February 2010 | Page 7 of 14 | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Friday / March 29.
  • NEW YORK — The Knicks  played the Chicago Bulls Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden without guard Nate Robinson.

    The Bulls won, 115-109, behind Derrick Rose’s 27 points, Luol Deng’s 23 and 19 of Brad Miller’s 21 in the second half.

    Amid multiple reports that New York was on the brink of trading Robinson to the Boston Celtics, Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni said Robinson was sick.

    “Nate’s still sick, he wouldn’t be here anyway,” D’Antoni said. “He had flu-like symptoms.”

    Celtics guard Eddie House told reporters Wednesday he is part of a deal that will bring Robinson to the Celtics.

    Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody will participate in the shootaround before tonight’s game at Louisville (7:30, ESPN2) but whether he plays will be a game-time decision.

    “I was in street clothes sitting on the bench for the St. John’s game on Sunday and my status for today’s game at Louisville probably will be a game-time decision,” Harangody said in diary written for NWI.com.

    The nation’s second-leading scorer at 24.1 points per game, Harangody suffered a deep bone bruise to his right knee during the second half of a Feb. 11 loss at Seton Hall. He then sat out Sunday’s 69-68 home loss to St. John’s.

    Grassroots basketball will undergo some major changes again this summer.

    Reebok will not hold its annual Reebok All-American Camp in Philadelphia in July because of a “change in marketing strategy at the grassroots level,” said a source with direct knowledge.

    “It just means that college coaches will have to work a little harder to see high-level talent play against high-level talent under one roof, ”  the source said.

    Chris Rivers ran the Reebok All-American Camp for two summers as an extension of Sonny Vaccaro’s old Reebok ABCD Camp at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. That camp featured legendary grassroots players like LeBron James, O.J. Mayo, Sebastian Telfair and Lance Stephenson.

    When Vaccaro retired from he sneaker business in 2007, Rivers, pictured above with Mayo, moved the camp to Philadelphia University in 2007 and ’08. Pat Coombs ran the event in 2009.

    With only two days left until the NBA trading deadline, the Knicks are still trying to pry Tracy McGrady loose from the Houston Rockets, according to Yahoo! Sports and the New York Post.

    The deal would involve McGrady and his $23 million expiring contract going to the Knicks along with Joey Dorsey and Brian Cook in exchange for Jared Jeffries, Jordan Hill and either Al Harrington or Larry Hughes.

    The teams would also exchange 2011 draft picks and the Knicks would give up their first-round pick in 2012.

    “They’ve made some progress,” one source told Howard Beck of The New York Times.

    By shedding Jeffries’ $6.9 million deal for next year, plus a $2.5 million commitment to Hill, the No. 8 pick in the 2009 Draft, the Knicks would have another $9.5 million in salary cap space.

    UNION, N.J. — Two schools in hot pursuit of Cory Joseph squared off on ESPN’s “Big Monday,” with UConn knocking off No. 3 Villanova, 84-75, at the Wachovia Center.

    Joseph, a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Findlay (Nev.) Prep ranked No. 3 among point guards in 2010, was not at the game but he is considering both UConn and Villanova, along with Texas, Minnesota and UNLV.

    “[I’m just gonna commit] whenever I feel 100 percent. . . . I am not sure if I am gonna pick out of the [full list of] five. I have no set time,” Joseph told Alex Schwartz of Rivals.com while playing this past weekend at the Primetime Shootout in Trenton, N.J.

    Also at the Primetime was Joseph’s friend and fellow Canadian, Myck Kabongo, a junior guard at St. Benedict’s Prep.

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