Hoops Analyst -

Quick Thoughts

April 24, 2012 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

1. Tanking: The theme of the final month of the NBA season has been tanking. Namely, that the bad teams have quit trying in an attempt to amass ping pong balls for the NBA Lottery. But is this true? Well, the anecdotal evidence overwhelmingly supports this assertion. Of the 16 teams currently in the NBA playoffs, all are at least 5-5 in their last ten games, except Orlando (which is 4-6 and has been reeling with the injury to Dwight Howard). Of the 14 teams now outside of the playoff … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

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

Transactions 3/6-3/16

March 18, 2012 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Chicago Bulls 3/14 Signed Mike James to a 10-day contract With Derrick Rose's injury issues, Mike James has gotten another look in the NBA, long after his career seemed over. The Bulls signed him and cut him early in the year but he was surprisingly effective, primarily because he has hit 57% of his threes (he was less impressive 12-31 inside the line). One would think there are better alternatives than a 36-yeard old fringe player, who hasn't been really been in the NBA … [Read more...] about Transactions 3/6-3/16

Transactions: 2/21-3/5

March 9, 2012 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

Atlanta Hawks 2/20 Signed Erick Dampier to a second 10-day contract 3/1 Signed Erick Dampier for the remainder of the season With Jason Collins having injury problems and a general lack of big bodies in Atlanta, the Hawks have decided to try to squeeze a little value out of Dampier. Dampier looks close to done as an NBA player, unless you want to use him for short spurts. Atlanta seems to recognize this and he doesn't get more than 6 mpg so far. Just for fun, … [Read more...] about Transactions: 2/21-3/5

Quick Thoughts

February 27, 2012 by Harlan Schreiber Leave a Comment

1. All-Star Fun: In what seems like a blink of the eye, the NBA All-Star game has come and gone in this abbreviated season. Neither who made the All-Star game nor the result of the actual game (a narrow and competitive win for the West) concern me too much. It's all about history to me. I thought we could look at some of the odd moments/performances of the past to see what forgotten performances we should remember for one reason or another. We examined all the All-Star box scores … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts