Watching Eddy Curry last night was like seeing a ghost. I can’t remember the last time I saw him play, and had given up hope he’d actually make it back. He was like Detox: You heard the word “comeback” so often that no one bothered to care or believe it anymore. The hype was gone. But then out of nowhere, Curry made his entrance last night, scored the first time he touched it, and even had a tip-in dunk. Read More »

At the start of every NBA season, all we hear about for weeks is “X player gained x amount of muscle,” or “X player lost x pounds, so look for him to break out!” It gets a little nauseating after awhile and it isn’t until players step foot on the hardwood that you can really notice any change. John Hollinger tried to save us all some time by tweeting: “I’ll save everyone else the trouble for their training camp reports: Every NBA player is in the best shape of his life. Except Eddy Curry.” Read More »

Beast of the Night: Derrick Rose put up 31 points, three boards, 11 assists, a steal, two blocks and four three-pointers last night against the Timberwolves. He shot 55 percent (12-22) from the field, 75 percent (3-4) from the free-throw line and had three turnovers. For the season, Rose is scoring less than he did in 2010-11, but he’s dishing out 8.6 assists per outing, an improvement of nearly a full assist per game. Rose has put up top 15 averages so far, a bit disappointing given his first-round expectations heading into the season. Read More »

The whole situation is just messed up. Depending on who you listen to, the players are slowly losing their strength. There were the questions about Derek Fisher‘s loyalty, and now reports that many big-name players participated in the decertification calls this week. On the other side, the owners’ offers keep getting worse and worse. You give them a little bit, sacrifice a little money, and then they want more. According to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, even if the players were to agree to a 50/50 split, there’s no guarantee that the owners would take it anymore. The owners also have questions about certain system issues that were already previously agreed upon. Not good signs … Read More »

You’d think with an electric point guard and an authentic Aussie around, the Milwaukee Bucks would be a pretty exciting NBA team. Dig into the team’s statistics from last season and you’ll find otherwise. There isn’t much else in Milwaukee besides some middle-round value, and the most valuable fantasy player the Bucks have to offer is bogged down by serious physical limitations. Maybe Captain Jack can turn the ship around? Read More »

There’s nothing else to say at this point, other than if they don’t get this deal done by Monday, David Stern and the rest of the NBA will start canceling games. The two sides met for four hours yesterday for what was deemed an enormously important negotiation day by pretty much everyone involved, and yet they came out of it still very much apart. The meetings basically ended when the owners low-balled the players with an offer of 47 percent of the basketball related income, down from the 57 percent in the previous CBA, and still much lower than the player’s offer of 53 percent … Read More »

Horace Grant had some words for Carlos Boozer and his former team, the Chicago Bulls, recently. Here’s a small dose: “Boozer needs to be, for a lack of a better phrase, Scottie Pippen to a Michael Jordan.” Rose, in this case, is taking the place of Michael Jordan. Grant went on to say that Boozer needs to become more assertive and accept his role as the number two or three scorer on the team. He also said that Boozer needs to be more physical as well as a more dominant rebounder, that he needs to help out Joakim Noah and become more aggressive on the boards. Who doesn’t agree with him? Look, Boozer is an undersized four. He’s not one of those guys who can fly down the lane, catch a bounce pass and dunk on someone like Amar’e Stoudemire. What he can do is score from the low block, and hit the 15-18 footer. Read More »

As the NBA lockout lingers on like a bad hangover, more overseas talk continues to infiltrate the media airwaves. Carlos Boozer will pursue signing with a foreign club if the NBA fails to start on time. Boozer noted that his time spent with Team USA changed his life, an experience that has contributed to his decision to play overseas. And you can’t blame the guy. Boozer loves the game and will go anywhere in the world to continuing playing. And oh by the way, the pay ain’t bad either … Read More »

As we mentioned, the Bucks were the real winners in the draft’s only mega-deal, combining with Charlotte and Sacramento in an exchange that netted them Stephen Jackson, Beno Udrih, Shaun Livingston and the No. 19 pick, Tobias Harris. They flushed out some dead weight (Corey Maggette, John Salmons), players who were supposed to take them to the next level last year, but ended up pairing to destroy the offense and dampen expectations. Read More »

Who’s excited to see Ricky Rubio finally play NBA basketball? We’re trying to see what the fuss is about. Rubio, who arrived in Minnesota yesterday, has great court vision and is adept at dribbling. The pluses – that we’re sure of – pretty much stop there. He defers and avoids creating for himself with no steady jumper. At 16, he was a phenom. But now at 21, what is he? Did he already peak? Read More »