College Basketball 2009-10 Preview: Dick Weiss' Top 25

Kansas' offseason was a wild ride, with out-of-control brawls against members of the school's football team, guard Brady Morningstar being arrested and then suspended for a DUI and an ongoing soap opera involving McDonald's All-American freshman forward Xavier Henry, who initially signed with Memphis, was released from his letter when John Calipari left for Kentucky, committed to Kansas, then almost changed his mind before comming to his senses.

But basketball season is here and all of that has been forgotten.

The Jayhawks are a near unanimous preseason No. 1 in almost every poll. They have a proven coach in Bill Self, who won a national championship in 2008, and has five Big 12 titles on his resume. They have a young team, with only two seniors, and Henry on board leading an influx of talent.

All they have to do is put it together on the court.

"Everything is a sense of urgency," Jayhawks senior point guard Sherron Collins said. "We have a bull's-eye on our back and we can't get caught up in the hype. My message is to take everything seriously, don't take anything for granted."

1. Kansas: Junior center Cole Aldrich, a 6-11, 245-pound menace in the paint, and Collins, who might be the best point guard in the country, both could have declared for the NBA draft following the Jayhawks' NCAA Sweet 16 run last spring and been first-round picks. But they stayed, along with three other holdovers from the 2008 national championship team, to try to win another. Self has at least three more future pros - freshman guard Xavier Henry, sophomore forward Marcus Morris and St. Anthony's (N.J.) product Tyshawn Taylor, a sophomore point guard - and they should make the Jayhawks the class of the powerful Big 12 once again.

2. Texas: In almost any other season, the Longhorns would easily be No. 1, but they're not even favored in their conference with Kansas on top. Rick Barnes has built a team with as much versatility and depth as the 2003 Final Four team, if not more. Center Dexter Pittman and power forward Damion James are back for their senior seasons, and Barnes has upgraded his backcourt with the addition of Florida transfer Jai Lucas, impact freshman Avery Bradley and 6-7 freshman swingman Jordan Hamilton.

3. Michigan State: The Spartans saved the Final Four last season in downtrodden Detroit when they defeated UConn and advanced to the championship game before falling to North Carolina. Tom Izzo has guided Michigan State to 12 straight NCAA bids, the 2000 title and four trips to the Final Four this decade. They could return as a new one kicks off. Junior point guard Kalin Lucas, a Mateen Cleaves clone, is the best player in the rugged Big Ten and should combine with Chris Allen, Durrell Summers and Korie Lucious to give Michigan State the best backcourt in the country. The preseason has been injury-plagued in East Lansing, including senior power forward Raymar Morgan, who can't afford to miss much time with an ankle injury as Izzo searches for a physical presence in the paint to replace Goran Suton.

Football and wrestling top list of school sports injuries

As the kids head back to school they'll also head back to team sports. So brace yourselves, moms and dads, for the injuries that can come with that.

A new study sheds some light on which sports are more likely to produce severe injuries, derailing athletic participation for weeks.

Injury data on nine sports were collected during the academic year from 2005 through 2007 in 100 high schools nationwide by researchers from the Ohio State University College of Medicine and the Center for Injury Research and Policy in the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, both in Columbus. A severe injury was defined as one that resulted in losing three weeks or more of sports participation. During that time, 1,378 severe injuries were noted, comprising 14.9% of all high school sports-related injuries. Severe injury rates were higher in competitions than during practices.

Football was No. 1, with the highest injury rate -- 0.69 per 1,000 athletic events (with an "event" defined as one practice or competition). Second was wrestling, then girls' basketball and girls' soccer.

While the injury rate was higher in all boys' sports versus all girls' sports, when injuries in certain sports (soccer, basketball, baseball/softball) were directly compared, the results were different: Girls had a higher severe injury rate overall than boys, and girls' basketball ranked higher in injuries than boys' basketball.

The study also described which parts of the body took the most hits. Knees were on top, followed by the ankle and shoulder.

The most common diagnoses were fractures, complete ligament sprains and incomplete ligament sprains. Among all the severe injuries, 28.3% needed surgery.

The study appears in the September issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Football Passes Survivor in TV Ratings

The two-hour conclusion of “Survivor: Gabon” on Sunday, on which Bob Crowley, a 57-year-old physics teacher, won the reality competition, attracted 13.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen’s estimates. That was enough to lift CBS to second place in the ratings for the night, behind NBC.

CBS drew considerably higher ratings earlier in the night: roughly 18.7 million viewers tuned in for CBS’s “60 Minutes” after an overrun of afternoon football coverage. NBC led the night over all with the highest-rated “Sunday Night Football” broadcast this season.

The Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game exceeded the 22.2 million viewers who tuned in to the Cowboys-Green Bay Packers game on Sept. 21. Final numbers were expected Tuesday.

This Week's University of California, Irvine Sports Notes

Men’s Basketball

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team was handed its worst loss in 12 years by Idaho, who prevailed with the 101-47 victory on Friday night at Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, ID.

The Anteaters have played their best basketball against their best opponents, and their worst against the worst.

UCI’s record fell to 0-4 as Idaho improved to 4-4. Terrence Simmons paced Idaho with 18 points. Idaho shot an incredible 74.2 percent from the field in the second half and 62.9 percent for the game. While Idaho was on its hottest night, UCI was probably in its coldest as it shot an abysmal 26.3 percent for the game.

The Vandals broke out to an early 15-0 lead to open the game and never looked back. Senior Kevin Bland got UCI on the board with a basket with 14:36 left in the half.

Idaho would race for a huge 42-16 lead at halftime by closing out with a 17-5 run. The Vandals would continue their torrid shooting and finish with a 12-2 run to cap the 54-point victory.

Senior Brett Lauer was the lone Anteater in double figures with 12 points on four for five shooting, including three for three from three-point range.

Idaho out-rebounded UCI 50-26 for the game.


Women’s Volleyball

In his final season at UC Irvine, Head Coach Charlie Brande received the Big West Conference Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Lady Anteaters to a 12-4 Big West record (17-12) overall. It was the first time any UCI women’s volleyball coach recieved that honor. The Anteaters led the Big West in kills, digs, and assists. They also won 10 of their last 12 games to finish second in the conference.

Senior Lauren Kellerman and sophomore Kari Pestolesi were named to the Big West First Team. It was Kellerman’s third consecutive honor and Pestolesi’s second. Kellerman recorded 393 kills on the year, and Pestolesi finished with 20 double doubles (kills/digs).

Senior Devon Sutherland earned her second Big West Honorable Mention. Sutherland finishes her career as the UCI leader in digs with 1,756.

Freshman Alex Hauser was voted to the All Big West Freshman Team. She was third on the team with 62 blocks on the season.

Strong support shown for "6+5" at meeting with French sports minister

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter held very productive meetings regarding "6+5" with French sports minister Bernard Laporte and a delegation representing FIFPro at the Home of FIFA in Zurich this week.

On Tuesday 17 June, the FIFA President welcomed Mr Laporte to a meeting that was also attended by President of the French FA Jean-Pierre Escalettes and President of the French League Frédéric Thiriez. Commenting on this meeting the next day in a programme on French television channel Canal+, the French sports minister said: "I told Mr Blatter that I think the 6+5 proposal is a good idea. I think it is in the interest of all of us, of education and of our young players, and that it applies not only to football, but also to rugby, volleyball and indeed all sports. It is our responsibility to debate this issue and examine it fully."

On Wednesday, Mr Blatter hosted a delegation from FIFPro, led by FIFPro Europe President Philippe Piat and by FIFPro Secretary General Theo Van Seggelen, who also stressed their support for the objectives of "6+5".

"I am encouraged by the support that we have received in the past few days and this gives me even greater motivation to continue working on '6+5', with further meetings to be held next week," said the FIFA President, who will receive a delegation from the IOC, including its Chairman of International Relations Mario Pescante and representatives from the international federations of five team sports (basketball, handball, ice hockey, rugby and volleyball) at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on Wednesday, 25 June.

Billups leads in-form Nuggets to win over Spurs

Chauncey Billups scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 91-81 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

The Nuggets have won seven of eight games since acquiring Billups in a trade with the Detroit Pistons two weeks ago.

Billups, an All Star and NBA champion, dished out six assists and Carmelo Anthony added 21 points and nine rebounds as Denver (8-4) snapped a three-game win streak for the Spurs (5-6).

"I have a lot of pride with Denver," Denver native Billups told reporters. "Being able to now have that 'Denver' across my chest just makes me feel good."

Filling the distribution role Denver lacked with the attack-minded Allen Iverson, Billups has been the perfect fit for the Nuggets averaging 18.7 points and 5.8 assists since joining the team.

He scored seven points during an 11-1 run in the third quarter that gave the Nuggets a commanding 75-54 advantage over the Spurs.

Playing without injured guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, San Antonio struggled to 38 percent shooting from the field including just 2-for-17 from the three-point line.

Rookie point guard George Hill led the Spurs with 20 points and Tim Duncan was held to 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Nuggets power forward Kenyon Martin recorded 18 points and seven rebounds in a strong game that included top notch defense against Duncan.

"I never let him do what he wants," Martin said. "I never have, never will."

San Antonio has struggled offensively as of late, averaging just 84 points per contest since Parker was injured on November 7.

The Spurs went more than four minutes without a field goal in the second quarter and fell behind 50-40 at halftime.

"It's a long season," Hill said. "We're not expecting to play our best basketball right now."

Jordan the hardest worker: Parish

The 80s Boston Celtics team was perhaps one of the greatest franchises in NBA history. More so because of the team members that included cagers like Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

“Playing with such greats made my task easier. Kevin and I were more of shooters and Larry was the playmaker. He created chances for both himself and us,” recollected Parish. “Along with the duo and point guard Dennis Johnson, they were the greatest players I played with.”

The 7 feet-one-inch cager helped his team winning four NBA championships — thrice with the Celtics (81, 84, 86) — and once with Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in 1997, at the age of 43. “It was great playing with Michael. He is a great professional and one of the hardest workers I have seen. The Chicago team was a mirror of my experience with the Celtics,” said Parish.

Parish played a record 21 seasons in the NBA. “I was very lucky that I never had any serious injury. But it was the love and passion for the game that got me playing for so long,” said Parish.

Former Boston power-forward and teammate Cedric Maxwell gave Parish the nickname ‘The Chief’ for his stoic nature. “I was a very quiet kid, had nothing much to say. I was also a big fan of the movie One flew over the cuckoo’s nest and Cedric tagged me as that character who was like that in the movie,” said Parish.

Though the quiet type, Parish did enjoy a prank or two. “We had an announcer called Johnny Most who was a chain-smoker. So on one trip to the west coat, one of the boys replaced his smokes with the ones that exploded. It took him five cigarettes to realise that someone was playing a trick. His face was something to see. We all burst out laughing.”

Where there are two good teams, there is bound to be rivalry. In the NBA, you can look no farther than the one between Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. Parish was known for his on-court rivalry with Lakers legends Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “I think we brought out the best in each other and made the game more competitive. The Larry-Johnson rivalry went back to their college days.”

James, Gibson help Cavs tame Bobcats

LeBron James scored 22 points, Daniel Gibson had 20 of his 25 in the first half and the Cleveland Cavaliers won their home opener 96-79 over Charlotte on Thursday night, spoiling well-travelled coach Larry Brown's debut with the Bobcats.

James just missed a triple-double, adding nine rebounds and nine assists in only 30 minutes for the Cavs, who bounced back from a sloppy season-opening loss at Boston with a much crisper performance. Mo Williams finished with 17 points.

Jason Richardson scored 24 and Gerald Wallace 13 for the Bobcats.

Gibson made three three-pointers and eight of 10 shots in the first half, when the Cavs opened a 17-point lead. He is Cleveland's best outside-shooting threat and the Cavs missed him last year in the final two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston after he separated his shoulder in Game 5.

Gibson's shooting stroke looked as good as ever in the first half, and Cleveland pushed its lead to 19 in the third and appeared to be on its way to a rout.

But the young Bobcats, who went 0-8 in the preseason, rallied and cut it to 62-57 on Richardson's layup late in the third.

The Cavs, though, responded while James was resting on the bench. Coach Mike Brown pulled his superstar with 3:12 left in the third quarter and didn't put him back in until there was 7:27 remaining. While James was out, Cleveland outscored Charlotte 17-6 and opened a 79-63 lead.

Following the Bobcats' winless exhibition season, Brown worried that his club wasn't prepared for the opener.

"I'm not trying to make excuses, but I don't think we're quite ready right now," he said.

The Hall of Famer was half right.

Charlotte was overmatched at times, but made a game of it in the second half before fading and falling to 0-8 in Cleveland.

The Bobcats did get their first look in more than a year at Adam Morrison, who missed last season with a knee injury. Morrison recently cut off his long hair and finished with seven points.

Leading by nine after one, Brown, who wants to limit James to 38 minutes per game this season, kept the Olympic gold medalist on the bench for the first 6-plus minutes of the second quarter. James checked in with 5:45 left and the Cavaliers quickly ripped off eight straight to push their lead to 18.

While James was on the bench, Cleveland rookie J.J. Hickson grabbed a loose ball in the lane and threw down a nasty, two-handed slam for his first points as a pro. James, usually on the receiving end of ovations, jumped out of his chair and screamed for Hickson, who didn't play in the Cavs' opener.

Notes: The 68-year-old Brown hasn't lost any of his feistiness, picking up a technical in the third. ... Cavs C Ben Wallace had five blocks. ... James was thrilled with Wednesday night's rally and free concert for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama that he co-hosted with hip-hop star Jay-Z. "It was great," said James. "It wasn't just a concert for Jay-Z, it was a big-picture thing." James previously donated US$20,000 to Obama's campaign. ... Crews for TV's "60 Minutes" have been trailing James for the past few days for an upcoming segment on Cleveland's star. ... At least for one night, the Cavs toned down their extravagant pre-game ceremony, which used to include four fire-spewing swords on the scoreboard. During a visit to Cleveland during last year's playoffs, NBA commissioner David Stern lamented the use of pyrotechnics around the league.

Miami Heat seek team chemistry on European tour

The Miami Heat, worst team in the National Basketball Association last season, hope team chemistry developed in their pre-season European tour will vault them back to the NBA Championship next year.

Miami, the 2006 NBA champions, play New Jersey again on Sunday night in a sold-out exhibition game in London, days after narrowly losing to the Nets in overtime.

"Losing ain't fun, but we're looking to come together and get better and better every game we play over here," said Miami's Dwyane Wade, the 2006 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

Devin Harris scored 21 points to help the New Jersey beat Miami 100-98 in a match at Paris' Bercy Arena on Thursday, the first game on the NBA's Europe Live 2008 tour.

Miami had a dismal season last year, finishing last in the league with a 15-67 record.

But with the addition of four-times All-Star forward Shawn Marion last February, who was acquired from Phoenix in a trade for veteran center Shaquille O'Neal, and rookie Michael Beasley, picked number two overall in this year's draft, the Heat hope to capitalize this season.