Sports Morning Headlines - Wednesday, 3/21/12
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- Created on Wednesday, 21 March 2012 05:11
- Last Updated on Thursday, 16 May 2013 07:51
- Written by MVPTexas Morning Sports Report
OKC victory boosts Spurs in power rankings survey - The pundits have spoken — at least for this week. An impressive victory at Oklahoma City on national television was tempered a little by the Spurs’ loss at Dallas the following night. That win resonated throughout the blogosphere as it gave the Spurs a boost in a couple of power rankings. They are ranked as high as third in a couple of the power rankings we survey on a weekly basis. Here’s what they had to say for this week. John Schuhmann, NBA.com: Ranking: Fourth - Teams ahead: Chicago, Miami, Oklahoma City. Last week: Fourth. What he said: “The acquisition of Stephen Jackson is good for nostalgia and salary relief in 2013-14 (when the luxury tax increases), but we all realize that he’s shooting 36 percent this season, right? And he’s just 3-for-17 on corner threes, which was Richard Jefferson’s specialty. Maybe Gregg Popovich can turn back Jack’s clock.” READ MORE
Vince Carter Producing with Shawn Marion Out - Shawn Marion is a wonderful player. He does many things in the "unsung hero" category. He hustles, rebounds, boxes out, defends the opposing team's best player, he rotates the ball fairly well and he flashes into the lane to create scoring opportunities. He provides Dallas with so much and was an integral part to the Mavericks 2011 championship, that it's easy to somewhat dismiss his negatives. There's a big one – perimeter shooting. READ MORE
Did Dirk Nowitzki bust out the hook shot? - Seven-foot basketball players are just supposed to shoot hook shots. That's just the way it is. So over the years when Dirk Nowitzki has been asked about said shot and why one is not part of his arsenal, he would always answer by saying he's working on it. And every now and then we'd see one. Take a 2009 preseason game against Cleveland when he broke out the hook. "I work on it all the time," Nowitzki said after that game. "To use it in a game-time situation, it's something different. Now it's preseason, a good time to swing one. But I don't know if it's ready." Last postseason against the Lakers, with about a minute left in Game 3, Pau Gasol pushed Nowitzki left of the basket as a second defender charged at him. Nowitzki went to a lefty hook, if you can call it that, and found success. "I was stuck a little bit and I slung something up there," Nowitzki said. "And it went in." READ MORE
Rockets Come From Behind, Drop Lakers 107-104 - The Lakers came into town and in the first quarter set their season high for points in a single quarter, 40. The Rockets were settling early for long jumpers, lazy close outs on shooters, and a general lull that forced me to question whether or not the Rockets had any interest in winning this game. Fortunately for us but not our hearts/stress levels the Rockets decided they would pursue a game strategy that didn’t center around getting abused in the paint, giving up uncontested jumpers, and throwing the ball in the general direction of the basket no closer than 18 feet in. This game brought us the luxury of seeing Andrew Bynum ejected, Matt Barnes commit a flagrant foul, and made a case for why Courtney Lee and Goran Dragic should be retained or see an increased role. After the jump you’ll get the notes I made throughout the game. Houston improves to 25-22, Miami drops the Suns (good for Houston in the standings) and, as of writing this, Utah leads Oklahoma City (bad for Houston in the standings). READ MORE
Home cooking - The Los Angeles Lakers appear to have upgraded at point guard with one trade they made before last week's deadline, but may have disrupted team chemistry with another. The Houston Rockets were involved with one of those deals, and in no way did it help their immediate need for a point guard. Five days after their trade, the Pacific Division-leading Lakers try to bounce back from a loss when they visit the short-handed Rockets on Tuesday night. Los Angeles (28-17) acquired Ramon Sessions from Cleveland on Thursday for Luke Walton and Jason Kapono, and then sent Derek Fisher to Houston for backup big man Jordan Hill. Adding the speedy Sessions, who averaged 10.5 points and 5.2 assists with the Cavaliers, seems to be an improvement over the 37-year-old Fisher, who averaged 5.9 points and 3.3 assists. The trade, though, upset several Lakers veterans. Kobe Bryant, a teammate of Fisher's for 13 seasons, considered the five-time NBA champion an invaluable ingredient in the club's chemistry. READ MORE
Rangers win, but Neftali Feliz exits early with shoulder stiffness - The Texas Rangers won their Cactus League game against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday afternoon, but it wasn't all good news. Starter Neftali Feliz pitched only three of his scheduled four innings, leaving after the third with right shoulder stiffness. Pitching coach Mike Maddux checks on his pitchers after every inning, and saw Feliz rubbing his shoulder. Feliz said he felt some tightness, and Maddux immediately shut him down for the day. Maddux said he didn't know the extent of Feliz's injury. "We just thought it was a little something-something," Maddux said. "We didn't take any chances." READ MORE
Numbers game: Rangers rotation putting up impressive marks - Though RHP Neftali Feliz left after three innings due to some shoulder stiffness, he still managed to hold Chicago scoreless and extend an impressive run by the Rangers' projected opening day rotation. READ MORE
Lowrie fouls ball off foot, endures bruise - Astros starting shortstop Jed Lowrie left Tuesday's game after four innings after fouling a pitch off his left foot. Lowrie, who went 0-for-1 with a walk, had the foot heavily wrapped as he talked to reporters after the game, but he said it wasn't serious. "It's part of the game," he said. "It's not baseball season until you foul one off your foot or you get hit by a pitch. I think it was just a matter of not doing something stupid. Right now, it's just a bruise, so let's keep it at that." Lowrie will likely be out until Friday, considering the Astros are off Wednesday and Lowrie isn't scheduled to make the trip to Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Thursday to play against the Mets. READ MORE
Four left in running for two Astros starter spots - With a little more than two weeks remaining before the start of the regular season, Astros manager Brad Mills said the race for the final two spots in the pitching rotation has been whittled to right-handers Kyle Weiland, Jordan Lyles and Livan Hernandez and left-hander Zach Duke. That means Lucas Harrell and Henry Sosa, a pair of young right-handers who were originally in the mix for a spot in the rotation, are now being considered for bullpen slots. They haven't been getting as many innings or the starts that the other four have gotten, so Mills' announcement wasn't surprising. "If they were to show something and light our eyes, they might throw themselves back into that mix, but we're looking at spots in the bullpen as well," Mills said. "If they do something we feel would warrant them to get back into the mix, then we'll put them right back into the mix." READ MORE
Texans trade Ryans - FOX 26 Sports has learned the Houston Texans are trading linebacker DeMeco Ryans to the Philadelphia Eagles for multiple draft picks in next month's NFL Draft. The deal is contingent on Ryans passing his physical. The Texans swapped third-round draft picks with the Eagles, which means Houston gets the 77th- overall pick in the 2012 draft. The Texans also get the Eagles' fourth-round pick. One of the leaders of the Texans defense, Ryans started in the Pro Bowl in 2008 and was selected again as a reserve in 2010. Ryans was named the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2006. READ MORE
Kyle Orton: Cowboys give me a 'chance to be in the playoffs' - Kyle Orton says he had opportunities to compete for the starting quarterback job with a few NFL teams but chose the Cowboys because they were the best fit. Orton, who has started 69 games during his seven-year career, said he’s at a point where he prefers to play behind Tony Romo while getting “a chance to be in the playoffs.” READ MORE
Cowboys say cap penalty not hindering them - The NFL cracked down on the Dallas Cowboys for dumping salary into the uncapped 2010 year. The Cowboys were fined $10 million against their cap over the next two years, escaping without nearly the $36 million penalty the Washington Redskins were socked with. But Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones made it clear it’s only a minor speed bump for his organization and it will not prevent the team from meeting its goals with the roster. Jones announced the Cowboys will split the penalty, taking $5 million this year and $5 million next. Dallas has signed five players and Jones indicates more additions are in the works. READ MORE
Texas Stars Report: The Future Is Coming - Last week in this space, we talked about some franchise records that had fallen this season for the Texas Stars (27-33-2-2, 58 pts, #15 Western Conference). This week, we are also talking about a franchise record broken, consecutive games lost. With their fifth straight, Texas broke that record on Monday night. Texas has been plagued by bad defensive zone coverage and endemic lack of finish in the offensive zone. "Everybody needs to [step up]," said Coach Pyle. "We give up too many easy goals and situations where you have a way to win and find a way to lose." READ MORE
Dallas Stars Hold Onto Pacific Lead With 4-3 Shootout Win Over Phoenix Coyotes - The Dallas Stars ended their two game losing streak Tuesday night on NBC Sports Network and, though they gave a point to the Phoenix Coyotes in the process, held onto the Pacific Division lead with a total of 85 points with nine games remaining. They started by surviving the first period, in every sense of the word. After Loui Eriksson put the Stars ahead 1-0 just two minutes into the game the Coyotes out-chanced them and out-shot them throughout, resulting in a Korpikoski goal to tie it.The Stars also had to kill two Phoenix power play opportunities, both with Trevor Daley in the box. Shots were 9-5 after one with the score tied. READ MORE
---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story
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