Allen Iverson made last night’s Grizzlies/Kings game worth checking out from the beginning, but Kevin Martin made it worth staying until the end. What was originally billed as A.I.’s big debut turned into K-Mart’s showcase, it may have been the best game of the season so far, and it was a hell of a timely ad for NBA League Pass as the free preview week wraps up … Checking in to a nice ovation from the Sacramento crowd, Iverson looked like he was just testing out his hamstring in his initial rotation, a scoreless five-minute stretch of the first quarter. Read More »

NBA training camps are underway, meaning it’s time again for Dime’s team-by-team season previews. Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceilings and basements for each team. In other words, what is the realistic best-case and worst-case scenario for the 2009-10 campaign?

Added: Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi, Jon Brockman, Sergio Rodriguez, Sean May, Desmond Mason Read More »

When I heard this weekend that new Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis was mostly likely going to add Bill Laimbeer and Reggie Theus to his staff, this got me thinking: If there was a 3-on-3 tournament amongst the NBA’s current coaching staff, who would win? Read More »

The two biggest basketball stories from Wednesday revolved around coaches. In the NBA, the Kings ended their search by hiring Paul Westphal as head coach, and in college, USC’s Tim Floyd resigned his post just as it looked like the ugliest parts of the O.J. Mayo saga were coming to light … True story: Last week some of us in the office were talking about the Kings’ top three candidates (Tom Thibodeau, Kurt Rambis, Westphal) and when Paul’s name came up, people actually laughed. Read More »

After spending his last eight years coaching at Pepperdine, serving as an assistant under Avery Johnson in Dallas, and attending multiple Clay Aiken concerts with his wife (yes, that happened), Paul Westphal is back. Kings GM Geoff Petrie chose Westphal over LA Lakers’ assistant Kurt Rambis and Boston defensive specialist Tom Thibodeau.

Frankly, those Clay Aiken concerts sound like fun compared to trying to win in the West with the Kings’ roster. Enjoy yourself, Paulie! Read More »