don francisco22's Genuine Sports

It's a Three-way Battle for the Best

2009-03-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of the NBA season, it was a two-player contest for the best player in the league. LeBron James is making writers think he is a machine (literally), and Kobe Bryant was adding another brilliant season to his résumé by leading his team to the top of the Western Conference.

It didn’t used to be that way for either player.

When Shaq left Kobe after a disappointing beat down in the 2004 finals, given by the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers didn't make the playoffs the next season; it was maybe Bryant's most disappointing season as a professional. He had to rebuild his team, and it was going to take some time. It wasn't until the 2007-08 season when Bryant finally felt comfortable enough with his team to include them offensively. His team played hard, they played smart, and Lakers made it back to the finals only to lose in a six game-effort. But they jumped back on the right track; it only took a couple of years to rebuild a team around Bryant.

James came into the league in 2004 as the number one pick in the draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers were awful, and James was a one-man team. He immediately contributed and was named Rookie of the Year. While James and the Cavs made the playoffs the following year, his team still wasn't mature; they couldn't compete with the teams from the West. It took a couple of years for the Cavs to build around James, and now that they have, Cleveland might win the Eastern Conference this year. James by-himself was scary; James with a team is no less than powerful.

It took a couple years for Bryant and James' teams to develop, but now that they have, they might meet in the 2009 NBA Finals. As good as both of them are, it might not last long with a third competitor resurrecting from the dead… or from injury.

It’s not Global Warming that has me concerned about the future (even though I am concerned), but rather Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.

His 29.7 points-per-game leads the NBA over James and Bryant, and Wade is second in steals behind Chris Paul, with 2.22 per game.

Wade won’t win MVP because James and Bryant’ teams are performing better, and that’s how it goes every year with every great player. But Wade went from not be considered for MVP at the beginning of the season, to being one of the best in the NBA like in 2006.

One thing I do know, Wade was the best player in 2006, and he showed it when it mattered most.

Wade is the most recent of the three to win a championship. He maybe had the greatest playoff performance the NBA's ever seen. He was the sole reason why the Heat triumphed over Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 finals. If it wasn’t for injuries in 2007 and 2008, I’m not sure Wade wouldn’t have added a couple more rings on his fingers.

Wade is going through the same growing pains James and Bryant went through. When Wade’s team is fully developed in two or three years, Wade might be the most feared player in the NBA.

Schedule might help Lobos catch-up

2009-02-23T12:04:00.001-08:00

I'm not a fortune-teller, but the Mountain West Conference season champion and number one seed in the conference tournament might come down to a classic 90's showdown when the New Mexico Lobos host the Utah Utes on March 3.

With Utah (10-2) sitting alone in first place, four other teams in the Mountain West Conference are trying to catch-up. New Mexico (8-4), BYU (8-4) and San Diego State (8-4) are battling for second place, and UNLV (8-5) is only a half-game behind. Fortunately for the Lobos, their final four games gives New Mexico a legitimate chance to contend for first place.

The Lobos will try to use their remaining schedule as a weapon. Three out of New Mexico's final four games are against teams with losing records in conference play: TCU, Colorado State and Wyoming. Even with the Lobos' weak remaining schedule, they're still going to need help from other conference foes.

Before Utah heads to New Mexico, they have to play BYU and UNLV, which could give the Lobos a chance to catch-up. If Utah loses at all, the New Mexico vs. Utah match up could be for first place, depending on how other games around the conference play out. The Lobos will still need BYU and San Diego State to lose at least once.

If New Mexico wins out, they have a chance to take the conference season title and get an At-Large bid into the big dance. With a weak remaining schedule, the Lobos need to show they can take care of business.

It aint an easy road game

2009-02-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

The New Mexico Lobos travel to Provo, Utah this evening to take on the BYU Cougars in the hostel Mariott Center. The Lobos haven't won in Provo in eight straight visits. In past games, I've had to turn my head to keep my stomach steady when I've watched the Lobos play in Provo.

But it's a different team for the Lobos compared to the past teams. New Mexico already ended their six game losing streak to the Cougars on Jan. 17. with a 81-62 victory. The last time the Lobos held BYU under 70 points was back in 2005, when New Mexico lost 68-53.

Since the days of former New Mexico coach Dave Bliss, The Lobos have lived and died by the 3-point shot. But in the 2008-09 season, the Lobos are surviving with their defense. New Mexico leads the conference in defensive field goal percentage, holding opponents to 40 percent from the field. If the Lobos want to beat the Cougars, they have to play defense.

Besides out-defending the other team, the Lobos still has to outscore BYU, which could be a problem. The Lobos will have to go back to the old Bliss days of New Mexico basketball and live and die by the 3-pointer. Lucky for New Mexico, they lead the conference in 3-point field goal percentage and ranked eighth among the NCAA with 45.4 percent. On the road, New Mexico has
shot 43.5 percent from 3-point land, and 50.2 percent in conference play.

Tonight, when I turn on the New Mexico vs. BYU basketball game at 8 p.m. (M.S.T.) on the Mountain, hopefully I'll be able to keep my stomach steady.

Lobos Showing some Swagger

2009-02-10T09:49:00.000-08:00

Last season, The New Mexico Lobos men basketball team resurrected from the dead with a 24-9 record. They received a NIT invitation, where they loss to the California Golden Bears in the first round. Nonetheless, a good season.

Former Lobo J.R. Giddens led the Lobos with 16.3 ppg and 8.8 rpg last season, jump-starting his journey into the NBA. He was co-player of the year in the Mountain West Conference, and was the catalyst during the team's success.

At the beginning of the 2008-09 season, the Lobos looked vulnerable. J.R. Giddens wasn't there anymore, and it showed. The Lobos were lacking a go-to guy, and nobody looked like they wanted the job. Close games in Creighton, at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico, and at home against VCU exploited the Lobos' lack of leadership. Close games at San Diego State, UNLV, and Utah dropped the Lobos to fourth place in the Mountain West satndings heading into the halfway mark. The Lobos seemed to come up short in every big game.

It wasn't until New Mexico hosted the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV on the Feb. 7, that Lobo fans finally got a glimpse of a leader.

The Lobos were down at half, and fifth year player Tony Danridge had only taken one shot. New Mexico fans knew Danridge had take-over potential, especially since he was the most athletic and high-flying jumper on the team, probably in the league.

Lobos Head Coach Steve Alford knew his team wouldn't win unless Danridge stepped up.

"Tony was challenged the most at halftime and he responded." Alford said. "We told Tony that if he wasn't going to shoot, we weren't going to win."

Danridge went 9-12 from the field and hit the tying shot with 39 seconds left to send the game into overtime. He finished with 26 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lobos to a 73-69 victory.
It's what the team needed. It was the missing piece to the puzzle. Finally, Danridge made his mark on the team as a leader. Now he has to keep it consistent. Everybody is expecting the same determination to win that they saw from him against UNLV.

His performance might be his curse, or it might be his break-out game. Fan's expectations for Danridge are high. If the Lobos perform well in the rest of the season, the UNLV game will be marked as the game where the team unified.

Danridge doesn't need to be J.R. Giddens, he just needs to be a leader.

Time to say goodbye to football

2009-02-02T14:42:00.000-08:00

It's the day after the best day of the year. The day after the Superbowl. And even though college basketball is about to get interesting and baseball is right around the corner, football won't be back on the tube until August; that's depressing. Now football fans have to endure the six months of NFL draft coverage and the stories on football player's off-the-field squabbles.

Before we say goodbye to the most popular sport (ratings wise) in America, let's give thanks to all the beautiful and remarkable memories football has given fans in the 2008-09 season.

Let's start with college football. Thank you college football for another inconclusive season. Though Florida looked like the best team in the country, at least in the eyes of the BCS, nobody can conclusively say Florida (13-1) was better than USC (12-1), Texas (12-1) or even Utah (13-0). So many good teams and no constructive way to see who is the best (at least without major companies losing millions of dollars in promotions).

Even though there was no real winner in my eyes, there were many memories to make the season brilliant. Like Tebow's prediction, Texas Tech pretending to be a contender and Utah's beat down on Alabama. How could football get better?

Then the Superbowl happened. Pittsburgh vs. Arizona. Who picked Arizona at the beginning of the season to win the NFC? Who knew Kurt Warner was going to put up MVP numbers and play in his third Superbowl? One thing I did know, Larry Fitzgerald is unstoppable. He's fast, tall, athletic, and can catch anything thrown into his radius. But it wasn't the quarterback with the best numbers or the wide receiver with the best hands that prevailed.

It was Ben Roethisberger and Santonio Holmes that led the Pittsburgh Steelers to their sixth Superbowl. And while Pittsburgh's defense led the NFL in total defense, Roethisberger led his team in the fourth quarter all season. If he wasn't considered an elite quarterback in the NFL, he is now. 1/3 of Pittsburgh's wins came from fourth-quarter comebacks in the 2008-09 season. It would have been uncharacteristic for the Steelers not to finish the season with another comeback led by Roethisberger.

Thank you football for the great memories that you gave the fans all year. This is where we say goodbye until August. Goodbye football and thank you.