Mitch Kupchak shouldn’t be playing hardball. In his desire to trade Pau Gasol, the GM of the Los Angeles Lakers should not have insisted on receiving Dion Waiters or a first-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nobody has overpaid for a rental since Ernie Grunfeld sent Ray Allen to Seattle for Gary Payton — and that was a long time ago. Kupchak should have lowered his demands to match the team’s expectations. The Lakers are done for this season and should be
When the season was at hand, a number of distinguished correspondents on this site and many others offered predictions that ranged from serious to absurd. Preseason predictions are a little like Donald Sterling utterances – they’re made to be forgotten. But one I would have remembered if anyone had ventured it was this: After the month of December, Jeff Hornacek will be named Coach of the Month. Now that would have been impressive, particularly since the only handicapping involving the Phoenix Suns was their
How good are the Phoenix Suns? Coming into the season, most wondered if they could win 19 games this year. After their 107-88 blowout victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, they are an impressive 19-11 – just one game behind the Clippers for the Pacific division lead. In comparison, they didn’t get to 19 wins until February 26 last season. [Read more…]
The Andrew Bynum news is dominating the NBA today. Of course, this big news would break on a day I spent a good portion of in the car, driving from my grandparents’ place in New York to my parents’ house in Baltimore. So if you, like me, are still playing catch-up, here’s the basics: The Cavs suspended Bynum indefinitely for “conduct detrimental to the team” and it looks like he’s played his last game for Cleveland. There’s murmurs that Bynum just flat
On a night that was filled with overtime thrillers and buzzer-beaters, there was plenty of action Friday night that kept fans on their toes in arenas and on the edge of their sofas in their living rooms. There were nine games, three of which went to overtime. Need a rundown without having to click your mouse two dozen times? That’s what we’re here for. Here are 10 Fast Facts from last night’s games, plus video highlights at the bottom of this post. [Read more…]
It has been a tough road for Steve Nash since leaving the Phoenix Suns to join the Los Angeles Lakers last season. Aside from all the scrutiny his team has faced due to a lack of success with what was supposed to be a championship roster, he has not been the same player he once was since breaking his leg last season. When he did come back, his impact on the game diminished as he adjusted to playing next to Kobe Bryant
The upcoming season is an evaluation campaign for the Phoenix Suns in every respect. They will introduce a new offense designed by former Sun Jeff Hornacek, a new defense spearheaded by Mike Longabardi and at least six new rotation players acquired via the draft and trades by new general manager Ryan McDonough. With the recent trade of Caron Butler – who never played a game for the team – the Suns have only one player in his 30s: Channing Frye, who
If there is one person that deserves major credit for the great turnaround of the Memphis Grizzlies over the past few seasons, it’s the work of Lionel Hollins. He brought toughness and a no-nonsense attitude to an environment that became accustomed to losing. He didn’t take kindly to poorly-defended possessions. If you couldn’t step up at that end of the floor, you weren’t going to play as much no matter how good you were on the offensive end. Just ask