Random Sports Babbling Post 2

Or Mickey's Olympics?

 

I didn't get the chance to watch it (don't have TV), was it as good as his match versus Verdasco?

 

And A-rod admits to using steroids. Yet another wonderful day for baseball.

 

So gutted about the final match of the Chappell-Hadlee!!! We wuz robbed! And what an incredible innings from Martin Guptill.

 

Tell me about it, Tassadar. And then losing the Twenty20 by 1 run!!

 

Now that was really harsh! I can't believe we ended up one run short.

 

It's because his agent is Scott Boras, who seemingly can convince everyone (players, G.M.'s, etc.) against all logic.

Manny is cool though, he may be lazy but all the semi-superstitious stuff* about him to go with his production is cool.

*I say superstitious because I was reading an article once (believe it was SI.com) quoting a few different opposing managers and pitchers, and more than once the belief came out that Manny would let you strike him out with a certain pitch early in the year, just so you'd try it in the post-season... And he could rip it. Crazy and probably not true, but still cool.

WSU Cougars basketball team defeated Arizona today, to make a second consecutive quality win (with the other being UCLA <- just for you DMC ). And while I realize that the team would have to win the PAC-10 tourney to get a NCAA tournament bid, I still see at least an NIT invite coming, and that is enough for me. Though if I wanted to get far-fetched, defeating ASU and UW along with two PAC-10 tourney victories may be enough to get there with such an overall down year.

 

Another big win for WSU. That is getting it going at the right time... And what a way to do it on senior night.



Poor quality, but it's what I could find... Still cool.

 

Go NZ for tomorrow's ODI cricket match against India!

 

dmc, I have been following the saga, and I am likewise disgusted. I have always hated Borass for trying to push teams' limits... it usually ends with a poor relationship between the club and player. I would not be surprised if nobody signs Manny because they don't want to deal with him and Boras as well as paying 45 million without deferment.

 

They have nine freshman! 60% (2/3 if you add in the soph. Boeke who was ineligible last year) of the roster had not played college basketball until this year, I do not see how you can call a team like that underachieving. Their best player is Rochestie and at the beginning of the year he did force it too much, but he had to. Their next best player is a freshman (Thompson) who only came here because no other PAC-10 team was willing to give him an offer.

Their talent is down, and it is the coaching style that gives them a chance to win. They are now starting a freshman at guard (Capers) who shoots 25% from the field and cant handle defensive pressure. But, when you slow it down and play defense, almost every game will be competitive, and that is what happened (outside of losses to Gonzaga, UW, and Pittsburgh... but all of those were about knotted at half as well).

Out of the PAC-10 I see only Stanford and Oregon as having less talent than them, and Oregon State is a maybe as well. So for a team that is about 7-8th talent wise with a good chance to finish .500 in conference and in the 5th or 6th spot... I'd take it.

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Too add a little bit (I like talking sports ) and to give a semi-useful comparison, it is worth mentioning Jrue Holiday. Here is a kid that has talent and potential and all of that, but isn't making a big impact on the college game. It will take some time for that to happen with some players... now when a team has 9 freshmen (admittedly two are redshirts and one is this year) you cannot predict how long it will take for them to adjust, or the whole team for that matter. Now that they seem to have it down WSU is playing 3 freshman together for long stretches (such as the Arizona game), they are still undeveloped, but they've learned what they can do, and their roles. Provide energy, play defense, and rotate the ball on offense (except for Klay Thompson, as he is the only freshman with any offensive skills... and he has a bunch).

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree The team only has two freshman who are ready to play right now in Thompson and Casto (only for his athletic ability and effort). From the rest of the roster there are only five players who are skilled enough to merit any time, which means the depth is severely limited. The biggest factor of all, is that the team just isn't very athletic. That's where the trouble tends to come from, teams with athletes, even if they aren't the most skilled. Baylor's guards did it, USC was able to beat WSU because of that, same with Cal, and that is why I was scared to death versus Arizona.

There are several bad losses and most of those were due to inexperience down the stretch (bad turnovers and shot selection). However, the team is right about at my expectations, and all I saw coming at the beginning of the year was an NIT bid (at best)... and that is what they are going to get.

This is a crazy year though, in that there are not many mid-majors worthy of an at-large, and a whole lot of teams seem on the bubble. A win at UW and advancing to the PAC-10 finals might even be enough, but only because the selection committee takes how you finish a season into account.

 

Man, that Sachin Tendulkar is good.

 

Anybody else watching the world baseball classic?
I've caught a couple of the games(mostly s korea, japan, & china) but they have been enjoyable.