GOOD BYE-BRATIONS

Love to declare for June Draft

Just a month after leading the UCLA Bruins to their 3^rd consecutive Pac-10 title, and a week after being unceremoniously upset, at least in the eyes of bracket-fillers nationwide, by runner-up Memphis, freshman center Kevin Love and junior guard Darren Collison have reportedly decided to leave Westwood and declare themselves for the upcoming NBA draft. Love and Collison, 1^st team and 3^rd team All-American selections respectively, were expected to hire agents in preparation for the June draft, making them ineligible to return to a Bruin team that just participated in their 3^rd straight Final Four.

According to reports, word first broke out of Love’s potential declaration to enter the ‘08 Draft via his Facebook profile, which stated, “Kevin Love is: entering the NBA draft, suckas” which was taken down soon after and replaced with “Kevin Love is: just joshin ya”.

Amidst the confusion Tuesday, Love’s mom announced that no decision had yet been made, and that Kevin would be travelling up to Oregon on Wednesday to discuss the draft with his family because, well, who needs Intro to Biology when the Chicago Bulls beckon. No word yet on whether Uncle Mike Love would be attending the family meetings and trying to persuade his nephew to go for the green.

If Love and Collison do indeed declare for the draft, the 2008 pool would become even more stacked with talent, as it already looks to be one of the deepest drafts in years. Among those already declared or likely to declare for June: damn-near-consensus #1 pick Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose and teammate CDR from Memphis, USC guard OJ Mayo, the Lopez twins from Stanford, Jerryd Bayless from Arizona, 1^st team All American D.J. Augustin, and forward Anthony Randolph from LSU.

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VINDIC-HATED?

Bucker back in Boston, current Sox flaunt rings to his face

After traveling to Saturn and back during the last week, the Red Sox finally come home to Beantown to open up the 2008 season at the Fens. Ironically, during the same ceremony where the 2007 World Series rings were presented, the grateful people in the Sox front office invited the long-infamous Billy Buckner to experience something he would have 22 years ago, if he only hadn't screwed the pooch. Buckner's psyche was not available for comment.

VIDEO

Vilified and scorned for nearly the past two decades in Red Sox lore, Bucker threw out the first pitch to a rousing ovation from the Fenway faithful as if he had hit a pennant-winning grand slam last October. It's funny how a couple World Series titles heals old wounds....

The Sox would go on to defeat the Detroit Tigers, 5-0, after seven strong innings from Daisuke Matsuzaka. Motown falls to 0-7 on the season.

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ANOTHER SHINING MOMENT....

Ahh, the Madness is finally over, and the Kansas Jayhawks are left standing now that the dust has settled. You know what that means? It's time for your favorite annual guilty pleasure that even your male hair-stylist named Cameron thinks is kinda gay.

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CRY OF THE TIGERS

Missed foul shots doom Memphis; Kansas commits grand larceny

On a Monday evening that more than made up for an arguably second-rate tournament thus far, two of the nation’s top schools all year long banged heads in a 40-minute winner-take-all showdown in central Texas.

In a game that went back-and-forth like Nick Saban’s words for a majority of the first thirty minutes of play, the Tigers began to pull away a little more than halfway through the second half, eventually boosting the margin to a game-high nine points with a few ticks over two minutes left. Faced with desperation and heart-wrenching defeat looking him dead in the eye, Kansas coach Bill Self decided it was time to exploit Memphis’ best-known Achilles’ heel: their inability to hit undefended set shots from fifteen feet out.

This may have been the most exciting and efficient displays of the foul-and-extend-the-game strategies ever seen on the basketball court. As Memphis missed crucial free throw after free throw (four misses in the waning minutes of regulation), the Jayhawks chipped away at the lead with a colossal steal and big outside shots, including the biggest bucket of the tournament coming out of the hands of Mario Chalmers, who swished in a trey with under 3 ticks left on the game clock to send the contest into only the seventh overtime in Championship Game history. A Joey Dorsey-less Tigers team looked panicked and helplessly scrambled around during the extra period, only managing five points.

Memphis’ Bo Outlaw foul-shooting will surely be under severe scrutiny in the coming days, especially with their tournament free-throws showing vast improvement over their horrid regular season numbers. But on the largest of stages, when it counted the most, with the hearts of their fans riding on their shoulders, the Tigers simply could not deliver. One can point at the “controversial” review of a perimeter jumper (and they got the call correct, John), or the lack of an NBA-ready performance from their freshman-sensation Derrick Rose in the first half (credit given for his ailment), or questionable coaching decisions, but ultimately, the never-say-die Jayhawks took full advantage of Memphis’ fatal shortcomings.

So where do things go from here? Does this win validate Self’s tenure in Lawrence? Will Rose or CDR be back in Memphis come next fall? Surely this loss will leave a nasty taste in the mouth of Calipari and his players for quite some time, but as coach said exiting the floor, “when you have a lead like that, you’re supposed to win the game”.

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THE IRON ENSHRINED

The Dream and Ewing, Sr. cement legendary status

When Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing went toe-to-toe in the 1994 NBA Finals during the "Dark Ages" of the Chicago Bulls Empire of the Nineties, we all knew we were watching two sure-fire Hall-of-Famers battle each other for the crowning achievement that had eluded both of them for their entire illustrious careers. A rematch of the classic NCAA Championship match a decade earlier, in which Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas defeated Olajuwon's Houston Cougars, Hakeem looked to settle the score. The Dream would eventually “shake” his way to the NBA Promised-Land over the Knicks in a remarkable seven game series (including the year after, against a younger "Diesel"), leaving Ewing to ponder how he just missed his opportunity for glory on the biggest stage that every ball player yearns for.

Hakeem entertained and impressed us not with his sky-flying dunks or nightly inserts in ESPN's Top Plays, but with his remarkable and sheer efficiency, lighting up scoreboards with his 18-foot baseline turn-around fall-aways that seemed to soar endlessly towards the arena rafters before finally splashing into the net. Dominant on both the offensive end and a terribly imposing presence underneath on the defensive end, Olajuwon's game was a perfect blend of yin-yang basketball prowess, much like the soft-crunchy Double Decker tacos he hawked with Shaq during the mid-90s. His was a fun and unique brand of basketball to watch, and frankly, a brand that is sorely missed. Olajuwon enters the halls of Springfield with just under 27,000 points, over 13,000 boards, a astounding 3,830 rejections, two rings with matching Finals MVP trophies, 12 All-Star bids, and one quadruple-double.

As for the man who was the face of the Georgetown Hoyas in the early eighties, the man who seemed to be born with wobbly knees wrapped in braces and icepacks, the man who is the reason that sweat-moppers have a job, the man who was blocked by Muggsy, the original urban caveman before Geico took it and ran, and the man who stole every scene in Space Jam, his Hall resume is just as remarkable. As the Big Apple's man in the middle for 15 years, Ewing led the perennial playoff-bound Knicks in numerous memorable rivalries, with Jordan's Bulls, Reggie's Pacers, and Alonzo's Heat, but was never able to capture that elusive championship in 2 tries. P-Ew holds the Knicks records in scoring, rebounds, blocks, and steals, finished with nearly 25,000 points, 11,000 boards, and just under 3,000 blocks. The 1986 Rookie of the Year was a member of 11 Eastern All Star teams, won Olympic gold twice including the Original Dream Team, and was named one of the NBA' 50 Greatest.

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DURANT DURANT

Rookie nails pair of huge threes in 2OT thriller

Kevin Durant used Sunday’s contest against the Nuggets to provide ESPN a few more highlight clips to air for his Rookie of the Year acceptance next month. Durant scored a career-high 37 points to sink the Nuggets 151-147 in a double overtime thrill ride, exacting revenge for the 168-116 shellacking from the Nuggets in March. It was perhaps one of the last remaining memories the city of Seattle would be able to cherish from its Sonics as the season winds down and the possible exile from the Emerald City looms in the air. But for an evening, all hopelessness and bitter feelings surrounding the situation were out of sight, out of mind, as Durant continued to serve as a shining beacon of hope for what revived Seattle Supersonic basketball could be like for the foreseeable future.

If there is indeed a Madden video game curse, perhaps being featured as an NBA Live star brings better luck. Durant, who starred in a series of promotional commercials alongside cover boy Agent Zero, must have stolen a page out of Gil’s book on late-game heroics. With the lead seesawing back and forth for much of the second half, the Nuggets looked like they would take the game and season series sweep. But with the Key Arena crowd on their feet and looking for a miracle, Durant delivered, calmly sinking a 22-foot dagger to send the game to overtime.


The extra session provided much of the same dramatics, with the game close until the Nuggets took a 5-point lead with a minute remaining off an Allen Iverson three. Durant answered The Answer with a pair from the line, and then Sonics swallowed an AI miss on the other end to set up one last attempt with 9 seconds left. Luke Ridenour received the inbounds and dribbled out to find a wide-open Durant at the top of the arc, nearly 26 feet out, who sink the basket and send to game to yet another overtime session, sending the Seattle crowd into absolute hysterics. The Sonics were able to hold off the Nuggets in double OT, despite 38 points game-high points from Carmelo Anthony and 26 from Iverson, with career-highs from Durant and fellow rookie Jeff Green, who had 35.

The Nuggets suffered a horrid weekend at the worst time, with 2 consecutive shocking losses, last night as they hosted Sacramento, and the thriller in Seattle, the first of 4 road games for Denver. Unable to take advantage of the Warriors’ loss in New Orleans Sunday morning and jump a full game ahead of Golden State, the Nuggets remain tied for the 8th and final Western spot, and know a valuable opportunity slipped through their fingers. Every game is a must win, and the loss puts an even greater emphasis on the showdown in Oakland this coming Thursday, as these two teams continue to duke it out in this historic Western Conference playoff chase.

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AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

Heels eat ‘Hawks dust, Bruins fall short once again

They seemed to be on a destiny-driven collision course in San Antonio, as two of the most-storied collegiate basketball programs looked to oust the other two Final Four participants and finally clash head-to-head at the mountain top for NCAA supremacy. Too bad North Carolina and UCLA (again….) both stumbled short of the finish line and simply looked outmatched, out-hustled, and outplayed at the hands of Kansas and Memphis, respectively.

In a game made up of scoring runs by each side, the Tar Heels seemed utterly dominated and helplessly-stunned by the way the Jayhawks were scoring at will. Right out of the gate, it looked as if Kansas gave UNC a devastating leg-whip and took off down the track, eventually running out to a 28-point advantage in the first frame, with the Tar Heels still lying on the ground by the starting blocks. None of UNC’s defensive schemes were really effective at stopping the ball rotation and low-post lobs, and America’s player Tyler Hansbrough got absolutely gang-raped by four blue jerseys every time he tried to step into the paint. The Heels made it interesting in the second half and cut the lead down to single digits, but simply ran out of gas (it is nearing $4/gallon, you know), but will be sure to visit the sludge known as the River Walk and the Alamo before heading back to Chapel Hill.

For the Bruins, they leave the Final Four without the championship nylon for the third straight year and are well on their way to becoming the Buffalo Bills of college basketball. It is apparent that more Final Four experience and playing in an undoubtedly more challenging league did not give the Westwoodies any real edge, as freshman sensation Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts (who probably left two teste-sized bruises on Kevin Love’s chin after tea-bagging him on a posterizing dunk) vaulted Calipari’s Tigers to an NCAA-record 38(!) W’s on the year. Payback is a real bitch for the Bruins, as Memphis avenged a title-game loss to UCLA in 1973.

So now Monday night’s final showdown is finally set. The Kansas Jayhawks will look to take home the big prize for the first time since the Ronald Reagan administration. The Memphis Tigers are prepared to bust their first championship nut. John Calipari will try and bring down the program he once coached as an assistant. Bill Self will seek to bring the trophy back to America’s breadbasket. The storylines one could conjure up are endless, so let’s just get it over with and play some ball.

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