Catching Up With Kyle Lowry ...more ?
NBA Draft Preview Part V: Point Guards ...more ?
NBA Draft Preview: Taking a look at the top power forwards ...more ?
NBA Draft Preview: Taking a look at the top point guards ...more ?
2011 NBA Draft Preview: Taking A Look At The Top Small Forwards ...more ?
2011 NBA Draft Preview: Taking A Look At The Top Two-Guards ...more ?
Past, Present and Future: A look at where the Rockets have been and where they're going next ...more ?
The Big Picture: Taking a look at the top centers available in the NBA Draft ...more ?
Follow The Leader: Kevin McHale Ready to Assume Rockets' Mantle of Leadership ...more ?
Kevin McHale Press Conference Transcript ...more ?
Kevin McHale Named Rockets Head Coach ...more ?
Draft Day Memories: Robert Horry reflects on a one-of-a-kind career ...more ?
Rockets.com's 2011 NBA Playoffs Blog ...more ?
2010 - 2011 News Landing ...more ?
The Denver Nuggets? Gone till November (Ball Don't Lie) ...more ?
After years of turnover, the Denver Nuggets you saw in 2011-12 might closely resemble the ones you'll see in 2012-13. We'll determine whether or not this is a good thing in the fall, when it comes time to dissect the team's standing amongst the best of the West, but for now all signs point to a similarly stout roster in 2012-13, full of the depth and balance that pushed a championship-contending Lakers team to the brink in seven tough games.
Or, Denver could blow it up. Which wouldn't be a sign of the team losing its nerve, but it wouldn't be surprising. After all, Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri is the same guy that signed center Nene to a franchise-level contract in December, only to deal him four months later; and not because Nene was playing terribly. This is a man who isn't afraid to think on his feet, and considering the team's numerous tradeable assets, the Nuggets would seem to be in prime position to make a move for a star of sorts, considering the team's recent run of star-less play.
Of course, the Nuggets have been in that position for over a year now. Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey, one of the more proactive personnel chiefs in the game, has been in that position for a while, unable (though he's tried) to pull the trigger despite a heap of players that other teams want. There's no given, out there, and fewer stars on the block to go after. So it appears that the team might stick with that depth, and that hero-every-other-game philosophy. Sounds good to us.
The New York Knicks? Gone till November (Ball Don't Lie) ...more ?
Let's start with what we know: The 2011-12 edition of the New York Knicks was the best team the franchise has put on the floor in 12 years. You can argue that a fact like that doesn't say a whole hell of a lot, given the dilapidated decade the Knicks turned in to kick off the 21st century, but that doesn't mean it ain't true.
This year's 36-30 record, .545 winning percentage and 101 defensive rating (which estimates how many points you allow per 100 possessions) were not only better than last year's model, but also better than anything the Knicks have managed since the 2000-01 season, Jeff Van Gundy's last full year of stalking Madison Square Garden's sidelines. They had the league's fifth-most-efficient defense, thanks to Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler, its seventh-best point differential and the NBA's eighth-best expected win total based on Pythagorean winning percentage (basically, a measurement of how well you scored versus how well you defended, intended to show how lucky or unlucky you got in the final analysis).
This team ? this often-maddening, at-times thrilling, ceaselessly rambling wreck of a seventh seed ? was not half-bad.
The problem, of course, is that "better than before" and "not half-bad" don't equate to championship contention, a fact that has and will continue to depress the many, many Knicks fans still stinging from a second straight first-round exit at the hands of a better team with better stars.
On some level, that's OK; it's understandable that fans want to see their squad compete for championships after suffering through such a disastrous spell and watching the team bring in marquee names expected to do big things. But on another level, it's just not realistic, given the construction of New York's roster, the state of the conference and the assets at the Knicks' disposal going forward. Next year's team might be better than this year's, but Knicks fans heading into the offseason expecting a tectonic shift in the team's complexion and prospects will likely be sorely disappointed.
Hakeem Olajuwon responds* to Shaq claiming he lost the ?95 Finals because he was ?too nice? (Ball Don't Lie) ...more ?
"The first thing I learned was, you can't be nice. You know, the first time I made it to the Finals, we lost the Finals because I was a nice guy. I respected Hakeem Olajuwon too much. Yeah, he had his way with me ? he scored 25, I scored 24 ? but I was too nice." ? Shaquille O'Neal on TNT's "Inside the NBA," Monday night.
A response* by Hakeem Olajuwon, who actually averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, two blocks and two steals per game in the Houston Rockets' sweep of O'Neal's Orlando Magic, making 56 shots on Shaq in four games:
* Response may not be real.
The 10-man rotation, starring Larry Coon?s collective bargaining agreement FAQ (Ball Don't Lie) ...more ?
A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C : Larry Coon's CBA FAQ . Larry Coon is an Internet legend. When his first collective bargaining agreement FAQ came out following the last lockout season, it helped a whole generation of us burgeoning NBA scribes figure out the following offseason, and the would-be boffo free-agent class of 2000 that followed a whole heap of teams using questioned-about cap machinations to clear space. This is required reading, re-skimming, bookmarking, what have you. You are not allowed to comment on a website, a message board, a blog, or on talk radio until you've gone over it. And this goes for you, professional scribes and TV talking heads. You don't get to just offer the "I don't know if that's cap-legal" caveat, after discussing a hypothetical deal. Now you know. Thank you, once again, Larry.
PF : Hardwood Paroxysm . Curtis Harris on the late Knicks coach Andrew "Fuzzy" Levane.
SF : Meloship of the Ring . Amar'e Stoudemire's late-game defense was pretty happenin' on Sunday.
SG : Washington Post . John Wall is touring the playoffs with Sam Cassell, learning from the top PGs.
PG : Grantland . Jonathan Abrams on the divergent careers of Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, 11 years on.