Virginia Tech Vs. Florida State and the 5 Must-See Games in College Football

Some are done, some still have tons at stack this coming weekend.

What am I talking about? The state of college football of course. Some conferences, most notably the Big Ten has concluded their regular season play (outside of Illinois vs Fresno State). But, for conference and national title glory on the line this weekend poises to be must see entertainment for even the most casual of college football fans.

We have decided to write about what we consider to be the "must-see" games this weekend. But if one or some of these games don't do anything for you, than perhaps some of these battles will:

Arizona vs Arizona St

Northern Illinois vs Miami University

UCLA vs USC

Obviously these games are of importance for the people of L.A. and Arizona, and also for college football fans in Illinois because Northern Illinois is the best team in the state.

But, it should be a fun weekend yet again with the a shot at the crystal ball at stake for two teams in action.

 

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Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/532118-virginia-tech-vs-florida-state-and-the-five-must-see-games-in-college-football

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Not Going Anywhere: Oilers Execs Travel To Quebec City To Discuss Arena Funding, Not Relocation

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2010/12/1/1849238/edmonton-oilers-quebec-city-relocation-rumors

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Source: Magic Will Assign Daniel Orton to NBA D-League

Filed under: Magic, NBA Transactions, NBA D-League, New Mexico Thunderbirds

Daniel Orton, one of five first round picks out of the University of Kentucky this past draft, will be assigned to the NBA Development League's New Mexico Thunderbirds from the Orlando Magic, according to a source.

Orton, the 29th overall pick in this year's draft, has been hampered by a knee injury sustained earlier this year and has yet to play in a game for the team that drafted him based purely on his size and potential after averaging a paltry 3.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks as a freshman for the Wildcats.

In five starts for the Magic's Summer League entry, Orton averaged a disappointing 3.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks while hitting less than 15 percent (4-of-27) of his field goal attempts.

While it's been reported that Orton recently returned to full-court drills, his conditioning has always been a question and it likely didn't help that he hasn't been able to practice.

With the Thunderbirds, Orton will be able to ease back into game shape while also testing out the offensive repertoire Magic big man coach Patrick Ewing has been teaching him. His D-League coaches might also be able to teach him a few tricks as both head coach Darvin Ham and assistant Sean Rooks -- who played his final NBA season as a member of the Magic -- have NBA experience in the post.

 

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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/daniel-orton-assigned-to-d-league-by-magic/

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Washington Wizards: John Wall, Gilbert Arenas, and Early Season Troubles

The Washington Wizards (5-11) are in the midst of a three game losing streak.

Rookie sensation John Wall has missed the past two games due to injury. But Gilbert Arenas, the team's former go-to-guy, just recently recaptured the top spot as the leading scorer with 18.1 PPG. 

However, Arenas looked anything like his old self Saturday night when he clanked a runner off of the rim as time expired that would have given Washington it's sixth win of the year.

Instead, at six games below .500 so early in the season, it would seem as if the Wizards are on a journey back to the lottery this summer.

But, upon glancing at the roster, one finds that they actually have a halfway decent group of players.

John Wall and Gilbert Arenas jump out first for obvious reason. Then names like Kirk Hinrich, Al Thornton, Yi Jianlian and Josh Howard become noticeable, as each was an excellent player at one point or another in their young careers.

Howard was a huge piece in Dallas just a few years ago, while Hinrich was one the best defensive point guards in basketball two seasons ago in Chicago.

Also, veteran Wizards like Nick Young, Andray Blatche, and JaVale McGee have all been around for at least three years and have shown to be capable players at one point or another.

For whatever reason Washington just hasn't been able to put it all together since the core of Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Antawn Jamison made a run to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals six years ago.

Sadly enough, two of Washington's five wins this season are overtime games at home over the lowly Philadelphia 76ers (5-13).

But even with such a poor start the Wizards have life. After all, they play in the Eastern Conference, where oftentimes 30-something wins will earn you a playoff spot.

Don't forget that they still have John Wall who is arguably one of the league's most gifted point guards when healthy and a top contender for rookie of the year along with Los Angeles' Blake Griffin.

If the Wizards want to turn things around, now would be a good time considering four of their next five games are on the road, where they are 0-8 this season. The last three games in that stretch are on the West Coast.

Washington is currently 14th in the Eastern Conference standings, but remain only one and half games out of the eighth spot.

Patrick Clarke is a student at Towson University and a writing intern for Bleacher Report.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/531508-washington-wizards-john-wall-gilbert-arenas-and-early-season-troubles

Rasheed Wallace LeBron James Ben Gordon Josh Howard Jason Terry Jason Kidd

Sefolosha continues month of perfection

The 2010 baseball season was highlighted by a pair of perfect games.

In this NBA season, perfect efforts are coming in bunches, if we're reasonably loose in our definition of the term.

Sefolosha

Thabo Sefolosha was 4-for-4 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line, good for 13 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder came back to beat the Hornets on Monday night.

That caps a 10-day span in which we've seen some impressive perfection performances. On November 19, Los Angeles Lakers reserve Matt Barnes was 7-for-7 from the field, 5-for-5 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 at the foul line in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The next day, DeShawn Stevenson of the Dallas Mavericks was 4-for-4 from the field, including 3-for-3 from three, and two-of two at the foul line in a victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Then, on the 21st, Lakers forward Pau Gasol went 10-for-10 from the field and 8-for-8 at the line in a win over the Golden State Warriors.

A check of the Basketball-Reference.com Play Index indicates that Sefolosha was the 11th player this season to make at least four field goals in a game AND be perfect from the free throw line. But he, Barnes, and Stevenson are the only three in the NBA whose perfection effort included multiple 3-point field goals.

Over the last couple of seasons, this sort of thing is a five-to-six times a year occurence, but in the small sample size that is the early part of this schedule, we're on pace for significantly more than that.

Also of note from a perfection perspective in this game was the performance of Thunder center Serge Ibaka, who was coming off a perfect 7-for-7 in a loss to the Rockets on Sunday. Ibaka was perfect from the field, but imperfect otherwise in a one-point loss. When he was on the floor, the Thunder were outscored by five points.

Monday, Ibaka learned that imperfection was acceptable On a night where Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant starred, Ibaka was 0-for-5 from the field in 30 minutes off the bench, BUT when he was on the court, the Thunder outscored the Hornets by 15 points. No Thunder player had a better plus-minus than that.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/22243/sefolosha-continues-month-of-perfection

Kevin Russo Curtis Granderson Nick Johnson Javier Lopez Alex Hinshaw Ramon Ramirez

Too much Kobe dooms Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers might have to learn that a little less Kobe Bryant may go a long way this season.

On Tuesday, Bryant scored 29 points but it took him 25 shots to get there in a 98-96 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. During the Lakers current three-game losing streak, Bryant has attempted at least 20 shots in each game and has averaged 26.3 FGA per game.

Bryant

This season, the Lakers are 2-3 when Bryant attempts at least 25 shots in a game, compared to 11-2 when he attempts fewer than 25 shots.

Look even deeper and you will see that all five of the Lakers losses have come when Bryant has at least 20 shots. When Bryant attempts fewer than 20 shots, the Lakers are 7-0.

•�Tim Duncan recorded his first regular-season triple-double since March 14, 2003 as he had 15 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in the San Antonio Spurs 118-98 win over the Golden State Warriors. Duncan actually has more postseason triple-doubles (four) than in the regular season (three).

There were 239 triple-doubles in points, assists and rebounds in between Duncan's games. Among the many players who picked up at least one in that span were: Ryan Gomes, John Salmons and Bob Sura, who had two on consecutive days in April 2004.

•�The Cleveland Cavaliers scored 87 points in their loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. When the two teams last played in Cleveland on October 27, it was the Celtics who scored 87 points in the loss.

In the October matchup, J.J. Hickson led the Cavaliers with 21 points. On Tuesday, he had just one point on a free throw and was 0-for-4 shooting.

The Celtics outscored the Cavaliers 60-26 in the paint, the second time this season in which the Celtics scored at least 60 in the paint. The 26 by the Cavaliers in the paint were two points away from their season low in a November 2 loss against the Atlanta Hawks.

• Amare Stoudemire scored 35 points for a second straight game in the New York Knicks 111-100 win over the New Jersey Nets. The last Knicks player with 35 points in two straight games was Stephon Marbury -- Stoudemire’s former teammate with the Phoenix Suns -- in March 2007.

Brook Lopez scored 36 points for the Nets in the loss, 1 shy of his career high set on March 26, 2010 against the Pistons.

Prior to Lopez, the only Nets center in the last 25 seasons with at least 36 points in a game was Sam Bowie on March 20, 1991 when he had 38 against the Timberwolves.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/22276/too-much-kobe-dooms-lakers

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The Ray Allen Bench-Scale Test

Source: http://www.celticsblog.com/2010/11/30/1845968/the-ray-allen-bench-scale-test

Steve Garrison Phil Hughes Damaso Marte Mariano Rivera Kerry Wood Francisco Cervelli