Sacramento's Loss, Seattle's Gain and Everyone Else's Something

Seattle will soon welcome another NBA team to the city with the Sacramento Kings nearing a deal to sell the franchise to Seattle. (nasorb.com)

It's been a painful couple of years for Seattle basketball fans. Not only did the fans of the Sonics see their team ripped away from them and move to Oklahoma City but then had to watch the new Thunder win, and win a lot, in their new home. But if Seattle fans believe in karma balancing out the world, then Seattle's world is about to become more balanced. The Maloof family, owners of the Sacramento Kings, is nearing a deal to sell the Kings to a group of investors in Seattle. Of course, this move isn't great for everyone. Sacramento sports fans are the obvious choice (it's their only professional sports option, or it was) but we'll also look at some of the other winners and losers that might not be as apparent.

Loser: Kansas City
When AEG built the Sprint Center in Kansas City, AEG CEO Tim Leiweke told the Kansas City Star in 2004, "I can assure you, there's going to be an anchor tenant" (referring to either an NBA or NHL team making a home at the Sprint Center). Options have come and passed (including a chance at the New York Islanders and this sell with the Kings) yet AEG has sat on its collective hands. For Kansas City fans, the chance of bringing an NBA team back to KC is seeming more like a pipe dream. And it's not the venue or fans, as both the NBA and NHL hold exhibition games at the Sprint Center to packed houses. Making the sting of not landing the Kings worse is that before the Kings were in Sacramento, they called Kansas City home. Seattle's karma may have kicked in to get their team back, but Kansas City fans are still waiting for theirs.


Winner: Isaiah Thomas
The diminutive Kings point guard was born in Tacoma, Washington, and spent all three years of his college career playing for the Washington Huskies. Bittersweet though it may be leaving the first city he called home upon entering the NBA, Thomas may be getting the second best dividend available amongst the rubble. There's no need to call it a homecoming yet, though someone surely has, but Thomas has already proven his worth as a starter in the Association and collected two Rookie of the Month awards and an All-Rookie Second Team nod along the way. Jimmer Fredette would get more resounding yells if the franchise was moving to Utah, but Thomas is consistently going to get the biggest applause in Seattle's new arena. The ensuing surge of confidence could be an on-court bonus, too.

Loser: Tyreke Evans
Already on the trading block because of nagging injuries and uneven play since being named Rookie of the Year in 2010, Evans should be worried. With this news, his future is as unclear as the Kings' chances of staying in Sacramento used to be. Evans will become a restricted free agent this summer, as he was not offered an extension, but when a franchise moves and re-brands, it is a literal fresh start. Evans looked to be the brand of the team's future in 2010, but Seattle fans don't owe Evans anything, which could cause problems for him remaining with the organization. They could shed the lowly reputation they have now by removing some of the names currently on the roster. DeMarcus Cousins, as much trouble as he may be, is producing on the court while Evans has largely stalled. Thomas is already reliable in the first guard role and Fredette is starting to come around, and trading Evans or letting him slide away in free agency could be the Kings' first unofficial move toward their eventual new look.

Winner: Oklahoma City Thunder
There will still be hard feelings between Seattle fans and the franchise that bolted to a different small market only to find success with the still-budding potential of two of the NBA's top players (three, if you count James Harden, and four if you count his First Team All-Facial Hair beard). But now Seattle fans will be busy cheering for this new team, meaning less time wishing OKC's bus breaks down on the way to a game. This should relieve some of the hatred and pressure the Thunder organization is feeling from Seattle fans, who can now move on. Oklahoma City also stands to benefit, though, if the franchise relocating to the Pacific Northwest seeks to claim the Supersonics name. The banners earned in Seattle hang from the rafters in OKC, after all. The name has changed but the history is still the same, and borrowing a piece so ingrained in that past glory would cost a princely sum. The Thunder should expect heavy, genuine boos when they return to their old playground, but the extra padding in the franchise's pocket should soften the blow, assuming Chris Hansen and Co. pursue familiar naming rights.

Winners to Everyone but the Public: The Maloofs
Botch your ownership of a professional sports franchise and break the collective heart of a proud fan base. Pass go, immediately collect $500 million. In this deal, the Maloofs will also keep a very small percentage of the team, but will have no say in any of the decisions or operations. To Sacramento fans, or anyone with a conscious, even this is too much. The Maloofs are a big bank getting bailed out by the government in the way that they failed miserably, yet instead of suffering the consequences, will get a nice pay day and keep some dignity with the ownership deal. Remember, these are the same owners who at one point were "working" to build a new arena for the Kings in Sacramento before backing out. Don't feel sympathy for the Maloofs; they will be fine. Feel sympathy for the fans of Sacramento who have been teased and toyed with about if they can keep their franchise and now have no franchise to be teased with.

Kyle Davis co-authored this post.

Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter
Like Beats Dimes and Drives on Facebook

The BDD Interview: Cormega, part 1

The BDD interview series was conceived with the intention of getting opinions on basketball and basketball culture from the perspectives of those outside the game's typical realm. For the inaugural edition, we reached out to Queensbridge rapper Cormega to discuss his hometown New York Knicks, which QB streetballers could beat Ron Artest pre-Metta World Peace, and the NBA player with the best rap career. Don't forget to read part two.

Photo courtesy of Cormega

What was your introduction to the game?

Growing up in the inner city, basketball is a part of our culture. I always expect that, if you ask any kid from the inner city, they’ll tell you that. There’s just something cool about guys who play basketball because of the way they handle themselves. They’re cool. I think the first name that stood out that I remember is Dr. J. Like that name “Dr. J” was like, that was awesome, you know what I’m saying? Like, "Dr. J! Dr. J!" It ain’t until I got older that I realized how great or how good he was on the court, but when I was younger, the name Dr. J, you just heard it. It echoed and resonated. As I got older, I just got into it and I loved it. I’ve been a Knicks fan since forever. My favorite Knick – the first Knick that really drew me in – was Bernard King.

Did you ever play basketball growing up? I know there’s some footage of you playing in a celebrity game with Allen Iverson a few years back.

Yeah, obviously I played a little ball if you seen the two NBA three-pointers I hit in that video. I used to play basketball, I played with [New York City AAU program] Riverside Hawks when I was little for a little while and I played in some other tournaments back in the day, but I’m not going to sit here and lie in the interview like I was destined for NBA stardom if I didn’t rap. I done shot ball. I wasn’t MJ. I wasn’t nothing to write home about. I always loved it, wished I was better than I was, but there was definitely a lot of guys better than me. I developed a wicked jump shot, though, that could compete with a lot of good guys, and I’ve just been a fan.

People live and die by the jumper. They can make careers out of it.

I’ve got a wicked jump shot. I can brag about that.

On your track “The Legacy” (warning for younger viewers, explicit lyrics) one of the lyrics is “Wee-Wop was the illest ball player.” Who was Wee-Wop? I assume this is basketball related.

He was a streetball player from Queensbridge and I believe he went to college, also. His name was Warren Walker. He died; incredibly talented. Ron-Ron [Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest] is a testament of hard work. Ron-Ron wasn’t even the best basketball player in Queensbridge, you know what I’m saying? The streets is so alluring that there’s people that was actually better than Ron-Ron and they decided to sell drugs. They wasn’t as dedicated as Ron-Ron, that’s why I say he is a testament to hard work. Ron-Ron could be outside shooting the ball when it’s raining, when it’s snowing. He worked to get where he’s at. There was a guy named Troy Battle who, say, if we were playing a pick-up game of basketball 15 years ago and Ron and Troy were standing there and if you had the first pick, you would have picked Troy without a shadow of a doubt. You see what I’m saying? Troy hustled. A lot of the guys that’s out of the hood, they hustle and they didn’t follow they dreams because the streets have a magnetic allure to it. Wee-Wop is one of those guys [who] just died, though. He went to college, and he was incredible. There was also a guy, Mark Morris, from our block. He went to Tulsa, I believe. He was good, but he was on Tulsa before Tulsa was Division I, before they got all the love like they get now. If he would have been on Tulsa when they had the spotlight, he probably could have made it to the NBA. He was just that good. There was another guy named Hi-C, who was so good I can’t even describe him because you’ll think I’m exaggerating. I’ve never seen nothing like this. But he was in the street. There’s a lot of guys in the streets who were some incredible guys. Some of them you never see them unless you go to a game like the Rucker and then you’ll see some guys and you’ll be like, “Damn, who the hell is this guy?” [There are lots of] guys like that that didn’t follow their dreams or didn’t make it for some odd reason, but they’re just good and not in the NBA.

You mentioned Tulsa and a bunch of guys who went and played college ball. Do you follow college ball, too, or do you just follow the NBA?

I follow college ball, but not as much as I used to. I lost some of my love for college once guys started leaving after one season and stuff. It’s exciting, but it’s not like it used to be. I’m a Tar Heels fan, though. I’ve been a Tar Heels fan since James Worthy and [Michael] Jordan and them. I like college ball, but the integrity of the game in college basketball is different now. I tend to like women’s college basketball more sometimes. They put their heart and their souls through war. You have a guy that’s incredible, but it’s like you can see it in their eyes. It’s like, “I’m only here because I have to be here for one semester. Next year, I’m out. I’m going to the NBA.” That’s what it feels like.

It’s like the Coach [John] Calipari system at Kentucky. That doesn’t exactly apply to women’s college basketball.

Exactly.

And the Tar Heels are having a down year, but they have a good lineage with Jordan, [Jerry] Stackhouse and Vince Carter, who came out of there, too.

They got my man Rasheed Wallace and they’ve got a lot of people out of there. I mean, Raymond Felton came out [of North Carolina]. They’re just a consistently good program. I’ve been liking them forever. I’ve just stuck with them. That’s the team that I’ve kept. Even if there’s another team that I admire, the Tar Heels is my team, just like in the NBA the Knicks is my team, but there’s other teams that I like. If you follow my tweets, every year I give my predictions of who’s a sleeper team and I’m often right. I think in the future I’m going to try to be some kind of sports writer or something like that with basketball because I be saying stuff and I be making predictions and I be right. Also, I be knowing some inside scoops that people don’t be knowing way ahead of people because I know people in the NBA, like I told people that Mike Bibby was coming to the Knicks before he came. A lot of stuff. If you look at my Twitter, dudes is actually like, “OK, Mega, I fuck with you, but now you’re going a little bit too far. I can’t believe that.” Then everything I said was true because I know guys in the NBA. I know coaches, I know assistant coaches, I know players, so there’s stuff that I be knowing before everybody. It’s just funny.

I do follow some of your tweets. I loved the “'Sheed is 'Sheed” tweet from earlier this season.

Which one?

The one where you said you told guys that 'Sheed was 'Sheed. It was when he came back and I think it was the first or second game he suited up for the Knicks this year.

It’s like this: people have to understand basketball. If you’re a fan of a team, it’s one thing, but you have to be a fan of the game to understand the game. There’s a difference between understanding the game and being a fan. Some people who don’t understand basketball are like... When we got Jason Kidd, I was ecstatic. People were like, “Ah, man, we’re old. The Knicks are old,” and I’m like, “Yo, you don’t understand basketball.” Jason Kidd is the Brett Favre of basketball. Even when he gets older, his brain mechanics supercede his athletic mechanics. Jason Kidd probably has the highest basketball IQ in the NBA. He’s just that smart. And Rasheed… One of things about Rasheed is -- if you follow the game -- Rasheed has an extremely high IQ, but people overlook that because they always look at the technicals, etc., etc. Two things about Rasheed: he has a very high basketball IQ, and then he has a streetball persona. He knows how to get under guys’ skin. He’s the only guy I’ve seen that would fuck with Shaq’s head, get under Dwight Howard’s skin, so with them players that we got, I was extremely happy and people thought I was all crazy, but now look, everybody’s like, “You was right, Mega. You was right.” I love 'Sheed. 'Sheed is just dope. 'Sheed can post up, he has a three-point game, he plays defense and he’s ball smart. What the hell else you want?

'Sheed, all around, is good. I figure it’s safe to say you like the current Knicks line-up.

I love it. I think this might be one of the best line-ups we’ve ever had. Ever.

What do you think of Amar’e Stoudemire coming back? Do you think that’s going to throw off the chemistry at all?

That’s another thing. People are not fans of the game; they’re not using their brain. Everybody’s quick to say that ‘Melo [Anthony] and Amar’e didn’t play well together. No, that was under [former Knicks and current Lakers coach Mike] D’Antoni. Carmelo and nobody didn’t play well together with D’Antoni. They was 8-2 under [current coach Mike] Woodson. So now Amar’e’s back and he’s working his way back into the line-up. The most honorable and smart thing he did was say, “I’m willing to come off the bench,” so now that he’s coming off the bench, he’s not going to interrupt the chemistry because they’re going to work him in slowly and if Amar’e gets back to form, we’re going to be one of the most formidable teams in the NBA because you’d be hardpressed to find a forward that’s going to come off the bench and be able to give what Amar’e’s going to give because he’s just that good, being Amar’e.

At the same time, Tyson Chandler might be the most underrated center in the league. There are other centers who might put up numbers, other centers who might grab rebounds better than him and they might be running back to play defense a little better than him, but he does all those things and, for a center, he knocks down free throws. I love this team. And then Marcus Camby… By the time Marcus Camby gets back healthy, I mean, c’mon, man. I love this team. Even last year, Marcus Camby was one of the better defenders and rebounders in the league. Once he gets his rhythm back, we’re gonna have solid defense and our offense is gonna be incredible. We’re gonna be a solid team.

And with Amar’e coming off the bench right now that means you have a solid guy coming into the front court, but you also have J.R. Smith, who’s been lighting it up this year.

If you look at my tweets, that’s something I said a while ago. People don’t agree with that. I said the Knicks need to re-sign J.R. Smith, ASAP. I said this. Look at my tweets. I said this. Prior to all this shit, I said it because I seen his motivation and I seen what he was doing early in the season. One thing that people need to understand is sometimes when you have a hothead or a guy that’s a little reckless abandon, all they need is guidance. They have that guidance in Jason Kidd. If you look at all the contending teams, the Lakers wanted Jason Kidd. LeBron wanted to play with Jason Kidd. Why do you think everyone wants to play with this guy? The Mavericks was very upset when he left because he’s a leader, so now J.R. has that leader to guide him. He already was incredible with his offense, now he has a leader to keep him from being reckless and to steady his game. That’s what makes him an incredible player. “We need to re-sign him” – look at my tweets. I said that.

He’s even playing defense this year. 'Melo’s playing defense. What do you think of the Woodson coaching change?

I like the Woodson coaching change. I think Woodson came from a background of defense, so that’s gonna benefit us. I was waiting to see why he wasn’t experimenting with the Twin Towers [Chandler and Camby], but now he’s doing that, especially when other teams go big. We don’t need ‘Melo trying to play power forward again.

You’ve mentioned a lot of players in your songs. On “Redemption” (explicit lyrics) you said, “Like Vince Carter, I’m too intense/ For dude’s defense to stop me, I abuse the rim.” How would you update that for 2013?

Vince Carter’s still good, but he used to be a freak athlete. He’s one of the best dunkers ever. Vince Carter’s a competitor so he’s never gonna suck. He might not be a superhero any more, but he’s not going to be a regular human either. That’s how I look at guys like Vince Carter. Stackhouse, too. Those guys are never gonna suck. They might not give you what they used to be able to give you, but they’re never gonna suck. I think one of the biggest atrocities in the NBA right now [is] there is no reason why Allen Iverson should not be in the NBA. I just don’t get it. That’s wrong.

I was surprised no teams took a flyer on him when things didn’t pan out with the Grizzlies and then he went to China.

Yeah, he’s in China doing his thing right now. Somebody might say, “Fuck it,” when they’re in the hunt for the playoffs, but I just don’t get it. This guy was one of the posterchilds of the league for so many years. At his worst, he could do better than a lot of the point guards are doing right now.

One of the knocks on him was he was more of a scoring guard. Do you think there’s anything to that?

I think people were just looking for a reason to criticize him, because you can’t condemn him for the shit you glorify Kobe for. I’m a big Kobe fan, but Kobe’s a fucking chucker. Straight up and down. They call Z-Bo [Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph] the black hole. Kobe’s a black hole. Because Kobe draws so much of the attention, he takes away from other players. Dwight Howard was having a hard time fitting in because the ball goes to Kobe so much. Kobe takes away from the other guys, or often does, and he doesn’t allow guys to get confident because he dominates the ball so much. When it’s the final shot, the clutch shot, when it’s crunch time or when it’s hammer time, you know he’s getting the ball, so there’s other players that just sit around. They don’t get to build their confidence. They have to defer to him. Iverson, they say he’s more of a shooting guard. OK, so sign him as a fucking shooting guard. He’s more of a shooting guard, but he still was an assist leader in the league. He still was in the top 10, top 15 in assists. He’s still better than most of the guys in the league. He’s still in the top of his field. Then what are you going to say? “We want good character guys”? C’mon, man. This is the NBA, not a boy’s choir. You can’t say you want good character guys. The Knicks were supposed to sign Iverson and they decided they’d pass on him. He was going to go to the Knicks the last year Mike D’Antoni was there. Mike D’Antoni is the last guy who should be judging somebody on character. He can’t get along with anybody. So with Iverson, it’s just crazy that he’s not in the league. I don’t know if he’s blacklisted or what, even from a business standpoint. Iverson will sell you some jerseys. He’ll get some people in the stands. I don’t get it.

He’ll definitely sell the jerseys. His name still carries some weight.

Hell yeah. People love him. The average girl, if you ask them about the NBA, they’ll still be like, “Iverson!” Girls loved him, dudes loved him. He was getting too street for the NBA. Iverson was such a burden to the NBA, they didn’t want him to succeed. They made a rule about the handle because he was crossing everybody over, broke Jordan’s ankles. They didn’t like that. “You’re not going to be disrespecting our posterchild of the NBA.” So he broke Jordan’s ankles, he was killing people with his handle so they made some kind of rule – a palming rule or some bullshit – so he couldn’t do his crossover any more, then they did the dress code shit. That was some anti-Iverson shit. They told him he can’t fucking make a rap album. People critique him and condemn him, but this guy played injured. You can say what you want about him, but he gave 110 percent on that court. He was hurt, he was battered, he’d crash boards, he wasn’t scared to take the big shot. He’d pass to his teammates when needed. Look at the team he took to the Finals. You’d scratch your head like, “How the eff did they get there?”

He was the frontrunner for a lot of the guys who are in the league right now. AI didn’t make his record, but would you rank the NBA players who released rap albums or say who’s the best rapper? Iman Shumpert from the Knicks is doing his thing, too.

He needs to holler at me then.

Have you heard any of his stuff?

Nah, I didn’t hear any of his stuff. If he’s good, I’ll do something with him. If he sucks, I won’t do anything with him. If he’s ok, I’ll do something with him just because he’s a Knick. But my favorite out of all the basketball players who did music, I’m going to have to go with Shaq just because he had that song with Biggie that was just dope. He had a song with Biggie, for chrissakes. That shuts down everything. Isaiah Rider was pretty good, too, from what I hear. My guys from the Bay Area say Isaiah Rider was pretty good. He was real serious about that, though. I know Chris Webber makes beats. Kurupt from Dogg Pound introduced me to Chris Webber, so I know he’s a real Hip-Hop head.


UPDATED:  In part two of the BDD interview with Cormega, he shares insights on the Air Jordan XX8's, real sneakerheads vs. fake sneakerheads, and his new album, Mega Philosophy.

Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter 
Like us on Facebook

Video: San Diego State's Jamaal Franklin Pulls Off The Dunk Of The Week

Sometimes it's just easier to do things yourself. On a fast break during Wednesday's game against Fresno State, San Diego State's Jamaal Franklin took off in transition and instead of finding a teammate, Franklin threw a pass to himself off the backboard.

The dunk earned Franklin the No. 1 spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Top Plays and buzz from fans and analysts across the country. That's the kind of dunk you may see in practice gyms across the country, but it takes skill and a whole lot of confidence to pull off the self pass during a game.

And in case you were wondering, this wasn't a fluke. Franklin, who is only 6-foot-5, can throw it down with the best of them, as he showed at the Say No Classic during the summer of 2011.

Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter 
Like us on Facebook

Injury Bug Crashes Down On College Hoops

Lehigh's C.J. McCollum is one of several players bitten by the injury bug this season. (draftexpress.com)

The injury bug is a fickle creature that comes and goes, leaving questions and holes in college basketball programs across the country. This week in particular has been rampant with injuries for some big-name players trying to lead their teams to conference titles as league play begins.

While no injury is a good injury, some teams have been lucky to have players only suffer minor setbacks. Florida's Erik Murphy won't play tonight due to fractured ribs, but should only be gone two weeks. Louisville's Chane Behanan will also be sidelined tonight with an ankle sprain that could keep him out up to 10 days. Both players are valued in their programs -- Murphy is the team's second leading scorer while Behanan has averaged 11.4 ppg and 7.1 rebound -- but they should be fine for the long-term race to the NCAA Tournament.

Other teams may not be so lucky. Lehigh's C.J. McCollum broke a bone in his foot and is out eight to 10 weeks. Laurence Bowers of Missouri left Tuesday's game with what could be a MCL sprain. This is more concerning to Tiger fans because Bowers spent all last year in street clothes recovering from a torn ACL in his other knee. Duke also failed to make it out of Tuesday's contest unscathed with forward Ryan Kelly injuring his right foot. As of this post's publication it's still unsure how significant these last two injuries are.

These are well-known names for college hoops fans and large contributors to their teams. All three of the could-be major injuries are important losses, but here's a breakdown of the order in which the teams are hurting most from its players being injured.

Lehigh - This Is My Nightmare
The injury to C.J. McCollum is by far the worst of the three injuries in terms of the impact on his team. This is partly because McCollum is one of the best players in the country. He's the second leading scorer in the nation at 23.9 ppg, while also ranking second on the team in rebounds (five) and assists (2.9). The Mountain Hawks also don't have the luxury of employing a group of highly-rated players to fill the void like Kentucky could. Gabe Knutson (15.7 ppg) will have to step up big for the Mountain Hawks in McCollum's absence. Plus, Bucknell (13-3) is giving Lehigh (10-4) a run for its money in the Patriot League, where the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament is huge. There's no certainty the field will have room for Lehigh if they don't win the league without McCollum.

Missouri - Oh Please Not Again
The Tigers have seen this story before, and aren't ready to relive it. Phil Pressey is getting all the national hype, but Laurence Bowers is the cog that keeps this team together. Not only does he lead the team in scoring (16.8 ppg), but with a large group of transfers making up this team's identity, Bowers provides that senior leadership to get everyone working together. Missouri has enough talent that his absence won't be as monumental as McCollum, but Tiger fans would much rather see Bowers on the court. If he is out for a significant amount of time, this will be the true test to see how good Alex Oriakhi (10.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg) can be.

Duke - Looks Like A Stinger, Could Feel Worse
An everyday national fan will see the injury to Ryan Kelly and say, "At least it's not Mason Plumlee." This is true, and there's no question that an injury to Plumlee, a National Player of the Year candidate, would be much worse. Yet Kelly provides an important role within this starting lineup that will be missed, which ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla articulated on Twitter Wednesday:

Duke has a ton of talent on this team, but the little things like interior passing and key 3-pointers could be out of whack until Kelly returns.


Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter

After Another Boring BCS Championship, Cherish March Madness

It's been a while since the BCS has seen a moment as nail-biting as KU's Mario Chalmers hitting a buzzer-beater. (sportsillustrated.com)

A college football playoff is coming soon, like a glimmer of sunlight on the horizon. But it didn't come soon enough to save us from yet another blowout in the BCS National Championship last night.

Unless your favorite words are "Roll Tide," you probably weren't thrilled with how the game turned out. A 14-0 lead in the first quarter; 28-0 at halftime. There was no reason to watch the second half. Alabama was too dominant and Notre Dame isn't built to come back from large deficits.

College sports will have another major postseason event in just over two short months. March Madness is a completely different setup with a different kind of excitement. One thing is as certain as certainty can be, it won't be boring.

If you watched Alabama/Notre Dame last night, take a second to remember your excitement level during the game ('Bama and ND fans excluded) and then cherish the fact that the NCAA Tournament is built to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Both have flaws. People complain that it's more likely the best team in the country is not playing in the national championship game in basketball. Although after watching Notre Dame last night, would anyone still say the Irish deserved the spot over Oregon (hindsight is 20/20)? At least 64 teams still have a chance at a title as the postseason begins. Nothing Oregon could do in the Fiesta Bowl could get them a date with Alabama. And you can't say the two teams playing for a basketball title didn't earn their way. No computers helped them out. They each won five games against the country's best teams to earn a chance at a title.

Where March Madness separates itself in the excitement levels is before the title game. It was more than a month since Alabama and Notre Dame had last played. More than a month was spent analyzing and speculating every aspect of the game. Alabama's been there before, but Notre Dame has the underdog card. The anxiety and excitement was built up over that month until it reached a peak right before kickoff, which makes for a great event. That is, until the game is a dud. It's like getting socks on Christmas morning. You wait all this time for the best day of the year and it turns out there was nothing to be excited about.

NCAA Tournament games can be blowouts, too. There's no question about that (although they are usually much closer than the most recent BCS Titles). But it's those first two weeks of upsets and buzzer-beaters and Cinderellas that makes watching that title game worth it. Your team might not have reached the title game, but after watching Butler make a magical run and jumping into the spotlight, didn't you want to see if they could finish the ride? Nothing that Alabama or Notre Dame did in the last month makes you feel like that.

A football playoff is coming soon to help clean up the mess of the BCS and add excitement. Still, as you fill out your bracket in March, don't take those three weeks of mayhem for granted. It may not be perfect, but it's definitely not boring.


Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter

Does Notre Dame Have Another Championship Contender In Basketball?

Could Notre Dame's basketball team also be a contender for a national title? (southbendtribune.com)

Notre Dame's football team is hours away from possibly winning the BCS National Championship.

This is an impressive feat that will cause a lot of green beer (or Gatorade, for you under-21 fans) to be flowing in celebration tonight. It would also mean the Irish would be halfway toward accomplishing an even more difficult feat: winning the BCS National Championship and Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament in the same year.

But does Notre Dame's basketball team have what it takes to cut down the nets in Atlanta? Only one school, Florida in 2006, has been able to pull this off, proving how difficult the task is. Notre Dame is the only school in this year's football championship with a possibility for a basketball title. Sorry, Alabama, but you're 8-5 with losses to Tulane and Mercer. Plus you're 225th in the country in points per game (65.5) and 260th in rebounding (33 per game). It's just not happening this year.

Notre Dame, on the other hand, has quietly started the season 13-1 and is moving up the top-25 while riding an 11-game winning streak. The schedule hasn't posed many challenges, but the Irish do have wins against Kentucky (which looked better when it happened) and BYU on a neutral site. Senior Jack Cooley has been fantastic this season, leading the team in points (15.5 per game) and rebounds (11.4).

Some serious questions still remain with the Irish, first of which is Notre Dame has yet to play a true road game this season, with three games being on neutral sites. Second is what happens when the Irish are seriously tested? Their only game against a ranked team was Kentucky, which is just now working its way back into the top-25.

Conference play seems to answer all of the remaining questions, and the Big East is certainly the place to find answers. It may soon be dissipating into oblivion, but the Big East had five teams ranked in the top-25 before Monday's rankings were released, and Notre Dame will play a total of seven ranked teams (Louisville and Cincinnati twice) in conference play.

Question marks aside, this Irish team has the foundation for success. Notre Dame has experienced upperclassmen, balanced scoring (five players averaging nine or more points per game) that makes the Irish a scoring threat as a whole (averaging 77.6 ppg) and they are unselfish (No. 1 in the country in assists with 19.9 per game).

The Irish are not on anyone's short list for national champion picks, but neither was the football team at the beginning of the season (insert 'Luck of the Irish' jokes here). The basketball team will take the court hours before the football team tonight for a tough road test against Cincinnati.

Notre Dame football's championship fate will be decided by the end of the night. We'll have to wait until March for the basketball team's fate. While the football championship alone will have a big impact on the school, adding a basketball championship to it this year would put in an elite and historic class.


Follow @BeatsDimesDrive on Twitter

VIDEO: You Already Won, J.R. Smith, But That's a Great Alley-Oop

"J.R. Smith is good at basketball" is a true statement, one that often gets overlooked because of his erratic play but goes without saying because his primary source of revenue comes from playing in the NBA.

That statement has nothing to do with this video, though. What Smith did last night has nothing to do with being good or bad at basketball. Fundamentals, cerebral planning and even physics went out the window last night, as they so often do with Smith. Take a look and we'll discuss below:



Yep.

That's how Smith continued his season of a hit parade, which includes game winners against the Charlotte Bobcats and Phoenix Suns. With his team already up 90-72 and most of the San Antonio Spurs' starters already on the bench in a game the New York Knicks would go on to win 100-83, Smith made a backdoor cut that led to a one-handed reverse slam via the world's shortest alley-oop from Knicks point guard and 35-year-old rookie Pablo Prigioni.

Words don't really do justice to exactly how incredible an athletic feat this was, and the Knicks seem to know this. Exhibit 1: Amar'e Stoudemire to the press:

"I was like J.R., really? You're just going to catch it and dunk it backwards with one hand. Is it that easy? I wish I was 27 again."

And as Smith himself told Newsday's Al Iannozzone:

"Honestly, I thought he didn't see it. It was kind of late. I jumped so early. I went backdoor and he threw it, it was kind of low, so I didn't think I was going to dunk it to be honest with you as high as I jumped."

Aside from making Stoudemire sad, Smith also elicited a "Did you see us!?" quote from Carmelo Anthony (as aggregated by Iannozzone), whose excitement carried him from the bench onto the court during live play. The Knicks did not get penalized for having an extra man on the court because, seriously, how could the referees not respect that dunk and be just a little mesmerized, even if they do watch professional athletes play basketball for 82 games each year?

But if even Smith — an "irrational confidence guy" if there ever was one — can't believe he pulled off that dunk? It's something to behold.

Love him? Hate him? Think there was a better dunk (by Smith or anyone else) in the NBA this week? Enlighten us in the comments.