Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Their transformations have been met with different reactions. When Miami Heat center Chris Bosh began to play more on the perimeter four seasons ago, it was met with mixed feelings. The reaction has been mostly positive for Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin making a similar move. "Of course, it's a great idea [when Griffin does it]," Bosh said, with a laugh. Bosh drew mostly criticism for taking too many jumpers while Griffin has drawn praise for adding to his game. The difference is Griffin remains an inside presence, whereas Bosh was asked solely to play on the perimeter. "You know what, you can't make everybody happy," Bosh said. "I just play my game and do it the fullest." Griffin has developed into of the league's premier frontcourt players because the addition of an outside game. Mostly known for his dunks, he is now just as effective with the 20-foot jumper.

Dan Woike of The Orange County Register: Still, there’s reason to pause and look at the diminished numbers, with Griffin’s quest for balance as the most often cited reason for the decline. He’s shooting a higher percentage of his shots from 16 feet or further, with more than 35 percent of his attempts coming from the perimeter. Conversely, he’s shooting inside less, with only 27.9 percent of his attempts coming within 3 feet. Last year, 40.7 percent of his shots came from that area. For Griffin to achieve his full potential in Rivers’ eyes, it won’t be about excelling in the inside or on the outside. “I want it all,” Rivers said. “I’m greedy. I think you have to mix it up to be great. I don’t think Blake can just attack every possession and be good. I don’t think he can settle for jump shots."

Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee: Mike Bibby said he hadn’t been to an NBA game since he played for the New York Knicks in 2012. But he took a break from his job as a coach with Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix to be in attendance Thursday as part of the Kings’ Legends Night when Sacramento hosted the Chicago Bulls. Bibby came to the Kings from the Vancouver Grizzlies for the 2001-02 season in a swap of point guards that sent Jason Williams to the Grizzlies. Oddly enough, Bibby was a last-minute replacement for Williams, who had to reschedule his appearance. Bibby was scheduled to attend a Legends Night in April. “It was great,” Bibby said of playing in Sacramento. “I came from Vancouver and you’re playing in front of 2,500, 5,000 people a night. It was a little overwhelming at first, but you got used to it. It was fun.” Bibby played for six teams in his 14 seasons. He fondly recalls his six-plus seasons with the Kings when he was a part of the best teams in Sacramento history. “Probably one of the greatest teams and franchises I played on,” Bibby said. “I played for a few teams but playing here was the best. I learned from the best guys.” Bibby proved to be the ideal complement at the point for the likes of Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic and Doug Christie. Bibby said he took the lessons learned with the Kings with him the rest of his career and passed them along.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune: Simply put, if Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson all are healthy, Mirotic will be a situational player. Coach Tom Thibodeau has stated he doesn't want Mirotic guarding small forwards. Thibodeau added something even more fundamental. "Niko is playing behind three really good players and, right now, they're a lot better than he is," Thibodeau said. This isn't tough love. Thibodeau has praised Mirotic and fellow rookie Doug McDermott at almost any opportunity. He likes their practice habits, their film study habits and their talent. But with Mirotic only able to match up defensively against power forwards or centers, playing time will be scarce. Either way, Mirotic can handle the heat. This isn't a player who shies from coaching. "It doesn't matter if I play five or 15 minutes. Of course, everybody wants to play more. But I just need to work hard and keep learning," he said.

Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times: Alex Rodriguez may be one of the most beleaguered and despised athletes in professional sports, but that apparently was of little consequence to the Milwaukee Bucks organization. The Bucks had the New York Yankees third baseman address their players while the team was in Miami last week to play the Heat. Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games – which was later reduced to 162 – and sat out all of last season after violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. That suspension came after Rodriguez admitted to the Drug Enforcement Administration that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez’s admission also came after he repeatedly and vehemently denied using PEDs. There have been calls for the disgraced Rodriguez to be permanently banned from the game. But Rodriguez’s disturbing past seemingly didn’t bother Bucks management or Bucks players. Of the several players contacted about Rodriguez’s talk, all of them gave favorable responses. “I thought it was pretty good," Bucks point guard Brandon Knight said. “He talked about taking care of our money, our finances." ... And then there was Zaza Pachulia’s take on the Rodriguez’s address: “It was great," the Bucks veteran center said before adding, “We haven’t lost since."

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News: Kobe Bryant has already seen enough that he already envisioned Nick Young pursuing a significant accomplishment this season. “Have him be sixth man of the year,” Bryant said of Young. Last season, Young often talked about winning that award. He even jokingly suggested he would win defensive player of the year after spending his six-year NBA career cementing a reputation as an inattentive defender. Young averaged a career-high and team-leading 17.9 points per game last season. But that didn’t match Clippers forward Jamal Crawford, who won last season’s award by averaging a league-leading 18.6 points per game among reserves. Bryant likes Young’s chances this season for reasons beyond the fact that Crawford has since moved into the Clippers’ starting lineup. Bryant gushed how Young has morphed from an isolation scorer toward a catch-and-shoot player who does not require much dribbling to create his shot. “You got a player who can get buckets and create. He does wonders,” Bryant said. Nick is a phenomenal talent. He has a pull-up jump shot and is creating mismatches. I’m very happy to have him back.”

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope found humor in Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris' verbal blast. Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy questioned Morris' credentials. But both obviously disagreed with Morris' assessment that the Pistons' second-year shooting guard "doesn't have any heart." He said it after the Suns' 88-86 victory over the Pistons at the Palace when Caldwell-Pope missed a triple in the closing seconds that would have probably won it. "Caldwell-Pope got it and you know he doesn't have any heart, so we knew he was going to miss," Morris said. Van Gundy wasn't going to let such an insult slide. "I'm not quite sure - maybe he knows - I'm not quite sure what Markieff Morris has accomplished in the league that gets him to the point of mouthing off," Van Gundy said after today's practice. "I mean, I don't like the mouthing off anyway. It seems to me you should at least participate in a playoff game before you do. But maybe not, maybe that's not the standard anymore."

Derek James of 1500ESPN.com: The biggest difference for Muhammad this season has been that he's grown more comfortable with the offense and has improved his shot selection. Once Muhammad developed his game enough to earn playing time, he still only managed to see the floor during garbage time. When you're sitting for much of the game, it makes it very difficult to get a feel for the game and get in rhythm. As a result, Muhammad tried to do a lot on his own, and the results were mixed, as we see above. Muhammad would typically get the ball in isolation to either take a long 2-pointer or, more commonly, back down his defender down low. In fact, the left spot on the block is where Muhammad has always looked comfortable. His 54.3 percent field goal percentage from that spot would have even rivaled some of the league's big men. This season, Muhammad has looked more natural getting into games earlier. For Muhammad, who is used to being a featured player, this is what he's most accustomed to. In addition to losing weight, returning to this more familiar role has helped Muhammad this season.

A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com: In the early 2000s, we saw plenty of teams resort to a Hack-a-Shaq strategy where they intentionally fouled former Celtic Shaquille O'Neal who has been a bad free throw shooter his entire NBA career. Every now and then teams will resort to Hack-a-Dwight Howard tactic because like O'Neal, Howard struggles from the free throw line. Is Hack-a-Rondo next? One NBA scout thinks so. "What's he shooting, 30, 35 percent? You don't go into a game wanting to do it, but at the very least you can count on teams thinking about it," the scout said. "A lot depends on how the game goes, obviously. But if it's close and you need a possession and they (Boston) have the ball, why wouldn't you foul him?" And fouling him is easier than say O'Neal or Howard because Rondo has the ball in his hands the vast majority of the time he's on the floor. Rondo has never been a great free throw shooter, evident by his career 61.6 free throw percentage. But this season has been an absolute nightmare for him from the line, shooting a career-worst 33.3 percent (8-for-24).

J. Michael of CSN Washington: For Friday's showdown between the Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers, there are so many subplots in play: The preseason war of words between the backcourts; the rivalry between the teams during LeBron James' first stint with his hometown team; and Eastern Conference playoff position. But the main plot will focus on Paul Pierce and James. "I think a lot of it is misunderstood. If I see LeBron walking down the street, it's not going to be no fistfight. I got a lot of respect for him," said Pierce, who had triumphs and failures against him as a member of the Boston Celtics and last season with the Brooklyn Nets. "The competitive nature of both of us, being at the same position, being on top teams, gunning for the same trophy year in and year out, that's where that comes in to play. It's like fighting for the same girl. Why do I want to be cool with that guy? I've got total respect for him as a person. It's just the things that we go through are all on the court and that's where we leave it."

John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: So really, based on age, maturity, talent and experience, Kentucky vs. Sixers might actually be a tossup. I'd take the Sixers in Game 7 on a last-second jumper, but thus far, nobody on this team has shown he can consistently knock down a jump shot. "People will talk about it, give us crap for it," Carter-Williams said of the Sixers' being winless, "but it is what it is. We have to stick together, keep working. Whatever it is now, we're going to be good someday." Perhaps someday they'll be good enough to convince Eric Bledsoe they are better than Kentucky.

Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman: The most visible Oklahoma City-based brand is partnering with the most visible Oklahoma City-based man. Kevin Durant and Sonic — a match made in endorsement heaven — became official on Thursday morning, a multi-year deal between a local megastar and a local mega-corporation. We’re long-time fans of Kevin,” Sonic chief brand officer James O’Reilly told The Oklahoman. “And this is something we’ve been discussing for months.” Durant already has the most endorsement partners of any NBA player. But this immediately qualifies as one of his biggest. He’s teaming up with one of the most popular fast food chains in the country whose headquarters just happen to sit right down the street from both his home arena and his actual home. ... This is Durant’s second partnership with an OKC-based company in as many months. He recently signed on with Orange Leaf Yogurt. ... Durant becomes Sonic’s first athlete endorser.

Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Hawks reported an increased in both television ratings and home attendance through the first 10 games of the regular season. According to the team, viewership numbers on SportSouth are up 30 percent from last season in the Atlanta market. The highest ratings came in Tuesday’s home game against the Lakers. ... The Hawks are currently 19th in the NBA in average attendance. The Bulls are first with an average attendance of 22,094 in their five home games. The Pistons are last in the league at 13,852 in their six home games. The Hawks’ increases in both percentage and total numbers are the most in the NBA this season.