Month: May 2009 (Page 25 of 61)

      Tom Brady bouncing back from knee surgery

      May 20, 2009 /

      According to a report by The Sporting News, Tom Brady is showing no restrictions as he continues to recover from reconstructive knee surgery.

      Brady was able to return his normal rehabilitation schedule within “10 days to two weeks” after the follow-up procedures, the source said. That means the quarterback is roughly six months into the rehab process.

      “He’s full go,” the source said Tuesday. A second source confirmed that assessment.
      Brady hasn’t been shy about taking part in the club’s offseason program, giving teammates a close-up look at his progress. Most Patriots players are apprehensive about shedding too much light on player injuries and rehabs, but indications have been uniformly positive.

      Patriots coach Bill Belichick last month said Brady had been “doing his offseason work without any limitations.” Owner Robert Kraft has said Brady will wear a brace on the left knee, which is standard for players coming off this type of injury. Both Rivers and Palmer wore knee braces coming off their ailments.

      Even if Brady’s rehab is complete, it’s hard to say he has come full circle.

      There’s a significant mental mountain a player has to climb in returning to game action. Authorities in sports medicine say it takes roughly two months of live action for a player to fully learn to use his new knee.

      Brady has a long way to go, but this is definitely an encouraging sign for him and the Patriots. Obviously New England wouldn’t have traded Matt Cassel to Kansas City in the offseason if they didn’t feel Brady would fully recover from his knee surgery in time for the start of the season.

      If he’s fully recovered, there’s no reason to believe the Patriots won’t again be the team to beat in the AFC, as they were before Brady’s injury in Week 1 of last year.

      NFL

      Lakers take Game 1

      May 20, 2009 /

      With an efficient 39 points from Carmelo Anthony, it looked like the Nuggets might pull the upset in Game 1, but a key steal by Trevor Ariza and some clutch play from Kobe Bryant sealed the Laker win, 105-103.

      The Lakers struggled early on, and with Anthony scoring 16 points in the first quarter, the Nuggets led by eight after the first period. As the game wore on, it became clear that the Nuggets are simply tougher than the Lakers. Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Kenyon Martin, Nene, Chris Andersen, Anthony Carter, and even Dahntay Jones — they’re all tough players, both mentally and physically. How many Lakers fit that description? Kobe? Yep. Derek Fisher? Yep. Anyone else? Not really.

      But Kobe is a closer. He had 18 points in the fourth quarter, 40 on the game. He literally carried the Lakers offensively. And he did a great job on Billups for most of the game before having to switch to Anthony to try to slow him down. I was really impressed with how Kobe and Melo battled throughout the game. Anthony really stepped up on the glass and defensively, even though Bryant went off in the final quarter.

      The Nuggets made a few mental errors down the stretch. Carter’s bad pass led to the Ariza steal, and K-Mart had a bad, bad foul on Kobe Bryant when the game was tied with 0:30 to play. The questions about the Nuggets remain — do they know how to win in the clutch?

      This looks like it’s going to be a great series.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Clippers win NBA Draft Lottery

      May 19, 2009 /

      Almost a year after they lost Elton Brand to free agency, the Los Angeles Clippers will have an opportunity to replace him with Blake Griffin after striking gold in the NBA Draft Lottery.

      Even the Clippers can’t screw this one up…

      Here is the full lottery order:

      1. Clippers
      2. Grizzlies
      3. Thunder
      4. Kings
      5. Wizards
      6. Timberwolves
      7. Warriors
      8. Knicks
      9. Raptors
      10. Bucks
      11. Nets
      12. Bobcats
      13. Pacers
      14. Suns

      NBA, NBA Draft

      Braylon Edwards reports to Browns’ minicamp

      May 19, 2009 /

      After sitting out most of April and early-May workouts, Browns’ wideout Braylon Edwards reported to minicamp on Tuesday.

      Browns receiver Braylon Edwards, who’s been the subject of trade talks this offseason, participated in the Browns voluntary minicamp Tuesday, a source close to Edwards said.

      Edwards, who participated in only the first few days of the Browns offseason program, has not been heard from all offseason despite the fact that Browns general manager George Kokinis admitted at the NFL Owners’ meetings in March that he had talked to the Giants about trading Edwards there.

      Edwards, who’s coming off a down year, is in the last year of his contract. There have also been rumors that the Jets might be interested in trading for him. The voluntary camp runs Tuesday through Thursday, with only Thursday being open to the media.

      Whether Edwards wants a new contract or wants to be traded (or both), it doesn’t benefit him to sit at home and pout. He’s much better off showing up to camp and working his ass off so either the Browns invest more money in him or trade him to a team that will. Outside of one season, it’s not like Edwards has set the NFL world ablaze with his play. So it behooves him to show that he’s committed to becoming a better player or else his next contract is going to be below market value for a supposed No. 1 receiver.

      NFL

      Lakers/Nuggets Preview

      May 19, 2009 /

      Kobe Bryant called his team “bipolar” and the Lakers have done nothing to disprove that diagnosis in these playoffs. They were pushed to a Game 7 by a Rockets team that had no business winning Game 4 or Game 6 without Yao Ming. When the Lakers are on their game, there aren’t too many teams in the league that can hang with them. When they are scatterbrained and unfocused, they lose. For Kobe and Co., it’s more of a question of chemistry and psychology than it is strategy, tactics or personnel. The Nuggets don’t have anyone that can stop (or even slow down) Kobe, so if the rest of the Lakers show up, they should win this series.

      How do the Nuggets pull off an upset? First, they need Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony to get hot. Melo’s matchup with Trevor Ariza is important — Anthony needs to dominate. They need to find a way to score even when the Lakers are focused defensively, and that means they need to feed Nene the ball inside. He averaged 16 points and seven boards against Dallas, and needs to continue that fine play in the Conference Finals. It’s important that he keep Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom engaged defensively.

      Off the Denver bench, J.R. Smith has been hot and he needs to stay hot. There isn’t anyone on the Laker bench that can stay with him, other than maybe Shannon Brown. If Sasha Vujacic tries his over-aggressive “humping” style defense, Smith is going to make short work of him. If Smith averages 18+ in this series, the Nuggets have a puncher’s chance of springing the upset. Conversely, the Denver bench really needs to make the Laker role players work for their points. Denver needs to force Kobe into taking 25 or 30 shots per game. If they do, it will mean that the triangle offense isn’t working very well.

      The Lakers won the season series, 3-1, and with home court advantage, it’s no surprise that they are a 2:5 favorite in the series. These Nuggets won’t lay down, and they are playing some great basketball right now. If L.A. phones it in, especially at home, Denver could pounce.

      NBA, NBA Finals

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