X played great defense, hit free throws and Georgia went cold. Completely unnecessary foul with 6.6 left. 73-61 final.
X outscored UGA 47-26 in the second half. Muskies finished 27-33 from the line after starting 2-6 from it. Which means they made 25 of their last 27 free throws, all in the second half.
The Muskies actually only made six 3-pointers. Dante Jackson's stat line: 1-1, 3 points. A huge 3 points.
Duncan was CBS' player of the game because he was high scorer, but I would have given it to Derrick Brown. Brown was outstanding.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Other keys
Muskies are 13/13 from the line since starting the game 2/6. Brown's 3-point play with 5:05 left was huge ... he's played a tremendous game.
Georgia has really run out of gas too.
Georgia has really run out of gas too.
Xavier leads!
If Xavier ends up winning, people are going to credit the 12-0 run that featured a big Brown dunk and concluded with B.J. Raymond and Dante Jackson hitting back-to-back 3s. But the 0 in the 12-0 run is just as important. Xavier played great defense during this run. They contested shots, made a couple of key steals and rebounded fairly well.
That Jackson 3 was pretty huge though. It took them a few tries to finally make the 3 that tied it (or would have pulled them within 1) but for Jackson to give them the lead right away was CLUTCH.
That Jackson 3 was pretty huge though. It took them a few tries to finally make the 3 that tied it (or would have pulled them within 1) but for Jackson to give them the lead right away was CLUTCH.
Here comes the run
Xavier is within 4 (46-42). They're getting back into the game by being aggressive and hitting their free throws. This sequence helped a lot ...
Nice offensive rebound and putback for Duncan
12:21 charge call in Xavier's favor
2 Burrell free throws
11:49 huge steal for Xavier
Nice offensive rebound and putback for Duncan
12:21 charge call in Xavier's favor
2 Burrell free throws
11:49 huge steal for Xavier
Making progress
At least the Muskies are penetrating and getting fouled now. Even though they missed some free throws early, they are a very good foul shooting team and they can chip away at the lead if they can get to the line.
With 15:45 left ...
Georgia is shooting 56% from the field for the game. They need to start missing or X is in deep trouble.
Woodbury is 5-7. Making him miss would be a good start.
Woodbury is 5-7. Making him miss would be a good start.
It's only getting worse
If you're down 9 at the half, it doesn't help if you can't make a dent right off the bat at the start of the second half. But Josh Duncan missed a couple of free throws, Sundiata Gaines picked Lavender's pocket and went in for an uncontested layup, and X is down 41-30. They're going to need to make a run.
Xavier trails at halftime
So what's the problem for X?
Georgia shot 55% from the field; Xavier shot 36%.
Lavender was 2-for-7 in the first half; Burrell was scoreless.
Woodbury has 10 for UGA (he's 4-for-5 from the field).
Georgia closed the half with an 8-2 run.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Bengals developments
Bengals.Com is reporting that franchise player Stacy Andrews signed his one-year tender of $7.5 million, the average '07 salary of the NFL's top five paid offensive lineman.
The Bengals are still talking to Andrews' agent, Rich Moran, in an effort to secure a long-term deal that would lessen the salary cap hit in 2008. The sides have until July 15 to reach a long-term deal.
Also, as of Tuesday evening, the Ben Utecht camp had yet to hear from the Colts as the clock ticks to 48 hours on the Bengals offer sheet.
And Chad keeps talking about how badly he wants out of Cincinnati. In an NFL Network interview, he said it's time for a change.
He said in response to the grass not being greener on the other side, "If I move, I've got my water hose and I've got my seeds. I'm going to make it green."
The Bengals are still talking to Andrews' agent, Rich Moran, in an effort to secure a long-term deal that would lessen the salary cap hit in 2008. The sides have until July 15 to reach a long-term deal.
He said in response to the grass not being greener on the other side, "If I move, I've got my water hose and I've got my seeds. I'm going to make it green."
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Jose Capellan
There were so many interesting Reds developments on the field last night - Cueto dealing, three homers, two hits each for Patterson and Freel, etc. - and they still have 57 players in camp, so there are plenty of guys to follow right now, but here's one more you may want to make a note of because of this guy's numbers - which are pretty filthy - and the fact that they've had recent success (Burton) via Rule 5. From MLB.com ...
Left-handed pitcher Jose Capellan was claimed off waivers from the Giants. Capellan, 21, was selected in the Rule 5 Draft from the Red Sox in December. Last season with Class A Lowell, he was 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 14 starts. He walked 11 and struck out 71.
Reds scout Ross Sapp watched Capellan with the Giants in Arizona and recommended the acquisition. Although a starter in the Minors, he will pitch from the bullpen if he makes the team out of camp.
"I'm just anxious to see him," said Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky. "Ross sent in some video on him. We had a chance to watch him. It was good."
Under Rule 5 provisions, Capellan would have to stay on the Reds' 25-man roster all season or be offered back to Boston. Cincinnati paid $25,000 for the waiver claim but would get the money back if he doesn't make the team.
To make room for Capellan on the 40-man roster lefty Alexander Smit was sent outright to Class A Sarasota.
Left-handed pitcher Jose Capellan was claimed off waivers from the Giants. Capellan, 21, was selected in the Rule 5 Draft from the Red Sox in December. Last season with Class A Lowell, he was 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 14 starts. He walked 11 and struck out 71.
Reds scout Ross Sapp watched Capellan with the Giants in Arizona and recommended the acquisition. Although a starter in the Minors, he will pitch from the bullpen if he makes the team out of camp.
"I'm just anxious to see him," said Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky. "Ross sent in some video on him. We had a chance to watch him. It was good."
Under Rule 5 provisions, Capellan would have to stay on the Reds' 25-man roster all season or be offered back to Boston. Cincinnati paid $25,000 for the waiver claim but would get the money back if he doesn't make the team.
To make room for Capellan on the 40-man roster lefty Alexander Smit was sent outright to Class A Sarasota.
Xavier 74, Dayton 65
Xavier trailed early in the second half, but the Muskies finished strong - and kept Dayton to five field goals in the final 12 minutes - to down the Flyers for the third time this season and advance to the A-10 tourney semifinals.
Five Musketeers scored in double figures: Josh Duncan had 16, C.J. Anderson had 15, Stanley Burrell had 13, Drew Lavender scored 12 and Derrick Brown chipped in 11.
The Muskies led 35-29 at the half.
Marcus Johnson scored a career-high 26 for the Flyers. Brian Roberts added 13.
The Musketeers shot 44.7% from the field (21-47); Dayton shot 42% (21-50). Xavier was 24-34 from the line.
Xavier improved to 27-5. Dayton's bubble probably burst with the loss, which dropped the Flyers to 21-10, 8-9 in the A-10.
Xavier will play Friday evening against the Richmond-Saint Joseph's winner.
Click here for updated conference tourney schedules/results.
Five Musketeers scored in double figures: Josh Duncan had 16, C.J. Anderson had 15, Stanley Burrell had 13, Drew Lavender scored 12 and Derrick Brown chipped in 11.
The Muskies led 35-29 at the half.
Marcus Johnson scored a career-high 26 for the Flyers. Brian Roberts added 13.
The Musketeers shot 44.7% from the field (21-47); Dayton shot 42% (21-50). Xavier was 24-34 from the line.
Xavier improved to 27-5. Dayton's bubble probably burst with the loss, which dropped the Flyers to 21-10, 8-9 in the A-10.
Xavier will play Friday evening against the Richmond-Saint Joseph's winner.
Click here for updated conference tourney schedules/results.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Hue Jackson chimes in
You should definitely read Mark Curnutte's blog post about the alleged incident involving Chad Johnson and Marvin Lewis during halftime of the January 2006 playoff game if you're still interested in hearing what people who might have been present have to say about it. Is this thing EVER going to go away?
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Reds 7, Indians 4
Highlights and lowlights from 4 1/2 innings (game called due to rain):
Reds scored 5 in the second. Dunn and Encarnacion walked. Votto singled in Dunn. Bako walked. Jolbert Cabrera doubled in two. Freel singled in two more.
Reds got two more in the fourth off Jeremy Sowers (who the Reds drafted in the first round out of high school) thanks to hits from Bako, Hopper, Janish and Drew Anderson.
Keppinger 2-for-2.
Fogg gave up a homer to the first batter he faced (Franklin Gutierrez) but only gave up one other hit in his 3 innings.
Belisle gave up three runs on three hits in the second.
What happened? update
OK, don't want to go into too much more detail on the Shaun Rogers thing - what's done is done. But Doc had a Detroit newspaper reporter on SportsTalk last night who explained the whole thing really well. He emphasized that the Bengals didn't do anything wrong, and the Bengals and Lions actually agreed to make the trade and agreed on who would pick up the $1 million roster bonus. The problem was the league had a problem with what they agreed to; the league said the agreement might violate collective bargaining. And of course the fact that it went down just before the 4 p.m. deadline (when Rogers' roster bonus would become an issue) basically gave Rogers and his agent an opportunity to shop around a little more. If Rogers and his agent really would have wanted the deal to happen, it would have happened, probably the next day. But once Browns GM Phil Savage saw the door was still open, Rogers and his agent made it happen.
As far as the Dewayne Robertson thing, now there are several sources reporting that the deal between the Bengals and Jets won't happen because the Bengals couldn't agree to terms with Robertson.
Of course, the Bengals did land Antwan Odom, which is exciting, and I don't think losing Madieu and Justin Smith is the end of the world at all. In fact, Peter King did a nice job putting Smith's over-inflated sense of self-worth into perspective.
It'd be nice to have a big-time DT, though, and it's looking like that might be the route the Bengals have to go in the draft.
As far as the Dewayne Robertson thing, now there are several sources reporting that the deal between the Bengals and Jets won't happen because the Bengals couldn't agree to terms with Robertson.
Of course, the Bengals did land Antwan Odom, which is exciting, and I don't think losing Madieu and Justin Smith is the end of the world at all. In fact, Peter King did a nice job putting Smith's over-inflated sense of self-worth into perspective.
It'd be nice to have a big-time DT, though, and it's looking like that might be the route the Bengals have to go in the draft.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Uh oh
In an earlier post, I mentioned that it might not be so bad that we didn't get Shaun Rogers as long as we get Dewayne Robertson. Monday morning, a deal looked fairly imminent (confirmed by Geoff Hobson). Now ESPN.com says the deal is on life support. Apparently the Bengals can't agree to terms with the No. 4 pick in the 2003 draft. In fact, this story points out ...
In an interesting twist, the Bengals would have had on their roster two of the first four picks in the 2003 draft. In fact, Cincinnati selected quarterback Carson Palmer first overall that year from among a group of four finalists that also included Robertson, whom Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis (along with many other personnel evaluators) is said to have loved coming out of the University of Kentucky.
It does sound like we're going to get Antwan Odom, though, which is good.
In an interesting twist, the Bengals would have had on their roster two of the first four picks in the 2003 draft. In fact, Cincinnati selected quarterback Carson Palmer first overall that year from among a group of four finalists that also included Robertson, whom Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis (along with many other personnel evaluators) is said to have loved coming out of the University of Kentucky.
It does sound like we're going to get Antwan Odom, though, which is good.
Youk
Here's a nice piece about Sycamore HS and UC grad Kevin Youkilis, Gold Glove-winning first baseman of the Red Sox.
In case you missed it ...
... if you didn't see the legendary post-game tirade from last week where Michigan women's basketball coach Kevin Borseth goes off, it's worth checking out.
Mock draft update
Some of these will hopefully be updated once all of the free agents land, but I wanted to offer a quick look at who several sites have the Bengals drafting:
WalterFootball.com: Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU. They make a point of saying "especially after they lost out in the Shaun Rogers sweepstakes," so this could change if we get Dewayne Robertson.
NFL Draft Countdown: Phillip Merling, DE, Clemson. And they say a DE would be a logical choice after Justin Smith left, so this too could change if we get Antwan Odom. BTW, they have Vernon Gholston going 7th, which is why it's not him.
Draft King: Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State. Same reason, because we lost Smith.
SI.com: Derrick Harvey, DE, Florida. Same reason. Don Banks has Gholston going 6th and Merling going 13th.
Football's Future: Dorsey.
NFL Draft Dog: Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State
Bruce suffers quad injury
Jay Bruce left Sunday's game against Toronto with a mild left quadriceps strain. MLB.com's Mark Sheldon says he'll be monitored day-to-day. He hurt it rounding first on a two-run double to left-center.
"It's fine," Bruce said. "I didn't want to take any chances in spring. I'll stretch it out and ice [it]. It'll be ready to go in no time."
"We took him out for precaution," manager Dusty Baker said.
On CBSSportsline's fantasy section, they're already saying this injury only increases his chances of opening the season in the minors.
A little premature, methinks. If he's back in the lineup this week, I don't know why he couldn't still make the team.
"It's fine," Bruce said. "I didn't want to take any chances in spring. I'll stretch it out and ice [it]. It'll be ready to go in no time."
"We took him out for precaution," manager Dusty Baker said.
On CBSSportsline's fantasy section, they're already saying this injury only increases his chances of opening the season in the minors.
A little premature, methinks. If he's back in the lineup this week, I don't know why he couldn't still make the team.
What happened?
Many fans were encouraged Friday that even though the Bengals lost Madieu Williams to the Vikings and Justin Smith to the Niners they had traded for defensive tackle Shaun Rogers of the Lions. But the deal somehow fell through and the Browns ended up getting Rogers.
So what went wrong? I thought for sure after I got a "Bengals trade for Shaun Rogers" breaking news e-mail from Cincinnati.Com as I was leaving work Friday that we had a new DT. We might never know the whole truth. Some say the NFL may have stepped in because the trade violated a salary-cap rule. Others believe the trade wasn't reported to the league office after it went down right before 4 p.m., considered the end of the NFL day, leaving the Lions free to negotiate a deal with another team. And the Lions apparently preferred to get a player instead of picks in return for Rogers all along (which they got - CB Leigh Bodden - from the Browns). There also may have been faulty language in the trade that forced the NFL to void it.
The Detroit News said:
The sticking point with Cincinnati was the $1 million bonus Rogers was due if he was on the roster at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
A person involved in the trade negotiations said the Bengals wanted language in the agreement that would require the Lions to pay the roster bonus if Rogers failed his physical. It amounted to insurance for the Bengals, and the Lions refused.
There wasn't time for Rogers to take a physical before the roster-bonus deadline. The Lions ran the risk of losing the $1 million -- which would count against this year's salary cap of $116 million -- regardless if they kept Rogers or traded him to another team.
Freep.com (Detroit Free Press) seems to think Rogers himself may have had more to do with it than you think, even after he met with Bengals and declared he was excited to be coming here and he'd be a good fit, etc. One thing is certain: There's plenty of speculation about why it didn't happen.
But there may be a silver lining in all of this. ESPN.com is reporting the Bengals may be on the verge of dealing with the Jets for former University of Kentucky star Dewayne Robertson. I heard Geoff Hobson say they just need to figure out a contract and it could be a done deal. Might not be such a bad thing. Everyone has their own opinion as far as whether Rogers or Robertson is more talented, but the consensus is with Robertson you don't have to worry about his attitude or work ethic, he doesn't have the checkered past Rogers has and weight isn't going to be a problem (Rogers is reportedly going about 380 these days; Robertson is a more manageable 305 or 310).
And free agent Antwan Odom of the Titans is visiting with the Bengals as well as the Cardinals, which means we might have a new DT and DE if we play our cards right. And with Robertson, there's a strong chance the Bengals would switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3. So it could definitely change who we were thinking about drafting.
Check out the update of who the mock drafts have the Bengals taking.
So what went wrong? I thought for sure after I got a "Bengals trade for Shaun Rogers" breaking news e-mail from Cincinnati.Com as I was leaving work Friday that we had a new DT. We might never know the whole truth. Some say the NFL may have stepped in because the trade violated a salary-cap rule. Others believe the trade wasn't reported to the league office after it went down right before 4 p.m., considered the end of the NFL day, leaving the Lions free to negotiate a deal with another team. And the Lions apparently preferred to get a player instead of picks in return for Rogers all along (which they got - CB Leigh Bodden - from the Browns). There also may have been faulty language in the trade that forced the NFL to void it.
The Detroit News said:
The sticking point with Cincinnati was the $1 million bonus Rogers was due if he was on the roster at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
A person involved in the trade negotiations said the Bengals wanted language in the agreement that would require the Lions to pay the roster bonus if Rogers failed his physical. It amounted to insurance for the Bengals, and the Lions refused.
There wasn't time for Rogers to take a physical before the roster-bonus deadline. The Lions ran the risk of losing the $1 million -- which would count against this year's salary cap of $116 million -- regardless if they kept Rogers or traded him to another team.
Freep.com (Detroit Free Press) seems to think Rogers himself may have had more to do with it than you think, even after he met with Bengals and declared he was excited to be coming here and he'd be a good fit, etc. One thing is certain: There's plenty of speculation about why it didn't happen.
But there may be a silver lining in all of this. ESPN.com is reporting the Bengals may be on the verge of dealing with the Jets for former University of Kentucky star Dewayne Robertson. I heard Geoff Hobson say they just need to figure out a contract and it could be a done deal. Might not be such a bad thing. Everyone has their own opinion as far as whether Rogers or Robertson is more talented, but the consensus is with Robertson you don't have to worry about his attitude or work ethic, he doesn't have the checkered past Rogers has and weight isn't going to be a problem (Rogers is reportedly going about 380 these days; Robertson is a more manageable 305 or 310).
And free agent Antwan Odom of the Titans is visiting with the Bengals as well as the Cardinals, which means we might have a new DT and DE if we play our cards right. And with Robertson, there's a strong chance the Bengals would switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3. So it could definitely change who we were thinking about drafting.
Check out the update of who the mock drafts have the Bengals taking.
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