Author: Loren Chen (Page 5 of 9)

Miami Is Seriously Heating Up (Power Rankings: Feb. 6, 2017 Edition)

February 6, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

In his first season in Miami, Dion Waiters is playing an outsized role in the Heat’s active 10-game winning streak (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

Up is down and down is up in this tumultuous edition of the power rankings, which features the most movement of any edition so far, with mighty teams struggling and lowly teams rising up. The Cleveland Cavaliers, still the consensus pick to come out of the Eastern Conference, went just 7-8 in January, giving LeBron James his first losing month since his rookie year. The Toronto Raptors and the Houston Rockets, both in last edition‘s top five, have lost eight of 11 and eight of their last 14, respectively. Even the seemingly unstoppable Golden State Warriors, who have occupied the No. 1 spot in our rankings every single edition except for our first, have dropped games since last edition to the Miami Heat and the Sacramento Kings.

On the other side, the Washington Wizards were just 13-16 before Christmas and have since gone 17-4, steadily climbing up the Eastern Conference standings to the third seed, and up our rankings to fourth. The Dallas Mavericks, at one point dead last in our rankings, have won six of their last seven games, their one loss coming to the Miami Heat. And finally, the twice-aforementioned Heat, unquestionably the NBA’s biggest story right now, were 11-30 and 29th in our previous power rankings, before rattling off 10 straight wins, a streak that is still active. These are some exciting times in the NBA.

Biggest Jumps: Miami Heat (+15), Washington Wizards (+8), Dallas Mavericks (+8)

Biggest Falls: Philadelphia 76ers (-8), Milwaukee Bucks (-8), Toronto Raptors (-8) Continue reading

NBA Reacts to Muslim Ban; Loren’s Jeopardy Run

January 31, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Luol Deng, a proud former refugee from South Sudan, was one of many from the NBA community to speak against President Trump’s recent Muslim ban. (@LuolDeng9/Twitter)

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Last Friday’s executive order from the Trump administration has drawn criticism from the NBA community, as well as from various corners of the country and world. The panel will discuss the NBA’s reaction, why they believe it was justified and what more can be done by the everyday person. That conversation is preceded by Aaron’s commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, also on Friday. His primary takeaway? The Holocaust’s strongest, most enduring lesson: Silence in the face of discrimination of any group is unacceptable and must never take place in order to avoid repeating the costly mistakes of the past. But first, in a much lighter discussion, Loren takes us through his thrilling Jeopardy appearance, in which he won two games and took home more than $37,000. Stick to sports? Not this time. The stakes were too high.

Music: “Who Likes to Party” by Kevin MacLeod

KL Chouinard: Hawks “Have a Shot Against Cleveland”

January 27, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

KL Chouinard (right) interviewing Hawks SF Thabo Sefolosha.

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The Hawks’ season thus far can reasonably be separated into three segments: (1) a hot start, (2) a brutal 11-game stretch, and, finally, (3) the successful period Atlanta is currently enjoying. Kevin “KL” Chouinard, digital writer for the Atlanta Hawks and host of the new ATL and 29 podcast, graces the show with his presence, discussing how Atlanta bounced back from its miserable late-November, early-December slump, the process of integrating free-agent addition Dwight Howard, Dennis Schröder’s excellent first season as a starting NBA point guard and how Paul Millsap serves as the glue that keeps the team together. Of course, many other opinions are rendered, including why this season’s Hawks actually stand a chance against the defending champion Cavaliers who swept them one postseason ago in the Eastern Conference semifinals (not to mention the sweep in the 2015 Eastern Conference finals). Below, sample some exhilarating episode excerpts:

5:15-6:06: Kevin details the keys to Atlanta’s strong recent defense:

“What’s changed recently, compared to the 1-10 stretch, is they put Thabo Sefolosha in the starting lineup, and he’s really one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA…Millsap (is) playing more minutes with the starters and so that’s a much better defensive unit they’re using to start games. And it’s not perfect, because in opting for more defense, they’ve got less offense.”
Continue reading

Chris Reichert: NBA Teams “Looking for Rotational Role Players” in D-League

December 21, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Pierre Jackson of the Texas Legends is one of many D-League stars hoping that an NBA contract is in his future. (Eurofan88/Wikimedia Commons)

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Chris Reichert of FanSided Network’s The Step Back visits to tell us everything we need to know about the D-League. The league expert explains the expected impact of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement on the NBA’s official minor-league basketball organization, the league’s top prospects and how it has served as a laboratory for testing potential NBA rule changes. Also, what is an ambitious basketball coach’s best friend? Not a dog, bur rather a coaching stint in the D-League. Reichert is teeming with fascinating material, including how wing Jonathon Simmons went from paying $150 to try out for a D-League team to earning a key role playing for one of the greatest organizations in all of professional sports, the San Antonio Spurs. Check out some of Reichert’s rubies below:

1:34-3:28 Reichert on how the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will affect the D-League players: “They’re adding two roster spots to every NBA team and those are going to be two-way contracts, probably for fringe [NBA] players…they want to keep their rights but they really want to develop them in the D-League. Those players are going to be paid a little more. They’ll get 50,00 to 75,000. It opens up 60 additional roster spots for players, which is another great thing for D-League guys, fringe guys looking to make rosters and get an opportunity…The NBA minimums have come up 45 to 50 percent…which is going to help D-League players, because the 10-day contracts come January are based off the minimum salaries for however many years a player has in the NBA…They helped about a fifth of them, which I guess is a start, but hopefully, eventually we’ll get higher contracts across the board in the D-League.”

5:39-6:32 on the D-League as a test lab for the NBA: “I think it’s really smart. It’s a good way to gauge…what kind of effect these changes are going to have on overall gameplay and fan experience. They have a coach’s challenge in the D-League that can be used in the fourth quarter or overtime. That’s something the NBA does not have and they’ve been experimenting with it. This is the second season…They used to also use the FIBA goaltending rule, where you can hit the ball off the rim…Another thing that might actually get implemented in the NBA that they’re using this year is on offensive rebounds, the shot clock goes to 14…It keeps the game flow going, forces the offense to maybe make a faster decision on their second possession.”

All That Amar: Utah Jazz “Think They Definitely Need to Win Now”

December 13, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Rudy Gobert has silenced the critics who called his offense an afterthought by leading the league in field-goal percentage and averaging nearly 20 points over his last three games (@rudygobert27/Instagram).

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All That Amar, Managing Editor of SB Nation’s SLC Dunk, stops by to discuss the Utah Jazz, whom he declares are finally in win-now mode. The young Jazz haven’t won a playoff game since 2010 and have finished with between 38 and 43 wins three of the past four seasons, but things appear to be changing for the better. Amar explains how the coach, general manager and players have all come together to generate a much-improved product on the court. Here are some of the highlights of our discussion:

4:18-5:07: Our guest explains how added depth has allowed the Utah Jazz to weather an early storm of injuries: “The main reason is that they’ve had a few seasons with injury before, so they kind of figured out that they need to prepare for that. And what Dennis Lindsey, the GM of the Jazz, did was he went out and… they wanted to get depth, and I think that they accomplished that this season… adding George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw. These guys, they haven’t been healthy for every game of the season, but they have made sure that when Utah is missing 1.5 starters per game, about three rotation guys every single game… they still have enough guys to stay in the game. If this was last year’s roster, the record would probably be maybe eight wins instead of 15.”

Hawks Grounded, While Giannis and the Bucks Soar (Power Rankings: Dec. 9, 2016 Edition)

December 9, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

The Hawks earned a 13-spot demotion by struggling mightily after storming out of the gates with a 9-2 start (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

Due to stellar play from the Rockets, Jazz, Thunder and Celtics, the red-hot Grizzlies actually dropped a couple slots. The panel was indeed impressed by Memphis’ ability to win five of its last six games without Mike Conley Jr. on the court; it’s just those other teams were deemed to be even better. On the other side of the coin, the Hawks have been dreadful for nearly three weeks now and are paying for it by falling precipitously in this edition. Their 13-place drop on our list may be awfully difficult for teams to “beat” in future rankings.

Biggest Jumps: Milwaukee Bucks (+8), Orlando Magic (+7), Oklahoma City Thunder (+6)

Biggest Drops: Atlanta Hawks (-13), Chicago Bulls (-10), Denver Nuggets (-9), New Orleans Pelicans (-7), Los Angeles Lakers (-7)

Ashish Mathur: “Jimmy (Butler) Establishing Himself as (Bulls’) New Alpha”

November 28, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Jimmy Butler has firmly established himself as an MVP candidate and the leader of the Chicago Bulls. (Jsteperry/Wikimedia Commons)

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Following dramatic offseason changes, the Chicago Bulls have jumped out to a 10-6 start. At 34, future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade has returned to his hometown. Chicago also brought in former NBA champion Rajon Rondo, among others. Our guest, Ashish Mathur of the Outside Pitch Sports Network, details how Wade and Rondo have added a sense of accountability, what’s behind Jimmy Butler’s routine offensive outbursts and how the Bulls’ lack of depth could ultimately derail their high hopes. Plus, much more is discussed with Mathur, who is cautiously optimistic about 2016-17 given how early it is in the season and the team’s new-look quality. At times, he’s even bullish, but let’s get to the excerpts before any more questionable puns are employed:

1:48-3:04: Mathur begins by pointing out the necessity for the Bulls to trot out a completely different team this season and detailing what key additions Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo have brought: “The roster turnover was needed in every facet. Derrick [Rose] and Joakim [Noah] did a lot for this organization and city, but with Jimmy [Butler] establishing himself as the new alpha on the team, it was time for those two to go. Gar Forman and John Paxson did a pretty good job. Getting Rondo and Wade here was huge, just for the locker room. It was toxic and full of turmoil last year…not able to handle any adversity…it was time for a change. The biggest thing Wade and Rondo add to the team is accountability…First day of training camp, Rondo and Wade were stopping practices telling guys to knock it off and to stop the chit-chat, [because they’re] here to practice.”

3:57-4:58: Next, Mathur gushes about Butler’s transformation from defensive specialist to bona fide all-around superstar: “This guy came into the league as a defensive stopper, averaged 2 points per game his first year. He’s got to be one of the hardest working players, especially in the offseason…He got up at 4 in the morning every day and trained. He’s having fun this year. Last year, there was so much dysfunction…Last year was the first [time] Jimmy dealt with adversity in the NBA…He looks so much different. He’s smiling, loves having Wade on the team, and is putting up MVP-type numbers.”

Knicks, Pelicans, Grizzlies and Celtics Vault Up the List (Power Rankings: Nov. 25, 2016 Edition)

November 25, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies are enjoying a six-game winning streak and a nine-slot jump in these power rankings below (Verse Photography/Creative Commons).

Our three panelists, Loren Lee Chen, Aaron Fischman and Joshua Fischman, independently ranked the league’s 30 teams from top to bottom. Their averaged rankings produced this 1-30 list and took into account all NBA regular-season games up until and including Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016. There were no contests on Thursday, the 24th.

Biggest Jumps: New York Knicks (+10), New Orleans Pelicans (+10), Memphis Grizzlies (+9), Boston Celtics (+8)

Biggest Drops: Miami Heat (-7), Brooklyn Nets (-6), Portland Trail Blazers (-6), Oklahoma City Thunder (-6)

Golden State Warriors (13-2, Previous Rank: 3) – The Warriors nab our top spot from the Clippers after rattling off nine straight wins, most in blowout fashion. Golden State scored 149 points in its last game, sinking the Lakers, one of only two teams that have beaten the Warriors this season, by 43. Klay Thompson has shot the lights out and averaged 27 points over the team’s past four games, and Draymond Green again looks like Defensive Player of the Year material. Continue reading

Kristaps Porzingis Transforms Into a New Yorker & A Cuban Odyssey With Adena Andrews

November 18, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

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Freshly returned from Cuba, fellow Trojan Adena Andrews, who has written for ESPNW, NBA.com and CBS Sports, talks about the New York Knicks and her life-changing trip. Despite falling to the bottom-feeding Wizards (our interview was recorded before the game), the new-look Knicks have been showing signs of improvement. During the Knicks discussion, Adena addresses the team’s integration process given so many offseason changes, Kristaps Porzingis’ burgeoning New Yorkness and what the Zen Master brings to the organization, occasional controversy and all. Later, her enlightening journey to Cuba provides extraordinary insight into historical events and how they’ve shaped today’s Cuba. Adena also explains her newfound closeness with the foreign land and many of its people. Enjoy some excerpts below:

Knicks:

1:56-2:25: “I think I’m kind of like every other Knicks fan. We start the season and we’re like, ‘Oh yeah! We’re gonna win the chip! It’s gonna be ours!’ I think that’s what New Yorkers do best: we overreact. Especially because the Knicks are really good at getting great names and getting us excited. That’s where I’m at. I’m at the ‘Bring on the second round of the playoffs because we haven’t seen it in so long’ place.”

2:42-2:56: “It seems like every year we have a new unit, and that’s our excuse. It’s like ‘We’re in a building year. We’re in a building year.’ We’ve built enough buildings here to populate downtown Manhattan.”
Continue reading

Jake Fischer: 76ers’ Joel Embiid Is the “Pillar This Team Needed”

November 4, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Rookie Joel "The Process" Embiid has almost singlehandedly made the Philadelphia 76ers fun to watch again. (@joelembiid/Instagram)

Rookie Joel “The Process” Embiid has almost singlehandedly made the Philadelphia 76ers fun to watch again (Instagram/@joelembiid).

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Four games into the season, the Philadelphia 76ers are again winless, and the franchise hasn’t won a pre-December regular-season game since the 2013-14 season. This time, however, Sixers fans are ~~enjoying the process~~ marveling at Joel “The Process” Embiid rather than commiserating about tanking. Jake Fischer of SB Nation’s Liberty Ballers and SI.com joins the show and raves about Embiid’s impressive debut and transformative potential. Along with 2016 No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons, whose highly anticipated debut will have to wait, last season’s NBA All-Rookie First Team member Jahlil Okafor and rookie Dario Saric, Embiid’s emergence brings optimism back to Philadelphia basketball. Fischer also examines the Sixers’ glut of similar bigs and identifies the likely odd man out. Not since Iverson and Iguodala respectively crossed over opponents and soared through the sky has there been so much unbridled joy and passion around this fan base. Peep the excerpts below:

1:59-2:23: Fischer starts out describing the aforementioned new aura of positivity around the 76ers faithful: “It’s a complete 180 from the last couple years. There’s still the good-hearted humor of ‘Oh, I wonder which new way we’ll find out this team can lose a game tonight,’ but at the same time there’s an optimism now I think that fans truly have thought, at least in these first four games, that the team has a shot at winning every night just because Embiid’s out on the floor.”

Author: Loren Chen (Page 5 of 9)

Miami Is Seriously Heating Up (Power Rankings: Feb. 6, 2017 Edition)

NBA Reacts to Muslim Ban; Loren’s Jeopardy Run

KL Chouinard: Hawks “Have a Shot Against Cleveland”

Chris Reichert: NBA Teams “Looking for Rotational Role Players” in D-League

All That Amar: Utah Jazz “Think They Definitely Need to Win Now”

Hawks Grounded, While Giannis and the Bucks Soar (Power Rankings: Dec. 9, 2016 Edition)

Ashish Mathur: “Jimmy (Butler) Establishing Himself as (Bulls’) New Alpha”

Knicks, Pelicans, Grizzlies and Celtics Vault Up the List (Power Rankings: Nov. 25, 2016 Edition)

Kristaps Porzingis Transforms Into a New Yorker & A Cuban Odyssey With Adena Andrews

Jake Fischer: 76ers’ Joel Embiid Is the “Pillar This Team Needed”

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