After a seemingly endless dead period of NBA news, the 2013-’14 season is lurking right around the corner. Training camp is in sight, and players are starting to reappear back on the map. And with that, let’s get right to it. Here’s today’s latest from around the NBA. We’ll start in New York, which will be home to this seasons hottest rivalry: Knicks vs. Nets. [Read more…]
European basketball, aka EuroBasket, is well represented by notable NBA players (former and current), and plenty of them were in action on Friday in the semi-finals between Spain and France. France boasted a lineup of Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, Alexis Ajinca and Mickael Gelabale. Spain also had plenty of familiar names like Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez and Victor Claver. Unfortunately for Spain, they were missing two key players in Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro.
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…]
Shoulda, coulda, woulda. We all remember Game 6 of the NBA Finals, correct? And we all remember Game 7, and the way Tim Duncan looked afterward — like he was at a funeral. The Big Fundamental had been spoiled, winning every previous time he had advanced to the Finals. So the question to ask going into 2013-14 — will this be Spurs Motivation 2.0? [Read more…]
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…]
Right now the NBA talent pool at the point guard position has never been deeper. From top-to-bottom, the league is full of some of the best point guards, arguably, this league has ever seen. Any matchup on the schedule likely contains one of them, if not a “must-watch” matchup. There are games that you could focus solely on the two players playing point guard and enjoy the game. [Read more…]
As glamorous as it may seem, the NBA can be a tough place to make it for certain players. Being in the league alone justifies your level of talent. But it takes more than talent to survive. Just ask J.R. Smith and Lamar Odom, two of the more talented players in the league who cannot seem to get out of their own way. While it may not be drugs that are bringing Minnesota’s Derrick Williams down, the former No. 2 overall draft pick
Group A Likely To Advance 1. France With likely MVP candidate, Tony Parker, leading the way for the French squad, Les Blues are the runaway favorites to take group A. While France may be missing a trio of NBA bigs, Joakim Noah, Ronny Turiaf and Kevin Seraphin, they have by far the most talented roster in this group, and are a virtual lock to earn a bid to the World Cup. After getting knocked off by Spain in the quarterfinals of the Olympics,