Should NFL Be Considerate of NBA in Scheduling?

Mark Cuban is mad once again and as usual he’s letting everyone know about it. Never one to hide his emotions, he lashed out at the NFL, through the media, for scheduling  the Dallas Cowboy home game against the Philadelphia Eagles at the same time that Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks host the Utah Jazz.

I guess I look at it this way, playoffs in all sports overrule regular season games in others. If an NBA team was hosting a playoff series at the same time as that cities baseball team had a regular season series, I would have no problem with them having games at the same time.

Usually I side with Mark Cuban on most issues. However I think he’s overreacting here. In a few weeks (at most) he won’t have to worry about it as the NFL season will be over. Dallas’ NBA team will be able to be the king of the city and I’m sure the NBA will schedule their playoff games without consideration of other sports leagues.

For more reading on Mark Cuban and his NFL situation, hit the link.

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Great Defense in the NBA is Alive

According to Maurice Brooks of ESPN.com; Gerald Wallace, Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Rajon Rondo and Lebron James are his favorites to take the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

What these guys all have in common is their teams play. All of their squads are currently playing great basketball and you can’t ignore these guys efforts of defense as a reason why.

Just look at their teams points per game against.

Gerald Wallace, Charlotte: 93.0 PA. Larry Brown is once again getting more out of his players than any other coach in the league. This team could be scary in the playoffs because they are so hard to score against.

Dwight Howard, Orlando. 95.9 PA. Offensively, the Magic are inconsistent. One game they score 110+, the next they score low 90’s. Good thing for them they are, lead by Howard,  a great defensive team. Eventually they will start scoring more every game and when that happens they will go on a great stretch.

Josh Smith, Atlanta. 98.0 PA. It’s been a tough week for the Hawks, but they’ve only gave up over 100 points in a regulation game once in the last ten games. That shows you, despite their slump, they are still buying in to team defense. Because of their ability on that end of the floor, I see them rebounding big time very soon.

Rajon Rondo, Boston. 92.8 PPA. The Celtics have only won one of their last four games, not surprisingly in two of those losses, they gave up over 100 points per game. Assuming that the Celtics injured players come back healthy, Boston just needs to make it through the current streak by playing stellar defense.

Lebron James, Cleveland. 93.5 PPA. The Cavaliers had held opponents to under 92 points in six of the last eight games. I do not hide the fact that I wish Cleveland would find a coach that will give Lebron some offensive freedom, but I can’t deny how well Mike Brown gets them to play defense. Cav’s fans just have to hope they can score enough points in the playoffs to win an NBA championship.

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NBA Daily: 1-3-10

Only five games on the NBA schedule tonight, but it included blow outs by New York and L.A.

Bobcats 91, Cavaliers 88

Gerald Wallace had 19 points, 12 rebounds and hit eight of eight free throws as Charlotte shocked the home crowd in Cleveland. Stephen Jackson had another strong game with 22 points.

Lebron James had 29 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the loss. Mo Williams had 27 points and 6 assists, but also had 6 turnovers.

Knicks 132, Pacers 89

Wilson Chandler (averaging 19.4 pts, 8.2 reb last five games) scored 23 points to lead New York. David Lee had 22 points and 16 rebounds. Danilo Gallinari had 20 points and 8 boards. Chris Duhon had 18 points on 6 three pointers, he also contributed 7 assists.

Luther Head paced Indiana with 18 points. Center Roy Hibbert had a surprising 7 assists despite having only 8 points and 3 rebounds.

Raptors 91, Spurs 86

Toronto continues to be on a roll as they win behind Chris Bosh and his 22 points and 15 rebounds. Jaret Jack went 8-for-8 on free throws as he scored 16 points and handed out 8 assists. Andrea Bargnani had 15 points and 5 blocks in his contribution to the win.

Tony Parker lead San Antonio with 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting. Tim Duncan contributed 21 points an 12 rebounds.

76ers 108, Nuggets 105

Allen Iverson visited the fountain of youth as he lead Philadelphia with 17 points and 7 assists. Elton Brand helped out with 16 points and 3 blocks.

Denver was lead by Nene who had 24 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists. Rookie Ty Lawson had 23 points and 9 assists in the losing effort. Kenyon Martin stuffed the stats with 17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

Lakers 131, Mavericks 96

Andrew Bynum had 19 points and Jordan Farmar had 24 as they  lead the Lakers to a win. Kobe Bryant had 8 assists and 15 points as his scoring was not needed tonight. Lamar Odom, starting for Ron Artest, had 15 points, 15 boards, and 6 assists. Pau Gasol left the game with a strained hamstring.

Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 8 rebounds, but he did not get much help from his Dallas teammates. Tim Thomas pitched in 12 points. Jason Kidd missed all six of his field goal attempts (all from three point range).

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NBA Player Profile: Chris Bosh

Chris Bosh is one of the top power forward’s in the NBA. He can score from all areas of the floor and is a very good rebounder and ball handler. Personally he is a very outgoing guy who is known for silly videos where he dresses in strange outfits. He is expected to be a hot commodity this summer when he becomes a free agent.

Strengths: He is averaging over 23 points and 11 rebounds per game this season. Unlike other big guys who can shoot the three, he doesn’t rely heavily on it and only shoots them when the situation deems it. He is a very solid free throw shooter for a big guy.

Weaknesses: For a player who is one of the top 15 players in the NBA, you would expect better results from the Raptors in the standings. Otherwise his game is pretty solid.

Our Opinions

James: A refreshing NBA player. He has a great personality, but doesn’t push it in your face. He is probably going to get in the Hall-of-Fame, though he isn’t a sure bet. I believe that he will be playing somewhere else by the end of the season, I think the Raptors will want to get something in a trade for him.

George: Chris Bosh has only played over 75 games in only two of his six NBA seasons. Whoever he gets traded to, or whoever signs him in the off season will probably only get him for 60 to 75 games. The other top guys, Lebron, D-Wade and Kobe are able to get their teams to the playoffs despite the rest of the team sucking, that is why Bosh is not an NBA elite.

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