I noticed recently that ESPN’s Bill Simmons had been using the term “Third Banana” when referring to the third-best player on a team. A simple concept, but it did get me thinking. Who are the best “third bananas” in the NBA? I decided to put together a list ranking every team’s third-best player, and then I’d put that player into an overall league ranking, from 1-30. Ultimately I was hoping to stumble upon a correlation between how high a teams Third Banana
Portland is a unique, interesting and unconventional city to say the least. That unique and unconventional nature extends to their basketball team, where the Portland Trail Blazers are winning games at a high rate doing things their own way. While the league is trending toward discouraging players from long two-point shots, Portland embraces it. Portland plays their starters more than anyone else, hit more threes than anyone else and lead the league in free throw shooting. Is their defense lacking? Sure,
Advertisement The Western Conference is absolutely nothing like the Eastern Conference when it comes to championship odds. We have what I call a two-horse race in the East versus what I am going to call the six-plus team race in the West. In the 15 previous seasons, only four teams (the Lakers, seven times; the Spurs, five times, the Mavericks, two times; the Thunder, once) have won the Western Conference, which is a similar concept to what the Eastern
Omer Asik has wanted out of Houston the moment Dwight Howard joined the team, and it appears he will soon get his wish. Much of the news from Wednesday was about all the trade discussions involving the coveted center, and the Boston Celtics are the front runners to acquire his services. As usual, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports was on top of the latest updates: The Boston Celtics have gained traction in trade talks to acquire Houston Rockets center Omer Asik, league sources told Yahoo
Raise your hand if you had the Portland Trail Blazers leading the Western Conference. OK, now put your hand down and stop lying. The Trail Blazers are 16-3. After a disappointing loss in Phoenix that ended a double-digit winning streak, Portland is 3-0 in December, including back-to-back home victories over the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, two of the best teams in the NBA. There are two things every NBA fan wants to know right now. First, is this Blazers team
What’s going on? Are the Nets really this bad? They lost to the Pistons (who have also started a bit sluggishly) today. And that was with Joe Johnson going bonkers from deep. Also losing today were the Jazz. They’re really this bad. Not as bad as that time in the video game when I traded all their players away for draft picks and had Jason Kapono and Brian Scalabrine in the starting lineup, but pretty bad. [Read more…]
The first day of November featured 26 NBA teams in action in 13 games, 10 of which were decided by single digits. Three teams won by three points or less, and one game went to overtime. There were game-winning 3-pointers, stunning upsets and uncharacteristically poor performances by some of the best players in the world. Here’s what you need to know about what transpired on November 1. 1. With a 101-100 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, the Miami Heat have dropped to
While the headlines on Friday evening were dominated by the first trade of the young NBA season — Washington and Phoenix completed a deal centered around Emeka Okafor, Marcin Gortat and a 2014 1st round draft pick — one team out West made yet another under-the-radar move that could alter the landscape of the Western Conference. [Read more…]