Conference Play the Remedy for Complacency in College Hoops, NBA

Three of the top nine and eight of the top twenty-five fell to conference opponents on Saturday.

Gary Williams and his Terrapins proved to be giant killers once again, USC found Love in Pauley, and K-State showed the Big 12 is no place for the faint of heart.

Maryland went into Chapel Hill and sent home a message: You’ll take your medicine, and you’ll like it! James Gist dropped 22, grabbed 13 boards, and the Terrapin defense, toughest in the ACC, limited the Heels to 38% from the field as the Terps won 82-80. Over the years, Maryland squads have dropped number ones on five occasions.

The upsets didn’t stop there. Frosh Kevin Love had eighteen points and twelve boards, but it wasn’t enough for UCLA. SC’s Davon Jefferson led the Trojans to a 72-63 over the Bruins. Jefferson scored 25 and grabbed nine rebounds.

Freshman Michael Beasely scored twenty-one as Kansas State trounced Texas A&M by a 75-54 count.

#2 Memphis, #3 Kansas, and #5 Duke escaped unscathed.

This Tiger team differs from John Calipari’s recent Memphis lineups. Derrick Rose is the only freshman starter, and the experienced squad should make a run in March. It is yet to be seen if Conference USA will provide enough of a test to prepare Memphis for the post-season.

The Jayhawks are 18 and 0. Just give ‘em time; they’ll ‘Self-destruct’.

Announcers called yesterday’s Duke victory over Clemson a ‘statement game’. Statement game? Beating Clemson at Cameron is a statement game? I guess the Blue Devils picked up the defensive intensity late in the game. But I’m sorry was it defensive intensity, or did the Tigers defecate between the sheets. I could have stolen some of the passes thrown by Clemson.

Watching the Blue Devils is like being back in high school and having the hottest girl in class look at me and smile. I would have to turn and look over both shoulders to see who that glance was intended for because there is no way it was reality. Same thing pertains to Duke. They jump out to these huge leads, and then reality sets in, and they find themselves looking over both shoulders while clinging to the lead.

Interesting to note that while Duke was making their second half run, Greg Paulus was catching some pine.

Pitt continued their struggles while Ole Miss, Miami, and Arizona State also dropped games.

Looks like Butler and AJ Graves might move into the Top Ten.

How do you think Billy Gillespie feels now about his move to Kentucky? His Wildcats lost last night, and their record is 7 and 9. That can’t be going over too well in Lexington.

Keeping with hoops theme – Friday night’s matchup between Portland and Miami was case of two teams going in opposite directions. The Trail Blazers are 24-16 and second in the Northwest Division. Brandon Roy is leading the way with nineteen points a game. Can only imagine how Greg Oden might help the young Blazers.

The Heat on the other hand have lost their last ten and have the worst record in the Eastern Conference. It pains me to watch Dwayne Wade. If I had to pick a player I enjoy watching the most, it would be D-Wade. With this Heat lineup he looks simultaneously overwhelmed and underwhelmed. So much of the Heat’s scoring responsibility falls on his shoulders that he at times looks like he can’t take the situation seriously.

Move over Hack-A-Shaq it’s time for Bash-A-Ben. Hack-A-Shaq originator, Don Nelson, employed a similar tactic Friday night. With his Golden State Warriors looking to stem the Bulls’ momentum, Nellie sent Kelenna Azubuike on the court to send lifetime 42% free-throw shooter, Ben Wallace to the line. Nellie’s plan backfired, but the Warriors won. After some early-season woes the entertaining Warriors are climbing in the standings.

Cheers to the Bulls’ players who earlier in the week voted to bench rookie Joakim Noah for a series actions deemed to be counter-productive. The young Bulls responded with a 97-81 beating of the Pistons Saturday night.

The Suns proved Thursday that they are still the class of the Pacific division. The Lakers came in winners of nine of ten, but Steve Nash dished out 20 assists, ‘Kindergarten’ Marion grabbed 16 boards, and Leandro Barbosa cashed in 22 points to lead the Suns to a 106-98 triumph at the Staples center.

Looking forward to the NFL’s Conference Chan’ship games. If this week’s games are anything like last week, they’ll be worth watching. Which destiny will manifest itself? The Pats and perfection? The Bolts and their undefeated run? Brett Favre and the fountain of youth? Or the G-Men and their success on the road?

No predictions from Casey, but a couple of thoughts. If anyone can take perfection and make it imperfect, Norv Turner is the guy. Think the media doesn’t affect the outcome of the games? Consider that a January game in Green Bay has a 6p.m. start time. How painful will Atari Bigby’s hits be in tonight’s chilly temps?

File under: the more things change, the more things stay the same. Once was a time when the NHL’s Atlantic Division was known as the Patrick. Have no idea why the league went away from those great division names. The Patrick was always closely-contested with few points separating first from last. The NY Rangers sit in last place just seven points behind first-place Pittsburgh. Give it a week or two and the two could flip flop.

Sad to see Sid ‘The Kid’ go down with an ankle injury. Crosby is a special talent.

The Sabres ended a ten-game skid with a resounding 10-1 victory over Nashville. Any hopes for building momentum were dashed Buffalo lost to Toronto 4-2 - can’t believe that Chris Drury and Daniel Briere made that much of a difference. I knew there would be a drop off – but this much?

Don’t look now Everton is in the top four of the EPL. With their 2-1 besting of Wigan the Toffees sit in fourth. Can anyone say Champions League! Yeah, I know Liverpool has two matches in hand. One is tomorrow with Aston Villa.

The Sox have cooled on the pursuit of Santana. Fine with me. Read a great article about the subject posted by our friends over at Sox and Dawgs.

The value of 8,222 – glad my local minor league baseball team is community – owned. This week the Atlanta Braves announced they are taking their AAA affiliate out of Richmond and moving the team to a nearby suburb in Georgia, thus possibly leaving the city in Virginia without a club after this season.

Fifty-two years ago Morrie Silver had the foresight to get 8,222 shareholders to buy the Rochester Red Wings. Thankfully what happened to the fine city of Richmond can’t happen in Rochester.

Enjoy the games. Buckle up. Use two hands. And always, always take your B-12…orally.

Casey

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