Archives › John Krolik
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Phil Jackson is clear about where he'll be coaching next season, kind of
May 4, 2010, 10:05 PM EDT
Leave a commentThere have been some rumblings that this might be legendary coach Phil Jackson’s last season coaching the Los Angeles Lakers. When asked about his future plans during Tuesday’s pre-game press conference, Jackson had this to say: “Do you actually know where you’ll be headed next year?” “Yes.” “Is there a possibility you might be coaching…
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One of the few Cavaliers to actually play well in Monday night’s disastrous loss against the Boston Celtics was forward Anderson Varejao. Varejao has been quiet over the course of this year’s playoffs, but was beginning to look like himself on Monday night. He was getting to the rim using cuts, grabbing loose balls, and…
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The Cavaliers were the worst free-throw shooting team in the league over the course of the regular season, and Celtics general manager Danny Ainge didn’t make things any easier for them in game two. According to the Associated Press, Ainge was spotted throwing a towel in the air in an attempt to distract Cleveland forward…
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There it is, via JaVale’s twitter page. (Hat tip to Bullets Forever) This tattoo interests me because McGee’s value may be more nebulous than the value of any other player in the league. McGee is 7-2 with a massive wingspan. He can jump out of the gym and create highlight dunks and blocks. He shows…
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According to the Associated Press, Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko says there’s a “50-50 chance” he’ll be able to play in games two and three of Utah’s series against the Los Angeles Lakers. When healthy, Kirilenko is one of the most versatile defenders in the NBA. With his outstanding athleticism and wingspan, Kirilenko is capable of…
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NBA Playoffs: Nuggets collapse down the stretch as the Jazz clinch the series
May 1, 2010, 1:30 AM EDT
Near the end of the first half, it looked like the Jazz were well on their way to rolling over the Denver Nuggets and clinching the series. They were up double-digits midway through the second quarter and the crowd was going crazy. Not only that, but Denver’s vaunted offense was stalling. Then Joey Graham showed…
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Up 3-2 in their series against the Denver Nuggets and coming back home to Salt Lake, the Utah Jazz have a great chance to close out their first-round series tonight. It’s not the time for them to rest on their laurels, however, as they don’t want to have to go back to Denver for a…
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Magic GM Otis Smith tells Howard to take responsibility for fouls
Apr 29, 2010, 6:56 PM EDT
Dwight Howard was hampered by foul trouble in all four games of the Magic’s sweep against the Charlotte Bobcats. Some of the fouls were of the ticky-tack variety. Others were fouls Howard brought upon himself by getting frustrated and unnecessarily swinging out his arm when Bobcat defenders got physical with him. Not only did foul…
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Gilbert Arenas is not having the best year ever. According to TMZ, Gilbert Arenas could be back in a court of law soon, this time to defend himself in a lawsuit: [TMZ has] obtained a lawsuit filed against Arenas by Tactical Operations — a company that sells high-end guns. According to the lawsuit, filed today…
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Chris Bosh had a stellar season for the Toronto Raptors. Despite his contributions, the Raptors were unable to hold to the eighth playoff spot in the East when Bosh missed the last few games of the season due to injury. Bosh is a free agent next summer. Given Bosh’s individual success without a playoff series…
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According to the twitter feed of the Salt Lake Tribune’s Ross Siler, Andrei Kirilenko will not play in game six of the Utah-Denver series. He has been out since March 27th with a calf injury. With Mehmet Okur out for the playoffs and Nene day-to-day for the Jazz, both teams will be very thin up…
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If you’ve been reading this site or any other over the past several weeks, you are likely already familiar with the exploits of Bango the Deer. The Bucks mascot achieved YouTube stardom by doing a backflip dunk off a 16-foot ladder during Monday’s game four. Keep in mind that Bango has already torn an ACL…
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NBA Playoffs: Denver executes on offense, stays alive against Utah
Apr 29, 2010, 2:04 AM EDT
The Nuggets aren’t going to win this series on the strength of their defense. That much is clear. In order to make that strategy work, they need to play a near-perfect offensive game for a full 48 minutes. On Wednesday night, they did just that to stave off elimination. The Nuggets started the game out…
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The Magic still didn’t put together a dominant single-game performance against the Charlotte Bobcats, but their combination of defense and timely three-point shooting was enough to get them a first-round sweep. Charlotte once again did all the right things. They outscored the Magic 34-16 in the painted area. They matched the Magic in offensive rebounding.…
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The Magic haven’t been able to get their offense going against Charlotte all series. Dwight Howard has had trouble staying on the floor, and hasn’t been very effective in the post when he is in the game. Vince Carter has been off. The Magic have launched threes and relied on the play of Jameer Nelson,…
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Like Warrior playoff games were a few years ago, Thunder playoff games have quickly became a hot ticket in Oklahoma City. The Thunder are giving the #1 seeded Lakers everything they can handle, the team is young and fun to watch, and the deafening Ford Center crowd looks like tons of fun to be a…
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According to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commerical-Appeal, O.J. Mayo wants to go to Turkey this summer and try out for a spot on the US World Championship team. The Grizzlies, of course, want him to do the responsible thing and spend his summer in Las Vegas in order to work on his point guard…
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NBA Playoffs: Nuggets continue to ignore defense, fall behind 3-1 to the Jazz
Apr 26, 2010, 1:32 AM EDT
The Nuggets have all the talent in the world, but they have seemed determined to squander it in their first-round series with the Jazz. First of all, they continued to let the Jazz score at will on Sunday. The Jazz scored 54 points in the paint, and added 30 points on free throws. That’s 84…
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The Charlotte Bobcats did everything right on Saturday afternoon. They frustrated Dwight Howard on both ends of the floor, baiting him into silly fouls and rendering him ineffective on the offensive end for most of the time he was in. They held the Magic to 9-30 shooting from beyond the arc. They turned defense into…
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NBA Playoffs: Utah scores at will against Denver, takes 2-1 series lead
Apr 24, 2010, 3:11 AM EDT
The Nuggets got out to an early lead against the Utah Jazz on Friday, taking a 27-21 lead after the first quarter behind 10 points by Chauncey Billups. They were running their offense, they were hitting their shots, and they even managed to keep the Utah crowd quiet. Then Paul Millsap showed up, and things…
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Stealing a win on the road was a huge break for the Utah Jazz. Utah and Denver were a combined 66-16 at home this year, and went 40-42 on the road. Clearly, both of these teams are a lot more comfortable in their own buildings. Even without Kirilenko and Okur in the rotation, Utah has…
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It was never a secret that the Oklahoma City crowd was going to be a factor in whatever first-round series the Thunder ended up playing in. Oklahoma City has a loud, passionate fanbase, and it’s their team’s first ever NBA playoff appearance. Yet for all the predictions of how loud the building was going to…
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Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post tweeted that Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin will play in Friday’s game against the Utah Jazz. Martin missed practice on Thursday to rest his knee and was earlier reported to be a “game-time decision,” but Adrian Dantley is now saying that he will play. Martin averaged 11 points and 7.5…
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NBA Playoffs: Bobcats still unable to mount any offense against the Magic
Apr 21, 2010, 11:53 PM EDT
It’s not that the Bobcats scored 30 points in the first half against the Magic. It’s that it’s surprising they managed to score 30 the way they were playing. Larry Brown promised that his team would be more aggressive attacking the basket against Dwight Howard and co. on Wednesday night. To put it mildly, that did not…
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The Lakers-Thunder series promised a showdown between two of the best defensive teams in the Western Conference and two of the best scorers in the league. When Durant and Kobe struggled on Sunday, the game became an ugly, grind-it out affair. On Tuesday night, both Durant and Kobe showed up. The result was one of…
