2009 NBA Training Camp predictions, revisited
October 29th, 2009

At the start of the month, over the course of three posts united by the overused theme of Alec Baldwin’s monologue from Glengarry Glen Ross, I attempted to analyse and predict the training camp rosters of every team in the NBA.

For the hell of it, here’s the monologue again:

Preseason is now over, and rosters have been set. Here are my predictions again, along with a depressing look at their whimpering inaccuracy and some half-baked excuses for my own …

Posted by at 9:42 PM

The Purpose Of Waiving Deron Washington Was….I Don’t Know.
October 27th, 2009

Yesterday, the Detroit Pistons waived 2008 second-round draft pick and flopper extraordinaire, Deron Washington. They had initially signed him back in August to be their 14th and last man, giving him a two-year minimum salary deal with $250,000 guaranteed in the first season. Yet after bringing in Chucky Atkins on an unguaranteed one-year deal for training camp (a move that they won’t have foreseen prior to the Washington signing), the Pistons began to feel that Atkins was more deserving …

Posted by at 9:14 AM

Sam Presti’s Survival Strategy In A Post-Apocalpytic Dystopian Nightmare
October 26th, 2009

Simple question: Did the tough economic climate affect NBA team’s spending plans as much as MSM scaremongers would have you believe?

Not-so-simple answer: Kind of.

This summer saw a team that could have had nearly eight figures of cap room opt not to use any of it. The Oklahoma City Thunder did pretty much nothing with their offseason once draft day was completed, and having won a total of 23 games last year, it’s justifiable to ask why that was. …

Posted by at 12:35 AM

Second prize is a set of steak knives.
October 7th, 2009

Continuing the round-up of training camp invites.

 

Milwaukee played the training camp game in the spirit that it deserves…..briefly. They initially announced three signings; former Marquette point guard Domimic James, D-League big man Marcus Hubbard and former Temple guard Mark Tyndale, and they later added veteran big man Charles Gaines to that line-up. However, all four have already been waived, because I took too long to write this. Still, for the sake of consistency, we’ll give …

Posted by at 12:51 AM

Third prize is you’re fired.
October 7th, 2009

Continuing the round-up of training camp invites.

 

Phoenix are going to run with 13 players, because they always run with 13 players. And they already had 13 players before training camp started, so the prospects of their signings were slim to none before they even started. Regardless, the Suns brought in three more, just in case; Carlos Powell, Dan Dickau and Raymond Sykes.

Dickau joins one of the few teams that he hadn’t previously on. For …

Posted by at 12:26 AM

As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado
October 4th, 2009

Training camp. Love it.

Ever since I grew up with a mild addiction to the Championship Manager series of computer games, I have nurtured a mild fascination for transactions in sports. I know it’s not healthy, but I also know I’m not alone. It might be harsh on the players involved, but it’s always fun to us hardened losers when players change teams. It gives us something to think about, something to analyse, and something to find important. Judging …

Posted by at 8:09 PM