Note to coaches who wish to employ the Hack-A-Dwight strategy: if the man starts making his free throws – and he is capable of making them if you send him there frequently enough – ditch the stubborn tactic and go to something else. For some reason, Orlando Magic coach Jacque Vaughn kept going to this play, despite Howard’s gradual increase in success rate. The Los Angeles Lakers center eventually made 16 of his final 20 attempts at the line, finishing 25-of-39
The Los Angeles Lakers are quietly starting to put things together. And no, it’s not because they have realed off three Tweet of the Day/Night’s in a row (see below). They are 12-5 in their last 17 games, and 7-3 since losing Pau Gasol for 6-8 weeks with a torn plantar fascia in his right foot on February 5 against the Brooklyn Nets. [Read more…]
For the second time this year, Memphis Grizzlies’ head coach Lionel Hollins has been named the Western Conference Coach of the Month. Once with star forward Rudy Gay and a steady, familiar bench, and once without. [Read more…]
Usually a weekly feature, The Bernucca List took its own All-Star break last week. We do that from time to time, when we can’t come up with a challenging list while facing a deadline or simply forget, as we did last week. [Read more…]
Some of the losing coaches around the league appear to be intent on letting their teams hear about just how bad they really are as of late. We saw Doug Collins let it all out in a recent post-game interview, and now we have Washington Wizards coach Randy Wittman, who thinks his team is selfish an does not wish to be coached. Michael Lee of Washington Post has the details: [Read more…]
Players, coaches and management often talk about the “little things” that win basketball games. These standard cliches and generic quotes lead to the rolling of many eyeballs around the world, but minute adjustments can actually make a difference in a team’s results and could even help change the public’s perception of a team. Case in point: The 2012-2013 edition of the Los Angeles Lakers. [Read more…]
While one might be the loneliest number according to “Three Dog Night”, four was the most exciting number in the NBA last night, as in fourth quarter. 11 games were on the NBA docket for Wednesday night. The Lakers honored Dr. Jerry Buss while a current legend passed a former legend, the Knicks were flattened by Indiana, the Heat was turned on in the fourth quarter in Atlanta and Kyrie Irving pulled victory from defeat in Cleveland. As we head into Thursday,
Dwight Howard is the best center in the NBA. Yes, still. He also is (a) incapable of making an elbow jumper, (b) unreliable at the free-throw line, (c) susceptible to long-term injury, (d) hypersensitive to criticism from teammates and coaches, (e) more interested in becoming the next Bill Murray rather than the next Bill Russell and (f) wondering why no one has handed him the icon status he desperately craves. But the worst thing Howard is – and unlike the items above,