Hakeem Olajuwon has made quite a name for himself as a mentor to players that wish to improve their games in the paint over the past few years. In particular, he worked with Amare Stoudemire over the summer to refine the post moves of the power forward, and the Knicks were evidently impressed with the results because they plan on hiring the legend to teach a few things to all the big men on the team next week. See what
When training camps open later this month, a handful of teams will be at less than full strength. And some of them may be that way for a while. The Los Angeles Lakers, a legitimate title contender, will be without the biggest prize of the offseason. The Chicago Bulls, who have the NBA’s best record over the last two seasons, will be without their best player. The New York Knicks, who claim to be contenders, will be without two of their three shooting guards.
With the 2013 Eurobasket qualifiers coming to an end, the table is set for the highest level international competition in European basketball next summer. European stars Marcin Gortat, Mirza Teletovic and Marcin Gortat led their teams to successful campaigns, where they now will have the opportunity to challenge the likes of Spain, France, Russia, Greece and Lithuania in next summer’s tournament. The teams that successfully qualified included Montenegro, Israel, Serbia, Germany, Sweden, Croatia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Finland, Belgium
UNDER CONTRACT: G Kobe Bryant, F Pau Gasol, C Dwight Howard, G Steve Nash, F Metta World Peace, G Steve Blake, F Antawn Jamison, F Jordan Hill, G Jodie Meeks, F Devin Ebanks, G Chris Duhon, F Earl Clark, G Darius Morris, G Andrew Goudelock DRAFT PICKS: C Robert Sacre FREE AGENTS: F Troy Murphy MOVES: Here’s the bottom line for GM Mitch Kupchak’s offseason: The three biggest prizes were Dwight Howard, Deron Williams and Steve Nash, and the Lakers – with no cap room
PG Tiers It’s a deep, talented pool at the point guard position. Most teams have an experienced starter, several backups are well worth owning and the rookie crop is interesting. These are one man’s opinions, early in the game. I don’t even attempt to compile “accurate” rankings, only these tiers. After adjusting for each league’s settings (and specific needs in categories or positions) my own cheat sheets will evolve over the next six weeks and no two will end up identical. Many SG have
Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard will not be ready for the team’s preseason opener due to ongoing issues with his surgically repaired back. On Thursday night, the team confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that Howard – the prize acquisition of the NBA offseason – is not expected to be ready when the Lakers open camp Oct. 2 or when they play their preseason opener five days later vs. Golden State at Fresno. The timetable is actually more optimistic than one laid
As the season inches near, we will have an update of all the offseason moves and analysis of every team in the league from Chris Bernucca. Here is the scoop on three teams from today, with updates: New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets. Also, check out our new writer Bruce Wrigley on our Fantasy Spin. Will Damian Lillard be relevant? And of course, here is your daily dose of news from Thursday around the league: Derrick Rose was brought to tears
