Kevin Garnett is back, Rajon Rondo is signed, Rasheed Wallace has arrived and Paul Pierce is as bad as ever. The Celtics are very, very easily ranked first in our first rankings of the 09-10 season. How do the other 29 teams compare?
The Pistons had a positive net PER at three positions during the 08-09 season, which were the three positions Joe Dumars attempted to improve in free agency and the draft.
Born within six months of each other in opposite corners of the world, two seven footers who are finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall are two of the best ever to play the center position.
Gilbert Arenas is playing two-on-two as he continues to rehabilitate his surgically repaired left knee. I understand the optimism, but the Wizards have the second worst record in the NBA. At 7-25, Washington has little chance of making the playoffs. And even if they did manage to grab the 7th or 8th seed, they would be rewarded with an early exit at the hands of the Celtics or Cavaliers. I'm not a fan of teams tanking in order to manipulate the lottery, but it's done wonders for the Miami Heat .
Nenad Krstic's visa was approved yesterday. Krstic signed a contract with Russian league team Triumph Moscow over the summer. Krstic signed a two-year contact worth around $9 million per year when factoring in the exchange rate and tax situation. The Thunder signed Krstic to a three-year, $15.6 million deal so Krstic is taking a pay cut to return to the NBA. Krstic told HOOPSWORLD that he missed "playing against the best players in the world." You can't put a price tag on happiness.
Miami Heat head coach Erick Spoelstra reiterated his stance that No. 2 pick Michael Beasleyhas to earn his playing time. In theory, this is the way it should be for all rookies. The best players should play, but Beasley also has to be put through the fire. Miami is asking Beasley to become a better defender and rebounder so he can compliment Dwyane Wade in the starting lineup. But those aren't Beasley's strengths. Beasley is a go-to scorer. Can two go-to scorers exist in the same backcourt (Beasley isn't a power forward)? It didn't work out for Iverson and Anthony in Denver.
Lakers' center Andrew Bynum agrees with coach Phil Jackson's assertion that he's not playing with enough energy. Bynum's numbers are down across the board. Bynum came out hungry last season after being put on blast by Kobe Bryant in that infamous parking lot video. Maybe Jackson's words will serve as a wake up call. As Jackson pointed out elsewhere, Bynum is struggling to establish position down low, a sure sign of effort for a player with Bynum's strength.
Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times reported that "seventeen 2008 Olympians are scoring fewer points this season than they did a year ago." It's still early in the season, but I haven't seen any noticeable wear and tear on players who participated in the Olympics. I think their scoring decline can be attributed to fewer minutes but not because they're fatigued from a long summer. Most of the players who competed for Team USA have seen their teams improve significantly from last season. Their workload has decreased as a result of their teams'mprovements There are exceptions,of course, but for the most part, players are going to be playing during the summer anyway. LeBron James led Team USA in minutes played with a pedestrian average of 24.8 minutes per contest. I understand that practice and travel takes its toll, but I can all but guarantee that if coaches like Mike Brown, George Karl, and Stan Van Gundy were polled on whether to send their stars to the games again, the vote would be unanimous. The lessons learned by James, Anthony, and Howard have been instrumental to their teams' successes.
The Fundamentals: Rick Adelman talks with Tracy McGrady about perseverance, individual honors mean little to the Spurs, the 2010 All-Star Game in Dallas could draw as many as 500,000 people, opposing teams are exposing Bostonʼs weaknesses, and Mark Cuban talks about bidding on the Chicago Cubs...
Ron Artest wasn't the first player to attack a fan in the stands:
