It was bad enough when the Dark Knight Rises shooting took over television and every news station in America for three solid days last week. It was depressing, and listening to the same details over and over again only heightened my anxiety, despite not being able to change the channel. Every year in this country, people are killed by gunfire, and I’m not sure of the statistics, but doesn’t it feel like things are getting worse? No place is sacred anymore. You can’t go to a midnight premiere for one of the most anticipated movies of the summer without being scared. And now after the happenings of the past few days, it seems like you can’t play ball either without worrying about who’s carrying. 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 »

Come June, all you’ll hear about is the guys expected to be lottery picks in the NBA Draft. Anthony Davis, Jared Sullinger, Thomas Robinson and the like.

March Madness, though, is about finding the gems hidden all season behind those frontline players on big-time schools. They’ll get their due — now it’s time for the unsung hoop heroes. Read More »

The evolution of the point guard has brought us Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook: big, fast, unguardable. The era of game managers and pure passers has slowly faded, leaving only a few of that breed left to hold the torch for the old school.

This new school lead guard style has temporarily masked the brilliance of the likes of Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Rajon Rondo, Ricky Rubio, and the other pure point guards who manage a game rather than control it with scoring. But over the last three months two East Coast purists have been putting on a display of passing that proves the old school role isn’t extinct yet. Read More »

Fans thought Lamont “MoMo” Jones had it all at Arizona: An Elite Eight under his belt, a coach in Sean Miller who could teach Jones everything about being the floor general and a starting point guard spot at the school dubbed Point Guard U. But that was only Jones on his hardwood surface.

So a month ago when Jones suddenly transferred to Iona, a small MAAC school in New Rochelle, N.Y., it raised the obvious question: Why leave the success? Read More »