Last week, Chris Mullin was named the new head coach of St. John’s basketball team.  This makes for a great story—the best player in school history coming back 30 years later as a coach.  Of course, the fact that Mullin was a really good player in 1985 really has no bearing on whether he can coach (he has never done so at either the college or professional level) or whether he can recruit players (he has never formally done this either).  Certainly, a school does get a nice little temporary … [Read more...] about Chris Mullin: Can You Go Home Again?

This year, the NBA has yet another spirited battle between very mediocre teams for low rung East playoff spots.  The question has arisen again whether it is worth considering awarding the 16 playoff spots by record, regardless of conference.  Adam Silver seemed to hint that a change could be coming when he told ESPN in December that “[u]ltimately, we want to see your best teams in the playoffs, and there is an imbalance and a certain unfairness [under the current system].”  Let’s think through … [Read more...] about The Top 16: Does It Make Sense?

With Kentucky on the verge of going undefeated, the rumor mill is starting to heat up that John Calipari has nothing left to prove in college and that he wants another shot at the NBA.  According to this report by Steve Popper of the Bergen Record, “[t]he NBA is the only place [Calipari’s] ever failed and it drives him nuts.  He’s not the same guy he was then.  He came to the NBA and he wasn’t ready.  He’s ready now.”  Popper goes on to note that Calipari gets his star players to all buy into an … [Read more...] about Calipari and the 1990s Nets