Coming into the 2014-15 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder figure to continue to be one of the league’s true title contenders. What’s different? A big free agent signing, the continued development of young talent, and finally a change in the starting lineup. Should everything work out, this could be the strongest Thunder team ever. Hovering over this potential perfect storm is a world of doubt. The Thunder have remained contenders for three or four years now but still have little hardware
For some reason, the Phoenix Suns have put themselves in quite the vulnerable situation. With innovative coach Jeff Hornacek at the helm, the Suns were truly one of the biggest surprise teams of last season. No one expected them to be in a dog fight to be a playoff team in April. Hell, not many expected them to win even 30 games. Yet, they won 48 games and became one of the most dynamic offensive teams in the league (eighth-best offensive
Thursday afternoon the NBA unveiled the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie Team, celebrating this past season’s top young athletes. One name you will not see on the the team is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ No.1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett, who only played in 52 games, averaging 4.2 points and three rebounds in just 12.8 minutes per game. He is just the fifth top overall draft pick to miss the All-Rookie team in 26 years. There were quite a few young rookies deserving of the
For the second straight year, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s playoff push has been derailed by a season-ending injury. Last year it was All-Star guard Russell Westbrook, who went down in the first round with a knee injury as a result of a collision with Houston guard Patrick Beverley. This year it is forward Serge Ibaka, who suffered a left calf injury in the third quarter of Thursday’s clincher over the Los Angeles Clippers. Ibaka underwent an MRI on Friday that confirmed a left
The Memphis Grizzlies are in serious trouble heading into Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. The NBA announced on Friday that Zach Randolph would be suspended for the next game for this combo-hit against Steven Adams late in the fourth quarter of Game 6: [Read more…]
While Victor Oladipo and Trey Burke chase Michael Carter-Williams for Rookie of the Year, a handful of other rookies are helping their teams chase postseason berths and higher seeds. The Eastern Conference has three teams in the playoff chase whose finish will be somewhat impacted by the play of their rookies. The Western Conference has five teams in the hunt with rookies playing a prominent role. The team relying most on rookies is undoubtedly the Atlanta Hawks, who have two rookies in
NBA fans do an awful job of protecting the image of their favorite sport. This is not the NFL, which has been America’s pastime for a generation and can do no wrong in the eyes of its fans. The only time the NFL has an image problem is when a storm affects satellite reception. This is also not baseball, which has a considerable image problem with its collection of prima donnas on PEDS. But it also has more than a century of
Last season, the Portland Trail Blazers had one of the worst benches in the NBA. Portland’s reserves were last in minutes (13.3), points (18.5), rebounds (10.5), offensive efficiency (21.1) and defenseive efficiency (minus 17.7). It was a big reason they had three players in the top nine in minutes per game, including rookie Damian Lillard, who led the entire NBA in minutes played. It also was a big reason why those players burned out and Portland lost its last 11 games