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Is the NBA dunk contest back?
After going on hiatus for a number of years, the NBA’s slam dunk contest made a spectacular comeback Saturday night thanks to a few simple props-including a super man costume, Orlando Magic Nerf basketball hoop and a cupcake termed the ‘birthday cake’. No time to explain all of the details of the dunks, but the one thing that made this year’s dunk contest so amazing was the fact that we saw NEW dunks. So many years we just see the same old dunks over and over again. This year, in large part to Dwight Howard, we saw dunks that we had never seen before. We saw creativity mixed with spectacular athletic ability which made for one of the greatest slam dunk contest ever.
Second Half surprise in the NBA? The biggest surprise in the second half of the NBA will most likely be-drum roll please-the fall of the New Orleans Hornets. I base this on the fact this team has never been in this position before. I don’t think that they have the leadership to keep up with the pressure of being a top team. Will guys like David West continue to play above their potential? I don’t think so. Also, on a more personal level, I despise Chris Paul and feel that my main man, Deron Williams, owns Paul in every way. Whether it’s playing on the court in real games or in the All-Star skills challenge, Williams simply put just always wins. He owns Paul.
#1 Memphis Vs #2 Tennessee?
Despite the fact that Memphis is undefeated, I am choosing Tennessee to win this in-state rivalry game on Saturday night. I base this simply off the unfair assessment that the SEC is better conference than Conference-USA. Tennessee has played and beaten better teams than Memphis has. The Volunteers have played six top-25 teams and have won five of those games. On the other hand, Memphis has played only two top-25 teams. Tennessee also has the edge because guard Chris Lofton has proven to be one of the biggest clutch shooters in the past few years. This guy in crunch time can simply score from anywhere. Look for the game to be close, but the Volunteers will win.
Is the NFL combine a big deal?
The NFL combine is much like the upcoming BracketBusters game for Utah State. It’s useless. Players come and are tested on all sorts of random skills and other weird activities. Yes, it’s great that one guy can run a really fast 40-yard dash or that he can jump a really long distance standing in one place, but how much does this really tell us whether or not a player can play? History would probably show mixed results. When I see a guy suited up in full pads playing on Sunday in front of millions of fans on TV and in the stadium making great plays on the field, then I will respect a guy for being a good player. Until then, I base whether or not that guy will be a good NFL player on what his accomplishments were in college.
Rant
Well, the basketball team went on the road and lost three straight games. They blew a big lead against Hawaii and made dumb mistakes against San Jose to thwart their comeback efforts. And it seemed like after the first loss against Nevada, the team was content that they played hard in the second half and tried to make a comeback. Well, hopefully now the team has gotten the point that in order to contend for conference championships they have to win on the road. It seems that some guys show up to play while on the road but others leave their game in Logan. I don’t know what it will take, but the Aggies have two road games left to turn their road woes around. With all that said, I believe that if any group of guys could pull of the improbable and still win the title, it would be this group. Go Aggies.