With one week left in the NBA regular season, the pressure is on for two Eastern Conference teams and four Western Conference teams fighting for the final playoff spots. Millions will intently watch what transpires over the next seven days as teams face must-win games, and the effort and intensity pick up. Each of these half-dozen teams have a player who will greatly impact the fate of their clubs the rest of the way. [Read more…]
Dwight Howard, James Harden and Chandler Parsons are the big-name players, but the Houston Rockets would not be a top-four team in the Western Conference without Patrick Beverley. Houston is 36-16 when Patrick Beverley starts, but they will miss him for at least two weeks (and likely for the duration of the regular season) with a torn meniscus. His replacement is one Jeremy Lin. You remember him, right? Even if Beverley doesn’t have the best offensive and defensive numbers, it doesn’t seem likely that Lin has
As it often does, the NCAA Tournament provided a wild first weekend. Mercer saved Warren Buffett $1 billion, Dayton won the state of Ohio and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years, Stanford sent Andrew Wiggins and Kansas packing, and the young Kentucky Wildcats ended Wichita State’s dream season. So out of the 32 second and third-round games won by the 16 teams still in contention for the national championship, what statistical trends and insights can we gain
Goran Dragic slashes, drives and penetrates into the lane like no other NBA player, creatively opening up space to create for himself and his Phoenix Suns teammates. That creativity, though, comes with a heavy price: the beating he takes on a nightly basis as he hurtles into and bounces around defenders with his breathtakingly fun to watch forays towards the basket which sweep opponents and fans alike off their feet like a swift and strong gust of wind. Dragic’s offensive game
Click on this banner to search for NCAA Tournament tickets. As we look at our brackets and try to pick who will advance to the Final Four, a lot of focus will be given to likely national player of the year Doug McDermott, the Creighton do-it-all-forward. “McBuckets” is one of eight players to score more than 3,000 career points and could be the most dynamic and discussed player in the field of 68. So how do you defend
The Toronto Raptors had no intention of making the playoffs this season. Head coach Dwane Casey admitted as much earlier in the season, but the talent on the team turned out to be above average in an Eastern Conference that turned out to be historically subpar. So general manager Masai Ujiri sent the overpaid Rudy Gay to Sacramento on Dec. 8 with the team in first place at 7-12, and the Raptors have turned into one of the East’s best teams. Toronto
Jimmer Fredette is exactly what the Chicago Bulls need right now, yet at the same time is exactly the type of player the Bulls usually look to avoid. It is this inherent contradiction that makes Chicago’s signing of Fredette so uniquely interesting among last week’s February buyouts since Fredette is the exact antithesis of the Chicago Bulls player we’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the last couple of years. Chicago as a team allows 100.6 points per 100 possessions, second in the
February’s buyout season is becoming more interesting than the trade deadline itself. There’s a case to be made that the goings-on surrounding Danny Granger, Caron Butler, Jimmer Fredette and others could make a bigger impact than all those moves made one week ago. With Granger, Butler and now Jimmer Fredette (as the Kings announced) officially bought out and ancillary players like Beno Udrih, Earl Clark and Shannon Brown finding new teams, it’s time to really ramp up the races for players who