Granted, watching basketball all the time is part of my job, but it still amazes me how many people don’t (or rarely) watch college hoops until the NCAA Tournament. Because of such inexcusable ignoring of America’s best spectator sport (if you ask me), during the Big Dance I usually get peppered with “Who is that guy?” or “Who does [Team X] got?” questions.
Some of them make sense — even I can’t say I’ve seen Wofford or UC Santa Barbara play this year — but a lot of the players who slip under the mainstream radar don’t deserve the anonymity. After giving your four Players to Watch from the Midwest and South regions yesterday, here’s the West: Read More »
Bulls/Magic was over the moment Derrick Rose crashed to the floor and sprained his left wrist. On a night when the Bulls were already playing without Joakim Noah (foot) and Luol Deng (calf), and Orlando has been smashing all non-contender squads during their now seven-game win streak, Chicago’s only chance would be if D-Rose went off like Shep in Above the Rim — or if Vinny Del Negro hopped in a Hot Tub Time Machine and brought Mike and Scottie back with him … Late in the first quarter, Rose went to the rack and threw his body into Dwight Howard, hurting himself when he tried to break the fall. The play was exactly like the one from last month when Dwight and Rose collided and Rose wound up with a hip injury. Read More »
If the Cleveland team that showed up Monday night routinely shows up this May/June, there’s no way LeBron doesn’t win his first NBA championship in 2010. Yeah, they were playing the Knicks. Still, the Cavs would’ve been tough for the ’80s Pistons to stop last night with the way they passed, moved without the ball, and played D — plus everybody had an extra spring in their step like it was Midnight Madness on a college campus … LeBron (22 pts, 7 rebs, 7 asts) had about 3-4 dunks in the first quarter, then in the second he hit some other level of craziness: Read More »
Late last night I was watching Rick Pitino weekly Louisville coach’s show — one of my favorite things about having 264 sports channels — when Pitino made a great point about defensive mentality.
Essentially, Pitino said, there are guys who get upset when they miss a shot, but aren’t nearly as bothered when they get beaten off the dribble. “We’re not going to be a good team until it bothers us more to get beat defensively than it bothers us to miss a shot,” he said. Read More »
Not that he really needed to, but Chris Bosh sealed what will be his fifth straight All-Star selection later tonight with a dominating effort against the Heat on Wednesday. Breaking out the throwback unis from the 1947 Toronto Huskies — oddly enough, a team that was also accused of being soft and not playing defense — the Raptors’ win moved them into fifth-place in the East while Miami dropped to sixth … The Raps were down by 13 in the first half, but rallied and were clinging to a small lead late in the fourth quarter. After Bosh (24 pts, 18 rebs) hit a jumper to put them up by seven, one T-Dot announcer screamed, “The cream rises to the top!” Even when Bosh messed up, it worked for him. Read More »
Asked why he picked Shaq for his All-Star roster but railed against Allen Iverson being voted in, NBA TV’s Chris Webber offered one of the weakest arguments I’ve seen since the stuttering attorney in My Cousin Vinny.
“Shaq actually has an impact on his team,” C-Webb said, pointing out that Cleveland has the best record in the League. “He’s the starting center on a good team.” Read More »
