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Bracket Busters - Oakland Golden Grizzlies

January 18th 2011 17:45
Oakland Golden Grizzlies
Oakland Golden Grizzlies


The Oakland Golden Grizzlies' record could be very deceiving to someone who hasn't seen them play. They are 12-8 (7-0 in conference) and played one of the toughest out of conference schedules in the nation. All of Oakland’s losses were away from home except their loss to Horizon League leader Valparaiso, 103-102. Their road/neutral losses include games at West Virginia, at Purdue, at Wright State, at Illinois, Michigan State (at Auburn Hills), at Michigan, and at Ohio State.


While playing their anytime, anywhere schedule, the Golden Grizzlies came very close to beating Michigan State and also gave Illinois a scare at Assembly Hall. However, after the heart breaking loss to Michigan State, Oakland did manage to pull off a major upset by going to Tennessee and handing the Volunteers their first loss by a score of 89-82.

Oakland is led by their NBA big-man prospect, Keith Benson. Benson declared for last year’s NBA draft before pulling out and coming back to Oakland for his senior season. He is averaging 16.6 PPG and 10.2 RPG, to go along with 3.7 BPG. He has great height and athleticism, but needs to put on more muscle if he hopes to have an impact on an NBA team someday.

Junior G Reggie Hamilton is a transfer from UMKC and has helped Oakland significantly in his first season with the Golden Grizzlies. He is averaging 15.6 PPG and 4.8 APG, but needs to bring down his average of 3.7 turnovers per game. Benson is the NBA prospect, but Hamilton will be the key to whether Oakland can earn an upset in postseason play this year.


Senior F Will Hudson has stepped up his play this season, going from averaging 6.0 PPG last season, to 12.9 PPG this season. His free throw percentage has jumped 18 (61 percent to 79 percent) percent this season compared to last, and he is also getting 10 more minutes per game.

Oakland has already gone on the road and won games at IPFW and Oral Roberts, two teams that are in the top four in the Summit League. They have also beaten IUPUI at home who is tied for second in the league. Next up for the Golden Grizzlies is their trip to the Dakota’s to face South Dakota State and North Dakota State in a three day span. If they can pull out those two road victories, which they should, they will be in line for a second consecutive Summit League regular season title.

Prediction: Summit League Regular Season Champs, Summit League Tournament Champs, 10-1 rest of the regular season to finish at 22-9, 25-9 going into the NCAA tournament as a 14 seed, losing in the first round.
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Bracket Busters - Coastal Carolina

January 14th 2011 18:53
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers


Coastal Carolina has started off the season at 15-2 and 6-0 in the Big South Conference. Coach Cliff Ellis has an interesting group of players, and just claimed his 600th career win at Liberty on January 8th. Not only was the win big because of Ellis’ milestone, but it was a battle of undefeated conference teams, and Coastal Carolina is now in the driver’s seat to retain the title of Big South Regular Season Champions.

The Chanticleers are led by Junior G Desmond Holloway who is averaging 19.0 PPG and 6.6 RPG. The 2010-11 season is Holloway’s first at Coastal Carolina. He was in the JUCO ranks for two years attending Wabash Valley College in Mt. Carmel, IL where Holloway lead them to a 28-5 finish last year. His athleticism and jumper make him a huge find for coach Ellis and the Chanticleers. Hopefully Holloway returns to the lineup soon - he sat out the Winthrop game and has an unexplained bruised eye (possibly related to Holmes suspension below?).

Big man Mike Holmes is a transfer from South Carolina and had to sit out the first nine games of the season because of NCAA transfer rules, but since becoming eligible has scored in double digits in all seven games he has played in. However, Holmes has been suspended indefinitely as of Jan. 10 for a violation of team rules. Coastal will need him down the stretch if they want to have success in the latter part of the season and the postseason.

Senior F Chad Gray is another transfer from South Carolina and can be tough to deal with because of his lanky 6’7” frame. Gray is contributing 12.8 PPG and 6.0 RPG and was a First-Team All-Big South Conference player last year.

Not only do the Chanticleers have three very good talents in Holloway, Holmes, and Gray, but they also have three other guys who can step up on any given night in Anthony Raffa, Kierre Greenwood, and Danny Nieman. All three players have shown the ability to contribute, and should be assets for the rest of the season.

Coastal finished 28-7 last season after being upset in the Big South Tournament Championship against rival Winthrop 64-53, then losing in the first round of the NIT at UAB by a score of 65-49. The Chanticleers are trying to get into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993, but they will need to have a full squad to do that.

Prediction: Big South Regular Season Champs, Big South Tournament Champs, 11-2 the rest of the regular season to finish at 26-4, 29-4 going into the NCAA tournament as a 13 seed, losing in the first round. Could see a possible 1st round upset, but I predict they will be gone in the first round.
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Karma and LeBron

January 13th 2011 17:08
Some people just shouldn’t have a twitter – LeBron James included. After the Cleveland Cavaliers got embarrassed on Tuesday night in L.A. against the defending champion Lakers by 55 points, LeBron posted on Twitter: “Crazy. Karma is a bitch.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!”

It is understandable if LeBron is still mad at Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. I would be annoyed, too. However, LeBron was a scumbag during the whole process before and when he decided. His t.v. special was inexcusable and it ripped Cleveland's heart out. Now they are doomed to have awful teams for who knows how many years.

Personally, I really don’t think karma cares if Cleveland loses 1 out of their 82 regular season games by 55. It is a moot point; especially when you see some of the players who played for Cleveland that night. Manny Harris, Samardo Samuels, and Alonzo Gee all got big minutes in the loss, all of whom are undrafted players who are fighting for spots on an NBA team so they don’t have to go to the NBDL or overseas.

Maybe karma is just on a "I'm going to have every awful team get hammered" tirade. If it is, the 2-15 Sioux Falls Skyforce better watch out, they could be next. If they lose to Reno tonight on NBATV by 55 points, we will know something is up.

(Note to self: Remember to tweet Keaton Grant (kgrant5) and Dexter Pittman (Big_Pitt) and warn them that karma is coming)

Sioux Falls SkyForce


LeBron then stated that “It was just how I was feeling at the time,” he said. “It wasn’t even a comment from me, it was someone who sent it to me and I sent it out. It wasn’t towards that team.”

You know what LeBron, your twitter is named KingJames and if you post something on it without giving credit to someone else, then you said it. Own something for once in your professional career. When you do something on your own - claim it. Dwyane and Chris could possibly save you from getting beaten by the Celtics in the playoffs, but they can’t save you from your own stupidity.

LeBron James
LeBron James


“It wasn’t no hit at that franchise, no hit at that team, especially those players at all,” he said. “I’ve moved on and hopefully that organization is continuing to move on, but I’m happy where I am as a Miami Heat player.”

Obviously, you haven’t moved on if you are posting karmic statements about your old team/owner.

Karma showed it’s head again on Wednesday when the Heat were in L.A. and lost to the then 12-24 L.A. Clippers. Karma can be a funny thing.

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Bracket Busters - USC Basketball

January 12th 2011 18:48
USC Basketball

USC


The USC Trojans have been a completely different team since Fordham transfer G Jio Fontan became eligible in the game at Kansas. In the six games he has played for USC, he has averaged 13.7 points and 4.3 assists and will be the key to USC’s success for the remainder of the season. USC is 4-2 since Fontan became eligible, with wins at Tennessee, at home against Washington State, and at home against rival UCLA, and a pair of close losses at Kansas and at home against Washington.

F Nikola Vucevic can be a headache for opposing coaches because of his range. The 6-10, 260 pound forward from Montenegro can extend defenses all the way out to the three-point line where he shoots 32.5 percent. Vucevic is hauling in 16.1 PPG and 9.6 RPG for the Trojans this year and should get a look in the NBA when he declares for the draft. In turn, Vucevic’s range opens up space in the lane for F Alex Stepheson, who is built like a tank. Stepheson spent his first two seasons playing for North Carolina, but transferred and is in his last season with USC – he is contributing 10.2 PPG and 9.1 RPG.

USC has a very promising PG in Freshman Maurice Jones. Jones is one of the quickest point guard’s in the nation, and at 5’7”, he needs to be. The freshman out of Saginaw, MI was a great find for coach Kevin O’Neill and should be a good player for the next few years.

What most really good teams have is a bench player who can come on and contribute right away. USC has exactly that. Senior G Donte Smith can shoot USC back into any game with his three-point shooting abilities. He is shooting 39.8 percent from behind the arc and averaging 2.2 three-pointers per game. Against Kansas, Smith went 5-for-7 from three, and was seconds away from pulling off an upset.

Key Losses: Rider, Bradley (Neutral), at Nebraska, at TCU, at Kansas, Washington

Key Wins: Texas, at Tennessee, Washington State, UCLA

Prediction: 9-6 the rest of the regular season, 19-12 before conference tournament, will need two wins in conference tournament to have a chance at all for the NCAA’s. NIT 2 seed. However, if they do get in the tournament as an 11 or 12 seed, they could easily pull off an upset or two.

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Semifinals and Final

January 11th 2011 21:24
A few days ago I did an analysis on Cincinnati’s basketball team (you can find it here) and how they haven’t played/beaten anyone yet. Then, I stumbled upon the Louisville Cardinals and did a comparison. They have a couple of decent wins, unlike Cincinnati, which came against Butler and UNLV (both at home), but nothing to get excited about. Their losses include home games against Kentucky and Drexel. Kentucky is a talented team and can give teams fits, but what about Drexel? Drexel is a 10-4 team that comes out of the Colonial Athletic Conference and is 2-2 in league play thus far - not the best of losses.

Louisville is 2-0 in the Big East, but those games were against Seton Hall and at South Florida – both teams that will be at the bottom of the conference all year


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Round Two, Part Two

January 6th 2011 17:32
Cincinnati’s basketball team has stunned many people this year by starting out 14-0, but for those of us that dig in a little deeper – we know a scam when we see one. The Bearcats started out the season with six straight home victories against much lesser opponents, the best being a Dayton team that can be pesky, but wasn’t really a threat that night because of their 20 percent FG shooting. Credit can be given to Cincinnati’s defense that night, but 20 percent? Division One teams don’t shoot 20 percent unless they are just completely off that night.

The first road test Cincinnati faced this year was at Toledo. 3-11 Toledo! Ok, most big name teams have cupcakes on the schedule at the beginning of the year, so I will give them a pass on that one. Then, a few more home victories against Utah Valley and Georgia Southern - ok, another pass


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Hockey News Roundup

December 5th 2009 04:27
Hockey News Roundup

Some hockey news you wouldn't read just anywhere


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Posted By: Sandra 1 - Category: International Sport News
   


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