I can’t remember the last time I had so much difficulty picking All-Defensive Teams. It’s quite the paradox that in the league’s best-ever offensive season,…
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Michael Shearer
Michael Shearer is an NBA obsessive who writes to answer the questions he has about the league. You can follow him @bballispoetry. He also is a contributing writer for Fansided at Hoops Habit and writes a free NBA analytical newsletter at basketballpoetry.com that goes out every Tuesday and Friday.
The All-Poetry Teams: Who have I enjoyed watching the most this season?
As we gear up for playoffs and accolades seasons, my content itinerary is quickly filling up. Matchup analysis, All-NBA and All-Defensive teams, individual awards… there’s…
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4 Looming NBA Playoff X-Factors
Josh Okogie, Phoenix Suns Assuming KD can return from injury for the playoffs, the Suns have four locked-in starters and closers: Chris Paul, Devin Booker,…
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Four Dream First-Round Playoff Matchups
With the postseason approaching in 12-ish games, the playoff picture is starting to take some semblance of shape — postmodern art, as opposed to a…
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Five Happy Surprises This Season
1) Shai, ascending Perhaps no player in the NBA has exploded quite like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this season. Already a star before the year began, SGA…
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Are There Too Many Technicals Today?
The NBA does not like it when referees are the topic of discussion. Officials in any sport are at their best when their names never…
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The Wild, Wild, Mediocre West
As of this writing, four teams are tied for the last two play-in spots: the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Portland…
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Can Quin Snyder Save The Hawks?
Sorry, Grant Williams Batman. The Scarecrow is back! After resigning from the Utah head honcho position after last year’s disappointing playoff exit, Snyder took his…
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2023 Third Quarter NBA Awards
We’re back with more awards! As a reminder: these awards are for the third quarter only, which I’m defining as from Jan 10th, 2023, through…
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Four Numbers To Watch Down The NBA’s Stretch Run
19.6 19.6 is the number of midrange (10-19 foot) jumpers that Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Kevin Durant average per game. For reference, only the…
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In Praise of the Washington Wizards
There isn’t a team in the league as quickly dismissed by NBA pundits as the Washington Wizards. Critics snicker at the Wizards’ willingness to forego…
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2023 NBA All-Star Saturday Night Preview: Skills Competition, Three-Point Competition & Dunk Contest Predictions
The rosters are set. Tickets are booked. Controversies are brewing. Weird substitutions are happening. And we’re just talking about the three-point contest! All-Star Saturday is…
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The League’s Wildest Shot Charts in 2022-23
The shot chart is one of the niftiest and most useful tools in basketball analysis. Invented by ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry, a former professor of geography…
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Grading the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline
Remember those halcyon days when it looked like the trade deadline would be chill? “There aren’t enough sellers,” people claimed. Well, it turns out that…
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Who won (and who lost) the Kyrie Irving trade?
We just heard about the Kyrie trade demands on Friday, but the Nets moved swiftly to unload the problematic shooting guard. The Mavericks called and…
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Looking Back At Last Year’s Trade Deadline
Last year’s trade deadline was a doozy, with a massive number of important trades happening all across the league. Even though grading trades when they…
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The New Year Brought Back The Old Gobert
Writing several basketball articles per week, I’ve come to appreciate the finer things in life — like easily sortable statistics. I draw numbers from a…
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NBA All-Star 2023: Eastern Conference Starter & Reserve Picks
The All-Star starters will be released on Thursday, and the coaches will select the reserves shortly after that. Picking All-Star teams every year is a…
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The NBA’s Top Assist Combinations
I’ve been watching a lot of Denver Nuggets basketball recently, and I was struck, once again, by how often Nikola Jokic can find Aaron Gordon…
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How much is Zone Defense used in the NBA in 2022-23?
*Data per Synergy Sports and Cleaning The Glass as of the morning of Jan 17, 2023* About this time last year, I did a deep…
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