Is there anything better than playing for a coach that doesn’t just ask – no, he demands – that you be yourself on the court? It’s the ultimate for a player, whether it’s high school jayvee, college basketball, overseas or even at the very top in the NBA. This carefree attitude is especially important with young players (specifically point guards), many of whom don’t know how to run an offense, and don’t have the belief or confidence in themselves to command the ball and put people in the right positions. Rick Adelman knows this, and says he’ll allow his Spanish import, Ricky Rubio, to have all the freedom in the world this year. Read More »

A nice dish may be the most underrated play in basketball. Obsessing over a dunk or a crossover is common, but how often do you really see a one-of-a-kind assist? Very rarely. They’re always overblown and overhyped. A no-look pass is almost never that. We almost never get a truly breathtaking pass because lets face it, no one practices passing. Kids go to the gym and work on ballhandling for hours – crossovers, behind-the-backs and through-the-legs. Then some Plyometrics or squats because we all want to dunk and we all want to walk into a gym and get instant cred. No one respects a pass; Everyone respects a dunk. Read More »

Honestly, there are few things that feel better than dribbling a basketball. Very few…and those are all outside of basketball. It seems natural: Basketball in hand. The basketball pounding against the gym floor. The sneakers squeaking. On the court, it’s art. Dribble low. Dribble high. Fast. Quick. I know it sounds corny, but for me it’s true. I could be in the gym for hours, and do nothing but push the rock through drills. Read More »

There are a couple of guys in this list you might know pretty well, but are nonetheless surprising to see here. We kick off the weekend with the top 10 plays from the lockout-shortened season in 1998-99.

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This weekend, on a 90-degree day that seemed to shuffle between gray clouds and blinding sunlight, we got after it. Beers and pizza. There was the head coach, the assistants, the volunteers and the graduate assistants, the whole football staff my dad coaches on. It was for me, red and peeling from way too much sun.

Amazing how everything turns out; my birthday parties as a kid growing up were nothing but basketball and ice cream cake. Read More »

Many things were different in 2006. Our president was still white, Osama still roamed the deserts and no one had even heard of Soulja Boy. Yet, the NBA was still as competitive as ever as the upstart Miami Heat took on the Dallas Mavericks in a wild six-game series. Five years later, as the two teams hook up again in the Finals, we take a look at the top 5 reasons why the 2011 Finals is not the 2006 Finals. Read More »

What’s the best compliment you can receive? Most people get the wrong idea. Words are soft. Normally, the best compliments are never spoken, and sometimes never consciously thought. They‘re subconscious. You start doing certain things or acting a certain way or start dressing a certain way or even start playing basketball a certain way unintentionally. You start to emulate. Read More »

This is where it starts to really get good. The Sweet 16. It’s just a moniker, but it means so much more. You make the Sweet 16 and jobs are safe, at least for the most part. You make the Sweet 16 and the program is satisfied. The ones who aren’t satisfied? They win titles.

With four games tipping off tonight (why we have all day and yet the games are overlapping, that’s a whole other topic, but don’t even get me started…), take a look back at some of the best Sweet 16 games of the decade. Hopefully, maybe one of the games tonight will find its way onto this list next year. Read More »

Apparently that whole “Don’t Sign Me!” act Jason Williams was putting on with Memphis went away after he realized no one else wanted to sign him. According to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, White Chocolate has agreed in principle to sign with the Grizzlies and will join the team by Monday. Read More »

You might have missed it last week, but a 12-year active NBA veteran point guard — with a championship ring and who three times finished in the League’s top 10 in assists for a season — became available. Playing one of the game’s most coveted positions, you would think some contending team would be interested. And yet Jason Williams is still waiting for work. Read More »