David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 53

It was a fairly successful 2022-23 season for the Tennessee Volunteers. They finished with an overall record of 25-11 and 11-7 in SEC Conference play. They made the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 beating Louisiana and Duke along the way before falling to Florida Atlantic. Tennessee did so without key guard Zakai […]

At this point in the offseason, most college basketball rosters are completed. There may be a special case here or there where a player is waiting for NCAA clearance, but for the most part the dust has already settled even for all the players still in the transfer portal. While the portal has changed the […]

With the 2023 WNBA regular season winding down, the playoff picture is beginning to look a little more clear. Both the Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday with their losses. The Indiana Fever remain alive in the playoff race but they face some uncertainty surrounding Aliyah Boston. […]

Just looking at the rosters from the ongoing FIBA World Cup and the number of NBA players playing for other countries, it’s evident how much of an influence international basketball has begun to have on the American game. American colleges have begun to look overseas for potential recruits. It soon won’t be so uncommon to […]

The Indiana Fever are not out of the playoff race yet as the 2023 WNBA regular season winds down. At 11-24, the Fever have now won three games in a row and are desperately clinging to their playoff hopes. A loss against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday would have mathematically eliminated them from playoff contention. […]

When Phoenix Mercury training camp began back in April, Sug Sutton knew that nothing was promised. On a non-guaranteed camp contract, Sutton had to make the team, beating out several other roster hopefuls. With only 144 roster spots in the WNBA, the league has become the toughest professional sports league to break into. Every moment […]

The FIBA World Cup got underway this week and Team USA started off their group stage with a big win against New Zealand. Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is perhaps the biggest name on Team USA with Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra as an assistant under head coach Steve Kerr. Spoelstra is regarded as […]

The Phoenix Mercury appear to be headed for a lottery finish. At 9-24 the Mercury currently hold the worst record in the WNBA. It’s been a very disappointing season amid the return of Brittney Griner. Griner herself has missed time this season due to injury as well as mental health issues. Diana Taurasi has missed […]

Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson has arguably become the best player in the WNBA. She is the reigning MVP and is once again one of the favorites to earn the league’s top award. She is the face of the Aces franchise and she recently went off against the Atlanta Dream for a career-high 53 […]

The 2023 FIBA World Cup is officially underway in the group stage. Team USA is not the only country that has NBA players anymore. Many other countries’ national teams have NBA players on their roster and one of the most well-known is Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic who is leading Slovenia. Doncic is arguably the […]

The San Antonio Spurs surprised nobody when they selected Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Wembanyama had been the consensus No. 1 pick for a while and multiple teams engaged in tank jobs to try and land him. Wembanyama has been called a generational talent and a for […]

It was a pretty successful 2022-23 season for the Pittsburgh Panthers. They finished with an overall record of 24-12 and 14-6 in ACC Conference play. They showed a lot of improvement in Jeff Capel’s fifth season as head coach and they made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This season though, Pittsburgh […]

The Las Vegas Aces won their first championship in franchise history last season. It’s become customary for professional and college sports teams to visit the White House after winning a championship. However, between the years of 2017-2020 when Donald Trump was president, teams began staying away as it was no longer an honor to visit. […]

It’s been a busy summer for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown. He started it off with a lucrative contract extension making him one of the highest paid players in the NBA this upcoming season. He followed that up with a big heartfelt gesture towards all of the media members who voted him in as an […]

Since even before the 2023 WNBA season began, the New York Liberty were considered one of the title favorites alongside the Las Vegas Aces. So far this season, they’ve lived up to that hype. They are currently 26-7 and behind only the Aces in the league standings. With a starting lineup of Breanna Stewart, Sabrina […]

With the 2023 FIBA World Cup set to tip-off next week, Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic is busy preparing for a hopeful medal run with Slovenia. As team captain, he has talked about how his leadership role with the Mavs has prepared him for this. Luka Doncic has emerged as the face of the Mavs’ […]

Over the past two seasons, Atlanta Dream wing Rhyne Howard has been solidifying herself as one of the best up and coming stars in the WNBA. A two-time All-Star selection, she’s become the face of the Dream franchise. Although the team has had an inconsistent season as a whole, she herself has been one of […]

Coming into this season, not many fans nor media thought much of the Connecticut Sun. The road to the 2023 WNBA championship was seen as a two-team race between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty. While those two teams have certainly lived up to their preseason hype, the Sun have quietly placed […]

It hasn’t been the season that the Phoenix Mercury expected with the return of Brittney Griner. They’ve been one of the worst teams in the WNBA and in all likelihood will miss the playoffs. At 9-24, the Mercury are tied with the Indiana Fever for the worst record in the league. They’re 3-7 in their […]

With the 2023 WNBA regular season winding down, the Atlanta Dream find themselves in a precarious situation. They currently sit in fifth place in the standings, but with a record of 16-17, their potential playoff future could be uncertain. They are only three games ahead of the ninth place Chicago Sky and they could conceivably […]

The NBA Draft isn’t always an exact science. Sometimes there’s a little bit of luck involved, a lot of good scouting, etc. When it comes to the lottery, NBA teams are hoping to find a generational star, or at least a high-level starting caliber player. The Oklahoma City Thunder certainly found a starting caliber player […]

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has been one of the top rising wings in the league. In 2022, he helped the Celtics reach the NBA Finals for the first time in 12 years and this past season he helped them to the Eastern Conference Finals where they eventually lost to the Miami Heat in seven […]

The 2022-23 LSU Tigers women’s basketball team won the first NCAA championship in program history behind head coach Kim Mulkey and a talented team headlined by rising star Angel Reese. Coming into the 2023-24 season, the LSU Tigers will be without Alexis Morris and LaDahzia Williams who both used up their college eligibility. Even so, […]

While most people saw the WNBA championship race coming down to the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty, and for good reason, the Connecticut Sun were looking to put a wrench in those plans. Led by the star duo of triple-double machine Alyssa Thomas and veteran leader DeWanna Bonner, the team looked like they […]

The biggest storyline facing the Memphis Grizzlies heading into the 2023-24 season is the suspension of Ja Morant. After a video surfaced of him flashing a gun on camera after he was already disciplined by the NBA for a similar incident, the league decided to suspend him for the first 25 games of the upcoming […]

With NBA teams needed to cut down to the roster maximum of 15 players by the start of the 2023-24 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder find themselves in an interesting situation. After some of their offseason roster moves, the Thunder had over 15 contracts. They cut down a little bit with the waiving of Rudy […]

While most NBA teams are finished with their rosters at this time of the offseason, some teams, like the Portland Trail Blazers, still have a few roster spots they may choose to fill. Much of the Blazers offseason has been dominated by the Damian Lillard trade drama which doesn’t look like it will be resolved […]

Since the offseason, the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty have been considered as the two WNBA championship favorites for this season. So far, those predictions have looked spot on. The Aces and Liberty have consistently been the two best teams in the league and it was no surprise that they were the […]

The Washington Mystics are in the middle of a playoff push and are finally starting to get healthy. With a little less than one month to go in the regular season, the Mystics are sitting in seventh place in the WNBA standings at 14-16. They could potentially get to the fourth spot as they are […]

The Washington Mystics had been dealt a tough blow recently with all the injuries they’ve had. They were without three starters in Elena Delle Donne, Ariel Atkins and Shakira Austin as well as key reserve Kristi Toliver. This was all in the middle of a playoff push as well. The Mystics are currently holding on […]

The Phoenix Mercury have a puncher’s chance at a playoff spot this season despite their poor play. They currently stand at 9-21, tied with the Seattle Storm who hold the tiebreaker. They’re both three games back of the Chicago Sky who currently are in eighth place. The Mercury would also have to pass the Los […]

The Indiana Fever have been going through the growing pains this season. Amid the addition of Rookie of the Year candidate Aliyah Boston, the Fever currently hold the worst record in the WNBA at 8-23 and are 2-8 in their last ten games. While another lottery finish is on the horizon, the Fever have actually […]

The West Virginia Mountaineers were dealt a huge blow this offseason when head coach Bob Huggins was arrested on a DUI charge. While Huggins initially resigned, he later did an about-face and claimed he was forced into resignation and that he was looking to sue the university. While nothing major is expected from that, new […]

At this point in the offseason, most NBA team roster moves are end of the bench signings or training camp invites. Some of these signings though hold some significance as a few of these players may be competing to earn a two-way contract. With the league now allowing teams a maximum of three two-way contracts, […]

Throughout NBA history, the role of the 6th Man has always been very important. A dependable scoring threat off the bench who often plays starter minutes during some games. One of the best to ever play that role was Lou Williams who recently retired. Williams came off the bench for most of his career and […]

The Minnesota Lynx have been playing much better basketball ever since their poor start to the 2023 season. After dealing with several key injuries early in the season to Diamond Miller, Jessica Shepard and Aerial Powers, they’ve been relatively healthy. They had brief injury concerns with Napheesa Collier and rookie Dorka Juhasz, but since then […]

The transfer portal has changed the college basketball landscape forever. For good or for bad, college basketball will never be the same again. What it has done, is given players a little bit more freedom to move around and find the right situation for them. It has helped teams reload in anticipation of the coming […]

The NBA offseason is a time for summer pro-ams and open runs. For fans starving for basketball during the offseason, these pro-ams allow them to see some of their favorite NBA players up close without having to spend money on a ticket. In addition to these pro-ams, NBA players participate in pickup runs across the […]

NBA training camp opens in a little less than two months from now and the James Harden, Philadelphia 76ers trade drama has dominated NBA headlines in recent days. The latest iteration of this saga began over the weekend when it was reported that the Sixers had shut down trade talks with the Los Angeles Clippers […]