David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 82

With the March Madness Final Four all set, the majority of college teams have ended their season by now. For many players, this means their attention now turns to the NBA draft. Eligible underclassmen have until Apr. 23 to declare for the draft. That would include Alabama star Jahvon Quinerly who is a junior. On […]

It wasn’t quite the Milwaukee Bucks night. Thursday’s clash against the Boston Celtics was supposed to be an epic showdown but instead it turned out to be a dud basketball-wise. The Celtics thrashed the Bucks on the court and it’s possible that Khris Middleton’s status for the immediate future is in question. But just because […]

Thursday’s clash between the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics, the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, was supposed to be a heavyweight fight. Instead, the Celtics swarmed the Bucks and built up a 30 point lead by the third quarter. To add insult to injury for the Bucks, star shooting guard Khris Middleton was […]

When Keon Ellis signed with the Sacramento Kings as an undrafted rookie free agent in the offseason, he joined a team that was mired in mediocrity. The Kings had not posted a winning record in 16 years. They had failed to make the postseason during that stretch giving them the longest playoff drought in NBA […]

Russell Westbrook’s struggles with the Los Angeles Lakers were well-documented. But now it appears as if the Hall of Fame guard has found a role with the other hometown team. Since signing with the Los Angeles Clippers on the buyout market after the trade deadline, Westbrook has given the team a bit of spark that […]

During the 2021 season when the WNBA celebrated its 25th anniversary, they cultivated a list of the 25 best players in league history to that point. It was no surprise that Los Angeles Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike was among the names selected along with a few other currently active players. Since being drafted with the […]

Devin Booker has emerged over the last couple of seasons as one of the premier shooting guards in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns. The three-time All-Star has seemingly gotten better each season and he’s a big reason why the Phoenix Suns have championship aspirations. Before he arrived in the NBA though, Booker spent one […]

The Los Angeles Clippers took to the road on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies without both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. In the early-goings, it didn’t look like it mattered too much as Russell Westbrook dialed back the clock with a vintage performance in the first half. Russell Westbrook poured in 22 points and eight […]

The Boston Celtics have a big showdown on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks, the team they are trying to catch for the first overall seed in the Eastern Conference with a handful of games remaining. The Celtics once occupied the top spot in the East but with some bumpy play along with the Bucks rattling […]

Since Dawn Staley arrived at South Carolina in 2008, she has transformed the program into a perennial NCAA powerhouse and national title contender. Following the COVID cancellations in 2020, Staley has guided the Gamecocks to three straight March Madness Final Fours, including this season. The program also reached back-t0-back championship games in 2021 and 2022 […]

With the college season over for a lot of schools and players now, their attention has turned to the WNBA draft. In the world of women’s basketball things are a little bit different. With only 12 WNBA teams and 144 roster spots, many top college players find themselves on the outside looking in once the […]

After a brief exodus from college basketball due to NCAA violations at Louisville, Rick Pitino made his return to the NCAA at Iona in 2020. After three seasons at Iona, Pitino is back at a high-major school having accepted the head coaching job at St. John’s following Iona’s March Madness loss in the first round. […]

Despite their inconsistent play this season, the Toronto Raptors are still in the mix for a postseason appearance in the Eastern Conference. If the Raptors do make the postseason it’s likely that they will end up in one of the play-in games. With the final stretch of the regular season ahead, every game is critical. […]

The Miami Heat are currently holding on to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings and are trying to grab the sixth seed and avoid the play-in games. They are 7-6 in the month of March and they need to grab as many wins as possible. Their next games is Tuesday against the Toronto […]

After getting off to a good start to the 2022-23 season, the Boston Celtics have not played very well to close out this season. They have managed to win their last two games though and they are looking to make it three in a row on Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs. To do so, […]

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 […]