Maybe he killed Pat Riley‘s fantasy team one year. Maybe Riley, a Kentucky alum, just doesn’t deal with people from Mississippi State. Those are about the only two logical reasons why Riley, master and commander of the Miami Heat, would not take the opportunity to sign free agent center Erick Dampier when he had the chance. Read More »

With all the buzz surrounding the Celtics victory last night in Miami and highlights of Rajon Rondo‘s dunk everywhere — as well as the basketball world just killing Chris Bosh — we wanted to examine how that play developed last night in the first quarter. While Bosh was victimized, as he did not protect the rim this play had trouble written on it from the start for the Heat: Read More »

Today we celebrate Veterans Day (or Remembrance Day for my Canadian brothers), a day commemorating those military veterans who fought valiantly for the freedom of our respective nations. On a day we honor those brave war heroes, I thought it would only be fitting to acknowledge another kind of veteran who goes into battle on a nightly basis: the NBA vet. Setting the benchmark at 34-plus (sorry Greg Oden, looking old doesn’t count), I decided to examine those NBA patriarchs who like a fine wine, have grown better – or at least not much worse – with age. Read More »

As the NBA regular season approaches, we preview the upcoming campaign with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Mike Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Eddie House, Jerry Stackhouse, Juwan Howard

Lost: Michael Beasley, Jermaine O’Neal, Quentin Richardson, Dorell Wright, Daequan Cook, Rafer Alston Read More »

As the NBA regular season approaches, we preview the upcoming campaign with the “Highs and Lows” system — predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team.

Added: Ramon Sessions, Joey Graham, Ryan Hollins, Christian Eyenga, Manny Harris, Samardo Samuels

Lost: LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West, Sebastian Telfair, Danny Green Read More »

In the NBA’s offseason, coaches are just like fantasy owners: Tinkering with their roster at home like kids would arrange and re-arrange battalions of plastic Army toys, to the point where some already have a rotation in place by the time training camp begins.

Brand-new Golden State Warriors coach Keith Smart, for example, said he has his lineup in place less than a week into camp: Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, Dorell Wright, David Lee and Andris Biedrins. Meanwhile, other coaches will use camp to let players compete for jobs. Read More »

One way or another, there are going to be a lot of broken hearts in Miami this year. Either the new-look Heat don’t win a championship, or they do, and three guys who signed this summer don’t end up getting a ring. Now that Miami has inked former West Virginia star Da’Sean Butler, the 42nd pick in this year’s NBA Draft, he becomes the team’s 18th player under contract going into training camp. So while it’s going to be an uphill battle for Butler as he works to come back from a torn ligament in his left knee, let’s look at the roster and try and figure out who will be on the outside looking in this year. Read More »

With the World Basketball Festival commencing last night, and the World Basketball Championships just around the corner, I’ve been looking at this year’s USA roster and comparing it to years past. While the original Dream Team takes the cake as the best USA team ever, the 1996 team wasn’t bad either. While looking at the ‘96 Olympic team, I thought it would be interesting to match them up to the 1996 NBA Draft Class, widely considered one of the best ever. I put a roster together from that Draft to compete against the Olympic team, and then picked a winner. Here we go: Read More »

Timing is everything. LeBron James bought a full-page ad in the Akron Beacon Journal, thanking his hometown fans, friends and family. “For all my life, I have lived in Akron — and for that, I am truly a lucky man,” the ad reads. “It was here where I first learned how to play basketball, and where I met the people who would become my lifelong friends and mentors. Their guidance, encouragement and support will always be with me. Akron is my home, and the central focus of my life. It’s where I started, and it’s where I will always come back to. You can be sure that I will continue to do everything I can for this city, which is so important to my family and me. Thank you for your love and support. You mean everything to me.” Read More »

When Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo decided, even if he was trying to be as diplomatic as possible, to put Chris Bosh on blast following CB1′s departure in free agency, he forgot something: There are more than a couple NBA players who have been there, done that in Toronto and didn’t enjoy their experience. While Bosh politely defended himself without trashing his former franchise, Hedo Turkoglu took another route: “People have to realize something is wrong with that organization and nobody wants to go there any more,” Hedo told Fox Sports Arizona. “It’s not just the players who see this.” Read More »