It’s official Roger Clemens has signed on with the Astros for one more year. Astros fans here in Houston can breathe a sigh of releif. Clemens should add a little spark to the Astros team, who needs more than a spark, they need better pitching and hitting (especially hitting).
It looks like Roger will be playing with Koby in Lexington as a warm-up. That will be pretty exciting for all concerned.
Raja Bell’s appearance in game 4 of the Suns – Mavs series is just what the doctor ordered for the Suns. Raja gave the Phoenix Suns a big spark of energy that carried them to a 106-86 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
Leandro Barbosa’s 24 points off the bench was probably the difference in the game, but Raja just being on the court added a big emotional spark for the Suns that was missing in their last two games.
Other notable contributors to the Phoenix victory were Boris Diaw (20 points), Steve Nash (21 points, 8 assists), and Shawn Marion (15 points).
The Suns are becoming the comeback kids of the play-offs. They came back against the Clippers, can they do the same thing against Dallas and make it to the finals or will Dallas bounce back and take the series? We shall see…
I just finished reading a great story about a project that Linebacker Derrick Brooks runs called the “Brooks Bunch”. Go check out the story here. It’s a really nice read.
Friday the Mavs evened their series with the Suns. The Phoenix vs. Dallas series is looking like a really good series. The Phoenix Suns play the Dallas Mavericks Sunday night on TNT, should be a fun game to watch.
The Heat took a 2-1 lead over the Pistons today. Quite frankly, I am starting to think this series might only go 5 or 6 games. The Heat are looking like the team I expected them to be all season and Detroit is having troubles on offense in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how Detroit responds Monday night.
Anyway, that’s your really quick playoff update. Enjoy the holiday weekend.
PS. Does anyone else think that Dwayne Wade might be the best player in the NBA? He’s pretty awesome!
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nba playoffs dallas mavericks mavs Suns Phoenix Suns dwayne wade Miami Heat pistons detroit pistons
Last night Detroit evened the Series by beating the Miami Heat 92-88 in Detroit. Now the series moves to Miami.
Tayshaun Prince lead the way for the Pistons. He tied his career playoff high with 24 points and had 11 rebounds. Other notable performers for the Pistons were Richard Hamilton (22 points), Ben Wallace (12 rebounds) and Chauncey Billups (8 assists).
The Heat made a spectacular comeback attempt, but fell short in the end. Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade lead the way for the Heat and they didn’t get a whole lot of support in this game.
With the series tied it will be interesting to see how things go. This series really could go either way. Actually, both playoff series could go either way.
So who do you think will win this series, Detroit or Miami?
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was extremely close. Either team could have won that game, but Phoenix managed to eak out the victory with a score of 121-118.
This should be a really good series. Both teams are fun to watch and both teams are hungry to get to the finals.
Last night against the Dallas Mavericks, Steve Nash scored 27 points and had 16 assists! 16 assists is amazing. Those are Magic Johnson and Larry Bird type numbers. I must say that when Steve Nash won MVP this year I was a little surprised. Like I said previously, I had not watched a lot of basketball this season. However, after seeing Steve in the playoffs this year, I can see why he was the league’s MVP for the second straight year. He is a great leader, and really takes control of the game.
Despite how great Nash played, his play was overshadowed by the play of Boris Diaw. Boris Diaw scored a career-high 34 points, and was clutch at the end of the game. He scored the winning basket on a really nice move inside the paint. Shawn Marion had a big game for the Suns as well, scoring 24 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Dallas was lead by Delvin Harris who scored 30 points and Dirk Nowitzki who had 25 points and 19 rebounds.
Phoenix and Miami are out in the lead, do you think they will make it to the finals or will the Pistons and/or Mavs come back?
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nba playoffs Dirk Nowitzki dallas mavericks mavs Delvin HarrisBoris Diaw Steve Nash Suns Phoenix Suns
Veterans Antoine Walker, Gary Payton and Jason Williams stole the show in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The three long time NBA veterans helped Miami to steal home-court advantage from the Detroit Pistons.
Walker lead the veterans with 17 points, Payton added 14 points, and Williams had 10 points in their victory over the Detroit Pistons. Miami’s 91-86 victory Tuesday night was very impressive considering the two players who were supposed to carry the team Dwayne Wade and Shaquille ONeal didn’t play nearly as much as normal. Dwayne Wade sat out more than 10 straight minutes of the second half with four fouls, and still had 25 points. Shaquille O’Neal scored only 14 points. Yet the Heat still won the game.
Going into this series I thought that Dwayne Wade might give Detroit’s defense fits the way that Lebron James did in the previous round. But in Game 1 it turned out that some older veterans gave them fits. That’s a good sign if you’re a Heat fan, not a good sign if your a Pistons fan.
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dwayne wade lebron james nba playoffs Miami Heat pistons Sports detroit pistons antoine walker jason williams gary payton Shaquille ONeal
Last week’s poll we asked:
Who do you think is going to win the 2006 NBA Championship?
A large number of people chose the Pistons with 46 percent of the vote. Here are the full results:
LA Clippers: 4% (2)
Detroit Pistons: 46% (24)
San Antonio Spurs: 12% (6)
Miami Heat: 8% (4)
Dallas Mavericks: 13% (7)
NJ Nets: 2% (1)
Phoenix Suns: 10% (5)
Cleveland Cavaliers: 6% (3)
Total Votes : 52
The order of selection for the 2006 NBA draft to be held June 28
in New York has been determined by the Draft Lottery. I am dissapointed Houston didn’t luck out and get the first pick, but congratulations to the Toronto Raptors for winning the 2006 draft lottery.
Here it is:
First Round
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1. Toronto (27-55)
2. Chicago from New York (23-59)
3. Charlotte (26-56)
4. Portland (21-61)
5. Atlanta (26-56)
6. Minnesota (33-49)
7. Boston (33-49)
8. Houston (34-48)
9. Golden State (34-48)
10. Seattle (35-47)
11. Orlando (36-46)
12. New Orleans (38-44)
13. Philadelphia (38-44)
14. Utah (41-41)
15. New Orleans from Milwaukee (40-42)
16. Chicago (41-41)
17. Indiana (41-41)
18. Washington (42-40)
19. Sacramento (44-38)
20. New York from Denver (44-38) via Toronto and New Jersey
21. Phoenix from LA Lakers (45-37) via Atlanta and Boston
22. New Jersey from LA Clippers (47-35) via Denver and Orlando
23. New Jersey (49-33)
24. Memphis (49-33)
25. Cleveland (50-32)
26. LA Lakers from Miami (52-30)
27. Phoenix (54-28)
28. Dallas (60-22)
29. New York from San Antonio (63-19)
30. Portland from Detroit (64-18) via Utah
Second Round
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31. Portland
32. Houston from New York
33. Atlanta
34. LA Clippers from Charlotte
35. Toronto
36. Minnesota from Boston
37. Minnesota
38. Golden State
39. Milwaukee from Houston
40. Seattle
41. Orlando
42. Cleveland from Philadelphia
43. New Orleans
44. Orlando from Milwaukee via Cleveland
45. Indiana
46. Utah from Chicago via Houston
47. Utah
48. Washington
49. Denver
50. Orlando or Charlotte from Sacramento via Utah
51. LA Lakers
52. LA Clippers
53. Seattle from Memphis
54. New Jersey
55. Cleveland
56. Toronto from Miami via New Orleans and Boston
57. Minnesota from Phoenix
58. Dallas
59. San Antonio
60. Detroit
From what I understand the Texans looked a lot better in training camp than they did last year. The offensive line looks WAY better than they used to and the defensive line looks really good. In fact, from what I understand Mario Wlliams is looking really, really impressive. Of course, these are initial reports and who knows what will happen when the season starts.
I expect my hometown Houston Texans to be much better this year. Probably not going to the NFL playoffs this year, but they might have an outside shot at a playoff birth this coming season.
This is what it means to be a team. Especially when the Cavs could be just worried about the playoffs and noone would think anything about it.
ESPN.com – NBA/PLAYOFFS2006 – Cavaliers join Larry Hughes at brother’s funeral in St. Louis
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cleveland cavaliers cavaliers Cleveland Sports cavs larry hughes
The college football Hall of Fame changed it’s rules in order to induct Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden this year. Previously, you had to be a retitred coach to be inducted, which lead Bowden to believe that he would have to be dead to be inducted. Well all that has changed. The Hall of Fame changed it’s rules to allow coaches over the age of 75 to enter the Hall of Fame.
Along with Bowden and Paterno, former FSU QB and heisman trophy winner Charlie Ward was inducted, as well as the following players:
Bob Anderson—RB, Colorado, 1967-69
Bennie Blades—DB, Miami (Fla.), 1985-87
Carl Eller—T, Minnesota, 1961-63
Steve Emtman—DL, Washington, 1989-91
Thomas Everett—FS, Baylor, 1983-86
Chad Hennings—DT, Air Force, 1984-87
Chip Kell—OG, Tennessee, 1968-70
Mike Phipps—QB, Purdue, 1967-69
Mike Rozier—RB, Nebraska, 1981-83
Jeff Siemon—LB, Stanford, 1968-71
Bruce Smith—DT, Virginia Tech, 1981-84
Emmitt Smith—RB, Florida, 1987-89
You can read more about the inductees by clicking here.
I am very happy for all the inductees. Being a graduate from Florida State University, it’s very nice to see Bobby Bowden get a chance to be inducted during his lifetime. It’s nice to see Charlie Ward inducted as well.
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fsu Florida State University charlie ward bowden bobby bowden joe paterno paterno
Is Lebron James the next Michael Jordan?
He is certainly looking to be the next superstar in the NBA. Yes, there are a few other young guys who play at a really high level (Dwayne Wade for one) and are certainly capable of being the next superstar in the league. But just look at all the excitement around Lebron, look at how he makes his teammates better. Look at what he does on a basketball court. More than any other player I have seen in recent years, Lebron reminds me the most of Michael Jordan.
I decided to take a look at their stats. Here is a comparison of Michael Jordan and Lebron James statistics:
Michael Jordan (per game) carreer stats:
Rebounds: 6.2 Assists: 5.3 Steals: 2.35 Blocks: .80 Turnovers: 2.73 Points: 30.1
Lebron James stats from this season:
Rebounds: 7.0 Assist: 6.6 Steals: 1.6 Blocks: 0.8 Turnovers: 3.3 Points: 31.4
Lebron’s numbers are very similar to Jordan’s. From watching the two play, the big difference I have noticed is that Lebron is a better passer, whereas Michael was better on defense. Lebron has a long way to go to be as good as Jordan on defense. Jordan could stop anyone in the league at his position, while at the same time imposing his will on offense. Defense is the thing that set Michael apart from the other great scorers in the league.
Lebron is becoming one of the best players in the league and while there will never be another “Michale Jordan”, Lebron may very well be the “Next Superstar” in the NBA.
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I just wanted to let you know that I found this excellent blog covering the 2006 Wimbledon Tennis Tournament. It is run by someone from London, who is giving great information on Wimbeldon and London.
Check out it by clicking here. I am going to subscribe to it’s RSS feed, because I expect it will be a great way to keep up with Wimbeldon.
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wimbledon 2006 Wimbledon
Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award today. Chris had an amazing rookie season by leading all rookies in points per game(16.1), assists (7.8), steals (2.2), double-doubles (21), minutes played (36.4) and triple-doubles (2). He also became only the second rookie to lead the NBA in steals.
He was almost a unaminous choice, with only one other player getting one first place vote (Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams).
If only the Rockets could find a way to get Chris Paul next season…
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Ben Wallace (Center for the Detroit Pistons) won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award Monday for the fourth time in five years. Ben is known around the league as a great stopper in the paint, and he is definitely one of the main reasons the Pistons are my favorite to win the NBA Championship in 2006.
Quite Frankly, Ben should have been higher in the voting for league MVP, but it’s very unlikely that the best defensive player in the league will ever will MVP. Albeit, Michael Jordan was an incredible defensive player when he was in the league.
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Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns won his second straight league MVP yesterday. Congratulations to Steve.
Second in the voting was Lebron James. Barring injury Lebron will surely one day be league MVP (I am guessing next year).
Former teammate of Nash, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks came in third. While Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers and Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons rounded out the top five vote getters.
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