This is the time of year when we give out our midseason awards. But before we get to the drudgery of Sixth Man Award and Most Valuable Player, let’s start the festivities with a special award for individual achievement that goes to Rashad Vaughn. Vaughn is a shooting guard for the Milwaukee Bucks and the second-youngest player in the NBA. He is one of the dozens of rookies who have made virtually no impact in their first season. He is averaging 2.5 points
This year’s European Championship, the Eurobasket, will be kicking off this weekend with group play taking place in France, Croatia, Germany and Latvia, with 24 teams fighting for two automatic bids for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Both the champion and the runner-up will automatically qualify for the prestigious competition next summer, with the 3rd-7th place teams earning the right to fight for one of the three final bids for the Olympics in next summer’s three pre-Olympic qualifying tournaments. Team USA is
The field for the Rio Olympics is up to three, with Australia in. The race for the gold medal remains at one — as it will for the next calendar year. Nobody is going to come within 30 points of Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s SuperTeam next summer, and it will be five long years before we know whether Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Olynyk, Tristan Thompson and coach Jay Triano can build a team good enough to throw a scare into the Americans at
LAS VEGAS — It was a warm, muggy morning in Lafayette, Louisiana on Wednesday as Elfrid Payton was going through his usual daily workout when his cellphone rang. It was his agent, telling him he had been invited to Team USA training camp to help fill out the roster for the end-of-mini-camp exhibition game. A two-hour drive to New Orleans followed, then a restless night, then a 6 a.m. flight to Las Vegas where a room awaited him at the Wynn
LAS VEGAS — The next version of Team USA will be chosen in late June, 2016, and there will be no alternates. A dozen players will be named to the team, a training camp will be held in Las Vegas, and the team will take a domestic tour of the United States before traveling direct to Rio de Janeiro from Houston, Team USA executive director Jerry Colangelo told SheridanHoops.com Wednesday. “We don’t want to have any cuts, we don’t want to have
LAS VEGAS — Kobe Bryant has a chance to be a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, even though he is not attending Team USA’s minicamp this week, USA Basketball Executive Director Jerry Colangelo told SheridanHoops Tuesday. “If he had a great year, it would be a great story for him to try to close out his career by winning a gold medal,” Colangelo said. Bryant and Colangelo actually discussed the possibility in June during an NBA/USAB sponsorship conference in New
LAS VEGAS — Practically every top American basketball player is descending on Las Vegas this week for Team USA’s mini-camp. All of them have their sights set on being a part of the 2016 Rio Olympic team. But how many have a realistic shot at joining the very best of the best on what can only be called the SuperDreamTeam? Put it this way: James Harden is a fringe player. So is Blake Griffin. And Kevin Love. The United States has enough talent
The NBA formally announced its 34-player roster for the 2015 USA Basketball minicamp, where coach Mike Krzyzewski will begin the process of narrowing the field down to the final 12-man roster that will represent the US at the 2016 Olympics. Just Announced: @USABasketball Announces 34 Player Roster For 2015 #USABMNT Minicamp in Las Vegas! pic.twitter.com/GBzNjrTwGt — NBA (@NBA) August 6, 2015 The minicamp, to be held from Tuesday through Thursday of next week in Las Vegas, is a virtual “Who’s Who” of NBA stars.