Virginia dents Virginia Tech's bubble, Carmelo traded to the Knicks, Blake Griffin takes NBA dunk contest title, Trevor Bayne wins Daytona 500
UVA
The Cavaliers swept the regular season series over the Hokies on Saturday with an intense 61-54 win over their archrival from Blacksburg. It was the first season sweep of the Hokies for UVA since 2005-06. Virginia snapped a three-game losing skid in the process and Tech missed a chance to pick up another 'W' during a time in which they can't afford to take on too many more 'L's if they want to make the NCAA tournament.
I thought the win was a real gutty one for Virginia. Tech made a comeback, just like most of Virginia's opponents have this season when Virginia has built a sizable lead, but the Hoos found a way to hold on this time. Virginia took the lead with about two minutes left in the first half off a Jontel Evans 3 and never looked back after that. Virginia extended its lead to as mnay as 15 points in the second half (44-29) before Tech would cut it to three (45-42, I believe). Down the stretch, the Cavs made just enough free throws and the Hokies missed just enough 3s to preserve the victory for UVA.
I thought a key stretch in the game came in the second half after Mustapha Farrakhan went down with an injury to his stomach/chest area (he says the wind just got knocked out of him) around the 14-minute mark. At the time, Virginia was up by about 10, I think, at 39-29. In the first couple possessions after Mu went down, the Cavs turned the ball over and fouled the Hokies once, maybe twice. But then Akil Mitchell made a turnaround jumper in the paint and Sammy Zeglinski made his insane fall away 3 from the corner to extend the lead to 15. I really thought UVA did a nice job of sustaining its momentum after Mu went down. The wheels could've really flown off with the team's leader out of the game, but instead, the Cavs' actually extended their lead. Mu had not been a big factor in the game up to that point, but still, he is the leading scorer on the team and I think it is safe to say he is the soul of the team. Shortly after Virginia increased the lead to 15, Tech went on their 13-1 run, eventually cutting UVA's lead to 3. Had it not been for the Hoos' extra burst after Mu went down, Tech's run could have been more devastating. Had the Hokies drawn even or taken the lead on their run, we could have been talking about how Virginia let another win slip away. So major kudos to the team pushing on after Mu went down and not really missing a beat, immediately anyway.
Speaking of Mu, he came back in the game and made a huge 3 and a two-pointer when things weren't going that well for UVA, and made some free throws down the stretch so he definitely came through in the clutch.
Virginia made 11 of 23 3-pointers in the game, and nothing kind of highlighted the type of day it was for the Hoos like Zeglinski's three crazy 3s as time ran down on the shot clock. Throughout his career, Zeglinksi has certainly become known for hitting some wild shots as time winds down on either the game clock or the shot clock. I'll never know how those three shots went in, but if he misses just one, the complexion of the game is different and we could have lost.
Another sign showing it was the Cavs' day was Malcolm Delaney, a normally excellent free-throw shooter, missing the front end of a 1-and-1 with about 6:30 left in the game. I didn't jot down the score of the game at that point, but certainly, you have to feel like that is a shot that Virginia's opponents have usually made this year, as they are typically in the middle of a comeback win over the Hoos. The fact that he missed made me think luck was on UVA's side Saturday.
Two freshmen, Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell, played significant roles in the win. Had Harris not gotten hot early from beyond the arc, we might have lost, and Mitchell, while he just had four points, cleaned the glass for seven rebounds--all defensive--with the majority of them seemingly coming in the second half. One of the well-documented woes of the Hoos this season has been their inability to rebound. Obviously, with Tech missing lots of shots, lots of boards were available for the taking, and Mitchell manned up and grabbed several in the second half, stymying second-chance scoring opportunities for the Hokies.
As I was watching the game, we were up six with about 3:00 left when we decided to slow down, bring the ball out front, and eat some more clock. I couldn't help but recall last season's game against Tech at home in which we were up eight with a little more than three minutes to play and Jeff Jones shot a quick 3, which he clanged, and Tech got the rebound and quickly scored, sparking their comeback victory. Virginia showed a lot of poise in not going for the dagger Saturday with too much time left. Slowly but surely, the Cavs mayb be learning patience under Coach Bennett.
Finally, you can't help but be impressed with the overall defensive effort. Evans was a bulldog all day, right in the grill of Delaney. He had no answer but jacking up 3s, and he missed several of them. All day, Virginia looked more active and prepared on defense than ever before. The Cavs have had some poor defensive outings this season, but Saturday was not one of them. Coming on the heels of holding Duke to 56 points in a loss Wednesday at home, Virginia held a Tech team that had scored 102 points and 91 points in its last two games, respectively.
Overall, it was a solid victory for the Cavs. A season sweep of the Hokies could parlay into some victories on the recruiting trail. There have been lots of reasons for Wahoo fans to feel down this year, especially since the season started out in a promising manner. For different reasons, some under the team's control and some not, the season has mostly been disappointing. So getting a 'W' at home over the main rival is a great feel-good win. Virginia has three, maybe four, winnable games left, so hopefully they can carry some momentum into the final stretch of the regular season and get some more wins. For now, though, we should savor this one because it was hard-earned and they've been tough to come by this season.
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CARMELO TO THE KNICKS
Breaking news: Carmelo Anthony is headed to the Knicks, he just told me. Ok, not really, but Anthony is indeed headed to New York City to play his home games at Madison Square Garden. The deal got done last night after several weeks and months of talk, analysis, and whatever else you want to call it. Carmelo was in the sports news cycle basically 24/7. Last night, before the deal has been completed, he even made an appearance on Conan O'Brien's TBS show. He expressed fatigue over the whole situation and said he would be glad when it was all over with. O'Brien tried to get him to reveal where he was headed, but Melo said even he didn't know. So at the end of the segment, O'Brien presented him with a jersey displaying all three teams on the front where Melo might end up (staying in Denver, going to New York, or going to New Jersey). It read "Neverork" on the front, a combo of all three cities.
The deal ended up being a three-team trade between New York, Denver and Minnesota. Lots of players are involved to say the least and I'm not going to pretend to know where each player involved is headed. Instead, I'll just copy and paste a few paragraphs from the story on espn.com about the trade. (http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=6145912) One thing to keep in mind is as of this writing at 2:30 a.m., the deal is not official but is all but done. Still, the language still includes words such as "would." But this deal is definitely happening.
From the story: "The deal would end the season-long trade saga involving Denver's All-Star forward and send him to his desired destination. If it goes through, it puts Anthony alongside Amare Stoudemire in a potentially explosive frontcourt--at a heavy cost to the Knicks.
As a part of the deal, the Knicks will send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, and a 2014 first-round draft pick to the Nuggets, who would get additional picks and cash, the sources said. Along with Anthony, New York would acquire Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.
New York will send Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry to Minnesota as part of the deal in exchange for Corey Brewer."
All I'll say is, watch ESPN or some other sports show today for all the news and to see which players and future draft picks and cash considerations are officially involved.
Bottom line is, New York gave up a lot, but got a lot. They gave up some young talent, but they will now have their own Big 3 of sorts in Stoudemire, Melo, and Billups. Billups has probably lost a step since his days on the NBA-title winning Pistons, but is still a solid point guard. Melo and Stoudemire are in the prime of their careers. It'll be interesting to see what happens now with the Knicks in the Eastern Conference. They are currently 6th in the East at 28-26, 5.5 games behind 5th-place Atlanta and four games ahead of 8th-place Indiana. I don't think the Knicks are a title contender, or even an Eastern Conference contender, but they probably will improve their record and become a thorn in the sides of all the big teams in the East.
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GRIFFIN CRUISES TO SLAM DUNK CHAMPIONSHIP
Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDuYDzYk4qo
As part of the NBA all-star weekend, the Slam Dunk contest was held Saturday night. I write that Griffin cruised to a win because the event was held in LA, where Griffin plays on the Clippers, so it seemed to all but be a done deal that he would win the contest before it even started. People were so excited when it was announced he would participate that it was hard to know who else was going to be in it. The other participants were JaVale McGee from the Wizards, Serge Ibaka from the Thunder, and DeMar Derozen from the Raptors.
As it turns out, Griffin was not the only attraction and frankly, I don't think he should've won. It ended up being the best dunk contest in a long while. The dunks were actually really good and unique, and lots of creativity was involved. McGee probably should've won. In the first round, he dunked two balls in two baskets at the same time, then three balls in one basket. On his first dunk in the last round, which I can't even describe, he seemed to float through the air, and had to move his his head to avoid hitting the backboard, before throwing down a one-handed slam as he was moving directly away from the rim. His last dunk was not that great, but all Griffin did for his final dunk was jump over the hood of a car, which is not that high. In years past, dunkers have jumped over people and I think that is more impressive because people are taller than the hoods of cars.
All in all though, it was a fun night and the dunks were unbelieveable. Other highlights included Ibaka dunking from just BEYOND the free throw line in the first round, harkening back to the days of Dr. J and Michael Jordan, and Derozen's second first-round dunk, which was named the "Showstopper."
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DAYTONA 500
In a wild and caution-filled Daytona 500, the freshly-turned-20-year-old Trevor Bayne ended up the winner. It was an unpredictable race which contained 16 cautions and a record 74 lead changes.
Daytona was repaved prior to the race, and the result was the smoothest surface that any of those drivers had ever experienced at the track. It allowed for more bump drafting than usual. Normally, bump drafting, if it occurred at all, occured on straightaways because it was too dangerous to try in the turns. The smooth surface Sunday, however, allowed bump drafting to occur basically anywhere on the track. The result was these kind of distinct, two-car hooks ups that would occasionally grow to three or more cars. But there always seemed to be a plethora of two-car groups going around the track on any given lap.
While bump drafting overall was safer, the result of even more bump drafting was more crashes because communication had to be perfect between the drivers and at times, it wasn't. Sometimes, a driver would want to change lanes and it wasn't communicated quick enough to a driver that was running behind the driver who wanted to move. The result was bump drafting situations in which cars bumped a little too hard, sending one or more cars spinning.
Though it was a slow race because of all the cautions, it was an exciting race and it was cool to see a new face win it. Jimmie Johnson, the five-time defending champion, crashed during the race and ended up finishing 27th. For the record, I don't think his championship run will get to six, but I wouldn't be surprised if it actually did, either.
The Cavaliers swept the regular season series over the Hokies on Saturday with an intense 61-54 win over their archrival from Blacksburg. It was the first season sweep of the Hokies for UVA since 2005-06. Virginia snapped a three-game losing skid in the process and Tech missed a chance to pick up another 'W' during a time in which they can't afford to take on too many more 'L's if they want to make the NCAA tournament.
I thought the win was a real gutty one for Virginia. Tech made a comeback, just like most of Virginia's opponents have this season when Virginia has built a sizable lead, but the Hoos found a way to hold on this time. Virginia took the lead with about two minutes left in the first half off a Jontel Evans 3 and never looked back after that. Virginia extended its lead to as mnay as 15 points in the second half (44-29) before Tech would cut it to three (45-42, I believe). Down the stretch, the Cavs made just enough free throws and the Hokies missed just enough 3s to preserve the victory for UVA.
I thought a key stretch in the game came in the second half after Mustapha Farrakhan went down with an injury to his stomach/chest area (he says the wind just got knocked out of him) around the 14-minute mark. At the time, Virginia was up by about 10, I think, at 39-29. In the first couple possessions after Mu went down, the Cavs turned the ball over and fouled the Hokies once, maybe twice. But then Akil Mitchell made a turnaround jumper in the paint and Sammy Zeglinski made his insane fall away 3 from the corner to extend the lead to 15. I really thought UVA did a nice job of sustaining its momentum after Mu went down. The wheels could've really flown off with the team's leader out of the game, but instead, the Cavs' actually extended their lead. Mu had not been a big factor in the game up to that point, but still, he is the leading scorer on the team and I think it is safe to say he is the soul of the team. Shortly after Virginia increased the lead to 15, Tech went on their 13-1 run, eventually cutting UVA's lead to 3. Had it not been for the Hoos' extra burst after Mu went down, Tech's run could have been more devastating. Had the Hokies drawn even or taken the lead on their run, we could have been talking about how Virginia let another win slip away. So major kudos to the team pushing on after Mu went down and not really missing a beat, immediately anyway.
Speaking of Mu, he came back in the game and made a huge 3 and a two-pointer when things weren't going that well for UVA, and made some free throws down the stretch so he definitely came through in the clutch.
Virginia made 11 of 23 3-pointers in the game, and nothing kind of highlighted the type of day it was for the Hoos like Zeglinski's three crazy 3s as time ran down on the shot clock. Throughout his career, Zeglinksi has certainly become known for hitting some wild shots as time winds down on either the game clock or the shot clock. I'll never know how those three shots went in, but if he misses just one, the complexion of the game is different and we could have lost.
Another sign showing it was the Cavs' day was Malcolm Delaney, a normally excellent free-throw shooter, missing the front end of a 1-and-1 with about 6:30 left in the game. I didn't jot down the score of the game at that point, but certainly, you have to feel like that is a shot that Virginia's opponents have usually made this year, as they are typically in the middle of a comeback win over the Hoos. The fact that he missed made me think luck was on UVA's side Saturday.
Two freshmen, Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell, played significant roles in the win. Had Harris not gotten hot early from beyond the arc, we might have lost, and Mitchell, while he just had four points, cleaned the glass for seven rebounds--all defensive--with the majority of them seemingly coming in the second half. One of the well-documented woes of the Hoos this season has been their inability to rebound. Obviously, with Tech missing lots of shots, lots of boards were available for the taking, and Mitchell manned up and grabbed several in the second half, stymying second-chance scoring opportunities for the Hokies.
As I was watching the game, we were up six with about 3:00 left when we decided to slow down, bring the ball out front, and eat some more clock. I couldn't help but recall last season's game against Tech at home in which we were up eight with a little more than three minutes to play and Jeff Jones shot a quick 3, which he clanged, and Tech got the rebound and quickly scored, sparking their comeback victory. Virginia showed a lot of poise in not going for the dagger Saturday with too much time left. Slowly but surely, the Cavs mayb be learning patience under Coach Bennett.
Finally, you can't help but be impressed with the overall defensive effort. Evans was a bulldog all day, right in the grill of Delaney. He had no answer but jacking up 3s, and he missed several of them. All day, Virginia looked more active and prepared on defense than ever before. The Cavs have had some poor defensive outings this season, but Saturday was not one of them. Coming on the heels of holding Duke to 56 points in a loss Wednesday at home, Virginia held a Tech team that had scored 102 points and 91 points in its last two games, respectively.
Overall, it was a solid victory for the Cavs. A season sweep of the Hokies could parlay into some victories on the recruiting trail. There have been lots of reasons for Wahoo fans to feel down this year, especially since the season started out in a promising manner. For different reasons, some under the team's control and some not, the season has mostly been disappointing. So getting a 'W' at home over the main rival is a great feel-good win. Virginia has three, maybe four, winnable games left, so hopefully they can carry some momentum into the final stretch of the regular season and get some more wins. For now, though, we should savor this one because it was hard-earned and they've been tough to come by this season.
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CARMELO TO THE KNICKS
Breaking news: Carmelo Anthony is headed to the Knicks, he just told me. Ok, not really, but Anthony is indeed headed to New York City to play his home games at Madison Square Garden. The deal got done last night after several weeks and months of talk, analysis, and whatever else you want to call it. Carmelo was in the sports news cycle basically 24/7. Last night, before the deal has been completed, he even made an appearance on Conan O'Brien's TBS show. He expressed fatigue over the whole situation and said he would be glad when it was all over with. O'Brien tried to get him to reveal where he was headed, but Melo said even he didn't know. So at the end of the segment, O'Brien presented him with a jersey displaying all three teams on the front where Melo might end up (staying in Denver, going to New York, or going to New Jersey). It read "Neverork" on the front, a combo of all three cities.
The deal ended up being a three-team trade between New York, Denver and Minnesota. Lots of players are involved to say the least and I'm not going to pretend to know where each player involved is headed. Instead, I'll just copy and paste a few paragraphs from the story on espn.com about the trade. (http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=6145912) One thing to keep in mind is as of this writing at 2:30 a.m., the deal is not official but is all but done. Still, the language still includes words such as "would." But this deal is definitely happening.
From the story: "The deal would end the season-long trade saga involving Denver's All-Star forward and send him to his desired destination. If it goes through, it puts Anthony alongside Amare Stoudemire in a potentially explosive frontcourt--at a heavy cost to the Knicks.
As a part of the deal, the Knicks will send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, and a 2014 first-round draft pick to the Nuggets, who would get additional picks and cash, the sources said. Along with Anthony, New York would acquire Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.
New York will send Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry to Minnesota as part of the deal in exchange for Corey Brewer."
All I'll say is, watch ESPN or some other sports show today for all the news and to see which players and future draft picks and cash considerations are officially involved.
Bottom line is, New York gave up a lot, but got a lot. They gave up some young talent, but they will now have their own Big 3 of sorts in Stoudemire, Melo, and Billups. Billups has probably lost a step since his days on the NBA-title winning Pistons, but is still a solid point guard. Melo and Stoudemire are in the prime of their careers. It'll be interesting to see what happens now with the Knicks in the Eastern Conference. They are currently 6th in the East at 28-26, 5.5 games behind 5th-place Atlanta and four games ahead of 8th-place Indiana. I don't think the Knicks are a title contender, or even an Eastern Conference contender, but they probably will improve their record and become a thorn in the sides of all the big teams in the East.
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GRIFFIN CRUISES TO SLAM DUNK CHAMPIONSHIP
Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDuYDzYk4qo
As part of the NBA all-star weekend, the Slam Dunk contest was held Saturday night. I write that Griffin cruised to a win because the event was held in LA, where Griffin plays on the Clippers, so it seemed to all but be a done deal that he would win the contest before it even started. People were so excited when it was announced he would participate that it was hard to know who else was going to be in it. The other participants were JaVale McGee from the Wizards, Serge Ibaka from the Thunder, and DeMar Derozen from the Raptors.
As it turns out, Griffin was not the only attraction and frankly, I don't think he should've won. It ended up being the best dunk contest in a long while. The dunks were actually really good and unique, and lots of creativity was involved. McGee probably should've won. In the first round, he dunked two balls in two baskets at the same time, then three balls in one basket. On his first dunk in the last round, which I can't even describe, he seemed to float through the air, and had to move his his head to avoid hitting the backboard, before throwing down a one-handed slam as he was moving directly away from the rim. His last dunk was not that great, but all Griffin did for his final dunk was jump over the hood of a car, which is not that high. In years past, dunkers have jumped over people and I think that is more impressive because people are taller than the hoods of cars.
All in all though, it was a fun night and the dunks were unbelieveable. Other highlights included Ibaka dunking from just BEYOND the free throw line in the first round, harkening back to the days of Dr. J and Michael Jordan, and Derozen's second first-round dunk, which was named the "Showstopper."
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DAYTONA 500
In a wild and caution-filled Daytona 500, the freshly-turned-20-year-old Trevor Bayne ended up the winner. It was an unpredictable race which contained 16 cautions and a record 74 lead changes.
Daytona was repaved prior to the race, and the result was the smoothest surface that any of those drivers had ever experienced at the track. It allowed for more bump drafting than usual. Normally, bump drafting, if it occurred at all, occured on straightaways because it was too dangerous to try in the turns. The smooth surface Sunday, however, allowed bump drafting to occur basically anywhere on the track. The result was these kind of distinct, two-car hooks ups that would occasionally grow to three or more cars. But there always seemed to be a plethora of two-car groups going around the track on any given lap.
While bump drafting overall was safer, the result of even more bump drafting was more crashes because communication had to be perfect between the drivers and at times, it wasn't. Sometimes, a driver would want to change lanes and it wasn't communicated quick enough to a driver that was running behind the driver who wanted to move. The result was bump drafting situations in which cars bumped a little too hard, sending one or more cars spinning.
Though it was a slow race because of all the cautions, it was an exciting race and it was cool to see a new face win it. Jimmie Johnson, the five-time defending champion, crashed during the race and ended up finishing 27th. For the record, I don't think his championship run will get to six, but I wouldn't be surprised if it actually did, either.
best dunk contest ive seen in years (except i thought javale should have won). and serge should have had a 50 on his first dunk.
ReplyDeleteoh well. it's all a show. thinking back, there was no way blake griffin would have been left out of the final round. with that stunt planned, if he didn't make it, it would have been a waste. i'm sure kia paid a lot of money to have their car used too.
yeah i guess it was fixed and the judges had to be in on it. either way, he was the main attraction and there was too much pressure to get thru to the final round and probably win it. his first two handed 360 was impressive, but after that, nothing he did was that great. he had the windmill off the side of the backboard and the car jump. what am i missing?
ReplyDeleteI like Trevor Bayne a lot. I'm scared that the media is glorifying him too soon though. Yes he won the Daytona 500 and Jeff Gordon spotted him early, so he is probably going to be great, but lots of drivers have won it. Derrick Cope in 1990 for goodness sake. But as far as personality, I love the guy.
ReplyDeleteThe dunk over the car was dumb in my opinion.
I pretty much agree with what you said about the Virginia-VT game. Especially where you talked about the team extending their lead after Mu went down. The team was down their two best players at that point (if you count Mike Scott) and still managed a win. If that mentality carries over as the talent level increases, I have lots of hope for our team.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Knicks, I think they're at best a second round playoff team. They traded away all their depth to get Melo and I think on some level they're going to regret it.
And I liked the car dunk... but you're right, the three-ball one should've won.