David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 66

It’s been a weird season for Gary Payton II. After a strong 2021-22 season and playoff run with the Golden State Warriors, Payton hit the free agent market as one of the better players available. He ended up signing with the Portland Trail Blazers but his Blazers debut was pushed back after undergoing abdominal surgery […]

With their win over Princeton in the Sweet 16, the Creighton Bluejays have advanced to their first March Madness Elite Eight in program history. They will now face San Diego State for the right to head to the Final Four. It will be a tough task as San Diego State was incredibly impressive in their […]

Kansas State has been one of the top storylines of this year’s edition of March Madness and a big part of that has been the breakout play of star point guard Markquis Nowell. Nowell set a tournament record with 19 assists in Kansas State’s win over Michigan State in the Sweet 16 to advance to […]

With the shocking elimination of both Alabama and Houston on Friday in March Madness Sweet 16 play, No. 2 Texas is the highest seed remaining. Texas easily dispatched Xavier in their Sweet 16 matchup and showed why they should have been considered one of the favorites to win the national championship and probably should have […]

The first year that Dennis Schroder and Anthony Davis were teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers was during the 2020-21 season. The Lakers had just come off of winning a championship and Dennis Schroder arrived in an offseason trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. That season ended in a first round playoff exit with Davis […]

When March Madness rolls around, the teams that are seeded No. 1 in each region are usually considered the top teams in the country. They’re generally considered the teams to have the best odds at winning the national championship but that’s why the games aren’t played on paper. In six of the last seven NCAA […]

Heading into March Madness, the No. 1 overall seed Alabama was considered one of the favorites to win the national championship. With projected NBA lottery pick Brandon Miller and a few other possible first round draft picks, they had a talented lineup capable of of beating anyone in the country. That is until they met […]

The Los Angeles Lakers have rebounded in a strong way from their poor start to the season. A big part of that has been their trade deadline acquisitions of D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt. But a lot of their improved play has also come from internal development. Second-year wing Austin Reaves has been […]

Coming into the Pac-12 Tournament, the UCLA Bruins looked like one of the favorites to win the national championship in March Madness. Instead they got hit with a double-whammy to two key starters. UCLA saw injuries to the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in Adem Bona and the Defensive Player of the Year in Jaylen […]

The way the UCLA Bruins were rolling heading into the Pac-12 Tournament, it looked like this year might be their best chance at winning a national championship in March Madness. Misfortune struck though during the conference tournament as junior forward Jaylen Clark was lost for the season with an Achilles injury. Clark has been a […]

The New Orleans Pelicans received a mixed bag of news this week with the announcement that star Zion Williamson could return to the court before the season is over. Despite that, there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding Zion Williamson’s possible return as nothing is definite. If that wasn’t enough, the Pelicans received some […]

Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant made his long-awaited return on Wednesday from his time away from the team and his imposed eight-game suspension from the NBA following his social media post displaying a gun while in a nightclub. Morant did not start, rather he came off the bench and it’s safe to say that the […]

Although March Madness is in full swing right now, the 2023 NBA draft is not too far around the corner. Soon after the NCAA championship game is played is when the whole process of draft workouts begin. Houston’s Marcus Sasser is one of the players expected to be drafted in the 2023 NBA draft. Although […]

It was one year ago that Sean Miller was named the head coach of Xavier basketball. Miller was let go at Arizona after the program was forced to vacated regular season and postseason wins due to NCAA violations. Miller actually began his head coaching career at Xavier back in 2004. In his first season in […]

Adjusting to life in the NBA isn’t always easy for rookies. Thankfully for Patrick Baldwin Jr. and Ryan Rollins, they have some of the best in the business to learn from as they embark on their professional journey. The Golden State Warriors rookie duo has been learning from both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson this […]

With the first weekend of March Madness nearly over, only two out of the four No. 1 seeded teams remain. The first No. 1 seed to fall was Purdue in a shocking and historical upset by No. 16 Farleigh Dickinson in the first round. The second No. 1 seed to fall was Kansas in the […]

The San Diego State Aztecs survived a March Madness opening round scare against the College of Charleston to advance to the second round. But they had no problem dispatching Furman in the second round to the tune of 75-52. Furman had upset No. 4 seed Virginia in the first round but their Cinderella story ended […]

With the WNBA free agency period firmly in the rearview, teams are now turning their attention to the upcoming draft and the start of training camp. Training camp signals all the roster battles and movement that come along with it. With a shortage of roster spots in the WNBA, there are always some surprise cuts […]

After Penn State upset Texas A&M in their March Madness first round game, the university decided it wanted Micah Shrewsberry to be the coach of this team long term. It wasn’t just an upset, Penn State dominated the game with a final score of 76-59. This is Shrewsberry’s second season as head coach of Penn […]

The Houston Cougars squeaked past Northern Kentucky on Thursday in their March Madness opening round win. They did so without star point guard Marcus Sasser playing in the second half due to injury. Sasser has been dealing with a groin injury that kept him out of Houston’s loss in the AAC Tournament championship game against […]

Fans of Alabama basketball got a little bit of worrisome news this weekend when it was revealed by Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats that star forward Brandon Miller has been dealing with a groin injury. Miller was held scoreless in Alabama’s first round March Madness win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, missing all five […]

The Portland Trail Blazers got off to a good start this season but things have fizzled as the final stretch of the regular season approaches. The Blazers are hanging on to a thread for their playoff hopes and that has drawn critics of head coach Chauncey Billups. Some have even called for Billups to be […]

Stephen Curry has been one of the best point guards in the NBA for the better part of the last decade with Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young emerging as one of the league’s top up and coming point guards. The two battled it out on Friday as the Golden State Warriors visited the Hawks. The […]

Coming into the 2023 NCAA Tournament, only one No. 16 seeded team had ever upset a No. 1 seed. That was in 2018 when UMBC knocked off Virginia in the first round of March Madness. On Friday, that list got one team longer as the No. 16 FDU Knights defeated the No. 1 seeded Purdue […]

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was helped to the locker room on Friday during the Wolves game against the Chicago Bulls. The Timberwolves are in the midst of a tightening playoff race in the Western Conference with several other teams. Edwards was named to his first All-Star team this season and has helped the Wolves […]

When Rick Pitino was dismissed as Louisville’s head coach, it was unsure if he’d ever appear on an NCAA sideline again. Following Louisville, Pitino resurfaced as a head coach for the Greek team Panathinaikos in EuroLeague. He spent two seasons coaching in Greece before he returned stateside and in the NCAA as the head coach […]

As the 2022-23 NCAA season progressed, the UCLA Bruins emerged as legitimate national title contender. A big part of their strong season was the emergence of Jaylen Clark as a defensive presence and all-around key player. Clark’s role has increased each season he’s been at UCLA and his play this season had fans dreaming of […]

The Duke Blue Devils and head coach Jon Scheyer have been tasked with keeping the team among the elite of college basketball after a legacy of coaching from former head coach Mike Krzyzewski. They’re going to have to do that though without the services of one of their top recruits from the class of 2024 […]

The defending NCAA Tournament champion Kansas Jayhawks began their title defense on Thursday as the first round of March Madness tipped off. Kansas easily dispatched the Howard Bison and as they continue their postseason journey, they will do so without a familiar face on the sidelines for the time being. Kansas head coach Bill Self […]

The Sacramento Kings have been the biggest surprise of the NBA season. They are on the verge of snapping the league’s current active streak of missing the postseason and are currently in second place in the Western Conference standings. A big part of their solid season has been the play of guard Kevin Huerter. However, […]

The Alabama Crimson Tide cruised to victory over Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Thursday in their first round NCAA Tournament game. Alabama is one of the favorites to emerge from March Madness and win the national championship. They’ve been one of the best teams in the country all season. The big story of the game […]

After heart-breaking losses, it’s understandable that some athletes might not want to be in the public spotlight right away. With March Madness now in full swing, there’s bound to be several upsetting moments captured on film. In perhaps the biggest storyline of the first round so far, the No. 2 seeded Arizona Wildcats saw their […]

It’s safe to say the Philadelphia 76ers got the better of the trade between them and the Brooklyn Nets involving James Harden and Ben Simmons. The Sixers have morphed into legitimate championship contenders while Simmons has been unable to stay healthy for the Nets. Harden was left off the All-Star team this season which was […]

The Dallas Wings had a decent season last year finishing at 18-18 which was an improvement from the 14-18 they finished the season before. They made the playoffs but lost in the first round to the Connecticut Sun. The Wings will have a new coach this season in Latricia Trammell who had been an assistant […]

It’s probably safe to say the Ben Simmons experiment with the Brooklyn Nets has been a colossal failure to this point. It was though that with a change of scenery Simmons might be able to get back to his All-Star status he often displayed with the Philadelphia 76ers. That has not been the case, however, […]

It’s been a long journey for Kris Dunn to get another NBA contract. The former lottery pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2016 found himself nearly out of the NBA after only five seasons. Dunn suited up in only four games for the Atlanta Hawks during the 2020-21 season due to injury and he found […]

Toronto Raptors wing OG Anunoby has developed into one of the best defensive players in the NBA. He is one of the few players that legitimately can guard every position from point guard to center. Anunoby’s name was being heavily circulated in trade chatter leading up to the deadline with no shortage of teams interested […]

The Baylor Bears basketball team is getting ready to kick off March Madness with an opening round game against UC Santa Barbara this week. They come into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed and looking to advance further than they did last season. Baylor basketball won the national title in 2021 but they […]

The Texas Longhorns basketball team has been without one of their key players recently in fifth-year forward Timmy Allen. Allen suffered a recent leg injury and was sidelined for the duration of the Big 12 Tournament. It didn’t appear to be too much of an issue as Texas made it all the way through to […]