TORONTO– Khris Middleton, like the Milwaukee Bucks’ season to date, was a disappointment in Saturday night’s 3-point shooting contest and afterward shared his thoughts on what could be a week of change for the Bucks franchise. “With the trade deadline, you never know what could pop up, who gets traded and who stays,” Middleton told SheridanHoops in a one-on-one interview in a crowded Air Canada Centre. “As far as right now, we’re all going to be there.” In terms of what roles
For the first time in roughly two decades, the Eastern Conference is better than the Western Conference from top to bottom. Nine East teams are at .500 or better – nearly twice as many teams as last season, when sixth-seeded Milwaukee finished 41-41. And the East actually has a winning record against the West this season at 100-98 What changed so quickly from last season, when articles were written about how there was the greatest disparity in conference strength in recent memory? “I
Is the NBA inching toward parity? Or slowly sinking into mediocrity? Those may seem like strange questions during a season in which the Golden State Warriors have imposed their dominance over the rest of the league in unprecedented fashion. Yes, at 22-0 the Warriors have obliterated the best start in NBA history and have looked downright unbeatable while the clock was ticking during a vast majority of those 22 games. In that sense, they present a very strong argument against the notion
Back in February, the Milwaukee Bucks traded starting point guard Brandon Knight in a three-team deal that netted Michael Carter-Williams from Philadelphia and young players Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee from Phoenix. Knight’s contract was up after the season, and his trade from Milwaukee freed up salary space for guard/forward Khris Middleton. Middleton blossomed in his third year in the league, hitting 40.7 percent of his threes and playing strong defense for the young Bucks, who rewarded the 24-year-old with a five-year,
Leave it to Jeff Van Gundy to use the holiday season as another outlet for his vastly underrated sense of humor. During Wednesday’s ESPN telecast of New York-Dallas, the analyst said he was thankful that there were not two Eastern Conferences. But as Thanksgiving quickly morphed into the Christmas shopping season, perhaps Van Gundy could ask Santa Claus for another Western Conference. Because that would allow us to throw out the Eastern Conference with all the torn wrapping paper, ugly sweaters and
When I first sat down to write this piece, I immediately knew I had a battle between the player and the coach in me. The player in me wants a high motor, energy guy that takes no prisoners and would bite their own grandmother in the neck to win. The coach/general manager side of me wants guys that compete and play the right way, partly by making their teammates better. After 20 years of coaching, I learned rather early that I
The Phoenix Suns surprised everyone last season – including themselves – when they won 48 games and missed the playoffs only due to a couple of tough losses in the final week of the season. Goran Dragic had the best season of his career, Eric Bledsoe lived up to the potential his biggest fans envisioned and both Markieff Morris and Gerald Green were in the running for Sixth Man Award. Now entering their second season together – with a new key piece
Chicago Bulls forward Doug McDermott, coming off a First Team selection at the recently completed Las Vegas Summer League, is among two rookie rookie chosen for the USA Select Team announced Tuesday. McDermott averaged 18.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in four games in Las Vegas. He was joined by Boston Celtics rookie guard Marcus Smart, who averaged 14.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists over five games in the Orlando Summer League. The Select Team is a group of players younger than