The first month of the college hoops season has already had enough defining moments to warrant the Luther Vandross treatment.

There was the poignant high of Coach K surpassing his mentor Bob Knight as the all-time leader in NCAA D-I coaching wins; the gut-wrenching (and ongoing) low of Syracuse assistant Bernie Fine throwing his program into scandal; the inspiring comeback stories of Arizona forward Kevin Parrom and Kansas forward Thomas Robinson; made-for-March upsets like UNLV over North Carolina, Presbyterian over Cincinnati, and Central Florida over UConn; and big-time matchups like Ohio State vs. Duke, Kentucky vs. Kansas, and Syracuse vs. Florida that were dipped in Tournament atmosphere.

This past weekend, though, gave us the most thrilling game, the highest display of talent, and the most grand exhibition of the best of college basketball, all wrapped in one 40-minute showcase in Lexington, Ky. Here is that game, plus the rest of the best and worst of the weekend: 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 and hated Duke yesterday, we’ll keep this going with No. 5-ranked Syracuse (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).* Read More »

After an efficient sophomore year in which he averaged 13.0 points on 45.5 percent shooting, including 47.4 percent from distance, Marquette guard Darius Johnson-Odom took his game a step further this season. By upping his scoring average by nearly three points and making big strides on the defensive end, he became an All-Big East Second Team selection and led Marquette to a 9-9 record in the toughest conference in America. Friday night, DJO poured in a game-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting to lead his 11th-seeded Golden Eagles past 6th-seeded Xavier. On Sunday, DJO went for 17, including the game-winning triple with 25 seconds left, to lift Marquette to another upset over 3-seeded Syracuse, clinching the school’s first Sweet 16 birth since the Dwyane Wade era. Here are his words: Read More »

After an efficient sophomore year in which he averaged 13.0 points on 45.5 percent shooting, including 47.4 percent from distance, Marquette guard Darius Johnson-Odom took his game a step further this season. By upping his scoring average by nearly three points and making big strides on the defensive end, he became an All-Big East Second Team selection and led Marquette to a 9-9 record in the toughest conference in America. Friday night, DJO poured in a game-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting to lead his 11th-seeded Golden Eagles past 6th-seeded Xavier to set up a second-round matchup with conference foe Syracuse. Here are his words: Read More »

One of the common aspirations of any young ballplayer’s career is to play on one of the biggest stages in the game of basketball. Whether it is in the state championship, AAU tournament or the NBA Finals, one day we’ve all had the dream of hitting the game-winning shot after dropping 50 points on our opponents. For most of us, just emulating our favorite player’s moves that we see them pull off with the ease keeps the hope alive that we’ll one day be able to do the same. One of the deciding factors that give our idols these sometimes G.O.A.T.-like abilities can be isolated in my opinion: their shoes. We’re told about their tireless work ethic, killer instincts and hunger for more, but we rarely get to see any of those intangibles. We see the game-winning shot and the heat on their feet. Read More »

When the highlights of past Big East Championships run on ESPN and SNY, they are dominated by theatrics from Ray Allen, Allen Iverson, Ben Gordon and Gerry McNamara. But what Kemba Walker has done over the last four days might be the most impressive Garden Championship Week performance of any. Read More »

Sure Knicks rookie Andy Rautins has only played three NBA games so far this year, but that was to be expected. Why? Because after being the starting shooting guard at Syracuse last season, where he finished his career second on the school’s all-time list with 282 career three-point field goals made, Rautins has had to make the transition to the point. We got up with Andy recently to chat about his rookie season and Syracuse hoops. Read More »

From Pearl Washington to Gerry McNamara, Syracuse has a rich tradition of point guards. After the latest great one, Jonny Flynn, moved on to the NBA in 2009, Brandon Triche was handed the keys to the palace. What he does with them could find the Orange celebrating their second national championship in 2010.

Coming off last Thursday’s win at Georgetown, the Orange (25-2, 12-2 Big East) are ranked in the Top-5 nationally. The freshman Triche has started every game, averaging 9.0 points and 3.1 assists, but his production and PT has been spotty over the last couple of weeks. Earlier in the season, Triche was featured in Dime #55: Read More »

If you haven’t heard, this is supposed to be a down year for the Pac-10.

Over the summer the conference lost James Harden, Jordan Hill, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison, Taj Gibson, Jeff Pendergraph, Jon Brockman and Chase Budinger to the NBA Draft. Going back to 2008, the Pac-10 also lost O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, the Lopez twins, Jerryd Bayless and Ryan Anderson, all of whom would still been in school today had they not gone pro early. Read More »

That’s right, the start of the college hoops season is just one week away and you know what that means: it’s time to unleash the mother effing fury! For the past seven months, I’ve been bottling up a vicious mixture of excitement and rage, just waiting for the moment to release my emotions onto the rest of the world. Well that time has come. Your boy Matty D is back to give you a look at the top teams in the country and to separate the champs from the chumps. Read More »