Basketball 'Fan Fest' to be Held Oct. 13 in PMAC

BATON ROUGE -- The LSU men's and women's basketball programs will open their official pre-season practices with Fan Fest activities at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Friday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. There is no admission charge for the event. The evening of October 13 is the first night that Division I college basketball programs can begin practice in preparation for the 2006-07 season. The evening will begin with an autograph session on the upper concourse of the Assembly Center with free posters and schedule cards for both teams available. Following the autograph session, both teams will be introduced and their will be a series of contests and games involving both teams and fans chosen from the crowd who will have a chance to be on the court and participate with the men's and women's basketball team in various activities.

Read More

Oklahoma Basketball Legend Dixie Woodall Reflects on Career

What she gave basketball in return was an All-American career. A lifetime ambassadorship. A pilgrimage of honor. Dixie Woodall became an international symbol for American basketball. First as player. Then as a coach. Then as a diplomat. Dixie Woodall, from Creek County, Oklahoma, took the game of basketball to the capitals of the world. From Russia and Switzerland to China and South America, to every port o' call in between, Dixie Woodall combined basketball skills and palace diplomacy into global celebrity. Yet she was an even brighter star back home. A three-time All-American. A national championship coach. And, as of 2005, a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Dixie Woodall, a product of the Oklahoma farmland, had scaled the basketball mountaintop.

Read More

Tigers right in the hunters' sights

MELBOURNE Tigers, as last season's National Basketball League champions, have had a big target on their chests since they beat Sydney Kings 3-0 in the grand final. At the pre-season tournament in Coffs Harbour at the weekend, the Tigers got a good look at who will be firing real bullets at them and who will be using blanks. Appropriately, it will be Brisbane, the league's Bullets, in the prime shooting position, the value of their recruitment of internationals C.J. Bruton and Ebi Ere and their development of young talent such as Adam Gibson and Brad Williamson on show in a Blitz-winning performance. The Kings, as usual, will have a powerful armory, Cairns Taipans have added guns and a group that includes Perth Wildcats, Adelaide 36ers, New Zealand Breakers, Townsville Crocodiles, Wollongong Hawks and the new South Dragons can inflict more than glancing wounds.

Read More

Pete Barth column: NBA hurts basketball in the US

If I wasn't so dang patriotic, I would absolutely love this Greek basketball team, and would have rooted for Greece in this game. Greece doesn't have an NBA player, but it plays the game right. Its players are smart, cohesive and fundamentally sound the traits our NBA has lacked for more than a decade. Did you see the game? How many times did our guys bungle defensive switches on Greek high-post pick-and-roll plays? How many free throws did we miss? How many times did we foul 3-point shooters in the act? How many times did our guys go for blocked shots after driving Greek players got too deep, rather than moving their feet and preventing penetration? What's most disappointing about this U.S. team's loss is that our guys are truly a likeable bunch.

Read More

Inside Pro Basketball: Shane's Worlds

In early August, the U.S. team traveled to Guangzhou, China, to play a series of exhibition games before the world basketball championships in Japan. On the team's first day in the city, forward Shane Battier and center Brad Miller headed out from their hotel to an electronics store, but within five minutes they had to leave. "We literally could not walk through the store anymore," says Battier. "People were trying to grab us and take pictures and get autographs. It was 'Mr. Battier, sign, photo please.' Brad and I are not marquee guys on the team, but they knew who we were and were excited to see us." ... To get immediate access to this complete story you must be a SPORTS ILLUSTRATED magazine subscriber. If you are not currently a subscriber, see below for a special offer.

Read More