2008-09 AP College Basketball Top 25

The University of North Carolina has received the #1 rank heading into the college basketball season for the 2nd straight year. Rounding out the top 5 are Connecticut, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. The Big East not only has about 1/3 of the top 25 teams, but 3 teams in the top 5. Memphis, who was a runner up in the finals last season, is ranked at #13. Last season's NCAA champions, the Kansas Jayhawks are down in the bottom of the 25.

Top 25 NCAA Men's (by AP)

AP Top 25 Preseason Poll
Rank School Record Pts Pvs
1. North Carolina (72) 36-3 1,800 1
2. Connecticut 24-9 1,661 16
3. Louisville 27-9 1,638 13
4. UCLA 35-4 1,487 3
5. Pittsburgh 27-10 1,319 17
6. Michigan St. 27-9 1,311 18
7. Texas 31-7 1,259 7
8. Duke 28-6 1,250 9
9. Notre Dame 25-8 1,243 15
10. Gonzaga 25-8 1,162 24
11. Purdue 25-9 1,099 20
12. Oklahoma 23-12 987 --
13. Memphis 38-2 977 2
14. Tennessee 31-5 920 5
15. Arizona St. 21-13 645 --
16. Marquette 25-10 592 25
17. Miami 23-11 570 --
18. Southern Cal 21-12 414 --
19. Florida 24-12 403 --
20. Davidson 29-7 347 23
21. Wake Forest 17-13 312 --
22. Georgetown 28-6 311 8
23. Villanova 22-13 256 --
24. Kansas 37-3 233 4
25. Wisconsin 31-5 196 6

Sports Illustrated's website goes into detail about UNC's expectations for this season. You can read the full article here.

Greg Oden's Latest Setback

Starting for the first time in his fresh, new NBA career was Portland Trailblazer Greg Oden. Oden was the #1 pick last year, who had season-ending right knee surgery and rode the bench while rehabbing in 2007-08. In college, Oden was limited to 32 games by a wrist injury. Last night he would be premiering on NBA's opening night and at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, against Kobe's Lakers. However, Oden ran into yet another setback, hopefully this time not as serious as last season's.

Oden clocked in for just 2 1/2 minutes of game play before injuring his right foot on a play. For now the injury's been referred to as a sprained ankle, nothing more. Oden claims he came down bad on guard Derek Fisher's foot, but Fisher says he doesn't recall it happening. So Oden scored 0 points in what was supposed to be his coming out party. The 7-footer was back in the locker room for the entire second half, while his team continued to receive a Lakers' beatdown en route to a 96-76 loss. An X-ray was taken which was inconclusive during game time, so an MRI was done on Wednesday for further results. Let's hope for the best for this young talent, who's starred in ESPN commercials and even played piano for Justin Timberlake at the ESPY's.

Analysts are already questioning if the Big Man has some sort of bad kharma going on. ESPN.com's J.A. Adande has begun comparing this case to that of Bill Walton, only without any championships won. Bill Walton, a big man in Portland just like Oden, was injury-plagued throughout his career, mostly leg injuries also. Will Oden have the same bad luck, or will he overcome the setbacks and help his team become a dynasty? Only time and healing will tell what sort of legend this big man is part of.

Also see: Greg Oden's Delayed Start Comes to a Quick Halt by J.A. Adande.

2008-09 NBA Season Begins!

The 2008-09 season officially started Tuesday night earlier than usual. Three games were on the schedule, featuring King James, rookie phenom Greg Oden, Kobe Bryant's Lakers and the Champion Boston Celtics. Here's a look at quick recaps of each of the games from Tuesday night...

Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

In the opening game of the 2008-09 season, Cleveland traveled to the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston for a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference finals. After raising their 17th Championship banners to the rafters, the Celtics took to the courts against King James and his Cavs. The Celtics were able to hold off the Cavs 90-85 for their first win of the new season. Paul Pierce scored 27 points and Lebron scored 22 in the losing effort. James missed on a driving layup with 41 seconds to go, as well as 2 free throws in the final 11 seconds.

Read more about the Celtics win and championship banner presentation.


Milwaukee Bucks vs. Chicago Bulls
In a game not televised nationally, the Bulls and Bucks clashed in a Central division battle. It was the return of coach Scott Skiles to Chicago as he brought his new team, the Bucks into the building. The #1 pick Derrick Rose had some highlight plays and some that he'd like to forget. Michael Redd went off for 30 points. Luckily, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon were able to score 21 and 18 respectively to lead Chicago to a 108-95 victory. The rookie Rose finished with 11 points and 9 assists as well as 4 turnovers.

LA Lakers vs Portland Trailblazers

In the night's final game, the Lakers spoiled the season debut of Greg Oden with the Blazers, stomping them by a final score of 95-76. Kobe had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists to lead his squad to a 1-0 start. Portland showed brief life in the 4th, but it wasn't enough to make a comeback. Oden was shutout, scoring 0 points in the game due to injury. Oden sprained his foot prior to the second half, and X-Rays were inconclusive. As of the 4th quarter, Oden was still in the team locker room at Staples Center. Other notable first game goose eggs were put up by the likes of Steve Nash, Yao Ming and belive it or not, Kobe Bryant.

Read more about the Bulls vs. Bucks here.

Notes: NBA TV is offering a free preview of its NBA TV channels through November 4th, so catch games there while you can!

There will be a new interactive component for games this season on Tuesday nights, where Fans can go to NBA.com and vote for which game they want to see on NBA TV! Next Tuesday's (Nov. 4) choices are Phoenix at New Jersey, Boston at Houston or Dallas at San Antonio.

Tomorrow night the Oklahoma City Thunder make their debut as the Milwaukee Bucks travel to OKC!

2008-09 NBA Season Predictions

(Is it time for Kobe to shine another trophy in 09?)

As the season is starting this week, it's time for 2008-09 predictions!

A friend of mine was preparing for his NBA fantasy draft just a few nights ago, and asked my thoughts about several players. "How bout Beasley?" "Is he still with the team?" "Didn't he go to Europe?" It's amazing that now we have that final question factoring into NBA discussions. Earl Boykins and Josh Childress were amongst two big name NBA ballers to defect over to Europe for a nice paycheck. Another surprise I noticed when scanning the pages of the ESPN Magazine's NBA preview was that Marcus Camby is no longer with Denver. I frantically searched for his name in other lineups and wasn't seeing it. Goes to show how busy I've been, that Camby was traded to the Clippers about 3 months ago...

With all that said, the new season will be quite interesting. We have a "brand new" team in Oklahoma City, and no more bball in Seattle. There's several promising rookies. Greg Oden hopefully gets his first full season in what could be a great run for Portland. There's exciting new inside-outside combos in Philly, Portland, Los Angeles and Minnesota. The Celtics are looking to repeat against all odds, and without James Posey. Kobe has a new sidekick in a healthy Andrew Bynum. And Lebron remains hungry for that NBA title that eluded his grasp two years ago.

All that said, here's my predictions for this season. I'll be the first to admit I was way off on last year's finals, as I expected the Celtics to take about a year to gel. I had a Bulls-Suns finals which we all know is a far-fetched notion this season!

2008-09 NBA Predictions:

NBA Champs - LA Lakers - ESPN the mag has several analysts favor Kobe and the gang this season. Barring another bad injury to either Bynum, Kobe or Gasol, this squad is stacked with the talent to do what Boston did last year. Expect a hungrier than ever Kobe to show Shaq just how it's done, minus the battle rap. With Phil Jacks at the helm, they'll take out Kobe's main competiton, runners-up...

Runners-up - Cleveland Cavs - Cleveland was just a game away from a return trip to the title series. However, Lebron ran into 3 superstars who held their ground, including a determined Paul Pierce. This season, Lebron's hunger will take him and the team to new levels, but he'll run into the mega-star, Kobe Bryant. As for the Celtics, losing James Posey is a big deal, and they have even bigger targets on their backs.

(On a side note, taking a look at ESPN the magazine it was interesting to see how little respect fans give Ray Allen. Analysts, GM's, scouts, fans and fantasy bball players all got to choose their pick for several categories. In the "Best shooter" Ray Allen was selected by the analysts, GM's and scouts but fans/fantasy ballers decided on Steve Nash..Show Ray some love, he got game!)

MVP - Lebron James - Kobe had his last year, now it's time for King James to pull in a trophy. The young phenom is bound to do it one of these years, and you gotta figure he hates losing and believes he's the best. He'll put up impressive stats, and carry his team to the NBA Finals in a nice NBA campaign this year. And don't be surprised if Brandon Roy is mentioned up in the candidates along with Chris Paul and Kobe. Roy has Oden this season and a shot to put up a ton of assists and shots.

ROY - Greg Oden - The big man finally gets to show the world what he's got..well in Portland at least. While he's not on the grandest stage of them all, he'll easily earn the nod for ROY as most big men do. (Yao, Amare, Shaq) Portland should be in the bottom half of the West's playoff teams, and this could be an exciting season to be a Portland fan. OJ Mayo, Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose will also rank amongst the top rookies this season, with a European import most likely also getting on the All-Rookie 1st team.

Fading Fast - San Antonio Spurs? - It seems they never get their credit due, even in championsip runs. However, you gotta admit they are aging and not really bringing in too much promising young talent. Duncan has had some injury issues in the past few seasons, and although Ginobli and Parker still hold their own, the new up and comers will be bringing it to this team night in and out.

On the rise - Portland Trailblazers - Many analysts say the Sixers here, and with good reason, but Portland has the promise of a mega-squad and potential new NBA dynasty. You've got Roy on the outside and Oden inside, two talents capable of carrying this team to many, many titles in Portland.

So there you have it... As for coach of the year, why not choose Portland's Nate McMillan? He's fresh off a nice gold-medal run with Team USA and the coaching talent Coach K. Now he's headed into a very promising season with his big O man in the paint. Can you tell I think good things are coming to Portland this season?

And the season is coming very, very soon. This year's season has an earlier-than-normal start date of October 28, 2008 with a great double header on TNT. First up, the NBA Champion Celtics face Lebron and the Cavaliers. In game 2, it's Kobe and the Lakers meeting up with Mr. Oden and the Portland Trailblazers!

See ESPN.com's 2008-09 Must-See NBA Games!

Note: Special thanks to an Anonymous fan for offering correction on Brandon Roy's name above and for understanding mistakes happen! Enjoy the season! ;)

LA's Hopes Rest with Kobe's Knee

With the 2008-09 NBA Season just around the corner (next week), the biggest question mark is on the reigning MVP, Kobe Bryant. This past Tuesday, Kobe collided with teammate Josh Powell in a preseason game against the Charlotte Bobcats, hyper-extending his knee. The injury forced him to sit out a Thursday night exhibition game, also against Charlotte. According to LA Times, Kobe feels the injury doesn't require an MRI:

"I've got a little bit of puffiness in the back of the knee, which was just from the trauma of landing the way I landed," Bryant said. "So we're just going to knock that out, make sure the swelling is out of there, which it should be soon, then I'm OK."

Bryant still hasn't had an MRI exam on the knee to determine the severity of it and sounded as if he won't get one.

"If I can run, if I can jump, if I can do lunges, if I can do leg curls, if I can do leg extensions, chances are there probably is no structural damage," Bryant said. "If I don't have to walk with more of a bop than I normally walk with, it's fine. So, I'm good. No need of wasting their money."

Coach Phil Jackson seems to want more caution taken regarding the injury and for good reason: Kobe's the team leader that brought them on a 2008 NBA Finals run. Similar injuries have forced other sports mega stars out of action. The Patriots' QB Tom Brady suffered a knee injury during the 1st week of the NFL season. The reconstructive surgery occurred too soon after the injury, and now Brady is dealing with a severe infection. In golf, the biggest start on the planet, Tiger Woods also left for a remainder of his season to get surgery. Will Kobe be following suit? Luckily, it seems like Kobe will be ready for the start of the season, but he definitely needs to guard against a season-ending injury.

Read the full story on Kobe at the LA Times.

Will an NBA Team Sign Stuart Tanner?

Amazingly enough the highlight of the preseason NBA isn't a facial from Lebron, a Chris Paul lookaway pass or a brawl spilling into the front stands. Instead it's footage of a 28-year old amateur basketball player defeating Nets guard Devin Harris in a game of one-on-one.

Tanner challenged Harris to the contest earlier this month in Stockwell, London. Devin Harris was there for a Nets preason game, so why not? Harris has four years under his belt, including a stint with the Mavericks in the Finals. Tanner is working towards becoming a personal trainer, and was merely a fan. Well that's what Devin thought!

Stuart Tanner was able to fake Harris, dribble between his legs, hit swish jumpers and basically embarass a guy who is paid millions to play the sport. The crowd roared in approval. YouTube viewership has soared of the video to the stat of over 3.5 million views of the footage.

Devin the dude had the following comments:

Harris is then shown on the clip exclaiming: "Man, did you see how fast he was?"

"He tricked me. He hustled me on my own court. He might be able to get an NBA contract. We might need to sign him up tonight," Harris said.

What a good sport Harris is, being gracious in defeat. After all he may have been embarassed, but he still gets to play before crowded arenas, making millions while tossing lob passes to Vince Carter. Tanner's definitely got game, so will an NBA team please sign this baller before the And 1 mixtape tour does?

Watch a 2:05 video clip of Tanner vs. Devin at YouTube.

Ellis Moped Incident = 30 Day Suspension

The Golden State Warriors high-scoring guard, Monta Ellis, was injured in a motor cycle accident this past summer, hurting his ankle. While that is bad news in itself, Ellis then chose to lie to the team about the incident. Ellis told the Warriors he hurt himself playing pickup ball in Mississippi, but then came clean about the injury days later. Due to his lie, Ellis has now been suspended 30 games by Owner Chris Cohan, which will cost the guard a cool 3 million dollars.

When you see a headline about Ellis being suspended, you'd assume it was due to a fight in a preseason game, using drugs or some sort of off-court arrest/fan altercation. But for something that could have easily been avoided, Ellis has benched himself for almost half of an NBA season. Will the team be hurt by this? They might have been, as he was the second-leading scorer for the NBA's highest-scoring team last season, averaging 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists, helping his team try to make the final playoff spot. Ellis underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament and wouldn't be able to return to action to mid-December anyways.

In case you're wondering about the rule book, according to NBA.com: "Ellis violated Paragraph 12 of the NBA's uniform player contract, which prohibits a player from engaging "in any activity that a reasonable person would recognize as involving or exposing the participant to a substantial risk of bodily injury," including "driving or riding a motorcycle or mo-ped."

Other past motorcycle incidents in sports that are well known include Pittsburgh Steeler QB Ben Rothleisberger, and former Chicago Bulls/Duke guard, Jay Williams. Rothleisberger was able to recover from injuries he sustained, while Williams attempted to rehab but never was able to make an NBA return.

Read more about Ellis' Suspension by the Warriors at NBA.com

BC United & Knicks Divided?

It was a storied championship run for the Boston Celtics last season. The team hadn't won a title in about two decades, but bring in big time players like Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to help out a longtime Celtic, Paul Pierce, then pepper the bench with veterans and great role players. That was the recipe for success in Boston as they managed to take out the Los Angeles en route to a season of basic dominance. The Celtics managed to defeat every team in the league in 2007-08, and even though they stumbled against playoff opponents Atlanta and Cleveland, Boston kept on pushing all the way to the trophy.

A recent New York Times article William C. Rhoden examines the concept of team unity amongst this Celtics squad, which is something the author says New York's Knicks team clearly lacks.

Rhodes writes:

As Rivers spoke about team and unity, I thought about a brief but poignant visit to the Knicks’ camp two days earlier. That trip underlined the necessity of quality leadership and the perils for teams — and franchises — that fail to develop it. The atmosphere at Celtics camp was a sharp departure from the mood in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where the Knicks opened camp at Skidmore College.

While the Celtics’ best player was talking to his teammates about maintaining an “all for one and one for all” mentality, the Knicks’ best player, Stephon Marbury, was embroiled in a controversy that had nothing to do with winning or losing. Would Marbury stay or would he go? Was he the cure or was he the problem?

Rhoden continues his article discussing how the Celtics team put aside individual goals and contract talk to achieve a common goal: The NBA title. The Knicks continue to suffer because they are a sum of many individuals who seem to want to outshine each other. Many facelifts have been given to that squad, but instead of a Big 3, the Knicks continue to be a Big Mess.

In 2008-09, the Celtics will definitely have targets on their backs as will the Knicks. Smart money would be on the team with the target on its back instead of the team with its backs against the basement walls.

Read the NY Times article "Celtics Wearing the Banner of Unity" here.