Ever since Zydrunas Ilgauskas officially became a free agent, putting the pieces in motion to return to the only team he’s ever played for, the general consensus has been that this is a great move. The Cavs get insurance for Shaq and Anderson Varejao, and another weapon for their title run. But I’m sure some of the other players on the roster aren’t as excited about Big Z’s return. That is, because it means they’ll be hitting the unemployment line come next Monday. Read More »
Beast of the Night:Dwyane Wade put up 36 points, 3 threes, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 turnover against the other team in Florida. Despite lower all-around numbers this year, Wade has managed to remain a top-10 fantasy player, which says a lot. Read More »
It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of the NBA, NCAA or high school – great basketball is great basketball. And yesterday has to go down as one of the greatest days in hoops history. Ever. Take for example the first four games of the day: you had a one point game, a buzzer beater for an upset, an overtime scare and a double overtime thriller. Only if Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery called all four games, could you have asked for anything better … If you were on the site at all yesterday, then you know the Dime crew was on top of everything. So we’ll try and bring some new thoughts and observations to Smack … Let’s start with BYU’s Jimmer Fredette. Read More »
Which game-winning shot is harder to hit? A catch-and-shoot three from NBA range with nobody in your face, or getting the ball on a clear-out against a 6-6 defender and having to create something at the rim?
In the late-afternoon round of games (on the West Coast), Northern Iowa’s Ali Farokhmanesh and Washington’s Quincy Pondext had me contemplating that question. Farokhmanesh buried a perfect-form three that got Northern Iowa past UNLV in the final seconds, while Pondexter beat Marquette by taking Jimmy Butler to the rack and hitting a double-clutch banker. Read More »
This is the last time I’m gonna say anything about my bracket, because unlike a lot of writers, I realize three things: You don’t care about my bracket, you only care about your bracket, and vice versa.
That said, I had Georgetown going to the national championship game. Yeah, it was kind of a homer/favorite team pick — though not as bad as my grown cousin taking Washington to win the whole thing — but I really thought G’town had enough to make a deep run. Read More »
February 20, 2005. J.J. Redick drops a career-high 38 points. Chris Paul has 27 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Duke gets the W. Tonight on TNT, Redick is balling like he knows it’s March, although CP3 will still be out in the nightcap when the Hornets take on the Nuggets. Once again, Redick gets the W.
This is exactly what I wrote in my notes as Butler was putting the screws to UTEP in the second half:
“Butler down at half. Can’t run with UTEP. Put in their Black guys (‘athletic lineup’) and went on 22-4 run to take control.”
In the first half, it seemed every time I looked up, UTEP was getting a fast-break dunk or Derrick Caracter (20 pts, 9 rebs) was beasting some Brian Scalabrine-looking kid in the paint. Second half, it was Butler getting out in transition and raining threes. Read More »
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