Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
AP
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio - LeBron James is still talkin’ the walk.
Two days after he was surprisingly whistled for traveling in the closing seconds of Cleveland’s 80-77 loss at Washington, James maintains his “crab dribble” was legal and that he has no plans to remove it from his arsenal.
The Cavaliers superstar was adamant after the game that he didn’t walk. He said it was a “bad call” and that “they (the NBA) need to look at it and they need to understand that’s not a travel.”
King James hasn’t changed his stance.
“I’ve done that move plenty of times and I believe it’s a good move,” he said after practice on Tuesday. “If they called it more consistently, then I guess it ain’t a good move then and I’ll change my game. But it’s not called consistently.”
James was driving for a potential tying basket when referee Bill Spooner called him for the traveling violation. James was stunned and so were many of the Wizards, who have complained in the past that James takes extra steps when he attacks the basket.
Spooner explained his call in an e-mail: “3 steps on the move to the basket. Basic travel call.”
An NBA spokesman said the league supports Spooner’s call.
The did-he-or-didn’t-he-walk debate has raged since the final horn, much to James’ amusement.
“Everything I do is a big deal,” James said, smiling. “It’s easy for people who don’t play the game of basketball to say something about a certain move. You hear all the people on SportsCenter talk about it, but they’ve never touched a basketball in their lives. They just report about it.”
James appreciates how difficult it is for officials to make split-second decisions in a game where the players are getting bigger, faster and stronger each year.
“It’s definitely tough,” he said. “We all make mistakes. I’m not downplaying the refs because they do an unbelievable job. I couldn’t do it. It is tough because guys can do a lot of things that they couldn’t do back in the 60s and 70s.”
James raised some eyebrows when he called his infamous move at Washington a “crab dribble,” an unknown term to most league observers.
He described it as a hesitation dribble he uses to slow down the defense before he accelerates toward the rim. James feels he should be entitled to two steps once he stops dribbling.
|
“If they take it away like they’ve done before with the hop step, I’ll find a way to do something else,” he said.
During his first two seasons, James often was called for traveling when he would hop on both feet while taking a layup. The league cracked down on his patented move, forcing him to do other things but hardly interrupting his ascent to stardom.
“How have I fared after that?” he deadpanned. “I’ll be fine if they take this away, too.”
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
 | Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
 Lin on on 'Linsanity' Knicks guard Jeremy Lin discusses the hype surrounding his recent rise in New York. |
 | Slideshow |
 |
more photos |
Ask the NBA expert: Ira Winderman |
Do you have a burning NBA question? Submit it now, and then check back for our reader mailbag. |  |
 | Special feature |
 |
Who will be MVP? Interactive: Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration). NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 |
more photos |
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
