In pretty much every sport — NBA, Major League Baseball, college football/hoops, boxing, gambling, competitive eating, etc. — optimism is at its highest before the real games start. The same holds true for the NBA. But when we previewed the Pacific Division yesterday, even the preseason optimism couldn’t hide one fact: This is the worst division in the League. All due respect to the reigning champs, but after the Lakers, the Pacific consists of four Lottery teams (Suns, Clippers, Warriors, Kings) who could all easily make an encore appearance at the event that Mike Dunleavy Sr. probably thinks is a mandatory spring-time BBQ with some co-workers … And yet, the Pacific can still be one of the more entertaining divisions out there. Read More »
No matter what you hear from the Louisville basketball fan in your life, know this much: The No. 1 reason a growing legion of fans want UL coach Rick Pitino to resign or get fired is that this recent sex scandal could have a negative impact on recruiting. “Embarrassing the university,” “Morality issue” — it all goes back to the same thing: Cardinals backers don’t want anything to stand in the way of their squad getting to Final Fours and winning national championships.
He was never better than this. Game 4 of the ’97 playoffs’ first round, Penny Hardaway dropped 41 points, seven boards, four dimes and four steals on Miami, staving off elimination back when the first round was best-of-five. (Which I think the NBA should go back to, but never would with the money at stake.) When was the last time you heard an announcer compelled to yell “Pick up your clothes!” and it wasn’t an AND 1 game?
Knowing that teams are banking on spending bank next summer, there are certain players that help make everything fall into place, and those players are guys with expiring contracts. Teams that want cap space trade for them, and teams that have them know that they can trade them for pieces to fill out their roster. While this list could include every 2010 free agent, I’m sticking with guys that are more valuable as contracts than on the court. Realizing this, here are the top 15 expiring contracts this season: Read More »
When it’s a slow day in the basketball world, people get up to mischief in the Dime office. For example, last week an unnamed member of the Dime crew put two pieces of tape over the receiver of our new Operations Manager Holly Smith‘s phone. Seemingly innocent, but listen to what happened next. Read More »
Lately we’ve been calling for NBA TV to do us starving hoop fans a favor and put next month’s FIBA European Championships on the air, all while forgetting the FIBA Asia Cup is actually going on right now. Not as much star power, not as high quality ball, but we still wouldn’t mind seeing some of those games on the schedule to replace the endless ’80s re-run games … From the games yesterday — or next Tuesday or whatever it would be with the U.S./China time difference — Yi Jianlian was the star, putting up 29 points and 18 boards in China’s win over Jordan. Read More »
STEVE NASH (by Ben York)
He’s lost a step. He can’t play defense. He’s old. He’s overpaid. He’s a system point guard.
Blah…blah…blah…
The so-called debate on whether Steve Nash can still play effective and consistent basketball is ridiculous and, frankly, irresponsible. Last season, in the most tumultuous and difficult year of his 13 year career, Nash put up numbers that almost bested his first MVP season in ‘04/05. Read More »
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