Category: Fantasy Basketball (Page 113 of 274)

      Mike Brown fired

      May 24, 2010 /

      Per Brian Windhorst of Cleveland.com…

      In a move expected since the team lost three consecutive games to be upset by the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals, the Cavs fired coach Mike Brown on Sunday according to a league source. The news was first reported by ESPN.

      Okay, no shocker there. What was the reason for his dismissal?

      Some Cavs’ players, including LeBron James, also seemed to lose patience with Brown after some of his adjustments and rotations didn’t work against the Celtics in the playoffs.

      However, James is not believed to have made a personal push with management for a coaching change. He left it to the front office to make the final decision.

      Brown seemed to struggle with his rotations after having to incorporate Shaquille O’Neal back into the team in the playoffs after O’Neal missed the final six weeks of the season. He started a lineup in the first game of the playoffs that he hadn’t used all season and the turbulence from multiple players changing roles appeared to upset the balance of the team.

      Those problems plus, according to sources, some disagreement over some game plans for playoff games with some of the team leaders eventually led to some discord in the locker room during the Celtics series.

      I put that bit about LeBron in bold because it may hold a clue to his future. If it’s true that he left Brown’s fate up to management, then it seems like he’s not all that interested in who’s coaching the Cavs, and that’s a bad sign for Cleveland fans that are hoping he re-signs.

      Mike Brown will land on his feet. He bungled the playoff rotations, but that was partly because he had too many good players he had to play, especially when the Celtics started picking the Cavs apart.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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      WCF: Just like that, we have a series

      May 24, 2010 /

      It’s funny how much things can swing on a single game. Heading into Game 3, everyone pretty much wrote the Suns off and penciled the Lakers into their third-straight NBA Finals. But with last night’s 118-109 victory, the Suns proved a couple of things: 1) they can beat the Lakers in the playoffs, and 2) Amare Stoudemire can outplay Pau Gasol.

      The win gives the Suns confidence and essentially stops the sky from falling. This franchise has been snakebitten for some time, so when the Lakers got up 2-0, you could cut the desperation surrounding this Suns with a knife. Stoudemire was under fire for his play through the first two games, and there was already speculation that he wouldn’t re-sign with the team. Now, the Suns head into Game 4 with some confidence, and they know that if they can win tomorrow night, that they’ll head back to L.A. having won two-straight with an opportunity to steal home court advantage in Game 5.

      It’s going to be interesting to see how the Lakers respond to the Suns’ zone. It’s not like it shut L.A. down — the Lakers shot 48% from the field and scored 109 points. But the Lakers also committed 17 turnovers and shot just 28% from long range. In the first two games, the Suns’ problem wasn’t offense, so even though the zone is a little gimmicky, if they can slow the Lakers down at all, they have a shot.

      The zone took the Lakers out of the triangle and knocked L.A. on its heels a bit. Suddenly, they didn’t know where the defense was coming from and they finally had to adjust to something the Suns were throwing at them, instead of running the same offense that has been so productive all season. It was a desperation move by Phoenix, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

      The NBA playoffs are all about adjustments, and Phil Jackson is one of the best in the game at tweaking his strategy throughout a series. The Lakers should come out in Game 4 prepared for the zone, so the Suns will have to make some adjustments of their own if they hope to head back to Los Angeles with the series tied.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      WCF Game 3: Suns make it a series

      May 23, 2010 /

      I’ll write more about the game tomorrow — I have a “Lost” finale that is screaming my name — but the Suns played very well in Game 3 and have made this a series. They went to a zone on defense and it puzzled the Lakers a little bit, leading to a 118-109 win.

      Amare Stoudemire (justifiably) took a lot of heat over the last few days, but answered the critics by posting 42-11 on 14-of-22 shooting. Steve Nash went for 17-2-15 and Robin Lopez added 20 points.

      The Suns won despite Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol combining for 24-of-38 shooting and 59 points. Lamar Odom went just 4-of-14 from the field for 10 points and fouled out of the game.

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      Mark Cuban fined for comments about LeBron

      May 23, 2010 /

      Per ESPNDallas…

      The NBA fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $100,000 Saturday for his recent comments about Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James.

      Cuban confirmed the fine through his Twitter account shortly before the league announced its punishment for Cuban’s remarks which violated the league’s anti-tampering rules.

      “For those of you who care about these things, NBA just fined me 100k for comments regarding another teams’ players,” Cuban wrote.

      What’s funny is when he was asked if this was tampering, Cuban replied via email, “not even close.”

      What exactly did he say about LeBron?

      “Come July 1st, yeah, of course, anybody would be interested in LeBron James,” Cuban said in the interview. “And if he leaves via free agency, then it’s going to be tough. If he does like I’m guessing, hoping he will, which is say, ‘I’m not going to leave the Cavs high and dry,’ if he decides to leave — there’s still a better chance he stays — then he’ll try to force a sign-and-trade and that gives us a chance.”

      The NBA’s maximum fine is $5 million and the league can prohibit a team from pursuing a free agent if it is justified. So this is basically a slap on the wrist.


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      Arenas-for-Curry actually makes some sense

      May 23, 2010 /

      After the Washington Wizards won the right to pick John Wall, the first question on everyone’s lips was what about Gilbert Arenas?

      This is pure speculation, but one idea that is circulating is that the Wizards could trade Agent Zero to the Knicks for Eddy Curry’s expiring contract. This would have to happen after July 1, because Curry has to opt in to the final year of his contract. (And he will opt in.)

      This should be a no-brainer for the Wizards because they can put Arenas’ tumultuous season behind them and start to truly rebuild around Wall. Arenas has four years and $80 million remaining on his contract, so if they were able to move him for an expiring deal, they’d have a ton of cap space in the summer of 2011.

      For the Knicks, the decision is not quite as easy, but it is intriguing. A healthy Arenas could fit into Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo system as a two guard who could also run the point if necessary. GM Donnie Walsh has the cap space to sign two big-name free agents, and he shouldn’t use this space to acquire Arenas. He should sign the two best players he can in July, and then think about adding Arenas to that mix, if he’s a fit.

      As Alex David (of Buckets Over Broadway) writes, Walsh may be served to wait and see how Arenas looks at the start of the season.

      If it were to happen at all, most likely it would go down during next season. That would enable Walsh to see if Arenas still has it, and similarly give Washington some time to see if perhaps Gil & John Wall can work as a dynamic duo. Also, hopefully Walsh would be smart enough to hold out for a draft pick too if we’re gonna take this huge contract off the Wiz’s hands.

      So take a deep breath. This trade likely ain’t gonna happen. And if it does, it won’t be for a while.

      I thought the deal that the Wizards gave Arenas was ridiculous even before the ink was dry, but the Knicks don’t care too much about payroll once they lock in their two big-name free agents this summer. Maybe it will be LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Or maybe it will be Rudy Gay and Carlos Boozer. Either way, Arenas, if healthy, is an All-Star caliber player that could be a very dangerous combo guard under Mike D’Antoni. Once the Knicks have their stars and are over the cap, it won’t matter if he’s making $10 million or $20 million a season.

      Do I think that Gilbert Arenas will ever win an NBA championship? No. But he can help the Knicks become relevant again.


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