Anybody who watches MSNBC’s “Lockup” knows this much about prison etiquette: It’s all about perception. You might come into the bing at 5-foot-4 with a real pretty mouth, but if you create the perception right away that you’re stone crazy, you can drop the soap all you want and not have to worry.
Same rules apply in basketball. Guys only mess with you if you let them think they can, which is what makes Kobe Bryant such a strange case. Read More »
It’s Championship Week in college basketball, otherwise known as the week of tournaments before THE Tournament. And honestly, it seems this year people only really care about two conference tourneys: the Big East and the Big 12 … and maybe the ACC based on history and hype.
This week we’ll be previewing those anticipated conference tournaments. But for now I’m doing the Pac-10, because that’s the one I know best, because I don’t want the Left Coast to get overlooked again, and, well, because I can. Read More »
For the first time during this Create-a-Player series, I thought one man might combine everything I’d want from his respective position. I think you know who it is.
But let’s pretend for a moment that Michael Jordan is not the perfect two-guard. Actually, let’s just state it as a fact. Reggie Miller was a better three-point shooter and (brace yourself) just as clutch as MJ. Read More »
One sequence not only summed up Cavs/Celtics, it was also the moment an astute observer in the building would have started packing their stuff and heading for the parking lot: After Mo Williams had knocked down back-to-back threes midway through the fourth quarter, Ray Allen was looking to answer beyond the arc. But as the shot clock ran down and with nowhere to pass or dribble, Ray had LeBron stuck to his chest like Vicks VapoRub. Read More »
Any time a basketball game is played in a dome, you know the announcers and analysts are going to wear out the “shooting backdrop” angle and talk about how hard it is to hit jumpers.
Last night’s All-Star Game was no different. Against the backdrop of 108,000 people in Cowboys Stadium, with plenty of shiny watches and Texas-sized cleavage to provide even more distractions, the familiar story line came up even though both teams actually shot the ball pretty well (15-38 from three-point range, or 38 percent). Read More »
Other than Nate Robinson making history as the first three-time champion, there really wasn’t anything memorable about last night’s NBA All-Star dunk contest. It was like one of those comedy movies that’s funny enough to get the job done while you’re in the theater, but 30 minutes after you leave you can’t remember any of the jokes … If there was a signature dunk from Nate, it was probably his last one in the finals, when he threw it off the glass and did a reverse jackknife, then went over to the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and danced with their pom-poms. Read More »
OK, so it’s safe to say Vince Carter is back. After a terrible month of January that would’ve made bigger headlines had the Magic had been losing, Vince ran off two straight 20-point games over Super Bowl weekend, then last night he exploded on the Hornets like Shane Diesel at a cougar convention … Vince got going early, scoring seven of Orlando’s first 12 points after tip-off, but was fairly quiet the rest of the first half as the Magic got picked apart by Darren Collison (27 pts, 9 asts, 4 stls) and David West (27 pts) and gave up 70 points by halftime. The defense tightened up in the second half, though, and Vince went nuts. He finished with 48 points, six threes and zero dunks. Read More »
It’s not that Rashard Lewis isn’t clutch. Anybody who watched him take down the Cavs and scare the Lakers with some big-time shots in last year’s playoffs knows better than that. But the way Raw Lew sent the Celtics home last night — not with a corner three or a turnaround jumper, but with a strong drive to the cup past one of the best defenders in the world — it was the last thing you’d expect out of him … Read More »
Unlike some nights when you have to choose between five different games on League Pass, one on NBA TV and reruns of “Jersey Shore,” tonight was one of the few instances where everything came together. As the League’s top two teams and top two players squared off, all eyes were on Kobe vs. LeBron, and the League’s No. 1 and 1a did not disappoint … The mood was set before the jump, as “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana blasted from the speakers. Aside from perhaps “The Ride of the Valkyries” when the helicopters attack the village in Apocalypse Now, there’s nothing more epic … Read More »
Nothing against LeBron, Kobe, ‘Melo and the rest of the usual suspects, but if the Hornets make the playoffs, let’s just scrap the voting process and hand the MVP to Chris Paul. With his team battling to stay above .500 and tied for 10th in the West, CP might be carrying a bigger load than any superstar — and that’s only a “might be” because of Dwyane Wade … Hosting the red-hot Grizzlies, Paul again had to dominate just for N.O. to squeak out a win. He took over after Memphis went up by nine with 4:30 to go, scoring or assisting 17 of the Hornets’ final 20 points. With 40 seconds left, N.O. was up one when Paul (21 pts, 13 asts) froze Jamaal Tinsley with a series of shakes and stuck a mid-range jumper. “You just don’t want Child Welfare to come and say anything about the way he’s shaking him!” laughed announcer Gil McGregor … Read More »
