If you haven’t heard, this is supposed to be a down year for the Pac-10.
Over the summer the conference lost James Harden, Jordan Hill, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison, Taj Gibson, Jeff Pendergraph, Jon Brockman and Chase Budinger to the NBA Draft. Going back to 2008, the Pac-10 also lost O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, the Lopez twins, Jerryd Bayless and Ryan Anderson, all of whom would still been in school today had they not gone pro early. Read More »
In basketball and every other major pro team sport, we always seem to be in the middle of a period where one position is enjoying a “Golden Era.” Right now, a lot of people would say this is a Golden Era for point guards in the NBA. And if you haven’t seen Dime’s NBA preview issue yet, there I wrote that we’re seeing the beginning of a Golden Era for small forwards.
At the beginning of this decade, though, we were in the age of the power forward. Read More »
If you all you know about Dominique Wilkins are his dunk contest titles and a shootout with Larry Bird, you’re missing out. In this game from February 1987, a full year before the famous ‘88 playoff duel with Bird, ‘Nique drops 54 points on Larry’s crew.
Udonis Haslem is what the old-school types like to call a “pro’s pro.”
Coming out of the University of Florida in 2002, Haslem was the rare combination of undersized (6-8) and oversized (300 pounds) at power forward, and was subsequently undrafted by the NBA. So as the story goes, he signed with a pro team in France, never set his watch to European time so he wouldn’t get comfortable playing overseas, and came back to America some 70 pounds lighter. Read More »
What was initially diagnosed as a 6-8 week foot injury for Travis Outlaw will now keep the Blazers’ second-best clutch player out for three to five months following surgery earlier today.
According to the Oregonian, Outlaw’s foot had been bothering up for a few days leading up to Saturday’s win against Charlotte, when he suffered the fracture: Read More »
If you know anything about college ball since the 1980s, you knew Georgetown vs. Temple was going to be low-scoring and physical with potential to get uglier than Pig Miller in HD.
And even still, what happened yesterday in the 19th-ranked Hoyas’ home opener was surprisingly grotesque. With the Owls adjusting to life without Dionte Christmas and G’town short as usual on reliable shooters, both teams made it a bricklaying contest. Read More »
Do we need to add Orlando to the list of teams maybe interested in Allen Iverson?
No need to go that far, but with today’s news that Jameer Nelson will miss the next four to six weeks following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, the Magic are suddenly thin at point guard. Jason Williams is expected to fill-in as the starter while Jameer is out. Read More »
Understand that six days out of seven, I’d rather watch college basketball than the NBA; that I’ve been a Georgetown fan since I was a kid; and as a West Coast native, I’m both loyal and defensive when it comes to the Pac-10.
Also understand that I’m far from an expert at the X’s and O’s of basketball. I don’t run plays on NBA 2K10, and I would never coach at any level beyond the littlest of Little League. The kids deserve better.
That said, even I found myself wondering W-exactly-TF Ben Howland was doing in the latter stages of UCLA’s loss to Cal State-Fullerton last night. Read More »
Josh Smith is spoiling me rotten. Watching Hawks/Blazers last night and seeing Smith throw down at least two dunks that would normally make me (at least) sit up on the couch and make a “something stinks” face, I found myself not doing anything.
Smith is so good above the rim, he dunks so hard and makes it look so easy, that it’s getting tough to even be that impressed by his dunks anymore unless he’s dunking right on somebody. Read More »
Trying to explain to my girl why I was watching a press conference for a high school kid announcing his college decision, I described the reason for the hype behind Harrison Barnes as such:
“Remember when Grant Hill came along? He’s like that. He’s the Golden Boy.”
As good as Barnes is on the court, the 6-7 wing from Ames High School (Iowa) gets just as much praise for his intelligence, maturity, poise and overall good-guy demeanor off the court. Read More »
