We all know that LeBron James leads the League in come from behind blocks, but this swat of O.J. Mayo’s layup attempt is just ruthless. If I’m playing the Cavs coming down on a fastbreak, I might tell one of my guys to set a pick on LeBron just to stop THIS from happening.

Score a few more votes for Lionel Hollins in the Coach of the Year race, because he may have just figured out the best way to guard Kobe Bryant at the end of a game. Last night the Grizzlies were up two on the Lakers with 21 seconds left when Mike Conley blew a chance to ice the win and bricked two free throws. Then it was Kobe’s turn, and as he was going into his move to get space for his trusty mid-range jumper over O.J. Mayo, Marc Gasol switched onto him. The 7-footer kept his arms up the entire time, and was quick enough on his feet to stay in front of Kobe long enough to force him to pass. Kobe did find Ron Artest wide open on the wing, but he missed and Memphis won. Read More »

In the free cable TV classic Face/Off, John Travolta the FBI agent and Nic Cage the criminal switch faces (it’s complicated and corny) and go about their good guy/bad guy business while basically being the other guy. Last night was like the NBA version of Face/Off, only instead of Travolta and Cage, it was starring Kadeem Hardison and Dolph Lundgren. Blazers/Mavs saw one guy drop 52 points and absolutely dominate down the stretch, using awkward herky-jerky moves to beat his defenders between sticking jumper after jumper. Dirk Nowitzki? Nope. It was Andre Miller … Read More »

Earlier today, the NBA released the list of 18 players selected for the 2010 Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend – headlined by reigning Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose and superstar freshmen Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings and Omri Casspi. The Sophomores have won seven in a row over the first-year players, but the rookies may have the firepower with a talented crop of young guards. Will this be the year the Rookies break through? I don’t think so. Read More »

Last Friday against the Lakers, while the Knicks were pretending to be a feisty underdog capable of putting a scare into a #1 seed should they crack the playoffs — only to be exposed against the Mavericks in a 50-piecing two days later — the All-Star resume of NY’s David Lee was one of the night’s themes. At one point, ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy said that players from sub-.500 teams should be banned from making the All-Star team, presenting one extreme in the annual debate over how important a team’s win-loss record should be for an individual player’s All-Star case. Read More »

Relevance is always an issue in collegiate athletics. Coaches will change, players will cycle through programs and records will fluctuate year-to-year; the “what have you done for me lately” mentality will always take over eventually. Lately, all signs coming out of Hollywood and the Southern Cal campus should point to throwing up a white flag on the current season. Thanks to former Trojan O.J. Mayo and the USC booster that supplemented him with compensation as a recruit, the NCAA has been sanctioned to dismiss any postseason for USC this year. No Pac-10 tournament, no NIT and certainly no NCAA come March. As USC wallows in the mud of basketball purgatory, the team actually – on the surface only I’m sure – remains upbeat about its current situation; although I doubt if Ovinton J’Anthony received any Trojan holiday greeting cards this past Christmas. Read More »

Weekend Wonder: Dwyane Wade had himself a dandy weekend, averaging 29.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 9 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.5 blocks, 1.5 turnovers and 2 threes in two games. His rebounding has dropped off a bit this month, but Wade’s scoring with ease and dishing the ball just fine. Read More »

Three straight L’s at home. Scalabrine calling himself a starter. Big Baby assuming the role of crowd-antagonizing Bad Guy. Yeah, it was definitely time for Kevin Garnett to get back on the court. The day after being named an All-Star starter to surprisingly little objection (so-so stats and 11 DNP’s), KG returned for Celtics/Blazers with plenty of pent-up anger to unleash … First half, Garnett (13 pts, 2 blks) was receiving an entry pass when he shoved Rudy Fernandez to the floor and got whistled for a foul. While KG was arguing with the ref, Andre Miller casually poked the ball out of his hands, so KG gave ‘Dre a forearm shot to the chest without taking his eyes off the ref or even breaking his sentence. We believe doctors call that the Bully Reflex … Read More »

With many teams at or past the 41-game halfway mark of the regular 2009-10 NBA season, it’s time to look back at the first half of fantasy basketball and to make some projections about the second half.

Though it’s tough to cover everything in a concise manner, let’s attempt to traverse this broad topic by way of using a simple grading system. The first letter grade after each player’s name will be based on their performance thus far, in addition to how they’ve fallen short of, met or exceeded expectations; and the second grade will be based on their expected value during the second half of the season. Read More »

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 »