Don't look now but the best basketball team in New York in two years won't reside in Madison Square Garden (though they will be tenants) or the Barclay Center in Brooklyn.  They will hail from Utopia Parkway in Queens, NY.

St. John's Head Basketball Coach Steve Lavin is constructing a Big East behemoth that hasn't been seen since Lou Carnesseca roamed the sidelines with the likes of Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, and Mark Jackson.  Since Lavin replaced Norm Roberts as the head coach, he has expanded the reach of the St. John's brand by reaching into California for top recruits Dwayne Polee, Jr., added Maurice Harkless who decomitted to Big East and perennial national championship contender UConn, and Davontay Grace has just added Jakarr Sampson to the fold.

Lavin has upset the preconceptions of St. John's basketball by reinventing the staid program.  The reason he was hired was to do exactly what he has done, breath new life in a program that has become irrelevant nationally, in the Big East, and locally.  The west coast bred coach has defied all previous thoughts that St. John's requires a head coach that is a New Yorker and understands the "New York" basketball mentality.  Now, if he can coach these recruits on the court the Big East will be looking up at St. John's.  And St. John's will not be looking up to too many teams nationally.  They will be playing deep into March.

With two weeks to go to the opening of NBA training camps, All-Star point guard Allen Iverson is having to look elsewhere to continue his career.  His agent reports that none of the NBA teams have contacted Iverson about coming to play for them this season.  Reports are that there is strong interest by a Chinese team for Iverson to play this season, viewing the 35 year old as a drawing card for a country hungry for basketball.

Names like those of the recent NBA free agent class were missing.  No LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, or Chris Bosh.  Nor any other of the NBA superstars like Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett.

But for the first time in 16 years the USA men's basketball team won the James Naismith Trophy as champions of the world.  Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, if not already thought of in the same group as those listed above, has just submitted his resume for inclusion.  Following up games of 33 and 38 points (a USA team record) with 28 in Sunday's 81-64 clinching game against Turkey.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski has now won an NCAA championship, Olympic Gold Medal, and a World Championship.

The US Men's World Championship Team is on a roll.  Yesterday they beat-up on Lithuania 89-74 to now face a showdown with Turkey on Sunday for the World Championship.  Kevin Durant set a record for most points in game by a member of a USA team with 38.  The US team now has a chance to capture its first World Championship since 1994.

When we were (and some of us still are) kids, we would take the new kids to the neighborhood and teach them our games so we would have more kids to play with, always assuring we would have enough, and make new friends.  What we didn't learn when we were kids was how to deal with the fact that the kids we taught would become better at our game than we were.  Talk about a blow to your confidence and collective ego. 

That is what the United States is facing since the NBA spearheaded basketball's global expansion when David Stern took over as commander-in-chief.  Take a look at NBA rosters and you will see a lot of foreign nationals playing for your local team.  Another showing of how good the new kids on the block are is the fact that the US has not won the World Championship in 16 years.

On Monday the US survived an opening round game against Brazil, 70-68.  This is with a team that boasts some of the best NBA talent not named LeBron, Kobe, or Dwayne.  Kevin Durant is continuing to demonstrate why he is the best kept secret in Oklahoma City by hitting for 27 points.  Chauncey Billups, added 15 points,

What is now understood by the US delegation is that the rest of the world has not just caught up to our skill and knowledge of the game, but in some ways has surpassed us.  Therefore they have knocked us of our complacency and forced us to take our game to another level.  If the US wants to once again dominated the world in the game it created, it will have to reinvest itself in the manner it teaches the game.  No longer will it be able to get by just on athleticism. 

Americans proudly thump their chests proclaiming they are the number one power in basketball.  But it has been 16 years, 16 years!, since the USA has been able to back-up that proclamation with a world championship title.

Kevin Durant, with 14 points helped lead an assault on Croatia in the opening round where every American player scored in a 106-78 rout.  There are no players on the roster from the 2008 U.S. Men's Olympic Gold  Medal team.  Instead, Coach Mike Krzyzewski's crew is made up of young and undersized players.  In their opening Group play, the USA will play its three toughest opponents back-to-back-to-back.  They continue play Sunday against Slovenia and then Brazil on Monday.

Lost in the sauce, as far as all the other factors, in LeBron James's decision to sign with the Miami Heat is the fact that Florida has no state income tax.  Whether making $30,000 or $100 million, that is a lot of tax dollars that is lost to the individual.  Player reps are exceptionally savvy in understanding that its not just signing the contract, assessing endorsement opportunities, its keeping the dollars.  And nothing assists that issue as not having to pay out more than necessary.

It has been wildly reported in the New York media that Denver Nuggets star forward Carmelo Anthony is forcing a trade to the Knicks the past two weeks by refusing to sign an extension with the team.  Now reports are surfacing that he actually prefers the Houston Rockets.  Why?  Texas, like Florida, has no state income tax.  There are a lot of reasons that a vast majority of professional athletes live in these southern states, besides the warm weather and opportunity to train year round, there is the fact that they can hold on to more of their earnings.

This is a huge advantage to any professional team in any sport to entice free agents to their team.  In New York, an athlete is is not just being assessed state taxes, but city taxes as well.  And with a NBA salary cap, their is no way to over pay the athlete to compensate what they will lose in tax dollars.