to the Knicks’ 18-6 record after Woodson replaced Mike D’Antoni in March. “You can tell he is comfortable making the right move to succeed.”
As some of you may know, the site was down on Monday due to GoDaddy issues, but we’re back to fill you in on some relevant NBA news. See what Knicks guard J.R. Smith expects from his team this season, what Dwight Howard has to do to earn the respect of Shaquille O’Neal, what Dwyane Wade thinks of his jump shot and more below.
Speaking of Wade, be sure to check out what he thought when Steve Nash was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and more in Chris Perkins’ column.
J.R. Smith expects big things from from the Knicks this season, according to Marc Raimondi of New York Post: “The Knicks want a ring and “nothing less,” according to JR Smith. The mercurial guard said as much to NYPost.com at a fashion event this weekend. When asked what fans could expect from the Knicks this season, Smith said frankly, “a championship.” “Nothing less,” Smith said. “If we settle for anything less, we already start off losing.” Smith also called out some of the top contending teams in the NBA in the interview, saying the Knicks will beat any of them. “Lakers, Heat – whoever,” Smith said. The Heat won the title last year and added Ray Allen, while the Lakers have brought in Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. As long as the Knicks have Smith, though, they’ll be the league leaders in trash talk and eccentricity.”
Shaquille O’Neal had a conversation with Rachel Whittaker of The Times-Picayune about Dwight Howard, the rumors of him playing in Mexico and more: “What was your reaction to Dwight Howard being traded to the Lakers? ”I don’t have a reaction. You have to care to have a reaction. I’ve got businesses to run. I always tell people that in order to step in my shoes you have big shoes to fill. For him, he’s going to have to at least win three to get people’s respect.” How do you feel about a big center like Howard following your same path to the Lakers following four years with the Magic? ”I’m flattered, if you want to put it like that.” Is there any truth to the reports that you’ll be playing games in the Mexican League next month? ”No truth to that. It’s kind of unfortunate that so-called experts have to get their sources from the Internet. It’s backwards. Especially like when people from ESPN know me and they can call me and ask me, but somebody else said it so they want to be the first to report it even though it’s not true. However, we could talk, but nobody has contacted me.”
Michael Jordan has realized his failures and will hand basketball operations over to Rich Cho. Completely. Matt Moore of CBS Sports has details, from ESPN the Mag: “Obviously, I’m a competitor,” Jordan said this summer when asked about the Bobcats’ 7-59 season. “I never want to be in the record books for failure.” But he is. And what’s more, to get off this already unlikely path, there comes word that Jordan has taken the most unexpected turn of all during the past year: In order to win basketball games, Michael Jordan has removed himself from the equation. He’s promised his front office staff that he’ll let them do their jobs without his shadow looming over their war-room marker boards. More unlikely still, he’s handed over the reins of the Bobcats to a next-generation GM, armed with high-level metrics, to do for Charlotte what he helped do for Oklahoma City – and in doing so, salvage Jordan’s flagging basketball reputation. Michael Jordan, whose claim to ownership stems almost solely from his inability to admit defeat as a player, has, if only by his actions, admitted defeat as president. The dinosaur is making himself extinct.”
Patrick Ewing passed up on the opportunity to coach a D-League team, from Frank Isola of New York Daily News: “Patrick Ewing, who for years has been passed over for coaching positions with the Knicks, recently turned down an opportunity to become head coach of the club’s D-League team, the Daily News has learned. Although Ewing is out of work after he was not retained by Orlando, the ex-Knicks great, who interviewed for the Charlotte Bobcats’ head coach position in June, would prefer to work in the NBA. Ewing has previously worked as an assistant coach with the Wizards, Rockets and Magic but has never been offered a job with the Knicks despite numerous openings over the years. The Knicks currently have a vacancy on their coaching staff but Mike Woodson is expected to hire LaSalle Thompson. It is unclear as to why the Knicks have refused to reach out to Ewing, especially since the club has former Knicks Allan Houston, John Starks, Herb Williams, Larry Johnson and Walt Frazier all under contract.”
Dwyane Wade discussed the issue with his jump shot with Ira Winderman of South Florida Sun Sentinel: “In the wake of a season where he felt his jumper got away from him, Wade said upon further review it was not as much about how he was shooting the ball as how he was going through that motion. Now, with training camp three weeks away, he believes he has a grasp on the situation. ”I have one of the best mid-range shots in the league,” he said. “But, obviously, when you have different injuries, it makes you change a little bit. So it’s just about getting back to that comfort of it and finding out where you are now. ”My midrange game is very important to me. The biggest thing is coming out of my pull-up without losing the ball and just making sure it comes through my hand the right way. When it comes to my shot exactly, I don’t have a bad shot. There’s other reasons why I come up short a lot. So it’s just trying to work the kinks out.”
James Dolan apparently wants Isiah Thomas to return to the Knicks for a position, but Thomas isn’t quite ready, according to Isola: “The one person standing in the way of Isiah Thomas officially returning to the Knicks is Isiah Thomas. According to a source close to the former Knicks president, Thomas and Garden chairman James Dolan have had numerous discussions about a position in the organization, but Thomas has been reluctant to accept the job offer. “Isiah is very close with Jim Dolan but he’s told me that he’s not ready to jump back into the NBA just yet,” said the source, who was with Thomas on Friday at the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Springfield, Mass. “There’s this perception out there that Isiah is desperate to get back, but that’s false. I think it will eventually happen but just not now.”
Andray Blatche will sign with the Nets, but it won’t happen immediately. Fred Kerber of New York Post has the story: “The Andray Blatche to the Nets’ move, a sensible and logical act, is expected to happen. It’s just going to take a little longer than it previously appeared. Blatche, the talented 6-11 power forward who was amnestied by the Wizards, has other business that needs to be addressed first before he could or would make any official agreement, explained his agent, Andy Miller, who still sees the 9.9-point career scorer as a good fit for the Nets. Blatche likely will agree sometime this week to report to the Nets — there are options, but every indication says Brooklyn. Previously, it appeared he might have signed as early as last week.”
