Hey there guys,
Well yesterday was a little rough for me as I went 7-5 as the Mavericks upset Orlando on the road despite yet another double double by Dwight Howard (29/16), the Jazz took out the Warriors on the road behind a 30pt 16reb effort by Carlos Boozer (must be happy he wasn't traded huh?), and the Hornets kept themselves in the playoff hunt behind Darren Collison's triple double and David West's 29 points as they nudged by the Pacers 107-101. Anyway well today I will cover what I thought of Tiger's Statement yesterday, and I have some random thoughts on the NBA. There are also some great games in SEC Men's Basketball as Florida goes on the road to face Ole Miss in a must win game for both teams, Tennessee tries to avoid being upset as they hold on to their March Madness lives on the road at South Carolina, two good defenses face off as Alabama travles to Georgia, Miss State is looking to keep their focus at LSU after a close loss to Kentucky, speaking of the Wildcats they take on Vanderbilt as winner will be in first place in the East, and SEC West leader Arkansas goes on the road to face off against Auburn. In the NBA there are also some good games as Philadelphia takes on the Bulls, who are looking to hold onto their playoff spot, the "red hot" Heat travel to Dallas to take on the Mavericks, and the Bobcats look to gain a spot in the playoff standings on the Bucks as they take them on in Milwaukee. Hope you enjoy.
My Thoughts.....
-Tiger Woods, Apology
This is my take on Tiger Woods statement yesterday, and this is the last you are going to here me talk about Tiger's personal life, but I actually thought he was generally sincere. Every athlete has this almost scripted press release whenever they are publicly embarrassed but Tiger seemed to stray away from that in his statement. Not only did he apologize and admit that he was wrong, as he was expected, as the "script" says, but he also put some of himself in to that statement. He put himself in to it when he talked about how being Buddhist was going to help him through all of this. Tiger, who likes to control his surroundings, has rarely ever talked about his personal life and yet today he openly talked about his religion. He also chastised the media for following his kids to school and releasing the school's address. And while some people are saying that by doing some of those things he was just talking about himself, I actually liked it, because Tiger, whose eyes were clearly red, a sign of someone fighting back tears, did not stick to the script. He went off on his own. Now that is the last I am going to talk about his personal life. From here on out I am just going to wait and hope that Tiger comes back to Golf. He stated he was going to go back to therapy for awhile, and does not know when he will come back to Golf, although he would like to some day. The game needs him. It's fading into anonymity with out him.
-NBA, Lakers, Stoudemire, and Gilbert "6-Shooter" Arenas
I have a lot of NBA on my mind right now so the next few paragraphs are going to be about what is on my mind. First off, I am tired of hearing people try to defend their teams poor play by saying "Well if my team gets hot than no one can stop them." Sorry but getting hot for a few games does not make your team an elite team. The best teams are not the streaky ones but the ones who play consistently well throughout the season. The Los Angeles Lakers for example, don't really dominate teams that much. They consistently win by 5-15 points. Cleveland on the other hand can win umpteen games in a row than lost back to back games, at home to the Nuggets, and on the road to the Bobcats. The Cavaliers are a better team but being streaky does not make you a great team. It makes you schizophrenic. If Cleveland goes cold as a team, then Orlando, Boston, or Atlanta, whichever they face, are going to be the team that represents the East. I'll be willing to bet you that they face the Lakers.
Speaking of the Lakers I have a question that I think is a fairly good question. Just how much does Kobe Bryant mean to them? I mean they took a pretty good Boston Celtics team and were fighting them in the 4th quarter and only lost by 1. If that starting 5 had been there for the entire season you think they would have been comfortable enough to finish off the comeback? Remember the Lakers are 3-1 without Kobe. Those 3 wins include Golden State (LA), and also two contenders in San Antonio (LA) and AT Utah. And yet I still here about how the Lakers are nothing without Kobe? Now I full believe that Kobe is a great player but I am beginning to think we have maybe hyped him up TOO much. Seriously. Everyone is beginning to throw around greatest player talk and they forget that he isn't carrying this team by himself. How many teams out there wouldn't love to have Pau Gasol? Andrew Bynum? Lamar Odom? Ron Artest? and how about the point guard rotation? Emotional leader Derek Fisher? Sparkplug Shannon Brown? and Floor General Jordan Farmar? I mean he has got a great team around him. One that, while may not be competing for NBA Championships year in and year out, would certainly be in playoff contention every year. Again I am not trying to take anything away from Kobe Bryant but this team is fine without him, even if they are better with him.
So all of this talk about Amare Stoudemire here and Amare Stoudemire there and yet, for the second season in a row, the hottest commodity on the trade market stays in Phoenix. Anyone else see this coming? I mean I haven't really followed NBA for very long, just my Orlando Magic, but this I really wasn't surprised. No matter how many people came out and said "Oh the trade with team x is almost done" or the "the deal with team y is a matter of seconds from being official" no matter who all came out and said he was going to get traded, I just never got the feeling that he was going anywhere. Nobody wanted to give up good talent to pay his salary last season and I'm not surprised that nobody wanted to do that this season. He is almost like the NBAs Brett Favre, but instead of will he retire, it's will he get traded. The Suns are a good team with him so they best do what they can for the rest of the season.
Speaking of Players that did not get traded how about Gilbert Arenas staying in Washington? In fact last night the Wizards came out again and said he was going to remain a Wizards. I like that. In my opinion Arenas, despite his off the court incidents, is one of the best point guards in the game. He dishes out 7+ assists a game and scores 20+ points a game while actually giving some effort on the defensive end. Rondo and Nash can dish it out but neither of them are the scoring threat that Arenas is. And I like Caron Butler, Antwawn Jamison, and Brendan Haywood, but they were not the same players without Gilbert Arenas on the court. The reason I am surprised that the Wizards kept Arenas is because of the embarrassment he caused himself and his team. Maybe it's only in football but Donte Stallworth, Plaxico Burress, and Michael Vick were all released by their former teams following coming back from their year long suspensions. The deals that the Wizards have made have given them a lot of money to work with and with if they can get a focused Arenas back, make a solid pick early in next years draft, and maybe sign a couple of solid free agents, then you might see Washington make a playoff push within the next two years.
My Picks....
SEC Men's Basketball
Florida 18-8 (7-4) @ Ole Miss 17-8 (5-6)
11:00am
CBS
Line: Miss -4.5
Players to Watch: Flo G Erving Walker 13.1ppg 5.2apg 1.5spg, Flo F Alex Tyus 12.6ppg 7.1rpg 0.9bpg, Miss G Chris Warren 16.5ppg 3.4apg 1.2spg, Miss G Eniel Polynice 10.8ppg 4.3apg 1.3spg
Preview: In a game that is a must win for both teams if they want to make the list of 65 I actually started off thinking Florida had the edge with they way they play underneath. But after losing at home to Xavier and struggling at home with Auburn I am cautious of how this team will play on the road. Ole Miss played Vanderbilt close in this last game, going cold for long stretches in the 1st and 2nd half, and while they have lost 5 of the last 6, I think they barely pull this one out. Maybe...
Miss by 5
#20/#18 Tennessee 19-6 (7-4) @ South Carolina 14-11 (5-6)
12:30am
ESPN 360
Line: Tenn -1.5
Players to Watch: Tenn G J.P. Prince 8.4ppg 3.2apg 1.6spg, Tenn F Wayne Chism 13.1ppg 7.1rpg 1.6bpg, SC G Devan Downey 23.0ppg 3.6apg 2.9spg
Preview: While South Carolina is very tough at home I am concerned about this past loss at Arkansas which Arkansas dominated for most of the game. I like Devan Downey as the SEC Player of the Year but I wonder how much he has left in the tank. I think Tenn F Wayne Chism has a field day as South Carolina struggles in the post.
Tennessee by 5
Alabama 14-11 (4-7) @ Georgia 11-13 (3-8)
3:00pm
ESPN 360
Line: UGA -2
Players to Watch: Bama G Mikhail Torrance 14.8ppg 5.4apg 0.8spg, Bama F JaMychal Green 14.8ppg 7.1rpg 1.9bpg, UGA F Trey Thompkins 17.5ppg 7.8rpg 1.1bpg
Preview: Two very scrappy teams are squaring off in Athens this afternoon with Alabama's great defense and Georgia's scrappy rebounding this should be a great game. Georgia has upset some big teams at home this year including Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt but has struggled against unranked opponents losing to Ole Miss and Arkansas. Because Alabama plays defense first I look for the Tide to take one away from the 'dawgs today.
Alabama by 5 <--UPSET
Mississippi State 18-8 (6-5) @ LSU 9-16 (0-11)
3:00pm
ESPN 360
Line: MSU -6.5
Players to Watch: MSU G Dee Bost 12.4ppg 5.1apg 1.2spg, MSU F Jarvis Varnado 13.2ppg 11.1rpg 4.9rpg, LSU G Bo Spencer 15.1ppg 2.7apg 1.0spg, LSU F Tasmin Mitchell 17.3ppg 9.6rpg 0.4bpg, LSU F Storm Warren 12.0ppg 7.3rpg 1.4bpg
Preview: The best defense in the SEC against the worst team in the SEC. LSU has been playing well against good teams but they just can't finish it off. Miss State is coming off a hard close loss against Kentucky so it will be interesting to see how they respond on the road. I think they're pissed off.
Miss State by 20
#2/#2 Kentucky 25-1 (10-1) @ #17/#19 Vanderbilt 20-5 (9-2)
5:00pm
ESPN
Line: Vandy -1.5
Players to Watch: Kent G John Wall 17.0ppg 6.5apg 1.9spg, Kent G Eric Bledsoe 10
8ppg 3.3apg 1.5spg, Kent F DeMarcus Cousins 16.0ppg 10.3rpg 1.7bpg, Kent F Patrick Patterson 14.8ppg 7.4rpg 1.1bpg, Vandy G Brad Tinsley 7.7ppg 3.2apg 0.6spg
Preview: Easily the Game of the Day. Everyone has been talking about Kentucky all season but with a win today Vanderbilt will take the lead on the regular season in the SEC and will control their own destiny from hear on out. A.J. Ogilvy and company did not fare well in the last meeting between these two. Kentucky has not looked that great in their last 3 games struggling in wins against Bama, Tenn, and MSU. You know that Kentucky is going to come out ready to play early but I want to see how they play for the entire game. I think that the Commodores ride their perfect home record to a close win
Vanderbilt by 1
Arkansas 14-12 (7-4) @ Auburn 12-14 (3-8)
6:00pm
ESPN 360
Line: Aub -3
Players to Watch: Ark G Rotnei Clarke 16.0ppg 1.3apg 1.1spg, Ark F Marshawn Powell 15.2ppg 6.7rpg 1.3bpg, Aub G DeWayne Reed 15.9ppg 4.4apg 1.4spg, Aub F Lucas Hargrove 13.2ppg 7.5rpg 0.5bpg
Preview: This is an interesting game as the last time these two teams met Auburn took the Hawgs down to the wire in Fayetteville. This game is full of guards but I like the match up between Aub F Lucas Hargrove and Ark F Marshawn Powell. I think whoever wins the match up between those two will win this game. These are the two worst Defenses in the SEC. Expect a high scoring affair.
Auburn by 1
NBA
*Game of the Day*
heat @ MAVERICKS (-11.5) by 2
The Rest
wizards @ RAPTORS (-6.5) by 8
THUNDER (-5.5) by 10 @ knicks
76ers @ BULLS (-5) by 4
pacers @ ROCKETS (-8) by 9
bobcats @ BUCKS (-3.5) by 3
kings @ CLIPPERS (-1) by 3
Alright guys as always just let me know if you have any questions, comments, or any ideas or topics you want me to touch on.
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