Michael Collins

Starting Five: Trade Talk

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Each week NBA Australia‘s stable of experts, which includes Downtown’s Liam Santamaria and Michael Collins, takes a close look at the big issues in the NBA. With the flurry of player movement over the past seven days, the Starting Five take a moment to digest everything that went down.   Liam Santamaria: Brandan Wright to the Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are serious about making the… Read more →

American Sniper: Why Kyle Korver is One of the Best Shooting Guards in the NBA

American Sniper: Why Kyle Korver is One of the Best Shooting Guards in the NBA

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The NBA tosses up a wealth of narratives for sports fans to embrace or ruthlessly reject every year. Are the Spurs too old? Is LeBron clutch? Who are the top-five players in each position? Could Iggy Azalea really be more popular than James Harden? But sometimes there’s a truth laced between the twitter dribble and narrative play. One of those… Read more →

Starting Five: New Year’s Resolutions

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Each week NBA Australia‘s stable of NBA experts, which includes Downtown’s Liam Santamaria and Michael Collins, takes a close look at the big issues in the NBA. With 2015 upon us, the Starting Five offer their suggestions for change in the new year.   Liam Santamaria: Give the keys to Marcus Smart One of my hopes for the New Year – other than world peace… Read more →

Why Nicolas Batum Holds the Key for Portland

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The Portland Trailblazers, even with the NBA’s second best record, seem to be consistently overlooked in the Western Conference bloodbath. The Blazers flow beautifully on offense while maintaining a serviceable defense by mostly running opponents off the three-point line. LaMarcus Aldridge is a nightmare from anywhere inside the arc and Damian Lillard is a cold-blooded killer. But they also launch… Read more →

Car Trouble: Just How Bad are the Detroit Pistons?

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For a moment it seemed like the skies were clearing in Detroit. The Lions finally flipped the bird to hothead Jim Schwartz, Eminem was back to singling out women and the Pistons nabbed Stan Van Gundy as its Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations. Van Gundy’s arrival was, in particular, the most holy signature in Detroit sports. He was… Read more →

There's Only One Ball

There’s Only One Ball

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The Phoenix Suns are a three-headed snake entangled in the playoff mix. Over the offseason, the Suns upgraded their bench while styling continuity, a renewed NBA buzzword, and Alex Len hasn’t been a disaster! So then, what’s the Suns’ problem?  Well, there’s only one ball and three point guards. And with Isaiah Thomas set to return to the Phoenix Suns… Read more →

Trending

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Nearly four weeks into the NBA season and a sprinkle of questions remain unanswered. I can’t believe I once doubted if the season would be fun following injuries to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. If anything, those injuries have only added further intrigue and unpredictability to the season’s early goings as we try to decipher what to believe in. So,… Read more →

The Odd Couple

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Gordie McLeod is one of the most revered coaches across the entire Australian sporting landscape. The skinny-as-a-goal-post former point guard has made a rare habit of producing more with less on the basketball court.  He’s like that one university lecturer who inspires you to attend every optional tutorial. On the other end of the odd couple couch sits Gary Ervin;… Read more →

Could the Entire Southwest Division Make the Playoffs?

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It’s that time of year again where we make irrational assumptions from an absurdly small sample of games. Herein lie a few: DJ Augustin should start over Brandon Jennings, Philly won’t exceed five wins this season and the Knicks are relevant again! If we comb through the new rosters and consider the implications of Oklahoma’s injury epidemic, some truth can… Read more →

The Difference Maker

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Scottie Wilbekin has been dubbed many things in his basketball journey. He’s WilBuckets, a leader, an underrated talent, a coach’s son, SEC Player of the Year, First-Team All-American and a winner. But a true difference-maker? Well, he wasn’t thought of as that in June when he went undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft. Recent rule changes in the NBL have… Read more →