Amare Stoudemire has never been shy about telling you exactly how he feels about anything that happens to pop into his mind, so it was hardly a surprise when the Knicks’ veteran big went off on former coach Mike D’Antoni just as he was returning to the lineup in New York.
What’s happened to the Timberwolves?
Just two weeks ago they were living large and enjoying the spoils of a 14-9 record. Four wins in a row had moved them into second place (behind Oklahoma City) in the Northwest Division, and with Ricky Rubio’s return on the horizon, things were finally looking up for the franchise.
The air is out of the balloon and the Golden State Warriors won’t get a crack at breaking the Clippers’ long winning streak.
The way the Los Angeles Lakers look at it, 2013 is the second start of the season. So much for 2012 and the bizarre first 30 games, and especially good-bye to that four-game losing streak in early December when LAL fell to 9-14 and everyone was wondering if this might be the end of the line for Kobe Bryant and his backup singers.
Rule No. 1 for firing coaches:
Make sure that when you bring down the guillotine, the new coach taking over has a crappy opponent to face in his first game. He can get his feet wet and the GM or owner will look good.
What you’ve seen of the Utah Jazz this season is pretty much what you’re going to get. They are basically a .500 team that can hang with good teams, especially at home, and steal a game they shouldn’t every now and then.
In March 2008 the Houston Rockets were the NBA’s Blue Plate Special. The had won 22 games, the second-longest streak in NBA history, and there was talk that Tracy McGrady and the guys would challenge the league record of 33 set decades earlier by the Chamberlain/West Los Angeles Lakers.
Good news/bad news for the Mavericks, and to be honest there isn’t much good news.
Dirk Nowitzki is back from injury, a bit earlier than expected, and he seemed to be OK in playing 20 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Wonder what Andrea Bargnani has to say for himself now.
A few weeks back, you recall, the Raptors’ 7-footer and former overall No. 1 draft choice raised more than a few eyebrows by putting his own team dead last on his private NBA power ranking chart.
Forget Kobe Bryant.
Forget, for now, Steve Nash’s return to the Lakers and what it means.
The Lakers don’t end the nonsense that has been the first two months of the NBA season and start to act like the dominant team we all thought they’d be until Dwight Howard plays like Dwight Howard.
It kind of sucks to be Doc Rivers these days.
His team has showed little sign of life as it meanders through the first third on the NBA schedule, the new players brought on board to give the team depth haven’t come close to performing the way anyone in Boston thought they would, and on Christmas Day the Celts start a 4-game road trip in Brooklyn and includes three games on the West Coast.
For the Dallas Mavericks, it’s time to start grinding.
It’s been two months since Dirk Nowitzki underwent knee surgery, and while he is expected back shortly after Christmas, the team knows that his return to the lineup means only that his training camp will start.
Something’s happening; what it is ain’t exactly clear.
The lyrics from the old song by the 1960s folk group Buffalo Springfield applie now to the Los Angeles Clippers, who have won 11 straight games and demanded a place at the table with the powers (Oklahoma City, San Antonio) of the Western Conference.
Is the NBA on the level?
There are elite teams, of course, but is the playing field level for everyone? Or does the league give a huge edge to superstars, as ref-gone-bad Tim Donaghy alleges?
Timing has always been a problem in Minnesota.
When the Timberwolves had Kevin Garnett in his prime years, the team just couldn’t figure out a way to assemble enough complementary pieces to make a legitimate move to elite status in the Western Conference.
It’s doubtful that casual NBA fans know that Mike Woodson is the coach of the New York Knicks.
