It was tough to come up with a name for what the Nuggets did to the Hornets last night. The Oz and “Ivan Drago vs. Apollo Creed” references worked for the mere 20-piecings of Games 1 and 2, but last night? The Nuggets damn near won by SIXTY, 121-63, setting an NBA playoff record for margin of victory. Call it the Kobayashi Game: Chauncey and Carmelo and crew ate up the Hornets like Takeru Kobayashi plows through 50 and 60 hot dogs, kind of gross to watch but so fascinating you can’t look away … Read More »

As our March Madness live-blogger put it at the beginning of Dime’s all-out Big Dance coverage, Thursday was one of the few “guy days” of the calendar year — like the Super Bowl, only since it starts in the middle of the workday, you’ve got people sneaking TV’s into the office, hitting the “Boss Button” on their monitors and stashing live-streaming iPhones in desk drawers. Pound-for-pound, is there a better sports day out there? We doubt it … The game of the day had to be UCLA’s win over Virginia Commonwealth. Read More »

Jarvis Varnado might be the best shot-blocker the college game has seen since David Robinson. The reigning two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year led a Bulldogs unit that, on its way to an unlikely conference tournament crown, held opponents to 61.5 points per in four games, which included holding Tennessee a full 18 points below its season average (79 ppg) in Sunday’s championship game. Read More »

Today’s DimeMag.com poll asked if a team of American college ballplayers would land on the medal stand in these Olympics. USA Basketball used amateur players for decades before the originial Dream Team and was traditionally dominant, but with other countries closing the talent gap over time, could today’s collegians still compete?

Putting together an amateur-only ’08 Team USA, I’d still have to put Coach K in charge (although I’m a Duke-hater, I have to give the man credit for being the best in the business), but after that there are plenty of philosophical questions to answer. For example, in a year with so many great freshmen, do you go with a crew thick with 18- and 19-year-olds, or lean towards older, more experienced upperclassmen? (Keep in mind that players who were drafted this year would be eligible.)

Do you go with a guard-heavy lineup similar to the current U.S. team, or employ more bigs to deal with experienced international big men like Pau Gasol, Andrew Bogut and Yao Ming? Do you want Coach K to go with a more structured system since he’s got younger players, or keep the same free-wheeling system with which he’s let the pros feast on the rest fo the Olympic? Lastly, are there any Class of ’08 high schoolers talented and/or mature enough to make the roster? Read More »