Quinn Cook only averaged 4.4 points a game and battled injuries last year with Duke, but still, I think Coach K and his squad have some high expectations for the DeMatha/Oak Hill product. Cook, one of the top-rated recruits in 2011, went off during this summer’s NC Pro-Am, and possibly gave a taste of what is to come for the Blue Devils. Read More »

With Twitter and such slashing attention spans and news cycles, our culture more than ever possesses an instant gratification mentality that screams, “What have you done for me lately?” Never mind your last performance, you’re only as good as your last moment.

How else to explain the relentless early-season scrutinization of Duke freshman guard Austin Rivers? Read More »

*College basketball is here (unlike the NBA), and this year might be one of the best in recent memory. The powerhouse is back, while the Cinderellas believe. That’s a deadly combination. We know some of y’all have been asking for some previews. We have you covered – the top 16 teams in the nation will be previewed individually in the next few weeks. After we broke down Louisville earlier today, we’ll keep this going with the team everyone loves to hate, No. 6-ranked Duke (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).* Read More »

We already showed you the dunk contest from Duke’s “Countdown to Craziness,” but just like last year and the year before, the guys at Duke got a little help from the school’s improv department to take college hoops to a whole new level. Three words: Bobblehead is back. Also, check out their other spot, “Come Watch Us, We’re Watching You,” after the jump.

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While everyone normally talks about summer hoops in NYC, L.A. and D.C., you’d be crazy to forget about Raleigh, N.C., and the Greater NC Pro-Am. Known by many as the “Rucker of the South,” this summer league brings out the best from the area, which last night meant Raleigh’s own John Wall going head-to-head with former NC State star Julius Hodge. In front of a packed house of 3,000 people, Wall (12 points) and incoming UNC freshman P.J. Hairston squeaked out a two-point victory over Hodge (20 points), Jawad Williams, Miles Plumlee and incoming Duke freshmen Quinn Cook and Marshall Plumlee.

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The last time the Clippers and Lakers saw each other, Kobe Bryant took a break from being the hero (albeit not on purpose) while Derek Fisher hit the game-winner to beat the buzzer and break the Clippers’ hearts. Yesterday afternoon, L.A.’s JV squad again gave the varsity its best shot, and this time the underdogs came away with a win. The craziest part? The Clips have reached a point where they don’t even have to play their best to beat the Lakers … Read More »

Unlike the NBA and its salary cap limitations, crapshoot nature of the draft and guaranteed long-term albatross contracts, college basketball always provides a glimmer of hope right around the corner. Even for big dogs like Duke, whose unbeaten streak and No. 1 ranking was shaken last night in an upset loss at Florida State, the future almost always appears brighter than the present.

So when the Blue Devils lost on Wednesday in part because they shot 31 percent from the field and struggled to sustain a flow on offense, depressed Cameron Crazies could take solace in one fact: Austin Rivers is coming next year. Read More »

I feel like I’ve grown up at Dime alongside Chris Paul.

In the summer of 2005, I landed in New York City for the first time, a brand-new college grad in town for an interview about a full-time job. Days earlier, I was told, brand-new NBA Draft pick Chris Paul had sat in the same Dime Magazine office I did, making the media rounds and doing interviews for his first foray into the professional ranks. Read More »

If you weren’t out in Chicago this past weekend for the fourth annual adidas Nations global experience, then you missed out on things like THIS. As one of the premier international grassroots basketball programs, the world’s elite 18-and-under players from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the U.S. battled it out all weekend at the Attack Athletics Center to make it to tonight’s championship and third place games held at UIC Pavilion. And with Quincy Miller and the Class of 2011 taking on Kyle Anderson and the Class of 2012, we suggest you tune in. Read More »