For the first time in roughly two decades, the Eastern Conference is better than the Western Conference from top to bottom. Nine East teams are at .500 or better – nearly twice as many teams as last season, when sixth-seeded Milwaukee finished 41-41. And the East actually has a winning record against the West this season at 100-98 What changed so quickly from last season, when articles were written about how there was the greatest disparity in conference strength in recent memory? “I
“It’s a lot to take in but that’s what I asked for,” said Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh on a rainy Monday night in Brooklyn. Bosh is still trying to take in the many responsibilities he accepted and undertook when he returned to Miami in July after LeBron James’ departure to Cleveland. Bosh took on Miami’s leading role after four years of being a supporting player. Bosh is now the team’s vocal leader and its top scorer, creator and facilitator. Shots
BROOKLYN – LeBron James doesn’t like losing. Not one bit. His Miami Heat just barely put up 60 points against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night in an 86-62 defeat at the Barclays Center. Was he mad? Nope, he was patient. “We’re just trying to get better and not waste an opportunity to get better,” James said. “We don’t have all our guys playing, but when guys were in the game, they played, worked hard.” Miami didn’t really work so hard rebounding the basketball
It’s July 23, and a vast majority of the free agents have found homes, meaning that the player movement portion of the offseason has nearly come to a close. So most fans would love to see where their team stacks up, right? Right. [Read more…]
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.
Through the first six games of the NBA Finals, there was just one really important thing the Miami Heat just could not seem to accomplish offensively: successfully integrating Dwyane Wade and LeBron James together on the floor. Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra found the right group of players to pair with LeBron to succeed offensively against the stingy San Antonio Spurs defense. James was put at the power forward position and paired with Mario Chalmers (who can handle, shoot and ably execute
Even before a preposterous third and fourth quarter run, the Miami Heat had already gotten back into a great position in its NBA Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs. Through the changes and adjustments made by the Heat during the first three quarters of Game 2, they had already erased the bad mistakes and trends that ended up haunting them in Game 1. Sure, the result was a 103-84 blowout win for Miami over San Antonio, but margin of victory
The refs gave this game to the Pacers? Why, because LeBron James fouled out for the second time in 128 career playoff games? That’s a convenient excuse. Miami was called for just five more fouls than Indiana and only attempted six fewer free throws in the game. If you look a little deeper, Indiana reversed three key trends in this series and helped the team get an enormous 99-92 win in Tuesday night’s Game 4 to help even the Eastern