The announcement arrived today. NYC native and one of the illest, most unique talents to ever rise from the city asphalt, Chris Mullin, has been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. In lieu of the great news, I’m rewinding this selection from a couple of years back, as we celebrate Mo’s achievement.

Christopher Paul Mullin was a simple, neighborhood guy from Troy Avenue in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn. The love affair with hoops was a multi-generational thing that began in the driveway of the family’s small row house. Read More »

“Down goes McGhee!” – Kemba drops Pitt’s Gary McGhee like a bad habit

With a lightning crossover, accompanied by the fleet footed step-back and shoulder roll of Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather, UCONN’s dazzling junior, Kemba Walker, known on the streets of NYC as EZ PASS, gave us another gem in last night’s Big East Tournament, knocking in the game winner for the Huskies in their 76-74 victory over Pitt. Read More »

all walter berry photos courtesy of st. john’s athletics

In the most recent issue of Bounce Magazine, #24 with LeBron James and E.B.C. commissioner Greg Marius on the cover, we took it back to the St. John’s heydey from ‘84-’86, when the Big East was at its pinnacle and the roof was peeling off of Madison Square Garden. That’s when the college game had the city in a fiery trance, when Walter “The Truth” Berry shared his brilliance with the world. Read More »

photo: comportal.villanova.edu

Basketball, broken down to its simplest compound, is about scoring more buckets than the team you’re playing against. The Semi-Automatic refers to players who leave bodies in their wake with their innate ability to get buckets. And in the mid ’90s – when Georgetown’s Allen Iverson, UCONN’s Ray Allen, Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan, St. John’s Felipe Lopez, Syracuse’s Lawrence Moten aka “Poetry in Motion”, UMASS’s Marcus Camby and quite possibly the greatest college hoops team of all time, the ‘96 Kentucky Wildcats aka “The Untouchables” had a monopoly on the headlines – Villanova’s Kerry Kittles left behind a remarkable body of work that easily establishes him as one of the Big East Conference’s greatest players ever. Read More »

photo: ballinmycourt.com

Wow! That’s all I really have to say at this point. Kentucky’s freshman sensation, John Wall, is beyond special. He’s a once in a generation type of talent. Read More »

photo: orangehoops.org

The Dish aka The Assist. It’s my favorite part of the game because it’s the most philanthropic. While most casual observers appreciate the dudes that can get buckets, my informal education as a New York City playground point guard stipulated that I acknowledge, comprehend and cherish the brilliance of the pass that led to the basket, as well as players with an innate ability to make others better.

And very few players mastered the dish like the 6′1″ Sherman Douglas, who will go down in history as one of the best Alley-Oop practicioners the game has ever seen. Read More »

all photos: zimbio.com

Other than being known as the Blake Griffin Sweepstakes, this year’s selection of up and comer’s will be synonomous down the road as the 2009 Point Guard Draft. As a matter of fact, there were five floor generals taken among the first ten picks overall.

And despite the pundits that opined about the precipitous drop off in talent after the Clippers selected the Super-Duper Griffin, I was particularly delighted with the array of options at the #1 position. Read More »

photo: jamd.com

“Simple and plain, give me the lane, I’ll throw it down your throat like Barkley!” - Chuck D’s lyrics from the Public Enemy classic, Rebel Without A Pause.

To young fans, Charles Barkley is simply a former player. He’s better known as the affable television personality that always has something funny to say on the TNT show, Inside the NBA.

But for those who watched ball in the ’80s and ’90s, he was an awe inspiring, revolutionary talent that turned the establishment on its ear. He was an unstoppable, undersized, 6′4″ power forward who owned the low post, an explosive leaper and ferocious rebounder who could dribble, pass, score and pump gallons of fear through the hearts of even the most accomplished big men. Read More »