The 1997-98 Houston Rockets were a fun bunch. Since winning consecutive championships behind Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, the Rockets had added a number of veterans to challenge the dynastic Chicago Bulls. The roster included Charles Barkley, Kevin Willis and Eddie Johnson, all thirtysomethings who been around the block a couple of times. In late February, the Rockets arrived in New York for a Sunday matinee against the Knicks. Despite sputtering near .500, they were in high spirits – probably a carryover
Bernucca: Handing Out Our Midseason Awards
Martin Luther King Day is more than a day of celebration and reflection for the NBA, which probably has done more positive things for race relations than any other sport in the Civil Rights Era. It also has become the unofficial midway point of the season. By the completion of Monday’s action, more than half of the league’s 30 teams will have played half their games. With that in mind, we present our midseason awards with this reminder from the bookie of hopeless
Rookie Rankings, Week 11: Sizing Up the Sophs
With the midway point of the regular season approaching, we thought it would be a good idea to give the rookies a break and rank the sophomores for two reasons. 1. It is a nice change of pace and gives the reader something new. 2. This rookie class is god-awful and we are running out of ways to describe how bad it is. At the end of the season, NBA coaches are asked to vote for five players for an All-Rookie Team. We
Rookie Rankings, Week 10: McCollum Could Give Bad Blazers Bench a Boost
Last season, the Portland Trail Blazers had one of the worst benches in the NBA. Portland’s reserves were last in minutes (13.3), points (18.5), rebounds (10.5), offensive efficiency (21.1) and defenseive efficiency (minus 17.7). It was a big reason they had three players in the top nine in minutes per game, including rookie Damian Lillard, who led the entire NBA in minutes played. It also was a big reason why those players burned out and Portland lost its last 11 games
Rookie Rankings, Week 9: Hawks Need More of Antic’s Antics
When Pero Antic arrived at training camp for the Atlanta Hawks, he was their fourth-string center. The 31-year-old rookie from Macedonia was behind former All-Star Al Horford, veteran Elton Brand and journeyman Gustavo Ayon in the pecking order. Even on the NBA’s smallest team, the 6-11 Antic didn’t figure to play much. And he didn’t. Even with Ayon sidelined by a shoulder injury suffered early in camp, Antic had 11 DNPs in the first 22 games as new coach Mike Budenholzer relied
Rookie Rankings, Week 7: Trey Burke Takes Top Spot
Back in October, our editor-in-chief asked the staff to make 10 fearless predictions for the 2013-14 season. One of the predictions I made was that Utah Jazz guard Trey Burke would win Rookie of the Year. Just as Damian Lillard was a season ago, Burke was ideally positioned to win the award. The Jazz acquired him with the express purpose of giving him the keys to the offense. They didn’t care how many times he wrecked it. [Read more…]
Rookie Rankings, Week 6: Do We Have Another High Lottery Bust?
Is it too early to say whether we have another lottery bust on our hands? It has been well-documented what’s going on in Cleveland with Anthony Bennett, the top overall pick in the 2013 draft who has been absolutely awful this season. This week, we saw the debut of Otto Porter, the No. 3 overall pick of the Washington Wizards. And while Porter is returning from an injury and has only played two games, the early returns don’t look promising. [Read more…]
Kotoch: Top 10 NBA Draft Prospects for 2013
Happy Thanksgiving! And today we give thanks that there are quite a few big men who will be available in next June’s draft. [Read more…]