Yahoo: Tightly bunched West standings cause some hassles

Honey Bear · Apr 14, 2009

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...LYF?slug=ap-logjamlogistics&prov=ap&type=lgns

Some excerpts from the article:

“I would rather have it secured because then we could start our preparation,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “Right now, we’re going to have to wait until Thursday morning to see who we’re going to play. The way this is set up now, depending on what the league decides, if you play on the road and you have to play Saturday, that’s tough, that really puts you at a disadvantage.”

The West players aren’t the only ones working overtime. Scouts from the Lakers, Nuggets, Spurs, Rockets and Blazers all spent Easter Sunday in New Orleans, watching the Hornets beat the Mavericks. Utah, which can’t play either of those teams in the first round, was the only playoff-bound West team that skipped the game.
[...]
“It’s hard to zero in on one team. You can’t do that at this point, but it is something all the teams are used to working with and we’re all trying to figure out the same things,” Hornets general manager Jeff Bower said.

“Obviously there’s still a degree of uncertainty: Does (what a potential opponent is doing now) fit the pattern of the year and are there changes being made? But that’s the excitement the playoffs create.”

Houston certainly wasn’t taking any chances. The Rockets still could meet anyone other than the Lakers or Nuggets, though general manager Daryl Morey, with a background in statistics, said they had a 61 percent chance of facing the Hornets or Trail Blazers.

Morey said any team downplaying scouting at this time was “trying to throw people off the scent.” The Rockets dispatched advance scout Pat Zipfel to Los Angeles on Tuesday night to watch the Lakers-Jazz, and they planned to be at both the Blazers’ and Hornets’ finales Wednesday.

“The Lakers with (Andrew) Bynum. (Manu) Ginobili (injured) for the Spurs. New Orleans getting Chandler back. Portland’s got (Greg) Oden rolling,” Morey said. “All these teams, every team is going to look a little bit different.”

The Rockets tried to clear things up for their players Tuesday, giving them a two-sided sheet of paper with all the various playoff scenarios. With so much left to sort out, at least one player planned to ignore the handout.

“I’m going to go home and have a paper-airplane fight with my wife. That’s what I’m going to do with that piece of paper. It means nothing,” forward Shane Battier said. “We’ve got to go to Dallas, we’ve got to play well and we’ve got to win.”
Click to expand...

Here's an interesting article about Pat Zipfel for those interested, advanced scout for the Rockets: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-29-0/The-life-of-an-advance-scout.html

Aznoob · Apr 14, 2009

Battier again, being smart.

All we have to do is win. We shouldn't worry about anything other than winning.

Bamushake · Apr 14, 2009

LOL
"I’m going to go home and have a paper-airplane fight with my wife"

Deckard · Apr 14, 2009

Great find. Battier can be a riot!

Shaunjon · Apr 14, 2009

Battier speaks the truth

DrNuegebauer · Apr 14, 2009

Bamushake said:

LOL
"I’m going to go home and have a paper-airplane fight with my wife"
Click to expand...

Did you know she's a paper aeroplane gold medallist?

ItsMyFault · Apr 14, 2009

LOL.. I love Shane Battier for many reasons, this is one of them.

Tfor3 · Apr 14, 2009

cool. Battier ftw.

BlakeBroussard · Apr 14, 2009

That Shane Battier sure is smarter than your average bear. Quite a wit he has; on top of being a brilliant defender and one of the most knowledgeable NBA players when it comes to basketball smarts.

Hope we can hang on to him for years and years to come.

IROC it · Apr 15, 2009

That's why Battier is my favorite role player on the current roster.

Gritty and witty.

Mailman · Apr 15, 2009

Bamushake said:

**I’m going to go home and have a paper-airplane fight with my wife
Click to expand...

** Where "paper airplane" => erect human penis AND "fight" => therapeutic massage

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