This is the time of year where everyone and their mothers offer up a series of fearless prognostications about the upcoming NBA season. Here’s what I can tell you about my skills at predicting the future. If I was really any good at it, I wouldn’t be wasting it on the NBA season. And neither would anyone else. I am not reading tea leaves, interpreting tarot cards, gazing into crystal balls, holding seances, poring over analytics or buying classified information on the
It’s prediction time, and as I have always liked to say: Predictions are like armpits: Everyone has them, and all of them stink. Take it from a guy who picked Spurs in 7 last season. Yes, that one missed – but find me a guy who predicted that Gregg Popovich would have an extreme bout of cranial flatulence with the championship within his grasp at the end of Game 6, and then I’ll drop the armpit line. I still can’t get
Of the popular meanings of the word tank, two have roots signifying damage and destruction. There is the blunt military vehicle, and the less subtle term that is popular in our contemporary basketball lexicon. The basketball version of tanking will unavoidably be a central theme in the upcoming 2013-2014 season. Compared to previous seasons, the 2014 NBA draft class is projected to be filled with All-Stars and franchise-changing players, headlined by Canadian wing Andrew Wiggins, who will play at Kansas this coming
Generations of fans know the Utah Jazz as a model of stability. They were raised on Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone, coach Jerry Sloan and super significant owner Larry H. Miller, the rock of the franchise. Miller kept the team together, mended issues with coaches and players and even took financial risks to purchase the team. When Miller died in 2009, the franchise slowly lost all the stability he imparted to it as the sole owner. It truly fell apart
The draft is officially over, and by now you’ve heard about how crazy it was. For some recap, check out Chris Sheridan’s breakdown of the winners and losers, including my homeland up north with Anthony Bennett and Kelly Olynyk going in the lottery, and Andrew Wiggins coming up next year. When it comes time for the international competitions, some of the European powers might have to look out. It’s not going to be Steve Nash and a bunch of scrubs
It is not often that you are eating dumplings in Chinatown at 3 a.m. on a Friday morning and learn that Kosta Koufos has been traded, but that true story only just added to the bizzarro nature of the 2013 Draft — the craziest draft night I have ever witnessed in more than 20 years of covering them. [Read more…]
TREY BURKE 6-0, 190 lbs. School: Michigan Class: Sophomore STRENGTHS: First off, this kid has the clutch gene. Remember that shot against Kansas? Michigan fans will…for the rest of their lives. Burke is fearless down the stretch, operating with supreme confidence. That alone will help him at the next level. Burke won the National Player of the Year award after averaging 18.6 points and 6.7 assists per game. He was a consistent scorer and came up biggest in big games. Bruke scored all of his
Happy Draft Day! Tonight when David Stern approaches the podium and is booed by the crowd at the Barclays Center at his final NBA Draft, we will finally have our answers. In the meantime, Alex Len remains on top of our Final Mock as sources in Cleveland have emphatically stated the 7-footer from Maryland is on top of the Cavs’ draft board. However, Cleveland’s first choice is to trade the pick and there are a half-dozen teams they were still talking to