Author Archive
Midseason Player Grades for Each Houston Rockets Player
January 13th, 2017
Houston Rockets fans are about to get that feeling proud parents have when their kid brings home a better report card than they could have possibly expected.
That’s because they are a better team than anyone expected.
As I noted for FanRag Sports: "NumberFire had the Rockets winning 40.4 games. FiveThirtyEight.com had them at 45. ESPN’s Mark Stein had ...
Best Potential 2016-17 NBA Trade Deadline Deals for the Chicago Bulls
January 5th, 2017
Having flipped the calendar to the new year, we’re getting clear on where the Chicago Bulls are headed.
Head coach Fred Hoiberg demonstrated as much by taking former starter Rajon Rondo out of the rotation and inserting third-year point guard Michael Carter-Williams as the starter. While that move works better for ...
Best Potential 2016-17 NBA Trade Deadline Targets for Houston Rockets
December 29th, 2016
The Houston Rockets keep winning as the calendar year closes. They are doing so with a tremendous amount of chemistry and cohesiveness as James Harden and head coach Mike D’Antoni have been a beautiful fit.
Because of that, general manager Daryl Morey is less likely to make a midseason trade than ...
Quarter-Season Grades for Each Chicago Bulls Player
December 23rd, 2016
The Chicago Bulls have been dreadfully erratic this season. They began the year with a surprisingly positive 8-4 record, then sped toward disaster by losing three of their next five. They recovered by trouncing the Cleveland Cavaliers but followed that up one night later by losing to the league-worst Dallas Mavericks.
Chicago ...
Quarter-Season Grades for Each Houston Rockets Player
December 16th, 2016
The Houston Rockets are not only surpassing preseason expectations more than a quarter of the way through the 2016-17 campaign, they’re getting stronger in the process.
After a Dec. 14 blowout of the Sacramento Kings, Houston is on an eight-game winning streak and is 13-2 since Patrick Beverley returned Nov. 17. While James ...
3 Players Who Still Have to Step Up for the Chicago Bulls
November 23rd, 2016
The Chicago Bulls are exceeding preseason expectations. Projected to be a 7 or 8 seed at best, they are currently in fourth—and a mere half game behind second.
Jimmy Butler deserves the bulk of the credit, having elevated his game to MVP level. According to Basketball-Reference.com and ESPN.com, he is near the ...
3 Players Who Still Have to Step Up for the Houston Rockets
November 18th, 2016
The Houston Rockets have been solid this season, sitting with a 7-5 record and tied with the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder for the Western Conference's fourth-best record.
Most of the success has been because of James Harden, who is having a historically great season. He’s averaging ...
Diagnosing Houston Rockets’ Remaining Roster Flaws
November 11th, 2016
The Houston Rockets are such a different team than they were last season.
In one sense, they’re different because of their composition. According to Basketball-Reference.com, only 61 percent of the minutes this season were used by players who were on last year’s roster, which is the 11th lowest in the league.
But ...
5 Key Factors to Chicago Bulls’ Surprisingly Hot Start
November 3rd, 2016
While the Chicago Cubs were winning their first World Series in 108 years, the Chicago Bulls' undefeated record went up in flames as they lost to the Boston Celtics.
Despite the loss, Chi-Town is looking better than anyone expected.
Based on Basketball-Reference.com's Simple Rating System, which is based on average margin of ...
2016-17 NBA Season Predictions for Each Chicago Bulls Player
October 28th, 2016
The Chicago Bulls' faux makeover was one of the offseason's biggest stories. Seemingly never before in the annals of NBA history had a front office tried more to obtain players who work against the philosophy of the coach it hired (for his philosophy) just the year before.
And yet the starting ...