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Sunday, March 14

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Mavericks backup point guard J.J. Barea, who could become an unrestricted free agent this summer, told The Post he has the Knicks as his top choice if he doesn't stick with the Mavericks. The Mavericks, looking to open cap space, have a team option and the emergence of young French point guard Rodrique Beaubois could become a factor. New York Post

"Hey, if I got to go somewhere, the Knicks is the place," Barea said. "It's New York City. A lot of Puerto Ricans over there. And I like the coach [Mike D'Antoni] they have now. I love his system and the way they play. If I got to go somewhere, I would love to be there." New York Post

"I like everything here and would want to stay here as long as I can," Barea said. Mark Cuban is one of the wealthiest owners in the league, but he already has tied up a lot of money at the point guard position with Kidd. Barea is averaging 7.7 points and 3.4 assists. New York Post

The seven-time All-Star with the expiring $23 million contract admits the Knicks, who took on a Mavericks’ team riding a 13-game winning streak Saturday, might not see the real him the final month of this season. Which already has prompted wonder about whether he’ll ever be the old T-Mac again. He dismisses that, saying, "I’m just trying to really get to that point healthy. I don’t think going into next season there will be any problems [like] I’m having right now." Bergen Record

Gay realizes he is in an enviable position either way. He can be a prized piece on a team that could compete for years or a highly sought free agent. “Of course I want to make myself known, but I just want to be a dominant player on my team,’’ he said. “I think I can do that, and if other teams see I can do that, it is what it is. “Wherever I am at, I want to be that kind of player. Memphis is my home right now, but this is a business, and whatever happens, happens. I’ve been in Memphis for four years and wouldn’t mind staying there.’’ Boston Globe

Another cornerstone is swingman O.J. Mayo, who apparently has had his issues with Gay, though he made a plea to Heisley and general manager Chris Wallace to bring Gay back. “I think this is an important summer for us,’’ said Mayo, who is averaging 17.5 points in his second season. “We have guys who are free agents. We have to do the right thing and keep this young team together, and we are starting to find some kind of rhythm and keep it together.’’ Boston Globe

It may be a quite a bit, his agent explains, because there's so many teams with cap space and so few premium free agents out there. Right now the Spurs aren't willing to talk about a contract. "You've got all these teams with all this money, and only one can sign LeBron," Herb Rudoy, who also represents Zydrunas Ilgauskas, told the San Antonio Express-News. "We all know Manu is a player who makes a difference. "I have no problem, and Manu doesn't either, to go to free agency and see what's out there. His heart is really in San Antonio, but the onus is not on me, it's on the other side of the table to want to discuss this. I'd be surprised if they let him go to free agency, but it's their decision." Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Charlotte Bobcats added veteran Larry Hughes Saturday, but that won't be immediate help in filling the minutes Gerald Wallace will miss. Wallace sprained his left ankle just before halftime of Friday's victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. While a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Saturday showed no fracture or ligament tear, Wallace figures to miss at least the next two games. Charlotte Observer

The Spurs added a 14th player to their roster Saturday, signing another Development Leaguer, Garrett Temple, to a 10-day contract. Temple has spent most of his season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston's D-League affiliate, but has also had NBA stints with the Rockets and Sacramento Kings. San Antonio Express-News

Although the Blazers say they have moved past Turkoglu's last-minute change of heart, there is no denying the process has left scars. "I thought the way he handled that whole situation ... I thought he could have handled it in a different way," McMillan said last month before the Blazers played in Toronto. "Some of the things he said, some of the things he did, he didn't have to do that or say that." Oregonian

"You know, I don't really want to get into it," McMillan said. "But I heard those words ... and then all of the sudden he is in Toronto. And that's OK. But it could have been handled differently. In saying you're coming, and committing ... of course, you have the right to change your mind. So hey, he's made his decision and we've moved on." Oregonian

The Raptors now hold the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. Not too long ago they were No. 5. If Chicago gets its act together down the stretch, Toronto could miss the postseason all together. That certainly isn’t the way to convince Bosh to stick around. “We’re not playing basketball the way we need to. I guess for some reason, we don’t like to secure a lead and we don’t like to win basketball games.” “That’s the only thing I can think of. We come out here, we talk about it, we have a billion meetings. We can talk all we want. Unless we do it, it really doesn’t matter. We talk about the third quarter. We talked about the third quarter uesterday. We talked about it at shootaround today. And we go out and do the same thing. So I don’t know. We just lack execution.” Contra Costa Times

“Just do it. Act like you care. You know, we need to do the things that win. We don’t do the things that win. I’m going down playing offense on their side of the basketball court and their bench is louder than we are. That doesn’t make any sense. They’re not playing for anything. We’re trying to make the playoffs. We’re maybe trying to get a fifth seed, but that’s like slipping every day. We can’t even tell. This isn’t playoff basketball. We’re supposed to be gearing up for the playoffs. Their bench and players are more active than ours is. They get more stops. They get more offensive rebounds. Everybody’s doing everything.” Contra Costa Times

“It ain’t confidence. You just play. If you got feelings and stuff like that, this isn’t the sport for you. Plain and simple. The real world isn’t for you if you have too many feelings. If somebody’s hurting your feelings, you go out there and you play basketball and you play tough because nobody cares about how you feel. Nobody cares if you’re on a 10-game losing streak. Nobody cares if you’re on the road. The only think people care about is if you win a basketball game. That’s it.” Contra Costa Times

“I don’t know. I’m glad I’m not the coach. I wouldn’t know what to do either. I don’t know how many times you can change it, how many speeches you can give. I don’t know how many lineup changes there can be. I don’t know. The coaches can only do so much. We have to take control of this team because time is ticking and it’s counting down and if we keep playing like we are right now, we’re going to be on the outside looking in.” Contra Costa Times

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Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for making contact with a referee. The NBA also announced Saturday that Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry has been fined $25,000 for improper conduct toward a referee and for failing to leave the court in a timely manner after his ejection. MSNBC.com

Hinrich didn't speak with reporters after the game, but Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said he wasn't worried about a suspension because nothing happened. ''Kirk wasn't going in to bump him or anything,'' Del Negro said. ''It's because the referee [Adams] stopped right in front of him like that. That's all it was.'' Chicago Sun-Times

Gentry was fined $25,000 for his ejection from Friday night's loss to the Lakers after reacting when officials did not assess a flagrant foul against Pau Gasol of the Lakers against Louis Amundson: "I don't know what there is to talk about. I thought it was a blow to the face and a flagrant foul and that's really all there is to say about it. "It was a nice, hard, physical game. Believe me, Pau is not a dirty player at all. That's not what he is. But in that situation right there I thought it was a flagrant foul." Arizona Republic

Perspective No. 2 came from Rajon Rondo, the head of the snake on offense and defense for the Celtics but not one to be bothered with trivialities. In a painful interview session that actually was cordial and revealing by Rondo's standards, among the questions he fielded was about what sort of body language his teammates have exhibited as the Celtics enter the most critical weeks of the Big Three era. "I don't really try to read 'em," Rondo said with a mixture of derision and simplicity. "I just play with 'em." CBSSports.com

"I'm not a believer that you can just turn it on when the playoffs start," Pierce said. "You get a team that wins seven, eight, nine games in a row, you feel like you're unstoppable and you see a winning streak go off. That's what we're trying to build here." CBSSports.com

As for Varejao, Perkins said he’s a frustrating opponent to guard. “All the time he’s more of the instigator,” Perkins said. “I think you gotta be more of the instigator when you’re playing against him. You got to hit him first. He’s a guy who flops to get a lot of calls, takes charges, offensive rebounds. I think you just got to keep a body on him and play against him hard.” Boston Herald

James, though, sees something else. "To me, the Celtics look bored with the regular season," James said. "I'm not saying they've tanked the regular season, I'm just saying an experienced team like Boston has so much talent, they know how to win in the playoffs. Just looking at them, they look like they're ready for a new challenge." Cleveland Plain Dealer

Now in his seventh season, it is commonplace for James to have ongoing discussions with coach Mike Brown about who should be in the game, which defense the team should be in and where other players on the court should and shouldn't be. Brown has fostered this, even if he's routinely mocked for it, because his philosophy is to get the superstar to buy in and invest himself in the decisions. Just as a corporation, by often making James a partner in the process, may have a player more dedicated to the success of theentire product. "I see things that I think may work throughout the course of a game and I've been able to make moves on the fly and it helps our team," James said. "I think it is growth that comes with experience and with leadership." Cleveland Plain Dealer

James, a student of the game's history, knows this and can feel it. Being a player-coach is currently not allowed and, without that option, James said he doesn't think he could ever be a head coach. "I wouldn't want to be a head coach in the NBA, I'll tell you that," James said. "Way too much pressure as a head coach. I like head coaches, but [it's] not for me." This from a someone who likes to say he personally doesn't believe in pressure. "As a coach, you have to deal with 15 different personalities," James said. "You have to police them but at the same time understand they are grown men and at the end of the day they are going to do what they want to do. If something goes wrong, the blame automatically goes to the coach. That's a tough job." Cleveland Plain Dealer

Sometimes, he can't even operate at the lowest of altitudes, as was the case when he didn't play at all in the fourth quarter of the Knicks' loss in Memphis on Friday. But that, McGrady admits, comes with the territory. Still working his way back from microfracture surgery 13 months ago, and after playing very little in six games for Houston in the first part of the season, he accepts the pain as a necessary evil during his comeback. But something else was bothering McGrady even more as he went into Saturday night's game in Dallas against the Mavericks in American Airlines Center. "You know what I miss?" he said after a 25-minute outing against the Grizzlies, when he made only one basket in five attempts. "Certainly, I miss being in close games. Down the stretch of games and just being able to take over a game … you know, I miss that. I miss that competition." New York Daily News

He misses being the Tracy McGrady of old. "Right now, I'm just sitting there, saying, 'damn' and shaking my head," he said. "It eats me up. But there's nothing I can really do at this point. It's quite difficult, going from where I used to be, to seeing how I am out there right now. It's difficult, really." New York Daily News

Ben Q. Rock: Stan Van Gundy on Brandon Bass: "He's still learning what we're doing defensively." Praised his energy, says he was "instrumental" in win. Twitter.com

Dunleavy has played in 549 games without making the playoffs. "It's not what I expected when I was traded here," Murphy said. "This place has always had a strong tradition. They had a reputation of going to the playoffs, and going deep into the playoffs. It didn't happen the past couple years and it's not going to happen this season." Indianapolis Star

Do you see yourself as a 2, a 3, or swingman in the NBA? Theo Robertson: Definitely a 2. I think, just in college I've been forced to play other positions that will definitely help my game, but definitely a 2 going forward. NBADraft.net: What do you offer to an NBA team...what would you bring to the table? Theo Robertson: That I'm a winner. I can fill various different roles to help teams win. That I'm a complete player there to field any role a team may need. I think versatility is my biggest asset and for that I can be plugged into lot's of different spots. NBADraft.net

As reported Wednesday by The Inquirer, it is anticipated that Jordan will be fired at season's end - if not sooner. If he's worried about being fired at any moment, Jordan didn't show it yesterday. "It doesn't bother me," he said after a film study and short practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "It's something you get used to," he added. "It's part of the business. We are just going to prepare our team to play as well as we can." Philadelphia Inquirer

Knicks assistant Dan D'Antoni created waves with his MSG Network halftime interview in Memphis when he said, "They don't seem to want to compete. They'll have to if they want to stay in the NBA and play NBA teams." New York Post

So two guys who played in the NBA -- Joe Bryant and Micheal Ray Richardson -- want to be the University of Hawaii head basketball coach. How about one who coached at the highest level? A source tells us Brian James, who was an assistant with the Pistons, Raptors, Wizards and, most recently, Bucks, is very interested. Honolulu Star Bulletin

As for the Cavs, league sources indicate Hong Kong businessman Albert Hung's purchase of 15 percent of the team from David Katzman is still stuck in red tape. While sources says there are no major issues holding it up, this has been a year-long process. One insider said that Katzman has been getting impatient waiting for all of his money. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Thursday marked the first time the Golden State Warriors basketball team hosted an LGBT night - adding the gay community to its long roster of diversity-themed games that include everything from Bollywood dancing on Indian culture night to horn-blowing rabbis on Jewish heritage night. "Generally in sports the gay issue is a touchy one, so this is extremely validating for us," said Stuart Leung, president of the San Francisco Gay Basketball Association, a league of eight teams that will use a portion of ticket sales to send players from their Rockdogs team to the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany, in July. San Francisco Chronicle

Although no public announcement was made during the game that it was LGBT appreciation night, the audience clapped enthusiastically for the performers. Earlier in the day, members of the San Francisco Gay Basketball Association were invited to play a pickup game on the Warriors' court. "I just remember playing sports as a kid and never feeling like I could tell people I was gay, so this is a special thing for the NBA to acknowledge players like me," said Rockdogs point guard Mikey Survillion, 25. San Francisco Chronicle

Mateen Cleaves has joined the Pistons broadcast team. Cleaves will be a studio analyst for certain games remaining on the schedule. His next appearance will be the Cleveland game later this month, March 21. Detroit News

Roland Lazenby: "Jerry West" just became a Los Angeles Times Bestseller. It debuted at no. 13 on the hardcover non-fiction list today. Twitter.com

Hawks forward Josh Smith met privately before the game with the family of Rajaan Bennett, the McEachern High football star who was shot and killed by his mother's boyfriend Feb. 18. Smith, a former McEachern student who met Bennett last summer, has pledged to pay six months' living expenses for Bennett's family. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Shelden Williams: Man was driving home and this drunk driver was following us the whole way home swerving and everything we tried to get away. He just kept following us and it was too dark and he was driving to close for us to get his plate numbers! So he pulls up behinds us and almost hits us yet again with lailaa in the back seat of the car! Twitter.com

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