And just like that, Jodie Meeks has put himself in the middle of the Player of the Year race in college hoops. I missed last night's game, unfortunately, and the only time I saw Kentucky this year they looked like crap against North Carolina.
Little did I know, Kentucky was on a bit of a roll and has only lost four games this season, all to decent opponents, and have a better record (so far) than Tennessee. I had a chance to watch this game, but opted to catch the Lakers and Rockets instead, because I assumed Kentucky was a crappy team. I definitely should've done my research.
Fortunately for Kentucky and Meeks, they're both back on the scene. Well Meeks is on the scene for the first time this year. He's averaging 25.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, and 1.9 apg thank you, and is definitely in the Top 5 for POY now. Here's my list to date:
1. Blake Griffin - 22.4 ppg, 13.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.5 bpg, 65% FG, 60% FT.
2. Stephen Curry - 28.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 6.7 apg, 3.1 spg, 45% FG, 36% 3PT, 85% FT.
3. James Harden - 23.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.7 apg, 2.1 spg, 56% FG, 42% 3PT, 76% FT.
4. Luke Harangody - 24.8 ppg, 12.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.4 spg, 1 bpg, 50% FG, 81% FT.
5. Jodie Meeks - 25.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.5 spg, 48% FG, 44% 3PT, 91% FT.
Showing posts with label Stephen Curry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stephen Curry. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Abbreviated Curry Watch
I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about Curry’s off night the other day. Right now, this Davidson team might not make it past the first or second round in the NCAA if they can’t find a sidekick for Stephen. Right now, it’s like he’s playing point and the two at the same time. However, Saturday’s 5-26 performance against Perdue will probably be his worst of the season, and if he goes pro after this year, his career.
Two more of my favorite players, Eric Maynor and Blake Griffin, had pedestrian games in Saturday’s VCU/Oklahoma matchup.
Seth Curry’s getting a little more shine as well.
Two more of my favorite players, Eric Maynor and Blake Griffin, had pedestrian games in Saturday’s VCU/Oklahoma matchup.
Seth Curry’s getting a little more shine as well.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Quick Hits 12/16
NCAA F
Charles Barkley is right to be ashamed of his Alma Mater and Auburn fans are right to be outraged. Hiring Gene Chizik over Turner Gill is inexcusable. It’s a bad move that will probably blow up in Auburn’s face, just like firing Tommy Tubberville was a bad move in the first place.
However, this may be a blessing in disguise for Gill. With Florida, LSU, Alabama and Georgia seemingly poised to dominate the SEC for the next few years, Auburn would’ve been a bad job for Gill. Anything less than an SEC championship within two or three years would’ve had him on the hot seat by year four.
This is the biggest by product of the black head coach problem in college football: most black coaches are pushed to bad jobs, fail in bad situations and fade in to oblivion. Heck, Buffalo was a bad job, but Gill made it work.
At Auburn, he probably would’ve gotten about the same chance to fix their program as Ty Willingham had at Notre Dame. And while Auburn is a much better program than Mississippi State, Gill would’ve been in a similar position at Auburn as Sylvester Croom was with MSU as the first black coach in the SEC. Croom couldn’t compete with the bigger SEC schools for talent, and therefore his teams couldn’t compete on the field. He just resigned after his first season, even though he’s won the conference’s Coach of the Year award during his tenure.
Gill will definitely get a shot to coach “big time” college football. For his sake, hopefully its at place where he’ll be in a position to really win.
NBA
The reason why the Celtics are even better than they were last year is definitely Rajon Rondo, which should go without saying. While he’s not a pure point guard, he’s developed into the player the Celtics need him to be: a consistent scoring threat, good rebounder, serviceable passer and tenacious defender.
And really, he wasn’t that bad last year and the Celtics had no need to waste the time and money they did on Sam Cassell. Check out what Rondo is doing this year though:
10.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 7.4 apg, 2.3 spg, 51.3 fg%.
Those are solid numbers across the board.
While I’m definitely enjoying the regular season so far, the inevitable Eastern Conference finals between Cleveland and Boston will certainly be something to watch.
NCAA B
Stephen Curry continues to dazzle. In case you missed it, over the weekend Curry dropped 41 pts, 4 rebs, 6 asts and a steal on Chattanooga over the weekend in a 100-95 Davidson victory. Curry hit 11-22 shots, 5-11 from downtown and added another 14 from the line (on 18 attempts).
At the point, with apologies to James Harden from Arizona State, the Wooden Award is a two horse race between Curry and Blake Griffin. Here’s the tale of the tape as of 12/15
Curry – 9 games, 31.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.8 apg, 2.9 spg, 48% fg, 39% 3p5, 85% ft – remember he had a 0 point game where he was 0-3.
Griffin – 10 games, 23.1 ppg, 15.1 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.9 spg, 1.1 bpg, 68% fg, 62% ft
** Bonus Seth Curry Watch ** 22 pts, 1 reb on 8-13 shooting (4-8 3pt) and 2-2 from the line in a December 15th victory against Anderson (SC), whoever they are.
NFL
Kudos to ESPN for blowing the T.O/Dallas/Romo/Witten situation out of proportion. You ever notice that whenever Dallas loses, T.O. is mad? Anybody at the Worldwide leader ever think that maybe this guy just wants to win and maybe he thinks the best way for Dallas to win is for him to always have the ball?
The biggest difference between this situation and the Philly and San Fran situations involving Owens and QB’s is that he’s not questioning Romo’s character, ability or physical condition. This time, he was just politicking for the ball more and wondering if there’s a reason why he’s not getting the rock all the time. (Of course, its probably because he’s always among the lead leaders in drops, which he will fail to recognize).
Regardless, the two best teams in the league are Pittsburgh and Carolina, who both have chances to exert themselves as the true top dogs in the conference this week, with games against Tennessee and Carolina.
Charles Barkley is right to be ashamed of his Alma Mater and Auburn fans are right to be outraged. Hiring Gene Chizik over Turner Gill is inexcusable. It’s a bad move that will probably blow up in Auburn’s face, just like firing Tommy Tubberville was a bad move in the first place.
However, this may be a blessing in disguise for Gill. With Florida, LSU, Alabama and Georgia seemingly poised to dominate the SEC for the next few years, Auburn would’ve been a bad job for Gill. Anything less than an SEC championship within two or three years would’ve had him on the hot seat by year four.
This is the biggest by product of the black head coach problem in college football: most black coaches are pushed to bad jobs, fail in bad situations and fade in to oblivion. Heck, Buffalo was a bad job, but Gill made it work.
At Auburn, he probably would’ve gotten about the same chance to fix their program as Ty Willingham had at Notre Dame. And while Auburn is a much better program than Mississippi State, Gill would’ve been in a similar position at Auburn as Sylvester Croom was with MSU as the first black coach in the SEC. Croom couldn’t compete with the bigger SEC schools for talent, and therefore his teams couldn’t compete on the field. He just resigned after his first season, even though he’s won the conference’s Coach of the Year award during his tenure.
Gill will definitely get a shot to coach “big time” college football. For his sake, hopefully its at place where he’ll be in a position to really win.
NBA
The reason why the Celtics are even better than they were last year is definitely Rajon Rondo, which should go without saying. While he’s not a pure point guard, he’s developed into the player the Celtics need him to be: a consistent scoring threat, good rebounder, serviceable passer and tenacious defender.
And really, he wasn’t that bad last year and the Celtics had no need to waste the time and money they did on Sam Cassell. Check out what Rondo is doing this year though:
10.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 7.4 apg, 2.3 spg, 51.3 fg%.
Those are solid numbers across the board.
While I’m definitely enjoying the regular season so far, the inevitable Eastern Conference finals between Cleveland and Boston will certainly be something to watch.
NCAA B
Stephen Curry continues to dazzle. In case you missed it, over the weekend Curry dropped 41 pts, 4 rebs, 6 asts and a steal on Chattanooga over the weekend in a 100-95 Davidson victory. Curry hit 11-22 shots, 5-11 from downtown and added another 14 from the line (on 18 attempts).
At the point, with apologies to James Harden from Arizona State, the Wooden Award is a two horse race between Curry and Blake Griffin. Here’s the tale of the tape as of 12/15
Curry – 9 games, 31.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.8 apg, 2.9 spg, 48% fg, 39% 3p5, 85% ft – remember he had a 0 point game where he was 0-3.
Griffin – 10 games, 23.1 ppg, 15.1 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.9 spg, 1.1 bpg, 68% fg, 62% ft
** Bonus Seth Curry Watch ** 22 pts, 1 reb on 8-13 shooting (4-8 3pt) and 2-2 from the line in a December 15th victory against Anderson (SC), whoever they are.
NFL
Kudos to ESPN for blowing the T.O/Dallas/Romo/Witten situation out of proportion. You ever notice that whenever Dallas loses, T.O. is mad? Anybody at the Worldwide leader ever think that maybe this guy just wants to win and maybe he thinks the best way for Dallas to win is for him to always have the ball?
The biggest difference between this situation and the Philly and San Fran situations involving Owens and QB’s is that he’s not questioning Romo’s character, ability or physical condition. This time, he was just politicking for the ball more and wondering if there’s a reason why he’s not getting the rock all the time. (Of course, its probably because he’s always among the lead leaders in drops, which he will fail to recognize).
Regardless, the two best teams in the league are Pittsburgh and Carolina, who both have chances to exert themselves as the true top dogs in the conference this week, with games against Tennessee and Carolina.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Steph Curry Watch 12/9
NCAA B
Another day, another Curry watch. In fact, Curry is so exciting that he made me not watch LeBron (The Cavs played the Raptors on NBATV tonight). The result? A mostly bad game by Curry.
And by bad i mean 27 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Now, he shot horribly (33%), had a lot of turnovers and worked very hard for those 27 points, but still, the bar is pretty high for this guy when that statline is looked at as a bad one.
However, he scored 13 of Davidson's last 14 points and helped his team regain the lead. You can tell he was off most of the game, but he stuck with it and it paid off.
Another day, another Curry watch. In fact, Curry is so exciting that he made me not watch LeBron (The Cavs played the Raptors on NBATV tonight). The result? A mostly bad game by Curry.
And by bad i mean 27 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Now, he shot horribly (33%), had a lot of turnovers and worked very hard for those 27 points, but still, the bar is pretty high for this guy when that statline is looked at as a bad one.
However, he scored 13 of Davidson's last 14 points and helped his team regain the lead. You can tell he was off most of the game, but he stuck with it and it paid off.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
College BBall Quick Hits 12/7
Seth Curry and his Liberty Flames played their second game in a row today, losing to Clemson 80-75. Curry had 24, 4 and 1, and shot 9-16 from the field (6-9) from three.
Liberty, a small school founded by Jerry Falwell in his hometown of Lynchburg, VA, has a pretty brutal travel schedule. Yesterday, the played at home in VA, then traveled to Clemson today. Their next game is the 15th at home, then they travel to DePaul on the 17th, St. Louis on the 19th and out to Northern Colorado on the 22nd.
Meanwhile, Seth's older brother Stephen leads the country in scoring with 31.3 ppg. Looking at his stats, I had to give props to Eric Maynor at VCU. These two small college guards are definitely 2 of the top 10 guards in the nation, if not top five. Check out their numbers:
Curry - 7 games, 31.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 6.4 apg, 3 spg, 50% fg, 41% 3pt, 88% ft
Maynor - 8 games, 23.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 6.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 53% fg, 44% 3pt, 73% ft
And just for the heck of it, here are Blake Griffin's numbers after seven. (At lunch Friday, we figured out that Griffin has Amare's athleticism with Duncan's fundamentals. He HAS to be the #1 pick in this year's draft.)
Griffin - 7 games, 25.6 ppg, 17.3 rpg, 2.7 agp, 2.0 spg, .9 bpg, 68% fg, 62% ft and he's 3-3 from downtown so far.
Liberty, a small school founded by Jerry Falwell in his hometown of Lynchburg, VA, has a pretty brutal travel schedule. Yesterday, the played at home in VA, then traveled to Clemson today. Their next game is the 15th at home, then they travel to DePaul on the 17th, St. Louis on the 19th and out to Northern Colorado on the 22nd.
Meanwhile, Seth's older brother Stephen leads the country in scoring with 31.3 ppg. Looking at his stats, I had to give props to Eric Maynor at VCU. These two small college guards are definitely 2 of the top 10 guards in the nation, if not top five. Check out their numbers:
Curry - 7 games, 31.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 6.4 apg, 3 spg, 50% fg, 41% 3pt, 88% ft
Maynor - 8 games, 23.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 6.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 53% fg, 44% 3pt, 73% ft
And just for the heck of it, here are Blake Griffin's numbers after seven. (At lunch Friday, we figured out that Griffin has Amare's athleticism with Duncan's fundamentals. He HAS to be the #1 pick in this year's draft.)
Griffin - 7 games, 25.6 ppg, 17.3 rpg, 2.7 agp, 2.0 spg, .9 bpg, 68% fg, 62% ft and he's 3-3 from downtown so far.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Quick Hits 12/6 - I told you so version
NCAA F
Well, Ball State got what it deserved and lost to the Buffalo Bulls. Instead of a matchup of undefeated mid-major powerhouses with Boise State, Ball State is now headed for the GMAC bowl against an ACC also-ran (or maybe Notre Dame). Buffalo is headed for the International Bowl in Toronto as 2008 MAC champions, and Boise State is likely (hopefully) going to play TCU or BYU in the Poinsettia Bowl in lovely San Diego.
For the rest of college football. I don't know if I see any more upsets on the horizon. Florida was going to have a tough time against 'Bama anyway, and now Percy Harvin is out. So far, Alabama is winning the physical battle. In the other "semi-final," Oklahoma plays Missouri in the Big 12 Championship. The Sooners will definitely have their hands full in Kansas City, but I think they'll pull it off.
If Oklahoma and Alabama win and face each other for the title, here are the matchups I'd like to see in the BCS games:
Rose Bowl - USC vs. Florida
Orange Bowl - Cincinnati vs. Utah
Sugar Bowl - Penn State vs. Virginia Tech
Fiesta Bowl - Texas vs. Ohio State
Although we're more likely to see
Rose Bowl - USC vs. Penn State
Orange Bowl - Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Sugar Bowl - Florida vs. Utah
Fiesta Bowl - Texas vs. Ohio State
If Missouri knocks of Oklahoma, and sends Texas to face Alabama, I'd like to see the Sooners face Ohio State. What if Missouri and Florida win?
Rose Bowl - USC vs. Penn State
Orange Bowl - Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Sugar Bowl - Oklahoma vs. Alabama
Fiesta Bowl - Ohio State vs. Utah
How about that Sugar Bowl matchup? I'd love to see that, along with a Texas/Florida final. Go Gators and Tigers!
NCAAB
Curry Watch
Davidson (6-1) defeats NC State (4-1)72-67
Curry 44 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals.
45% fg, 29% 3pt, 77% ft, and 61% of Davidson's points.
Honestly, he was gunning today. On a poor shooting night, he still had 44 points. However, his team is dependent on him gunning, so we give him a pass. Its not like he's dribbling 20 seconds off the shot clock before hoisting up an off balanced runner. He's cutting and coming off screen after screen, to go with an array of runners, floaters, scoop shots and nifty-layups. There's no way this dude doesn't drop 50 at least once this year.
Seth Curry, aka S. Curry 2.0, had 15, 5 and 5 today in a Liberty win over Gardner-Webb, along with a steal and a block. He was only 4-14 (3-9 3pt) and 4-6 from the line, so you can say it was an off day for the whole family.
Well, Ball State got what it deserved and lost to the Buffalo Bulls. Instead of a matchup of undefeated mid-major powerhouses with Boise State, Ball State is now headed for the GMAC bowl against an ACC also-ran (or maybe Notre Dame). Buffalo is headed for the International Bowl in Toronto as 2008 MAC champions, and Boise State is likely (hopefully) going to play TCU or BYU in the Poinsettia Bowl in lovely San Diego.
For the rest of college football. I don't know if I see any more upsets on the horizon. Florida was going to have a tough time against 'Bama anyway, and now Percy Harvin is out. So far, Alabama is winning the physical battle. In the other "semi-final," Oklahoma plays Missouri in the Big 12 Championship. The Sooners will definitely have their hands full in Kansas City, but I think they'll pull it off.
If Oklahoma and Alabama win and face each other for the title, here are the matchups I'd like to see in the BCS games:
Rose Bowl - USC vs. Florida
Orange Bowl - Cincinnati vs. Utah
Sugar Bowl - Penn State vs. Virginia Tech
Fiesta Bowl - Texas vs. Ohio State
Although we're more likely to see
Rose Bowl - USC vs. Penn State
Orange Bowl - Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Sugar Bowl - Florida vs. Utah
Fiesta Bowl - Texas vs. Ohio State
If Missouri knocks of Oklahoma, and sends Texas to face Alabama, I'd like to see the Sooners face Ohio State. What if Missouri and Florida win?
Rose Bowl - USC vs. Penn State
Orange Bowl - Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Sugar Bowl - Oklahoma vs. Alabama
Fiesta Bowl - Ohio State vs. Utah
How about that Sugar Bowl matchup? I'd love to see that, along with a Texas/Florida final. Go Gators and Tigers!
NCAAB
Curry Watch
Davidson (6-1) defeats NC State (4-1)72-67
Curry 44 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals.
45% fg, 29% 3pt, 77% ft, and 61% of Davidson's points.
Honestly, he was gunning today. On a poor shooting night, he still had 44 points. However, his team is dependent on him gunning, so we give him a pass. Its not like he's dribbling 20 seconds off the shot clock before hoisting up an off balanced runner. He's cutting and coming off screen after screen, to go with an array of runners, floaters, scoop shots and nifty-layups. There's no way this dude doesn't drop 50 at least once this year.
Seth Curry, aka S. Curry 2.0, had 15, 5 and 5 today in a Liberty win over Gardner-Webb, along with a steal and a block. He was only 4-14 (3-9 3pt) and 4-6 from the line, so you can say it was an off day for the whole family.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Steph Curry Watch ... Kind Of
Did you know there's another one? Steph has a little brother, Seth, who is a freshman guard at Liberty. I'd been wondering what was up with Liberty, I saw they had a couple of big wins so far in the season, but I didn't know there was a Curry involved.
For the season, the young Curry is averaging 22 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. His Liberty Flames are 5-1, including a road victory at UVA, in which he dropped 26. In case you were wondering, he's shooting a little about 37% from three.
Keep an eye on this 6'1 freshman I didn't know existed until today.
For the season, the young Curry is averaging 22 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. His Liberty Flames are 5-1, including a road victory at UVA, in which he dropped 26. In case you were wondering, he's shooting a little about 37% from three.
Keep an eye on this 6'1 freshman I didn't know existed until today.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Curry Watch
So Steph Curry only scored 0 points yesterday in a 78-48 Davidson victory over Loyola, Maryland. Hold on, what? How many points did he score? 0? How many minutes did he play, 5? He played 32? Well, what the hell happened?
Apparently Loyola double-teamed Curry the whole time, regardless of score or scenario. In response, Curry just stood in a corner and watched his team play 4-3 on every possession. Annoyed, Davidson coach Bob McKillop kept Curry in the game.
You can read the article here, as Loyola coach Jimmy Pastos tried to justify what he did.
I think its unforgivable. You're basically saying to your team, "I don't believe you can't win. I'd rather be able to say 'hey, we held Steph Curry scoreless' than give you guys a chance to win." Yeah, he dropped 44 on Oklahoma and probably would've had 30+ last night. But hell, the game probably would've been closer had they played him straight up.
For the record, he's now putting up 29 ppg, 3 rpg, 7 apg, 3 spg.
Apparently Loyola double-teamed Curry the whole time, regardless of score or scenario. In response, Curry just stood in a corner and watched his team play 4-3 on every possession. Annoyed, Davidson coach Bob McKillop kept Curry in the game.
You can read the article here, as Loyola coach Jimmy Pastos tried to justify what he did.
I think its unforgivable. You're basically saying to your team, "I don't believe you can't win. I'd rather be able to say 'hey, we held Steph Curry scoreless' than give you guys a chance to win." Yeah, he dropped 44 on Oklahoma and probably would've had 30+ last night. But hell, the game probably would've been closer had they played him straight up.
For the record, he's now putting up 29 ppg, 3 rpg, 7 apg, 3 spg.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
LeBron Quick Hit
Ben Wallace – 6’9, 240. Elton Brand – 6’9, 254. Carlos Boozer – 6’9, 266. David West – 6’9, 240. Amare Stoudemire – 6’10, 249. All of these guys are decent to phenomenal power forwards.
Then there’s this guy, who’s 6’8, 250. He’s LeBron James, a “small” forward. I say this because according to 82games.com, Cleveland’s most effective lineup is one that features LeBron at power forward.
This lineup is Boobie Gibson at the point, Delonte West at two, Sczerbiak at the three, King James at power forward and Anderson Varejao at center. Also, the team with the best power forward PER is Cleveland, probably aided by times when LeBron plays the four.
LeBron is a killer at four because he’s big strong to defend the position, but he’s way faster than most power forwards. This means when he drives by them he’s either going to draw extra defenders, then dish to one of the three shooters (assuming Cleveland is playing their best lineup) or hit a cutting Varejao near the basket for an easy bucket.
If Mike Brown is smart, he'd find more and more minutes for LeBron at the four.
Yet, he might not win MVP, again. Chris Paul is playing better than ever, Dwayne Wade may very well drag his motley crew in Miami into the playoffs (as predicted here) and Kobe’s Lakers look better than ever.
Just something I thought of today. I’m going to go back to watching the King play his future (I hope not) team on NBA TV, the greatest channel on the dial, and fooling around on 82games.com.
Actually, before I go, I just want to proclaim that all of Steph Curry’s games should be televised from now on. Can we make that happen please? 35 ppg, 8 apg, 3 rpg, 3 spg, 53% from the field, 45% from three and 91% from the line. Is that not TV worthy? Ok, I’m done.
Then there’s this guy, who’s 6’8, 250. He’s LeBron James, a “small” forward. I say this because according to 82games.com, Cleveland’s most effective lineup is one that features LeBron at power forward.
This lineup is Boobie Gibson at the point, Delonte West at two, Sczerbiak at the three, King James at power forward and Anderson Varejao at center. Also, the team with the best power forward PER is Cleveland, probably aided by times when LeBron plays the four.
LeBron is a killer at four because he’s big strong to defend the position, but he’s way faster than most power forwards. This means when he drives by them he’s either going to draw extra defenders, then dish to one of the three shooters (assuming Cleveland is playing their best lineup) or hit a cutting Varejao near the basket for an easy bucket.
If Mike Brown is smart, he'd find more and more minutes for LeBron at the four.
Yet, he might not win MVP, again. Chris Paul is playing better than ever, Dwayne Wade may very well drag his motley crew in Miami into the playoffs (as predicted here) and Kobe’s Lakers look better than ever.
Just something I thought of today. I’m going to go back to watching the King play his future (I hope not) team on NBA TV, the greatest channel on the dial, and fooling around on 82games.com.
Actually, before I go, I just want to proclaim that all of Steph Curry’s games should be televised from now on. Can we make that happen please? 35 ppg, 8 apg, 3 rpg, 3 spg, 53% from the field, 45% from three and 91% from the line. Is that not TV worthy? Ok, I’m done.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Quick Hits 11/24
NBA
So I finally got a chance to see the Hornets play on Friday night. Chris Paul was amazing, they d’ed up and slaughtered their opponent. On Saturday night (in a non-televised game), they pretty much did the same thing on Friday and CP3 notched his first triple-double of the season. The problem is they played Kevin Durant’s team both nights.
As far as the rest of the league, the Lakers and Celtics are dominant again. The Rockets and Cavs are better and the Magic and Bobcats are making me look bad, as they do every year. Derrick Rose > Mike Beasley and Marc Gasol, O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay are going to be a good trio soon (random Grizzlies note of the year).
I could go on and on about every team, but I’m not. Just like last year, I’m loving the NBA.
NFL
The McNabb era has come to an end in Philly. Hopefully he’ll end up on a good team with receivers and finish his career with some dignity.
Meanwhile, an old Super Bowl favorite is getting healthy and picking up some steam. Yup, the Dallas Cowboys are looking good. I could definitely see them getting hot, winning the rest of their games this year and set themselves up for a classic NFC Championship game against the Giants, who are rolling.
In the AFC, the Jets are getting a lot of hype, but the pundits backing them are forgetting two things. 1. Brett Favre is Brett Favre, who is always likely to make a mistake at a costly time. 2. Brett Favre was on the cover of Madden this year. I don’t know if his unretirement and subsequent trade has made him Madden Curse exempt, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Meanwhile, if the Steelers and Colts can stay healthy, play close attention both teams going forward in the AFC. The Patriots are looming as well.
On another note, I love it how all the NFL’s Thursday night games suck. This year, they seemed to start earlier than ever. You know that eventually they’re going to have at least one if not multiple games on the NFL Network each week. Just like Wall Street, greed is eventually going to kill the NFL.
NCAA B
This year, the NCAA has two guys who are can’t miss, watch every minute of the game players. They are sportsology favorite Stephen Curry and future #1 draft pick Blake Griffin. Curry is averaging 34 points, 2.5 rebounds and 9 assists a game. He’s shooting 53% from the field, 43% from three and 90+% from the line. Griffin is averaging 26 points, 20 rebounds and 3 assists a contest. He’s shooting 57% from the field.
Now those numbers are insane, but they are only four games worth of stats. However, both players are the real deal. Griffin is going to come on TV more, so you might get away with missing and Oklahoma game every now and then.
Curry’s Davidson Wildcats are a mid-major team in a conference without a major TV deal. Therefore, its imperative that you watch every minute he plays this year, as he might end up with one of the greatest seasons of all time when its all said and done.
NCAA F
Texas Tech lost, as predicted here (finally!), but damn I didn’t expect them to get killed like that. With that beatdown, Texas v. Florida is now Oklahoma v. Florida, and I’d definitely take the Sooners in that contest.
Elsewhere, Charlie Weis is taking a lot of heat at Notre Dame, and will probably finish the year with a 6-7 record after bowl season. Notre Dame is probably cursed for screwing Ty Willingham; at least Weis’ tenure is. Unfortunately for him, he made it very easy to root against him with his early braggadocio and ridiculous contract extension.
As the season winds down and every game takes heightened importance, enjoy the games. Games of this intensity level would not happen with a playoff system, which is why it the BCS needs to stay with some small adjustments.
I know this post was kind of dull, but too much happened over the weekend for me not to address it.
So I finally got a chance to see the Hornets play on Friday night. Chris Paul was amazing, they d’ed up and slaughtered their opponent. On Saturday night (in a non-televised game), they pretty much did the same thing on Friday and CP3 notched his first triple-double of the season. The problem is they played Kevin Durant’s team both nights.
As far as the rest of the league, the Lakers and Celtics are dominant again. The Rockets and Cavs are better and the Magic and Bobcats are making me look bad, as they do every year. Derrick Rose > Mike Beasley and Marc Gasol, O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay are going to be a good trio soon (random Grizzlies note of the year).
I could go on and on about every team, but I’m not. Just like last year, I’m loving the NBA.
NFL
The McNabb era has come to an end in Philly. Hopefully he’ll end up on a good team with receivers and finish his career with some dignity.
Meanwhile, an old Super Bowl favorite is getting healthy and picking up some steam. Yup, the Dallas Cowboys are looking good. I could definitely see them getting hot, winning the rest of their games this year and set themselves up for a classic NFC Championship game against the Giants, who are rolling.
In the AFC, the Jets are getting a lot of hype, but the pundits backing them are forgetting two things. 1. Brett Favre is Brett Favre, who is always likely to make a mistake at a costly time. 2. Brett Favre was on the cover of Madden this year. I don’t know if his unretirement and subsequent trade has made him Madden Curse exempt, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Meanwhile, if the Steelers and Colts can stay healthy, play close attention both teams going forward in the AFC. The Patriots are looming as well.
On another note, I love it how all the NFL’s Thursday night games suck. This year, they seemed to start earlier than ever. You know that eventually they’re going to have at least one if not multiple games on the NFL Network each week. Just like Wall Street, greed is eventually going to kill the NFL.
NCAA B
This year, the NCAA has two guys who are can’t miss, watch every minute of the game players. They are sportsology favorite Stephen Curry and future #1 draft pick Blake Griffin. Curry is averaging 34 points, 2.5 rebounds and 9 assists a game. He’s shooting 53% from the field, 43% from three and 90+% from the line. Griffin is averaging 26 points, 20 rebounds and 3 assists a contest. He’s shooting 57% from the field.
Now those numbers are insane, but they are only four games worth of stats. However, both players are the real deal. Griffin is going to come on TV more, so you might get away with missing and Oklahoma game every now and then.
Curry’s Davidson Wildcats are a mid-major team in a conference without a major TV deal. Therefore, its imperative that you watch every minute he plays this year, as he might end up with one of the greatest seasons of all time when its all said and done.
NCAA F
Texas Tech lost, as predicted here (finally!), but damn I didn’t expect them to get killed like that. With that beatdown, Texas v. Florida is now Oklahoma v. Florida, and I’d definitely take the Sooners in that contest.
Elsewhere, Charlie Weis is taking a lot of heat at Notre Dame, and will probably finish the year with a 6-7 record after bowl season. Notre Dame is probably cursed for screwing Ty Willingham; at least Weis’ tenure is. Unfortunately for him, he made it very easy to root against him with his early braggadocio and ridiculous contract extension.
As the season winds down and every game takes heightened importance, enjoy the games. Games of this intensity level would not happen with a playoff system, which is why it the BCS needs to stay with some small adjustments.
I know this post was kind of dull, but too much happened over the weekend for me not to address it.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Curry and Griffin live up to expectations
Although I’m usually not a big fan of gimmicks, I must commend ESPN on their college basketball marathon yesterday. At midnight, I got a chance to get a sneak-peak at Memphis and future star Tyreke Evans, who was unimpressive in the action I saw before I went to sleep.
Yesterday morning, my Drexel Dragons knocked off the Penn Quakers in a game played at 10 am, which was also the first time Drexel has ever hosted Penn in basketball. UNC looks like they could win the championship even without Hansbrough and Ginyard, either that or Kentucky is going to be very bad this year, or maybe even a little bit of both.
UAB looked pretty good in the first half against Arizona (although the game came down to the wire well past my bedtime).
But of course, the game of the night yesterday was Davidson at Oklahoma, which did not disappoint. Davidson, of course, is powered by superstar Stephen Curry. Oklahoma is led by 2009 #1 NBA draft pick Blake Griffin. Both players put up impressive numbers played big roles in the outcome of the game on off nights!
Blake Griffin was outscored by his brother Taylor in the first half and only had 4 points while Curry had 17 points, but missed the last 6 minutes of the half with foul trouble. Yet, Griffin finished with 25 points and 22 rebounds and Curry had 44 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists when the fat lady sang last night in Norman.
Get this about Curry – he only shot 41% from the field and 40% from three (he was 14-14 from the charity stripe). He could have very easily had 50 points in this contest. Oklahoma tried all they could to keep the ball out of his hands, but what likely saved them was Curry’s first half fouls and fatigue.
Curry went through a stretch where he missed three straight 3’s off the front of the rim and he also missed a few floaters and fingerolls that could have upped his total to fiddy. I don’t know if his size will play well in the NBA, but he is the most exciting player and best shooter the game has seen in a long, long time.
As for Griffin, he’s the truth. He doesn’t have much range, but he can handle the ball very well and even led some of the Sooners’ fast breaks last night. He’s good from the line and unstoppable from close range. He’s a ferocious rebounder and is very tenacious when it comes to finishing. His brother, too, was impressive. He reminds me of a Paul Millsap kind of player.
Moving forward, Davidson will be much better when the tournament comes around, as their role players will become more acclimated to playing in the spotlight. The “White Lobster” Bryant Barr was 1-9 from the field, including 1-7 from downtown. In fact, besides Curry, the rest of the team shot horribly -- 12-39 from the field (31%), 4-14 from 3 (29%), and 6-12 (50%) from the line. If his team continues to play this poorly, Curry will be a shoe-in for player of the year, as he can and will continue to carry them.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma could be tough team, but there are a few things about them that troubled me. Their outside shooting was poor and needs to improve. Willie Warren can fly and Jeff Capel needs to turn him loose. I assume he will as Warren gets more experience. And perimeter defense needs to improve, as regardless of who you’re playing against, you can’t give up 44 to a guy.
As for the game, it was one of the better regular season games since maybe the Texas-Oklahoma State triple-overtime game a few years ago when Mario Boggan squared off against Kevin Durant. I can’t wait to see either one of these teams again.
Yesterday morning, my Drexel Dragons knocked off the Penn Quakers in a game played at 10 am, which was also the first time Drexel has ever hosted Penn in basketball. UNC looks like they could win the championship even without Hansbrough and Ginyard, either that or Kentucky is going to be very bad this year, or maybe even a little bit of both.
UAB looked pretty good in the first half against Arizona (although the game came down to the wire well past my bedtime).
But of course, the game of the night yesterday was Davidson at Oklahoma, which did not disappoint. Davidson, of course, is powered by superstar Stephen Curry. Oklahoma is led by 2009 #1 NBA draft pick Blake Griffin. Both players put up impressive numbers played big roles in the outcome of the game on off nights!
Blake Griffin was outscored by his brother Taylor in the first half and only had 4 points while Curry had 17 points, but missed the last 6 minutes of the half with foul trouble. Yet, Griffin finished with 25 points and 22 rebounds and Curry had 44 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists when the fat lady sang last night in Norman.
Get this about Curry – he only shot 41% from the field and 40% from three (he was 14-14 from the charity stripe). He could have very easily had 50 points in this contest. Oklahoma tried all they could to keep the ball out of his hands, but what likely saved them was Curry’s first half fouls and fatigue.
Curry went through a stretch where he missed three straight 3’s off the front of the rim and he also missed a few floaters and fingerolls that could have upped his total to fiddy. I don’t know if his size will play well in the NBA, but he is the most exciting player and best shooter the game has seen in a long, long time.
As for Griffin, he’s the truth. He doesn’t have much range, but he can handle the ball very well and even led some of the Sooners’ fast breaks last night. He’s good from the line and unstoppable from close range. He’s a ferocious rebounder and is very tenacious when it comes to finishing. His brother, too, was impressive. He reminds me of a Paul Millsap kind of player.
Moving forward, Davidson will be much better when the tournament comes around, as their role players will become more acclimated to playing in the spotlight. The “White Lobster” Bryant Barr was 1-9 from the field, including 1-7 from downtown. In fact, besides Curry, the rest of the team shot horribly -- 12-39 from the field (31%), 4-14 from 3 (29%), and 6-12 (50%) from the line. If his team continues to play this poorly, Curry will be a shoe-in for player of the year, as he can and will continue to carry them.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma could be tough team, but there are a few things about them that troubled me. Their outside shooting was poor and needs to improve. Willie Warren can fly and Jeff Capel needs to turn him loose. I assume he will as Warren gets more experience. And perimeter defense needs to improve, as regardless of who you’re playing against, you can’t give up 44 to a guy.
As for the game, it was one of the better regular season games since maybe the Texas-Oklahoma State triple-overtime game a few years ago when Mario Boggan squared off against Kevin Durant. I can’t wait to see either one of these teams again.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Steph Curry Star Power
America's favorite college athlete is back at it again. The son of Dell dropped 33 on James Madison in 31 minutes. He shot 14-19 from the field, including 4-6 from downtown, and also dropped 9 dimes.
Now here's how much star power young Curry has. At 9pm tonight on the 'Worldwide Leader,' UNC plays Kentucky in one of the most anticipated early season games. However, at 9:30 pm on ESPN2, Curry and Davidson square off against Oklahoma and super soph Blake Griffin. Which game are you going to watch? I assume most will work the remote like a mad man shifting games, but if Curry goes off, I know where everyone will end up.
Now here's how much star power young Curry has. At 9pm tonight on the 'Worldwide Leader,' UNC plays Kentucky in one of the most anticipated early season games. However, at 9:30 pm on ESPN2, Curry and Davidson square off against Oklahoma and super soph Blake Griffin. Which game are you going to watch? I assume most will work the remote like a mad man shifting games, but if Curry goes off, I know where everyone will end up.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Sweet 16 Thoughts
This year’s NCAA Tournament has been a lot more exciting than anticipated. I figured this year would be the year of the major conferences, but a few underdogs have been able to sneak into the Sweet 16.
Although I had them going to the Elite 8 in my bracket, Davidson’s run has been surprising to a lot of people. Stephen Curry has been the best player in the tournament by far, and watching him play has been a pleasure.
Two Big East teams, West Virginia and Villanova, have made surprise runs to the Sweet 16 as well. I got a chance to watch West Virginia play at ‘Nova in February. ‘Nova dominated the game and made the Mountaineers look like a NIT team. Since then, both teams have been playing some of the best ball in the country.
Watching West Virginia play Arizona in Washington last week, I noticed what made West Virginia so dangerous. Because of who’s on the roster, Bob Huggins has to play John Beilein basketball. They can shoot better than any team in the country, and their lack of size makes them one of the more athletic teams in the country.
Western Kentucky is also a surprise team in the Sweet 16. They knocked of Drake in one of the most exciting games of the tournament so far, and then knocked of San Diego’s Cinderella team. Unfortunately for them, they face UCLA tonight.
That said, my Final Four is still in tact. UNC has been the most dominant team in the tourney, hands down. They face Washington St. tonight, who will try to slow them down, then they get the winner of the Louisville/Tennessee match-up.
UCLA smashed Miss Valley St. in their first game before barely getting past Texas A&M (with an assist from the refs). Now they face an underdog Western Kentucky, before getting the winner of West Virginia/Xavier (likely to be a thriller).
Kansas has also shown flashes of excellence thus far. They get Villanova first, then they will face the winner of Wisconsin/Davidson. Speaking of that game, it’s probably the Sweet 16 match up I’m looking forward to the most. For the record, I still have Davidson winning this game.
Texas will face Stanford (with Coach Johnson for hopefully the entire contest), before getting the Memphis/Michigan St. winner. Memphis has shown they are the weakest #1 seed, with their streaky and undisciplined play and their pathetic free throw shooting. A defensive team like Michigan St. should knock them off. Mississippi St., a less talented defensive team, almost did so in their 2nd round game with Memphis.
I still think all four of these teams to make it to the Final Four. I’d love it if Davidson and West Virginia could make runs, but I think the #1 seeds in their sides of the bracket are just too tough. UNC and Kansas are almost locks to make it to the Final Four. UCLA will have trouble with Xavier or West Virginia. In the South region, anyone of those four teams could make it.
Just like last week, Mrs. Sportsology is out of town, so I’m going to be a coach potato for the next four days.
Although I had them going to the Elite 8 in my bracket, Davidson’s run has been surprising to a lot of people. Stephen Curry has been the best player in the tournament by far, and watching him play has been a pleasure.
Two Big East teams, West Virginia and Villanova, have made surprise runs to the Sweet 16 as well. I got a chance to watch West Virginia play at ‘Nova in February. ‘Nova dominated the game and made the Mountaineers look like a NIT team. Since then, both teams have been playing some of the best ball in the country.
Watching West Virginia play Arizona in Washington last week, I noticed what made West Virginia so dangerous. Because of who’s on the roster, Bob Huggins has to play John Beilein basketball. They can shoot better than any team in the country, and their lack of size makes them one of the more athletic teams in the country.
Western Kentucky is also a surprise team in the Sweet 16. They knocked of Drake in one of the most exciting games of the tournament so far, and then knocked of San Diego’s Cinderella team. Unfortunately for them, they face UCLA tonight.
That said, my Final Four is still in tact. UNC has been the most dominant team in the tourney, hands down. They face Washington St. tonight, who will try to slow them down, then they get the winner of the Louisville/Tennessee match-up.
UCLA smashed Miss Valley St. in their first game before barely getting past Texas A&M (with an assist from the refs). Now they face an underdog Western Kentucky, before getting the winner of West Virginia/Xavier (likely to be a thriller).
Kansas has also shown flashes of excellence thus far. They get Villanova first, then they will face the winner of Wisconsin/Davidson. Speaking of that game, it’s probably the Sweet 16 match up I’m looking forward to the most. For the record, I still have Davidson winning this game.
Texas will face Stanford (with Coach Johnson for hopefully the entire contest), before getting the Memphis/Michigan St. winner. Memphis has shown they are the weakest #1 seed, with their streaky and undisciplined play and their pathetic free throw shooting. A defensive team like Michigan St. should knock them off. Mississippi St., a less talented defensive team, almost did so in their 2nd round game with Memphis.
I still think all four of these teams to make it to the Final Four. I’d love it if Davidson and West Virginia could make runs, but I think the #1 seeds in their sides of the bracket are just too tough. UNC and Kansas are almost locks to make it to the Final Four. UCLA will have trouble with Xavier or West Virginia. In the South region, anyone of those four teams could make it.
Just like last week, Mrs. Sportsology is out of town, so I’m going to be a coach potato for the next four days.
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