When Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor named David Kahn the president of basketball operations, he expected to have a playoff-contending team by now. Instead, in his four years on the job he has made more trades than times Dwight Howard has changed his mind about being traded, drafted more point guards than an apartment complex could support, and traded away more draft picks than Jarrod Saltalamacchia has letters in his last name. And now, the T’wolves are in another transition of which I am about to get to. [Read more…]
Follow paulmbanksHow high is NBA Draft stock of Purdue’s Robbie Hummel? (Video)
The Sports Bank’s Ngozi Ekeledo stopped by the 2012 NBA Draft Combine’s Media Day and talked to Purdue’s tough man Robbie Hummel about the Big Ten’s physical play serving as preparation for the NBA.
Follow paulmbanksPurdue’s Robbie Hummel wins top senior award
Purdue All-American forward Robbie Hummel has been selected as the 2012 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award winner. Hummel is Purdue’s first-ever winner of the award, given annually to the most outstanding senior in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.
Follow paulmbanksNCAA Tournament: Midwest Regional bracket breakdown
Warning: I will not be responsible if you copy these brackets and are out of your NCAA Tournament pool by Sunday. However, if you do listen to my college basketball wisdom and win some money, I want 20% of the pot or at least a shout-out on your twitter or facebook page. North Carolina is the top seed in the Midwest Regional but Kansas figures to have a huge home crowd advantage in St. Louis that could propel them to the Final Four.
Follow paulmbanks2012 NBA Draft stock report (3/1/12)
The NBA Draft Stock Report checks in on which college basketball players have made a name for themselves in the past week; either helping or hurting their future draft position.
Click here for The Sports Bank’s 2012 NBA Mock Draft.
Follow paulmbanksPurdue Deals Michigan its First Home Loss of the Season
When Purdue coach Matt Painter dismissed junior Kelsey Barlow from the team last Friday due to an altercation at a bar, senior Ryne Smith called it “addition by subtraction.” That statement may have been validated Saturday night, as the Boilermakers went into Crisler Arena and thoroughly dominated the Wolverines, 75-61, sullying their pristine 15-0 home mark in the process.
Sophomore guard Terone Johnson had his best game of the season, going 9-12 from the field and scoring 22 points. Senior forward Robbie Hummel added 17 points.
It was senior night for the Maize and Blue, but Zack Novak and Stu Douglass were nowhere to be found. The two veterans shot a combined 8-17 from the field and 5-11 from beyond the arc. That’s not to say that the Wolverines’ underclassmen were any better. Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., one of the most consistent scoring tandems in the Big Ten, struggled all night–especially Hardaway Jr., who went 0-6 from three.
So what does this loss mean for the Maize and Blue?
Follow paulmbanksMichigan Looks to Continue Home Dominance against Purdue
One month ago, Michigan was still looking for its first conference road win of the season. The Wolverines had just lost by two at Arkansas, and a tough road trip to West Lafayette was just three days away.
The Maize and Blue played another two-point game against the Boilermakers, but this time they came out on top. Since that win at Mackey Arena, Michigan’s only losses have come at Ohio State and at Michigan State—two teams that will be vying for one seeds on selection Sunday.
Their impressive run culminated with an overtime win at Northwestern Tuesday night, which pushed the Wolverines’ conference record to 11-4. They are now tied with the Buckeyes for second place, just a game back of the Spartans.
Guest post from bigtenorbust.com.
Follow paulmbanksMichigan State Needs to Fix Defensive Lapses to Become Elite
This what #9 Michigan State has given up in scoring in their four losses: 67 to North Carolina, 74 to Duke, 81 to Northwestern, 6o to Michigan.
In their 16 wins, they’ve held everyone under 70 with the exception of Lehigh; a game they won 90-81. The losses to the Wolverines and Tar Heels were much more on the offense than the D, but the pattern is still obvious: when the Spartans play defense like a traditional Tom Izzo team is known to do, they are elite.
They look like an Elite Eight, Final Four team. But when they have those occasional defensive lapses, which have been few and far between, they look like an ordinary team.
Follow paulmbanksMich St Fans Get Repulsive; Draymond Tips Ball into Purdue Goal
Michigan State may have absolutely slaughtered Purdue 83-58 yesterday, but the battle between the two traditional Big Ten powers still had some embarrassing, and down-right dark moments in the lop-sided win.
Spartans leader (in scoring, rebounding and emotion) Draymond Green accidentally stuffed the ball home for Purdue (watch video after the jump). But much worse, the Izzone, the MSU student cheering section went really low and class-less in heckling Boilermakers star Robbie Hummel.
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