JEFF HORNACEK has been fired by the Phoenix Suns, effective immediately. After leading a middle-of-the-pack roster to a surprising 48-34 mark in his inaugural 2013-14 season as head coach, Hornacek finished an average 39-43 last season, and was only 14-35 this season (0.286) at the time of his firing. Even with the Western Conference in decline, Phoenix clearly failed to capitalize, especially due to the season-ending injury of PG Brandon Knight and the turmoil still surrounding PF/SF Markieff Morris, who has been disgruntled (to say the least) ever since the front office traded away his brother, Marcus, to Detroit. Phoenix allegedly had “strong interest” in legendary floor general Steve Nash for their vacant HC role, but Nash is “not ready for a full-time head coaching role.” According to sources, don’t be surprised if GM Ryan McDonough makes a run at the coveted Luke Walton, who went 39-4 with the Warriors this season as a fill-in for Steve Kerr. The Suns promoted assistant coach Earl Watson to interim head coach for the time being.
ONE HECK OF A WEDNESDAY. February 3rd was arguably the most impressive day of basketball we have seen this season thus far. In the Magic-Thunder game alone, PG/SG Russell Westbrook had 24 points, 19 rebounds, and 14 assists, while SG Victor Oladipo for Orlando had 37 points. Tied at 114, Thunder PF Serge Ibaka blocked Oladipo’s potentially game-winning layup with seconds left, and SF Kevin Durant hit the decisive three-pointer (as part of his 37 points) with just 0.5 seconds remaining. What a game.
And then of course we have the Warriors-Wizards game, which was a blowout, but certainly the best blowout I’ve ever seen. Of course the whole conversation starts and ends with PG Stephen Curry, who had 51 points and 7 assists as part of Golden State’s 134-121 victory. His counterpart, Wizards PG John Wall, was no slouch either, dropping 41 points and 10 assists in the loss. SF/PF Draymond Green posted his 10th triple-double (could we call it a quadruple-double since it’s his tenth?) of the season as well, with 12 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks too for good measure.
For the record, Draymond and Westbrook now have a combined 18 triple-doubles. The rest of the league also has a combined 18 triple-doubles.
TRADE RUMORS are once again circulating like crazy. And guessing the man in the middle of it all would only take a guess or two: Celtics GM Danny Ainge. Ainge has a plethora of trade assets at his disposal, and has reportedly inquired, unsuccessfully, about Nuggets SF Danilo Gallinari and Rockets C Dwight Howard, but the asking price is steep for both stars.
The Bucks have also reportedly put PF/C Greg Monroe and PG/SG Michael Carter-Williams on the trade block, although GM John Hammond said that he “can’t imagine life without” Monroe.
The Pistons and Nets may also have mutual interest regarding Detroit PG Brandon Jennings, who has averaged 6.9 points and 3.3 assists on a dismal 36.6% shooting in just 14 minutes per game in the 20 games he has played since returning from an achilles injury. The starting point guard role is clearly Reggie Jackson’s in Detroit, which would make Jennings a perfect buy-low target for a team like Brooklyn, although Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy calls the trade rumors “made-up sh*t”.
ADAM SILVER has changed his stance on the “Hack-A” issue. Before this season, the Commissioner put the onus on the players, stating that “a guy’s got to be able to make his free throws” if fouled intentionally. But now, after 69% of the 300 intentional fouls committed this season were against just three players: DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, and Dwight Howard, Silver has changed his mind: “I'm increasingly of the view that we will be looking to make some sort of change in that rule this summer… It's just not the way we want to see the game played." Drummond, for instance, set an NBA record by missing 23 free throws out of his 36 attempts. But super-duper-mega star LeBron James disagrees with Silver: "If that's a part of the game and you have a guy that is a bad free throw shooter and you put him on the line, that's a part of strategy.” No matter your stance on the issue, it’s quite ridiculous that your 10-year-old child can make a higher percentage of their free throws than someone making $20 million per year.
ONE HECK OF A WEDNESDAY. February 3rd was arguably the most impressive day of basketball we have seen this season thus far. In the Magic-Thunder game alone, PG/SG Russell Westbrook had 24 points, 19 rebounds, and 14 assists, while SG Victor Oladipo for Orlando had 37 points. Tied at 114, Thunder PF Serge Ibaka blocked Oladipo’s potentially game-winning layup with seconds left, and SF Kevin Durant hit the decisive three-pointer (as part of his 37 points) with just 0.5 seconds remaining. What a game.
And then of course we have the Warriors-Wizards game, which was a blowout, but certainly the best blowout I’ve ever seen. Of course the whole conversation starts and ends with PG Stephen Curry, who had 51 points and 7 assists as part of Golden State’s 134-121 victory. His counterpart, Wizards PG John Wall, was no slouch either, dropping 41 points and 10 assists in the loss. SF/PF Draymond Green posted his 10th triple-double (could we call it a quadruple-double since it’s his tenth?) of the season as well, with 12 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks too for good measure.
For the record, Draymond and Westbrook now have a combined 18 triple-doubles. The rest of the league also has a combined 18 triple-doubles.
TRADE RUMORS are once again circulating like crazy. And guessing the man in the middle of it all would only take a guess or two: Celtics GM Danny Ainge. Ainge has a plethora of trade assets at his disposal, and has reportedly inquired, unsuccessfully, about Nuggets SF Danilo Gallinari and Rockets C Dwight Howard, but the asking price is steep for both stars.
The Bucks have also reportedly put PF/C Greg Monroe and PG/SG Michael Carter-Williams on the trade block, although GM John Hammond said that he “can’t imagine life without” Monroe.
The Pistons and Nets may also have mutual interest regarding Detroit PG Brandon Jennings, who has averaged 6.9 points and 3.3 assists on a dismal 36.6% shooting in just 14 minutes per game in the 20 games he has played since returning from an achilles injury. The starting point guard role is clearly Reggie Jackson’s in Detroit, which would make Jennings a perfect buy-low target for a team like Brooklyn, although Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy calls the trade rumors “made-up sh*t”.
ADAM SILVER has changed his stance on the “Hack-A” issue. Before this season, the Commissioner put the onus on the players, stating that “a guy’s got to be able to make his free throws” if fouled intentionally. But now, after 69% of the 300 intentional fouls committed this season were against just three players: DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, and Dwight Howard, Silver has changed his mind: “I'm increasingly of the view that we will be looking to make some sort of change in that rule this summer… It's just not the way we want to see the game played." Drummond, for instance, set an NBA record by missing 23 free throws out of his 36 attempts. But super-duper-mega star LeBron James disagrees with Silver: "If that's a part of the game and you have a guy that is a bad free throw shooter and you put him on the line, that's a part of strategy.” No matter your stance on the issue, it’s quite ridiculous that your 10-year-old child can make a higher percentage of their free throws than someone making $20 million per year.
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