The Coach of the Year was announced Tuesday, with Gregg Popovich coming out on top by a wide margin. It was certainly well-deserved, but there were plenty of other coaches that warranted attention as well. Thirteen coaches received votes, including Frank Vogel, Lionel Hollins, Tyrone Corbin, Stan Van Gundy and Vinny Del Negro – mid-season crisis and all. The work of these fine coaches will be on display tonight as we look into the preview of three playoff games on Wednesday night. Utah (0-1) at
News, Notes, and Rumors from Around the NBA: March 20, 2012.
Derek Fisher is in advanced negotiations with the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign with the Western Conference leaders after clearing waivers, according to sources close to the situation. ESPN.com Sam Amick: Sources say the Kings will pick up Terrence Williams on a 10-day contract. He was cut by Houston this week. Twitter The Grizzlies and Gilbert Arenas have made it official: The free-agent guard will join the team for the rest of this season. Griz general manager Chris Wallace confirmed the deal today. Arenas, who was in Memphis
The Bernucca List – Edition 13
Last week’s edition of The Bernucca List produced a handful of wrong guesses until reader Dashiell broke through with the right answer – former scoring champions who played for the Celtics. Get this: Throughout their illustrious history, the Celtics have never had a scoring champion. Unlucky edition 13 is below. The idea is to correctly identify the list with the proper parameters. First correct answer gets a mention in next week’s list. You can answer via the comments or Tweet me. The Bernucca
Fantasy Spin: Thursday Feb. 23
It wasn’t only Jeremy Lin (17 PTS, 9 AST) who made the difference as the Knicks trounced the Hawks. Carmelo Anthony added 15, Landry Fields 16 and J.R. Smith chipped in 5 REB and 5 STL to go with a dozen points. Atlanta, minus Joe Johnson, trailed 60-35 at halftime. Jeff Teague played well in 29 minutes and Willie Green got another start, but Marvin Williams was held scoreless. Around the Association The Warriors won in Phoenix for the first time in
Fantasy Spin: Wednesday, Feb. 22
A chance to win a 12th consecutive game was not as important to the Spurs as getting a night of scheduled rest for Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. With rookies Cory Joseph at PG and Kawhi Leonard at PF, they lost to the Blazers by 40 points. Even D-League callup Eric Dawson played 31 minutes off the bench for San Antonio in one of those games that should be completely ignored by astute fantasy owners. It did mark the first
Fantasy Spin: Tuesday, Feb. 21
Derrick Rose scored 23 points in his return as the Bulls handled Atlanta. It was a makeshift lineup for the Hawks, with Marvin Williams (personal) replaced in the starting five by Willie Green. Then Joe Johnson left early with a sore knee, though it doesn’t sound too serious. Neither Jeff Teague nor Kirk Hinrich had a great afternoon; seldom-used Jannero Pargo outplayed them both. After complaining in public about his playing time, Tracy McGrady got almost 22 minutes. Around the League Deron
Fantasy Spin: Tuesday, Jan. 10
Highlight Performances: Kobe Bryant, LAL– A second time highlight performer, Kobe was unstoppable Tuesday Night, dropping 48 points against the Suns. Kobe hit 18-31 shots from the field, did not make a 3, and added 3 steals, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Kobe is on pace to score 30 points a game this season, and he does not look like he is slowing down any time soon. I covered Kobe earlier this year, stating that he will shoot close to 30
When Van Gundy’s Honda Civic got jet-blasted; plus other tales from the past and present
Did you ever hear the story about the time Jeff Van Gundy’s Honda Civic got flipped onto Brendan Malone’s brand-new Mercedes by a jet blast from the Knicks’ charter plane? Do you remember the 1996 Western Conference finals when Karl Malone was taking so long to shoot free throws, the fans in Seattle counted to 10 while he prepared to shoot? The Jazz lost that series in Game 7 at Key Arena when Malone missed two big shots from the line at