Guess who’s back? Back again. That’s right, Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal broke the most surprising news of the day: Mike Brown is back in Cleveland. [Read more…]
If you enjoy the weekly StatBox column that analytically breaks down some of the NBA’s most pressing and important topic, you’re in luck. Every Tuesday through Thursday during the postseason, the StatBox is expanding into playoff game analysis. You’ll not only find out why each team won and lost, but how different statistical trends can play out over the course of the series and the playoffs as a whole. First up: why the Bulls and Clippers are looking good in their quests
In a conference call last week, NBA commissioner David Stern made it clear that he wasn’t a huge fan of “homer” announcers. But it’s one thing to watch a broadcast of the Portland Trail Blazers – or any team – and get an earful of blind support for the home team. It’s entirely another when some of these broadcasters extend their undying support when they vote on the NBA’s season-ending awards. Knicks guard J.R. Smith won the Sixth Man Award today. The
Hey, how about those road teams in the playoffs, hunh? It was a lost weekend that would have made Ray Milland proud. I spent huge chunks of Saturday and Sunday at an AAU tournament and missed several games. When I finally got home and turned on the TV, I wished I was back at the AAU tournament. If you didn’t watch the NBA playoffs this weekend, you didn’t miss much. All eight road teams lost Game 1, the first time that has happened
The often monotonous 82-game NBA regular season has come and gone. The worst teams have finished playing and the best 16 teams (yes, that is being generous to the Bucks) advanced to the postseason, guaranteeing high quality, spirited basketball. The seedings and schedules have been set, and each conference has matchups that are incredibly intriguing. For each team in the first round, there is one player who has to emerge and play a key role for that club to advance. Let’s have a
Now that the regular season is over, it is time to review the best and worst it had to offer. If you read my weekly column (usually Mondays, sometimes Sundays), you know that we have a number of items highlighting the best and worst efforts of the week. Some come from boxscores. Others comes from game stories, sidebars and off-day stories. But every week, I make a concerted effort to read (a) every player’s line in every boxscore, (b) every AP game
Tonight at midnight, like I do every year at this time, I will face East, toward Springfield, Mass., and give a prayer of Thanksgiving. Thank heavens that’s over! I mean to tell you, it was a long season out here in the place I named Lakerdom – or actually stole from Lester Hayes, the great cornerback and quote machine who made up Raiderdom. Of course, Lakerdom now vies for its very existence with Clipper Nation, which used to put in rare appearances, like
The difference between talent and skill is one of the most misunderstood concepts of the NBA – and sports in general, for that matter. Talent you have naturally. Every player in the NBA has some form of natural talent. But skill can only be developed by hours and hours of working on your craft. 10,000 hours, as Malcolm Gladwell has famously professed. This is as true for individuals as it is teams. [Read more…]