The Miami Heat have won through to the NBA finals after winning game 5 in Chicago to take the series 4-1. There are plenty of similarities between the progress of the Heat and their opponents, the Dallas Mavericks, in how they made it through their conference play-offs. Both won the series 4-1 after splitting the first two games, both clinched series wins with late rallies, with Dallas inflicting two in a row on Oklahoma City. However, the Heat showed they have plenty of late game tenacity, as they rallied back from a 12 point deficit with just over three minutes remaining to win 83-80.
The Heat outscored the Bulls 26-18 in the last, with all their points coming from the big three. In fact, 69 of 83 on the night came from Wade, James and Bosh, and all of their last 33. Perhaps a reflection of their perceived lack of depth, but just as much a result of having three match-winners on the court. And therein lies the big difference to the Mavericks. While Dirk Nowitzki had a massive series against the Thunder, justifiably winning most of the coverage and the plaudits, there is only one of him. He has some great support, and certainly more depth than the Heat, but the pressure will be intense on the Mavericks as they seek to deal with the triple threat of the Heat. Ultimately, the Bulls were found wanting in that regard, although it didn't help that Derrick Rose shot 9-29 field goals. It was clear by the end of the series that the Bulls were too reliant on Rose to keep pouring in the points, and although Nowitzki is pivotal to Dallas's chances, they also have other scoring options as they have shown throughout the playoffs. Whether they can stoip the big three from scoring more...that is the question.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
NBA: Dallas storm back to take game 5 and series
The Oklahoma City Thunder had done extremely well to stand up and be counted for the first three and a bit quarters, rebounding from their shattering game 4 defeat at home. This time, they hadn't built quite the same cushion, but they led by 8 points in the last and seemed to have enough answers to the Mavericks, with James Harden having an outstanding game in support of Durant and Westbrook. However, once again the Mavericks were able to shut down the Thunder offence in the last five minutes, scoring 14 of the last 18 points to take a 100-96 win and close out the series. Dirk Nowitzki was quieter, but still made crucial baskets, including the three pointer that gave them a late lead, to finish with 26 points, as did Shawn Marion who made some big plays late in the game. The Thunder, who had been so good all night at not turning over the ball, did so repeatedly in the closing minutes as a lack of composure that was evident in game 4's dramatic finale returned to haunt them. And with a few months off now, it will haunt them for a good while yet.
Monday, May 23, 2011
IPL: Australian players disappoint
There weren't too many Australian cricketers who had great Australian summers, and that indifferent form carried over into the IPL. Of 29 Australians who have taken the field, few have had much of an impact on proceedings, and even fewer have done so consistently. The best performer with the bat has been Shaun Marsh, hitting 504 runs at an average of 42, and an impressive strike rate of 146.5. Mike Hussey has done well, hitting 429 at 42.9 and a s/r of 117.5, and Shane Watson had his moments with 330 runs and six wickets. Adam Gilchrist made the only century by an Australian and a couple of fifties, but has been far from dominating, while Dave Warner has struggled for the most part, hitting 324 at 25, with a subdued s/r of 117. Some of the other batsmen have struggled to find runs, and a place, with Cameron White, Callum Ferguson and names likes Blizzard, Finch and David Hussey barely making a mark.
On the bowling side, Shane Warne started the tournament extremely well, and still finished with an economy rate of 6.3 and thirteen wickets to be one of the best. Ryan Harris took 16 wickets but was expensive, while Doug Bollinger took 15 wickets with a mixed bag of performances. Brett Lee and Shaun Tait both disappointed. Brad Hodge finshed with reasonably all-round figures, but was inconsistent with the bat, while James Hopes also had some reasonable performances. Dan Christian too, had his moments, but too few to justify his price tag, while many others had limited game time.
If you had to pick an Australian XI based on form in this tournament, it wouldn't be easy. Two players who would make the cut have retired from international cricket (Gilchrist and Warne) while others seem to have slid out of the selectors' picture (Hodge and Hopes). Watson and Mike Hussey showed their class again, but the next wave offered little encouragement for those hoping for a turn around in Australia's short-term future away from Test cricket. The tour of Zimbabwe may shed some more light on hopes for the Test side, and the teams in both long and shoret forms have just been announced.
On the bowling side, Shane Warne started the tournament extremely well, and still finished with an economy rate of 6.3 and thirteen wickets to be one of the best. Ryan Harris took 16 wickets but was expensive, while Doug Bollinger took 15 wickets with a mixed bag of performances. Brett Lee and Shaun Tait both disappointed. Brad Hodge finshed with reasonably all-round figures, but was inconsistent with the bat, while James Hopes also had some reasonable performances. Dan Christian too, had his moments, but too few to justify his price tag, while many others had limited game time.
If you had to pick an Australian XI based on form in this tournament, it wouldn't be easy. Two players who would make the cut have retired from international cricket (Gilchrist and Warne) while others seem to have slid out of the selectors' picture (Hodge and Hopes). Watson and Mike Hussey showed their class again, but the next wave offered little encouragement for those hoping for a turn around in Australia's short-term future away from Test cricket. The tour of Zimbabwe may shed some more light on hopes for the Test side, and the teams in both long and shoret forms have just been announced.
Australia A one-day squad: Tim Paine (capt), Callum Ferguson (vice-capt), Luke Butterworth, Trent Copeland, James Faulkner, Ben Hilfenhaus, Aaron Finch, Nathan Lyon, Chris Lynn, Nic Maddison, Mitch Marsh, Mitch Starc, Stephen O'Keefe, David Warner.
Australia A four-day squad: Tim Paine (capt), Callum Ferguson (vice-capt), Michael Beer, Luke Butterworth, Trent Copeland, James Faulkner, Ben Hilfenhaus, Usman Khawaja, Jason Krejza, Phillip Hughes, Nic Maddinson, Mitch Marsh, Mitch Starc, David Warner.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Rearview Mirror
If you slept through the weekend, here's what you missed:
EPL - summary of the season's last round here. Shortly after the season closed, Chelsea announced their manager Carlo Ancelotti would be leaving only a season after he won the double in his first season at the club. A mid-season slump put him in a hole, and despite a late title run, speculation was rife that he was on his way out in recent months.
NBA - On Sunday, the Miami Heat took a 2-1 lead over the Boston Celtics behind a strong game from Chris Bosh who hit 13 of his last 15 shots to finish with 34 points. On Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks rebounded from the second game loss to win at Oklahoma City and take a 2-1 series lead. Dirk Nowitzki had an off night, but made some crucial late baskets to help the Mavericks hold off a last quarter surge from the Thunder.
AFL - top sides Geelong and Collingwood showed their class and composure to get home in matches against Carlton and Adelaide respectively. Geelong did it the hard way, withstanding a late shot for goal from Carlton that could have won the game, whereas Collingwood hit the Crows with an eleven goal fourth quarter burst that turned a handy lead for the Crows into a comfortable victory for the 'Pies. Elsewhere, West Coast humiliated the Bulldogs, Richmond surprised the Bombers, the Hawks were far too good for Sydney, the Saints struggled past Melbourne, Fremantle were too good for Port Adelaide, and the Brisbane Lions defeated North by 14 points for their first of the season. That Brisbane should win their first with Jonathan Brown playing his first game in eight weeks was no coincidence as the captain kicked four of their six second half goals.
IPL - Mumbai scored 23 runs in the last over to steal a win over Kolkata, ensuring that Sunday's final two group games would be repeated in the finals this week. Bangalore and Chennai will have a rematch in the qualifier on Tuesday, followed by the eliminator between Mumbai and Kolkata on Wednesday. Bangalore finished top of the points table after Chris Gayle hit an unbeaten 75 off 50 balls to lead them to a comfortable victory over Chennai.
French Open - the clay courts at Roland Garros opened for business on Sunday as the French Open kicked off with a couple of first round upsets. On the men's side, Marin Cilic (19th seed) lost in straight sets to the 99th ranked Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, while on the women's side, the highest seed to lose was 18th seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta who went out to Varvara Lepchenko of the USA. Few seeds were in action on the opening day with the highest seeds in action both winning in staright sets - Sam Stosur (8th) and David Ferrer (7th).
EPL - summary of the season's last round here. Shortly after the season closed, Chelsea announced their manager Carlo Ancelotti would be leaving only a season after he won the double in his first season at the club. A mid-season slump put him in a hole, and despite a late title run, speculation was rife that he was on his way out in recent months.
NBA - On Sunday, the Miami Heat took a 2-1 lead over the Boston Celtics behind a strong game from Chris Bosh who hit 13 of his last 15 shots to finish with 34 points. On Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks rebounded from the second game loss to win at Oklahoma City and take a 2-1 series lead. Dirk Nowitzki had an off night, but made some crucial late baskets to help the Mavericks hold off a last quarter surge from the Thunder.
AFL - top sides Geelong and Collingwood showed their class and composure to get home in matches against Carlton and Adelaide respectively. Geelong did it the hard way, withstanding a late shot for goal from Carlton that could have won the game, whereas Collingwood hit the Crows with an eleven goal fourth quarter burst that turned a handy lead for the Crows into a comfortable victory for the 'Pies. Elsewhere, West Coast humiliated the Bulldogs, Richmond surprised the Bombers, the Hawks were far too good for Sydney, the Saints struggled past Melbourne, Fremantle were too good for Port Adelaide, and the Brisbane Lions defeated North by 14 points for their first of the season. That Brisbane should win their first with Jonathan Brown playing his first game in eight weeks was no coincidence as the captain kicked four of their six second half goals.
IPL - Mumbai scored 23 runs in the last over to steal a win over Kolkata, ensuring that Sunday's final two group games would be repeated in the finals this week. Bangalore and Chennai will have a rematch in the qualifier on Tuesday, followed by the eliminator between Mumbai and Kolkata on Wednesday. Bangalore finished top of the points table after Chris Gayle hit an unbeaten 75 off 50 balls to lead them to a comfortable victory over Chennai.
French Open - the clay courts at Roland Garros opened for business on Sunday as the French Open kicked off with a couple of first round upsets. On the men's side, Marin Cilic (19th seed) lost in straight sets to the 99th ranked Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, while on the women's side, the highest seed to lose was 18th seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta who went out to Varvara Lepchenko of the USA. Few seeds were in action on the opening day with the highest seeds in action both winning in staright sets - Sam Stosur (8th) and David Ferrer (7th).
EPL: And the losers are...
The final round of the English Premier league season finished in last gasp suvival for Wolves, and disaster for Birmingham and Blackpool as they will join already relegated West Ham in the League Championship next season. With only minutes to go on Sunday, Birmingham looked like they would manage to stay up at the expense of Wolves who were being badly beaten by Blackburn, while Birmingham were level at Tottenham. However, Wolves fought back with two second half goals to only go down 2-3 at home to Blackburn, boosting their goal difference above Birmingham's with the crucial second in the 87th minute. Then Pavluychenko scored a winner in the third minute of injury time for Spurs, and Birmingham's fate was sealed.
Blackpool looked like they might escape as they came back to lead Manchester United 2-1 despite giving up an early goal, but United poured it on in the last half hour to triumph 4-2. Wigan managed to escape the relegation zone with a 1-0 win at Stoke, thanks to Hugo Rodallega's 77th minute winner. Prior to that goal, they looked like they may have gone down narrowly in place of Wolves.
At the other end of the table, Manchester City clinched the last Champion's League automatic spot ahead of Arsenal, with City 2-0 winners at Bolton, while Arsenal twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Fulham. Spurs victory clinched their Europa League place ahead of Liverpool, although Liverpool's loss at Aston Villa made Spurs' victory irrelevant. Thus England's threesome in the Europa League next season will be Spurs, Stoke and relegated Birmingham.
ESPN Soccernet's final table can be seen here.
Blackpool looked like they might escape as they came back to lead Manchester United 2-1 despite giving up an early goal, but United poured it on in the last half hour to triumph 4-2. Wigan managed to escape the relegation zone with a 1-0 win at Stoke, thanks to Hugo Rodallega's 77th minute winner. Prior to that goal, they looked like they may have gone down narrowly in place of Wolves.
At the other end of the table, Manchester City clinched the last Champion's League automatic spot ahead of Arsenal, with City 2-0 winners at Bolton, while Arsenal twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Fulham. Spurs victory clinched their Europa League place ahead of Liverpool, although Liverpool's loss at Aston Villa made Spurs' victory irrelevant. Thus England's threesome in the Europa League next season will be Spurs, Stoke and relegated Birmingham.
ESPN Soccernet's final table can be seen here.
Friday, May 20, 2011
IPL: Shane gives Warne a proper send-off
Maybe it was supposed to be about one last Warne-Tendulkar moment, but the Shane Watson show overtook proceedings as Australia's most important current cricketer took the spotlight from the man who can't be replaced. Mumbai's faltering campaign took another misstep as Watson helped restrict them to 133 from their 20 overs, before leading their successful chase with a scintillating unbeaten 89. Watson returned the stunning figures of 3/19 from his four overs, while Warne finished with a more modest 1/30, even as he dismissed top-scorer Rohit Sharma from a beautifully deceitful stumping with his third-last delivery.
The chase was a procession as Watson blasted his runs from just 47 balls with nine fours and six sixes studding a dominating innings. Supported by Rahul Dravid's unbeaten 43 from 32, the pair put on an unbeaten 134 from just 79 balls as they showed what might have been had Rajasthan not lost their way in the middle stages of the tournament. As it is, they will finish mid-table, outside of the play-offs, although they may yet be joined by Mumbai, as unthinkable as that may seem for a team that dominated the first half of the tournament behind strong performances from Tendulkar and Malinga. If the Kings XI Punjab can beat Deccan tomorrow, Mumbai will need to beat Kolkata in the final match to progress. See the current table here.
The chase was a procession as Watson blasted his runs from just 47 balls with nine fours and six sixes studding a dominating innings. Supported by Rahul Dravid's unbeaten 43 from 32, the pair put on an unbeaten 134 from just 79 balls as they showed what might have been had Rajasthan not lost their way in the middle stages of the tournament. As it is, they will finish mid-table, outside of the play-offs, although they may yet be joined by Mumbai, as unthinkable as that may seem for a team that dominated the first half of the tournament behind strong performances from Tendulkar and Malinga. If the Kings XI Punjab can beat Deccan tomorrow, Mumbai will need to beat Kolkata in the final match to progress. See the current table here.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
EPL: Final Round Preview - What's Still at Stake?
The final round of the English Premier League will be played on Sunday May 22nd, with all games played at 4pm. With the Championship clinched by Manchester United, and the FA Cup headed early to Manchester City, attention for many will have shifted elsewhere. However, there is still much at stake, and not just in the crucial relegation matches.
Final Champion's League automatic qualification - United are first, Chelsea second and the third placed finisher will avoid the qualification to which the fourth placed finisher will be subjected. Manchester City have edged a point in front of Arsenal, although Arsenal have the better goal difference, so Arsenal need to better City's result, while a win for City would seal the deal. Both sides are away to teams safe in mid-table, City at Bolton and Arsenal at Fulham.
Final Europa League place - with the other two spots going to the League Cup winner's Birmingham, and FA Cup runner-up Stoke City (winner Man City already off to UCL), Liverpool and Tottenham will contest for fifth spot in the table and the final place in Europe. Tottenham have edged back in front of Liverpool after their surprise win at Anfield, replicating the Arsenal/Man City position with a one point buffer, but inferior goal difference. Tottenham are at home, but pitted against a desperate for survival Birmingham (see below). Liverpool are away to Aston Villa who are safe from the drop despite a disappointing season.
Relegation - given the Premier League riches at stake, the importance of these games is huge to the clubs involved, if somewhat irrelevant to the vast swathes of fans and observers with eyes focused on Europe and the top of the table teams. West Ham's relegation has been confirmed, but the other two spots are still well and truly open. Wigan and Blackpool are 18th and 19th now, level on 39 points with Birmingham. Goal difference is extremely close (W -22, Bl -21, Bi -20), so theoretically Wigan could still lose and stay up. Wigan are away to Stoke, Blackpool away to Manchester United (gulp) and Birmingham away to Spurs (see above). It's easy to imagine a Wigan draw, with the others losing and being relegated. The other two teams involved are Wolves and Blackburn, only one point higher - and they are meeting, with Wolves at home. A draw could see both relegated if the three below them all won, so there's plenty to play for here as well. Blackburn's goal difference would protect them if they lost and the teams below drew - Wolves don't necessarily have that luxury with a -19 differential.
So five teams will be sweating on the relegation outcome, with nine of the 20 teams having plenty to play for on Sunday. When the dust settles on Sunday, there will be still one Premier League related game to come. Reading and Swansea City will battle at Wembley on May 30th for the final promotion spot, with QPR and Norwich City already promoted. QPR were last relegated from the top flight in 1996, Norwich in 2005, Reading in 2008 and Swansea in 1983.
Final Champion's League automatic qualification - United are first, Chelsea second and the third placed finisher will avoid the qualification to which the fourth placed finisher will be subjected. Manchester City have edged a point in front of Arsenal, although Arsenal have the better goal difference, so Arsenal need to better City's result, while a win for City would seal the deal. Both sides are away to teams safe in mid-table, City at Bolton and Arsenal at Fulham.
Final Europa League place - with the other two spots going to the League Cup winner's Birmingham, and FA Cup runner-up Stoke City (winner Man City already off to UCL), Liverpool and Tottenham will contest for fifth spot in the table and the final place in Europe. Tottenham have edged back in front of Liverpool after their surprise win at Anfield, replicating the Arsenal/Man City position with a one point buffer, but inferior goal difference. Tottenham are at home, but pitted against a desperate for survival Birmingham (see below). Liverpool are away to Aston Villa who are safe from the drop despite a disappointing season.
Relegation - given the Premier League riches at stake, the importance of these games is huge to the clubs involved, if somewhat irrelevant to the vast swathes of fans and observers with eyes focused on Europe and the top of the table teams. West Ham's relegation has been confirmed, but the other two spots are still well and truly open. Wigan and Blackpool are 18th and 19th now, level on 39 points with Birmingham. Goal difference is extremely close (W -22, Bl -21, Bi -20), so theoretically Wigan could still lose and stay up. Wigan are away to Stoke, Blackpool away to Manchester United (gulp) and Birmingham away to Spurs (see above). It's easy to imagine a Wigan draw, with the others losing and being relegated. The other two teams involved are Wolves and Blackburn, only one point higher - and they are meeting, with Wolves at home. A draw could see both relegated if the three below them all won, so there's plenty to play for here as well. Blackburn's goal difference would protect them if they lost and the teams below drew - Wolves don't necessarily have that luxury with a -19 differential.
So five teams will be sweating on the relegation outcome, with nine of the 20 teams having plenty to play for on Sunday. When the dust settles on Sunday, there will be still one Premier League related game to come. Reading and Swansea City will battle at Wembley on May 30th for the final promotion spot, with QPR and Norwich City already promoted. QPR were last relegated from the top flight in 1996, Norwich in 2005, Reading in 2008 and Swansea in 1983.
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