Basketball

What Chris Andersen did Wednesday shouldn’t be forgotten. For a while, the team with the first, third or fourth picks of the 2003 National Basketball Association draft was kept afloat by the first pick of the 2001 NBA Developmental League draft, the anomaly who had been adrift for so much of his basketball life. Andersen [...]

In one notable way, Frank Vogel dares to be different from other coach in the NBA. Road teams choose which basket to defend. Vogel’s Pacers are the only team, when visiting AmericanAirlines Arena, chooses to defend the basket closest to their bench in the first half. That way, his offense is nearer to him down [...]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qyCPvE-kHI LeBron James said he’s pleased to hear Mike Krzyzewski reportedly will return as Team USA coach in 2016, but said it’s too early for him to commit to playing. “I think it’s great,” James said. “What he means to USA Basketball goes beyond just what we do on the court.” “I respect and trust [...]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsvgZytn5_I Three random items in LeBron’s locker – and the empty locker next to his: - Five pairs of Nike basketball shoes and two pairs of sandals. - A chart of a basketball court from Grantland.com writer Kirk Goldsberry addressed “To My Friends in Miami.” - A paper with a Bruce Lee quote printed in [...]

Hi everyone. I'm a Blazer fan from Italy and sorry for my poor english. I read a lot of things in these last weeks to move up with a trade or to trade 10th for 20th or similar position, for someone it's easier to pick a "Steal of The Draft" or a very good pick from 15th to 25th but Portland picked Nolan Smith with 21st in 2011 :( Here's a list of the last ten 10th pick : 2003 Jarvis Hayes 2004 Luke Jackson 2005 Andrew Bynum 2006 Mouhamed Sene 2007 Spencer Hawes 2008 Brook Lopez 2009 Brandon Jennings 2010 Paul George 2011 Jimmer Fredette 2012 Austin Rivers What do we have here? An All-Star, maybe 2 (Paul George, Bynum), and two very good picks (Brook Lopez and Brandon Jennings) and even three busts ( Hayes, Jackson, Sene...who's Sene?!?). Paul George has been a better choice than all the other picks from 2th to 9th. So I think it's not impossible to have a good pick with number 10. From several videos I watched in these past days there are better options than various Caldwell Pope, Plumlee, Carter-Williams and less risky than Gobert or Saric. If Olshey chooses a C, in my opinion the BPA at 10th is Gorgui Dieng. He's complete, great defender (good blocker) and offensively has a good range of shots. If Olshey chooses Dieng it sounds like "something went wrong with Meyers...". so I think this wouldn't be what GM will do. In my opinion there are, at least, other two player who are predicted from 20th to 25th who could be a good "risk" at 10th. 2. Tony Mitchell ( He had a great Freshman Season but in the last year his stats got worse ). Superb athlete, very good rebounder, after his freshman season was predicted as top 5 in the 2013 Draft. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0JAQW5QVBo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtES52NfTSg 3. Glen Rice J, too high for a 10th pick but better than others predicted before him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DZnKFLSbHE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC-Y4I8Jdfs For the three second rounders my favourite choices are (5 names for 3 places) : 1 - CJ Leslie, 2 - Livio Jean Charles, 3 - Reggie Bullock, 4- Jackie Carmichael, 5 - Erick Green as Lillard's backup or Andre Roberson as Batum/Aldridge backup What do you think about Mitchell/Dieng? And what are your favourite 2nd rounders? Hi everyone. I'm a Blazer fan from Italy and sorry for my poor english. I read a lot of things in these last weeks to move up with a trade or to trade 10th for 20th or similar position, for someone it's easier to pick a "Steal of The Draft" or a very good pick from 15th to 25th but Portland picked Nolan Smith with 21st in 2011 :( Here's a list of the last ten 10th pick : 2003 Jarvis Hayes 2004 Luke Jackson 2005 Andrew Bynum 2006 Mouhamed Sene 2007 Spencer Hawes 2008 Brook Lopez 2009 Brandon Jennings 2010 Paul George 2011 Jimmer Fredette 2012 Austin Rivers What do we have here? An All-Star, maybe 2 (Paul George, Bynum), and two very good picks (Brook Lopez and Brandon Jennings) and even three busts ( Hayes, Jackson, Sene...who's Sene?!?). Paul George has been a better choice than all the other picks from 2th to 9th. So I think it's not impossible to have a good pick with number 10. From several videos I watched in these past days there are better options than various Caldwell Pope, Plumlee, Carter-Williams and less risky than Gobert or Saric. If Olshey chooses a C, in my opinion the BPA at 10th is Gorgui Dieng. He's complete, great defender (good blocker) and offensively has a good range of shots. If Olshey chooses Dieng it sounds like "something went wrong with Meyers...". so I think this wouldn't be what GM will do. In my opinion there are, at least, other two player who are predicted from 20th to 25th who could be a good "risk" at 10th. 2. Tony Mitchell ( He had a great Freshman Season but in the last year his stats got worse ). Superb athlete, very good rebounder, after his freshman season was predicted as top 5 in the 2013 Draft. http://www.youtu

Last year, as some of you might recall, I tried to organize a project in which we wrote an off-season fan post about each team in the league, considering their strengths, weaknesses, and needs. However, most of you lazy #$%@!s didn't finish your assignments. I still think it's a worthwhile endeavor, but I'm going to streamline it a little bit by doing teams in groups, starting with the Timberwolves' peers--the Western Conference non-playoff teams. Phoenix Suns (25-57) 15th in the Western Conference Salary: $42M committed to 9 players for 2013-14 (NOTE: salary amounts are rough estimates, and will often depend on various team and player options; I will make my best guesses without getting too far into the salary cap weeds). What they did well: Not a lot. Their poor defense was better than their catastrophically bad offense, but that isn't saying much. Goran Dragic emerged as a legitimate starting point guard. They luckily avoided signing Eric Gordon, who they pursued last summer as a restricted free agent. What they did poorly: other than signing Michael Beasley? A lot. They shot the ball poorly when they weren't turning it over, they were a bad defensive rebounding club, they gave up more free throws then they took, and they allowed their opponents an efg% of over 51%. A year after saying goodbye to franchise legend Steve Nash, this is clearly a transition point for the Suns. They have hired a new general manager, Ryan McDonough, who comes from the Boston Celtics, and are currently looking for a coach after Lindsey Hunter took them through the second half of the season as the interim. The Suns do have some things going for them: no egregious contracts (except for Michael Beasley), several players that might interest other teams in trade (notably Marcin Gortat entering the final year of his deal that will pay him $7.7M) and Jared Dudley (two seasons left at a bargain price of $4,25M per). They also hold several draft picks, including the 5th and 30th picks in this year's first round. It's hard to say what direction the Suns are heading. What they need is talent pretty much all over the floor. Given that, they are pretty flexible in how they use their lottery pick; the only top prospect they would probably shy away from is Trey Burke, with Dragic in the fold and having used last year's pick on the thus far disappointing Kendall Marshall. Jared Dudley is their only really playable wing, they have a host of underperforming power forwards, and a center position that will need to be addressed. I don't know what their short term plan is, but this is one team that might benefit from keeping whatever powder they have dry for another year, try to move who they can for younger pieces, collect what talent they can through the draft, play their young guys, and see where they are next summer. Despite my general belief that you should always try to win as much as you reasonably can, it's hard to see how free agent expenditures this summer are going to appreciably help this team in the short or medium term. New Orleans Pelicans (27-55) 14th in the Western Conference Salary: Anywhere from $33M for 5 players to $43M for 11 players. The Pelicans have several non-guaranteed contracts on the books for next season, giving them added flexibility. What they did well: Drafted Anthony Davis. Changed their name to the Pelicans. Rebounded the ball at both ends. That isn't a bad place to start, and there are potentially good things happening in New Orleans. They had an effective front court rotation of Davis, Ryan Anderson (terrific signing), and Robin Lopez (another good signing). What they did poorly: Drafted Austin Rivers. Matched Eric Gordon's offer sheet. Defend. Their slow pace masked their terrible defense as they gave up easy shot after easy shot to their opponents. Two years after being forced into trading their franchise player Chris Paul, the Pelicans look like a team poised to take a significant s

Editor’s note: This is the first entry in our 2013 NBA Draft prospect profile series. We’ll be focusing on all three of the Suns’ draft picks by alternating between in-depth... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Wizards, on Tuesday, landed the third overall pick in the 2012-13 NBA Draft … and they will do with it what they please, your miseducated speculation and dime-store mock drafts be damned. So Truth About It.net turned to online scouting regurgitations, mostly intuition, and a wing and a prayer to come up with a list of the most potentially #SoWizards players who could soon be given a fanny-pack embroidered with a scarlet Wizards logo, a spot on the roster, and a pain in our hearts. A #SoWizards future for this guy, Ondrej Balvin? — via some website] #1) Rudy Gobert At some point in time, Ernie Grunfeld yelled, to no one in particular, “Well, why don’t you just calculate a player’s ability to calculate!!?” He was being facetious, but some scientist got right on it. Well, at least the guy was wearing a lab coat. He was also wearing a G-Wiz mascot uniform under that. Grunfeld then, himself, went on to measure Frenchman Rudy Gobert’s 7-foot-9 wingspan in Grunfeld head-lengths (hey, that’s just his system… the answer is 5.138, by the way—Ernie has a really long head). Grunfeld also calculated Gobert’s 238-pound weight in Grunfeld heads, and it just so happened to be the very same number. So it was determined that Gobert would be the third overall pick, especially since he can exchange “je m’appelles” and “toute de suites” with Kevin Seraphin and Snakey all season long, much to the chagrin of Randy Wittman. Take that, analytics! #2) Alex Len Here I am, 32-plus years in age and reverse five-plus years in Wizards blogger life, and I just recently realized that local Maryland Terrapin Alex Len is from Ukraine. And if he wasn’t the son of a coal miner, he still knew plenty of brovas in his hometown of Antratsyt with the black lung (the city is literally named after a type of coal). The kicker: Len’s real first name is “Oleksiy.” #SoPecherov. Applying Seinfeldian principles to basketball, we know that Ukraine is weak. Thus, Len would make the perfect weight-training partner for Jan Vesely—the pertinent exercise being deep squat thrusts where the portion of the body closest to the ground (the “hind parts”) must pick up, lift, and suspend a previously grounded coconut (or honeydew melon) with each thrust. Alex Len it is. #3) Lucas Nogiera There is a guy called “Bebe” in the 2013 draft, no relation to the clothing line. Nor is he related to the Portuguese homeless man turned Manchester United forward (now on loan). This guy, Lucas “Bebe” Nogiera, is from Brazil. As history shows, the Wizards already have a guy from Brazil (two of ‘em, actually), which truly makes Ted Leonsis want to use Caipirinhas for mouthwash. The Wizards’ Brazilian calls himself “Nene,” in lieu of his Brazilian gubment name, Maybyner Rodney Hilário (weird, sometimes he seems like more of a ‘Rodney’). “Nene” evidently means “Baby” in Portuguese, according to the “What Single Name Will Your Brazilian Future Sports Star Baby Eventually Change His or Her Birth Name To?” baby book, ironically not available on Amazon.com (the Amazon selection is becoming increasingly limited in Brazil). NBA.com’s David Aldridge calls Bebe the second coming of Nene. In any case, Randy Wittman wonders what he’s going to do with all these goddamned kids. Can’t baby them. #4)  Shabazz Muhammed A known age-falsifier, Shabazz is likely the second coming of the Nick Young-Calbert Cheaney-Jarvis Hayes love-child (circa 1993). Like Cheaney, Muhammed is one of those weird left-handed folks. Like Nick Young, he is not right-minded. And like Jarvis Hayes, he’s going to fucking suck. Nonetheless, the Wizards shall take Muhammed third overall because his dad is the dad version of JaVale McGee’s mom. And with all these goddamn kids Randy Wittman keeps bitc

Are the Dallas Mavericks looking to trade out of the 13th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft to clear cap space before making a run at Dwight Howard? ESPN reports that "multiple sources" are informing Chad Ford the Mavericks will explore trading their lottery pick for financial flexibility going into free agency: Always a bridesmaid, never a bride With reports coming out that Dwight Howard is considering leaving Los Angeles to come to Dallas, Mavs fans hopes will rise again. Here's why they should all stay grounded. Multiple sources have told ESPN.com's Chad Ford the Mavs are likely to shop the pick in hopes of creating the cap space necessary to make a run at Dwight Howard in free agency. The 13th overall pick has a cap hold of $1,655,300. Earlier in the week it was reported that Howard was "intrigued" with both the Mavericks and Houston Rockets, and will explore his free agency options before making his decision. Howard's free agency begins on July 1. Dallas trying to shave salary to take a shot at a big name in free agency isn't an unheard of strategy for the franchise. The Mavericks have been looking to add a superstar to the team since winning the 2011 title, but missed on Deron Williams last Summer. Both Howard and Chris Paul will likely be targeted by Dallas (as well as every other team with cap space). It's unclear if the Mavericks would be looking to only clear the cap hold from the draft pick, or tag more salary into the deal (Shawn Marion's $9 million expiring comes to mind). With O.J. Mayo opting out of the final year of his deal and both Darren Collison and Rodrigue Beaubois as restricted free agents, the Mavericks will have $37.2 million on the books if they do not bring back any of their players hitting free agency. - Drew - Follow this author on Twitter @DrewGarrisonSBN

Every now and again, for fun, we ask regular guest David Thorpe a Seinfeld trivia question. Grantland writer Zach Lowe has straight up talked trash about the level of difficulty. So we invited him on for our first-ever all-Seinfeld episode.