LAS VEGAS – Day 1 of Team USA’s training camp was point guards. Day 2 is frontcourt bigs. Right now, it seems as though the consensus is condor-like Anthony Davis is the only sure thing to make the 12-man roster going to Spain for the World Cup. After that, everything else is up in the air. The other candidates are power forwards Kenneth Faried and Paul Millsap and centers Andre Drummond and DeMarcus Cousins. And the guy I want to talk about is
Derrick Rose is one of five point guards in training camp for Team USA, and he is the only one who has these three things in play right now: _ He is trying to initiate a career comeback after playing only 10 games the past two seasons after injuries to both of his knees. _ He is the only one of the five Team USA point guards who has won an MVP award. Also, he started for Mike Krzyzewski four years ago
LAS VEGAS — All I heard on the way out here was that Team USA executive director Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski have a big problem with the recent withdrawal of big man Kevin Love, and what are they going to do at power forward? Well, after watching the first practice, I think they have a second problem — but this is the good kind. They have five point guards who can all flat-out play, and my guess is they can
Is the white American player making a comeback this summer? All of the recent offseason buzz is centered around Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star forward Kevin Love and which team can put together the most appealing trade package to acquire him. Meanwhile, two of the top three salary bumps also went to white American players – Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward. As restricted free agents, both got max salary offer sheets and cashed in. So while white men can’t jump, they certainly can jump in
The Cleveland Cavaliers have officially signed the number one overall pick of this years draft, Andrew Wiggins. The team announced the signing Thursday afternoon. Besides getting the top pick in the draft secured to a deal, the signing is significant because it impacts the recent trade rumors circling around Kevin Love. Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that due to NBA rules, any trades with Wiggins would have to be postponed. Wiggins has been involved in trade discussions between the Cavs and
The growth of analytics in the NBA has been nothing short of phenomenal. It started with a deeper look at numbers that already were available and produced new and useful statistics such as true shooting percentage, defensive rebound percentage, offensive rating and win shares. With the use of a grid or a matrix, we now have the ability to determine a player’s offensive tendencies and hot spots. For some players, it is quite revealing. For others, such as DeAndre Jordan, it pretty
It is very easy to overlook the Washington Wizards. They are in contention for the title about as often as the Earth is under threat of alien invasion, they haven’t had an outsized personality in the locker room since Gilbert Arenas was telling Javaris Crittendon to “Pick One,” and they will undoubtedly be kept off national television next season because they just aren’t sexy. But you know what? They could very well contend for the best record in the Eastern Conference. Many
John Wall’s shooting in the playoffs has badly been exposed since the first round of the playoffs, and things had gotten worse in the second round against the Indiana Pacers – the best defensive team during the regular season. The point guard hasn’t been able to hit the side of a barn, averaging just 11.5 points on a paltry 31.3 percent from the field (16-of-51 shooting), including just one-of-11 from the 3-point line in the first four games. His production has