The San Antonio Spurs lost to the New York Knicks 104-100 in overtime on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was not happy with his team’s performance. In a short yet purposeful postgame statement to the media, Popovich bashed the way the Spurs played and complimented the way the Knicks played to earn just their 14th win of the season. “We didn’t respect the game, we didn’t respect our opponent,” Popovich said. “It was a pathetic performance. And I
The envelope for the MVP of the 2015-15 NBA season, please…. There’s a hush in the hall as the camera pans over the anxious faces of Steph Curry, James Harden, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Chris Paul, LaMarcus Aldridge, John Wall, Kyle Lowry, Derrick Favors, Eric Bledsoe, Boogie Cousins–yes, extra security is standing by in case he doesn’t win–and the entire Atlanta starting five with their arms entwined, befitting their status as a collective entry. Oh, and Kobe Bryant! The standards aren’t
For the first time in years, the hyperbole generated in the build-up to a CBA Finals is actually living up to the hype. Three games into the championship series, the Liaoning Leopards have a 2-1 lead over the defending champion Beijing Ducks. All three of the encounters have been compelling, but what has helped the CBA is that no one can confidently say what is going to happen next. Certain assumptions have turned out to be true. For example, Beijing’s Stephon
With the NCAA Tourament upon us, it seems like as good a time as any to remind everyone that there is a canyon between coaching in college and coaching in the NBA. There is more than a generation of evidence which clearly illustrates that any NBA team hiring a head coach directly from college is making a huge mistake. P.J. Carlesimo. Tim Floyd. Leonard Hamilton. Lon Kruger. Mike Montgomery. Jerry Tarkanian. Rick Pitino, who failed twice. Even John Calipari, who is
Good afternoon, Adam. Hope you are having a nice time filling out your NCAA bracket. I imagine you have Duke winning, since you got your undergrad degree there. A word of caution: Beware Larry Brown’s SMU Mustangs in the South Regional final. It’s fun filling out an NCAA bracket, isn’t it, Adam? So many games between teams that almost never play each other. That’s what makes it so special. Which brings us to the upcoming NBA playoffs, which are not going to be
The NCAA Tournament field is set. The favorite is Kentucky. My best first-round game to watch is SMU-UCLA, Larry Brown’s present against Larry Brown’s past. My favorite player is D’Angelo Russell of Ohio State. My old team, the Manhattan Jaspers, have a chance to earn a head-on collision with John Calipari’s SuperTeam. The best point guard not named Emmanuel Mudiay is … I’ll get to that. I promise: It’s here in this column, which runs a little long. My apologies, but I’ve got a lot
I once heard the statement in coaching, “if you are a great coach but a weak recruiter, you will get fired. But if you are a great recruiter and even a fair coach, you will survive.” Obviously, the goal is to be both. But it does explain the importance in college basketball of getting the best players. Ever since I started coaching, I have always been compared to John Calipari more than any other coach. I guess it’s because I made
In his first game without a headband since the 2003 preseason, LeBron James’ point total of 27 was exceeded only by Cleveland’s margin of victory — 33 over the Dallas Mavericks. So that makes it four wins in the last five games and 22 wins in the past 26. The Cavaliers’ lead over the injury-riddled Chicago Bulls has grown to 1 1/2 games and figures to continue growing, and I have a question to ask. Why is James so absent from