Now that the regular season is over, it is time to review the best and worst it had to offer.
If you read my weekly column (usually Mondays, sometimes Sundays), you know that we have a number of items highlighting the best and worst efforts of the week. Some come from boxscores. Others comes from game stories, sidebars and off-day stories.
But every week, I make a concerted effort to read (a) every player’s line in every boxscore, (b) every AP game story and (c) as many NBA stories, tweets and posts as possible without being disowned by my family.
I also watch a ton of NBA games, although that number has dropped somewhat over the last two years due to my coaching duties and the small matter of the 2012 presidential election, the coverage of which I found compelling.
But I feel pretty good about how well I tracked the NBA in print this season and archived all of the bests and worsts from my columns. So without further ado, here they are.
BEST QUOTES OF THE SEASON: Three people made multiple appearances – superstar LeBron James of Miami and coaches Randy Wittman of Washington and Byron Scott of Cleveland. That would seem to indicate that the better quotes come from folks at the very top or the very bottom of the profession.
Occasionally you get a good quote that constitutes a paragraph. But in most cases, the best quotes this seasos have been short and sweet. Here they are.
Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough, when asked if Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett apologized for clobbering him in the head with a flagrant foul that earned an ejection:
“KG apologize? Are you from here?”
Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins, on how much he has searched for solutions to his team’s problems:
“If everybody looked inside themselves as much as I do, the world would be a CAT scan.”
TNT analyst Charles Barkley, discovering one of the major differences between studio work and courtside announcing at a Lakers-Knicks game:
“How do you guys sit here and not eat? I’m starving.”
Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott, after his team managed just 78 points in a home loss to Phoenix:
“Andy Varejao was fantastic. Everyone else sucked.”
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, almost caught off guard by a silly question from a New Orleans TV crew at a shootaround prior to his season opener:
“Is this the end of the first quarter?”
BEST LINES OF THE SEASON: I usually don’t recognize a big game from a guy whose team lost. Stephen Curry of Golden State was the only player on a losing team to receive the weekly honor.
And I also hold star players to high standards, which is why James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony – for all their greatness – made just one appearance. That’s the same number as Mario Chalmers and Charlotte rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
However, one player did make multiple appearances – Houston guard James Harden, who had three. I guess I’m a little partial to points-per-shot, which you will see below.
Here’s the best of the best:
Stephen Curry, Golden State at New York, February 27: 48 minutes, 18-28 FGs, 11-13 3-pointers, 7-7 FTs, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals, four turnovers, 54 points in a 109-105 loss. It takes a lot to claim this spot when your team loses, and Curry did a lot. He never sat, led his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals, came within one of the NBA record for 3-pointers and established a career-high and a league season-high – all in The World’s Most Famous Arena.
James Harden, Houston vs. Oklahoma City, Feb. 19: 44 minutes, 14-19 FGs, 7-8 3-pointers, 11-12 FTs, eight rebounds, six assists, one steal, one block, two turnovers, 46 points in a 122-119 win. After shooting just 9-of-33 in two blowout losses to his former team, Harden dropped a career high on the Thunder with an impressive 2.42 points per shot. “I think he’s almost unguardable off the catch,” coach Kevin McHale said.
Deron Williams, Brooklyn vs. Washington, March 8: 38 minutes, 15-24 FGs, 11-16 3-pointers, 1-1 FTs, three rebounds, five assists, one steal, three turnovers, 42 points in a 95-78 win. Williams set an NBA record with nine 3-pointers in the first half and came up one shy of the all-time mark shared by Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall. He made four 3-pointers before the Wizards even scored and rang up 18 points in a 3:20 span of the first quarter. Williams scored 33 points in the first half, matching washington’s total and becoming the first player since Orlando’s Tracy McGrady vs. Denver on March 9, 2003 to match or outscore the opposing team in the first half. “He was hot like fish grease,” teammate Reggie Evans said.