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Sports Morning Headlines - Thursday, 2/2/12

Written by MVPTexas Morning Sports Report

Thursday, 02 February 2012 01:53

Project Spurs: Dragic: Without Manu, Spurs still tough task for Rockets - Entering tonight's San Antonio Spurs vs. Houston Rockets game, which tips off in about 30 minutes, there's not much these teams don't know about each other. Spurs-RocketsIf it wasn't enough that they share the me state and Interstate 10, tonight's game will be the sixth time these teams have seen each other, including two preseason games. "Well as far as we don't have to play them again," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "If we play them ten more times, we'd get even more recall." While Houston is 2-1 in the regular season series, this is hardly a cake walk for the Rockets, backup point guard and former Spurs draft pick Goran Dragic said before the game. "They've had some good games and it's tough to play against San Antonio," Dragic said. "They are a very good team, especially their home games are very tough for us."   READ MORE

Roy Williams in San Antonio to see Danny Green - The recent emergence of San Antonio guard/forward Danny Green brought his former coach, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, to the AT&T Center Wednesday night to watch him against Houston. The Tar Heels played Tuesday night at Wake Forest and won’t play again until Saturday, giving Williams a rare opportunity to watch visit one of his former players. “All of our guys in the NBA, whether it’s from Kansas or North Carolina, I try to see during the course of the year,” Williams said. “Danny I haven’t seen. He was with Cleveland two years ago and I went up to see him and he played like one minute. “He’s a little more important here in San Antonio and he’s doing some nice things and Pop is one of my favorite guys in the whole wide world. We played three games in six days and I gave them a day off today so we could come and see Danny.”   READ MORE

Spurs 99, Rockets 91: Big lead and chance at big win turns into big frustration - The Rockets began the night shutting down the Spurs. They ended it unable to stop them, leaving the court as frustrated as they had been two nights earlier, though for very different reasons. The Spurs rallied back from a 19-point deficit, surging past in the final three minutes to beat the Rockets 99-91 at AT&T Center on Wednesday and move to a league-best 11-1 at home. The Rockets left the floor furious about a late charging call on Courtney Lee and frustrated that their improvements since the loss to Minnesota did not last long enough to get them a win. “They turned it up a little bit,” Rockets guard Kyle Lowry said. “We missed some shots. They tightened up, made some shots and went to their big horse. Tim (Duncan) made some big shots. “That’s the time you have to really lock up and really concentrate on what you’re doing offensively and defensively. They made a big 3 or a couple free throws and we missed an open 3, an open 2. It happens. We got some good looks. We just didn’t convert on all of them.” After several days of meetings, discussions and video sessions to correct the defensive debacle against the Timberwolves, the Rockets began the game showing all the corrections they had said were needed. They were rotating as they never had against the Timberwolves, took care of the boards and for most of the first half, avoided fouling. They just could not make it last.   READ MORE

SI.com: Houston Rockets trying to acquire Chris Kaman; in the lead for his services - The Houston Rockets have had extensive discussions with the New Orleans Hornets about center Chris Kaman and appear to be in the lead to trade for him, numerous sources told SI.com. ...While no deal is imminent and the pieces are still being discussed, sources said the talks have involved the Rockets’ two top-10 picks from the 2009 draft — center Hasheem Thabeet (No. 2 by Memphis) and power forward Jordan Hill (No. 8 by New York). The Rockets have other young former first-rounders who could be included as well, among them second-year forward Patrick Patterson, third-year point guard Jonny Flynn and third-year small forward Terrence Williams. They also have a 2012 first-round pick from the Knicks that the Hornets would love to obtain. I’ve been engaging you all about such a trade for some time now on Twitter, so many of you already know my thoughts: if it’s just for some combination of the ’09 busts, the deal would be an absolute no-brainer. No deal if they want Patterson or the Knicks pick. Those two are off limits.   READ MORE

Rick Carlisle apologizes for kicking ball - Before Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle took questions he apologized for kicking a ball into the stands that led to his second technical foul and ejection from Wednesday's 95-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. "I want to apologize to our franchise, Mark [Cuban], our fans," Carlisle said. "The incident where the ball got kicked into the stands -- that can’t happen. My intent was not to kick it into the stands, I was trying to kick it to the referee, but I’m not a very good kick. But, that can’t happen; the officials made the right call on that one. That’s a regrettable situation." It's many of the other calls -- or non-calls -- that Carlisle objected to. He picked up his first technical 27 seconds into the fourth quarter when he felt Delonte West got fouled on a drive to the basket. Carlisle's night ended about two minutes later when Jason Terry lost the ball to Nick Collison, who Carlisle thought should have been whistled for a foul.   READ MORE

Thunder take out Mavericks behind Westbrook - Russell Westbrook scored 33 points, Kevin Durant added 23 points and 13 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 95-86 on Wednesday night. James Harden had 10 points off the bench and Serge Ibaka anchored the Thunder defense with a career-high 10 blocked shots. Oklahoma City limited Dallas to 8-for-38 shooting from the field in the second half as the Thunder bounced back from Monday night's 112-100 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers that snapped a four-game winning streak. Jason Terry had 26 points for the short-handed Mavericks, who snapped a three-game winning streak.   READ MORE

Surprise positional outlook: DH/Utility - We're nearly halfway done with our Surprise positional outlooks (which means we're getting even closer to pitchers and catchers reporting in Arizona for the start of spring training). Today's positions: Designated hitter and utility It was a remarkable 2011 for veteran Michael Young, who is both a DH and a super-utility infielder. He was one of the biggest stories of the offseason after his name popped up in trade talks and, indicating there were trust issues with the front office, wanted to be traded. Can you imagine if the Rangers actually had traded Young? The 35-year-old veteran did what he always does when a trade didn't happen: He put his team first. He didn't complain anymore about it to the media. He told his teammates when he arrived in Surprise that he was there to work and help them get back to the World Series. And he let his play speak for him after that.   READ MORE

Rangers: No Fielder, but Darvish joins team - The Texas Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series and, perhaps, one injury away from landing the man who would have made them the favorites for a return trip. Rangers general manager Jon Daniels had serious discussions with marquee free agent slugger Prince Fielder. If not for the Detroit Tigers stepping in after designated hitter Victor Martinez's knee injury, Fielder might be in Texas today. Instead, Fielder received a nine-year, $214 million contract from the Tigers, and Mitch Moreland will return to first base for the Rangers. "You plug him into our lineup, it has a chance to be silly," Daniels told KESN-FM in Dallas on Jan. 27. "That's no disrespect to Mitch Moreland. Prince is one of a handful of guys that can impact a lineup like that. At 27 years old, it fit where we're going, not just this year, but the next few years. We were interested, but we knew we were going to draw a line.   READ MORE

Sanchez clears waivers, will be non-roster invitee at Spring Training for Astros - Shortstop Angel Sanchez has cleared waivers and will report to Spring Training later this month with the Astros as a non-roster invitee. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported the news Wednesday. The Astros designated Sanchez for assignment last week in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for catcher Chris Snyder.   READ MORE

Bogusevic excited to compete for right-field job - Brian Bogusevic is no stranger to the back fields of Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla., where the Astros will gather in less than three weeks to start Spring Training. This will be his seventh spring camp in the Houston organization, but he'll come in with more confidence than in years past. Bogusevic, a first-round Draft pick as a pitcher out Tulane in 2005 who switched to the outfield three years later, had somewhat of a breakout second half of the season in 2011. He got the bulk of the playing time in right field after the Astros traded Hunter Pence, and he batted .287 with four homers and 15 RBIs. The left-handed hitter will be among a handful of players competing for the starting job in right field this spring. That will be a nice change of pace for Bogusevic, who's yet to make an Opening Day roster.   READ MORE

Karl Dorrell Possibly to Interview for Houston Texans QB Coach Position? - Greg Knapp is still cleaning out his office and already the Houston Texans have found a possible replacement for the QB Coach position. Karl Dorrell, who worked with Head Coach Gary Kubiak in Denver from 2000-02, has spent his last four seasons with the Miami Dolphins. As the Dolphins QB Coach he would be very well suited for the position voided by Knapp.   READ MORE

Duane Brown earns performance based pay increase in 2012 - Duane Brown had his best season as a Texan in 2011 and his play has triggered a nice increase in his base pay for 2012. According to Brian McIntyre, editor of Mac's Football Blog and staff writer for Football Outsiders, Brown will earn an additional $1.3 million on his base pay in 2012 after meeting several performance level and playing-time triggers specified in his contract.   READ MORE

Cowboys Look to Retain Special Teams Coach Joe DeCamillis - The significant news today was that the Cowboys refused to allow the Oakland Raiders to interview special-teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who has been with the team since 2009. Dallas didn’t have some of the special teams gaffes compared with last year, when the coverage units often struggled. The Cowboys ranked 5th in average yards allowed per kickoff return (21.4 yds/return on 52 kickoffs) and 14th on average yards allowed per punt (9.3 yds./return on 30 punt returns). The team did not give up a return touchdown on special teams. However, the return units didn’t provide much of a benefit.   READ MORE

Dallas Cowboys Punter Mat McBriar Undergoing Surgery, Wants to Return - Mat McBriar, the punter of the Dallas Cowboys, plans to undergo surgery next week to remove a cyst below his left knee. McBriar hopes to be back to 100-percent by the summer in time to hopefully rejoin the Cowboys for the 2012 season. Dallas will have to make a decision on McBriar before that can happen though since the punter is an unrestricted free agent. Even if the Cowboys decide they want him back, McBriar can also choose to play elsewhere. In recent interviews, the punter said he wants to return to finish his career in Dallas but he will have to understand that his value dropped thanks to his injury problems in 2011.   READ MORE

Stars rout Ducks, 6-2 - The Dallas Stars won their first game out of the All Star break, routing the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 at Honda Center Wednesday night. The victory pulled the Stars to within one point of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Jamie Benn and Michael Ryder each had one goal and two assists. Eric Nystrom, Vernon Fiddler, Stephane Robidas and Sheldon Souray also scored goals. Steve Ott and Alex Goligoski each had two assists. Kari Lehtonen stopped 33 of 35 shots. The Stars were 1-3 on the power play and were 4-4 on the penalty kill. READ MORE

Dallas Stars Prospects: Notes and Stats - Here are some notes and a statistical update on Dallas Stars prospects playing junior hockey, in Europe and in college. *RW Reilly Smith (3rd round/2009) was named the CCHA’s player of the month after picking up 7 goals and 3 assists in eight games during the month. Four of his goals were game-winners for Miami, which won six of the eight games. Smith has 19 goals and 8 assists in 26 games this season. He is tied for third in the nation in goal scoring. *F Austin Smith (5th round/2007) had 2 goals, 1 assist an a plus-4 rating as Colgate swept a pair of games from Cornell over the weekend. Smith, who has 41 points (26 goals, 15 assists) in 26 games, leads the nation in both goal scoring and points. *RW Brett Ritchie (2nd round/2011) has points in five of this last six games for Niagara (OHL), and has 4 goals and 3 assists during that stretch. Ritchie has 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists) and a plus-9 rating in 11 games since joining Niagara and has 12 goals and 12 assists in 34 total games this season. READ MORE

---Staff and Wire Reports contributed to this story

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