• The rise of Chris Kaman is the latest twist to what was always going to be an intriguing race for Western Conference All-Star center, with the former long-shot candidate gaining momentum that could result in him becoming the backup to probable starter Amar'e Stoudemire (despite the Clippers needing a recent surge just to reach 17-20). In an informal survey of four West coaches who will join conference colleagues in about a week in voting on reserves, three said they are leaning toward Kaman or strongly considering him. It's been an impressive comeback season for Kaman, with one West coach saying, "If you're going on merit alone, it has to be him." The dissenter, getting to the core of the anti-Kaman argument while acknowledging 20.4 points and 9.4 rebounds deserves credit: "I'll probably reward winning."
• One more Clippers note: News that Blake Griffin is done for the season is an undeniable blow to the No. 1 pick and the team. It ruins the Clips' chances to add a potential impact big man for nothing to what could become a playoff push, except that power forward is hardly L.A.'s pressing need. While Griffin could have provided depth as the Clippers struggle on the boards, Marcus Camby is averaging 11.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks, along with 8.1 points while shooting 49.2 percent. Kaman at center and Camby at power forward is a very productive starting pair.
• Of course Vince Carter has a bad shoulder. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy is jumping up and down on Vinsanity over shot selection as Carter slumps all the way to 39.2 percent from the field, easily on pace for a career low. "That's been the problem," Van Gundy notes in typical candor. "His decision-making has been the problem. I don't think there's anything wrong with his shooting." Van Gundy said Carter is over-thinking in an attempt to fit in with a new team, rather than trusting the instincts that have delivered 10 consecutive 20-point seasons.
• Interesting perspective from the Washington Post team of Mike Wise and Michael Lee that raises the issue the Wizards are partly to blame for the career meltdown of Gilbert Arenas, with "one person familiar with the situation" saying, "There are a lot of people responsible for this, other than" Arenas. Nice try. While the coddling of players is a fair and long-overdue conversation around most every franchise in every sport, only one person is ultimately responsible. This is someone in his late 20s who has travelled the world, attended college, become a father and shown the determination to admirably transform himself from second-round pick into a popular All-Star with a $111-million contract. He isn't a teenager left to go it alone.
• The Kevin Martin comeback, which could come as soon as Friday in Philadelphia as the Kings open a six-game Eastern swing, is not the typical storyline of a team fitting in around its returning top scorer. It's Martin who will need to fit in after the Sacramento landscape changed dramatically during the two months he missed with a wrist injury, particularly the way rookie Tyreke Evans made Sacramento his team. Martin is still valuable -- his outside game in particular should open the court for Evans' power penetrations -- and coach Paul Westphal rightly says there should be enough shots for both. But this isn't November anymore, in ways beyond the calendar.
• There is no doubt Michael Redd will put in the work to make it back. But at 31 years old when training camp opens, with a second serious injury to the left knee in 11 ½ months and after missing a quarter of 2006-07 with a knee injury, there is no such certainty the Bucks' shooting guard will make it all the way back. Play again, sure. Reclaim the former standing as an offensive threat, TBA. "I'm a man of faith," Redd told Tom Enlund of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "but I'm a little shaken."
• Derek Fisher spent the fourth quarter on the bench in three recent close games, but Phil Jackson closed the door to any Lakers lineup change that would promote Shannon Brown or Jordan Farmar to starter. If anything, Fisher's playing time is slightly increasing, from 26.5 minutes in October and November to 27.6 in December and January, and he has broken 30 in five of the last 12 outings. While L.A. remains vulnerable at point guard on defense, and that will certainly be where playoff opponents hope to attack, Jackson likes the experienced hand on offense.
• Good one from reader Craig Lawson in Calgary, Canada. Not only is Suns marksman Steve Nash on pace for a fourth season of shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from behind the arc and 90 percent from the line (Larry Bird is the only player to do it twice), but he has a slight chance to pull off the statistical we're-not-worthy 50/40/90 for his career. He needs a bump only from the 49 percent overall, a lofty pursuit except that the ageless wonder is at 51.7 percent the last 4 ½ seasons when logic dictates he should be on the decline.
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