Hoops on TV Week: Jan 29-Feb 4

Here's our look at highlights from the next 7 days of basketball on TV. We come at it from the perspective of an NBA fan for the most part - college/high-school listings will focus on top prospects, as well as the biggest games. All times Eastern.

THURSDAY, JAN. 29
1 p.m.: ABA - 1976 All-Star Game, NBA TV
The last ABA All-Star Game. Not sure if they show the Glen Campbell pre-game concert.

8 p.m.: NBA - Cavaliers at Magic, TNT
Here's a hint: pretty much any time there's some combo of the league's elite teams (LAL, BOS, CLE, ORL) and players (add MIA, NO), it's going to be included on here.

10:30 p.m.: NBA - Spurs at Suns, TNT
Won't be seeing too many more matchups of the two dominant players of the '00s - Shaq and Timmy.

11 p.m.: NCAA - (22) St. Mary's at (20) Gonzaga, ESPN2
WCC powerhouses square off, including prospects Austin Daye and Patty Mills.

FRIDAY, JAN. 30
1 a.m.: NBA - 1988 Three-Point Shootout, NBA TV
Still the greatest shootout ever, because of this:


2 p.m.: NBA - 1980 All-Star Game, NBA TV
Bird and Magic's rookie ASG goes to OT.

5 p.m.: NBA - Pistons at Celtics (1987 ECF, Game 5), ESPN Classic
Bird makes the steal:


8 p.m.: NBA - Lakers at Timberwolves, League Pass
Good test for Minny, who's been one of the best teams in the league since the New Year.

9:30 p.m.: NBA - Warriors at Hornets, ESPN
Hopefully, Monta's starting to get his legs under him by this one, so he can run and gun with CP3.

SATURDAY, JAN. 31
1 p.m.: Euroleague - Real Madrid v FC Barcelona, NBA TV
Matchup of the eternal Spanish rivals.

4 p.m.: NBA - 1982 All-Star Game, NBA TV
Shaping up as quite a TV week for Larry Bird, as he was the MVP of this tight game. I can't remember if it was '80 or '82 where he made a gorgeous touch pass down the stretch. I think it was '80. KD, help me out here.

7 p.m.: NBA - Knicks at Pacers, League Pass
The two teams who give up the most PPG in the league. Get a little Granger in your life.

SUNDAY, FEB. 1
Noon: NBA - Magic at Raptors, League Pass
This is mainly a way to say "Booooooooo!" to ABC and its Cavs-Pistons afternoon matchup. We remember when the pre-Super Bowl NBA game was annually a titanic matchup, one of the top games of the year. Give us some combo of Cavs, Celtics and Lakers here. No Pistons, please.

7 p.m.: NBA - 1984 All-Star Game, NBA TV
If the Super Bowl bores you, you've got a high-scoring OT game in Denver with Magic setting a record with 22 assists.

MONDAY, FEB. 2
4 p.m.: NBA - 1985 All-Star Game, NBA TV
The famous Isiah-organized "freeze out" of MJ in his rookie year.

7 p.m.: NCAA - (7) Louisville at (2) Connecticut, ESPN
Enigmatic prospects (Hasheem Thabeet, Earl Clark, Terrence Williams) and pompous coaches galore.

7:30 p.m.: NBA - Lakers at Knicks, League Pass
Sometimes I don't get the schedule - it seems like Kobe and the Lakers at the Garden is worthy of a national broadcast.

TUESDAY, FEB. 3
Noon: SportsCentury - Magic Johnson, ESPN Classic

4 p.m.: NBA - 1987 All-Star Game, NBA TV
Bill Simmons rates this as the greatest All-Star Game of all time. I still favor 1992 and 2001, and last year's was pretty good, too, despite the two-tone unis.

7 p.m.: NBA - 1988 All-Star Game, NBA TV
MJ pwns Chicago: he takes the ASG MVP after his controversial homer win over Nique in the dunk contest.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4
Noon: SportsCentury - Bill Walton, ESPN Classic
The greatest SportsCentury episode in the history of Western civilization.

7:30 p.m.: NBA - Cavaliers at Knicks, League Pass
See what I said above about Kobe and the Lakers @ MSG being worthy of a national telecast? Well, quadruple that sentiment here. Wow, huge week at the Garden.

8 p.m.: NBA - Bulls at Hornets, League Pass
Derrick Rose tries his luck vs. Chris Paul.

8 p.m.: NBA - Bulls at Celtics (1991), ESPN Classic
I love classic games like this - just a random otherwise-forgotten quality regular-season matchup, in this case, between the 53-17 Bulls and the 51-20 Celtics. Click here if you want to know the results, but otherwise I won't spoil it, except to give you these numbers:
- Jordan: 37-7-9
- Bird: 34-15-8
- Pippen: 35-10-9
- R Lewis: 25 pts, 4 blk
And those '91 Bulls are one of my all-time favorite teams to watch b/c of the way they trapped so aggressively on D with the "Dobermans": Jordan, Pippen and Grant.

Have a great hoop week.