The Andrew Bynum news is dominating the NBA today. Of course, this big news would break on a day I spent a good portion of in the car, driving from my grandparents’ place in New York to my parents’ house in Baltimore. So if you, like me, are still playing catch-up, here’s the basics: The Cavs suspended Bynum indefinitely for “conduct detrimental to the team” and it looks like he’s played his last game for Cleveland. There’s murmurs that Bynum just flat
What’s the best template to build an NBA team by these days? For several years, it was to construct a Big Three, like the Spurs, Celtics, and Heat did with great success. [Read more…]
The quarterfinal round of EuroBasket ’13 began Wednesday. With only six available spaces for the 2014 World Cup, seven of the remaining eight teams are battling it out to make it to the Spain next year. [Read more…]
Twenty-four teams came, and only eight remain at the 2013 Eurobasket. The pressure to qualify for the World Cup has lessened, but the pressure to bring home the gold is sinking in. At this point, one win in the Round of 16 (taking place today and tomorrow) gets you into the World Cup next summer, with only the 8th place team not gaining an automatic bid. (If Spain finishes sixth or higher, the seventh place team is in. The eight remaining
In case you missed it, Mexico won the Tournament of the Americas. Yes, Mexico, which hadn’t qualified for a World Championship Cup in 40 years. Gustavo Ayon of the Atlanta Hawks was the tournament MVP. What does this have to do with Eurobasket ’13? Only the fact that you never know what is going to happen in a FIBA tournament, as witnessed by what we are currently seeing in Slovenia. [Read more…]
Of the popular meanings of the word tank, two have roots signifying damage and destruction. There is the blunt military vehicle, and the less subtle term that is popular in our contemporary basketball lexicon. The basketball version of tanking will unavoidably be a central theme in the upcoming 2013-2014 season. Compared to previous seasons, the 2014 NBA draft class is projected to be filled with All-Stars and franchise-changing players, headlined by Canadian wing Andrew Wiggins, who will play at Kansas this coming
Group C Likely To Advance 1. Spain Known as the most powerful basketball country outside of the United States, the winners of the past two Eurobaskets will once again be the favorites to win gold in Slovenia this summer. What is really crazy is that Spain is the favorite to win the tournament, but their list of players absent this year, which includes Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, future Chicago Bull and Spanish league MVP Nikola Mirotic, Juan Carlos Navarro, Victor Sada and Felipe
The upcoming season is an evaluation campaign for the Phoenix Suns in every respect. They will introduce a new offense designed by former Sun Jeff Hornacek, a new defense spearheaded by Mike Longabardi and at least six new rotation players acquired via the draft and trades by new general manager Ryan McDonough. With the recent trade of Caron Butler – who never played a game for the team – the Suns have only one player in his 30s: Channing Frye, who