With a mix of sadness and pride, I am shuttering SheridanHoops.com — the Web Site I founded in September 2011 and which published daily through five NBA seasons. I come from a family of journalists, and there is a level of disappointment that comes from deep inside me. You only get one or two chances to do something truly dynamic in life, and assembling a crew of veteran NBA writers — mixed in with several younger go-getters to produce quality basketball journalism
I always wait until the final game of the NBA season is in the books before handing in my postseason awards ballot, and the reason is twofold: If the deadline is not until Thursday afternoon, what’s the hurry? (This is how journalists work when it comes to deadlines. Most of us, anyway.) The second is because you always want to wait and see if something happens on the final night of the season to change either your ballot or your
Now that the Warriors have caught and passed Michael Jordan and his 1995-96 Chicago Bulls as the first team to win 73 games in the regular season — and don’t say Sheridan Hoops didn’t warn ya a long time ago, not once, but twice — let the debate about their place in history begin. Because, you know, that’s what fans and media do when a team pulls off the darn near impossible, the utterly unthinkable in this age of metrics and quantitative
Basketball recently lost one of its pioneers. While that term is thrown around whenever a player from the black and white era passes away, the true understanding of what it means to be a pioneer is lost. In my view a pioneer is someone who is a visionary who transforms and then defines how things are done moving forward, creating an enduring standard. My dad, Dolph Schayes was such a person. As a player in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s my
HOUSTON — From the moment the Houston Rockets broke training camp in late September, one of the primary goals had been to earn a playoff rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors. So, mission accomplished? Not quite. Undoubtedly, the Rockets envisioned themselves closer to the team they were in 2014-15 (56-26 overall, No. 2 seed) than the mediocre, 41-41 squad that had to win its final three games this week just to qualify for the playoffs as the eighth
When I read about the issue of resting players in preparation for the playoffs, it reminded me that I miss Wilt Chamberlain, who certainly would wonder what blockhead came up with the notion that players need rest. Rest has been a regular story line for the Golden State Warriors during their pursuit of the best regular season record in NBA history. At 72-9, they need only a victory Wednesday over a struggling, injured Memphis team – which has lost nine of
While the Golden State Warriors chase their 73rd win and fans and pundits around the NBA fantasize about a possible Western Conference finals matchup against San Antonio or Oklahoma City, there’s only really one Eastern Conference finals matchup people are looking forward to: Cleveland vs. Toronto. After being swept by Washington in last year’s first round and having not won a playoff series in 15 years, most Raptors players had little to no interest in discussing a potential clash with the
The Golden State Warriors are about to complete the best regular season in NBA history. The Warriors are going to win 73 games, one more than the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. Even Warriors coach Steve Kerr, a reserve on that Bulls squad and one of the great winners in league annals, is blown away by his team’s accomplishment. “I never imagined when I was with the Bulls anyone would ever come close,” he said. “We’re close.” [Read more…]