Well, it’s happened. The NBA’s early season darling teams have fallen back to earth. The Phoenix Suns, who started 5-2, are now 5-6 and look poised for the early lottery once again. Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division could be historically bad. The Philadelphia 76ers, who have won only twice in their last 10 games, trail the Toronto Raptors by only a half game for first place. And the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are fighting for Gotham’s infamy as they both stand
Considering his background in the military, it should not be surprising that Gregg Popovich leads a unit that seems to always fly under the radar. Figuratively, of course. Popovich is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and stayed in the service long enough to serve a tour of duty in the Kurdish area in eastern Turkey near the border of Syria. It was a top secret assignment; obviously, the good military man has never elaborated on it, other than to
Growing up, fans are taught several “facts” about team sports. It’s a fact that teamwork is better than selfish play. It’s usually a fact that a good defense beats a good offense. It’s a fact in baseball that last licks is more advantageous than leading off. Perhaps no “fact” is more emphasized, however, than the notion that the best players in every sport always start. In the NBA in 2013, that “fact” is fiction. It couldn’t be further from the truth. [Read more…]
First impressions are everything. For Philadelphia 76ers rookie point guard Michael Carter-Williams, his first impression was a thorough domination of the defending NBA champion Miami Heat. Carter-Williams finished his regular season debut with 22 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds and nine steals on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the arc as the Sixers pulled off a shocking 114-110 upset. If you’re impressed by those numbers, don’t stand up just yet – Carter-Williams was so good that he will sweep
France has won the EuroBasket title for the first time in its history, defeating Lithuania 80-66 today. Spurs star Tony Parker led his country to the EuroBasket championship and won tournament MVP for France after 12 points and 3 assists in the game. Blazers forward Nicolas Batum led France in scoring with 17 points and added 6 boards while Spurs forward Boris Diaw added 15 for the winners. Former Raptors forward Linas Kleiza led Lithuania with 20 points, Mantas Kalnietis added 19 points
Shoulda, coulda, woulda. We all remember Game 6 of the NBA Finals, correct? And we all remember Game 7, and the way Tim Duncan looked afterward — like he was at a funeral. The Big Fundamental had been spoiled, winning every previous time he had advanced to the Finals. So the question to ask going into 2013-14 — will this be Spurs Motivation 2.0? [Read more…]
In a time constantly focused on the new, this age-old axiom remains true: it’s not what you do when people are watching, it’s what you do when you’re alone. While LeBron James is arranging police escorts to Jay-Z concerts and sneaking out of jury duty, Roy Hibbert, quietly, is spending another summer training with Tim Duncan down south in San Antonio. More from Yahoo! Sports Kelly Dwyer: [Read more…]
It’s July 23, and a vast majority of the free agents have found homes, meaning that the player movement portion of the offseason has nearly come to a close. So most fans would love to see where their team stacks up, right? Right. [Read more…]