I know a guy who used to work for the Houston Rockets back in the 1990s, when Hakeem Olajuwon was leading the team to back to-back titles and the team played at The Summit — a rickety bandbox that has been converted into a church in the years since the team moved to the Toyota Center. The guy tells a great story about a different era in the NBA, when money flowed as though it was wine at a toga party.
Generations of fans know the Utah Jazz as a model of stability. They were raised on Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone, coach Jerry Sloan and super significant owner Larry H. Miller, the rock of the franchise. Miller kept the team together, mended issues with coaches and players and even took financial risks to purchase the team. When Miller died in 2009, the franchise slowly lost all the stability he imparted to it as the sole owner. It truly fell apart
Most of the star players in free agency are now off the board, but there are still plenty of impact players to discuss in this updated version of the Free Agency Breakdown with unique analytic angles. We here at Sheridan Hoops will break everything down for you into bite sized Winners & Losers style pieces. The Houston Rockets, GM Daryl Morey and Dwight Howard were WINNERS after agreeing to a four-year deal worth $88 million to finally, mercifully, ending the Dwight Howard sweepstakes.
While you were barbecuing, partying, working, relaxing or otherwise enjoying your extended July 4 weekend, a total of 14 teams made notable moves ranging from The Dwecision down to the smart or foolish signings of role players. And since we live in a country where instant gratification rules the day and short attention spans allows games like Candy Crush to reap $633,000 a day in revenue, we here at Sheridan Hoops will break everything down for you into bite sized Winners & Losers
Even though the Pacers lost Game 1, they had to have impressed many impartial observers. Maybe the Heat won’t have an easy path to the Finals after all. Or maybe the first game was an aberration and they’ll turn on the jets and roll over Indiana from here on out. We’ll see, I guess. For some analysis of what went wrong for Indy at the end of OT, check out Chris Sheridan’s column blaming Paul George. And since we’re about to
Now that we are about a month into the NBA season, are you disappointed in the performance of a player or two on your favorite team? Take a number and get in line. There are dozens of players who are not coming close to meeting expectations this season. And when you factor in their salaries and how much they limit their team’s financial flexibility, it can be downright infuriating. [Read more…]
Here’s some injury news that isn’t really news at all, because it concerns Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut. The oft-injured Bogut will not play in any of the team’s next three games as he continues to build strength in his surgically repaired left ankle, the team announced Tuesday. [Read more…]
While all of the focus has been on the soap opera swirl around the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA’s other similarly storied franchise has its own set of issues. The Boston Celtics also raised expectations by adding some key pieces in the offseason, then promptly stumbled out of the gate. But there were no death stares, insurrections, coach beheadings or panic moves. But there are some problems in Beantown. Let’s allow team leader Kevin Garnett to explain. “You can’t speed chemistry up,” Garnett said.