NBA
Raptors ought to rebrand for post-Colangelo era
The Raptors teams of the Vince Carter and Chris Bosh era were relevant and almost overcame the stupidity of naming
the franchise based on the early-1990s dinosaur craze. But it's time to rebrand, as incoming MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke alluded to on Tuesday.
NBA
Andrew Wiggins blazes own trail with Kansas decision
Andrew Wiggins's poker face and taciturnity do Canada proud. In an industry and
an age where everything leaks, he evidently kept his decision to attend the University of Kansas -- with
attention to it snowballing in two countries for the last six months --
completely to himself.
NBA
Raptors stand to benefit most from Leiweke hiring
Given his NBA roots, the surprise hiring of Tim Leiweke as president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment last Friday might well benefit the Toronto Raptors most.
NBA
First round of NBA playoffs promises fireworks
There will be fireworks when James Harden and the Houston Rockets take on his former team, the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
NBA
Expect Raptors to stay on path to sustained mediocrity
The Toronto Raptors finished with a 34-48 record and out of the playoffs this season, but rather than make wholesale front-office changes, will likely stay on the path to sustained mediocrity.
Canada's women's basketball team hard-pressed for attention
Canada's women's basketball team has no problem getting players to commit to the program, but getting Canadians to pay attention is another story.
NBA
Andy Enfield's Eagles soar to Cinderella heights
The Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles coached by Andy Enfield have provided the textbook definition of a March Madness Cinderella with a story so out there that they have completely overshadowed the other surprises like La Salle University and Wichita State.
NCAA's March Madness more unpredictable than ever
The caveat is the same from everyone: It's a crapshoot filling out an
NCAA March Madness bracket in any season, but this year it's even more
unpredictable.
Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk grows into starring role
Had you told anyone three years ago that Canadian Kelly Olynyk would be a favourite
for the John Wooden award as the top NCAA player -- and leading a No.
1-seeded Gonzaga squad into March Madness -- you probably would have
raised a few eyebrows.
NBA
NBA teams see game in new way through SportVU system
What does the ability to track how many rebound opportunities Amir
Johnson gets in a game have to do with missile defence in Israel? Nothing, really. But the technology behind SportVU, the evolving data
collection system used by half of the 30 teams in
the NBA -- including the Toronto Raptors -- was born out of that military application.
NBA
Andrea Bargnani booings overanalyzed
Whether it's his laconic play, blase appearance, his aversion to
rebounding, or his overplayed pasta
commercials, Andrea Bargnani has earned the wrath of many Raptors fans. In typical Toronto fashion, however, there has been way too much introspection on what fans' recent booings of Bargnani mean.
NBA
Andrew Wiggins as Canadian as maple syrup
Canadian basketball phenom Andrew Wiggins returned to his native land last Sunday, showing glimpses of why he is the top-ranked prep school prospect in the United States.
NBA
Canadians should care more about Andrew Wiggins
Canadian teenage basketball phenom Andrew Wiggins, who plays for a prep school in West Virginia, is such a compelling story that he should be better known in his home country.
NBA
Pro and cons to Raptors trading for Rudy Gay
A two-game sample size of the Rudy Gay era with the Toronto Raptors has shown some very positive results.
NBA
Should the Raptors tank for Andrew Wiggins?
Because the Toronto Raptors likely aren't "bad enough" this year to keep their
top-3 pick, they will watch somebody else draft Brampton, Ont., native
Anthony Bennett. That's life, but Bennett is not a once-in-a-generation player. Andrew Wiggins, the presumptive No. 1 pick in 2014, is.
NBA
The Clippers are the best team in L.A.? Is this 'Bizarro World?'
It's not like it should come as a complete and total shock to NBA fans
that the Los Angeles Clippers are 29-9 on Jan. 15. It is a good
basketball team, as evidenced by their 17-game winning streak to end
2012. But therein lays the shock: The Los Angeles Clippers are a good
basketball team
NBA
Magic's Canadian forward Nicholson truly homegrown
There's something significant that sets apart Orlando Magic rookie Andrew Nicholson from the up-and-coming bumper crop of top-level Canadian basketball talent. Unlike compatriots Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Myck Kabongo, Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins, Nicholson is truly homegrown.
NBA
In defence of O.J. Mayo's Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks rank a lowly 26th in turnovers this season and, though the main culprit is O.J. Mayo, it is hard to fault him for trying to step up offensively with Dirk Nowitzki injured.
NBA
What if the Raptors had kept Vince Carter?
In the midst of the Raptors' gong show season, it once again begs the question of what could have been if Toronto hadn't traded Vince Carter to New Jersey nearly eight years ago, on Dec. 17, 2004.
NBA
Lakers might better mask Andrea Bargnani's deficiencies
Andrea Bargnani would likely be a better player on a better team than the Toronto Raptors. Play him next to, say, Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers and he might be incredible.
NBA
Knicks-Nets rivalry brewing in Gotham
The New York Knicks started off the season 6-0, but they've come back down to earth since and now the Brooklyn Nets are emerging as a threat. In terms of who's better between the Gotham teams, it's close, but it's going to be fun watching this storyline develop in the fight for the Atlantic Division, writes John Chick.
NBA
Propensity for silly choices part of Bynum's world
Philadelphia 76ers centre Andrew Bynum apparently tweaked his left knee while bowling -- the opposite appendage of the bruised right knee that has kept him out of the lineup so far this season.
NBA
Lakers' Mike D'Antoni hire drawing mixed reviews
From a basketball standpoint, the decision of the Los Angeles Lakers to hire Mike D'Antoni as head coach is not completely crazy. What's odd is the story that's come out in the past week that describes a
situation where the owners met with Phil Jackson, essentially offered him
the job, gave him a few days to think about it and then hired D'Antoni instead.
NBA
Steve Nash, Landry Fields struggling to fit in
Off-season acquisitions Steve Nash (Lakers) and Landry Fields (Raptors) are not producing as hoped by their new teams.
NBA
Lakers will unseat Heat for NBA title
With Steve Nash's and Dwight Howard's moves to L.A. and James Harden's
deal to Houston tilting the balance of power out west, here's a
division-by-division breakdown of the entire NBA heading into the 2012-13 season.
NBA
Despite optimism, Raptors are no playoff team
A young team with some pieces, the Toronto Raptors' die-hards (not as numerous as the
Leafs or Jays, but significant) are somewhat split on whether this is a
playoff team or not. The reality is however -- on paper at least -- that this is not a playoff team this year
NBA
Steve Nash already delivering as Canada Basketball boss
The early benefits to having Steve Nash in charge of the senior men's national basketball team became abundantly clear last week in Toronto.
With the long-expected return of head coach Jay Triano on Thursday and a subsequent players' camp with close to 30 of the country's best, Canada - the nation that historically has had to pull teeth to get its best basketball players in one room together - planted some very important seeds at the Air Canada Centre.
Olympics2012
U.S. Dream Team not invincible
When Kobe Bryant said that
this incarnation of the "Dream Team" could beat the original 1992 version, he
was rightfully eviscerated. The statement was
as much gamesmanship as anything else, and given the perception (real or
imagined) after various injuries that this American team is not as sound and
gold-guaranteed as previous versions, it probably didn't hurt internally to
stir the pot.
Olympics2012
Canadian women could make some noise in London
Canada will be cheering for the senior women's national team at the
London Games as the squad makes their first Olympic appearance in 12
years. However, like most other Olympic sports, many won't think about
everything that went in to getting there.
NBA
Steve Nash owes Toronto Raptors absolutely nothing
Let's summarize two distinct facts as we see them late on Wednesday night.Steve Nash is a Los Angeles Laker. Canada's inferiority complex is still very much intact, and it's clear as ever that it always will be.
NBA
Does the 'Steve Nash factor' explain the Raptors' draft strategy?
Toronto's first-round selection of Terrence Ross Thursday night brought
out all the usual cries of consternation from the fans Raptorland. In a
decade and a half of watching this franchise -- as a rabid fan, as a
disgusted bystander and as a member of the media -- I've come to expect
certain things. One of them is that draft night is never what anyone
wanted it to be.
NBA
2012 NBA lottery mock draft
With the NBA Draft going Thursday night, what better time
than to throw out a final lottery mock draft, which really signifies nothing
when you throw in the monkey wrench of the trades that are likely to go down.
NBA
LeBron James earned the respect
It wasn't overwhelming, but many of us who follow basketball closely noticed something of a shift in the attitude towards LeBron James around 11:45 p.m. ET Thursday.
Nobody can say the LeBron haters are gone -- a quick scan of Twitter or the dreaded sports comment boards (the Thunderdome of the Internet) show that the hostility is still alive and well.
NBA
The NBA's good, bad and ugly
If you ever wanted a crash course on every good, bad and comical aspect
of the NBA, the past week should have sufficed quite well.
NBA
LeBron haters never satisfied
From a fan's standpoint, it's not difficult to dislike LeBron James.
This is not news. However, one thing abundantly clear after his beatdown of the Boston Celtics on Thursday night is that no matter what, many fans in the Twitter age are still going to be haters.
NBA
NBA draft lottery fuels conspiracy theories
Wednesday was NBA Draft Lottery day, and NBA fans watched yet another conspiracy theory evolve when the New
Orleans Hornets made the unlikely jump to land the first pick in the
draft and take Kentucky's Anthony Davis.
NBA
Heat, Pacers too much fun not to go 7
A week ago I said the Miami Heat would win their series against the Indiana Pacers handily, and that the best Indy could hope for was stealing a game at Bankers Life Fieldhous.
NBA
Heat, Thunder on collision course
It's probably too early to draw conclusions, but there's two things blatantly clear from Game 1 of the second-round playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder -- Oklahoma City is up for this one and it clearly didn't matter that it had a long layoff before Monday's triumphant opener.
NBA
Still in search of better NBA basketball
Almost two weeks ago, I said the basketball would be better with the NBA playoffs starting. I could not have been more wrong.
NBA
Nash gives Canadian men's basketball credibility
Steve Nash was named general manager of the senior men's national basketball team on Tuesday, representing a gigantic step in the climb back to credibility from a national program
that has struggled to take steps at all in the past decade.
NBA
Knicks quick to punch out
It's one thing for Knicks star Amare Stoudemire to lash out in frustration following two sub-par playoff performances in Miami. But it's quite another for New York tabloids to humiliate him.
NBA
Holding to Heat-Thunder in NBA Finals
I'm not as married to it as I was on Christmas Day, but I'm holding to the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder meeting in this year's NBA Finals. To be resolved starting Saturday.
NBA
Raptors coach Dwane Casey deserves recognition
Dwane Casey won't win the NBA coach of the year award. You
need to get in the playoffs to earn consideration, and while the Toronto Raptors
are still a fair distance and a couple of lucky breaks away from that, the
culture change he has instilled in the team is worthy of some kind of hardware.
NBA
Tristan Thompson draws raves reviews from Tim Duncan
There are some serious learning curves in adjusting to a professional
game. While doing so with the position of NBA big man is nowhere near
say, that of an NFL quarterback, it's still a process that involves hard
work, repetition and learning quickly from mistakes.
Fortunately for Cavaliers rookie Tristan Thompson, he's progressing - and drawing praise from a certain future hall-of-fame forward.
NBA
Are the Miami Heat still the villains of the NBA?
The Miami Heat have gained the respect of
many who feel that athletes -- especially African-American ones -- need to
speak up on the myriad social issues that affect that community by showing their support for Trayvon Martin and his family.
NBA
Draft stock: Harrison Barnes and the Canadians' edition
The trials of Harrison Barnes this past weekend are actually
something of an oddity in college basketball. Not all that often does a player
so highly skilled and highly hyped essentially fall flat on his face on a stage
like the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament.
NBA
Heslip and other standout Canucks in March Madness
Brady Heslip's rainstorm of treys vs. Colorado Saturday has evoked some
memories of another Canadian who once played in the NCAA Tournament by
the name of Steve Nash.
NBA
Raptors what-ifs and March Madness talk
As if Raptors fans had nothing else to look back upon with regret, late
last week came word that former GM Glen Grunwald could have traded Vince
Carter and Antonio Davis in 2001 for Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash.
NBA
Does Kris Joseph transcend the basketball border?
Being famous for playing on a basketball team that is consistently one
of the top college programs in the United States is not surprising at all, but John Chick can't help but wonder if Syracuse's Kris Joseph would even be recognized in his hometown of Montreal.
NBA
Wade's gamesmanship towards Kobe refreshing
It took until the all-star break, but everybody can gossip about the Miami Heat now thanks to Dwyane Wade's breaking Kobe Bryant's nose.
NBA
NBA mid-season awards
With all NBA teams close to the 33-game midway mark ahead of All-Star
weekend in this truncated season, it's time to toss out some mid-season
awards, even if they mean absolutely nothing. Don't worry. Jeremy Lin is in here somewhere.
NBA
Linsanity all about time and place
To say that the stars are currently aligning perfectly for Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks would be like saying water is wet. The hysteria of "Linsanity" -- a word that didn't exist a mere eight days ago -- is the product of all the random, moving parts that have come together for this young man at the exact same moment in time.
NBA
Kobe climbs the ladder
Kobe Bryant's passing of Shaquille O'Neal for fifth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list Monday night brings to mind many things.
While it would be fun to rehash their legendary feud (one that warrants its own Wikipedia page)
and take sides -- it always seemed easier to take Shaq's -- let's put it
to rest and accept that they will at least be cordial now, even if you
can be certain they'll never be close. From a personal standpoint (which
means nothing) though, I have to give Kobe credit for evolving into an
assassin of a player, and in the process becoming more respected.
NBA
Griffin and the dangerous Clippers
On Tuesday morning by 11 a.m. ET, one of the YouTube videos of Blake Griffin's absolutely disgusting posterization of Kendrick Perkins had garnered 440,000 views in less than 11 hours. Dunk of the year so far? Duh.
NBA
The evolution of LaMarcus Aldridge
LaMarcus Aldridge may not make the U.S. Olympic team this summer. Given
the deep talent the States has up front, slighting him wouldn't be
considered a crime. However his continued growth as player could make an Olympic appearance
a certainty at some point.
NBA
Howard trade rumours & Olympic team contenders
You can't exactly call it expanding his horizons, but news
Monday that Dwight Howard had added the Los Angeles Clippers to the list of
teams he'd be willing to be traded to provided about one minute of banter before
everybody realized it's not likely to happen.
NBA
Delonte being Delonte & Nash's choice
Even with a guy like Metta World Peace today, the era of wacky and entertaining basketball personalities is sadly, for the most part gone. However we still have Delonte West.
NBA
Raptors' Bargnani playing with authority
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey used the names 'Dirk Nowitzki' and 'Andrea Bargnani' in the same sentence. Casey said after
Monday's win in New York that Bargnani, like Nowitzki before him, has
learned how to adjust to defensive switches.
NBA
NBA's opening weekend dampened cynicism
At the risk of sounding naïve, you can't stay mad at these guys (as a whole, more on David Stern later). It started with TNT's goosebump-inducing Christmas Day broadcast intro, the finest NBA-related piece of manufactured TV since Nike's MJ Jumpman commercial of 2006.
So, I'm a sucker for slick packaging, even with the random pairing of
Jason Terry and Rolando Blackman or the reaching one of Andrew Bogut and
Brandon Jennings with Kareem and Oscar Robertson.
While I tried to stay nice and cynical throughout the lockout, the
finishes of the Celtics-Knicks and Bulls-Lakers games on Christmas Day
also reminded me why I'm a fan of this imperfect professional sport.
NBA
NBA 2011-12 season preview: the younger, the better
Due to the lockout, this year's compressed NBA season means team will average 3.7 games a week. The effect? Age will play a bigger factor than it has in years, and younger teams with more stamina will be the ones on top when it comes playoff time.
NBA
Chris Paul and the hypocrisy of David Stern
It wasn't so much the unintentional comedy of David Stern attempting to
restore "sanctity" to the business of basketball that was so galling
when he kyboshed the Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers deal last week. It was the
NBA's incompetence in botching what was a good trade for the
small-market, economy-still-affected-by-a-2005-natural-disaster
league-owned Hornets.
NBA
The NBA is back, and little has changed
So after a 149-day lockout, let's just say I'm trying to convince the
composite template of an NBA hater that the league isn't that bad. If
they can get over the usual hockey-guy complaints about the sport
itself, let's say they take a peek to see if anything has changed.
NBA
NBA sides felt pressure to end lockout
Two weeks
ago, when the prospect of having an NBA season appeared impossible, David Stern said he'd
always still be willing to answer a phone call from players' association
executive director Billy Hunter. And that's
how Saturday's deal ultimately got done.
NBA
NBA labour update: Time of death edition
The NBA season is all but gone.
For the past two months I've been reminded why I have never had any interest in being a business reporter.
NBA
NBA on the brink of new deal, lost season
It's easy to assume that the NBA Players' Association simply called a
bluff of sorts by David Stern Tuesday night by categorically rejecting
his "ultimatum" of what is essentially a 50-50 split of
basketball-related income (BRI). Come Wednesday afternoon however, we will see where this leaves us.
NBA
Bargnani cheated out of a deal?
Noel Biderman just wanted the name of his website -- AshleyMadison.com -- on the front of Italian basketball team Virtus Roma's jerseys. The fact that he was trying to do it while the NBA is locked out and Raptors centre Andrea Bargnani was in need of insurance cash in order to play for the team was purely coincidental, the Toronto native said.
NBA
NBA meetings mirror NHL lockout
I've been saying for months that the parallels between this situation
and the NHL lockout of 2004-05 are identical. There is no question that
NHL owners at that time accepted the fact there would be no season -- in
September
Basketball
NBA enters the 'Danger Zone'
Just from a personal standpoint, referring to the loss of pre-season
games in any sport as a "casualty" is like referring to the loss of a
hangnail as a "casualty."
However, it's safe to say we're in a danger zone now in terms of the NBA
season. According to David Stern on Tuesday, if a deal isn't reached by
early next week, games that count will start disappearing.
Basketball
Talent, coaching not the problem with Canadian hoops
Despite a valiant 15-point fourth-quarter comeback on Sept. 6, the
Canadian men's basketball team fell to Puerto Rico 79-74 at the FIBA
Americas tourney in Argentina - effectively ending their 2012 Olympic
dream.The point here isn't to slam Steve Nash and Tristan Thompson for bailing
on the national team. They are not morally obligated to participate. Rather, it's the reasons behind their decisions that have been the albatross around Canada Basketball's neck for two decades now.
Basketball
Long road ahead for Canadian ballers
Team Canada tips against Brazil Wednesday at the FIBA Americas tournament in Argentina. The good news for Canada: Much like themselves, Brazil is missing two of their country's top basketball players. The bad news for Canada: Even if they beat a still-sound Brazillian squad that features Tiago Splitter and Euro league star point guard Marcelhino Huertas, they're still in a tough Group A.
Basketball
Leagues courting locked-out NBA players
As the NBA lockout continues operating in a relative dead zone with no movement between players and the league, the inevitable look towards Europe and elsewhere is in full swing.
Basketball
NBA lockout eerily similar to NHL's lost season
The parallels that can be drawn between the current NBA lockout and what happened in the NHL in 2004-05 are way too similar.
In 2004, Gary Bettman's buzzword was "linkage." The NHL, by virtue of
over-expansion and a boring brand of hockey left over from the trapping
era had put the league on thin ice with the U.S. viewing public. So much
so that hockey's hiatus helped develop a new TV success story: Poker.
On Wednesday, the NBA dismissed a New York Times report that questioned
the league's claims of financial distress. Sound familiar, like
something that may have involved Bob Goodenow?
Basketball
Canadian curveballs spiced up NBA draft
Everything made sense at Thursday's NBA Draft - according to conventional wisdom, anyway. Kyrie Irving went first, Derrick Williams second and Enes Kanter third.
Basketball
Mavericks cool off Big 3
Dallas Mavericks. Lockouts. Possible apocalypses.
Dan Gilbert, prophet?
To pour cold water all over the afterglow of a phenomenal NBA Finals - one where the world's will seemingly won out over two-and-a-half superstars and their renegade alliance - the sad possibility emerges that this may be the last NBA basketball we see for a long time.
Basketball
Shaq was most unstoppable player ever
As an idiotic, awkward-looking teen in March of 1993, I walked into a
sporting goods store at Millcreek Mall in Erie, Penn., and saw a display
model of Shaquille O'Neal's size-22 Reebok. It was at that moment that I
actually appreciated just how unstoppable he wasWith his retirement announcement Wednesday, it's not about thinking
of Shaq as being the best player, or even the best centre, ever. It's
about him being the most unstoppable player ever.
Basketball
NBA Finals pit the 'Superfriends' vs. 'The Veterans'
It may be an unpopular viewpoint, but there's a case to be made for rooting for the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
LeBron James has had nights recently that featured the best basketball of his career. Dwyane Wade has been one of the most exciting players in the league for seven years.
You can even feel for Chris Bosh; after three playoff victories in his first seven seasons as a pro, he's rising to the occasion, even if he was scared by the Boston fans one game. Hell, even as Canadians we should cheer for them - to my knowledge there's never been two Canucks on an NBA Finals team (even if Jamaal Magloire is mostly doling out high fives in a suit).
Basketball
Disco Dirk is a Macho Man
In memory of Macho Man Randy Savage, who passed away untimely last
Friday, I have decided to apply the Savage Scale ranking system to a
handful of players we've been watching in this year's conference finals.
To refresh, here's how the system breaks down:
*Late pro wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage (Excellent)
*Adult film star Herschel Savage (Good)
*Former NHLer Brian Savage (Fair)
*Former child star Fred Savage (Unsatisfactory)
*Former child actor Ben Savage (Poor)
Basketball
Raptors, MLSE show some respect to Colangelo
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, two things seemed inevitably certain Tuesday. It was going to rain in Toronto for the next 200 days, and the Raptors weren't going to win the NBA draft lottery. To add insult to injury, they dropped from third in the order to fifth.But before we revel in another T-dot pity party, let us thank Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for realizing it would be idiotically unprofessional to trot out Bryan Colangelo at the NBA's TV studios halfway between Newark Liberty Airport and Manhattan if he wasn't going to be the man in charge of the Raptors next season.
Basketball
LeBron denies Celtics momentum
Forty-eight hours can make a world of difference in sports.
On Saturday night in Boston, you could almost sense a momentum shift in
the Heat-Celtics series. After outplaying Kevin Garnett for two games,
Chris Bosh wilted in the hostile Game 3 environs of TD Garden as Boston
clamped down defensively, their old big three blowing away Miami's young
big three. Then, as if to signal that a higher power was pulling for
the Celtics, Rajon Rondo pulled a Willis Reed by returning after doing a
Plastic Man imitation with his left arm, Dwyane Wade and the parquet
floor.
Rondo's one-armed performance after the injury evoked legends like Jack
Youngblood playing Super Bowl XIV with a broken femur, and in an ideal
world, would serve notice to those out there who still consider
basketball players in general to be soft.
Basketball
Heat dismissing Celtics, critics
Two games into the second-round matchup between the Celtics and Heat, the fears of Boston fans and Miami haters are coming true. The Heat are clicking on all cylinders, and the Celts are looking like what they are -- an old basketball team.Never mind banged-up Paul Pierce and Ray Allen's off night with a combined 20 points Tuesday. Miami simply ran all over Boston, and had more than enough legs to bury them in the fourth quarter. What started to appear evident about a month ago -- the Heat playing the best basketball in the league, by far -- may very well lead this maligned collection of egos to an NBA title.
Basketball
The end of the Spurs' dynasty?
Are the Spurs done? It looks like it. Forget about Monday night's
massive second half showing by Memphis -- that was one of those energy
zones home teams can get into with a great crowd behind them. Not unlike
when Vince Carter hit nine threes against Philly in the '01 playoffs and I woke up 10 hours later on somebody's front lawn in Scarborough.
Basketball
Plenty of surprises in NBA playoffs
It hasn't quite been March Madness, but some funny things happened in
the first couple of days of the NBA Playoffs. If it wasn't losses at
home by the Lakers and Spurs, then it was Pacers hanging with the Bulls
right to the end in two games and the Hawks convincingly beating the
Magic in Game 1 of their series.
Basketball
NBA playoff preview
The hottest team going into the NBA Playoffs (Chicago Bulls) faces a sub-.500 team (Indiana Pacers) in a regional rivalry.Easy pick right? Maybe not.From the Pacers games I've seen this year, they're fun to watch. Danny Granger is a stud and Roy Hibbert (remember him, Raptors fans?) can hold his own with Joakim Noah. Sprinkle in Tyler Hansbrough's energy and a bunch of Duke Blue Devils on the bench, and can you see an 8-1 upset? No.
Basketball
Who's the real MVP?
A few months ago, before this Derrick Rose vs. Dwight Howard for MVP
chatter really ramped up, my friend Knuckler sent me an email reminding
me of what Charles Oakley had said about Howard last summer:
"Dwight Howard is embarrassing [Magic assistant coach] Patrick [Ewing]
if you ask me. He doesn't have a ball player's mind. And they tell me he
is one of the best centres in the game. He wouldn't have even made the
league 10 years ago. He would be on the bench."
Basketball
Dear diary: My bracket is busted.
The so-called experts had this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament
pegged as fairly wide-open. That's definitely been the case in the
Southwest region, and to a lesser degree the Southeast. Elsewhere there
haven't been any true shockers.
The first half of Thursday remains the best segment of the tournament so
far. And even though St. Patrick's Day fell on what some call "God's
Day" or "Basketball Christmas" this year, I still managed to keep a
rudimentary diary for at least part of the day:
Basketball
March Madness predictions art, not science
Once, every couple of years, the stars magically align. The last time St. Patrick's Day fell on the first Thursday of the NCAA Basketball Tournament was 2005. I can't recall with any veracity everything I did that day, although I know it did involve beer and all-day basketball viewing.
Now I must urge responsible consumption here: You don't want to be running cartoons in your head when Utah State tips with Kansas State at 9:57 p.m. in Thursday's final game. But the combination of the first round of the tourney - possibly the most exciting two days of sports in North America every year - and the observance of the patron saint of Ireland is a heady one.
As far the tournament itself goes, this year it appears to be wide open.
Basketball
Growing pains in Miami
Miami's four-game losing streak going into Tuesday night has again
brought smiles to the faces of the substantially large number of
Heat-haters out there. And after falling Sunday in another close battle to Chicago, coach Erik Spoelstra said that there were tears shed in the Miami locker room.I won't attack their manhood -- I cried Monday when Charlie Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men. Given the Heat's record this season against teams with winning records (14-18), there may be a reason for them to bawl.
Mutiny in the Motor City
Watching the Detroit Pistons unravel in the manner they have recently
has been something to see. Last Friday's incident in Philadelphia where
several players missed a morning shootaround -- rumoured to be a walkout
of sorts on coach John Kuester -- brought the team's troubles boiling to
the top.
You could make the argument that the Pistons were the Eastern
Conference's team of the decade from 2000 to 2009. But three years
after last playing in the conference finals, the franchise is in
disarray and many of their mistakes are coming home to roost.
Basketball
'Melo mania begins at MSG, dunk contest redux
Now that the wish of Knicks fans has come true and Carmelo Anthony is in New York, it's going to be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out in Gotham. They've added perhaps the best pure scorer in the NBA, and at last check on Tuesday scalpers were asking $12,000 US for floor seats at the Garden.
What it does for the Knicks on the floor - I suspect they will get an immediate shot in the arm from it - remains to be seen, but perhaps more importantly for a franchise that's been in an abyss for a decade, is put it back near the top of the centre of the universe's sports landscape.
Basketball
Bosh's homecoming will be anything but
So here we go again.
While it won't garner anywhere close to the amount of U.S. media attention that LeBron James' return to Cleveland received in November, the Raptors will get a little more play than usual from the Canadian outlets this week as Chris Bosh and the Heat make tracks to Toronto Wednesday night.
Raptor fans are used to these returns by now - previously in the form of Damon Stoudamire, Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter. And it's worth mentioning that the Raps lost all three of those games - by an average of almost of 13 points - despite a raucous, anti-insert-name-here-crowd.
But I'm not here to break down how the Heat will probably beat Toronto. I'm just here to rebut some of the same old stereotypes and half-truths.
Basketball
Adding Love makes all-star game better
It was good to see NBA commissioner David Stern quickly add Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love to the Western Conference All-Star team on the weekend.
If there was a blatant snub this year, it was Love.
While he plies his trade for a young, putrid team, there's no denying his game is among the league's elite.
Basketball
Meet our NBA all-stars
While we're all aware of the flaws and biases of all-star voting (Yao Ming's election despite playing in only five games this season. Thanks, China), the NBA all-star game at least delivers playground-style entertainment. It, along with the Major League Baseball's all-star game are the only mid-season classics worth watching. A defence and body-check-free NHL game with a constantly changing format? Give me a break. And don't even get me started on the NFL Pro Bowl. It's actually fitting these two games are often played the same day.
Basketball
Making the case for Colangelo
Losers of eight straight through Tuesday, I feel like addressing the
13-32 Toronto Raptors and the building chorus of attacks on general
manager Bryan Colangelo.
A sports GM ultimately has one job and that is to assemble a group of
players that is capable of winning games. In some sports and in some
markets, this is easier than in others.
Basketball
Melo taking his talents to Newark?
I have a personal bias in favour of Carmelo Anthony.
He brought my beloved Syracuse Orange (16-0 this year I might add,
Montreal's Kris Joseph leading them at 15.1 points per game) the 2003
NCAA title, giving coach Jim Boeheim his first U.S. national
championship after decades of being one of the top coaches in the game. I
didn't go to Syracuse, but I spent some time in the city when younger
and always affectionately equated the colour orange with tangy
refreshment.
Basketball
LeBron not a fan of Christmas Day games
LeBron James and Lakers coach Phil Jackson, among others, were critical last week of the Christmas Day NBA games we've grown accustomed to.
Basketball
Different players, same team?
The big three-team weekend deal between the Magic, Wizards and Suns sort
of reminds me of when Kramer traded a radar detector to Newman in
exchange for a helmet in an episode of Seinfeld.
But the reality is you can say that about a lot of NBA trades these
days, where each team gets rid of something around the house they no
longer want in exchange for something that was more valuable five years
ago
Basketball
'Melo taking his talents to Broadway?
Few things are more predictable than New York fan and media reaction when a star athlete arrives in town, especially when rumours abound that the player will be taking his talents to Broadway.Unlike the many stories linking LeBron to New York in the past few seasons, the odds of Carmelo Anthony landing with the Knicks are somewhat more plausible.
Basketball
Hard to imagine, but Raptors are still a playoff contender
One of the guys really worth watching this year has been Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook. We knew he had game coming out of UCLA, and he's taken it to the next level in his third NBA season.
In a four-game stretch before the Thunder's loss to the Raptors on Friday, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week averaged 32 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Basketball
The Pat Riley countdown
I suppose the speed of which the Pat Riley countdown has kicked into high gear in Miami shouldn't be surprising. I gave it to mid-season, with the thought that all it was really going to take was a bad start by Miami. And that's exactly what's happened.
Basketball
Bosh has yet to find stride
As most Raptor fans can attest, it's been fun to pile on Chris Bosh's lack of statistical production for the Miami Heat this season.
John Chick
Almost as cynical as a Toronto sports fan can get, John Chick has been around the NBA and other sports in one capacity or another for a decade, working at outlets such as Metro News Canada, Sun Media and TSN. He blogs on the NBA for CBCSports.ca and wishes Charles Oakley still played.
