Athlon is another venerable name in the sports preview magazine industry and this season marks their 13th producing a college basketball annual. Since there are only two previews (Athlon & Lindy’s) out on newsstands at the time I write this, it’s inevitable that this review of Athlon will in some respects be a comparison to Lindy’s, which was reviewed last week.

Full review after the jump…. Continue Reading »
Reviewing the Previews: Athlon College Basketball 2006-2007

The Milwaukee Bucks, who had unveiled a purple-free revision of their logo earlier in the summer, introduced some sharp new uniform designs today at a preseason event.

I’m a big follower of uniform changes and I give this one high marks. The Bucks’ previous jerseys smelled of the worst hallmarks of 90’s jersey designs. The new ones go back to the classic green and red color scheme and have a great old school feel mixed with a new school cut and style.  It embraces tradition without being stodgy and just plain works.

Competition in the NBA’s Southwest Division was already tight but just got a little tighter with news that Bonzi Wells signed a two-year, $5 million free agent deal with the Houston Rockets.

I’d been up and down on the Rockets’ offseason moves for most of the summer. Although I appreciate the things Shane Battier can add to a team, I thought having to trade away a scorer like Rudy Gay (who fell into the Rockets’ lap at the draft) was too high a cost, particularly with Tracy McGrady’s bad back.

Picking up a player like Bonzi Wells however, makes the Battier trade look a lot better and ensures that the Rockets will be in the mix this season. Wells gives Houston a proven scorer who can do a little both inside and outside, as well as gives McGrady another outlet scoring option besides Yao. With Battier’s proven shooting touch also added to the mix, opposing teams won’t be able to double and triple up on McGrady quite the same way. Additionally, Yao is a tremendous passer out of the post and they could run some interesting things through him.

With the Wells signing, I think the Rockets will move ahead of the Grizzlies this year (particularly with Pau Gasol’s foot injury) and contend with the Hornets for the third spot in the Southwest. Dallas and San Antonio are still the class of the Division and will battle for the 1 & 2 spots.

Wells history of team chemistry problems is well-known, but I think that the relative lack of interest he saw in this year’s free agent market will give him a little hunger to prove himself for his next contract.

First up in our assault on the ‘06-’07 preview mags is Lindy’s College Basketball. Lindy’s is one of the older names in the preview game and have been publishing football preview mags for as long as I can remember.

This is the ninth edition of their college hoops version and was the first of the previews that I saw on the newsstands. Being among the first has its obvious advantages and disadvantages. It gets first to market, but will of course be missing some important info such as schedules and up-to-date rosters. In that respect, it’s important to view Lindy’s as a placesetter type of resource. It’s likely not something you’ll be pulling up frequently once the season starts, but it helps get the mind ready for basketball and helps set up a lot of the plots and subplots that will carry over into the Fall.

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Reviewing the Previews: Lindy’s College Basketball 2006-2007

It’s September and the newsstands are beginning to be proliferated by both pro and college basketball preview magazines.  I’ve picked up two of the college ones so far, Athlon and Lindy’s, and will be posting a review of each tomorrow.  Neither of them are anywhere in Blue Ribbon’s class, but it’s nice to see visual evidence that the basketball season is nearing.

I really want to hit some of the areas not normally explored and reviewing the preview magazines will be one of those areas.

Keep your eyes glued the next few days…