The second round of the playoffs is underway and with only eight teams remaining, it means another eight have been eliminated from title contention. The offseason is the time for these teams to retool to prepare for deeper runs next season. The Atlanta Hawks have been one of the most consistent teams in the NBA the past six seasons, but not in a good way. The Hawks are always the fourth or fifth seed in the playoffs and have lost in the first round three out of the last six years. Read More »

If you were to compare basketball positions to boxing weight classes, there’s no question that the small forwards are the heavyweights in the game. In boxing, typically the heavyweights are the most popular/best fighters. At the state the game is at right now, the small forwards are the best players. Read More »

Times have changed at the center position in today’s NBA. It wasn’t long ago that the best players in the NBA were the centers. Between Olajuwon, Ewing, David Robinson and Shaq, the center position was easily the best position in the league for much of the last 20-25 years. In today’s game, one could argue it’s the least talented position. Read More »

The complex layers of the relationship between Josh Smith, Atlanta fans and NBA fans at large run deep, and they’ve been there throughout his entire career. Not quite an All-Star. Incredible all-around talent. Not a jump shooter. But he can make them. Not a building block. But building-block level talent. In the third quarter against Indiana last night, with Atlanta slowly blowing what should’ve been an easy win, the Josh Smith demons came to the surface again. Read More »

Last night in their easy Game 2 win over Atlanta, the Pacers had everything working. Paul George scored a playoff career-high 27 points, Gerald Green caught a couple of nasty dunks, and David West threw a pass that even Peyton Manning would approve of. Green finished off the play with another jam. Read More »

There’s a first time for everything, and in yesterday afternoon’s matinee in San Antonio, we saw an injured star player attempt to coach a playoff team through 140 characters. Anxious that he can’t be out there helping his teammates, Kobe Bryant took to Twitter with the same aggressiveness he usually shows on wing isolations. Not everyone was feeling it. Read More »

Picture this. It’s the final two minutes of a close game between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics in this year’s NBA Playoffs. Paul Pierce gets the ball and dribbles to his old reliable spot for an elbow jumper but instead of firing… he passes to Jeff Green in the corner for the shot. Read More »

With the playoffs starting this weekend, we look to the only person whose opinion matters about each team’s playoff outlook: 2 Chainz. From the top-seeded Heat to the limping Lakers (sorry, Utah fans), we used the Tity Boi scriptures to find out how all 16 teams will perform this postseason. Read More »

Go into any basketball locker room in the world — CYO leagues, middle school, high school, or even in the NBA — and you’ll find sharpshooters, bench warmers, you’ll see Jordans, adidas and Reebok, you’ll see tall oafs and slippery guards, coaches that rarely say a word and coaches that never shut up. Every team will have it’s own unique flavor, it’s own unique environment. Read More »

Two weeks ago, we pronounced Utah dead, a casualty of a terrible stretch of scheduling and the expected rise of the Lakers. Now? They’ve won six games in a row, and have a half game lead on L.A. for the West’s last playoff spot after taking care of business against Portland last night, 112-102. Read More »