This is the best time of the year to have a free preview of the NBA-TV, right at the start of the long and winding NBA playoff season! Check with your local cable provider to see if it's available. The note we saw was for Comcast.
This usually requires a digital cable box to have access to NBA-TV, regardless of subscription status. You can usually find it in optional sports packages.
The promotion starts on April 16, 2008 and ends on May 4, 2008, that's a total of 19 days! On top of that, all NBA-TV On-Demand content is also available for free!
Please note that NBA-TV is a single channel that covers the NBA and professional baskebtall 24x7. This is different from the NBA League Pass package that shows you games from all around the country.
But usually NBA-TV is included in the NBA League Pass package, so if you sign up for that, you get NBA-TV too!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
NBATV free preview for 19 days!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Early entries in the 2008 NBA Draft (updated)
It is unfortunately this time of the season for college basketball fans where some of the best underclassmen are leaving college basketball for greener pastures (for the most part). How many of this year's superfreshmen will we say goodbye to? We'll find out by the end of June :)
Here are some of the players who have announced so far, this will be updated in the next few days!
| Player | School | Class | Agent? |
| Brook Lopez | Stanford | Sophomore | ? |
| Robin Lopez | Stanford | Sophomore | ? |
| Not Cedric Simmons (JJ Hickson) | NC State | freshman | ? |
| Derrick Caracter | Louisville | Sophomoric | Gone regardless? | Not Jimi Hendrix (Richard) | Alabama | Junior | No Agent (as of 3/31) |
| JaVale McGee | Nevada | Sophomore | Hired Agent |
| Lester Hudson | Tennessee-Martini | junior | No agent (4/1, Fox Sports) |
| Ryan Anderson | Cal Berkeley | sophomore | No agent (4/3) |
| Eric Gordon | Indiana Sampsons | freshman | Declaring (1070 the fan) |
| Jerryd "Not Skip" Bayless | Arizona | freshman | Declares (AOL Sports) |
| Ron Steele | Alabama | 4th year junior | No Agent (BamaHoops) |
| Earl Clark | PitinoVille | Sophomore | Declaring? Not so fast? Staying in school? |
| Anthony Randolph | LSU | freshman | Declares |
| Mo Spreights | Florida | Sophomore | Test Waters |
| DeAndre Jordan | Texas A&M | Freshman | Declaring |
| Donte Greene | Syracuse | freshman | Declaring |
| Kevin Love | UCLA Slugfest | Freshman | Confusion! Is he declaring? Maybe YES for sure? |
| OJ Mayo | USC | Freshman | Declaring |
| Trent Plaidsted | BYU | sophomore? | Testing waters |
| Michael Beasley | Kansas State | freshman | Going, going, gone, with agent (4/14) |
| Derrick Rose | Memphis | freshman | Gone! (Tax Day) |
| Jeremy Pargo | GoneZaga | junior | Declaring, no agent |
| Brandon Rush | Kansas | junior | Declaring |
| Darrell Arthur (Shady) | Kansas | Sophomore | Declaring |
| Russell Westbrook | UCLA | sophomore | Declaring? |
| Keith Brumbaugh | JuCo (former BCS commit) | Sophomore? | Declaring? |
| CDR (Chris Douglas Roberts) | Memphis | junior | Declaring? |
| Luc Richard Mbah Mute | UCLA | junior | Not a Joke! Declaring |
They said they are returning (but wait for the Draft Deadline before you start a parade in their name)
Draft Stories
Writers discuss the NBA draft in the Bleacher Repor(t).
The New York Times looks at the draft pool, and specifically the freshmen.
Meanwhile, Bruins Nation has done a great job in their write-up on Russell Westbrook and the NBA Draft.
A story posted over and over the net, as if to irritate North Carolina fans says that none of the three UNC players are in the lottery. The trio of course being Tyler "looked like a child against Kansas frontline" Hansbrough, Tywon "I was fast" Lawson, and Wayne "I played with that dirty Dookie in high school" Ellington.
The Sports Flow has a Should I stay or should I go analysis of the high-profile underclassmen from the four Final Four teams. Theme songs: The Clash with the aforementioned title, or for the younger audience, "Stay or Leave" by the DMB.
A complete listing of all the 2008 NBA Draft prospects at CBS Sportsline.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Travis Ford moves to Oklahoma State!
NIT Champion, and working under Pitino and Donovan, UMass head coach Travis Ford moves on to the Big 12, according to ESPN-News according to Doug Gottleib. Douggie is now live on the phone on ESPN News reporting on this breaking news!
What happened to the Henry Iba slugfest defensive style of play? Move over Pac-10, Big 12 is the new run and gun conference?
Turn on to ESPN News now for the live update from Doug Gottlieb! The deal is not yet signed, and Travis Ford was recently given a 10-year/$10-million deal by UMass!
The final BlogPoll Top 25 poll of the 2007-2008 season!
The inaugural season of the BlogPoll Top 25 ends with the final end of season poll that was just published today. The poll is available for all to see, including complete details on how each blogger voter. It is available as a Google Doc which you can read online or offline, with your browser or your favorite office productivity tool.
Which teams made the Final Top 25? You have to read to find out. Here are the teams that did not make the Final Top 25, but were knocking on the door: Villanova, Pitt, Oklahoma, Vandy, USC, Texas A&M, USC and GoneZaga. Of those, we did vote Nova and Vandy in the top 25.
If you are a college hoops or sports blogger and want to join the BlogPoll for the 2008-2009 season, just let any participating blogger know! You can find the list of all participating blogs at the top of the Google Doc. Each blog's name is a link to their site!
And before we conclude, big thanks to the BlogPoll Commissioner at March To Madness who has been running the poll throughout the season and herding blogging cats!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Trent Johnson at LSU press conference live on ESPN News!
ESPN News and ESPNews-HD are carrying a live press conference at LSU, where former Nevada and Stanford head coach Trent Johnson is introduced as the new head basketball coach.
One of the things Trent Johnson mentioned was the opportunity to recruit players without the academic restrictions one has at a place like Stanford. Which perhaps explains why the ex-Dookie athletic director bolted out of Duke, and convinced the coach to bolt out of Duke-West (Stanford). Or perhaps another AD driven to madness and tears by Coach K and fleeing the Cameron Dungeon where Coach K practices his dark-side crafts with Dark Vader.
Another thing mentioned by Johnson was the pressure and expectations to win big, following on the heels of the success of LSU football program. But be patient LSU fans, the Lopez twins are not walking through that do(o)r :)
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Dick Vitale's Top 5 for 2008-2009!
As seen on ESPN Sportscenter, assuming key players return, which you cannot assume until the April 27 NBA Draft deadline:
1. North Carolina
2. UCLA
3. Lousville
4. Texas
5. Georgetown
Meanwhile Andy Katz at ESPN.com has picked the Texas as their #1 for 2008-2009. Katz has picked a complete top 25, and it is dramatically different from Vitale's homer-appeaser-sycophant top 5 :)
Of course these preseason picks are beauty contests since we still don't know who will declare for the NBA draft and who will stay in the draft. We can usually get our first "solid" 2008-2009 predictions just before the 4th of July, since the NBA draft takes place in the last week of June.
Traitor Mike's Dilemma?
Trent Johnson of Stanford has spoken with LSU about their job opening. The LSU opening has great potential for post-season success, and unlike Stanford, you are not limited by academics on who you can recruit.
This would be the ultimate irony for Traitor-Mike, as he just took the Cal job. I imagine that if the Stanford job opens, he would bolt California for the Stanford job ASAP. He's not the first coach to pull a switch-a-roo, although he would be the first to do it in such a scenario.
I hope it happens, so we have more drama to talk about :)
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
The NCAA Final: The Post-Game Blog Post!
And so it ends. Another season in the books, and this time, we got an NCAA championship worthy of championship drama, with an overtime, lead changes, a buzzer beater, and a meltdown even! It had everything CBS wanted it to have to get the viewers captivated and watching their little boxes (well some of them are more than fifty inches wide).
Kansas: We are the Champions
Twenty years after Danny & The Miracles, we had Bill Self and the Comeback Kidz, powered by Danny Manning karma on the bench. Kansas was winning the first half, was losing the second half, but managed to stage an almost perfect comeback, send the game into overtime, and grab overtime by the throat and never look back!
This is good news for KU fans who have been waiting for twenty years for this moment, and can now perhaps bury the Roy Williams hatchet as they got their championship. Of course there will still be bitterness of "15 years of Roy, no championship" and "5 years of Self and a ring". But let's not forget that before March 2008, Bill Self had a sub-par March Madness performance, with two first-round exits and two Elite 8s, when he could have easily had a couple of Final Fours, and a minimum of Sweet 16 each year. But championship cures all.
Now the battle is keeping Self in place. Oklahoma State is perhaps willing to throw other people's money at Self, and if the ridiculous amounts mentioned are true, it pays to go home again! He would be getting six Lee Majors as a signing bonus! Who can say no to that? I know I wouldn't :)
And then there's the NBA Draft. Winning it all increases the perceived NBA stock value of potential draftees, and encourages them to either test the waters or jump all the way in, even though they have been on the bubble before the RING.
But regardless of all that, Kansas was about as deserving of a championship as any team this year, they had solid and consistent games throughout the year, and showed versatility and the ability to play fast and slow on offense, and handle fast and slow teams on defense. What else can you ask a team to do?
Memphis Half-empty: A Series of Unfortunate Events
Yes, the free throws were perhaps the most visible and the easiest to pin-point given the past free-throw woes of Memphis, but perhaps Karma was to blame for that. In 2003 the Roy Williams Jayhawks could have easily beaten the Syracuse Carmellos if it wasn't for horrible free throw shooting. So perhaps it was fate that an almost perfect free throw shooting night for the Self Jayhawks (shooting in the 60s), and a 60s performance by Memphis would have a major impact in the game.
But it wasn't just the free throws you see. A number of other factors could have easily given the game to the Memphis Tigers and prevent it from going into the overtime-meltdown. Here are some:
But the free throws could have reversed all that, as Memphis had four chances in a single possession and only needed to make two. CDR missed both, but Dozier (who Calipari called out before the game, and indeed had a very good game) stole the rebound and that allowed Derrick Rose to shoot free throws. He made one of two and the rest is history.
Memphis Half-full: Two plays away from a 40-0 season
If we step back from the dramatic and epic final game of Monday night, we can easily see that the Calipari Memphis Tigers were essentially two plays away from a 40-0 season. I don't think people realize how good of a season the Tigers had. Sure it was the mid-majorish Conference USA (now with Ben Braun cooking Rice), but being two possessions away from a 40-0 season is no small feat.
While not as dramatic as the Tark the Shark UNLV teams of 1990 and 1991, the Memphis Tigers will probably be remember a step below those teams. And speaking of the 1990 UNLV Running Rebels, they beat the Dookies by 30 points in the NCAA Final. And now you can buy that DVD from NCAA On Demand via Amazon.
Relive the Game!
You can relive the game online at NCAA.com/MMOD, or you can tune in to ESPN Classic tonight (Tuesday) at 11pm eastern (8pm pacific). You can also watch the game on CBS College Sports (CSTV) at 3am eastern (midnight pacific).
Monday, April 07, 2008
OTL today: Jay Bilas, Cardiac Pack, NCAA Title game!
Today's Outside the Lines (3pm eastern, ESPN; repeats at 5pm eastern on ESPN2), there are two NCAA Championship specials. The 2008 final (Memphis vs Kansas) and the 1983 Cardiac Pack of Jimmy V and NC State fame are featured! Jay Bilas will be a guest on the show to discuss the title game!
More details at the OTL Page. Also, the poll of the day at ESPN Sports Nation is who do you think will win the National championship, Memphis or Kansas? Or both? :)
Basketball Hall of Fame News on ESPN News!
Watch it live! Who's in, who's out??? Let's get started!
The Bob Cousy award for the best point guard goes to ... *drumroll* DJ Augustin of Texas-Austin. The award was announced and presented by the man himself, Bob Cousy! DJ Augustin was there of course to receive the award, wearing an (ooops!) this is not the Oscars :) They also announced that the Sports Museum of America in New York City will be the new home of the Cousy Award.
Next one in, announced by the one and only Jim Nantz, the scoring machine of the NBA, Adrian Dantley! Those of you young enough not to know of him, watch some games on ESPN Classic, NBA-TV, and YouTube!
Next up, Bill Davidson, of the Detroit Pistons and such, not as a player obviously!
Followed that, jumping in was Patrick Ewing, the New York Knicks and Georgetown Hoyas supercenter! And it was fitting perhaps that one of Ewing's rivals also enters the HoF at the same time: Hakeem Olajuwon!
Next, going in as a head coach, the sleek Armani-wearing, Pat Reilly of the Lakers, Knicks and Miami Shacks! Not a surprise to anyone!
Another coach, the head coach of Immaculata, an all-women's college, Cathy Rush!
And oh the irony! After causing drama about Vitale/Packer, Jim Nantz would actually announce the induction of Dick Vitale. It's awesome baby with Capital A! It's unbelievable!!!
And when Jim Nantz interviewed Dick Vitale, Vitale CRIED within 20 seconds of his interview! It's cry-awesome baby with capital tears! Vitale also thanked Bob Knight for his letter-writing campaign to get Vitale in the Hall of Fame.
And perhaps this is why Vitale got in, the big push from the one and only the General Robert Montgomery Knight!
It's Awesome Baby! This was a huge class in 2008, the enshrinement ceremony will take place on September 5, 2008!
Can someone please nominate this blog for the College Hoops Blogging Hall of Fame???
The NCAA Final tips off tonight!
Woohoo! The NCAA Final is tonight! And there's plenty of pre-game coverage on TV at ESPN and CSTV (CBS College Sports)!
Meanwhile Sports Illustrated has opened the floodgates to the past, their vault of past issues is open to the public, and more importantly FREE!
Congratulations are in order for the UConn Women's Basketball blog, which was recently selected by Blogger/Blogspot as a Blog of Note.
Also if you want to get wired up, be sure to catch a four-game marathon on ESPN Classic featuring four past NCAA Finals, and a replay of the Wacky Final Four games on CSTV (CBS College Sports).
More coming up later today!
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Dick Vitale gets in the Basketball Hall of Fame!
ESPN News is reporting that Dick Vitale will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008! That's right, Dookie Vitale is in baby! It's awesome with capital A! It's super-scintillating-sensational!
The formal announcements will be made on Monday April 7, 2008 at 12pm eastern (9am eastern) on ESPN-News and ESPN-News-HD. You can also check NBA-TV, they may also have the announcement made live.
Speaking of Vitale, you can watch his Dick Vitale's All American Special on ESPN-2 tomorrow (Monday) at 11am pacific (2pm eastern). With Dan Shulman of course. This is a repeat that originally aired on Saturday on ABC and ABC-HD.
Final Four: The Day After The Games!
Vitale bullies Bob Knight
During one of the Sportscenter at The Final Four segments, Dick Vitale was sort of bullying Bob Knight. And just like any bully, when they are bullied, they hide in a corner. In this case, Bob Knight moved his chair close to Digger Phelps and starting cuddling! Bullies = Cowards!
Media Watch
Ja(y)son Williams needs to stop eating his own words while speaking on TV. Literally! He tries to speak faster than his body can process the words and it doesn't sound good for someone who is speaking on TV on a regular basis. Will someone from the TV production crew tell him that???
Meanwhile CBS/CSTV had a huge get in Greg Anthony. No doubt a Billy Packer favorite as Greg Anthony is a Billy Packer style analyst, with on-topic comments spoken in clear and concise manner. This of course regardless of whether you like or agree with Packer or Anthony. But Greg Anthony could become the next Billy Packer at CBS.
And speaking of CBS/CSTV, the youngester play-by-play guy, who looks like a snotty brat (or a boyband member), has actually done a very good job at the Final Four as the anchor of the marathon CSTV broadcasts. We are talking about Carter Blackburn. Or in the words of Pete Gillen: Cauter Blackburn ;-) And in his own words at this NY Times sports blog.
Final Four Afterthoughts
Calipari turned around the LA Times stories that said the game between UCLA and Memphis would be a major coaching mismatch. Calipari said after the game: "Don't say that about Ben. I have great respect Ben!".
Ben Howland's horrible job on the bench was only masked by Roy Williams's stubborness to call a momentum timeout, because apparently Williams is of the philosophy that if you call a timeout like that, it is like admitting defeat. One has to wonder how a coach that refuses to look at the scoreboard and refuses to call timeouts is in the Hall of Fame! (hint: 80% winning percentage).
But back to Howland. For one thing, he has had a shooter on the bench that he chose not to play because of defense. His name is Chace Stanback and he could easily fill the role of Afflalo on offense, especially considering he is a few inches taller. However, because he wasn't ready defensively, he rarely got a look, despite the desperate need for shooting. If I was Chace Stanback, I would transfer out to a program that would actually play me!
Howland also had some strange matchups. Rose was having a field day with Collison's defense, yet Howland kept him on Rose for the longest time ever. Perhaps that's why Collison intentionally fouled Rose so he would foul out? (the equivalent of the Samurai falling on his sword?).
Memphis's spread court offense took away UCLA's multiple-fouls-per-possession double-teams by their wrestling forwards, and Ben Howland was unable to compensate.
This perhaps exposes Ben Howland for what he is, a coach that wins ugly and cannot win big games if he actually plays basketball the right way. And they tried to play basketball the right way with Memphis, and they got manhandled.
On top of that Ben Howland got dominated three times in a row in the Final Four as none of his losses were even remotely close. And if you can't even win one Final Four game with Kevin Love, when can you actually win? :)
Imagine if North Carolina had a starting backcourt of Collison and Westbrook. Can you say 120-85 scores? :)
Body Language Segment
It was interesting to note the two sets of Final Four interviews by Seth Davis. In both interviews two of the coaches were aggressive and even touched the other coach. Of those two aggressive coaches, one won (Calipari) and one lost (Roy Williams).
Coaches Gone Wild
"Peas or Corn?" That was Calipari's greatest accomplishment as a volunteer at Kansas under Larry Brown :)
Calipari went on an hour-long monologue during today's press conferences setting up the table for Monday's NCAA National Final.
And a back-handed compliment from Calipari on Howland, describing on how he managed to get away with ugly slugfests under the bright lights of Los Angeles.
Coaching Carousel
Spin spin, spin the coaching carousel! Oregon State is now flirting with Ron Hunter of IUPUI. Apparently the Oregon State AD has not met a mid-major-conference coach he didn't like :)
Traitor-Mike has done it! He's gone from Stanford, to the Golden Gate (State) Warriors, to the California Bears. This puts him in elite company of "traitors", jumping to the most hated rival of their previous team.
Meanwhile not a rumor, but Western Kentucky has gone to the Rick Barnes well, and came out with one of his assistants as their next head basketball coach!
NBA Draft updates
A number of players have jumped into the NBA Draft pool, including Jerryd Bayless, perhaps tired of the coaching drama at Arizona, Ron Steele, Earl Clark, and such.
Taking Comments Out of Context
Jim Nantz doing a Golf promo during the broadcasts: "... those are magnificent holes ...". Nantz by the way ha a new memoirs book coming out in May.
Bob Knight talking about UCLA: "... they made love ...".
Tape-delayd April Fool's Day
You've heard the story of Tyler Hansbro renewing the lease on his house at UNC. Well, our insider sources have told us that Hansbro bought a $10 reloadable gift card at a local coffee shop in January 2008. According to our projections, this is a guarantee that he will return next year, because no one would buy $10 worth of coffee unless he was planning to be around for an extra year to spend it!