Bleacher Report - Articles by Ravi Antani

Why Texas Should Be Ranked Above Oklahoma

Ravi Antani — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:17:51 -0500

The debate will be vicious and unrelenting. Both the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will stake their claim for the higher spot in the BCS, and thus the ticket to the national championship game. However, when determining the most deserving team to go to the big game, there's not enough merit in just looking at who blew out whom and by how much.

It's too simple. That's not a good judge of what team is better. We can admit that there's not much difference in the caliber of the two teams. Both teams are elite level offenses with solid defenses, generally put. So what separates them? Here's why Texas should be ranked as the better team.

It's a matter of resilience. Oklahoma has lost its last four bowl games. This year's Oklahoma team failed in the fourth quarter, while Colt McCoy's Texas dominated the final minutes. Colt and his team showed that not only can they put up stats, they can squeeze out the sweat and passion when it counts.

Mack Brown's teams of recent years know how to win close and in big moments. Yes, this team lost to Texas Tech on the last play in Lubbock, but that is one loss amongst other wins. Find an example of OU beating an elite level (top 5) football team in a hard-fought battle.

In the last four years, Texas is 3-1 against Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. The Longhorns are 4-0 in bowl games including two thrilling Rose Bowl wins (one national championship). Oklahoma is 0-4...losing once to Boise State, mind you. Yes, they showed they're good against Texas Tech, but it's becoming more apparent that we had a Red Raider team that could not win huge games outside of Lubbock.

In addition, Will Muschamp, the defensive coordinator for the Longhorns and heir apparent to the head coaching position, was the defensive coordinator for Auburn the last couple of years, and guess what? He helped Auburn to a 20-17 victory over Tim Tebow's Florida team last year in the Swamp (though Florida was not as good). He was one of the few who was able to shut down Tebow in a year when the quarterback won the Heisman.

But maybe that's moot. Maybe it doesn't matter who we think has the ability to handle the SEC or win the games that test a team. Maybe it's all about who can top 60 points, and who can only get to...52. However, I think we know better.

Where is Oklahoma's resilience this year? If this has basically been reduced to a debate over whether Texas or Oklahoma is the better football team, who cares if Oklahoma can blow teams out with 60-point efforts instead of 50-point efforts? What about the moments that define great sports teams, the moments when a team is tested and pushed to the brink, when the players have fallen down and must get back up?

Texas was down 14-3 in the Red River Rivalry after a demoralizing Oklahoma touchdown, but Colt McCoy and company stared in the face of defeat and overcame, dominating the fourth quarter and delivering a resounding victory. Show me Sam Bradford's poise and perfection against a Top 5 opponent in crunch time.

This is about the national championship. Nobody is blowing out Florida, and probably not Alabama either. The better team is the one that can win when it counts.

Texas is that team.

Texas Tumble: Three Elite NBA Teams Struggle Through First Weeks

Ravi Antani — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:21:08 -0500

If someone had told you one year ago that the pride of the NBA's Southwest Division would soon be the New Orleans Hornets, you would have had a thousand questions. The Spurs, Mavericks, and Rockets are struggling to return to form so far in the 2008-09 season.

Let's go team by team to break down the slow starts.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs haven't had a start this bad in the Tim Duncan era. In fact, this feels eerily like the Rockets of the last few years. Injuries plague an elite defensive team, leaving them looking desperately for an offensive weapon. But that's not all.

The bench depth has become suspect for the Spurs. San Antonio once had a magnificent second unit of veterans who still had a quick step (Finley, Horry, Barry, Vaughn). The young players on the team, Parker, Ginobili, and Oberto have the demeanor of long-time veterans. That's the culture that has won them four titles.

This time around, the Spurs will surely rebound like always, especially when their two leading scorers return to the lineup. However, even then, you wonder whether their depth can compete with that of the Lakers and Celtics—who now have the experience and energetic role players the Spurs once did.

The Spurs started out with respectable losses to the Suns and Blazers. But then, they needed two overtimes and 55 points from Parker to beat the Wolves. They got burned at home by a more talented Heat team. Jeff Van Gundy, who usually drools over San Antonio, said during the game that the Spurs just do not have the talent on the floor to match the Heat and other teams.

One of the primary lineups the Spurs used in that game was Anthony Tolliver, George Hill, Ime Udoka, Roger Mason, and Desmond Farmer. Read that again. Where were Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas to thwart Wade and Beasley? If the Spurs want to make it through the season, those players will need to be on the court more.

These Spurs are still championship worthy. A lineup of Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Finley, Oberto, Bowen, and Thomas can win. These guys are cohesive and tested. They just need a spark.

The next month will definitely be ugly for the Spurs, but they will rebound, grab a spot in the playoffs, and compete like always. But the slow start has unearthed some shortcomings in San Antonio's depth.

Maybe these young players will come into their own, like for so many Spurs teams in the past. Maybe not. Either way, the young legs of Ginobili and Parker are going to be carrying the offensive load for this team when they get back.

Dallas Mavericks

Many people predicted that this season that the Mavs were going to fall out of championship contention. But right now, they're hurting badly. They can't hold a lead on their home court.

The Clippers drubbed them to get their first win of the season.

Dallas' starting lineup looks solid on paper. Their core has been intact for the last few years, but they've taken an obvious turn for the worse. Is it Jason Kidd? He's holding his own this year, distributing the ball well, running the floor, and giving the Mavs a semblance of energy they didn't have last season. Is it age? Those core players seem to be as quick as ever.

The best explanations are depth and heart. The bench consists of Brandon Bass, Jerry Stackhouse, and Dasagna Diop. Stackhouse has been lifeless, and Diop is no scorer. Bass is always solid, but beyond that, there is very little to be comforted by.

Their playoff exits in 2006 to the Heat and in 2007 to the Warriors can be modestly described as demoralizing. Nowitzki has shown flashes of passion since then, but he also renders himself dead when it counts.

The Mavs had the Rockets and Lakers in their grasp at home going into the final period, but in the fourth quarter of those games, Nowitzki scored one point and zero points. These are the teams he has to light up in the fourth quarter.

If the Mavs are going to turn it around at all, it has to start with Nowitzki actually making field goals when the Mavs need it most. He is by far their primary scorer. The next most reliable scorer is Josh Howard.

Nowitzki has played well, otherwise, but until he starts doing something for his team in those desperate and nail-biting moments, not much more can be said about the plight of the Mavericks.

Except for this: Rick Carlisle and Jason Kidd can get it done for these Mavs. They can change the culture, give the team energy on defense and offense, and make them winners again. It might take some time, but these Mavs might be a dark horse in the spring.

Or, they could be in the lottery.

Houston Rockets

They're 4-3, losing only to the Celtics, Lakers, and Blazers. It might not be great, but is it really that bad? Ah, well, you have not watched them play. A sign of great teams is that they can win even when they play ugly. The Rockets definitely know how to do that.

They have done it for four years. Bad starts are also typical for these Rockets. Two of their 50-win seasons in the last four years started out 15-15. This core knows how to step it up late in the season (see: 22-game winning streak). However, this time around, the Rockets are not supposed to look so bad. What do I mean by "bad"? Let me describe it to you.

Against the Lakers, the Rockets played a solid first half. Their young, but energetic role players, Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry have been a blessing. Luis Scola is on fire. Chuck Hayes has played phenomenal defense.

But then, after 10 beautiful minutes against the best team in basketball, it all turned to hell. What do the Rockets do during these stretches? Almost every offensive play is a ridiculous jump shot without any effort to get to the basket. Everything else is a botched layup, or something worse altogether...Yao without his shooting touch. It goes bad, all around.

Tracy McGrady has been two-faced. He has had two 27+ point nights followed by two single-digit duds. Artest started the season on fire, but since has resorted to shooting threes instead of using his body to get in the lane. Yao is just off with his shot, which will probably fix itself pretty quickly.

However, as the season is so young, shooting slumps and rust are not out of the ordinary. That's what this boils down to. It looks like it will only get better for the Rockets, barring injury. Three All-Stars don't stay cold for long (McGrady almost always turns it up about 20 games into the season).

They have depth, and their defense comes to play every night. This team has a habit of starting badly and then getting it together later on. They are a cohesive unit, and as of now, Artest isn't the problem. And the team's rock, their beacon of consistency and character, Shane Battier, has yet to play a minute.

Nevertheless, four of their five starters are in shooting slumps, and when that happens, you know you still need to sweep the dust off from the offseason.

All three of these Texas teams hope it's that simple.

Yao Ming Helps Us Understand Why The Olympics Are So Important

Ravi Antani — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:47:43 -0400

When Yao Ming came to the NBA, a billion pairs of eyes watched his every move.

China's precarious position in the political world has brought extra intrigue to the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. There are talks of boycotts and saturation of the sporting events with political messages.

But the Olympic Games are too important to the world in these times to have politics stop them. Protests are likely, as they should be based on the horrid nature of the genocide in Sudan. But don't let them dominate the headlines. Let sports dominate the headlines.

That's my plea. That's my hope. And Yao Ming helps us understand why.

Yao is not the center of these Games simply because he's the favorite athlete in the home country. It's because he's at the cultural crossroads. Only a man in his position can feel the weight of these Games on his shoulders. He is in a unique position in history.

He is the pride and joy of Chinese sports, possibly the best athlete in the country's history. Yet he's a highly-respected star in America's NBA. The cultural leap he took when he came here was unfathomable. He went from a quiet boy in China to the nation's biggest star to the primary object of scrutiny and fascination in the United States of America.

His arrival at the shores of this country was unlike anything we or he had ever known. We were in awe of this quiet and serene 7'6" giant with a nervous smile and shy eyes. He was not what Americans knew basketball players to be. We knew Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson (or at least that was the image). The ruckus in Space City and all around the nation was unimaginable.

But we got used to him. We began to understand him, and him us. The entire country of China embraced the game of basketball, celebrating more than just their Chinese-born star.

The jerseys they bought weren't just red 11. They were gold 24, wine 23. They accepted parts of our culture, just as we accepted a part of theirs. Politically, there's an undeniable problem. But an entire herd of sports fans in both countries were better than to let that get in the way of something as beautiful as cultural acceptance.

There's a little pseudo-equation I learned back in high school that applies to almost every facet of life: Bewilderment + Exposure = Obvious. We learned it in Computer Science.

We were presented these strange series of abbreviations and symbols, and we were told they did something in the computer. We were befuddled by it, lost in it, absolutely confused. But the more we exposed ourselves to it, the more we'd come to understand it.

And that's how culture works. That's how accepting and understanding people works. When Jackie Robinson first shined in Major League Baseball, people were not comfortable with it. But look what time will do. He just kept playing, and soon, the discomfort and hate turned into praise.

Initially, we see these silly indicators such as skin color and accents and funny customs, and we quickly judge because we just don't know anything else. But when a Russian player lands a perfect somersault and screams with elation, you'll see a human side that will move you a little closer to realizing we're not all that different.

That's what Yao Ming understands. We've gone from seeing him as a spectacle to seeing him as another NBA player we can criticize for whatever NBA players are criticized for, a player we can understand as a quiet and nice person like those we encounter in our own lives. He's not just the amusing character sitting next to Mini-Me in an Apple commercial.

If anything, we understand the Chinese just a bit better because of Yao Ming. We realize that the one billion people who make up their country are not some mysterious, strange group of humans we're pitted against. They are the people we work with, play with, talk to.

Their government, their factories? Perhaps another matter. But understanding the people is a whole other ballgame. You don't want to be lumped into the same category as George Bush, do you?

Yao Ming told the Houston Chronicle something that all people should realize. "I think back to when they started the modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. It was a beautiful idea to put people together again, to make friendship and share the honor and share everything. [The Ancient Greeks] stopped wars for the Olympics. They laid down their arms for the Games. Right now, war looks like a part of our life in this world. But hopefully, no wars, no bombs, no gunshots in those three weeks of the Olympics. Maybe it is a dream. It is my wish."

He understands what the Olympics mean. If anything, when we think about viewing China negatively, we should think of Yao. Then maybe we'll realize we should direct our disgust at the Chinese government, not China. That's the sort of realization that just his presence can foster.

When we see the Chinese competing in a sport, I hope we have no tinge of frustration towards them. I hope that protesters don't jeer at them and wave their signs towards them. Not towards the athletes. Not towards the fans. That's not right. That's ignorant.

Politics will show its face, and perhaps rightfully so. The crisis in Sudan is a frightening and disgusting one. Maybe they should pop up. Maybe there should be protests here and there, on this grand stage.

But what I'm hoping for through this article is that they do not dominate, that they do not rule the headlines every morning. Let the athletes rule the headlines.

Where all of the protests and petitions and threats against the Chinese government have miserably failed over the last decade, sports themselves might prevail. Why? Because bewilderment + exposure = obvious.

When in our time do we get to do something like this? When do we get to revel in the purity of cultural immersion, bridged borders, and triumph? When does the news get dominated by celebrating the power of human resolve? Where can so many hands shake that would otherwise never shake?

That's the power of sports, of these Olympic Games. It has the power to bring people together, to foster peace, and once upon a time, to stop wars. What else has had the power to stop wars?

Maybe it'll happen again some day. Until then, let's not do it the other way around. Let's not stop sports for wars.

NBA's Las Vegas Summer League Ready to Launch Friday

Ravi Antani — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:21:13 -0400

Are you dying for some basketball action? Don't worry. The NBA Summer League in Las Vegas is here Friday. UNLV will again be the hosts to young players who will show off their abilities during 10 days of basketball. Twenty-one teams are participating, and the league runs from July 11 (Friday) to July 20.

Every game will be webcast for free, live on NBA.com. Schedules, scores, and rosters can be found here.

We'll be able to get our first taste of top 10 draftees O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, Danilo Gallinari, and D.J. Augustin, in addition to watching some of last year's favorites, like 2007 Summer League MVP Nate Robinson. There's nothing like witnessing a guy go from dominating a summer league to throwing a towel at Zach Randolph.

By no means is this a judge of the season to come (last year, the Hornets went 0-5 while the Knicks were undefeated), but it's certainly a great way to get to know the talent that might emerge next season.

We already got a small taste of summer action, as six teams (Chicago, Miami, New Jersey, Orlando, Indiana, Sea...Oklahoma City) have started competition in Orlando's summer league.

There, we were treated to a 28-point performance by Michael Beasley and a surprise appearance by Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant (though it was slightly eerie to watch his team don those generic Oklahoma City threads without a team name).

By the way, if you want to catch the Orlando action and watch Durant, Beasley, and Derrick Rose, the games are all aired on the web right here.

Quick side note: If you've been watching the Orlando games, don't you love the commentators, Dante and Galante? They have very little professionalism, but they are hilarious. They nicknamed Tyrus Thomas the "Soul Eater" and tried to name Oklahoma City's team, finally settling on the Thundercats. This is the sort of entertainment David Stern needs to provide to shed his uptight image. Thank you, Orlando Magic.

What can we expect at this year's summer league in Vegas?

Many say that Memphis' O.J. Mayo is the most "NBA-ready" talent in this year's draft. If so, he's poised to make a lot of noise in Las Vegas. Memphis' newest star will probably be the most watched player in the summer league, unless of course Greg Oden makes a surprise appearance for Portland like Durant did for the Thundercats.

Mayo will be playing alongside former Kansas star Darrell Arthur, once a projected lottery pick who slipped to the cellar of the first round and got traded three times on draft night. Will he use that draft slight as motivation to show teams what they passed up?

New York faithful were pretty vicious in booing Italy's Danilo Gallinari when the Knicks picked him in this year's draft. Let's see if he can start the process of winning their hearts. It shouldn't be that hard, right? New York has its share of Italians. I'm guessing they'll come around.

The player I'm most excited to watch? Houston's Maarty Leunen. He went something like 80th in the draft, so who cares, right? But look at how his first name is spelled. Maarty. I wrote it like that twice; it's not a typo. Tell me you're not intrigued.

Watch your team's young hopefuls in action starting July 11 at NBA.com.

Elton Brand: Why He Had to Become A 76er

Ravi Antani — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:52:56 -0400

It seemed to be tough to decipher whether Elton Brand chose the Philadelphia 76ers because of money or because of wins. The L.A. Times quotes Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy as saying, "After I supposedly gave him a take-it-or-leave-it offer, we raised the offer to $75 million and $81 million."

That clears things up.

Brand's contract with Philadelphia lands right around $80 million. And so we know now that his decision was not about money. It was about playing for a winning franchise.

When one week ago Brand said his intention was to stay in L.A., there was no offer from the 76ers. But when they came into the picture, the opportunity presented itself to win and win now. So the game changed completely for Brand. It had to.

He's had too much vacation time in the spring. Elton Brand left to be part of a winning team.

Now, I understand why Clippers fans feel a sense of betrayal. It must definitely sting to go from possibly making the playoffs to being a lottery lock. I feel for them, and I don't blame them for hating Brand.

But if I were in Brand's position, I see myself possibly making the same decision. This is not a Carlos Boozer betrayal. In Boozer's case, there was a verbal agreement, which means he looked at a contract and agreed to sign it at 12 a.m.

Brand did nothing of the sort here. There was no guarantee. His status was in limbo as soon as he opted out, and it was more unstable when Golden State made its offer. That's where it stood when Philadelphia came into the picture.

So it became about victories.

Those are the stakes here. Struggling to make the playoffs in 2010 versus being an elite NBA team in 2010. If we're talking about respectable decisions, the latter has to win out, especially since Dunleavy said himself that money couldn't have been an issue.

When the Los Angeles Clippers nabbed Baron Davis, they suddenly became a vastly improved team with a lot of potential. But nevertheless, huge holes remained on the roster, and the bench support was suspect.

Elton Brand turned down more money from the Warriors, however, because he felt like the Clippers had a better shot at winning. The media applauded him for choosing victories over money.

Now, when he does it again, they flip out?

And were the Brand-Davis Clippers really a lock for the playoffs? Last year's top eight in the West don't look like they are getting much worse, and Portland is only getting better.

Those would-be Clippers were still be doomed to the fate that the last 10 years brought them: struggling to grab a playoff spot. Even if they squeaked in, they'd be after-thoughts. Elton Brand has been an after-thought for his entire career.

Imagine it. You go into training camp projected to be a lottery team, and you step onto the court expected to lose more times than not. That's how you're spending your livelihood. With your team failing.

That sense of defeat is the entirety of Brand's career, with the exception of one season. Year after year, his team vies for a spot and misses, or doesn't have a shot at all. He's experienced losing season after losing season with little hope for a deep playoff run, let alone a championship.

And that's what he was going to have to suffer through for yet another year.

And then came the Sixers. They had a core that exploded this past season and gave the Detroit Pistons a big scare in the playoffs. Their only big hole was at power forward, and Brand's style of play is perfect to fill it. So now he sees an opportunity to be a lock for the playoffs, and even a contender in a year or two.

Think about how good that sounds to Elton Brand. And to Sixers fans.