Maryland Basketball: Five Keys to a Terps Upset over No. 5 North Carolina
The Maryland Terrapins are about to start the real meat of their ACC schedule.
Maryland is now 3-4 in the ACC, after a tough two-overtime loss, at Miami, on Wednesday. The Terrapins managed to rally from 16 points down with seven minutes to play, to force overtime. However, they could not finish the job against a very small Miami lineup that was forced into play by the fouling-out of Reggie Johnson. Both Johnson, and Terps coach Mark Turgeon were ejected within a few minutes of each other, part of a crazy final ten minutes of regulation.
As a result, the Terps missed an opportunity to earn a solid ACC road win, and move above .500 in league play. Given their next opponent, it would have been a nice momentum boost to have won two straight.
Maryland’s next game is against No. 5 North Carolina on Saturday, in College Park. The Tar Heels have righted themselves nicely after a 33-point loss at Florida State, on Jan. 14.
UNC has won each of their last four games by double-digits, and allowed less than 70 points in three of them. In Tuesday’s win over Wake Forest, the Heels held the Demon Deacons to under 30 percent shooting and just 53 points.
Needless to say, Saturday will be a tough test for Maryland. However, with the game at home, the Terps have a small chance to pull the upset. Nobody gave Florida State a chance when UNC came into their arena, and look what happened there.
Maryland doesn’t have the personnel FSU does, to be sure. However, there are some things they can do—like FSU did—to give themselves a shot at getting Turgeon his first signature win with the Maryland program.
Here are five things Maryland must do in order to knock off North Carolina.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
NBA Should be Talking Contraction; The First Five Teams to Go
The NBA isn’t losing money, but NBA franchises such as the Atlanta Hawks, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers are. Fans and media alike are complaining the game is watered down and NBA Commissioner David Stern has said contraction, which would eliminate at least one struggling franchise, should be on the table. Last season league-wide losses hit the $350 million dollar mark and the NBA’s overall revenue is threatened each game by its weakest franchise. With NBA players joining forces and making super teams, the NBA’s timing of contraction talk could be just smoke screens and mirrors to scare owners who are not pulling in a profit. But if it becomes a reality, these are five cities that could be out of an NBA franchise. Atlanta Hawks One figures if you make the playoffs four consecutive years in a row it might bring the fans to the arena….think again. The Hawks have called Atlanta home since 1968 and even though they have playoff appearances, victory’s a…
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Houston Rockets: Five Suggestions After Lakers Loss
The Houston Rockets lost 108-99 to the Los Angeles Lakers last night in a game that felt all too familiar. The Rockets had no defensive answer for superstar Kobe Bryant, no reliable scorer of its own down the stretch, and got absolutely killed in the paint by a taller, more athletic post player (in this case, Andrew Bynum, who finished with 21 points and 22 rebounds).
Of course, Houston kept it close as always thanks to a three-point barrage from Kyle Lowry, leaving the fans in their seats just a bit longer to sweat out the result. It’s a painful “close but yet so far” scenario for Rockets fans that they know all too well. The Rockets have a bevy of good players who try so terribly hard, but they lack that one transcendent superstar to push them over the edge. So, after splitting the final two games of 2011 versus Memphis and Atlanta, Houston opened 2012 with a loss and the same old issues. Here are five suggestions for improvement:
1) Kyle Lowry needs to hoist ear…
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Five Great College Players Who Will Flop in the NBA
The jump from the amateur ranks to the big leagues of the NBA is a life-changing event.
If a student has the chops to play in the NBA, there’s no telling the riches and accolades that can be bestowed upon him.
But that’s a big “if”.
Just as the dream of getting drafted has driven mere mortals to super-human feats, the dream has also broken hearts and ruined promising careers.
Far too often, players who are not ready for the NBA buy into the illusion, hire agents, and throw away whatever chance they have had of developing the skills necessary to compete with the big boys.
If a player isn’t drafted in the first round, there’s no guaranteed money and no guaranteed dream come true.
Even when a student has realized his full potential and dominated the college ranks, it doesn’t mean he is a sure fire NBA success story.
The truth is no one knows how good any of these guys will be until they actually get on the court and play against professional competition.
If they did, the NBA wouldn’t look like such a graveyard of talent each year (I’m looking at you, New Jersey Nets).
The other side of that coin, however, is that it is generally a lot easier to tell who isn’t going to be NBA worthy. The NBA isn’t exactly full of walk-ons.
And players who go undrafted generally have to prove themselves in Europe or in the NBDL, but the success stories are not abundant.
One thing is certain. There will be more players who declare themselves eligible for the NBA draft than there are spots available.
Even with teams filtering out the have-nots, some players will slip through the cracks and get drafted; some with some pretty high picks.
This is my list of some players who will get drafted, but won’t quite make the cut. With a few, I hope I’m wrong—but it’s not likely.
This is of course according to my eye test, so please, no wagering.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
Duke Basketball: Grading the Last Five Recruiting Classes for the Blue Devils
Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils have constantly been an elite team because of his and his staff’s ability to recruit. Their last five classes have been key to their 2010 National Championship and their current success.
Bringing in recruits like Austin Rivers, Kyrie Irving, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and more, Duke has maintained their level of prestige and made it to 16 straight NCAA tournaments.
During the last five years, Duke has made it to three Sweet Sixteens and won one NCAA tournament because of their recruits.
The last five classes have been vital, and it’s time we give Coach K and his staff a grade for each year.
Note: Grades are based off of how high each recruit is ranked, how the recruits turned out, how long each recruit stayed and what impact they had on the program. Certain grades will change as it has not been long enough to definitively grade each player.
View full post on Bleacher Report – College Basketball
New York Knicks Tops List of Top Five Frontcourts in the NBA
We all know drafting studs is a surefire way to have success in fantasy football.
Just draft Arian Foster, Calvin Johnson and Tony Romo and watch them roll. Well, that’s the easy part.
Finding a hidden jewel, though, is what separates the smart drafters from the uneducated ones. The following sleepers here are probably what got some fantasy players into their playoffs and beyond.
The 10 players outlined here (in no particular order), all thoroughly outplayed their draft value and are giving their owners the most bang for their buck.
Follow me on Twitter @Stacdemon
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NBA Free Agency: The Five Teams That Need Jamal Crawford the Most
This offseason has been intriguing in many different ways, even with a less than prolific free-agent market.
Chris Paul was traded to the Lakers, then that deal was vetoed by commissioner David Stern and all of the players involved were returned to their previous teams. Then, Portland Trail Blazers‘ shooting guard Brandon Roy announced his retirement to the shock of the country.
The Detroit Pistons bought out the face of their franchise for nearly a decade, Richard Hamilton. David West was basically signed by the Celtics, and then ended up signing with the Indiana Pacers. And of course, Dwight Howard asked to be traded to the New Jersey Nets.
But that is not nearly it for this extremely shortened post-lockout player movement period. There are still plenty of marquee NBA players that have yet to sign with a team for this upcoming season, and one of those players is shooting guard Jamal Crawford, who was most recently with the Atlanta Hawks.
Crawford has nearly unlimited range and is one of the most coveted free agents still on the market, with a bunch of teams vying for his services. Let’s take a look at which of those teams could use Crawford the most:
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Big East officially adds five schools
SMU, Houston and Central Florida will join for all sports, while Boise State and San Diego State will only play football.
View full post on USATODAY.com Collegebasketball
The five best dressed players in the NBA
The NBA lockout has ended and the first slate of games are scheduled to begin Christmas day. Basketball fans will look forward to the games, while fashion enthusiast and designers look forward to the style of the top NBA players.
Here is small list of the 5 best dressed NBA players.
Carmelo Anthony Carmelo Anthony has a silky jump shot on the floor that has translated off the floor into wearing some of the hottest threads around. “Melo” is a trendsetter who takes advantage of being on the New York stage.
Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant is as competitive a player as there is in the NBA, so it is only natural that he would not want to take a backseat to any player off the floor. “Black Mamba” knows how to catch attention and rarely disappoints with his fashion choices on the Hollywood stage.
LeBron James LeBron James is one of the most athletic players in the NBA, but he was a huge advocate when David Stern first instituted the new dress code. “…
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Five great NBA trades that won’t happen
The NBA is back, and with it is the unfiltered trade rumor mill factory. We’re all “NBA insiders” when it comes to potential NBA trades it seems (not just Chris Broussard), at least all of us who have the latest NBA 2K and all the ESPN channels. With the shortened season rapidly approaching, general managers have been [...]
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