Steve Nash took on a daunting task last year when he agreed to become general manager of Canada’s Senior Men’s basketball team, a club that hasn’t had Olympic podium success since the 1936 summer games in Berlin, Germany. Steve Nash at a press conference for Canada Basketball in 2012. Besides running Canada’s basketball operations, Nash also focuses the majority of his time at improving his game by training in facilities all over North America during the offseason.
StatBox Playoff Breakdown: Bulls’ defense and Grizzlies’ defensive shortcomings
If you enjoy the weekly StatBox column that analytically breaks down some of the NBA’s most pressing and important topic, you’re in luck. Every Tuesday through Thursday during the postseason, the StatBox is expanding into playoff game analysis. You’ll not only find out why each team won and lost, but how different statistical trends can play out over the course of the series and the playoffs as a whole. First up: why the Bulls and Clippers are looking good in their quests
Key Player For Every 2013 NBA Playoff Team
The often monotonous 82-game NBA regular season has come and gone. The worst teams have finished playing and the best 16 teams (yes, that is being generous to the Bucks) advanced to the postseason, guaranteeing high quality, spirited basketball. The seedings and schedules have been set, and each conference has matchups that are incredibly intriguing. For each team in the first round, there is one player who has to emerge and play a key role for that club to advance. Let’s have a
Who Won and Who Lost? Reviewing All 12 NBA Trades
There have been exactly a dozen NBA trades made this season, from small to significant. Some teams wanted to clear up money, some teams wanted to continue rebuilding, while others took bold steps in ensuring present and future success on the court. But in our society of instant gratification and unceasing competition, we almost have an unquenchable thirst for deciding winners and losers. [Read more…]
Trying to Quantify the Most Improved Player Award
Of all the awards given out in pro sports, the NBA’s Most Improved Player is perhaps the most arbitrary. (We won’t include hockey’s Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship.) There’s no single stat that indicates how much a player has improved from one season to the next. And why has that player improved? Is it just from increased playing time, or are there other factors involved? There’s just a whole mess of gray area involved. [Read more…]
Five Biggest Impact Players in West Playoff Race
There are less than a dozen games left in the NBA regular season, and the most dramatic race still going on is a five-team scrum in the Western Conference for three playoff spots. Those five clubs – the Warriors, Rockets, Lakers, Jazz and Mavericks – are separated by five games in the standings. [Read more…]
How The Memphis Grizzlies Improved After Trading Rudy Gay
Trading a star core player from a contending team is not usually a popular move with a team’s fan base, but we’ve seen two such moves this season improve a pair of Western Conference contenders. The Oklahoma City Thunder have actually benefited from dealing James Harden to Houston, and the Memphis Grizzlies are 16-6 since trading forward Rudy Gay to Toronto in a three-team, six-player deal on Jan. 30, the latest victory coming on Marc Gasol’s tip-in at the end of
Is LeBron James Having Greatest Win-Streak Performance Ever?
LeBron James scored 27 points, dished out eight assists and grabbed seven rebounds in Miami’s win over Philadelphia on Wednesday in the Heat’s historic 20th consecutive win. Only three other teams have won at least 20 straight in a single season (the Washington Capitols, who played basketball in the 40’s, won 20 straight spanning two seasons). Two other teams won 19 straight, and all six clubs that won at least 19 in a row had historically great players on their respective