Naismith's Game

You got Rondo'd!

2011-04-19T23:03:00.005-04:00

Game 2

It's become a cliche heading into the playoffs but still seems to be forgotten. On the stretch run of any close postseason game there will be opportunities for every player on the roster to make a big play. In game 7 of the 2010 Finals many Celtics fans dreams came true when Ron Artest was forced to take some of the biggest shots down the stretch and those same Celtics fans dreams were shattered when he made them.

In this game Carmelo was brilliant both offensively and on the boards. His 17 rebounds went a long way towards the Knicks 53-37 rebound edge. He made Paul Pierce work EXTREMELY hard on the defensive end and I give Paul credit because Carmelo had no business making most of those shots.

Rondo was aggressive right from the start and that was a good omen for the Celtics. He was attacking the basket relentlessly and rightfully so. D'Antoni will have his hands full trying to convince Toney Douglas to somehow slow Rondo down if Billups can't come back in this series and the damage may already be done if Rondo holds onto the confidence this game should give him. I would have easily bet against Rondo scoring 30 in any game in this postseason.

In the end though, it was coaching adjustments and the plethora of options Doc Rivers had at his disposal that did the Knicks in. Carmelo was doubled very hard down the stretch and for the most part made the right passes. Often the Knicks did not make the extra pass out of the double team, settling for the first open jumpshot rather than the best one. When you put the pressure on guys like Roger Mason, Bill Walker, and Jared Jeffries to make big plays, more often than not they will not be made. Yes I concede how big Jeffries late bucket was, but he couldn't replicate it.

For the Celtics, they were able to go to an option they rarely use in a game winning situation. They went directly into KG in the post. No pick n roll with Paul. No flare screen for Ray in the corner. No back screen for an alley-oop layup. Just a good old fashioned post entry and a "There's no way you can stop this from happening Jared Jeffries" hook shot from KG. A welcome sight for Celtics fans.

The Celtics still have their concerns. Rebounding on both ends and their bench production has to be better. I find it hard to imagine Amare or Billups missing many more games unless they are really injured. With Amare on the floor it will be very difficult for the Celtics to double as hard as they did tonight. Most immediate concern of all? MSG and New York City will be ROCKING for Games 3 and 4 and Carmelo has his swagger after that performance.

For the Knicks, Landry Fields has to be a concern. He's been a strength for them all season and they can't afford to have any players lose their confidence or mindsets with no help at the end of the bench. Toney Douglas had better slow Rondo down some or drop 30 of his own, which is very possible.

The Celtics know that they can count on every person on the floor down the stretch and that is continually the difference against this Knicks team. It will be interesting to see if the D'Antoni can find a way to hide his ineffective players or to get his effective ones healthy again.

Block Party

2011-04-09T15:41:00.004-04:00

With less than a week left in the season, and Andrew Bogut being shut down for more surgery on his injured elbow, it is safe to say that he will lead the league in blocks per game. I just want to bring attention to this because Bogut has come to be one of the most under appreciated players in the game once again after flirting with gaining some notice during the Buck's exciting season last year. Let's face it, not many of us are watching Bucks games this year. They failed to progress from last season and fell into the muddled group of unimpressive eastern conference lottery teams.

Anyone who saw Bogut's injury last season should know how horrific it was. A dislocated elbow, sprained wrist, and broken hand seem to be an understatement after seeing the way his arm flailed about. I am no doctor, but I would dare to say that if anyone twisted a leg the way he twisted that arm they would likely never play professional basketball again. Yet Bogut underwent the surgeries, put the long hours into rehab and was able to play in 65 games this season. Sure, he shot only 44% from the free throw line but consider that he basically played the season with half the use he would normally have on that injured arm and it continually dislocated especially during the free throw motion. Naturally, his scoring was down, but Bogut was able to bring in a career high in rebounds averaging 11.1 a game and led the league in blocked shots at 2.58 per game.

In an NBA world where Kwame Brown and Greg Oden are condemned for not living up to the number 1 overall pick, Andrew Bogut should be praised. Sure he may not be the best player to come out of that draft, but nobody can question his character, his work ethic, or his production at the center position for a team most NBA fans disregard. If Greg Oden was lucky enough to someday develop into the player Bogut is even post-injury, than Portland would be counting their lucky stars.

Lastly, I just want to note a couple observations from looking at the league leaders in blocks.

Most of the names in the top ten are who'd you would expect if you followed the NBA at all this season, Javale Mcgee, Dwight Howard (third), Okafor, Duncan, Bynum, and yes even Darko should be expected.

Roy Hibbert wasn't only inconsistent in his scoring this year. He spent time at the top of this list during the season but finished 11th.

Dwayne Wade, not surprisingly, was the top guard on the list at 25th.

Tim Duncan led the league in blocks/foul at 1.19. The closest to him was Javale McGee at .83. Duncan does not cover the ground he once did defensively, but it is so telling that he is still able to block the amount of shots he does while being completely under control and limiting his fouls. Just another way this living legend is taken for granted.

Also not surprising is the leader in Blocks/per 48 minutes at 4.22: Serge IBLOCKA. Pairing Ibaka and Perkins in the same front court for the playoffs will scare any team not named the Lakers.

Celtics @ Bulls: Looking Ahead

2011-04-07T22:48:00.003-04:00

Here's the biggest difference about this Celtics team after the Perkins trade: their opponents are no longer afraid of them. It's not that Perkins is as scary as his mean mug aims at portraying him to be. It's what that group had accomplished in 2008 and 2010. Reference them as the starting 5 who never lost a playoff series, or include Baby Davis and call them the 6 with a ring. Regardless, that team had a mental edge over every other team in the league besides the Lakers. That's no longer the case and that was evident tonight in Chicago.

After the trade there is a seed of doubt planted in every opponents head. Bring Shaq back, and get good minutes out of Jeff Green and Nenad and those teams still have that little morsel of belief that they can topple this aging giant.

I want to be clear. This does not mean the Celtics have no shot at getting to the Finals. What it does mean is that this team is in for one hell of a battle to get there. If the Celtics thought that the playoffs were grueling last year... Regardless of what you think about the Heat, playing two talents like Lebron and Wade in a single playoff series will be daunting. Chicago? Well as we saw tonight, they believe in themselves, they will not back down, and they will defend. Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeau knows the Celtics in and out and the Celtics do not want to play a game 7 in Chicago where the Bulls are tied with the Spurs for a league-best 35-5.

The dirty little secret that Chicago has covered up by the exceptional play of Luol Deng is that the Bulls are not all that big of a team. Without, and probably even with, Shaq the Celtics have a big hole up front. The Bulls are not likely to exploit that weakness outside of Derrick Rose's antics. The Celtics will have to treat Chicago much like it often did with Orlando in the past and commit to forcing Rose to take as many jumpshots as possible and limit the rest of the team's scoring. Boozer struggles with length (which KG has in spades) and Noah struggles to score, as relentless as he is. Simply put, against the Bulls the Celtics are not at the disadvantage that has led to Roy Hibbert scoring explosions and will be utterly impossible to cover up against the Lakers should they meet.

Tonight's game may not have taught us much we didn't already know but it did reaffirm much of what we did. The Bulls are a very good team (especially defensively), they are not afraid of the Celtics, and they are great at home.

The Celtics take on the Wizards tomorrow night in the second of a back to back. They are 7-10 in games on the second night of a back to back this season. Keep an eye on Jordan Crawford who has scored double digits in 16 straight games and is averaging 21.5ppg over that span.

Stats that May or May not Matter:

Only 14 assists for the Celtics tonight, 6 by Rondo (Rose had 8)

Celtics were outshot 47%-38%

The Celtics were outscored by 22 points in the paint and were 2-10 from 3

18 of the Celtics 81 points were off turnovers, the Celtics half court sets were atrocious tonight and a lot of that was because of Chicago's defense; deflections, deflections, deflections...sound familiar?

Paul Mitchell Podcast

2010-04-26T18:08:00.003-04:00

Although I've been away from the blogging world, I've been paying plenty of attention to the NBA. Here I get together with my fellow lover of basketball Mitchell and talk about the happenings of this first round of the playoffs on the heels of that great Lakers-Thunder Game 3. Comments are welcome!

An expert in Rejection Should Be Prepared For It

2009-02-16T18:07:00.013-05:00

In a poll conducted on the web site of the South Florida

Sun-Sentinel (over 500 responses) 88.3% of the responses said that

Alonzo Mourning belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

I disagree.

On December 19, 2007, in Atlanta, Alonzo tore both his patella tendon and quadriceps tendon. After over a year of grueling rehabilitation, Alonzo announced his retirement on Thursday, January 22, 2009. Although he won’t be eligible for another five seasons, now that his body of work is complete, an immediate question comes to mind- Does Alonzo Mourning qualify for the Basketball Hall of Fame? Arguments can be made in Alonzo’s defense, but ultimately he does not qualify for the Hall of Fame.

To start with we must understand that the Basketball Hall of Fame differs in two fundamental ways from the more popular Baseball and Football Halls. The first is that, unlike those two sports, basketball has been played by both men and women for many years both at the college and professional level. In fact there are close to 20 female players and coaches already enshrined Women’s Basketball HOF with over 100 inductees. and there is actually a separate The second difference is that while baseball and football grew and developed as a sport here in the United States and later began to spread globally (more so baseball than football), the NBA was running clinics in Europe as early as the 1950’s just a few short years after the birth of the NBA in 1946 (Feinstein and Auerbach, 113). Football is not recognized as an Olympic sport and baseball only began Olympic play in 1992. Basketball was actually played in the 1936 Olympics and by 1972 the United States had missed out on the gold medal. Also is should be reiterated that this is the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. A player’s college career can support or hurt their case.

His freshman year at Georgetown University Alonzo blocked a school record (that stands today): 169 shots on a team that went within one game of the Final Four. He was named All Big-East in 1990 and 1992 and named a Consensus All-American in 1992 when he averaged 21.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 5.0 blocks per game. He was drafted number 2 overall in the 1992 draft and immediately had an impact on the NBA.

Alonzo’s NBA career can be split up into two halves: his first 8 season and his final 8 seasons. In his first 8 seasons he averaged just over 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks a game and 66 games a season. These are solid numbers that would suggest he should be in the conversation of Hall of Fame worthy. However, his numbers for the next 8 seasons, including his NBA Championship season, would not. During those seasons he averaged 9.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 blocks a game and 38 games a season, all very pedestrian numbers.

As I mentioned he won one NBA Championship in 2006 in which he contributed as a role player, he was named to the All-NBA team 1 time, and was a 7 time All-Star. His biggest individual accomplishment was being named Defensive Player of the Year twice. He was left off of the 1996 Olympic team which included three contemporaries David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal (future Hall of Famers), and Hakeem Olajuwon (recently inducted). Mourning was a part of the 2000 Olympic team that won Gold in Sydney and was outplayed by another future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.

Just after his Olympic experience something happened to Alonzo to explain the difference in his numbers between the first half of his career and the second half. He found out he had a serious kidney ailment, and missed most of the next season for treatment for focal glomeruloshlerosis. In 2003 he actually received a life-saving kidney transplant from a distant cousin (Perkins, par. 4-6). This may not have been under his control but it affected Mourning’s abilities nonetheless and the fact of the matter is Mourning was just not the same player after 2000. Alonzo was probably border-line at best in consideration for the HOF before 2000, and afterwards he has done nothing but water down his career.

Many of his supporters would argue that Alonzo’s contribution to society should be the deal-maker for induction. There is no doubt that Alonzo is one of the rare athletes that used his pedestal to do much good for people. In Miami particularly, he is regarded as “a South Florida icon respected as much for his charitable foundation as his ferocious dunks and blocked shots..,” says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He is involved in both organ donation awareness and especially active in education issues. “Zo’s Summer Groove has grown into a mammoth three-day event that includes an all-star basketball game, comedy show, silent auction, golf tournament and forums on children and educational matters.” Pat Riley, his former coach and 2008 inductee had this to say about Alonzo, “He was the very best thing to ever happen to this franchise in 1995 and he’ll always be respected…for being the taproot for a culture we’re really proud of” (Perkins, par. 14). Nobody is denying the size of Alonzo’s heart; however, it would be incorrect to include this in the decision-making process. Only a negative impact on the integrity of the game by a potential inductee can affect their status.

There are players both matching and surpassing Alonzo’s production that have not been inducted into the HOF. A comparable player to Alonzo is the 7’2” Artis Gilmore. Artis is the all-time leader in NCAA rebound average and one of the few NCAA players to average 20 points and 20 rebounds for his collegiate career. He brought his Jacksonville team all the way to the NCAA title game in 1970. In his first season with the ABA he won both Rookie of the Year and MVP (Pluto 222). His career totals both in the ABA (22.4 points, 17.1 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks a game) and the NBA (17.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game) are similar to Mourning’s (17.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks). Artis claimed 4 more than the 7-time All-Star Mourning as well as claiming a league MVP award during his 17-year career. The last three years that Artis was up for enshrinement he did not receive a single vote.

Another player who’s numbers are comparable to Mourning’s who is not in the Hall is Spencer Haywood. Spencer’s averaged 20.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and .9 blocks per game in his 13-year professional career. Haywood, another player beginning his career in the ABA, was named to the All-NBA First team twice while Mourning achieved the honor only once. These numbers are especially similar to Mourning’s numbers before the kidney disease and Haywood is not a Hall of Famer as of yet.

A major measuring stick for the HOF is comparing the player to other players of the same time period. It eliminates a few variables that can affect the difference in statistics of different eras. Alonzo had the misfortune of playing during an era where there were many true centers in the discussion for HOF. Two of his contemporaries Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon were inducted last year. Ewing’s 17-year career numbers are 21.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks, again very similar to Mourning’s numbers before his kidney disease but slightly better than Alonzo’s overall career numbers. Hakeem Olajuwon was one of the centers placed on the 1996 Olympic team over Mourning. Olajuwon averaged 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game over his 18-year career and also has a league MVP award, 2 NBA Championships and 6 All-NBA team honors to his credit. Olajuwon is clearly head and shoulders above Mourning as a candidate. Another center that kept Mourning off the 1996 Olympic team is David Robinson. Robinson averaged 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.99 blocks per game for his 14-year career. He also has an MVP, two NBA Championships, and 4 All-NBA team honors. He will be eligible to be inducted next year and clearly is a level above Mourning. Every player with an NBA MVP award that is eligible is in the HOF.

Lastly, Alonzo is a level below a player he was doomed to be compared to since he was drafted second in the 1992 draft. Shaquille O’neal was drafted first that season and also kept Mourning off that 1996 Olympic team. Shaq’s 17-year career has yet to finish but thus far his numbers are 25.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. He also has an MVP, 8 All-NBA team honors, and 4 NBA Championships. Shaq’s numbers dwarf Alonzo’s and help to illustrate that Alonzo was hardly dominating his era the way a Hall of Famer should. ¹ Artis won an ABA MVP not an NBA MVP. The legitimacy of this is a whole other debate.

² Although Ewing never won an NBA Championship he did go to three NCAA title games and won the 1984 game.

Although Alonzo Mourning is a generous and unselfish person and a great basketball player, a line must be drawn. The Basketball Hall of Fame should be an exclusive club and there will always be players that feel they deserve to be in for various reasons, but ultimately every player cannot be allowed in. What makes being a Hall of Famer so special is the high standards that players are held to. Unfortunately for Alonzo Mourning those standards may be just out of reach. It does not diminish him as a player or person, it simply exemplifies once again how proud the men and women who have already gained acceptance should be.

Works Cited

Feinstein, John and Auerbach, Red. Let Me Tell You a Story: A Lifetime in the Game.

New York, NY: Back Bay Books, 2004.

Pluto, Terry. Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the ABA. New York, NY: Simon &

Schuster Paperbacks, 1990.

An Ode to the 'Cat'

2008-12-22T17:29:00.006-05:00

Cuttino Mobley, Philly-born, was playing at Maine Central Institute when Ram assistant Tim O' Shea (now leading Bryant into Division I hoops) spotted him. Tim thought that the player known as 'Cat' would be a good college player, which he was, but probably ,along with most URI fans, never imagined him having a 10-year career in the NBA.

His senior year at Rhode Island he was teamed with Tyson Wheeler and a young fellow NBA-er Lamar Odom. Cuttino averaged 17.4 ppg, received A-10 Player of the Year honors and led the Rams into the Elite Eight including a victory over a 1-seeded Kansas team led by Paul Pierce.

He was drafted in the second round by the Rockets and played for Orlando and Sacramento as well before settling in Los Angelas with the Clippers. Cuttino played in 747 games (245 in LA) in his career and would have eclipsed the 12,000 point mark with another two or three games.

On December 11th Mobley was forced to bring his NBA career to an end after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or HCM. Mobley had known he had an enlarged heart throughout his career but did not take heart medicine and averaged 37 minutes a game. He never knew of the seriousness of his condition until the trade to New York, which forced a physical and then MRI and may have saved his life. Curiously, MRI's are not required for most players upon entering the league or joining a new team but was precautionary in this case due to his previously-known heart condition.

Although Mobley may not have been able to leave the game quite on his own terms, he no doubt was able to live out his dream of being an NBA player and will forever be remembered by URI fans of the late 1990's. After hearing his feelings about precaution's to be taken with young players, I have no doubt Cuttino will continue to voice his concerns in order to make more players aware of the possibility of heart conditions. Some players that were lost due to such conditions are the well-known death of Reggie Lewis, a promising Celtics player in 1993 at the age of 27; Hank Gathers, a 23-year-old who collapsed during the West Coast Conference Tournament playing for Loyola Marymount in 1990; and Jason Collier an Atlanta Hawks seven-footer who collapsed at the age of 28 in his home and was dead upon arrival to the hospital.

Cuttino Mobley was a lucky man and I'm sure he knows it. He will live to collect the more than $18 million that will be paid to him just for this season and next season and will assuredly work to raise the awareness of a worthy cause. Although he wasn't able to retire from the sport at a time of his choice, at least he will be able to enjoy the rest of his life as a healthy man.

A Patriots Eulogy

2008-12-12T02:04:00.005-05:00

Alright Patriots fans, the time has come. Listen I understand that when you are a fan of a team you should stick with them through thick and thin. Not only am I a 49ers fan but I have friends that are fans of the Lions and Raiders. With that said, it has driven me crazy all year long listening to Patriots fans talk themselves into their team.

First of all, this team never had a running game and that goes far beyond Laurence Maroney being a bust and Sammy Morris getting injured. When Tom Brady went down, every Pats fan in Massachusetts should have booked their flight to Miami for Super Bowl XLIV. To pay for their flight they also should have sold their tickets to two home games this year.

What drove me crazy about Pats fans all year is that they actually tried to talk themselves into Matt Cassel. Don't get me wrong, Matt Cassel has been serviceable in Brady's place and will probably be a starting quaterback in this league sooner than later (this may not be saying much...see Russell, Jamarcus; Culpepper, Daunte; Collins, Kerry; and Thigpen, Tyler) At the same time, Pats fans would not give up on the season. The fact of the matter is this...the Patriots defense was nothing compared to the defense of 2003 and 2004 ranked 7th and 9th respectively in yards allowed. The record-breaking offense covered up a lot last season but Cassel is simply not going to get this team to the Super Bowl...nevermind win it.

I ask all Patriots fan to come back to Earth. Consider this a slap in the face. Sure there were fans who knew the truth and were the voice of reason, but there were too many that relied on false hope. This team will be back next year that is for sure, and a fourth Super Bowl Championship will be just as impressive in 9 seasons than in 8 seasons. So Patriots fans it is time to give it up. Try to enjoy the NFL playoffs from an outsiders perspective. It's been a while for you. Just remember..."There's always next year."

Spoelstra making a name for himself

2008-12-04T13:27:00.005-05:00

Pat Riley had to go that much was sure. The Heat had run their own legitimate successor (Ron Jeremy) out of town already when Riley got hungry for another ring, so where did the Heat turn? Yes, that guy who put together game tapes for the players to take home thirteen years ago.

When we heard that Erik Spoelstra was taking over as the next head coach of the Heat I feel fairly confident in saying that everyone thought the same thing...who? Then we were told that road to the job started as the video coordinator 13 years ago, to assistant coach, and finally to head coach. In a world of politics, money, and such scrutiny it seemed like a Cinderella story. It gave hope to all of us.

The downside came when you looked at the Miami roster when he took over and their record last year. Marion had yet to blend well with the team, they had no real point guard or center, and Wade had been hurt all year long. Of course they did have the #2 pick in the draft and although Derrick Rose would have filled a need Michael Beasley was a player and would contribute immediately and for years to come. After also stealing a point guard from Minnesota (Mario Chalmers) in the second round things looked to be going in the right direction. There was plenty of young talent on this team, some solid role players such as Haslem and Quinn, and although still without a center, things were looking up.

When the Olympics came and we all remembered what a healthy Dwayne Wade looked and played like, Heat fans must have been ecstatic. Sure they were still without a center, but they had one of the best closers in the game and if they could keep games close Wade would steal a few wins on his own in crunch time. The big question mark coming into the season was Erik Spoelstra.

If you haven't recognized it yet than you should now. This guy is quietly doing a great job with this team. After finishing a west coast trip (3-2) at an admittedly shorthanded Utah team, the Heat are 10-9. Sure Wade is playing out of his mind right now but some of that has to go to the coach as well. If you watch this team play a few games you can see the passion and energy they are playing with. They have maximized the abilities of Wade, which may or may not be an accomplishment, but have also maximized the abilities of Chalmers and guys like Quinn and Daequan Cook. They are even starting to gel Marion with the rest of the team just in time for Riley to flex his muscle and ship him out of town.

The players like Spoelstra. They find him easy to approach and to relate to, a skill Spoelstra probably developed during his time under Riley as an assistant coach. That's all well and good but in this situation not only do the players like Spoelstra but they respect him, and they play hard for him. As the youngest coach in the NBA, there is the possibility of him being around for a long time. Not too bad for a former video coordinator.

Some quick thoughts:

The Heat literally stole a game away from Golden State the other night. It may have ended Nellie's run with this team. There is a lot of critism being thrown around in that part of the country and no shortage for the coach himself. The Heat loss was the seventh in a row before heading into Texas for two road games with Houston and San Antonio. Eddie Jordan, P. J. Carlesimo, Sam Mitchell...Don Nelson may very well be next.
Speaking of Sam Mitchell
Ray Allen is the definition of a true professional. Last year with his son getting sick in the finals, you would have never known by his play, and now a longtime friend finds himself in the middle of the terrorist situation in Mumbai and once again, you would never know by his play.
Alright I was fairly hesistant to jump on the whole Rondo for the All-Star game movement. I just didn't think it was very realistic with the Celtics probably sending three guys already. With that being said, with a few more games even close to last nights performance, he may very well find himself in Phoenix.
As an attendant at the PC game last night against Brown I can tell you the difference in that game in two words, Marshon Brooks. This sophomore will be a player in the Big East sooner than later and is the future of PC basketball. This may be a tough season as this team may struggle in the Big East, however, there is hope that with Brooks, freshman Bilal Dixon, and the recruiting class brought in this year, Keno will give us an exciting 2010-2011 season. Yes this is what we are reduced to as PC fans after the Tim Welsh era.

More of the Same

2008-11-28T14:22:00.008-05:00

This game between Baylor and Providence was tough to watch. It was eerily similar to many of PC's games against solid competition over the past few years, and make no mistake, this Baylor team was solid competition.

I'm sure everyone knows the Dennehy saga as well as the NCAA restrictions this team has come back from. They have recruited well and play a system that fits the players they go after. On top of that the players are growing together as a team, a not so simple accomplishment with top recruits, and will make noise in the Big12 this season. It would have been a great win for Providence to come away with had they been able to score.

It is still very early in the year so this Providence team absolutely has a chance to grow enough to compete in the Big East but after watching last night's game they are still a long way away. In their defense they're best player, and biggest offensive catalyst, Geoff McDermott was hurt in the first minutes of the game. He was able to return and play but there is no doubt he was not 100% and it showed. Not only did the offense suffer but the defense as well. The front line of Providence is thin to begin with and although the overmatched Kale fought hard under the basket, the Baylor Bears outrebounded the Friars 47-33. Randall Hanke looked lost out there and it seems that much of this team's success will fall on Geoff McDermott's shoulder's this year.

The guardplay in this game was mediocre. Turnovers were not a big problem as the Friars only had 15 in comparison to Baylor's 23. The shooting however was horrid, and it wasn't just the guards. The team shot 28% from the field last night. They were 4-17 (17%) from the 3 point line. They actually even missed seven free throws in a row in a crucial stretch where Baylor was trying to allow Providence to make it a game in the first half. As the three's didn't fall early, the Friars resorted to more difficult, challenged mid-range shots and even missed their share of point blank layups.

Had the Friars knocked down an early three or two this game may have been much different. This team will, however, need to develop a way to score when the 3's aren't falling and with McDermott hurting that was mostly an imposibility last night. The effort was certainly there throughout the game, a promising sign that the team believes in their coaches message. They came out of halftime with renewed energy and closed the game with the same intensity even cutting the lead to 8 with two minutes left, but ultimately they had dug themselves too big a hole in the first half.

Luckily they are guaranteed three games in Anaheim with some solid teams in this tournament. Tonight they face a better match-up in a struggling Charlotte team and hopefully the shots are falling.

3 a.m. thoughts

2008-11-20T02:06:00.006-05:00

It's 3 a.m. I've watched more basketball than my brain can probably process. I've watched Entourage for the third time this week and Sportscenter for the second time tonight. Now it's time to rant as if someone is actually listening.

In time this rookie class may go down as one of the deepest in a long time not only due to lottery picks like Beasley, Mayo, and Rose and the injury of Oden last year but due to the many non-lottery picks that are already making their impact this season. The very polished Rudy Fernandez (yes sun fans, he should be yours). Mario Chalmers with nine steals in his fourth NBA game. Even an undrafted free agent rookie Anthony Morrow with a 37 point, 11 rebound first start and there are more.

Two unheralded NBA rookies made their first starts tonight with some mixed results, Donte Greene and JaVale McGee. JaVale McGee was the 18th pick overall out of Nevada. The lengthy seven footer had 5 points and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes tonight. Not terrible numbers for a twenty-year-old but not exactly what you hope for out of a starter when you are trying to win games. From the little I saw of him he just didn't contribute a lot. This in no way takes anything away from his potential, but is simply a first impression. Washington could use some quick development out of the big man while Haywood sits for possibly six months.

The other rookie Donte Greene was the 28th pick out of Syracuse, traded a few times before the season began and ended up on a young Sacramento team. While Greene was at Syracuse there was no doubt that the athletic wing man could score. He may have benefited tremendously by another year in college and may have been one of the top scorers in college basketball this season. He more than likely would have been a lottery pick next year, however, he chose to leave after only his freshman year. Greene's shot selection was very questionable at Syracuse and he never really gave himself a chance to develop as a rebounder, defender, or passer.

With all of that being said, these are all things that he will have the opportunity to work on as an NBA player and his ceiling is high. As mentioned he made his first start tonight which I found somewhat surprising considering the effectiveness of fellow rookie Jason Thompson playing the three position (which I found fascinating) since Kevin Martin's injury. What I was most impressed with was Donte's ability to step in tonight after playing 42 minute's all season long to contribute 34 strong minutes tonight. He came in and played his game, scoring 15 points, 3-4 from the 3, and more importantly had no turnovers. He didn't try to do too much, but was aggressive at the same time.

This Sacramento team has a ton of young talent (Greene, Thompson, Spencer Hawes, Bobby Brown) mixed with some solid veterans (Brad Miller, Bobby Jackson), and some players really starting to come into their own (Beno Udrih, John Salmons, Kevin Martin). Combine that with a fan base and home court that rivals Golden State in its passion and this team may be better than a lot of people think. Dare I say may even sneak into the playoffs in the West? Alright, alright, maybe they are a year away, but don't say I didn't warn you.

A couple other random thoughts:

Hey Chicago, you were the only game at 10:30 tonight and had nowhere to hide. Every basketball fan in America saw that tonight and it was absolutely horrendous. They gave up 18 dunks or layups in this game. In my opinion Vinny Del Negro is not the answer and I'd be surprised if he's not the first coach to be fired this season.
Speaking of coaches getting fired, Minnesota finally pulled out a close game tonight. Sure it was against the 76ers but it's a step in the right direction. Craig Smith had a very good night off the bench and Kevin Love continues to look unsure if he belongs in the league.
Utah and Denver continue to win out west with players stepping up in many ways. For Denver Nene is actually playing well at center and this team may depend on his health this year. For Utah C. J. Miles follows his 21 points on Monday with 25 tonight stepping in for the many injuries on this team. This Utah team will be insanely deep once healthy but they still must prove that they can win on the road.

The NBA: Where Leaving Tim Duncan Open Happens

2008-11-17T16:47:00.013-05:00

Basketball Season has finally arrived (yes I'm a bit late, but I've been busy in basketball heaven). With the purchase of NBA League Pass and the Celtics continuing their success thus-far (although maybe not as pretty as I'd hoped), I have enjoyed the beginning of this NBA season more than most. There are many things I'd love to get to but I need to walk before I can run and that brings me to what I'm most passionate about...the Celtics.

Last season was amazing: the scare with Atlanta, "The Truth" versus "King James", and the Celtics ironically dispatching the Pistons with a mixture of great defense and team basketball that served as the formula for Detroit's 6 straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals. Lastly, a match up against Kobe Bryant and the rejuvenated Lakers including the "comeback", and the "exclamation point".

But you know about all of that. That is all history and as we all know a new season can bring unexpected things. It's time for this team to defend its title. I love how Bill Simmons explained how the 97' Bull's team was the last defending champion to relish the role and prove night in and night out how they had earned that role. After ten games, I can't say that the Celtics seem to be in the same boat. Don't get me wrong they are winning games but I don't feel like they are truly putting their stamp on the league as the team to beat. They have gotten off to slow starts and let teams back into games they had no reason being in (cough cough...Bucks). And although they have made the comebacks, hit the shots that mattered, and accumulated the wins, they haven't seemed to have the killer instinct to turn a 10 point lead into a 20 point blowout.

With that being said they have gone 8-2 with big wins against the Hawks, Pistons, Cavs, and Raptors, all the most likely candidates to challenge them in the East, as well as going 4-1 in a much over hyped but still difficult five games in a week. Also as a side note...this Garnett commercial is a masterpiece:

As for the rest of the league:

I don't know if watching west coast games is taking a toll on me but I am really enjoying watching both the Kings and the Warriors so far this season. In contrast to that, the Clippers are absolutely brutal to watch.
For a stretch in a game early this season, with both Ellis and Maggette out, Don Nelson actually ran a five-rookie lineup. Don Nelson! As a side note, Anthony Randolph reminds me of a 6'10 version of Rajon Rondo. I still can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
It may have been expected after his showing in the Olympics but Dwayne Wade is playing out of his mind right now. Amazingly he is rivaling Lebron in production and doing so in every aspect of the game. He is scoring at will and still without a consistent three point shot, he is rebounding with the best guards in the game and averaging 7 assists a game. He is top five in the league in steals and is probably the best shot-blocking guard in the league. He is playing above the rim again and singlehandedly keeping Miami in the playoff picture even with Marion missing a few games and with no legitimate PF or C.
Speaking of legitimate C's, holy Andris Biedrins. Am I the only person who didn't realize this guy is only 22? His numbers may be inflated due to being the only big man on the Warriors but the way he is playing there is no need for another big man. Oh, and Nelly has officially gone to Steven Jackson playing point forward. The two of them are running the pick n roll to perfection and Biedrins is just gobbling up rebounds.
How thin do the Spurs look now with Parker and Manu both out? And somehow Duncan is carrying this team to wins. It will be a rough start but this team will be there at the end of the season, the only question is whether Duncan can carry this team now and still have enough for a playoff run.
Did you know that Nene's last name is Hilario? No wonder he tried to drop it early in his career.
Game of the year so far goes to the double overtime San Antonio-Minnesota game before Parker went down with an injury. 55 and 10 assists for Parker and I bet that eight out of those ten were to Duncan. Duncan and Parker played a two man game all night long and outlasted the feisty Minnesota team. Parker knocked down jump shots all night as the Wolves guards continually went under the screens. Al Jefferson was a beast, gave Duncan all he could handle on the offensive end, and hit a big shot down the stretch to get it into overtime. Unfortunately the young Wolves team was able to be deterred from getting Big Al the ball in overtime. Mike Miller is a great fit for that team and it was great to watch former Celtics like Big Al and Ryan Gomes.

The Silence is Broken

2008-06-05T02:37:00.007-04:00

It's been quite a while since my last post. Between the end of the semester and a malfunction in my laptop I strayed away from my computer in the past month. I've had many ideas for posts that haven't come to fruition including both a random 4th row Red Sox game as well as a random Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 appearance; The Sox riding an incredible 23-5 home record to finally overcoming Tampa Bay for first place in the AL East (Yes that's right, Tampa Bay);The Nationals... are still in last place; and surprisingly enough people outside of Canada actually tuned in to watch the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. A lot more has happened over the last month that was worth writing about (including the one-legged little league catcher), but the one thing that brought me back to the computer was the two hours I just spent watching NBA TV one night prior to none other than the NBA Finals. I'm going to apologize in advance for putting you through this song one more time Celtics fans (P.S. to the Celtics Marketing Team: please tell me you'll at least have a new introduction for the Finals. I mean that video was fun to watch at the beginning of the season but after 102 games we need something new...plus Celtics-Lakers, that's a marketing team's dream come true. Please come through for us.) but this was the most historically complete set of highlights I could find.

That's the thing that gets me about this series. These two teams are good teams don't get me wrong but I don't think either one holds a candle to the Celtics-Lakers teams of the 80's. What gets me so excited about this match-up is the history. The 30 out of 62 total NBA Championships between these two franchises. Between 1949 and 1989 either the Celtics or the Lakers (or both) have played in the Finals in all but 9 seasons. Since then we all know the history (Len Bias, Reggie Lewis, Tim Duncan, Rick Pitino on the Celtics side and Kobe and Shaq on the Lakers) but now you have two teams that are starved for a title. Although Kobe has three, he must be just as hungry as Garnett and Pierce at this point to establish himself historically without Shaq.
The thing about this series is...it's already set up to fail. The are many ways that this series will in no way live up to the history before them. The fact of the matter is the teams are just not as good. We can only hope they are as evenly matched and can treat us to a long and entertaining series, but the basketball itself will not be as well-executed, exciting, and sound as its predecessors from the past. Another way this series will not live up to the past is in pure emotion. Let's face it Garnett will do his best to provoke each and every one of the Lakers throughout the series but the fact of the matter is these teams play each other twice a year. The Celtics played the Lakers 3 times in four years in the Finals in the 80's. Combine that with the fact that in that time emotions among players were allowed to flow much more freely and you'd better bet that 87 Finals was an all-out war. Nowadays the players are punished for showing emotion on the court or for giving someone a good hard foul when it's needed (we're not talking about a career ending injury here: but putting someone on the floor to send them a message is part of basketball). Today if a player turns around and looks at the referee they may indeed end up with a technical.

Tomorrow pull out your Celtics DVD's or turn to NBA TV or ESPN Classic and watch a game from the 80's and look at the player reactions that are allowed. Look at the pure emotion both positive and negative that pumps through the players and in turn infuses the crowds at these games. Then tomorrow night keep that in mind when you watch Game 1. If you find that it is comparable than this will be one hell of a game. But more than likely it won't. Rather than being disappointed, try this. Appreciate this series. It may not live up to Bird and Magic or Bill and Wilt, but it is still Celtics-Lakers. Next year we may not be so lucky, or the year after that. Fact of the matter is, it may be another 20 years for this to happen again. Keep that in mind tomorrow night.

Oh and by the way...Fuck "Rip" Hamilton.

A Second Round Preview

2008-05-03T13:56:00.008-04:00

So last night's game 6 contained one of the poorest played stretch by the Celtics all season from what I've seen but I still have confidence in game 7 on Sunday. It should have been unnecessary but now it has to be done and the Celtics have to take care of business and get on the Hawks early in this game. As for my hopes of a 17th title I have to say I am getting very nervous. Atlanta is a tough match-up for this team because of its athleticism but that is no excuse for the poor stretches of defense being played at points in this series. Also, their crunch time play has been ridiculously bad.

Without Pierce for the end of the fourth last night the team looked lost. Running Ray off a screen is all well and good but you have to be sure the ball gets in his hands using a hand-off or something along those lines. Also, during the stretch run, with Pierce out, this team should be banging Garnett down low every time down the court. Ray should be getting open shots off of Garnett not vice versa and Garnett needs to start getting aggressive when this team needs him.

Of all the stars in the playoffs so far he may be the only one who has yet to put his team on his back for a critical stretch offensively. Joe Johnson did it in game 4. Deron did it last night as did Lebron. Kobe almost didn't have to and Paul does it every game. Garnett is a big man and I understand he relies on his teammates to get him the ball but that's no excuse when he gets an offensive rebound 7 feet from the hoop and looks for Posey on the three point line for a contested 3. I just do not see the killer instinct in Garnett. It's like he is more hyped for the beginning of the game than the part that counts.

The silver lining out of this is that I believe Paul Pierce can be that player. Obviously when he is on the bench from a bogus 6th foul he can't help much, but that will not be the case in the next series. He is the type of player that can put this team on his back offensively and that will open things up for Ray and Garnett. I expect a win in game 7 and then this team can turn their focus to Cleveland. And with that it's time I make some second round predictions assuming the Celtics take care of business on Sunday afternoon.

We'll start with the Western Conference and game 1 of the New Orleans-San Antonio series is tonight at 10. I may be more excited for this series than any other potential match-up. A potential classic "passing of the torch" series. The experienced and aging Spurs versus the energized and youthful Hornets. As much as Chris Paul had his way with Jason Kidd, I can see him having just as much fun against Tony Parker. I'm not sure that the Spurs can avoid that match-up either unless New Orleans goes small. If you take Parker off of Paul than who does he guard? Peterson? Wells? Peja? Duncan and Kurt Thomas are going to have to control that paint in this series and even then will that be enough with Peja lurking at the 3-point line and West lurking 18 feet away. The thing is though...how many times am I going to count out this Spurs team? I do time and time again and then talk myself out of them after every fresh match-up. I'm truly torn in this series but I do believe that the Chris Paul is playing as well as anyone and I don't see a way for San Antonio to slow him down. I have to do it...Hornets in 7.

The second semi-final series is the Lakers and Utah. This series has the potential to rival the other western semi-final making the west playoffs something to behold from here on out. If I were the Lakers at this point I would just let Bynum rest for the playoffs and off-season because honestly I don't think he will make them better by coming back now. It's too late to mix him back into the rotation and let him work the rust off and get back into game shape where every game is going to be important. This Lakers team has as good a shot as any western team with only Kobe and Pau. As much as I will be rooting for Utah in this series (shhhhh nobody tell Martin) I think the Lakers are going to pull it out. I just don't see an answer for Kobe on Utah's roster. Lakers in 6.Now to the East and the early game tonight. Detroit must be a little nervous at hearing about and seeing what Dwight Howard did in the last series no? I mean it was against the Raptors so how much stock can you put into three 20-20 games in five games? But I read somewhere that Howard who is normally the ultimate jester for most of the season has been nothing but serious since the playoffs have begun. That's a little scary. Is Rasheed going to keep Howard off the boards? I still believe that Detroit and Boston are the two best teams in the East even after they both struggled in the first round. Detroit in 6.

Lastly, assuming the Celtics take care of business on Sunday at home, the Celtics will be match-up against Cleveland. Lebron will more than likely have his way in this series for the most part, but the key will be to limit the ability for him to get his teammates involved. His supporting cast is just so bland offensively without him catalyzing things that i don't think he can carry them through a tougher East than last season. I expect the Celtics to regroup and perform much better in this series. Celtics in 6. (Also I am excited to see the Delonte-Rondo match-up play out in this series. I love both guys, both are scrappy defenders, and both can create but I've found Delonte to be much less aggressive in Cleveland.)

Let's strap in. The second round starts tonight.

This series is still a foregone conclusion...but yes I am a bit nervous.

2008-04-30T13:16:00.007-04:00

I have no words. Game 5 tonight.

Living up to the billing

2008-04-21T15:58:00.018-04:00

Now that's poetry.

After the first weekend of the NBA Playoffs it is obvious that they will not disappoint, from the Stars being Stars (see: Paul, Chris; Duncan, Tim; James, Lebron; Howard, Dwight) to what some may say unexpected performances (see: Gasol, Pau; Rondo, Rajon; Evans, Reggie?????). Alright I need to stop there. Needless to say it was a great weekend of basketball and I can only hope the next month and a half is as exciting. I'll start with the Saturday games and work my way up to the fulfilling Celtics game Sunday night.

Cavs 93, Wizards 86: This series did have, and still has I suppose, the potential to be a good series but Game 1 was ugly and that might be an understatement. Needless to say this non-hockey fan will be watching the Bruins lose Game 7 tonight instead of a repeat of Saturday afternoon. There were some bright spots. Lebron lived up to expectations (imagine that) and carried his team to a win scoring 32 against a fairly effective defensive gameplan by Eddie Jordan to trap the ball out of James' hands early and often. Effective that is until Cleveland countered by moving Lebron off the ball, screening for him, giving him space in the middle to work, and allowing him to score the baskets that clinched it in the final minutes.

Jamison had a monster 23 and 19. Caron was quiet which must change for them to win the series. Gilbert scored 24 off the bench sure, but when Lebron was making baskets to extend the lead in the final minutes Gilbert was taking and missing every shot on the other end. You can chalk this up to rust or whatever you want to, but the fact is he has to either be hitting those shots or allowing someone else to take them which he did neither in the final 2 minutes. Regardless the winner of this series is probably irrelevant but it still could contribute some entertainment to the playoffs, here's hoping anyone on Cleveland other than Lebron comes back to life and Gilbert gets hot.

Spurs 117, Suns 115 2OT: Talk about great basketball. This match-up had basketball fans salivating over a first round series and this game may have lived up to impossible expectations. The shots were falling late, Finley, Nash, Duncan! I'm not as surprised as everyone else at Duncan hitting that three. He is an NBA player with a nice jumpshot. He's just smart enough to know that in most cases he should not be taking that, in this case he should have. I don't think Finley will be able to shoot like that throughout this series but Manu is more than capable of picking up his slack if he's not. Also, how do you give Manu a layup after all that as time is expiring...and where was Shaq on that play? Pheonix goes with a small lineup on the one possession they need a defensive stop? Isn't Shaq there to pretty much rebound and defend the paint? He obviously isn't there to score on this team. Also Raja looked helpless as he watched Manu blow by him.

Hornets 104, Mavs 92: Chris Paul: 35 points, 10 assists, 1 turnover. I don't have to say anything else.

Utah 93, Rockets 82: So the same day that I write that Utah can't win on the road...they win on the road. (They were 17-24 in my defense) Well isn't that a big flip of the bird to me. Although I did pick Utah and said I wasn't sold on this Rockets team and you can see why after watching this game. 20 and 10 is serviceable for Deron but he'll need to put up better numbers than that in the next round. The Rockets looked lost, will this be T-Mac's legacy when he's all done? He will need to provide much more offense for this team to survive.

Magic 114, Raptors 100: Are the Magic this good or are the Raptors this bad? I think the Raptors are that bad honestly. Howard was huge with 25 and 22 and expect to see more of that against this Raptors team. I don't see how they fix this and expect the Raptors to be out in 4, 5 if they are lucky after watching this. Bosh will give you 21 and 6 every night which does you almost no good. They got a good game out of Anthony Parker (maybe the only player on this team you could say brings them "toughness") and still were never in this game. Not only could they not stop Howard inside, the Orlando PG position of Jameer and Dooling had 34 points. Let's just say I'm glad I'm not a Raptors fan.

Lakers 128, Nuggets 114: Nothing all that surprising here. The Nuggets can't defend anyone, Iverson and Carmelo both go for 30 and lose. Expect more of the same in the rest of this series. A great game out of Pau 36, 16 and 8. How's that trade looking for you Memphis? If Pau is playing like this than this team is scary and Bynum can start focusing on next year as he should be anyway. Kobe with 32 but on 9-26 Kobe? Even with Pau's hot hand? At least Iverson had 7 assists and 5 rebounds. I expect more out of an MVP candidate. Maybe he's on cruise control again until the next round.

76ers 90, Detroit 86: Consider me officially on the 6ers bandwagon. I will be watching the rest of this series almost as intently as the Celtics series (alright maybe not) rooting for the 6ers to knock out the only threat in the Eastern Conference. I know that Detroit will more than likely bounce back and may have even thrown that game in an attempt to further build up their "we get no respect" mindset but I'll be rooting for the 6ers nonetheless. Reggie Evans with 11 and 14? really? Reggie Evans? Some nice minutes out of the youngster Thaddeus as well which bodes well 10 points on 5-8 shooting in 22 minutes.

Celtics 104, Hawks 81: Yes the Hawks are this bad, and yes the Celtics are this good. No dominant performer tonight, 6 guys in double figures, almost no contribution from their starting center and a great game out of Rajon Rondo in his playoff debut. Look at Hollinger's PER rankings for game 1 of the playoffs: Rondo is second. 15 points (including what looks like developing confidence in his shot), 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 0 turnovers. He ran this team to perfection last night, the rest of the team played decent and they ended up with a 23 point victory. Cassell played well off the bench as well which is promising hitting some timely shots when the game was not so out of hand. Horford had a big 20 and 10 but this team just has no chance against the Celtics.

What can I say about Leon Powe's dunk in the fourth quarter and the ensuing onslaught Garnett and Cassell gave him? A defining moment in the young man's career for sure.

The best thing about the NBA Playoffs: after all that happened this weekend the games keep coming. At least a double-header every night until at least next Monday including another four game marathon Saturday and Sunday.

Squeezing 'em in

2008-04-19T09:50:00.011-04:00

So a recent run of beautiful weather has derailed my computer use over the past week and a half as the amount of basketball played increased. This is in no way a bad thing but my playoff preview's haven't been exactly churned out and suddenly the playoffs start at noon today. So in an effort to get it all in before the games are played here is a fast paced run-through of the rest of the playoff teams.

Detroit Pistons: Rasheed Wallace is an absolute beast. Chauncey and Rip are the experienced guards but although their bench has played better than expectations this year I still find it to be weaker than the Celtic's (+448 compared to +324, still respectable) and very inexperienced. I envision only Maxiell to really produce come playoff time off the bench and that isn't going to cut it as this team is aging. The Pistons sound confident but they will not be able to make it past Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals. What scares me is I've counted them out before.

Chances of winning the title: Same as Sheed making it through the playoffs without getting thrown out of a game. (That's right I'm counting them out again.)

Boston Celtics: I've talked about the Celtics plenty already this season but I still can't get past how little credit this team is getting for a 66-16 season. Early in the season nobody believed how well they were playing and waited for the inevitable injury or collapse, when that never happened and they continued to steamroll the west as well as the east it had already become expected. Even at the end of the season when they cut The Boston Three Party's minutes the Celtics bench was still winning. 41-11 in the East, 25-5 in the West, the top defensive team in the league, 10th in offensive efficiency. No matter how you cut it this is a dominant team and people will see that in the way they handle the Hawks, Cavs/Wizards, and Pistons.
Cue up Gino ladies and gentlemen.

Chances of winning the title: Same as Ray Allen's free throw shooting percentage.

Western Conference

#1 Lakers (57-25) vs. #8 Nuggets (50-32): Listen the Lakers are an improved team for sure but regardless there are two things that will ensure the Lakers are playing in the next round: Denver's lack of defense and Kobe Bryant. Lakers in 5 (entertaining at the least).

#2 Hornets (56-26) vs. #7 Mavericks (51-31): Chris Paul had an amazing season. As did this hornets team. The Mav's on the other hand had a very up-and-down season. Dirk is just now starting to recover mentally from the loss in the finals in my opinion and that could be a scary thing for the Hornets. Kidd isn't half the player he used to be but let's be honest he will get Dirk quality shots that Dirk never dreamed about playing with Harris or Terry. I think Terry makes or breaks this series honestly and when you're playoff hopes ride on Jason Terry against a good basketball team you should be worried. Hornets in 7.

#3 Spurs (56-26) vs. #6 Suns (55-27): Look at how close those records are. What a first round series we will be treated to here. This series was an absolute war last year and that was without throwing Shaq into the mix. Someone may be killed at some point during this series. As the western conference playoff push was happening this is the type of first round match-up every basketball fan was coming to realize no matter how the seedings shook out due to the amount of quality teams. Also we will be treated to some more great Shaq quotes I am sure. The Suns should be hungry and the Spurs just keep getting it done. Both teams are aging so which team will be able to outlast the other? Suns in 7 in what should be a must-see series for any basketball fan.

#4 Jazz (54-28) vs. #5 Rockets (55-27): Alright so the Rockets have a better record and home court advantage but the Jazz are the #4 seed? Does this make sense? Why can't you just seed the top eight teams in order and in the rare case that a division winner is outside of the top eight teams give them the playoff spot? Regardless, it is crazy to think that the team with a 22 game winning streak this season a) is a 5 seed, and b) may well lose in the first round. Utah was great at home but 17-24 on the road so why is everyone so high on them in this series where they don't have home court? If the Jazz were matched up with anyone other than the Rockets in this series I would be waving them goodbye already (sorry Martin), but I'm not sold on the Yao-less Rockets at all...Jazz in 6.

Second Round of the West to come...Sit back, relax, and enjoy basketball at its highest level.

Appropriately named for RI...Keno Davis Ladies and Gentlemen

2008-04-16T13:25:00.005-04:00

After getting turned down by Travis Ford and Jim Larranaga; having Craig Brown leave for the west coast; with PC being left looking around wondering if the mystique of the Big East was going to be enough to lure someone there; it is now official. The month long process brought us somehow to the 2008 AP Coach of the Year in college basketball, Keno Davis. In my initial post reacting to Welsh's firing I left Keno Davis' name out for a reason: I didn't think there was a chance that he would leave Drake after one season. There is no doubt he had a great year there and I assumed he would settle in there being so young but I underestimated the Big East mystique as the deciding factor.

It is true though. This is a good job. Sure it may be tough to recruit in the area, difficult to convince college students that Providence is a decent city too. Sure the facilities may be a bit behind the 8-ball in comparison to programs like UConn or Syracuse. The fact of the matter is this is an original Big East team with tons of Big East tradition. There are numbers in the rafters and everyone over forty-five around the area is in love with Ernie D. Names like Walker, Barnes, and Gomes. Linehan, Shamgod, Murdock, Croshere, Thorpe and Donovan. Not only that but PC has been recently showing the willingness to spend money to help this program grow. The money for Keno is one thing but they also spent the money to improve the Civic Center (as it will always be called in my mind) which in turn will bring the NCAA tournament to the city of Providence. Keno grew up on Big East basketball living in Boston from the age of 5-10 as his father coached BC to 100 wins from 1977-1982 before leaving for Stanford. These were some of the deciding factors for Keno, although I'm sure that $1,000,000 helped a bit as well.

There are definitely questions about Keno Davis even with all the accomplishments from the past season. The fact of the matter is he has one season of head coaching experience and has really never dealt with hardship having so much success in his rookie year. Also, a key part of this job is obviously recruiting. PC just isn't going to recruit itself like other top programs can do. He inherited the players from Drake from his father and their best player wasn't even a recruit but a walk-on. Did Keno have a hand in the recruiting in his four years as an assistant to his father? Or was his father grooming him in X's and O's while the other assistants did the recruiting. I hope for PC's sake that he had a hand in it. Also, another concern is even if he was doing the recruiting he was recruiting in the midwest not on the east coast or in NY/NJ where PC must pull players from.

The circumstances here I believe are set up in Keno's favor. He will be taking over a talented team losing almost nothing in production with players that are excited for his arrival. The recruit that Tim Welsh had already signed has decided to stay with PC and will be coming in next year, Bilal Dixon is a 6' 8" defensive minded forward who dominated the middle in New Jersey earning All-State second team honors in a year where he averaged 18.4 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 6.2 blocks. So far, so good and all things point to Keno motivating this team to play well and most importantly be competitive in the Big East next year. The question is in two or three years when his recruits are constituting the majority of this team, will they still be competitive? PC is guessing yes and rewarding him with a long term contract and hoping that the 36-year-old will be here for a long time. Either way I prefer this move to sticking with Welsh for another season, it was time for a change and now PC fans have to live through that change. Say what you will about PC basketball but at least they are now showing the effort that we've been waiting for.

Orlando Magic

2008-04-11T12:43:00.005-04:00

When most people think about the Orlando Magic the first thing that comes to mind is probably the monster that is Dwight Howard. While Howard is without question a beast and will play well in the playoffs I'm sure, the keys to this teams success does not ride on Howard. Although he has the ability to develop into the games "next big man of dominance" he is far from it yet. He has no post game to speak of. He is an amazing athlete the likes of which we have not seen as evident by his slam dunk contest performances. He has a great nose for the ball which makes him a tremendous rebounder and shot blocker, but as for a scorer he is not yet the type of scorer that you would love during crunch time. The crunch time scorer on this team isn't either the expensive free agent signed over the off-season in Rashard Lewis. The crunch time scorer and key to this teams playoff success is the small forward averaging 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, quietly having a career year. This is Hedo Turkoglu and yes I did find a Hedo Turkoglu mix on youtube. You have to love the internet.

I remember the first few times I actually watched Hedo play, mainly against the Celtics. At first it was like why is this goofy Turkish guy killing us right now? How come he always has a career game against the Celtics? Then I came to realize that Hedo can play. This is a good Magic team with Hedo playing so well but what concerns me about them is the lack of playoff experience. This is a young team when it comes to that. I think the series with the 76ers (if the standings hold up) will be one of the most entertaining first round series (well in the East at least) and can't wait to watch these two young teams fight it out. Assuming they get by the 6ers in the first round (not a given as I have written), they will be matched up against the Pistons in the second round which shapes up to be a very good young vs. veteran team match-up. Maybe the eastern conference playoffs won't be so bad after all.

Chances of winning the title: Same as Golden State making the playoffs after losing to Denver last night.

Cleveland Cavs

2008-04-11T11:44:00.004-04:00

So the Pacers are hanging by a thread to throw a wrench in my playoff preview but other than that things haven't changed much in the east. Which brings me to the next team. There is actually a chance of Washington catching Cleveland for the # 4 seed although I still think it's unlikely and I know home court advantage is big but will it really affect the outcome of this particular series? Washington has to be playing great basketball and incorporate Gilbert seamlessly (as they appear to be doing right now) throughout the series in order to win.

The trade that Cleveland made earlier in the year seemed to make as much sense as spending their money on Donyell Marshall and Damnon Jones in the first place. I love Delonte as a former Celtic and I think he gives them playmaking abilities that they desperately needed outside of Lebron but I just don't think they improved as a team from the deal. This team is stagnant offensively except for Lebron and will play tough defense in the playoffs which will keep them in a lot of games. Lebron carried that team to the finals last year but the East just was especially weak. I don't see how Lebron can carry this team past Detroit or Boston this season but if he can than that is simply amazing. I should also go on the record in saying that I didn't think he had a chance at carrying them past Detroit last year either and look what happened.

The scary thing is this kid is only 23. He is already averaging 30, 7, and 7. It's a shame that Cleveland screwed it up so bad that the local boy will be going global the next chance he gets. They'll have to get extremely creative and lucky to make this into a good team around Lebron before its too late. I look forward to the Lebron-Gilbert match-up in round 1 and the more than likely Lebron-Celtics match-up in round 2. The opportunity will be there for him to take yet another leap forward.

Chances of Cleveland winning the title: The same as Lebron finishing his career in Cleveland.

Tiger Woods

2008-04-08T14:56:00.002-04:00

As I've mentioned before I love to be a witness to history. This is the great thing about sports is that history continues to be made day and in and day out. Records and Legends are constantly being challenged by people trying to find their place in history. Very rarely can we spot someone whom we know will make history very early in their lives and allow us to truly appreciate history as it happens. Tiger Woods gave us that opportunity. Even if you don't enjoy golf you have been able to appreciate his greatness and if you do enjoy golf you can appreciate it even more. Scott Van Pelt is one of the few media members that could get into the true essence of Tiger Woods as Woods has more respect for him than most (I would imagine) because of his roots in golf broadcasting. This is the perfect lead up to what might be the best tournament of the year coming this weekend...The Masters.

Scott Van Pelt: "You can finish your career with 19 majors (one more than Jack) or 100 wins?"

Tiger Woods: "19"

Scott Van Pelt: "You can finish your career with 17 majors (one fewer than Jack) or 100 wins?"

Tiger Woods: "19"
...

Scott Van Pelt: "Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods"

Tiger Woods: "Me"

Scott Van Pelt: "Really?"

Tiger Woods: "You have to believe in yourself don't you?"

Absolutely amazing.

Washington Wizards

2008-04-07T18:41:00.002-04:00

In what looks to be a rematch of the first round in both last year's and the year before's playoffs Washington will find themselves staring at the #23, Lebron James. This Wizards team hasn't changed all that much in the past three years but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Caron Butler is a versatile-all around player and paired with Antawn Jamison as your #2 and #3 guys is nothing to scoff at. The question for this team circles the health of Gilbert Arenas. Having not played all season can Gilbert step into that # 1 role that he loves and can he help carry the Wizards past Lebron and the Cav's.

If we were talking about Gilbert from last season than the answer would be absolutely he can. The fact of the matter was Gilbert from last season was one of those rare players who's team was never out of a game because of his ability to put up points as fast as anyone. Can he regain that form during the last 6 games of the season? I seriously doubt it. Although Haywood is having a good year being a consistent force in the middle, and Andray Blatche is giving them solid minutes off the bench, and Nick Young is a great young talent, Gilbert just won't be ready to carry this team past Lebron.

Caron Butler and Jamison are capable of doing this but they both must be playing their best basketball throughout the series. Jamison is having a great year quietly averaging 20 and 10 and Caron Butler is one of my favorite players in the league. If Washington can somehow keep these two with Gilbert another year or two there is a chance they can make a run in the playoffs but it doesn't look like it will be this year.

Chances of winning the title: Same as Kwame Brown returning to Washington

On related notes check out these videos. One is a crazy dunk by Nick Young. I'd like to give him a shot in the dunk contest. The second is this clip from after practice with Gilbert beating Deshawn Stevenson by outshooting him with stand-still one-handed shots. Gilbert hits 73-100. Deshawn shoots jump shots and comes up short although he did have to deal with Gilbert harassing him the entire time. Just shows you how good these guys really are.

Philadelphia 76ers

2008-04-07T16:39:00.004-04:00

The initial post-Iverson 76ers looked like quite a motley crew and I would have been surprised at the time to see them a) have any success or b) morph into a likeable young team in the short time until now. I have to say though that although their big men are as inept and hateable as Reggie Evans and "The Haitian Sensation" Samuel Dalembert, this team has a good mix of young and veteran athletes at the guard and forward positions and also somehow managed to get out of Kyle Korver's and Chris Webber's contracts so that helped. It starts with Iguodala obviously and as he goes, this team will go. Sometimes I forget just how athletically gifted this guy really is. The best thing about Iguodala is he is willing to use that athleticism to play defense and should give Turkoglu fits in the likely match-up with the # 3 seed Orlando.

Orlando is just the kind of young and up-and-coming team to suffer a first round upset. The 76ers are just the kind of young and up-and-coming team to pull off a first round upset. The 6ers have nobody to slow down Dwight Howard, Dalembert just isn't going to cut it, but the 76ers may be the quickest team in the league and if they can use that quickness to harass Howard with double and triple teams while still recovering on guys like Rashard Lewis on the wing than its possible they can limit the damage. Andre Miller is a veteran point guard that will be able to bring a steady hand to the young team. Louis Williams and Rodney Carney have the athleticism and speed that could bother guys like Jameer Nelson and Turkoglu. Thaddeus Young can give them a few good minutes as well although he fits more into their long term plans.

I have to say although Dwight Howard is one of the best young players in the league and I would love to see him develop into the "next great big man" as he is capable of, however I will be rooting for this 76ers team rising out of the ashes of Allen Iverson.

Chances of winning the title: The same as Samuel Dalembert living up to his contract. (4 years remaining, $10,251,435 this year)

Toronto Raptors

2008-04-06T15:06:00.002-04:00

The next team in the Eastern Conference to stumble into the playoffs is the good old Toronto Raptors. There is a chance actually that they catch Philly for the 6 seed but for the sake of writing this blog we'll assume they will finish in 7th and be heading to Detroit for game 1. The Raptors are the type of team that have the talent to give Detroit fits. I'm not so sure Detroit's bench is quite as solid as they have portrayed them to be. If there is anything Toronto has it is depth. They have guys who can score at any time and a point guard to get them the ball...well when Calderon is on the court. T. J. is a skilled player but he has a lot to learn about playing the point guard position and for someone at his size he should have done that by now. If I'm Toronto I shop him during the off-season while he's still alive.

As for the match-up with Detroit, they will have difficulty guarding Billups. Carter should do a good job on Hamilton to cover him up a bit and Bosh will be fine against Maxiell or McDyess but when he's matched up against Rasheed he will have trouble. Bosh will more than likely put up some points, get out-rebounded, and disappear in the big moments while T. J. is jacking up terrible shots. Bargnani may pose a match-up problem for the big men of Detroit as long as he stays on the perimeter. Plus this raptors team has Kris Humphries. I mean look at this website! With a website like that he has to average a double double in this series right? The real question here is whether Toronto is going to play defense. I actually think I would feel safer against Toronto in the first round as a Celtics fan. Can they still be caught by Atlanta?

Chances of winning the title: Close to the same as the XFL's chances of being successful.

Atlanta Hawks

2008-04-06T14:19:00.004-04:00

As the regular season wears down and Celtics games become increasingly pointless (although the West provides us with plenty of drama) I thought that now would be a good time to begin some playoff previews for each team. I'm going to try to bang out two teams a day to get all sixteen playoff teams in. Obviously the Western Conference is way to crazy to begin talking about playoff match-ups but hopefully another week or two will settle things down a bit. In the East on the other hand I seriously doubt anything will change. Toronto might catch Philly, Philly might catch Washington, and Atlanta hasn't technically clinched yet as of today but I don't see a 2007 Mets-like choke job coming out of Atlanta so this will be the first team.

Atlanta faces the task of heading into Boston for game 1. The garden will be rocking for that game that is for sure but we're here to talk about the Hawks today. I am looking forward to this series actually. I think Atlanta is a fun team to watch and to be able to see them battle the Celtics for at least four games will be interesting. I'm rooting for Joe Johnson to have a good series. He reminds me of Pierce in so many ways. The both of them are exceptional scorers that make the game look easy sometimes and neither are the type to jump out of the building or blow by you. They both use angles, footwork, a great release, and soft touch to score in a multitude of ways. Pierce is a better rebounder and in my opinion a better passer although Joe is averaging 5.8 assists topping Pierce. The thought of these two guys getting hot at the same time at some point in this series and trading baskets would be great to see.

Although this team is five games under .500 right now, they are an intriguing team in my mind. I haven't been able to see Bibby play much for them to be honest so I'm unsure how he is fitting in but I would imagine he would fit in fairly well. Al Horford is an absolute beast and will give Perkins or Garnett everything they can handle on the boards. That kind of young talent proves the future promising for this Atlanta franchise. Josh Smith's athleticism is something we have no match for on the Celtics, but thankfully he hasn't learned to shoot yet. Check out this highlight reel of his dunks. Is it me or are there an extraordinary amount of these dunks on the Celtics? I love Josh Childress off of the bench for this team and in my opinion would rather keep him than Marvin Williams somehow in the off-season.

This is a fun-to-watch team with a lot of young talent and probably moving in the right direction so I guess you have that Atlanta fans, but the truth is there is no way they are winning a game in Boston. They may steal a game or two in Atlanta but this series isn't going seven games and I'd be surprised if it goes six. I expect the games to be entertaining though and that's all I can ask for in a first round series. Atlanta will be back next year, that's for sure, and they'll be with some experience behind them. Even if it is experience in getting beat by the Celtics.

Chances of winning the title: Same as Atlanta ever justifying Marvin Williams over Chris Paul

Opening Night a Success

2008-03-31T15:15:00.004-04:00

Talk about a microcosm for the Nationals season in their season opener. Listen we all know that this team most likely will struggle this year. They just don't have the pitching or offensive production to stay with better teams in the NL like the Mets. In order for this team to win games this year there is three things that must happen:

1) It is unrealistic to expect too much out of the starting pitchers on this team, however, if the starters can give this club 5-6 decent innings they can keep this team in the game. Last night? Odalis Perez (right) gave them five innings of one-run ball walking only one and gave up four hits. You couldn't ask for more than that.

2) When you are only getting 5-6 innings out of your starters, your bullpen has to be strong and pick up the slack. The Nationals are high on their bullpen this season. You know you have Cordero (once feeling better) at the back end but it's the 6th, 7th, and 8th inning guys that need to be just as good. Ray King is their resident left-handed specialist and is confident about the season after supposedly rededicating himself to healthy ways during the off-season. While Cordero is down Jon Rauch will get the save opportunities and maybe can develop some confidence in that role that would allow him to slide down and be an effective setup man during the season. Last night, however, he needed some help and that brings me to the third thing that must happen for success.

3) Ryan Zimmerman isn't quite making franchise money yet but this is the year he must make the leap on the field in order for this team to compete. A lot of the offense rests squarely on the shoulders of this young third baseman as was evident last night. Also evident last night is the fact that it looks like he is ready for the challenge. He bailed out his teammates late last night and he will be looked upon to do that consistently over the long season that is baseball.

Without these three things happening consistently for 162 games this team just can't keep up. It was all there last night and they got a great win while opening up their new stadium to a national audience.

The Sweet 16...how sweet it is.

2008-03-28T13:45:00.010-04:00

It's a been a brief hiatus since my last post mostly due to a run of beautiful weather that allowed me to get outside all week and play some basketball of my own. The sweet 16 always produces a mixture of intriguing match-ups, both marquee and Cinderella, as well as some great games and last night didn't disappoint. I'll get to Davidson later on but first, North Carolina continues to roll because that was a good Washington State team they devoured. Western Kentucky proved it had some fight against UCLA but in the end they were just outmatched. Louisville surprised me at how well it handled a very good Tennessee team.

I found this game very interesting. First, Louisville got out to a crazy start and was up very big early. The way Tennessee can shoot the ball you knew they were not out of the game and sure enough they cut the lead almost down to one in the second half. At that point I was unsure Louisville was going to hold on but they did. Almost immediately they extended the lead again and had control of the whole game. I have to say I was impressed and I think the UNC-Louisville game on Saturday will be great. Too bad I have to work.

Lastly, Xavier and West Virginia put on a show for the nation. Two teams that I am sure not many people were able to watch much during the regular season but two good teams nonetheless. I wrote in my predicting the 65 teams post that I did not like West Virginia very much. I did not get to see them play all that much this year of all the Big East teams. Despite that, I disliked Duke and Arizona enough to pick West Virginia to play Xavier in this game ironically. After watching and rooting for them against Duke I have to say this was a good and dangerous team. Alexander can just plain score and I love Mazzulla's toughness (Johnston native). I love this Xavier team and have them as a final four team and I can't wait to see them play UCLA on Saturday.

As for today's games, I love the Big East as you know by now but Villanova just won't be able to stay with Kansas. They can't possibly score enough points. Outside of that I expect the other three games to be battles. Michigan State scares the hell out of me as someone who has Memphis in the title game. Michigan State always plays well in the tournament because of Tom Izzo. This team can score in multiple ways, can play up-tempo or slow it down, they can rebound and has a good mixture of young and experienced players. The question is can they defend Memphis well enough to keep it close and expose the Tiger's poor free throw shooting.

I think the Stanford-Texas game might end up being one of the best in the tournament. I think both teams are talented. Stanford should dominate the paint while Texas should dominate the ball. I don't think Texas can match-up under the basket against the Lopez twins and I don't think Stanford can do anything against Abrams and Augustine. Texas does get to play in Houston which should be a huge advantage. Stanford, Memphis, and some Michigan State fans will be represented there don't get me wrong, but there will be a lot of Texas fans in that building, maybe even more than half of the 50 some odd thousand that should be there. That might be the difference.The last game is that game that every young basketball player in the country should watch. Stephen Curry plays basketball the right way. In fact I might be able to say he is a more polished version (and certainly more likeable) of J.J. Reddick (yes in college) and the crazy thing is he is only a sophomore. I hope he stays at least one more year and doesn't cash in on his tournament success this year. This should be a great match-up as Wisconsin is always a very good defensive team and has one of the better defenders in the country in Flowers. That battle will be amazing to watch. The skills with and without the ball that Curry possesses is something very rare in basketball anymore. His footwork, ability to square up at any angle, and crazy quick release make him so deadly that you literally cannot give this kid an inch of daylight otherwise he drops a three on you. Not only that but he knows where his teammates will be open depending on the defense and is a great passer. It really is amazing. The other part of this I love is the rest of the team works so hard to get this kid a look. The whole offense is based off of his movement and scoring threat. Also, I love the mentality of Jason Richards, the point guard for this team. He knows it is his job to get Curry the ball in position to score. He'll throw in a few drives and three's to keep the defense honest but you can tell that Curry loves playing with this kid and that's what you want as a point guard, is for everyone to want to play with you. If you are lucky enough to be able to catch this game tonight than marvel at this rare version of scoring that is not reliant on jumping out of the building.

Tournament First Impressions

2008-03-20T17:52:00.001-04:00

March Madness is here everyone. Almost twelve straight hours of emotional, gut-wrenching, throw your remote at the TV, college basketball. I love it. Unfortunately they have to take a break for normal people to watch the news for an hour during dinner. Here are some thoughts on the first wave of games:

Not an upset yet which doesn't surprise me all that much to be honest. I don't think there were many, if any, great teams this year. There were, however, a lot of "good" teams. A lot of the higher seeds in this tournament are good teams. Some of the lower seeds are as well, but, in general, I wouldn't expect to see that many upsets in the first round. The second and third rounds, on the other hand, I expect to be dogfights.
Xavier nearly gave me a heart attack in the first half as one of my final four teams. I don't know how Georgia played that well for four and a half games but down the stretch, the talent disparity became apparent. This Xavier team is a good team led by seniors Josh Duncan (right) and Drew Lavender. They took Ohio State down to the wire last year, which Ohio State survived by a few huge shots from Butler and Conley. Also, Xavier has six players that average double figures so they find different ways to score.
Michigan State, Purdue, and Pittsburgh all put up good performances in the first round. You could see any of those three teams making a run couldn't you? This is why it was so difficult to fill out a bracket this year.
What a performance by seniors Ramel Bradley and especially Joe Crawford in Kentucky's loss to Marquette. I was not a big fan of Kentucky, or them getting in the tournament for that matter, but I do like Bradley as a player and he and Crawford (right) literally carried the rest of that Kentucky team on their backs that entire game. I hope they have a good recruiting class next year because losing those two players will no doubt hurt this program.
On the other hand, Marquette and Pittsburgh represented the Big East well. McNeal struggled early guarding Crawford but he shot the ball very well in that game and must continue to do so for them to move on in the tournament.

Yes I am still on the bandwagon.

2008-03-20T17:22:00.003-04:00

After a week and a half as a Nationals fan I have learned a few things. First, their pitching will likely be horrendous this season unless they get two great years unexpectedly out of their youngsters Matt Chico and John Lannan, and Shawn Hill, Tim Redding, and Odalis Perez can stay healthy and consistent. Second, Nick Johnson must return to form and they will need another bat, preferably one of the young outfielders, to step up their offensive production.

It is unlikely this team will compete this year to be honest. Taking that into consideration, I think they made the right move by giving up on John Patterson today and cutting the 30-year-old that was the Opening Day starter last year. Patterson just simply could not stay healthy enough, and with injury concerns about Shawn Hill, I like the idea of opening up the rotation and giving Chico or Lannan a shot to prove themselves in the big leagues. They will likely get serviceable, consistent performances from veterans Tim Redding, and Odalis Perez (who would be my guess for the Opening Day starter this year).

The big question for me will be in the coming year or two. This team just got a badly needed new stadium in Washington. I've been to RFK and it was a dump, seriously. With the new stadium shouldn't they spend a little bit more money to put a better product on the field? I know they are still recovering from being in Montreal but Washington is not exactly a small market. Their payroll is only around $37,000,000, which is the third least in MLB. I say that in the next two years they need to be able to get that up to around $50 or $60 million.

Overall, I like the move and would like to see them get their young guys into games this season with no real expectations. Whichever gets the shot at breaking the rotation early in the season, both Chico and Lannan should get plenty of opportunities at some point in this season. I like Austin Kearns in the outfield, and the Wily Mo Pena/Elijah Dukes battle for left field should be interesting although Wily got hurt recently. The organization likes this kid Flores at catcher but want to keep him in the minors for another year or so. All in all, they have a good mix of enough young players and veterans that in two years time, with some good development, some well-spent money, and some growth as a manager for Manny Acta, this team can have a chance in the NL East. I look forward to seeing Opening Night where Washington gets to unveil its new stadium and hopefully allow the change in mentality continue.

Getting ready for the Big Dance

2008-03-17T16:31:00.003-04:00

After the anticlimactic release of the seedings following a great day in sports (Rockets get 22 in a row, did you see Tiger's putt?) and almost a full 24 hours of "Bracketology" I needed something to jolt my system to be once again excited about the upcoming weekend. I stumbled upon these youtube videos that compile some of the best moments of last year's tournament. Some of the first things I notice is how many teams are very similar to last year's teams (Tennessee, Georgetown, UCLA, Xavier, UNC, Vanderbilt, Memphis) and how many of those teams did well in the tournament. There is a lot of tournament experience out there on these college teams contrary to the belief that all these players are leaving early. Also, how in the world did Ohio State make it to the title game after the close call against Xavier and being down 20 to Tennessee? Georgetown may have lost Green but I think both Hibbert's and Ewing's progression make them a better team this year. Anyway check out these two videos if you need a reason to get excited. There is a third but I left it off because half of it is garbage and it only shows the title game between Ohio State and Florida.

A new day for PC basketball

2008-03-15T14:28:00.008-04:00

I knew Tim Welsh was on the hot seat. In all honesty I figured that the powers at be would allow him to finish his contract and continue to coach this team next year. When I went onto the ESPN homepage this afternoon I did not expect one of their top headlines to read: After 10 years, Providence fires Welsh. I have to say I'm surprised. With this move though brings hope for the future. The next hire here could bring no change at all and allow PC to fight for the chance to lose in the Big East tournament every year, and on the other hand the new hire could bring welcome exposure to a program that has seemed to slip through the cracks of college basketball.

Whomever will be the coach next season won't be in such a bad position as disappointing as this team has been recently. The reason they have been so disappointing is that any fan of basketball can see that this team has talent and on top of that is starting to develop something it never really had before-depth. With Curry coming back next year, Jeff Xavier (left) emerging as a true # 1 scorer, Geoff McDermott's playmaking abilities at the forward position, and only one senior leaving (Charlie Burch who arguably didn't have that much of an impact anyway), this team with the right coach should be formidable even in the loaded Big East next year. In that article Kevin McNamare of the Providence Journal paints the picture of a Providence team that is in over it's head in an ocean of Big East programs.

I have to disagree and side with the Journal's Jim Donaldson. In his piece he talks about how much of a nosedive this program has taken since playing Pittsburgh for first place in the Big East in 2004 (Ryan Gomes junior season). Sure that may have been a different Big East than it is today but that was in no way a weak conference. Big East mainstays like Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Connecticut, and Villanova were just as established programs four years ago. For every Louisville and Marquette that joined this league there was a South Florida and Depaul. Donaldson talks about how after that game against Pittsburgh (an 88-61 pounding of the #12 ranked Providence team) PC lost its season finale against Boston College, then lost in its first game of the Big East tournament, followed by a first round exit in the NCAA's at the hands of the 12 seeded Pacific.

The following season (first team All-American Ryan Gomes' senior season) PC was 4-12 in the Big East. Tim Welsh won game in the Big East tournament in his 10 years at PC. That is just not going to cut it. As Donaldson writes there is no reason this team can't compete for the 6-8 spots in the Big East and gain themselves a couple trips to the NCAA's in the process. That is realistic enough to happen next season even.

Some names that have been thrown out there for the job are guys like Jim Larranaga, the coach who brought George Mason to the final four and a PC graduate, Kent State's Jim Christian (a URI graduate), both of whom will likely be taking teams to the NCAA's this season and credentials are apparent. Also Brown coach Craig Robinson, who has done a very good job with that program, has been mentioned. I like the idea of Larranaga who will bring national exposure to the story and I'm assuming would command instant respect from the players on this team due to his success last year. Would he be willing to leave George Mason though? That's a legitimate question. If PC owes Welsh another $800,000 will they be willing to put up as much as $1,000,000 to lure a coach into Rhode Island? I hope so.

What about a name like John Brady the former LSU coach that was dismissed in the middle of the season. He was making $300,000 in base salary at LSU so this would a pay raise and a chance to coach in another major conference. He brought the LSU team to the Final Four as recent as 2006 and had two first place finishes in the competitive SEC in his 10 years there. Could the pay raise and lure of Big East basketball be enough to bring him here to Providence?

With PC's athletic director Bob Driscoll talking about "...change in leadership." and "...high standards..." I hope he will be able to put up the money to make those things happen. PC is at a crossroads. Will they bounce back and once again become a competitive team in this conference or will they toil in the bottom of the conference, fighting for chances at the post-season, and inevitably be eliminated from a conference that might have too many teams?

Celtics vs. Sonics

2008-03-13T18:40:00.010-04:00

On Wednesday night I was lucky enough to see the slaughter fest that was the Seattle SuperSonics at the Boston Celtics. Caught up in all the pre-game drinking in the hotel room we actually missed one of my favorite parts of Celtics games...the player introductions. This year the TD Banknorth Garden Rocks loud enough to hear on Landsdown street. The clip they run on the jumbotron that leads us through the Celtic journey starting from The Cooz, Russell, and "Red" and finishes with "The Boston Three Party" and Kevin Garnett screaming is simply incredible. It gives me the chills every time and to experience that atmosphere in person is amazing.

Anyway, that probably would have been the most exciting part of last night's game. The Sonics are really just a horrendous team and that could be being nice. I'm not sure how I feel about that as a Kevin Durant fan. Can he really develop to his optimum level is this situation? Can he learn how to lead, how to play team basketball, or how to win with a team like that or is he destined to become another Vince Carter? Will he continue to put up great numbers night in and night out for a team that will never become a serious title contender? I know they have like six first round picks in the next couple of years but they will need some veteran leadership on that team at some point otherwise it may take Durant 10 years to learn how to lead a winning team. It took Paul Pierce close to that.

Seattle was overmatched to begin with and a lot of the Celtics starters didn't get too many minutes in the second half. One positive is that Cassell played some solid minutes, had some baskets and some assists. His midrange jumper is a great asset to have on that second unit heading into the playoffs. It's something the Celtics bench didn't have all season. Here are some of the better shots I got from the game (credit goes to my lovely photographer Steph Morris).

Seats weren't too bad

The one picture I had to have.

The TruthA thing of beauty: Ray's sweet jumpshot.

Cassell gets his first points as a Celtic. He got a standing ovation when he came in too. How quickly we forget. Who am I kidding though, I was standing with them. I also love catching the broken spirit that is P. J. Carlesimo in the background. Do you think he's reliving the Sprewell incident?

My one and only Kobe post...on Kobe Bryant day

2008-03-11T14:05:00.008-04:00

As Hardwood Paroxysm declared, today is a day to tribute the great Kobe Bryant (for one day and one day only). As a Celtics fan in a way this pains me. The Lakers scare the hell out of me as a potential Finals opponent for one reason only...Kobe Bryant.

I was never really a Kobe fan early on. Although taking Brandy to his senior prom was one of the most bad ass things I've ever seen. That would be like myself taking Britney (hot Britney...you know, school girl outfit?) to my senior prom. My goodness. You know except for the whole LA thing.

The thought of Kobe playing in college makes me wonder. I think this is the most understated benefit of the change of the high school rule. Look at the moments we were given by one season of Kevin Durant in college basketball. Kobe was supposedly heading to Duke. Could you imagine that? Kobe in the ACC tournament? We were robbed of these memories not just of Kobe but guys like Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, or Dwight Howard. Not only that but after Kobe's year of college he would have come into the same draft as Tim Duncan. That would have been Durant/Oden 10 years ago. We have the luxury of knowing the outcome now but can you imagine having to make that decision back then? Especially a Spurs team that already had a big man and wasn't actually a bad team just had a bad year. On top of that a 76ers team with Allen Iverson had the second pick in that draft and used it on Keith Van Horn. Allen Iverson paired with whoever is left between Kobe and Duncan? But I digress.

As Kobe progressed and was able to play with Shaq I took for granted how good he had the chance to be. To me he was another young scorer that was lucky to be paired with Shaq. Even after the three peat I agreed with the logic that Kobe would be unable to win a championship without Shaq and continued to take him for granted. Within the past few years though I have come to respect Kobe Bryant for the basketball player he is. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the guy, wouldn't want to play with the guy, and may even be happy he's not on my team. The way he pissed and moaned about that team the last two years was a disgrace. However, if it weren't for the circumstances in his career I don't believe he becomes the player he is. The famous airballs against Utah (first 18 seconds), the championships, and then the divorce from Shaq all helped to fuel this man to become not only the best player in the NBA but to prove everyone wrong. If he doesn't go through those growing pains do we ever witness the 81 points?

Say what you will about the selfishness of that game (and yes it was selfishness) but that is something that I as a 23-year-old basketball fan may never see again in my lifetime. That is the real reason we watch sports: for those unforgettable moments/performances. What I do respect is that I could never see a performance like that again but if I do and it was done by anyone I would expect it to be Kobe. The man can score from anywhere on the basketball floor period. That is his greatness. Lebron has the physical tools and potential to surpass Kobe in that department which is mind-boggling but he has a lot of work to do to approach that.

I may not respect Kobe as a person, but as a basketball player I know the truth. As a witness to his career I am a witness to history and that's all a sports fan can ask for.

It's time for March Madness.

2008-03-10T18:07:00.020-04:00

It's getting to be that time of year and as some conferences decided their tournament representative over the weekend, other conferences are just getting started. The Big East, Big 12, and Pac-10 led the way this year in my opinion. ACC basketball was not up to the standard, the MVC graduated too many players although produce a dangerous Drake team, and at least Saint Mary's challenged Gonzaga in the WCC. The SEC had some strong teams but was not as deep as usual, the A-10 had a great year until teams started beating up on one another, and the Big Ten had only 4 teams worth talking about. Although some of the conference tournaments are complete I'm going to look at the conference championships still to happen as well as attempt to predict the 65 teams that will be celebrating on Selection Sunday.

The Big Boys

Big East Champion: Georgetown won the matchup against Louisville for the regular season title but the Big East tournament is a different animal. I'm not sure if Hibbert doesn't wear down after three games in three nights. Louisville will have a tough game against Notre Dame but I think they pull it out. Automatic Bid: Louisville (1)

Stealing At-Large's:

Georgetown will be a #2 or #3 seed regardless of how they finish. (2)

Notre Dame will be a very tough team to beat in the big dance. (3)

Marquette's guards are relentless on both ends of the floor. (4)

Anytime you lose twice to PC than you should be nervous. If PC steals one against West Virginia than UConn will see them in the tournament as well. (5)

Pittsburgh can always defend and is always a team that has toughness, also there is a good mix of veterans and young players on this team. Nobody would look forward to playing Pittsburgh in the first round. (6)

I am not a fan of West Virginia this year. Next year, on the other hand, look out because Huggins can recruit. (7)

Syracuse wins on Thursday and puts up a fight against Georgetown and squeaks in. Of all the bubble teams, this one seems to me to be able to rattle off a couple wins in the big dance. (8)

ACC Champion: Looks like Duke-UNC number 3 for the automatic bid. Both teams playing to see who will play in Greensboro in the first round. Do they have the first round in Greensboro every year or is it just me? It's bad enough we have to listen to Dick Vitale gush about ACC basketball. I think UNC takes it again. Ty makes the difference in this matchup. Automatic Bid: UNC (9)

Stealing At-Large's:

Duke will be a dangerous # 2 seed especially for a team like Memphis. (10)

Clemson took UNC to overtime twice and only had one shot at Duke, maybe they can sneak into the conference championship but I doubt it. (11)

Miami faces Virginia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament and that game will be watched closely. Virginia Tech just stumbled to Clemson but they beat Maryland twice and Maryland lost 4 of the last 5. Virginia Tech could use the win but they get in either way. (12)

Miami has good wins and bad losses. Wins over Clemson, Duke, Maryland, and Virginia Tech put them in good shape. A win over Virginia Tech would be good but they make it in as well. (13)

Big Ten Champion: Wisconsin is the best team in this conference hands-down but Purdue beat them twice in the regular season. Still I think Wisconsin pulls it out and watch out for this team in march. Bo Ryan always has this team playing well come tournament time. Automatic Bid: Wisconsin (14)

Stealing At-Large's:

Is Purdue the other Big Ten team to make a run? I'm still undecided until I see the Big Ten tournament. (15)

I am not a fan of Indiana even before Kelvin Sampson left. They will backpedal into the tournament but I'm leaning against them in the first round. (16)

Michigan State may be bi-polar but when they are shooting the ball well they are scary. Also, Tom Izzo consistently gets his teams to overachieve in March. (17)

Pac-10 Champion: UCLA is coming off two very questionable wins to close the regular season but I don't see a lot of these teams challenging them...except one. Count me as an O. J. Mayo critic and I don't see him being a point guard at the next level but USC is playing great basketball (especially Taj Gibson) and I think they stun UCLA in the second round. Automatic Bid: USC (18)

Stealing At-Large's:

UCLA will lose out on a number 1 seed because of this USC lose but remember this team has been to that last two Final Four's. (19)

Stanford will be a tough team in March but they have no point guard. Who will run this team? Brooke Lopez? (20)

Washington State is quiet again. Maybe there is something to this East Coast bias thing. Either way I'm awake this is a good Washington State team. Look for them to get a win or two or three in March. (21)

Arizona, Arizona State, and Oregon may all be even as of right now which doesn't bode well for any of them. Unfortunately for Arizona both Oregon and Arizona State swept the season series. Arizona State also has wins against Oregon, Stanford, USC, and Xavier. They squeak in as one of the last. (22)

Big 12 Champion: Texas will make a strong case for a number 1 seed when it wins this conference tournament. Especially after UCLA gets knocked off. Automatic Bid: Texas (23)

Stealing At-Large's:

Kansas underachieves again in the post season...and I like Kansas. Shouldn't Brandon Rush have emerged as a player-of-the-year type guy by now? He's actually averaging less points and rebounds than as a freshman. What happened to maturing as a basketball player by staying in school? (24)

Oklahoma has some good non-conference wins and played a tough schedule early. Will it pay off down the road? Also isn't Longar Longar one of the greatest names of all time? You have to have balls as a parent to give your last name to your kid as a first name. I can't help but attribute this theory to some of my buddies: Tomaz Tomaz; Cardinal Cardinal; Veader Veader; Ray Raymond; Mitchell Mitchell; just doesn't have the same affect. (25)

I loved the Big 12 this year and any team with a winning record in my opinion should be playing in the big dance. Baylor should win against Colorado first but they should be in either way. (26)

Kansas State was 10-6 in the Big 12 with a big win against Kansas. They will be playing in the NCAA's. I'm looking forward to watching Beasley play when the pressure is on. This will be a dangerous 7 seed if Bill Walker gets hot. (27)

Texas A&M needs to win against Iowa State and could use a win against Kansas State in the second round but I think they get in either way. Another team that could be dangerous in the tournament except for the fact that they have no point guard. (28)

SEC Champion: Nobody is beating Tennessee in this tournament. They are staking their claim at a #1 seed and this team is a serious contender for the National Championship. Automatic Bid: Tennessee (29)

Stealing At-Large's:

Vanderbilt is a fun team to watch and when they meet with Tennessee in the SEC final it may be the most entertaining conference final in the country. (30)

Mississippi State quietly had a good season but they didn't have any big wins really. They won the games they were supposed to win (even lost a couple they probably shouldn't have) and took advantage of a fairly weak version of the SEC. Just saying. (31)

Kentucky had a rough start to the season that is for sure but anytime you go 12-4 in a major conference (although a weaker one) and your SOS is in the top 15 you're playing in March. And that's before you take into the name Kentucky. (32)

Arkansas has wins over bubble teams: VCU and Baylor and finished 9-7 in the SEC. Another win over Vanderbilt in the tournament would solidify their spot but I say they get in anyway. (33)

The Scrappers

Atlantic-10 Champion: It is not fun to be Xavier right now. There are four or five teams in that conference that started the year well, was on the bubble most of the season, and now sees a win over Xavier as their last big statement to get them in if they can't get the automatic bid. I think Xavier is a very good team, better than Xavier teams in the past few years and they take care of business in the tournament. Automatic Bid: Xavier (34)

Stealing At-Large's:

There are a couple teams that could still play their way in although it's unlikely. Dayton will have a crack at Xavier in the second round but I think that works against them. UMass can grab a couple wins on the other side of the bracket and become the second and last team to make it out of the A-10. (35)

West Coast Conference Champion: Gonzaga plays San Diego tonight for the automatic bid and I think San Diego pulls it out to the dismay of bubble teams around the country. They are coming off a double overtime win over Saint Mary's last night and I think they carry the momentum of the 20 point final overtime period. Automatic Bid: San Diego *(36)

Stealing At-Large's:

Gonzaga will be a tough out in the tournament and back to a role they relish: underdog. They aren't as good as Gonzaga teams in past years but Jeremy Pargo can will them to victories. (37)

I love Saint Mary's guard Patrick Mills and look forward to seeing their round 1 match-up in the big tournament. (38)

Conference USA Champion: Is there any question Memphis will get this automatic bid? No? Good. Let's move on. Automatic Bid: Memphis (39)

Stealing At-Large's:

UAB may need to set up a rematch of this weekend's massacre against Memphis in the conference Final to make it in but I think they do it. Can we move Memphis and UAB to the A-10 and just get rid of the rest of this conference? Houston wants to be a bubble team but needs to take the automatic bid to make it. (40)

Missouri Valley Conference Champion: What a difference a year makes. Wasn't this the league that was hoping for six teams last year? Regardless Drake is a legitimate team and made a statement in the conference final over the weekend. Automatic Bid: Drake* (41)

Stealing At-Large's:

The game over the weekend may have said more about how good Drake is than about how bad Illinois State is. Losing like that hurt them but I think they still get in. (42)

Mountain West Conference Champion: UNLV and New Mexico are both good teams this year but BYU has been dominant in conference. Considering that I still take UNLV to take the automatic bid with the logic that their only losses in conference have been on the road. Oh and by the way the conference tournament takes place in Las Vegas. Automatic Bid: UNLV (43)

Stealing At-Large's:

BYU had a great year but their best out of conference win was against an ailing Louisville early in the year. They are playing in the NCAA but I don't see them doing too much damage. (44)

Colonial Athletic Association Champion: George Mason takes on William & Mary in the conference final on Monday. George Mason's tournament experience carries them on. Automatic Bid: George Mason* (45)

VCU slips in the conference tournament but they will be playing in the big tournament and may be a dangerous 12 seed. (46)

The One-bid Conferences

Sun Belt Conference Champion: Does this league get two teams in? South Alabama has the non-conference wins to carry them to an at large bid but they also are playing the conference tournament at home. I think they steal the automatic bid out from under Western Kentucky. Automatic Bid: South Alabama (47)

Mid-American Conference Champion: Kent State is the superior team in the conference beating Western Michigan and sweeping Akron. They limit this league to one bid. Automatic Bid: Kent State (48)

Southern Conference Champion: Davidson has the type of resume to challenge an at large bid if necessary. They went 20-0 in conference and 25-6 overall with losses to Duke by 5, UNC by 4, and UCLA by 12. If they were to get knocked off in the conference tournament than this might become a two-bid league. Luckily for other bubble teams they will not. 20-0? Automatic Bid: Davidson *(49)

America East Champion: Hartford takes on UMBC on Saturday for the automatic bid. UMBC won the regular season title and takes the conference title as well. Automatic Bid: UMBC (50)

Atlantic Sun Champion: Belmont beat Jacksonville to claim one of the automatic bids. Automatic Bid: Belmont* (51)

Big Sky Champion: Portland State lost at Weber State once this year. Can Weber State scrap the automatic bid as the #3 seed? I say no. Automatic Bid: Portland State (52)

Big South Champion: Winthrop continues its dominance on this conference. Automatic Bid: Winthrop* (53)

Big West Champion: UC Santa Barbara is the top seed and split the season series with Pacific. Pacific has to play an extra game which I think will hurt them in a competitive league. Automatic Bid: Cal State Northridge (54)

Horizon League Champion: If Butler loses to Cleveland State they take an at-large anyway. Cleveland State is no Butler. Automatic Bid: Butler (55)

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Siena leads Rider as I'm writing this and looks like the better team. Automatic Bid: Siena *(56)

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champion: Wow that's a mouthful for a team that earned a right to the play-in game. Does it matter who wins this conference? Automatic Bid: Hampton (57)

Northeast Conference Champion: Mount St. Mary's takes on Sacred Heart on Wednesday. I guess I have to take the local team here. Automatic Bid: Sacred Heart (58)

Ohio Valley Conference Champion: Austin Peay took out the #6 seed Tennessee State in the final. Automatic Bid: Austin Peay* (59)

Patriot League Champion: To Bill Simmons' dismay Holy Cross couldn't quite make the run. American takes on Colgate in the final. Automatic Bid: Colgate (60)

Southland Conference Champion: Stephen F. Austin is the dominant team. I'm not going to go against that. Automatic Bid: Stephen F. Austin (61)

Southwestern Athletic Conference Champion: Where do these conferences come from? Automatic Bid: Alabama State (62)

Summit Champion: Now that is how to name a conference. Oral Roberts, IUPUI, or Oakland? Automatic Bid: Oakland (63)

Western Athletic Conference: A down year for the WAC. No at large consideration. Automatic Bid: Nevada (64)

Ivy League Champion: No tournament but Cornell went 14-0. No need for one. Automatic Bid: Cornell * (65)

*Denotes team that has already won the automatic bid

Jumping on the bandwagon....Wait where's the gas pedal?

2008-03-08T14:36:00.008-05:00

Alright before I get into this, I have to preface it with a few points. First of all, I am, always have been, and always will be a Boston Red Sox fan at heart. Secondly, this is mainly a basketball blog but sitting here watching the beginning of the end for college basketball made me realize I'm going to need something write about in the long summer months during baseball season. Thirdly, I do not pretend to know any where near as much about baseball as I do basketball but intend to do it anyway. To spice it up a bit, I decided rather than running through the Red Sox stuff that will be covered exhaustively in these parts (although I will throw my two cents in) why not become a fan of another team as well as the Sox for this season, and as an added bonus I could expand my knowledge of baseball and be able to look at baseball from another perspective.

Now I had to have a system to determine the team I would choose to follow. First rule of elimination was that the team had to be from the National League. What better way to expand my knowledge of baseball and perspective, than to follow a team from the other league? Also, I didn't want to have a conflict of interest between the Sox and my new team say when it came to the playoff race. As it turned out I'm fairly certain I will have nothing to worry about, not even in the World Series. Lastly, I wanted to exclude some of the big money teams such as: the Mets, the Cubs, the Dodgers, and actually even the Braves (more for their popularity among baseball fans my age in the area than the market).

That left a total of 12 teams in the National League. How did I narrow those twelve down to one? How else? Names from a hat! Why not let fate decide what city will be blessed with my fanhood for the following year. As it turns out fate can be quite ironic. There are two National League teams in which I have attended games in their home stadium's. Well technically I guess it would be one. On a legendary vacation at the age of 18 to Montreal, I attended a Florida Marlins-Montreal Expos game. When it comes to details of this game, I, for some reason, have trouble pulling up from time to time. Secondly, on a trip to Baltimore a few years back, we made the drive up to Washington to catch a Nationals game. Hell I even have a Washington Nationals shot glass.Unfortunately or fortunately, my National League team for the 2008 season will be the Washington Nationals. I must say, my knowledge of this team, as of now, doesn't extend much farther than Ryan Zimmerman (I guess I shouldn't get attached), Chad Cordero's annoying sideways hat, and the one and only, former Red Sox and once hopeful Manny replacement: Wily Mo-Pena. Alright I have a little more knowledge than that, but really not much. Yes the Nationals do have the 3rd lowest payroll in baseball. And Yes Shawn Hill does project to be OUR number 1 starter, but you know what? The Colorado Rockies played in the World Series last year and it is still only March. That means there's hope for us all. Go Nats!

Just when I though they couldn't let me down

2008-03-07T12:00:00.008-05:00

As a former Providence College basketball fan I am sad. I am sad that I missed out on Marvin "Bad News" Barnes. I am sad I missed out on Billy Donovan and Ernie D. I am sad that I missed out on Jimmy Walker. I am proud to say such legends as John Thompson and Lenny Wilkins once played in Providence. I had the pleasure of catching Otis Thorpe at the end of his career. I watched God Shamgod and John Linehan pester Big East guards in the 90's. I saw Eric Murdock, Eric Williams, and Dickey Simpkins make it to the NBA. I had the pleasure of watching Ryan Gomes play basketball the right way for an under-achieving team his whole career. I have hope for Providence College's future but maybe it's time to let it go. With the expansion of the Big East as well as the improvement of teams like Marquette, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh into quality programs, it looks like the Providence College and St. John's of the world may now be relegated to the bottom half of the conference.

As a former Providence College basketball fan I am sad. I am sad that I saw students storm the court last night after a victory over a 14th ranked (and 4th place in the conference) Connecticut team. That win may or may not have won Providence College the right to play in the conference tournament. That is not something to be celebrated by storming the court. There is a chance that Tim Welsh will not be back next season and that makes me happy, but Tim Welsh is not responsible (entirely) for this team's lack of success. They have some nice players but fact of the matter is this college cannot compete in recruiting with the majority of the Big East. I do, however, believe that they should be able to take a shot and find a questionable top player that has been overlooked by other universities (Ryan Gomes?) at least once every couple of years. Geoff McDermott in my mind could have developed into a player similar to that. I can hold Tim Welsh responsible for that.

Regardless, a couple Big East tournament wins and maybe an NCAA tournament win isn't too much to ask out of this program is it? Maybe it is now but I still have hope. I hope that the next Ryan Gomes slips through the cracks to play here at Providence. I hope the program can find a promising young coach to at least bring in a change in attitude. I hope I will be looking forward to attending a PC home game in the near future. As a former Providence College basketball fan I have hope.

Rondo makes a statement about his job.

2008-03-06T17:03:00.004-05:00

I can sum up last night's game in one fifty five second highlight:

I especially like the camera panning to "Rip" (while Rondo is at the free throw line) as he talks himself out of depression after the realization that he has no shot in hell at guarding Rondo. Here are some quick hitters from the game last night:

-Kevin Garnett is officially back ladies and gentlemen. On a night that his jumpshot was falling, he consistently was going to the basket. Also, finally they decided that running the offense through Garnett is their most effective way of scoring in the half-court.

-Rondo played a great game even chipping in big baskets down the stretch when Boston was pulling away. Garnett talked about how Rondo's dunk nearly blew the roof off the building.

-Rasheed Wallace is a beast and will scare the hell out of me if these two teams match-up in the playoffs.

-Speaking of playoffs, what a physical game that was for March. This will be an all-out war if they meet in May.

-Anytime Perkins has a double double this team will win but 20 rebounds? He is playing with a lot of effort and a perfect understanding of his role right now.

-Tommy Heinson quote of the night:"The young Johnson thought he could mastermind a steal. but the bank job didn't work." Following an emphatic dunk by Garnett against no defense at all.

-Glen Davis is becoming a well-oiled machine when it comes to setting good, hard screens on the perimeter without picking up fouls which is something Perkins has struggled with his whole career. Combine that with his quick feet and soft hands and this man will be scoring off the pick and roll for years to come. What a steal in the second round...you know as long as he doesn't go Shawn Kemp or Vin Baker on us.

-Over the years Pierce has taken some questionable shots (to say the least), but his transformation of play this year on this team in my opinion has been remarkable. He allowed Ray and Garnett to fit into the offense smoothly and last night was a great example. Paul no longer has to score 30 a night for this team to win, but he had some of the biggest baskets in that game and down the stretch, not to mention he consistently hooks Perkins up for dunks or lay-ups at least 2-3 times a night.

-Hey is Tayshaun Prince still on the Pistons?

As for the games tonight:

Cleveland@Chicago: Lebron on the national stage a night after lighting up New York. I fully expect Cleveland to make Chicago look horrible, that seems to happen often on TNT.

Indiana@San Antonio: The Spurs will get another quiet win while everyone falls asleep to the the game in Chicago.

Houston@Dallas: Houston goes for 17 in a row against a Dirk-less Mavs team in Dallas. This team is on fire right now. I think I have to agree with The Dream Shake, they get the win and you have to love the play of Luis Landry.

Celtic Fever

2008-03-05T11:01:00.010-05:00

It's official. Sam Cassell is checking his enormous kahunas into baggage as we speak and boarding a cross-country flight to the best team in the Leastern Conference. I love it. The team with the best record in the NBA just added P. J. Brown and Sam Cassell for absolutely nothing. On night when Perkins forgets he's on the basketball court, I am confident that P. J. Brown can give you everything you expect out of Perk on a nightly basis. As for Cassell, the talking heads on ESPN are concerned about Cassell fitting in with the established chemistry on the Celtics. Really? Sam won't have enough respect for perennial all-stars Paul Pierce and former teammates Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to get them the ball when they need it? I am sure Sam has no disillusions about making this his team. After playing for LA's minor league team for the past few years I am sure he is starving to play basketball that matters again and believe these factors will allow him to fit in seamlessly with this team. By adding Cassell they are getting more than just toughness and playoff experience. They are getting someone that will carry them through Paul and Ray's bad shooting nights, Perkins occasional disappearance into low post obscurity, and Rondo's lack of anything resembling a jumpshot.

As for his affect on Rondo's confidence I see this as nothing but a good thing. Let's face it, the pressure that would have been put on Rondo as the only point guard on this team in the playoffs is not something that will be helpful for a 21-year-old's development as an NBA player. I believe he would have done an adequate job but now the pressure is placed evenly over the entire team. This team should represent the east in the NBA Finals and if they don't than every player on that team is responsible...even you Scalabrine. Besides, who is better qualified to impart knowledge to a young point guard trying to lead future Hall-of-Famers to an NBA Championship than Sam Cassell. This is just too perfect.

Now that my excitement has boiled over and I have jinxed this team for the rest of the year let's turn to the source. My anticipation for the Eastern Conference showdown tonight is more than likely way overblown. As I sit here I expect way too much for this game but let me enjoy my high please. As the Celtics are four games up on the Pistons in the loss column and heading into the deciding game in the season series, this is about as close to deciding the #1 seed in one game as we will get this year. Detroit is coming off a surprisingly tough win at home last night against the Seattle Expiring Contracts. Boston on the other hand has been relaxing since their win Sunday night against an improving Atlanta team. I expect both teams to come out motivated. Let's all pray for Rondo and give him strength for his match-up with Chauncey tonight.

Speaking of Rondo, check out this interview held over All-Star weekend in New Orleans.

The "Birdman" is back!

2008-03-04T13:05:00.007-05:00

As ESPN is reporting Chris Anderson (above), formerly and possibly in the near future, of the New Orleans Hornets, is being reinstated by the league after a 2 year banishment from the NBA. He was suspended for a first-time positive test for "drugs of abuse". "Drugs of abuse" are defined in the CBA as amphetamines (meth, cocaine, LSD) or opiates (heroin, codeine and morphine, or PCP). You may remember Chris as quite possibly the worst Slam Dunk Contest participant of all time for his performance in the 2004 contest. Although he did steal his nickname from my colleague and our friend Paul Mitchell, he allows us an opportunity for numerous new jokes on his dunk contest performance, drug use, and all-around whiteboy goofiness that is rare in an NBA player. Here's hoping New Orleans will sign him for the stretch run so we can enjoy these jokes well into the playoffs.

Here's something we all can enjoy.

The Back Nine

2008-02-28T07:22:00.012-05:00

So last week obviously was an entertaining weekend in basketball, and to be honest the rest of the week was no let down. As I contemplated subjects for this weeks post a few things crossed my mind. First, I still would like to write a breakdown of the NBA trades made. However I haven't seen all the teams that were involved and most only once. Maybe I'll wait until the end of the regular season to judge the trades and their chances in the playoffs.

So with that checked off I thought about switching it up and moving away from basketball, I mean the combine was big news this weekend right? I don't know what it is. A couple years ago you had to spend an unintentional sleepless night searching the web for research on the combine. Now? I think I learned 40 times and bench press reps subconsciously from having Sportscenter on in my sleep. Maybe it just lost its luster, I don't know. The NFL draft however, now that will be interesting, and I can guarantee you I'll have comments on that.

Next there was, well, the Celtics five-game road trip out west. A couple losses in a row and some tough games but winning the last two and then taking Cleveland at home on Wednesday, this Celtics team is doing just fine for now. A big game against Detroit next week looms as well as the dreaded Texas road trip which both may say more about the Green than the past week and a half.

Some darkhorse candidates for post subjects: Tiger's dominance (for me this never gets old but I'll wait until the Master's), Red Sox spring training (I just can't get all that excited yet but seeing highlights on Sportscenter is bringing me around), NASCAR (Carl Edwards beat out Jimmie Johnson last week but look for Johnson to be in the running this week, and Matt Kenseth for that matter). Wait a second did I just discuss NASCAR? Man what has happened to me, I used to be a respectable sports fan.

Anyway after some deliberation and at the risk of being repetitive I looked at the slate of college games this weekend and just can't resist. Sometimes I think that this time of year in college basketball is even better than March. Marquee match-ups, in-conference rivalries, teams sweating it out and knowing they need to be strong down the stretch in order to have a chance to continue play after conference tournaments. At this point every team in the country is alive, just some a little more than others, and teams now know exactly what needs to be done. Alright maybe not better than March, but exciting all the same.

This weekend has some great games to look forward to and although the whole Bracketbuster and non-conference hiatus was fun last week you have to admit it's nice to get back to some meaningful in-conference games this week. Also, I know I called a Tennessee win last week but I have to say that a) shouldn't they have beaten that Memphis team by more than 4 when Memphis shot less than 30% from the three and missed 9 of 18 free throws? and b) Vanderbilt is a good team and all but I guess I just expected Tennessee to stay on top for a bit, you know like longer than 4 days... I'm not giving up on this team for March yet but maybe I'm just waiting for a team or two to announce that they are the team to beat in the tournament. I guess it's more fun this way though.

North Carolina at Boston College: As a fairly local fan that has basically given up on Rhode Island college basketball teams, for some reason I just can't bring myself to become a fan of Boston College. I've considered it many times over the years as they obviously have been more successful than PC or URI, but for some reason I just don't enjoy watching them play. On second thought, when do I ever enjoy watching PC or URI play? Maybe I am a Boston College fan and just don't know it yet. Either way UNC coming to Boston is noteworthy although the game will most likely be a formality and an afterthought by next week. UNC tars the Eagles.

Pittsburgh at Syracuse: Two Big East teams that are fighting to get knocked out of the first round of the NCAA's. I guess that's not really fair, and I am a huge fan of the Big East, but sometimes you just can't force 8 teams out of this league. There are more impressive teams in this league than I thought at the beginning of the conference schedule, I will say that, but I just don't think either of these teams is all that scary come NCAA time. Jonny Flynn (below) will disagree I'm sure.

Texas A & M at Oklahoma: So A & M is doing anything in its power to make me look like an idiot after their win against Texas back in January losing three of their last four and still have two hungry bubble teams and Kansas left to close out their Big 12 schedule. Both teams here need to close the season strong in order to be playing in March. Every game at this time of year means something and this one is no exception. I say A & M supports my cause and pulls out a big road win.

St. Mary's at Gonzaga: I am bummed out that this game isn't on at midnight. I mean that was the whole reason anyone watches WCC games right? Now what am I gonna watch on a Saturday night after work? SNL? And people wonder why I am found at Gator's so often. Regardless an opportunity for Gonzaga to reclaim it's dominance in the conference and restore normalcy to college basketball. They take a close one at home.

Georgetown at Marquette: Two of the five teams in the Big East that will represent well in March I'm sure. Can Georgetown stay with the quick guards of Marquette? Can Marquette deal with Georgetown's deliberate style, defense, and of course, Roy Hibbert (right)? Big game for Georgetown before the showdown against Louisville next week which may be for the Big East title. Am I crazy to be surprised that Notre Dame could steal this conference championship when it's all said and done? I say Georgetown takes care of business this week and next.

Washington State at Stanford: Stanford plays Washington Thursday night before this game and then closes with USC and UCLA both on the road. Could this team play their way into consideration for a # 1 seed. If they win out and make it to the PAC-10 final they deserve consideration right? This Stanford team may be one of the under-the-radar contenders. With that said I don't think they take that game at UCLA and end up a # 2 seed in the tournament. Washington State could theoretically win their last three including this one but I think they have more to lose with a loss than to gain with a win. The PAC-10 tournament should be fun I do have to say that. Stanford wins easily at home.

Kansas State at Kansas: Kansas may look a bit more beatable now than earlier in the year but this is a huge game for Kansas State nonetheless. They are quietly losing their way out of the NCAA but this would be a great win for them. Sweeping Kansas and then winning their last two in the Big 12 and this team is a lock and maybe a dangerous team in March. I love Beasley (left) but I do have to say I want to see him step up in a big game like this one. He is putting up Durant numbers but he is not on the same level as Durant was last year (at least not in my mind) when it comes to big shots, big games, and completely taking over games for stretches. This is a perfect game for him to make a statement. I'll be rooting for him and Kansas State but I pick Kansas as the winner at home to right the ship.

Kentuckey at Tennessee (Sunday): The first of an interesting tripleheader on Sunday. Kentucky has had a rough year but they are still fighting, have played well in the SEC, and a big win here at Tennessee immediately gets the talking heads...well talking. Personally I don't think there is a chance in hell that Kentucky can score enough to keep up with Tennessee and expect to take a nap during the second half of this game to get rested up for my own playoff game. (That's right! Team Green lives!)

Indiana at Michigan State (Sunday): A big game in the Big Ten (yes they are still playing basketball in the Big Ten) and could be a very big game for Michigan State. With this game and Wisconsin left on the schedule they can still make some noise in this conference. Either way, I think Wisconsin and Purdue are the two teams to worry about in the tournament. Too bad they weren't playing today.

UCLA at Arizona (Sunday): Like I said last week, when Bayless (right) and Budinger are both firing this team can beat anyone on any given night. They won at Washington State fairly handily, but you can take that as it is. This UCLA team is much better competition, and although they are at home, I don't see the Wildcats pulling this one out. It may be one of the more entertaining games of the weekend however. Thank goodness I will be too busy playing basketball at this time so I don't have to be angry about how being stuck on the East Coast affords me the opportunity to miss this game in favor of Villanova-Louisville. UCLA wins it handily and reminds the national stage that they have been to the last two Final Four's and look to make it a third.

A look ahead at BracketBuster Weekend

2008-02-21T18:53:00.015-05:00

So it was a busy two weeks or so in the NBA between the deadline beating trades and NBA all-star weekend. But I have to say that I think the most interesting thing about the NBA right now is how good some of the basketball here is. The race in the West is just nuts with six teams likely to challenge 50 wins and three more with a chance with a strong push. There will be a 45-50 win team that misses the playoffs in the west. The east is probably just as bad as in past years but I think this is the first year in a few that 4 teams have a legitimate chance to make the finals in Boston, Detroit, Orlando, and Cleveland. Also I can't remember a year when so many teams both have title aspirations and/or rolled the dice on a big move to get that title. Although most people are only talking about the Lakers, Suns, Spurs, and Mavs in the west, you have to at least consider teams like New Orleans, and Utah right? As for the east, any time you play in the finals you have a shot in my mind. I believe the team to come out of the east this year will challenge its western conference foe. As for the specific deadline trades I'm going to get into that in a future post but you have to hand it to the GM's around the league (alright most of them, I apologize to Memphis, Milwaukee, Clippers, and Minnesota fans) for stepping up to the plate and you can all credit the trendsetter here: Danny Ainge (right). (Haha alright maybe not.) As for this post I'm going to look ahead to a few college games this weekend.

I'm not sure who's idea it was to start scheduling in a few non-conference games in the middle of conference play. I'm not sure who's idea it was for the mid-major teams to take this a step further and schedule other strong mid-major teams around the same time. Whoever came up with this idea is a genius. In past years there was always a mid-major team who plays well against some major programs, steals some wins, then proceeds to go on to dominate their conference. Early in the season you can't quite tell how these major teams are going to be for the most part. I mean come on PC had NCAA aspirations heading into the bigeast and now URI's win over them doesn't look so impressive. So around this time of year we are dying to see these mid-major teams play someone out of conference to get a better idea of them. For many teams this weekend along with conference championships will make or break their post-season hopes; NCAA or NIT; post-season or go back to class. On top of that we have a non-conference game between the #1 and #2 teams in the country. If you can't get pumped for that in late February than you can go watch pitchers and catcher playing catch for the next month and get excited about baseball but for me: basketball season is hitting a new gear.

So after that long-winded introduction, here are some games I'll be interested in this weekend:

Kansas at Oklahoma St.: This is the time of year where I like to watch the title contenders whenever I can because filling out the brackets at the elite eight and final four level is so difficult. Oklahoma St. has a good young freshman in James Anderson (right). They are only 4-7 in the Big 12 but are coming off a win against Texas A & M and at home, maybe they can challenge a good Kansas team.

Connecticut at Villanova: How about this Connecticut team? I have to say that after they lost their entire team to the draft that year (Boone, Armstrong, Williams, etc.) I was never really impressed with their players but they are playing as well as anyone right now and that all comes down to coaching. Villanova on the other hand is a young team that will challenge the Big East in the near future. They are better than those five straight losses in the middle of conference play. I say they put up a fight at home. My brother loved to hear that.

Arizona at Washington State: Arizona may only be 6-7 in the Pac-10 and lost 4 of the last 5, but the Wildcats are talented enough to beat any team on any given night. Budinger (right) and Bayless are both studs offensively and if they have it going than good luck defending them. Now with that being said, I do not see this Arizona team, much like past Arizona teams playing consistently enough to make a run in March and they have had better teams in the past. Washington State on the other hand is beatable but consistent enough to play well in the coming months. A well-coached and good defensive team, has three different guys who could carry the scoring load if need be in Low, Weaver, and Baynes.

Kent State at St. Mary's: If you haven't seen St. Mary's late some Monday night yet this year than try to catch this game. There is something intriguing about a small school like this recruiting well internationally and trying to make a name for itself as a program. Patrick Mills (left) is a fun-to-watch 6-foot scorer. The big man on this team, Omar Samhan was the kid with the goofy afro that played well against Gonzaga last year. It's good to see another program develop in the West Coast Conference. Kent State is a very good Mid-major team and may be just as deserving of the top 20 label as St. Mary's. They are 11-2 and will likely win the MAC and 22-5 overall with loses at North Carolina and at Xavier. I think St. Mary's will be able to get out and run enough to grab this game at home. Patrick Mills puts too much pressure on the other teams offensively.

Providence at West Virginia: Go Mountaineers!! Officially openly rooting for Providence to continue to slump in Big East play. People in Providence are actually starting to call for Tim Welsh's job even! Did they watch this team when Ryan Gomes (below with Welsh) was here. They were as underachieving then as they are now. I know that kids aren't exactly clamoring to come to Providence for school or basketball but the city isn't that bad is it? It is realistic to think you could build a team that will compete in the Big East especially with some senior leadership. Providence has plenty of history to build on although maybe not in the recent past. They have won one Big East tournament game in Tim Welsh's ten year career here. That is just wrong. Alright, alright, I'll stop now but I will be rooting against this Providence team from here on out, just saying.

Drake at Butler: Great idea worked better than the schedule makers could have dreamed. This could be the second-most anticipated game of the weekend. Unfortunately Drake lost two of the last three, they were 22-1 before that and had rattled 21 straight wins. The schedule may not have had too many marquee names but they played some decent competition and look how high we were on the MVC last year and this team has dominated it. They will win the MVC and will be in the big tournament regardless of if they win the MVC tournament. The Butler team on the other hand not only is 25-2 overall right now, will win the Horizon league and tournament, and had a stretch early in the year of wins against Michigan, @Virginia Tech, @Texas Tech, and Ohio State. This may not be top-tier major programs this year but give them credit for going and playing some big boys. Butler has a good mix of senior leadership and some talented youngsters. Drake has had a great year but I don't think they are in the same league as Butler is. This Butler team will be dangerous in March and should win this statement game handily at home.

Tennessee at Memphis: Here it is folks. The big game. Speaking of schedule makers dreams. The best and undefeated team in the country in a nonconference game against the hottest team in the country in late February. Not only that but the fact these two teams are both in Tennessee must create such excitement down there. Can we plan this game every year? #1 versus #2 in late February setting up a potential rematch in March that would have a history behind it. It seems to good to be true. Of course this game will likely not live up to the billing I just gave it but I'm going to get excited anyway. I'll give Calipari credit he can recruit, and he does so for his style of ball. Sometimes I find their aggresive defense and drive and kick offense to be bland, especially when the three's aren't falling. On the other hand, how can I hate on the three's and be so excited to watch Tennessee play. The Tennessee-Xavier game earlier in the year may have been the most entertaining game of the season and I don't expect that to change. What a schedule for Tennessee this year, and the SEC isn't even that good. It was like a video game schedule, and the team is 24-2. This team is as fun to watch as any in the country, Bruce Pearl's enthusiasm (right) for the game is contagious and they are a legitimate threat to give the SEC three straight national titles. Take that ACC. I am looking forward to this game. I think it'll be a close game and expect Memphis' homecrowd to keep them in the game and provide a killer environment. In the end I think Lofton continues to shoot the lights out and Tennessee pulls it out.

A look at the top seeds for March a little early

2008-02-14T03:10:00.004-05:00

I though it would be fun to dissect the college basketball landscape a little bit and what better way to start than with the top teams. It is obviously a little bit early for this but I can have some fun. In order to keep the post from becoming too long I'm going to talk about the top 4 seeds only for now. Maybe a little later I can explore some of the dark horse contenders but for now we'll stick with the top tier. Please feel free to leave me a comment to argue.

# 1 seeds: It's getting a little more difficult as we move forward to determine the top 4 teams in the country and obviously both regular season and tournament champions will have a huge advantage here. This may separate UNC or Duke from the pack when one of these teams loses in the ACC tournament. As of right now these are my four #1 seeds:
Memphis (23-0, 10-0): With two big Saturday games ahead at UAB and then the showdown against Tennessee there is a chance this team may not go undefeated. However the fact we're talking about this in the middle of February and in Conference USA shows why Memphis isn't going anywhere this year (well at least until the big tournament). A win against Tennessee would be huge heading into March.
Duke (22-1, 10-0): Amazingly enough Duke is another team that has a shot at running the table in conference. Fans of the ACC would consider that impossible in past years but the league is a bit weak this year. Even so, Duke is playing great basketball and is always coached well. The way Coach K has reinvented his team this year has been impressive. With UNC still looming at the end of the season and probably in the ACC tournament there is still a chance of Duke slipping to a #2 seed but it's hard to imagine at this point.
Kansas (23-2, 8-2): Some great basketball has been played in the Big 12 this year including Kansas' loss to Texas on Monday, and Kansas is at this point still the top team in the conference. There are still landmines on the schedule including closing the season with Kansas State, Texas Tech, and on the road at A & M. If this team can win the Big 12 championship however they should have a legitimate grasp of a #1.
North Carolina (23-2, 8-2): The last # 1 seed is probably the toughest to determine as of now and UNC has struggled of late, but I expect them to be a much better team with Lawson back by March. UNC without Lawson is not a top tier team and probably doesn't have a shot at the final four but with Lawson they are definitely a contender. I think Duke will ultimately win the ACC championship so UNC might need some help for this spot. For instance if Tennessee, UCLA, and Kansas all win their respective conference tournaments than it is unlikely UNC will get this high but they will be a contender nonetheless.

# 2 seeds: Many of these teams will have a shot at a # 1 seed with some luck and some big wins. As I said conference championships will help many of these teams.
Tennessee (22-2, 9-1): Tennessee has an excellent chance of getting a #1 seed with some more wins. Not only do they have Memphis coming up which would instantly move them up, but if they win the SEC and with their strength of schedule they will have a good argument even without getting that win.
UCLA (21-3, 9-2): UCLA is a top tier team and with a win over Stanford and a win of the PAC-10 they could make a run at a #1 seed. However if they lose to Stanford they may run the risk of falling to a #3 and with 7 more games in conference even before the tournament I find it hard to imagine they will run the table. I like this team to level off and settle into a #2 seed but this team is experienced and well-coached and will be dangerous in March.
Georgetown (20-3, 10-2): At this point they may need to win the Big East to clinch this # 2 seed but I believe this is a team that will do just that. Although they just lost to Louisville and will meet them again I still think this is the team in the conference by a decent margin and expect them to take care of business at Madison Square Garden. On the other hand, I'm not sure this team can score enough to win it all. They are a good defensive and well-coached team that will compete with anyone in March but will have trouble keeping up with a Tennessee, UNC, Duke, or Kansas offensively and will likely have to face two or three teams of this caliber in the tournament.
Michigan State (20-4, 8-3): I'm slipping Michigan State in here assuming they will come away the Big Ten championship. Indiana and Wisconsin will challenge the Spartans but I think they are the superior team and should find a way to come out on top. It is possible they could win the Big Ten and still slip to a #3 seed. This team still has Indiana twice and Wisconsin once during conference play so they still have a lot to do but controls it's own fate in my mind.

#3 seeds: Many of these teams are the runner-ups in their conference and some can throw some kinks into things by stealing their conference tournaments to make the committee's life difficult. If some of these teams make runs in early march than the top 12 teams will be very difficult to separate.
Stanford (20-3, 9-2): Stanford is quietly putting together a very good season and can actually challenge UCLA for the Pac-10. However this team has Washington State, Arizona, UCLA, and USC still on the schedule the latter three on the road all on the schedule and this is before the Pac-10 tournament. They may have one of he most difficult closes to their season but with some big wins could improve their status for the tournament in March.
Texas (20-4, 7-2): Texas had a big win on Monday against Kansas. They have a legitimate shot at the Big 12 regular season championship and will be dangerous in the Big 12 tournament. This team could make some noise in the coming weeks and even in March but ultimately I don't think they are deep enough or big enough to be a serious contender in March. I'm sure nobody will want to play them either though.
Xavier (21-4, 9-1): The Atlantic 10 has had a bit of a resurgence this year bringing back memories of Temple's dominating D, Marcus Camby's Umass team, Lamar Odom and URI's upset of Kansas, and Jameer Nelson and Delonte West and St. Joeseph's quest for an undefeated season. However, one constant of the Atlantic 10 has been Xavier and they are as talented this year as any. I expect them to take the Atlantic 10 and claim a #3 or # 4 seed and play well in March.
Drake (22-2, 13-1): This is the most tentative of the # 3 seeds and Drake has to run the table in order to claim this seed. Although the MVC is slightly weaker than in past years (especially last year) this team is on pace to go undefeated in league play and has only 1 loss on the season. This is enough to earn this #3 seed but cannot afford to stumble in the conference tournament.

#4 seed: The # 4 seeds are teams that could end up anywhere between maybe 3 and 7 at this point. There are too many games to be played and at this point there are a lot of good but not great teams in the country.
Wisconsin (20-4, 10-2): This team may have the most potential of the four after beating Indiana the other day and still has Michigan State on the schedule. Wisconsin is always an underrated team, always plays well in March and you can credit that to coaching. They always find a way to challenge in the Big Ten and in March with what seems to be a less talented team than many of its competitors.
Butler (22-2, 11-2): Butler, like Drake, has to win out in order to hold onto this seed I believe especially if teams like Wisconsin, Indiana, Connecticut, and Texas A & M contunue to play well.
Texas A & M (20-4, 6-3): This is a good A & M team and I like Mark Turgeon as a coach. They still have Kansas and Texas left on the schedule but I expect this team to play well down the stretch and play well in March. When the guards on this team are shooting well they are as tough to beat as anyone.
Connecticut (19-5, 8-3): It came down to Indiana and Connecticut here for me and it was very simple from there. Connecticut has much better coaching. I was not a fan of Kelvin Sampson at Oklahoma and am not impressed with him at Indiana and I don't believe he holds a candle to Jim Calhoun in my mind. Connecticut also may be one of the nation's hottest teams as they have won the last nine games which is never an easy feat in the Big East. I expect Connecticut to be competitive both in the Big East and NCAA tournaments.

The Best of the Rest: Teams that might have a legitimate gripe or can still play their way in: Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue, Kansas State, Washington State, Vanderbilt, Louisville, and Pittsburgh

The week in college and NBA basketball

2008-02-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

This was an exciting week in basketball, both college and pros, which isn't always the case as early as the first week in February. Anyone who was up late enough on the east coast to catch the end of the Gonzaga-St. Mary's game Monday night was in for a treat. As Andy Katz w rote, the winner of this game had the inside track for the conference as both teams stand out above the rest in the WCC this year. Although San Diego is having a good season and may be able to cause some chaos. That was a great win for St. Mary's. Jeremy Pargo did all he could in the end of that game to keep them in the game but Gonzaga looked very young (Austin Daye had a costly turnover at the end and compounded it by fouling at the other end for an old-fashioned 3 points) and Josh Heytvelt (right) looked very average in this game after looking so dominant last year before the suspension. He is coming back from an injury but I question his aggressiveness and heart in this game. He looks rattled from the whole ordeal. I hope I am wrong as his return to last year's dominance would make this team very interesting in March with a familiar underdog role if they happen to lose the conference to a good St. Mary's team.

Wednesday night was billed as a big night by ESPN with the return of Dick Vitale but I'm afraid the games didn't quite live up to the hype. I found the Duke-North Carolina to be very predictable and lost interest early in the game. The Syracuse-UConn game that preceded it however, was very entertaining. A classic Big East rivalry, and yes I do have an East Coast bias. It's amazing what Syracuse is doing lately, with basically six guys contributing. It's a shame that freshman sensation Donte Greene disappeared for this game. Little Johnny Flynn and Paul Harris are both the real deal and really competed in this game and were the only Syracuse players to have field goals in the entire second half. Paul Harris (right) is a monster especially in his new role at the top of the zone for Syracuse. Both teams were shorthanded in this game and both have been finding a way to win in the Big East. Credit goes to both Hall of Fame coaches. Thabeet (right) was a force defensively and I can see his potential now, but he still is a poor man's Emeka Okafor, and I doubt he'll even achieve that status. In that light I don't see him having all that successful of a pro career. Jeff Adrien is a terrific college player who had a great night against Syracuse. If he continues to play like that and allows Thabeet to concentrate on blocking and altering shots than UConn again will be tough in March. The guards, however, will have to step up in order for them to make a deep run.

The UNC-Duke game lost a bit of it's luster once it was revealed that Ty Lawson was going to miss the big game. It sets up anticipation for the second (and maybe third) meetings between these two teams. It was obvious from the start of the game that UNC relies heavily on Lawson (right) offensively and they simply did not have another true point guard on the roster. Quentin Thomas and Marcus Ginyard are both nice players but neither is a point guard. Also Duke is known for it's on-the-ball pressure defense that forces you to have good guard play, especially at the point. Thomas looked like he was forcing a lot early. Ginyard did well to settle things down in the second half but UNC was missing a playmaker to get Ellington open shots (he was 3-14 and took a lot of contested shots) and to get the ball consistently to the big men where UNC had the obvious advantage over Duke. Also UNC's defensive brings up some legitimate concerns as we get closer to March. They did very little in the way of affecting Duke's offensive flow at all. Roy Williams must be worried about this. His team will not be able to run the way he wants to if they can't get any stops as was the case in this game.

The Lakers made a bold statement going and getting Pau Gasol (right) and keeping their entire roster basically intact. This Lakers team is now striking fear into the rest of the Western Conference. My immediate reaction was: Could we see another Celtics-Lakers finals only a year after these two franchises were written off for years to come? Immediately this was followed by a fear that no other team in the west caused me to feel. That front line the Lakers have assembled is downright scary, and combine that with the player with the biggest killer instinct in the league in Kobe Bryant. With that said you can bet I'll be rooting for Dallas, Phoenix, New Orleans, and even San Antonio come playoff time. I can't pretend to be an expert on the triangle offense but it seems to me that Pau Gasol is pretty close to a perfect fit in the high post. Memphis I'm sure could have found a better deal for this man but this is the NBA.

Speaking of that, days after the Lakers announced their championship hopes it seems Pheonix was the first to pull a panic deal. Really, Shaq? If this wasn't the most shocking trade to go down in the past ten years than I challenge you to find it. Is Shaq (right) really going to attempt to run with this team? Is he going to be able to stay on the floor for more than 30 minutes, and is 30 minutes of Shaq really equal to 40+ minutes of Marion? Marion must have really been clashing with Amare to be shipped out. Honestly I may have been tempted to ship Amare for a big man. Regardless, I always loved to watch the Suns play before this trade but I am dying to see them play now. Time will tell how this works out but give the big man some credit, he does have the rings. I will revisit this probably a few more times down the road (Shaq's unexpected youthful resurgence, and his inevitable crippling injury). Let's hope for Pheonix's sake they get a ring beforehand and can dismantle this team in a few years.

Texas vs. Texas A&M

2008-01-31T13:38:00.000-05:00

Before I get into this game I want to talk about what game this post should have been focussed on. Unfortunately ESPN had the ingenious idea of not showing the Kansas-Kansas State game and instead cutting to the game randomly and then showing us the last 3 minutes after K-state already had it wrapped up. Michael Beasley (right) is simply a beast and from the little bit I saw in that game, can pretty much score from anywhere on the floor. NBA teams are crazy if they talk themselves out of picking him first this year which is bound to happen when someone gets hot in March.

Also, rushing the court has become way overused in the recent past but K-state's win over Kansas last night was one of the few times where it was not only warranted but great to see. Not only was that Kansas' first loss of the season, but they had won in Kansas State for the past 24 years. The pure emotion evoked by the empty stands, purple court, and Beasley and teammates standing on the scorer's table was incredible and one of those "this is why I watch and love sports" moments. Congrats to K-state and a note to K-state professors: go easy on the students today, it was a long night I'm sure.

Now, on to the Texas-Texas A&M game. After the initial disappointment of not being able to watch the Kansas game I talked myself into being excited for this Big 12 game. Texas was fun to watch last year, sure maybe a kid named Durant had something to do with it, but Augustine and Abrams are both very good guards. Very early in this game it was apparent that this would not be the game I was hoping for. It was simple really, Texas played against a much bigger team and had a very bad shooting night. With those two things combined they had no chance in this game. Had they shot the ball well then they would have been able to overcome A&M's dominance under the basket. Neither Augustine or Abrams did anything to get the team jumpstarted in the first half. To give A&M credit, they played excellent defense, denied the penetration that Augustine was dying to execute off of the high screen and rolls, and allowed the Texas guards and even big men (Atchley) to shoot from the outside.

On the other side of the ball Texas A&M went inside early and often and as soon as that was established they used that to get some open looks from outside and unlike Texas knocked them down. Texas tried switching between man and zone once it was obvious that they weren't guarding anyone in the post but Carter and Kirk gave A&M some big 3's to break Texas' will defensively. As for the highly touted prospect DeAndre Jordan, I'm not so sure I'm sold. Chad Ford has Jordan as high as number 4 on his big board right now. Although he does have length at 7 feet and is obviously athletic, he isn't close to being the best big man on his team and deserves to be coming off the bench as he does because Davis and Jones are both more polished post players, better rebounders, and better defenders. DeAndre (right) is a liability defensively right now and as a 7-footer with athletic ability I find that to be extremely disappointing. He does have a soft touch but is very limited in the post. Even against the invisible frontline that Texas put on the floor, most of Jordan's baskets were dunks and he was very quiet on the boards as well. I think only one was from in the post. As Ford says, Bynum's success recently, definitely helps Jordan's draft stock but I see Bynum as one success story out of many 7-foot projects in the league. I'd love to see him come back next year and allow Mark Turgeon to coach some toughness into him.

Although Texas had a poor shooting night I believe they are a better team than they showed here and expect the return game in Texas to be a much better effort. However it is clear that this team struggles with size and unless they are shooting the lights out in March I would not consider them a title contender this year. A&M has the toughness and defense to make a deep run in March as long as they get the same guard play and 3 point shooting they did tonight on a consistent basis. Maybe I'll revisit this after the rematch in a few weeks.