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(*Scathing gang sign Paul Pierce commentary on hold until tomorrow.)
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Odds & Ends...
Been busy the past week taking care of our new puppy. Lots of stuff worth of making fun of discussing:
The NFL Draft How great was it to speed through the first round in just over three hours?!? Makes enduring last year's six-plus hour marathon look like a walk in the desert. We have to admit that we simply could not watch the NFL 
Network's coverage over the weekend. It looked like a middle school presentation. And raise your hand if you like listening to Deion Sanders. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller Anyone? Not that ESPN was without fault. There were simply too many people on the set. You kind of need Jaws around to brag about all "the tape" he watches on the players. Mort is needed because he is somewhat plugged into the league -- though he is not the "insider" he once was. Chris "You Tube" Berman keeps things moving. And the draft without Mel Kiper is Christmas sans Santa. That leaves Keyshawn 
Johnson and Steve Young. The times we live in mandate having a former player around to throw in his 10 cents. Keyshawn is the politically correct choice. Yet, Young adds solid comments. Personally, we would get rid of both and let Todd McShay sit and fight Kiper. Mort could tell us what teams are thinking. Jaws could show us "the tape". Berman could be the point guard. And Mel and McShay could break down players and continue to bring their hatred for one another to our family rooms, which, of course, makes for great TV viewing. McShay is Kiper 25 years ago. Back then, Mel was the only one outside the league scouting the draft.The difference now is there are (at least) 10 Mel Kipers. McShay happens to be the best Mel, version 2.0. And that clearly bugs the crap out of Mel. It's the old story of the rookie moving in on the aging veteran star's turf.
Network's coverage over the weekend. It looked like a middle school presentation. And raise your hand if you like listening to Deion Sanders. Anyone? Anyone? 
Johnson and Steve Young. The times we live in mandate having a former player around to throw in his 10 cents. Keyshawn is the politically correct choice. Yet, Young adds solid comments. Personally, we would get rid of both and let Todd McShay sit and fight Kiper. Mort could tell us what teams are thinking. Jaws could show us "the tape". Berman could be the point guard. And Mel and McShay could break down players and continue to bring their hatred for one another to our family rooms, which, of course, makes for great TV viewing. McShay is Kiper 25 years ago. Back then, Mel was the only one outside the league scouting the draft.The difference now is there are (at least) 10 Mel Kipers. McShay happens to be the best Mel, version 2.0. And that clearly bugs the crap out of Mel. It's the old story of the rookie moving in on the aging veteran star's turf.TOMORROW:
1. The irony of Allen Iverson sitting home while the 76ers play on in the playoffs!
2. Fat Boy Paul Pierce throwing down gang signs in a playoff game?!?
3. Roger Clemens and his lover friend!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Looking back @ the NFL Draft...
Dallas Morning News Draft Report Card!
Draft Analysis: All Hail the Chiefs!
Gary Myers: "The Giants established a blueprint in the Super Bowl for beating the Patriots: Knock Tom Brady around, put him on the ground. Now the Jets, with the additions of Calvin Pace in free agency, Kris Jenkins in a trade and Ohio State's Vernon Gholston in the first round, have improved their chances of getting to Brady in the fall after their pass rush produced only 29 sacks in 2007."
Jerry Rice (yes, that Jerry Rice) on DeSean Jackson: "He has all the talent in the world."
Is D-McNabb happy with Jackson?!?
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Talk about "instant" impact!
DeSean Jackson had 11 catches for 254 yards and 4 TDs today!*k
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(*During today's Cal-Florida PS3 game with my 6-yr old son.)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Mel Kiper, 3.0...Finally, the Eagles do something smart on draft day!
*Getting a 2nd and a 4th round pick this year...and a 1st round pick next year? All for letting the Panthers have the 19th pick this year? Wow! Double wow!
*OK, we are off with the family to have dinner at the neighbors' house. The Blackberry will be keeping us updated. (Assuming we can't control the clicker and get the draft on the plasma.)
Mel Kiper, 2.0
*We love the Patriots' selection of Jerod Mayo of Tennessee. He may have been taken a few spots too high (#10), but we know one thing: he is twice the player USC's Keith Rivers (taken by the Bengals one spot ahead). Rivers looks like an All-American. Mayo plays like an All-American.
*Great to see Mel Kiper is a tad fiesty this year. Nothing like in 1994 when his stinging criticism of the Colts selecting Trev Alberts prompted GM Bill Tobin to scream, "Who the hell is Mel Kiper?!?" But Mel is questioning picks left and right -- which is a heckuva lot more interesting than the other Yes Men sitting around him.
*Does Ron Jaworski think any player is any good?!? All we hear is how much film Jaws watches and how many weaknesses every player has. Lighten up, Francis Jaws.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Prodigal Son Returns...
Derrick Kellogg first came to UMass in the fall of 1991. The Springfield, MA native was a three year starting point guard for coach John Calipari. The Minutemen made the NCAA Tournament all four of Kellogg's years. Kellogg was a rare two-year captain for Coach Cal and was the leader of the team that fell one game shy of making the 1995 Final Four -- losing to Big Country Reeves and Oklahoma State. (In reality, the team's fate was most likely sealed in February when Cal kicked Mike Williams, his top offensive player, off the team. Williams was never a model citizen off the court. In fact, Cal was fond of telling people privately that Williams had an addiction to "asshole pills.") After graduation, Kellogg coached at George Mason and Youngstown State, before joining Calipari at Memphis in 2000.
Now, 13 years later, Kellogg is returning home to Amherst. He will be introduced at a 6 P.M. press conference tonight in The Cage -- the same gym where Kellogg (as well as a guy named Julius Erving) started his UMass career. He got the job over another UMass alum, UTEP coach Tony Barbee. Barbee publicly stepped out of the running yesterday. Reportedly, he did this at "the request" of Calipari, so that Kellogg would be the clear cut favorite.
He is taking over a team that went 25-11 and lost in the NIT Championship. Starting guards Ricky Harris and Chris Lowe will be returning next year, and Wake Forest transfer Anthony Gurley will be eligible. Kellogg will hit the recruiting trail immediately. His first priority will be trying to keep Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell interested in UMass. The 6'7" combo forward averaged 3 points per game (in just 11 minutes) during his freshman year. Under traitor liar Travis Ford, UMass was considered the favorite to land the New York City player. Once Ford left lied and and took off for OSWho, Mitchell's uncle told Hoops Weiss, "It's disappointing. It's safe to say they're no longer on the list." Other transfer targets will include UConn's Doug Wiggins and Ben Hansbrough (Tyler's brother), who is leaving Mississippi State after averaging 11 points a game as a sophomore.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Republicans keeping fingers crossed...
A Billary win tonight may guarantee John McCain the White House.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
What's purple, fat and stinks?!?
We told you months ago. (It's right here.) We told you that Boris Diaw was terrible. In fact, we told you that you are, most likely, a better player than he is. (By the way, notice the picture of ol' Boris. Isn't it great to see an NBA player shooting a layup off the wrong foot?!?)
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Any who, there was The Great Boris heading down the lane to hit a simple layup to send today's Phoenix-San Antonio playoff game into a third overtime. Of course, The Talented, errrr, Talentless Boris missed the layup. More embarrassing still, he hurled himself to the floor like a girl, trying to get a gift from the ref. The only gift was the fact that his Great Move ended the game for his Suns. And no more did we have to watch Blimpy Boris during our Saturday evening.
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Not only did Boris lose the game for his team, he basically ended the series. There is no way Phoenix will come back. Ever. See you next fall, Bumbling Boris.
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Of course, it was not all his fault -- just most of it was. Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni is a great guy. If he was your next door neighbor, he would welcome your kids over. Offer them lemonade. Play catch with them. When your fam was away, he would call you up and offer you a shot of Jack on the deck. Spurs' coach Greg Popovich, on the other hand, is universally hated by almost everyone who covers the NBA. If your kids dared entered his yard, he would come running out and scream at them. "Get the hell outta here!" he would undoubtedly bark at them. And as your little ones went running for safety, he would almost certainly give them a one finger salute.
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Be that as it may, he is a great coach. Or, perhaps, he is great at getting his team to play great. Let the Spurs' players play one-on-one against the Suns' guys and the Phoenix players would win the majority of the games. Yet, somehow, some way, Pops gets his team to make just enough plays to win. The Suns? D'Antoni's Dolts make just enough mindless plays to lose. Today, it was Steve Nash committing two killer 24 second shot clock violations. (Steve Nash?!?) It was Amare Stoudemire passing up a ten footer with his team up three and 12 seconds left in the first OT. Instead, he took one dribble and charged into Tim Duncan. And with five seconds left in the second OT, it was Raja Bell (the same Raja Bell whom The World touts as a the Supreme Defender) allowing Manu Ginobili to drive to his left for the game winning layup. For gawd sake, Raja, Ginoble is left handed!
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Our 76ers will never get by the Pistons next week. But we know one thing: They won't play anywhere near as stupid as the Phoenix Suns did today.
Oops. We know two things. The other is that Boris Diaw sucks eggs.
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Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Coach Cal reloads on the fly...
Last year, Derrick Rose. Next year, it will be Tyreke Evans. In the span of 36 hours, two very big things happened in Coach Cal's Closet. The first was the announcement that Rose, having spent seven months college, is leaving for the NBA green. No big secret. No big surprise. That was followed up a day later when Evans, the Philadelphia hoops prodigy who is rated a top three player nationally, announced he was coming to Memphis.
Evans is, by all accounts, a wonderful offensive player. He is a chiseled 6'5" and 200 pounds. He averaged 29 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists last season for American Christian Academy. While he will fill the scoring void created by Rose, he is not a point guard. Instead, he will settle into the shooting guard/small forward spot that was manned by Chris Douglas-Roberts.
In the spirit of Rose (and DeJuan Wagner before him), Evans will most likely spend one season with Cal and then play for pay. The similarities to Rose don't end there. Rose's recruiting was run by his older brothers. There were grumblings that his brothers were too involved and that they were shutting out his high school coach. Some even whispered that perhaps their hands were out, looking for a little "something-something". (Shocking! we know!) Evans, too, comes complete with his brothers-led-entourage. Tyreke hardly ever spoke to the media the last 18 months. But we sure did hear a lot from his brothers. For almost two years, the Brothers Evans spouted off about North Carolina being Tyreke's dream school. Girl
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
***Travis Ford Update***
Hoops Weiss is reporting on his blog that UMass is prepared to double Travis Ford's salary to 800K in an effort to keep him from accepting the Providence College job. Read more...
Travis Ford to Providence?!?
Mark Blaudschun: "PC doesn't appear to have a plan B..."
*We are guessing that Ford will silently accept PC's offer today and then drive back to UMass for tonight's basketball banquet. And after a night of tremendous guilt, he will announce tomorrow he is moving to Rhode Island. We are further guessing that his mentor Rick Pitino (a UMass alum) is the one advising him on all this and that the general plan is for Ford to coach Providence for the next four or five years and then take over for Pitino at Louisville. Unless, of course, Billy Gillispie, leaves Kentucky. Then Ford (who transferred there from Missouri) becomes the leader for that job.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
One shining moment...
Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts are the two best players on the court, which will offset the size advantage of Kansas. Plus, Coach Cal is Coach Cal...while Bill Self is, well, Bill Self.k
Memphis 74
Kansas 66
Championship Links...
Hoops Weiss on Memphis' CDR: "Douglas-Roberts has been Memphis' leading scorer in this tournament, averaging 23.6 points. His NBA stock skyrocketed to lottery status on Saturday night, when he scored 28 points in a 78-63 victory over UCLA in the semifinals. "
Manny Navarro on CDR and Brandon Rush: "One is an All-American swingman who is often overshadowed by the star freshman point guard. The other is a relatively quiet leader who would have been in the NBA this year with his older brother if not for a freak accident during a pickup game."
Sunday, April 6, 2008
ZZZ...Yawn...Are the semi-finals over yet?!?
Man, those games last night were tough to enjoy. Looking back, we should have seen it coming. You take the four clear cut, best teams. Three (Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA) are the most famous (along with UMass Kentucky) in the sport. Add in at least 10 future NBA first round draft picks and when you added it all up, it should have equaled something special.
Of course, what you got was one of the worst and most disappointing Final Fours in recent memory. Here are some randoms that we contemplated while watching last night:
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1. Now all those Coach Cal Haters can shut their mouths. Any article written about the former UMass coach always includes how he left the Minutemen after the 1996 Final Four for the NBA seconds before the NCAA swooped in and announced star center Marcus Camby had accepted cash, jewelry and other goodies (OK...they were reported to be hookers). In reality, Cal was leaving regardless of the Camby mess. He was losing three starters off the his Final Four team and school president Michael Hooker, a huge Cal/b-ball supporter had departed for the University of North Carolina. As far as the Camby Chronicles, the Denver Nuggets' star has admitted that his college coach had no idea that he was in bed NBA agents and runners. To blame Cal, Camby has said numerous times, is utterly stupid. And now, 12 years later and regardless of tomorrow night's outcome, when they write about John Calipari, they will write that he took two different teams to the Final Four.
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2. My 6-year old son won the teacher bracket that his Old Man is running at school. In fact, he was the only one out 33 who correctly predicted the championship match-up.
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3. Roy Williams is a nice guy, to be sure. But we find it hilarious when he is mentioned as one of the all-time great coaches. Yes, he has taken his Kansas and North Carolina teams to six Final Fours. And while that is certainly no small accomplishment, those two schools have their pick of the litter among high school blue chip recruits. Always have and always will. Give John Chaney that talent, he, too, goes to six Final Fours. Same with stiffs like Steve Lappas, Quin (Hey, Ladies) Snyder and Matt Doherty. Speaking of Matty D, we will not, for, like the 100th time, remind you that the only Final Four that ended successfully for Roy Williams was the one when he had six future NBA players -- all of whom were recruited and coached by Doherty.
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4. Tyler Hansbrough? He will have an NBA career along the lines of Antawn Jamison. Great college player -- good NBA player.
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5. Kevin Love? The Memphis team showed that Love will not dominate in the NBA. He is simply not athletic enough. But the pros will lower his weight and body fat, add some muscle and shape him into a very good NBA player. One who will make and NBA all-star game or two before he is done.
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6. Derrick Rose? An immediate NBA star. Depending on who has the first pick in June, Rose will most likely be the selection. He is the finest collegiate one v. one break-down player in recent memory.
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7. While you we wait for the Other Travis Ford Shoe to Drop, we can easily envision this scene in the next 10 days: LSU names Ford its new coach. Derrick Kellogg, fresh off a National Championship at Memphis, returns to his alma mater UMass to succeed Ford. And don't think for a moment that Cal won't be funneling Memphis' recruiting leftovers to Western Massachusetts.
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8. On the subject of coaches, there are some crazy rumors out there. Bill Self leaving Kansas to collect five million per at his alma mater OSWho Oklahoma State? Or is it Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie to Okie State and Travis Ford back to his alma mater Kentucky?
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
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