Sports Morning Headlines - Tuesday, 7/31/12
- Details
- Created on Tuesday, 31 July 2012 04:27
- Last Updated on Thursday, 16 May 2013 07:51
- Written by MVPTexas Morning Sports Report
Project Spurs: Scouting Argentina vs. France (Ginobili vs. Parker) - Two members of the “Big 3” for the San Antonio Spurs will finally play each other in basketball for the first time outside of the practice facility in San Antonio, as Manu Ginobili and Argentina prepare to take on Tony Parker and France. Of all six Spurs players involved in Olympic play, Ginobili single handily had the best game of all six as his team not only blasted Lithuania, but Ginobili put up a magnificent stat line of 21 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Parker and his French teammates were clobbered by the United States on Sunday, as they look forward to playing a team not COMPLETELEY made up of NBA players in Argentina on Tuesday. Who will win this first and possibly last meeting between Parker and Ginobili? Let’s take a look out how both teams matchup and I’ll give my prediction at the end. READ MORE
What's it mean? High draft picks line roster - When Elton Brand sets up shop at his new Dallas Mavericks locker, he and Shawn Marion will certainly reminisce about the 1999 NBA draft, surely the way Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter have about the '98 draft. Drafts are always fun to look back on when hindsight is, as they say, 20-20. Brand, selected No. 1 overall out of Duke by the Chicago Bulls, was taken eight spots higher than Marion, the No. 9 pick out of UNLV by the Phoenix Suns. In between are names like Steve Francis, Baron Davis, Lamar Odom, Jonathan Bender, Wally Szczerbiak, Rip Hamilton and Andre Miller. Anyone care for a redraft? READ MORE
Is Dirk Nowitzki on path to wedded bliss? - Dirk Nowitzki is as accessible as any modern-day sports superstar when he's around the game. Away from it, he's as private as any superstar possibly can be. That his Valentine's Day engagement to Jessica Olsson didn't leak out for some months later shouldn't have come as a shocker. And the fact that Dirk's wedding plans aren't exactly front-page news should be of no surprise either. A few weeks ago, in fact, the Dallas Mavericks' PR department had to step in to classify Internet reports that the couple had married as being wrong. The 7-footer's path to eventual wedded bliss, however, might be taking on a globetrotting feel with at least a couple stops as the summer unfolds. READ MORE
What did Scott Machado say that caused the big stir about Jeremy Lin? - I have read the interview that the News York Daily News did with Rockets summer league point guard,and probable additon to the roster for the regular season, Scott Machado about Jeremy Lin. What’s the fuss? Machado said basically that he didn’t buy into Linsanity. Who did besides ESPN, the New York media, and perhaps the Rockets, who paid him $25.1 million for the next three seasons? Machado’s other “outrageous” statement is that he is “more of a real point guard” than Lin. OK. So what? READ MORE
Scola at home in the Olympics - Luis Scola was in an Argentina uniform playing international basketball. He was high-fiving. He was fired up. He was happy. This is when Scola is at his best. We didn’t see this all the time with the Rockets. I mean, Scola has had some huge NBA games and always plays hard, no doubt, but if you haven’t seen Scola in Olympic competition, you don’t really know Scola’s game. He is a different player when playing for his country. “In this game I am emotional because in the Olympic Games every game is big, not like in the NBA or the Euroleague where if you lose nothing could change for a day, a week or even a month,” Scola said after dropping 32 points in a blowout of Lithuania. “In the Olympic Games, one game can change everything.” Don’t take that to mean Scola lacked intensity with the Rockets. It’s just that Scola, 32, knows how the international game is played. He was on Argentina’s 2004 gold medal squad and its bronze medal team in 2008. READ MORE
Rangers on course for uneventful trade deadline - The trade deadline arrives at 3 p.m. Tuesday, and the Rangers very well might not add to the roster for the stretch run. An impasse was reached with Philadelphia in working on a trade for Cliff Lee, a baseball source said. The Rangers were hoping for the Phillies to take on a portion of the remaining dollars on Lee's contract, but Philadelphia wasn't budging nearly enough. No significant progress had been made with Boston on Josh Beckett, though national reports seem to question how motivated Boston is to move the right-hander. READ MORE
Rangers acquire Soto, according to sources - Texas ships Double-A right-hander Brigham to Cubs in exchange for backstop. The Rangers acquired Cubs catcher Geovany Soto on Monday night for Double-A Frisco right-hander Jacob Brigham, according to sources. In 52 games this season, Soto is hitting .199, with six home runs and 14 RBIs. He has spent his entire career with the Cubs, who selected him in the 11th round of the 2001 Draft. Soto is having his best month of the season, batting .264 (14-for-53) with one home run, five RBIs and eight runs scored. He was an All-Star in 2008, when he also captured Rookie of the Year honors. READ MORE
A year later, Martinez recalls big league debut - Monday marked the one-year anniversary of the Major League debut of Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez, who was called up when the club traded Hunter Pence to the Phillies. Martinez, called up from Double-A, pinch-hit in the eighth inning and hit an 0-1 double off of the Brewers' Marco Estrada at Miller Park. Coincidentally, the Astros were facing the Brewers at Miller Park on Monday, with Martinez in the lineup facing -- you guessed it -- Estrada, who was starting for Milwaukee. "I was nervous, excited, there was a lot of adrenaline," Martinez said about his Major League debut. "I was shaking in the box because of the adrenaline." READ MORE
After stint on bench, Schafer has clear focus - Jordan Schafer says his mind is in the right place after being held out of the starting lineup for four consecutive games last week. Justin Maxwell had started in center field in place of Schafer, who returned to the lineup Sunday and hit a home run. "I'm just trying to get back going in the right direction," he said. "I needed a couple of days off to clear my head a little bit and just try to put things back together." Schafer hit .276 in April, but has fallen off each month since -- hitting .247 in May, .176 in June and .175 in July entering Monday's game. That being said, Schafer believes the final two months of the season are going to be big for him to gain some momentum going into the offseason. READ MORE
Texans carrying impressive defensive depth - Texans coach Gary Kubiak was effusive in his praise, and one object of his accolades on Monday underscored why the Texans should maintain the momentum they established defensively in 2011. That Kubiak deemed it necessary to applaud third-year cornerback Sherrick McManis for having a "great morning" reinforced just what might be the Texans' most overlooked asset defensively: their depth. What the Texans confirmed last season through the losses of outside linebacker Mario Williams (pectoral) and free safety Danieal Manning (leg) for varying stretches was they cultivated enough talent to withstand significant attrition. As they opened training camp in advance of a season rife with great expectations, the Texans have gained renown for their accumulated frontline talent on defense with 10 starters back. READ MORE
Cowboys Training Camp Report - Day One - What a circus! I have no idea how many people were at camp today, but it felt like a lot. The fences and bleachers were packed with Cowboys fans decked out in blue and silver. And they got their money's worth today (although technically, many of the visitors didn't pay more than the 10$ parking fee): We got the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders doing their stuff and singing the national anthem; we had some Oxnard dignitaries on the field; some flag-carriers from the nearby Navy base; Jerry making sounds about giving the Giants a good-ole-whoopin'-of-the behind. And we had Skydivers. SKYDIVERS! With the Stars and Stripes. And with the Cowboy Star. That was all Jerry-time. At precisely 2:30 pm PT, the whistle blew and it was Garrett time, the circus was over and the Cowboys got down to the business of training camp. READ MORE
Cowboys guard Bill Nagy injures ankle, undergoes evaluation after Monday practice - The Cowboys didn’t emerge unscathed from their first training camp practice Monday. Second-year center/guard Bill Nagy injured his ankle and was still being evaluated two hours after practice. Cornerback Morris Claiborne, meanwhile, was bothered by general soreness that forced him to the sidelines and receiver Dez Bryant temporarily left the practice field with a trainer beside him. He returned soon thereafter. READ MORE
Will Dallas Stars Sign Jamie Benn Before The New CBA After All? - Last week we wrote about how the Dallas Stars were reportedly waiting on signing Jamie Benn to a new contract until after the new CBA was in place, to determine just what the new contract rules would be. For the Stars, this decision would make sense seeing how Benn's contract would likely be what this team would be built around the next five or six years. What was alarming, however, is how nearly every other big-name restricted free agent was getting contracts from their respective teams. Why weren't those teams waiting for the new CBA like the Dallas Stars have been, deciding to sign their star players sooner rather than later? At first it seems as if the Stars are almost out-smarting themselves on this one, especially when you consider what Jamie Benn must think when seeing that these other teams are signing their players and not waiting. READ MORE
Top 20 Dallas Stars Players Of All Time, #20: Craig Ludwig - When you think of what made the defense of the Dallas Stars teams of the late 1990's so great players like Derian Hatcher, Daryl Sydor and Richard Matvichuk inevitably come to mind. Yet perhaps no single player embodied Dallas Stars hockey more than Craig Ludwig, the grizzled veteran who said little yet led by example night after night by sacrificing his body for the good of the team. Ludwig, born in Rhinelander, WI, made his NHL debut with the Montreal Canadiens in 1983 before being traded to the New York Islanders in 1991. Ludwig would win the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1986 and was part of the system that Bob Gainey would work so hard to emulate while building the Stars a decade later. After a year on Long Island, Ludwig signed as a free agent with the Minnesota North Stars and then moved with the team to Dallas in 1993. READ MORE
---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story
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