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Writer	Noteworthy or shit stirring	Rating	Score
Phil Miller	The Jazz turned to their own hard-work icon, sending Dee Brown to Spokane, Wash., for a week last month to work with John Stockton, just as Williams did the year before.  Two-a-day practices in Stockton's private gym, with the all-time assist leader sharing a few of his secrets. Brown admits, he was a little awed. "He can still see the game. He showed me a lot of moves, things that can spring you free, or spring you free into some space where you can deliver the ball to teammates," Brown said. "Not many guys get to go through something like that, so I was blessed and honored to have that chance. I know he's going to be a great coach someday."	****	4
J.A. Adande	Andrew Bynum looks like a different person, as if someone replaced the skinny kid with a veteran power forward. He says he weighs 285 pounds. That's what they listed him at last year. Trust me, he's bigger. "He's not a boy anymore," Phil Jackson said. "He's got that man-type body."	***	3
Travis Reed	On his own this summer, Jameer Nelson arranged for his teammates to meet for a week in Philadelphia. Minus Dwight Howard, who was playing with the U.S. national team, and a few others, the new squad hung out, went bowling and even played paintball	***	3
Percy Allen	Position battle: Maybe it means nothing, but Robert Swift spent most of the first practice working with the starting unit of Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Chris Wilcox, Luke Ridnour and Milt Palacio. Johan Petro, who finished last season as the starting center, played with the second unit of Earl Watson, Desmon Farmer, Damien Wilkins, Nick Collison and Kareem Rush. The third team had Mike Wilks, Denham Brown, Mickael Gelabale, Noel Felix, Mouhamed Sene and Kenny Adeleke.	***	3
Rick Bonnell	Bickerstaff re-grouped the incumbent starting five (Raymond Felton, Knight, Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafor and Primoz Brezec), but he said he'll mix and match players freely throughout camp. When Brezec sat out, Ely served as the center with the starters	***	3
Sam Smith	Elton Brand makes you feel like he cares what you think. And it's genuine. Ray Allen is straight forward and interesting. Grant Hill is a classic. You'd wish he were your brother. He looks you in the eye and thinks about his answer. I also like Bruce Bowen, Chauncey Billups, Steve Francis, Sam Cassell, Damon Stoudamire, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry and Jerry Stackhouse	***	3
Brett Martell	The Hornets will spend this week in New Orleans, practicing mostly at the arena, where the team's home opener also will be on Nov. 5. But they will play only six regular season games here this season in an agreement with the state of Louisiana that allowed the franchise to play 35 games plus any playoff contests this season in Oklahoma City.	**	2
Aaron Beard	Emeka Okafor said last year that he weighed 273 pounds during training camp, and that the added muscle left him huffing for air when he ran the court. He eventually turned his attention to doing more cardiovascular work while toning down some of his workouts to shed the added weight. He's listed on this year's roster at 257 pounds	**	2
Rick Alonzo	The Wolves allowed an average of 93.6 points a game in 2005-06, eighth in the league, and limited opponents to 44.1 percent shooting (ninth). But defensive breakdowns led to the Wolves losing an NBA-high 15 games last season when leading after three quarters.	**	2
Bob Finnan	Larry Hughes, 27, said he discussed his role with (coach Mike) Brown. ''Coach wanted me to come and talk to him and if I felt things should be done any differently,'' he said. ''(You don't) worry about my production and (how many) plays are being run for me when you're with a successful team.''	**	2
Tim Booth	The acquisition of (Earl) Watson and forward Chris Wilcox helped offset an otherwise dreary season. The Sonics finished 35-47, but were 14-11 after the pair arrived	**	2
Brian Windhorst	The offensive system, largely designed by assistant coach Hank Egan, will still heavily rely on high and side pick-and-rolls with LeBron James. But a new strategy might be employed that doesn't require a true point guard, which is one of the team's weaknesses. ``LeBron is such a great pick-and-roll player, I still think that is the way to go,'' Mike Brown said. ``He's so great at going to the basket, if his man gets held up just a bit he's gone.''	**	2
Ken Berger	Divisive angle. Isiah, Marbury, Larry Brown.	*	1