The NBA announced Wednesday that the 2012 draft will be held for the second straight year at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. This year’s draft is June 28. By that time, Newark and the Prudential Center no longer will be home to an NBA team. The Prudential Center also hosted last year’s draft. Currently, the building known as “The Rock” is home to the New Jersey Nets. However, the Nets are moving to Brooklyn after this season, leaving the Newark facility without
While the nation learned of the name C.J. McCollum last night thanks to a 30-point performance in leading the 15th-seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks in a major upset over Duke, those in the Patriot League are familiar with the silky smooth lead guard. Living in the Northeast, I’ve had the opportunity to see McCollum several times this year, and his ability to combine his supreme athleticism within a very structured and disciplined system is a major plus in his ledger. McCollum possesses a
I had the pleasure of watching a college player actually make two polished post moves that caused Kevin McHale and Jack Sikma flashbacks. The first was a drop step, spin move. The next, a counter spin, pump fake jump hook that countered off of the first move. Thank you Yancy Gates. Gates made national headlines and was sincerely apologetic after this ugly incident against Xavier… a black eye for himself, his university and the game of college basketball. But a player cannot and should
In last year’s draft there were only two legitimate shooting guard prospects that I counted taken in the first round, Klay Thompson of Washington State, who went to Golden State 11th overall, and Colorado’s Alec Burks, who went immediately after to Utah. With the rise in athletic ballhandling guards dominating drafts over the past decade, shooting has become a commodity. Guys who fight to work off screens the way Reggie Miller, Allan Houston and Richard Hamilton made a living on is
Few players in the nation have baffled me more than Patric Young. Here’s a guy who plays his best against the best, then can completely disappear while having the ball completely ignore him on both ends. Coming out of the first half against a Kentucky team that could challenge some NBA teams, Young perfectly sealed UK’s wonderbig Anthony Davis then perfectly fed a cutting teammate for a layup. Beautiful drop step followed by an even better delivery to get an easy
Are you a big fan of a scary combination of skill and athleticism at the forward position, and effort-induced intangibles? If so, you’ll enjoy watching UNLV’s Mike Moser, who is making some noise on scouting radars everywhere. You may have heard Moser’s name associated with his old school, UCLA, but he was never an issue for Coach Ben Howland despite deciding to jump ship to Sin City. In fact, by all accounts, it was quite the opposite: Moser needed fewer distractions,
Lost in the midst, perhaps, of North Carolina getting revenge at the expense of their hated rivals, Duke, on Saturday in Durham was the continued evolution of a sure-fire lottery pick and, to me, the most improved offensive player in the nation. No, I’m not talking about Harrison Barnes. I’m talking about John Henson, who has quietly polished his short and mid range face-up offensive game, which has made him one of the most complete and NBA-ready big men in college basketball. Prior
It is entirely possible that a decision announced this past week at a small boarding school in New Hampshire will have a profound impact on the 2013 NBA Draft. Nerlens Noel, a 6-foot-10 shot-blocker who has been compared to Bill Russell and Anthony Davis, announced that he would reclassify to the high school Class of 2012 from the Class of 2013. “I’m ready to do it,” Noel, out of The Tilton (N.H.) School, told Dave Telep of ESPN.com in reference to reclassyifying.