Midway through the third quarter of their eventual 92-88 takedown of Memphis, Chicago opened up a 14-point lead as Kirk Hinrich went all 2004 on us. He had a few steals, a blocked shot, a layup, and started a number of fast breaks, all within a four-minute stretch. Eight minutes into the quarter, and Memphis already had seven turnovers while Hinrich was looking like Jimmy Chitwood. Read More »

Too soon? Maybe. Yesterday morning, we finished off Spain in a game that was entirely too close for comfort after Team USA smoked everyone else throughout the Olympics. Now, just 24 hours later, the gold medal celebration has worn off and we can start looking forward to 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Read More »

Back in the day, fierce rivalries amongst the baddest big men in the game were warranted, and universally expected. Chuck could talk smack to Karl Malone about how much better he was. Shaq hated on David Robinson, and went out to turn him into a human pinball whenever they matched up. Hakeem went at the Admiral when he felt disrespected during the 1995 Western Conference Finals. And Bill Laimbeer just wanted to cheap shot everybody. It was a different era back then, and most would argue it made for more interesting basketball, more drama. Nowadays, everyone is teaming up, and with so many NBA players first meeting each other at earlier ages and then practically growing up together on the court, rivalries are scarce. As far as big men go, Andrew Bynum is probably the largest wild card, only because of the increasingly weird Andrew Bynum things he does. So we think we’re speaking for most fans when we say thank God for DeMarcus Cousins. Read More »

So Team USA has found their groove. It goes something like this: mess around for a few quarters, and then get one of their guys – preferably Carmelo, Durant or Kobe – hot and watch them drop bombs video game-style from the perimeter. It worked against their last few opponents, and they did it again yesterday in their 119-86 shellacking of Australia in the first medal round game. Team USA took an 11-0 Aussie run to the chin to start the second half, and we actually had a somewhat competitive game through three quarters. Then, the Yanks went on a 45-20 run to end the game, and it started with Kobe Bryant … Read More »

Since when did Nicolas Batum become a tough guy? We guess this is what happens when you are on the verge of an upset in the Olympics, and then your entire team completely shuts down in the fourth quarter. Batum didn’t shoot well, missing nine of 12 shots, and by the time he rocked Juan Carlos Navarro in the balls with a nasty clubbed fist, the game was over. How did he justify it? He told Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, “I wanted to give him a good reason to flop.” Read More »

It was never a secret U.S. vs. Nigeria was never going to be close. The betting line grew to 42 points before the game, which seemed like it could be high even for a mismatch like this, the best team in the world against the team making its Olympic debut. First, the Team USA was totally off-mark shooting from the short international three-point line, a trend that looked worse with a pretty sluggish start to the first quarter against Tunisia. Then, you figured Nigeria was going to play inspired in its Olympic debut against the U.S. It turns out the line was ridiculous Read More »

Spain won their second straight EuroBasket championship yesterday, defeating Tony Parker and France, 98-85. Juan Carlos Navarro, the former Memphis shooting guard, stole the show. Navarro scored 27 points in a victory, describing his Spanish team as “historic.” Pau Gasol went for 17 & 10 while Oklahoma City Thunder center Serge Ibaka added 10 points and five blocks (all during a brief period in the second quarter when Spain jumped on top). This was Ibaka’s first tournament with the Spanish team after being granted citizenship in July. Read More »

Kobe Bryant might be old, and getting up there in mileage, but don’t you think he’s still the best offensive option the Lakers have? Mike Brown may not agree with you. Of course, no one is going to keep the Mamba from feeding, but Brown sounds contrite when he mentions going inside to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Again. And again. And again. In Cleveland, Brown was criticized for turning the Cavs into “LeBron brings it up, LeBron holds it, LeBron calls for a screen-roll, LeBron holds it, LeBron drives to the rim, LeBron shoots or passes.” That never worked in the playoffs for obvious reasons (it’s never worked for ANYONE). Read More »

Call ‘em whatever you like: Thrillers, classics, epics, or just games with so many balls on display they’d make the Borat director’s cut. Either way, after the last couple of days of World Championship goodness, we don’t wanna see Team USA in another sloppily vicious 30-piecing when they face Russia today. Tip-off is at 11 a.m. EST, so make sure you’re on DimeMag.com to check out our live blog of the action. The biggest X-factor in this game for the U.S. will be Derrick Rose. Read More »

All things considered, Spain vs. Team USA might be the most entertaining basketball rivalry on the planet right now. They don’t meet up nearly as often as Duke and North Carolina, or have the historical context of Lakers vs. Celtics, and their games don’t get as physical as any given Washington D.C. playground war. But as far as producing consistently close results and quality basketball with emotions on high, USA/Spain is up there with any rivalry out there currently … The last time the two national squads met, Kobe led the U.S. in a gold-medal game thriller in the ’08 Olympics over Pau Gasol‘s Spanish team. With the Lakers’ teammates sitting out this summer, yesterday’s pre-World Championship exhibition was another down-to-the-wire contest … Read More »