Nothing but Basketball

I thoroughly enjoyed the Super Bowl despite not having a rooting interest. For a game that went two weeks without snowballing into an avalanche of hype, it was fun to watch.

The end. No more football!

It's all about basketball for the next four months. Especially with my sportswriting class going on, expect more frequent posts from me as I try to cover the only sport I can justify covering.
Lots to cover, little time...
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In the wake of the Lakers announcement that Andrew Bynum would miss at least two months with a torn MCL, Kobe Bryant went absolutely nuts last night at Madison Square Garden, setting an MSG record with 61 points in their 126-117 win over the New York Knickerbockers.

Sorry, Bernard King. Apparently there's a new King of New York.

Is this what we can expect from Bryant over the last couple of months of the regular season? Nightly explosions trying to compensate for the loss of Bynum? Stay tuned...

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Being No.1 in college basketball has been a curse lately, with Pittsburgh, Duke and Wake each spending very little time there since North Carolina's inexplicable loss to Boston College.

Tell that to the UConn Huskies, who disposed of the No. 7 Louisville Cardinals like they were NJIT or somebody. UConn is looking like the truth with ten straight wins and a gaudy 22-1 record, including 10-1 in the Big East. Hasheem Thabeet still has a little ways to go, but he is starting to become a two-way player. He's always been an intimidating presence around the rim defensively, but if he can make teams honor his existence offensively, the Huskies may be the team "Thabeet" come March (dude, I made that up all by myself).

On the other side of the coin, I wouldn't read too much into the Cardinals' loss. Aside from a terrific game from Terrence Williams, nobody else from the 'Ville decided to roll out of their student housing beds to show up. With the weaker portion of the Big East ahead of them, they should be fine in no time... provided they don't lose focus.

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Huge win for the Dallas Mavericks last night on the road in Orlando. I know that a three-game winning streak normally isn't something to get all jazzed up about, but a win against one of the four best teams record-wise in the NBA should be. It looks like the Mavs are coming around, but they can't relax: the Portland Trailblazers are red-hot coming into their place tomorrow.

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I'm in the mood for a reckless prediction, given the fact that I'm 1-8 so far this year. There's nothing on paper to suggest this, but I think the Maryland Terrapins go into Raleigh and beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in a close one tonight. Three in a row versus the Heels!? Am I crazy!?

Hell yes.

Off to class.