By John Harris |@JHBasketball

Rondo notches 9th career playoff triple-double to eliminate Sixers:

With 4 minutes to go and the Celtics hanging on to a slender lead, their ‘Mr. Clutch’ Paul Pierce picked up his 6th foul on a charge call and was out of the game. Then Rondo decided it was time to start playing and outscored the Sixers 11-7 by himself the rest of the way to complete an 18pt, 10rb, 10ast triple-double. The C’s overcame a poor shooting night from Ray Allen to keep pushing in front in what was a horrific game to watch. The Sixers were only down 3 at 55-52 at the start of the 4th quarter (!!). Philadelphia deserve a lot of credit for sticking around and could have wilted early when faced with the hostile Garden crowd and a 1st quarter double-digit deficit.

Instead they got back into the game behind Iguodala and Holiday (15pts each) and threatened the whole way until Rondo took over late. In the end this game (as the series has been) was a battle of the starters, and in the 4th quarter Boston’s starters (including Ray Allen) stepped up. Jesus Shuttlesworth hit 2 consecutive threes, Garnett (18pts, 13rbs) played defense on anyone he could find and Brandon Bass had a highlight steal and dunk to raise the roof. In the end it was Rondo — who Doug Collins had dared to shoot all night — who inflicted the final blow, a deep trey at the shot clock buzzer to break Philly hearts and send the Celtics to South Beach.

“Last year is in the past. This year we’re a totally different team. We feel we can beat Miami. We got to this point; there’s no doubt in my mind we can. We’ve got to go down there and take care of business.”

- Rajon Rondo

Jeff Van Gundy lays into Magic for firing brother Stan, calls CEO Alex Martins ‘unprofessional’:

Former NBA Head Coach and current analyst Jeff Van Gundy has launched an attack on Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins, accusing him of knowing nothing about the game and calling the handling of his brother’s dismissal ‘unprofessional’. JVG — who himself was a highly-respected coach with both the Knicks and Rockets — had some choices words for Martins:

“He doesn’t know one thing about basketball [...] To try to make everyone believe that Dwight Howard didn’t have a part in this is absurd [...] Just say, ‘we fired this guy because we feel this is our best chance to keep Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard and I decided to fire him.’ To do anything else is playing a game of semantics.”

- Jeff Van Gundy

NBA Draft lottery approaching, Anthony Davis a lock at #1 in deep class:

The Charlotte Bobcats will find out if their historically-bad season will land them the big prize on Wednesday night, when the NBA Draft lottery takes place before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. The Bobcats — who went 7-59 this season for the worst winning percentage in NBA history — will have a 25% chance of landing the Kentucky star. The Wizards are next with a 19.9 percent chance to grab the top pick and Cleveland (13.8%), New Orleans (13.7%) and Sacramento (7.6%) round out the top 5. Davis is seen as one of the best prospects in recent years and is a dead cert to go first come Draft Day on June 28th in New Jersey.

The Chicago Bulls have reportedly backed down from their insistence that Luol Deng will skip the Olympics and have surgery on his injured wrist, however, the insurance payout British Basketball will need to cough up for Deng to suit up this summer is likely to be in the region of £300,000.

The Telegraph’s Brendan Gallagher reports:

“The apparent softening of the Bulls stance this week means that Deng is free to join the Great Britain party in camp in Houston next month and play in London after which a decision will be made as to whether he underoges surgery straight away or whether he rests the wrist completely for up to three months.

“The Bulls compliance will come at a cost however. Most NBA players appearing in a sanctioned FIBA tournament are covered by a blanket NBA insurance but because Deng will undeniably be going into the Olympics with a pre-existing injury further damage to the wrist would not be covered. A one-off premium therefore must be paid to cover his £10m+ annual contract and it is also likely that the Bulls will request he plays a limited number of minutes in Great Britain’s warm-up matches.

“It’s not new territory for GB Basketball who in past seasons have had to make a similar one-off premium payments in the region of £200,000 to insure against an old back injury Deng once suffered, which has nonetheless never shown any signs of flaring up. GB Basketball have learned to somehow put a “war chest” for such contingencies but these latest demands over and above what they normally pay will stretch them to the very limit.

“Deng has now resumed the holiday he interrupted to meet with the Bulls but in his absence the haggling over the exact amount of the insurance payment will continue. Great Britain firmly believe that Deng, who played the majority of the season for the Bulls with the injury, will make a full recovery with rest after the Olympics and that surgery will not be required.”

Talking to the BBC, GB’s Performance Director Chris Spice added that the insurance agreement would mean if Deng was to permanently injure himself this summer, they would need to be able to pay the Bulls £10million.

Meanwhile, in a statement released on British Basketball’s official website today, Spice voiced his disappointment at a lack of support from the NBA over Deng’s insurance issues:

“The insurance to cover Luol is always expensive due his high value, and due to the back exclusion placed on him by the NBA’s insurers some years ago. Our medical expert opinion remains that his back is no worse than others in the NBA but we have had to continue to cover this as we are contracted to do. Unfortunately, we have had no support from the NBA regarding this issue which remains a constant disappointment.

“His wrist situation will make this exorbitant premium even more expensive and we will have to make sacrifices to all our other programmes if we are to make this happen. It is difficult, but there is only one Luol Deng and there is only one London 2012 Olympic Games.”

The issues around Luol and this summer are dominating headlines in the US, with a number of different journalists around the web chiming in – a few links for your reading:

Deng Should Skip Olympics – Chicago Tribune
Spirit of a Champion: Luol Deng and the debate around his commitment to the Olympics – Slam Online
Luol Deng’s Olympic Decision – ESPN
Bulls Must Respect Olympics are A Big Deal for Ailing Deng – Chicago Sun Times
British Reporter: We Need Deng to Play in Olympics – CBS Chicago

Thoughts?
Image Credit: 2012 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

Check out highlights of the best dunker in the game, Blake Griffin, mixed in with one of the best basketball video games of all time – NBA Jam! Blake Griffin NBA Jam style!

By John Harris |@JHBasketball

Wade explodes for 41pts to power Miami into the Eastern Conference Finals:

Dwyane Wade hits 41pts with 10rbs and Lebron James added 28pts as the Miami Heat overcame the suspension of Udonis Haslem to eliminate the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of their feisty series. The Pacers led early and had all 5 starters finish in double figures but they couldn’t overcome the increasingly unstoppable double-punch of Wade and James. This game was less chippy than the rest of the series although David West did earn a technical for raking Shane Battier on his way down the floor. Both teams shot well from the field but Indiana’s 22 turnovers cost them dearly against the best transition team in the league.

“Chris Bosh is an awesome basketball player, but when he goes out it means more touches for LeBron and Wade and that’s not exactly an advantage [for us]. They were spectacular this series; they were too much for us.”

- Frank Vogel

Lebron, Durant headline All-NBA first team:

2012 MVP Lebron James polled 118 of a possible 120 first-place votes to lead the All-NBA first team selections, announced yesterday. The full first-team is:

Lebron James (Forward, Miami Heat), Kevin Durant (Forward, Oklahoma City Thunder), Chris Paul (Guard, Los Angeles Clippers), Kobe Bryant (Guard, Los Angeles Lakers) and Dwight Howard (Center, Orlando Magic).

With the selection, Bryant moved into joint-2nd place all time for All-NBA selections, joining Karl Malone and ex-Lakers running mate Shaquille O’Neal (all on 14, one behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). The second team was a very Californian affair with two players from LA teams and two others who played there while in college:

Kevin Love (Forward, Minnesota Timberwolves), Blake Griffin (Forward, Los Angeles Clippers), Russell Westbrook (Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder), Tony Parker (Guard, San Antonio Spurs) and Andrew Bynum (Center, Los Angeles Lakers).

Westbrook and Love both attended UCLA before jumping to the NBA and the Minnesota star led all vote-getters for the second team. The third team is:

Carmelo Anthony (Forward, New York Knicks), Dirk Nowitzki (Forward, Dallas Mavericks), Dwyane Wade (Guard, Miami Heat), Rajon Rondo (Guard, Boston Celtics) and Tyson Chandler (Center, New York Knicks).

Mike Woodson locks up permanent Knicks position:

New York interim Head Coach Mike Woodson is in the final stages of locking up a multi-year deal to coach the team on a permanent basis. Woodson — who took over when Mike D’Antoni was fired earlier in the season — went 18-6 with the team and led them to the 7th seed in the East, before being dispatched in 5 games by the Miami Heat. Woodson ditched his agent last week and signed with CAA (who also represent Knick superstar Carmelo Anthony) in a move many saw as a pre-cursor to Woodson’s permanent appointment. However many New York fans will question the decision, given their ambition to succeed in the playoffs, an arena where their new coach holds a lowly 12-22 record.

Do Lebron and Wade have enough left to continue at this level the rest of the way? Agree with the All-NBA selections? Would the Knicks have been better to wait it out before appointing a new coach? Let us know below!

The 2012 National Schools Final Fours have taken place over the past two weekends, with the top four teams in the U14, U15, U16, and U18 age groups fighting it out for the right to be called National Champions. See below for full results and leading scorers:

U18 Premier National Schools Final Fours Final Standings

1) Loreto Sixth Form College
2) Harris Academy Beckenham
3) Angmering School
4) Northampton School for Boys

Third Place Playoff
Angmering beat Northampton 96-85 to take third place, behind 35 points from Angmering’s Joe Carter. Watson had 22 for Northampton with Toone having 16 and Sam Round adding 11.

Semi Final 1
Loreto beat Angmering 92-82. Loick Pouale finished with 19 to lead Loreto, Ed Potter added 16. Joe Carter finished with 25 for Angmering, with Francis adding 17.

Semi Final 2
Harris Academy beat Northampton School for Boys 70-55. Terence Mustre had a 14 point 10 assist double double by halftime, finishing with 18 points and 13 assists to lead Harris Academy, with Dwayne Simon adding 19 and Rowell Graham finishing with 13 points. Watson had 17 to lead Northampton with Sam Round adding 16.

U16 Premier National Schools Final Standings

1) Barking Abbey
2) Harrow High School
3) West Park Academy
4) Northampton School for Boys

3rd Place Playoff
West Park Academy beat Northampton 65-64.

Semi Final 1
Harrow High School beat Northampton School for Boys 88-72 despite 41 points from Sam Round who was unstoppable throughout.

Semi Final 2
Barking Abbey beat West Park 88-64.

Under 15 Premier National Schools Final Standings

1) Barking Abbey
2) St Bonaventures
3) Helsby High School
4) St Benedicts School

Third Place Playoff
Helsby High School took third place, beating St Benedicts 61-50. George Metcalf led Helsby with 20, whilst Arwel Goulbourne added 17. Kylan Barrett-Ratcliffe had 17 for St Benedicts with Kayne King adding 11.

Semi Final 1
Barking Abbey beat Helsby 76-54 behind 26 points from Josh Steel, with Jay Jarett adding 18 and Zach Noble finishing with 17. Helsby were led by 19 points from Alex Jones, with George Metcalf adding 16.

Semi Final 2
St Bonaventures beat St Benedicts 71-59. Roden Botor had 23 to lead St Bon’s, with Nial Clarke adding 12. Kayne King had 26 to lead St Benedicts, with Kylan Barrett-Ratcliffe adding 10.

Under 14 Premier National Schools Final Standings

1) St Columbas College
2) Haberdasher Aske Knights Academy
3) Holy Trinity
4) Reddish Vale Technology College

Third Place Playoff
Holy Trinity beat Reddish Vale Technology College 64-45. Denny Burling had 22 to lead Holy Trinity, whilst James Plowman added 15.

Semi Final 1
Haberdasher Aske sneaked past Reddish Vale Technology College 66-63. Haberdasher were led by 29 points from Lewis Galey, with Zeph Allen and Aaron Mendez adding 9 each. For Reddish Vale, Matthew Hodgkinson had 14, with Connor Atherton and Aaron Corrie adding 11 each.

Semi Final 2
St Columbas College beat Holy Trinity 49-44. Thomas Johnson 19 had 19 to lead St Columbas, with Huey Glyn Jones adding 14. Denny Burling had 20 to lead Holy Trinity.

U19 Conference National Schools Final Standings

1) Itchen School
2) Northampton School for Boys
3) Birmingham Mets
4) Southdowns College

Third Place Playoff
Birmingham Mets beat Southdowns College 93-85 to take third place. Michael Banaszewski had 24 and Matthew Godsall added 13 for Birmingham, whilst Chris Scarlett and George Beard led Southdowns with 26 and 19 points respectively.

Semi Final 1
Northampton School for Boys beat Southdowns College 93-84 in a game that became a shootout between Southdowns’ Chris Scarlett and Northampton’s Sam Round. Round one both the game and the individual matchup, finishing with 42 points to Scarlett’s 39. Gartnett Watson added 29 for Northampton whilst George Beard had 24 for Southdowns.

Semi Final 2
Itchen School beat Birmingham Mets 92-74 to book their place in the final. Shane Massey and Ryan Clasper led Itchen with 17 and 16 points respectively, whist Birmingham were led by Cory Aston’s 17, with Solomon Rolls Tyson adding 16.

Under 16 Conference National Schools Final Standings

1) Greig City Academy
2) The Beaumont School
3) Danum Academy
4) Holy Trinity School

Third Place Playoff
Danum Academy beat Holy Trinity 61-50 to take third place. Danum were led by Liam Knapp’s 27, with Bradley Maltby and Samuel Speight adding 11 each. Edwin Murahwa had 23 for Holy Trinity, with Selby Hind-Wills adding 21.

Semi Final 1
Beaumont School beat Holy Trinity 52-40. Kieron Gastaldi Davies had 21 to lead Beaumont, with Jamie Moroney adding 16. Holy Trinity were led by Edwin Murahwa’s 19.

Semi Final 2
Greig City Academy beat Danum Academy 75-59 behind 30 points from Javell Small. Kayode dawkins added 13 for GCA, Liam Knapp’s 19 and Bradley Maltby’s 12 led Danum.

Under 15 Conference National Schools Final Standings

1) The Cherwell School
2) Danum Academy
3) Lampton School
4) The Billericay School

Third Place Playoff
Lampton beat Billericay 68-63 to take third place. Yahya Muhieddine had 21, with Elmi Elmi adding 19 to lead Lampton, whilst Tim Brown had 25 and George Head 15 for Billericay.

Semi Final 1
Danum Academy beat Billericay 56-48 behind 36 points from Liam Knapp. Bradley Maltby added 8 for Danum, whilst Tim Brown led Billericay with 23 and George Head finishing with 9.

Semi Final 2
Cherwell beat Lampton 74-53 despite 30 points from Yahya Muhieddine. Isaac Perry had 26 to lead Cherwell with Calvin Tse adding 17, whilst Jonah Ting added 6 for Lampton.

Did you get down to either of the weekends? Thoughts?

The NBA has finally released their top 10 dunks from this season and a few surprises as well as omissions in our opinion.

Check it out and let us know what you think – agree or disagree?!

British Basketball has today announced this year’s GB Futures roster, who will be coached by Senior men’s assistant Paul Mokeski.

Unlike previous years, the team will feature a number of players who have already featured in the Senior men’s squad, including starter Ogo Adegboye, as well as Andrew Lawrence, Kyle Johnson and Devon van Oostrum, who were all on last summer’s Eurobasket roster.

Of the 12 man squad, 7 have attended senior men’s training camp before.

Coach Mokeski commented:

“I am excited and honoured to be the head coach of the GB Futures team. This will be my third year with the GB program and the experience has been very rewarding.

“The Futures programme is very important in the development of young players and gets them ready for the transition into the senior squads. This year the Futures program is the beginning of our preparation for the Olympics in London this summer.”

The team will play a three game series against Lithuania’s Under-23 side at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford from June 7-9. The game on Saturday 9 June is open to the public and will tip off at 7pm while Thursday and Fridays games are closed to the public

Great Britain Futures Roster

Ogo Adegboye
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
Ashley Hamilton
Myles Hesson
Kyle Johnson
Andrew Lawrence
Ben Mockford
Patrick Nyeko
Devon van Oostrum
Ryan Richards
Ovie Soko
Shane Walker

Additional training squad members:
Colin Sing
Jamell Anderson
Zach Gachette

What you think of the team? 

Check out all the best highlights from Week 1 of The Pro Classic which took place this past weekend. It featured a number of top players from London including the likes of Ogo Adegboye, Matthew Bryan-Amaning, and Justin Robinson and wasn’t short of highlights!

The Ed Lucas crossover at 1:23 was play of the day for us – what about you?!

By John Harris |@JHBasketball

Philadelphia going back to Boston after slamming C’s behind Jrue Holiday:

This has not been a pretty series; this game was no exception. They say in Boston that ‘as Rondo goes, so go the Celtics’. The green team’s star point guard struggled in this one, recording only 5pts and 6ast as no one else stepped up to help Garnett and Pierce, who both hit double-doubles. It didn’t help that Boston couldn’t chuck a ball in the ocean (26-78 from the field) but the credit should really go to the Sixers, who had 5 players in double figures and responded to coach Doug Collins’ rallying call after Game 5. Philly legend Allen Iverson presented the game ball before tip and must have inspired current guard Jrue Holiday, who hit 20pts and attacked the paint all game. These two will head back to Boston on Saturday night and may already know their next round opponent if Miami can close out Indiana tonight.

“Game 7. That’s all we wanted was to win tonight and give ourselves a chance to go into Boston and see what happens on Saturday [...] I want more. We’re going to get greedy. We want more.”

- Doug Collins

NBA All-Defensive teams announced:

League MVP Lebron James led voting for the NBA All-Defensive team and Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler bizarrely only made the second team as the Association announced its annual defensive teams yesterday. The full first-team — as voted by all 30 NBA Head Coaches — is:

Lebron James (Forward, Miami Heat), Dwight Howard (Center, Orlando Magic), Chris Paul (Guard, Los Angeles Clippers), Tony Allen (Guard, Memphis Grizzlies) and Serge Ibaka (Forward, Oklahoma City Thunder).

The Defensive Player of the Year award is voted by members of the NBA media, while the All-Defensive teams are voted by coaches, who are only allowed to select one player per position. This perhaps explains the anomaly, with coaches having to make more adjustments for the dominant paint protector Howard, whereas Chandler’s defensive presence is more of a change in culture (a la KG).

The full second team is:

Tyson Chandler (Center, New York Knicks), Kevin Garnett (Forward, Boston Celtics), Rajon Rondo (Guard, Boston Celtics), Kobe Bryant (Guard, Los Angeles Lakers) and Luol Deng (Forward, Chicago Bulls).

No surprises with Heat suspensions:

The Miami Heat will attempt to close out the Indiana Pacers tonight without the services of forward Udonis Haslem (1 game) and center Dexter Pittman (3 games), after both were suspended for flagrant hits that occurred in Game 5. Pacers’ forward Tyler Hansbrough — whose hard foul on Dwyane Wade sparked an escalation of intensity in the game — saw his flagrant 1 upgraded to a flagrant 2, but avoided a suspension. The league came down harder on Haslem and Pittman because their fouls were deemed to be ‘retaliatory’ in nature.

Haslem has been a key contributor for Miami in the absence of Chris Bosh and the Heat will need another huge game from Wade and James if they are going to close out Indiana on their home floor tonight.

Predictions for Game 7 of the Celtics-Sixers series? Agree with the NBA’s defensive voting? How much will the loss of Haslem affect the Heat tonight? Let us know below!

The London 2012 Olympic Basketball schedule has been released, with both the Great Britain men and women’s teams avoiding early starts, with all tip offs scheduled for 4:45pm or later.

The men have also done so well as to avoid the late tip off time, with all games being in either the 4:45pm or 8pm tip off slots. They will open up on Sunday July 29 against a qualifier, before facing Brazil, followed by Spain, Australia then China.

The women open up against Australia in the late night slot (10.15pm) on Saturday July 28, before taking on a qualifer, followed by Russia, the second qualifier, and finishing the first round against Brazil.

The full Olympic basketball schedule for the preliminary round can be found below – all times local London time:

Men

Sunday July 29

9.00am – A6 vs Tunisia
11.15am – Brazil vs Australia
2.30pm – USA vs France
4.45pm – Spain vs China
8.00pm – Great Britain vs B6
10.15pm – Argentina vs A5

Tuesday July 31

9.00am – China vs B6
11.15am – Australia vs Spain
2.30pm – A5 vs A6
4.45pm – Great Britain vs Brazil
8.00pm – France vs Argentina
10.15pm – Tunisia vs USA

Thursday August 2

9.00am – France vs A5
11.15am – Australia vs China
2.30pm – Argentina vs Tunisia
4.45pm – Brazil vs B6
8.00pm – Spain vs Great Britain
10.15pm – USA vs A6

Saturday August 4

9.00am – Tunisia vs France
11.15am – B6 vs Spain
2.30pm – A5 vs USA
4.45pm – China vs Brazil
8.00pm – Great Britain vs Australia
10.15pm – A6 vs Argentina

Monday August 6

9.00am – Australia vs B6
11.15am – Tunisia vs A5
2.30pm – France vs A6
4.45pm – Great Britain vs China
8.00pm – Spain vs Brazil
10.15pm – Argentina vs USA

The men’s Quarter Finals will then be played on Wednesday August 8. You can find more information on FIBA’s official London 2012 site.

Women

Saturday July 28

9.00am – China vs A4
11.15am – B5 vs Russia
2.30pm – A6 vs Angola
4.45pm – USA vs A5
8.00pm – Brazil vs B6
10.15pm – Australia vs Great Britain

Monday July 30

09.00am – A5 vs China
11.15am – A4 vs A6
2.30pm – B6 vs Australia
4.45pm – Russia vs Brazil
8.00pm – Great Britain vs B5
10.15pm – Angola vs USA

Wednesday August 1

09.00am – B5 vs B6
11.15am – China vs Angola
2.30pm – Australia vs Brazil
4.45pm – A5 vs A4
8.00pm – Great Britain vs Russia
10.15pm – USA vs A6

Friday August 3

09.00am – Angola vs A5
11.15am – Russia vs Australia
2.30pm – Brazil vs B5
4.45pm – A6 vs China
8.00pm – B6 vs Great Britain
10.15pm – A4 vs USA

Sunday August 5

9.00am – B6 vs Russia
11.15am – Angola vs A4
2.30pm – B5 vs Australia
4.45pm – China vs USA
8.00pm – A5 vs A6
10.15pm – Great Britain vs Brazil

The women’s quarter finals will take place on Tuesday August 7. More information can be found on FIBA’s official London 2012 site.

What do you think about the opening round schedule? Good or bad for GB? Which games have you got tickets for?!

All schedules taken from London2012.fiba.com