NEW YORK – When you’re the New York Knicks, you’ll take any piece of positive history you can get. And after the Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, 100-84, on Sunday afternoon, they have opened a season with back-to-back victories for the first time this century. That the two victories came against two quality opponents in the Miami Heat – whom the Knicks defeated Friday night – and the 76ers should give Knicks fans more gooey feelings of positivity. Mike
// At the top of our 2012-13 NBA wish list is the cessation of the overuse of the word “Linsanity.” We had enough of that last year, IMHO, and Lin should drop off the national radar once the fallout from his GQ cover article begins to subside. He had a nice game last night against the Grizzlies with 12 assists and five steals, but he also missed three of four free throw attempts. He is playing on a team that has one
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) The Indiana Pacers went into last season following the NBA lockout hoping to be a playoff team in the Eastern Conference. That goal proved too modest for the Pacers as several new faces
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) New city. New arena. New uniforms. New team. These aren’t your New Jersey Nets anymore. When the 2012-13 NBA season tips off and you see the black-and-white-clad Brooklyn Nets playing on their new
(This entry is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) I have often been labeled a Knicks optimist because that’s my personality by nature. Plus, it’s a combination of finding myself having to defend them against what I sometimes find to
(This entry is the second in a series of 30 guest columns that will run during October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) There’s absolutely nothing in the NBA worse than mediocrity. It’s a top-heavy league where if you’re not in the top five, the bottom five, or you don’t have a superstar,
(This entry begins a series of 30 guest columns that will run during October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) The squeak of vulcanized rubber against newly finished hardwood once again signals the return of the NBA. As training camps open around the league, veterans are refreshed, rookies are nervously ambitious and new
Atlantic Division Fantasy Preview (Part I) While we follow the NBA closely and have opinions about the best teams in each division, fantasy owners shouldn’t care about the standings. Starting today, we’ll look at each team’s fantasy strengths and weaknesses: coaching, probable rotation, expected pace and other characteristics. Plus you’ll get our tips on which players to target, or avoid. This week-long series is a team effort. Jeff Nichols examines the Northwest tomorrow, Bruce Wrigley looks at the Pacific on Wednesday and I’ll