Spurs on a Roll
After going 4-6 to open the season, the San Antonio Spurs seem to be on a sweet roll. Sunday, the Spurs hosted the injury ailed 76′rs. From the beginning, the Spurs got down to their old fashion gritty defense. The Spurs had 8 blocked shots, and held the Sixers to under 40 percent shooting. The game marked the return of star guard Manu Ginobili, who has missed some games do to an ankle injury, he came off the bench to score 8 points in 17 minutes. The Spurs were led by T. Duncan with 22 pts and 6 rebs. T. Parker had 16 pts and 8 asst, but it was the play of rookie forward D. Blair that made the difference, he had 11 pts and 10 rebs,but the hustle plays and energy he brought is what pushed the rest of the team. The Spurs have won 5 straight.
The Sixers (5-12) were led by A. Iguodala with 21 pts and 8 reb. The Sixers had 4 players in double figures, but couldn’t match the intensity and talent of the Spurs. Spurs pick up the 97-89 victory.
Spurs guard M. Ginobili said after the game, ” We shouldn’t care that much about winning five in a row. Its always good. It helps your confidence, and of course your standings, but we believe we got a long way to go.”
The Spurs will host the Celtics next, the Sixers will try to pick up a victory in Dallas monday night.
Lakers keep going strong
The LA Lakers hosted the worst team in the league sunday, the New Jersey Nets. From the get go the Lakers showed no mercy. Holding NJ to 12 first quarter points, and causing 6 turnovers. Maybe they were distracted, earlier in the week the Nets, fired their head coach Lawrence Frank. Still, there’s no excuse for playing with a lack of defense for 48 minutes. At least some Nets players showed up, C B. Lopez had himself a game. he racked up 26 pts, with 12 rebounds, but it was a lost cause. The Nets shot less than 40 percent from the field, while the Lakers shot a consistent 50 percent.
Nets guard C. Roberts said, ” I wish I could explain it. There’s nothing really good out of this. I try to stay positive, but its extremely hard to stay positive. All the things going on, its depressing.”
The defending champ, the Lakers had no problem scoring. K. Bryant had 30 pts, 7 Reb, and 7 asst. The only other Laker in double figures was P. Gasol with 20 pts, but against the Nets that’s all they needed. The Nets C B. Lopez didn’t get much help, besides D. Harris who had 16 pts. This is the worst start for the Nets in franchise history. The Nets stay without a win, and the Lakers improved to 13-3.
Trojan Statement
A little over a minute left, the Trojans did the right thing, they kneed on the ball. Unfortunately, UCLA decided to instigate in the rivalry. Bruins head coach, called a timeout right after the Trojans kneed on it. what do you, Pete Caroll and the rest of the Trojans took it offensively, and the next play, M. Barkley went 43 yds to the end zone for D. Williams.
After the clock hit triple zero, the Trojan sideline stormed the field and began what would be considered a taunt. The UCLA Bruins didn’t back down, they too stormed the field an confronted the Trojans. Only after the coaches and staff broke them up, did the confrontation end.
SC QB Matt Barkley said, “No we weren’t going to fight, but I put my helmet and my mouthpiece in, just in case.”
USC had good reason to celebrate, they had just beat their most hated rivals, and embarrassed them. Also, USC held the Bruins to 7 pts, and even though the Bruins nearly matched the Trojans in total yards, they couldn’t find the end zone enough. Bruins QB K. Prince threw for 90 yds on 10 of 22 attempts, but had 2 crucial INT’s. On the other side, SC QB M. Barkley threw for 206 yds, with 1 TD and 1 INT. RB A. Bradford had 2 TD, and rushed for 62 yds. USC with the win hopes they still have a shot at the Rose Bowl, doesn’t look likely, but hey its college football, and USC is a BCS favorite.
Dawg fight
The unranked Georgia Bulldogs, faced their in-state rivals the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Saturday. The Jackets came in ranked #7 in the country, and with a sure bid to the ACC championship game next weekend.
By the way the Dawgs ran the ball, you would think GT was looking ahead to next week instead of playing defense. Georgia freshmen RB W. Ealey ran for 183 yds on 20 carries, and RB C. King had 166 yds on 18 carries with 2 TD’s. After GT racked up 400 yds against the Dawgs last year, it was revenge time. Yet that wasn’t all, GT came in as the 2nd best rushing team, but was held to 205 yds all day. With the threat of the triple option, Georgia’s defense held GT running QB J. Nebitt to a mere 41 yds.
GT safety M. Burnett said, ” It hurts I know I’m hurting, we were a higher ranked team, but we got complacent.”
After GT managed to get within 7 in the third, the Dawgs showed who the dominant team in the state was. GT QB hit WR D. Thomas for a 76 yd TD, but Georgia countered that, when C. King broke free on a 75 yd TD run on the very next Georgia possession. GT scored 3 more times, but ultimately the Dawgs pulled off the 30-24 victory. With the win Georgia improved to 7-5, and also improved the odds of making a bowl game new years day. As for the Yellow Jackets, they fell to 10-2, which is a damn good record, but even with the lost they will face ACC rival, Clemson next Saturday. Should be fun.
