Attentively bringing the National Basketball Association to you

Tag: Dwane Casey

James Edwards III: Griffin, “Gritty, In Your Face, Bruising” Embodies Pistons’ Identity

Reggie Jackson has one year remaining on a five-year, $80 million contract before he hits unrestricted free agency (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

With the Detroit Pistons closing in on their first playoff appearance in three seasons, The Athletic’s James Edwards III joins the show. Among a number of timely Pistons topics he broaches, Edwards breaks down the Pistons’ chances of maintaining their playoff position and their shot of staging a first-round upset. He also looks ahead to the consequential offseason looming for the franchise. If it somehow misses the playoffs, could Detroit elect to blow it all up and rebuild from the ground up?

*Due to dynamic advertising, excerpt time stamps may vary per listener

According to James, the Pistons are all in on Griffin, but that sentiment could change in a hurry (10:23-11:07):
“They love him. The city loves him. I really, truly believe that he likes playing in Detroit. He likes this challenge of building an organization up and trying to get it to a height it wasn’t at before his arrival. But with that said, I would not be surprised if this team misses the playoffs…with those three guys [Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson and Griffin] being relatively healthy, I think that says a lot. And I would not be surprised if they capitalize on how good Blake has been, and they finally begin a rebuild and they try to trade him.”
Continue reading

“It’s a Terrible (Eastern) Conference” With Kelly Dwyer

Kelly Dwyer of The Second Arrangement does not shy away from offering his honest opinion about the Eastern Conference this season.


Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

In the wake of LeBron James’ departure, Kelly Dwyer discusses his Eastern favorites and why the conference is overall so bad. The online basketball writing pioneer who wrote for Yahoo!‘s Ball Don’t Lie blog for nearly a decade, among multiple notable gigs, is currently shining for The Second Arrangement, a project to which you can subscribe for as low as $5 per month.

Timing will vary due to dynamic advertising, but here are the approximate time stamps of some of our favorite clips (so many good ones to choose from):

7:29-7:39 on the Boston Celtics’ immense depth: “There’s so many arms on this monster that this could be something that lasts for a while, that really eases Kyrie [Irving] into his drop-off years.” Continue reading

Blake Murphy: “Raptors Will Be Measured By What They Do Against Cleveland”

Blake Murphy interviews second-year Raptors guard Delon Wright.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

O Canada! Our home and native land! Blake Murphy, who writes about the Raptors for ESPN TrueHoop’s Raptors Republic and The Athletic among other sites, joins the podcast to share his knowledge on team topics such as how trade deadline acquisitions Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker enhance lineup flexibility and the irony of Jonas Valanciunas’ situation in that the better he plays seemingly the less chance he has of sticking around next season. Among other salient team-centric subjects, Murphy addresses how Kyle Lowry could have better handled his controversial wrist injury. Unfortunately, this episode does not come with universal healthcare, but here are some soothing excerpts to help alleviate those pains of yours. Plus, preexisting conditions do not preclude you from enjoying:

4:21-5:09 on Serge Ibaka’s fit with the Raptors:

“He’s had a nice positive impact. The 3-point shooting, he’s knocking down 40 percent of his shots on 4.5 looks per game. The best thing for the Raptors is that most of them have been above the break. Normally the Raptors get a lot of corner shooting, especially from their power forward position, but as Ibaka has played some center, he’s given them a nice pop threat, which is a different wrinkle for guys like DeRozan, and when he’s back, Lowry to use. The Raptors defense has been much much better since the trade deadline. They’re seventh in the NBA in Defensive Rating over the last 10 games. That’s not all owing to Ibaka, but he’s been a nice rim-protecting presence…Ibaka’s seeing a lot of time at center and in close games they’re closing with Ibaka [there].”

Continue reading

Holly Mackenzie: Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan’s “Been Crazy at Driving to the Basket”

Holly Mackenzie (right) interviewing Raptor's shooting guard DeMar DeRozan after a USA Basketball practice. (@stackmack/Instagram)

Holly Mackenzie interviews Raptors shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, who is leading the league in drives to the basket this season (@stackmack/Instagram).

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

Toronto will be hosting the NBA’s All-Star Weekend this season, and the timing could not be better. Just a tad more than 20 years since NBA basketball came to Toronto, the Raptors find themselves in second place in a competitive Eastern Conference. DeMar DeRozan is playing the most efficient basketball of his career, while his BFF, Kyle Lowry, is similarly turning in an All-Star-caliber season. We have the pleasure of being joined by the talented Holly MacKenzie, who expertly explains why life is so good in Toronto these days. Holly writes for Raptors.com, among many other outlets.

Some scintillating excerpts can be found below:

9:35-10:50: “Everything starts with [Kyle Lowry]. He does so much for them and the way that he plays, he’s such a competitive guy, it’s hard to not feed off of that… It’s cool to see his growth as a player, but also as a leader from when he came here to now. Seeing him know his teammates and learn how each guy can be motivated, watching him learn how to do that has been really cool to watch because you see the impact on the floor and you also see it within the locker room.”

Continue reading

© 2024 On The NBA Beat

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑