Can money buy happiness? If you’re the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks, the answer is no. The Nets have the league’s highest payroll, while the Knicks rank second. The combined exorbitant payroll has produced a deflating 18-38 record and proven any championship aspirations were merely a pipe dream. Ironically, speaking of the pipe, J.R. Smith was the first Knick to panic back when the team was only 3-8 at the time. Now, it appears Smith’s anxiety was warranted. Thanks to injuries, a lack
The Brooklyn Nets entered the season with championship expectations and one of the most talented rosters on paper. However, Brooklyn has failed to meet those lofty expectations and the roster has failed to develop chemistry thanks largely to injuries. Michael Scotto covers the Nets for Sheridan Hoops as an NBA columnist. In this podcast with FOX Sports Radio he examines Brooklyn’s bleak 2014 outlook and if it’s time to sell at the trade deadline or hold onto the core pieces for
Years ago, Tony Wroten was one of the top high school players attending a basketball camp hosted by star point guard Deron Williams. This week, Wroten was guarding Deron Williams. “It’s crazy because, I remember when I was younger, I went to his camp and he told me pointers, and now I’m in the league going against him,” Wroten told Sheridan Hoops. As crazy as it may have sounded years ago, it seemed just as crazy months ago, when Wroten couldn’t get off
Kevin Garnett accurately described what everyone thought after he and Paul Pierce battled his former coach, Doc Rivers. “It was a bit weird,” said Garnett. You know what’s even more weird? Watching Pierce come off the bench in back-to-back games for the first time in his career and Garnett on a minutes restriction comparable to a role player. [Read more…]
BROOKLYN – Mikhail Prokhorov once vowed to take over New York as owner of the Brooklyn Nets and turn Knicks fans into Nets fans. But on Thursday night in front of a national TV audience, it was the Knicks who took over Brooklyn and Barclays Center. It was so bad, Brooklyn’s introductory video malfunctioned before loud boos for Kevin Garnett and Jason Kidd filled the arena during the starting lineup introductions. Chants of “Let’s go Knicks” began as New York pulled away
Kobe Bryant deserved every penny, if not more, of his two-year, $48.5 million contract extension. And I’ll say this: Bryant doesn’t deserve to be criticized as selfish for the amount of money he will make, and any subsequent cap space the Lakers lose as a result. Two of Bryant’s teammates, Chris Kaman and Xavier Henry, strongly agree. “I personally think he deserved more,” Kaman told SheridanHoops. “I know the only exception with that comment is that it can be hard for teams to
Coming into this season, I had the New York Knicks taking a step backward in my Sheridan Hoops preview column. But not this far back. New York is tied for the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference with a 3-8 mark and J.R. Smith, arguably the team’s second best player, is in crisis mode. “They say it’s too early to panic,” Smith said after Wednesday’s hard-fought overtime loss to Indiana, the team’s sixth straight home setback. “Me personally, I panic. I don’t
Not much is going well in New York — for the Knicks or the Nets. Both are at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, both have been underwhelming to an alarming degree, and both have been hit hard by injuries to key players. (Much more on that in this column from Monday — before the Nets lost at home to the surging Portland Trail Blazers). Michael Scotto covers both teams for SheridanHoops. In this podcast with Fox Sports Radio he lays