| Archive |
The 20 Second Timeout 10.04.08: Marbury is No Mozart
(10.03.2008)
Stephon Marbury is no Mozart of the hardwood. Marbury possesses certain obvious physical talents--speed, ballhandling skills, shooting ability, good strength for his size--but he neither instinctively makes the right play nor has he sufficiently familiarized himself with the work of the great composers (playmaking guards) of the past. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 09.19.08: Michael Jordan and Tex Winter Discuss the MJ-Kobe Comparisons
(09.19.2008)
Michael Jordan is not at all offended or bothered by how often Kobe Bryant is compared to him, while Tex Winter--who coached both players--sees plenty of similarities between their games. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 09.12.08: Adrian Dantley: The Mystery Man
(09.12.2008)
With Adrian Dantley there are always more questions than answers. How did a 6-5 player consistently score in the paint against bigger, stronger and taller defenders? Why did several teams trade Dantley even though he was very productive? Why did a player who averaged 24.3 ppg on .540 field goal shooting during a 15 year NBA career have to wait more than a decade to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame? |
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The 20 Second Timeout 09.04.08: Patrick Ewing: Fifth Member of "Dream Team" to be Inducted in Basketball Hall of Fame
(09.05.2008)
When Patrick Ewing is officially enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame, he will be the fifth member of the legendary Dream Team to earn that honor, following in the footsteps of Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler and Magic Johnson. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 08.29.08: The Difference for Team USA Was Kobe Bryant
(08.29.2008)
Kobe Bryant will probably always be a polarizing figure but there is no denying that he was the difference for Team USA this time around. After all, LeBron, D. Wade, Melo, Bosh, Howard and CP3 were all on the 2006 version of Team USA that only managed to win the bronze medal in the FIBA World Championship. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 08.22.08: What it Takes to Make it to the NBA Finals
(08.22.2008)
A couple months ago, ESPN The Magazine ran a fascinating article about what it takes to get to the NBA Finals. Guest writer Baron Davis interviewed fellow All-Star guards Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 08.15.08: Team USA's Suffocating Defense Stymies Greece, 92-69
(08.15.2008)
Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh set the tone defensively as Team USA beat Greece 92-69, avenging Team USA's 101-95 loss to Greece in the semifinals of the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Team USA improved to 3-0 in preliminary round play and clinched a berth in the medal round. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 08.08.08: LeBron James: "We Have to Be a No Excuse Team"
(08.09.2008)
LeBron James says of Team USA,"When we go across these waters and we go play, we got to be a 'no excuse' team. What I mean is, it's going to be us against the world and we got to look at it that way. We can't blame the refs, we can't blame the crowd, we can't blame anything else on anybody. We are in a position right now where we control our own destiny." |
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The 20 Second Timeout 08.01.08: Donaghy Sentenced, Key Questions Remain Unresolved
(08.01.2008)
The judicial portion of the Tim Donaghy scandal came to a conclusion on Tuesday as the former NBA referee was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for accepting thousands of dollars to provide inside information to gamblers. Now the NBA should take three steps to restore public confidence. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 07.25.08: Seven Pearls of Wisdom from John Thompson
(07.25.2008)
Former Georgetown Coach and current TNT commentator John Thompson recently offered seven pearls of wisdom during an NBA TV telecast of a Vegas Summer League game. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 07.18.08: Smush Parker, Kwame Brown and the Kobe Bryant Effect
(07.18.2008)
The Clippers released Smush Parker last week. It will be interesting to see where he lands next. One of the best testaments to Kobe Bryant's greatness is that he led the Lakers to the playoffs twice despite having Parker as the starting point guard and Kwame Brown as the starting center. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 07.11.08: Where Do Gilbert Arenas and Baron Davis Rank Among Elite NBA Point Guards?
(07.11.2008)
The word "elite" is poorly defined in reference to NBA players and it is thrown around far too casually. Bottom line: if you are not on one of the three All-NBA Teams--or a player who deserved to be there but clearly got snubbed--then you are not an elite player. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 07.04.08: First Impressions of the 2008 NBA Draft
(07.04.2008)
I'm not a "draftnik" but I got six of the first eight picks correct, matching ESPN "guru" Chad Ford. I feel much better after this year's draft than I did after last year's, because this time I don't have a splitting headache from Stephen A. Smith's rants; Smith was shifted from the main table to the kiddie table, where he repeatedly asked the same question--but at least he did it quietly. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 06.27.08: Analyzing Team USA's 12 Man Roster
(06.27.2008)
The main early criticism of the 2008 roster is the supposed lack of big men but I disagree with that assessment. As for the perimeter players, Billups and Miller were two of the least productive members of the 2007 team, so it is difficult to believe that there will be any drop off by replacing them with Paul and Wade. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 06.20.08: The 2008 Playoffs: Where the Revival of the NBA's Two Flagship Franchises Happened
(06.20.2008)
One year ago, the NBA's two flagship franchises appeared to be in total disarray. Predicting that the Celtics and Lakers would face each other in the 2008 Finals would have sounded even more ridiculous than when Stephen A. Smith said that Denver would win the West. What a difference a year makes! |
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The 20 Second Timeout 06.13.08: Tim Donaghy's Tales
(06.13.2008)
I don't believe Tim Donaghy's assertion that NBA executives deliberately and maliciously altered the outcome of two playoff series; it strains credulity that such a large conspiracy could have taken place without already being exposed and it also strains credulity that the people who run the NBA would risk the credibility of a multibillion dollar enterprise for the sake of making a playoff series last longer or so that one team would beat another team. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 06.07.08: Pistons Flip the Script, Fire Saunders
(06.07.2008)
In the wake of three straight losses in the Eastern Conference Finals, Detroit Pistons President Joe Dumars is determined to do whatever is necessary so that his team can return to the NBA Finals. Dumars began that process by firing Coach Flip Saunders and boldly declaring, "Make no mistake, everybody is in play right now. There are no sacred cows here." |
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The 20 Second Timeout 05.30.08: Celtics Survive Late Detroit Rally to Win Game Five, 106-102
(05.30.2008)
Kevin Garnett scored 33 points on 11-17 field goal shooting as the Celtics won the pivotal game five versus Detroit to move within one victory of reaching the NBA Finals. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 05.23.08: Bryant Dominates Second Half as Lakers Erase 20 Point Deficit to Edge Spurs
(05.23.2008)
Kobe Bryant scored 25 second half points as the Lakers came back from a 65-45 third quarter deficit to beat the Spurs 89-85. Tim Duncan repeatedly trapped Bryant on pick and roll only to see Bryant lob passes over his head to Pau Gasol for easy hoops; in last year's Finals, Duncan played off of the weak-shooting LeBron James and denied him the opportunity to make such passes. |
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The 20 Second Timeout 05.16.08: Celtics Withstand Big First Half by LeBron James, Take 3-2 Series Lead
(05.16.2008)
The Boston Celtics fell behind by 14 but with their season teetering on the brink they managed to rally for a 96-89 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, taking a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. |
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