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      Hornets hire Monty Williams

      June 5, 2010 /

      Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Monty Williams will be the next head coach of the New Orleans Hornets, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.

      The New Orleans Hornets quickly reached an agreement Friday night with Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Monty Williams to be their next head coach after Boston Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau withdrew from consideration earlier in the day, according to sources close to the situation.

      Sources told ESPN.com that Williams’ deal will be made official no later than Saturday after Thibodeau, who was offered New Orleans’ job last week, informed the Hornets that he plans to pursue opportunities with the Chicago Bulls and New Jersey Nets.

      Williams’ coaching stock has risen quickly after he got his start in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich during the Spurs’ 2004-05 championship season. He joined the Blazers in August 2005 as an assistant to Nate McMillan and took on added responsibility this season when an Achilles injury restricted McMillan’s mobility on the bench during games.

      ESPN.com reported Thursday that the Hornets, even had Thibodeau accepted their offer, were hoping to hire Williams as an associate head coach to Thibodeau.

      Well, hopefully this makes Chris Paul happy, because the near-term success of the franchise depends on him.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Ricky Rubio still on track to join NBA

      June 5, 2010 /

      Kurt Rambis and GM David Kahn traveled to Europe and met with Rubio. Apparently, Rubio and Rambis hit it off, at least according to Kahn, who wants this to work in the worst way.

      Ricky Rubio was impressed with Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis when they met for the first time last week, and the 19-year-old point guard told friends that “he can envision playing for Kurt.”

      That’s what Wolves Vice President David Kahn said on Friday after returning from a weeklong scouting trip to Europe.

      Rubio’s arrival won’t happen for at least another year, but he told the Associated Press in Barcelona, Spain, that he has warmed to the notion of playing in Minnesota: “They have the best possibility because they hold my rights, and they’ve shown me how much they want me,” he said. “And for that, I have to be thankful toward them.”

      Rubio still plans to join the NBA after next season. It looks like the chances are pretty good that he eventually plays for the T-Wolves.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Bills’ head coach Chan Gailey doesn’t know where Marshawn Lynch is

      June 5, 2010 /

      From BuffaloBills.com:

      Bills head coach Chan Gailey was asked about RB Marshawn Lynch and when or if he might practice when he appeared on the Shredd and Ragan show on 103.3 the Edge.

      “I don’t know,” said Gailey. “I have not talked to Marshawn. You’ll probably have to ask him. Somebody told me he was in town for a couple of days and then I heard he left town. So I don’t know. You’d have to ask him about that.”

      Bills’ safety Donte Whitner doesn’t know where Lynch is either:

      “I don’t know when to expect to see him,” Whitner said in regards to participating on the practice field. “I saw him two days ago. Other than that I really haven’t seen him.”

      There’s speculation that Lynch went back home to California, but nobody knows why exactly. Considering the team has, at the very least, discussed trading him at various points during the offseason, chances are he’s disgruntled about his role with the Bills.

      With Fred Jackson and rookie CJ Spiller already on board, Lynch is expendable in Buffalo. The problem is that the Bills seemingly can’t find any takers for the former first rounder. Seattle has been mentioned as a possible landing spot for Lynch and maybe speculation will continue to grow now that the Hawks have dumped LenDale White. Either way, it doesn’t appear that Lynch is long for Buffalo.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      What a difference 5 years makes in MMA

      June 5, 2010 /

      The main event of UFC 115 next weekend would have been one of the biggest fights ever five years ago. Former champions Rich Franklin and Chuck Liddell will meet in a fight where in all reality, the loser should retire. The winner won’t have much of anywhere to move up the ladder and the loser will really only deserve to be on a PPV undercard.

      It is amazing how quickly things have changed in MMA and looking back just five years ago to see who the UFC champions were and where they are now. On June 4, 2005, the UFC held UFC 53: Heavy Hitters where Franklin won the middleweight title over Evan Tanner. As of that show, here is a look at who the UFC champions were and how their careers have quickly headed south.

      Heavyweight Champion – Andrei Arlovski: At UFC 53, Arlovski defended his title for the first time defeating the late Justin Eilers by TKO in the first round after Eilers blew his knee out. It was Arlovski’s fifth-straight win at the time, all of which were by stoppage. Arlovski followed that win with a one-punch KO of Paul Buentello at UFC 55 and was largely considered the most dominant champion in the organization. However, a bizarre loss to Tim Sylvia at UFC 59, in which Arlovski has Sylvia beat but then was caught with as straight jab that led to a TKO loss, started the downfall of his career. Another loss to Syliva led to a five-fight winning streak, but the fighter was never quite the same. He lost his aggression and confidence and has since lost three-straight fights and is almost an afterthought in MMA. His most recent fight was a decision loss to Antonio Silva, which was a sad performance where he never showed the aggression that made him the dominant champion of five years ago.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

      Top 10 active pitchers who keep it in the yard

      June 5, 2010 /

      Some pitchers give up 1-2 home runs or more per game, while some of them are masters at keeping the ball in the park. We did a gopher ball list last year, so here is the opposite…the pitchers who give up the fewest home runs per nine innings, and therefore the guys you want in the game when the game is on the line:

      1. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees (0.4953)—Amazingly, Rivera gave up 11 home runs his rookie year (1995) and since then, only 50. That’s 50 home runs in like 15 years, or about 3 per season. That’s just sick. No wonder the guy has so many career saves (538).

      2. Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves (0.7141)—If only Hudson was able to stay healthy for any length of time, he’d be a lock for the Hall of Fame.

      3. Derek Lowe, Atlanta Braves (0.7221)—When you have a ball that drops like six feet before it reaches home plate, you’re not going to have a lot of hitters get under your pitches. What you’ll get are lots of ground balls.

      4. Aaron Cook, Colorado Rockies (0.7384)—If you’re a pitcher in Colorado, it’s sort of like being a meatball sandwich in a pizza joint. You’ll get noticed, but only when they run out of pizza…or in this case, when the Rockies aren’t hitting. Still, when you think about Cook and how he’s spent his entire career in Denver, being fourth on this list is quite an accomplishment.

      5. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies (0.7385)—A perfect game only added to Halladay’s Hall of Fame resume.

      6. Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs (0.7445)—He’s always angry but always has nasty stuff, and, like Cook, he pitches in a hitter-friendly park.

      7. Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees (0.7671)—Lucky for the Yankees, Pettitte’s career high of 27 home runs allowed was when he was with the Astros in 2006.

      8. Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros (0.7729)—He has an impeccable nose for the strike zone, but puts enough on his pitches to keep hitters guessing and in the park.

      9. Jake Westbrook, Cleveland Indians (0.7999)—He hasn’t pitched much in the last three years, but when he does, Jake Westbrook is very good at keeping the ball in the yard.

      10. AJ Burnett, New York Yankees (0.8213)—As if the Yankees needed another guy like this in their rotation.

      Source: Baseball Reference

      External Sports, MLB

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