Harlan Schreiber

The Run TMC FAQ

August 23, 2018 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Golden State Warriors attempted to compete with a fun, high scoring, perimeter-oriented team, affectionately nicknamed Run TMC, a pun on the popular old rap group Run DMC. In this case the, “TMC” represented T(im Hardaway), M(itch Richmond), and C(hris Mullin). Hardaway, Richmond, and Mullin all scored over 22.9 ppg in 1990-91. This fun team scored a lot of points and even upset a much higher ranked Spurs team in the 1990-91 playoffs. Right before the … [Read more...] about The Run TMC FAQ

Transactions, Free Agency 2018 Edition

July 5, 2018 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Most of the big moves are done for NBA Summer 2018, so let’s take stock at the most interesting ones so far… Golden State Warriors Sign DeMarcus Cousins Certainly DMC can really help the Warriors if he’s healthy but this is not the seminal moment where the NBA needs to declare Golden State in violation of antitrust law. The facts are pretty clear….Cousins was not someone that teams wanted to invest in when he was healthy because of his volatile temper. The Kings’ return for Cousins … [Read more...] about Transactions, Free Agency 2018 Edition

The COY Curse?

June 17, 2018 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

In 2013, Nuggets coach George Karl won Coach of the Year and responded as follows: “Coach of the year? I’m not sure I want that legacy. Have you seen what happens to guys who win coach of the year?” Karl was let go by the Nuggets less than a month later. Five years later, Dwayne Casey suffered a similar fate (Denver chose not to give Karl a new contract while Casey was affirmatively fired). Still, management had the same beef, a disappointing postseason. Karl’s observation got me wondering … [Read more...] about The COY Curse?

NBA Finals Quick Thoughts

May 31, 2018 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

1. This Again?: Against all odds, we have Warriors and Cavs for a fourth straight year. Somehow, the Cavs have been able eke their way back to another Finals because the: (a) the Raptors somehow fell apart, (b) the rest of the East isn’t that good, and (c) LeBron James is an otherworldy talent. From a talent perspective, this fourth matchup is markedly less interesting than the prior three. The Warriors and Cavs have had their worse regular seasons in while this season: -2014-15: … [Read more...] about NBA Finals Quick Thoughts

Playoff Thoughts

May 24, 2018 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

The Eastern Conference Finals are in high gear. Let’s take a look at what we can expect going forward in the East… 1. Celtics-Cavs: It’s seems clear where this series is headed, a seventh game. Alas, the seventh game is not likely to be that climactic. The home team has won each game handily (by 15, 13, 20, 9, and 13 respectively). So, the likely outcome is Cleveland holding serve in Game 6 before getting beaten fairly easily in Boston in Game 7. The one caveat is that LeBron James has … [Read more...] about Playoff Thoughts

Brent Brown and Franchise Patience

April 25, 2018 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Brent Brown’s recent success in Philadelphia is, in some ways, a vindication of “The Process.” The more unique aspect of Philly’s rebuilding plan is the patience it had with Brown, who was able to survive four straight seasons of under-.500 non-playoff seasons. The 76ers were rational enough to figure that Brown’s coaching ability could not realistically be assessed with the bad teams he was coaching. That got me wondering whether another coach has been able to last as long as Brown. We … [Read more...] about Brent Brown and Franchise Patience