Following a recent game at Memphis, Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Jordan Clarkson left quite an impression on Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph. Clarkson scored a season-high 25 points on 12-of-18 shooting and added six assists. He kept the Lakers in the game until the fourth quarter, when the Grizzlies put their defense and talent to work and pulled out a 97-90 win. Afterward, Randolph was blown away. “That young fellow, he’s going to be good,” he said. “I didn’t even know who
Hassan Whiteside has been one of the great and unexpected success stories in the NBA this season, thanks to his at-times brilliant play on the court. Unfortunately, he has begun to show signs of serious volatility that is mostly unwarranted. It started when he retaliated against Alex Len last week during a feisty matchup against the Phoenix Suns and received a $15,000 fine from the league. At the time, the center said he “regret doing that” and that “violence is not
Nice how things change so drastically and so quickly in the NBA. In the season preview that I wrote about the Cleveland Cavaliers one year ago, the five things to watch included Andrew Bynum, Anthony Bennett and Mike Brown’s defensive schemes. Obviously, things have changed dramatically as the Cavs head into the 2014-15 season. With a mere 952 words in Sports Illustrated back in July after Chris Sheridan broke the story two days earlier, LeBron James single-handedly changed the direction – and
The summer is winding down, and things are about to get interesting for Team USA as they depart for Spain and push forward toward a much-anticipated matchup with the host nation in the gold medal game. Unless, of course, the United States and Spain do not make it all the way to the final. Hey, a Spain-USA gold medal game is NOT a certainty. Strange things can happen along the way. Ask Paul George, who is out for a year with a
Not much happening. Which leads us to a Sportswriting Etiquette 101 lesson: It is bad form for basketball writers who are covering a tight game to say: “Looks like it’ll go to overtime.” Same thing with baseball writers, who are forbidden in press boxes from mentioning the words “extra innings” prior to the start of the 10th. It s considered a jinx. OK, not forbidden. But it is frowned upon, heavily. Sportwriters like to go home to their families, especially those families with
Thankfully, the dominoes of the summer of 2014 have begun to fall into place for next season (and beyond). And even though it’s the middle of July, it’s never too early to think about the possibilities that lie ahead on the hardwood. Here are three offensive certainties that will make waves during the 2014-15 NBA season. [Read more…]
The Indiana Pacers have been mired in all sorts of media controversy amidst their late-season swoon and subsequent first round playoff struggles. For all of the talk about Roy Hibbert and his personal struggles to score and rebound, there have been numerous theories as to the possible cause of both his loss of confidence and the team’s lack of chemistry and general malaise. One of the prevailing thoughts is that the mid-season additions of Andrew Bynum and Evan Turner may have
I don’t like the NCAA Tournament. I don’t like that college basketball’s regular season provides little postseason incentive. I don’t like that the coach is a bigger personality than the players. I don’t like that the games are played on neutral courts. I don’t like that one bad game or bad call or bad break can end a team’s season. I don’t like that “close” becomes a synonym for “well-played.” And I don’t like that poor play determines the outcome much