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…]
There is really no such thing as bad news in Charlotte — not after what happened last season. But they still need their highest-paid players to perform, and that won’t be happening for the next two months after the team announced Monday that forward Tyrus Thomas is expected to miss approximately two months after an MRI revealed a second-degree strain of his left calf muscle and a tear of the plantaris muscle, a smaller muscle that assists the calf in plantar flexing the ankle. No surgery will be
Forget small ball. The NBA’s best team plays bully ball. The Memphis Grizzlies don’t have a fleet of sharpshooters standing on the arc. They don’t have a stretch 4. They don’t have a dual point guard backcourt. Heck, their shooting guard can’t even shoot. [Read more…]
Where to begin? Mike Brown’s exit? Phil Jackson’s overnight disappearance? The unending string of power forward injuries? A reformed J.R. Smith on the undefeated New York Knicks? This season has been full of shocking developments; if you look closely enough you can find a significant surprise in nearly every division and on every team. [Read more…]
If you go by the axiom that it is always a good thing to trade a small for a big, the Charlotte Bobcats made a nice move today by acquiring forward Hakim Warrick from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for shooting guard Matt Carroll. The move should give the Bobcats an extra defensive presence, which is something you need when you are ranked 30th in the NBA in points allowed (107.2). [Read more…]
When Charlotte drafted Michael Kidd-Gilchrist second overall in the 2012 NBA Draft, they expected to see a lot of nights like the one he had on Saturday in the Bobcats 101-97 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks. It’s no secret that the rookie out of Kentucky has the quickness and agility to get to the rim at the NBA level; through three games he has gotten into the paint for 6.6 of his 9.2 shots per game. [Read more…]
Congratulations to the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets for resisting the urge to relocate tonight’s opener to the Meadowlands, or to the Prudential Center in Newark, or to the Teaneck Armory (if it still exists) — all places they used to call home. Their super-hyped opener against the New York Knicks has been postponed until Nov. 26 because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy, which caused more devastation than New Yorkers and NewJerseyans are accustomed to handling. Fistfights at gas stations? Check. An inordinate amount
(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 Bobcats of last season were 100 percent tragedy. They were an utter disaster on the court, making NBA history with the worst season winning percentage. Thankfully for them, the shortened season