April 2013 | Page 11 of 32 | 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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Saturday / November 23.

Having received his release from Rutgers, Eli Carter is on the move.

Duke, Florida, Oregon State, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, Nebraska, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Xavier, Missouri, Buffalo, Marquette, Creighton and N.C. State are among those that have reached out to Carter’s AAU coach, Brian Coleman of Sports U.

“Right now his dad wants to talk to a few coaches and see what their plans are for him and where they see him fitting into their program,” Coleman told SNY.tv after leading Sports U to the Pitt JamFest championship over DC Assault, 48-45.

“He’s kind of open, he’s looking for the best fit where he can get a chance to showcase himself.”

Coleman said Rashon Burno of Florida, a former St. Anthony standout, had reached out, as has Duke’s Steve Wojciechowski. Keep in mind that Carter’s best friend is former Duke star Kyrie Irving.

The Knicks won Game 1 against the Celtics without Pablo Prigioni, but Knicks coach Mike Woodson hopes to have the veteran point guard back for Game 2 on Tuesday.

“He’s still day-to-day and we don’t know if he will be ready on Tuesday,” Woodson said Sunday on a conference call of Prigioni, who badly sprained his right ankle in the regular season finale against Atlanta on Wednesday.

“And if he is he’ll play. If he tells me he’s ready. We’ll practice [Monday] and get a feel of where he is tomorrow. If he feels pretty good by Tuesday I’ll play him because I know what he brings. He brings high energy and he knows how to run a team. We just gotta wait till Tuesday to know where we are with him.”

Playing in his last game ever as a high school student. Andrew Wiggins came up a winner.

The 6-foot-7 senior from Huntington (W.V.) Prep went for 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists as the World Team defeated the USA team, 112-98, in Portland, Ore.

Wiggins went for 20 points and seven rebounds a year ago when the World beat the USA, 84-75.

Livio Jean-Charles, a 6-9 Frenchman, led the World Team with 27 points and 13 rebounds. German point guard Dennis Schroder added 18 points and six assists.

The USA had never lost consecutive games to the World Team before.

“It means a lot, it’s never been done and it means even more because I have a Canadian coach with me … so it’s a special thing we can cherish and it’s a special opportunity to be here and play against the best,” Wiggins, who is expected to play with Canada at the U-20 World Championships this summer, told Michael Grange of sportsnet.ca.

“It’s great to make Canada proud. They support me through my ups and downs. They’re always going to be there and never turn their back on me.”

Former Rutgers commit Shane Rector didn’t need more than one visit to pick his next destination.

The 6-foot-1, 176-pound point guard from South Kent (Conn.) verbally pledged to Missouri on Saturday.

“Yeah, I did,” he told SNY.tv by phone. “I felt like it was a good fit for me. The coaches, they explained well how I would fit in and be able to contribute to the team right away.

“I felt like they had a good team. I felt like it was a good fit for me.”

Butler, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall and Western Kentucky also expressed interest in Rector recently.

The news was first reported by Scout.com.

By DAN KELLY

Special to ZAGSBLOG

NEW YORK — With 40 seconds remaining and the Knicks clinging to a five-point lead, Carmelo Anthony fired a pass, high and hard, into the paint.

Kenyon Martin snagged it, then laid it in, and the Knicks held on for an 85-78 win over the Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series.

“Terrible pass,” Martin said. “Melo said ‘Thanks for bailing me out.'”

More relevant than the pass or the catch was the fact that it was Martin and not Tyson Chandler logging those essential fourth-quarter minutes. The Knicks’ starting center, who missed 16 of the last 20 games with a bulging disc in his neck, sat down midway through the third quarter and never checked back into the game.

NEW YORK — It has been a decade since Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin helped lead the New Jersey Nets to back-to-back NBA Finals.

Now here it is 10 years later, and the two cagey veterans played a critical role in helping the Knicks take a 1-0 series lead on the Boston Celtics with an 85-78 victory Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

While Carmelo Anthony once again led the way with a game-high 36 points, the 40-year-old Kidd played brilliantly, putting up eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three critical steals down the stretch.

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