Now that we know the brackets and who will be playing where, the real fun begins. Anyone can fill out a bracket with four No. 1 seeds cutting down the nets and making the Final Four. But what fun is that? And more appropriately, how often does that even happen? There will be upsets and inevitably, a mid-level team will get hot. Take a look at LSU in 2006 (as a No. 4 seed) or Alabama in 2004 (as a No. 8 seed). Read More »

Sometimes when you’re putting together an issue it takes on a life of its own. That was definitely the case for Dime #66. Typically this would have been our NBA Preview Issue, looking at all the stars and storylines for the upcoming year. But with the 2011-12 NBA season indefinitely on hold until a new collective bargaining agreement is in place, a central theme began to arise while we were planning. Read More »

*College basketball is here (unlike the NBA), and this year might be one of the best in recent memory. The powerhouse is back, while the Cinderellas believe. That’s a deadly combination. We know some of y’all have been asking for some previews. We have you covered – the top 16 teams in the nation will be previewed individually in the next few weeks. After we broke down two teams looking to improve on last season’s finish yesterday, we’ll keep this going with No. 12-ranked Baylor (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).* Read More »

With the impending lockout upon us, basketball fans worldwide need something positive to look forward to. Rest assured, I’m here to deliver it. So regardless of when the NBA season starts next here, college basketball will be flooded with a freshman class of high flyers, headlined by Deuce Bello en route to Waco to play for the Baylor Bears. Enjoy!

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Yesterday, Baylor freshman forward/center Perry Jones III – a would be damn near Top-5 lock in this June’s NBA Draft – declared publicly that he would return to school for his sophomore year.

In his first year in Waco, Jones dropped in 13.9 points and 7.2 boards a game on 55 percent shooting for the 18-13 Bears. With Jones returning, Coach Scott Drew and company now have a loaded and talented young core slated for next season. Read More »

After checking out the Reebok ZigTech Slash designed by top high school recruit (and John Wall’s close friend) Quincy Miller, peep the version customized by Miller’s future Baylor teammate, Deuce Bello. Wonder if he’ll try and wear these during the McDonald’s All-American Game… Read More »

Before continuing with the list of the Top 25 dunkers on the planet, some clarification is needed. I got a lot of negative feedback for writing, “Most of the game’s last four decades have been defined by men who excelled above the rim: e.g. Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.”

I wasn’t saying those five are the defining dunkers of the last 40 years, but that those five are some of the League’s defining players of the last 40 years. Read More »

They don’t jump like that in Raptors practice. (Well, unless your name is DeMar or Vince.) In Atlanta, Chris Bosh got scalped by Marvin Williams last night during TNT’s Heat/Hawks broadcast, as Marv follow-dunked right on Bosh’s head at one point. Bosh should have just left the building after that one. But at least Bosh got crowned in ATL, where people care more about Dem Franchise Boyz than they do about the Hawks … Despite LeBron going off for 38 points (13-19 FT) and 11 boards, Miami left with another preseason loss, but this time they had their big guns on the floor in the fourth quarter. Read More »

Arguably the best player in all of high school basketball and the (confirmed) best dunker in the prep ranks just announced they will team up to play college ball together.

Quincy Miller, a 6-10 forward from High Point, N.C., and teammate Deuce Bello, a 6-7 wing, verbally committed to Baylor University live on ESPNU. Bello took the crown at the Elite 24 dunk contest this summer, while Miller dominates all over the floor as a do-it-all forward. Miller is ranked No. 2 in the High School Hoop Top 50, a ranking done regardless of class. Read More »

Once upon a time, high school basketball players were generally not as athletic as the pros. Back then, if you went to a high school game you were significantly less likely to see players go above the rim. Not anymore. We’ve come a long way since Hoosiers, to the point today where kids in the 15-to-18 year old set are unleashing the same — and sometimes better — level of vertical leap and style on their dunks as the grown-ups who get paid to do it. Read More »