For those of us who follow the recruiting process, rankings aren’t always an accurate data point when measuring the likelihood of immediate success at the collegiate level. Sometimes, the biggest factor is player retention. Which freshman will be given an opportunity? Sometimes the biggest factor is “fit”. How does this new crop of talented freshman adapt to playing for a new coach in a new system? Read More »

At one point early in the first half of Saturday night’s Jordan Brand Classic, the crowd at Barclays Center suddenly and incongruously erupted into a thunderous ovation during a dead ball. Only one person’s arrival could have elicited such a reaction.

Nope, not him. It was Drake. Read More »

Here we are, the day after. We’re posting this almost exactly 24 hours after Kobe Bryant’s left Achilles tendon blew up in Oakland. Deep into the wee hours of the night and all day Saturday, the basketball world online was all about Kobe, his injury and what’s next. As we’ve said here though, the only words that really, truly matter are his. In case you missed it, in the middle of the night, a few hours after he hurt himself, Bean (figuratively) put pen to paper on his Facebook page to vent. Pretty great stuff from our generation’s greatest player facing his basketball mortality in real time … And a few hours after his Facebook essay, Read More »

After Carmelo Anthony hung 50 points on the Miami Heat, we asked whether he was filming his own “Better Basketball: How To Score From Deep” DVD. And again, last night, we don’t think Spike Lee was putting together any “Carmelo Doin’ Work” videos, but someone really should’ve capitalized off this. Anthony was clipping the wings off the Hawks, and had an assembly line of defenders getting buckets in the face. Read More »

College basketball will always be preluded with the idea that the underdog can fight for another day. It precipitates the rise of an unknown team from small-town, America and gives them a chance at momentary grace with the upset of a legend. Read More »

The sting of an extraordinarily disappointing season that ended last night in a first round NIT loss to Robert Morris hurts a little bit less this afternoon for Kentucky fans.

In a press conference at his high school, 6-9 five-star recruit Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian Academuy, Dallas, TX) officially committed to Kentucky, choosing the ‘Cats over Florida, Kansas and Texas.

So while the Wildcats may have skulked off the court in embarrassed fashion last night, Randle joins an incoming class that will likely have John Calipari‘s squad ranked No. 1 when next season starts. Read More »

We fell asleep at some point in the third quarter, and when we woke to see the Lakers were back in it, we thought it was an entirely different game. In a way, it was. L.A. overcame a 25-point deficit in New Orleans last night to beat the Hornets, 108-102. They scored the game’s last 20 points, and held the hosts scoreless for the final 6:47. It felt more like a month. Read More »

We hate to keep leading Smack off with LeBron James, but it’s almost like we have to lock him in here on every night he plays. The dude is just too good. Check out some of these numbers. James was 11-for-15 shooting last night in the Heat’s 117-104 flaying of Portland, finishing with 30 points and nine assists. He’s made 60 of his last 80 shots overall. On NBA Coast 2 Coast, they showed a shot chart from his last few games, and every spot outside of the left wing and left corner was blaming red. Read More »

The 2013 Jordan Brand Classic announced its field today, a 22-star collection that’s the center of the showcase April 13 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. How many of these players will be back in the New York metro area for the 2014 NBA Draft just over a year later? By the looks of the field, a number of them could be. Read More »

Whether you think Andrew Wiggins is the best high school player in America or that Jabari Parker or Julius Randle is the top dog, you should know this: all three of them are going to take the college basketball planet by storm once they hit the NCAA. Here’s Randle in a recent holiday event just completely destroying the competition. Read More »