Archives › Kurt Helin
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Video: Atlanta’s Jamal Crawford with the dagger (he called bank)
Apr 23, 2011, 9:20 AM EDT
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Jamal Crawford is back. Or the one from last season that was runaway Sixth Man of the Year is back. After a lackluster regular season Crawford has been lighting up the Orlando Magic to the tune of 23.7 points per game and shooting 58.8 percent from three. Which brings us to the dagger from Game…
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Report: Kings to stay in Sacramento next season; owners say no decision yet
Apr 22, 2011, 8:03 PM EDT
UPDATE: 8:03 pm: The Maloof brothers, the owners of the Kings, are denying the report. Sort of. Co-owner Joe Maloof spoke with the Associated Press and said they are still thinking about it. Maloof told The Associated Press that no decision has been made and he’s “as anxious as anybody” to find out if Sacramento…
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NBA Playoffs: Look for the stars to come out in New Orleans
Apr 22, 2011, 8:02 PM EDT
Our first word of advice for this game — wear sunglasses. Yes, we know you are watching on television. But the Hornets are going with a “sea of yellow” look (all the fans getting yellow T-shirts) and it will the Hornets uniforms themselves (they got permission to wear the alternate yellow jerseys). It will be…
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Remember way back to the start of the season, when John Wall missed a handful of game due to a foot injury? Probably not, because when he came back he was pretty impressive. Good enough to be second in the Rookie of the Year balloting. Dude dropped 22 assists at the All-Star weekend Rookie Challenge…
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NBA Playoffs: Maybe the Hawks can use more Horford in Game 3
Apr 22, 2011, 4:33 PM EDT
Now the Orlando/Atlanta series moves on to Game 3 on a neutral court… wait, it’s in Atlanta? Interesting. We’ll see if anyone notices. Seriously, the Hawks fans will be into it if the Hawks are into it. And in it. Whether the Hawks are in it may depend in part on how much run Al…
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Trivia time: Who was the last Canadian-born player drafted in the first round? No, not the shaggy-haired guy. If you answered Jamaal Magloire you are either Canadian or we should be worried about you. Or both. But you’d be right. For another few weeks anyway. Tristan Thompson, the freshman power forward out of Texas —…
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Welcome back to Shaq Watch 2011… Shaquille O’Neal has traveled with the team, he is in New York where maybe the bright lights will inspire him. But not for Game 3 Friday. He is out for that. Our man A. Sherrod Blakely from Comcast New England caught up with Shaq, but he wasn’t in the…
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Atlanta is just an apathetic sports town. Always has been. I’m not going to try to explain it — Atlanta native Kevin Arnovitz laid it out better than I ever could hope to, and he doesn’t have all the answers — but I am here to pass along this tidbit: The Atlanta Hawks return home…
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The NBA playoffs return to the heart of New York, to Madison Square Garden Friday night after seven long years away and will be welcomed back like the prodigal son. Celebrities will ring the court — including Spike Lee in some all-orange disaster of an outfit — and profanity-laced chants will rain down on the…
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It’s not a joke setup, LeBron drinks a gallon of water a day during playoffs
Apr 22, 2011, 1:27 PM EDT
I’m not going to do it. You insert your own jokes about LeBron James urinating during this post. I will not take part in your juvenile game. Much. During these playoffs, as he has done for years during the playoffs, LeBron James strives to drink a gallon of water a day. So you know what…
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Note to Bulls, Heat fans: First round sweeps don’t mean rings
Apr 22, 2011, 12:50 PM EDT
Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls fans are pretty cocky today — their teams are on the verge of getting first round sweeps. That means extra rest, players can sit home and watch opposing playoff games and be annoyed by the NBA talking ball ads just like the rest of us. It just means more time…
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Irony alert: Player calls Garnett “coward” in anonymous column
Apr 22, 2011, 12:10 PM EDT
I love the premise of this article — there is not enough trash talk in the NBA. It’s part of ESPN’s “Player X” series where some athletes in different sports get to spout off anonymously on whatever topic they want. And this time around an NBA player — clearly a veteran — complains about the…
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Kings television deal could be reworked as part of Sacramento effort
Apr 22, 2011, 11:40 AM EDT
If it’s all about the television deal, Sacramento still has hope. Comcast is willing to talk. One of the key reasons the Kings owners — the Maloof brothers — reportedly wanted out of Sacramento was a bad television deal, something they could do much better with in the massive Southern California market. But an official…
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Gilbert Arenas no longer the backup point guard for Magic. Probably.
Apr 22, 2011, 11:13 AM EDT
During the regular season, guys get minutes for all kinds of reasons that have nothing at all to do with their performance — guys with big contracts get run they no longer merit because the GM demands it, or young players are out on the court longer as they get on the job training. But…
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How has Memphis hung around with San Antonio? One key way is limiting the corner three. A fantastic profile of Andrew Bynum at Sports Illustrated, including how he builds his own computers. One of my favorite things to read weekly — my man Anthony Macri’s coaches corner. This week he talks Bynum’s positioning and why…
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David Stern suggests replay official, challenges in NBA future
Apr 22, 2011, 10:12 AM EDT
I’d like to think David Stern is a huge PBT fan, read Ira Winderman’s post this week and said “that’s a good idea.” But that’s probably not how it went down. Still… Every year with the playoffs comes the rise in complaints from coaches, fans and players about officiating. Those complaints are usually misguided —…
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Come on Portland, this is why we love Mark Cuban. You want another faceless owner who sits in a luxury box with his friends and views the team as an investment? We need passionate, committed owners. Ones willing to sit with the fans and tell them what is on their mind. Cuban was sitting near…
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There are no style points in the NBA. It’s wins and losses, it’s results. And at the end of the day this is an assist for LeBron James and two points for Dwyane Wade that the team needed in going up 3-0 on the Philadelphia 76ers. Whether or not James is stumbling, it’s still pretty…
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Portland just came out aggressive. Finally. Sometimes it’s not about the Xs and Os, it’s about energy and execution. Portland had that in the Rose Garden. Credit the home crowd (always one of the best in the league). Credit desperation. Credit Everclear. (The band, not the drink.) Whatever it was Portland came out far more…
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The NBA playoffs are a game of adjustments. After two games of getting burned by Chris Bosh and LeBron James, Philadelphia coach Doug Collins turned up the defensive pressure by bringing more help over to the strong side (where the ball is) faster. The 76ers tried hard to stop whichever of Miami’s triad had the…
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It’s hard to be optimistic about the NBA labor situation — and I am by nature and optimist — but today there were a few rays of light into the darkness. It comes from David Stern, talking to the Associated Press, discussing the mess that is the NFL labor situation. “It seemed that at the…
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The Philadelphia 76ers are a pretty good team who could pose a threat to some upper echelon Eastern Conference teams in the first round. Miami is not one of them. The Sixers lack the ability to pound the Heat inside where they are soft. Philly also relies on getting out and running a little, getting…
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They are frustrated in Denver. They have not been able to solve the Oklahoma City Thunder puzzle and are now down 2-0 in their first round playoff series. J.R. Smith’s frustration boiled over Thursday, to the point he says he may choose not to re-sign with the Nuggets this summer, he told Benjamin Hochman at…
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UPDATE 3:48 pm: After practice on Thursday, Roy apologized for his complaints about playing time, according to the Associated Press. He said it came from a place of frustration. Which is a place it is understandable Roy inhabits. If he weren’t frustrated, he’d be a cyborg. But that still does not change what Nate McMillan…
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UPDATE 3:42 pm: From the Department of Redundancy Department, we have an update on our update: Shaq traveled with the team to New York, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSN New England. Based on what Doc Rivers said before, that makes Shaq questionable for Game 4 on Easter Sunday. Which is a lot better…
