Naismith Coach of the Year

Naismith Coach of the Year

By Paige Costantino

Each year one NCAA men's basketball coach is awarded with the Naismith Coach of the Year award. This year, Bill Self, head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks reiceved the award. Self led the team to a 32-6 overall record and a 16-2 record in the Big 12. Other candidates for the award include Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, John Calipari of Kentucky and Frank Haith of Missouri. All these coaches have led their teams to impressive records this season (ESPN). Competing in the NCAA finals tomorrow will be the Kansas Jayhawks against the Kentucky Wildcats.



The Elite Eight

The Elite Eight

By Paige Costantino

The NCAA Tournament has now been narrowed down to eight teams or what is otherwise known as the Elite Eight. Two of the four game have been played for the Elite Eight featuring Michigan State (1) and Lousiville (4) as well as Syracuse (1) and Ohio State (2). Both of these match ups were upsets, Lousiville defeated Michigan State 57-44 and Ohio State defeated Syracuse 77-70. Today, Kentucky (1) and Baylor (3) are currently facing off and Baylor is ahead by 3 in the beginning of the first half. Later today, UNC (1) will be facing Kansas (2) which will an interesting match up especially with an injury to North Carolina's starting point guard which he acquired during the 87-73 win over Creighton (8) in the third round. The winning of the UNC and Kansas game will face off against Ohio State and the winner of the Kentucky Baylor game will face off against Louisville in the Final Four on March 31.

Tim Tebow: Next Stop the New York Jets

Tim Tebow: Next Stop the New York Jets

By Paige Costantino 

This week there has been recent hype in the NFL due to the trade deadline. While Petyon Manning was one of the big question marks, to stay with the Colts or not. As a result of Manning's move, Tebow has now created a lot of talk in the NFL. Manning was traded from the Colts due to uncertainty if he could play in the upcoming season because of his neck surgery. If Manning did want to stay and play for the Colts he would have had to take a salary cut. The ultimate decision was to trade him and while many teams were interested in him, he had to narrow it down to one team and that was the Denver Broncos. Tim Tebow after barely playing his rookie season, but played 14 games and started most games in the 2011 season. He lead the Broncos to the AFC championship but lost to the New England Patriots. Tebow instilled hope back in to the Broncos team as well as their fans in what they call "Tebowmania".

Despite all his achievements, Tebow is a highly criticized quarterback because of his style of play and the fact that he likes to run the ball a lot rather than throwing. Many critics said that he was going to struggle being a quarterback especially because of his throwing percentage because quarterbacks that are getting drafted in the upcoming draft not only can run the ball and are quick but they can also throw the ball extremely well.

As the trading deadline was approaching quickly, Manning was signed to the Denver Broncos giving Tebow not many opportunities to do what he did last year because Denver was certainly going to start a veteran and future hall of famer before Tebow. So, Tebow was traded to the New York Giants, where Mark Sanchez is the starting quarterback. Although Tebow will most likely not start in  New York, he can definitely create opportunities for the Jets in the upcoming season as a back up.

To the NCAA Tournament we go

To the NCAA Tournament we go

By Paige Costantino

Source: NCAA Logo

Now that the conference games are over, the brackets at out and the number one seeds have been announced. Shockingly, all four of the number 1 seeds for the NCAA tournament did not win their conference and lost in the finals. Kentucky, Syracuse, UNC and Ohio State all lost in the finals round, losing to Vanderbuilt, Cinninatti, Flordia State and Michigan State, respectively. Kentucky which was ranked number 1 in the country, only losing one game, fell to Vanderbuilt 71-64 even though they defeated them twice during the regular season. However, in order to be in the NCAA tournament winning your conference is not the only factor and because of their success during the season they became number one seeds.

The 2nd round of the tournament tips off on Thursday, March 15. On Thursday number 1 seeds Kentucky plays either Western Kentucky Universtiy or Mississippi Valley State University tied for the 16th seed and Syracuse will play UNC-Asheville (#16). Then on Friday, number 1 seed Michigan State University will play Long Island University Brooklyn (16th) and number 1 seed UNC will either play Lamar or University of Vermont tied for 16th (ESPN). Although the Kentucky Wildcats lost their conference championship game, they are defintely contenders to win the national championship, it could be anyone's game.

Source: 2011 NCAA Tournament Highlights

Bring in the March Madness

Bring in the March Madness

By Paige Costantino

Source: Big East Conference

March madness is the most exciting time for college basketball. The conference tournaments have begun and the NCAA tournament is about to get underway as well. So far, UConn has won both games for their conference defeating DePaul (ranked #16) and upsetting WVU (ranked #8) 71-67. UConn is hoping to defend their title of NCAA Champions which they won last year with point guard, Kemba Walker. Today they are facing #1 ranked Syracuse which will be a tough battle. If they are to defeat Syracuse, they will face either Georgetown (ranked #5) or Cincinnati (ranked #4) for the Big East Finals and they would go on to the NCAA tournament (ESPN-Big East).

Source: Big Ten Conference

One of the interesting things about the NCAA tournament is that if a team is ranked high enough however, is eliminated during their conference playoffs, they could still compete in the NCAA tournament. For example, if Syracuse was to lose to UConn they could still enter the tournament because of their season record along with other factors. Kentucky is in the SEC which is one of the toughest conferences and is ranked number 1 overall. They go a bi the first round and will play the winner of LSU (ranked #8) or Arkansas (ranked #9) (ESPN-SEC). The ACC which is another major conference, featuring the biggest rivalry, Duke and North Carolina, has North Carolina ranked #1 with a bi in the first round and Duke ranked  #2, also with a bi in the first round (ESPN-ACC). These teams could face each other in the Conference Championship, which would be their third time meeting this season. The Big Ten conference is definitely something to see, with #1 Missouri, #2 Michigan, #3 Ohio State and #4 Wisconsin (ESPN- Big Ten).  These four teams have very good records this season and when any of these teams match up the game can go either way, don't judge the team based on their ranking.

Source: Southeastern Conference

Source: Atlantic Coast Conference

This is sure to be a crazy year for college hoops. Although I am routing for Kentucky, many of these teams are capable of an upset. If you are a basketball fan this is definitely something you have to see. What team will you stand behind?



The Masked Mamba

The Masked Mamba

By Paige Costantino

Kobe's amazing All-Star performance, passing Michael Jordan in the most points scored overall in his 14 All-Star game appearances, also suffered a broken nose. Kobe was fouled by Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade which resulted in a broken nose and a concussion. After going to an ear, nose and throat specialist he was cleared to play the next game against the Minnestoa Timberwolves, however, the Back Mamba had to wear a protective mask, making him the Masked Mamba. 

Source: Against the Timberwolves

His first game as the Masked Mamba resulted in 31 points (most points in the game), 7 rebounds and also played a majority of the game, 33 minutes out of the possible 48 minutes. Kobe was 11-23 in field goals and only missed on free throw (9-10). The Masked Mamba also contributed 8 assists, the most assists for the Lakers. The Lakers defeated the Timberwolves easily, 104-85 (NBA.com).

The Masked Mamba's second appearance was against the Sacramento Kings. This was another chance to show that Kobe can put in work and shows results, masked and all. The Mamba put up the most points in the game with 38, he was 13-28. He played 37 minutes and was 11-14 in free throws. Not only did he put up these impressive stats but he also had 15 rebounds. Once again, the Laker's prevailed defeating the Kings 115-107 (NBA.com).
The next test is the #1 team in the east, the Miami Heat. This will be a test for the Lakers going against the big 3 Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Masked Mamba who has averaged 34.5 points the past two games will definitely have to bring his A game when Miami arrives at Staples Center on Sunday. Will he put up another big game?

The West is the Best

The West is the Best

Every year, the top NBA players show their stuff on the court... together? Yes I am talking about the NBA All-Star Game. Not only is there an All-Star game but there is a whole weekend dedicated to this game. Leading up to the All-Star game on Sunday, there were many contests including the Rising Stars Game, Celebrity Game, Slam Dunk Contest, the 3 Point Contest, Shooting Stars and the Skills Challenge.  The Celebrity Game MVP was comedian Kevin Hart, the Rising Stars Game MVP was rookie Kyrie Irving from the Cavilers. The Slam Dunk Contest winner was Jeremy Evans from the Utah Jazz and the 3 Point Contest was won by Kevin Love, from the Timberwolves, beating Kevin Durant one of the top 3 point shooters in the NBA. The Shooting Stars competition was won by team New York, which had Allan Houston, former Knicks player, and current Knicks player Landry Fields. The Skills Challenge was won by Tony Parker, current Spurs point guard. And as for the All-Star game itself, the West prevailed over East for the second year in a row.
The NBA All-Star game was held in the Orlando Magic's home court, the Amway Center. This year starting for the West was Laker's guard Kobe Bryant along with center Andrew Bynum, Clippers' guard Chris Paul along with forward Blake Griffin, and Oklahoma City's foward Kevin Durant. Also selected to play in the All-Star game was LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Kevin Love, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook. The team was coached by Scott Brooks, coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Andrew Bynum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol were all first-time selections for the All-Star Game. Starting in the East, was Knicks' foward Carmelo Anthony, Heat foward Lebron James and guard Dwyane Wade, Bulls' guard Derrick Rose, and the Magic's center Dwight Howard. Also selected for the East was Chris Bosh, Luol Deng, Roy Hibbert, Andre Iguodala, Joe Johnson (injured and did not participate), Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondon and Deron Williams. This was the first All-Star selection for Luol Deng, Roy Hibbert and Andre Iguodala (NBA.com). The All-Star game featured some amazing dunks and plays by the top players in the NBA. Kobe Bryant set the record for the most points scored overall in the All-Star games passing Michael Jordan. Kobe has appeared in 14 All-Star games and has been named MVP 4 times, he has over 262 points scored. Although it was a close game in the last few minutes the game, the West pulled through for the second consecutive year and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder was named MVP. Durant contributed 36 points, this is his first All-Star MVP award. Is the West going to prevail for a 3rd consecutive year?