While struggling to understand why Matt Harpring was analyzing game tape on NBA TV this past weekend, it got me thinking about the Utah Jazz. Being from Denver, I don’t normally enjoy publicly praising Utah for any of their success. Still, credit due when credit earned. While Brandon Jennings and Ty “Mbenga Banga” Lawson are undoubtedly on top of the PG rookie heap right now, Jazz rook Eric Maynor is right behind them. Read More »
Because the Jazz have the Knicks’ first round pick this year, they pretty much already have a good lottery pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. By the way their playing, they’ll have two lottery picks. At 1-3, the Jazz are off to their worst start in six years. In each of their three losses, they have lost by double digits. They blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead against the Mavericks on Tuesday night and were outscored 44-18 (29 of which were courtesy of Dirk Nowitzki). 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…
For the last two years at Temple, Dionte Christmas was the stud of the A-10. After averaging a shade under 20 points a game his junior and senior seasons, Christmas surprisingly went undrafted in last June’s draft. Surprising, I note, because Goran Suton and Robert Dozier did get drafted. Until Wednesday, Christmas had caught on with his hometown Sixers, when he was cut along with Brandon Bowman to slim the roster to 13. Read More »
Who do you want your offense to run through with everything on the line? Counting down 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…
It takes a special point guard to hold down the dual responsibility of being his team’s on-court quarterback and its go-to scorer. And in this new golden era of PG’s, Deron is built to handle both jobs better than just about anyone. Read More »
Today is a big day if you’ve been going through basketball withdrawal, as the first NBA preseason game tips off at 9 p.m. EST, Jazz versus Nuggets. Deron’s shakes against Chauncey’s shot, Carmelo’s O against Kirilenko’s D, Boozer’s excessive chest hair against K-Mart’s excessive tats — even if it’s only for a few minutes here and there before guys like Arron Afflalo and Kosta Koufos get most of the minutes, we’ve really missed the League. And if the backups do get a lot of time, that means we’ll at least get a good look at Ty Lawson and Eric Maynor … Kirilenko (quad), C.J. Miles (hip flexor) and Kyle Korver (knee) might not play, but Jerry Sloan’s biggest personnel problem will be figuring out what to do with Boozer and Paul Millsap. Read More »
To be fair, as we all know, there are dozens of other assets to being a great NBA player besides a pretty jump shot. But, holy hell is that thing pretty; and it’s been consistently gorgeous for 14 years in the league. Read More »
When I was in my throwback jersey phase, there was nothing better than copping a jersey from a guy who just got traded. Not only was it an instant throwback, but the jersey was also half the regular price. Perhaps I missed something, but last time I checked Carlos Boozer was still on the Jazz. Read More »
As we said this morning in Smack, now that the NBA Summer League is over in Vegas, the next basketball we have to look forward to is the USA Basketball National Team Mini-Camp which opens Thursday, July 23. While none of the big names from last summer’s Olympic run are going to make the trip, some of the top young NBA talents will do their best to make it to London in 2012. Read More »
