This is the home of the defending NBA champions. No, Gregg Popovich, we haven’t forgiven you for blowing Game 6. This podcast, one of the better anti-Popovich rants you’ll hear, might only be topped by this Popovich bashfest. Ah, we sure were spunky back in late June. Well, the only key guy missing from last season’s Spurs (aside from Pop’s two top assistants, who moved on to bigger and better things) is Gary Neal, who has been replaced by Marco Belinelli, which
Five Things To Watch: Houston Rockets
Times flies. And things change. The Houston Rockets are Exhibit A. One year ago, the Houston Rockets headed into training camp seemingly empty-handed after a summer spent chasing Dwight Howard via a trade with Orlando. Gone were Luis Scola, Goran Dragic, Kyle Lowry, Samuel Dalembert, Courtney Lee and countless others, and in were the unproven Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. It was a seemingly disappointing offseason, but just before the season was set to start, GM Daryl Morey changed all of that,
Five Things To Watch: Memphis Grizzlies
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Everyone is familiar with that old cliché. It’s one the Grizzlies understand well after the 2012-13 season. Over the past year, there has been a complete changing of the guard in the Bluff City. An ownership swap was the first domino to fall when Michael Heisley officially completed the sale of the team to tech mogul Robert Pera right before the regular season began. From there, the rest of the hierarchy was
Five Things to Watch: San Antonio Spurs
Shoulda, coulda, woulda. We all remember Game 6 of the NBA Finals, correct? And we all remember Game 7, and the way Tim Duncan looked afterward — like he was at a funeral. The Big Fundamental had been spoiled, winning every previous time he had advanced to the Finals. So the question to ask going into 2013-14 — will this be Spurs Motivation 2.0? [Read more…]
Five Things to Watch: New Orleans Pelicans
A lot can change in just under five months. Just ask the basketball fans of New Orleans. They really needed change after what went on last season. The 2012-2013 season was dark and gloomy for NOLA hoops. The team finished 14th in the Western Conference at 27-55, with an 11-30 road record that was also 14th in the conference. The team had trouble scoring (more on that later) and winning intraconference games. Its record against West teams was 15-37, good for
Five Things To Watch: Dallas Mavericks
After the high of winning the 2011 NBA championship, it didn’t take the Dallas Mavericks long to tumble back down. Between the much-publicized decision to let most of the championship team go, and the subsequent failure to obtain a top-tier free agent, Dallas is treading water – not quite ready to go under but with no real rescue in sight. This offseason, the Mavericks rolled the dice and brought in an eclectic combination of players through free agency that left much of
Celtics trade Fab Melo to Grizzlies
In a minor trade which has luxury tax implications for both teams, the Boston Celtics traded project center Fab Melo to the Memphis Grizzlies for Donte Greene. The swap of Syracuse alums was announced Wednesday by the Grizzlies. Dumping Melo’s $1.3 million salary for the 2013-14 season gets the Celtics right to the tax line, according to our salary analysis. They take back Greene, who is scheduled to make $1.03 million in a non-guaranteed deal. [Read more…]
Hubbard: Can Dirk The Franchise Lure Talent to Dallas?
The myth died for good only two years ago, but it seems more distant than that because it was so silly. It’s unlikely that it will return, but then again, people are still looking for Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, mermaids and flying saucers. So who knows? Maybe at some point, some basketball idiot will call Dirk Nowitzki “soft” again. That person would indeed have to be an idiot. But then, that was always true. Those who preached such nonsense