Sheridan Hoops Radio

The Miami Heat do not intimidate the Indiana Pacers. That much was very, very clear in their matchup Wednesday night. But you know what intimidates the Pacers? The moment. We saw it last year in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals when they looked like deer in the headlights. And we saw it again Wednesday night when George Hill went to the line with 1.8 seconds left and a chance to put Indiana ahead by 3 -- and promptly missed both free throws. My biggest question regarding the Pacers is whether they have the moxie and the confidence to get the job done in a winner-take-all game. And we already know that the Miami Heat possess those characteristics. More on that subject, plus a spirited defense of the Philadelphia 76ers, in this interview on 1070-TheFan with Michael O'Grady and Joe Staysniak on "The Grady & Big Joe Show" in Indianapolis.

Kevin Durant is going to be the MVP. There's no stopping him, and nobody is doing anything remotely close to what he is doing on offense for Oklahoma City. He might even win the award unanimously. So that steers the MVP argument toward who should finish second, and I have been making the case for two weeks now that Blake Griffin is the most deserving candidate (although his missed FT late in regulation against the Pelicans was especially costly last night). I have Griffin ranked No. 2 (and Joakim Noah ranked No. 3) in my latest MVP rankings, with LeBron James fourth. And after the Heat lost yet again last night, falling in Indiana, I would say my argument has been strengthened. That was one of the topics of discussion this morning on AM830-KLAA on the Travis Rodgers show, but we also hit upon how Phil Jackson will try to rebuild the Knicks, how long the mediocrity window will stay open for the Los Angeles Lakers, and several other hot NBA topics. Enjoy.

What are we going to say about Andrew Wiggins four or five years from now?  That was the question I was asked tonight on AM1280TheZone in Salt Lake City, and I prefaced my answer with a few words of caution -- keep as close of an eye on Jabari Parker of Duke as you do on young Mr. Wiggins from Kansas via Ontario. Parker may be the better prospect, even if my NBA draft writer has him slotted at No. 2 in our latest Mock Lottery. More on the draft, the playoff faces in the West and East, and the possibility of Tom Izzo coaching the Pistons in this interview with Spence Checketts and Gordon Monson.

I already told you yesterday that Mike Woodson needs to lead the Knicks into the playoffs to keep his job. No easy task, but when Phil Jackson says repeatedly that he expects this year's team to make the postseason, the bar has been set. And if the Knicks fail? Well, there will be a new coach at the helm, and since Jackson is not ingratiated with the larger coaching fraternities out there, you can cross out names such as Jeff Van Gundy, Stan Van Gundy and George Karl. Steve Kerr's name has been thrown out there, and he is an intriguing candidate because he knows the triangle system. But two other coaches are known as system coaches, and both have stellar resumes. They are Jerry Sloan and David Blatt. David Who, you ask? He's only the most successful coach in European basketball, and has been for quite some time. Plus, he went to school and played at Princeton with Knicks GM Steve Mills. More on Blatt, Sloan and other Knicks items in this podcast with Moke Hamilton on SNY.

Phil Jackson to the Knicks was definitely the story of the day. When a guy with 13 championship rings takes on a new job, there's no getting around the importance of the moment. But there are 29 other teams making news of one kind or another, and I found time on 1280AM in Salt Lake City to deviate away from Jackson and discuss Coach of the Year, the sleeper teams in the East and the West, and the debate over whether Blake Griffin has become a more worthy MVP candidate than LeBron James.

The New York Knicks gave Carmelo Anthony 13 reasons to consider re-signing a long-term extension with the team this summer. That’s the combined number of championships Phil Jackson has won as a player and coach. “I’m a chess player, so that was a power move right there,” Anthony said. As the Knicks prepare to officially announce the hiring of Jackson on Tuesday, I joined Yahoo! Sports Radio and host Dylan Gwinn to discuss the impact the move will have on Jackson’s legacy, the definition of a successful tenure and the impact he’ll have in free agency

If Phil Jackson takes over the New York Knicks, he'll have a tough job on his hands. He'll have to rebuild in free agency in 2015, because the Knicks have traded away their 2014 and 2016 first-round picks and their second-round picks in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Plus Raymond Felton will still be under contract in 2015, ad will JR Smith. Oh, and first he'll have to convince Carmelo Anthony to stay. Plenty of talk on that, plus other subjects including an age limit of 20, and what it takes to have the longevity of a Dirk Nowitzki, a Karl Malone or a John Stockton, and more -- all in this podcast with 1280thezone in Salt Lake City.  

Phil Jackson can run the New York Knicks if he wants to. That is the word on the street this morning, although he will NOT become their next head coach. For insight into the reasons why, check out this column from Charley Rosen. But if he accepts the job, he is going to have his work cutout for him. Although the Knicks have won three straight games and are still in contention for a playoff spot in the East, they still qualify as the most disappointing team in the entire NBA for the 2013-14 season. And moving forward, the cupboard is bare. The Knicks have traded away their first-round draft picks in 2014 and 2016, along with all of their second-round picks from 2014-17. If Jackson is going to come aboard and make changes, his fist order of business will be to keep one thing the same -- convincing Carmelo Anthony to remain in New York after he opts out of the final year of his contract. RELATED: New York Knicks salary cap analysis If New York is going to make a splash in free agency, it won't happen for more than a year. That's when the contracts of Tyson Chandler and Andrea Bargnani come off the cap. But a hiring of Jackson could tip the balance in New York's favor this summer when Anthony will be courted by the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, among others. More on the Jackson possibility in this podcast with Jody MacDonald of CBSSportsRadio.

The Brooklyn Nets looked like a team needing as much construction as the Gowanus Expressway in 2013, but have cruised up the Eastern Conference standings like a driver in the HOV lane in 2014 as Michael Scotto outlined in his latest column. Meanwhile, the New York Knicks have made it easier for Carmelo Anthony to consider leaving in free agency. Before the Knicks and Nets hit the hardwood on Friday, Scotto joined “Between the Lines” on WPRB 103.3 FM in Princeton, N.J. with host Sitesh Shah to discuss how the Nets have turned the corner in 2014 and preview possible playoff scenarios, along with Carmelo Anthony’s free agency plans and what Knicks management will look to do this offseason, including adding a new head coach.

I went on the radio in Phoenix this morning and played party-pooper, because I don't think qualifying for the playoffs is such a grand goal. It is a nice goal, don't get me wrong, especially for an overachieving team like the Suns. But the ultimate goal is to win a championship, and if the Phoenix Suns could have acquired Pau Gasol from the Los Angeles Lakers for the insurance-covered contract of Emeka Okafor, along with a first-round draft pick, they should have done it. Gasol could have gotten them out of the first round, and maybe even further. And that is why columnist Chris Bernucca listed the Suns as one of the losers in his column looking at February free agency. And again, the goal is to win a championship, not just to make the playoffs. After all, the Milwaukee Bucks made the playoffs last year, which has meant nothing to them this year. They have the worst record in the NBA. Also, the Suns haven't quite made it into the playoffs yet, and with the way the Memphis Grizzlies (currently ninth in the West) have been playing, you'd have to think Phoenix is the most likely team to get caught. That wouldn't have been the case if Gasol was on their team. More on the situation in Phoenix in this podcast with Brad Cesmat on Sports360az.com in Phoenix.

If you are looking for someone to bail on the Thunder because of their recent three-game losing streak, you are looking in the wrong place. The temptation around the country is to couple the return of Russell Westbrook and the three-game loss streak, and to draw a correlation between the two. And the other temptation when it comes to the Thunder is to bash Kendrick Perkins, the least-productive starting center, in terms of offense, in the entire Western Conference. Well, sorry to be a voice of reason, but here's the way I see things: Every team goes into a funk once or twice per season, at a minimum. And the Thunder just went through theirs. And as for Perkins, he is NOT in the lineup to produce big numbers. He is in the lineup to defend opposing centers, and the only time his true value will bcome apparent is if and when OKC faces Dwight Howard in the Western Conference playoffs. For more on the Thunder, plus a look around the NBA, give a listen to this podcast with the "Steely, Lump & Rohde" show on KRXO - 107.7 The Franchise in Oklahoma City.

The New York Knicks are making it easier for Carmelo Anthony to walk away in free agency with every lackluster effort and loss down the stretch, as Michael Scotto outlined in his most recent column. After a 23-point loss to the Golden State Warriors on Friday, Scotto joined Chicago's 670 The Score and host Joe Ostrowski to discuss Anthony's free agency decision, potential destinations, the sorry state of the Knicks and the landscape of the Eastern Conference.

Excuse my venom, but the Adam Silver is OUT OF HIS MIND if he plans to institute a new rule establishing a 4-point shot. That is the kind of gimmick the Harlem Globetrotters use to sell tickets, and I'd hate to think of Silver as Abe Saperstein 2.0. But Rod Thorn divulged yesterday in an interview with ESPN.com's Henry Abbott that a 4-point shot is one of the changes being considered by the new braintrust at NBA headquarters, where David Stern now has to show his driver's license in the Olympic Tower lobby in order to be allowed upstairs. The NBA has made idiotic rules changes before, such as moving the 3-point line in to 22 feet for two seasons during the mid 90s, turning every game into a chuckfest and every player into a guy with 3-point range. It took the league 2 years to back off that rule change and restore some semblance of rationality. If it was up to me, I'd move the 3-point line back even further, eliminating the corner 3-point shot (which has always been 22 feet) and awarding the extra point only to those who have Damian Lillard range -- 25 feet. But the only thing I am commissioner of is this Web site, so all I can do is add my 2 cents on the issue of a 4-point shot -- which I do in this podcast with 1280TheZone in Salt Lake City. If the NBA adds a 4-point shot, make the 4-point line the opposing free throw line. It would allow for a few last-second heaves to provide a handful of compelling finishes to games that seemed lost, but would not become a shot taken with any kind of regularity. What other changes do I think the NBA should consider? One is a playoff seeding change that would allow for some East-West matchups in the playoffs. For the details, along with a spin around the league, enjoy the podcast.

The temptation is to stick a fork in the Knicks and pronounce them done. The reality? Even after last night's double OT loss to the Orlando Magic, New York is 4 1/2 games out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 27 games remaining. That is more than enough time for them to put together something resembling a hot streak and gain enough ground to reach the No. 8 seed. They go into Atlanta tonight to face a Hawks team that is reeling,after eight consecutive losses, and it is pretty much a must-win game for Mike Woodson's crew. But it is easy to declare any game a must-win game as we sit here in late February. The real must-win games come in late March and early April. In this interview with Jody MacDonald on WFAN in New York, we discussed a series of late calls that went against the Knicks in Orlando, plus take a spin around the league to review the trade deadline and debate whether Evan Turner will embrace a reduced role with the Indiana Pacers now that he will be coming off the bench.

If Rajon Rondo is truly available, there is one team where he'd be such a good fit that it might make the Miami Heat the second choice among oddsmakers to win the NBA title. And if Larry Bird can get his hands on Rondo, the Indiana Pacers would be that team. Word was spreading on Twitter yesterday that Celtics GM Danny Ainge was seeking two unprotected first-round draft picks in any deal involving Rondo, and I tweeted my immediate reaction -- the Pacers have probably already made a call to see if that is true I discussed this possibility even further in this interview with Chris Moore and Brian Jones of CBS Sports Radio, also offering my thoughts on the possibility of Carmelo Anthony and/or Kevin Love getting moved (no and no). But let's delve into the Rondo to the Pacers possibility, and see if it could make sense for both teams.  _ First, the Celtics would want to move Gerald Wallace's contract in that deal, and the salaries for Rondo and Wallace add up to  $22.06 million. _ Second, two unprotected first-round picks from the Pacers are not the equivalent of, say, two first-round picks from the Bucks. So my guess would be that Indiana would have to throw in a third first-rounder (and they could not include their 2014 pick, since that is already going to the Phoenix Suns) _The Celtics would not want any onerous long-term salary commitments in this deal, but they would want a serviceable player if they had to take back a second player aside from Danny Granger ($14.02 million expiring deal). That player could be George Hill, who earns $8 million in each of the next three seasons.