All week long, it seemed the media was trying its hardest to will Cornell to an upset win over Kentucky. But by the end of the first night of Sweet Sixteen action, Butler was the underdog stealing the headlines. While Cornell had a good 3-4 minutes of magic in their pocket before John Wall and the Army of Blueness proceeded to trample them, Butler neutralized No. 1 seed Syracuse’s athletic advantage and picked apart the infamous 2-3 zone in a monumental upset … Isn’t Gordon Hayward (17 pts, 5 rebs, 2 stls) overdue for the “next Larry Bird” hype that guys like Keith Van Horn, Wally Szczerbiak and Adam Morrison typically get around this time? Read More »

After Mike Dunleavy was relieved of his coaching duties last night, there is already speculation about who will replace him permanently. Dunleavy will stay on as GM because of the $5.5 million he is owed next season, and Clippers fans are praying that he makes better decisions choosing a coach than he did while pacing the sideline himself. Kim Hughes will most likely serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season, but with a good foundation of veterans and young talent, expect the Clippers to attract the attention of big-name coaches currently out of work, along with a good selection of assistant coaches and college coaches looking to make the jump. Read More »

With the NBA All-Star Weekend around the corner, and the NBA Trade Deadline right after that, there’s definitely going to be some things happening in the League. With that in mind, check out five major story lines that the NBA will see heading into the All-Star Break… Read More »

Sam Cassell can stay, but if Flip Saunders is going to turn these Wizards around, he needs to clean house with the rest of his assistants and bring in the likes of Coach Carter, Joe Clark from Lean on Me, Gene Hackman, Bobby Knight and Mike Ditka. Basically, coaches who won’t take any nonsense and won’t accept some of the iron-headed decisions the players are making. The Wizards had a chance to beat the Celtics last night and stay undefeated in national TV games this season, but they gave it away with their own curious choices … Read More »

Don’t forget about the Celtics now. In the offseason arms race that’s seen the Magic get Vince, the Lakers get Artest, the Cavs get Shaq, and the Spurs getting Richard Jefferson, the Celtics made their big move by reaching an agreement with free agent Rasheed Wallace yesterday. ‘Sheed was Boston’s #1 target from the get-go: Danny Ainge risked life and limb skulking around Wallace’s house in the middle of the night; KG, Pierce, Ray and Doc Rivers dropped by to make a pitch; and the C’s appeared willing to let Big Baby Davis walk if it helped land the older, more accomplished PF in ‘Sheed. Read More »

At least for now, Amar’e Stoudemire isn’t going anywhere. Yesterday morning we mentioned a rumored trade proposal that would send Amar’e to Minnesota for Al Jefferson and the #6 pick in next week’s Draft, and while follow-up reports now say that a discussion did take place between the Suns and Wolves, apparently Minnesota said no. We know the Suns are always trying to save a buck, and Amar’e was up for grabs earlier this year when he wasn’t working out with then-coach Terry Porter, but trading him now doesn’t even make sense. Read More »

As championship parades go, the Lakers managed to throw a pretty good party yesterday. Although the whole privately-funded element and Derek Fisher‘s anti-Fun Police PSA threatened to put a damper on things, you have to give the L.A. fans credit for showing up in droves and being on their (nearly) best behavior, and credit to whoever paid for the parade for putting on a good event … Check out this snarky-ass line from the Associated Press story on the parade: “Taking a time-out from work or unemployment, 95,000 people filled the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to give a hero’s welcome to players and coaches.” So Adam Morrison was there after all Read More »

The last time we saw Goodman League commissioner Miles Rawls, he was heckling President Obama. Wearing a $15 Obama tee shirt, Rawls sat two rows behind the leader of the free world at the Wizards/Bulls game, where the two men exchanged some friendly trash talk throughout their February 27th meeting. Rawls is a well-known fun-loving heckler at the Verizon Center.

But that’s not his homecourt. He’s the commissioner of The Goodman League presented by Nike Basketball and DTLR at Barry Farms in Southeast DC, where he helped to kick off the “Season of Change: Summer 2009″ last night. Read More »

To clarify: Our NBA Fantasy Finals have nothing to do with the stat-driven “fantasy basketball” you play online. We’re taking NBA Finals teams throughout history and pitting them against each other to see what you think would happen. Assume both lineups are healthy, and the older team gets homecourt. Today it’s The Dream and The Glide versus J-Kidd and some guys who made a lot of money off of him … Read More »

To clarify: Our NBA Fantasy Finals have nothing to do with the stat-driven “fantasy basketball” you play online. We’re taking NBA Finals teams throughout history and pitting them against each other to see what you think would happen. Assume both lineups are healthy, and the older team gets homecourt. Today it’s arguably two of the top three power forwards of all-time (and their star-studded teams) going head-to-head … Read More »