If you thought last Thursday’s loss to the Cavs was a sign the Celtics don’t have enough in the tank to win a championship this year, Saturday’s loss to the New Jersey Nets — yes, we said the New Jersey Nets — was all the confirmation you needed … Tommy Heinsohn and the two psychos from Celtic Pride would have a hard time coming up with an excuse here: Boston was at home, they hadn’t traveled since last weekend, they weren’t playing a back-to-back, and Kevin Garnett (26 pts, 9 rebs) and Rajon Rondo (13 pts, 17 asts) didn’t play horribly. Read More »
30. New Jersey Nets (4-42)
Last week: Beat L.A. Clippers; lost to Washington; lost to Philadelphia.
With Kris Humphries being able to step in and immediately become Jersey’s second-best big man, is that a credit to Humphries’ talent or an indictment of the team’s lack of talent? We’ll go with “B.”
29. Los Angeles Clippers (20-27)
Last week: Lost at New Jersey; lost at Minnesota; lost at Cleveland.
Technically, they could have had a worse week. At least the players’ paychecks didn’t bounce. Read More »
Not that he really needed to, but Chris Bosh sealed what will be his fifth straight All-Star selection later tonight with a dominating effort against the Heat on Wednesday. Breaking out the throwback unis from the 1947 Toronto Huskies — oddly enough, a team that was also accused of being soft and not playing defense — the Raptors’ win moved them into fifth-place in the East while Miami dropped to sixth … The Raps were down by 13 in the first half, but rallied and were clinging to a small lead late in the fourth quarter. After Bosh (24 pts, 18 rebs) hit a jumper to put them up by seven, one T-Dot announcer screamed, “The cream rises to the top!” Even when Bosh messed up, it worked for him. Read More »
Other than his days at Oklahoma, Eduardo Najera has never been as good a basketball player as he was during his days in Dallas. But at 34 years old, the 6-8 forward (who’s been playing for the Nets the past two seasons) is headed back to the Mavericks in exchange for forwards Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams. Read More »
I’d presume every man who grew up with a father figure in his life had a significant chunk of his sports experiences shaped by that father figure. I played football because my Dad played, I wanted to wear #22 because he wore it, and today I still always root for Black coaches and Black quarterbacks thanks to my Dad’s influence.
Another thing I picked up from my Dad: The need for constant variety in sports. Pops hates it when the same teams contend for championships every year. “Mix it up” is one of his favorite phrases, so he likes it when Cincinnati and TCU threaten to crash the BCS bowl party, or the Orlando Magic upset the norm to make the NBA Finals over the boring old Celtics. Read More »
Here’s a list of guys that have stepped up their game this season and in turn are catching the attention of a few more eyeballs. Overall, I think that Aaron Brooks is playing the best of anyone on this list; however, I have chosen someone from each division whose improvement has not gone unnoticed. 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:Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Rodrigue Beaubois, Kris Humphries, Quinton Ross, Tim Thomas
Lost:Brandon Bass, Antoine Wright, Jerry Stackhouse, Ryan Hollins, Devean George, Gerald GreenRead More »
Whether you’re spending your valuable TV time or your valuable ticket money, when you settle in to watch an NBA preseason game, you hope everybody — or at least somebody — on the court treats it like Jason Terry did last night. In the Mavs/Pistons game that aired on NBA TV, Terry almost had you thinking something important was at stake. It seemed at every dead ball he was trying to hype up the Dallas crowd, raising his arms and screaming or doing his little “Jet” dance, and then between the lines he was locked in like it was a playoff game. Read More »
