Portland was one of the season’s earliest surprises by knocking off the Lakers in the first game of the season, back when Portland was expected to do little and Los Angeles was projected to be a beast. Those polarizing projections led to a reality that’s much closer to the middle of the NBA — and for Portland that’s a good thing. Read More »

An NBA basketball team has more than five players for a reason. No matter how badly a coach may want to play his starters a full 48 minutes on any given night, he knows it’s not an option. One of his starters may roll an ankle. His center could commit two early fouls. Maybe he’s playing the Nuggets and George Karl goes small with four guards and a stretch four. A trustworthy bench allows a coach to adapt his gameplan and can be the difference between a good team and a great one. Without a good bench, a playoff team can be one inopportune ACL tear away from a potentially disastrous season. Read More »

Signing a huge deal affects athletes in different ways. For some players, the pressure of living up to the cash is just too much to bear and their play suffers from the added expectations. Others put up career numbers in a contract year to earn the big payday, and then relax on the court as they watch their bank accounts swell. In addition to frustrating the Hell out of loyal fan bases, these reactions can lead to general managers prematurely cleaning out their offices and updating their resumes for a new line of work. Read More »

*Midnight Madness is over, and with it went the smoke machines, dunk contests and laser shows that kick off the season. College basketball begins now, and while the excitement still remains it’s time to peel the hype back and see who the nation’s best truly are. That’s why Dime has you covered with individual previews of the nation’s top 15 teams and a few others just outside, all over the course of the next few weeks. Today, UNLV. Read More »

The recipe for winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award is a mixture of ability and opportunity. A player has to demonstrate immense talent that then results in solid numbers to separate himself from the pack. Of course, in order to stand out as the best rookie in the league, the player has to be in a situation where he can get considerable playing time. All coaches deal with allocating minutes to rookies differently, so the situation has to be right for the rookie to get the opportunity to shine. Read More »

It hasn’t been an easy ride for Adam Morrison. Yes, he was a No. 3 overall pick. And yes, he has more championship rings than LeBron James. But after a solid rookie year with the Bobcats in 2006-07, where he averaged 12 points a game and was selected for the All-Rookie Second Team, his basketball career has been on a steady downward spiral ever since. A terrible knee injury in training camp before his second NBA season derailed his chances in Charlotte, and a trade to the Lakers brought some hardware but miniscule playing time and zero personal satisfaction. Read More »

Has the torch been passed?

The new crop of elite power forwards has officially arrived. The young superstars at the position are beginning to push the aging vets out of the top spots and are cementing their status as the best in the game. While some of these changes can be attributed to new frontcourt rotations, others are a direct reflection of just how good the new crop has played, and are expected to play this season. Two of the best power forwards of all-time don’t play the position anymore (no, you won’t see Duncan or Garnett on this list). Read More »

Records are made to be broken, right? Statistics in sports serve as a bridge between eras, a way to compare the greats of the past with the stars of today. A quick look at some of the NBA’s most impressive statistical records reveals the true legends of the game of basketball. Seeing, in numbers, the dominance and consistency of the all-time greats offers an appreciation of the magical moments on the hardwood as well as a measuring stick for the super stars today. Read More »

Los Angeles Clippers forward Trey Thompkins is about to begin his second NBA season. Drafted early in the second round of the 2011 draft, Thompkins appeared in 24 games last year for the 40-26 Clippers squad. A stud for three years at the University of Georgia, Thompkins finished with more than 1,000 career points as a Bulldog and his 17.7 PPG and 8.2 RPG earned him a spot alongside John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins on the coach-selected first-team All-SEC as a sophomore. Thompkins is ready to step up his role on a Clippers team with deep postseason aspirations. Read More »

Ryan Anderson. Kevin Love. Tracy McGrady. Gilbert Arenas. Dana Barros. Kevin Johnson. What do these guys all have in common? They all won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.

What are we taught as young players? The summer is the time to improve, right? If you’re not improving, you’re losing, right? Well, as great as the NBA’s MIP award is – and IT IS definitely great when you consider how many things need to go right for someone to have a shot at it – it doesn’t necessarily mean future greatness. Read More »