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1.    We Got Gold...Yay?: The evolution of the United States view on international basketball competition has drastically changed over the years.  In the late 1980s, the fact that our collegians couldn't guarantee a gold medal bothered the U.S. committee enough to authorize the use of pros by 1992.  After a few years of success with NBAers, the world caught up enough to beat the U.S. pros in the early 2000s.  Now the U.S. committee has "professionalized" the whole process, having a … [Read more...] about FIBA Tournament Post Script

One of the side stories that has consumed the NBA the last few years is the many high profile bankruptcies of NBA players after their careers end.  In a well-remembered Sports Illustrated story from 2009 by Pablo S. Torre, it was estimated that 60% of NBA players go bankrupt within two years of retirement.  The article discussed the factors that led to the players losing astounding sums of money so quickly: hiring cronies to manage the cash, investing heavily in real estate (and … [Read more...] about The Eddy Curry Story: More Money, More Problems

Is there anything sillier than the NBA Most Improved Award?  The parameters of the award are confusing and the application is often incorrectly applied, no matter which standard most people would reasonably apply.  Here are the possible standards of "improvement":  -Good young player steadily improving -Player with no previous expectations or who was considered a good player but becomes good out of nowhere -Established player in his prime going from good to very good (i.e. peak … [Read more...] about Most Improved, A Review