December 2012 | Page 8 of 22

The Knicks tried in February to deal Amar’e Stoudemire to the Raptors for Andrea Bargnani, according to a report in today’s New York Times.

Knicks owner Jim Dolan vetoed the idea before it ever got to the Raptors, who would not have made the deal anyway, the Times reported.

The Knicks before that tried to package Stoudemire and center Tyson Chandler to the Orlando Magic in an attempt to land Dwight Howard, the Times also reported.

The paper quoted a league executive who said that Stoudemire was available this summer to nearly every team in the league “for free.”

St. John's

Point Guard Branch to Make Debut For St. John’s

December 21, 2012

author: Adam Zagoria

This week Providence, Missouri, UNLV and Iona have all featured mid-year debuts by transfers, and now it’s St. John’s turn.

Sophomore point guard Jamal Branch, who transferred to the Queens school from Texas A&M in January, will suit up Friday night for the first time against UNC-Asheville at Carnesecca Arena.

“I’m definitely excited,” the 6-foot-3, 176-pound Branch said. “It’s been a full year since I’ve played now. Just watching the team has given me a great experience, and I’m ready to get things started. I just have to go out and give it my all; 110 percent effort.”

Branch played in 11 games for the Aggies in the fall of 2011 and averaged 4.2 points, 2.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per game.

Articles, Iona

Iona’s Laury Scores 21 in First Game of Season

December 21, 2012

author: Adam Zagoria

By JOSH VERLIN

Special to ZAGSBLOG

PHILADELPHIA — As first impressions go, David Laury made a pretty darn good one for Iona on Thursday night in a road game at La Salle.

On his very first touch, the 6-foot-8, 238-pound sophomore grabbed a rebound, went coast-to-coast and finished on the other end, drawing the foul and completing the 3-point play. In a nine-minute first-half run, he would pour in nine points and grab eight rebounds; by the end of the night he had a team-high 21 points (8-13 FG, 5-6 FT) as well as a game-high 14 rebounds in 26 minutes.

“Were we expecting it? No. Did I think he had it in him? Yes,” Iona coach Tim Cluess told SNY.tv after the game. “I thought he had a very nice first game out there. Obviously, there’s a lot of things he has to learn to fit within our team, but individually he did a really good job and we expect big things out of him as we go forward.”

Hurleys, St. Anthony

Brown Scores 20 as St. Anthony Sets New Jersey Record

December 21, 2012

author: Adam Zagoria

Temple-bound guard Josh Brown scored a career-high 20 points as St. Anthony set a modern-day New Jersey record with its 67th straight win Thursday night.

Bob Hurley’s Friars defeated Newark Central, 73-33, to improve to 2-0 on the season.

“I don’t look in that locker room and see a lot of the 67-game winning streak,” Hurley told Mike Kinney of MSGVarsity.com. “Yes, it happened, but we’re in the now. And the now needs to get a lot better.”

After St. Anthony beat Neptune on Saturday, Hurley pointed out that other players — Myles Mack, Lucious Jones, Jerome Frink and Kyle Anderson — formed the core of the teams that won 65 straight games and two New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles over the previous two years.

Articles, Duke

Jabari Parker Picks Duke Over Michigan State, Others (UPDATED)

December 20, 2012

author: Adam Zagoria

Jabari Parker finally made his college announcement on Thursday.

“The fall of 2013 I will be attending,” he said before asking for help from Simeon Career Academy coach Rob Smith with holding up a blue shirt, “I will be attending Duke University.

The 6-foot-8, 220-pound Parker is the No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2013, he has led Simeon to three straight Illinois state championships and was the 2012 Gatorade National Player of the Year. He was down to Duke, Michigan State, Florida, BYU and Stanford.

“I just chose Duke because it was the perfect fit for me,” he said. “I think Coach [Mike] Krzyzewski…he’s just interested and he’s really played a key hand in my development, even throughout high school and telling me basic things in what I need to do. And I just felt comfortable.”

Michigan State coaches Tom Izzo and Dwayne Stephens got the last visit with Parker and his family Wednesday, but Coach K’s visit on Tuesday proved to be enough.