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      Deron Williams said nothing wrong

      April 30, 2010 /

      The Utah point guard doesn’t understand all the fuss about his assertion that he’s the best point guard in the league.

      On Wednesday, when asked, Deron Williams declared himself to be the best point guard in the NBA.

      On Thursday, after local and national media members in search of fresh and deadline-friendly story angles from the Jazz’s first-round playoff series with the Denver Nuggets jumped on the claim and ran with it, Williams expressed dismay over the hullabaloo.

      “It’s stupid,” he said. “I’ve said it before. I mean, I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked that, and now it gets blown out of proportion.”

      “If you are a competitor, you are going to think you are the best at something,” Williams said. “It’s as simple as that. That’s how you keep your edge. That’s how you stay focused, stay sharp.

      “It is what it is. Chris Paul thinks he’s the best point guard. Steve Nash thinks he’s the best point guard. Kobe (Bryant) thinks he’s the best shooting guard, best player in the world.

      “That’s how it is” he added. “That’s how you are supposed to think.”

      It’s not like he scheduled a press conference to make this announcement. He was asked by FanHouse who he thought was the best point guard in the NBA, and he responded with his honest opinion.

      A humble player might have responded with a name like Chris Paul or Steve Nash, but you don’t get to the top of the mountain in the NBA by being humble. Williams is right in that players of his caliber think they are the best in the league, that’s part of why they are so good.

      Confidence is half the battle. If you are playing against a guy and are thinking, “Wow, this guy is better than me,” then you’re probably not going to play very well. Part of being great is believing that you’re great, that you’re up to the challenge of beating the best players in the world.

      Moreover, he has a point. Who is playing better at the point than Williams right now? Chris Paul struggled with injuries this season and is sitting at home watching the playoffs on television. What Steve Nash is doing at the age of 36 is incredible, but he’s always been something of a defensive liability.

      Williams just might be the best point guard in the league.

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

      Owen Daniels chats with The Scores Report

      April 30, 2010 /

      Not a lot of players have made a position change look as seamless as Houston Texans’ tight end Owen Daniels, who started off his football career as a quarterback at Naperville Central High School in Illinois and at the University of Wisconsin. But after switching to tight end for the final two years at Wisconsin in order to see more playing time, Daniels has developed into one of Matt Schaub’s most reliable targets. (He also has a Pro Bowl appearance under his belt as well.)

      Owen was kind enough to chat with us recently about a host of topics, including what it’s like to play alongside the dynamic Andre Johnson, what he believes the Texans must do to get over the hump and which NFL safeties are the hardest to shake down in coverage. He also spoke about how the uncapped year has affected his contract status and how he hopes to remain in Houston long-term.

      For more on Owen including updates on the Texans’ offseason, check out his official Twitter page.

      The Scores Report: Hi, this is Anthony.

      Owen Daniels: Hey, this is Owen Daniels.

      TSR: Hey, Owen! It’s great to talk to you – thanks for calling in.

      OD: Sure, no problem.

      TSR: You’re a Naperville Central grad, right?

      OD: Yeah.

      TSR: I went to Neuqua Valley and graduated around the same time as you. I remember you tearing it up for Central.

      OD: I appreciate it. We never played you guys in football for whatever reason; they didn’t start playing each other until after I was gone.

      TSR: I remember we played you guys a couple times in baseball, but never football.

      OD: Yeah, we definitely didn’t play you guys in football.

      TSR: Did you watch the draft?

      OD: I saw a little bit of it, but I was out of town because my brother goes to Princeton and I was at his spring game. So I didn’t see much of it, but I kept track of our draft picks and stuff like that.

      TSR: How did you think the Texans drafted?

      OD: I think we addressed some needs by getting a couple of cornerbacks and another running back. Let’s see, what else did we get…we got a linebacker and another tight end from Wisconsin, which is kind of funny.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Interviews, NFL, Video

      Where do the Mavs go from here?

      April 30, 2010 /

      In the Daily Dime, Marc Stein discusses the short-term future of the Dallas Mavericks after their first round loss last night to the Spurs.

      Mavs owner Mark Cuban didn’t trade for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood in February, taking on millions in extra salary and luxury tax in the process, to make such a swift return to the early playoff misery inflicted by Golden State in 2007. Dallas became the first No. 1 seed in league history to lose a best-of-seven series in the first round that year … and just became the first No. 2 to lose in Round 1 since the NBA went to a best-of-seven format in 2003.

      “We’re a failure,” Mavericks guard Jason Terry said. “We failed. There’s no other word but failure. That’s how we feel right now.”

      Cuban himself acknowledged after the Mavs’ Game 1 triumph that the F word — yes, failure — was going to be the reaction all over town and all over the league “if we don’t win a championship.”

      “We’ve got a great base,” Cuban said. “We’ll have a chance to work with each other [in training camp before next season]. You could see some of the uneasiness because we haven’t had a full season to play together, and that showed a few times, but we’ll pull all the pieces together and we’ll go at ’em again next year.”

      Cuban’s “we’ve got a great base” comment implies that he’s not planning to blow up the roster. Dirk Nowitzki, however, is suddenly a candidate to join an already stellar free agent class this summer, though it’s still far more likely that he’ll re-up.

      But back to Cuban — the whole we-haven’t-had-enough-time-to-gel line of reasoning is starting to wear thin. Butler and Haywood had 27 games to work the kinks out — how long does it take to develop the necessary chemistry? That’s an entire season for most college and high school teams, and most of them gel just fine. Chemistry can develop over time, but typically speaking, it’s either there or it’s not.

      Complicating matters is Cuban’s tendency to drastically alter his roster. In February of 2008, he swapped Devin Harris and two first round picks for Jason Kidd. Last summer, he signed Shawn Marion. And this February, he pulled the trigger on the Butler/Haywood trade. Who’s to say that he’ll be able to control himself when a few more aging, expensive stars become available at the next trade deadline?

      As long as Nowitzki is around, the Mavs will be competitive. If he returns to a team that already has Butler, Kidd, Marion, Jason Terry and Roddy Beaubois, Dallas will once again win 50 games and make the postseason. But with the way that they were worked over by an aging Spurs team, does anyone really think the Mavs will make another Finals appearance anytime soon?

      It has to be frustrating to let a title slip through your fingers in 2006 and then spend the next three or four years trying to get back to that level. Under the current circumstances, the Mavs seem destined to be a Western Conference also-ran. I don’t blame Cuban for trying to build on what he has, but unless there’s a major infusion of talent — I’m talking a top 10 or 15 player acquired via sign-and-trade — it doesn’t look like the Mavs are a real threat to make the Finals.

      That’s the nice thing about knowing that you’re rebuilding. There are no delusions of grandeur.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Felix Jones now the starter in Dallas

      April 30, 2010 /

      It appears that Marion Barber’s days as a starter are over in Dallas, as Chris Mortensen reports that Felix Jones will officially move to the top of the Cowboys’ depth chart at running back.

      Barber finished with 214 rushing attempts last season, while Jones received 116. Those numbers will likely be reversed this season, with Jones getting the bulk of the carries. Tashard Choice is still expected to get some touches as well, seeing as how both Jones and Barber have issues staying healthy.

      While this is certainly big news, the biggest question surrounding the Cowboys’ running game isn’t which back will start, but whether or not Doug Free can man the left tackle position now that Flozell Adams has been released. Dallas did not select an offensive tackle in last week’s draft, which was a huge vote of confidence for Free, who has very limited experience. Unless they re-sign Adams at some point, it looks like the 26-year-old Northern Illinois grad will start Week 1, because there is no depth behind him.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      The Spurs own Texas

      April 29, 2010 /

      The Spurs said they were going to treat Game 6 at home as if it were a Game 7, and that’s the right mentality. You want to close the series out at home if you can, because winning a Game 7 on the road is no easy task.

      San Antonio jumped out to a big lead early in the game, and were up 35-16 in the middle of the second quarter when Mavs rookie Roddy Beaubois entered the game. Over the course of the next 16 minutes, Beaubois would score 16 points and lead the Mavs on a 45-28 run that would bring Dallas to within two points with 2:43 to play in the third quarter. The Spurs simply didn’t have an answer for him on the defensive end.

      With the Mavs trailing by seven, Beaubois started the fourth quarter on the bench, and didn’t re-enter the game until there was 2:44 remaining in the game. Rick Carlisle wanted to get Jason Terry going, and while he did hit a six-foot runner to cut the lead to two with six minutes to play, that was the only shot he made all night. Mavs fans are left wondering what would have happened had Carlisle brought Beaubois back earlier in the quarter.

      From the Spurs perspective, check out this series of scores in the fourth quarter:

      6:33 Tony Parker makes 18-foot jumper
      5:50 Antonio McDyess makes 13-foot jumper
      4:47 George Hill makes 10-foot two point shot
      4:07 Antonio McDyess makes 17-foot jumper
      3:18 George Hill makes 23-foot three point jumper
      1:28 Tony Parker makes 20-foot jumper

      Notice anything? For a team that usually leans on Manu Ginobili drives and Tim Duncan post ups, the Spurs scored on jump shots on six possessions in just over five minutes. During that stretch, Tim Duncan didn’t take a single shot, Ginobili missed three shots and Parker missed a 16-footer. Otherwise, they were all made jumpers by McDyess, Hill and Parker. (Ginobili and Duncan did combine for five assists during that stretch.)

      After a 29-point performance that essentially won Game 4 for the Spurs, George Hill scored 21 points tonight on 12 shots. Ginobili finished with 26, Tim Duncan had 17 and Tony Parker chipped in with 10. Hill gives the Spurs another offensive weapon to go to in crunch time when the Spurs’ “Big 3” need a break or just aren’t getting it done. As Reggie Miller noted, Hill was a great scorer in high school and college, so he can “score with the best of them.”

      I’ll write more about the Mavs tomorrow. As it stands, they just seem like they’ve been snakebitten since losing the 2006 Finals to Dwyane Wade and the Heat. I can’t imagine what is going through Mark Cuban’s mind right now after making several big acquisitions (Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood) over the past few years. He was expecting that this team would make a run to the Finals, but instead, they just lost Game 6 to their arch-rivals and are heading home in the first round. Ouch.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NBA

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