What an end to a great Big East Tournament last night as UConn beat Louisville by three, 69-66, in an intense, up-and-down slugfest at MSG. The battle itself felt like it boiled down to the Kemba Walker/Peyton Siva matchup. Players stepped up on both sides, but it felt like those two were involved in almost every big play, whether it be scoring (Kemba had 19, Siva 13), setting up teammates or keeping the tempo at a blistering pace (they are clearly two of the fastest guards in the nation) … As Kemba was imposing his will in the second half and drawing foul after foul, Jay Bilas relayed that Rick Pitino was telling the refs that “Kemba Walker is not Michael Jordan.” When he was told about Pitino’s quote after the game, Kemba replied, “I’m not Michael Jordan, I’m Kemba Walker”… Kemba finished with 130 points in his five games – a Big East record – and was the easy choice for tourney MVP … So how does this UConn run change the way you look at the Huskies as an NCAA team? Sweet 16? Further? … Think Louisville’s Mike Marra will have nightmares about last night’s game for the rest of his life? Read More »

After yesterday’s win over Notre Dame in the Big East Tournament, we caught up with Louisville’s sharpshooter, Kyle Kuric, in the locker room. Check out what he had to say.

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It has been 13 years since professional basketball first said hello to Paul Pierce, and luckily, the face of the game’s most decorated franchise hasn’t changed. Living for this moment, Pierce goes to work every night and succeeds in the shadow of irony: an underappreciated star who doubles as the greatest scorer in Celtics’ history. For the world, that should be enough. Read More »

Tony Allen, Tom Thibodeau and Big Baby’s personal pork chef could have filled in for ABC’s announce crew and told you how yesterday’s Lakers/Celtics game was going to turn out. To put it simply: Kobe Bryant cannot beat Boston by himself. Despite 41 points (16-29 FG) from the Black Mamba, L.A. saw its slim halftime lead slip away as the C’s dominated most of the second half in a convincing 109-96 win on Kobe’s floor in what was supposed to be a Game of the Year candidate … Read More »

To say the Big East is pretty tough is like saying Wiz Khalifa smokes a little weed sometimes.

While the company line going into this college basketball season said the Big Ten was the strongest conference in the nation, the Big East has reclaimed its rightful place: At the moment, nine of the Big East’s 16 teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, from No. 3 Syracuse to No. 25 Cincinnati. Read More »

Rick Pitino is college basketball royalty. A living legend. Which makes it hard to fathom that — while still actively coaching a strong program in the high-profile Big East conference, and only five years removed from his most recent Final Four appearance — Pitino could somehow be overshadowed in his own state.

And yet that is the case currently for Pitino, now in his 10th season at the University of Louisville. 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 »

I’ve never been one for self-help books, but over the last couple weeks I’ve been reading Rebound Rules, a motivational guide to getting one’s life in order written by my main man Rick Pitino.

Though it was printed in 2008, there is at least one chapter, “Surviving and Thriving in the Microwave Culture,” that becomes even more timely and relevant as 2010-11 sports media moves closer into tabloid territory, and jumping to premature conclusions becomes as natural as Northwestern missing the NCAA Tournament. Read More »

We argue. You decide.

JOHN CALIPARI (by A. Macaluso) When it comes to family, no one is closer than the Italians. You used to be able to say the same about John Calipari and his predecessor, Rick Pitino. Both coaches have known each other ever since they worked together at Five Star Camp. Both head coaches were actually friends in the beginning, with Pitino helping Calipari land the head coaching position at Massachusetts in 1988. Read More »

Ask yourself: How many people had Duke as a preseason national title favorite last year? Outside of Durham, N.C., close to zero. The Blue Devils were ranked 9th and 8th, respectively, in the preseason AP and ESPN/coaches polls. They were considered a dangerous team, but not on the level of Kansas and Kentucky.

Over the course of the schedule, however, the realization hit that Duke possessed most of the pieces you’d want for a national title run: Experienced guards, quality shooters, versatile forwards, solid defense, good coaching and NBA-caliber talent in the right spots. Throw in a healthy “Us against the world” mentality (because they’re Duke) and a favorable NCAA Tournament bracket, and the Evil Empire was back on top of the game. Read More »