We’ll call this the list Gary McGhee loves to hate…

I’ve been on both sides of the coin before. It’s the embarrassing times you remember. One in particular stands out for me. College. Sophomore year. Preseason. Every fall semester at a D-III college is always the same: there are the returning players and then there are dozens of kids from high school, all coming together and all believing they’ll be one of the three or four kids who actually make the team. They all have some game and they’re all cocky. Read More »

Preseason is when teams want to work through mistakes and identify the most pressing issues. Camps have now given way to games, which offer a different level of looking at a team’s identity. It would be asking for the impossible to have every problem identified, let alone remedied, by the end of October; the best-case scenario is to simply not carry too many from the start into the season. What should every team be asking itself during the preseason? We’ve got you covered. Today, we look at the Eastern Conference. Read More »

This weekend on Twitter, Dwight Howard told his followers he planned to take over Andrew Bynum‘s spot in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s Post Science 101 class as soon as doctors cleared him to resume basketball activity. Kareem says that’s cool… once he meets Howard. Yep, Dwight is taking up residence as a Laker pretty quickly, making plans with Abdul-Jabbar without even actually meeting him (UPDATE: The two were able to finally sit down this weekend and discuss working together. Howard tweeted a picture of the two of them with the words: “…For many years to come.” *Cuts to Laker fans fist pumping and screaming*). If they are ever able to get in the gym at the same time – and Kareem says he’d love to teach Howard – we’ll be curious to see how they work together. Howard improved a little bit under the tutelage of Hakeem Olajuwon. Hopefully, Kareem can further the process … Read More »

Shaquille O’Neal took a break Sunday morning from tweeting about cars to add his take to the prolonged hiring process for Orlando’s head coaching job. Via Twitter, O’Neal let it be known he was not impressed with the Magic’s supposed front-runner, Jock (sic) Vaughn. Vaughn’s a pretty ho-hum guy, whose Wikipedia page has as long an entry for his academic achievements as his professional career. The journeyman guard who played for an impressive 12 years had little to do with Shaq, it would appear. This tweet is less about Vaughn and more about his love for the other two candidates. Read More »

Team USA put on some smooth retro Dream Team ’92 era unis for its showdown with FIBA No. 3-ranked Argentina on Sunday in Barcelona, unis so fresh that afterward Carmelo Anthony was telling reporters the team was posing for lots of photos in the locker room in pre-game. You have to wonder if a little mystique for Magic, Michael and Larry snuck into the first 10 minutes of the game because the red, white and blue shot out in front like the original Dream Team to a 19-3 lead. Read More »

Basketball historians and old heads must have mixed feelings about YouTube. On one hand, the ultimate On Demand channel gives them access to every piece of NBA footage that’s locked away in some vault. But at the same time, it’s going to warp history. There’s no question in that. Players who weren’t all that get complimented as if they were All-Stars, and some of them last longer in our collective search engines than they should. Bill Walker is the ultimate NBA journeyman and his name will forever live on from inside the Internet TV. James White is another YouTube success story. There’s a ying and a yang to this, a white and black. Read More »

BREAKING NEWS: Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are really popular. The NBA released its latest jersey sales figures from China, and once again Kobe and LeBron hold the #1 and #2 spots, respectively. Dwight Howard is 3rd, jumping Kevin Garnett (4th) from last year. Derrick Rose is 5th, followed by Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, Ray Allen and Kevin Durant to wrap up the Top 10. T-Mac was 4th last year, but didn’t make the Top 10 this time around … Read More »

One of the great pains in the ass about working for Dime is that too many people are convinced we all think with the same brain.

We’ve got a whole team of talented and opinionated writers around here, so it’s annoying when I get e-mails and comments berating (or even praising) me for something that was written in someone else’s column. Usually I let it slide, though.

But then my man Aron Phillips got on this kick that Brandon Jennings should be NBA Rookie of the Year. Read More »

Last week, in the wake of the NBA Trade deadline, I put together a list of five free agents who can help your team right now. But let’s be honest: The pickings were slim. And as I said, any player who has spent time on an NBA roster this season had to be waived by March 1 in order to be eligible for the playoffs with another team. So in light of a bunch of need commodities that surfaced on the market, here’s an updated and expanded list of free agents available to the highest bidder. Read More »

With the playoffs around the corner, and less than 30 games left in the regular season, one of the least-appreciated deadlines in the NBA is upon us. Mark it down on your calendars people, because this is Where Stephon Marbury Happens. For any player who has spent time on an NBA roster this season, they must by be waived by March 1 in order to be eligible for the playoffs with another team. That means you Big Z and Drew Gooden, so keep those negotiations moving. Read More »