With Thursday playing host to a critical Game 4 in the 2014 NBA Finals wherein the Miami Heat trail the San Antonio Spurs 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, a far more important game took place early in the afternoon. The 2014 World Cup. The host nation faced off against Croatia in the opening game of the world’s most anticipated sports tournament. The game, which ended in a 3-1 victory in favor of the Brazil. With many NBA athletes coming from countries all across the
The NBA conference finals normally bring out the best that the game of basketball has to offer. More often than not, the four best teams remain, and if we’re lucky, the best players on the planet. We are treated to some combination of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu and Paul George every night. These players give us performances to praise night in and night out. And sometimes they don’t. And it’s when they don’t that we
We have decided to bring back the Three-Man Weave, which we did for a while back in the day before the guest authors turned their answers into SAT essays. While emphasizing no extra page clicks and answers around 100 words or so, we address Paul George’s whining, Frank Vogel’s future and Serge Ibaka’s impact. [Read more…]
The NBA doubled down Thursday on the controversial ending of Game 5 of Clippers-Thunder, fining coach Doc Rivers $25,000 for blasting the officials afterward. The fine was announced by NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn and came one day after the league came to defense of the officiating crew, whose replay ruling left most fans baffled by their decision. [Read more…]
Transparency is a two-way street. For years, NBA media members – echoing the sentiments of its passionate fan base – wanted more transparency from Commissioner David Stern and his executive staff. Whether it was a lottery drawing, a suspension in the playoffs or a referee scandal, folks felt like they were entitled to an explanation. And they were. Stern grudgingly came around. He arranged for the media to meet with referees prior to the season about rules changes. He allowed the media
With just one more week to go in the NBA season, it’s time for our final round of “Name That Big Man!” [Read more…]
Media pundits argue all of the time about which athletes contain the “clutch gene.” Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Ray Allen, Tom Brady, John Elway rank among the greats in the respective sports. Even players like Tim Tebow have garnered acclaim for playing big in the clutch moments. Kentucky Wildcats guard Aaron Harrison has proven himself to be a major “clutch” player with ice in his veins. For three games in-a-row heading into the NCAA National Championship game, he has hit the go-ahead three-point
As the Dallas Mavericks compete for one of the most competitive No. 8 seeds in NBA history, they’ve relied heavily on Vince Carter to provide veteran leadership and production to the team’s second lineup. While he is the team’s sixth man by assignment, coach Rick Carlisle still considers him one of Dallas’ most important players. This is evident by Carter’s defined role in the final minutes of close games. Carter is averaging nearly seven fourth-quarter minutes per game in 2013-2014, nearly two