There are always players who you could classify as “unsung heroes.” Such was the term used by Michael Jordan for some of his Bulls teammates back in his second three-peat with the team, namely for guys like Ron Harper, Jud Buechler and Steve Kerr. This season, there are five players in particular who have made significant contributions to their respective teams and are putting the league on notice, even if they haven’t been. Read More »
They’re panicking in Los Angeles. Or something close to it. While you could reasonably write off Friday’s blowout loss in Denver to tired legs from a back-to-back and the high altitude, there aren’t many excuses the Lakers can make after the Rockets (who were supposed to stink this year, remember?) went into Staples and thoroughly outplayed the champs … Trevor Ariza was the main story going into the game. He received his ‘09 championship ring in his first trip back to L.A. and was playing in front of his hometown crowd, but by the end it was all about Aaron Brooks. Read More »
Beast of the Night: LeBron James scored 34 points and chipped in 2 threes, 4 boards, 7 dimes, 2 steals and a block last night as he outdueled Dwyane Wade. He shot 40 percent (8-20) from the floor, but the important thing is that he shot 89 percent (16-18) from the free throw line. It doesn’t matter what number he sports on his jersey – The King is a fantasy stud who makes you numb with his steady production of solid lines. Read More »
You know you pulled off an incredible dunk when your team doesn’t even win the game, you lost to a team that features arguably the best/most famous (active) basketball player in the world and one of the two other most famous players in the world, the dunk itself happened way back in the first quarter of an East Coast tip-off, and it’s STILL the first everybody is talking about around the water cooler. A few minutes into Heat/Cavs, LeBron looked like he was gonna put somebody on a poster when he got a step on his defender and approached the rim with bad intentions. LBJ got stuffed by Jermaine O’Neal, though, creating a one-man fast break for Dwyane Wade. Read More »
Although Dwight Howard was the one guy on the Magic who didn’t look like he should give his paycheck back after last night’s embarrassing loss to Oklahoma City, that didn’t stop the Thunder announcers from using Dwight for a punchline or two. “Superman has met Lex Luger tonight,” joked commentator Grant Long. His broadcast partner came in for the correction (”Lex Luthor“) but Long had made his point: Orlando looked nothing like a championship contender on Sunday, their second such alarming performance in the last four games. Read More »
Buy Low:
Devin Harris, Antawn Jamison, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Rashard Lewis and anyone else who is going to return from an injury or suspension in the near future should be targeted for low-ball offers.
Danilo Gallinari has turned from being an Italian stallion to an ordinary pony in the span of a week. His owners are champing at the bit for him to put up studly lines again, and in the meantime you should be dangling carrots in their faces in hopes of nabbing this three-point hoss. Read More »
Erick Dampier was almost the headline photo for today’s Smack. Seriously. In the late stages of the fourth quarter of Mavs/Hornets, Damp (16 pts, 14 rebs, 3 blks) was the most clutch player in the building, getting a putback off a Dirk Nowitzki miss to break a tie, catching an alley-oop from Jason Kidd on the next possession, then scoring on another tip-in with 16 seconds left. That should’ve been the dagger, but Dallas killed themselves at the free-throw line in the final seconds: Jason Terry missed one after Chris Paul got T’d up for arguing a push-off call (CP had pushed off on J.J. Barea like 3-4 times in the fourth, but didn’t get called for it until what looked like N.O.’s last-chance possession), then Barea missed two freebies to keep the Hornets alive. Read More »
There’s nothing like a good rivalry to spice things up: Shaq versus Kobe, Chris Paul versus Deron Williams, LeBron versus DeShawn (sort of). Watching Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul become nemesis’s this week made me think of other pairs who should be rivals. Here are five rivalries that I’d like to see start this year or in the immediate future. Read More »
Every NBA season begins with a bloated numbers of players dreaming All-Star dreams. Over the summer and in the preseason, you hear guys with All-Star talent promising this will be the year they break through, or guys who are barely impact players vowing to make the leap to All-Star status. Or more often than not, it’s a coach or a teammate who runs the campaign for them. Either way, each October there’s 50 “potential” All-Stars, some of whom won’t even be mentioned in the All-Star discussion come January, and some who will fall just a bit short. Who’s on that list this year? Read More »
