Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your beets. Rick Bonnell, Charlotte Observer: "Tyson Chandler knows the game and knows his game, too. It hasn't always seemed that way in his first season with the Charlotte Bobcats. There are a lot of words you could use to describe him so far; 'extraneous' and 'overpaid' might be mean, but not entirely inaccurate. 'Impactful' has been less frequent, but it would surely describe what Chandler did Saturday in Miami. He finished with 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals off the bench against the Heat, and drew unqualified praise afterward from coach Larry Brown. Brown missed practice Monday while tending to a family issue,NIKE AIR MAX 2012 MENS Black Red, but assistant coach Dave Hanners saw just what his boss meant. 'Just the way he moved, the way he acted, getting from point A to point B,' Hanners said of the assertiveness Chandler displayed in Miami. 'It's getting out on pick-and-rolls and then getting back to his man so that nobody had to help anybody else. That's so big in the NBA. If I jump out to stop the ball on a pick-and-roll, and I'm a big guy, if I don't get back to my man, somebody else has to take him. And then I have to find somebody else to (guard). By the time you get to their last guy, he already has an open jump shot.' " Tim MacMahon, ESPNDallas.com: "Jason Terry ditched his customized clear plastic mask after wearing it for a couple of games. Doctors advised him to wear it for the rest of the season, but he said he'd get rid of it as soon as the feeling returned to the left side of his face, where he had a broken orbital bone surgically repaired." Ira Winderman, Miami Sun Sentinel: "Three games against the Nets, three different coaches. Lawrence Frank coached New Jersey in the first meeting, Kiki Vandeweghe in the second and John Loyer filled in Monday for Vandeweghe. The teams meet in an April 14 season finale, with a lottery apparently being held for that assignment." Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports: "With Monday's announcement that the Golden State Warriors are officially for sale, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison remains at 'the top of the list' of suitors for the franchise, NBA sources said. The Warriors announced Monday they have hired Galatioto Sports Partners to spearhead the sale of the struggling franchise. Sources said as many as six potential buyers have made inquiries and a sale could be completed within three months, but Ellison is the only suitor who has so far publicly acknowledged his interest. 'He's at the top of the list,' one league source said. 'Everyone else is two, three, four and five. If he wants to buy it, he's going to buy it.'" Dave D'Alessandro, New Jersey Star-Ledger: "The last time he tried something this thankless and audacious, he was a mere kid. John Loyer can't give you an exact date, but you never forget the key details in such acts of peril,Nike Zoom rookie Penny Hardaway III Mens Black, because coaching a basketball game - even on major college level - can scare the bejabbers out of you. It was at the University of Cincinnati, back in '92 or '93, he recalled. Nick Van Exel was the Bearcats star in those days. Bob Huggins was under suspension for cursing a referee, so he put a 26-year-old assistant coach in charge of the game against Marquette. Yes, Loyer and Cincinnati won that game. 'It's a big jump,' said Loyer, the Nets' assistant, who took over for Kiki Vandeweghe Monday night in their 99-89 defeat against the Miami Heat while the latter attended to an urgent family matter. 'So I had two days of practice for that [game]. It was quite an experience.' There's probably even more pressure on the NBA level, especially when you're asked to take over a historically bad team (7-63) and you're not even sure when the head coach is coming back. All season, Vandeweghe has been dealing with the illness of his mother, Colleen, and her condition Monday night was described as 'grave.' Vandeweghe, therefore, will remain in the Los Angeles area until further notice, which puts the team in Loyer's purview indefinitely." Mike Baldwin, The Oklahoman: "Ginobili has averaged 20.6 points since the NBA All-Star break after averaging 13.4 the first three months. Brooks said if you play Ginobili too close, he'll drive by you. Lay off him, and he'll drain a 3-pointer. 'You can tell why he's Charles Barkley's favorite player,' Brooks said. 'The guy is fun to watch. He's a nightmare to coach against, but I love watching him play. I loved watching him [Sunday night]. Tonight, I didn't like watching him.' " Howard Beck, New York Times: "On Sunday, [Jared] Jeffries also used his defensive skills to offer a spirited defense of his supposedly offense-obsessed former coach. [Mike] D'Antoni, he said, is simply using the tools he has. 'I think that Mike's a realist,Air Jordan 2012 A New arrival Mens Shoes White Black Blue,' Jeffries said. 'Defending, like anything else in the NBA, is a talent level. And you can't have people that are not great defenders and expect them to be great defenders. Just like you can't have people that aren't great scorers and expect them to be great scorers. He put me out there to be a defender and he puts guys out there to be scorers. He does focus on defense, but if you don't have defensive players, then you're not going to be a great defensive team.' He added, 'It's not like he tells the guys, "Don't go out there and guard anybody, just try to score." That's not the case at all.' " Mike Wells, Indianapolis Star: "Dealing with Roy Hibbert's(notes) foul trouble was a given last season for the Indiana Pacers. It was a constant problem for the rookie center. Hibbert averaged more than three fouls in just 14 minutes a game last season. His constant foul problems kept him saddled to the bench most of his rookie season, stunting his development. Hibbert hasn't had the same problem this season, and it's paying off on both ends of the court. He again is averaging more than three fouls, but he is able to play nearly 25 minutes a game. 'I was trying to work on my fouling all summer, but unfortunately it's taken me this long to get the hang of it,' Hibbert said. 'I just have to keep learning.'" AP: "Zydrunas Ilgauskas will consider a couple of different offers from the Cleveland Cavaliers and choose the one he wants Tuesday morning, his agent said Monday night. Ilgauskas has the option of signing for just the remainder of this season or adding extra years to the deal. 'It's just a matter of how long of a contract we'll sign,' Herb Rudoy said. Earlier in the day, Rudoy said he wasn't interested in any deals beyond this season. He wanted Ilgauskas to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Ilgauskas, though, is contemplating signing with Cleveland beyond this year. 'It'll be resolved for sure,' Rudoy said earlier in the day. 'We're not very far apart. The plan is to try and get him on the plane tomorrow.' " Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle: "Rockets forward Shane Battier(notes) will be out for at least 10 days with a sprained MCL in his left knee suffered in the first half Sunday in New York. Battier left Sunday's game in the second quarter after his left leg was caught under teammate Kyle Lowry(notes). After the injury, Battier got up, took a 3 from the corner and got the rebound, before he went down hard on a foul. He stayed in the game to take his free throws, but immediately fouled to stop the clock and head to the locker room. He underwent an MRI Monday in Chicago that revealed the extent of the damage."
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