Notes: Kidd, Stotts feel differently about shortened preseason

At the behest of the NBA Players Association, the league opted to shorten preseason camp down to three weeks, including four or five preseason games. That allowed the league to start the season a week early and eliminate instances of playing four games in five nights.

Thus far, there has been a number of high-profile injuries, including Brooklyn's Jeremy Lin rupturing his right patella, Golden State's Draymond Green needing an MRI on his left knee and others.

Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd said Saturday night that he sees a correlation between the injuries and the truncated preseason. It's among the reasons why he pushed his team especially hard before the real games began, knowing they needed to be in especially good shape.

"I would rather have the time before the season to prep, to get guys ready so that the product can stay on the floor," Kidd said, noting he saw the injuries coming.

"Right now you're going to have the product sitting. ... I think it's got to be reviewed because, again, people are coming to see the product and the products are going to be in suits and that's unfortunate."

Portland coach Terry Stotts wasn't on board with Kidd, who hopes the league reverts to its past structure.

“NBA athletes take care of themselves," Stotts said. "I think having one less week of training camp, I don't think there's any correlation with that at all."

Stotts reflects: As a Bucks assistance from 1998-2002 and the team's head coach from 2005-'07, Stotts has plenty of positive memories about the team and the Bradley Center.

Heading into his team's final trip to the Bradley Center, Stotts mentioned that he remembers the 2001 playoffs especially fondly. That was the last time Milwaukee won a postseason series, advancing all the way to the conference finals and going to seven games against the Philadelphia 76ers.

As much as he enjoyed the Bradley Center, he knows the importance of the team's new arena.

"The new building is huge," Stotts said. "I'm really happy for the city, I'm happy for the Bucks. I'm glad the Bucks are staying here. I'm glad everything worked out. I talked to Sen. (Herb) Kohl today and I'm happy for his legacy that he was able to sell the team and keep the team in Milwaukee and to get an arena."

Foul upgraded: Greg Monroe's foul of Derrick Rose in the fourth quarter Friday night was upgraded from a common foul to a flagrant 1. Rose turned his left ankle on the play and missed Cleveland' s game against Orlando.