The 10-man rotation, starring the way Shaun Livingston sees things
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: The Brooklyn Game. Really good stuff from Devin Kharpertian, who sat down with somewhat surprising Brooklyn Nets glue guy Shaun Livingston for an in-depth chat about matters on-court (what he sees when working in the pick-and-roll and in Brooklyn's long-armed, switch-heavy defensive schemes) and off-court (growing up as a biracial boy in Illinois, moving between private and public schools, etc.).
PF: Hardwood Paroxysm. This year's Phoenix Suns have been a thrilling, phenomenally surprising success story borne of smart front-office decision-making, a home-run coaching hire and career years from several key contributors. Who among this year's also-rans might be the next NBA team to make such a leap? Scott Rafferty's got one prospect pegged.
SF: The Morning Tip. This week, David Aldridge's always filled-to-overflowing column features (among other things) a really good read on Kevin Durant's relationship with Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Brian Keefe and a thoughtful take on Kobe Bryant's comments about race in The New Yorker.
SG: The Oregonian. Dorell Wright, it seems, is a really superstitious dude with a litany of rigid pre-game routines. No wonder Mo Williams' new haircut threw him for such a loop at first.
PG: Grizzly Bear Blues. The Memphis Grizzlies haven't chosen international players in the draft very often in their history, but it might make sense for them to start taking a longer look overseas in the years ahead … and, as a matter of fact, they might have already started doing so.
6th: The Toronto Star. Writing off a weird Toronto Raptors road win in Orlando, Cathal Kelly comes up with an extraordinarily narrowly tailored TV show pitch: "Let’s crowd-fund a TV show about [Landry] Fields, [Steve] Novak and [Julyan] Stone living together in a loft, playing basketball and solving crimes." I mean, I might not watch it "on a loop," as Kelly would, but I'd definitely give it at least an episode or two to find itself.
7th: The Boston Globe. Baxter Holmes offers some insight into how the Boston Celtics use analytics, the ways in which front-office thinking about stuff like the SportVU cameras differ from the way some writers and fans might think about them, and more.
8th: Sunday Shootaround. Paul Flannery comes in praise of Amir Johnson, who "gets 11 points and 7 rebounds a night, while taking whatever defensive assignment [head coach Dwane] Casey has for him," and is everybody's favorite Toronto Raptor … including, it seems, every member of the Toronto Raptors. (That he was the one who punched Toronto's postseason ticket on Friday seemed just about perfect.)
9th: The Wall Street Journal. Chris Herring takes a throwaway comment made during the height of Phil Jackson-to-the-New York Knicks hysteria and turns it into a very fun read on how, and why, Carmelo Anthony learned to play chess.
10th: ProBasketballTalk. Dan Feldman on the strong recent play of Minnesota Timberwolves rookie center Gorgui Dieng, and the options it might give the Wolves in terms of upgrading their roster … provided, of course, Flip Saunders and company feel confident that the Louisville product's late-season surge is the real deal.
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is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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