Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the league, not a player was balling, not even Jeff Teague. The Most Improved Rankings were crafted with flair, in the hopes that somebody might actually care. Danny Ainge was nestled all snug in his bed, while visions of Asik danced in his head. J-Kidd in his kerchief, Lopez in his cast, the Nets have settled down for their long winter’s nap. When from the Wells Fargo Center there rose such a clatter, I sprang from
Finding a Most Improved Player in the NBA this year is like finding a reasonable, stand-up politician in Congress. It’s so tough to do, it’s almost sickening. With so many teams so tremendously un-improved, there are precious few bright spots in a vast wasteland of awfulness. Just take a look at the Eastern Conference standings. Actually….don’t do that. You can’t un-see the Eastern Conference standings. This, after-all, is a family-friendly website. As we enter Tuesday night’s games, 12 teams in the East have losing records, which
People have short attention spans. Milk eggs cheese buttuh … Was there anything else on that list? Sometimes we get really excited about things after small sample sizes, and start declaring them the Greatest Thing since that last Great Thing we can’t remember anymore. It happens too often. Take “Call Me Maybe.” Or Jeremy Lin. Or that “What does the Fox say” video that I wish I could un-watch like I took the blue pill in The Matrix. So when Markieff Morris (twin brother of
It’s time for Week 3 of the Greatest Fake Tournament in the history of sports columns. Let’s get right to the games, with Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery on the call. GUS JOHNSON: Welcome back to Most Improved Player Madness. I’m Gus Johnson alongside Bill Raftery, and Bill, It’s been a thrilling tournament so far, and it has left our readers completely speechless. They can’t even click on the link because of all of the spontaneous excitement. I’m so happy I
One of my favorite things about college basketball is when Dick Vitale starts screaming on Selection Sunday. Hold on, let me be more specific. I’m talking about when he starts screaming during ESPN’s show on Selection Sunday, after one of the teams he thinks should have made the NCAA Tournament is snubbed. [Read more…]