The 10-man rotation, starring Russell Westbrook, who burned bright and faded away
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: GQ, Triangle Offense and Grantland. Bethlehem Shoals, Russ Bengtson and Brian Phillips bid a fond farewell to Russell Westbrook’s almost literally unbelievable 2014-15 season, and sing songs of praise for the man himself.
PF: Mavs Moneyball. Josh Boweman on Dirk Nowitzki’s recent uptick in shooting form, the possibility of the Dallas Mavericks getting “vengeful, angry playoff god-mode Dirk” in Round 1, and the importance of responsibly embracing one’s “magical wizard powers” as a fan.
SF: Hang Time. John Schuhmann on the Washington Wizards showing a new wrinkle in their Game 1 win over the Toronto Raptors, and the likelihood that Randy Wittman will keep running Paul Pierce out at the four in Game 2.
SG: Sports on Earth. Michael Pina wonders whether, at the tender age of 30 and still capable of cooking just about any defender one-on-one in the post, the sun has set on Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson: “Not everybody’s cut out for an uptempo NBA.”
PG: Sunday Shootaround. A couple of days late on this, but I liked Paul Flannery’s summation of one of the dominant storylines of the past six months, and the postscript to be written in the next two: “Through it all, pace and space has defined the 2014-15 season. The stars, however, will ultimately decide its fate.”
6th: Eye on Basketball. Good stuff from James Herbert on DeMar DeRozan’s rise from quiet, unassuming rookie to the Toronto Raptors’ All-Star leader.
7th: The Cauldron. Ian Levy takes a stat-centric, process-over-results look under the hood of what Sam Hinkie and Brett Brown are trying to build with the Philadelphia 76ers — “a high-functioning offensive system based on pace, movement and efficient shot selection, the very things that have helped push the Spurs, Warriors and Hawks towards the top of the league” — and finds that they’re further along than you might think.
8th: Bleacher Report. Howard Beck considers the vagueness surrounding the phrase “Most Valuable Player” and the issues that can arise among media members, fans, players, coaches and executives — everybody, really — when debating differing definitions of the distinction.
9th: The Syracuse Post-Standard and The New York Times. After winning the 1955 NBA championship, the members of the Syracuse Nationals got only championship ice buckets to commemorate their victory. Last week, the surviving members of the team received proper championship rings, thanks to an AHL hockey team. Pretty cool.
10th: The Sporting News. Sean Deveney thinks the NBA should offer refunds to fans who buy tickets for games that key players miss because their coaches want to manage their minutes and get them nights off every now and again. This strikes me as a worthily populist idea that would raise some thorny supplementary issues and, as a result, has next to no chance of actually happening. It’s a neat thought, though.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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