Did you hear the Magic brass isn’t too smart? That’s what it feels like. Since none of us are a part of Orlando’s organization, we can sit here and talk about “Well, they might as well trade Dwight Howard now and get the most for him. They can’t let him leave for nothing.” We can call for the GM, Otis Smith, to start reaching out to everyone, mainly the Nets and the Lakers, to figure something out. But if we were Smith, we definitely wouldn’t have said what he did yesterday. In an interview with Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, Smith said about the Howard trade rumors: “I think you have to look at everything. I don’t think you can take anything out of consideration.” Read More »

It takes a full-time job, or a full-time class schedule, for one to truly appreciate a four-day weekend. And when those two extra days off come courtesy the Thanksgiving holiday, the full-time college basketball fan (or writer) goes into overtime mode.

Just about every D-I team in the country seemed to be playing in a holiday tournament this past weekend – from the balmy paradise of the Bahamas to the cold-ass bustle of New York City on Black Friday. When it was over, some top dogs were going home with their national-championship promise in doubt, while some underdogs returned to campus with brand-new hero status.

Here are the highlights and lowlights from the long weekend: Read More »

*College basketball is here (unlike the NBA), and this year might be one of the best in recent memory. The powerhouse is back, while the Cinderellas believe. That’s a deadly combination. We know some of y’all have been asking for some previews. We have you covered – the top 16 teams in the nation will be previewed individually in the next few weeks. After we broke down a Xavier and ‘Zona yesterday, we’ll keep this going with No. 14-ranked Wisconsin (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).* Read More »

For anyone that was free to sit in front of the television all day, they were in for a treat. Between eight NCAA Tournament games and six NBA contests, there were enough highlights to make sure SportsCenter didn’t feel compelled to show us any B-roll from the NFL lockout negotiations. And if you’re a fan of amazing individual performances, you had eight guys drop 30-plus: Jacob Pullen (38), Jimmer Fredette (34), LeBron James (33), Dwyane Wade (32), David West (32), Shelvin Mack (30), Brandon Knight (30) and Blake Griffin (30). So let’s get started … Read More »

24-point comebacks are awesome. 24-point comebacks are great TV. But 24-point comebacks can also be disturbing because they take everything you thought you knew and turn it upside down. It appears as if someone needs to inject LeBron James with some tiger blood … Last night in Miami, the Orlando Magic snuck in and broke up a coronation of the Heat, dropping a monstrous “don’t forget about us.” After trailing by as many as 24 points in the second half, the Magic slowly cut down the deficit through a barrage of threes (16-29 on the night) and with some great defense from Quentin Richardson slowing down LeBron. Once Orlando took the lead, they held on for the final few minutes, including a final, frantic possession that saw missed threes from Chris Bosh and James (29 points) to win by three … The game was like watching a movie, and then watching it again backwards. Dwyane Wade (28 points) and James went from electric to ordinary, Gilbert Arenas went from dead to alive and the Miami role players went from deferential to commanding, taking a number of the biggest shots in the final minutes Read More »

On paper, Derrick Rose vs. Chris Paul conjures images of an offensive basketball orgy, with buckets and dimes and dunks and crossovers everywhere. But last night’s MVP-candidate matchup was a defensive battle between two of the most stingy teams in the League … The Hornets strategy was to keep Rose out of the lane by putting multiple bodies in front of him, and for the most part it worked. Read More »

Don’t think that the Year of the Point Guard only applies to the NBA. In college basketball, a bumper crop of ones is helping write the national narrative in a way similar to their pro counterparts: With diverse styles and circumstances that make it tough to pick exactly who is No. 1 on a daily basis.

Two of the front-running candidates for national Player of the Year are point guards. One of the top 10 teams in the country (according to the most recent Associated Press poll), at least five could arguably say their point guard is their best player. Read More »