Just minutes after the last conference championship game wrapped up Sunday evening, the annual NCAA Tournament selection show was underway to announce the field of 68 for this years tournament. This years tourney appears to be wide-open, but the Florida Gators come in as the team to beat as the No. 1 overall seed. Other No. 1 seeds are Wichita State, Arizona and Virginia. They will all have their work cut out for them. The tournament fun is not just limited to
LeBron James has been all over the internet for the past 24-hours. Thursday night, as he and the Miami Heat hosted the New York Knicks in what became a 26-point home victory, the internet was all abuzz over the carbon-fiber mask he wore to protect his broken nose. The mask drew comparisons to all sorts of popular characters: Zorro, Hannibal Lector and, of course, Batman. The mask garnered so much attention that someone started a Twitter account for it. There were tons
NBA writers have been speaking with anonymous scouts as of late, and you have to wonder if some of those scouts are paying as much attention as they really should, based on some of their questionable analysis. For example, saying you don’t like the Golden State Warriors’ chances in the playoffs because they’re not good enough defensively simply makes no sense, given that they are the third best defensive team in the league – the very best if you only count
All season, the Indiana Pacers have maintained that homecourt advantage for the Eastern Conference playoffs, and their chemistry will give them a great chance to dethrone the two-time NBA champion Miami Heat. Are both slipping away? In the last two weeks, Indiana’s grip on the East’s best record has loosened considerably. And the Pacers’ big move at Thursday’s trading deadline, acquiring Evan Turner, illustrated that their belief in chemistry may have been overstated. [Read more…]
I noticed recently that ESPN’s Bill Simmons had been using the term “Third Banana” when referring to the third-best player on a team. A simple concept, but it did get me thinking. Who are the best “third bananas” in the NBA? I decided to put together a list ranking every team’s third-best player, and then I’d put that player into an overall league ranking, from 1-30. Ultimately I was hoping to stumble upon a correlation between how high a teams Third Banana
Whew. What a long weekend? Of course, you may have guessed, the weekend in question was the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend which culminated in a record breaking, high scoring game Sunday night. Monday afternoon, a day after competing in the East’s 163-155 victory over the West in the All-Star Game, Miami Heat forward LeBron James took to social media to reminisce on how quickly time has flown by since he, teammate Dwyane Wade and New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony came into
Before the season, championship expectations were attached to both the Knicks and the Nets. The Knicks were coming off the team’s first season with at least 50 or more wins and a trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals since the 1999-2000 campaign, when Jeff Van Gundy patrolled the sidelines, Patrick Ewing wrapped up his final season in New York and Allan Houston was in the prime of his career. The Nets were coming off their first trip to the playoffs in six years
Adam Silver is in a tough spot. Silver became the NBA’s fifth commissioner on Saturday. He follows David Stern, whose 30 years as the league’s top executive likely will be unmatched by anyone in any sport. Silver begins his term without facing a major problem that needs immediate fixing or a hot-button issue that requires immediate attention. With TV contracts running through 2016, labor peace assured until at least 2017 and most of the top stars in their 20s, the NBA is