Thursday, February 24, 2011
Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls
The NBA regular season inches closer and closer to the “every game counts” part of the year. These two division leaders meet for the second time this year, with the Bulls winning their meeting in January. The Bulls are in third place in the Eastern Conference, three games back of the Heat (even first with the Boston Celtics, separated by percentage points).
The Heat were not at full strength for their match with the Bulls last month, missing LeBron James and losing Chris Bosh during the game because of an ankle injury. James and Bosh will be ready to go tonight. The Heat have been on fire of late, winners of 11 of their last 12 games.
The Bulls have been hot of late, too, winning 10 of their last 13. They have been difficult to solve at home all season. Point guard Derrick Rose has been playing at an MVP-mentionable level this season. However, I believe the tipper in this game is that Bulls center Joakim Noah is back from an extended absence due to a thumb injury. In fact, you read it here first, I think that if the Bulls stay healthy for the remainder of the season that they, not the “Big Three” in Boston, not the “Heat Index” in Miami…the Chicago Bulls will win the first seed in the 2011 Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Advantage: Bulls
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| LeBron James (left) vs Derrick Rose (right) This should be GOOD! 1 |
Oklahoma City Thunder at Orlando Magic
This matchup between two fourth place teams, in their respective conferences, is sure to entertain the viewers. Both teams are trying to build momentum for the second half of the regular season and both teams have hit some speed bumps. A win, while giving neither team much traction in their respective playoff races, should be a confidence booster for the victor.
Oklahoma City traded power forward Jeff Green to the Boston Celtics in exchange for big man Kenderick Perkins. You will not read these words from me very often, but I have no idea how this will work out for OKC. I do not even have an opinion or an educated guess. The Thunder are giving up youth and shooting in Green while taking on slightly more salary (both Green’s and Perkins’ contracts expire after 2011), but gaining a good, solid center, which will help the Thunder’s less than smothering defense, with a balanced game in Perkins, recently coming off of a serious knee injury from the 2010 NBA Finals.
Orlando has been an enigma of late. Its play has been anything but consistent. The Magic lost their last game against lowly Sacramento. More concerning, Orlando has only beaten two teams that currently have a winning record in the calendar year of 2011 (the Los Angeles Lakers this month and the Dallas Mavericks on January 8). In contrast, the Thunder have recorded some quality wins, including one over Orlando last month.
The Thunder appear to be experiencing turbulences while Orlando appears to need a Magic act to pull out of its minor tailspin.
Advantage: Thunder
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| Trading places: Jeff Green to the Celtics and Kenderick Perkins to the Thunder. 2 |
Saturday, February 26, 2011
NCAA Men’s College Basketball
BYU Cougars (7) at San Diego State Aztecs (4)
If you missed Round 1, you do not want to miss this installment. The Aztecs get a second shot at the Jimmer Show, as in BYU super-scoring guard Jimmer Fredette (27 PPG). I have little doubt that the Aztecs have had this game circled on their calendar since BYU handed San Diego State its only loss of the season, 71-58 back in January. Fredette dropped 43 points in front of his home crowd. The winner of this games all but clinches the Mountain West Conference regular season title and a likely a top 5 ranking next week.
San Diego State has the better record, but BYU mopped the floor with the Aztecs in their last meeting. Granted, the Cougars were at home, but BYU appeared to have the matchup advantage and everyone guarding Fredette appeared to be on the short end of a mismatch. BYU has Jimmer. If you don’t know, you’d better ask somebody!
Advantage: BYU
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| Jimmer Fredette with his lovely, LOVELY girlfriend, BYU cheerleader Whitney Wonnacott. I guess white men CAN jump. You'd better recognize! 3 |
Syracuse Orange (20) at Georgetown Hoyas (11)
In delivering Must See Sports to you during this college basketball season, I have covered a lot of Big East basketball. The conference is simply filled to the brim with talent. As I noted in a prior Must See, the Big East is a conference in which the 12 ranked team in the country is in seventh place in its own conference. I cannot help shake my perception that no matter how close the Syracuse Orange appear to be going over the edge of their NCAA Tournament cliff, they scrounge up enough intestinal fortitude to rally and pull away from the edge. The Orange are the winners of three consecutive Big East games, including a BIG one at #14 Villanova.
I also cannot help shake the perception that every time the Georgetown Hoyas appear poised to break through to the next level and anchor themselves in the top 10, they find ways to shoot themselves in the foot. The Hoyas have lost two of their last three after winning 8 straight, including a loss to Big East rival Cincinnati in which Georgetown was held to under 50 points for the first time this season.
In spite of these two teams’ roller coasters, Syracuse is riding on Space Mountain with a heart condition while Georgetown is on the big kids ride at the town fair. This game will not be a slam dunk for Georgetown, but the Hoyas have played better in bigger games this season. Georgetown beat Syracuse at the Carrier Dome earlier this month and the Hoyas have only lost once in the Verizon Center in the past six weeks.
Advantage: Georgetown
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| Sure, Otto the Orange has the better view, but who would YOU pick in a fight? 4 |
Other Noteworthy Games:
Florida Gators (13) at Kentucky Wildcats (20)
I am still waiting for Florida’s carriage to turn into a pumpkin and for Kentucky to rise to what I see as enormous potential.
Advantage: Kentucky
St. John’s Red Storm (25) at Villanova Wildcats (14)
St. John’s has flown quietly under the Big East radar but Nova is stout and the wildcats’ Corey Fisher is money!
Advantage: Villanova
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Pittsburgh Panthers (6) at Louisville Cardinals (16)
A Pitt victory would probably seal the regular season Big East title for the Panthers. Louisville coach Rick Pitino and his team have weathered the storm and picked up critical wins this month, against Syracuse and Connecticut, to stay near the top of the hyper-competitive Big Easy pack. A Cardinals win followed by an impressive Big East tournament could help build a strong case for a top 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. There is plenty at stake.
I think this game comes down to Pittsburgh guard Ashton Gibbs vs his Louisville counterpart Preston Knowles. Gibbs has had the hotter hand of late, scoring 20+ in his last two games. Pitt has been tough to solve all season.
Advantage: Pittsburgh
Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Kobe Bryant and the consistently inconsistent Lakers, losers of three straight before the All-Star break, including a humiliating 20 point thrashing at the hands of the Charlotte Bobcats and an inexplicable embarrassment at the hands of the NBA’s worst team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, travel to Oklahoma City. They will face an OKC team seeking to gain a firm grip on first place in the Northwest Division and attempt to gain some ground on Western Conference’s third place Lakers.
As I say often, do not call your bookie for this game. The only thing predictable about this season’s Lakers is unpredictability. The Lakers are the better team on paper, but they are also going on the road, in which they are “winless in regulation” (to paraphrase Les Miles) in four straight away from the Staples Center. I am going to go out on a limb with this “advantage” declaration, but, you never heard it here!
Advantage: Thunder
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| Kobe put up 37 in the All-Star Game. We know HE'S got a fire under him. The rest of the Lakers??? 5 |
Monday, February 28, 2011
Villanova Wildcats (14) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9)
Big teams step up big in big games and this will probably be a big one for March Madness seeding purposes. Notre Dame is tough, so is Nova. The Irish’s Ben Hansbrough is a stud. So is the Wildcats’ Corey Fisher. In a game like this, look to coaching to be the difference maker. I think Jay Wright makes his team’s statement in this game. Again, don’t call the bookie!
Advantage: Villanova
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Vanderbilt Commodores (18) at Kentucky Wildcats (22)
Vanderbilt put itself in a tough spot after blowing a huge lead at home to Tennessee earlier this week. Kentucky has put itself in tough spots all season by losing games that could catapult them to the next level. Kentuck is at home and I think Kentucky has more total talent. The question is how does that talent come together as a team against a hungry Vandy team, which could be approaching the March Madness bubble with another SEC loss? When in doubt, defer to the coach. They don’t come much more savvy than Kentucky’s John Calipari. I’m sure the colonel would!
Advantage: Kentucky
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Texas A&M Aggies (17) at Kansas Jayhawks (2)
Kansas and the Big XII have flown under the radar for much of the season, flying even lower after Kansas’ upset loss to Kansas State. But there are some very good basketball teams in the Big XII and any of their top dogs is capableof making an NCAA Tournament run. After the Jayhawks’ loss to K-State, it is critical that they take care of business against a talented, but less polished, Texas A&M team. I think the Morris (Marcus and Markeiff) brothers man up at home and keep Kansas on top of the Big XII.
Advantage: Kansas
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1) Image from espn.com
2) Image from life.com
3) Image from sportsgrid.com
4) Images from texags.com and basketball.about.com
5) image from thedailybeast.com
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