Archives › Kurt Helin
-
NBA Power Rankings, where that Lakers/Heat finals seems a long ways away
Nov 29, 2010, 1:24 PM EDT
1 Comment
Our weekly NBA Power Rankings. Right now the top four teams on this list are playing the best basketball, but if the playoffs started today I’d pick teams 5 and 6 to meet in the finals. However, this is November, so we’ll worry about the playoffs later. 1. Spurs (14-2). They were down 17 at…
-
What to do with LeBron when he and the Heat come to Cleveland on Thursday night? Should Clevelanders simply boo him every time he touches the ball? Ignore him, putting up newspapers like a college student section? How about laugh at him? LaughAtLeBron is a campaign, first noticed by TerezOwens.com, to try to put together…
-
Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat players downplay bump, friction reports
Nov 29, 2010, 11:42 AM EDT
We just told you there are all kinds of reports about friction in the Miami Heat locker room… Unless you ask the Heat directly. Ira Winderman at the Sun Sentinel did just that and both players coach Erik Spoelstra downplayed “the bump” and the rumors of locker room dissention. Of the bump with James, Spoelstra…
-
Miami Heat players frustrated with Spoelstra, Riley’s shadow looms
Nov 29, 2010, 11:29 AM EDT
On every struggling team in the NBA there are players frustrated with the coach. But no other team has the star power or scrutiny of the Miami Heat. And no other team has the long shadow of Pat Riley cast across the organization and the head coach. So the reports out of ESPN’s Heat Zone…
-
Russell Westbrook can bounce. He can attack the rim as well as anyone in the league. And as some of the Houston Rockets can tell you, when he attacks sometimes it is best to just get out of the way.
-
The Orlando Magic are 12-4. There are only two teams in the entire NBA with a better record. But the Magic would still blow it all up for another superstar — a Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul — according to Brian Schmitz in the Orlando Sentinel. Basically, you can ask for anyone not named Dwight…
-
Baseline to Baseline recaps: Where the Pacers are playing some defense
Nov 29, 2010, 2:57 AM EDT
What you missed while watching Airplane one more time in honor of Leslie Nielsen (RIP): Pacers 95, Lakers 92: Indiana plays very good defense — and if you can do that to the Lakers you can thrown them off their game. Often, the result of that is Kobe Bryant tries to take over, and Sunday…
-
Carmelo Anthony leaves game early due to flu (Nuggets win anyway)
Nov 29, 2010, 1:19 AM EDT
Like some kind of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” ending, a little virus has done what no line of defense could. Carmelo Anthony’s 134-game regular season streak of scoring in double digits came to an end Sunday night because he had to leave the game early due to the flu. He played the first…
-
Troy Murphy says he’s ready, Avery Johnson disagrees. Fun follows.
Nov 28, 2010, 5:00 PM EDT
Smell that? Smells a lot like trade winds to me. Those winds are coming from the direction of Troy Murphy, who is a big expiring contract, is a stretch four that teams love, can’t crack the Nets lineup (he has been inactive for 11 straight games) and is feuding with Nets coach Avery Johnson. Take…
-
It looked so promising — Stephon Marbury had become the biggest name in the Chinese Basketball Association, seemingly transforming a moribund franchise in a quiet city into the talk of the Chinese Basketball Association. After a sort exile from the NBA he found a place where he was the man and had found a good…
-
Heat’s love affair with the long two-pointer strangling offense
Nov 27, 2010, 9:30 PM EDT
Miami got back in the win column Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. But the numbers from the winning box score are still jarring. The Heat took 31 shots from 16 feet out to the three-point line — those are long two pointers, the least efficient shot in the game — and another 16 shots…
-
Brendan Haywood has been watching his minutes get squeezed by the rejuvenated play of Tyson Chandler — then on Friday he didn’t play at all. That’s because he was suspended for a game after getting into an argument with Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, according to an ESPNDallas report. New York-based agent Andy Miller said Saturday…
-
Toronto’s Reggie Evans is rebounding better than anyone in the NBA — he is grabbing 26 percent of the available rebounds when he is on the floor (Kevin Love is second at 23.4 percent). Evans is getting better than one in four rebounds. It was that presence inside that has allowed Andrea Bargnani to do…
-
This could be the coolest thing ever… until some guy starts dropping Junior Mints over the side. Ongoing renovations to Madison Square Garden will include new spectator bridges that will look down on the action from a unique angle, according to ESPNNewYork.com. “They’ll be like no other seat in professional sports or entertainment,” MSG President…
-
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated put out a Carmelo Anthony trade theory via twitter on Friday: Interesting ‘Melo theory floated at me by a couple execs this week. Nets want Melo. DEN wants Nets package of Favors, Murphy, picks. But DEN thinking if they trade Melo now, that NJN pick becomes worse when Melo makes…
-
Ray Decerega of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute did not have Secret Service guns drawn on him, he was not wrestled to the ground. He may not be getting any legislation through the White House in the near future, but it could have been worse. Decerega caught President Barack Obama with an elbow during a…
-
Alvin Gentry lets his bench know Steve Nash needs some rest
Nov 26, 2010, 6:00 PM EDT
Hello Goran Dragic. We’re looking right at you. Steve Nash has averaged 34.8 minutes per game this season, which is up two minutes a game from last season. The man is 36, has groin and foot soreness this season, and has been battling a bad back since, roughly, 1978. Nash needs to be playing fewer…
-
Maybe you missed what Blake Griffin did to the Kings on Thanksgiving (25 points, 15 boards), but Shaquille O’Neal didn’t. Nor did LeBron James. Both of them tweeted during the game they were watching Blake Griffin — and they are not alone. Guys around the league are taking notice. Personally, just can’t get enough Griffin…
-
And the Chris Paul happiness train rolls on…. CP3 expounded to Ian Thompson of Sports Illustrated on a few issues, all ones that are good reasons to stay in New Orleans long term. That starts with David West. “I trust him more than anybody in this league,” Paul told me last week in New Orleans.…
-
Terrence Williams has been not really contributing much and not bothering to show up on time to team shootarounds and practices for the Nets — so now he’ll get the chance to do that in the D-League for a while, according to the Bergen Record. The Nets had suspended Williams for two games and he…
-
The Knicks are not a defensive powerhouse, but that was to be expected with Mike D’Antoni as the coach and Amar’e Stoudemire as the star, right? Stoudemire did make a spectacular block on Stephen Jackson at the end of the Bobcats game, and he’s done that to others, but plays like that are simply a…
-
Anyone want Brandan Wright? Apparently he’s on the trade block.
Nov 26, 2010, 12:29 PM EDT
This early in the season you don’t see a lot of trades, and the rumors of guys who will get moved closer to the deadline just start to bubble to the surface. Meet Brandan Wright. The forward is part of a crowded Golden State front court and can’t really crack the rotation in a serious…
-
We’re pretty sure you watched the entire video of Matt Lauer interviewing LeBron James on Thanksgiving because, well, do you ever miss anything Matt Lauer does? Of course not. Then you certainly noticed the new logo on the shirt LeBron was wearing. According to CNBC’s Darren Rovell, that is James’ new official logo, he got…
-
We don’t really know what Erik Spoelstra did for Thanksgiving. Or Pat Riley. Or if a floating head of a screeching Stan Van Gundy constantly appears over the shoulder of Spoelstra on a regular basis. We’d like to think it does, but really we don’t know. Still, the video from The Basketball Jones cracked us…
-
Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi had a domestic dispute with his girlfriend that has led to both of them being charged with assault, according to Memphis police. Thursday police were called to the apartment where Haddadi and his girlfriend live and both were found to have bruises and scratches. She was taken to the hospital…
-
Play
Video: Metta World Peace the weatherman
-
Play
Video: Eastern Conference finals preview
-
Play
Video: Heat gearing for another physical battle
-
Play
Video: Phil Jackson compares MJ and Kobe
-
Play
Video: Grizzlies ready for 'running' Spurs
-
Play
Video: Durant won't 'compromise himself' like other stars
