Otherwise, call me cynical, but I simply don't trust his review of the flick.
AK
Monday, March 5, 2007
The Big Three: 3.5 (Weekend Update)
Spring imitates summer as the Royals finish the first week of spring training at 1-3 (that faint hiss you heard was the last vestiges of unrealistic, wholesome, almost child-like optimism leaking out of the midwest) while the billion dollar Cubs are 0-3. Nothing that can't be cured when Jason Marquis rounds into form. The Heat may get D-Wade back, and NHL is rolling towards the playoffs. Sunday night's clash of the west's top two seeds delivered large on the Intensity-and-Excitement-O'-Meter. But the weekend was all about college hoops, with teams playing themselves in and out of the tourney, and blood spilled (literally and poetically) across courts nationwide.
1) How Freakin' Good is Kevin Durant? And Kansas?: Maybe if Durant, like OSU's Greg Oden, looked like he was 38 and straight out of a short-shorts 1980s NBA highlight package instead of the thin, babyfaced kid he is, the debate over this year's NBA #1 would be different. But for a half in Lawrence, he absolutely torched the Jayhawks. 25 points from everywhere on the court as UT built a 12 point lead at halftime. Then, because college sports rock, KU came out of the locker room sharper than Ken Jennings, ripped off a huge run, and took the lead. Durant turns an ankle at the 11 minute mark and isn't the same guy, Texas can't recover, and KU wins 90-86. By the way, the Jayhawks are now the country's #2 team.
2) Maybe Rip Hamilton Can Loan Him a Mask: Sunday in Chapel Hill, Duke looked a lot more like the team that dropped out of the Top 25 around Valentine's Day than the 14th ranked team in the nation, losing to North Carolina 86-72. It was a sludgy game without fireworks until UNC's Tyler Hansbrough took a wicked elbow from Duke's Gerald Henderson with 14.5, and bled like a cheesy horror movie back to the locker room. That led to some fun Coach K vs. Roy Williams "Starters shouldn't have been out there!" talk, the likes of which we haven't seen since Isiah Thomas unleashed Mardy Collins on J.R. Smith.
3) Busted Busters: While Hansbrough left a few pints on the hardwood, the at large tourney hopes of the Colonial Athletic Association basically bled out. Those of you itching to become this year's office genius by penciling in Drexel to the Sweet 16 may end up disappointed. The Dragons lost in the CAA semis to top seeded Virginia Commonwealth, 63-56, meaning their impressive slate of non-conference road wins (St. Joe's, Syracuse, Villanova) will get them plenty of love from the NIT selection committee. As for Old Dominion, they were spanked by George Mason (remember them?), 79-63, and at 24-8 will likely join Drexel in the lil' tourney, despite a November win at Georgetown. Mason may have softened the Big Dance selection committee's hearts a little with last year's Final Four run... but not enough to help these slayed giant killers. Is it too late to jump on the Winthrop bandwagon?
1) How Freakin' Good is Kevin Durant? And Kansas?: Maybe if Durant, like OSU's Greg Oden, looked like he was 38 and straight out of a short-shorts 1980s NBA highlight package instead of the thin, babyfaced kid he is, the debate over this year's NBA #1 would be different. But for a half in Lawrence, he absolutely torched the Jayhawks. 25 points from everywhere on the court as UT built a 12 point lead at halftime. Then, because college sports rock, KU came out of the locker room sharper than Ken Jennings, ripped off a huge run, and took the lead. Durant turns an ankle at the 11 minute mark and isn't the same guy, Texas can't recover, and KU wins 90-86. By the way, the Jayhawks are now the country's #2 team.
2) Maybe Rip Hamilton Can Loan Him a Mask: Sunday in Chapel Hill, Duke looked a lot more like the team that dropped out of the Top 25 around Valentine's Day than the 14th ranked team in the nation, losing to North Carolina 86-72. It was a sludgy game without fireworks until UNC's Tyler Hansbrough took a wicked elbow from Duke's Gerald Henderson with 14.5, and bled like a cheesy horror movie back to the locker room. That led to some fun Coach K vs. Roy Williams "Starters shouldn't have been out there!" talk, the likes of which we haven't seen since Isiah Thomas unleashed Mardy Collins on J.R. Smith.
3) Busted Busters: While Hansbrough left a few pints on the hardwood, the at large tourney hopes of the Colonial Athletic Association basically bled out. Those of you itching to become this year's office genius by penciling in Drexel to the Sweet 16 may end up disappointed. The Dragons lost in the CAA semis to top seeded Virginia Commonwealth, 63-56, meaning their impressive slate of non-conference road wins (St. Joe's, Syracuse, Villanova) will get them plenty of love from the NIT selection committee. As for Old Dominion, they were spanked by George Mason (remember them?), 79-63, and at 24-8 will likely join Drexel in the lil' tourney, despite a November win at Georgetown. Mason may have softened the Big Dance selection committee's hearts a little with last year's Final Four run... but not enough to help these slayed giant killers. Is it too late to jump on the Winthrop bandwagon?
Saturday, March 3, 2007
The Worst of the Best- Western Conference
Dallas never loses. Phoenix barely loses. San Antonio looks ready to stop losing for a while. Toss in Houston (Yao's almost back!) and Utah (they'd be the #1 seed back east) and the top five in the Western Conference are solid as a rock, Ashford and Simpson style. At least as it pertained to playoff qualification, the same could have been said about the Lakers, until the injury bug that has dogged them all season bit again with the news that Lamar Odom will return to the shelf with a torn labrum. Suddenly the five game gap between the six seed they occupy and the nine doesn't seem so vast, and the list of teams vying to play lamb to a top seed's ritual sacrifice has grown. Earlier in the week, I broke down the low seeds in the Eastern Conference playoff ladder. Today, I lay odds on the W.C. starting from the bottom of the conference (as of 3.3) and working up.
Portland (1,000-1): They're only 3.5 games out of the eight spot... but have four teams to jump and are a sub .500 team at home. Not good. Really, they just deserve kudos because nary a single Blazer has been brought up on felony charges this year.
Golden State (986-1): They don't have Portland's winning at home issues, but 6-24 on the road? Good lord. Hard to go on a late season run with that in the holster. Plus, I have a working theory that the Warriors will never make the playoffs again that I'm holding to until proven wrong.
Minnesota (15-1): The Wolves have a negative point differential (95.9 vs. 97.9), and a wretched road mark (9-18). And despite having the NBA's best sideburn/facial hair combination, Ricky Davis isn't exactly known as an elevator of teammates. Still, they do have that K.G. fellow, and a burning desire to keep him happy in PrinceTown. Maybe if Glen Taylor can pay off the teams they're chasing...
Sacramento (7-1): Kevin Martin has the best skinny-to-production ratio than Kevin Martin, hands down, nearly doubling his ppg this year (21.3 from 10.8), and is shooting 50% from the floor. Unfortunately, his rise has coincided with Brad Miller's dip (15/8 to 9.7/6.6). They've treaded water all year, and at some point will drown.
New Orleans/Oklahoma City (3-1): By all rights, they should be chillin' with Portland and Seattle, given all the injuries. But now Chris Paul and David West are back, with Peja Stojakovic hopefully to follow. They're about the only team on this list who aren't playing like they have travel plans for early May.
Denver (3-1): Right now, they're a better NBA Live team than a live NBA team. No D, bad shots, fundamentals that would make Hank Iba cry. Still, here's hoping they finish in the seven spot, so we get four or five 500 point games in a Nuggets/Suns series.
Los Angeles Clippers (3.5-1): They're in today, but how about tomorrow? Sean Livingston is out, Corey Maggette wants out, and if Sam Cassell can't get healthy, they're in serious trouble. Chris Kaman never should have cut his hair. Didn't work for Samson, either.
Los Angeles Lakers (1.5.1): Between L.O., Luke Walton, Kwame Brown, Mo Evans, "Slalom" Radmanovic, and Chris Mihm, it's as if the Lakers collectively watched the basketball equivalent of video from "The Ring." Whoever watches it blows a joint. Fortunately, they've got Kobe, Phil Jackson and (most importantly) a five game cushion between them and the nine spot.
My projections? Lakers sixth, Hornets seventh, Denver eighth.
BK
Portland (1,000-1): They're only 3.5 games out of the eight spot... but have four teams to jump and are a sub .500 team at home. Not good. Really, they just deserve kudos because nary a single Blazer has been brought up on felony charges this year.
Golden State (986-1): They don't have Portland's winning at home issues, but 6-24 on the road? Good lord. Hard to go on a late season run with that in the holster. Plus, I have a working theory that the Warriors will never make the playoffs again that I'm holding to until proven wrong.
Minnesota (15-1): The Wolves have a negative point differential (95.9 vs. 97.9), and a wretched road mark (9-18). And despite having the NBA's best sideburn/facial hair combination, Ricky Davis isn't exactly known as an elevator of teammates. Still, they do have that K.G. fellow, and a burning desire to keep him happy in PrinceTown. Maybe if Glen Taylor can pay off the teams they're chasing...
Sacramento (7-1): Kevin Martin has the best skinny-to-production ratio than Kevin Martin, hands down, nearly doubling his ppg this year (21.3 from 10.8), and is shooting 50% from the floor. Unfortunately, his rise has coincided with Brad Miller's dip (15/8 to 9.7/6.6). They've treaded water all year, and at some point will drown.
New Orleans/Oklahoma City (3-1): By all rights, they should be chillin' with Portland and Seattle, given all the injuries. But now Chris Paul and David West are back, with Peja Stojakovic hopefully to follow. They're about the only team on this list who aren't playing like they have travel plans for early May.
Denver (3-1): Right now, they're a better NBA Live team than a live NBA team. No D, bad shots, fundamentals that would make Hank Iba cry. Still, here's hoping they finish in the seven spot, so we get four or five 500 point games in a Nuggets/Suns series.
Los Angeles Clippers (3.5-1): They're in today, but how about tomorrow? Sean Livingston is out, Corey Maggette wants out, and if Sam Cassell can't get healthy, they're in serious trouble. Chris Kaman never should have cut his hair. Didn't work for Samson, either.
Los Angeles Lakers (1.5.1): Between L.O., Luke Walton, Kwame Brown, Mo Evans, "Slalom" Radmanovic, and Chris Mihm, it's as if the Lakers collectively watched the basketball equivalent of video from "The Ring." Whoever watches it blows a joint. Fortunately, they've got Kobe, Phil Jackson and (most importantly) a five game cushion between them and the nine spot.
My projections? Lakers sixth, Hornets seventh, Denver eighth.
BK
Maybe Jerome James Needs One of These
After all, if a prosthetic tail could get Fuji the Dolphin exercising, active, and full of vigor, maybe it can do the same for the generally inert Knicks big man.
BK
BK
Friday, March 2, 2007
W2W4- Weekend Edition
Because nobody should couch surf without a map...
And on the Eighth Day, God Created 14-16 seeds: Championship week swings into full gear, particularly in some of those fun little conferences that someday aspire to be mid-majors, filled with directionally heavy schools (Coastal Carolina of the Big South, East Tennessee State of the Atlantic Sun), state schools for places that aren't actually states (Appalachian State of the Southern), and schools that rhyme with bigger schools with which we're all familiar (Samford of the Ohio Valley). Fine institutions all, but from a college sports standpoint they're what the average fan would call "random." But make no mistake, these conference tourney games are played balls to the wall, because as good as, say, Austin Peay has been on their way to an Ohio Valley regular season championship, they're not dancing without a win in the conference tournament. Just like 27-4 Winthrop, who ran the table in their Big South season (14-0) could be S.O.L. if they don't get past VMI on Saturday in the title game. The fun continues into next week, and it's a lot more fun than watching big conference teams who know their entry into the 65 team field is sewn up mail it in.
San Antonio vs. Houston (Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EST): A battle for the right to be called the second best team in Texas. More importantly, if the Rockets (currently four games back) want to have any chance of catching the Spurs in the Southwest, they absolutely, positively must win Saturday evening. And since the Spurs seem to have started our, "we're old, but not dead yet" late season vet team push, it won't be easy. T-Mac is back in the lineup, but the Rockets are still short one tall Chinese guy to man the paint. They held up for a while without Yao, but a 6-6 February indicates they're starting to feel the squeeze.
Nashville vs. Anaheim (Sunday, 8:00 p.m. EST): The top two seeds in the Western Conference drop the puck in the O.C. Because the Ducks have slowed down enough over their last ten games (4-3-3), Dallas is no longer an object closer than they appear in Anaheim's rear-view mirror- at five points back, they're just close. Time for Pronger, Niedermayer, and Co. to get quackin'. Get it? Quackin? (Sorry.) The Predators are locked in with Buffalo and the Red Wings for a shot at home ice throughout the playoffs, a big deal for a team that's bulletproof in their building (27-5-4) but slightly squishier on the road (20-13). After going scoreless in his first three games as a Pred, Peter Forsberg posted three in his next trio, and Nashville will need him to keep producing if they're going to sink those oversized tiger teeth into the President's Trophy.
And on the Eighth Day, God Created 14-16 seeds: Championship week swings into full gear, particularly in some of those fun little conferences that someday aspire to be mid-majors, filled with directionally heavy schools (Coastal Carolina of the Big South, East Tennessee State of the Atlantic Sun), state schools for places that aren't actually states (Appalachian State of the Southern), and schools that rhyme with bigger schools with which we're all familiar (Samford of the Ohio Valley). Fine institutions all, but from a college sports standpoint they're what the average fan would call "random." But make no mistake, these conference tourney games are played balls to the wall, because as good as, say, Austin Peay has been on their way to an Ohio Valley regular season championship, they're not dancing without a win in the conference tournament. Just like 27-4 Winthrop, who ran the table in their Big South season (14-0) could be S.O.L. if they don't get past VMI on Saturday in the title game. The fun continues into next week, and it's a lot more fun than watching big conference teams who know their entry into the 65 team field is sewn up mail it in.
San Antonio vs. Houston (Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EST): A battle for the right to be called the second best team in Texas. More importantly, if the Rockets (currently four games back) want to have any chance of catching the Spurs in the Southwest, they absolutely, positively must win Saturday evening. And since the Spurs seem to have started our, "we're old, but not dead yet" late season vet team push, it won't be easy. T-Mac is back in the lineup, but the Rockets are still short one tall Chinese guy to man the paint. They held up for a while without Yao, but a 6-6 February indicates they're starting to feel the squeeze.
Nashville vs. Anaheim (Sunday, 8:00 p.m. EST): The top two seeds in the Western Conference drop the puck in the O.C. Because the Ducks have slowed down enough over their last ten games (4-3-3), Dallas is no longer an object closer than they appear in Anaheim's rear-view mirror- at five points back, they're just close. Time for Pronger, Niedermayer, and Co. to get quackin'. Get it? Quackin? (Sorry.) The Predators are locked in with Buffalo and the Red Wings for a shot at home ice throughout the playoffs, a big deal for a team that's bulletproof in their building (27-5-4) but slightly squishier on the road (20-13). After going scoreless in his first three games as a Pred, Peter Forsberg posted three in his next trio, and Nashville will need him to keep producing if they're going to sink those oversized tiger teeth into the President's Trophy.
Settle Down, Beavis!
As my man Butthead used to say.
Seriously, we all love seeing teammates pick each other up. And this game was huge for the Longhorns, so emotions were obviously high. Plsu, as every analyst spewing cliches will remind you, "these guys are competitors." But Damion James could have gotten T'ed up for the slap he put on his buddy A.J. Abrams. I don't blame Abrams for reacting like he was about to start swinging. That was just shy of S&M video material. Joan Crawford never spanked her kids that hard.
Then again, Abrams hit 4 treys during his turnover-free game, so who's to say James doesn't know how to fire up a teammate?
AK
Seriously, we all love seeing teammates pick each other up. And this game was huge for the Longhorns, so emotions were obviously high. Plsu, as every analyst spewing cliches will remind you, "these guys are competitors." But Damion James could have gotten T'ed up for the slap he put on his buddy A.J. Abrams. I don't blame Abrams for reacting like he was about to start swinging. That was just shy of S&M video material. Joan Crawford never spanked her kids that hard.
Then again, Abrams hit 4 treys during his turnover-free game, so who's to say James doesn't know how to fire up a teammate?
AK
Imagine the Damage If the Noise Had Actually Been Loud
I love golf, and have an enormous amount of respect for the skill of those who make a living playing it. But when some complain that professional golfers are non-athlete prima donnas who must have all potential distractions no matter how minor squashed like a bug on a windshield, this is kind of what they're talking about.
BK
BK
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