basketball
The world of Basketball detailed by the voices of the unathletic. Discussing play, culture, and, of course, who's the best. Trust the Process.
Creating the Boston Celtics’ Super Team
Now that the “Trust The Process” celebratory riots have died down and Boston fans have crawled out from under their desks to take a break from weeping, it’s time to digest what just happened. The Celtics have officially passed on the chance of picking Markelle Fultz — who is widely considered to be a potential superstar — for more draft picks.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
Trusting “the Process”: Will Joel Embiid Ever Be What We Thought He Was?
For the third time in as many years, Joel Embiid has been sidelined by an injury to his lower extremities, and it was recently announced that he would indeed require another procedure. Although after a lengthy wait, but with such flourish this season (which was considered his “rookie” season) his health and subsequent time “under the knife” begs the question, will “The Process”, ever complete the process?
By Kenneth Wilson8 years ago in Unbalanced
What the Last Few NBA MVP Award Recipients Have Taught Us About the MVP Award
Monday night marked the 1st annual NBA Awards Show, and I must say — I was rather impressed. Like most live productions, this was not without its flaws. However, considering that this year’s ceremony was the first go around and taking into account the crowd that the show was catered to, I would have to say it was successful.
By Kenneth Wilson8 years ago in Unbalanced
The Hero That Golden State Needed: The Three Sides To Every Story
There are plenty of phrases Warriors’ fans could have chanted after the re-signing of NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant: the boys are back in town, the whole gang’s here, we are putting the band back together, etc. The point being, the reigning NBA champions are set for another run at a title. After a flurry of free agent movement, the dust has already seemed to settle in the Bay Area. The Champs have brought back every free agent piece of their own that they deemed important, and even some that were not their own (see Swaggy P).
By Kenneth Wilson8 years ago in Unbalanced
A California Case Study: Mining for Gems in the Golden State
Back in the 1800’s, California was all the rage as news of a “gold rush” spread like wildfire. Almost two centuries later, they are still “mining” in the “Golden State” but the gems aren’t actually made of rock, as opposed to venture, technological, and human capital. Although prevalent in multiple regions of the state, the area most known for these particular phenomena are The Bay Area and/or Silicon Valley. The millionaires and billionaires of “the valley” found and continue to find their treasures every day. The Golden State Warriors got their man when they plucked Steve Kerr from the booth, only to have him lead them to a title. While staffed with possibly the worst assembly of talent in the league, can the San Francisco 49er’s do the same?
By Kenneth Wilson8 years ago in Unbalanced
Three Surefire Ways Minnesota Can Get Better as the Season Winds Down
The Minnesota Timberwolves came into this season with high hopes, a new coach, and a roster full of young talent that was sure to blossom. That hasn’t quite been the case. Although there has been progress made as a team, there is not nearly enough evidence to say that the Timberwolves are competing with the “Dubs” for Western Conference supremacy. The “Big KAT,” Karl Anthony-Towns continues to impress, along with Andrew Wiggins and a now injured Zach Levine. However some of their other pieces just haven’t quite been there as consistently — such as fellow big man Gorgui Dieng, who regressed after signing a lucrative deal earlier in the season. Much more notable is point man Ricky Rubio, even though his issues aren’t so much play related as they are well, everything else. In any event, there are 3 surefire things that need to be done in order for this young pack of wolves to take the next step.
By Kenneth Wilson8 years ago in Unbalanced
The Veto That Changed the NBA: How the League Would Look with Chris Paul as a Laker — Part II
In this different dimension where David Stern doesn’t play puppet master and lets this trade go through, the Lakers are far from the bottom-feeding laughing stock they currently are. They are able to dump the contracts of Gasol and Odom, leaving them room for Howard. Kobe and Howard would still have the issue of needing touches on a consistent basis, but they finally have the man for the job. If CP3 can make DeAndre Jordan into an 80 million dollar man, then imagine what he could’ve done with Howard. With a team like this, Mike Brown may have been able to last more than 10% of the season. Paul has the record and the statistics to give himself the push he needs to be a legitimate MVP candidate. With the proper facilitator in place, Howard doesn’t bump heads with Kobe, and ends up enjoying the bright lights of LA, ending his short stint as a coach killer with just one body count.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
The Slippery Slope That Is the Start of Lonzo Ball’s Career
There are some years where the first few picks of the NBA Draft are already a foregone conclusion. Whether we see a three person, two person, or even one person draft where only the top pick is the real crown jewel of the draft, we often know how the draft will start. This year, Markelle Fultz is pretty much already buying season tickets at Fenway and bringing up the score “28–3” once a day, as he’s destined to go to Boston. At one point it looked like Lakers’ pick at No. 2 was already written in stone, but Lonzo Ball has been going downhill ever since he lost in the Sweet 16.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
Which NBA Finals Stars Deserve Their Own Team?
It’s hard to figure out what’s more disheartening at this point in the common NBA fan’s life- the fact that there’s no meaningful basketball on until the end of October, or that we just finished a relatively unentertaining NBA Finals that will likely feature the same matchup for the next few years. While you dive into NBA Classics or binge on 30 for 30s, you could console yourself with the thought that these teams might not actually feature the same rosters as early as next year.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
Sorting Out the Possible Eastern Conference All Star Team
It has been extremely apparent over the last few months how much better the Western Conference is than its Eastern counterpart. To say talent was evenly spread across the two conferences would be a bigger lie than Steph Curry claiming his infamous dance at Harrison Barnes’ wedding wasn’t meant to make fun of LeBron James.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
The Cavaliers’ Bench Mob is Better than Your Starting Lineup
This week, the Cleveland Cavaliers made their acquisitions of Andrew Bogut and Deron Williams official. Williams even made his debut with the Cavaliers, in a heartbreaking, riveting, and overall entertaining playoff-level intensity game against the Celtics. With these two acquisitions (both former Dallas Mavericks), the reigning NBA Champions have put in a serious bid for a repeat. With the recent news of a Kevin Durant knee injury, the Cavaliers’ title chances may have increased even more. Rival NBA GM’s could be a little disappointed for standing pat at the trade deadline with Durant out.
By Charles Maniego8 years ago in Unbalanced
