NBA News 2012: Hornets match offer to keep Eric Gordon

Charlotte Hornets logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Guard Eric Gordon will be returning to New Orleans after the Hornets matched Phoenix’s maximum-salary offer of $58 million over four years.

“Eric is a phenomenal player that we are thrilled to have in our organization”, Hornets general manager Dell Demps said. “We thank Tom and Gayle Benson for making this possible with their commitment to the team, our fans and the New Orleans Community.

Gordon said he was open to returning, although he wanted to explore his options as a restricted free agent and eventually said Phoenix “is just where my heart is right now.” But the Hornets had said all along that they planned to match any offer.

“There is always a business element to the NBA when dealing with contracts but I never lost my appreciation for the New Orleans fans,” said Gordon. “I look forward to giving my very best on the court this season to make our team successful.”

Gordon, acquired last December in the Chris Paul trade, led the team with 20.6 points per game to go along with 3.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in nine games in his first season with New Orleans.

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NBA News 2011: Defending The Blake Show

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Successfully defending Blake Griffin is a simple task conceptually.

Load up the paint to restrict his air space, keep a body on him on the pick and roll, force him into settling for jumpers and make him catch the ball in the post as far from the bucket as possible.

Griffin's best months of the season were easily in December and the first 10 games of January until Eric Gordon’s injury.

His overall efficiency in February has decreased from his seasonal marks, as teams have learned to adjust and game-plan more effectively for Griffin, causing his scoring percentages to dip and teams also have been doing a better job in reducing his rebound and assist rates.

Griffin is seeing consistent double and even triple teams, partly a result of his inescapable prominence, but more also as a direct result of Gordon’s absence. Griffin’s supporting cast without Gordon is far too mediocre offensively for opposing teams to respect well enough not to give him their complete attention.

http://basketball.realgm.com/article/211541/Defending_The_Blake_Show

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NBA News 2010: Kevin Durant scores 28 as USA beats Turkey in gold-medal game

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ISTANBUL -- Kevin Durant beamed as he listened to his national anthem, which hadn't been played at the end of the basketball world championship in 16 years.

And that was no "B-Team" standing beside him on the center of the medals platform.

It was the best team in the world.

The United States won its first world basketball championship since 1994 on Sunday, beating Turkey 81-64 behind another sensational performance from the tournament MVP.

Durant scored 28 points, setting a record along the way for most in the tournament by a U.S. player. He left the court with 42 seconds remaining and shared a long hug with coach Mike Krzyzewski, who finally won the world title after his previous two attempts ended with bronze medals.

"Our only option was to come out here and get a gold, and it feels really good to bring this back home to the States," Durant said.

Lamar Odom added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Americans, who won gold in the worlds for the fourth time, doing so with a team that was no sure thing after coming to Turkey without the superstars from its Olympic gold medal team.

Durant was most of the U.S. offense, as he often was throughout the tournament, scoring 11 points in the quarter to help the Americans to a 22-17 advantage.

Unable to crack Turkey's zone, the U.S. kept going smaller to get more shooting on the floor, at one point playing Durant and Rudy Gay with guards Eric Gordon, Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook.

The U.S. held Turkey to one field goal over the first 6 minutes of the second quarter, extending the lead to 10 on a 3-pointer by Durant. The Americans were ahead 42-32 at halftime.

http://espn.go.com/extra/fiba/recap?id=300914940

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NBA News 2010: Chauncey Billups leads balanced effort as U.S. cruises

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ISTANBUL -- Before it can win a world championship, the United States needed to start looking like a world champion.

Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups and the rest of the Americans finally had that appearance Monday, powering into the quarterfinals with a 121-66 victory over Angola.

"Obviously we want to stay humble, but at the same time we have to know that we can do it," forward Kevin Love said. "We know regardless of what people are saying, that we still are the favorites and we should play and really act like it, too."

They did, opening the knockout round with a quick knockout.

With Billups scoring 16 of his 19 points and Durant all of his 17 in the first half, the Americans saved their most impressive performance in Istanbul for the elimination stage, overwhelming the Angolans from the start after a couple of lackluster performances to close the group stage.

Eric Gordon and Rudy Gay also scored 17 for the Americans, who will face Russia on Thursday night. Gordon was 5 of 6 behind the arc.

"It was a different challenge tonight," U.S. assistant Nate McMillan said. "Their key guy didn't play tonight, so that took one of their options away, but it was about us. I thought we established ourselves early defensively as far as we wanted to play."

http://espn.go.com/extra/fiba/recap?id=300908917

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NBA News 2010: US pulls away in 2nd half to rout Tunisia 92-57

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ISTANBUL (AP)—With nothing to play for, the United States looked as if it didn’t want to play.

Outworked and outhustled, the Americans led winless Tunisia by only four points early in the third quarter before turning the game into a rout over the final 15 minutes of a 92-57 victory Thursday.

Eric Gordon scored 21 points for the U.S., which had already clinched first place in its group and was more interested in getting through this one healthy— which it didn’t do—than earning any style points.

“It’s kind of like the Tour de France, except you have to win every stage,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “You have to look good in every stage.”

The U.S. (5-0), seeded first in Group B, next plays on Monday against Angola, the No. 4 seed from Group A.

The Americans misfired on nine of 10 3-point attempts in the first half and failed to show any sustained stretches of good offense, an occasional problem for the team during the group stage. The Americans have time to clean it up, with three days off before playing their first elimination game.

“It’s kind of tough, but the good thing about it is those games are over now and every game is as big as the next one now,” Billups said.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each scored 14 points for the U.S. team and Stephen Curry had 13. Marouan Kechrid scored 15 points and Macram Ben Romdhane added 11 for Tunisia, which went 0-5 in its first appearance in the worlds.

“For our first participation, I am happy,” Tunisia coach Adel Tlatli said.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AriZnd7ATbWh1SXxOvxCxrW8vLYF?slug=ap-worlds-tunisia-us

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NBA News 2010: Big second quarter helps US run away from Croatia

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STANBUL (AP)—For weeks, U.S. players have been hearing about what they aren’t.

Not big enough. Not old enough. And maybe even not good enough.

Kevin Durant and Team USA looked solid in their opener at the worlds.

On Saturday, they finally got to show what they believe they can be: the team that ends a 16-year world championship drought.

“People aren’t expecting us to come out here and win, so we just wanted to make a statement and I think tonight we did,” Durant said.

Eric Gordon(notes) made four 3-pointers and had 16 points to lead the Americans, who turned a close game into a blowout by limiting the Croatians to six points in the second quarter. Chauncey Billups(notes) finished with 12 points.

It was an impressive start for a U.S. team that came to Turkey without any players who helped them win the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. Instead of those superstars, the Americans are left with a young, undersized team that features Durant, the NBA’s leading scorer, as its centerpiece.

All 12 players scored for the Americans, as coach Mike Krzyzewski was able to give his starters plenty of rest with the U.S. playing its three toughest Group B games in the first three days of the tournament.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 17 points and Marko Popovic added 16 for Croatia, which once was among the world’s best teams but hadn’t played in the world championship since winning a bronze medal in 1994.

The Croatians hung tough for a quarter but couldn’t overcome their awful perimeter shooting in the second period.

The Americans scored the first seven points of the game, but Croatia settled down and executed its offense well in the halfcourt to get open looks under the basket. The Croatians grabbed a 19-18 lead on Marko Banic’s follow shot with 1:42 left in the first quarter and trailed just 22-20 heading to the second.

But the U.S. quickly blew it open in the second. Durant’s three-point play started a 12-0 run that pushed the lead to 14, and consecutive 3-pointers by Gordon and another by Rudy Gay(notes) extended it to 47-26 with 1:48 to go in the half.

Croatia was just 3 of 17 from the field in the period and missed 12 of its 13 3-point attempts in the half.

Gay and Russell Westbrook(notes) both scored 10 points for the Americans, who shot 55 percent from the field and were only outrebounded 41-39 despite using a small lineup with 6-foot-10 Lamar Odom(notes) as the starting center. Reserve Kevin Love(notes) grabbed 10 rebounds in just 13 minutes.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Aruou5Ia1Rvw0XyIY241vsy8vLYF?slug=ap-worlds-us-croatia

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NBA News 2010: US beats Greece 87-59 in last game before worlds

Image via WikipediaATHENS, Greece (AP)—The United States breezed to one last warm-up victory before the start of the world basketball championships, not that coach Mike Krzyzewski seemed to care.
He’s just happy that his group brimming with youthful exuberance is ready to play.
“The score doesn’t really matter, it was just an exhibition game,” Krzyzewski said after an 87-59 blowout of defending silver medalist Greece on Wednesday. “I’m happy we had the chance to play a great team, in a great atmosphere.”
Eric Gordon(notes) scored 18 points for the Americans, who led from start to finish against a Greece team playing for the first time since a brawl near the end of a game against Serbia turned the focus of the upcoming world championships away from the court.
The smaller Americans took advantage, even with Tyson Chandler(notes) in foul trouble. Kevin Love(notes) played well in the second half and finished with eight points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
In addition to Gordon, Love and Odom, the final 12-man roster for the U.S. includes: Kevin Durant(notes), Derrick Rose(notes), Rudy Gay(notes), Chauncey Billups(notes), Danny Granger(notes), Russell Westbrook(notes), Stephen Curry(notes) and Andre Iguodala(notes). Celtics guard Rajon Rondo(notes) pre-empted Krzyzewski’s decision about the final roster cut Tuesday by taking himself out of contention citing family reasons.
Krzyzewski denied there was any friction with Rondo.
“We respect his decision and we appreciate his total commitment to the team. Rajon is a classy person,” Krzyzewski said. “He is still in the pool of players we will consider for the (2012) London Olympics.”
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ai1KTh8KriPU4uLcsCqUwiG8vLYF?slug=ap-greece-us

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