Archives › Rob Mahoney
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On the pseudo-campaigning for LeBron James as Defensive Player of the Year
Nov 3, 2010, 5:12 PM EDT
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The media megaphone gives NBA players, coaches, front office officials, and owners a chance to call and respond. We’ve seen players poke at one another both jokingly and pointedly, coaches attempt to jar their players, opponents take shots from across the wall, and almost every conceivable combination of parties make comments of every ilk. In…
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Nothing is ever easy with Rashad McCants. After spending last season outside the NBA looking in, McCants signed a non-guaranteed contract with Dallas late in the preseason, and was cut almost immediately after. From a media perspective, the Mavericks’ intentions seemed rather obvious. However, McCants reportedly was told he would have a chance to make…
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Kevin Love, cult icon, borderline religious figure, and rebounding savant, has begun blogging for GQ. These are exciting times. In Love’s second post, he introduces those surely to be blog regulars: his teammates. Jonny Flynn, Darko Milicic, and Wesley Johnson area all introduced to Love’s audience, but his true masterwork as a writer to date…
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Though Tiago Splitter was San Antonio’s big off-season addition, it’s an improved Richard Jefferson that could really give the ’10-’11 Spurs some teeth. San Antonio was a fine team last season, but with Splitter bolstering the Spurs’ depth and Jefferson revamping his approach, Duncan and company could conceivably improve enough to sniff the West’s top…
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Al Horford and the Hawks agreed on a contract extension that will keep Horford in Atlanta for five more seasons, but the Hawks’ long-term problems are far from solved. Losing Horford should never have been an option, but the money he’ll be owed over the next five seasons is thrown on top of the substantial…
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Tiago Splitter’s NBA career officially begins tonight, as the Brazilian star will likely take to the court for limited minutes against the Clippers. It’s been a long time coming, and for the Spurs, perhaps a long time needed. San Antonio has tried all kinds of stopgap solutions alongside Tim Duncan over the years, and perhaps…
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Reno’s selection of Nick Fazekas to kick off tonight’s D-League draft
Nov 1, 2010, 3:34 PM EDT
Tonight’s D-League draft features a deeper talent pool than ever, and according to Scott Schroeder of NBA FanHouse, former Mavericks second round pick Nick Fazekas will be the first player selected overall. The Reno Bighorns, coached by former NBAer Eric Musselman, own the No. 1 pick, and will add Fazekas to an already talented group…
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The season has just begun, but the clock’s already ticking for the Utah Jazz
Oct 29, 2010, 5:14 PM EDT
The Utah Jazz are struggling. Most thought they would. They’re incorporating all kinds of new pieces (the most notable of which is star big man Al Jefferson), missing a pretty prominent rotation player due to injury, and trying to make it all work in one of the league’s more deliberate and complicated offenses. We knew…
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Tyrus Thomas plays DDR, makes your wildest dreams come true
Oct 28, 2010, 5:10 PM EDT
You don’t know this, but you and I have been having the same recurring dream for the better part of the last five years. I don’t want to give away too much, but let’s just say it involves you, me, Tyrus Thomas, a Dance Dance Revolution machine, and a hilarious night of wacky misadventures. Strange…
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If Derrick Rose is an MVP candidate, what does that make Russell Westbrook?
Oct 28, 2010, 3:59 PM EDT
Derrick Rose has made it clear that he intends to produce at an MVP level this season, but he’s off to a bit of a rough start. In total, Rose’s numbers against the Thunder were nice: 28 points, six assists, four rebounds, and only two turnovers. That’s enough to get Rose into the discussion, if…
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Larry Brown benches Stephen Jackson. Anyone care to read the tea leaves?
Oct 28, 2010, 8:41 AM EDT
Stephen Jackson was clearly item 1A on the Dallas Mavericks’ scouting report for last night’s game. The Mavs assigned Jason Kidd, the top perimeter defender in Dallas’ starting lineup, to Jackson duty, and threw double teams Jackson’s way almost every time he touched the ball. It was an effective strategy for a spell, but eventually…
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Box score watchers will see Armon Johnson’s six-point, three-assist outing against the Phoenix Suns as a marginal contribution, yet it was anything but. Almost all of the Blazer regulars put on a show, but Johnson, a second round pick partially responsible for picking up some of the minutes left behind by Jerryd Bayless, stood out…
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Phoenix starts the season with an impressively atrocious rebounding performance
Oct 27, 2010, 1:25 PM EDT
The Phoenix Suns’ start to the season was certainly memorable, if not all that successful. Steve Nash had roughly one bajillion turnovers in his efforts to keep the Suns’ offense up to snuff, but Phoenix completely fell apart in the fourth while the Blazers attacked from all angles. Hedo Turkoglu was even worse defensively than…
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Milwaukee Bucks cut Brian Skinner, open door for the Brockness Monster
Oct 26, 2010, 3:35 PM EDT
The Milwaukee Bucks released 12-year NBA veteran Brian Skinner in their final round of training camp cuts, and it’s probably for the best. Skinner hasn’t been all that productive for a majority of those 12 years, and when your primary contribution to the league is measured in facial hair, it might be time to hang…
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Keith Bogans is, somehow, the Bulls’ starting shooting guard
Oct 26, 2010, 3:28 PM EDT
Ronnie Brewer was among the summer’s less glamorous free agent acquisitions, but the Chicago Bulls were nonetheless fortunate to procure his services at a reasonable cost. He may be lacking in flash and shooting ability, but Brewer is a solid wing defender, a nice complementary talent, and a smart offensive player who rarely steps outside…
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The Dallas Mavericks, who struck out in their pursuit of a top-level free agent this summer and subsequently passed on a potential move to acquire Al Jefferson, have but a few ways to improveme this season. Tyson Chandler, the Mavs’ most significant off-season addition, is the most obvious avenue through which to do so. Beyond…
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Nike Basketball’s track record has few blemishes. Their TV spots have taken form as commercial art since Jordan’s rise, and regardless of the player featured, manage to write new, meaningful lines to that player’s mythology. The newest player spotlighted in the Nike commercial catalog is no stranger to ad space, but still portrayed in a…
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Through a combination of obvious familial ties, a tour at a big-name college, and links to the NBA team in the biggest media market on the planet, Patrick Ewing Jr. has a startlingly high profile for a fringe NBA candidate. So much so that those not looking too closely were troubled by the Knicks’ decision…
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Last we heard, our dear friend Allen Iverson was negotiating a potential contract with Besiktas Cola Turka, an Istanbul-based team of the Turkish Basketball League. “Penalties” embedded in the contract were the reported hang-up between Iverson and Turka but something had to give for A.I. to play basketball in Europe next season, and give it…
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Suns commit to Robin Lopez, things get awkward for Earl Clark
Oct 22, 2010, 2:14 PM EDT
The option deadline is typically a series of no-brainer announcements, in which NBA teams declare what everyone already knows: that many of their recent draft picks are useful, and worthy of keeping on an economical rookie-scale salary, either on the basis of production or potential. It also gets just a little bit awkward for those…
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Mavericks tab Rashad McCants, Sean Williams for their D-League affiliate
Oct 22, 2010, 1:24 PM EDT
Last month, the NBA and D-League announced a new affiliate allocation rule, through which NBA teams are able to pick up the D-League rights of up to three of their last training camp cuts for their D-League affiliates. Effectively, it allows NBA squads to keep an even closer eye on the prospects that interested them…
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Michael Redd used to be the center of all things Milwaukee Bucks, but those days are long gone. Injury after injury and rehab after rehab rendered his fully functional return a pipe dream, while his bloated salary handicapped a franchise on the rebuild. Fair or unfair, many among the Bucks faithful hold Redd’s health against…
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In honor of the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective’s correlative study linking winning and dunking — and in honor of everything that is good and awesome in this world — we have a special treat for you today. Few players in the league have been on-highlight-par with Blake Griffin throughout the preseason, and the NBA was…
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Another look at ESPN’s Marvel Comics-themed season preview, featuring the Miami Heat
Oct 19, 2010, 7:48 PM EDT
A little more than a week ago, ESPN and Marvel Comics announced their plans to release an NBA season preview issue of ESPN the Magazine featuring the characters and iconography of the Marvel universe. The first two images released featured Kobe Bryant and a number of other NBA stars, and this latest image, provided by…
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Where have you gone, Ricky Davis? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Oct 19, 2010, 12:57 PM EDT
In these troubled times, it’s a comfort to have a white knight, a hero of value and high moral fiber that represents everything we hold dear and everything we aspire to be. The closest thing the NBA has ever had to such a resilient role model wasn’t in the NBA at all last season, and…
