When it comes to the NBA draft, sometimes it’s the team, not the player. Take Thomas Robinson, for example. He was a consensus All-American as a junior and led Kansas to the national title game. By virtually all accounts, he was projected as a solid NBA player. But Robinson, a power forward, was drafted by the Sacramento Kings, who already had DeMarcus Cousins, Jason Thompson and Chuck Hayes manning their big positions. So Robinson languished on the bench for half a season before
CHICAGO — It was not a make or break situation, but when you walked into the gym for the NBA pre-draft camp on Chicago’s west side – filled with scouts, general managers, coaches, media and everyone in between – you could feel the intensity in the air. [Read more…]
Warning to the rest of the NBA, especially the Miami Heat: If history can be used as a guide, Derrick Rose is going to be a much better shooter when/if he returns during the playoffs. Yes, that is a big “if.” Rose is expected to sit again tonight for Game 3. But when he returns, he should return a better shooter. That’s what happens when hard-working, coachable players have to rehab from leg or knee injuries. All they can do is practice their
NEW YORK — How did Frank Vogel get his start in coaching? “That’s a long story you’re getting into there,” I was warned as I asked Vogel that question at the Pacers’ shootaround on Tuesday morning at MSG. Indeed, it is. Vogel, who finished a distant fifth in voting for Coach of the Year honors, isn’t a former NBA player. He is, however, a former Division III, pre-med varsity point guard with a 2.6 GPA (“That was not going to get me into med
NEW YORK — When Pacers head coach Frank Vogel called a timeout with 12.1 seconds left in the first half of yesterday’s matinee Game 1 matchup against the Knicks, Paul George wound up and launched a jumper, smooth as could be, from near mid-court. [Read more…]
BROOKLYN — Nate Robinson navigated a Joakim Noah ball screen near the top of the key, kept his dribble alive and exploded down the right side of the paint with just over 5 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 7. [Read more…]
NEW YORK — The Boston Celtics – the most storied franchise in NBA history – has competed in 593 playoff games over an illustrious 67-year history. Just twice has Boston managed to score 25 points or fewer in the second half of a playoff game, both of which have come in just the past three days at the hands of a New York Knicks team that has pressured the Celtics into bad decisions and rushed shots regularly in each of the latter halves
Deron Williams struggled to get going last night BROOKLYN — The buzzer at the end of the third quarter sounded. Some fans at Barclays Center clapped, but mostly there was just silence. Kind of like Deron Williams’ play. The same Nets fans who couldn’t get enough of their team’s 106-89 blowout Game 1 victory were silenced at the offensive end thanks to intensity and attention to detail by the Chicago Bulls. In stealing homecourt advantage with a 90-82 victory, the Bulls