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ROTY Watch

November 17, 2012 by Ed Weiland Leave a Comment

This year I’m going to start an occasional look at the top candidates for Rookie-of-the-year. While it’s kind of silly to start projecting the outcome of such awards in November, it might help me with the draft previews to keep a closer look at the rookies. Also everyone else is doing such lists so Hoopsanalyst may as well join the fray. The 2013 class so far is playing out as expected, though some individuals have surprised me. Davis is showing great promise. Behind him there are a mix of … [Read more...] about ROTY Watch

NBA 2013 Preview: Eastern Conference

October 31, 2012 by Ed Weiland Leave a Comment

In the post-Jordan Bulls NBA the East has been inferior to the West. That will continue this season and into the foreseeable future. The West is full of smart, creative GMs who can quickly make a bad team good. The East roster of GMs is full of guys in their 2nd or 3rd stints in the job. They are often ex-players who have experienced more failures than successes in their executive careers. They continue to draft and trade their teams into the lottery and hope for a big score there. They’re the … [Read more...] about NBA 2013 Preview: Eastern Conference

Draft 2013: Early Look at the SGs

August 14, 2012 by Ed Weiland Leave a Comment

If the PG class of 2013 is a little weak, the returning SG class looks downright anemic. I expect this to change. I expect an upper classmen or three will emerge out of nowhere. I also feel one or two freshmen will sparkle, as usually is the case. But right now there just isn’t a lot to see in the world of SG prospects. The returning players all have some work to do on their games and the foreign SGs also look weak at first glance. The returning group is a mix of sophomores trying to build on … [Read more...] about Draft 2013: Early Look at the SGs

NBA Draft 2012: Centers

June 26, 2012 by Ed Weiland Leave a Comment

The evaluation of the centers plays out something like the PFs. There are benchmarks that should be met before I consider them good prospects. There are exceptions and I’ll get into those as they apply. The main thing to know is the 2PP should be over .600, the R40 over 10.0 and the B40 over 3.0. Those are minimum numbers. The better prospects should do better in every category. Scoring frequently is nice, but not as important as it is with the other position. Possessing a 3-point shot and good … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: Centers

SVG V. Superman

April 8, 2012 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

This week's drama in Orlando is one of the more bizarre NBA stories I can remember. I’m not surprised that Dwight Howard wanted Stan Van Gundy fired or that the two might not like each other. No, but Van Gundy’s decision to go nuclear and call Howard out at an interview session is pretty unprecedented. Players and coaches often do despise each other but there is a thin layer of civility (at least in front of the public) that tethers everyone to reality. Why and how did this happen? Of course, … [Read more...] about SVG V. Superman

Bad Shooting

March 28, 2012 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

There have been some notable really bad shooting performances from usually pretty good players this season. Most notably, Lamar Odom is shooting 34% after shooting 53% last year. Plenty other players have also looked ugly too: James Toney, DeShawn Stevenson, Ron Artest, Baron Davis, and Jason Kidd are other well-known players hovering below 36%. But is there really more bad shooting this year than normal? It would seem that this might happen in a lockout year but the fact is not confirmed … [Read more...] about Bad Shooting