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This week in the NHL March 09, 2024
It was natural to think the New York Rangers “got it” after they traded in the misguided clenched jaw ways of Gerrard Gallant behind the bench for the usually up-tempo ways of Peter Laviolette after the Devils essentially skated them out of the building last spring in the first round. The Devils wer...
This week in the NBA & WNBA March 09, 2024
Need any more evidence that Gilbert Arenas’ bellyaching about Europeans and foreigners ruining basketball with their sweet outside strokes is all hot air? I’ll give you one: Josh Giddey. Now that his legal woes appear to be in the rearview mirror, the whispers about his liabilities in the Oklahoma C...
Does the Rangers' Matt Rempe even play hockey?; Pittsburgh's run seems to be ending; The Avs go on a bender
It was natural to think the New York Rangers “got it” after they traded in the misguided clenched jaw ways of Gerrard Gallant behind the bench for the usually up-tempo ways of Peter Laviolette after the Devils essentially skated them out of the building last spring in the first round. The Devils wer...
Latest problem with Josh Giddey; Dame Lillard finally steps up; Dalton Knecht and Reed Sheppard on verge of history
Need any more evidence that Gilbert Arenas’ bellyaching about Europeans and foreigners ruining basketball with their sweet outside strokes is all hot air? I’ll give you one: Josh Giddey. Now that his legal woes appear to be in the rearview mirror, the whispers about his liabilities in the Oklahoma C...
Jalen Brunson and the Knicks are proof that having a <i>Napoleon</i> complex isn’t all bad
It’s Oscars Week, which feels like as good a time as any to draw up the NBA storylines and characters which could double as Oscar nominees....
Big men are back in style in the NBA
The 1995-96 season was the end of the golden era for big men in the NBA. Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Shaquille O’Neal were stuffing opponents into lockers with their unstoppable back-to-the-basket games. They were the superstars in the paint, but Alonzo Mourning, Rik Smits, a...
If you can’t trust Anthony Edwards, you can’t trust the Timberwolves
I’m not anti-analytics, because data matters, but there’s no way to factor in things like your best player missing tipoff because he was a late arrival, or a coach pulling his second-best player when he’s on pace for a 70 burger. The Minnesota Timberwolves are a very good basketball team, by record,...
Damian Lillard finally played like the superstar the Bucks expected him to be
It is tempting to say that the Milwaukee Bucks turned a corner on Monday night. Without Giannis Antetokounmpo in the lineup, they were still able to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-106, and remain undefeated since the All-Star break. Damian Lillard did not play his best game of the season in An...
It's make or break for the Los Angeles Clippers
Curses run deep. They fester in bloodlines, foundations and scorched Earth and are lamented in prose, lyric and declaration. From Shakespeare to Dostoevsky, curses are a part of the canon of human creativity. After the Boston Red Sox broke theirs in 2004 and LeBron James brought a championship to Cl...
The Penguins lasted longer than they were supposed to
In the salary-cap era of the NHL, no team gets to go out on their shield, really. The Datsyuk-and-Zetterberg era of the Wings fled to the Eastern Conference, took a couple first-round beatdowns, and then slipped into the playoff-less ooze that the organization only might just be emerging from. Ovech...
Kevin Garnett accuses LeBron James of doping; 'Cream Abdul-Jabbar' rises to the top; Jordan Poole hits rock bottom
Could Bronny James score a bucket against his father, LeBron? Kevin Garnett certainly doesn’t think so. - Criss Partee Read More...
Victor Wembanyama finally got a win against Chet Holmgren
Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren play for teams that occupy two very different places in the Western Conference standings. The San Antonio Spurs are going to be in the running for a second-consecutive No. 1 overall pick. The Oklahoma City Thunder are a game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for t...
Will the real Zion Williamson please stand up?
Zion Williamson’s tantalizing game made him a household name after one season at Duke where he established a new NCAA record for 2-point field goal percentage. Up until this juncture in his career, Williamson has been a gas-guzzling, flying tank in a league stacked with electric convertibles. As a r...
Might be time for Trae Young to get shoved out of the Hawks' nest
It’s tough to know when to know when to throw in the towel on an era, but the bruised and bloodied Trae Young era Atlanta Hawks are beginning to look like they should throw in the towel. The Hawks are now six years into Young’s tenure as their cornerstone and all they have to show for the rollercoa...
The Florida Panthers are getting started early this year
Cat Scratch Fever has shifted up the calendar a couple months this time around. Last year, the Florida Panthers spent the first half of the season looking for a signal on their phone before closing the second half with a flourish to make the playoffs. That carried over into the postseason as they ch...
Joel Embiid's absence in Philadelphia has created a black hole
DNP Lord Joel Embiid is the poltergeist still haunting the MVP race and Philadelphia’s title aspirations. When Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic or Shai Gilgeou-Alexander are eventually crowned, Embiid’s name will hang over the successor. Before the Philly center was jettisoned from the MVP race, he was lap...
This week in the NHL February 24, 2024
Sebastian Aho scored with 18.9 seconds to play and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 44 shots as the Carolina Hurricanes outlasted the visiting Florida Panthers to win 1-0 on Thursday night in a showdown between two of the Eastern Conference's best teams in Raleigh, N.C. - Field Level Media Read More...
The New York Rangers are the NHL's hottest team
The New York Rangers are the hottest team in the NHL right now. The Blueshirts currently sit atop the Metropolitan Division with 79 points and hold a six-point lead over the Carolina Hurricanes. ...
The Minnesota Timberwolves are the NBA’s best redemption story
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ bounce back from their 2023 nadir has been the NBA’s most remarkable redemption story. The Association may have discontinued its Comeback Player of the Year award, but the Twin Cities’ finest would deserve consideration if that were not the case. Before October, the outlo...
NBA coaches should be forced to participate in All-Star festivities, too
The NBA wanting a buy-in from its stars is an understandable expectation. However, coaches are rarely a part of the All-Star festivities aside from the Eastern and Western Conference coaches. Everyone except for gym rat Tom Thibodeau is on vacation unwinding from the daily rigors of an 82-game grind...