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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.

Sonny Vaccaro knows a thing or two about the sneaker wars.

Having signed Michael Jordan (Nike) and Kobe Bryant (Adidas) to their mega-million-dollar shoe deals, and endeavored to do the same with LeBron James, no man walking planet Earth knows more about the business than Vaccaro.

So when he says that Andrew Wiggins could inspire a unique kind of sneaker war in 2014, it pays to listen.

“There’s not been a three-[company] race before. I’m saying there are three viable candidates,” Vaccaro, 73, told SNY.tv about the 6-foot-7 Wiggins, who on Tuesday shocked the basketball world by picking Kansas over Florida State, Kentucky and North Carolina.

http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp?content_id=27163189

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — After a one-game experiment with a bigger lineup ended in another Knicks’ loss, Mike Woodson says he’s strongly considering abandoning the experiment and reverting to the small lineup for Game 4.

In an attempt to get more size into the lineup against the bigger Indiana Pacers, Woodson started Kenyon Martin at the four and shifted Pablo Prigioni to the bench. Carmelo Anthony, who played the four in the Knicks’ small lineup, shifted to the three alonside Martin and Tyson Chandler.

The Prigioni lineup went 16-2 down the regular-season stretch, while the big lineup lost Game 4, 93-82, pushing the Knicks to the brink of elimination entering Thursday’s game 5 at Madison Square Garden.

http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp?content_id=27163189

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — J.R. Smith was backed into a corner of the gym and surrounded by about 20 media members during an interview at the Knicks’ practice facility Wednesday.

Then Knicks’ assistant Darrell Walker walked out of a nearby door, noticed the situation and said to Smith, “Got you backed in a corner, huh young fella? You know what happens when they back a dog in the corner?”

“I know,” Smith answered with a smile, “we gonna find out.”

The situation was a perfect metaphor for the Knicks, who are down 3-1 to the Indiana Pacers and face a must-win situation in Game 5 Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

By CHIP MILLER & ADAM ZAGORIA

FRISCO, TexasD’Angelo Russell is one of the top guards in the Class of 2014 and recently picked up offers from North Carolina and Florida to add to his stack of offers.

As of now, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard from reigning ESPN NHSI champion Montverde (Fla.) Academy is planning on taking a few visits in the coming weeks.

“I have a visit set up with Kentucky when I get back home and I’m trying to get up to Michigan State, Ohio State again, North Carolina,” Russell told SNY.tv. at the Nike EYBL stop here last weekend. “Those are the schools that I can think of that I have visits set up for.”

2014 point guard Chris Chiozza is off the board.

The 5-foot-11 point guard from Memphis (Tenn.) White Station picked Florida Tuesday.

“Feels good to be a gator #florida #universityofflorida #chomp,” he Tweeted.

He also considered Ohio State, Memphis, Tennessee, Auburn, UMass and Richmond.

“Florida’s always been one of my top three schools since I was a little kid,” Chiozza told SNY.tv recently in Fort Wayne, IN. “I’ve always loved watching them. I’d alsolove to play with Kasey Hill and Chris Walker, if they’re still there. They’re also recruiting my teammate Leron [Black] so that’s a school where we could play together.”

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