Israel is known as the Holy Land and a place rich with history and culture, but what many people don’t know is that it is also home to high level basketball. Since 2000, Israel has been one of the biggest basketball hotbeds in Europe. Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel’s top team, won Euroleague titles in 2001, 2004, and 2005, and reached the Euroleague title game in 2006 and 2008. They also produced NBA players Anthony Parker, Omri Casspi, Maceo Baston, and Sarunas Jasikevicius, and beat the Toronto Raptors in an exhibition game, 105-103, in 2005. Additionally, many NBA players including Jordan Farmar, Trevor Booker, J.J. Hickson, and Avery Bradley spent the lockout playing in Israel. I caught up with David Pick, a writer for Eurobasket.com covering the Euroleague and Israeli basketball, to talk about the lockout, the Israeli Super League, and LeBron James. Read More »

It looked like the deck was stacked against Dyckman/NYAC. It’s top player, Marshon Brooks, was absent for the third game in a row. It’s starting point guard from the conclusion of the regular season, Louis Dale, was in Europe. And the squad it was slated to go up against looked more like a mediocre NBA team from the future than your typical summer league squad.

But against a lineup that featured the NBA’s Roy Hibbert and Sundiata Gaines, the D-League’s Andre Barrett, and Florida’s Erving Walker, Dyckman/NYAC pulled off a convincing 110-88 victory against the defending champions last night at the Nike Pro City Championship. Read More »