Last night was almost a perfect night for basketball in Philadelphia. Up in North Philly, the Temple Owls scored an upset win over No. 9 Georgetown — coach Fran Dunphy‘s 400th career victory — that ended with the home fans storming the court. Had the 76ers been able to hang on for one last defensive stop and beat the Celtics in their first national TV home game in what seemed like forever, Philly would be the talk of the basketball world this morning.

College or pro, Ramone Moore was the city’s star of the night. Temple’s 6-4 junior guard dropped 30 points against G’town, hitting 12-of-18 from the field and scoring 44 percent of the Owls’ total output (68 points). Read More »

“Just like the point guards, [there's] a diverse mix of old and young, shooters and slashers, champions and franchise players. Looking at this season’s rosters, almost every team has an established or budding star at the three, with every night providing multiple marquee matchups. Basically, reason No. 295 why you need to get NBA League Pass.”

That was from Dime’s NBA season preview issue, regarding the beginning of what looks like a golden era for small forwards. And Sunday was one of those nights we talked about, where the small forwards shined everywhere. The main event had LeBron and Kevin Durant squaring off in Oklahoma City, and ‘Bron turned in maybe his best performance of the year. 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 »

For the last two years at Temple, Dionte Christmas was the stud of the A-10. After averaging a shade under 20 points a game his junior and senior seasons, Christmas surprisingly went undrafted in last June’s draft. Surprising, I note, because Goran Suton and Robert Dozier did get drafted. Until Wednesday, Christmas had caught on with his hometown Sixers, when he was cut along with Brandon Bowman to slim the roster to 13. Read More »

If you were running the Grizzlies, what would it have taken for you to give up the #2 pick in last Thursday’s draft? In other words, just how valuable is Hasheem Thabeet? According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the team fielded a ton of offers on draft night, some of them involving All-Star and borderline Hall of Fame talent. Phoenix proposed a deal that would have sent Amar’e Stoudemire to Memphis for the #2 pick and Rudy Gay; Read More »

Every year, in every draft, there’s a player or two or four who falls farther than expected. Whether it’s a projected Top-5 pick who sticks around until the double-digits, a Green Room guy who stays in the arena longer than everyone else, or a first-round talent who drops to the second, it’s an annual tradition.

Then there are those guys who wait by the phone all night and never hear their name. This year’s most notable snubs… Read More »

*Reprinted from Dime #49′s NBA Draft Preview*

I’m not even talking about when teams Lucky Charm themselves into a superstar — a Gilbert Arenas, a Carlos Boozer, a Michael Redd — who inexplicably slips through the cracks into the second round.

Take them out of the equation, and the fact remains that every good NBA squad has at least two or three key guys who were drafted in the second round, or not drafted at all: Read More »

Here’s what I don’t get: While you can’t make it five minutes into a Ricky Rubio argument without somebody supporting his case with the concept that he “held his own” against grown men overseas and against Team USA in the Olympics, Patrick Mills gets zero credit for not just holding his own, but putting in serious work against the Redeem Team and other international juggernauts. Read More »

Welcome to The Bong Show, where there will be buckets, buckets and more buckets as ASU and James Harden match up with Temple and Dionte Christmas.

With multiple national TV games this season in a high-profile conference, most of the college basketball world is familiar with the scoring machine that is James Harden. 6-5, lefty, with a body closer to Brian Scalabrine than Corey Maggette, he keeps defenses off balance and susceptible to his array of offensive weapons, whether it’s raining jumpers from deep or sneaking into the paint. Read More »