There are established patterns to winning NBA Coach of the Year. You either guide a team with high expectations to its expected goal, stun with an eye-popping turnaround out of the Lottery or take a team from the playoff fringe into a team no one wants to face in the opening round by catching fire. We’ll call them the Excellence’s Status Quo, Out Of Nowhere, or Next Step plans to earning respect, respectively. With the curtain being drawn on the 2012-13 season tonight, Dime is projecting the major awards all week, and today we look at the top coach. Read More »

Considering the rare tragedies and triumphs that dominated Wednesday’s sports headlines — from the death of Junior Seau to Jered Weaver throwing a no-hitter for the Angels — nothing in the NBA playoffs could have happened to make the day feel any more surreal. Not even the fact that the Clippers and Grizzlies delivered the best game of the night. Wait a minute: Clippers? Grizzlies? Playoffs? You’re talking about playoffs? … Having been on the wrong side of that incredible Game 1 fourth-quarter comeback, Memphis faced a gut check in Game 2. Read More »

One of things we all around the Dime office miss most about this time of year is the hype. It draws attention, gets people talking and gets people watching. It especially sucks this time because just a year ago, we were consumed by hype. Last season, everyone assumed Kevin Durant would run away with the MVP. He didn’t. Many assumed the Heat would win close to 70 games (or perhaps more). They didn’t. There were only a handful of fans who thought Blake Griffin would do the things he did – terrorize NBA rims across the country and takeover Sportscenter himself. He actually did. Since the owners are running out on the tab, and the players are left bickering amongst themselves over whether to give 15 percent or 20 percent, we now have no hype. Read More »

The butler did it…again. Yesterday’s miraculous buzzer-beater lay-in by Matt Howard to beat Old Dominion had me reminiscing over Butler’s miraculous run last year to the national championship game as a five-seed. Does this mean we’re in for a repeat performance? Not so sure. You see, there’s a certain breadstick-eating, prepubescent-looking piece missing from this year’s team that was crucial in the Bulldogs’ triumphant run last year. That boyish charm I’m referring to is none other than Gordon Hayward, who bolted to the NBA after his epic sophomore season in Indianapolis. Read More »