The NCAA Tournament is the best showcase event in terms of evaluating talent entering the NBA. In the past 10 years, current NBA stars Dwyane Wade (Marquette), Derrick Rose (Memphis), Russell Westbrook (UCLA), Deron Williams (Illinois) and Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse) all made their big first impressions in The Big Dance. Of course, there are always … [Read more…]
NBA studio analyst Kenny Smith, who is moonlighting as a college basketball expert this month, admitted an oversight on Thursday night. Smith said he owes Arizona’s Derrick Williams an apology for underestimating his talents. “Derrick Williams is a man,” Smith said. After the 6-foot-8, 240-pound sophomore forward put together the most impressive game of the … [Read more…]
Not counting the play-in games that happened earlier in the week, the first round of the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball tournament has been nothing short of spectacular. Matt Howard’s put-back lifted Butler over Old Dominion and Temple’s Juan Fernandez beat the buzzer against Penn State. But the best buzzer-beater from the opening week was executed … [Read more…]
First of, I like Jalen Rose. He’s very well-spoken and honest. Not enough athletes today spew opinions with brutal honesty, and Rose is in the minority. However, Rose went a little too far with his raw, uncensored commentary regarding the black players on Duke University in ESPN’s documentary feature on “The Fab Five” that aired … [Read more…]
Horace Grant remains an avid NBA fan and follows the Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers, basically the teams he played for during his career, on NBA League Pass. During a recently Bulls-Hawks game in Chicago, Grant took the opportunity to provide some analysis . . . a tad biased but a commentary … [Read more…]
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra admitted after Sunday’s 87-86 loss to the Chicago Bulls that some of the players in the Heat locker room were crying. Seriously? Crying after a regular-season loss? Crying after dropping from the second spot in the Eastern Conference to the third spot? Was there a trophy involved? Did the … [Read more…]
The man known around the Association as AK47 just got popped with an extremely embarrassing episode recently. During a game between the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets, the nightcap of TNT’s doubleheader, Andrei Kirilenko had the ballgame in his hands but he let it slipped through his soft hands. Here’s a recap of what happened: … [Read more…]
The two biggest losers, without a doubt, during NBA “Tradefest” were the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics. The Knicks got their man in Carmelo Anthony, but they practically gutted their team to get him. On the outside, the deal was a no-brainer and seemingly well worth a three-month headache. Melo is the most … [Read more…]
JaVale McGee was robbed! Not to take anything away from Blake Griffin, who had his moments during All-Star Saturday Night, but McGee’s dunks were far more difficult than what Griffin did for the whole event. I’ll even go a step further and argue that Serge Ibaka and DeMar DeRozan had more impressive dunks than Griffin. … [Read more…]
As soon as LeBron James made his infamous “I’m taking my talents to South Beach” statement back in the summer, expectations were so high in Miami that anything less than spectacular is considered a failure. By his standards, LeBron is not enjoying a most valuable season. But pitted against the rest of the league LeBron’s … [Read more…]