From Peter Vescey in Friday’s NY Post.
Dragged down in Boston on opening night by a strong overtime undertow and one Garden regular straight away second guessed Larry Brown’s continued use of Stephon Marbury, who aborted seven of 12 free throws.
In all fairness to Hooked on Stephonics, TV replays show, on three of four consecutive misses from the welfare line in the fourth quarter, he was clearly fouled in the act of shooting.
Having the number one pick of last June on board couldn’t have worked out better for Jamaal Magloire. With Bogut around to rebound (26 in two games) and run the floor and find the open man with precision passes and stick mid-range jumpers, the All-Star center isn’t under any pressure to try to exceed his limitations should he ever recognize them.
I told you the Pistons told me a mistake was made by making Smush Parker the last cut of last season. Now everyone knows. If you guessed the Lakers’ second-leading scorer against the Nuggets was Smush (20 points, 8-12 FG and suffocating defense on Andre Miller), you get an autographed copy of Phil Jackson’s new book ripping Lamar (2-for-13) Odom.
Having watched the Suns twice this week — folding to the Mavs on Tuesday, hanging on versus Kobe and The Other Guys last night, I can only assume Phoenix’s newfound emphasis on serious defending will kick in sometime around June or whenever Amare Stoudamire is ruled out for the season (whichever comes first).