NBA TV News and Notes - LINSANITY continues

From NBA TV -

Notes from NBA TV’s Fan Night presented by Sprint

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Miami Heat (105) @ Indiana Pacers (90)

Voting is open on NBA.com, NBA Facebook Page and Yahoo.com for next week’s Fan Night match-up that will air on Feb. 21

Fans can select between the following games:

Detroit Pistons @ Cleveland Cavaliers

New Orleans Hornets @ Indiana Pacers

Sacramento Kings @ Miami Heat

Philadelphia 76ers @ Memphis Grizzlies

San Antonio Spurs @ Portland Trail Blazers

CLIP OF THE NIGHT

Miami Heat forward LeBron James joins the Fan Night crew via Arena Link

 **** **** **** ****

Fan Night presented by Sprint

Ernie Johnson, Chris Webber and Greg Anthony

Anthony on the Miami Heat getting media attention:  “It’s interesting that the only time there is news about the Heat is when they lose. They are playing so well and LeBron James is having a phenomenal season.”

  

Anthony on the Miami bench: “The Miami bench is impressive. I felt all along the key to Miami was going to be their bench. If they got contributions from those other areas they would become almost unbeatable."

Anthony on what’s been special about the Indiana Pacers and has them where they are right now: “Balance and growth are the two things I see. When you look at their roster, this is a really young basketball team that has yet to play their best basketball collectively and individually." 

Larry Bird, Indiana Pacers President of Basketball Operations, joins the Fan Night crew via Arena Link

Bird on the mantra of the team and how he thinks basketball should be played on the Indiana team:  “I told these guys if you rebound, defend and have good ball movement, it’s going to be hard to beat you. You have to keep the defense on their heels and you have to come ready to play every night. We talk about all these back-to-backs but if you come in shape and mentally strong, you should be able to overcome all of that. You have to have a deep bench to carry the starters on nights when they aren’t playing well. If you do that, you will have success in this league.”    

Bird on potential surprises in the postseason because of the shortened season and injuries: “Injuries play a key role in anything. If one key player goes down it could change everything. When the playoffs come around, and if everyone is healthy, you are going to have 4-5 teams that could win this thing. And there might be some upsets in the early rounds, like Philadelphia and ourselves, that have gotten better and you might be able to sneak up on some teams and make it to the second or third round.”

***** ***** *****

Sprint Halftime Report

Johnson, Anthony and Webber

Webber on New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin’s recent success: “When you see what Lin has done -- bringing new people to the game -- I really love it because you are going to see others bring players to the game. He’s earned it. I like the fact that it happened. Are they going to win the Championship? Who knows? But right now he’s playing hard and you are seeing someone being rewarded for their work ethic.”

Anthony on the Lin phenomenon: “You could argue this could be the biggest story of the NBA season. I hear more about Jeremy Lin than anything else going on in the NBA. What’s been most impressive is that he never doubted himself. He’s always maintained a certain amount of confidence that he could do it when given the opportunity. It’s not about whether or not he leads them to a championship or is an All-Star, he’s proven he is an NBA player. He’s made the Knicks the talk of the town and not because they were 8 and 13 at one point.”  

***** ***** *****

 NBA GameTime presented by Hyundai

Johnson, Webber and Anthony

Miami Heat’s LeBron James joins the NBA TV studio team via Arena Link

James on the Miami Heat’s defensive mentality: “I take just as much pride in my defensive end as I do on the offensive end.  When we get a stop or steal, it’s off to the races. There are not many teams that can get from end-to-end like we can.”

James on what he has seen from a distance watching New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin play:  “He’s playing good basketball.  The best thing that ever happened to him was being in that system with Coach (Mike) D'Antoni.  He gives you confidence offensively and it’s a free offense.  He lets you play freely; you don’t worry about mistakes you just worry about playing basketball and showing your ability. He is thriving in that system and playing some good basketball.”  

  

Webber on Knicks guard Jeremy Lin’s performance in the last six games: “You love people that bring your interest up to a different level and he even said he likes the pressure at the end of games. He is very humble and he loves his teammates.  What we have seen is toughness and he has earned this position.”