Column: LeBron James stands no chance against the Warriors
By Trent Leonard | Senior Staff Writer
June 6, 2018
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
The Golden State Warriors followed up their thrilling overtime victory in game one of the NBA Finals with a more dominant result in game two Sunday night, trouncing the Cleveland Cavaliers 122-103 with help from a record-setting performance by two-time MVP point guard Stephen Curry. The basket se...
Column: J.J. Redick is one for the NBA record books
By Trent Leonard | Staff Writer
April 17, 2018
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
Every so often in professional sports, a special athlete comes along who is single-handedly able to elevate their team’s performance to elite ranks. These once-in-a-generation talents carry their teams to the playoffs year in and year out through sheer individual willpower and exceptional abilit...
Take 5: Rookies, rejection, re-entry
By The Pitt News Staff
March 23, 2018
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
As professional sports seasons begin to wrap up, questions remain — who will win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award? How will the Golden Knights fare in the NHL postseason? Will Johnny Manziel get arrested again? The Pitt News sports staff is back with a weekly roundup of the best in sports ...
Take Five: Mets, mock drafts, Mark Cuban
By The Pitt News Staff
February 22, 2018
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
With the NBA and NHL seasons passing their midway point and the MLB season on the brink, there are plenty of stories to sift through for fans of all interests. The Pitt News sports staff is here to round up the best ones of the week. Put Me in Coach Tim Tebow is a former professional quarterback with...
The NBA’s injury problem is overblown
By Cale Berger | For the Pitt News
February 15, 2018
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns, Uncategorized
Celtics forward Gordon Hayward was set to make his team debut opening night of the 2017-18 NBA season. He had just signed a four-year, $128 million contract during the off-season, joining forces with Kyrie Irving and Al Horford in an attempt to dethrone the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. ...
Take five: Trades, tanks and take-backs
By The Pitt News Staff
February 8, 2018
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
Remember in elementary school when you would beg your friends to trade what with was in your lunchbox? We can all identify, and apparently so can every coach, owner and player in professional sports this week. Between hour-long hires and trading between sports, The Pitt News has you covered in thi...
NBA 2016-17 season preview: James against the world
By Dan Sostek | Senior Staff Writer
October 24, 2016
Filed under Sports
It’s hard to remember a season where so many NBA teams have seemingly so little hope for a championship. Which is why the prevailing thought Tuesday night at the onset of the 2016-17 NBA season might be: “The Warriors are going to win, so why bother?” On paper, there are essentially only two ...
After season abroad, Patterson striving to stick with Hawks
By Jasper Willson / Senior Staff Writer
October 28, 2015
Filed under 2. Featured, Men's Basketball, Sports, Sports Features
During his one season abroad, Lamar Patterson never talked about hanging around Europe for another campaign. He was going to come home to America to play and stay for good. Last season, the former Pitt basketball player spent his rookie professional season playing for Tofaş Bursa, a top-level Turk...
Finding faults in LeBron James an irritatingly off-base excercise
By Dan Sostek / Sports Editor
June 19, 2015
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
In the choose-your-own-adventure book that has been LeBron James’ basketball career, it appears that the final page is inevitable — polarization.The greatest basketball player in the world — a title that only the most out-of-touch and hard-headed fans would even consider disputing — has inexp...
Gap year: NBA should let high school players jump to pros
By Alex Wise / Staff Writer
April 16, 2015
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
Duke already has a lot of haters, and as the shakiest No. 1 seed, they also had a lot of doubters. All year, Duke was the Jekyll-and-Hyde team of the NCAA, but they were dominant when it counted — the NCAA Tournament. Now, Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has the arduous task of keeping ...
Fans cannot defend NBA’s lack of defense
By Alex Wise / Staff Writer
March 5, 2015
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
I do not like the NBA — at all.I’d rather watch paint dry or grass grow or any other clichéd, boring thing you can think of than watch professional basketball. Basketball’s competitive nature makes it one of the most popular sports, as it highlights individual performance and one-on-one dominance.Ho...
Rose’s latest injury does not mean end of career
By Jessica Boddy / Staff Writer
March 3, 2015
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
Derrick Rose’s knee problem on Feb. 24 spurred a range of reactions as varied as it has been the past two times that one of his knees failed him.Some thought the doctors had perfectly sutured the Chicago Bulls’ star point guard, sending him back on the path to reclaim MVP. These people are filled...
NBA should revamp All-Star selection process, remove fan vote
By Imaz Athar / Staff Writer
February 3, 2015
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
The NBA All-Star selection process is exciting. The ultimate unveiling of which collection of superstars will showcase their talents always entertains. And, most of the time, the most deserving players are selected.Sure, there are a couple of snubs every year, and “NBA on TNT” analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smi...
Experience a must in building contenders
By Imaz Athar / Staff Writer
November 11, 2014
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
When LeBron James and Kevin Love signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers in July, the team immediately became the favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2015 NBA Finals. It seemed like a guarantee that the Cavaliers would bring a championship to, perhaps, the most unlucky sports city in the...
Tanking right decision for middling NBA teams
By Alex Fischbein / For the Pitt News
November 5, 2014
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
The NBA and its fans can try to stop it all they want, but tanking is here to stay.Many people invested in the NBA are outraged about tanking — the process of intentionally fielding a weaker team in order to lose more games and secure a higher draft pick — but that’s because they fail to see anyt...
Despite world title, basketball viewership still down
By Imaz Athar / for The Pitt News
September 16, 2014
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
The United States men’s team won the FIBA World Cup on Sunday when it beat the Serbian men’s team 129-92.Not the FIFA World Cup that happened months ago — I’m talking about the FIBA World Cup, for basketball.The International Basketball Federation, known as FIBA, held an international basketb...
Latest NBA scandal raises questions about prejudice
By Imaz Athar / for The Pitt News
September 9, 2014
Filed under Sports, Sports Columns
We’ve seen all of this before.Just months ago, a phone recording revealed former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling making extremely demeaning remarks about minorities. The story dominated headlines, and it was an uncomfortable and sickening reminder of a fact that many know to be true but don...
Men’s Basketball: Steven Adams receives NBA rookie honor
By Jasper Wilson / Sports Editor
May 22, 2014
Filed under Men's Basketball, Sports
Former Pitt men’s basketball player Steven Adams has been named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, the league announced.Adams, who played at Pitt as a freshman during the 2012-2013 season before declaring for the NBA Draft, received a place on the five-person list on Thursday, after garnering nine F...
Column: Sterling’s comments require unprecedented action
By Nate Barnes / Senior Staff Writer
April 27, 2014
Filed under Archives
From the day I was born until I graduated high school, I lived in six different places. The longest stop was a stint from August 2000 to January 2007 in Orange County, Calif., which lies about halfway between Los Angeles to the north and San Diego to the south.While there, I developed an interest in sp...