0 comments by Joe Mags on 3/11/2015
Revisiting old drafts is an intoxicating habit for any sports dweeb fan. The 2013 NBA draft class has been fascinating to watch for this reason — it’s less than two years later and the entire lottery would be ripped up and thrown out if the GMs (and former GMs) could do it all over again. It’s […]
CINCINNATI, OH – OCTOBER 15: Brendan Haywood #33, Matthew Dellavedova #8 and Kevin Love #0 of the Cleveland Cavaliers defend against George Hill #3 of the Indiana Pacers during the first half of the game at Cintas Center on October 15, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
0 comments by Joe Mags on 3/10/2015
99 percent of basketball fans this season wouldn’t know the Pacers’ record if you gave them three guesses. That’s what happens when Paul George, one of basketball’s great talents, goes down with a freak injury, derailing a perennial contender’s chances before the season starts. But wait! With Indiana’s 118-86 thrashing of Orlando on Tuesday, the […]
Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Joe Mags on 3/6/2015
The addition of Arron Afflalo at the trade deadline was supposed to beef up its depth, but now it seems dealing for the two-way veteran guard was a premonition ahead of Thursday’s terrible news for Portland. Injuries happen in the NBA — just ask Chicago and Oklahoma City — but Wes Matthews’ ruptured Achilles tendon […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 2/27/2015
Thomas Robinson, somehow, played 102 games for the Portland Trail Blazers. He started four games in Portland despite numerous stints on the disabled list for Robin Lopez and LaMarcus Aldridge over that stretch. Robinson received just 12.4 minutes a night; he managed twice as many turnovers as assists. Portland dealt Robinson, along with Will Barton, […]
Photo by Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Joe Mags on 2/26/2015
It has been a tough season of basketball for Boogie Cousins, that much we know. Dealing with harmful viruses the past four months — the kind that plagues your body, and whatever the devilish strand is that continuously plagues the front offices in Sacramento — has predictably shortened Cousins’ already lacking sense of humor. I […]
Photo by David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Joe Mags on 2/20/2015
Many have called the release of Josh Smith financially irresponsible, or just plain dumb, but there is no question the Detroit Pistons have responded to the move on the court. The Pistons are 16-10 since the Dec. 23rd release of one of basketball’s greatest albatross contracts; in paying Smith to leave town, Detroit put its […]
PHOENIX, AZ – NOVEMBER 26: Arron Afflalo #10 of the Denver Nuggets handles the ball during the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center on November 26, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Nuggets 120-112. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
0 comments by Joe Mags on 2/19/2015
Only two teams in the NBA last season called upon their go-to 5-man unit for more than 1,300 regular season minutes last season: Indiana Pacers and Portland Trail Blazers. Much like Indiana’s Big 5 and coach Frank Vogel’s reluctance to peel them off the hardwood, Portland’s traumatic bench forced then-second year head coach Terry Stotts to rely heavily […]
Can Kevin McHale get this man to commit himself to the defensive end of the floor and, in the process, become the complete two-way player he is capable of becoming? No question facing the Houston Rockets is more urgent than that one.
0 comments by Joe Mags on 2/13/2015
The narrative is right there if you want it bad enough. Go ahead, say it. Tell me that the Rockets lost Wednesday night because of their addiction to the long ball, their neurotic, overly calculated mental-hoops. Enlighten me, oh, Round Mound, on why the Clippers are a real basketball team — “they are tuuuurifcally talented,” Chuck might say […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 2/9/2015
Remember that time the Kings fired Mike Malone? Yeah, right, it still doesn’t make any sense. How’s Ty Corbin doing as the interim coach in Sacramento? Yeah, umm, not too hot. The Sacramento Kings are 7-19 in 26 games since firing Malone, a move that ownership made following a series of losses while franchise center Boogie […]
Photo by Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Joe Mags
As the media best prepared their “Talk abouts” and “Take me throughs” on Sunday night, Boogie Cousins was only minutes removed from hitting a game-winning jumper to bury the Phoenix Suns, perhaps the unluckiest team in the NBA this season. If I had to guess, the reporters huddled around Cousins assumed it would be a […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 1/31/2015
From the confines of my office Thursday night, I received two notifications from the NBA Game Time app (have you pledged appllegiance?) that 14 players had been selected as reserves in the 2015 NBA All-Star game. We’re supposed to scream and shout about which players were snubbed every year, for tradition’s sake, but I mostly agree […]
HOUSTON, TX – APRIL 23: LaMarcus Aldridge #12 of the Portland Trail Blazers celebrates a play on the court in the second half of the game against the Houston Rockets in Game Two of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center on April 23, 2014 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
0 comments by Joe Mags on 1/29/2015
Less than a week ago, LaMarcus Aldridge announced he was having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. This would have meant the soon-to-be All-Star forward would miss somewhere between 6 to 8 weeks — or about 24 games — something that could have dropped Portland way down in the standings and […]
Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Joe Mags on 1/20/2015
The Warriors needed just 25 minutes from their starting point guard to defeat the Nuggets by 43 points, a game that Steph Curry and Golden State were winning by 27 at halftime. Golden State, now 33-6, is the NBA’s premier team, atop the far mightier of the two conferences by 3.5 games despite the terrific […]
Klay Thompson’s growth and swagger are big reasons the Warriors come in at No. 2 early in the season. Photo by Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Joe Mags on 1/19/2015
A stunning start for Sacramento, spear-headed by the dark horse MVP candidacy of DeMarcus Cousins, had us believing the Kings were one of a dozen Western Conference teams contending for eight playoff spots. One case of viral meningitis and an ill-advised firing later — oh, and whatever happened to Denver — and the West is, more […]
0 comments by Joe Mags on 1/6/2015
I’ve watched a lot of basketball this season, and of the handful of plays I keep coming back to from this young season, I have watched and re-watched this clip of a seemingly meaningless one-on-one battle between Marc Gasol and Larry Sanders. On the surface, it’s just opposing centers scratching and clawing for position, something that practically happens […]
