The Utah Jazz suffered a tough 99-94 loss on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, but the team has much to look forward to for the remainder of the season and beyond, thanks to the presence of Rudy Gobert. Gobert has been inserted into the starting lineup over the past four games due to an ankle injury to Enes Kanter, but the second-year center is starting to prove that he belongs with the first unit even when Kanter
As crazy as this sounds, we are already approaching the half-way mark of the NBA season, and that means the All-Star game is right around the corner. The latest All-Star game voting returns were released on Thursday, with not much having changed since the second returns. The starters seem to be virtually set, which means it’s time to discuss who gets in as reserves (I wrote about some of the top candidates here, which included Draymond Green). Players around the league are
We all knew that Josh Smith had become a detrimental player on the court – at least for the Detroit Pistons – with his inability to space the floor and the horrible shot selections that crippled the offense. What we didn’t know was just how capable the Pistons would be with him out of the lineup. [Read more…]
Is Draymond Green worth picking as an All-Star reserve this year? By the typical numbers alone, there is no chance that the starting power forward of the Golden State Warriors would make the exclusive team: he is averaging 12.1 points on 44.4 percent shooting from the field, 1.5 3-pointers on 34.1 percent shooting, 8.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.5 blocks and two turnovers. Actually, those numbers aren’t exactly shabby. According to basketball-reference.com, there are only two other players in NBA history
A player must be a really bad man [in that tough guy kind of way] for a team to be weary of him alone. If you follow the Twitter account of the Eastern Conference leading Atlanta Hawks, perhaps one of the most entertaining sports team handles out there to follow, then you know they have a way of taking the negative in situations and making it a bit humorous. After having the league’s best record in December and running off 18 wins
Earlier on Friday, the already-controversial Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé was campaigning for an All-Star berth for his stars in Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins. Needless to say, many of the fans and most around the league in general were shocked and unhappy about the recent firing of head coach Michael Malone, given the job he had done early on (before going on a losing streak due to the prolonged absence of Cousins) and the identity the Kings appeared to be
The Cleveland Cavaliers are not playing like the team many expected them to be (sound familiar?), and it has been causing all sorts of unnecessary drama over the past week or so. It all kind of started when LeBron James stated he was “in chill mode” during a contest against the Orlando Magic, which he said was “deactivated” when Tobias Harris riled him up. Although James clarified those comments on Tuesday by stating “it had nothing to do with me not
Jordan Crawford may currently be out of the NBA, but the showy guard still provides plenty of solid reactions when he sees noteworthy plays in the league. During the fourth quarter in a matchup between the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets on Monday, DeMarcus Cousins went up after making a spin move in the paint area against Mason Plumlee and, well, see for yourself: [Read more…]