Archives › Matt Moore
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Charles Oakley thinks the Magic should have put Dwight Howard “in time-out”
Aug 26, 2012, 11:00 AM EDT
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It takes a lot for players not to stick up for other players when it comes to disputes with management. Ownership and management have no loyalty towards the player, and in CBA disputes, well, you know who’s on who’s side. So the players speak up for any player that goes through something difficult. Except when…
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Wade says the Heat are still evolving, which sounds like a horror flick concept
Aug 26, 2012, 9:00 AM EDT
Chris Bosh wound up a center, LeBron James turned into a power-point-center, Shane Battier was power forward and Dwane Wade played small forward. The Heat went through a series of radical and unpredictable changes last season on account of both emerging trends in their opponents’ lineups and the injury to Chris Bosh. Up was down,…
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So that’s Paul George of the Indiana Pacers going through-the-legs-360. Which is nice, for all of us, really. I’d also like to point out LeBron who was also on this trip to Shanghai going nuts for George. This is today’s reminder that all of those rivalries you think are significant and meaningful are really the…
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There were high hopes for James Anderson with the Spurs when he was drafted, but he just never could fit. Not everyone can mesh with the Spurs’ approach, and it’s hard to see whether it’s a talent or fit issue, though there are certainly considerable gaps in his game. And as a free agent, it…
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Jason Kidd has shifted his role in recent seasons. In Dallas, he went from the engine that ran the machine to a spot-up shooter who managed the office. It was a subtle but important shift and kept him capable as he began to get older. In New York, he’s expected to do much of the…
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Derrick Favors isn’t pushy. He’s not unreasonable. He doesn’t mind coming off the bench. But he wants his minutes, and he wants them now. In an interview with the Deseret News, the Jazz forward made it pretty clear he’s ready to have the training wheels taken off. “I want to play more than what I…
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Lou Amundson is a blue-collar, hard working player who doesn’t have any exceptional skills but can fill in down low in a pinch, do his job, and always give consistent effort, which is harder to find in the NBA than you’d think. He’s a free agent and hasn’t gotten the deal he’s looking for yet.…
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When Blake Griffin went down with a knee injury, his second serious knee injury of his career, during Team USA practice, the jokes were pretty predictable. I’m pretty sure “Clippers Curse” was trending in parts of the world. There’s a certain expectation that whatever can go wrong will go wrong for “the other L.A. team.”…
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Video: Team USA Blooper reel, starring millionaire superstars acting the fool
Aug 25, 2012, 9:00 AM EDT
I’m comforted by the fact that despite their earning of millions of dollars, playing in the most competitive form of the sport on the planet, and constantly being concerned with their brand, their business, and their empire… these guys are really, really goofy. Here’s a blooper reel from Team USA released, which has a handful…
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Welcome to The Inbounds, touching on a big idea of the day. It could be news, it could be history, it could be a tangent, it could be love. OK, it’s probably not love. Enjoy. Maybe no team will have the kind of predicted-win variance from fans and experts this season than the Houston Rockets.…
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I’ve pretty much always been on the side that thinks Jeff Green can develop into a capable NBA player. In Oklahoma City, he was “the other guy” drafted with Durant, part of the central core. His role was nebulous, falling into that generic “forward” category. It took a while for the debate to start over…
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I’m not known as the biggest Serge Ibaka guy. I have an analytic relationship with the Oklahoma City Thunder that too closely mirrors that of an indie rock fan in its obnoxiousness. In short, I saw the jump coming in the early months of 2010 when they started the leap to contention and was huge on them,…
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Video: Kobe Bryant scores 68 points in 15 minutes in Chinese celebrity game
Aug 19, 2012, 9:00 PM EDT
OK, if you were hoping for any sort of defense to be played at all in this and that it is some sort of validation of Kobe Bryant, I would recommend not watching the video, then saying you watched the video, then lying about what the actual video shows to all your friends at the…
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Andray Blatche says all the right things while waiting for the call
Aug 19, 2012, 7:00 PM EDT
Andray Blatche personified a lot of the problems for the post-Arenas era in Washington that the Wizards have tried so hard to shake. A hot shooting stretch after Arenas was suspended and Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison were traded in a blow-up lead to a huge contract. Knuckleheaded behavior and poor shot selection soon followed,…
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Typically, after you win the NBA title, you reach a new level of confidence. You know you can get there, you know you can win it. You have an extra gear and an awareness of that gear most teams don’t have. So homecourt advantage may not mean as much. The Heat won the title last…
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Anthony Tolliver is reportedly drawing interest from Greece’s Panathinaikos
Aug 19, 2012, 3:00 PM EDT
Anthony Tolliver, despite a very strong season with the Timberwolves, continues to hang out on the free agency limb. There’s been a lot of talk but little action in terms of a contract getting taken care of. And reportedly, now NBA teams will have some competition. Prasinanea.gr reports that Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos is interested in…
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From time to time, we’ll take a look at what teams looked like on offense last year using some basic but nifty charts. Today the Atlanta Hawks. I’ve done these before with overlays of production, but it’s difficult to get a real indication relative to usage. Points per minute? Still impacted by too many…
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Surviving last year with the Hornets is a pretty impressive feat for Monty Williams. Losing Chris Paul and David West, dealing with the veto debacle, having Eric Gordon perpetually injured, being drastically low on talent, the deck was stacked against Williams. But instead of the team falling apart, even though they wound up with an…
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The Timberwolves shook off all the doldrums and depressing mediocrity last year. Behind Kevin Love taking yet another leap forward and Ricky Rubio living up to the loftiest of expectations, along with Rick Adelman actually getting everyone on the same page, the Wolves were running and gunning every night. They were winning games until Rubio’s…
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With Serge Ibaka officially signed to a four-year extension worth a reported $48 millon with the Oklahoma City Thunder, a mighty cry went out across the land. “James Harden is available!” Naturally, if the Thunder paid Ibaka more than some measley sum, there was no way that they would be able to retain Harden. They…
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Coaches tend to “retire” and then drift back. You do something for so long, it gets in your blood. So you have to take what they say with a lot of salt. Not a grain. A lot. But Don Nelson is talking like there’s no question about it, he’s not coming back. Scott Howard-Cooper of…
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Video: JaVale McGee working on the Dream Shake with the master
Aug 18, 2012, 1:00 PM EDT
Just once I ‘d like to find someone who doesn’t look great working out with Hakeem Olajuwon. OK, I probably wouldn’t look great working out with Hakeem Olajuwon. But stick any NBA big man with arguably the best overall center of all time for a few hours in his gym and you’re going to walk…
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Brook Lopez broke his foot in December, before the season. After just five games, he sustained an ankle injury, and that was the season. He re-signed with the Nets during their shopping binge on a four-year max deal that will pay him over $12 million each year for the duration of the contract. Training camp…
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Thunder agree to terms with Serge Ibaka on four-year extension
Aug 18, 2012, 2:50 AM EDT
Update 5:51 p.m. ET Saturday: The Thunder have announced the signing as official. Sam Presti held a call to congratulate everyone… before he left to get married. Dude signed his power forward to a four-year extension on his wedding day. Those guys are machines ********** Well, that didn’t take long. Yahoo Sports reports that the…
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A former translator for Osama Bin Laden thinks LeBron should apologize to Cleveland. Glad his priorities are in line.
Aug 17, 2012, 6:15 PM EDT
Muhammed Rahim is a detainee at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, ad a former translator for the formerly alive Osama Bin Laden. He had his lawyer whip up a letter to the Washington Post, and in it, he asked for a cat for company, since other prisoners have them. Oh, yes, and he delightfully decided to…
