Quick Thoughts

1.  Hawks for Real?:  You don’t go 33-8 with smoke and mirrors.  The Hawks are obviously a very good team.  But whether they should be considered a threat to come out of the East and/or win it all is the real question.  Long win streaks don’t just happen but they can overstate how good a team is.  In 2007-08, the Houston Rockets ripped off a ridiculous 22-game winning streak but still lost in the first round of the playoffs.  The Rockets were quite good that season (55-27) but their SRS was only … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

1.  The Rondo Trade:  The trade of Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks appears like big news but really it is a logical deal with some upside for the Mavs and some risk.   The Mavs have the best offense in the NBA and a weak defense (22nd) so, naturally, getting an upgrade at point defensively should help.  Kevin Pelton and others, however, have noted that a lot of what makes Dallas strong is the offense and Jameer Nelson’s spot-up shooting was an important part of the equation (he was .369% from … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

1. No Free Throw Pablo:  While the early struggles of the Knicks have been thoroughly discussed, what caught my attention was the play of backup point guard Pablo Prigioni.  Prigioni is a solid player (14.1 PER so far this year) and has actually significantly outplayed starter Raymond Felton (whose struggles are a big factor in the Knicks’ terrible start).  The interesting thing about Prigioni is that, despite playing 16 minutes a game, he has attempted zero free throws this year.  Last year, … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

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

1. Heckuva of a Job Brownie!:  The big news of this week has come out of Los Angeles where the Lakers have canned Mike Brown and spurned an apparently willing and able Phil Jackson in favor of Mike D’Antoni.  There is so much going on here, so let’s break it down piece-by-piece: -Should Brown have been fired? Certainly, the early returns were not good but it’s pretty hard to envision a scenario where a team could possibly conclude that a coach is lost after a five-game stretch to open a … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

1.  Harden Times: I’ve been away from hoops for a while, unfortunately, but this seems like the perfect time to return.  The season is starting, which is good news in itself, and a lot is also going on, most notably, the trade of James Harden to Houston.  What to make of this move?  Bill Simmons wrote a column taking OKC apart for the trade as a missed opportunity to nurture that third star that most title teams have.  I don’t necessarily think that Simmons is wrong but the decision is not quite … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts