Before the season, championship expectations were attached to both the Knicks and the Nets. The Knicks were coming off the team’s first season with at least 50 or more wins and a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals since the 1999-2000 campaign, when Jeff Van Gundy patrolled the sidelines, Patrick Ewing wrapped up his final season in New York and Allan Houston was in the prime of his career. The Nets were coming off their first trip to the playoffs in six years
Sources told Yahoo! Sports on Monday that there is “no chance” the Knicks trade free agent-to-be Carmelo Anthony by the Feb. 20 deadline. Let’s face the facts: even with Anthony, the Knicks are a mediocre basketball team in a horrendous Atlantic Division. [Read more…]
I will not be the next Executive Director of the players union. I got word of my rejection via e-mail, with no further explanation, so I decided to use my column this week to describe what is going on during the selection process, and what a shame it is. NBA players and all athletes in general have a pretty miserable track record at many things. Outside of actually playing basketball or another sport, their skills don’t necessarily translate into being successful in
Chris Paul returned to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. We don’t want to be party-poopers, but it probably should be pointed out that the Clippers were better without him. This does not mean that GM Gary Sacks should start exploring trade possibilities for a top-five player. And it doesn’t mean that coach Doc Rivers should go with the hot hand at point guard at the end of games. But it does mean that if the Clippers want to win a championship this
In a season that’s been a struggle for both the New Orleans Pelicans and its high-priced import Tyreke Evans, it seems like there’s a growing rift between player, coach and team. Evans did not play in Sunday night’s 93-81 loss to Brooklyn despite head coach Monty Williams playing 11 Pelicans players in the game. When asked why Evans didn’t play, Williams said “it’s just internal right now.” Evans and the New Orleans public relations staff declined to comment on the matter after
Watching Jay Leno say his final good-bye last Thursday night as the 22-year-host of “The Tonight Show,’’ I couldn’t help thinking of Tim Duncan. Leno and Duncan are still bringing it, on top of their respective games in their respective vocations. But both also have been told to make way for the next demographic group, er, age-appropriate successors. The departures were involuntarily. Leno is rightfully peeved about being forced to surrender his microphone, leading the ratings in his time period and still
Portland is a unique, interesting and unconventional city to say the least. That unique and unconventional nature extends to their basketball team, where the Portland Trail Blazers are winning games at a high rate doing things their own way. While the league is trending toward discouraging players from long two-point shots, Portland embraces it. Portland plays their starters more than anyone else, hit more threes than anyone else and lead the league in free throw shooting. Is their defense lacking? Sure,
Mike Woodson and several assistant coaches on his staff fear they will be fired by the All-Star break, multiple league sources tell SheridanHoops.com. Herb Williams is the leading candidate to replace Woodson on an interim basis for the remainder of the season as The Bergen Record first reported. Sources say the All-Star break would be the ideal time for the Knicks to make a midseason change, if they elect to do so. The move would allow a new assistant coaching staff and