Harlan Schreiber

Transactions 4/18-7/6 (Coaching Edition)

July 13, 2013 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Atlanta Hawks 5/28 Named Mike Budenholzer Larry Drew didn’t actually do anything wrong that merited him losing this job. The Hawks had a little talent and not much depth and played accordingly. The Hawks apparently decided that the decent team of the past six years was over and it is time to rebuild. It’s not clear if the Hawks will be terrible without Josh Smith. A core of Al Horford and a free agent or two to be named later is not an awful team (or at least not bad enough to … [Read more...] about Transactions 4/18-7/6 (Coaching Edition)

Would Hibbert Have Mattered?

May 23, 2013 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

In one of the more amazing games of the playoffs, the Pacers almost knocked off the Heat at home. Up by one point, with 2.2 seconds left, the Pacers were faced with how to best defend the Heat. As we all know now, the Pacers chose to sit Roy Hibbert and play Sam Young, a perimeter defender, instead of their big shot blocker. Would Hibbert have made a difference? Maybe…Let’s take a look at the final play and see what we can gleam: -The Heat had Shane Battier inbound the ball near half … [Read more...] about Would Hibbert Have Mattered?

A Closer Look At Eric Murdock

May 20, 2013 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Two of the biggest stories basketball stories of the last two months are the firing Mike Rice at Rutgers for abuse and the recent commitment of newest high school basketball prodigy Andrew Wiggins to Kansas. While these stories seemingly have little common ground, old school NBA enthusiasts will recognize 1980s and 1990s players figured in both stories (Eric Murdock and Mitchell Wiggins). The man behind the Mike Rice story is former point guard Eric Murdock. Murdock was director of player … [Read more...] about A Closer Look At Eric Murdock

2012-13 Playoff Preview

April 20, 2013 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

This season flew by like a flash and we are once again faced with the playoff season. As usual, we’ll go through the match ups and make are somewhat fearless but equivocating predictions. Before we really dig in, we should acknowledge the non-shocking revelation that we are headed to a rematch of last year’s Finals. Miami and OKC are the leaders in SRS rating and OKC actually rates a good deal higher than the Heat (9.15 to 7.03). In the East, Miami does not look like it will be tested much, … [Read more...] about 2012-13 Playoff Preview

Quick Thoughts

April 14, 2013 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

1. Kobe’s Pain: The big story of the last few days is the unfortunate Achilles tear suffered by Kobe Bryant at the end of his Friday game against the Lakers. The injury raised a few questions to examine. Let’s take a look and see if we can answer them. -Does this injury end the Lakers’ season? Well the Lakers are in the driver seat to make the eight seed still if they win their remaining games two games. Kobe’s presence would’ve given the Lakers a puncher’s shot of upsetting the Spurs … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

Transactional Analysis: The Gay Trade

February 1, 2013 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Like the Thunder trading James Harden, Memphis found that the new CBA luxury tax penalties cost prohibitive and they therefore decide to unload Rudy Gay. The calculus is more complex than just luxury tax considerations. I imagine the Grizz had to ask themselves several questions before reaching this conclusion. Let’s run though the analysis and see if we agree with logic train: (a) What would the outcome be of just leaving the Grizz roster intact? Memphis had a tougher call than most … [Read more...] about Transactional Analysis: The Gay Trade