The defending champion Golden State Warriors are on to something incredible this season. After defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals last year and ruining LeBron James's homecoming return back to the Cavs after spending four years with the Miami Heat and winning two rings, everybody thought the Warriors were unstoppable. It turns out, everyone underestimated them. In a way that doesn't make sense to really anybody, the Warriors have gotten even better than they were last year, and last year's MVP Stephen Curry definitely can make a case for being both the MVP and Most Improved Player after he shattered his three-point record for most made threes in an NBA season. However, the biggest question on everybody's minds since practically the beginning of the season: will this team win 73 games this season to make history as one of the best teams ever in NBA history?
Currently holding the record are the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls team, led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who won an astounding 72 wins in one NBA season, and ultimately went on to beat the Seattle SuperSonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, to win the NBA Finals. That year, the Chicago Bulls made incredible history becoming the first team ever to even win 70 games in an 82-game season. Nobody ever thought an accomplishment such as this could be surpassed at the time, but the Golden State Warriors have an actually very good chance at completing this very feat.
The Warriors are currently 53-5, more than halfway to the record, after an incredible win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. If they can finish the season 20-4, they can do something they, and many others, will remember for the rest of their lives. While they still will have some tough competition, their remaining schedule shows that achieving this goal is actually very possible. Most of the remaining teams they play do not pose a huge threat to them, as those teams have struggled this season, but there are three teams that could crush the Golden State Warriors' hopes if they play at their best: the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Warriors' greatest threat, the San Antonio Spurs.
Their next big match up comes on Thursday against the Thunder. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are sure to remember their loss in OKC so they will probably play very hard in order to get their revenge. Next on Saturday, March 19, the Warriors will have to face their most-feared opponent in the San Antonio Spurs, who they will have to play three times before the end of the regular season. This first match up will be interesting as the Spurs, who have the second best record in all the NBA, behind the Warriors, have never lost in NBA game at home this regular season, so the Warriors will have a difficult time beating them. The other two match ups come at basically the end of the regular season, so Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will likely rest his key players which may make it easier for the Warriors who will probably look to make history rather than resting. Their last tough match up will be against the Los Angeles Clippers, who always seem to play hard against the Warriors, however, the Clippers will be without Blake Griffin who is out with a hand injury and still has to pay a suspension for an altercation earlier in the season.
The Warriors still have a tough road ahead, but it looks very likely that they could make history this year.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Hawkeyes In A Slump
On Sunday, February 28, 2016, the Hawkeyes lost yet another game to a team they probably should have beaten. This is Iowa's third straight loss, and it really hurt any hopes they had for the Big Ten Title. This past Wednesday, the Hawks dropped a tough won against the Wisconsin Badgers at home. The Badgers, to be fair, were a formidable opponent who had won eight of their last ten games, including wins over both the Indiana Hoosiers and the Maryland Terrapins, who are two of the teams Iowa is competing most heavily against for the Big Ten Title. However, the Hawks did lose a game against Penn State that they really should have won and earlier, dropped a game against the Hoosiers in Indiana in which the Hawks led for a while in the second half after overcoming a 7-point halftime deficit. The Hawks will have a chance for revenge on Tuesday, March 1, in a must-win rematch against the Indiana Hoosiers. One of the most frustrating things about the current slump the Hawkeyes are in is that most of the players, and even head coach Fran McCaffery, do not even seem to be upset about their current state. They just seem to act like there was nothing they could do and aren't really trying to do anything to pump themselves up or change their game plan.
This game against the Ohio State Buckeyes was particularly frustrating for Hawkeye fans, as the Hawks just didn't seem to play with any intensity or desperation, especially on the defensive end. The game started off similar to many games for the Iowa Hawkeyes, as Jarrod Uthoff started out hot early, making a lot of his jumpers. The biggest problem with Uthoff is that once the defense starts focusing on him in the second half, he almost disappears, and doesn't really call for the ball much in the clutch when he needs to take over in order for the Hawkeyes to pull out a win. This was just another case of that, as after Uthoff started the game strong, he failed to do much later in the game, especially when the Hawkeyes needed him most. Throughout the remainder of the first half, the game went back-and-forth for the most part, but the home team Ohio State Buckeyes eventually took the lead with a bunch of made free-throws after the Hawks were called for many fouls.
The second half started slow with neither team able to score on their first couple possessions until Peter Jok, Iowa's sharpshooter, nailed a three-point jumper to cut the Buckeye's lead from 35-30 to just three points 35-33. After a couple of empty possessions for both teams, Iowa tied the game back up at 35 all with two free throws from senior point guard Mike Gesell. The Buckeyes responded with a 4-0 run off of a quick bucket from Daniel Giddens and two free throws from Keita Bates-Diop after Jok was called for another foul. The teams battled back-and-forth for a while with each team losing the lead and then taking it back, with Iowa ultimately gaining a five-point edge over the home team after two made free throws from Dom Uhl with 9:37 to play with the score 51-46 in favor of the Iowa Hawkeyes. For the next six and a half minutes, the Ohio State Buckeyes tried to take back the lead, but every time they would get close the Hawks would once again pull away, until at the 2:56 mark, Marc Loving drained a three to bring the Buckeyes within one point 61-62. After a missed layup by Gesell, the Buckeyes took a lead off the jumper from Kam Williams and never gave it back winning 68-64.
This game against the Ohio State Buckeyes was particularly frustrating for Hawkeye fans, as the Hawks just didn't seem to play with any intensity or desperation, especially on the defensive end. The game started off similar to many games for the Iowa Hawkeyes, as Jarrod Uthoff started out hot early, making a lot of his jumpers. The biggest problem with Uthoff is that once the defense starts focusing on him in the second half, he almost disappears, and doesn't really call for the ball much in the clutch when he needs to take over in order for the Hawkeyes to pull out a win. This was just another case of that, as after Uthoff started the game strong, he failed to do much later in the game, especially when the Hawkeyes needed him most. Throughout the remainder of the first half, the game went back-and-forth for the most part, but the home team Ohio State Buckeyes eventually took the lead with a bunch of made free-throws after the Hawks were called for many fouls.
The second half started slow with neither team able to score on their first couple possessions until Peter Jok, Iowa's sharpshooter, nailed a three-point jumper to cut the Buckeye's lead from 35-30 to just three points 35-33. After a couple of empty possessions for both teams, Iowa tied the game back up at 35 all with two free throws from senior point guard Mike Gesell. The Buckeyes responded with a 4-0 run off of a quick bucket from Daniel Giddens and two free throws from Keita Bates-Diop after Jok was called for another foul. The teams battled back-and-forth for a while with each team losing the lead and then taking it back, with Iowa ultimately gaining a five-point edge over the home team after two made free throws from Dom Uhl with 9:37 to play with the score 51-46 in favor of the Iowa Hawkeyes. For the next six and a half minutes, the Ohio State Buckeyes tried to take back the lead, but every time they would get close the Hawks would once again pull away, until at the 2:56 mark, Marc Loving drained a three to bring the Buckeyes within one point 61-62. After a missed layup by Gesell, the Buckeyes took a lead off the jumper from Kam Williams and never gave it back winning 68-64.
Curry's Three-Point Bomb Beats OKC
On Saturday, February 27, 2016, the defending champion Golden State Warriors, who currently have the best record throughout all the NBA, and also the best record ever through 58 games in NBA history, traveled to the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to take on one of the best duos in the NBA in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who currently have the third best record all throughout the entire league. The Warriors, who could clinch a playoff berth with a difficult hard-fought win, were coming into the game on a four-game winning streak after taking down the Orlando Magic on the road, and they were chasing history as they have an actual chance at beating the record for total wins in an 82 game season. All they need is 73 wins and they are more than halfway there needing, now, only 20 more wins out of their 24 remaining games. The Thunder, on the other hand, came into the game following a loss at New Orleans against the Pelicans, and really wanted a win over one of their biggest conference rivals this year.
The game started out perfectly for the home team Oklahoma City Thunder, as pretty much everything that could possibly go their way was, in fact, going their way. Steven Adams won the tip off against Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut and Serge Ibaka gained possession of the ball. Within 15 seconds, Russell Westbrook, the point guard for Oklahoma City, was able to drive hard past defending NBA MVP Stephen Curry for a nice layup allowing all the fans in OKC to take a seat. In Chesapeake Energy Arena, the fans have a tradition that they must remain standing until the Thunder score a basket, regardless of how long that might take. After Westbrook's layup, Draymond Green of the Warriors missed a shot and Kevin Durant rebounded the ball, and after a nice assist from his teammate, Steven Adams, Durant nailed a 25-foot three point jumper to increase the Thunder's lead to five points. Once again, the Warriors were unable to respond as one half of the Splash Brothers Klay Thompson was unable to respond to Durant's three with a 25-foot jumper of his own. The Thunder rebounded the ball and this time, Durant pump-faked on a three, drove the ball down the lane, and after drawing all the defenders to the paint surrounding him, he kicked the ball out to Andre Roberson for another Thunder three causing all the fans in Chesapeake Energy Arena to explode in a ball of completely and utterly ecstatic excitement. The Warriors were able to bounce back a little after a short 5-0 run of their own capped by Steph Curry's first of twelve threes of the night to cut the Thunder's lead down to a score of 8-5. Throughout the rest of the quarter the teams battled back-and-forth, but the Thunder showed dominance through Kevin Durant to end the quarter with a 30-20 lead against the struggling Warriors who were unable to score a lot without Stephen Curry.
The second quarter went a little better for the Warriors as the Thunder did not blow them out. However, the Thunder did still manage to outscore them in the quarter by 1 27-26 to take a 57-46 lead going into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, the Warriors had a better time, outscoring the Thunder by five points, but they did get quite a scare midway through the quarter. During a play, Stephen Curry rolled his ankle, and Westbrook accidentally stepped on it and Curry was unable to get up. As the Thunder rebounded the ball and took it to the other end, Curry screamed at his teammates to commit a foul so he could sub out of the game and get his ankle re-taped. Luckily for the Warriors, Curry was able to come back in and play at full form later in the game.
In the final, quarter, the Thunder played horribly. They were unable to stop Curry and his three point bombs, and without Durant, they were unable to score. They also did not think very well. With 11 seconds left, the Thunder were up by 2 points and had possession of the ball. They got the ball into Durant who got trapped, and they should have called timeout. However, Durant made an awful mistake of trying to throw the ball to waste time. Iguodala stole the ball and was fouled with no time left on the clock. He made both free throws and sent the game into overtime.
In overtime, Durant fouled out right away and the Thunder no longer had a scoring threat. Curry made a 37-foot three pointer with practically no time left on the clock sealing the win for the Warriors 121-118 in a heartbreaking loss for the Thunder.
The game started out perfectly for the home team Oklahoma City Thunder, as pretty much everything that could possibly go their way was, in fact, going their way. Steven Adams won the tip off against Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut and Serge Ibaka gained possession of the ball. Within 15 seconds, Russell Westbrook, the point guard for Oklahoma City, was able to drive hard past defending NBA MVP Stephen Curry for a nice layup allowing all the fans in OKC to take a seat. In Chesapeake Energy Arena, the fans have a tradition that they must remain standing until the Thunder score a basket, regardless of how long that might take. After Westbrook's layup, Draymond Green of the Warriors missed a shot and Kevin Durant rebounded the ball, and after a nice assist from his teammate, Steven Adams, Durant nailed a 25-foot three point jumper to increase the Thunder's lead to five points. Once again, the Warriors were unable to respond as one half of the Splash Brothers Klay Thompson was unable to respond to Durant's three with a 25-foot jumper of his own. The Thunder rebounded the ball and this time, Durant pump-faked on a three, drove the ball down the lane, and after drawing all the defenders to the paint surrounding him, he kicked the ball out to Andre Roberson for another Thunder three causing all the fans in Chesapeake Energy Arena to explode in a ball of completely and utterly ecstatic excitement. The Warriors were able to bounce back a little after a short 5-0 run of their own capped by Steph Curry's first of twelve threes of the night to cut the Thunder's lead down to a score of 8-5. Throughout the rest of the quarter the teams battled back-and-forth, but the Thunder showed dominance through Kevin Durant to end the quarter with a 30-20 lead against the struggling Warriors who were unable to score a lot without Stephen Curry.
The second quarter went a little better for the Warriors as the Thunder did not blow them out. However, the Thunder did still manage to outscore them in the quarter by 1 27-26 to take a 57-46 lead going into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, the Warriors had a better time, outscoring the Thunder by five points, but they did get quite a scare midway through the quarter. During a play, Stephen Curry rolled his ankle, and Westbrook accidentally stepped on it and Curry was unable to get up. As the Thunder rebounded the ball and took it to the other end, Curry screamed at his teammates to commit a foul so he could sub out of the game and get his ankle re-taped. Luckily for the Warriors, Curry was able to come back in and play at full form later in the game.
In the final, quarter, the Thunder played horribly. They were unable to stop Curry and his three point bombs, and without Durant, they were unable to score. They also did not think very well. With 11 seconds left, the Thunder were up by 2 points and had possession of the ball. They got the ball into Durant who got trapped, and they should have called timeout. However, Durant made an awful mistake of trying to throw the ball to waste time. Iguodala stole the ball and was fouled with no time left on the clock. He made both free throws and sent the game into overtime.
In overtime, Durant fouled out right away and the Thunder no longer had a scoring threat. Curry made a 37-foot three pointer with practically no time left on the clock sealing the win for the Warriors 121-118 in a heartbreaking loss for the Thunder.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Maryland Fends Off Michigan
On Sunday, February 21, 2016, the Maryland Terrapins were in desperate need of a win at home in the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland against the Michigan Wolverines. They had just seen their biggest competitor for the Big Ten Title in the Indiana Hoosiers take care of business in a hard-fought battle against the Purdue Boilermakers. They knew that if they wanted to stay in the race, a win would be incredibly crucial, especially after losing two straight games against the Wisconsin Badgers and on the road against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who are one of the worst Big Ten Teams this year. They also wanted this win badly because it was this very same Michigan Wolverines team who had handed them their first Big Ten loss at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan earlier this year.
The game started off with a turnover by the home team Terrapins and a three by Michigan Wolverine Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. Both teams would have a lot of trouble taking care of the ball. The Michigan Wolverines would, by the end of the night, turn the ball over to the home team a total of sixteen times. However, the Maryland Terrapins would have an even harder time taking care of the rock, forking it over to the Wolverines 18 times by the time the final buzzer sounded. Maryland ended up responding on the next possession as Diamond Stone, who had been suspended and was unable to play against the Minnesota Golden Gophers due to a flagrant foul he committed against the Wisconsin Badgers, hit a jumper to bring the game to a score of 3-2 in favor of the Wolverines. The game went pretty back-and-forth after that until there was only 13:14 left in the first half. Prior to that point, the game was tied 12-12. However, when the clock did strike 13:14, Jared Nickens of the Terrapins buried a three to start a 14-0 run for the home team to take a 26-12 lead against their opposition. Throughout the rest of the half, Michigan fought hard and clawed away at the Terrapins' lead, but they still went into the halftime break with a five point deficit. By the time the first 20 minutes of the game had expired, the home team held a 41-36 lead against the Wolverines.
Michigan started the second half on an 11-6 run to tie the game at 47-47 to the dismay of all the fans watching in the Xfinity Center. For a few minutes the game went back-and-forth, but eventually, the Terrapins gathered a decent 8-point lead to give them a little breathing room against the Wolves but it would not last long. Michigan came fighting back and eventually tied the game, once again, with 6:34 left before the final buzzer. After a free throw and a layup, the Wolverines took back the lead by 3. The Terrapins, again, regained the lead, but the Michigan Wolverines would not go away. With only 9 seconds remaining, Duncan Robinson buried a three point jumper to bring the Wolves within just two points, but it would be Maryland ball. The Wolverines tried fouling right away, but they ended up fouling a good free-throw shooter in Melo Trimble who made both shots at the charity stripe to put the game away.
The game started off with a turnover by the home team Terrapins and a three by Michigan Wolverine Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. Both teams would have a lot of trouble taking care of the ball. The Michigan Wolverines would, by the end of the night, turn the ball over to the home team a total of sixteen times. However, the Maryland Terrapins would have an even harder time taking care of the rock, forking it over to the Wolverines 18 times by the time the final buzzer sounded. Maryland ended up responding on the next possession as Diamond Stone, who had been suspended and was unable to play against the Minnesota Golden Gophers due to a flagrant foul he committed against the Wisconsin Badgers, hit a jumper to bring the game to a score of 3-2 in favor of the Wolverines. The game went pretty back-and-forth after that until there was only 13:14 left in the first half. Prior to that point, the game was tied 12-12. However, when the clock did strike 13:14, Jared Nickens of the Terrapins buried a three to start a 14-0 run for the home team to take a 26-12 lead against their opposition. Throughout the rest of the half, Michigan fought hard and clawed away at the Terrapins' lead, but they still went into the halftime break with a five point deficit. By the time the first 20 minutes of the game had expired, the home team held a 41-36 lead against the Wolverines.
Michigan started the second half on an 11-6 run to tie the game at 47-47 to the dismay of all the fans watching in the Xfinity Center. For a few minutes the game went back-and-forth, but eventually, the Terrapins gathered a decent 8-point lead to give them a little breathing room against the Wolves but it would not last long. Michigan came fighting back and eventually tied the game, once again, with 6:34 left before the final buzzer. After a free throw and a layup, the Wolverines took back the lead by 3. The Terrapins, again, regained the lead, but the Michigan Wolverines would not go away. With only 9 seconds remaining, Duncan Robinson buried a three point jumper to bring the Wolves within just two points, but it would be Maryland ball. The Wolverines tried fouling right away, but they ended up fouling a good free-throw shooter in Melo Trimble who made both shots at the charity stripe to put the game away.
Indiana Fights Off Purdue At Home
On Saturday, February 20, 2016, the Number 22 Ranked Indiana Hoosiers hosted the Number 17 Ranked Purdue Boilermakers in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana. This was a very big match up as Indiana was in desperate need for a win to keep their lead heading into the final stretch of the Big Ten Title over the Maryland Terrapins and the Iowa Hawkeyes. With two seven-footers on the Boilermakers with A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas, the home team knew that they would have a difficult time, especially in the paint. However, the Hoosiers knew they had a good home court advantage as they had won every single home game (15 games) coming into this one.
The first half, specifically the first two minutes, started off well for the Boilermakers, opening the game with two quick baskets. However, right before the clock hit 18 minutes left in the half, Indiana's best player, Yogi Ferrell, did what he's done many games this season to get the game started for the Hoosiers, bury a three to make the home crowd explode with excitement. The next two minutes of the game were a little less exciting for anyone as both teams were unable to make any of their shot attempts to keep the score stagnant. After, Indiana Hoosier Troy Williams was fouled by A.J. Hammons, however, the game flow started to pick up. After Williams made both of his shots at the charity stripe, the next two minutes were full of action until a T.V. timeout was called to give everyone a break. Following Williams' free throws, P.J. Thompson of the Boilermakers buried a three to stun the crowd, but they weren't silenced for long as Yogi Ferrell hit another jumper to bring the game to 9-7 in favor of Purdue. The Boilermakers responded with a layup by Isaac Haas, but Troy Williams responded with another three for the home team. The game was pretty back-and-forth after that for a few minutes until Juwan Morgan hit yet another three for the Hoosiers, giving them their first lead of the night. For the rest of the half, the Hoosiers absolutely dominated with intense defensive pressure along the perimeter and great three point shooting. They went into the halftime break with a 35-28 lead.
The second half started the same way it ended for the Purdue Boilermakers as right away, they turned the ball over. Turnovers were a crucial part in the game as the Hoosiers scored 20 points off of turnovers compared to the Boilermakers' 3 measly points. Purdue turned the ball over a total of 13 times to the only 4 turnovers committed by the Hoosiers. Through most of the half, the Hoosiers maintained a nice and comfortable lead. The Boilermakers were unable to continuously make baskets and whenever they did, they were unable to get a stop on the other end to try and cut away at the home team's lead. However, with 51 seconds left, A.J. Hammons made a layup to cut the lead to just five points. Just two seconds later, P.J. Thompson stole the ball from Yogi Ferrell and Dakota Mathias drained a three point jumper to cut the lead to just two points with 39 seconds left. With 7 seconds left, however, Ferrell made a layup to put the Hoosiers up 4 and end all the hopes for the Boilermakers in an exciting finish.
The first half, specifically the first two minutes, started off well for the Boilermakers, opening the game with two quick baskets. However, right before the clock hit 18 minutes left in the half, Indiana's best player, Yogi Ferrell, did what he's done many games this season to get the game started for the Hoosiers, bury a three to make the home crowd explode with excitement. The next two minutes of the game were a little less exciting for anyone as both teams were unable to make any of their shot attempts to keep the score stagnant. After, Indiana Hoosier Troy Williams was fouled by A.J. Hammons, however, the game flow started to pick up. After Williams made both of his shots at the charity stripe, the next two minutes were full of action until a T.V. timeout was called to give everyone a break. Following Williams' free throws, P.J. Thompson of the Boilermakers buried a three to stun the crowd, but they weren't silenced for long as Yogi Ferrell hit another jumper to bring the game to 9-7 in favor of Purdue. The Boilermakers responded with a layup by Isaac Haas, but Troy Williams responded with another three for the home team. The game was pretty back-and-forth after that for a few minutes until Juwan Morgan hit yet another three for the Hoosiers, giving them their first lead of the night. For the rest of the half, the Hoosiers absolutely dominated with intense defensive pressure along the perimeter and great three point shooting. They went into the halftime break with a 35-28 lead.
The second half started the same way it ended for the Purdue Boilermakers as right away, they turned the ball over. Turnovers were a crucial part in the game as the Hoosiers scored 20 points off of turnovers compared to the Boilermakers' 3 measly points. Purdue turned the ball over a total of 13 times to the only 4 turnovers committed by the Hoosiers. Through most of the half, the Hoosiers maintained a nice and comfortable lead. The Boilermakers were unable to continuously make baskets and whenever they did, they were unable to get a stop on the other end to try and cut away at the home team's lead. However, with 51 seconds left, A.J. Hammons made a layup to cut the lead to just five points. Just two seconds later, P.J. Thompson stole the ball from Yogi Ferrell and Dakota Mathias drained a three point jumper to cut the lead to just two points with 39 seconds left. With 7 seconds left, however, Ferrell made a layup to put the Hoosiers up 4 and end all the hopes for the Boilermakers in an exciting finish.
Cavs Best Thunder In OKC
On Sunday, February 21, 2016, the defending Eastern Conference Champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, traveled to the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Cavs came in with the third best record in the league only behind the defending Champion Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder, on the other hand, came into the game with the fourth best record in the league. This game was hyped by many due to the fact that it would pit arguably two of the best current players in the league against each other with both small forwards being absolute juggernauts in LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Both teams also had other stars on their teams with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love for the Cavs and Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka for the Thunder.
The game started off pretty evenly with the Thunder and Cavs battling back-and-forth throughout the whole first quarter. By the time the buzzer sounded after the first 12 minutes of play, the home team led the game 28-27 against the Cavs. However, the second quarter was drastically different, and also very disappointing and underwhelming for the home fans. The Cavaliers, led by Kevin Love, outscored the Thunder the 35-25 to take a 62-53 lead into the second half.
In the third quarter, the Cavs kept up their momentum outscoring the Thunder by 13 points to increase their lead even further to 22 points. The fans hoped for a huge final period from their team to pull off an incredible comeback, but the Thunder was unable to pull off the miracle, and ended up losing the game 92-115, the biggest loss of the season for them.
The two major stories in this game were the rebounding battle and the distribution of work. The Thunder, who are usually a great rebounding team, got out-rebounded by 10 by the Cavs in a lack of hustle. Also, while the Cavs distributed the points evenly throughout the roster, only the big three of the Thunder were able to score above double-digits. Their supporting players will need to work much harder if the Thunder have any hopes of winning an NBA Championship.
The game started off pretty evenly with the Thunder and Cavs battling back-and-forth throughout the whole first quarter. By the time the buzzer sounded after the first 12 minutes of play, the home team led the game 28-27 against the Cavs. However, the second quarter was drastically different, and also very disappointing and underwhelming for the home fans. The Cavaliers, led by Kevin Love, outscored the Thunder the 35-25 to take a 62-53 lead into the second half.
In the third quarter, the Cavs kept up their momentum outscoring the Thunder by 13 points to increase their lead even further to 22 points. The fans hoped for a huge final period from their team to pull off an incredible comeback, but the Thunder was unable to pull off the miracle, and ended up losing the game 92-115, the biggest loss of the season for them.
The two major stories in this game were the rebounding battle and the distribution of work. The Thunder, who are usually a great rebounding team, got out-rebounded by 10 by the Cavs in a lack of hustle. Also, while the Cavs distributed the points evenly throughout the roster, only the big three of the Thunder were able to score above double-digits. Their supporting players will need to work much harder if the Thunder have any hopes of winning an NBA Championship.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
NBA All-Star Game
This Sunday, the 2016 All-Star Game took place. The All-Star Game pits the fan favorites of the NBA as well as the best overall players in the NBA against each other with players from the Eastern and Western Conference trying to show which conference overall reigns supreme. Overall in the series, the East has shown dominance winning 37 out of the 65 All-Star Games that have been played. However, the West has been the better conference since the start of the 21st Century winning 11 out of the 17 games that have been played.
This year, the All-Star Game was held in Toronto, and it was going to be a historic game as it would be future Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant's last All-Star Game of his career as he will be retiring following the conclusion of this season.
The game started off with an interesting tip-off between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James due to the fact that there were no power forwards or centers voted in as starters for both teams. Throughout the first quarter, the players basically played no defense whatsoever as all the players just tried putting on a show for the fans with incredible dunks and alley-oops or three pointers that were out of the range of most NBA players. At the end of the first period, the East led the game 43-40.
The second quarter showed much of the same, as the defensive efforts of both teams were at a minimal. The teams went back and forth with scoring as the West put up 52 points in the quarter compared to the East's 47. Going into the half, the score was an absurd 92-90 in favor of the Western Conference.
As usual, the defense started to pick up a little during the second half, but not nearly as much as it could have. Going into the fourth and final quarter, the West held a 145-136 lead against the Eastern Conference.
In the final quarter, the West asserted its dominance once again finishing the game with a 51-point quarter and holding the East to "only" 37 points. At the end of the game, for the second year in a row, Russell Westbrook won MVP with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals.
This year, the All-Star Game was held in Toronto, and it was going to be a historic game as it would be future Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant's last All-Star Game of his career as he will be retiring following the conclusion of this season.
The game started off with an interesting tip-off between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James due to the fact that there were no power forwards or centers voted in as starters for both teams. Throughout the first quarter, the players basically played no defense whatsoever as all the players just tried putting on a show for the fans with incredible dunks and alley-oops or three pointers that were out of the range of most NBA players. At the end of the first period, the East led the game 43-40.
The second quarter showed much of the same, as the defensive efforts of both teams were at a minimal. The teams went back and forth with scoring as the West put up 52 points in the quarter compared to the East's 47. Going into the half, the score was an absurd 92-90 in favor of the Western Conference.
As usual, the defense started to pick up a little during the second half, but not nearly as much as it could have. Going into the fourth and final quarter, the West held a 145-136 lead against the Eastern Conference.
In the final quarter, the West asserted its dominance once again finishing the game with a 51-point quarter and holding the East to "only" 37 points. At the end of the game, for the second year in a row, Russell Westbrook won MVP with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals.
Saturday All-Star Events In Toronto
This past weekend, the NBA held its All-Star Weekend in
Toronto halfway through the 2015-2016 NBA season. The All-Star Weekend has
three days worth of events featuring the best players all throughout the
league. On Friday, the All-Star Celebrity game is played pitting a mixture of
celebrities, former NBA Stars, and WNBA Stars against each other. After that,
the NBA Rising Stars Challenge takes place in which first and second-year
players that have made a name for themselves show off their skills and
potential. On Sunday, the All-Star game is played where the best players all
throughout the league participate in a fun exhibition game. However, the day
that many people throughout the world most look forward to is Saturday. On
Saturday, the competitions take place for players to show off their individual
specialties. The three competitions of the day are the Skills Challenge, the
Three Point Competition, and the Dunk Contest.
The first event of the night was the NBA Skills Challenge, in
which players would compete in a race that involved dribbling, passing, making
layups and/or dunks, and culminating with a three point basket. This skills
competition had a little bit of a twist this year though. Usually, the only
players who would compete in this challenge were guards, however this year, the
guards of the NBA would be competing against the centers and power forwards of
the NBA. There were eight participants in the challenge with four guards and
four big men. The competition was set up in a bracket formation where a player
would have to defeat two of their fellow athletes to advance to the finals. For
the guards, the competitors were Jordan Clarkson, CJ McCollum, Isaiah Thomas,
and Emmanuel Mudiay. For the big men, the players were Draymond Green,
Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins. In the first round,
McCollum beat Clarkson to advance to the semifinals, Thomas defeated Mudiay,
Towns bested Green, and DeMarcus Cousins eliminated Anthony Davis. The
semifinal round saw Towns defeat Cousins and Thomas taking down McCollum to set
up the big man vs. the guard showdown to see if the taller players in the
league were just as technically sound as the little guys. In the final round,
Towns and Thomas were neck and neck with Towns actually reaching the final
obstacle sooner. In the final seconds, the two were engaged in a three-point shootout
for the win with Towns eventually putting in the basket and pulling off the
major upset.
The second contest of the night was the Three Point
Competition where some of the best three point shooters throughout the league
could see who was really the best shot. Eight participants compete in the first
round and take twenty-five shots with each being worth one point, and nine of
the shots being money-ball shots being worth two for a possible total of 34
points. The top three highest scores advance to the second round where the best
score wins the championship. In the first round, Klay Thompson, Devin Booker,
and Stephen Curry advanced after putting up unbelievable first round scores. In
the championship round, Thompson bested his "Splash-Brother" with 27
points, the exact same score that Curry received when he beat out Thompson the
previous year.
The final competition of the night was the Dunk Contest.
This year's dunk contest was one of, if not the best dunk contests ever
according to many of the people watching. The participants for the Dunk Contest
were Will Barton, of the Denver Nuggets, Andre Drummond, from the Detroit
Pistons, Aaron Gordon, of the Orlando Magic, and the Defending Champion from
the Minnesota Timberwolves Zach LaVine. The first round was typical for the
Dunk Contest, with each participant pulling off entertaining dunks, but none
that really made the crowd explode. However, by the end of the round, it was
clear that two of the participants had really come prepared with amazing dunks for
the final round: Aaron Gordon and, of course, Zach LaVine. In the final round,
the two participants pulled off incredible dunks, and for the first time in the
history of the contest, the two combined to get six straight scores of 50 in a
row. To get these scores, the two both did similar dunks, however, each dunk
became more impressive than the last with LaVine making free throw line dunks
and Gordon continuously jumping over his mascot for his dunks. Ultimately,
LaVine capped off the contest by making a between-the-legs free-throw line dunk
for the win, ending one of the best dunk contests ever.Back-And-Forth Big Ten Race
Throughout the past few weeks, three teams have been playing a game of tug-of-war for the Big Ten Championship: the Maryland Terrapins, the Indiana Hoosiers, and the Iowa Hawkeyes. These three teams have had remarkable seasons thus far, and each team has incredible players, that could potentially lead them to an outright Big Ten Championship.
Currently, the Iowa Hawkeyes have the lead in the Big Ten with a conference record of 11-2. They are one game ahead of both the Maryland Terrapins and the Indiana Hoosiers who both only have a conference record of 10-3. However, both Maryland and Indiana have beaten the Iowa Hawkeyes on their own floors so they both hold the tiebreaker over the Hawkeyes. Luckily for Maryland, they only had to play the Hawkeyes once this year, and it was a home game, so if Iowa and Maryland finish at the top by the end of the season, the Terrapins will automatically win the Championship due to the tiebreaker. However, the Hoosiers in Indiana are not so lucky. On March 1, the Hoosiers will have to travel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena where Iowa will have their chance to even the series. Each of the three teams who have a decent shot at the Big Ten Title have five remaining games with a varying range of difficulty regarding the opponents they will face.
Indiana has arguably the hardest path to win the Big Ten Championship. They start off with a fairly easy home game against Nebraska that will most likely be a confidence booster game for them. Next, they host the Purdue Boilermakers, who definitely have a shot at handing them another loss. After that, they head over to face a pretty bad Illinois team who sit at the bottom half of the conference. This schedule does not seem too difficult yet, but they play the two best teams in the Big Ten to finish off their season. On March 1, as stated above, the Hoosiers will have to travel to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes, and then, just five days later, they will play their final regular season game against the Maryland Terrapins.
Maryland's path to Big Ten Championship is considerably less difficult than that of Indiana's, however, the Hawkeyes schedule is about the same range of difficulty. In order to win, they will need the Hawks to stumble somewhere during their five remaining games. After a loss to Wisconsin, the Terrapins will look to rebound against a bad Golden Gophers team in Minnesota. Next, they will have to face the Michigan Wolverines, who defeated them earlier this year in Ann Arbor. Then, they travel to face Purdue on the road. After that, they play an easy game at home against Wisconsin, and then they finally finish their season in Indiana against the Hoosiers.
The Hawkeyes, as I mentioned before, have a similar strength of remaining schedule as the Terrapins. First, they travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions. Then they will host a Wisconsinteam that has bested both of their two foes in the Big Ten Race. This will be a must-win game for the Hawkeyes who cannot afford a misstep to close out the season. Following that game, they will travel to face a Buckeye team that has the same conference record as the Boilermakers. Finally, they will finish off their season at home against Indiana, and then on the road against Michigan.
Currently, the Iowa Hawkeyes have the lead in the Big Ten with a conference record of 11-2. They are one game ahead of both the Maryland Terrapins and the Indiana Hoosiers who both only have a conference record of 10-3. However, both Maryland and Indiana have beaten the Iowa Hawkeyes on their own floors so they both hold the tiebreaker over the Hawkeyes. Luckily for Maryland, they only had to play the Hawkeyes once this year, and it was a home game, so if Iowa and Maryland finish at the top by the end of the season, the Terrapins will automatically win the Championship due to the tiebreaker. However, the Hoosiers in Indiana are not so lucky. On March 1, the Hoosiers will have to travel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena where Iowa will have their chance to even the series. Each of the three teams who have a decent shot at the Big Ten Title have five remaining games with a varying range of difficulty regarding the opponents they will face.
Indiana has arguably the hardest path to win the Big Ten Championship. They start off with a fairly easy home game against Nebraska that will most likely be a confidence booster game for them. Next, they host the Purdue Boilermakers, who definitely have a shot at handing them another loss. After that, they head over to face a pretty bad Illinois team who sit at the bottom half of the conference. This schedule does not seem too difficult yet, but they play the two best teams in the Big Ten to finish off their season. On March 1, as stated above, the Hoosiers will have to travel to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes, and then, just five days later, they will play their final regular season game against the Maryland Terrapins.
Maryland's path to Big Ten Championship is considerably less difficult than that of Indiana's, however, the Hawkeyes schedule is about the same range of difficulty. In order to win, they will need the Hawks to stumble somewhere during their five remaining games. After a loss to Wisconsin, the Terrapins will look to rebound against a bad Golden Gophers team in Minnesota. Next, they will have to face the Michigan Wolverines, who defeated them earlier this year in Ann Arbor. Then, they travel to face Purdue on the road. After that, they play an easy game at home against Wisconsin, and then they finally finish their season in Indiana against the Hoosiers.
The Hawkeyes, as I mentioned before, have a similar strength of remaining schedule as the Terrapins. First, they travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions. Then they will host a Wisconsinteam that has bested both of their two foes in the Big Ten Race. This will be a must-win game for the Hawkeyes who cannot afford a misstep to close out the season. Following that game, they will travel to face a Buckeye team that has the same conference record as the Boilermakers. Finally, they will finish off their season at home against Indiana, and then on the road against Michigan.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Troublesome Week For Top Ten
This past week has been a struggle for a few of the top ten ranked teams in the NCAA Men's Basketball League. Number 8 Texas A&M has lost twice since the last rankings were posted as did Number 2 North Carolina. Yesterday also marks the second time Oklahoma lost while they were ranked Number One, and they will likely be replaced by the time the next rankings are released.
Iowa Knocks Off Illinois
On Sunday, February 7, 2016, the Iowa Hawkeyes traveled to Illinois to take on the Fighting Illini. The Hawkeyes, who were ranked 5th in the AP Top 25 poll and 7th in the USA Today Coaches' poll ended up winning the game 77-65.
Outstanding performers include Peter Jok who scored 23 points for the Hawkeyes, Jarrod Uthoff who had 18 points, and Adam Woodbury who added 10 points and 14 boards.
This win puts Iowa in first place in the Big Ten race after Indiana failed to finish the job against Penn State.
Outstanding performers include Peter Jok who scored 23 points for the Hawkeyes, Jarrod Uthoff who had 18 points, and Adam Woodbury who added 10 points and 14 boards.
This win puts Iowa in first place in the Big Ten race after Indiana failed to finish the job against Penn State.
Friday, February 5, 2016
The Oklahoma City Thunder
While there are many great sports all throughout the world, my favorite has always been the amazing sport known as basketball. Ever since I was a kid, basketball has always been a major part of my life. Whether it be watching basketball at a Hawkeye game, playing basketball with my friends, or even just playing a basketball video game, basketball has just always been something I enjoyed. Because of this, it is natural that one of my favorite things to watch on television is the NBA. While I also enjoy watching NFL games on TV, or other sports, basketball has always been the sport I was most excited to watch, and one of my absolute favorite teams to watch in the NBA has to be the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Growing up, my dad was always a huge San Antonio Spurs fan. He remembered the good old days back when David Robinson was still in his prime and when Tim Duncan had just entered the league out of Wake Forest. Because of this, my dad had basically programmed me to like the Spurs. For a while they were the only team in the NBA I cared about. However, as time passed and as the Spurs got older, I began to start watching some of the younger, and in my opinion, more exciting teams throughout the league. One of those teams happened to be the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The first time I really started watch the Oklahoma City Thunder was during the 2010-2011 NBA Playoffs. As I usually do, I tried watching every playoff game that I could, but I understood that some were much more exciting than others. Because of this, I did not watch much of the Thunder's first round in the playoffs where they defeated the Denver Nuggets four games to one in the best-of-seven series. However, I did pay attention in their next series against the Memphis Grizzlies who had just upset, to the dismay of my father and I, the San Antonio Spurs. Back then I was only 11 years old, so I was really upset that the team that I thought was my favorite lost, so naturally, I rooted heavily for the Oklahoma City Thunder, wanting them to absolutely demolish the Grizzlies.
In the first game, the Grizzlies upset the Thunder at Oklahoma City, and I became very doubtful that this team would beat the team that took down the Spurs, but I still tried to remain optimistic. In the second game, the Thunder struck back with a win, and a little glimmer of hope began to awaken inside of me. I started to really appreciate this team that I had never payed an attention to in the past. They had a great roster with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant along with Serge Ibaka and James Harden. Little did I know that all four of these players would absolutely explode to become amazing basketball players in the years to come. They were also very exciting to watch, with Russell Westbrook's explosiveness and Kevin Durant's unbelievable shooting range. Serge Ibaka was also very exciting because he was a hustle player who could always come up with a huge block when he was needed and James Harden could always provide a much-needed spark coming off the bench. As the series between the Grizzlies and the Thunder progressed, the teams went back-and-forth with each game more exciting than the next. One of the games even went to a triple-overtime with the Thunder eventually winning after a monstrous 40-point performance by Westbrook. Eventually, the series came down to game seven, which would be played at Oklahoma City. After a triple-double by Russell Westbrook and an incredible 39-point barrage by Kevin Durant, the Thunder came up with the W and advanced for the first time since their move to Oklahoma City to the NBA Western Conference Championships. Unfortunately, they lost to a very talented Dallas Mavericks team who went on to defeat the Miami Heat for the NBA Finals Championship.
When the next season began, the Thunder became the team I had the highest priority for in terms of who I wanted to watch. As the season went on, I began to realize that although my dad had raised me to be a San Antonio Spurs fan, the Thunder were my knew favorite team. That season, the Thunder went all the way to the Finals after beating my dad's favorite and my former favorite team, the Spurs to play against the Miami Heat. Unfortunately, they lost in the Finals after five games, but I knew the team still had more potential and the years to come would be great.
I was very upset, however, during the off-season to learn that James Harden had chosen not to re-sign with the Thunder and instead sign with the Houston Rockets. I understood his decision, though, because former head coach Scott Brooks refused to play him in the starting five, wishing him to stay as a sixth man coming off the bench. Harden, believing he had much more potential instead chose to move to Houston where he would play as the star player and always have the ball in his hands during the last seconds of the game.
This transaction proved to be very crucial in Oklahoma City's next season. The Thunder did have a great run that season, finishing the regular season as the top seed in the Western Conference. However, the eighth-seeded team that they went up against happened to be the team that now had their former third-best player, James Harden. The Thunder ultimately went on to win that series 4-2, but it came at a cost. During the second game of the series, Russell Westbrook, who had never missed an NBA game in his entire career, was injured during a play for a loose ball, and was declared out for the rest of the season after a knee surgery. Without James Harden, and now without Westbrook, Kevin Durant was unable to carry his team past the second round where they lost against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Over the next few seasons, the Thunder began to grow as a team and adjust without Harden. Durant was able to win MVP for the first time the following season, and the season after that, Russell Westbrook became tremendously better getting a whole lot of triple-doubles. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are one of the many reasons I like the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think they have a great roster with, in my opinion, two of the most talented players in the NBA, and I think if they can develop a good bench, they can once again be a top contender for the NBA Finals. I also just really enjoy the traditions at OKC such as the fact that at every home game in the Chesapeake Energy Arena, all the fans remain on their feet until a Thunder player has scored a basket. The team colors are also a reason I like the Thunder as I think Blue, Orange, and White go really well together. The Thunder are just, in my opinion, an incredibly excellent and exciting team, and I will continue to root for them for a long time.
This transaction proved to be very crucial in Oklahoma City's next season. The Thunder did have a great run that season, finishing the regular season as the top seed in the Western Conference. However, the eighth-seeded team that they went up against happened to be the team that now had their former third-best player, James Harden. The Thunder ultimately went on to win that series 4-2, but it came at a cost. During the second game of the series, Russell Westbrook, who had never missed an NBA game in his entire career, was injured during a play for a loose ball, and was declared out for the rest of the season after a knee surgery. Without James Harden, and now without Westbrook, Kevin Durant was unable to carry his team past the second round where they lost against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Over the next few seasons, the Thunder began to grow as a team and adjust without Harden. Durant was able to win MVP for the first time the following season, and the season after that, Russell Westbrook became tremendously better getting a whole lot of triple-doubles. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are one of the many reasons I like the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think they have a great roster with, in my opinion, two of the most talented players in the NBA, and I think if they can develop a good bench, they can once again be a top contender for the NBA Finals. I also just really enjoy the traditions at OKC such as the fact that at every home game in the Chesapeake Energy Arena, all the fans remain on their feet until a Thunder player has scored a basket. The team colors are also a reason I like the Thunder as I think Blue, Orange, and White go really well together. The Thunder are just, in my opinion, an incredibly excellent and exciting team, and I will continue to root for them for a long time.
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