November 2012 | Page 15 of 24 | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Sunday / December 22.
  • By DAN KELLY

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    NEW YORK — Archie Goodwin caught the ball on the wing, blew by his defender and Euro-stepped through traffic for a finish at the rim.

    He looked like a young Manu Ginobili. Fearless, creative and athletic.

    In his debut Friday night at Barclays Center he tallied 16 points (3-8 from the floor and 9-11 FTs) and a team-leading 37 minutes in Kentucky’s 72-69 win over Maryland. Goodwin is the most dynamic offensive player on the Wildcats and he’ll be carrying a heavy load this year.

    Goodwin and the No. 3 Wildcats (1-0) will be on display again Tuesday when they face Duke in the Champions Classic in Atlanta (9:30, ESPN). Kansas faces Michigan State in the first game (7, ESPN).

    Aaron Gordon is back from his weekend official visit to Kentucky and still targeting a spring signing, his AAU coach told SNY.tv Monday evening.

    “Yeah, but it could change tomorrow,” Mark Olivier, executive director of the Oakland Soldiers, said by phone. “You never know, you know? His plan is to do it in the spring so he wanted to watch the games [during the season].”

    The 6-foot-9 Gordon has now taken official visits to five schools — Washington, Arizona, Oregon, Kansas and Kentucky — plus an unofficial to Cal.

    He was not immediately available for comment Monday, but Tweeted on Sunday: “UOrgeon, Uwashingon, Ukansas, Uarizona, Ukentuky…this is gunna be tough.”

    I will be at St. John’s on Tuesday for their 2 p.m. season opener against Detroit, which is part of ESPN’s Tip-Off Marathon.

    But it looks like the Johnnies will have a diminished roster, with as few as seven scholarship players potentially available to head coach Steve Lavin.

    St. John’s is still awaiting word from the NCAA on Orlando Sanchez and Marco Bourgault, while Lavin may still opt to redshirt senior big man God’sgift Achiuwa and freshman guard Felix Balamou.

    “We don’t have any updates, we’re just waiting to hear from the NCAA,” Lavin said Monday in reference to Sanchez and Bourgault. “We’ve done everything on our end in terms of submitting everything that needs to be submitted. I prefer not to play the speculation game, but unless we get word sometime today or early tomorrow, they won’t play tomorrow.”

    By JOSH NEWMAN

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    GREENBURGH, N.Y. – A quick scan of the early schedule, and it is clear that the Knicks haven’t had to get on an airplane, or even pack many bags lately.

    A 4-0 start for the Knicks included a home game against the Miami Heat, a home-and-home with the Philadelphia 76ers and another date at Madison Square Garden with the Dallas Mavericks. Additionally, the Knicks closed the preseason at the Sixers and against the Brooklyn Nets at Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum.

    Long story short, there hasn’t been much traveling for this team since late October, but that is about to change.

    http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp?content_id=25484027

    NEW YORKAustin Colbert is headed to the Big Ten.

    The 6-foot-9 power forward from Gill St. Bernard’s (N.J.) verbally pledged to Illinois in the SNY studios on Monday.

    A native of Chesapeake, Va., Colbert chose the Illini and head coach John Groce over Miami, Seton Hall and Villanova.

    “I’ve decided that I’m going to attend the University of Illinois,” Colbert said. “Fighting Illini.”

    Many observers had Colbert penciled in for Villanova, but Colbert decided otherwise about a week ago.

    By JOSH NEWMAN

    Special to ZAGSBLOG

    GREENBURGH, N.Y. – As the news broke in the wee hours of Monday morning that it would be ex-Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni, not Phil Jackson, getting hired as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, attention back east turned to what the reaction would be from not only some of his former players, but from the man who followed in his footsteps, Knicks head coach Mike Woodson.

    Madison Square Garden and Syracuse will host the East Regionals of the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and ’15, respectively.

    The Big East will host two of the four NCAA Regionals in March 2014 with Memphis hosting the South and St. John’s the East at MSG.

    The Garden — which is undergoing renovation that will be completed by spring 2014 — hasn’t hosted an NCAA Tournament game since 1961, but hosted 71 such games between 1943-61.

    “Only three arenas have hosted more tournament games than Madison Square Garden, despite it being more than five decades since the last time it hosted,” NCAA vice president of men’s basketball Dan Gavitt said. “That gives you a great sense of the historical significance of bringing the tournament back there.”

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