Bruno Manrique Articles - Page 192

The Boston Celtics got off to a great start to the Eastern Conference Finals, taking down the Cleveland Cavaliers convincingly 108-83 on Sunday afternoon, but the victors are by no means satisfied with their performance. Following a team effort to limit LeBron James to 15 points and forcing him into coughing up the ball seven […]

The Atlanta Hawks have made their intentions clear. The franchise is soon to undergo a rebuild and Dennis Schroder could look beyond his own team to continue his career, if things don’t point in the right direction. The German international spoke in his native land in front of the national federation, commenting on his future […]

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green won’t buy into the concept of zoning into the Houston Rockets’ ‘Big Three’ of James Harden, Chris Paul, and Clint Capela, but rather look to defend every piece of their offensive puzzle coming into tonight’s series. The Warriors’ defensive engine was asked about his scouting of the Big Three, […]

Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni has developed a special relationship with his superstar James Harden, one perhaps even his own wife; Laurel, his lifetime sounding board, has grown to envy. While Laurel and Mike are married off the court, the marriage between The Beard and the offensive genius has been one of the league’s […]

Golden State Warriors rookie forward Jordan Bell’s approach to basketball changed simply after one heartfelt conversation. Following a 20-point loss to the Indiana Pacers late in the season, a performance coach Steve Kerr had named “pathetic” and “embarrassing” to describe his players’ effort — Bell sat next to Kevin Durant on the plane trip back home, […]

LeBron James’ moment of the day didn’t come on the court on Sunday, but rather off it, reciting a play-by-play of what went wrong throughout a 25-point Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Coming into the eve of Game 1 at the opposite coast, Golden State Warriors head coach […]

The Milwaukee Bucks will interview their leading coaching candidate Mike Budenholzer for the second time on Tuesday, according to Matt Velasquez of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. This interview will allow the Bucks to get a leg up on the Toronto Raptors, who recently fired their head coach Dwane Casey last week. The Raptors have had “opening […]

Despite a star-studded showdown in the Western Conference Finals between the top-seeded Houston Rockets and the defending champion Golden State Warriors, the keys to the outcome will depend on the role players. Clint Capela, who has been a work in progress during the last few seasons, has flourished into a key cog of this high-octane […]

The Golden State Warriors will not have home court advantage for the first time in three years, matched up against the Western Conference’s top-seeded Houston Rockets. But don’t believe this team is wandering unto uncharted waters, having experienced it first-hand in a loss to the L.A. Clippers in the 2014 playoffs. “It was just a […]

The Golden State Warriors have seen a defensive renaissance after the end of the regular season, showing a completely revamped spirit in their first two playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans with a renewed presence. Coming off a season with the most losses since the Steve Kerr era begun […]

The rivalry between Stephen Curry and Chris Paul has been one of the most watched of its kind over the last few years of playoff competition. Formerly a young, up-and-coming star on the rise against a veteran floor general, the roles have changed since, with Curry going from little brother to dominating matchups and even […]

Former Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh is being sued by his mother, Freida Bosh, for taking away her home in DeSoto, Texas, according to The Blast. Freida Bosh is claiming she thought the documents she signed 13 years ago had transferred the deed to the family home to her while removing the name of Noel […]

Former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer has emerged as the leading candidate for the Milwaukee Bucks’ and the Toronto Raptors’ coaching vacancy, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Budenholzer has been the prized gem of the league after he parted ways with the Hawks, no longer presenting a daunting scenario where a team would be […]

Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris thrived when the lights were the brightest, holding postseason leading scorer LeBron James to a playoff-worst 15 points and seven turnovers on Sunday afternoon. Morris has been a willing and skilled defender throughout his NBA career, but upon landing with the Celtics this summer, he finally found the church where […]

Clint Capela is not shy about making his belief in his team known. The Houston Rockets center doubled down on a prior Jan. 20 post-game claim that he believes his team is better after taking down the Golden State Warriors a second time, winning the season series 2-1. Asked if that belief has remained intact, […]

Joel Embiid has been ruffling feathers since coming into the league as a brash, confident big man; but the Philadelphia 76ers center didn’t do himself any favors after leaving right after the final buzzer sounded Wednesday night, spelling the end of the road for the Sixers’ Cinderella season. Joel Embiid very frustrated left the court […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have some crucial decisions to make in the offseason, including the re-signing of some of their key stars. Head coach Alvin Gentry and general managed Dell Demps said the team will like to bring back center DeMarcus Cousins as well as point guard Rajon Rondo this offseason, according to the team. […]

Nick Collison’s recent announcement of his retirement ha spurred a plethora of memories, as one of the few remaining players who have seen the transformation of the Oklahoma City Thunder from the time they were the Seattle SuperSonics. Among those were the three years in which the generational talents of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and […]

Oklahoma City Thunder forward/center Nick Collison announced his retirement on Thursday, closing the chapter on a 15-year NBA career, according to ESPN’s Royce Young. General manager Sam Presti offered a heartfelt farewell to a key cog in the organization via Fred Katz of The Norman Transcript. “Sometimes, in the early phases of an organization’s life […]

The Philadelphia 76ers will have a lot of decisions to make in the offseason, among them, the return of several role players who proved vital to their success this season. J.J. Redick’s one-year, $23 million experiment resulted in the best statistical season of his career, averaging 17.1 points per game in 46 percent from the […]

Kawhi Leonard’s saga has been perhaps one of the most intriguing storylines during this NBA season. Those who still hold faith in the San Antonio Spurs’ reputation of solving issues internally would point to LaMarcus Aldridge, who reportedly was ready to ask for a trade after being mis-utilized by coach Gregg Popovich during his first […]

The Boston Celtics have relied on rookie Jayson Tatum to pick up some of the scoring in the absence of perennial All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving. That reliance hasn’t changed in crunch time, as Brad Stevens has given the Duke product the ultimate green light to make plays down the stretch and even running plays […]

Nearly four months have passed since Clint Capela rode an emotional high after capturing a 2-1 lead over the Golden State Warriors in the regular season series. “We are better than them,” Capela said after scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting in a 116-108 win. The win secured a tie-breaking situation if both teams wound […]

J.J. Redick took a big gamble this past offseason, taking a one-year, $23 million balloon deal to take his sharpshooting talents to the Philadelphia 76ers, a decision that has paid off and translated into his best statistical season to date. “This was probably my favorite year of my career,” said Redick during his exit interview […]

The Houston Rockets will have a full five days to get a game plan together to dethrone the Golden State Warriors before the two teams meet on Monday at the Toyota Center for the start of the Western Conference Finals. Houston big man, Clint Capela, knows it will be a challenged. The center is expecting […]

The San Antonio Spurs might be forced into desperate measures if the franchise can’t come to a mutual understanding with star forward Kawhi Leonard and his representation after a reported fissure between both sides has spelled the start of a brewing battle between the two. Teams around the league are reportedly preparing trade packages in […]

Overachieving in the NBA is no easy task, yet the Philadelphia 76ers have done so this season with a robust 54-28 record in the regular season and a third seed in the East, falling in the second round against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. But for Robert Covington, it’s been the defeats that have […]

In the mass scale of perception, the Philadelphia 76ers have managed to overachieve during the first season of completing The Process, with rookie Ben Simmons and talisman Joel Embiid finally joining forces on the court. A record of 54-28 and a stout third seed in the East was much more than fans had envisioned, showing their […]

The never-ending saga of Kawhi Leonard has planted a seed of doubt on those who thought his impending five-year, $219 million max extension was a foregone conclusion. For some front offices around the league, this season has shown the fissure in a San Antonio Spurs culture that most had deemed bulletproof after two decades’ worth […]

Joakim Noah texted his new coach David Fizdale “congratulations” after he was hired by the New York Knicks, hoping for a new lease on life, but things might not turn out that way for the Hell’s Kitchen native. According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Noah is likely to be stretched-and-waived by the […]

Jayson Tatum’s scoring has taken a huge surge during the postseason, as Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has called upon him to help shoulder the scoring load with the absence of perennial All-Star Kyrie Irving for the rest of the season. The rookie has scored 20 or more points in seven-straight games and now […]

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has yet to back down from any trash talk with his peers, whether it is on the court or over the web. The same applies to the constant heckling he’s received at the TD Garden in Boston, constantly pestered by the taunting from a diehard Celtics fanbase that has taken […]

The Boston Celtics punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second-straight year, which now bodes a reunion between rookie Jayson Tatum and his childhood idol LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yet the nerves of going up against someone he once looked up to will be completely different, now with a task […]

Boston Celtics point guard Terry Rozier showed plenty of mettle going against Eric Bledsoe in the first round of the postseason, but the back-and-forth between them stole the show, despite their spirited play. Oddly enough, former NBA player-turned-analyst Jalen Rose once compared Rozier to Bledsoe during the 2015 NBA Draft before the Louisville product was […]

Following a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, the New Orleans Pelicans will have a myriad of decisions to make in the offseason. The signing of DeMarcus Cousins is bound to be priority No. 1 in the books, while other impending free agents like Rajon Rondo and Ian Clark could be […]

Donovan Mitchell was forced to miss perhaps the most pivotal point of his rookie season, forced to go to the locker room after attempting a left-to-right crossover on MVP frontrunner James Harden of the Houston Rockets and unable to return for the rest of the game. Mitchell was forced to watch from the sidelines as […]

The Indiana Pacers were reluctant to get rid of Paul George last season, trying to find every possible way to keep their All-Star forward before the inevitable. This time around, president Kevin Pritchard isn’t so sure they would take him back. Speaking on the Dan Dakich Show, Pritchard laid out a potential possibility for a […]

Head coach Dwane Casey is now in the hot seat after his Toronto Raptors were swept out of the playoffs for a second straight season by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even after re-engineering a different offensive system to take the pressure away from his All-Star backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, both stars were flattened […]

Kevin Durant followed Draymond Green’s comments on their awaiting Western Conference Finals matchup against the Houston Rockets, a team that wasn’t shy to point to their self-professed “obsession” with dethroning the defending champions over the offseason. “We got our work cut out for us,” Durant said, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes. “It’s not going to […]