As much as ESPN hyped the head-to-head matchup between Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum before last night’s Magic/Lakers game, you would’ve thought that, you know, Bynum had actually done something to earn space on Dwight’s marquee. But choosing to ignore all the warning signs that this might be the most disappointing big-man “battle” since Emeka Okafor turned Luke Schenscher into an Australian Toaster Biscuit in the 2004 NCAA title game, the national media seemed bent on making Howard/Bynum the dominant headline on the NBA schedule … Unfortunately, that headline belonged in the Police Blotter section. Six minutes into the first quarter, Howard served Bynum with a nice lefty hook shot and a back-to-the-basket shimmy that led to a finger roll, and Bynum wound up on the bench with two fouls. Bynum came back to start the second quarter, but after blowing a defensive assignment and then picking up his third foul, he was on the bench less than three minutes in. Read More »
About halfway into the fourth quarter last night, Norris Cole had everyone in the building and all who were watching on national television wondering Who Dat? By the end of the night, Cole was the hero and he had national columnists asking the following morning if straight up, we were really going to love him forever… or was it just a hit and run? Is he for real? In just his second game as a pro, Cole dropped 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, didn’t shy away at all from the big shot and unlike the starter, Mario Chalmers, he stayed within his game, not constantly dribbling into the lane and turning it over. Read More »
UCF didn’t want to talk Big East. They were also apparently sick of hearing about UConn’s 16-game winning streak as well. Whether they make the jump to the Big East soon or not, the Knights let their play do the talking: we deserve to be there. Down 17 with 16 minutes to go against the defending champs, a team that hadn’t lost a game in seemingly forever, and sporting probably the best backcourt in the country… none of it fazed UCF. Behind Marcus Jordan (yes, the son of MJ) and Keith Clanton (both dropped 20, Jordan added seven rebounds and assists), they stormed back and beat the No. 4-ranked Huskies 68-63. Read More »
The Indiana Pacers are some kind of something. That is to say, they’re a mediocre team with a few mildly appealing pieces for fantasy purposes, but nothing to go nuts about. If anything, there are a lot of untouched ceilings here, which may or may not appeal to you. Let’s take a look at what Larry Bird’s boys can offer fantasy owners next season. Read More »
Damn, we didn’t know Wilson Chandler was this big of a risk taker. But the forward is basically giving up the NBA season, and has agreed to a deal with Zhejiang Guangsha of the Chinese Basketball Association. The rumors of an international deal for Chandler were circulating for the last few weeks, but now it’s official with a league that doesn’t allow its teams to sign NBA players under contracts. Chandler is a restricted free agent so his move is a huge one, and he knows it, saying it is a risk but it’s one he believes in. This will be an amazing experience for him. Read More »
The last time the San Antonio Spurs were in the lottery, they were selecting a young man named Tim Duncan with the first pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. Ever since then, they have been one of the past decade’s most successful teams by winning four NBA championships.
Last week, I posted highlights of Eric Gordon and George Hill showing out at the Indy Pro-Am. But the hometown kid saved his best effort for the championship game last Thursday, dropping a reported 46 points in the victory. Check it out.
If there’s one player that I’ve been waiting to see back on the court this summer it’s been Eric Gordon. After missing 26 games last season with an injured right wrist, EJ looks like he’s doing just fine playing at the Indy Pro-Am in his hometown of Indianapolis. As for George Hill, we’ll let his 50 points on 21-of-25 shooting speak for itself. Make sure you check after the jump for an interview with each guy and more highlights from last night’s game.
After all the rumors, all the trade speculation, all the gossip, our biggest trade of the day came before the draft even started. Yes, we figured Kyrie Irvingwould go No. 1, followed by Derrick Williams and then after that, all bets were off because the prospect level just wasn’t that good. But we wanted moves. That’s what a bad draft guaranteed us right? Read More »
‘Twas the night before the draft and all through the league, not a player was safe, not even Jeff Teague. Yeah so we were pretty close to writing this entire edition of Smack in rhyme. That would’ve been a disaster (we’re already not crazy about that opening). But anyway, yes it is that time of year again – that last 24 hours where every GM gets all polished up, floats almost every player on their roster and lies to the media about it. We think it’s all pretty awesome, especially with the added pressure of the lockout. Read More »
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