This draft may lack potential superstars past Anthony Davis, but it does have depth. And dunkers. And thankfully, shooters. Old heads are always complaining the fundamentals are gone in this new, modern age of basketball. No one wants to set screens, move the ball or take one-dribble pull-ups anymore. They just want to dunk and make top 10s. Those temptations are certainly there, especially for younger amateur players. But that doesn’t mean the art of the jump shot is gone. Read More »

To call this past season’s dunk contest embarrassing might be an understatement. While fans dream of the stars duking it out like the good ol’ days, the NBA continues to try and market their younger, up-and-coming players. All of this public outcry isn’t enough to make Dwyane Wade change his mind. Back in February, he told The Palm Beach Post, “You don’t want to see me in that. I’m not a Slam Dunk kind of person. I’m a game dunker. I’m not creative enough. I don’t jump as high as those guys, or do all these things in the air that they can do. No one wants to see me in there. That’s why I have never raised my eyebrow to being in the dunk contest.” Read More »

Words. Lucas Shapiro

Following last night’s shocking NBA Draft Lottery in New York City where everyone and their momma is now saying David Stern and the NBA rigged it to make sure the top prize landed in New Orleans, now we can now begin to get an idea of how the first round of the draft will play out after the top spot. This is the first of many Dime mock drafts leading up to June 28. As usual, it’s a combination of what we think teams should do and what we think they will do: Read More »

They used to call it one of the best draft classes of the last 25 years. Now, it’s looking more and more like Anthony Davis… and then everybody else. Still, on June 28, the 2012 NBA Draft will bring hope, and hopefully new talent to some teams that desperately need it.

As we do every year, Dime will be holding you down with Mock Drafts, player interviews and diaries (you should check out Dion Waiters‘ draft diary), and we will also be bringing you draft profiles for every potential prospect deemed worthy. With this year’s crop of talent, that list is long. Our last profile was on Weber State’s junior Damian Lillard. This week’s profile is on University of Connecticut’s sophomore shooting guard Jeremy Lamb. Read More »

This year’s draft keeps getting deeper and deeper. Even without projected lottery pick Cody Zeller coming out – the Indiana big man decided this morning that he’ll be coming back to school – everyone is still convinced this will be one of the best drafts of the past decade. Now you can add Jeremy Lamb‘s name to the Green Room. The 6-5 UConn wing had an up-and-down year, and helped contribute to a terrible season, at least for the Huskies’ standards. But with a lottery spot calling his name, the kid who was a relative no-name until last spring’s NCAA Tournament couldn’t resist. Read More »

Since he watches so much college basketball, you’ll be pressed to find someone besides Doug Gottlieb with a better handle on which NBA Draft prospects will succeed and which ones will become busts. With that, we give you an exclusive conversation we recently had with the ESPN analyst. In part one of this conversation that we ran Sunday afternoon, Gottlieb broke down the tournament and college basketball in general, speaking on parity and the notion that recruiting has drastically changed in the past few years. Read More »

*Which player – at any level – will have the biggest breakout season this year? Think it through because the best comments/responses below will be printed in the next issue of Dime.*

Back in high school, it was amazing what one year could do to a kid. He’d grow a little bit. His body would fill out. He’d mature. But despite all that, it amazed me how someone could be a JV starter as a sophomore and then only 12 months later be one of the two or three best players on the varsity. Back then, we were all improving by leaps and bounds. Once you hit 18, you’re supposed to be past the initial growing phase. At that point, the little things are expected of you: get that jump shot consistent, learn how to push off without being called for it, hit the weight room so you don’t get thrown around defensively. 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 »

UConn wasn’t about to let some team from UNC-Asheville steal their shine on Thanksgiving. The Huskies have now won 16 games in a row, and they can thank everyone they have a backcourt like Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier. Those two dominated once again as they both scored 23 points and Napier added seven assists. We’ve had many people – actually most of them have been UConn fans but still – tell us that UConn is just as good as UNC and Kentucky. Those two are considered the two biggest powers in the country by far, and in the public eye have all but wrapped up spots in the championship. Can UConn steal their glory? … Read More »

At this point in the year, there is no way to tell who will be the surefire first pick in the NBA Draft. Shoot, we do not even know what the 2012 NBA Draft will look like with all of the bad NBA lockout news and rumors going around. At this point, there’s superstar talent littered throughout the college game, and NBA scouts – with nothing to do other than go to college games – are working harder than ever. Right now all we can do is speculate, but there are some interesting story lines to follow. Read More »