The best team in the NBA against the worst. Blowout right? But Washington grew tired of getting jumped and walking around embarrassed the rest of the day. So they put together by far their best performance of the season in their surprising 105-102 win over the Thunder. On a night where Andray Blatche got booed in the pre-game introductions, and then booed again just three minutes in when he started his lackadaisical routine by shooting air balls, eventually everything turned to gold because John Wall took over in the fourth quarter. Read More »
This might be the year Josh Smith finally makes the All-Star Game. We don’t want to jinx him – everyone knows the type of luck he has when it comes to this – but his game has matured, he has his body in the best shape it’s ever been in and the Hawks figure to be, at worst, a No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Last night in Atlanta’s 92-75 drubbing of Charlotte to end the preseason, Smith had 21 points and six rebounds, hitting 10 of 15 shots in the game. Read More »
The lockout is just a memory, the NBA is days away from its glorious Christmas Day return, and fantasy basketball preparations are in full swing. But you can’t escape the past. This isn’t a life lesson from the fingers of someone wholly unfit to give you non-fantasy basketball advice – it’s a reminder that suspensions handed down late in the 2010-11 NBA season are going to affect some players’ availabilities in the early going this season. On top of those suspensions are injuries and health conditions that will have implications from the outset of the 2011-12 NBA season. Below is a rundown of early suspensions and injuries, and the players who stand to benefit from those circumstances. Read More »
New Jersey will be coming for that NYC crown soon enough, but at least for now, the Knicks are still the big brother. Even if it was preseason, New York gets bragging rights for at least a few more weeks, beating the Nets in Newark 92-83. While we can’t take too much away from a preseason game – c’mon, Renaldo Balkman led everyone with 20 – both teams got some nice contributions from their role players. Rookie Iman Shumpert (16 points) outplayed every other perimeter player for the Knicks, and rookie Marshon Brooks (10 points) and Anthony Morrow (15 points) put in work from the perimeter … At least offensively, Amar’e Stoudemire (10 points) and Carmelo Anthony (17 points in three quarters) looked pretty in-tune for the first preseason game. Read More »
Didn’t we kinda sorta predict this? Stephen Jackson hasn’t been practicing up in Milwaukee because of some back spasms, but some are saying he’s been sitting out for entirely different reasons. Reportedly, Jackson isn’t happy with his contract, one that will pay him over $9 million this season and $10 million next season. He wanted an extension in Charlotte – as a 33-year-old, you know the guaranteed years are weighing heavily on him – and the Bobcats decided to ship him out instead of offering one. Jackson hasn’t said a word about it during training camp. Read More »
I’m going to sit back, roll my eyes, scream “arrrgggh” and throw my hands in the air when the first stupid signing goes down in the next month. The owners will try to rationalize it, talk about the market and how they’re so excited to be bringing in a player and how the team will suddenly turn it around. I’ll rationalize it by saying “Owners and general managers are stupid. They’ve always been stupid, and will continue to be stupid… lockout or no lockout.” It feels great doesn’t it? Knowing much of the lockout occurred because league executives said many players were making too much money. Awesome to know we missed out on two months of ball and countless games so that the owners could learn nothing. You know the ridiculous contracts are coming. Read More »
Now we can talk about the fun stuff – actual basketball. The next few weeks are going to be crazy, with teams racing to get ready for the season while adding a ton of new faces to their rosters at the same time.
We all know about next year’s monster free agents, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. But there are some nice players available now you’d love to have on your squad. Read More »
UConn wasn’t about to let some team from UNC-Asheville steal their shine on Thanksgiving. The Huskies have now won 16 games in a row, and they can thank everyone they have a backcourt like Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier. Those two dominated once again as they both scored 23 points and Napier added seven assists. We’ve had many people – actually most of them have been UConn fans but still – tell us that UConn is just as good as UNC and Kentucky. Those two are considered the two biggest powers in the country by far, and in the public eye have all but wrapped up spots in the championship. Can UConn steal their glory? … Read More »
While it seemed all eyes were on the charity games hosted by Matt Barnes (San Jose) and LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland) this weekend, there was another game going on as well. Case in point: Damien Wilkins‘ Monster Slam went down on Saturday at Clark Atlanta University, and players like Shannon Brown, Jeff Green, Lou Williams, Derrick Favors, Jordan Crawford, and Jarrett Jack put in work.
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