Breaking down the first-week performances of the serious 2010 title contenders, Spurs announcer Sean Elliott messed up his words and said the Lakers took an “old-fashioned butt cooking” from the Mavs on Friday night. As it turns out, that was the best way to describe what the Spurs were about to do to the Kings on Saturday … Despite Sacramento starting probably the worst frontcourt in the League (Jason Thompson, Sean May, Desmond Mason), it was one of those nights where Tim Duncan didn’t have to do much and could let the smaller guys go to work. 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…
With the emergence of Danilo Gallinari, it looks like the New York Knicks’ highest paid player, Larry Hughes, will be odd man out in coach Mike D’Antoni’s rotation. Situation sound familiar? Last year, the team’s highest paid player and the former face of the franchise, Stephon Marbury, was basically blackballed by D’Antoni at this exact point in the preseason. While Steph bit his tongue at first, it wasn’t long until things started to spiral out of control and the Knicks’ season started to play out like an episode of the Hills. Read More »
The NBA preseason is underway, meaning it’s time again for Dime’s team-by-team season previews. Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceilings and basements for each team. In other words, what is the realistic best-case and worst-case scenario for the 2009-10 campaign?
Added:Jordan Hill, Darko Milicic, Toney Douglas, Gabe PruittRead More »
Even with training camp starting next week, there are still guys out there looking for jobs. And while the opportunity to get a non-guaranteed deal for the chance to even fight for a roster spot gets slimmer and slimmer, there are definitely more free agents left on the market than jobs available. Take a look at who’s left: Read More »
Ray Felton’s objective should be obvious to anyone who’s been paying attention to this summer of free agency: Sometime around January/February, Ray wants to be in the All-Star conversation, setting himself up lovely for a fatter contract in 2010, and as icing on the cake, making everyone wonder just why the hell it took so long for somebody to get him signed in the first place. Felton agreed to the Bobcats’ one-year qualifying offer yesterday ($5.5 million), setting Charlotte up for another run at getting that elusive first-ever playoff berth with Felton and D.J. Augustin at the point, Raja Bell/Gerald Henderson at the two, Gerald Wallace at the three, Boris Diaw at the four, Tyson Chandler in the middle and Alexis Ajinca getting cramps from sitting down for extended periods of time. Read More »
Even before the tournament field was set, Spain vs. France was the most anticipated matchup at the FIBA European Championships. With both squads only missing a couple of their high-profile players — Jose Calderon and Sergio Rodriguez for Spain, Joakim Noah and Mickael Pietrus for France — these were clearly the two most star-studded rosters and favorites in the tourney. Throw in the drama of Spain looking very vulnerable thanks to some early-round struggles, and it was at least expected to be interesting. But then in yesterday’s quarterfinal matchup, Spain laid the hammer down in a 20-piecing that wasn’t even competitive. Rudy Fernandez (16 pts, 6 stls, 5 rebs) knocked down three triples in the first quarter as Spain got out to a blazing start and never looked back. Read More »
From the best (Shaq) to the worst (Russell Westbrook) on down to the weird (Stephon Marbury), NBA players who partake in Twitter are about to get put on blast. David Stern told Yahoo! Sports yesterday that he’s about to issue some restrictions on players using Twitter and other social media, similar to what the NFL has done. “You want to make sure that pop culture doesn’t intrude on what brought us here, which is the game, and that we show the right respect for the game,” Stern said. “We just need to make sure when it’s OK to Tweet and when it’s not OK to Tweet so it at least focuses around the game. It would look unusual for a guy sitting on the bench to pick up his cell phone, and I think we can agree that he probably shouldn’t be writing e-mails. It’s not about Twitter; it’s about the line of communication. That’s what we’re focusing on.” … Read More »
Since winning the chip in ‘07, the Boston Celtics have slid down a little in the power rankings. Cleveland and Orlando are arguably now the top two teams in the East. With the big three of KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce turning another year older, the clock is definitely ticking on their second championship quest. Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers have been on the ball this summer by resigning Big Babyand adding Rasheed Wallace and Shelden Williams to the mix. They continued their offseason productivity this week by signing veteran guard Marquis Daniels to a one-year deal. Read More »
