Since hearing about the relaunch of NBA Jam, the talk of the office has been which players are going to make it in the game. As you know, the best part of NBA Jam back in the day was the player combinations. With that in mind, EA Sports has come through, giving fans the chance to select which three players from each team they would like to see represented in the revival. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: LeBron James dropped some jaws with his 47 points, 6 threes, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals on Saturday. He had 5 turnovers, but shot 55 percent (17-31) from the field and 100 percent (7-7) from the free throw line. It’s tough not to take him for granted. Read More »

Beast of the Night: LeBron James led the Cavs to victory with 36 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and a three. He shot 56 percent (9-16) from the field and 81 percent (17-21) from the line. Is anyone else yawning? Read More »

In the final seconds of the fourth quarter of last night’s Sixers/Bulls game, Philly was down one with the ball. Allen Iverson was not in the building, as he was home dealing with a family illness. Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala, respectively, were having perhaps their best games of the season.

But even I’ve seen enough Sixers games to know what every Philly fan was fearing most: Lou Williams was going to take it upon his shoulders to lose this game. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Kevin Durant ended January with a bang, averaging 37.5 points, 7.5 boards, 3 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.5 threes in his last two games of the month. He also shot a blistering 70 percent from the field and 94.1 percent from the line in those games. Durant’s on a scoring binge lately and hasn’t scored fewer than 25 points since Dec. 19. Read More »

Late last night I was watching Rick Pitino weekly Louisville coach’s show — one of my favorite things about having 264 sports channels — when Pitino made a great point about defensive mentality.

Essentially, Pitino said, there are guys who get upset when they miss a shot, but aren’t nearly as bothered when they get beaten off the dribble. “We’re not going to be a good team until it bothers us more to get beat defensively than it bothers us to miss a shot,” he said. Read More »

Where should the NBA/NCAA draw the line on referee criticism?

In the first half of last night’s Bulls/Thunder game, Joakim Noah made like Christian Okoye and ran over a stationary Nenad Krstic (outside the no-charge circle) on his way to the rim. Krstic was called for the foul.

One of OKC’s announcers started to tear into the refs, but stopped himself short and settled for making a joke about Noah playing running back for the Bears. But in all honestly, the announcer had no reason to hold back. Read More »

Not that he really needed to, but Chris Bosh sealed what will be his fifth straight All-Star selection later tonight with a dominating effort against the Heat on Wednesday. Breaking out the throwback unis from the 1947 Toronto Huskies — oddly enough, a team that was also accused of being soft and not playing defense — the Raptors’ win moved them into fifth-place in the East while Miami dropped to sixth … The Raps were down by 13 in the first half, but rallied and were clinging to a small lead late in the fourth quarter. After Bosh (24 pts, 18 rebs) hit a jumper to put them up by seven, one T-Dot announcer screamed, “The cream rises to the top!” Even when Bosh messed up, it worked for him. Read More »

Asked why he picked Shaq for his All-Star roster but railed against Allen Iverson being voted in, NBA TV’s Chris Webber offered one of the weakest arguments I’ve seen since the stuttering attorney in My Cousin Vinny.

“Shaq actually has an impact on his team,” C-Webb said, pointing out that Cleveland has the best record in the League. “He’s the starting center on a good team.” Read More »

Ranking the League from worst to first…

30. New Jersey Nets (3-40) Last week: Lost at Phoenix; lost at Golden State; lost at Utah. You know how some teams can play any style and win? The Nets have become adept at losing with any style. Last week they lost trying to run. They also lose in the halfcourt, lose when they go big, lose when they go small, lose with a youth movement, lose with vets, lose at home, lose on the road … their company softball team probably stinks, too.

29. Minnesota Timberwolves (9-36) Last week: Lost to Oklahoma City; lost to New Orleans; lost at Milwaukee. If you’re into moral victories, the Wolves can be proud of at least taking the Thunder and Hornets down to the wire. The talent and competitiveness is there; you just see the execution failures that come with a young team. Read More »