After jettisoning Dwight Howard in August 2012, the Orlando Magic fully embraced a rebuilding plan, starting over with two young prospects in Nikola Vucevic and Moe Harkless and a veteran contributor in Arron Afflalo. After a surprisingly strong 12-13 start which had some folks around the NBA wondering if they could make the playoffs, the Magic floundered to the finish, losing 49 of their final 57 games. Along the way, they lost Glen Davis to two injuries – one which would
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
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) Honestly, it’s nearly impossible to list just five reasons to feel positive about the NBA champion Miami Heat. The “Big Three” could take up three spots by themselves, and the fact that
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) The Atlanta Hawks spent the last seven years developing a contender in the Eastern Conference and the last five cultivating a core of Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Marvin Williams. Dubbed
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) The Washington Wizards’ rebuild is now into year three as the plan remains to grow with a young roster. But the team sprinkled in veterans this summer, adding big man Emeka Okafor and
(This is another in a series of 30 guest columns that will run in October, when optimism reigns supreme across the NBA. The theme will be “Five Reasons to Feel Positive About … ” We encourage you to follow the authors on Twitter and visit their sites. – CS) The Bobcats of last season were 100 percent tragedy. They were an utter disaster on the court, making NBA history with the worst season winning percentage. Thankfully for them, the shortened season
Southeast Division Preview Part I This is the last in our series of Division Previews. Kent weighed in on the Atlantic and Southwest, Bruce took the Pacific and Central and I looked at the Northwest earlier this week. When we discussed this idea and sought volunteers for each division, everyone wanted to do the Southeast. I can’t speak for Kent or Bruce, but I wanted to review this division because I just don’t understand what these teams are doing and thought some closer analysis would shed some light. This includes the NBA
Southeast Division Fantasy Preview Part II In Part 1, we covered the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks. In Part II, we look at the Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Bobcats. Orlando Magic “Incompetence is the world’s greatest cloak for corruption.” I heard this quote on a local radio talk show discussing the referee situation in the NFL. I wish I knew the guest so I could properly credit him. It stuck with me as a perfect explanation for what may be going