Duke vs UNC: Austin Rivers’ Sister Puts Him in Awkward Spot vs. Biggest Rival
Nothing is worse than your sister dating your rival and Duke freshman Austin Rivers is realizing as much tonight.
His sister Callie is dating North Carolina junior Dexter Strickland and has placed herself in the middle of the fiercest rivalry in all of college basketball. The two teams have a mutual respect for each other, but the hatred and passion to win this game is like no other in the regular season.
Rivers may be playing in his first ever Tobacco Road rivalry tonight, but it’s pretty clear he didn’t want to talk about this awkward predicament with the Charlotte Observer:
It’s a different situation. I don’t think it’ll matter to her; I think she’ll just support us both…I try to stay out of my sister’s stuff.
This is the perfect story for this rivalry and the only question that remains is if she plans on wearing one of those jerseys that is half powder blue and half royal blue.
She has been spotted at Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Smith Center multiple times this season and I’d assume she’ll be featured front and center tonight.
Callie was a volleyball player at the University of Florida from 2007-10, and is the daughter of Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. She brings an interesting little side note to the game that I’m sure the ESPN broadcasting crew will mention at least five times.
A similar family situation has been created with the Henson’s. John is one of the best players for the Tar Heels while his sister Amber is a member of the Blue Devils’ women’s team.
It’s a real shame that Strickland is out for the season with an injury because the two guards would have been matched up against one another on multiple occasions tonight. You can bet both players would be taking it strong to the hole to win the ever-important bragging rights.
I guess we’ll have to wait until next year…that is if Rivers returns to school.
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Arizona Basketball: Bay Area Sweep Puts Cats Back in Pac-12 Race
Sean Miller‘s Arizona Wildcats are learning how to win games in lots of different ways this season.
They have created victories with their three-point shooting. They have produced W’s by dribble penetration.
But when the Cats went to NorCal this past week, they used suffocating defense that limited both of their opponents to miserable shooting stats.
On Thursday, Cal shot 1-for-8 from beyond the arc (12.5 percent).
On Saturday, Stanford shot 16-for-63 (25.4 percent) from the field, including 3-for-12 from three-point range (25 percent).
The result gave U of A their first weekend sweep of the season and helped the Wildcats jump back into the Pac-12 race.
This week, Arizona plays Colorado and Utah.
The Thursday game against the Buffs gives the Cats an opportunity to avenge a frustrating defeat three weeks ago.
If the Cats can go 2-0 this coming week, they will move up a little more in the conference standings.
That will set up a very pivotal Washington weekend, where the Cats will face WSU and UDub for what could be a chance to move into the league lead before closing out the regular season on the road against Arizona State.
It is critical that the Cats keep winning because, currently, their RPI, as reported on CBSSports.com, will not help them come Selection Sunday.
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Saint Joseph’s Basketball: Ronald Roberts Puts on a Show as SJU Defeats Dayton
Forget the man of the hour, how about the man of the night? Ronald Roberts had a career-high 27 points as the Hawks beat the Atlantic-10 leader Dayton, 77-63 on Wednesday.
In a much-needed win, the Hawks fed off the home crowd at a jam-packed Hagan Arena. This was the upbeat, fun basketball SJU fans loved seeing in the first half of the season. According to head coach Phil Martelli, they needed to get back to controlling the game.
One of the things that had been missing for us had been pace of the game. We have not played basketball in a month.
The Hawks came into this game on a three-game losing streak and did not play well in either of those losses. This was the perfect game for St. Joe’s to make a statement that they are a dangerous contender in the Atlantic-10.
SJU got off to a rather sluggish start in the first half, shooting just 32 percent but quickly turned that around in the second half, shooting an impressive 70 percent.
Also, Dayton committed 13 turnovers, which led to 13 SJU points.
Part of the success was due to Ronald Roberts. Not only did the sophomore have 27 points but he also was 7-of-9 from the free-throw line, a place that has haunted him throughout the season. He even hit an acrobatic, off-balance three as the shot clock was waning.
Phil Martelli had nothing but praise for the big man after the game.
“Ron starts. He doesn’t get his name called. I’m sure that every young kid wants his named called at the beginning of the games so that he can dance or whatever they do when they announce their names, but Ron is an unbelievable listener and really takes it to heart whatever we bring to his attention.”
However, the play of the evening came on an SJU in-bounds play where Roberts performed a windmill dunk that practically was a new coming of Moses parting the Red Sea. The jubilation from teammates and fans almost blew the roof off the place.
Roberts is known for his massive dunks, but this one was earth-shattering.
This SJU team, although young, seems to be forming a unique style with each player adding his own special identity.
C.J. Aiken is the elegant swat team officer, Ronald Roberts is the new coming of Chocolate Thunder, Carl Jones is the drum major, Halil Kanacevic is the better-playing and better-looking form of Ilya Bryzgalov and Daryus Quarles is the sharp-shooting Beetlejuice.
Now, if they can keep this consistent, fast, fun, fierce style of play up, “No one, and I mean no one, is going to come into their house and push them around.”
But for Phil Martelli, it’s those who win on the road in the Atlantic-10 who pose the real threats.
Everybody is really good at home, and the separation is how good are you on the road, and we’ll find out. This is a magnificent league and we want to be in the conversation for being, not the best team, but being one of the better teams. We’ve given one away at home so we have to get that back on the road somewhere.
That game they “gave away” was against Charlotte, a team their next opponent, Temple, just beat on Charlotte’s court.
The Hawks will play Temple on Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Liacouras Center. Maybe this will be the game the Hawks can “get back.”
Hopefully SJU can play like they did against Dayton because Temple will be a tough opponent, especially in their building. And if Ronald Roberts continues his dominant play, no one will be able to stop him.
Eddie Ravert is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.
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Superman Dwight Howard Puts Big Diesel Shaquille O’Neal in His Place
OK, this whole feud between Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard is getting a little unnecessary. These guys know they don’t play in the same league anymore, right?
Howard is a star for the Orlando Magic, and Shaq is an up-and-coming star for, well, TNT. So why in the world are these two going at it like they hate each other?
Well, probably because they actually hate each other, but it’s unnecessary nonetheless.
The “Big Agitator” started it all by coming out and saying that Andrew Bynum is the best big man in the NBA right now, not Dwight Howard.
“He’s the best big man in the game right now,” O’Neal told the L.A. Times on Monday. “He’s the only big man in the league that’s playing like a true big man.”
Despite how ludicrous of a statement that is, Howard just couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t let an analyst, which is all Shaq is at this point, be an analyst.
Both of these big men are incredibly in over their heads right now.
Shaq seems to be missing the fact that DH12 is the best rebounder in the league, a fantastic scorer in the post and the best inside defender. The only thing Howard doesn’t do well is shoot free throws.
You know who else was poor in that aspect of the game?
Shaq.
You know who the only player in the league right now that resembles a young Shaq is?
Howard.
There’s absolutely no question that Dwight is the best big man in the league right now. Bynum is a fantastic young player, but he’s not yet on Howard’s level.
O’Neal was just being his overly-ridiculous self. Usually, it comes off as charming and funny, but now he just looks ignorant.
On the other side, Howard is probably right, but his statement comes off as painfully ironic. Superman tells Shaq to move on with his life and stop talking trash, but in reality, Howard also needs to move on and not get swooped up by something like this.
He needs to play basketball and not worry about O’Neal.
Boys will be boys, as they say, but just play the game.
Or analyze the game.
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Bulls Rumors: Waiving Keith Bogans Puts Extra Pressure on Richard Hamilton
Many expected the Chicago Bulls would dump Keith Bogans, but now that it’s official, it means the Bulls will look to Richard Hamilton to be the star they hope he’ll be. Of course, there’s no guarantee the newest Chicago player comes through, which would be a devastating blow to the Bulls.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the Bulls cut ties with Bogans on Friday, which is a bigger loss than some might think.
Bogans may not have been an offensive stud, but he did the little things that helped the Bulls win, things that Hamilton won’t likely do.
This means that Hamilton will have to live up to the Bulls expectations, or there will be a lot of angry people in Chicago.
The Bulls need Hamilton to put points on the board and relieve Derrick Rose of pressure. However, now that Bogans is gone, the depth of the team takes a hit, which puts stress on Hamilton.
Hamilton already had a monkey on his back because he’s had a good career. The Bulls were so desperate for a scoring 2-guard that when they landed the former Detroit Piston, fans rejoiced and immediately had dreams of a title.
Had Chicago been able to keep Bogans, Hamilton wouldn’t be feeling extra pressure right now. Sure, the Bulls have other shooting guards, but Bogans was the real deal for them last season, and it would have been a pleasure to keep him on the team.
Business is business though and teams make changes every year. Bogans started in all 82 games last year, as well as every single playoff game for Chicago. His hustle and hard work helped Chicago have the best record in the NBA.
Hamilton is coming off his worst season since his rookie year, but playing with a title contender should be give him great motivation for reaching new heights this season.
The pressure is on, but Hamilton has the experience to get through it all. However, it remains to be seen if he can execute and satisfy not just Chicago fans but also his teammates, coaches and personnel.
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NCAA puts $2,000 athlete stipend on hold
The NCAA said enough schools — 125 of them — had called for an override of the plan approved in October.
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Blake Griffin Puts Elitist Chris Kaman in His Place After Oklahoma City Diss
Chris Kaman took a jab at Oklahoma City on Twitter, and teammate Blake Griffin, an Oklahoma native, was quick to put him in his place.
Upon looking at Kaman, it’s hard to see where his pretentious and elitist attitude stems from, but the Clippers’ big man made it blatantly obvious that he found himself to be too good for Oklahoma City while he was rolling through.
Griffin was quick to come to the aide of his beloved Oklahoma as he cranked out this hilarious tweet that poked fun at his teammate and completely put him in his place.
According to Larry Brown Sports, Kaman was simply joking around with Griffin, but it’s safe to say more than a few proud Oklahomans took exception to the overly critical tweet.
It’s hard to believe Kaman was being malicious here. Just putting elitist and Chris Kaman in the same sentence is enough to conjure a little chuckle.
Even so, his failed attempt at dissing Griffin failed miserably, as NBA funny man Griffin came back and leveled Kaman with his response.
Does Kaman hate Oklahoma? Maybe.
Has Kaman lived with his parents well into his adult life? Probably.
This shouldn’t be taken as anything more than a little harmless banter between teammates. Those who thought Kaman needed to be put in his place got what they wished for, as Griffin definitely got the better of this exchange.
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Hunter puts his spin on NBA deal in memo to players
Players chief Billy Hunter sent a memo to his members trying to accentuate the positive from the tentative NBA deal
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Jason Kidd Puts His $1.5 Million Dollar Dallas Condo On The Market
Dallas Mavericks PG Jason Kidd has put his Downtown Dallas condo on the market.
Kidd originally purchased the 2,607 square foot Condo in 2008 for just under $1.5 million. The current asking price, $1,595,000. The 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bath bachelor pad also contains a theater , a gym and a private four car garage.
Located on the 21st floor of the Azure Condo complex. Jason recently got married so, I’m sure this is about moving on from the bachelor lifestyle… again.
Check out a few flicks
Curtsy to In Flex We Trust
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NBA puts deal on table until Wednesday (AP)
Commissioner David Stern gave NBA players an offer and a deadline: Accept a chance to earn up to 51 percent of basketball-related income by Wednesday or get ready for a deal that’s a whole lot worse. He wouldn’t call it an ultimatum, but it didn’t sure sit well with the union. “The players will not be intimidated,” attorney Jeffrey Kessler said Saturday.
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