Basketball

Reporting from Boston — The Lakers certainly had a better Friday than the Boston Celtics, mainly because the “Gloom and Broom” headline in the Boston Globe wasn’t meant for them.

The regular-season series was indeed swept by the Lakers, Thursday’s 110-109 overtime victory making it official, though the winning team wasn’t far into recovery mode when it assembled early Friday afternoon for a light practice at a swank private health club in downtown Boston. Read the rest of this entry »

Never trust online polls. Ever. They mean nothing. At all. Or else how could UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion be voted one of the 15 most difficult places to play college basketball for opposing teams?

According to an EA Sports poll in which 100,000 college basketball fans voted, UCLA is one of the 15 toughest places to play. This information is going to be used in the next edition of the EA Sports college basketball video game, ” NCAA Basketball 09.” Read the rest of this entry »

Has Andrew Bynum finally arrived? His 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks against the Clippers would indicate so.

After an inconsistent start, Bynum is shaking the enigma label and earning the four-year, 60 million dollar extension he signed in training camp. And, by averaging 19 points and 7 rebounds over his last nine games, the post has earned something more important: the trust of teammates and coaches. Read the rest of this entry »

Breaking NBA news mixed with analysis …

Their News: The Memphis Grizzlies are expected to introduce Lionel Hollins as their new coach at a news conference Sunday. The Grizzlies fired coach Marc Iavaroni on Thursday and Johnny Davis acted as interim coach on Friday, when Memphis lost 108-88 at New York. (ESPN.com) Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes, for a moment, a role player can feel like a superstar.

Consider San Antonio’s Roger Mason. His recent end-of-game heroics are typical for closers like Gilbert Arenas, Kobe Bryant, or Paul Pierce, but not a journeyman who struggled to stick in the NBA.

In the last month, Mason nailed match-winning shots to help the Spurs prevail over Western Conference rivals like the Suns and Lakers. The first, a corner three-pointer against Phoenix, came on Christmas Day. The second, a baseline jumper and free throw, sealed a key victory against Los Angeles. Read the rest of this entry »

Who is the best small forward in the Western Conference?

In the mind of Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, there is no doubt.

“I’m the only one out here in the West,” Anthony said Tuesday. “Can you name one better?”

After falling out of favor with the voting public while injured and being snubbed by coaches who filled out the roster for the NBA All-Star Game, Anthony now has the chance to show how wrong everybody could be. Read the rest of this entry »

he Knicks sacrificed immediate success and have already cleared cap space for that star-studded free-agent class. Speaking before the Cavs faced the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, James was asked how he’d handle such a situation if he were a general manager.

’’If you’re trying to build a team for the future, I definitely know the business side of the game,’’ James said. ’’A lot of teams are getting ready to put themselves in position in 17 months. Read the rest of this entry »

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On Monday afternoon, UConn was anointed as the new No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, and this, while nice, meant nothing. Four other teams had held the same title over the previous five weeks — North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, and lastly Duke — and it was more the Huskies’ turn to be No. 1 rather than something they had earned. As they sat in their Louisville hotel on a crisp February day, whittling away the hours before they would face the hottest team in the Big East, UConn’s players were aware they had yet to offer hard evidence of being superior to the rest of the top-ranked pack. Read the rest of this entry »

During the recruitment of Alshon Jeffrey, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier told the four-star wide receiver he could keep the same jersey number — No. 2 — that he wore during his high school playing days in Calhoun County. Offensive coordinator Duane Wages did much the same. One of the problems with that tack? The number is one of four that’s been retired by the university. The second, and bigger, issue? The man who wore the number, Sterling Sharpe, seemingly has no intentions of allowing it to happen. During a radio interview with a Columbia (SC) radio station, Sharpe took the move to unretire his number to task. Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings, Hoop Thinkers. Got a lot of great ‘Bag questions to get to, so let’s start with a significant, albeit not entirely unexpected, bit of news that came out of Tobacco Road this week:

How big of a blow is Marcus Ginyard’s redshirt this season to the Tar Heels? Are their championship hopes done?
– Ted, Charlotte, N.C.

Ginyard broke his foot last October and underwent surgery that was supposed to keep him out 8-12 weeks. Roy Williams tried bringing him back in December, but then shut him down after just three games when it was apparent Ginyard wasn’t ready. Read the rest of this entry »