Category: External Sports (Page 185 of 821)

      Who will win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award?

      April 11, 2011 /
      Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry reacts after hitting a three point shot against the Philadelphia 76ers during second half NBA basketball action in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 1, 2011. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      It’s award season in the NBA and today I’ll take a look at the top Sixth Man of the Year candidates. Not only will I try to predict who will win the award, I’ll also discuss who should win win the award. Those are two separate questions and they may have two separate answers.

      First, to narrow down the candidates, I took a look at the winners from the past 10 seasons:

      YrPlayerTMGGSGS%MPGPPGRPGAPGTOTWINS
      2001Aaron McKiePHI763343%31.511.64.15.020.756
      2002Corliss WilliamsonDET7879%21.813.64.11.218.950
      2003Bobby JacksonSAC592644%28.415.23.73.122.059
      2004Antawn JamisonDAL8222%29.014.86.30.922.052
      2005Ben GordonCHI8234%24.415.12.62.019.747
      2006Mike MillerMEM74912%30.613.75.42.721.849
      2007Leandro BarbosaPHO801823%32.718.12.74.024.861
      2008Manu GinobiliSAS742331%31.119.54.84.528.856
      2009Jason TerryDAL741115%33.719.62.43.425.450
      2010Jamal CrawfordATL7900%31.118.02.53.023.553

      Notice that all 10 winners had the following in common:

      — They started fewer than 45% of their teams games.
      — They averaged at least 11.6 points per game.
      — They averaged at least 18.9 total points, rebounds and assists.
      — They were all on teams that won at least 47 games. Eight of 10 winners were on teams that won 50+ games.

      Using this criteria to narrow down the legitimate candidates for the 2011 Sixth Man award, we’re left with this list of 11 candidates. To give us a little leeway, they all started less than half of their teams games, they averaged at least 17.3 total points, rebounds and assists, and they play on teams that have at least 38 wins on the season.

      I also included Efficiency Per Minute to see how productive each player is in the minutes he gets. Bigs tend to do better in this statistic because it’s easier to post rebounds than it is to register assists and big men tend to shoot at a higher percentage because they play close to the basket (so they have fewer misses, which weight efficiency down).

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Tom Brady breaks down talking about being selected in the sixth round

      April 11, 2011 /

      Just because he’s had a storybook career doesn’t mean that Tom Brady doesn’t get a little emotionally when discussing draft day in 2000.

      Or really emotional.

      Brady appeared on ESPN’s “Year of the Quarterback” series and broke down when discussing what he went through before hearing his name called with the 199th pick in the sixth round.

      Before watching the clip, my initial response to hearing that Brady started crying while recounting how he was a sixth round pick was: Oh, brother. What else could the guy ask for? He’s won three Super Bowls, is often viewed as the decade’s best player, has made millions of dollars and married a supermodel. And he’s crying about being taken in the sixth round? Give me a break.

      But then I watched the clip and I had a change of heart. At some point or another, we’ve wanted something so bad that we could taste it. Obviously Brady wanted nothing more than to be a NFL quarterback, to prove himself and also make his parents proud. I can imagine how that was a tough day for him and maybe I would have broken down too while recounting how agonizing the wait was. In fact, it seems like a lot of his emotion stemmed from remember how supportive his parents were.

      Either way, everything worked out in the end. In fact, it was almost better that he was taken in the sixth round because it has made his career that much more legendary. A sixth round quarterback winning three Super Bowls? Unheard of.

      On a related note, how about the Browns taking Spergon Wynn with the 183rd pick instead of Brady? You know that they must have had Brady on their draft board if they were looking for a quarterback in the sixth and they wind up with Spergon freaking Wynn. If that’s not Cleveland Brown luck, I don’t know what is.

      External Sports, NFL

      Vikings to take Jake Locker at No. 12?

      April 11, 2011 /

      The Vikings need someone to replace Brett Favre and according to ESPN 1500’s Tom Pelissero, they may have their eyes on a quarterback prospect who has Favre-like qualities in their eyes. (Uh, on the field.)

      After doing “a lot of digging,” Pelissero believes that Washington quarterback Jake Locker could be the Vikings pick at No. 12. The former Huskie has apparently generated “comparisons internally” to Favre at Vikings headquarters, and there’s a growing sense around the league that Locker is bound for Minnesota.

      The fit certainly makes sense. First and foremost, head coach Leslie Frazier told the media a couple of weeks ago that the Vikings want to draft and start a rookie QB. The team also brought Bill Musgrave over from Atlanta to be the new offensive coordinator because he works so well with young quarterbacks (i.e. Matt Ryan). I’m sure the Vikings would love to give Musgrave a similar opportunity to groom someone like Locker, who has great intangibles and an abundance of athleticism, but who needs a fair amount of coaching.

      If Locker does wind up in Minnesota, one thing he must make strides with is his accuracy. He fits the mold of a West Coast Offense quarterback in that he’s mobile and can get the ball out of his hand quickly, but his accuracy runs hot and cold. If he’s going to run Musgrave’s version of the WCO, Locker must improve that area of his game. Of course, the nice thing about landing in Minnesota is that Locker will have Adrian Peterson to take most of the load off his shoulders as he learns the ropes. Obviously not all young quarterbacks have AP lining up behind them in the backfield.

      We’ll find out in a couple of weeks if Locker does indeed wind up in purple and white.

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      Ten things learned from Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley

      April 11, 2011 /

      HeavyMMA.com’s Specer Kyte points out the 10 things he learned from Saturday’s historic Stirkeforce: Diaz vs. Daley card in San Diego.

      DIAZ VS. DALEY WAS BETTER THAN ADVERTISED
      I had concerns about the main event falling short of expectations. Boy, was I wrong.

      For three ticks shy of five minutes, these two went toe-to-toe, trading punishing blows and trying to put the other one away. Both men got rocked at different points in the frenetic first round, and even though they only used 1/5 of the allotted time, the fans still got what they came for and then some.

      Whatever your feelings on the organization, you have to give Strikeforce their due: more often than naught, we’re treated to wildly exciting fights, and Saturday’s main event was no different.

      Read the full article.

      External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

      Female reporter barred from locker room at the Masters

      April 10, 2011 /

      Tara Sullivan, columnist for the Bergen Record, was barred from the locker room after the Masters. She was attempting to interview Rory McIlroy, who was the leader heading into the Sunday.

      “Bad enough no women members at Augusta. But not allowing me to join writers in locker room interview is just wrong,” the initial tweet read.

      A member of the Masters media committee (Steve Ethun) told her that it was a mistake and that she should have been allowed in to conduct her interviews.

      Augusta National Golf Club has a long history of discrimination and still does not allow female members to join the club.

      External Sports, Golf

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑