After You-Know-Who and You-Know-Who-Else, who would you say is the single toughest player in the NBA to guard? We might have to go with Dirk Nowitzki. As Dime’s Austin Burton wrote a couple months ago about the fourth-leading scorer in the League: “From 25 feet and in, he’s a consistent finisher with a plethora of moves (best up-fake in the League) that make him a lethal scorer against any defender (best fadeaway in the League). Whoever is in front of him, Dirk can drop buckets and create mismatches.“ Ask the Bulls about that, as Dirk dropped 44 points (16-34 FG, 11-11 FT) on ‘em last night, 14 of it in overtime of the Mavs’ win. Even more impressive was that Dirk did it mostly without Jason Terry and Josh Howard around to divert Chicago’s attention; Terry left the game after breaking a bone in his left hand, and Howard spent a lot of time on the bench in foul trouble. Vinny Del Negro was throwing all kinds of defenses and a variety of defenders at Dirk, but nobody could do anything with him. He hit three straight J’s to open up overtime, then iced it with free throws in the final seconds … Jason Kidd is finally starting to look his age in the face, but Derrick Rose made him look his age on the court. Read More »

That was the e-mail I got during last night’s Knicks/Celtics game. Here’s what it referred to…

Andris Biedrins spained his ankle in a bad, bad way last night and although the x-rays were negative, we’ve seen the last of Biedrins for awhile. We’ve been talking about Ronny Turiaf for weeks and now is the time to pick him up. He is going to be a shot blocking machine for the next month or so. This is a run, don’t walk scenario.

As you probably know by now — since an eye-popping number never came across the ticker and you didn’t get any giddy/trash-talking texts about it — Paul Pierce didn’t come close to matching the out-of-this-world numbers that Kobe and LeBron put up at Madison Square Garden earlier this week. While Pierce did drop some clutch and timely buckets in the fourth quarter on his way to 26 points, it was a little bit of everybody lighting up the scoreboard for the Celtics, who gutted out a tougher-than-expected win. The Knicks actually led in the fourth quarter, until Ray Allen (22 pts) went on a run where he scored 11 straight to put Boston up for good. With NY at least trying to play D on the Big Three down the stretch, the bench guys like Eddie House and Leon Powe delivered the daggers. On Powe’s layup with 2:30 remaining that put the C’s up by 11, the Knicks were doubling Kevin Garnett (15 pts, 11 rebs) and completely forgot about Powe; by the time KG hit him under the basket, the closest person to Powe was probably a fan sitting on the baseline … Read More »

1. Los Angeles Lakers (40-9) — You have to give it to them after last night’s win at Boston, but somebody needs to remind L.A. fans you don’t get a trophy for winning the regular season series. The Lakers’ defense has struggled without Andrew Bynum, but at the same time, Pau Gasol’s production has gone past “All-Star” numbers into “MVP” territory (28.6 ppg, 14.3 rpg since Bynum’s injury), Lamar Odom had his first 20-point game of the season, and Kobe reminded us all that he’s still Kobe.

2. Boston Celtics (41-10) — Kobe’s 61. LeBron’s 52-10-11. Paul Pierce can’t go into MSG tonight and drop 15 points and continue thinking he’s better than those two. Speaking of numbers, has anyone noticed that Rajon Rondo is currently sixth in the League in assists?

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (39-9) — Before you go and hand Kobe (sans Bynum) the MVP, don’t forget LeBron. His 52-point effort against the Knicks pulled him into a first-place tie with D-Wade for the League scoring lead. With Kobe just one point behind those two, how sick would it be for this to come down to a David Thompson/George Gervin-esque three-way battle on the last day of the season? Read More »

Speaking of Protege, I got up with the Knicks’ Al Harrington the other day to talk about his sneaker company, the first pair he ever bought and his favorite pair of all-time…

Dime: Tell me a little bit about your sneaker company, Protege. Al Harrington: Protege is a company I came up with and is mainly about give back. Protege stands for People Reaching Out To Everyone Gaining Everything. And looking at the times we’re in right now, realizing that it’s tough out here for people, and ya know, people can’t afford $100 sneakers no more and stuff like that. We just trying to do our part, you know, with me and the other athletes that are down with the brand, trying to give a shoe company credibility. Read More »

Head over to Bounce where or guy Ali Danois is taking a look back at all things Fab 5.

The post has stories, video and more. Check it out here.

I know, I know this has absolutely nothing to do with basketball…BUT, This has been on the internet for a few days but I finally got a chance to see the whole interview and I had to share it with all of you guys. This interview is one that will be talked about for ages. At some points Wayne shows he is way more intelligent then one might initially think. Read More »

While I wouldn’t drive three hours to do this, I respect the Sonics fans who are making the trek down to Portland next week specifically to boo the Thunder and the ex-rival Blazers. From The Oklahoman:

When the Thunder plays at Portland next week, some Seattle fans, miffed that their NBA team moved to Oklahoma City, plan to attend the Feb. 11 game at the Rose Garden.

The vocal Save Our Sonics group said it has secured blocks of tickets so members “can boo both teams” at a discounted price. The group has rented shuttle buses for the 170-mile trip. Save Our Sonics leaders are planning an even bigger trip when the Thunder returns to Portland on April 13.

Read More »

Every time we see a new ad for a horror flick – no matter how idiotic it looks – CGF gets amped about being the first in line to sit front and center on opening night. (If it’s another installment in the Jeepers Creepers anthology, he might even break out his Bat-monster costume…)

For me, every time I hear about the release of a new book written by/about a great coach, I’m at Barnes & Noble in my Digger Phelps get-up ready to fork over the cash. Read More »