NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.After adding notoriously shot-happy veterans like Zach Randolph and Allen Iverson to a young core that includes Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley, how will Lionel Hollins keep everybody happy at the same time? Apparently by telling them it's every man for himself.
"Every team I played on averaged more than 100 points," Hollins told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "I know the league was different then but it's more fun to play that way. Players love to get up and down the court. And when you move the ball, and not rely on one or two guys, everybody has to step up and play to their maximum ability every night."
Someone who won't be moving anytime soon is Courtney Lee, sidelined with soreness in his left foot, an ailment that could put him behind Chris Douglas-Roberts in the bid to join Devin Harris in the Nets' starting backcourt. Someone who never moved much in the first place is Eddy Curry, who may have lost 40 pounds this summer (he's all the way down to 317!) but is still sidelined with a strained calf. Shocking, right?
In Detroit, Charlie Villanueva is nursing a hamstring injury that will likely keep him in street clothes for the Pistons' preseason opener Monday night, where he'll have to avoid temptation to stand, let alone tweet from the bench, lest he be fined. No one disputes that the NBA's new social media policy is quite sensible (and far less draconian than the NFL's), but are we to believe that Charlie V.'s "groundbreaking tweet" last season truly sparked "numerous complaints" from grumpy, Web 2.0-hating fans last year? That's what the NBA claims, but Jon Bois of MOUTHPIECE Sports (and FanHouse!) is having trouble believing it.
Speaking of trust issues, Mike Jones of the Washington Times wonders if we should believe the Wizards when they say Gilbert Arenas' is missing time with a dislocated finger and not because of his gimpy knee. Even if Gil is taking his return to relevance slowly, at least he can rest assured he's still big in Europe: Agent Zero has one of the most popular jerseys in Europe despite appearing in all of 15 games the past two seasons combined.
But Zero will start the season with a clean slate -- much like the Celtics raised a clean banner -- as in, a completely blank banner -- before media day. What's the story? As Doc Rivers explained, it's an old idea of Red Aurebach's, apparently to remind the team everyday what's expected at the end of the season.
Both Darko Milicic and Allen Iverson have dumped on Detroit lately, but it could be worse ... much, much worse: Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated puts things in perspective with his epic tale of playing hoops with inmates in San Quentin State Prison, a tale that makes you remember how nice it is to have your freedom -- something a lot of people are taking advantage of right about ... now. The work week is over, folks; enjoy the weekend.
