0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/25/2016
The first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs hasn’t necessarily featured an unending stream of bad basketball. No, it would be much too simplistic to say that the quality of play has been relentlessly poor. The Miami Heat played two beautiful games to take a 2-0 lead on Charlotte. The Detroit Pistons showed how bright […]
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 25: Head coach Mike Budenholzer of the Atlanta Hawks looks on during the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on April 25, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. 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 Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The loser of the Boston Celtics-Atlanta Hawks first-round series was always going to face an unpleasant offseason, but Mike Budenholzer is now in a position where failure could sting even more than previously imagined. Playoff series acquire a given appearance on paper, but as soon as Game 1 unfolds, the context can — and often […]
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It is virtually impossible — on Monday, April 25, 2016 — to sit in front of a keyboard or any other place on this planet and declare that Byron Scott is a coach other NBA organizations should want. Given the way Scott completely mis-coached the Los Angeles Lakers — who necessarily fired him Sunday night […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/24/2016
We’ve played at least three games in all four Eastern Conference playoff series, making our way through this spread-out first week of the postseason. Should anything we’ve seen this week truly surprise us? If we are surprised, it says more about us and our expectations than these teams and their players. Truly, nothing from any […]
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After Game 2 of his first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornet coach Steve Clifford had a lot to say. Looking back on that statement, it’s very hard to contest the essential truths of Clifford’s points. Charlotte scored 16 more points than the ice-cold Heat, frolicking to victory on a day […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/22/2016
Scott Brooks might have enabled the Washington Wizards to win the Eastern Conference championship in the NBA coaching carousel for 2016. (The Minnesota Timberwolves won the Western Conference title when they hired Tom Thibodeau.) That notion — specifically, that the Wizards might have done something better than any other team in the East — is […]
Mar 21, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau smiles before the game against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. (Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports)
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/21/2016
The NBA needed a jolt during a yawn-inducing playoff week, and Tom Thibodeau happily obliged. The former head coach of the Chicago Bulls, also the architect of the 2008 world champion Boston Celtics’ defense under then-coach Doc Rivers, will not merely be the new head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Owner Glen Taylor handed the […]
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The Miami Heat have been the best team in the NBA over the past five days, in which all 16 playoff teams have played two games. You saw that coming during the regular season, didn’t you? If you say yes, you are either a family member of someone in the Heat organization… or you’re a […]
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You could choose to view Steve Clifford in a negative light after Game 2 of the Eastern Conference first-round series between his Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat. More precisely, you could choose to negatively view both the quality of Clifford’s coaching, since his team is getting smoked. You could also choose to perceive Clifford’s […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/20/2016
Earl Watson isn’t a splashy hire for the Phoenix Suns. He will coach his first NBA game (as a permanent head coach) at the age of 37. He’s been an assistant coach for only two years since his playing career ended, and only one of those was spent in the NBA Jason Kidd showed that […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/19/2016
The OKC Thunder are anything but OK at the moment. The Thunder live under a black cloud, but as you’ll note in the title of this piece, their problem is particular to this season. At least, that’s the best and fairest way to view the matter in the present tense. The face of Steven Adams […]
Apr 18, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) drives to the basket in front of Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) during the third quarter in game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
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The NBA playoffs are a basketball seminar, in that they so dramatically and powerfully reveal what works and what doesn’t. There’s no hiding in — or from — the playoffs. Every possession is fiercely contested. Back-bench players no longer steal second-quarter minutes. The energy level easily eclipses anything fans witnessed during the regular season. Every […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/18/2016
An integrated playoff structure has become a conversation topic in recent years, and it’s worth revisiting after the NBA’s eight first-round playoff series all began over the weekend. The entry point of this discussion is that the Eastern Conference displayed more — and better — depth than in past years. The East’s 8 seed had […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The first round of the NBA playoffs is only one game old, and yet you can rest assured you’ll need to go to the broom closet at least once, probably twice, and maybe three or four times. The blowouts in the Western Conference — not unexpected, but still a bit deflating — have reminded us […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 4/17/2016
The Detroit Pistons — unlike the Utah Jazz — made the NBA playoffs and gained the chance to learn about postseason basketball at the hands of the No. 1 seed in their conference. Teams in need of a rebuild — whether old or poorly constructed, or somewhere in between those two flavors of inadequacy — […]
