It took about 47 and a half minutes for Don Nelson to really miss Stephen Jackson. In the Warriors’ first game since trading Capt. Jack to the Bobcats, they were actually hanging with the Cavs on the road last night. On a critical possession with under a minute to go and Cleveland ahead by four, LeBron of course had the rock, a situation where S-Jack would normally have been guarding him. This time, however, Nellie had to enlist Vlad Radmanovic for the job. (Well, he didn’t have to; Anthony Randolph might have been a better choice.) To the surprise of no one, LeBron scored easily, sticking a pull-up jumper for the dagger … 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 »
The NBA season is only a week old, but there are already a couple of rookies that are making an impact. From a flashy point guard in Milwaukee to a sharp shooting second rounder - the contributions are coming from unlikely sources. On the flip side, there are a bunch of high profile draft picks like Jordan Hill and Hasheem Thabeet that are struggling to get burn. There are also few rooks (one in particular) who has been slowed down by the injury bug. Here are some of this rookie class’ standouts. Read More »
Allen Iverson made last night’s Grizzlies/Kings game worth checking out from the beginning, but Kevin Martin made it worth staying until the end. What was originally billed as A.I.’s big debut turned into K-Mart’s showcase, it may have been the best game of the season so far, and it was a hell of a timely ad for NBA League Pass as the free preview week wraps up … Checking in to a nice ovation from the Sacramento crowd, Iverson looked like he was just testing out his hamstring in his initial rotation, a scoreless five-minute stretch of the first quarter. Read More »
Of course the games don’t count in the standings, and not everybody is going all-out although they’re still getting paid (it’s like Tim Thomas‘ fantasy land), but one of the biggest misconceptions about the NBA preseason is the idea that you can’t learn anything from these exhibitions. If a guy can’t hit a shot in the preseason (e.g. Peja Stojakovic right now), it’s not like he’s going to automatically become more accurate when the games count. And if he’s busting the defense’s ass and making it look easy in the preseason (e.g. Kobe every year), it’s not like he’s going to suddenly turn into a scrub when it matters. Look at the Orlando Magic: Read More »
Judging NBA talent is in Ryan Blake’s blood. The NBA Assistant Director of Scouting is the son of legendary scouting guru, Marty Blake. On top of overseeing scouting reports for the NBA, Ryan can also be found on NBA TV around draft time, analyzing college and international prospects. Blake sat down with Dime recently and gave his two cents on which rookies you need to keep an eye on for the 2009-10 season. Read More »
Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…
Added:Trevor Ariza, Chase Budinger, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, David Andersen, Jermaine Taylor
Lost:Ron Artest, Von Wafer, Dikembe Mutombo, James WhiteRead More »
There is something about second round players that I just really like. Maybe it’s because they come into the league hungry and with a big chip on their shoulder for being overlooked. Most play with a sense of urgency because unlike the Draft’s first thirty, there is no guaranteed paper. Last year, second rounders like Luc Mbah a Moute, Mario Chalmersand DeAndre Jordan made some noise. Here are five late round rookies who are going to GMs pay for passing on them. Read More »
As much as we make summer league about the rookies, this year’s Vegas version was stocked with young “vets” whose play could be a sign of big things to come when the real games start. Nick Young, Anthony Randolph, Jason Thompson, even Adam Morrison and Marcus Williams all put in work, but when the VSL wrapped up yesterday, it was rookie Blake Griffin who was named MVP … Blake averaged 19 points and 10 boards in his five games with the JV Clippers, and in his finale put up 16 and eight in a matchup with older brother Taylor Griffin (4 pts, 6 rebs) and the Suns. We’re probably not going out on a limb saying that was the first and last game those two ever play where they’re across from each other in the starting lineup. Read More »
