If you’re in New York City tonight, it’s well worth your time you head up to Harlem to check out the opening night of EBC at Rucker Park. Playing in NYC for the first time in four years, Larry “Bone Collector” Williams will be joined by Rafer “Skip 2 My Lou” Alston and Darryl “Showtime” Hill as they take on the Angie Martinez All-Stars featuring Adris “2 Hard 2 Guard” DeLeon (2010 Nike NYC Player of the Year), “Jiggy” Josh Watkins and Jersey’s Finest. Read More »

It’s easier when your team sucks. At least it’s easier for the GM/executive/owner in charge of hiring a new head coach. When an NBA team sucks (Clippers, 76ers, Nets) just about anybody who’s different from the previous coach is a good hire. If he’s got a solid resume and some name recognition? Gravy.

But when a team is replacing a coach who was relatively successful, the process becomes tougher. Read More »

With Carmelo Anthony in town, making an appearance at House of Hoops, you knew that we were going to get up with him. So before he hit the stage, I spoke with ‘Melo in his stretch limo about the NBA Finals, favorite Jordan sneakers of all-time and his thoughts on NYC basketball.

The Blazers organization has been one of the most stable over the last few NBA seasons. They had young building blocks in place (LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy), a great GM (Kevin Pritchard) and stability at the head coaching position (Nate McMillan). But now chaos is starting to reign supreme in Portland.

During the season, the Blazers fired Tom Penn who was Pritchard’s right hand man in the front office, and now word is that Pritchard may also be on his way out of town. In addition to the front office troubles, the Blazers’ coaching staff is also in a bit of turmoil. Monty Williams recently left to take the Hornets head coaching job, rumors are flying that Dean Demopoulos may be on his way out, and according to Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger, Joe Prunty appears on his way to New Jersey to join Avery Johnson. Read More »

Now that’s what I call help defense. And to think that Tony Allen could once jump even higher.

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With it becoming increasingly likely that Tom Izzo takes the Cavaliers head coaching job, those at Michigan State must be wondering who can replace their legendary coach if he decides to leave. With that in mind, here are some potential candidates: Read More »

As the Lakers head back to L.A. to either win or lose the NBA championship, more than Kobe Bryant‘s legacy is on the line: Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Andrew Bynum … all of them face career-defining games (or just one game) this week. As does Lamar Odom. Arguably the best all-around talent on the Lakers after Kobe, Odom has averaged 7.6 points and 5.8 rebounds through the first five games against Boston, compared to 14 and 11 per night in the Western Conference Finals. Should the Lakers fall short of a title, the knock on Odom that he often falls short of his potential will only gain credibility. Read More »

We said it perfectly in Smack: Paul Pierce put together his own montage of impressive old-man buckets, but his biggest play was an assist. With about 35 seconds left and Boston protecting a five-point lead, Pierce made a tip-toe catch along the sideline, and as he was about to go out of bounds, fired a pinpoint pass to a streaking Rajon Rondo for a layup that was pretty much the dagger.

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As much as we were all hoping the 2010 NBA Finals would be different from the ’08 version — at the very least, so it’d be more competitive — things are starting to unravel like a movie we saw two years ago: Kobe Bryant vs. The Green Goblins. While Mamba went off for 38 points in last night’s Game 5 loss (the second-most of his Finals career), including 19 points in the third quarter, he was trying to beat an entire Boston team by himself and it didn’t work … And that’s what it was, a team effort. Paul Pierce led the C’s with 27 points (12-21 FG), but everybody did their part in the win, from Rajon Rondo‘s playmaking and defense, to Kevin Garnett (18 pts, 10 rebs, 5 stls) putting Pau Gasol in his pocket, to Doc Rivers coming up with the right blend of carefully planned strategy and on-the-spot motivation … Read More »

Why the Celtics won: Ubuntu. This was a team win, where nobody on the Celtics played a bad game and everybody deserves a share of the game ball. Paul Pierce dropped 15 of his 27 points in the first half as Boston built a lead they’d never relinquish, but he wasn’t by himself: KG and Rajon Rondo did their jobs, and even though Ray Allen didn’t hit any threes, he remained a threat and his off-ball movement created holes in L.A.’s defense. Whether offensively or defensively, every member of the Big Four delivered positive results. Meanwhile, the bench provided its usual energy. Read More »