The road to the Final Four is complete after an epic March Madness filled with defining moments that gained tournament immortality. Georgia State’s R.J. Hunter hit the shot of the tournament that had his coach – and dad – Ron Hunter literally falling out of his seat. People still debate whether UCLA should have advanced due to a goaltending call against SMU. Most significantly, Kentucky is two wins away from a perfect 40-0 season, which would be the first perfect
Editor’s Note: Whether coaching or forecasting, Bobby Gonzalez knows college basketball. He went 8-0 picking games in the Sweet Sixteen a year ago, 7-1 in that round this year and 3-1 in last weekend’s regional finals. This is not some Bozo. It’s Gonzo. He knows what he’s talking about. It was 1991 and I was standing in the crowd at the Final Four as a New York City high school coach, watching All-American Larry Johnson of the dominant, unbeaten UNLV team
NEW YORK – The Knicks should put the “tank” in tanking to give the organization its best chance to land one of the most heralded center prospects in recent memory – Duke’s Jahlil Okafor. The Knicks put on a full court press with Carmelo Anthony, team president Phil Jackson, general manager Steve Mills and Allan Houston all on hand at Madison Square Garden to watch Okafor in action. “I like him,” Anthony said. “I think he’s got a great feel for the
You hear a lot of things when you are connected to a bunch of heavy hitters, and I heard a couple of things last week that sent me in search of the truth. And whatever the truth is, it was not readily apparent. First I heard from a source close to the Bulls that Tom Thibodeau had lost his locker room, his football coach mentality wearing thin with key members of a roster who it is fair to say have underperformed.
While many GMs were working the phones this week, Knicks president Phil Jackson was using a different, more contemporary form of communication: Twitter. On Thursday, Donnie Nelson and Danny Ainge swung a five-player trade that sent Rajon Rondo to Dallas and draft picks to Boston. On Friday, Daryl Morey, Flip Saunders and Sam Hinkie worked a three-team deal that landed Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in Houston and draft picks in Minnesota and Philadelphia. But not Jackson, and not the Knicks. Jackson doesn’t
Have you been watching the Knicks and Lakers this season? Yes, it’s hard. Two of the NBA’s biggest spenders in the league’s two biggest markets are playing awful basketball, and it doesn’t look like either one has the personnel or the sense of purpose to turn things around. Both teams will miss the playoffs and land in the draft lottery, again. There’s good news for the Knicks. They were somehow smart enough to keep their first-round pick and should have a chance
With this year’s draft being so juicy, you almost feel bad for peeking at the talent of the 2015 draft. But once you do, it’s hard to stop, as the high school kids made a hell of a splash this year. Here is a quick take on six of them, just to get us started. [Read more…]
The Jordan Brand Classic introduced us to the game’s future stars. And from the looks of it, the future is bright. Top recruits from Duke, Kansas and Kentucky dazzled in the All-American Game and showed why each program has drawn considerable buzz heading into next season. Seton Hall – which had five recruits named to the Jordan Brand Classic – dominated the Regional Game. Canada shined in the International Game once again thanks to Jahvon Blair’s MVP performance with the help of his