The Alonzo Mourning FAQ

by Harlan Schreiber

Usually when an inner circle Hall of Fame-type player retires, we take the opportunity to examine his career closely with one of our FAQs.  Well, Alonzo Mourning just recently retired and he’s not quite good enough to be inner circle material.  Still, Zo has both an interesting personal story and he was a very good player and we’re interesting enough to plunge forward to see what we can learn about him personally and as a player from a close examination of his career. Continue reading The Alonzo Mourning FAQ…

Transactions 12/16-1/19

by Harlan Schreiber

Charlotte Bobcats 

1/16      Traded Matt Carroll and Ryan Hollins to Dallas for DeSagana Diop 

Taking this trade from a Larry Brown perspective, it makes some sense.  Brown loves defense and does not necessarily appreciate shooters who don’t defend like Carroll.  But look a bit closer and this makes no objective sense.  Yes, Diop can block shots and defend but he can do nothing else (.379 FG%, 4.5 pts/36 minutes) and his boards and blocks aren’t even that astounding.  In terms of actual need, the Bobcats are 9th in defensive efficiency and 27th in offensive efficiency.  A non-offense guy like Diop might not actually really fill a hole. Continue reading Transactions 12/16-1/19…

The Miles Saga

by Harlan Schreiber

Despite the fact the we just saw the two best teams in the East play the other night, it seems that most everyone is more concerned with the curious situation of Darius Miles.  While you probably have heard about this issue, before we give your our take we’ll give you the quick rundown: Continue reading The Miles Saga…

Quick Thoughts

by Harlan Schreiber

1.    Atlanta Aeries:    Right around the January each season, we like take stock at the teams that came out of nowhere and examine how they are excelling and whether the improved play will continue.  Last year, we had quite a few teams go from .500 to contention and we ended up with three teams going from .500 to the 50-win plateau (Boston, New Orleans, and Orlando).  This year, a few teams are looking improved (Cleveland, Denver, Portland) but there is only one team, Atlanta, that has gone from also-ran to potential 50-game winner.  While the Hawks looked nice in the playoffs and had some nice young players, essentially they were 37-win team, and NBA history is littered with young eight seeds that looked respectable in the playoffs and fizzled out the following season (see e.g., 1993-94 Heat and Nuggets, 1996-97 Wizards, 1997-98 Nets, 2002-03 Suns).  Throw on top of the poor record thhe fact that the Hawks let Josh Childress walk and the other off-season turmoil (Josh Smith reluctantly returned to the fold as a restricted free agent) and there was reason to expect stagnation or regression.  Well, the Hawks have looked very good.  They are currently 22-11 and could be even better if they could actually beat the mediocre Nets (Atlanta is 0-3 so far against Jersey this year).  How has Atlanta improved?  Check out the team numbers from the past two seasons: Continue reading Quick Thoughts…

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