Page 1711 of 2957

      Danny Granger wins Most Improved Player

      May 12, 2009 /

      Danny Granger has been named the 2009 NBA Most Improved Player. Last month, I wrote the following in my “Predicting the 2009 NBA year-end awards” post.

      Most Improved
      This is always a tough one. Usually, it goes to a player that entered the league without a lot of pomp and circumstance (i.e. they were non-lottery picks) that makes the jump from role player or starter to star or superstar. The last eight winners are: Hedo Turkoglu (16th pick), Monta Ellis (40th), Boris Diaw (21st), Bobby Simmons (42nd), Zach Randolph (19th), Gilbert Arenas (31st), Jermaine O’Neal (17th) and Tracy McGrady (9th). A few of the names being bandied about are Devin Harris (5th), Danny Granger (17th), Kevin Durant (2nd), Nene (7th), Thaddeus Young (12th), Brandon Roy (6th) and Roger Mason (31st). Durant, Harris, Roy, Young and Nene all came into the league as lottery picks, a fact that works against them in this case. They’ve all made leaps this season, though I think everyone was expecting Durant, Harris, Roy and Young to make those jumps. Nene is more of a comeback player than an MIP. He’s been battling injuries his entire career, so the fact that he’s playing well while healthy is no surprise. The last few winners indicate that the MIP usually goes to a player who makes an unexpected leap, so I think it will go to Danny Granger, though his late season run in 2007-08 works against him. He averaged 22.4 points in March of ’08, and 24.8 ppg in April of ’08, so if you dig into the numbers a little, his play this season isn’t as big of a surprise. Still, I don’t think that he had the same expectations as Durant, Harris and Roy, so I think he’s our guy. Mason might be the darkhorse.
      My choice: Granger
      My prediction: Granger

      Devin Harris finished a close second (364 to 339). The bottom line is that it’s tough to win the MIP if you were a former lottery pick; it hasn’t been done since T-Mac won it back in 2001.

      NBA, News

      Adam Carolla throws out first pitch at Dodgers game…and the second, and the third…

      May 12, 2009 /

      It never ceases to amaze me how bad celebrities are throwing out the first pitch at baseball games.

      Case in point, Adam Carolla at a recent Dodgers game:

      When told of Carolla’s performance during the first pitch ceremonies, Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre shrugged and said, “It couldn’t have been any worse than Juan Pierre’s throws home.”

      Humor, MLB, Video

      The biggest golf announcer blunders

      May 12, 2009 /

      On the heels of David Feherty’s insulting comments about our troops and two of our political leaders, Devil Ball Golf lists several of the biggest blunders made by golf announcers over the years.

      Here’s a sampling:

      Andrew Magee: At the FBR Open in February of this year, Andrew Magee remarked on-air that he saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that read, “I got kicked out of the Boy Scouts for eating a Brownie.” Was it a pedophile joke? A drug one? Could go either way, but Magee got a reprimand from the Golf Channel.

      Feherty’s comments are dangerous because they incited violence against Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and put those two congressional leaders in the same category as Osama Bin Laden. But the most offensive thing was the implication that the average soldier would like to kill two fellow Americans. He meant it as a joke, but only the hardcore Pelosi and Reid haters would find any humor in it, and many of them would be insulted by Feherty’s use of our military personnel in his quip. It was just a bad, bad decision by Feherty.

      Golf, Humor

      Clemens once again refutes steroid allegations

      May 12, 2009 /

      While appearing on “Mike & Mike in the Morning” on ESPN Radio on Tuesday, Roger Clemens bashed the new book “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime,” written by four New York Daily News reporters, and once again denied being injected with HGH by former trainer Brian McNamee.

      When asked about the physical evidence reportedly handed over by McNamee to federal investigators and whether it had his DNA on it, Clemens said “Impossible, because he’s never given me any [performance-enhancing drugs], it’s as simple as that. He’s never given me HGH or any kind of performance-enhancing drug, so it’s impossible.”

      Later in the interview, he said McNamee “… never injected me with HGH or steroids.” Pointing out that his family has a history of heart conditions, Clemens said “It would be suicidal for me to even think about taking any of these dangerous drugs.”

      Asked about Pettitte’s testimony that Clemens had told him he used HGH, Clemens repeated a line that he uttered during his congressional testimony: “Andy misremembers.” He said he’d only talked to Pettitte a few times since then because of the legal issues.

      “I still consider Andy a friend,” Clemens said.

      One of the biggest crocks in Clemens’ testimony is his claim that ‘Andy misremembered.’ I find it incredibly hard to believe that Andy Pettitte (or anyone for that matter) would have a conversation about HGH and not remember that one of his friends and teammates told him that he had taken the drug.

      If I was having a beer with a buddy of mine and he confessed that he was taking HGH, had cheated on his girlfriend, had stabbed a panda, had stolen a car or whatever, I would remember the pertinent details. It’s not like that kind of information would go in one ear and out the other, you know?

      Clemens is going to get his in the end, because McNamee has cooperated with investigators this entire time. Whether or not Clemens eventually gets busted for lying depends on the evidence, however.

      MLB

      Peter King loves himself some Jay Cutler, Bears

      May 12, 2009 /

      Peter King of SI.com ranked all 32 teams in the NFL based on how they look after minicamps wrapped up and he had a bit of a surprise in his top 5.

      4. Chicago
      I may not like how Jay Cutler babied his way out of Denver, but by Labor Day, the football world will have forgotten, and by Thanksgiving, the most popular baby name in Chicagoland will be Jay. (Unless it’s Jerry, as in Angelo, the man who stuck his neck out and made this deal.) Cutler’s a big-time player, and I suspect we’ll find out over the next few years if he has nerves of steel and can win the big game.

      Now, there’s two things we don’t know about Cutler and this offense. There’s not a great receiver in the house and no promise of one on the way (Angelo should have guaranteed Torry Holt more money to get him to come to the Windy City). So Cutler’s going to have to make do with the Devin Hesters and Rashied Davises, apparently. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Hester. But he should be a third receiver, using his speed to game-break.)

      Two: How good of a leader can Cutler be, coming in with the knock that he chafes on some teammates. It’ll be interesting to see if he meshes well with Brian Urlacher; I don’t take for granted that he will. Because of the Cutler factor and because I don’t love the defense the way I did two or three years ago, I didn’t want to leap the Bears over so many other teams. But then I went back and looked at their 2008 numbers. The bedrock stats for a good defense, I’ve always thought, are opponents yards per rush, turnovers forced and opponents’ yards per pass. The yards per rush, 3.4, was excellent, third-best in the league. Turnovers forced, 32, was very good, second in the league. And yards per pass play by foes, 6.20, was eighth in the league. All good. If Cutler can lead an offense that puts up 400 points, only a point and a fraction more than a year ago, the Bears should win 12.

      People seem to forget to mention Greg Olsen when they crap on the Bears’ receiving corps. Olsen wasn’t drafted a couple years ago to block – he’s the best receiver Chicago has on its roster. He has outstanding hands, great athletic ability and is fast enough to line up in the slot. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner just needs to find more ways to use Olsen in the passing game.

      Another thing to remember is that Earl Bennett played with Cutler at Vanderbilt and the Bears are extremely high on the second year wideout, despite him going o’fer in the catch department last year. The knock on Bennett is that he struggled learning the offense as a rookie and the Bears just couldn’t get him onto the field. If Cutler can help his old Vandy teammate pick up the offense, Bennett could be a wild card for the Bears.

      I wouldn’t put the Bears ahead of the Colts or Eagles as King did, but there’s a ton of optimism in Chicago these days.

      NFL

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑