Back on April Fools Day, Mike Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser, the hosts of ESPN’s popular ‘Pardon The Interruption,’ opened the show with a segment speculating that Larry Bird was about to come down and replace Frank Vogel as the head coach of the reeling Indiana Pacers. They talked about how the team was sliding and that something needed to be done. Bird, who had coached the Pacers before – albeit more than a decade ago – had been critical of the
Would you sacrifice the possibility of hosting a Game 7 at home in the Eastern Conference finals if it meant a smoother path toward getting to those Eastern Conference finals? That is a question the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat have to be asking themselves with seven days left in the regular season. [Read more…]
The Indiana Pacers just keep getting more and more interesting. And tonight, we’ll find out if their second unit is good enough to defeat the worst team in the NBA. Why the second unit? Because all five members of the starting five — Roy Hibbert, David West, Paul George, Lance Stephenson and George Hill — are being rested tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks. It is one of the most bizarre moves by a coach in an important stretch run, ever. The Pacers
UCONN upset Kentucky Monday night in the National Championship game, defeating the wildcats 60-54 in an up-and-down game that they led buzzer-to-buzzer. There were big shots and highlight plays made all night by NBA level talent. The game could have gone either way until UCONN wrapped things up with just under two minutes to play. The presentation, broadcast and atmosphere were A-plus. Shabazz Nappier and Ryan Boatright were phenomenal. Kentucky’s heralded freshman class flashed NBA talent. Especially James young. It was the second fantastic title
Believe it or not, there’s someone out there who doesn’t think the Indiana Pacers are coming apart at the seams. “Everybody goes through this,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said last week after San Antonio manhandled Indiana, 103-77, on the Pacers’ home court. “I’m not worried about them. They’ll still make it to the Eastern Conference finals and they’ll still play Miami.” Parker is somewhat right. From time to time, every championship contender has a stretch during a season where they look ordinary.
Life can be tricky. Sometimes, you are judged by your successes. Other times, you are judged by your failures. Which brings us to the San Antonio Spurs, who are sitting at 60 victories with a little over a week left in the 2013-14 regular season, practically assured of having homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. But when you play word association with the Spurs, what comes to mind first: Their 19-game winning streak that ended last week, or their 0-4 record this season
The playoffs may be just right around the corner, but when talking about the bigger picture when it comes to the landscape of the NBA, it all starts with the Miami Heat. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all have the ability to opt-out of the last year of their contracts with the Heat on June 30th, thus potentially making them free agents at the end of the season. [Read more…]
Mike Bantom, the NBA’s Executive Vice President of Referee Operations, is cracking down on a very specific point of contention. The issue at hand? Verticality. Secondary defenders are permitted to challenge an oncoming offensive player so long as they stay “vertical.” However, according to a memorandum sent to all owners, general managers, coaches and officials over the weekend, there has been a noticeable increase of players bending, if not breaking, the rule. We have noticed that defenders have been turning sideways when jumping to