The last time Team USA played in an international tournament was an embarrassment. The inaugural FIBA World Cup took place in China this past summer and, after taking home the gold in the previous five events, the Americans finished seventh. They lost back-to-back games against France and Serbia to close out the tournament. It was…
You probably knew this already, but doesn’t it kind of blow your mind that the highest-trafficked portions of the NBA season are Free Agency, Trade Deadline and the Draft? That’s no joke. The hypothetical season indeed outweighs the concrete stuff like Opening Day, the Playoffs and even the NBA Finals by a pretty significant margin.…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba) and Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) re-select the first 14 picks of the 2017 NBA Draft. Which player goes No. 1 overall? (2:48) Who do you take now when choosing between Bam Adebayo or Jayson Tatum? (12:18) How much does John Collins rise? (25:11) Where does Kyle…
When you think of zone defense, the first thing that comes to mind might be high school or college basketball. The NBA has always been a predominantly man-to-man league, as it’s a more effective long-term antidote to the most prolific offenses on the planet. However, zone defense has crept into many coaches’ game plans during…
Now that the NBA regular season has finally begun, it’s time to continue ranking each and every team’s young prospects. Just to reiterate, these rankings might seem surprising on the surface with some rather unorthodox choices at various slots, but this list’s criteria are weighted heavily toward teams with a high volume of prospects that…
The 2019-20 season is almost here, so it’s time to be bold about what we think will actually happen. For some, these predictions may not seem incredibly bold while they may be preposterous to others. But basketball is back, and that in itself is worth celebrating: 1. Ben Simmons makes 11 three-pointers Let’s dive right…
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel has some critical decisions to make around his starting lineup. LeBron James and Anthony Davis unquestionably have first-unit spots locked up. Danny Green, a low-usage three-and-D wing who fits perfectly alongside those two, should likewise be guaranteed to start. That leaves the point guard and center spots up…
On Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania dropped unexpected and unwelcome news about Los Angeles Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins. Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins has suffered a possible knee injury and will undergo further testing today in Los Angeles, league sources tell ESPN. Cousins was working out in Las Vegas on Monday when…
Team USA has been the single most dominant team in all of basketball over the last decade. In 2008, the “Redeem Team” won Olympic gold. They dominated the FIBA World Championship during 2010. 2012’s team was arguably more talented than the original 1992 Dream Team. By 2014, they claimed back-to-back FIBA World Championship victories. They…
After the Los Angeles Lakers struck out on Kawhi Leonard in free agency, they quickly went out and cornered the market on remaining shooters, bringing in Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Quinn Cook—the first two of whom have earned strong defensive reputations as well. A few days later, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported the…
