Carmelo Anthony (photo. Mannion)
Is Carmelo Anthony destined to become the next Tracy McGrady? Same lead-the-League-in-scoring type offensive ability, same game/personality that’ll keep him a superstar as a player and endorser for the long haul, and — well, we’re in Year Five of Carmelo’s pro career, and he’s now looking at a fifth straight first-round playoff […]

A.I. on Dime’s 2005 Collector’s Issue
Ask any top-level defensive stopper — be it Kevin Garnett or Bruce Bowen or Ron Artest or Gary Payton — and they’ll tell you that playing tough defense ultimately comes down to effort and desire. So when an ultra-talented offensive team like the ‘07-08 Denver Nuggets run risk of missing […]

Chris Paul (photo. Mannion)
For 47 minutes of Hornets/Magic, Peja Stojakovic was having such an off night that the Orlando announcers were questioning Byron Scott for even having him on the court in crunch time. But that didn’t stop Peja from stepping up with about a minute to go and hitting the go-ahead three-pointer on a […]

Photo. Chenoa Maxwell
Other than Shaq dominating Marcus Camby on the game’s first few possessions — or as Suns announcer Eddie Johnson called it, “gangsta’ing” Marcus Camby — Phoenix couldn’t get anything going against the Nuggets in the first quarter last night. Guys were forcing too many bad shots on offense and giving up too many […]

Skip (photo. Jack Thompson)
Remember 4-5 years ago when Rafer Alston went from a journeyman to a legit NBA player? Balling with the Heat that year, Skip was able to shed the streetballer rep by protecting the ball and knocking down threes like he’d been watching Mark Price tapes. That version of Skip was the Skip […]

Photo. Marc Morrison
Rockets vs. Cavs was the good defense/bad offense affair you’d expect from those two teams until Houston pulled away in the fourth quarter behind a bunch of Cleveland turnovers and Houston fast-break buckets. T-Mac (17 pts, 8 asts) was playing point guard better than Rafer or any of the team’s other official PG’s […]

Ray Allen (Photo. Jordan Brand)
There’s really no point in watching a Spurs game until the fourth quarter, is there? No matter how bad Tim Duncan and Co. might have played in the first 36 minutes, those last 12 is when they’ll hit that “Champions” switch and either win or fall just short. Yesterday in Boston […]

Photo. Monte Isom
Is Dirk Nowitzki clutch? Any kind of rep he’d built during the Finals run in ‘06 and last year’s MVP regular season was snuffed out in the now-infamous Golden State series. And like we said heading into this season, now no one cares what Dirk does until the playoffs come around and he’s […]

Photo. Courtesy adidas
Aside from Tim Duncan beasting Kwame Brown (who’s starting to develop a Jermaine O’Neal-sized forehead), the Spurs didn’t play well at all in the first half yesterday. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili weren’t doing anything, and the San Antonio defense was opening up left and right to allow the Lakers open shots. Then, […]

Photo. Mannion
Cleveland’s perfect record against the Spurs last regular season meant nothing when the Cavs were getting cracked in the Finals, so presumably that means last night’s win over the defending champs didn’t mean anything, either. Right? Or you could say that last night, at least we saw the Cavs’ role players getting the job […]