Over the last four weeks in our Rookie Rankings, Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross ascended from ninth to sixth to fourth before plummeting entirely out of the table. That staged climb and quick descent somewhat resembles Ross in the open court, where he has unleashed some of the more memorable dunks this season. But dunks aren’t enough to get a spot in these rankings. Anyone who regularly reads this piece knows that I cut these kids very little slack. You don’t just
Moneyball NBA style hit Memphis as new Grizzlies management started moving and shaking in modern fashion, shopping Rudy Gay before pulling him back when no one offered anyone like Anthony Davis while several teams offered someone like Tyreke Evans. The new owner, internet billionaire-or-not Robert Pera, is shifting power from GM Chris Wallace, who built a contender in the NBA equivalent of a trailer park, to former player agent Jason Levien, who brought in former ESPN stat maven John Hollinger. Talk about
Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith has been suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount for conduct detrimental to the team. The team did not reveal what that conduct was, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitiution reported that Smith was thrown out of Tuesday’s practice. Hawks president Danny Ferry announced the suspension in a news release, saying, “Josh and I discussed the issue and he understood and accepted this course of action. We are confident that he will respond positively, learn from this experience
All-Star Weekend in Houston is just over a month away, and the starters for the All-Star Game will be announced Thursday night on TNT. That makes it as good a time as any to reveal what they will be wearing. [Read more…]
Tuesday marks the 84th birthday of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King is best known and widely respected for his efforts in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is most notably recognized for his famous “I Have a Dream” speech that he gave on August 23, 1963 during a Washington D.C. Civil Rights March. American society may still have a long way to go before we will have accomplished the goal set forth in that speech … However, without
The NBA draft is all about projections and potential. A generation ago, most NBA executives’ strategy was to compare prospects based on their collegiate careers. Then the Fab Five arrived at Michigan, and suddenly the process was flipped upside down. Underclassmen were scrutinized, analyzed and scouted thoroughly by NBA clubs who wanted to get the next big-time prospect. While prospects with high upside are intriguing, they come with more risk than upperclassmen. The lottery is annually dominated by underclassmen, primarily freshmen. [Read
Right now, The Bernucca List belongs to reader Ody P., and everyone else is just borrowing it. For the second straight week, last week’s edition of The Bernucca List was correctly answered by reader Ody P. Not to be confused with ODB or OPP, Ody P. correctly determined that the list was “players with 15,000 career points and 7,500 career assists.” [Read more…]
There were more than a few folks wondering if Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal had hit the Rookie Wall. To silence those folks, Beal broke through it. Right about the time rookies start to feel the rigor of their first NBA season – somewhere between 30 and 40 games, with back-to-backs and extended travel college players don’t face – Beal produced his best week of the season and showed why everyone was so high on him in June. [Read more…]