Month: March 2009

Slap of the Week — March 20

Posted by dobrien – March 20, 2009

williamssmallI think we’ve all been fed up with our wireless providers at some point. (For instance, I’m really, really sick of those Verizon commericals with the goofy guy and the network stalking everyone.)

Earlier this week, New Jersey Nets player Sean Williams took it to a whole new level. Williams was arrested near Denver for taking apart a cell phone store. He allegedly did more than $1,000 worth of damage to a store in Lone Tree, Colo.

Williams, a reserve who spent time in the NBA Developmental League earlier this season, has been banned from his college campus, Boston College, and was arrested when he went back to campus earlier this school year. Luckily, BC coach Al Skinner vouched for him, saying Skinner had invited him to come to campus. What kind of guy gets banned from his college campus? A bar or something, I can understand, but an entire campus. He was cleared of a trespassing charge.

Williams was kicked off the Boston College team in 2007, yet was still the 17th overall pick by the Nets in that year’s draft.

Maybe the Nets are going to wise up on this guy. They didn’t provide him an attorney when he was busted on the team’s road trip and he didn’t make it back to Jersey with the team. The Nets have suggested that Williams go see a shrink.

At some point, Williams might be lucky if he’s working in a cell phone store. He’s blown his chance at the NBA.

A little NCAA Tournament fun

Posted by dobrien – March 18, 2009

It isn't Allen Iverson talking playoffs, but Illini men's basketball coach Bruce Weber's latest "press conference" is pretty cool.

It isn't Allen Iverson talking practice, but Illini men's basketball coach Bruce Weber's latest "press conference" is pretty cool.

Whether your are a fan of the University of Illinois or not, you’ve got to take a minute to check out this Web site, the school unveiled this week.

If you decide to listen to coach Bruce Weber’s press conference, make sure that you put in a phone number in the registration part that you can be reached at immediately.

For reaction from Weber’s press conference, click here.

It’s worth taking three minutes or so out of your quest for filling out that perfect bracket.

Mid-Week Grades for March 18

Posted by dobrien – March 18, 2009

It’s almost as exciting as the day before Christmas. Before we know it, there will be basketballs in the air all over the country, upsets happening and brackets busting all over the place. Enjoy the NCAA Tournament. If you haven’t already, jump into the Herald-Whig’s free online game. Listen in to WGEM SportsCenter as well where we have a pretty cool contest going on, too. We’ll run down the grades around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday on ESPN 1440.

A — Marion County girls basketball team. No matter what happens this weekend at the state tournament in Columbia, the Mustangs have had a successful season. After going 10-15 last season, coach Mike Johnson incorporated two freshmen into the mix this season to get the program back to the state final four for the first time since the team finished fourth in 1999.

bozemansmallB — Todd Bozeman. At one time, he was one of the up-and-coming coaches in the NCAA ranks when he was at Cal. In 1993, he led the Bears to an upset win over two-time defending NCAA champion Duke and became the youngest coach — at 29 — to reach the Sweet 16. Then he got caught for paying players and had to resign in 1996. He was banned by the NCAA until 2005. In 2006, Morgan State took a chance on him and now he has the Bears in the NCAA Tournament after they won the MEAC title. The 15th-seeded Bears will need more than Bozeman to get past Oklahoma in the first round.

gulbissmallC — Natalie Gulbis. Why exactly is the LPGA player on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice?” She isn’t washed up yet. Heck, Michelle Wie would probably mkae a better fit on her than Gulbis, who has at least won an LPGA Tour title during her career. She’s actually one of the few people on that silly show that I don’t have to look up to see who they are. Just kind of weird to see her in it.

D — NCAA. I guess they’re the ones to blame for all of these extra tournaments popping up on the March radar. No longer is it just the NCAA and NIT tourneys happening. The College Basketball Invitational is in its second season and this year offers up the debut of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. That means there are 129 men’s teams that qualified for postseason play. A postseason bid in basketball has almost become as useless as a bowl bid in football. The sucker that I am, I’m in NIT (go, Notre Dame) and CBI (go, Nevada) bracket pools. The new event doesn’t have a bracket, but my rooting interests are with former SIU-Edwardsville coach Marty Simmons, who is now the head coach at Evansville. Go, Purple Aces!

ussmallF — Team USA. Another nice showing by the home team in the second World Baseball Classic. Quality stuff with the mercy-rule loss to Puerto Rico last weekend. If this World Baseball Classic is ever going to catch on, the American team needs to do well. There was a point earlier this week when the U.S. was talking about a forfeit with so many injuries. Let’s just skip this thing the next time it’s played.

Editor’s Note: Mid-Week grades will be on Spring Break next week. We’ll be back in session on April 1.

Bold Predictions — NCAA Tournament

Posted by dobrien – March 16, 2009

dobbracketNeed a hand in picking the upsets for your office pool? Or do you just want to laugh at some picks once the opening weekend is over? I’m here for you.

As you can see, I have a lot of love for the Big East with three teams making the Final Four — Louisville, UConn and Villanova. I threw in ACC power North Carolina as well. I’ve said from the start of the season — and go back and look at a November edition of our GamePlan page if you don’t believe me — that North Carolina was the team to beat. I’m not going to back off now, but I’d be lying if I didn’t think that Ty Lawson’s injury has me hedging on that pick a bit.

I really like Missouri‘s path. I think Memphis is a tad overrated and will fall to a quality Maryland team in the second round, thus opening the door for Mizzou to make the Elite Eight. UConn — and mammoth center Hasheem Thabeet — will be too much for the Tigers.

I also think — as crazy as it sounds — that Illinois can make the Sweet 16. Western Kentucky isn’t the same team that shocked Drake in last year’s opening round. I think the Illini can win their opener. If they come to play on defense, I think they can beat Akron in the second round. I have the Zips as an upset winner over Gonzaga. Even if the Zags win, I still think the Illini are capable of getting to the second weekend.

Make sure you check out our free game, where I went out on a limb and picked Van-Far’s Mike Smith to lead East Tennessee State over Pitt in the first round. That’s the best part about our game — you get to pick the games by round rather than all at once before the first tip.

Start working on your excuse to get out of work early on Thursday and Friday, and enjoy the Madness!

QU Review — Indianapolis 74, QU women 64

Posted by dobrien – March 14, 2009

The Lady Hawks’ season came to a close with a loss in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Tournament Saturday night in Highland Heights, Ky. After using a 17-1 run on Friday to do in Drury in the quarterfinals, the Lady Hawks were victims of a game-changing 15-0 run by the Greyhounds late in the second half at the Bank of Kentucky Center.

Indianapolis moves on to Monday’s title game to face Michigan Tech, which upset top-ranked Northern Kentucky 76-53 in the other semifinal.

Saturday’s stars

player_12-canary1. Jessica Canary

The junior guard had the game of her life a day after hitting a game-winning 3-pointer over Hillsdale that carried the Greyhounds into Saturday’s semifinals. Canary burned the QU defense for a career-best 33 points, making 5 of 6 from behind the 3-point arc. Her back-to-back 3-pointers after a technical on QU coach JD Gravina sparked the Greyhounds’ run. Should Indy win the region title, Canary has to be a lock for tourney MVP.

keller0809-10-00-282. Jessica Keller

The Lady Hawks’ all-time leading scorer ended her career with a performance that QU fans have become too accustomed to seeing. Keller finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals in leading QU. There were no tears from Keller after the game, which isn’t surprising with how tough she is. She has been a special player for the Lady Hawks.

player_34-meissel3. Samantha Meissel

The Indianapolis center was held in check by the Lady Hawks’ defense for most of the game, but made some key baskets when it mattered most for the Greyhounds (24-9). She scored five of her 14 points during the 15-0 spurt. She also had eight rebounds and a pair of blocks. When you consider that Indy returns both Meissel and Canary next season, the Greyhounds should be labeled as the team to beat in the Great Lakes Valley Conference next season.

DOBservations

Foul troubles hampered the Lady Hawks’ playing rotation. Janette Burgin picked up three fouls in the first half, playing just nine minutes in the half, while Lindsey Stellflue was limited to six first-half minutes after picking up two fouls. … JD Gravina was whistled for his first technical foul since a Dec. 18 loss to Western Washington in Las Vegas. Gravina was T’d up by official Mark Gines. It was one the weakest technical fouls I’ve ever seen. Gravina had simply asked Gines to watch for a certain play after Stellflue was roughed up on a drive to the basket. … Stellflue suffered an injury after colliding with Canary midway through the second half. She was able to return to the game. … Indianapolis freshman Caroline Schutzman wasn’t as fortunate. She suffered a concussion after a first-half wreck with QU’s Alex Roznowski. Schutzman did not return to the game. … The trio of QU seniors — Keller, Roznowski and Megan Gavlick — finished their QU careers with an 83-36 record, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament.

QU Review — QU women 66, Drury 56

Posted by dobrien – March 13, 2009

The Lady Hawks advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA  Midwest Region Tournament Friday afternoon thanks to an outstanding defensive effort in the second half at the Bank of Kentucky Center in Highland Heights, Ky. The Lady Hawks (27-4) forced the Panthers into 17 second-half turnovers.

Friday’s stars

shumanc08091. Courtney Shuman

She’s a lot of good ones lately, but Friday’s effort may be the best of Shuman’s young QU career. The sophomore from Clark County had 17 points and 19 rebounds — 12 of them on the offensive end — to lead the Lady Hawks. In a one-on-one battle with Drury post Melanie Oliver, Shuman dominated. She’ll have another test in Saturday’s semifinals. 

burgin08092. Janette Burgin

On any other day, Burgin would have been a slam-dunk pick as the Player of the Game. She also had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. She added in four assists and two big 3-pointers. Burgin was the glue on Friday.

keller0809-10-00-283. Jessica Keller

She overcame a rough start — making just two of her first 11 shots — make some key baskets early in a game-changing 17-1` run that helped the Lady Hawks put the game away. She scored the first four points of that run and finished with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

DOBservations

The Lady Hawks are now 9-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. Only once in their six NCAA trips has QU been eliminated in the first round. … Senior Megan Gavlick wore No. 40 for the first time this season. Usually, No. 14, Gavlick said she forgot her uniform top at the team’s hotel. Fortunately, the QU staff had a backup jersey for her to wear. … Shuman’s 19 rebounds tied her for second on the Lady Hawks’ single-game list. Andrea Falter holds the single game record of 20 in a game against William Woods in 1983. Shuman is tied with Jill Unnerstall, who pulled down 19 in a game against Missouri St. Louis in 1999. … Earlier this week, Keller was named to the Midwest Region first-team. She was not the region Player of the Year. That honor went to Hillsdale’s Katie Cezat. … A small, but vocal, contingent of Lady Hawks fans made the seven-hour trip to Northern Kentucky. … You can watch web casts of the Lady Hawks’ NCAA Tournament games through ncaa.org.

Slap of the Week — March 13

Posted by dobrien – March 13, 2009

dsc00218-300x225In their attempt to keep up with the Joneses in the National League Central Division, the Pittsburgh Pirates have turned to a pair of reality show participants to at least give them a little positive pub, which is much needed for a team that hasn’t been relevant since Atlanta’s Sid Bream made his mighty dash in the 1992 NLCS and killed the Steel City’s dreams. 

India’s Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel won an Indian reality show “$1 Million Arm,” and were subsequently signed by the Pirates after they showed their stuff to some Major League scouts late last year. 

The duo actually has a pretty entertaining blog. I’d never root against these guys, but the chances of them making the majors isn’t very good. The team plans to keep them in extended spring training to wait for the next draft class to come in.

But it was this photo above with Barry Bonds that turned me on the pair. It’s pretty obvious this is nothing more than a publicity stunt by the Pirates to sign these guys. Parade them around, get some national pub for them and the team and then dump them when they can’t hack it in A ball.

Mid-Week Grades for March 11

Posted by dobrien – March 11, 2009

Here is this week’s rundown. Hope you’re ready for the onslaught of basketball that really begins with this weekend’s major conference tournaments. There really is no better time of the year. You can listen to WGEM SportsCenter today around 8:20 to hear these get dissected by me and Josh Houchins. Remember to check in with us every weekday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on ESPN 1440 or catch the show online at that time.

kellersmall2A — Jessica Keller. It’s really too bad the Quincy University senior had to set the school’s scoring record in a loss Sunday to Northern Kentucky, a loss that snapped the Lady Hawks’ 16-game winning streak and string of 28 straight wins at Pepsi Arena. With her 14 points in the GLVC Tournament title game, Keller eclipsed Angie Rogers’ mark of 1,778, giving her 1,782 for her career. Keller took Sunday’s 77-72 loss hard. She was the last player out of the locker room and took a lot of responsibility for the loss. After she had an off weekend at home, I’d hate to be in her path at this weekend’s Midwest Region Tournament.

qhswinsmallB — Quincy High School boys basketball team. The Blue Devils deserve all the credit in the world for making it through to this week’s sectional play. They finally figured out East Moline and Moline, both of which beat QHS twice during the regular season, to advance. The players get credit for buying into what Sean Taylor sold them with the switch to a faster pace midway through the season. And how about QHS’s all-time home record in regional play — 99-2? Impressive.

C — St. Augustine’s College baseball team. What, never heard of them? Well, the Division II school pulled off a rarity last weekend as pitchers threw no-hitters in both ends of a doubleheader with Lincoln (Pa.). I love the school’s press release: “It is believed to be the first time in recent memory that two pitchers tossed no-hitters for the Falcons on the same day.” Really? I’d think that if it happened before, the school would remember. It’s not like a double no-hitter happens every day. Kudos to pitchers Brandon Stewart and Ryan Wood. The Falcons, who are coaches by — and I’m not making this up — Dr. Thomas Wood,  swept the twinbill by scores of 10-1 and 25-2 over the winless Lions. (Maybe Lincoln should think about changing its nickname or finding someone that can hit a ball.)

heatsmallD — National Basketball Association. The league is holding its second “Latin Nights” promotion, which it calls a tribute to fans and players from Latin American and Hispanic cities. You may have noticed the Miami Heat jerseys on Monday when they beat the Bulls in double overtime. The front of the jersey read “El Heat.” There are also “Los Lakers” and “Los Spurs” jerseys. The NBA can call it whatever it wants, but it’s nothing more than a way for the league to make more cash off jersey sales. I’ll pass on any “El Toros” jerseys the league might try to pawn off on Chicago Bulls fans in the future — unless, of course, they make an Andres Nocioni throwback version.

bildeF — Montana High School Association. The Harlem — yes, there is a Harlem in Montana — boys basketball team’s season came to a premature end last week when one of its players shattered the backboard during pregame warmups during a division playoff game at Cut Bank. According to silly MHSA rules, the team had to forfeit the game and pay back any damages. This was the first time since the rule went into effect in 1999 that it was used to eliminate a team from the postseason. Couldn’t they have just moved the game to another gym? Being Montana, the next gym may have been 50 miles away, who knows? Still, what a silly rule.

QU Review — Northern Kentucky 77, QU women 72

Posted by dobrien – March 8, 2009

The Lady Hawks’ hopes of a third Great Lakes Valley Conference championship were dashed by the Norse, who rallied back from a 14-point first-half deficit to claim the title and the likely rights to host next weekend’s Midwest Region Tournament.

Sunday’s stars

slack-pic1. Jessie Slack

The Northern Kentucky senior did it all. She scored seven points during a key 13-2 run by the Norse midway through the second half. She finished with 28 points and seven rebounds. QU coach JD Gravina said Slack has no real weakness. I won’t argue that point. She was named the tournament’s MVP.

irby08092. Whintae Irby

For the second time this weekend, the junior point guard from Peoria played a key role in the Lady Hawks’ offense. She finished with 14 points, showing plenty of confidence shooting the ball early in the game. She also earned a spot on the all-tournament team and was probably QU’s MVP on the weekend.

lantry-pic3. Rachel Lantry

She hit two big 3-pointers to help the Norse fight their way back into the game. She and fellow reserve Kendra Caldwell gave the NKU bench a big boost. With starter Danyelle Echols banished to the bench by NKU coach Nancy Winstel, Lantry delivered with 12 points.

DOBservations

The Lady Hawks’ winning streak was snapped at 16 games and their Pepsi Arena streak was stopped after 28 straight home wins. … QU’s Jessica Keller became the school’s all-time leading scorer after scoring 14 points in the loss. She officially passed Angie Rogers on the all-time scoring list with a pair of free throws with 4:01 to play in the second half. Keller now has 1,781 points in her career. … Keller was also on the all-tournament team alongside NKU’s Cassie Brannen and Lewis’ Jenny Turpel. … Gravina busted out a cream-colored suit for the game. Couldn’t tell if he was Crockett or Tubbs from the old “Miami Vice” TV show. … The crowd of 1,525 was the smallest of the weekend for a QU game. Still, the games this weekend at Pepsi Arena will hold the the Nos. 3 through 5 spots on the GLVC Tournament all-time attendance list. Saturday’s 1,718 is third; Friday’s, 1624 is fourth and Sunday’s crowd fifth on the all-time list. … The tournament title was the fourth in NKU history. The Norse also won GLVC tourney crowns in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2009.

QU Review — QU 69, Missouri S&T 57

Posted by dobrien – March 7, 2009

The Lady Hawks built a 15-point halftime lead and made it hold up the rest of the game in advancing to the GLVC title game against Northern Kentucky.

Saturday’s stars

shumanc08091. Courtney Shuman

The sophomore’s strong late-season surge continued with another double-double. She finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. More important than her offense was her defense on Missouri S&T star Tamara McCaskill. With Shuman shadowing her, McCaskill had just four first-half points. Shuman will need to deliver again against an NKU team filled with quality post players.

keller0809-10-00-282. Jessica Keller

The GLVC Player of the Year played much more within herself than she did during Friday’s quarterfinals when she turned the ball over nine times. She filled up the stat sheet like normal, finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds, five steals and five assists. She needs just 11 points now to become the all-time leading scorer in the history of QU women’s basketball. It would be nice to see her do that on her home floor.

burgin08093. Janette Burgin

Foul woes limited her to just nine minutes of playing time in the first half, but she was still effective. She had 10 points and four rebounds, making several key plays early in the game before heading to the bench. She also played some solid defense against McCaskill and S&T power forward Katie McElrath, who was a non-factor.

DOBservations

The Lady Hawks had a special fan in the stands. Former coach Larry Just and his family made the trip from Louisville, Ky., to take in the game. Just now coaches high school girls basketball in the Louisville area. His team went 13-16 in his first season this winter. … Just lost a halftime shootout to former player Lisa Farrell. … Some of the loudest fans in the stands were members of the QU men’s basketball team, all of whom showed plenty of energy for a group that didn’t even get into Quincy until 5:30 that morning from their loss Friday night to Bellarmine at Evansville, Ind. Sophomore Josh Edmonds even played flag bearer by waving the QU flag before the game as the Lady Hawks rushed on to the court. … The crowd of 1,718 replaced Friday’s as the third-largest in the history of the GLVC women’s tournament. … Today’s men’s GLVC Tournament title game will pit Northern Kentucky against Bellarmine. NKU beat Rockhurst 67-62 despite 24 points by Canton’s Aaron Hill. Bellarmine beat host Southern Indiana 54-50 in the other semifinal, which turned ugly with several players thrown out for fighting.