Archives › Kurt Helin
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Jermaine O’Neal back practicing with Celtics, may play this week
Mar 29, 2011, 12:12 PM EDT
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One of the O’Neals is ready to return to Boston. Jermaine O’Neal will return from knee surgery to Boston practices this week and said he hopes to be playing center Thursday night against the Spurs in a battle of the slumping superpowers. Doc Rivers said fat chance he’ll play that soo our man A. Sherrod…
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You have to admire the unrelenting optimism in Minnesota that Ricky Rubio is going to play with the team next season. But even that Midwestern, can-do optimism knows limits — the lockout is strangling that hope right out of Wolves fans. Check out this note from the Pioneer Press where — like only in the…
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Boston’s offense is off. In their last 10 games, Boston’s offense has averaged 104 points per 100 possessions, down from their 106.4 points per 100 for the season (based on the Knickerblogger numbers). Ray Allen is part of that — he is shooting 44.3 percent in the last 10 games, down from 49.3 percent for…
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As always, it’s about the money. It’s always about the money. The latest noise in the seemingly inevitable move of the Kings out of Sacramento to Anaheim is that the Sacramento City Manager sent a letter, vaguely threatening legal action, if Anaheim did not back off its efforts to lure the Kings. The Sacramento Bee…
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The big story in Philly: Lou Williams and some others Sixers went to the Lil’ Wayne concert Saturday night before a noon-tipoff Sunday against the Kings. And the Sixers lost and some fans are blaming the night out (even though Jrue Holiday went and played well). This is mostly about Williams off shooting day, and…
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That was vintage Carmelo Anthony Monday night. His team needed a win and he put up 39 points hitting shots with a man in his face all night. He controlled the offense and the game in the second half. Watch the video. The flip side is he shot a pedestrian 46.1 percent, he took the…
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Baseline to Baseline recaps: Ugly or not, Knicks and Pacers will take wins
Mar 29, 2011, 8:52 AM EDT
What you missed while you were stealing a 600-pound bronze moose statue… Knicks 113, Magic 106 (OT): The Kicks were desperate for a win. The Magic were without Jameer Nelson and J.J. Redick which meant heavy doses of Gilbert Arenas (who was 1-of-7 from three). Dwight Howard fouled out. That meant a streak breaking win…
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In December, LeBron James got the reception you’d expect from the fans in Cleveland. Then he and his new Heat teammates destroyed the Cavaliers as you’d expect. Tuesday night, LeBron returns to Cleveland and while he does not expect a warm greeting with roses thrown on the path he walks, he doesn’t think it will…
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NBA Power Rankings: Celtics, Spurs drop at regular season’s end
Mar 28, 2011, 12:59 PM EDT
At the top would be every lazy sports columnist’s dream finals matchup — the Lakers versus the Bulls in Phil Jackson’s final year. (Well, final year for now, anyway). But do you really think the recent struggles of the Celtics and Spurs tell you much about those teams in the playoffs? 1. Lakers (53-20, LW…
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There may be no more entertaining player in the league right now than Monta Ellis. Night in, night out, the guy is putting on a show. There are still a lot of issues for Golden State to work out if they want to be good, but right now they are at least fun to watch.…
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This season confirmed what we already really knew in Toronto: You can’t build around Andrea Bargnani. He can score, if you don’t mind your big men hanging out on the perimeter. He can fit in on the right team as a second (or better yet third) option. But that is not apparently happening in Toronto,…
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UNC’s Barnes says he is not thinking about NBA. Sure kid.
Mar 28, 2011, 10:53 AM EDT
There is no worse time to ask a college player about his NBA future than right after his team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. Any player you would actually want to draft should be emotionally crushed because he was invested in the team. So we enter North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes. The Des Moines Register…
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Dwight Howard caved — he had his beard trimmed. He was the first Magic player to do so since they decided to grow playoff beards as a team. Fortunately for all of us, Stan Van Gundy is not playing along. If — really, when at this point — the Kings move to Anaheim, the Lakers…
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Since Carmelo Anthony arrived with the Knicks, their offense overall has gotten nominally better. They had averaged 109.8 points per 100 possessions, now that is up to 110.4. But they haven’t looked good doing it. (And the slightly better offense doesn’t make up for the much worse defense, especially in the fourth quarter. Which is…
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Last we heard, Shaquille O’Neal might have been back by April 1. Nope. He had a shot to ease pain in his foot and has been wearing a boot, which should come off later this week, but Doc Rivers told the Boston Globe not to expect the big man back that fast. Think April 3.…
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Quinton Ross has barely touched the court lately for the Nets — just four minutes total in the team’s last seven games — but now it is official, he is done for the season. He has a herniated disk in his back and the Nets are shutting him down, reports the New York Post. “Unfortunately…
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Video: Lou Williams three sends game to overtime for Sixers
Mar 28, 2011, 8:18 AM EDT
There was a time, early in the season, when we wondered when the Sixers would start executing and making plays a the end of game and win a few close ones. Well, they are doing it quite well now. Even if it didn’t come out as planned here. Watch Lou Williams execute here, knocking down…
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Baseline to Baseline recaps: The Heat were setting records (but not playing defense)
Mar 28, 2011, 7:30 AM EDT
What you missed while watching the last days of Spring Training… The Spurs falling to the Grizzlies (and picking up another injury in the process) plus the Mavericks knocking off (and out?) the Suns are our games of the night. Heat 125, Rockets 119: We got to see a little bit of history from Miami’s…
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John Calipari knows talent. Think what you will of him as a person or coach, the guy knows how to spot and recruit young talent. So back in 1996 when he was the brand new coach of the Nets and he worked out a high school senior named Kobe Bryant before the draft, any chance…
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Just last week, the Nets signed Sundiata Gaines through the remainder of this season and into the next one (whenever that is). Now Gaines is out for the rest of the season with a fractured hip, the team reported on twitter. Gaines will be on crutches for six-to-eight weeks and then begin rehab. Gaines jammed…
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Report: Lakers, Clippers lack votes to block Kings Anaheim move
Mar 25, 2011, 2:34 PM EDT
The Honda Center in Anaheim is 34 miles away from Staples Center, which means it may take 30 minutes and it may take two-and-a-half hours to drive there on Los Angeles freeways. But it’s close enough that the Lakers and Clippers do not want the Kings moving to Anaheim. It just appears they can’t do…
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Every time Derrick Rose scores this weekend, the people of Japan win. A little. Rose leads a number of NBA stars who will be donating $1,000 for every point scored to Direct Relief’s Japan Relief and Recovery Fund. That is money that goes to support the immediate health needs of people devastated by the earthquake…
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The Spurs have decided to take a smart, calculated risk on Da’Sean Butler, and have signed the free agent forward, reports Hoopsworld’s Alex Kennedy on twitter. Just a year ago Butler was leading West Virginia into the NCAA Final Four — where he blew out his ACL against Duke. Teams are leery of guys coming…
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With West out Hornets likely still make playoffs, just exit early
Mar 25, 2011, 1:10 PM EDT
We’re still waiting for the official diagnosis of David West, but if you’ve seen the video of his injury — if you heard his screams of pain on the game broadcast — you would realize it is not going to be good. He has a long rehab ahead of him, and some serious decisions to…
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Has any team been more disappointing this season than the Milwaukee Bucks? Injuries and their anemic offense — despite having Brandon Jennings, John Salmons and Andrew Bogut — have held them back. All the way back out of the playoffs. The Bucks are three games behind the Pacers with a dozen to play. And the…
