Wednesday, November 24, 2010

11/24: Hoops, Hamilton, etc.

Aloha...
  • College Hoops! - #1 Duke beats up on #4 K-State 82-68 last night behind 5 guys in double figures... they managed to shut Jacob Pullen down (1-12 FG, 4 points) and KSU isn't beating anyone when he does that... Duke is crazy deep and talented, especially in the backcourt and congrats to Coach K on 800 wins... UConn upends Mich. State.... the upset of the day belongs to the Huskies who took down the #2 spartans thanks to another huge game from Kemba Walker (30 last night) who is averaging 30+ for the year... and all that with the least talented UConn team in probably 15 years... The Young Kentucky Wildcats win a close one with Pac-10 best Washington... Brandon Knight and Terrance Jones (both freshman) combine for 40 for UK, and Washington couldn't survive 7 of 23 shooting from Gaddy and Thomas....
  • Josh Hamilton is your AL MVP... I feel like this should be a bigger story than it is... guy comes into the MLB Draft as the wunderkind, flounders for years due to drug problems, and then re-emerges as the best player in the American League who is clean and sober?... That's a movie right?... Anyway, big-ups to him on his recovery... Miggy Cabrera and Robinson Cano came in 2nd and 3rd....
  • Victor Martinez to the Tigers.... 4 years, 50 million for the C/1B... Seems like a semi-reasonable price generally, but I have concerns about anyone signing Martinez to be a primary catcher (because he's a trainwreck back there), and they already have a franchie 1B in Miggy... so maybe Cabrera/Miggy split time at 1B and DH and they let Victor catch 50 games?... Anyway, the Tigers lineup could be very, very good...
  • 2 NFL "storylines" I thought were funny.... Jeff Fisher tells Vince Young to go away... VY is reportedly not welcome at Team meetings... and anyone is supposed to believe he'll return next year?... That'll be a stand-off between Fisher and Bud Adams... TO calls Darrelle Revis an "average corner"... Typical WR/CB trashtalk but it was funny to me... especially in a world where Revis is considered the default "best in the game"... I'm actually in the camp where he's not as exceptional as reported, but he's clearly a top 3-4 corner in the league and this is hilarious...
  • The Hawks are in shambles... losing 7 of 9, and doing it in ugly fashion... They laid ANOTHER 1st quarter egg last night (even more disconcerting after LD tore into them the night before), but managed to dig out and cause OT only to fall... Joe Johnson was below average (again) last night, and whispers are already circulating about a slight decline... only $100+ million left... Zaza had 4 points and 6 boards in 11 minutes... and yet Josh Powell's corpse played 19... I have no idea there... at any rate, I was discussing this briefly last night, and had the thought of "maybe they'll deal Jamal before the deadline if they stay this way", which I've been openly rooting for because 1) I think he's easily replaceable, and 2) The only way they will get anything in return for him (because they are over the cap for next year) is via trade... and you can't let big expirings go for nothing in this league without cap room... Sigh...
  • Box Score Check - Dirk Nowitzki put up a crazy 42 and 12 last night... typical Dirk, huh? well consider this... the Mavs only scored 88... wow... The Wizards filled the stat sheet... John Wall went off for 25 in the second half (fresh off injury) and Javale McGee put up a 24 and 18 that had everyone salivating (again) over his natural ability... and Brook Lopez beat up on Al Horford a bit last night with 32 and 9... worth noting that Horford usually contains him (15 and 8 career vs. ATL) but not last night...

What to watch for...

  • Heat/Magic - ESPN 7:30 - Well... The Heat are 8-6... so this is going to continue to be doomsday-ish coverage from the media... and Orlando isn't exactly the best matchup for them...
  • Michigan State/Washington - ESPN2 5:00 - A helluva consolation game... I think these 2 teams were/are the best 2 in Maui, so it's nice to see them play... tons of talent/experience on the court here...
  • UConn/Kentucky - ESPN 10:00 - The title game... can Kemba Walker keep this up?
  • UCLA/Villanova - ESPN2 9:00 - Really excited to see if the Bruins will bounceback this year... tough game here

Well there it is... College Football Preview below... and keep an eye out for the NFL posting today...

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