#GregAlcala

A Diamond In the Rough: Sean Kilpatrick Earns His Spot In The NBA

Gregory Alcala

Dec 30, 2016
4 min

A Diamond In the Rough: Sean Kilpatrick Earns His Spot In The NBA

When Sean Kilpatrick left the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team in 2014, the Yonkers, NY native left behind a legacy. Over his four-year career as a Bearcat, Kilpatrick amassed over 2,145 points, ranked second in the program’s history to Oscar Robertson, and led the Bearcats to four straight NCAA tournament berths. Prior to Kilpatrick’s arrival, Cincinnati missed the big dance five-years in a row, then a part of the Conference USA conference. During his collegiat

Greg Alcala

Aug 1, 2016
3 min

The Top 5 Dunkers in the NBA

*Photo via NBA.com This past year’s dunk contest will go down as one of the best in NBA history. Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine battled dunk-for-dunk, reminiscent of the dunk wars featuring his “Airness”, Michael Jordan and “The Human Highlight Film,”, Dominique Wilkins. Since I did not grow up watching Jordan and Wilkins in the dunk contest or just in general, when I think about the greatest dunkers in NBA history that I myself have witnessed, I’m talking about Vince Carter, L

Greg Alcala

Jul 10, 2016
5 min

5 Underrated Signings This Offseason

Mike Conley agreed to remain with the Memphis Grizzlies for 5-years, $153 million; the biggest contract in NBA history. Ian Mahinmi received $64 million from the Washington Wizards and Al Horford joined the Boston Celtics for 4-years,$113 million. None of it makes sense, especially Mahinmi’s deal but I guess this is what the increased salary cap world looks like. However, there are some players flying under the radar that won’t just be wearing new jersey’s but will be upgradi

Greg Alcala

Jul 2, 2016
2 min

Offseason Preview: New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans Pelicans (30-52) *Photo via Getty Images Recap After making the playoffs for the first time last year since the rebranding of the franchise, the New Orleans Pelicans failed to repeat the same success. Jrue Holiday missed significant time along with Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans and the franchise player, Anthony Davis. As well, it seemed that the team just wasn’t able to be on the floor at the same time to get anything going. Going forward some of their key players are

Greg Alcala

Jul 2, 2016
2 min

Offseason Preview: Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets (41-41) *Photo via Getty Images Recap In a season where the Rockets barely made the playoffs, the narrative surrounding the team didn’t feature a together-bunch striving to defy the odds but rather a potential on-going feud between the team’s two stars. James Harden and Dwight Howard obviously cannot play together. Which is why Howard bolted for Atlanta but his exit only highlights the dysfunction in the Rockets organization. In the last couple of seasons, the

Greg Alcala

Jul 1, 2016
2 min

Offseason Preview: San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs (67-15) *Photo via GQ.com Recap The San Antonio Spurs, also known as SAS, are “Still Here” just like the Drake track. Last season they made the playoffs, which isn’t news to anyone, and eventually loss in the second round to the younger, more athletically built Oklahoma City Thunder. Even with horses such as Kawhi Leonard and newbie, LaMarcus Aldridge the Spurs could not overcome the fact that their core was past its prime and not prepared to rely on their f

Greg Alcala

Jun 21, 2016
2 min

Offseason Preview: Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers (10-72) *Photo via NBC Recap Philly. The City of brotherly love. Sometimes I wonder if there’s any love in Philly for the 76ers. Yes, the history is rich. Dr. J,. Allen Iverson. Charles Barkley. These Sixers? Not so rich. How about the fact that they only won 10 games this past season and will be in the lottery on Thursday, again, for the fourth straight year. If there was no other reason to purchase a Sixers ticket, Jahlil Okafor helped in that regard. Las

Greg Alcala

Jun 21, 2016
3 min

Offseason Preview: Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn Nets (21-61) *Photo via Sportsdaily Recap Now we're getting to the worst of the worst. The Deron Williams experiment didn’t work. Joe Johnson is gone. Billy King is history. The Nets lottery pick this year, 3rd overall to be exact, belongs to the Celtics due to the deal that brought the Nets Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, back in 2014. Last season, the Nets took a team led by Jarrett Jack, Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young up against the elite of the NBA for the 2015-16

Greg Alcala

Jun 21, 2016
3 min

Offseason Preview: New York Knicks

New York Knicks (32-50) Recap *Photo via Huffington Post When you live in NY, sometimes you find yourself complaining about all of the bad opposed to the good that’s here. Taxes. Late buses. Congested streets. Not enough spaces. If you’re a New York Knicks fan, they just add to your long list of problems. The Knicks finished 32-50, their usual irrelevant selves, and just added yet another year of futile basketball in the Mecca of BASKETBALL. Despite the lowlights, there were

Greg Alcala

Jun 21, 2016
3 min

Offseason Preview: Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics (48-34) *Photo via Yardbarker Recap Every team that hasn’t enjoyed sustained success over the past decade, *cough, *cough*, the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Sacramento Kings, and there’s more, should aspire and desire to be where the Boston Celtics are in present day. They’ve got it all. An All-Star. A solid bench. Talent. Team chemistry and the best part of it all: they’re all young. No to mention, the head coach Brad Stevens is 39 years old, t

NBA Finals Matchup: Tristan Thompson vs. Andrew Bogut

Greg Alcala

Jun 3, 2016
4 min

NBA Finals Matchup: Tristan Thompson vs. Andrew Bogut

*Photo via Getty Images Tristan Thompson, PF-C, Cleveland Cavaliers Postseason Stats: 4.9 pts, 8.4 rebs, 0.7 assts, 42% FG, 0% 3-pt FG, 0.4 stls, 0.9 blks, 1.0 tos Strengths: Tristan Thompson signed a five-year, $82 million-dollar deal back in October of 2015 to remain a Cleveland Cavalier for just a little while longer, and how could you blame him? He’s playing on a championship caliber team with a rising star in Kyrie Irving and arguably the best overall player in the NBA,

Greg Alcala

May 22, 2016
6 min

Should Duncan Retire?

*Photo via SLAM This postseason, things actually didn’t go the way it usually does for the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 113-99 in Game 6 of their Western Conference semi-finals round, eliminating one of the most successful organizations in sports from the postseason. No one expected a blowout loss; no one expected the Spurs to lose in that kind of fashion. No one expected the Spurs to lose! (At least not this suddenly). With the opportunity

Will Toronto Be Able to Carry Over Their Regular Season Success?

Greg Alcala

Apr 21, 2016
4 min

Will Toronto Be Able to Carry Over Their Regular Season Success?

*Photo via USA Today At season's end, the Toronto Raptors remained exactly what they have been in the Eastern Conference for the last three years. Darn Good. Canada’s pride in professional basketball finished the 2015-16 season, 56-26, 1st in the Atlantic Division, and 2nd in the Eastern Conference joining none other than the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat as the cream of the crop. As the 2nd seed, the Raptors drew the 7th seeded Indiana Pacers in the first round and

Greg Alcala

Apr 11, 2016
7 min

Dwight's Next Stop

*Photo via USA Today Dwight Howard had a great rise to superstardom straight out of high school. He had the size, the game and the smile, and for a while it seemed like Howard would be one of the few bigs in the game that could actually pick up where recently inducted hall-of-famer, Shaquille O’Neal left off. And he was. In his third year, Howard was selected to represent the East as an All-Star for the first time of his career, validating a season in which he averaged a doub

Greg Alcala

Mar 22, 2016
4 min

The Rise of Jabari Parker

*Photo via USA Today 2014 NBA top overall pick Andrew Wiggins has not disappointed in his a year and a half into his bright pro career as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The rising star is averaging 20.7 ppg, a four-point improvement from his first year, when he scored 16.9 ppg en route to the rookie-of-the-year award. Wiggins is living up to the expectations that a first round pick warrants. In addition to Minnesota basketball fans, fans worldwide who have followed t

What Joe Johnson's Vacancy Means for the Nets

Greg Alcala

Mar 9, 2016
5 min

What Joe Johnson's Vacancy Means for the Nets

*Photo via Getty Images February 25, 2016 became the end of an era in Brooklyn Nets history. Joe Johnson reached a buyout agreement with the Nets signaling the end to what was the failed Deron Williams-Joe Johnson-Brook Lopez experiment. Nothing significantly positive resulted from the culmination of stars besides a couple of playoff appearances and no championships. This season, Johnson served as a role player on one of the worst teams in the NBA and the buyout not only bene

Greg Alcala

Feb 28, 2016
5 min

Trade Deadline Failures

This NBA seasons 2015-16 trading deadline came and went like your average day. Nothing spectacular happened. Nobody’s lives changed. Instead of Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, and Jeff Teague receiving new area codes, Channing Frye, Markieff Morris, and Lance Stephenson garnered the NBA world’s attention. Don’t sleep on the deal that sent Tobias Harris to the Detroit Pistons, which was probably the only bright spot of the deadline. The lack of spark and excitement that a majo

Greg Alcala

Feb 19, 2016
4 min

The Firing of Derek Fisher

*Photo via USA Today Prior to recent events, if someone were to play the “word association” game with you and the name Derek Fisher surfaced, what words would you think of? My top three words would be Honorable, Honest, and most significantly, Champion. These three words have followed Fisher throughout his career. He’s been class personified. Every teammate, including some of the NBA’s most notable, have described the Little Rock, Arkansas native as their BEST teammate ever.

OTG Staff

Feb 17, 2016
5 min

Roundtable: All-Star Weekend

All-Star Weekend was pretty dope, but just like we saw in the Verizon Slam Dunk Contest, there can only be one. What was your highlight of All-Star Weekend? Romana Bholat (@Ro_ma_na) – The highlight of a very memorable All-Star Weekend was definitely Kanye West dropping his long-awaited album, The Life of Pablo. Okay, I’m (partially) kidding, but that for sure added to a weekend that’ll live in All-Star infamy. Now that ASW is done, I can admit that I thought this year’s dunk

Greg Alcala

Feb 9, 2016
5 min

Is LeBron James a Coach Killer?

*Photo via Getty Images On January 22nd, the Cleveland Cavaliers, then sporting the best record in the Eastern Conference (30-11), decided to let go of their head coach, David Blatt. Being the clear class of the Eastern Conference and the favorites to go back to the NBA Finals could not hide the fact that the Cavs, internally, were a dysfunctional group. LeBron James was at the head of it. Last season there were several instances where Lebron showed a blatant disrespect for B

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