Go into any basketball locker room in the world — CYO leagues, middle school, high school, or even in the NBA — and you’ll find sharpshooters, bench warmers, you’ll see Jordans, adidas and Reebok, you’ll see tall oafs and slippery guards, coaches that rarely say a word and coaches that never shut up. Every team will have it’s own unique flavor, it’s own unique environment. Read More »

We feel like we’re at a basketball buffet this time of year. Between conference tournaments and early NBA games, we could easily have our fill by 7 p.m., and yet there we go, back for seconds and thirds as the night goes on. Given that many choices it truly means something when a game can hold our attention and Miami’s 21st win in a row, 107-94 over Milwaukee, kept us zoned in. Read More »

Beast of the Night: Josh Smith exploded for 30 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, three blocks and two three-pointers last night. He shot 52 percent (12-23) from the field and 67 percent (4-6) from the free-throw line, and turned the ball over four times. Smith is improving his averages from month to month and continues to be a dominant fantasy asset on most nights. Read More »

Lob City’s a Laker town again, if only for a night in this upside-down season where the Clippers are the supposed juggernaut in town. With Andy Garcia looking on with an, ahem, obvious Lakers’ interest, Metta World Peace was as much a factor tonight as he hasn’t been the rest of the season. His physicality and hesitation three, his only bucket of the night, with 3:30 left capped an 11-4 run and the Lakers put the game away from there, thanks to two key plays from Andrew Bynum (19 points). In the closing seconds, he caught a lob from Kobe and finished, and then snuffed DeAndre Jordan‘s layup. Was this truly the night the big kid finally grew up? Read More »

With three contributing players inked to overseas deals that may prevent them from rejoining the NBA in the 2011-12 regular season (should it exist) and with at least two significant free agents to re-sign, the Denver Nuggets make for an intriguing study from a fantasy basketball perspective. While all that means the Nuggets will likely have fewer fantasy assets than they did last season, it might open things up for other players on the team. Let’s take a glance at the potential fallout. Read More »

Maybe even more than the Cavaliers, the Utah Jazz are the NBA team that has lost the most this summer. All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer left in free agency for Chicago, along with the best shooter on the team, Kyle Korver. Then the Blazers signed starting two-guard Wes Matthews to an unbelievable 5-year, $34 million offer sheet, which the Jazz probably won’t match.

While the Jazz are losing a lot of pieces right now, and it may seem like they are losing the momentum of last year’s playoff run — Deron Williams recently admitted he was frustrated with the way things have gone this summer — here are five things Utah should do to ensure long-term success: Read More »

What constitutes “news” these days? It was already getting hard to tell after the past week of one million made-up rumors and random speculation, but then this LeBron-on-Twitter thing hit yesterday and further confused the situation. If you haven’t heard, LeBron officially signed onto everybody’s favorite social media toy, and that development was actually reported by the Associated Press and other major outlets like a real-life “news” story. (Not that we’re claiming superiority; we’re all following @KingJames too.) Read More »

Beyond the growing reality that Carlos Boozer is turning himself into a Ted DiBiase-style villain — he might as well put Delonte West in the Million Dollar Dream and hire Kosta Koufos to be his Virgil every time he plays in Cleveland — the trade being discussed (last time we checked) that would send Boozer to the Bulls has bigger implications: All three teams involved would get better because of it. The rumored deal would give Chicago that low-post scorer (Boozer) they’ve been missing ever since Elton Brand left town; Portland would get an upgrade at PG in Kirk Hinrich; and Utah would get an athletic PF in Tyrus Thomas who can finish what Deron Williams starts, defend the rim, and run with Jerry Sloan‘s fast lineup. Read More »