No End in Sight for the NBA

9/28/11 9:58 PM

  Don’t expect there to be any professional basketball played in this country any time soon. NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the league has suspended training camp indefinitely and cancelled 43 preseason games. This decision came after yet another unproductive meeting in which the League and the Player’s Association failed to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.   The main issue at hand is the distribution of revenue. As it stands, the league is offering the players 46 percent of the share while the Player’s Association continues to hold strong at 54 percent. The owners are hard-pressed to get a bigger piece of the pie after reporting to the league a total loss of $300 million this past season.   The fact of the matter is that...

A Month in Review of The Melo Trade

3/24/11 11:46 AM

 On Feb.21, the New York Knicks traded for superstar Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman and Anthony Carter. The Knicks also got Corey Brewer from the Timberwolves, but bought out his contract a few games later (so no need to mention him anymore). The Nuggets received Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks' 2014 first round pick, two second-round picks the Knicks received from the Golden State Warriors in the David Lee sign-and-trade and $3 million. Since then, the Knicks are 7-9 and the Nuggets are 10-4. That’s not what anyone expected to happen. The Knicks got off to a hot start with their new look, going 6-3 in their first nine games. Since then, they’ve dropped six of seven including two to the...

Melodrama

2/15/11 10:37 PM

I feel like I’ve written a buhzillion posts about this, but we are officially 9 days away from the trade deadline and Carmelo Anthony has yet to be traded from the Denver Nuggets. The New Jersey Nets had all those deals set up for Anthony, but prior to his meeting with Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z, the Nets Russian owner called off any deal for him. Now, it’s the New York Knicks time to trade for him before he begins to consider the extension with the Nuggets. Why would he consider the extension with the Nuggets if he reportedly wants to be in New York? The collective bargaining agreement is up after this season, which may affect (as in decrease) the amount of money he can get as a free agent. Why should the Knicks trade for him? I’ve heard two different arguments: ...

Rematch of Last Year’s Final and Preview of This Year’s?

2/1/11 10:51 PM

On Sunday, the Celtics played the Lakers in Los Angeles in their first rematch of last season’s NBA Finals. Despite 41 points from Kobe Bryant, the Celtics pulled it out 109-96. Boston’s Big Three combined for 71 points. The Lakers won this matchup last year because their offense had a flow to it, but this year their offense stalls when “The Black Mamba” has the ball in his hands. The Lakers thrived last year when Kobe shared the ball, averaging five assists per game. That hasn’t been the case since the Lakers’ first winning streak of the season was brought to a halt, and that was reinforced last night as Kobe was a one man show with 41 points and zero assists. The way LA has been playing, I can’t see them making it far in the playoffs. On the...

Half a Season in Review

1/26/11 12:53 AM

 Most teams are just about past the 41 game mark, so let’s recognize the best and the worst of the NBA this season.  Surprise team: If I wrote this two weeks ago, I would’ve gone with the Knicks, but six straight losses have changed my mind. I’ll go with the San Antonio Spurs instead. Despite having one of the NBA’s oldest teams, they’ve gone 37-7. George Hill and Gary Neal have come from nowhere to be big role players for San Antonio. Tim Duncan has been averaging career low numbers in less than 30 minutes per game in an effort to save his legs for the playoffs.  Disappointing team: The Milwaukee Bucks streaked into the playoffs last season after acquiring John Salmons. That wave has crashed. Brandon Jennings, the leader of their team, is...