There’s something purely Americana about the hometown kid making good in front of the hometown crowd.

Whether it’s David Freese blasting home runs to lead his St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series title, or Chauncey Billups going from prep legend to college superstar to NBA bust back to NBA superstar in Denver, or even Jerome Bettis winning a Super Bowl in Detroit in his final NFL game while playing for another team, we like these stories. In a sports culture where free agency and stressed-out GMs eager to trade make it increasingly tougher for fans to claim one group of players as “our guys” for any length of time, hometown ties remain nearly impossible to break. Read More »

All things being equal, the NBA’s best sixth men would rather be starting, of course. On other teams, there’s a chance they certainly would be. You don’t have to look much further than Jason Terry. He’s been the second-best player on a championship team and one of the fourth quarter shoulders the Dallas Mavericks have leaned on for the past eight seasons. Is he good enough to start? Of course. Even though his numbers are down this year (13.9 points, 41 percent shooting), Terry’s been hitting big jumpers and spot up threes for the past decade. As a starter, he’d be a nice player. As a bench player, he became a staple of what it means to be a great sixth man. Read More »

When Nate Robinson and filmmaker T.J. Regan told us that State Of Nate was going to let us in on Robinson’s life, they meant it. In the sixth episode, Nate takes hometown friend Isaiah Thomas under his wing to prepare him for his rookie season in the NBA. Read More »

Just put Dwight on the line, right? That was Mark Jackson’s strategy on Thursday against Orlando and it seemed good for a while against the career 59 percent free-throw shooter. The Magic didn’t lead through the first quarter after going wire-to-wire against Portland in its own building the night before. Well, Howard’s not exactly Mark Price from the stripe but if you send a guy there an NBA-record 39 times (he made 21), he’s going to get his, anyway, and score with a stopped clock to help a comeback, too. That’s how Orlando held off Golden State, 117-109. Read More »

Say hello to the bad guy. We have a new beast in the West. In probably the most physical game of the NBA season so far, the Blazers showed why everyone is so frightened of playing them up in the Northwest by punking the Clippers and Blake Griffin, 105-97. With the NBA’s newest A-List team threatening them over and over, Portland answered every call. Between Gerald Wallace, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby, they did work on Griffin, holding him to the most up-and-down 18 and 12 night you’ll ever see. Read More »

In our Hit List this past week, we couldn’t wait to see exactly how good Indiana was. They were 3-1 after last week, but had yet to play anyone better than the league’s ultimate scrubs. Finally last night, they checked into South Beach… and were obliterated by the Heat. Miami didn’t even have Dwyane Wade (out nursing his foot) and yet ran away from the Pacers by 35. James literally ran right through Indiana; On one three-point play, he jumped and bumped into Lou Amundson in midair. James came down. Sweet Lou ending on the floor with the photographers. So LeBron took care of the offense. Read More »

It’s about time Nate Robinson returns from the cold. And after just over a week of NBA action, he’s found a new home. According to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group, Robinson could sign with the Warriors as soon as Wednesday and join the team Friday in Los Angeles. Read More »

As you can imagine, everyone at Dime HQ doesn’t always agree on everything. And this is particularly the case when it comes projecting a player’s future. We all think we have what it takes to be an NBA GM, and we’ll go to bat for the players we believe in. But if there’s one player that sticks out from the pack from endless debates on Broadway, it’s Nate Robinson. Read More »

We’re sure you already know, but the high school basketball season is heating up. In addition to nationally televised games, holiday tournaments are giving us some of the best highlights we’ve seen since the AAU circuit. As always, HighSchoolHoop.com has been all over everything, from the biggest news to amazing video highlights. See what you may have missed: Read More »

When Nate Robinson and filmmaker T.J. Regan told us that State Of Nate was going to let us in on Robinson’s life, they meant it. In the fifth episode, Nate gives us a glimpse at the athletic achievements of his two sons. Read More »