Posts Tagged ‘Moses Malone’

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Hawks Bow Up And Bounce Pacers

April 28, 2013  ·  1:13AM



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ATLANTA – If the Hawks were looking for a bruiser, a goon, a bona-fide lip buster even, they could have found someone who fit the profile better than Jeff Teague.

Ivan Johnson, Johan Petro, Mike Scott, DeShawn Stevenson and Dahntay Jones would all get the part over Teague in an open casting call for the role of NBA enforcer. The wiry strong but slight Teague would get laughed out of the audition.

Yet there he was Saturday night at Philips Arena, delivering the symbolic and very real elbow to the back of Indiana Pacers’ bully David West, with seven minutes to play in the first half of a game the Hawks dominated from three minutes in until the finish. Their 90-69 blowout win in Game 3 of this first playoff series not only allowed the Hawks the bounce back effort needed after two rough road losses to start the postseason, but also served as a statement game for Teague and his teammates.

They were up 21 when West shoved Al Horford to the ground on a fast break, earning a Flagrant 1 foul for his lick. Something had to be done. Teague knew it and didn’t hesitate. His instincts just kicked in.

“Well, kinda” he said, rubbing his low-cut mohawk. “I thought the play he made wasn’t right. So I had to let him know we were going to be there, that we’re not going to back down from anybody. I think that’s the same way they play. They try to be very physical and tough about it. And David West is a strong guy. He plays hard and plays physical. But I think we met the challenge tonight.”

For this one night the Hawks did exactly that, extending the Pacers’ losing streak at Philips Arena to 12 straight games, regular and postseason combined.

The Hawks held the Pacers to a new franchise playoff low 27-percent shooting, the previous low set against the Pacers in 1994. The 30 points they allowed in the first half sets a new franchise playoff record, and the 69 points allowed in the game is tied for the second-lowest mark in franchise playoff history.

Horford dusted himself off after that shove from West and roasted the Pacers for career-playoff highs in points (26) and assists (16), joining Dikembe Mutombo and Moses Malone as the only Hawks since the 1986-87 season to 25 or more points and 15 or more rebounds in a playoff game.

The Hawks used a 42-10 run to stagger the Pacers in a fight that was over by halftime. Hawks coach Larry Drew made his adjustment, a lineup change for the bigger with Petro instead of Kyle Korver, and Josh Smith locked in defensively on Pacers All-Star Paul George — it worked to perfection.

But the biggest adjustment was in attitude. They refused to be pushed around for a third straight game by West, Roy Hibbert and the rest of the Pacers.

Horford couldn’t believe it when he realized that it realized that Teague was the first responder on that shove from West.

For the record, Horford said he thought West’s play was a hard foul but not anything dirty. It wouldn’t have mattered by then anyway. The Hawks left Indianapolis desperate for a win; desperate to show their home crowd that the team they saw on screen in Games 1 and 2 was not the team that would show up for this one; desperate to shut up the critics who bash them, rightfully mind you, for being such an inconsistent bunch.

Horford said he was going to work the way he did Saturday night no matter what anyone else said or tried to do about it.

“I was just being aggressive, playing with a lot of energy,” he said, crediting the circumstance and the late-arriving but raucous home crowd equally for energizing his team. “My teammates did a good job time and time again of getting me easy baskets. They were finding me whether it was off help or drive and kick. Defensively, I just wanted to set the tone and be more aggressive. I go out there with that same mindset every game. Tonight, I had to step up and make some plays on the offensive end.”

Smith served in a similar capacity on the defensive end, limiting George’s opportunities and effectiveness early by confining the Pacers’ best offensive player to a small patch of real estate on the wing and limiting his forays into the paint to a minimum.

“I just tried to keep a body on him, knowing and understanding that he is the focal point on the perimeter, as far as what they do offensively,” Smith said. “I just tried to stay engaged, tried to be elusive a little bit as far as pin downs were concerned. That was pretty much the game plan.”

Teague and Devin Harris did their part, too, thoroughly outplaying their counterparts in blue (George Hill and Lance Stephenson) on a night when the Hawks’ starters combined to shoot just 6-for-26 from the floor.

“This team has done something it’s done all year long, and that’s respond,” Drew said. “After two losses in Indiana, and coming home … I really felt we would respond. We came out early and the energy was there. We had some guys that played tremendous tonight. It all started with Josh Smith. I thought his effort on Paul George really set the tone for the game. George is such a terrific player. He’s really elusive off the dribble, and to throw a guy like Josh, who has the versatility to defend all five positions … I thought Josh really set the tone.

“The other guy I thought did a phenomenal job defensive was Jeff Teague. He got a couple of fouls early, but I thought he did a really good job in defending George Hill. The first two games of the series, George Hill has really played well. He’s shot the ball extremely well, but tonight I thought our guys took the defensive challenge. Our defense was the thing that really got us going.”

The defense, energy, resilience and refusal of at least one man to see the Pacers kick sand in the Hawks faces anymore. The Hawks shut the Pacers down offensively and turned them over (22 for 24 points) enough to blow the game open and keep West, Hibbert and George from capitalizing on their obvious size advantage.

“I thought they beat us at each position tonight; not with the different lineup that they played,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “We didn’t take care of the ball very well. When you don’t screen with physicality and you don’t separate out of those screens, and don’t execute your sets, and let the other team take your airspace, it’s going to leave you with a poor shooting night and a lot of turnovers.”

Wherever the physicality of the series goes from here, Game 4 Monday night promises to be another bruiser, Smith insists the Hawks are ready.

“Yeah, it’s the playoffs. Adrenaline is flowing and emotions are running high,” he said. “It is going to get a little chippy, especially down there in the paint. The bigs for Indiana, they play a physical game and all we’re trying to do is match their physicality and exceed it a little bit. We’re not backing down from anything and it should be a pretty good series.”

We know Teague is already locked in and ready to go.

“We’re not backing down from anybody,” Teague said, “No matter what.”

–Series Hub: Pacers vs. Hawks

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Dirk’s Beard Grows Longer As Mavs’ Playoffs Chances Fade

March 21, 2013  ·  12:58PM

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DALLAS – Dirk Nowitzki‘s beard grows thicker and more unruly with each passing day. Losses like Wednesday’s at home to the Brooklyn Nets decrease the odds that he’ll reach for a razor any time soon. The pact he and a group of teammates made some six weeks ago was that no one shaves until they reach .500.

The Dallas Mavericks were 21-28 on Feb. 8 when the motivational ploy came to light. Nowitzki had little more than the scruff he typically wears. But look at him now. The Mavs are 32-36, barely hanging on to playoff hope, and Nowitzki’s bearded face is proof, untamed, grizzly and rivaling the one he grew for weeks in the Outback six summers ago after his lone MVP season ended dismally in a first-round flop.

“Only then I didn’t even trim this part,” Nowitzki said, pointing to the lower portion of his bushy moustache creeping over his upper lip. “It came all the way down here.”

After Wednesday’s loss when Nowitzki shot 80 percent from the field, but took only 10 shots and none in the final half of the fourth quarter when Deron Williams – the co-star Dallas failed to obtain last summer — took over, the 34-year-old Nowitzki stroked his prickly-chin and scratched the back of his fur-covered neck where clumps of hair forcibly trail downward like a thicket of overgrown vines.

He said his mom told him he looks 45. Judging by his heavy eyes after the 113-96 disappointment to start a crucial six-game homestand, he might feel that old, too.

Nowitzki missed the first 27 games of the season after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Oct. 19. His recovery was slow and painful, as was his game upon his return. And now, after missing his first All-Star Game in 12 seasons, he is on the verge of sitting out the playoffs for the first time in 13.

His team hasn’t been at .500 since it was 11-11 on Dec. 12. They were 12-16 when he returned two days before Christmas.

He was asked Wednesday why point guards Mike James and Darren Collison can’t seem to get him the ball in key situations, particularly on nights when he isn’t missing. In Dallas’ last two losses, both at home, Nowitzki was 8-for-10 in both, yet was a non-factor late.

“They [defenders] don’t leave me much anymore,” Nowitzki said. “It’s up to other guys to make plays. It’s as simple as that.”

There was zero talk of the future Hall of Famer reaching yet another remarkable milestone. Nowitzki surpassed 9,000 career rebounds, making him the 10th player in NBA history with 24,000 points and 9,000 boards, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and the only other active player, Kevin Garnett.

Nowitzki has scored and shot the ball better lately (18.1 ppg, 50.9 percent from the field, 48.8 percent on 3s), but he’s still set for his worst statistical season since he was a rookie, averaging 16.4 ppg and shooting 45.9 percent.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban doesn’t believe age is catching up to his star. In fact, Cuban said he expects Nowitzki to regain his All-Star status next season, the last on Nowitzki’s current contract, and “at least” a season or two after that. (more…)

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Heat Streaking To A Place Of Their Own

March 19, 2013  ·  2:39PM




We’re past the point now where the Heat can slip on their noise-canceling headphones and pretend the only beats they hear have been downloaded according to personal taste.

After 105-103 in Boston on Monday night, the drums are pounding louder than the “1812 Overture” all over the basketball world.

The Heat’s 23rd consecutive victory pushed them past the anomaly that was the 2008 Rockets and at very least tiptoes them across the threshold and inches them into the throne room with royalty.

Wilt, West and Goodrich. LeBron, Wade and Bosh. That’s a Hall of Fame red carpet that’s rolled out between them.

Make no mistake. It is all no more than a hollowed-out log if they aren’t standing under a shower of confetti and holding up the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. Because that’s why you play the game. It is fine for the contrarian Jeff Van Gundy and stat geek Daryl Morey to point out that these serpentine win streaks that stretch from one month into the next are almost as rare as unicorns and therefore technically more difficult to achieve than championships.

But let me know the next time somebody hangs a win streak banner from the rafters or hands out rings for consecutive regular-season wins.

As Magic Johnson said: “I’ll take the diamonds.”

Heat upcoming schedule
Day Date Loc. Opponent Time (ET) TV
Wed. 3/20 @ Cleveland 7 p.m. League Pass
Fri. 3/22 vs. Detroit 7:30 p.m. League Pass
Sun. 3/24 vs. Charlotte 6 p.m. League Pass
Mon. 3/25 @ Orlando 7 p.m. League Pass
Wed. 3/27 @ Chicago 8 p.m. ESPN
Fri. 3/29 @ New Orleans 8 p.m. League Pass
Sun. 3/31 @ San Antonio 7 p.m. NBA TV

Still, there is no denying that what is happening here is special. Even the usual facade of the ‘”We’re-above-it-all” Heat is slipping to reveal the emotion that’s building like the lava dome under a volcano.

A week ago, those in the Miami locker room still insisted that nobody was thinking about a double-digit win streak or rushing to flip ahead several pages in the record book. But a look at the expressions and the emotions that showed on the Heat faces in the fourth quarter at the TD Garden on Monday night showed just how much has changed. They were down 13 with eight minutes to play. Rather than appear defeated, the Heat were defiant.

It is prudent to note that they are just over 2/3 of the way from the record of 33 held by the 1971-72 Lakers. If the Heat were an individual player chasing Wilt’s 100-point game, they would have 69. Impressive, but still a long way off. Yet stepping over the flotsam of the Houston team that couldn’t even win a first-round playoff series in 2008 clears a path toward their own unique place in the game.

“It means a lot,” James said. “I am a historian of the game. I know the history of the game. I know almost all the teams that have come through the ranks. To be sitting in second place right now, with so much that this game has given to our fans and everything, for us to be there, doing it the way we want to do it, it means a lot.”

Back in the summer of 2010, in the aftermath of “The Decision,” James was ridiculed for ticking off the number of championships that the Heat could win — “not one … not two … not three … not four … not five … not six … not seven …”

But now that they’ve got the first title, and it seems reasonable to think there’s another in the pipeline, this could be their once-in-a-slam-dunking-lifetime opportunity to put an indelible stamp and stake a place in the NBA’s pantheon.

While Michael Jordan’s Bulls won six championships, it is the 1996 team that set a regular season record of 72-10 that stands above them all. The 1967 Sixers, led by Chamberlain, won a then-record 68 regular-season games and made their mark by ending the eight-year reign of Bill Russell’s Celtics. The 1983 Sixers vaulted from an overpowering 68-14 regular season to the pinnacle behind Moses Malone’s “Fo’, fo’, fo’ “ proclamation that they nearly fulfilled by running through the playoffs with a 12-1 record. And, of course, the Lakers ran off their 33-0 streak early in the 1971-72 season, won a then-record 69 games and made their claim as the all-time best team by closing the deal on the championship.

A singular achievement. That’s where the Heat are now, fully engaged and fully aware that this is now the stuff of legacy. It is what James and Wade and Bosh came together to do.

“We’re aware, and it’s a special opportunity that we have with this group,” said coach Erik Spoelstra. “And you don’t want to take it for granted. You want to treat every day as a special opportunity to be with this group, to share these moments together, but more importantly to take a step closer to going after our goal. And every day that we improve puts us in a better position in a quest where nothing is guaranteed for anybody.”

It is almost a living, breathing creature inside the locker room, one they’ve fed and fueled. It forces the Heat to look at themselves differently.

The beat goes on, only now they’re driving it.

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Blogtable: On LeBron’s Hot Streak …

February 13, 2013  ·  10:45AM

Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.

Week 16: All-time favorite Dunk Contest dunk? | On LeBron’s hot streak … | Winning it all without a star

What can LeBron possibly do better than what’s he doing right now? And this hot streak he’s on: Remember one as hot?

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Steve Aschburner: I suppose James could regularly guard five positions rather than just four; we’ve seen scant minutes logged against centers, after all. I guess he could dazzle us with more stylish, less brawny off-the-dribble moves. But c’mon, this truly is nitpicking. He’s the best player in the league by a wide margin, as good as Kevin Durant is. As for the second part, please child! We live in an insta-age, where everything important presumably either happened three hours ago or won’t happen until tomorrow. I’ll just offer up this: Wilt Chamberlain averaged more than 50 points a game in 1961-62. From Dec. 8-13, 1961, he strung together five consecutive games of 50 or more. On Dec. 16, he started a new streak of seven games over 50. Two weeks after that, Chamberlain stacked up six more scoring at least 50, from Jan. 11-19. Then he put together another five-gamer from Feb. 25-March 4 of at least 58, including his 100-point classic. My work here is done.

Fran Blinebury: Come on, LeBron. I want the hot dogs plumper, the popcorn butterier, the beer colder and somebody to pat my back and burp me between quarters. See what you can do. My first season in Houston (1982), Moses Malone went on a similar tear where he was virtually unstoppable, making 30 points and shooting 60 percent seem routine. It produced the second of Moses’ 3 MVP awards.

Jeff Caplan: First, let me say, no, I can’t recall any streak by any player quite like this. It’s elevated LeBron’s field-goal percentage to a ridiculous 56.2, the kind of number that centers who mostly only dunk rarely even put up. But, let’s tackle the more pressing issue: Hey LeBron, how about learning how to shoot free throws, will ya? I mean 73.8 percent? You wouldn’t be shooting technicals on my squad, no sir. Not that you’ve ever been a great free throw shooter like, um, Kevin Durant, but you haven’t shot them this poorly since 2007-08 when you couldn’t ride your bicycle to home games because it’s too freaking cold in Cleveland. And let’s not stop at your free throw percentage, how about just getting to the line? What’s up with 6.9 attempts a game? Seriously? What happened to 10.1 like in 2009-10 or 9.4 the year before or, heck, 8.1 last season? And you call yourself an all-around talent. Hmph.

Scott Howard-Cooper: He is blowing it by not playing the lottery. Anyone in this kind of hot streak has to play the lottery, unless maybe he just does not aspire to be wealthy. The other thing he can do better is make free throws. He is a good shooter, except from the line. (You said to nitpick.) And while I join the rest of the world in being impressed with the streak, there have been no shortage of magical playoff runs through the years. I’ll take Michael Jordan in a couple of the early Bulls title runs or Magic Johnson in the mid-80s. An extended hot streak in the postseason is on a different plateau than a hot streak in the regular season.

John Schuhmann: I guess, as a team leader, he could do a better job of keeping the Heat focused on defense. They’re still not very consistent on that end of the floor. But yeah, that’s nitpicking. And no, I can’t remember anything like this. That time (in the middle of the 2005-06 season) when Kobe Bryant scored 40-plus in five straight games was somewhat comparable. He only shot 45 percent in that stretch, but he was shooting more from the perimeter.

Sekou Smith: Really? We’re going here in the midst of one of LeBron’s all-time great stretches? I guess he could shoot 90 percent from the floor every night for a week or two, average a quadruple double and drive the Heat’s first bus to the airport after road games. Seriously, LeBron is playing on another level right now, even by his own ridiculous standards. But this has been done before, at least in some form or fashion. Wilt Chamberlain played in this realm on a daily basis. And Oscar Robertson did average a triple double for about five straight seasons. And Michael Jordan had stretches throughout his career where he reached this sort of statistical craziness. I go back to Jordan’s 1988-89 season (I know I’m dating myself here) from March 25 to April 14 and he had a 10-game stretch where he was playing like he was in “Space Jam”; triple-doubles in 10 of 11 games. Preposterous!

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Chocolate Thunder Still Wants Big Bang

January 9, 2013  ·  8:31PM

RENO, Nev. — Lovetron is now a distant world in a faded memory, and the interplanetary funkmanship of Chocolate Thunder has been in mothballs since the days of disco.

But the larger-than-life presence of Darryl Dawkins can still fill up an arena, even if there is less of it these days.

Credit zoomba, a popular and highly suggestive dance exercise that Dawkins says has enabled him to drop 50 pounds in the past 10 months.

“I always had the moves,” he said. “It was just time to use them to get rid of that extra size.”

Yet size, strength and aggressiveness are exactly what Dawkins — now a scout/consultant for both the 76ers and Nets — was hoping to see at the NBA D-League Showcase.

“The word that I got coming in here was that there were some big men who could play,” said Dawkins, who was 6-foot-11, 265 pounds when he jumped straight from high school as an 18-year-old to the Sixers in 1975. “My question is, when people say a big man can play these days, do they mean he’s out on the wing shooting jumpers like a ‘4’ or really playing the way a big man should?

“Look, I’m not running down the league or game in any way, but I think it would all be a lot better if we developed some big men who would take control of the lane on defense, take down all those little guards who want to drive through the lane, and would be able to finish on offense with dunks.”

It was, of course, the dunks that made Dawkins famous during his flamboyant 14-year NBA career. He rattled rims, bent imaginations and most notably brought down the house with his Chocolate Thunder Flyin’, Robinzine Cryin’, Teeth Shakin’, Glass-Breakin’, Rump Roastin’, Bun Toastin, Wham, Bam, Glass-Breaker I Am Jam that shattered the backboard at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium on Nov. 13, 1979.

“An accident, an old building, old rims, old glass,” he still insists with a sheepish grin.

Dawkins’ duties on Wednesday included serving as a judge for the Showcase Slam Dunk Contest.

“I’m telling these boys going in that they better not try to win without bringing something special,” he said. “I don’t go for plain dunks.”

Not when his repertoire included his self-named collection: Yo Mama, Spine Chiller Supreme, Rim Wrecker, Dunk You Very Much and Sexophonic Turbo Delight.

Dawkins, who’ll turn 56 on Friday, misses what he calls the days when the NBA was less about the business side and more about the simple fun. But it is the lack of dominant big men and the lack of consistent low post play that drives him crazy.

“I hear people saying that the game has changed,” he said. “Why’s that? Because big men grow up these days trying to just shoot like guards or small forwards. I watch teams like Miami where nobody has a real position and they’re able to win the championship. Look, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are great players. I’m not denying that.

“I listen to people say the game now is all about cutting and motion and moving — that’s getting back to the fundamentals. But I’m saying if you put guys like Moses Malone and Charles Barkley and Kevin McHale out there, you’re not just gonna dump that ball inside and beat everybody up to win games?

“Everybody’s here at the Showcase looking for talent. I want to see big men, the old-fashioned kind.”

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History Says Lakers Play Long Odds

November 12, 2012  ·  5:49PM





History says the Lakers probably had to do something to save a season that was slipping away.

History also says that in making the switch from Mike Brown to Mike D’Antoni they might just as well be expecting to hit one of those half-court shots to win a car than to be hosting a victory parade next June.

Yeah, the odds are long.

In the previous 66 years, only three in-season coaching changes have produced an immediate championship. Then again, twice it happened for the Lakers, in 1980 and 1982.

However, if the focus is a little farther down the line — and D’Antoni is the right choice — the payoff could be down the line. There have been seven different replacement coaches and eight teams that eventually claimed NBA titles.

1956-57 — Alex Hannum, St. Louis Hawks — The Hall of Famer is more popularly known for leading Wilt Chamberlain and the Sixers in 1967, ending the string of Bill Russell and the Celtics at eight titles in a row. But Hannum replaced Red Holzman and interim coach Slater Martin as player/coach midway through the season. The Hawks lost to the Celtics in The Finals that year. But when he retired and went to the bench full-time, they beat Boston to win it all the following year. He was the only coach to beat Boston in the playoffs during Russell’s 13-year career.

1977-78 — Lenny Wilkens, Seattle SuperSonics — The Hall of Famer took over the reins for Bob Hopkins after the Sonics got off to a woeful 5-17 start that season. He put the spark back in the game with an 11-1 start to his regime and took the Sonics to The Finals, where they lost to the Bullets in seven games. The team featuring Dennis Johnson, Jack Sikma and Fred Brown came back to claim Seattle’s only championship by beating the Bullets for the 1979 crown.

1977-78 — Billy Cunningham, Philadelphia 76ers — Gene Shue’s talent-laden Sixers were upset by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1977 and then staggered out of the gate the following season with a 2-4 record. A Philly favorite as a Hall of Fame player, Cunningham got the first coaching experience of his career when he took over the controls. The Sixers with Julius Erving lost to the Bullets in the Eastern Conference finals in his first year, were beaten by the Lakers in the NBA Finals in 1980 and 1982, but finally broke through and it all when Moses Malone led a 4-0 sweep of L.A. in 1983.

1979-80 — Paul Westhead, L.A. Lakers – First-year NBA assistant coach Paul Westhead moved into the main seat 14 games into the season after head coach Jack McKinney suffered a serious head injury in a fall from a bicycle. The Shakespearean scholar got to cap of an amazing debut season when a fellow rookie named Magic Johnson jumped center, then piled up 42 points, 15 rebound and seven assists in the Game 6 Finals clincher at Philadelphia.

1981-82 & 2005-06 — Pat Riley, L.A. Lakers, Miami Heat – When Magic became disenchanted with Westhead and nudged him toward the door 11 games into the season, the Lakers plucked the former player turned broadcaster from behind the radio microphone to begin a Hall of Fame career on the bench. The untested Riley guided the Lakers to another NBA Finals win over Philadelphia, then won three more titles in L.A. in 1985, 1987 and 1988. After his cross country move took him to New York and then Miami, Riley the G.M. replaced Stan Van Gundy following an 11-10 start in 2005-06. Seven months later, Riley and Dwyane Wade for the Heat out of an 0-2 hole to beat the Mavericks in The Finals.

1991-92 — Rudy Tomjanovich, Houston Rockets — A year after he was named Coach of the Year, Don Chaney’s Rockets were stuck in a 26-26 rut and he was fired on Feb. 18. A reluctant Tomjanovich, then a team scout and assistant coach, had to be talked into taking the job. A season later he became the first coach in NBA history to take his team from the lottery to a division title in his first full season on the job. The local legend Rudy T then put enough spot-up shooters around Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon to produce back-to-back championships for Houston in 1994 and 1995.

1996-97 — Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs – It was 18 games into the season when G.M. Popovich pulled the rug and fired coach Bob Hill. It was a move that was considered presumptuous and unpopular in some corners of town. But all was forgiven when he took a team with David Robinson and second-year forward Tim Duncan to the championship in 1999. Since that time, he has added Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker to the lineup, three more titles and the beloved and cantankerous “Pop” is almost as much a part San Antonio lore as the Alamo.

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Pippen: ‘Superteams The Way Of The Future” … Past And Present, Too!

September 13, 2012  ·  11:39AM

 

 

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – How quickly we forget Scottie Pippen (as shown here on CSNChicago.com) … and so many others.

This notion that “superteams” or “megateams” being some new phenomenon in the NBA is convenient, but wholly inaccurate. It sounds good, what with new conglomerations of stars popping up seemingly every season from Los Angeles to Brooklyn. But it’s actually a tried-and-true method to winning NBA championships and, like almost everything else from two decades ago, it is being rebranded for this new digital age.

(Hey Lady Gaga, meet Madonna … and high-top fades … and skinny jeans again — really?)

In the NBA universe, anyone upset with the Miami Heat or Los Angeles Lakers for assembling elite talent on their rosters needs to stop hating the players and hate the game. Just because they were built through the free agent/trade lab and not grown organically — like revisionist historians will tell you those championship outfits of yesteryear were built — doesn’t diminish the end result in our eyes.

If the end game is winning championships by any means necessary, why wouldn’t you want a superteam playing in your backyard?

Who cares how they got there?

Fans in San Antonio have never complained about the serendipity that smothered the franchise when David Robinson got injured in 1996-97, just in time for the Spurs to luck into the No. 1 pick in 1997 and pick Tim Duncan.

There are any number of recipes for cooking up a superteam. We have no problem with a franchise stumbling into one (and to their credit, the Spurs had to build on that Duncan-Robinson foundation with shrewd moves and by nailing their draft picks consistently) or making the calculated steps necessary to create your own fortune.

Boston did it with the Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce-Ray Allen Big 3. Miami did it with the LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh Big 3. And the Lakers are attempting to do it with the Kobe Bryant-Steve Nash-Dwight Howard-Pau Gasol Big 4.

There’s no shame in that. No shame whatsoever.

(more…)

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Hang Time Podcast (Episode 89) Featuring Roy Hibbert And Chelsea Peretti

September 12, 2012  ·  10:05AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Go ahead, run down the list of the most unstoppable and dynamic duos in NBA history …

Bill Russell and Bob Cousy

Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West

Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Magic Johnson and Kareem

Dr. J and Moses Malone

Larry Bird and Kevin McHale

Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen

Karl Malone and John Stockton

Tim Duncan and David Robinson

Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade

and finally Roy Hibbert and Chelsea Peretti!

That’s right. Hibbert, the Indiana Pacers’ All-Star center and Peretti, the stand-up comedian and former writer on the Emmy-nominated “Parks and Recreation”, have tossed their names into the mix with their appearance on Episode 89 of the Hang Time Podcast.

Hibbert has already made his appearance on Parks and Rec. This is Peretti’s first dip in the NBA waters, other than attending Lakers games on tickets she scored from Hibbert.

It’s not often you can pair a “7-foot-2 behemoth” with a “6-foot-11 supermodel” and things go as smoothly as they did. And if they take their act on the road or land a deal for one of the buddy flick ideas tossed around during our brainstorming session, global icon status could be in the offing for both of them.

All we have to do now is get Hibbert to aim a little higher than a chance meeting with Dennis Haysbert (the dude with the golden voice on the All State commercials) and keep Hibbert, Peretti and their entourage away from Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles and the club on Jamaican Gold Night …

LISTEN HERE:


As always, we welcome your feedback. You can follow the entire crew, including co-hosts Lang Whitaker of SLAM Magazine and Sekou Smith of NBA.com, as well as our superproducer Micah Hart of NBA.com’s All Ball Blog and the best engineer in the business, Jarell “I Heart Peyton Manning” Wall.

– To download the podcast, click here. To subscribe via iTunes, click here, or get the xml feed if you want to subscribe some other, less iTunes-y way.

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James Tops Field For KIA MVP Award, Sights Set On More Hardware

May 12, 2012  ·  2:18PM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – Miami Heat forward LeBron James joined an elite group today as he wins his third KIA Most Valuable Player Award, becoming just the eighth player in league history to win that many or more.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone, all Hall of Famers, are the seven players to accomplish the feat before James.

Abdul-Jabbar owns six MVP trophies, Jordan and Russell five each and Chamberlain four. They are the only players with more trophies than James.

This is the third MVP trophy in the last four seasons for James, who won it as a Cleveland Cavalier in 2009 and 2010.
James beat out Thunder swingman Kevin Durant and Clippers guard Chris Paul to claim the top spot, snagging 85 of a possible 121 fist place votes and 1,074 points. Durant garnered 24 first place votes, he was the only other player to hit double digits, while Paul earned six.

For the third consecutive season, the NBA and Kia Motors America gave fans the opportunity to submit their votes by ranking their top five choices through a dedicated Web page on NBA.com. The fan vote counted as one vote and was compiled with the 120 media votes to determine the winner.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (two first-place votes) and Spurs point guard Tony Parker (4) rounded out the top five in the voting.

Of course, another Maurice Podoloff trophy is just one piece of hardware James is hunting this season.

He ended his acceptance speech this afternoon in Miami with these words, “I want that championship. That’s all that matters to me.”

The Heat remain on that path, facing the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal showdown Sunday afternoon in Miami. And they’ll need another (playoff) MVP-caliber effort from James to grab that Larry O’Brien trophy.

James played at a otherwordly level during the regular season, averaging 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists — making him only the fourth player with those totals in at least two different seasons, joining Oscar Robertson (five times), John Havlicek (twice) and Bird (twice). He shot a ridiculous 53 percent from the floor and also averaged 1.9 steals.

James ranks, in this estimation, as the league’s most accomplished player on both ends of the floor. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra calls him “1-through-5,” for his ability to guard all five positions on the defensive end.

James said this latest honor only adds fuel to the fire that was already raging in him.

“It didn’t take another MVP trophy for me to want an NBA championship,” he said. ”I’d give all three (MVPs) back if I could win a championship.”

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LeBron Has Eyes On Third MVP Trophy

April 18, 2012  ·  3:21PM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Let’s be clear about one thing, there is no shame in the MVP game of Heat star LeBron James.

He knows that he could very well be on the cusp of joining one of the NBA’s truly elite groups as a three-time winner of the league’s Most Valuable Player Award, becoming just the ninth player in history to win it three times.

James opened up to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com about the potential of joining Hall of Famers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Moses Malone in becoming a three-time winner:

“It would mean a lot, honestly, it would mean a lot,” James said. “If I’m able to win it this year it would be very humbling knowing the caliber of guys who have won it three times.”

“I remember me being a little, scrawny guy from Akron, Ohio, and watching so many greats either watching live or watching games, knowing and loving the history of the game and seeing the guys who have paved the way for myself. I’ve always respected that. I’ve always respected the talent that came before me.”

The difference between those players and James, of course, is that all of them had won championships by the time their careers were over. [Chamberlain and Malone both won their third MVP in the year they got their first championship.

But that lack of a title to this point may not affect how the voters who select the MVP view James. In a sampling of veteran NBA journalists and broadcasters who vote, none said historical context would play a role on how they would vote on the award this year.

(more…)

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