Sheridan: Dreaming of a Pacers-Grizzlies Finals
This is the “I Have a Dream” column — or the I had a dream column, to be more specific. Six hours of sleep are in the books as I awake this Saturday morning with a feeling of hopefulness bordering on euphoria. I watched the Miami Heat lose a game last night, and tomorrow night [...]- NBA players react to Paul George’s monster dunk over Chris Anderson
- SH Blog: Raptors closing in on Ujiri; Howard warming on Rockets; Wolves like Oladipo, Shabazz
- The Evening News: Celtics deny Nets’ request for Rivers; Wade’s knee worse than last year; Cavs like Porter
- SH Blog: Carlesimo says Nets have unrealistic expectations, LeBron disagrees with MJ’s scouting report
- The Evening News: LeBron disagrees with Jordan; Dwight likes Warriors; Knicks scorers were injured
- LeBron James unanimous pick for All-NBA Team
- May: Right move for Dwight would be rising Rockets over aging Lakers
- Sheridan: Paul George to blame more than Vogel
- StatBox Playoff Breakdown: Some alarming Pacers stats from a game they should have won
- Perkins: LeBron James is the best, and he keeps getting better
- SH Blog: Phil Jackson predicts Heat in 6, Sterling admits letting go of Del Negro was to keep his players happy
Columns

This is the "I Have a Dream" column -- or the I had a dream column, to be more specific. Six hours of sleep are in the I [...]
- May: Right move for Dwight would be rising Rockets over aging Lakers
- Perkins: LeBron James is the best, and he keeps getting better
- Getzeiler: If Spurs seem desperate for title, that’s because they are
- Kotoch: Mock Draft 3.0: Noel to Cavaliers, Steven Adams on the rise
- Bernucca: Small Market Dilemma is the NBA’s Big Lie
- Sheridan: Knicks autopsy: Looking at what Woody left on the bench
- May: Despite Game 1 loss, Grizzlies GM looks smarter 5 years later
Draft

With the NBA combine and draft lottery officially wrapped up, we can now update our Mock Draft to officially represent [...]
- Draft Lottery Day: Winners and Losers post-NBA Combine
- Draft Lottery Probability Chart
- Bauman: A 44-inch vertical, plus other notes from NBA pre-draft camp
- The Wiggins Effect: Kentucky 5/1 Favorite to Win NCAA Title
- Kotoch: Mock Draft 2.0.1: SDSU’s Jamaal Franklin on the Rise
- Mitnick: Early Entry International 2013 Draft Prospects
- Suns begin rebuilding at top, hire Ryan McDonough as GM
Shlomo's Stat Box

For the Indiana Pacers, the game was theirs for the taking. Dwyane Wade fouled out. They won the free throw and rebounding [...]
Awards

LeBron James fell one vote shy of being the unanimous MVP. He had no such issues with the All-NBA Team. The superstar of [...]
Blog

Even though the Pacers lost Game 1, they had to have impressed many impartial observers. Maybe the Heat won't have an easy [...]
- SH Blog: Carlesimo says Nets have unrealistic expectations, LeBron disagrees with MJ’s scouting report
- SH Blog: Phil Jackson predicts Heat in 6, Sterling admits letting go of Del Negro was to keep his players happy
- SH Blog: NBA Draft Lottery Recap, Cleveland Hits the Jackpot (Again); Howard Bashes D’Antoni; Coach K To Return To Team USA?
Tweet

Game 2 between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers on Friday had various moments of craziness and awesomeness from both teams [...]
- Tweet of the Day: Ira Winderman
- Tweet of the Night: Kevin Durant continues to support difficult situation in OKC
- Tweet of the Night: Jermaine O’Neal and Bill Simmons question Vogel’s decision to bench Hibbert in final seconds of Game 1
- Tweet of the Day: Daryl Morey
- Tweet of the Night: Kyle Lowry laughs at Tony Allen’s flop job
- Tweet of the Day: This just in, Kevin Durant…Still nice.
- Tweet of the Night: Terrence Williams
Video

Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel is taking a ton of heat (pun intended) today for removing Roy Hibbert from the lineup for [...]
International

With the NBA combine and draft lottery officially wrapped up, we can now update our Mock Draft to officially represent [...]
Podcasts

Two things to watch for tonight in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals: A little more (maybe a lot) of Tony Allen Tony [...]
Where Are They Now?

Welcome everyone to another edition of Sheridan Hoops presents Where Are They Now? This week, we will look at the NBA [...]
Previews

With defensive tenacity and a punishing, menacing front line, the Indiana Pacers have reached the Eastern Conference But if [...]
News

Even though the Pacers lost Game 1, they had to have impressed many impartial observers. Maybe the Heat won't have an easy [...]
- The Evening News: Celtics deny Nets’ request for Rivers; Wade’s knee worse than last year; Cavs like Porter
- SH Blog: Carlesimo says Nets have unrealistic expectations, LeBron disagrees with MJ’s scouting report
- The Evening News: LeBron disagrees with Jordan; Dwight likes Warriors; Knicks scorers were injured
Sheridan: Dreaming of a Pacers-Grizzlies Finals
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This is the “I Have a Dream” column — or the I had a dream column, to be more specific.
Six hours of sleep are in the books as I awake this Saturday morning with a feeling of hopefulness bordering on euphoria. I watched the Miami Heat lose a game last night, and tomorrow night I may watch them lose again. The old rule says there is no cheering in the press box, with the exception of cheering silently for your predictions (I have Heat in 7 and Spurs in 7), but there is a part of me that cannot resist siding with the underdogs in this year’s NBA conference finals.
My dream finals is David Stern’s nightmare finals.
NBA players react to Paul George’s monster dunk over Chris Anderson
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Game 2 between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers on Friday had various moments of craziness and awesomeness from both teams – primarily from LeBron James and Paul George.
LeBron made this incredible pass to Mike Miller just before half time, and had this incredible block against Roy Hibbert. As usual, he was mostly dominant with 36 points on 14-of-20 shooting and eight rebounds. Unfortunately, the uncharacteristically-costly two turnovers he had down the stretch of the fourth quarter that prevented the Heat from having any chance of winning the game will stick out the most for him.
SH Blog: Raptors closing in on Ujiri; Howard warming on Rockets; Wolves like Oladipo, Shabazz
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Even though the Pacers lost Game 1, they had to have impressed many impartial observers. Maybe the Heat won’t have an easy path to the Finals after all. Or maybe the first game was an aberration and they’ll turn on the jets and roll over Indiana from here on out. We’ll see, I guess. For some analysis of what went wrong for Indy at the end of OT, check out Chris Sheridan’s column blaming Paul George.
And since we’re about to start another offseason, that means it’s Dwight Howard rumor season yet again. This time, though, he might just get to choose where he goes, and we can skip the whole process of putting together trade packages and then those deals falling through. We can hope. To get started on the next chapter of the Dwightmare, check out Peter May’s column advocating for the Rockets as Dwight’s next stop.
Now here’s all the latest news from around the NBA:
- It’s looking like the Raptors might pull off a coup. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes: “The Denver Nuggets have granted the Toronto Raptors permission to speak to the NBA’s Executive of the Year, Masai Ujiri, and a meeting is expected to take place within the next 24 hours, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Unless Denver responds soon with a market-value contract extension to keep its general manager, Ujiri is prepared to leave Denver for the chance to rebuild the Raptors organization, league sources said. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke is aggressively pursuing Ujiri to become the Raptors’ general manager and plans to present an offer that will pay him nearly $3 million annually over the course of a multiyear contract, league sources said.Denver has long been reluctant to pay its top front-office executives market value, and current contract extension talks with Ujiri are believed to include figures that are nowhere near the commitment that Toronto’s willing to make.”
- That said, Ken Berger of CBS Sports notes that there are other names in the running: “The Toronto Raptors have asked permission to interview Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard to head up their basketball operations, league sources told CBSSports.com on Friday. As with similar requests from teams to speak with assistant coach Brian Shaw for head coaching vacancies, the Pacers have indicated that they prefer to wait until their season is over to grant permission for interviews. The Pacers trail the Heat 1-0 in the Eastern Conference finals, with Game 2 on Friday night in Miami. … The Raptors job is attractive to potential candidates because the team does well financially and is prepared to commit significant resources to restoring the team to prominence. Former Staples Center executive Tim Leiweke is in full command of the Raptors’ decision-making process and vision as president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. League sources told CBSSports.com that one of the possibilities that Leiweke has identified is teaming Pritchard with Oklahoma City assistant GM Troy Weaver, whose name has been attached to several front-office searches in the past two years. It is unclear whether the Raptors have reached out to the Thunder to ask permission to interview Weaver, though it is highly unlikely that Oklahoma City would grant permission for Weaver to entertain a lateral move.”
Tweet of the Day: Ira Winderman
Leave a commentMiami Sun Sentinel beat writer, Ira Winderman, gets the nod for Tweet of the Day for this clever quip about the Heat’s 2013 NBA Playoffs run.
In 2006, when the Heat overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Dallas Mavericks for the NBA title, their season long mantra was “15 Strong.”
Last season, the Heat (as a team) seemed to be motivated by the need to get their first title together with the big three—especially after having come up short in the 2010-11 Finals at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks.
The title achievement was a check mark on the “To Do” list, particularly for LeBron James, who was publicly maligned for coming up short in 2011 after having proclaimed that he and the Heat would win not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven [championships] during the Heat’s very public unveiling of the Big Three.
Now, en route to what they hope to be the team’s third championship [this unit's second], the Heat seem to be, as Winderman noted, “collecting testicles.”
In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indian Pacers, there were two instances wherein a Heat player seemed to take a shot at the lower man region of his defender. Neither instance was called flagrant, though both were whistled as offensive, and clearly they were.
In the first quarter Miami forward Shane Battier took off for a layup, directly challenging Pacers center Roy Hibbert. As he rose up, he brought his right, non-jumping leg up in an effort to create space between himself and Hibbert.
His knee, however, did not make it north of the midsection before making contact.
Later in the game, late in the fourth quarter, Heat guard Norris Cole drove hard down the right wing with David West between himself and the basket. As he drew near West, his arm hooked between his legs in an apparent WWE-style “low blow.”
If attacking their opponents’ man region was the goal, they still have a roster of 13 men to go.
We’ll have to wait for Game 2 to see who their next target is or if there is any form of retaliation.
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Tweet of the Night: Kevin Durant continues to support difficult situation in OKC
The Evening News: Celtics deny Nets’ request for Rivers; Wade’s knee worse than last year; Cavs like Porter
Leave a commentHello and welcome to the Evening News.
As the playoffs continue, we’ll keep you updated every evening. What’s happening today?
Here’s the latest from around the league:
SH Blog: Carlesimo says Nets have unrealistic expectations, LeBron disagrees with MJ’s scouting report
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It’s always interesting to hear candid thoughts from former players or coaches about the situations of the teams they used to play for or coached.
P.J. Carlesimo, the former interim head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, is now an ESPN analyst. Able to share all his thoughts in an objective matter, Carlesimo had plenty to say about what level of talent the Nets really have, why it’s bad for the league to be a players league, and what it really means when headlines say a coach has “lost the locker room”. Stefan Bondy of New York Daily News has all the details:
Tweet of the Night: Kevin Durant continues to support difficult situation in OKC
5 Comments
They tried to run with “he’s not nice” as a slogan for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant. That may very well be true when you’re talking about the way he devastates his opponents on the basketball court, but he is anything but “not nice” off the court.
Durant willingly donated $1 million – no small amount for any athlete or celebrity – to assist in disaster relief efforts of the horrific tornado that hit and devastated Oklahoma on Tuesday. It’s obvious that Durant wishes to support the city he plays for in every way possible during such difficult times, and his efforts continued on Thursday, convincing Nike to support the cause as well.
The Evening News: LeBron disagrees with Jordan; Dwight likes Warriors; Knicks scorers were injured
Leave a commentHello and welcome to the Evening News.
As the playoffs continue, we’ll keep you updated every evening. What’s happening today?
Here’s the latest from around the league:
LeBron James unanimous pick for All-NBA Team
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LeBron James fell one vote shy of being the unanimous MVP. He had no such issues with the All-NBA Team.
The superstar forward of the Miami Heat was the only unanimous selection to the First Team, announced Thursday by the NBA. He was chosen by all 119 media members, whose voting habits remain somewhat questionable.
May: Right move for Dwight would be rising Rockets over aging Lakers
10 Comments
It seems to me we are all missing the obvious here. Dwight Howard has absolutely no intention of re-signing with the Lakers. Why should he?
Have you looked at that roster?
Howard is entering what should be the prime of his career. He turns 28 in December. He is the only – and I mean ONLY – player on the Lakers’ roster under the age of 32 who you would even remotely want on your team, long term.
Jodie Meeks? Earl Clark? Please.
Sheridan: Paul George to blame more than Vogel
3 CommentsIndiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel is taking a ton of heat (pun intended) today for removing Roy Hibbert from the lineup for the final play of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals last night when LeBron James made a driving layup at the buzzer in overtime for a 103-102 victory.
And make no mistake, Vogel made a mistake — he even admitted as much in the postgame interview room.
But what about Paul George, who would have been the hero of the game for his clutch 3-pointer that forced regulation and for knocking down the three free throws that gave Indiana a 102-101 lead prior to James’ heroics?
In my opinion, George is more to blame for the loss than Vogel.




