Hoops Analyst - - Page 102

Quick Thoughts

January 6, 2009 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

1. Atlanta Aeries: Right around the January each season, we like take stock at the teams that came out of nowhere and examine how they are excelling and whether the improved play will continue. Last year, we had quite a few teams go from .500 to contention and we ended up with three teams going from .500 to the 50-win plateau (Boston, New Orleans, and Orlando). This year, a few teams are looking improved (Cleveland, Denver, Portland) but there is only one team, Atlanta, that has gone … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

Quick Thoughts

December 28, 2008 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

1. The Race for Home Court: For better or for worse, the themes of NBA seasons tend to take shape very early and then we all have to wait until May/June two find out how the conflict will play out. Sure, there are fun little surprises that might matter for future seasons but, ultimately, question of title contention is less than mysterious. This year, for the most part, is no different. Let's take our review of the title contenders we forecasted coming into the season (Boston, Detroit, … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

Quick Thoughts

December 22, 2008 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

1. CP3 and Steals: Just a few days ago, Chris Paul set the records for the most consecutive games with a steal, breaking Alvin Robertson's record from 1985. Giving such an accomplishment proper weight is a difficult thing to do. On the one hand, steals are clearly a good thing and the fact that a player gets a lot of steals is a good indicator of value. On the other hand, steals are often overstated in assessing the worth of a defender. The best example counterexample is Joe Dumars, … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

Transactions 12/5-12/16

December 16, 2008 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Charlotte Bobcats 12/10 Trade Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley and a 2010 second-round pick to Phoenix for Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary 12/12 Sign Juwan Howard Another fun Larry Brown trade! If you give Brown control, he'll do some whacky things. On paper, trading Richardson for Bell and Diaw makes little sense. Richardson is the best player and the money isn't even necessarily better for Charlotte (Richardson has two years at $28 million after this year while Bell … [Read more...] about Transactions 12/5-12/16

Sloan’s Run

December 12, 2008 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Recently, we looked at the fact that P.J. Carlesimo had only one win as a Oklahoma City Thunder coach and reviewed each franchise's least successful coaches. Just so you don't think we dwell only on depressing things like coaches being fired, it bears noting that Jerry Sloan is now in his twentieth year of coaching and going pretty strong. Sloan's years in Utah are marked mostly by success and a rage that few other coaches can match. But how did we come to have Sloan in Utah? Do we remember … [Read more...] about Sloan’s Run

Transactions: 11/22-12/5 (Coaching Change Edition)

December 6, 2008 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Oklahoma City Thunder 11/22 Fire P.J. Carlesimo and name Scott Brooks interim head coach Not much has happened in the NBA on the transaction front the last few weeks except for a good old fashioned coaching dump off. In each of the three cases of coach firings, the terminations do not seem to be no-brainers. All three teams have played poorly, compared to even modest expectations. Yet there are clear mitigating factors in each instance. Starting with P.J., we know the knock...the … [Read more...] about Transactions: 11/22-12/5 (Coaching Change Edition)