Author: John Paulsen (Page 264 of 937)

      Big Ten invites four schools to join

      May 10, 2010 /

      According to 810 WHB out of Kansas City, the Big Ten has made “informal” invitations to four schools to join the conference.

      The Big Ten Conference has extended initial offers to join the league to four universities including Missouri and Nebraska from the Big 12, according to multiple sources close to the negotiations.

      While nothing can be approved until the Big Ten presidents and chancellors meet the first week of June in Chicago, the league has informed the two Big 12 schools, Notre Dame and Rutgers that it would like to have them join. It is not yet clear whether the Big Ten will expand to 14 or 16 teams but sources indicated Missouri and Nebraska are invited in either scenario. Notre Dame has repeatedly declined the opportunity to join the Big Ten. If Notre Dame remains independent, Rutgers would be the 14th team. The Big Ten would then decide whether to stop at 14 or extend offers to two other schools. If Notre Dame joins, sources say an offer will be extended to one other school making it a 16-team league.

      It’s a little frustrating that the Big Ten calls itself that even though it has 11 teams. Now they’re going to expand to 14 or 16 teams, and for what?

      It makes a lot of sense to continue to convince Notre Dame to join. Geographically, that’s the move that makes the most sense. But the Fighting Irish seem intent on keeping their football independence, so the next logical choice would be Missouri, since it borders Iowa and Illinois, but I don’t like the fact that the Big Ten is trying to pluck the Big 12 stalwart.

      And 12 teams is the perfect number. In basketball, it’s a small enough conference where a team can play every other team twice (home/away) while in football, it would allow for two divisions of six-teams each. Once you start going to 14 or 16 teams, it’s impossible for basketball to have a balanced schedule.

      Easier said than done, but the Big Ten should convince Notre Dame to join the league and then change its name to the Big Midwest. Case closed.

      Update: The Big Ten denies inviting any schools to join.

      College Basketball, College Football, External Sports

      Where do the Spurs go from here?

      May 10, 2010 /

      San Antonio played pretty well down the stretch this season, winning 17 of its last 25 games in March and April. (That’s a 56-win pace, by the way.) The Spurs looked sharp in their first round series against the Mavs, but looked old and slow as they were swept by the Suns.

      It’s going to be interesting to see how the Spurs approach this offseason. They just signed Manu Ginobili to an extension, and Tim Duncan is signed for two more seasons, so Tony Parker may be the player most likely to be moved. He has one more year on his contract at the tune of $13.7 million and at just 27, he’s in the prime of his career. George Hill could take over the full-time point guard duties, if necessary.

      Trading Parker would be a big shift in direction from a personnel standpoint. San Antonio’s Big Three — Ginobili, Parker and Duncan — have been together for eight seasons and three titles, but they haven’t reached the Finals in the last three tries and haven’t made it out of the semis in the last two years. This begs the question — how big of a change are the Spurs willing to make?

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      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      LeBron wants to guard Rondo

      May 10, 2010 /

      On the heels of Rajon Rondo’s 29-point, 18-rebound, 13-assist effort in Game 4, LeBron James has made it clear that he wants to cover Rondo in Game 5.

      In fact, according to one courtside observer, James and Cleveland coach Mike Brown got into a heated discussion about whether James should cover Rondo at the critical moments of the fourth quarter. Brown ultimately decided against it, but that could change moving forward.

      “I would love to,” James said after Rondo had eviscerated the Cavs with 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. “It’s something we maybe should explore because Rondo is definitely dominating this series at the point guard position. For me, I don’t have a problem taking Rondo or guarding Rondo throughout the course of the game. If the coaching staff or the guys want me to do it, I will.”

      The issue here is Mo Williams. He is not a good defender, and he can’t hang with Rondo. So the Cavs have Anthony Parker on the Celtics’ point guard and Williams on Ray Allen. If Mike Brown elects to put LeBron on Rondo, then he’ll have to put Parker on Paul Pierce, who has been very quiet in this series. Pierce is averaging just 12-3-3 on 32% shooting, likely due to the fact that LeBron has been up to the task defensively.

      Pierce (6-7) has about an inch on Parker (6-6), but he probably has 20 lbs on him as well, which means he could get his game going in the post. The C’s need to be ready to use Pierce on the block if the Cavs elect to put LeBron on Rondo.

      What’s amazing about Rondo is how productive he is despite his inaccuracy from 16+ feet. Of the 40 point guards who averaged 25+ minutes, Rondo has the fourth-lowest FG% from 16-23 feet. (By the way, the third-lowest clip belongs to Tyreke Evans, so it’s not unheard of to dominate play with a poor jumper.) Only Andre Miller and T.J. Ford are worse from 3PT range than Rondo.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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