Detroit Pistons

We meet again. One of these times, it won’t be under such dire circumstances. I’ll come to you, wrapped in multi-colored robes and fluorescent glitter, talking about health, durability and how uncommon fragility has become. There will be no mention of a Derrick Rose injury. Or Marc Gasol catastrophe. Or Anthony Davis fracture. Or Paul [...]

This isn’t fair. What else can we say? Injuries have taken their toll on the NBA early, and it hasn’t been pretty. If we’re not anxiously awaiting the returns of Kobe Bryant and Rajon Rondo, we’re watching Andre Iguodala go down. Marc Gasol go down. Derrick Rose go down. For the season. Again. Put simply, [...]

Now we’re getting somewhere. More than 10 percent of the NBA season is in the books, allowing us to form conclusions based off more than two games and a bottle of Grey Goose. Now’s the time when the tankers begin to settle in and contenders that aren’t the Miami Heat start playing like they care. [...]

Expectations are a funny thing. Did I say funny? Sorry, I meant to say that expectations are a cruel-hearted, unshaven bastard. Especially in the NBA. Early on, we cannot escape them. They’re with us always. Always, always, always. And they screw around with our power rankings. At heart, weekly evaluations should be impulsive and read [...]

It’s over. You made it. No need to send reinforcements. The battle is over and the war has been won—the NBA offseason, preseason and all the crap that comes with it is over. Finally. You spent months wading through all the proverbial and, if you’re team is tanking, literal bull shit. Now you’ll be rewarded, [...]

Derrick Rose is more explosive. Come get some. Following the Chicago Bulls’ preseason victory over the Detroit Pistons, during which he scored 22 points in 22 minutes, Rose was pretty forthcoming about how confident he is in himself and his team. First he reiterated that he’s more explosive than he was before the injury, according [...]

As one Adam Fromal would say: Hahahahaha. An ESPN system called SCHOENE predicted the New York Knicks to finish 37-45 this season, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman, which is hysterical. The Knicks went 54-28 last year, meaning they’d have to be 17 games worse in 2013-14. Again, hysterical. Carmelo Anthony wasn’t laughing, though. [...]

Things change in the NBA all the time. Preseason basketball is often considered meaningless because, well, it is. It’s supposed to be a time for star players to work through rust, fringe players to secure roster spots and coaches to nail down rotations. And in many ways, that’s what it is.  But it’s also a [...]

The NBA is supposed to be fun. A lot of people understand that. Others don’t. Those people, the overly serious and belligerently antagonistic ones, won’t want to see what follows. This mark’s the inception of The Hoop Doctor’s PG-13 NBA Power Rankings, where almost anything goes. Language may sometimes not be suitable for those reading at [...]

Every so often I come across something said awhile ago that I find interesting and think wasn’t talked about enough. This is one of those times. Speaking with ESPN New York’s Jared Zwerling, Carmelo Anthony said he thinks the NBA’s balance of power has shifted from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference. “When I [...]