HLBT Daily: It's Close... I can Smell it

Let's start things off nice and messy...
Stephon Marbury sounded off, yet again, on Larry Brown. "I didn't listen to anything he said last year after he lied to me the first time," Marbury told reporters following the Knicks' training session at the College of Charleston. "To me everything was up in the air. If it landed on its feet, it landed. After he lied the first time I pretty much didn't look at (Brown) the same way."

Marbury was allegedly angry at Brown for publicly disclosing content from one of their meetings. Steph felt that there was an understanding that what was said in the meeting, stayed in the meeting. "I'm never bringing him to Vegas," Marbury didn't say.
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Many NBA teams have taken their training camps over to Europe. The Spurs, Clippers, Suns, and Philly all are competing overseas against foreign teams. The games are on NBATV.

Notes from Philly's game vs. Winterthur FCB:

It is likely that this is the year. That is, the year Allen Iverson finally begins to fall off. I would not go as far as saying Iverson struggled in the game, but he lost his step. He lost two steps. His instincts allowed him to succeed in the preseason game, and will also allow him to succeed this NBA season, though you will not see the same Iverson you have grown accustomed to.

What does this mean? A breakout year for Andre Iguodala. Iggy said himself that he is more than ready for a breakout year, and the stars are aligned. If Samuel Dalembert can avoid the injury bug, he too should enjoy a fruitful season. Last year he was plagued by injuries, fell out of favor with the coaching staff, and was often in foul trouble. In the 66 games which he competed in, he played just a bit over half of the game (26.7 mpg). Expect bigger and better things from Dalembert in '06-07.
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Amare Stoudemire is having knee problems again. He has excused himself from practice twice this week because of pain and stiffness in both knees - not just the knee that was operated on last summer. "It's getting worse, so we've got to figure something out to make it better," said Amare.

Team doctor's actually said that this is expected, and that it is not bad news. They said that since there has not been "no appreciable change" in swelling, there is nothing to worry about. I am very suspicious, and do not see Amare playing more than 65 games this season.
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Last Friday night, Stephen Jackson found himself laid out on the hood of a moving car.
Jackson and his crew, which included Pacers teammates Jamaal Tinsley, Jimmie Hunter, and Marquis Daniels, got into an altercation inside a nightclub. According to the reports, the players did do the right thing by leaving the club. Once outside, however, Jackson was on the wrong side of a fist to the face and a front bumper to the legs. Jackson allegedly shot his 9 mm five times in the air to scare the others off.

Police said that they found marijuana in Jamaal Tinsley's car. Unfortunately, it would be more of a surprise for marijuana to be absent in a police report from an altercation including NBA players.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle offered, simply, "[it was] an error in judgment."

If NBA players decide to go to clubs, they do so knowing that there is a good chance they will get into some sort of verbal or physical altercation. I am in no position to make decisions for the players, but if the players decide to go to clubs, they can be held accountable for any trouble they get in. NBA players will never get the benefit of the doubt in this case because the media loves talking about NBA players as being a bunch of hooligans. The simple fact that an NBA player would put himself in a scenario where there is such a high likelihood of trouble, he should be held accountable for his actions.
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Gilbert Arenas doesn't go clubbing. He stays at home in hyperbaric chambers. Gilbert is in the process of converting his house "to the Colorado altitude." He says the costly change will help him keep his stamina up. "How I start the game is how I finish the game," he says. Gilbert also got in shape by training with "a military dude in San Francisco... I wanted to cry a couple of times. While you’re doing it, you’re like, 'This is murder. This guy is killing me.' As soon as you’re done, I was like ‘Wow, I feel energized.'"

"No wonder coach Eddie Jordan said last week that he hadn’t spoken much to Arenas this summer because he could stand only so much 'Gilbertology,'" ~ Kansas City Star.
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Tracy Mcgrady had this to say about Rockets rookie Steve Novak: “He is the best shooter I’ve ever seen. I don’t care if he can do anything else. He can shoot and I love the way he shoots. I don’t care if he can’t dribble, he can’t rebound, can’t play defense, that man can shoot the ball.”

Novak was the subject of my Draft Steals article a while back before the draft. Basically... Tracy is right.
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Phil Jackson on how the Lakers are going to improve: “Well, probably Kobe’s gonna have to take less shots. More players have to be involved in the aspect of scoring. That’s something that has to be a conscious effort, because he can get shots and he knows how to get them, but it will be a conscious effort on his part as to how to do that. I don’t have a number. I think shot 26, 27 times last year. Probably even three less or four less is going to be a marked difference.”
Maybe Kobe's number change will just serve as a constant reminder of how many shots he is allowed to take.
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Good news, Knick fans: Jamal Crawford told a N.J. paper, "I’m still skinny, but I’m a lot stronger." Hopefully Jamal can play this season the way he did in the last quarter of last season.

Bad or good news, depending on who you talk to, Knick fans: Reports from Knicks camp are that Eddy is finishing sprints a bit behind the guards. Isiah is content, saying his conditioning is right where he wants it to be, but others say that Eddy looked sluggish. I'm sure Isiah is trying to keep the sensitive giant's spirits up and the naysayers are being especially tough on Eddy because... they hate him. I would guess the truth lies somewhere in between.
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The NBA season is right down the road. Fantasy leagues have already started, training camp is underway... can't wait. I will be providing a weekly fantasy report on nbadraft.net once the season starts up. Make sure to check it out! I'll keep you posted.