Bulls rumors: Nate Robinson unlikely to return
The Chicago Bulls signed guard Nate Robinson to a one-year free agent contract for the league minimum prior to last season. Robinson developed into a consistent scorer and shot creator for Chicago, and he became a fan favorite. While Robinson has said he’d like to return with the Bulls, and the team isn’t ruling anything out, Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago believes that the undersized scorer is likely to be playing elsewhere next season.With Derrick Rose missing the season due to injury and Kirk Hinrich also plagued by several different ailments throughout the year, Robinson became one of the Bulls’ top scoring options. He turned in his best season, showcasing his abilities into the playoffs.Considering the Bulls expect to get Rose and Hinrich back healthy next season, and with up-and-comer Marquis Teague on the roster, Sam believes it will be hard for Chicago to fit Robinson in.Beyond making room on the roster, Robinson’s performance will command more of a commitment than one-year at the minimum. Consi
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LeBron James Mocked by Nate Robinson for Flopping After Shove From Nazr Mohammed (Video)
Apparently Nate Robinson and Tom Thibodeau don’t think Nazr Mohammed is strong enough to shove LeBron James 15 feet backwards.
The Bulls guard and coach thought that James was flopping when Mohammed got ejected from Game 3 of the Bulls-Heat playoff series. Mohammed gave James a hard foul as the Heat star was dribbling up the court. James then reacted by throwing Mohammed to the ground. Mohammed got up and shoved James, triggering the ejection.
“You see LeBron in a lot of commercials,” Robinson told Yahoo! Sports. “A lot of good acting.”
Thibodeau was more straightforward in saying that he saw James flop. The Heat went on to win Friday night’s game 104-94. Miami leads the series 2-1.
Decide for yourself whether James was flopping or not in the video below.
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Nate Robinson blocks LeBron James shot from behind (Video)
Chicago Bulls guard Nate Robinson, who only stands 5-foot-9, continued his amazing level of play during Friday night’s playoff game against the Miami Heat when he blocked a shot by LeBron James from behind in the third quarter.
Robinson had 17 points and 7 assists, and even grabbed 6 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Heat won the game 104-94 to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
H/T Sports Grid.
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Nate Robinson blocks LeBron James layup
After blocking Yao Ming when he was a member of the New York Knicks, Nate Robinson already proved that his short stature doesn’t mean he can’t swat an opponent. Watch as Nate chases down a LeBron James lay-up attempt in game three of the Heat/Bulls second round playoff series:
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Is Nate McMillan the Right Choice for Detroit Pistons’ Next Coach?
With Phil Jackson on board as a consultant, the Detroit Pistons and general manager Joe Dumars are searching for their next head coach. And they have already interviewed the man who is the best fit for the job, Nate McMillan.
McMillan, the former Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers head coach, last coached in the NBA in 2012. Much like the situation he would be coming into in Detroit, McMillan has been part of a successful rebuilding process.
He has taken five teams to the playoffs, and has been an assistant coach on two U.S. Olympic teams. His previous coaching experience is just what the Pistons should be looking for in their next head coach.
Rebuilding Experience
In 2005, McMillan took over a Blazers team that was in the midst of a massive overhaul. They won just 21 games during his first season with the team, the fewest in the NBA.
With McMillan’s coaching stability and an influx of young talent, the Blazers steadily improved. They won 32 games in 2006-07, 41 in 07-08 and 54 in 08-09.
He was able to have that success by improving them incrementally each season. The 05-06 Blazers ranked dead-last in offensive rating but they improved in each of the next three seasons. They went from 20th (2006-07) to 14th (2007-08) to the top-rated offense in 2008-09. Their defensive rating improved each season as well, as they jumped from 28th to 13th over that same span.
The current Pistons are further along in the rebuilding process than the Blazers roster that McMillan joined, but they are eerily similar to the 06-07 ‘Blazers:
2006-07 Blazers (32-50)
- 94.1 points per game (29th)
- 98.4 points against (14th)
- 105.1 offensive rating (20th)
- 109.9 defensive rating (26th)
2012-13 Pistons (29-53)
- 94.9 points per game (22nd)
- 98.8 points against (18th)
- 103.8 offensive rating (21st)
- 108.1 defensive rating (24th)
This doesn’t mean that McMillan would take the Pistons and turn them into a .500 team next season. He did have Brandon Roy’s fantastic rookie season helping him out in Portland.
However, it does show that McMillan has been previously successful in a situation much like the Pistons’ current one. And while they likely won’t find the next Roy this summer, they will have a lottery pick and cap space to improve their roster.
Young Rosters
Like most teams in a rebuilding process, McMillan coached a very young group of players in his first few years in Portland. What he did that was most impressive was to develop that young core into a winning team.
In the 2008-09 season, McMillan won 54 games with a roster that had no player over 30 that played more than 35 minutes all season. Of the 11 players who played significant minutes, only three were even 25 years old.
The Pistons are in a position to be just like that Blazers team. Their best player, Greg Monroe, is just 22. Their past two lottery picks, Andre Drummond and Brandon Knight, are 19 and 21, respectively. Whoever they draft in June will make a fourth core player 22 or younger.
McMillan’s success with an extremely young group of players, and his willingness to play them, makes him a unique candidate.
Slow Pace
With Monroe and Drummond, the Pistons have one of the best young frontcourt duos in the NBA. As they continue to develop, their size will be a major advantage over a majority of the NBA, especially as many teams experiment with small-ball lineups.
That being said, the Pistons will need to maximize that advantage as much as possible. Running a slow-paced offense through the post will fit them best; the Pistons won’t win many track meets as presently assembled.
McMillan often ran his offense through a young LaMarcus Aldridge with the Blazers, and they had the most efficient offense in the NBA in 08-09.
In fact, the Blazers were among the three slowest-playing teams in the league each season McMillan coached in Portland.
As long as Monroe and Drummond are in Detroit, they will need a coach that is willing to play at a slow pace. Other teams with great big-man duos, such as Memphis, Indiana and Chicago, are all among the slowest-playing in the league.
Olympic Experience
McMillan has been an assistant for the U.S. Olympic basketball team under Mike Krzyzewski since 2006, now having coached in the last two Olympics.
Not only will that experience be extremely valuable to him in his growth as a coach, but it could make the Pistons a more attractive destination for top free agents.
This doesn’t mean that LeBron James will be rushing to sign in Detroit next summer, but there were almost 40 players on the U.S. Olympic roster from 2010-12. This summer there are several players the Pistons could target in free agency that have played for the U.S., including Andre Iguodala, O.J. Mayo and Tyreke Evans.
Whether it is this summer or in the future, McMillan’s Olympic relationships could help the Pistons bring in a major free agent. His coaching, coupled with a young and talented roster, would make Detroit a fairly attractive place to play basketball.
McMillan has more experience than any other prospective coach who has interviewed with the Pistons, and he is the only one to have successfully undergone a rebuilding process. His style of basketball would fit the Pistons very well, and he has proven to be successful in the NBA before.
The Pistons need to not over-think their coaching search and offer Nate McMillan a contract, before another organization beats them to it.
*All statistics via basketball-reference.com, unless otherwise noted.
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Nate Robinson’s ‘We are all watching’ spot
One of the best feel-good stories of this years playoffs has been the outstanding the play of Chicago Bulls point guard Nate Robinson, a guy who makes up with heart what he lacks in height. Robinson is one of the most prolific scorers in this league when he gets hot, and can make shots from literally anywhere on the floor, and probably thinks he’s better than he actually is. The league has taken notice of Robinson’s play as well, starring him in one of their ‘We are all watching’ commercials for the NBA playoffs. Here is the commercial courtesy of the NBA and Yahoo! Sports: By: Frank Santos The post WATCH: Nate Robinson’s ‘We are all watching’ commercial appeared first on Pass The Pill – Kings of Hoops.
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Chicago Bulls’ Nate Robinson Stars in NBA’s Latest ‘Now Is Big’ Ad
Brace yourselves, Brooklyn Nets fans; Nate Robinson‘s late-game explosion in Game 4 of the Chicago Bulls‘ first-round playoff series against the Nets has been immortalized in the latest “We Are Watching” spot from the NBA.
As if the pain of seeing a pint-sized backup torch your team to the tune of 23 fourth-quarter points (and a go-ahead bucket in the first overtime) weren’t enough, now the sequence will be replayed in the form of a 30-second ad for time immemorial.
Based on the commercial, though, it appears that Brooklyn is the only place on Earth where people aren’t interested in watching Robinson. As the camera jumps around the globe, the rest of the world is riveted, glued to TV sets in kitchens and restaurants and coaches’ offices for the final minutes of Game 4.
And if Twitter is any guide, everyone on the planet really was watching Robinson’s outburst with rapt attention. Some folks got a little hyperbolic in their praise for what the Bulls guard was doing, but after the dust had settled from Robinson’s 34-point night, it seemed like all of the superlatives were justified.
Hope everyone is watching this double OT Nets-Bulls game. Steve Kerr is ready to anoint Nate Robinson the next Jordan.
— SportsonEarth (@SportsonEarth) April 27, 2013
Not only were folks scrambling to compare Robinson to some of the game’s all-time greats, others were also in the process of making him a lifelong enemy.
It’s been fun watching Nets fans come to the realization that they hate the sight of Nate Robinson.
— netw3rk (@netw3rk) May 3, 2013
Finally, it’s hard to know if one of the NBA’s current greats was watching the whole thing, but even some of LeBron James‘ subsequently stellar moments are now being measured against the Robinson’s commercial-worthy scoring binge.
LeBron must’ve been watching Nate Robinson tapes.
— BullsBlogger (@BullsBlogger) May 8, 2013
One has to wonder, though: Where’s the love for Joe Johnson, who tied the game up after Robinson’s improbable running banker? And when does Stephen Curry, he of the 22-point quarter, get his due?
We’re all definitely watching, and with so many stunning individual performances in these playoffs, it’s been a little hard to keep track of everything. Not that that’s a bad thing.
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Fearless Nate Robinson is key to Bulls’ impressive run
Robinson was at the center of Chicago’s series win vs. the Nets and its win in Miami.
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LeBron James: Don’t be surprised if I guard Nate Robinson
Don’t be surprised if Miami Heat star LeBron James is matched up against Chicago Bulls guard Nate Robinson in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Wednesday in Miami. Robinson scored a game-high 27 points in the Bulls’ Game 1 victory Monday night.
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LeBron James bloodies Nate Robinson’s lip
Video: Bull win Game 1 in South Beach
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