Get ready Boston: Jordan Crawford is about to walk through that door. Crawford, a career 13.4 point-per-game scorer, once said (in all seriousness) that he felt he was the best Jordan to ever play in the NBA. Now he’s going from one of the least respected organizations in the league to one of the most popular. Read More »

LeBron James‘ jaw-dropping year has been much discussed around these parts, not just for his accomplishments, but the scale of them. You know the list by now, with its various MVPs and gold-plated championship accoutrements. This year’s NBA rookie class is looking at what Anthony Davis has accomplished in the last year and believes he won’t be stopped either. The NCAA title, an all-time freshman blocks record, first pick in the draft and an Olympic gold medal are quite the haul for the lanky, 6-11 forward in New Orleans, especially one who wasn’t Mr. All-World Everything out of high school. Read More »

Serge Ibaka is setting the precedent for shotblocking in the NBA. His 3.7 blocks per game this past season were the most since Theo Ratliff was swatting shots in Philly for the Eastern Conference champs back in the 2000-01 season. Ibaka is by far the best shotblocker in the league, but come Thursday, he may have some company.

Anthony Davis earned the No. 1 pick by leading Kentucky to a national championship with his defensive prowess and is heir apparent to the shot-swatting throne. But not all great shotblockers are drafted with a high pick. The aforementioned Serge Ibaka was taken with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Read on to see which trusty defenders are worthy enough to make our list of the Top-10 Shotblockers of the 2012 NBA Draft. Read More »

Following the shocking NBA Draft Lottery in New York City where everyone and their momma is now saying David Stern and the NBA rigged it to make sure the top prize landed in New Orleans, now we can now begin to get an idea of how the first round of the draft will play out after the top spot. After we took a stab at the first round just a few weeks ago, here is the fourth of many Dime mock drafts leading up to June 28. As usual, it’s a combination of what we think teams should do and what we think they will do. Read More »

With the NBA Draft Lottery taking place, everyone has a better idea where likely draftees will land come June 28, 2012. Here at Dime, we’ve already begun our full-fledge draft coverage. Catch up on player profiles like Harrison Barnes, the weekly diary of Dion Waiters, and our latest mock draft. All of these features provide a glimpse into what to expect from the incoming influx of ballers. Yet, the perpetual interrelationship between hip-hop and hoopin’ can’t be overlooked. Read More »

Words. Lucas Shapiro

Following last night’s shocking NBA Draft Lottery in New York City where everyone and their momma is now saying David Stern and the NBA rigged it to make sure the top prize landed in New Orleans, now we can now begin to get an idea of how the first round of the draft will play out after the top spot. This is the first of many Dime mock drafts leading up to June 28. As usual, it’s a combination of what we think teams should do and what we think they will do: Read More »

David Stern, if you’re reading, please give us seven more games of this. Lakers. Grizzlies. In one of those back-n-forth games that causes your life to stop in its tracks for like 45 minutes, the Lakers rode Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum to a double-OT 116-111 W in Memphis. Down the stretch, Bryant (34 points) was either making perfect decisions with the ball or Bynum (37 points, 16 rebounds, three missed shots) was powering it through the rim, all while the Grizzlies resorted to chucking up threes (We’re looking at you, Juice) at a rate not seen since J.R. Smith was sampling Chinese food … 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 Louisville and hated Duke yesterday, we’ll keep this going with No. 5-ranked Syracuse (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).* Read More »

After an efficient sophomore year in which he averaged 13.0 points on 45.5 percent shooting, including 47.4 percent from distance, Marquette guard Darius Johnson-Odom took his game a step further this season. By upping his scoring average by nearly three points and making big strides on the defensive end, he became an All-Big East Second Team selection and led Marquette to a 9-9 record in the toughest conference in America. Friday night, DJO poured in a game-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting to lead his 11th-seeded Golden Eagles past 6th-seeded Xavier to set up a second-round matchup with conference foe Syracuse. Here are his words: Read More »

For years, I’ve said that the Big East Tournament makes up my five favorite days of the basketball year. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the NCAA tournament or the NBA Playoffs, but to me, it doesn’t get better than many of the best teams in the college playing in the biggest city in the country in the World’s Most Famous Arena. Thursday’s games were just more testimony to my already strong beliefs. Here’s how it all went down… Read More »