It’s like the schedule makers did all they could to allow LeBron to run the show Friday night. For this season’s lone trip to MSG, ‘Bron had the national TV stage while his chief rival for attention, Kobe Bryant, was stuck playing the Grizzlies in what would surely be as low-key a Lakers game as can be. Or not. Dumping 41 points (19-30 FG) on Memphis, Kobe solidified his spot as the League’s leading scorer and likely put himself in front of the early MVP race in the eyes of a lot of voters, and he surpassed the 24,000-point mark for his career; becoming the youngest to ever hit that milestone … Read More »
That’s right, the start of the college hoops season is just one week away and you know what that means: it’s time to unleash the mother effing fury! For the past seven months, I’ve been bottling up a vicious mixture of excitement and rage, just waiting for the moment to release my emotions onto the rest of the world. Well that time has come. Your boy Matty D is back to give you a look at the top teams in the country and to separate the champs from the chumps. Read More »
Eight days into the NBA season is always a good time for overreaction. It’s not that it’s too early to make observations — e.g., I don’t think it’s going out on a limb to predict a monster year for Carmelo Anthony right now — but it is too early to put the tombstone on some players who aren’t starting out so hot.
Players like Russell Westbrook. Over the summer, I was the main one leading the charge in the Dime office over Westbrook, insisting he’d blow up this year like Deron Williams blew up in his second pro season. Read More »
Before Shaq was the Big Aristotle, Sir Charles Barkley was the go to guy for sound bites. Chuck was never shy about expressing his opinions as a player. After he was in an altercation with a member of Angola’s national team during a game which USA won 116-48, Chuck said “somebody hits me, I’m going to hit him back. Even if it does look like he hasn’t eaten in a couple weeks. I thought he was going to pull a spear on me.” Sir Charles may never wanted to be a role model but he now has aspirations to be a General Manager. Read More »
Who do you want your offense to run through with everything on the line? Counting down 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…
Grown-man fear is a complicated thing. It’s not a pure phobia, nor the fear one experiences through startled shock, nor is it a fear that cripples, like that of failure or open spaces. Read More »
Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…
Who do you want your offense to run through with everything on the line? Counting down 30th to 1st (one per team), I’ve ranked the League’s go-to guys…
Under a different set of circumstances and a different kind of criteria, I could easily argue that LeBron is the all-around, pound-for-pound best player in basketball. In fact, save for the existence of one Usain Bolt, I could argue for ‘Bron as the top active athlete in any sport today. Read More »
As if the Clippers didn’t already feel like second-class citizens in their own arena, how do you think they felt playing a home game at Staples Center yesterday with the Lakers logo painted at midcourt and the gym dipped in purple and gold? Serving as the undercard to Lakers/Bobcats, the Clips at least got a W over the Jazz. Blake Griffin posted 16 points, eight boards, three steals and two blocks (that low rumbling you hear is a herd of fantasy owners rushing to pre-rank Blake higher on their lists), while Eric Gordon and Chris Kaman also scored 16 apiece. Read More »
Nothing against LeBron and Josh Childress, but the unique selling point of last night’s Cavs/Olympiakos (Greece) game was Shaq vs. “Baby Shaq.” If you don’t remember, Baby Shaq is Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the big (6-9, 300-something) Tractor Traylor-looking dude who once upon a time gave Team USA problems but has since turned into the Blazers-era Shawn Kemp of the Euroleague, as his weight is a constant issue and sometimes gets in the way of his considerable skills … Big Shaq got the best of this one, putting up 12 points and five boards next to Baby Shaq’s four and five. Read More »
