Larry Brown was like your grandfather. Or at least, that’s how everyone around college basketball described him. He was an unchallenged legend, revered as one of the game’s great teachers, a man who could parachute in to an irrelevant program in a borderline-irrelevant conference and turn it into a budding basketball hotbed. He was old (75), small, gentle and soft-spoken. He wore little circle glasses, paced around nervously and looked and acted like an English Lit professor. He talked constantly about teaching kids, teaching
Gonzo: Remembering a genius and a legend, Dean Smith
H.G. Wells once said, “success is to be measured not by wealth, power, or fame, but by the ratio of what a man is, and what he can be.” Well, I know this to be true. The late Dean Smith was a giant of a man, a giant of a coach and lived a life that can be called unparalleled because he meant so much to so many. He built and sustained a legacy and a fraternity of players and coaches that
Gonzalez: Manimal, Uncle Mo Are Keys for Team USA
I hate to say I told you so, but after the first day of Team USA training camp in Las Vegas, I wrote that Kenny “The Manimal” Faried must be the first guy selected for the roster and everyone else should come thereafter. My reasoning was Faried’s motor, toughness and energy level with intangibles such as putbacks and garbage points would be invaluable to this team. In Sunday’s come-from-behind victory against Turkey, Faried led Team USA team with 22 points and
Karl Towns, just 18, faces NBA all-stars before Kentucky career begins
Team USA smothered the Dominican Republic at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, the inconsequential final score was 105-62, but the Americans didn’t have the tallest or most intriguing player in the game. In fact, the tallest and most intriguing player in Wednesday’s contest hasn’t even started college yet. Meet Karl Towns, the 7-foot-1 big man from New Jersey who plays for the Dominican team and will soon start his freshman year at the University of Kentucky as one of the top NBA prospects
SH Blog: Boeheim says Bulls better for Melo than Knicks; Kyrie Irving talks leadership; Greg Monroe maximizing leverage over Detroit
Fans who believe that Carmelo Anthony should have picked the Chicago Bulls over the New York Knicks can take solace in the fact that one of the best basketball minds of our time agrees with them. That would be the mind of Team USA assistant and head coach of the Syracuse Orangemen, Jim Boeheim. [Read more…]
Schayes: On NBA Coach of the Year, and Coaches in General
With the NBA season winding down, award season is right around the corner. The Coach of the Year award this season is a very tight race. I have a tremendous history with coaches. It started by growing up with an NBA Coach of the Year living across the hall from me for my entire childhood. That helped me grow up to have an 18-year NBA career playing for 15 different coaches. And when you consider that I had one coach (Doug Moe)
March Madness: Sweet 16 Preview
The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is pure mayhem; games begin and end simultaneously, buzzers sound from TV’s, iPads, iPhones, and computers, celebrations are loud … and defeat is inevitable for more than three-quarters of the field… Which brings us to these next four days of college basketball: Games are fewer than the week before, but the stakes continue to rise as the Sweet Sixteen turns into the Elite Eight, and, eventually the Final Four. [Read more…]
The Three-Man Weave, Week 4: NCAA Tournament Edition
At this point in basketball season, we’ve got to touch upon the NCAA Tournament and the annual madness, mayhem and delight that come along with it. We’re an hour late with this post; the first two games are already underway. Let the madness begin! [Read more…]