Somthing to think about until Feb. 4

Since the last month or so has been completely dedicated to football, both college and pro, I think it’s time to take a bit of a break. Here’s some random thoughts on topics other then the pigskin.


1- We have reached the middle of the NBA season and three things have jumped out at me:
One--- The Suns and Mavericks are by far the two best teams in the league. Sometimes a teams record can be deceiving, but in this case, they aren’t. No team in the Association is within five and a half games of Dallas or Phoenix, a huge margin at the midway point of the season. These two squads are going to make the Western Conference Finals must see TV.
Two--- Even with that being said, the MVP so far has been Kobe Bryant. I know his scoring numbers are down from a year ago. But look at who he is playing with. The Lakers number two scorer is Lamar Odom, who has missed half the teams games with a knee injury. He’s followed on the stat sheet by former backups Luke Walton, Smush Parker and of course the one and only Kwame Brown. And yet L.A. has a better record then they did a year ago. A lot of the credits got to go to #24. (It still feels strange saying/writing that)
Three---I’m not so sure if the defending champion Miami Heat are even going to be in the playoffs this season. Currently they are one game out of the final spot, which is the New Jersey Nets. Even with Shaq coming back and Flash Wade getting healthy, I think the up-tempo style that the NBA has become recently doesn’t fit them too well. Add in the entire Pat Reilly situation and the lack of number two scorer and I wouldn’t be shocked if the champs are home come April.

2- As for my Chicago Bulls, I’ve been pretty disappointed in them so far this season. Even though they have the Eastern Conference’s fourth best record and are six games over .500, I feel they could be playing a lot better, especially on the offensive end. Too many times they rely only on Ben Gordon and Loul Deng to score and nobody else steps up to make a play. Kirk Hinrich has struggled this year, as has Chris Duhon. I still say they need to send some sort of package of Chris Duhon, Tyrus Thomas and our two first round picks and get a scoring big man (AKA Kevin Garnett).

3- The NBA All-Star starters were announced, and for the most part the fans did a good job in choosing the correct players. If I could make a few changes though, I would sub out Shaquille O’Neal from the East and replace him with Magic center Dwight Howard. Shaq has barley played this season due to injury and Howard is averaging 17 points and over 12 rebounds a game. I have a bigger problem with the West squad, where I would remove Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and Tim Duncan and insert Steve Nash, Amare Stodumire and Dirk Nowitzki in their place. Nash is on his way to a third consecutive MVP award, with the help of Amare, who is putting up big numbers. Dirk is one of Nash’s top competition for that award and has led the Mavs to the leagues best record. McGrady and Yao are banged up and the big fundamental is having a down year by his standards.

4- In the world of college hoops, I find it very interesting that the nations two most talented players are both freshmen, therefore making them younger then I am. Ohio State’s Greg Oden has now fully recovered from his arm injury that he occurred over the summer, making it so he can use both of his hands. In his last two games, the Buckeye center is shooting 93 percent from the field (28-30) and has pulled down 27 rebounds. If he continues playing like this, the scarlet and grey are going to be a tough out in March. Diaper Dandy number two is Texas Longhorns stud forward Kevin Durant. The 6-9 forward, who at the start of the season was my pick for Freshmen of the Year, (Check my November 16 post) is averaging a Big 12 leading 24 points and 11 rebounds per game. His game reminds me of combination of Carmello Anthony and Tracy McGrady. NBA fans in Boston, Philadelphia, and Memphis can’t wait until June for these two.

5- If you look again at that Nov. 16 post, which was my college basketball preview, you will see that my number one most anticipated game of the season is this Saturday’s matchup between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Arizona Wildcats. And I’m as excited for the game now as I was two months ago. The Heels are ranked number four with a record of 18-2 and the last time out they won by 28 at Wake Forest. ‘Zona has lost a few close games this year and is ranked 17th with a 14-5 mark. In their last matchup they were victorious by a spread of 24 points over in state rival Arizona State. Both teams have Hall of Fame coaches and rosters full of great players. The thing that separates UNC though will be their depth. Roy Williams has the ability to sub in high-energy players, which is one of the reasons that they have ten players who average 12 or more minutes a game. (Nobody on the UNC roster averages 30 minutes or more per game). Lute Olson on the other hand doesn’t have that luxury. He has five players that average 30 or more minutes a game and only one other player on the roster that averages more then 12. So the lack of bench I believe will cost the ‘Cats in this game, because it will be a high scoring, high-energy affair. My pick: Tar Heels 91-85

6- My favorite college basketball team, the Illinois Fighting Illini, don’t look like they are going to follow my college football team (Florida Gators) or NFL team (the Bears) to their respective championship game this season. This is because they have no flow on offense. The defense is good, the coaching is fine and the schedule isn’t too tough. But their offense is just horrible. Their best inside scorer, forward Warren Carter, misses half of the lay-ups he takes. Their best outside shooter, guard Jamar Smith, has seen his three-point percentage drop from over 48 percent a year ago to around 33 percent in 06-07. And guard Rich McBride, maybe my least favorite player on a team I support since the Cubs had the six-fingered freak Antonio Alfonseca, shoots bad shots so often it’s impossible for the other players on the floor to find their rhythm. What they need to do is dump the ball down to big man Shaun Pruitt and let him pass to open shooters or slashers like Carter or Brian Randle.

7- Transitioning to the Cubs, I’m a bit confused about the signing of Cliff Floyd. While I think he is a good player, I don’t really get where he is going to play. The Cubs already have Matt Murton, Jacque Jones, Alfonso Soriano, Angel Pagan, and top prospect Felix Pie in the outfield, meaning they either signed Cliff to be a fifth outfielder or they plan on moving one of the others. I wouldn’t mind seeing Jones being traded, preferably for a relief pitcher. Rumors are that Lou Pinella plans on platooning Floyd and Murton in left field, since Floyd hit .266 against right-handed pitching and Murton’s average versus southpaws was a good .301. But Murton is also a good hitter versus righties, (he hit .295 in 319 at bats) which is why I’m confused why they are doing this. It will help the power off of the bench, something the Cubs have lacked the last few seasons.

8- I usually don’t discuss soccer, but I had to mention this. The entire David Beckham saga is ridiculous and destined to fail. First of all, the league announced this in the middle of January and the guy’s not going to play until July or August. Does the MLS actually think the excitement generated on the day of the announcement is going to carry on for six or seven months? I doubt it. People are going to be talking about the baseball All-Star game and wondering if Tiger Wood can win the Grand Slam when all of a sudden, a player they have never seen play before in a sport that nobody cares about will completely grab their attention? Wasn’t Freddy Adu supposed to do that? Look, America doesn’t enjoy watching soccer. We find it slow and boring. It’s not as physical as football, doesn’t require the athleticism of basketball and doesn’t involve the thinking of baseball. The statistic that more American kids play soccer then any other sport, one of the MLS’ arguments on why the league will succeed, is deceiving. Kids also believe in the tooth fairy and watch SpongeBob. This doesn’t mean they want to grow up and continue liking these things. If Beckham is going to be a success, he is going to have to generate some serious interest before his first game in the middle of the summer.