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      Line of the Night (11/10): Dwyane Wade

      November 11, 2009 /

      With the reloaded Wizards in town, D-Wade took over, scoring 41 points on 14-29 shooting. He hit 12-13 from the charity stripe and posted five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block en route to a 90-76 win over Washington.

      Don’t look now, but the Miami Heat are off to a 6-1 start. The team was supposed to be just treading water until they can acquire some help for their superstar, but they’ve played well early in the season. And the main reason is Wade. He’s averaging 29.9 points, 4.9 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game, and is shooting better than 45% from the field. If the Heat can win 50 games, he’ll be right in the thick of the MVP conversation.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Will this be Tomlinson’s final year in San Diego?

      November 11, 2009 /

      According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, running back LaDainian Tomlinson is likely playing his last season for the Chargers.

      LaDainian Tomlinson is still a player who can help the Chargers win, but it seems clear he can no longer win games for them and is likely closing out his final season in San Diego.

      The Chargers are averaging 3.1 yards a carry, worst in the NFL. And unless they can start getting some leads and let Tomlinson and others pound the ball while the line gets in a rhythm, that doesn’t look to get much better.

      Sunday was the fourth time this season the Chargers rushed 21 times or fewer. They are on pace to rush just 364 times, which would be their fewest since 2000 and third-lowest total ever.

      Tomlinson is a player who has served the Chargers incredibly well over his career and it was good to see San Diego rework his contract in the offseason. But it’s been apparent the past two seasons that he’s running on empty and as the article suggests, it looks like his time in San Diego is coming to an end.

      That said, in LT’s defense the offensive line hasn’t been good either. The holes just aren’t there like they have been in years past and LT isn’t the only one suffering from it: Darren Sproles is only averaging 3.5 YPC, which is only a mild improvement over Tomlinson’s 3.2 YPC. I still don’t see the same explosion and decision-making out of LT as I did in previous years, but the O-line has played a part in Tomlinson’s decline.

      If the Chargers do decide to part ways with LT, they need to find a back that can run between the tackles in the offseason because they could pair him with Sproles to form a nice 1-2 combo. They need a back that can wear opponents down throughout the course of games, because they don’t have that now and their offense remains unbalanced.

      Looking back at things, it probably would have been wise to hang onto Michael Turner and part ways with LT, but how would the Chargers know that Tomlinson would break down the past two years? They probably had an idea that his time as a primary back was winding down, but they weren’t going to cut him before last season and pay Turner at the same time. It was unfortunate timing that Turner became a free agent when he did.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      College Football Week 11 Point Spreads

      November 11, 2009 /

      Along with a complete list of point spreads for the top 25 action in college football, here is a quick-hit look at some of the marquee matchups in Week 11.

      No. 25 West Virginia at No. 5 Cincinnati, Friday, November 13
      This is the first of three important games left on the Bearcats’ schedule. After playing the Mountaineers on Friday night, Brian Kelly’s squad will take on Big Ten foe Illinois on November 27 and then have a marquee Big East showdown with No. 12 PITT on December 5. Kelly won’t have starting quarterback Tony Pike again this week as the senior continues to nurse a forearm injury. That means impressive sophomore Zach Collaros will once again be counted on to keep Cincinnati’s BCS hopes alive. After ratting off four straight wins to get to 6-1 on the season, West Virginia has struggled the past two weeks. They were defeated by South Florida two weeks ago and then struggled generating offense against a below-average Louisville team last Saturday. Will Collaros and the rest of Cincy’s backfield be too much for the Mountaineers to handle?
      Odds: Cincinnati –9.

      No. 16 Utah at No. 4 TCU, 7:30PM ET, Saturday
      Now that the Horned Frogs have leapt into the No. 4 spot in the rankings, they have one more hurdle to overcome on their schedule before they let fate take the wheel for the rest of the season. Utah will do everything in its power to knock off its Mountain West foe and gain the inside edge for a second straight conference title. But the Utes’ task is a daunting one. TCU has the sixth best rushing attack in the nation and are ranked eighth in total offense. They also rank third in total defense and fifth in scoring defense. The Frogs look like a small-school juggernaut right now but if they will be challenged this weekend in Fort Worth.
      Odds: TCU –19.5.

      No. 10 Iowa at No. 11 Ohio State, 3:30PM ET, Saturday
      In the blink of an eye, the Hawkeyes saw their national title hopes and quarterback go down in one fall swoop last Saturday as Northwestern shocked them at home. Now Iowa can only hope for a Big Ten title, but even that looks dim considering it has to go into Columbus this week in attempts to beat a confident Ohio State team. The Buckeyes knocked off Penn State last Saturday in Happy Valley and now has the inside track to winning the Big Ten again this season. The Hawkeyes will start redshirt freshman James Vanderberg, who struggled last week after Ricky Stanzi suffered an injury in the first half. Asking a redshirt freshman to beat the Buckeyes in Columbus is no small order and it appears that Iowa’s magical 2009 season won’t have a fairytale ending.
      Odds: Ohio State –17.

      Continue reading »

      College Football

      Are the Raiders getting ready to fire Cable?

      November 11, 2009 /

      Yahoo’s Jason Cole reports that Raiders owner Al Davis wants to fire head coach Tom Cable by the end of the season, but is working with the NFL to make sure that Cable can be fired for cause.

      If Davis had any wherewithal, he’d fire himself as GM and allow real football-minded people to run the team. But Davis won’t do that and now it appears that the Raiders will be making a head coaching change for the second time in two years.

      Davis is going to have one hell of a time filling the position, because no respectable coach wants that job. He won’t be able to hire a Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher because there’s no way either men would want to assume that mess. Davis can cross Mike Holmgren’s name off the list too.

      What the Raiders need most is a head coach that can somehow get through to quarterback JaMarcus Russell because if he can’t develop, then the franchise will continue to sputter. Or maybe it’s time for Davis to cut his losses and move forward without Cable and Russell, because it appears that the latter is destined to be a massive bust.

      No matter how he handles the situation, it’s almost a guarantee that Davis will muck things up. He has a knack for making horrible decisions and he thinks it’s more important to have a head coach under his thumb than one that will run his football team the right way. After all, Cable was hired after Kiffin was let go because he served as a “yes man” to Davis.

      NFL

      Defensive Team By Waiver Wire (DTBWW): Week 10

      November 11, 2009 /

      The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week, you pick up a defense, preferably one playing at home against a bad offense. And each week, you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position. To see how this approach performed last season, click here.

      Last week, I recommended three DTBWW picks. Let’s see how they fared…

      #1 Seahawks: 20 PA (0) + 2 SK + 5 INT + RET TD = 13 fantasy points
      #2 Falcons: 17 PA (2) + 5 SK + 1 INT + RET TD = 14 fp
      #3 49ers: 34 PA (0) + 1 SK = 1 fp

      Seattle and Atlanta both played well against bad competition (Detroit and Washington, respectively). Clearly, the 49ers were a disappointment. I was a little worried about this matchup because Tennessee looked pretty good the previous week with Vince Young under center, and they really have the running game going now. San Francisco’s defense isn’t as good as we thought it was, but that doesn’t mean we’ll abandon it.

      For the season, my #1 pick is averaging 10.7 fantasy points per game, my #2 pick is averaging 9.9 fp and my #3 pick is averaging 6.9 fp. Combined, DTBWW is averaging 9.1 fppg, which equates to about 82 points, or DT4 numbers. Not bad.

      Let’s take a look at this week’s picks. Keep in mind that to be eligible for DTBWW, a defense must be available in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

      Pick #1: Miami Dolphins (vs. TB)
      Josh Freeman looked pretty good last week against the Packers, but he’s still a rookie and he has to face a capable defense on the road. Miami has been pretty spotty defensively, but they have proven they can post a nice fantasy day when given a good matchup.

      Pick #2: Tennessee Titans (vs. BUF)
      Boy, I didn’t think that I’d be using the Titans in DTBWW anytime soon, but after a couple of double digit performances the last two weeks and a tasty matchup at home against a struggling Bills team, I’ve changed my tune.

      Pick #3: Arizona Cardinals (vs. SEA)
      The Cards’ defense has been a little spotty at times, but the Seahawks are a nice matchup. Arizona has a chance to jump out on Seattle, and that will put Matt Hasselbeck in a tough spot.

      Bonus pick: Atlanta (@ CAR). I’m a little worried about the Carolina running game, but the Falcons should be able to build a lead. The more Jake Delhomme pass attempts, the better.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

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