David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 51

With the 2023 FIBA World Cup having taken place this summer, there’s been a lot of talk regarding the state of basketball in the NBA and the rest of the world. Those talks only intensified after Team USA failed to win a medal losing to Germany in the semifinals and then losing to Canada in […]

The 2022-23 season was not so kind to the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. The didn’t have a bad overall record. They managed to finish with a winning record of 19-13. But most of those wins came during the early part of the season. Once Mountain West Conference play began was where UNLV started to struggle. They […]

The 2023-24 NBA season is almost here with training camps set to open at the end of the month. For many NBA teams, the starting lineup is not set in stone. Training camp and preseason will likely decide who gets into the starting lineup once the regular season begins. For one of those teams, the […]

The NBA essentially added an extra roster spot for teams this season with the addition of a third two-way contract spot. That brings the total number of players teams can carry into the regular season to 18, 15 standard contracts and three two-way contracts. At this point in the offseason, so close to the start […]

The 2023 WNBA season was a tough one for the Washington Mystics. The suffered through a season chalk full of injuries during which Elena Delle Donne, Ariel Atkins, Shakira Austin and Kristi Toliver all missed significant time this year with Austin and Toliver unavailable for the playoffs. But despite that, the Mystics managed to keep […]

At this point in the offseason, the biggest roster moves NBA teams are making are training camp contracts. Roster hopefuls who will most likely end up playing for teams’ G League affiliates. Occasionally, there might be a big free agent signing or two from a player who was still unsigned, but there probably won’t be […]

The Las Vegas Aces have been the top team in the WNBA all season long and are the heavy favorites to repeat as WNBA champions. The Aces have no shortage of star power with a quartet of All-Stars in A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. Wilson is an MVP candidate and is […]

With the New York Liberty’s 2023 WNBA Playoffs series coming up against the Connecticut Sun, the world will be watching to see if the Liberty can live up to their preseason billing as the biggest threat to the Las Vegas Aces’ throne. Ahead of that series, we’ll be making our Liberty predictions. It was a […]

With the Dallas Wings 2023 WNBA Playoffs series coming up against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, everyone will be watching to see if they can dethrone the reigning champs. Ahead of that series, we’ll be making our Wings predictions. While the Aces, New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun have been the consistent top three […]

This might be the first season since Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joined the Los Angeles Clippers that they don’t have any preseason hype. Injuries have dashed their championship aspirations the past couple of years and it seems like fans and pundits alike have jumped off the Clippers championship bandwagon. The fact remains that if […]

As per the NBA’s new CBA, teams are now allowed a maximum of three two-way contracts, up from the previous maximum of two. The addition of the two-way contract has essentially added up to three extra roster spots. There’s a catch though as players signed to two-way contracts are only able to suit up in […]

With the WNBA Playoffs underway, one of the most intriguing first round playoffs series is between the No. 3 Connecticut Sun and the No. 6 seed Minnesota Lynx. The Sun struck first with a Game 1 win, but the Lynx stormed back in Game 2 with an 82-75 win on the road. They now forced […]

The WNBA Playoffs are underway and unsurprisingly, the Las Vegas Aces became the first team to advance to the second round. The Aces locked up the No. 1 seed and homecourt advantage throughout the postseason. They drew the No. 8 seed Chicago Sky as their opponent in the first round and as expected, they had […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves have reason to be enthusiastic about this upcoming NBA season. Anthony Edwards is on the verge of becoming a true superstar as evidence by his recent play at the FIBA World Cup. He also gave a recent ringing endorsement of the Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert pairing in the frontcourt. With the 2023-24 […]

The New Orleans Pelicans had the best record in the Western Conference at one point in the 2022-23 NBA season. They weren’t able to sustain it though as they suffered multiple injuries including losing star player Zion Williamson for the remainder of the season after he suffered a hamstring injury. The Pelicans did not make […]

The Milwaukee Bucks and their fans have to be a little bit concerned regarding franchise player Giannis Antetokounmpo’s potential future with the franchise. Antetokounmpo has made a few comments recently suggesting that this long-term future with the Bucks may not be so certain. Antetokounmpo has been the face of the franchise for nearly a decade […]

It was a strong 2023-24 season for the Kansas State Wildcats men’s basketball team. Under first year head coach Jerome Tang, they finished with a winning record of 26-10 and 11-7 in Big 12 Conference play. They ended up losing to TCU in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, but they came […]

Simply making it to the NBA is no easy task. Earning and keeping a contract is just as difficult, if not more. While the NBA has essentially added three extra roster spots in the form of two-way contracts, there’s no shortage of players vying for a spot in the league. The Chicago Bulls brought in […]

The Brooklyn Nets opted to end the their latest ‘Big 3’ experiment when they decided to trade both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this past season by the NBA trade deadline. The result was an exciting and young group of players who play hard and gave Nets fans hopes for the future. Mikel Bridges looks […]

The Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team were looking toward a strong incoming transfer portal group to help them this upcoming season. Last season they finished with an overall record of 26-9 and 13-5 in American Athletic Conference play. They ended up winning the AAC championship by knocking off Houston in the title game. In the […]

The Charlotte Hornets have been in the media recently more so for their off the court news than what they’ve done on the court. Their decision to re-sign Miles Bridges amid his domestic violence allegations drew sharp criticism from fans and media alike. The Hornets off the court drama continued recently with third-year big man […]

All season long, and even since the offseason, the New York Liberty have been decried as the team most likely to pose a threat to the Las Vegas Aces repeating as WNBA champions. The WNBA playoffs got underway this week and Liberty opened up their first round playoff series at home against the Washington Mystics […]

The WNBA playoffs are fully underway as the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty begin what many believe will be a collision course in the WNBA Finals. The Liberty ended the regular season on a high note, albeit their loss to the Washington Mystics at home, and look like the biggest threat to knock […]

The Golden State Warriors made one of the most talked about moves of the offseason when they traded for Chris Paul from the Washington Wizards. The Warriors are looking to get back to their championship form as they did during the 2021-22 season. Last year, the Warriors defeated the upstart Sacramento Kings in the first […]

The New York Knicks are looking to build on what was one of the most successful regular seasons in recent franchise history. Powered by the signing of Jalen Brunson and the continued strong play of All-Star Julius Randle, the Knicks finished with a top five record in the Eastern Conference and knocked off the No. […]

It was just a so-so 2022-23 season for the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team. They finished with an overall record of 21-15 and 12-8 in Pac-12 Conference play. They knocked off Washington State in the first round of the conference tournament before falling to UCLA in the second round. They did not make the NCAA […]

The Charlotte Hornets are not in a very good position as the start of the 2023-24 NBA season draws near. They do have a franchise player in LaMelo Ball, an intriguing young lottery pick in Brandon Miller and a talented center duo in Mark Williams and Nick Richards. They made a wise decision opting to […]

With NBA training camps set to open at the end of the month, teams are busy finalizing their rosters. NBA teams are allowed to carry up to 20 players into training camp and the preseason. They must cut down to no more than 15 regular contract spots and three two-way spots by the the start […]

The transfer portal has changed college athletics forever. While fans and pundits alike debate the pros and cons of the portal’s explosion in popularity, one thing is for certain, the days of old are gone from college athletics and teams need to learn how to navigate this new landscape. The DePaul Blue Demons men’s basketball […]

With the 2023-24 NBA season approaching, most teams have already filled out their regular roster. A few teams still have a couple of two-way contract slots available though. As per the NBA’s new CBA, teams are allowed three two-way contract spots this season, up from only two in previous years. The addition of the two-way […]

With the 2023-24 NBA season rapidly approaching, many NBA players are getting in the gym and preparing for a new season. Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson did just that this week as he was filmed working out with NBA trainer Chris Brickley. Clarkson is coming a very strong showing at the FIBA World Cup with […]

The Memphis Grizzlies will be without Ja Morant for the first 25 games of the 2023-24 NBA season as he serves his suspension for an off the court incident where he flashed a gun on a social media live stream. It was the second incident during which Morant flashed a gun on social media, the […]

The WNBA Playoffs are officially underway. While the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty have been the two consensus favorites to win the WNBA championship, the Connecticut Sun have quietly established themselves as a contender in their own right. As the third seed in the WNBA standings, the Sun have drawn the No. 6 […]

With the 2023-24 NBA season rapidly approaching, most teams have already finalized their rosters. There will be a few training camp invites here and there but for the most part all major roster decisions have been made. With the NBA allowing three two-way roster spots this season instead of only two, it’s essentially given teams […]

The Chicago Sky would have had two chances to lock up a playoff berth. With their final two regular season games against the Minnesota Lynx and Connecticut Sun, they just needed one win to hold off the Los Angeles Sparks and grab the eighth and final playoff spot. Rather than leave things up to chance, […]

The Sacramento Kings have one of the best centers in the NBA in Domantas Sabonis, but one of the issues they’ve struggled with is finding a consistent backup center. One of the last season’s top options, Chimezie Metu, signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns and Richaun Holmes was traded to the Dallas […]

The WNBA has become the hardest professional sports league to break into, and perhaps nobody knows that better than Chicago Sky rookie Robyn Parks. With only 12 teams in the league each allowed a maximum of 12 players on the roster, there are only up to 144 roster spots at any given time in the […]

Following the trades of Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns and Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks, the Brooklyn Nets became a team that was scrappy and played hard. They managed to make it to the playoffs but were swept in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers. They have a nice collection of young […]

The New York Liberty have been a top two team in the WNBA this season alongside the Las Vegas Aces. Those two teams were the preseason championship favorites and with the regular season coming to end, that has not changed. Both teams are considered ‘super teams’ with deep roster full of star talent. Both teams […]