Cody's Blog

Duke Smashes Helpless Tar Heels

Cody Clark — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:34:08 +0000

It helps to have a Big Three. Especially if you do not have much else. Duke’s Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, and Jon Scheyer combined for 65 of the Blue Devils’ 82 points, and combined on 44% shooting from the field and an unheralded 95.7% from the free throw line. However, the rest of the 9 guys on the team combined for just 17 points, with their leader being Brian Zoubek, who posted 8 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. At the nine minute mark of the first half, the Dukies were already up 31-11, and continued the rout in the first half as they held a 27 point advantage going into the locker room. Duke only scored 29 second half points, but their vast accumulation of first half points proved to be enough for their first win at home to UNC in four years. The win basically cements their #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and if they get their, I think that they can get to the Final Four pretty easily as long as their Big Three can continue to play at such a high level.

Kuric’s 22 Buries #1 Syracuse

Cody Clark — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:39:24 +0000

The Louisville Cardinals got a tremendous boost from an unlikely in Freedom Hall’s final game as an athletic venue. Backup shooting guard Kyle Kuric, who averaged 3.5 points all year, poured in 22 points in the second half on 9 for 11 shooting as the Louisville Cardinals downed the number 1 team in the nation by a solid 10 point margin. Although Syracuse did have four players in double figures led by Scoop Jardine had posted 20, Kuric’s 22 helped the Cardinals to outscore the Orange 48-33 in the second half after trailing to them by 5 points at halftime. This Louisville win at home marks the second time that the Cards have beaten the Orange this season, accounting for two of Syracuse’s 3 losses on the year. As for the Cards home venue, the historic era of Freedom Hall will come to an end. Freedom hall has hosted 6 national title games, its fair share of NCAA tournament regional finals and 682 Louisville Cardinals victories. This win pretty much cements a spot for Louisville in March, and caps off an impeccable run by their seniors; they have made the NCAA tourney all four years and have not had to accept for an NIT bid.

3 Up, 3 Down

Cody Clark — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:13:19 +0000

In what was a very low scoring affair, the Michigan State Spartans defeated the #3, Robbie Hummel-less Purdue Boilermakers 53-44. Purdue had held the two point advantage 28-26 over the Spartans at the half, but the loss of their star player showed, as they only scored 16 second half points on their way to being defeated by 9 points. The Spartans also had a rough night themselves, only shooting 22% from three while only two players posted double digit points. Forward Raymar Morgan scored 16 points and corraled 11 rebounds to lead the Michigan State, while fellow forward Draymond Green scored 12 points as they carried their teams. For Purdue, E’Twaun Moore led the Boilermakers with 12 points. This Purdue loss caps a weekend that saw the number 1,2, and 3 teams in the nation go down, nad will lead to major changes among the top of the polls. The #4 ranked Syracuse Orange, who defeated #8 Villanova last night 95-77, will most likely jump to number 1, while Duke will no doubt move up, up to where is uncertain, as I think that Kentucky and Kansas are still better than the Blue Devils. After this crazy week in college basketball as the regular season winds down, this would be my top five the rest of the way into tournament time:

1. Syracuse Orange – 27-2 – Their 2-3 defense is the best and most efficient in the nation, and as long as they don’t get complacent, I think that they can easily grab a #1 seed in March and possibly make a run at the national title.

2. Kansas Jayhawks – 27-2 – Although they lost to Ok. State, Kansas is still one of the best teams in the nation. They have four starters averaging in double figures, and if hard nosed point guard Sherron Collins and no-nonsense center Cole Aldrich continue to dominate their inside out style of play, the Jayhawkers will be extremely efficient the rest of the way.

3. Kentucky Wildcats- 27-2 – The leaders of the SEC are still in great position even after their loss to Tennessee. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are both averaging over 16 points a game, and Kentucky has the tools needed to make a big run late into March.

4. Duke Blue Devils – 25-4 – Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, and Jon Sheyer are absolutely game changers, and these types of players are what a team needs to get far in the postseason which is why they are a lock for at least another Sweet 16 berth.

5. Kansas State Wildcats – 24-4 – After showing great character in a rally-style win over the Missouri Tigers, the Wildcats showed that they can play both an up-tempo game, as well as slow things down. They also have great bigs in Curtis Kelley and Luis Colon and a great guard in Jacob Pullen, which is the recipe for success in college basketball.

Anderson, Cowboys Slay #1 Jayhawks

Cody Clark — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:32:05 +0000

Led by a barrage of three-point shots, the Oklahoma State Cowboys used a 53% 3-point shooting mark to down the 1 loss Kansas Jayhawks in Stillwater. The Jayhawks came into the game looking for a win to stay undefeated this season in Big 12 play, but no one must have told junior James Anderson and the Cowboys. OSU held the Jayhawks to just 29 first half points, while they scored 45 of their own in the first half of the game. The three-point barrage continued in the second half, as Anderson hit 4 of his 6 three attempts and Keiton Page poured in a perfect 4 for 4 from beyond the arc. The Cowboys defeat of Kansas gives them their first win over a #1 team since they defeated Oklahoma in their 1989 Red River Rivalry game. This feat also marks the first time that the number 1 and 2 teams int eh nation have lost in the same day since 2006, when 17-0 Duke and 17-0 Florida lost. Page finished with 15 points, and Anderson showed up in every statistical category recording 27 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. With his 27 points, Anderson has now scored in double figures in every game this season and will get a multitude of opportunities the rest of the way, as this win solidifies Oklahoma State’s spot in the NCAA tournament come March 18th.

Kentucky Suffers Second Loss

Cody Clark — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:07:17 +0000

After the Tennessee Volunteers secured an 11-point halftime lead against the #2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, things began to fall apart. The Vols had built up a 19 -point lead, but looked on in agony as the Wildcats — led by Demarcus Cousins — slowly erased that deficit. After working the entire half to come back, Kentucky tied the game at 65-65 using 6 straight points from freshman Cousins with just over two minutes left to play in the game. At that point, Tennessee’s J.P. Prince scored six of the games final 9 points as the Vols rolled to a 74-65 win over the previously 1 loss Wildcats. Prince led the way for the Vols, as well as led all scorers with 20 points on 60% shooting as the Volunteers delivered their second win this season against a top five team (the other came when the Vols gave the Kansas Jayhawks their only loss). Each of these teams has two remaining regular season games on the slate before starting the SEC tournament, and will look to bolster their win numbers as they face of against lesser SEC opponents.

UConn Back in Tourney: For Now

Cody Clark — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:09:16 +0000

With an 11-point win over the #7 team in the nation, the UConn Huskies are seemingly back in the discussion for an NCAA tournament bid. After starting off the season with non-impressive wins over teams such as Colgate, Hofstra, UCF, Boston, Maine, and Iona (as does every team in the nation) and jumping out to a 9-2 record, the Huskies dropped games to Cincinnati (twice), Providence, and Michigan and now sit at just 17-11 and a very sub-par 7-8 in the Big East. One of the only reasons that Connecticut is still on the bubble to make the NCAA tournament is that have come up with some great wins in the past few weeks. They whipped then #1 Texas 88-74, and then proceeded to beat #3 Villanova at their place, then came back home and beat the #7 West Virginia Mountaineers last night in Hartford. Kemba Walker paced UConn with 21 points, and Stanley Robinson scored 15 points to go with 13 rebounds. I still think that Huskies have to win their remaining three to get in, but I believe that come selection Sunday, the Connecticut men’s basketball team will find themselves in the Big Dance. (Barely!)

NBA Trade Deadline Report Card

Cody Clark — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:12:19 +0000

Now that the dust has settled from the trade deadline and new uniforms have been handed out, it is time to give out grades to the various teams that either helped or hurt their chances at making a playoff run. When all was said and done, 35 players and three draft picks were exchanged between 11 teams in both conferences.

Western Conference Grades

Dallas Mavericks- anytime you can add three solid scorers and depth at both the guard position as well as in the post all at one deadline you deserve a good grade. The Mavs grabbed a guard with great scoring prowess in Caron Butler, a solid backup in DeShawn Stevenson, as well as Brendan Haywood in the post while unloading the contract of regressing player Josh Howard. My Grade: A-
Portland Trailblazers- Marcus Camby. What more can be said? While he only scores 7.7 points per game, he is a vacuum on the defensive end and on the glass, as he is second in the league to Dwight Howard at 12 rebounds a night (with his season high being 25) and blocks anywhere from 1-3 shots a night. And all they had to give up was a role player in Travis Outlaw, and a decent guard in Steve Blake to get it done. My Grade: B+
Houston Rockets- Although they had to part with sixth man Carl Landry, they did add a 19 point per night scorer in Kevin Martin while adding forwards Jordan hill and Hilton Armstrong as well as guard Jarred Jeffries. They also accomplished their main goal; dumping Tracy McGrady’s enormous contract from the payroll. My Grade: C+
Sacremento Kings- Aside from nabbing Carl Landry, all they did was unload a big time scorer in Martin and grab mediocre guard sin Larry Hughes and Joey Dorsey. My Grade: C

Eastern Conference Grades

Cleveland Cavaliers- After pursuing Amare Stoudemire, the Cavaliers struck a deal for the hard working, all-around talent of Antawn Jamison for, essentially, nothing. The Cavs gave up Emir Preldzic and a first rounder as well as Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but can get Ilgauskas back in 30 days, as he will probably be waived by the Wizards. The Cavs added a great talent to the best team in the NBA, and were by far the most efficient team at this year’s deadline. My Grade: A
Boston Celtics- Although the Celtics missed at unloading Ray Allen and realing making a big move, they did add solid bench contest and Dunk Contest machine Nate Robinson for a back up guard in Eddie House. Only House gave the Celtics a godd three-point presence off the bench, Nate the Great is a much better scorer and will mak a bigger impact the rest of the way. My Grade: B
Charlotte Bobcats- Acquiring potential ridden Tyrus Thomas and Theo Ratliff. Although these moves may not pay off this year, it definitely will in the years to come as they add two solid players to Gerald Wallace, Tyson Chandler, Boris Diaw, and Stephen Jackson. My Grade: B-
Washington Wizards- The Wizards effectively gave up their franchise in dealing Jamison and Butler, and have starting rebuilding. They did pick up Drew Gooden, Josh Howard, and two bench players in the Cavs deal, but dealt Gooden to LA for Al Thornton. Simply put, the team is in complete and total rebuilding mode. My Grade: C-

No Amare, No Problem

Cody Clark — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:23:12 +0000

The Eastern Conferences #1 team, and arguably the best team in the NBA, found another weapon to add to LeBron James’ arsenal Thursday as the Cleveland Cavaliers made a three team deal involving 6 players with the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Cavaliers were making a push to acquire the Sun’s Amare Stoudemire, but talks had recently fizzled out and they decided to look elsewhere. The Wizards, who have already been shakers at the trade deadline, agreed to send forward Antawn Jamison to the Cavs in exchange for Zydrunis Ilgauskas’ expiring contract, a 2010 first round draft pick, and the rights to Emir Preldzic, whom the Cavs drafted in round 2 of last years draft. The Clippers recieved forward Drew gooden from Washington, and sent guard Sebastian Telfari to the Cavs as well. The Cavs add Jamison to an alredy extremely steady lineup with James, Shaquille O’Neal, Mo Williams, and either Delonte West or J.J. Hickson. The Cavs sit at an NBA best 43-11, and are my pick to come out of the Eastern Conference to represent in the NBA Finals.

Dunk Contest Lacks Luster

Cody Clark — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:30:04 +0000

When the contestant list came out this year for the NBA dunk contest, I was certain that it was a joke. Aside from defending champion Nate Robinson and an extremely solid player in Gerald Wallace, they had a rookie in DeMar DeRozan from the sub-par Toronto Raptors, and a role player at best from the Lakers in Shannon Brown. My favorite going in was Robinson, as he had won two previous contests, and more importantly, he is merely 5′9″ (On a good day). Robinson did not disappoint, bringing home his third title with 51% of the vote. Unfortunately, after the event, Nate the Great announced that there will not be a fourth attempt at a dunk contest championship, as he is “retiring” from the competition. What I want to know is when we are going to get the superstars in the contest. Where is Kobe, LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony? Back in the day, all the very best players participated in the contest. You had legends Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, Julius Erving, and Patrick Ewing pulling off behind the back dunks, free throw line jams, and many more variations. Now, the best dunkers do not even participate in the contest. Instead, we get the likes of DeRozan, Shannon Brown, Hakim Warrick, Tyrus Thomas and Rudy Fernandez. No respect to these guys, but they are not the most prolific dunkers in the world. Just think of the hype and recognition there would be with a Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant contest? With Nate ending his dunk contest career, who are the future contestants going to be? Lets just hope we do not have to suffer through more role players and rookies performing un-original dunks.

Mavericks Bolster Chances with Trade

Cody Clark — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:37:11 +0000

7 players, 2 teams, millions of dollars, and great talent. Each of these things were exchanged Saturday as the woeful Washington Wizards made a trade with the Southwest leading Dallas Mavericks. The 17-33 Wizards sent solid scorer Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and backup guard DeShawn Stevenson to the 32-20 Mavericks in exchange for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton. The Wizards had been shopping Butler as well as Haywood, but talks with the Mavericks had stalled because Washington insisted Dallas had to take Stevenson and his contract. After it looked like the deal would not get done, the Wizards threw center Brendon Haywood into the deal and the two teams agreed to the swap. This trade marks the beginning of the infamous “rebuilding” period for the Wizards, but puts Dallas in a great spot. The Mavs add the explosive scoring Butler, which will take some pressure off of Dirk Nowitzki. This trade solidifies the Mavs starting lineup, as they now can throw a lineup with Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Caron Butler, Shawn Marion and either Eric Dampier or newly acquired Brendan Haywood. Owner Mark Cuban greatly helped his teams chances of becoming possibly a two or three seed in the Western Conference and heightens their odds at a deep playoff run.