I’ve used this line before, but I’ll use it again because it is a good one: Predictions are like armpits; everyone has them, and most of them stink. One exception would be our chief blogger, Jim Park (@SheridanBlog), whose preseason predictions included Stephen Curry as MVP and Steve Kerr as Coach of the Year. My own latest prediction is that Curry will receive 65 percent of the first-place votes in the MVP race, although he did not get mine. James Harden did.
Before making a few points on the MVP race, it should be noted the debate has been nothing short of fantastic. The methods used by a variety of writers to reach a conclusion have been wildly different, but whether voters rely on analytics, old school observation or something in between, the passion for the subject has been unsurpassed and a joy to read. The Players Association has announced that it will have its own set of awards after the season, and it
This is what we have been waiting for since Halloween. The strength of the Western Conference was as good as advertised and has provided a first round of playoffs that should have NBA fans salivating. The best series appears to be the Los Angeles Clippers vs. the San Antonio Spurs, whom you could argue were two of the league’s three best teams coming down the stretch. And approximately two weeks from now, one of those teams will be headed to its offseason,
Everyone knows that the Eastern Conference is nowhere near as good as the Western Conference. But that doesn’t mean that the first round of the East playoffs won’t be compelling. As everyone knows, all you need is one road team to win to make a series interesting. Can the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks rediscover their rhythm? Did the Boston Celtics build confidence with two late-season wins over Cleveland? Is Chicago’s Derrick Rose returning to form or just an accident waiting to happen again? Do
At last, real NBA basketball. After weeks of uncertainty in daily fantasy — who would start, who would rest, which teams cared — we have a quadruple-header with predictable rotations and maximum effort. [Read more…]
There is a reason why I always wait until the 82nd game of the season is in the books before deciding on my postseason awards choices. Three words: What’s the hurry? This is a lesson I learned way back in 1999 when I was covering a late regular-season game at the Alamodome during the lockout-shortened 50-game season. There were still three of four games left, and I was sitting alongside a veteran reporter from USA Today and asked him which way he
The 2014-2015 regular season finally came to a conclusion on Wednesday, perhaps fittingly, with the Golden State Warriors celebrating their league-best 67 wins over the Denver Nuggets in the final game of the night. Plenty of wild things happened on the final day: San Antonio Spurs dropped from the No. 2 seed to No. 6 after losing to the New Orleans Pelicans, who clinched a playoff berth with the victory and promptly sent the Oklahoma City Thunder packing for the summer thanks
With the addition of LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers this year, Kyrie Irving is on a contender for the first time in his NBA career. And his new Nike Kyrie 1 shoe has become a contender on and off the court as well thanks to impressive design and some new colorways. A lightweight, yet responsive shoe matches Irving’s quickness, athleticism and agility and an outsole that wraps amount the midsole helps prevent rolled ankles. You can find out more about