Syracuse Center, Rakeem Christmas, Joins Jewish Fraternity
Syracuse University’s sophomore center, Rakeem Christmas, reveals an ironic story about himself.
With the last name “Christmas,” most would never assume that Rakeem would be a member of a Jewish brotherhood.
Watch now to listen to Rakeem’s story about joining a Jewish fraternity, and let us know what you think in the comments below.
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Syracuse Basketball: Rakeem Christmas in Line for Leap to Stardom
As the 2013 NCAA tournament enters the legendary stage of the Final Four, the anticipation for star performances has grown to a season high. This comes with good reason, as we’ve witnessed countless players make the leap to college stardom and NBA prospect via standout performances.
One of the players in line for such an outing is Syracuse big man Rakeem Christmas.
As Syracuse’s enforcer, Christmas is far from the most decorated player on the Orange’s roster. With that said, interior defense is becoming a valuable commodity at the NBA level.
In an era when small ball is at a premium, Christmas fits the bill of this generation’s NBA rim protector.
The body and ability are both there.
Christmas is 6’9″ and 222 pounds with a 7’2″ wingspan. The sophomore interior player has the build of an NBA player and, upon filling out, should be able to bang down low at the next level.
The question is simple—what must Christmas do to make the leap into NBA consideration?
2-3 Rim Protector
Thus far in the 2013 NCAA tournament, the Syracuse Orange are holding opponents to 45.8 points per game. In that time, Rakeem Christmas is averaging 1.3 blocks in 15.8 minutes per contest.
Christmas will need to stay on the floor, avoid foul trouble and continue blocking shots if he wants to see his draft stock rise.
It’s fair to assume that Christmas is at least one year away from being a first-round draft choice. With that said, scouts and general managers will need to see him step up as the enforcer of the 2-3 zone.
In a defense that does not always translate to the NBA, Christmas must find a way to impose his individual will.
Matched up against the Michigan Wolverines, Christmas will have the opportunity to make plays. Trey Burke is an elite point guard who thrives in the drive-and-dish, while Glenn Robinson III is a dominant slasher.
In other words, Michigan will be looking to make plays at the rim.
For that reason, it’s imperative that Christmas alters shots and understands how to play the passing lanes. With Burke being such a crafty playmaker, the zone perimeter will be broken rather often.
If Christmas is able to step up against a crop of NBA prospects, his own stock would skyrocket.
Battling Mitch McGary
Thus far in the 2013 NCAA tournament, Michigan Wolverines center Mitch McGary is averaging 17.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game. In that time, McGary has proved to be an elite energy player due to his motor and physicality.
It just so happens that Rakeem Christmas will be matched up on him more times than not in the 2-3 zone.
As Syracuse’s rim protector, Christmas will spend a majority of his time down low. Since McGary makes his living down low, it will be up to Syracuse’s sophomore defensive leader to step up as an on-ball defender.
More importantly, Christmas will need to crash the boards with timing and tenacity.
Christmas is averaging 3.5 rebounds in 15.8 minutes during the NCAA tournament. With his playing time likely to increase to offset McGary‘s production, those rebounding numbers will need to follow.
The question is simple—can Christmas stay out of foul trouble? If he does, this could be the game that launches his name into draft stardom.
There’s nothing like a dominant Final Four performance.
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Michigan’s Nik Stauskas provides Jimmy Chitwood-like Christmas message
Stauskas decided to spend Christmas in 20-degree weather shooting 50 three-pointers.
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NBA Christmas Spirit: Matt Barnes Shoves Teammate Lamar Odom
Matt Barnes continued his streak of being one of the biggest d-bags in the NBA with this move from yesterday’s Clippers-Nuggets game. With his team up by nearly 20 points midway through the fourth quarter, Barnes came up with one of the feel-good moments of the NBA’s Christmas day.
Lamar Odom fouled Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried on a fast break. Odom came down with both arms and physically prevented Faried from completing the play. Knowing it was a hard foul, Odom extended his hand offering to help Faried up. Enter Matt Barnes. Barnes enters from out of the picture and pushes Odom away from Faried, preventing him from helping the opponent up.
The NBA has to be thrilled with how their product looked on the national stage. On top of this classy act by Barnes, Jordan Hamilton of the Nuggets dropped an f-bomb on a fan. Nothing like seeing the Christmas spirit out of these morons.
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Ricky Rubio’s Face Makes Christmas Special and a Tad Creepy for Super Fan
As it turns out, Ricky Rubio‘s face can be used for a humongous blanket.
Yahoo! Sports reports one lucky NBA fan received just what they wanted this year in the form of a tremendous blanket with one big Ricky Rubio face splashed over the top of it.
Kelly Dwyer spotted quite the picture found on the Twitter account of Dean Pierce, who is a self-professed “NBA fanatic.”
Pierce wanted to make this Christmas special, so he decided to commission pretty much the biggest Ricky Rubio blanket we have ever seen.
Scratch that, this is the biggest Ricky Rubio face we have ever seen.
@rickyrubio9 Mom had a very Ricky Christmas!Grandma loves you!Feliz Navidad! twitter.com/ondeckdean/sta…
— Dean Pierce (@ondeckdean) December 25, 2012
In case you are wondering how something like this gets made, Pierce answers that for us in a tweet to an amazed tweep.
@tatianatalar @rickyrubio9 Go to photoweavers.com Here is the photo of the art that I had commissioned twitpic.com/bph195
— Dean Pierce (@ondeckdean) December 26, 2012
In one respect, we stand in awe of this grand and gorgeous blanket, which is a shining beacon of fandom. Any Rubio fan would be giddy to have such a thing.
Though, you would have to be a gigantic fan—one as big as that smiling face.
Still, it is rather creepy to get on the couch, bring a huge homage to the Timberwolves star and drape yourself with it.
No matter, it all has a happy ending because Rubio gave the fan a holler back with this tweet.
“@ondeckdean: @rickyrubio9 Mom had a very Ricky Christmas!Grandma loves you! Feliz Navidad! twitter.com/ondeckdean/sta…” wish her a happy holidays!
— Ricky Rubio (@rickyrubio9) December 25, 2012
If you are a fan of blankets and Spanish point guards, this blanket is pretty much the perfect gift.
Hit me up on Twitter for more NBA nonsense.
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NBA Christmas Day ratings big for ABC and ESPN
It was a banner day for the NBA on TV for the Christmas Day bananza
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Clippers’ Blake Griffin and Chris Paul Win Ugly Christmas Sweaters Award
With straight faces the LA Clippers took to the postgame podium, armed with honest answers and the ugliest Christmas sweaters we have ever seen.
We here certainly hope that last week was one for the record books, filled with good cheer and a healthy dollop of holiday tackiness. Any amount of sartorial silliness is warranted at this time of year, so the Clippers did things right on Christmas evening.
Stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul took to the postgame press conference with tremendous ugly sweater swag.
At times, they wore straight faces and answered questions as if they mattered, as seen here in a Dan Woike tweet from Tuesday night.
Merry Christmas from @blakegriffin and @cp3 yfrog.com/ocigxoscj
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) December 26, 2012
Other times, they broke character and straight into smiles as seen here in an Instagram from J.A. Adande, following a 112-100 victory over the Nuggets.
Really, there was good reason to bust out a healthy amount of awful and throw it on, because the Clippers extended their winning streak to 14, and, well, it was Christmas.
Not that it was the only amount of ugly sweaters seen on a raucous night in the NBA. Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons got into the action by showing us these delicious duds all day.
While those are certainly awful, they are beaten by the red-hot Clippers who could do no wrong right now, even in the act of putting on a sweater.
The NBA had a huge day on Christmas, with a full complement of mostly competitive games, but the story continues to be some tacky outfits worn at the end of the night.
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Russell Westbrook takes out Christmas anger on table
Russell Westbrook had a tough day in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s loss to the Miami Heat.
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Kobe Bryant, Lakers get Christmas revenge vs. Knicks
This time, the Lakers have their full compliment of players against the Knicks
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New York Knicks’ Christmas Day Loss Highlights Raymond Felton’s Shortcomings
The New York Knicks lost a tightly contested Christmas Day matchup to the Los Angeles Lakers, and given the circumstances surrounding the game, the result was not all that surprising. Yet this does not change the fact that the defeated Raymond Felton‘s recent struggles as the leading man in the New York offense.
The Knicks found themselves in a very hostile environment in Los Angeles, matched up against a rejuvenated Laker team that badly needs victories. Despite being pushed around by the Lakers for much of the game, the Knicks hung tough behind intermittent hot shooting from Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith.
But when Anthony and Smith weren’t creating offense, there wasn’t much cohesion to be found when the Knicks had the ball. As the point guard for a team that fancies itself an NBA title contender, much of the blame for this failure has to fall on Felton.
This isn’t the first time Felton, who finished the game 5-for-19 from the field, has struggled offensive in a Knick loss. In New York’s four previous losses, Felton had combined to shoot 28-for-88 with only 17 total assists.
The poor assist totals highlight one of Felton’s weaknesses which was on display against the Lakers, his propensity to look for his own shot against the flow in the offense. Felton has averaged over 21 shots per game in the Knicks’ last five losses, a tremendous volume for a lower-efficiency scorer who does not even initiate most plays in the New York offense.
Too many possessions against the Lakers ended with poor Felton decisions, including a crucial sequence with three minutes remaining in which no other Knick touched the ball while Felton missed two shots in 25 seconds.
Felton’s poor game was further highlighted by his matchup with Steve Nash, an extremely high-efficiency player who knows when to look for his own shot and when to act as a distributor. Nash’s 16 points on 12 shots provided a stark contrast to Felton’s 10 points on 19 shots, and observing each player’s shot selection made the contrast pretty easy to grasp.
It is obviously unfair for the Knicks to ask Felton to play at Nash’s level, but the Knicks do have a pretty efficient point guard option in Jason Kidd. Kidd is past his prime and not the creator he used to be, but he is still an extremely smart basketball player.
Felton remains the Knicks’ best ball-handler at the point guard position (J.R. Smith may compete for that title otherwise), and as a favorite of Mike Woodson’s, his role is not likely to diminish much in the near future. But if he continues to make poor decisions in critical moments, it would not be a big a surprise to see plays run through Felton less and Kidd more.
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