Which All-Star Weekend Is the Best?
The NHL All-Star Game was a blast this season; however, the NFL All-Star Game was not amusing at all. Now, the NBA All-Star Game is coming up.
Which All-Star Game would you prefer to watch if you had to choose just one?
In order, I break down the worst to the best All-Star weekends in the major four sports. Needless to say, the NFL needs to do some studying.
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Kyrie Irving: Why Rookie Sensation Will Be Best No. 1 Pick of the Last 5 Years
Coming into the 2011-12 season, many debated on whether or not the Cleveland Cavaliers made a mistake by selecting Duke point guard Kyrie Irving with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft.
After all, Irving played only a mere 11 college games, and the Cavaliers had many more pressing needs to fill as well.
It’s early on in his career, but through his first 20 games of his NBA career, Irving has answered all of the critics coming into the season.
He’s also made a statement that he could end up being the best No.1 overall pick in the last five years.
That’s a bold statement to make considering Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin and John Wall were the last three No. 1 overall picks before Irving (Greg Oden was the top pick in 2007).
But at the end of day, it could be Irving that ends up being the best of the group.
Here’s a quick look at a few reasons why.
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2012 NCAA Tournament: The 5 Best Teams That Will Not Make the Final Four
The 2012 NCAA Tournament, aka the best time of the year, is quickly approaching. March Madness has consistently been one of the most exciting sporting events due to its unpredictable nature, Cinderella stories, and its ability to vault a relatively unknown school into the national spotlight (see Davidson, Butler, George Mason etc).
With that being said, for every Cinderella story, there is a top team that under-performs.
Here are the five best teams that will NOT make it to the Final Four this year.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
NBA Trade Rumors: Why Dwight Howard to Chicago Is Best Option for All Parties
Dwight Howard has added another team to his wish list. Howard said he wouldn’t mind being a Bull, and it may be the team that makes most sense for the Chicago, Howard and the Orlando Magic.
In other words, all parties benefit.
For one, the Chicago Bulls have a sufficient amount of pieces that they can ship to Orlando for Howard. They can offer Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Ronnie Brewer for Howard and Hedo Turkoglu’s massive contract.
According to ESPN’s Trade Machine, this trade would be successful.
Now, does it make sense for both teams?
Of course it does. The Bulls get one of the best big men of the generation in Dwight Howard and instantly have another threat to use against the Miami Heat, who have had their number ever since last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.
They no longer become a one-dimensional team that is overly dependent on Derrick Rose.
One may argue that the Bulls are giving up way too much in Deng, Boozer and Brewer. However, for an elite player like Dwight Howard, it’s definitely worth it.
The trade gives the Bulls one of the best duos in the league. Throw in Joakim Noah clogging the paint and all of a sudden, the Bulls turn into the Eastern Conference favorites.
The Magic, on the other hand, gets three solid pieces they can build the team around. Boozer and Deng are both experienced veterans under contract for the next few years. Throw in a solid shooter in Ronnie Brewer to come off the bench behind J.J. Reddick and Jameer Nelson at point guard, and the Magic can remain in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference.
Most importantly, the Magic get players back in return. They don’t let Dwight walk away in the summer during free agency for nothing. If that happens, don’t be surprised if the Magic turn into the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Last but not least, they will get rid of the distraction that is Dwight Howard. You’d be lying if you thought that the trade saga hasn’t been a nuisance for the team. After the trade, the Magic will be able to focus on basketball again.
When the Denver Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony, they continued to play well because they made a trade that was beneficial for both teams. Now, they’re third in the West and are trying to hang at the top of the Western Conference.
As for Howard, he gets to play with arguably the best point guard in the league. Playing with Rose can ignite his career. It’s a lot easier to win ball games when you don’t have to be the prime target. Rose can be an assassin at the point position and Howard can dominate inside.
It’ll become an unstoppable threat which will give Miami fits. Every time the Heat play the Bulls, LeBron starts guarding Rose in close situations in the fourth quarter and Rose can’t do squat.
Now that he has Howard on his team, he can just feed him the ball and have him dominate the paint. The Heat don’t have an answer to him.
In fact, nobody does. This is why it completely makes sense to trade away three B-plus players for an A-plus guy. Also, the Magic benefit by getting rid of Turkoglu’s lousy contract that he’s not living up to. He may be a better in Chicago if he’s surrounded by Rose, a world-class facilitator.
Howard is finally looking at the league and seeing that there are better options than the Lakers, Mavs and Nets to succeed. Maybe now that the Magic are starting to lose, his frustration is building up and he realizes that it’s not about glitz and glamour.
He wants to win. Going to Chicago solves that problem easily.
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
2012 NCAA Tournament: The 5 Best Teams Who Will Not Make the Final Four
The 2012 NCAA Tournament, aka the best time of the year, is quickly approaching. March Madness has consistently been one of the most exciting sporting events due to its unpredictable nature, Cinderella stories, and its ability to vault a relatively unknown school into the national spotlight (see Davidson, Butler, George Mason etc).
With that being said, for every Cinderella story, there is a top team that under-performs.
Here are the five best teams that will NOT make it to the Final Four this year.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Kyrie Irving and the 10 Best Rookies Thus Far
For a first NBA season, this one will be far different from any other that NBA rookies will experience. From a draft that was touted by many as one of the weakest in the last 10 years, we have seen lots of surprises.
These rookies are contributing a lot more than we thought, and some players are turning around the fortunes of some traditionally bad franchises.
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
The 25 Best One-Two Punches in College Basketball
College basketball fans have been treated to some spectacular one-two punches over the years.
Chris Webber and Jalen Rose led Michigan’s Fab Five on a hoops revolution in the 1990s. Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler jumped out of the gym for Houston a decade earlier. Coach K’s early championships featured Grant Hill and Christian Laettner.
So who are the best one-two punches in the NCAA today?
Some mid-major teams have bracket-busting tandems, and programs like Kansas and Kentucky ride the success of their top two stars.
Here’s a list of the best duos the country has to offer.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
NBA Rumors: Why the Dallas Mavericks Are the Best Team for Dwight Howard
The Dwight Howard pot-of-frustration is about to boil over. As the Orlando Magic continue to lose (four-in-a-row as of Tuesday), the blame is now being put on Dwight Howard and his possible lack of determination.
As an organization, it is time to grant Howard his wish and trade him out of Orlando.
So—why not the Dallas Mavericks? Here are a few reasons why the Mavericks and Dwight Howard would be perfect matches for each other.
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The 50 Best Teams in College Basketball History
In college basketball as in other sports, there’s no single answer to the question of what marks a team as “great”. Some of the game’s most famous champions—say, Jim Valvano’s 1982-83 NC State squad—were respectable teams that got hot at the right time, while some of the most astounding collections of individual stars never made it to the pinnacle of the sport.
Sometimes, of course, enormous talent does lead to championship success, as it did in 2009 for Tyler Hansbrough’s North Carolina juggernaut. Just as often though, a team like Paul Pierce’s 1996-97 Kansas Jayhawks seems to have all the pieces but can’t put together a title run.
Herein, a closer look at those two loaded squads and the rest of the 50 greatest college basketball teams ever assembled.
Note: in the interest of making the list less repetitious, teams that had very similar lineups in more than one season have been consolidated into a single entry. For example, the Florida Gators, who won the 2006 and 2007 national titles with the same starting five, appear once for both seasons.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
NBA Rumors: 5 Best Centers on Market Not Named Dwight Howard
The Dwight Howard saga in Orlando has quickly unfolded as this year’s “Carmelo Anthony drama” and it is showing an effect on the Orlando Magic’s success.
Howard reportedly adds a new team to his preferred trade destination list every week, with the most recent, according to ESPN, being the Chicago Bulls. While Howard is the most demanding option if you are looking for a center, there are other players on the market at the position that could help you immediately.
The center position is one of the most important in basketball on both the offensive and defensive ends. However, in today’s league, there is simply a lack of dominating big men. That’s why many teams are stuck with mediocre talent at center while the rest of their lineup may be strong.
For now, there are several guys available for trade. Here is a look at the five best centers on the market that are not named Dwight Howard.
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