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      Line of the Night (11/14): Brandon Jennings

      November 14, 2009 /

      Are you kidding me? The current frontrunner for the ROY dropped 55 points on the Warriors in a 129-125 win at the Bradley Center. He hit 21-34 from the floor and 7-8 from long range, while also posting five rebounds and five assists on the night. The amazing thing is that he only had 10 points in the first half. He scored 29 in the third quarter, and 16 in the fourth.

      He’s really been able to flourish with Michael Redd sidelined. He reminds me of a left-handed Allen Iverson. In fact, he’s one of five rookies to average 20+ points and 5+ assists per game. The other four? Iverson, LeBron, MJ and Oscar Robinson. That’s impressive company (if he can keep it up).

      The surprising Bucks are 5-2 on the season, thanks to the rookie and some solid play from Andrew Bogut.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Stanford crushes USC as Barkley struggles

      November 14, 2009 /

      USC’s reign over the Pac-10 is officially over after Stanford obliterated the Trojans, 55-21 in Los Angeles on Saturday.

      This was the first time USC has lost in November under Pete Carroll, who was 28-0 coming into this game. It was also the first homecoming loss for USC under Carroll and the worst loss in the Carroll Era, topping a 47-20 defeat at the hands of Oregon two weeks ago.

      USC found out today what most of the Pac-10 already knew: That Toby Gerhart is pretty freaking good. The senior running back gained 178 yards on 29 carries for a 6.1 YPC average and also scored three touchdowns. Much like he was last week against Oregon, Gerhart served as a Mac truck and often ran threw USC defenders. His draft stock has risen dramatically the past two weeks.

      Freshman quarterback Matt Barkley had a rough day for the Trojans. He turned the ball over four times, which lead to 28 points for the Cardinal. He never looked comfortable and it showed as he threw three interceptions, one of which was returned for a defensive touchdown.

      Barkley clearly has a ton of talent, but he needs time to develop. This turned out to be a horrible year by USC standards, but at least he gained a lot of experience. He’s a gunslinger by nature, but he needs to cut down on the turnovers if he wants to take his game to the next level.

      On the other side, Jim Harbaugh has something great building at Stanford. His team competes every week and while they’ll lose a lot when Gerhart graduates after the season, it’s clear that he has this program moving in the right direction.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Emeka Okafor on the trading block

      November 14, 2009 /

      Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reports that the Kings are considering a trade involving Hornets big man Emeka Okafor.

      A source with knowledge of the situation says the Kings are discussing a trade with New Orleans that would send Kenny Thomas to the Hornets and bring center Emeka Okafor to Sacramento.

      The deal would be ideal for the Hornets, as Thomas’ expiring contract worth $8.7 million is just the kind of contract that would trim their enormous payroll. The question, of course, is whether the Kings see Okafor as a big man solution worth the five years and approximately $64 million left on his deal.

      I don’t get the Hornets plan of attack for the last year or so. They have the best point guard in the NBA, yet instead of making a clear commitment to spend to build around him, they’re slashing salary again. The confusing thing is that they tried to slash salary last year when they negotiated a trade that sent Tyson Chandler to Oklahoma City, only the Thunder sent Chandler back after their doctors had a chance to look him over. Then they turned around this offseason and traded Chandler (who has a short, expensive contract) for Okafor (who has a long, expensive contract). So it looked like the Hornets were willing to make a long-term commitment to build a winner.

      Now, after a 3-7 start that has Chris Paul sidelined for a few weeks with a sprained ankle, they’re ready to give Okafor away. What kind of signal does this send to Paul? He’s signed through 2011-12, but at what point does he become disgruntled? They’ve already traded away Chandler and fired Byron Scott, and now they’re looking to move a sure double-double guy in Okafor. He’s not worth his contract, but he’s still valuable, and if the Hornets want to get back to competitive, they could really use him manning the middle.

      It’s not like jettisoning Okafor’s salary is going to give the Hornets any immediate salary cap space. They’re sitting at almost $72 M for next season and won’t have any flexibility until the summer of 2011. Paul is 24, so he has plenty of basketball left to play, but David West is 29, and by the time the Hornets have a chance to be competitive again, he might be 31 or 32 and on the decline.

      This is a sad situation. The Hornets looked to be on the cusp of competing for a title a couple of seasons ago and now they’re starting a rebuilding process that looks like it’s going to take a while.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Ohio State smelling roses after win over Iowa

      November 14, 2009 /

      Ohio State edged Iowa 27-24 in overtime to win at least a share of their fifth consecutive Big Ten title and essentially book a trip to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl. It’ll be the Buckeyes first appearance in the Rose Bowl since 1997.

      I’ll be honest, I expected more out of the Buckeyes today, who were 17-point favorites over a depleted Hawkeyes team. I figured OSU’s stingy defense would harass freshman quarterback James Vandenberg, who struggled mightily last week when Ricky Stanzi suffered an injury in Iowa’s loss to Northwestern.

      But give credit to Vandenberg, who was awfully impressive while completing 20 of his 33 pass attempts for 233 yards and two touchdowns. He found Marvin McNutt for a 10-yard touchdown pass with less than three minutes remaining to tie the game at 24-24 and force overtime.

      The problem is that Vandenberg also made a ton of freshman mistakes, which led to three Ohio State interceptions. The Buckeyes actually picked him off a fourth time and returned it for a defensive score midway through the fourth, but OSU was called for offsides and the touchdown came off the board. Vandenberg was also lucky another one of his passes wasn’t intercepted on Iowa’s game-tying touchdown drive, as the ball was deflected into the air around multiple OSU defenders but a Hawkeye receiver caught it for a first down.

      Vandeberg’s counterpart, Terrelle Pryor, wasn’t asked to do much in the passing game. He completed 14 of his 17 pass attempts for only 93 yards and no scores. Jim Tressel played things ultra-conservative and allowed Brandon Saine and the running game to take over. Saine finished with 103 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns.

      Iowa was the No. 4 team in the country heading into last weekend’s action, had the inside track to win the Big Ten title and at the very least, had a trip to the Rose Bowl almost locked up. After today, they’ll be lucky to be ranked in the top 15 when the new polls are released on Sunday and will likely head to the WhoCares.com Bowl.

      On the flip side, everyone was ready to write Ohio State off after they lost to Purdue last month and now it looks like they’ll be crowned Big Ten champs again. It’s amazing how quickly things can change in college football from week to week.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Egypt outlasts Algeria in Cairo, forces playoff

      November 14, 2009 /

      Egypt Algeria

      This World Cup qualifier received some extra attention after this video surfaced. Perhaps rattled by the violence, Algeria couldn’t get anything going in their 2-0 loss to Egypt earlier today. Thus, the teams will compete next Wednesday in a playoff to determine who makes the finals in South Africa.

      Emad Meteab headed in a goal in the fifth minute of injury time on Saturday to give Egypt a 2-0 win over Algeria in a World Cup qualifier, setting up a decisive playoff between the two teams next week.

      Amr Zaki gave Egypt the lead in the second minute, but the host needed a second goal to ensure that both teams ended up level on points and goal difference in Group C.

      In 1989, the two faced off in a similar final qualifier, and Egypt won, advancing to the 1990 World Cup in Italy. After that match in Cairo, fans clashed in the stadium and in the streets, and the Egyptian team’s doctor lost an eye when he was hit by a bottle.

      Egyptian fans greeted the Algerian team at the airport on Thursday by pelting their bus with stones and Algerian officials said two team members were injured. On Saturday, both Khaled Lemmouchia and Rafik Halliche wore head bandages while playing.

      The head of the Algerian Football Association blamed the loss on the animosity.

      Egypt hasn’t reached the World Cup since 1990, so a victory next week would drive the nation mad. Algeria’s last entry, however, was in 1986. After experiencing the hosility in Cairo, Algeria is happy the playoff is in Sundan, a location that supposedly offers a friendlier atmosphere.

      Soccer

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