Every time Kentucky coach John Calipari starts to praise his latest crop of talented freshmen, he’s just as quick to point out that it is a work in progress.
Basketball
Midway through the first half, UNLV junior guard Bryce Dejean-Jones limped off the floor while clutching his right hamstring. That was the injury, and then came the insult.
Play hard. Play together. The request might seem overly simplistic for college basketball players owning a wealth of ability, but Dave Rice knows that continuity most often comes before prosperity.
Those who play the NBA will find few uncontested layups. How do you handicap pro basketball? Here are five points of emphasis.
It was not a wonderful life he was leaving behind, so Deville Smith listened when family members pleaded for him to get out of Mississippi and take a higher-percentage shot at success.
There was a Shark sighting on the UNLV campus Wednesday. But this Shark was bronze. And it sure looked like Jerry Tarkanian. The school officially dedicated a statue to the 83-year-old Hall of Fame basketball coach.
During his redshirt year on the bench, UNLV junior Roscoe Smith made a decision to get off the couch. As a transfer from Connecticut, Smith practiced with the Rebels and watched games from the sideline. But when the team was on the road, he was at home. The time alone was a chance to look in the mirror.
JaVale McGee already has proven to be one of the NBA’s most offbeat personalities.
Doc Rivers saw what was going on in Boston, and he didn’t want to be part of a rebuilding project. So after nine years of coaching the Celtics and winning an NBA title in 2008, he knew it was time to move on.
Sophomore forward Savon Goodman, facing felony charges and suspended for the season, announced Friday he is leaving the UNLV basketball program.
The Rebels unveiled their new-look roster for the Scarlet/Gray Showcase at the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday night. A crowd of around 5,000 showed up to catch a preview of the 2013-14 basketball season.
The Lakers hosted a preseason game Thursday night at the MGM Grand Garden, but there was no Bryant and a definite lack of buzz. Imagine the E Street Band showing up to play without Bruce Springsteen.
With new ownership, the promise of a new arena in downtown Sacramento, new leadership in the basketball operation with general manager Pete D’Alessandro and coach Mike Malone, perhaps the days of the Sad Sac Kings are over.
He’s a four-time NBA All-Star and may be a future Hall of Famer. But at age 33 and despite an impressive resume, Pau Gasol has a lot to prove. Not to the world. To himself.
UNLV center Khem Birch was voted to the preseason all-Mountain West first team, and the Rebels were picked to finish in a second-place tie with Boise State, according to a basketball media poll released by the league.
