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Big hockey game tonight. Canada VS USA. It doesn’t get any better than this. The Winter Olympics have been a show case for USA hockey. Hockey in general has looked pretty good, lots of scoring in these games. It would be nice if the NHL could play games without as many commercials, it really seems to keep the game flowing. How are the Coyotes doin? Do you have to ask? Oh I guess you do. Nobody seems to talking about a team that is playing really well this season. Fourth place in the western conference aint to shabby. How is the team preparing for the season to resume March 2nd? From azcentral.com;

“Intense one-on-one drills, power play work and conditioning exercises kept the Coyotes on the ice for an extended practice Thursday. “You could tell they had one day under their belts. Things went a little smoother, and another good day tomorrow and make sure we’re getting back up to speed.” Tippett said there is a good way to help ensure a team is getting back up to speed. “It’s a combination of doing some things that are geared to our game play and then getting the conditioning back,” he said.”

The Phoenix Coyotes have surprised some people this season. Just take a look at OnyxStarr’s first power ranking over at Hip Shot Blog;

“4. Phoenix Coyotes (37-21-5)
Tired and beatup but no where near done surprising everyone. Despite losing the last 2 games, Dave Tippett has the reins firmly in his grip. If Don Maloney gets him 2 players, look out NHL! Post break slide appears to be nowhere in the picture for this season.”

People need to start paying attention to this team.

Devils lose 62-46 to the Cal Golden Bears. It was a tall order to begin with. Travel to Cal on Senior day and try to get a win that would put the Devils in first place in the Pac10. A feat made even more diffulcult with the Devils poor shooting. They went 3-22 from three point range and that is not going to get it done. From azcentral.com;

“Perfection would’ve called for ASU’s best effort. Stubborn defense, strong rebounding, lucky bounces. But more than anything, perfection would’ve called for great shooting. The Sun Devils didn’t have it. With ASU leading 30-29 to start the second half, Glasser missed a point-blank shot in the lane. With ASU trailing 49-42, Jamelle McMillan missed an open 3-pointer that could’ve halted Cal’s momentum. “For us to have had a better chance, we needed to convert those kinds of opportunities,” Sendek said.”

This season is not over. We can still share the Pac10 title. We face USC on Thursday. Lets go Devils and win out.

I was afraid of a let down against the Clippers but the Phoenix Suns didn’t dissapoint with a 125-112 win. Robin Lopez had a break out game. He was on fire, going 13-16 from the field and finishing with 30 points and 12 rebounds. valleyofthesuns.com;

“I just try to be very efficient out there” Lopez said. “I’ve just got to put the ball in the basket and shoot with that kind of efficiency.” Lopez left the game to a standing ovation after hitting his final free throw (which actually left him two points shy of matching his brother Brook’s career high of 32) and Suns fans were treated to a Taylor Griffin sighting. Lopez’s emergence has been one of the most important parts of the Suns’ season. His preseason injury may have slowed his emergence just a bit, but he has really evolved into a solid NBA center. “I think it just shows how much faith my teammates have in me and my coaches have in me and that has helped me more so than anything,” Lopez said of his improvement in the starting lineup.”

Without Lopez’s 30 this game could have gone to the Clippers. The Suns didn’t really pull away until the fourth quarter. Jason Richardson only had 14 points, Amare Stoudemire had a quiet 20 points and 3 rebounds. And the defense was lacking at times. From ktar.com;

“The Suns’ winning streak had been predicated on defense, with all but one of their past four opponents held under 100 points. That trend came to a halt against the Clippers, who scored 59 points in the first half and 86 through three quarters. “It was a good win, but on defense, not so good,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “They had a lot of penetration and we didn’t do a good job keeping them out of the paint.”

Kaman, got thrown out, I wonder what that was about?

Wow, the seniors on this Sun Devil team came through big. The Devils battled back for a 68-60 win against Stanford at  Maples Pavilion. I can’t remember when the Devils won this many road games. Eric Boateng had a epic game. From fanster.com;

“But Boateng was unstoppable. The senior from London had 11 points in the first half, including three dunks. Stanford’s post defenders, Jack Trotter and Andrew Zimmerman couldn’t do anything to stop him, and Boateng contributed to Zimmerman fouling out and Trotter drawing 3 personals. Derek Glasser added 20 points for the Devils, including 15 in the 2nd half. It was Glasser’s 4th 20-point game of the season, and his first since scoring 22 in a loss at BYU in early December. Glasser was perfect from the line, hitting all nine of his attempts, and pushing his season free throw percentage to 89%.”

Awesome, this win still has us at a 1/2 a game behind Cal for first place in the Pac10. ASU faces them this Saturday. From statepress.com;

“Now the showdown is set. On Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, first place and control of the conference championship are on the line. “It is going to be a fun game on their floor,” McMillan said. “You have to expect 100 percent from both teams, and it is going to come down to patience, poise and execution on both ends. It is going to come down to heart.”

This season has been great and if they win Saturday Herb Sendek has got to win Pac10 coach of the year! thebiglead.com knows whats up.

I don’t know anybody 100% comfortable with Matt Leinart as our starting quarterback. On one hand maybe with a full summer of workouts as the starter he will be more prepared for the regular season. Then there are those who say Leinart needs to be motivated, needs a fire put under him. They feel he needs to be challenged in the off season, not to be treated like he is the air apparent. And then there is this;

“Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt loves a quip almost as much as a gadget play that goes for a touchdown, so he couldn’t resist earlier this week when he was asked why he is so confident in quarterback Matt Leinart. “He’s the only quarterback we’ve got on the roster so we don’t really have a lot of options with that,” Whisenhunt said, smiling.”

LOL, that sounds like a vote of confidence. And to add to that, I came across this on revengeofthebirds.com;

All of this talk about the quarterback position while we could be losing two of our best defensive players.

With Steve Nash at home resting (abs/back) Alvin Gentry gave the keys to Goran Dragic. The kid is having a great season and he didn’t disappoint. Dragic finished with 16 points and 10 assists. The Phoenix Suns won 104-102 even though they blew a 15 point lead. The Suns team defense kept them in this game and gave them an opportunity to win. Jason Richardson came thru in the clutch with a ten foot floater that sealed the deal. From azcentral.com;

“But nothing seems to indicate victory better than a 20-point game from Richardson, who reached 20 on the game winner that Gentry designed for him with isolation. Phoenix is 17-2 this season when Richardson scores 20. He also led the team with 13 rebounds.” “He (Sefolosha) took a reach, and I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to go to the hole,’ and as soon as I released it I knew it was going in,” said Richardson, who thought he had not taken a game-winning shot since he played for Golden State three seasons ago. “It’s an incredible win.”

I love it when a plan comes together. Amare Stoudemire had another monster game with 30 points and 9 rebounds. Along with playing better defense, this Suns team is getting wins by pounding the boards. The Suns out rebounded the Thunder 45-35. Nice win guys. I hope Nashty is feeling better. He should, Suns win and so did Canada hockey.

I’m glad the Suns didn’t make a trade aren’t you?

The Phoenix Suns playing defense? USA beating Canada at hockey? What in the wide world of sports is going on? In the 104-88 win the Suns held the Kings to below 50% shooting from the field and behind the line. The Suns also out rebounded the Kings to the tune of 49 to 36. With that kind of hustle the Suns can be a hard team to beat. Another statistic that was in our favor was the 26 points Jason Richardson scored. From valleyofthesuns.com;

“Richardson, who finished with a game-high 26 points, was huge for the Suns as he sparked the late second-quarter comeback that gave the Suns some momentum heading into the locker room. The Suns are now 16-2 when J-Rich scores 20 or more, and he certainly had it working tonight. “I just got into a rhythm,” Richardson said. “I saw we were struggling a little bit and we needed some energy so I just took it upon myself to go out there and be aggressive. The shots started falling and it kept us right in the game.”

The Suns are focused and seem to be determined to fight for playoff position in the western conference. Every game is important.

AAAMMeeRicaa, EEEatin MY Cheeseburger, TAAkin up two seats OOn the plane!!! Sorry Nash.

I like it when the Sun Devils go down to armpit Tucson and get a win. This 73-69 win was payback for the butt kicking we took at home a few weeks ago. We really needed this win for our quest to win our first Pac10 title. ASU’s zone defense played great and on the offensive end, Ty Abbott was the story. He was on fire, finishing with 28 points.  From Fanster.com;

“But the best part of Abbott’s performance may have been the fact that he didn’t force anything. He passed up open shots early in the shot clock, especially in the second half. How many times have you seen an unconscious shooter just fire it up from wherever they are on floor? Abbott didn’t do that. The only “wild” shot he took was a driving shot where he muscled the ball to the rim, looking for a foul. Abbott didn’t get the whistle, but he did hit the shot. It was that kind of night for him.”

Derek Glasser finished with 9 points and 6 assists and Jerren Shipp hit some clutch shots in the closing minutes that kept the Mildcats at bay, he finished with 8 points. We are a half game behind Cal. ASU plays Cal next Saturday.

Do we have someone like this for ASU games?

Mmmm, the five hole, who doesn’t like that? 88 points. Thats all it took for the Phoenix Suns to defeat the Hawks last night at US Airways Center. That Suns defense held ATL to 39.5% shooting from the field and held their three point shooting to just 21.4%. From valleyofthesuns.com;

“We did a really, really good job of just playing solid defensively,” Suns’ coach Alvin Gentry said after the win. “That team is a really, really good team. All you need to know is that they swept the Celtics this year and they’ve beaten just about everybody in the league.” Gentry was rightfully proud of the win that saw the Suns do a lot of things right, like forcing 15 turnovers and holding Atlanta to 30 second-half points. The Suns held the Hawks to 16 points in the third quarter, the lowest they have of any opponent in the third this season. “I don’t know if 88 points is our style,” Suns forward Jared Dudley joked. “But that’s how we have to play defensively.”

Nice job guys. I like those down and dirty wins every once and awhile. Amare Stoudemire is continuing to play great basketball following his non-trade. He scored 22 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. STAT seems to be all business and focused on winning. From azcentral.com;

“There’s no ill will at all toward the organization, so we feel confident about the decision that was made as far as not trading me, and we’re looking to have a successful season,” Stoudemire said. “It’s nothing personal at all. It’s really business. “Whatever situation I was going to be presented with, I was going to accept that role and do whatever it takes for that team, whether it’s winning a championship for some teams that were inquiring for me or to make the playoffs, which is what we have here.”

OK, so I think everybody can be professionals here. I think the team is happy to be staying together. I know I’m happy they’re staying together.

I am still kinda shocked that Pat Murphy is no longer the head coach, it really hasn’t set in. The circumstances of his departure were unexpected and left the baseball program searching for a new skipper to lead this team back to Omaha. They found that leader in Tim Esmay. Esmay has been with the Sun Devils before, coaching as an assist from 1988-90 and 1994. The players seem to be comfortable with transition to coach Esmay. From eastvalleytribune.com;

“Esmay knew the majority of the players before getting the head coaching gig, either by coaching them at ASU or on the recruiting trail. “The captains and I, we were talking about who could come in here and do this thing,” senior outfielder Kole Calhoun said. “Es was really the only guy.”

So how did the team respond in their first game of the season? With a 4 hit shutout! Once again, it looks like pitching is going to be the focus of this team. From azcentral.com;

“Seth Blair (1-0) got the start and went five innings. He allowed three hits and two walks and struck out five. Mitchell Lambson followed with two perfect innings, freshman Jake Barrett retired the side in order in the eighth, and Jordan Swagerty finished the game by striking out the side in the ninth.”

Nice to see Tim Esmay get his first win of the season. Go Devils.

So lets talk about the game first. Dallas won 107-97. Lets go over two stats that tell the whole story. 5-22 (22.7%) from behind the line. And 19 turnovers. Yep, thats it, thats all that needs to be said. Can’t win in the NBA with those numbers. Sorry, not going to happen. Amare Stoudemire was the only bright spot in what was supposed to be his farewell game. Stoudemire had 30 points and 14 rebounds. The game would have been a blowout if he had been traded the day before. From azcentral.com;

“Amar’e Stoudemire continued his best stretch of the season amid the trade speculation and distraction, looking like a player the Suns won’t mind holding with 30 points and 14 rebounds. It was his eighth consecutive 20-point game and his third 30-point game in the past seven games. Stoudemire’s eight early points helped get the Suns out to a 23-17 lead in the first quarter. But as Stoudemire left, so did the Suns offense.”

About those trades? I am beginning to think Amare is not going anywhere. The Suns seem to want more than any team is willing to give up for Amare. At one point the Cavaliers trade seemed a done deal. But the Cavs traded for Antawn Jamison instead. Now it looks like Amare will be with the Suns the rest of the season. He seems to think so. And I have to agree with him. It’s a weird situation for all involved. I wish it would all go away until this summer. We need to concentrate on getting into the playoffs.

This story doesn’t sound good for the Sun Devils. ASU’s assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator, Matt Lubick, is leaving ASU for Duke. Leaving the Pac10 for Duke football? Weird. Does he know something about the future of Sun Devil football that we don’t? Maybe he sees a better opportunity with Duke. From azcentral.com;

“Lubick, who also coached defensive backs for ASU the last three seasons, will be Duke’s recruiting coordinator, passing game coordinator and receivers coach. Moving eastward affords him the opportunity to have a hands-on role on the offensive side of the ball.”

Well at least Herb Sendek isnt going any where. The Sun Devil basketball team is in second place with a great shot to win their first Pac10 title. What a crazy season. We still have a lot of work ahead. From azcentral.com;

“ASU plays its next three games on the road – at Arizona, Stanford and California – before closing with USC and UCLA at home. ASU has already lost to four of its five remaining opponents, including a 19-point drubbing by Arizona on Jan. 23 in Tempe. “I expect we’ll have to be at our very best to be competitive,” ASU coach Herb Sendek said Tuesday on the Pac-10 coaches teleconference. “At our place, Arizona was vastly superior, and we’re going to have to be much better to compete.”

I am getting excited for Sundays big game!!!

Ok, now a sad note. A Legendary Sun Devil has passed away. Bill Kajikawa passed away at the age of 97. He was one of the people responsible for the creating the ASU football, baseball and basketball programs. He will be missed. From houseofsparky.com;

“Before retiring in 1978, Kajikawa had worked as the freshman football coach under nine ASU head football coaches.  In addition, he served as head basketball coach from 1948 to 1957, and he was head coach of ASU’s club baseball team from 1947 to 1957.  He was inducted into the Arizona Basketball Hall of Fame in 1968 and the ASU Hall of Distinction in 1982.”

We’ll talk about Stoudemire in a minute. The Phoenix Suns played a great game on the road. Steve Nash had 16 assists, Jason Richardson scored 27 points. Hey and we are actually playing defense! The Suns held the Grizzlies to 35.6 percent shooting. But does any of that really matter to you people out there. From valleyofthesuns.com;

“But you probably could care less about this game. You could probably care less about the fact that the Suns have won five in a row on the road, all against West teams, and six of seven overall and that they will enter Dallas on Wednesday a half game behind the Mavericks for fourth place in the West. All you probably care about is whether Amare Stoudemire has played his final game in US Airways Center — and what the Suns might get in return.”

Yeah, basically that’ all we care about. There is a sense of uneasiness over the Suns nation these days. What does trading Amare mean? Are we rebuilding? Are we still going to make a push for the playoffs? I don’t think anyone wants to start rebuilding halfway through the season. I, for one, want to watch some competitive basketball. I think that’s what we all signed on for at the beginning of this season. So is Amare going to the Heat? From espn.com;

“According to an NBA source, the Heat are offering Daequan Cook, Quentin Richardson, Dorell Wright, Mario Chalmers and draft picks to the Suns. Cook is the only player among that group who is under contract for next season (Chalmers has a team option for $847,000).”

Or how about the Cleveland Cavaliers? Amare wouldn’t mind playing for them now would he?

“It is believed that the Suns would rather have a package from Cleveland that would include Zydrunas Ilgauskas, J.J. Hickson and a draft pick, with the young Hickson as the most appealing part of the package.”

The cavs situation is interesting because they are doing everything in there power to keep LeBron James. From thebiglead.com;

“The Cavaliers have less than 48 hours to land a big-name free agent – their top targets appear to be Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix and Antwan Jamison of Washington – in a last-ditch attempt to help LeBron James win a championship and stay in Cleveland. The goal is simple: Get another star, win a title and prove to LeBron that he doesn’t need to leave Cleveland to be a champion. Don’t get a star, don’t win a title … why would he stay?”

Who the hell knows what this team is going to look like at the end of the week. I just want them to get it over with. Pull the trigger and lets get on with our NBA lives.

Ty Abbott to the rescue. This guy exploded in the second half where he scored 14 of his 19 points. From houseofsparky.com;

“Player of the Game: Ty Abbott.  Who else would it be this season?  He started out cold, but came out hot in the 2nd half hitting three after three to bring the Devils back.”

Hey kids we are a game behind California for first place in the Pac10. Our next game is against Arizona. Not only is a Pac10 title at stake but a tournament bid as well. From azcentral.com;

“The Sun Devils are off until next Sunday’s game at rival Arizona, which begins a three-game stretch that includes a trip to the Bay Area to face Stanford and California. To stay competitive in the conference race, winning two of three is mandatory. To jump on the NCAA Tournament bubble, all three might be required.”

Oh Boy, a victory in Tucson Upper Mexico would be nice. Lets go Devils!!!!