David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 85

During the regular season, the LSU Tigers did not lose a game until Feb. 12 against SEC powerhouse South Carolina. They would not lose again until Mar. 4 in the second round of the SEC Tournament. They looked the part of a team that could possibly contend for a national championship in March Madness. Sure […]

Iowa star Caitlin Clark set the court on fire during this year’s edition of March Madness. She dropped back to back 40 point games in the Elite Eight against Louisville and in the Final Four in a major upset win over South Carolina. She willed her team to the national championship game where they squared […]

The LSU Tigers are national champions. With a wire to wire March Madness victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, they claimed the first national title in school history on either the men or women’s basketball side of things. LSU head coach Kim Mulkey became the first coach in NCAA women’s basketball to win championships […]

For the first time in NCAA Tournament history since seeding began in 1979, there were no No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 seeds in the Final Four. This year’s March Madness Final Four consisted of No. 4 seed Miami, No. 4 seed UConn, No. 5 seed San Diego State and No. 9 seed Florida […]

The first March Madness Final Four game between San Diego State and Florida Atlantic came down to an absolutely thrilling finish with SDSU junior guard Lamont Butler hitting a pull-up jumper from midrange at the buzzer. The Aztecs had trailed by 14 points at one point in the game and came all the way back […]

Coming into the UConn Huskies Final Four clash on Saturday against Miami, the status of star guard Jordan Hawkins was up in the air. Hawkins missed Friday’s practice with an illness and it was unsure how well he’d be feeling for their March Madness Final Four game. All is well in Husky-land however. Hawkins is […]

The Philadelphia 76ers have established themselves as a legitimate NBA title contender after an inconsistent start to the season. A big part of that slow start was due to star shooting guard James Harden out with a toe injury. They are now one of the top teams in the NBA. The Sixers hopes of catching […]

Going into the fourth quarter, things weren’t looking so good for the LSU Tigers. They trailed Virginia Tech, 59-49 and had been down by as many as 13 points. The fourth quarter was their time, however. LSU completed a major comeback to reach the first March Madness national championship game in school history. Helping lead […]

Coming into Friday, the March Madness Final Four on the women’s side of things was all set. The last teams remaining were South Carolina, LSU, Virginia Tech and Iowa. In the first game of the day, LSU defeated Virginia Tech to reach the first championship game in school history. Not only that, LSU was down […]

The Los Angeles Clippers continue to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff race even amid a disappointing season. They picked up a big win on Wednesday against the Memphis Grizzlies without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with Russell Westbrook turning back the clock a little bit. Leonard was back in the lineup on Friday […]

The Gonzaga Bulldogs suffered another disappointing ending in March Madness this season in a blowout at the hands of the UConn Huskies in the Elite Eight. Gonzaga has always had strong preseason hype but can never seem to get over the hump when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.Regular season success does not always translate […]

The Minnesota Timberwolves are currently in a tough race for the postseason in the Western Conference standings. Since their early inconsistent play, they have rebounded and have shown vast improvements during the second half of the season. Even so, they are just one of several teams fighting for playoff position with a mere handful of […]

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 […]