Understand that six days out of seven, I’d rather watch college basketball than the NBA; that I’ve been a Georgetown fan since I was a kid; and as a West Coast native, I’m both loyal and defensive when it comes to the Pac-10.

Also understand that I’m far from an expert at the X’s and O’s of basketball. I don’t run plays on NBA 2K10, and I would never coach at any level beyond the littlest of Little League. The kids deserve better.

That said, even I found myself wondering W-exactly-TF Ben Howland was doing in the latter stages of UCLA’s loss to Cal State-Fullerton last night. Read More »

Trying to explain to my girl why I was watching a press conference for a high school kid announcing his college decision, I described the reason for the hype behind Harrison Barnes as such:

“Remember when Grant Hill came along? He’s like that. He’s the Golden Boy.”

As good as Barnes is on the court, the 6-7 wing from Ames High School (Iowa) gets just as much praise for his intelligence, maturity, poise and overall good-guy demeanor off the court. Read More »

That’s right, the college hoops season is here and you know what that means: it’s time to unleash the mother effing fury! For the past seven months, I’ve been bottling up a vicious mixture of excitement and rage, just waiting for the moment to release my emotions onto the rest of the world. Well that time has come. Your boy Matty D is back to give you a look at the top teams in the country and to separate the champs from the chumps. Read More »

Larry Drew II knows something that you don’t know.

He must.

What an enigma. This backup point guard turned starter, who many experts, fans and haters concede to be one of, if not the weakest link on North Carolina’s basketball team, walking into the Dean Dome’s media room as self assured as, say, his predecessor Tywon Lawson. Read More »

If you’re down with Dime, then you know one of the features we’ve been doing for years is Ink. From A.I. to ‘Melo, we’ve displayed some of the League’s finest artwork. Yesterday, we came across a feature in The Daily Tar Heel showing off the tats of UNC’s Marcus Ginyard and wanted to share it with you. Read More »

What happens when a college basketball player, living on a college budget, becomes a wealthy pro in a matter of months? In the new television docu-series, “The CrossOver,” you’ll get an inside look into this transition as XXX follows Nuggets rookie Ty Lawson as he takes his game to the next level. Currently seeking television distribution, the 30-minute pilot is ready for air. Check out the trailer below.

We could have this argument all day, but hands down, Chris Paul is the best point guard in the NBA. Even if you don’t believe me, in NBA.com’s annual GM Survey, 77.8 percent of the voters chose CP3 over Deron Williams (14.8) and Steve Nash (7.4). Recently I got up with the fifth year player to talk about Michael Jordan’s induction into the Hall of Fame, dreams of going to North Carolina and Stephen Curry for for Rookie of the Year. Read More »

Harrison Barnes, a 6-6 wing out of Ames, Iowa, is the best high school ballplayer in the country. As he navigates through the hectic recruiting process, Barnes agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First up is North Carolina, where Barnes visited on Sept. 3. Here’s an excerpt:

… At about noon, I got a tour of campus on a golf cart and got to see where the dorms were, where the Dean Smith Center was, and I saw a few classes and walked around a little bit.

After that I had lunch with Coach (Roy) Williams, and then I got to see the North Carolina museum. Read More »

“I grew up and wanted to go to Carolina to play basketball, but then I woke up and went to Wake Forest,” said Chris Paul at the NBA Store yesterday as he made an appearance to promote his new children’s book, “Long Shot: Never Too Small to Dream Big.” Growing up in North Carolina, every kid wanted to go to UNC for of one reason, and one reason only: Michael Jordan. Yesterday, CP3 was taken aback as he was presented with a gift honoring his childhood hero. Read More »

It’s been a tough year for Jerry Stackhouse. First he appeared in just 10 games for the Mavericks last season while averaging career lows in points (4.2), rebounds (1.7), assists (1.2) and minutes (16.2) per game. Then he was waived by the Grizzlies after being acquired in an offseason trade. And if that wasn’t enough, he got crowned by John Wall in perhaps the dunk of the summer. But while most people might think he should just hang ‘em up, Jerry Stackhouse can’t go out like this. Read More »