Harlan Schreiber

The Tim Duncan FAQ

July 16, 2016 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

What can be said about the recently retired Tim Duncan that hasn’t already been said? The story is fairly clear. Duncan comes to Wake Forest from the Virgin Islands and immediately excels and has a storybook NBA career with the Spurs, albeit without much flair or memorable stories. Rather than retrace the whole story, the challenge is to find some stories hidden in the background that fans don’t remember. So, here are a few: Did fear of sharks steer Duncan to the NBA? This isn’t really … [Read more...] about The Tim Duncan FAQ

Game 7 Preview

June 17, 2016 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

We’ve got yet another Game 7 of the Finals! There are few more exciting moments than a winner-take-all championship game. Let’s take a quick look at a few questions/issues to watch: 1. How big a loss is Andrew Bogut? Bogut only played about 20 minutes a game but did you know that he was the best player by DPM on the roster in the regular season? (Defensive win shares, say Draymond Green and Steph Curry were better). In the playoffs, Bogut’s DPM is off the charts and even better. … [Read more...] about Game 7 Preview

NBA Finals Quick Thoughts

June 6, 2016 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Despite the initial hoopla of a LeBron-Curry rematch, the first two games have been pretty brutal from the Cavs’ perspective. Let’s take a look the series so far and see if we can salvage any nuggets of interest. Do the Cavs have a chance? Doesn’t feel like it. The old axiom is that a playoff series hasn’t really started until a team loses a home game. This makes sense on a technical level but the Cavs have got beaten by 58 points collectively over the first two games and that seems … [Read more...] about NBA Finals Quick Thoughts

NBA Finals Preview 2015-16

June 1, 2016 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

I guess you could call it inevitable. Despite some unanticipated twists and turns along the way, the NBA Finals has ended up exactly where most people expected, with the Warriors and Cavs meeting again. Let’s run through some of the key issues/interesting questions for a Finals preview. But first, let’s take a quick look at a few of the departed: Toronto Raptors: The Raps season could not reasonably have turned out much better. They had the most wins in a season and their best playoff … [Read more...] about NBA Finals Preview 2015-16

2015-16 NBA Playoff Predictions

April 16, 2016 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Another postseason is upon us and, like most years, there aren’t a ton of questions to consider. The Warriors are the best team in the NBA and the Spurs are slightly behind them. It took until late in the season for the Warriors to actually overtake the Spurs in SRS. Ultimately, the Warriors did get there and they now rate out with the sixth best SRS of all-time at 10.38. But the Spurs are actually seventh at 10.28. This is a long way of saying that the Spurs do have a legit shot at … [Read more...] about 2015-16 NBA Playoff Predictions

GM Report: Sam Hinkie

April 11, 2016 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Was Sam Hinkie a success or failure as a GM in Philly? This answer really depends on how you evaluate the question. The sixers have won 47 games over three years, which is beyond awful but they have acquired a ton of draft picks. The answer, then, really depends on how you evaluate GMs. On some level, Hinkie has improved the Sixers but was it worth sacrificing three seasons of basketball? Let’s review Hinkie’s moves and see what comes of it… On its face, Hinkie’s plan wasn’t that … [Read more...] about GM Report: Sam Hinkie