At some point during the fourth quarter, as the Hawks were getting all they could handle from the Rockets and seemed on the verge of their first home loss of the season, Dominique Wilkins said the same thing you’re gonna hear from a bunch of opposing team announcers about the Rockets this year: “This is a GOOD basketball team!” in a surprised tone … In what might have been the most entertaining finish of the year, Houston went up by seven midway through the fourth when Aaron Brooks dusted Joe Johnson on a crossover/hesitation along the baseline for a layup. Read More »
Newsday is reporting that the Knicks have apparently decided not to offer Allen Iverson a contract. A source close to the Knicks told beat writer Alan Hahn that management had a lot of interest in the former All-Star but decided to pass. The Knicks’ record currently sits at 2-9 and are second to last in the Eastern Conference. With point guard Chris Duhon struggling, acquiring Iverson would not only fill a need but would bring back excitement to the Garden. We at the Dime office are strong advocates of A.I. being a Knick, so we are hoping the rumor isn’t true.
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 »
A source tells Dime Magazine that Allen Iverson might sign with the Knicks today. According to the source who works for a New York media outlet, a Knicks press conference is scheduled at the Garden at noon today. We assume this is reguarding Allen Iverson. Newsday also confirms that the Knicks are on the verge of signing the former NBA MVP. Iverson doesn’t clear waivers until 6 pm tonight, so any team can claim him with his current salary with Memphis. But if nobody claims him off waivers, Iverson is free to sign with anybody. We’ll keep you posted.
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 »
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 »
Stephen Jackson finally got his wish. After enduring nearly two-and-a-half months of negative press for his trade demand, he was dealt to the Charlotte Bobcats yesterday. Almost immediately, you could already see Captain Jackson having a couple of issues with his new destination. One, the winning situation in Charlotte is not too much better than where he came from. And two, he’s going to be coached by Larry Brown. Read More »
As this edition of Smack is being written, ESPN’s 24-hour marathon of college hoops is underway. Writing about basketball in the middle of the night while live basketball is showing on TV with no end in sight for hours? This is the life … Are the Hawks really this good? When we ranked Atlanta 5th yesterday on Dime’s weekly NBA Hit List — maybe the highest we’d ever had them ranked, at least in the last 2-3 years — the response was surprisingly strong that Joe Johnson and Josh Smith and crew should have been in the top three, maybe even holding the No. 1 spot. True, the Hawks had won four straight going into Monday’s schedule, but they’ve always been one of those Zab Judah/Asafa Powell-type teams: Read More »