It’s that time again. We’ve come to the end of another unforgettable season of the Most Improved Player Rankings, and like John Kasich, I’ve already made a pact with myself that I’m not going to cry, no matter what happens. It’s been a great season in this column space. We’ve written classic poetry, made fun of Kobe Bryant, checked in with presidential candidates, wondered if Steph Curry is really just an elaborate Old Spice commercial, kicked LeBron while he’s down, and quietly made
With just 10 days left in the NBA regular season, there’s still a lot to be determined and decided. Records can be broken, playoff fates will be sealed and the season will be mercifully be over for several hopeless teams around the league. With the regular season reaching its last days, we give you the 10 most important questions that needs to be answered before the postseason begins. It’s going to be YUGE. [Read more…]
Loud people may not understand this column. But as Rocky Balboa once pontificated, there is such a thing as “the disease of being shy.” It’s a tough thing, really. You can’t easily overcome shyness, and it doesn’t really go away over time. Shy people don’t always get everything they deserve, because non-shy people often mistake their shyness for docility or indifference. In our extrovert-dominant, squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease society, being quiet can hurt you. You don’t see a ton of shy people winning Academy Awards, or running for President,
Discussing the state of the modern NBA big man in a USA Today story on Monday night, Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard said, “It’s really like we’re dinosaurs, and they’re trying to extinct us.” Like any creature, company or concept claiming to face extinction, big men around the league should follow the wise words of Charles Darwin: adapt or die. And adapting is exactly what Charlotte center Al Jefferson did, which is one of the many reasons why the Hornets are the Eastern Conference’s hottest
Last season, the Atlanta Hawks were one of the NBA’s best regular-season stories, winning 60 games. This season, they needed almost 60 games to remember what winning is. After their best season since moving to Atlanta nearly 50 years ago, the Hawks have spent most of this season spurting and sputtering. They got off to a 7-1 start, which many took as a good sign considering they were a measly 7-6 out of the gate last season. There was a six-game
It’s been just over three weeks since the NBA trade deadline and 10 days since the March 1 buyout deadline that saw numerous players joining playoff contenders. So which acquisitions are soaring and which are flailing? We’re going to look at 15 players who were recently acquired via trade or signing and sort them into three categories: Good, Bad and Obscure. The good players are making positive impacts on their teams, the bad players just haven’t been faring very well on their new
No matter whom you like in the race for NBA Rookie of the Year, one thing is certain: Both Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis will be watching the playoffs on TV. That’s no dig at either player. It is usually what happens to high draft picks during their first couple of seasons. You have to go back to Derrick Rose in 2008 to find a top overall pick who reached the playoffs in his rookie season. In fact, among the last 40
Dearly Beloved: As we gather together once more in this special column space, we can’t help but daydream about the beautiful matrimony between man and award. It’s wedding season (I don’t know if that’s true or not), so we thought it would be interesting to explore some of the similarities between “sixth men” and best men. It’s not just because they both have the word “man” in them. OK, maybe it is. But still, there are a lot of similarities. [Read more…]