Articles by Mat Issa (119)
The 2019-20 NBA Season may be the craziest year in the league’s history. The reason for this is that the league shut down on March 11, 2020, over safety concerns caused by the COVID-19 virus. It remained this way for nearly four months until the NBA resumed play in Orlando, Florida, in what is now […]
The Dallas Mavericks were one of the most active teams during the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline. One of those moves involved parting ways with Grant Williams (and a lightly protected first round pick) in exchange for PJ Washington. It’s sad to see players go. But at the end of the day, the NBA is a […]
In recent days, much has been made about Usher and his rock-solid performance in Super Bowl LVIII (before you try to Google search it, “LVIII” is number 58). Particularly, the fact that Usher orchestrated his fantastic Super Bowl halftime show for free. But Usher isn’t hurting for money, especially with how great his bet on […]
Throughout his career, Dallas Mavericks’ superstar Luka Doncic has been praised as an offensive prodigy. Unfortunately, also during that stretch, he’s been downgraded and (sometimes) harshly criticized for his effort on the other side of the ball. However, this season, Doncic has put up arguably his best season to date, and there are some convincing […]
Key Highlights: In the playoffs, depth increases your floor. But to unlock that championship ceiling, you need your own version of the “Death Lineup.” 18 of the last 20 NBA Champions have had a regular season lineup featuring most/all of their best players, that has played at least 300 non-garbage time possessions together, and posted […]
Key Highlights: The Boston Celtics are a great team, but they need to add some more physicality to increase their chances at a title Isaiah Stewart gives them the physicality they need, at a price that they can afford Boston has the kind of team that can mask Stewart’s weaknesses As we get close to […]
Key Highlights: Basketball, like all aspects of life, is cyclical. And as a result, trends are constantly going in and out of style The giant centers we see in the 1990s/2000s were dying down in the 2010s, but it seems like they are making a comeback In the 1990s/2000s (and today) the best centers are […]
Key Highlights: In sports, we use archetypes to help us understand player skill sets, but sometimes, those categorizations can be overly simplistic Jarrett Allen’s skillset goes beyond that of conventional norms for traditional centers Jarrett Allen is a better scorer, passer, and switch big than other traditional centers In sports, we use archetypes to group […]
Key Highlights: When analyzing a trade, you need to look at it from an on-court and asset perspective Terry Rozier is a great on-court fit for what the Miami Heat need The Heat may have paid less than they needed to here (depending on when the pick ends up conveying) Terry Rozier is now a […]
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson is balling. On the season, Brunson is averaging 26.5 PPG and 6.5 APG (both career highs), and there is a good chance he’ll be selected to his first-ever All-Star game in the next couple of weeks (as of January 18th, he ranked sixth among Eastern Conference guards in fan votes). However, Brunson’s […]