Heat use late run to beat pesky Sixers
February 4, 2012
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—With LeBron James running the show, Miami ran the Sixersout of their building.
Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, and James had 19 points and 12 rebounds tolift the Miami Heat to a 99-79 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
Needing a jumpstart in the fourth, James shifted to point guard, sparking adominant late run that put away the pesky Sixers. James led a makeshift lineupthat included Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller to a 15-0 spurt in the quarter. Itturned a tight one for 36 minutes into a comfortable victory and handed theSixers just their third home loss of the season.
Philadelphia 76ers ' Jrue … AP – Feb 3, 10:00 pm EST Mia-Phi Gallery
Wade used a pair of ferocious dunks during the game-changing run that pushedthe Sixers’ first sellout crowd of the season toward the exits.
“When he’s out there and we’re all on the same page on what we’re runningoffensively,” Wade said, “it makes us a dynamic team.”
Mario Chalmers scored 13 points and Chris Bosh had 12 to help the Heat in aneeded bounce-back game. James had six of his eight assists in the fourth.
“Tonight was probably the best game from start to finish, as far as playinghard and communicating on both ends, that we had all season,” James said. “Soit was a good win.”
James scored a season-high 40 points in a loss at Milwaukee on Wednesdaynight. The Heat held a tough practice Thursday in Philadelphia to get back ontrack. The Heat went broke down all aspects of the team via film and some honestcommunication.
“It was no-holds barred, no tongues being held,” James said. “If we’regoing to be held to a championship standard, we need to go out and play like it.No one can take things personal if someone says something to him. We’ve got totake constructive criticism.”
Thaddeus Young scored 16 points for the Sixers, who snapped a four-gamewinning streak.
The Sixers opened the week with wins against Orlando and Chicago. The Heatsquashed the home-week sweep.
Miami’s 113-92 win on Jan. 21 was Philadelphia’s only double-digit loss ofthe season. Entering the fourth, duplicating that feat seemed out of reach.
Unlike the Sixers, the Heat can turn to their stable of stars to crank upthe pressure.
Wade started the run easily enough with free throws. Haslem and Millerburied mid-range jumpers, James followed with a 3 and the game changed in ahurry.
The Sixers (12-3 at home) had grown used to the confetti gun blasting offafter each victory. By the time they dusted off the seldom-used inspirationalmovie scene video reel, it was too late. Wade, Bosh and James were headed towardthe bench, another win over the Sixers in the books.
“They started to crank it up and we took a few bad shots,” Young said.“We went cold and didn’t play together. We knew there would be some roughtimes, but we’ll be OK. We know we’re a good team. There won’t be any headsdown.”
The Heat played in Philadelphia for the first time since they blew asix-point lead with 95 seconds to play in Game 4 of their opening round playoffseries. Jrue Holiday hit a late 3 that sliced the deficit to one and LouWilliams made the go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the arc over a lunging Wadewith 8.1 seconds left for an 86-82 win.
“Our first-round series against them was arguably the toughest, outside thefinals,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before the game.
Last season, opening round. This season, something deeper?
The Sixers had stamped themselves as a rising threat in the East. The Heatcouldn’t shake the upstart Sixers in front of 20,694 fans and never led by morethan seven in the first half.
The Sixers have done serious damage this season in the third quarter,putting teams away with big runs and tough defensive efforts. The Bulls scored11 points in the third Wednesday. The Magic scored only nine points Monday.
The defense was as tight as usual, limiting the Heat to 16. The offense (6of 18) never got going.
“The third quarter was a grind out,” Wade said.
Bosh’s putback ended an 0-for-10 start to the third for the Heat for atwo-point lead. While the Heat struggled, the Sixers couldn’t capitalize. EltonBrand and Tony Battie, two frontcourt starters, both went scoreless.
Andre Iguodala, who has cranked up his numbers when the Sixers need himmost, continued with the clutch stops. He intercepted a pass from Wade into thepost and drove the length of the court for a monster one-handed jam that hadfans jumping out of their seats. But he went only 4 for 10 from the floor for 10points.
The Sixers could never take the lead in the third and that cost them in thefinal minutes. James scored the last eight points of the third, including a longjumper that made it 67-63. Iguodala buried a 50-footer that was waved off afterreview.
Philadelphia’s winning streak was put to rest in the fourth.
“They just overwhelmed us in the fourth quarter,” coach Doug Collins said.“They put a push on us and we didn’t have any resistance, so credit to them.”
Notes: The Heat only made 11 of 20 free throws. They made up for that numberwith just nine turnovers. … The Sixers missed eight of their first nine shotsin the third quarter. … Brand was scoreless for the fifth time in 823 careergames and third time as a Sixer. … Former 76er Rick Mahorn, TV personalityJane Pauley, cartoonist Garry Trudeau and actress Mary Carey were all at thegame. … Not counting playoffs, the Heat have won nine straight over theSixers.
Meyer defends recruiting practices
February 4, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—There must have been a lot of interestinggive-and-take when the Big Ten football coaches met at the conference offices onFriday.
New Ohio State coach Urban Meyer faced off with at least a couple of coacheswho have been reported saying they question his poaching of recruits who hadalready committed to other programs.
Meyer’s first recruiting class on Wednesday included eight players whoinitially had said they were attending another school, including four whooriginally said they were going to Penn State and one each who had declared theywould go to Michigan State and Wisconsin. Two others had verbally committed toNotre Dame.
“We had an opportunity to discuss a number of issues with each other andconference staff, including those that have arisen this week,” Meyer said in astatement issued after the meeting on Friday. “It should be noted that mycoaching staff is in full compliance with our recruiting efforts, and no one onthis staff did anything illegal or unethical.”
He said his staff would continue to be “relentless.”
Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema has been quoted expressing his displeasure withOhio State raiding other team’s recruits. Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio alsoreportedly questioned Meyer’s recruiting tactics, but he said Friday hiscomments were taken out of context and were not directed at Meyer.
Bielema was upset over losing out on offensive lineman Kyle Dodson, who hadsaid he was coming to Wisconsin, but then ended up signing with the Buckeyes.
“There’s a few things that happened early on I made people be aware of thatI didn’t want to see in this league that I had seen take place at otherleagues,” Bielema said on Wednesday’s first day for the signing of nationalletters of intent in football. “Other recruiting tactics, other recruitingpractices that are illegal. I was very up front and was very poignant to thefact. I actually reached out to coach Meyer and shared my thoughts and concernswith him and the situation got rectified.”
Bielema did not go into further detail.
On Friday, Michigan State issued a statement from Dantonio in which he saidhe wanted to “correct some inaccurate news accounts that have appeared over thelast two days.”
“The timing of my comments was a reflection of an occurring matter onsigning day and had nothing to do with Urban Meyer and Ohio State,” thestatement said. “My comments regarding ‘unethical’ behavior were general innature, according to my current coaching philosophy, and not directed toward anyparticular institution.”
The Buckeyes signed defensive end Se’Von Pittman from Canton, Ohio, onWednesday. He had verbally committed to Michigan State.
Spartans defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, also a former Tresselassistant, said at a speaking engagement in Canton, Ohio, that there used to bean unwritten rule between coaches in the conference.
“I’m not accusing anyone specifically,” Narduzzi said. “All I’m sayingwas that there was time when there was an understanding between coaches that iftwo of you were going after somebody and they committed, you backed off.”
Verbal commitments are just that, unofficial statements of a recruit’sintention. Until they actually sign their letters of intent, however, theircommitment is not legally binding.
Still, most coaches in the conference have acknowledged an unwrittengentleman’s agreement to not swoop in and grab players who have pledged toanother Big Ten school. Former Purdue coach Joe Tiller blasted former Michigancoach Rich Rodriguez for doing just that four years ago.
Asked Wednesday if he had “flipped” a lot of recruits this year who hadcommitted elsewhere, Meyer said, “Sometimes they say, ‘How can you go recruit ayoung guy committed to another school?’ You ask a question, ‘Are youinterested?’ If they say no, you move on.
“If they say, ‘Yes, very interested,’ then you throw that hook out there.If they’re interested, absolutely, especially from your home state.”
Ohio State is banned from going to a bowl game after the 2012 season as partof NCAA sanctions accrued under Tressel. The Buckeyes are also facing recruitinglimitations (three fewer scholarships each of the next three years) among otherpenalties, including vacating the 2010 season and serving three years of NCAAprobation.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith also jumped to the defense of Meyeron Friday.
“I am disappointed that negative references have been made about ourfootball coaches, and particularly head coach Urban Meyer regardingrecruiting,” Smith said in a statement.
Smith said that Bielema and Dantonio should have voiced their concerns aboutMeyer to their athletic directors, who would then have discussed the matter. Healso said that Meyer and his staff have had a “compliance conscience” in theirbrief time on the job.
———
Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rustymillerap
2 more concussion lawsuits filed
February 4, 2012
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Two more federal lawsuits have been filed inPhiladelphia blaming the NFL for concussion-related dementia and brain disease.
The latest fraud and negligence suits filed Friday also accuse the NationalFootball League of hiding medical evidence about the risks of concussions andfailing to warn players they risked permanent brain damage if they returned toplay too soon after a concussion.
One lawsuit names eight former players and five spouses as plaintiffs; theother includes 42 former players and 23 spouses. The players include Hall ofFame running back Leroy Kelly and former Philadelphia Eagles Britt Hager andKeith Byars.
As many as a dozen similar lawsuits have been filed nationwide. Several havebeen consolidated in Philadelphia, and more could be added. The NFL has vowed tovigorously defend itself.
Follow Yahoo! Sports NFL coverage on Twitter.
Harvard stays unbeaten in Ivy play
February 4, 2012
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP)—Laurent Rivard scored 16 points as Harvard remainedunbeaten in Ivy League play with a 71-60 victory over Cornell on Friday night.
The victory was the 24th in a row at home for the Crimson (19-2, 5-0),extending their record for the program, and was their seventh straight overall.Their 5-0 league start matches the 1980-81 squad for the program’s best ever.
Rivard scored 11 first-half points, including two 3-pointers and a pair offree throws in a span of 1:28, as Harvard took a 38-24 lead into halftime. TheBig Red (7-12, 2-3) shot just 30.8 percent (8 of 26) in the first half.
Harvard’s lead reached as many as 22 points, 57-35, with 8:22 remaining inthe game.
Kyle Casey finished with 13 points for the Crimson, and Keith Wright andSteve Moundou-Missi each had nine.
Johnathan Gray scored 14 points to lead Cornell.
Arizona assistant denies deliberate kick
February 4, 2012
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP)—Arizona assistant coach Joe Pasternack says hedidn’t deliberately make contact with California’s Jorge Gutierrez after he fellinto the Wildcats’ bench during Thursday night’s game.
Gutierrez yelled at Pasternack, a former Cal assistant, after falling intothe bench chasing a loose ball in Arizona’s 78-74 win. Replays showed Pasternackmaking a kicking motion, which Gutierrez believed to be intentional.
Arizona coach Sean Miller and Cal’s Mike Montgomery both came to midcourt tospeak with Gutierrez after the incident.
Pasternack issued a statement Friday saying his actions were a reflex inresponse to a player falling on top of him while running at top speed toward thebench.
Follow Yahoo! Sports college basketball coverage on Twitter.
Mularkey’s son arrested on drug charge
February 4, 2012
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP)—Chapel Hill police say the son of new JacksonvilleJaguars coach Mike Mularkey is among three former North Carolina athletesarrested for possession of cocaine.
Police say Shane Michael Mularkey was among the three arrested. The21-year-old Mularkey played in all 13 games for the Tar Heels in 2009, butschool spokesman Kevin Best said he left the team after the 2010 season.
A Jaguars spokesman says the team is aware of the arrest, adding that it isa personal matter and that Mike Mularkey has no comment at this time.
Also arrested Friday were 21-year-old Nicole Marie Suarez and 20-year-oldJacob Carl Groeschen.
Suarez was a former member of the school’s cross country team who Best saidhadn’t been involved in the sport since September 2010.
Best said Groeschen was a walk-on quarterback in 2010 and served as astudent-manager during the 2011 season. He left the Tar Heels after the team’sappearance in the Independence Bowl.
Follow Yahoo! Sports NFL coverage on Twitter.
Pitt to play in ACC’s Coastal Division
February 4, 2012
PITTSBURGH (AP)—Pittsburgh will join the Atlantic Coast Conference’sCoastal Division in football, the league announced on Friday.
When the Panthers actually begin playing in the ACC remains unknown, butathletic director Steve Pederson isn’t ready to shut the door on 2012.
The ACC announced Friday that Pitt will join the Coastal with Virginia Tech,Virginia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Duke and North Carolina. Pitt also will playSyracuse, another Big East program leaving for the ACC, every year, even thoughthe Orange will join the Atlantic Division.
Pitt would like to leave the Big East before the 27 months notice requiredin the conference bylaws. Pederson said he’s keeping an eye on West Virginia’slawsuit against the Big East, as the Mountaineers are suing to play in the Big12 in 2012.
“We’re following that very closely and continue to monitor what happensthere,” Pederson said Friday. “I don’t know exactly what the future holds, butit seems like it’s almost changing on a daily basis.”
Either way, Pederson likes the move because it reunites the Panthers withthe Hokies and Hurricanes, who left the Big East for the ACC in 2003.
“It renews some pretty significant, historic-type rivalries,” he said.
However, another rivalry—with West Virginia—may be up in the air.Pederson said he’ll have to see what happens with West Virginia’s lawsuit andevaluate Pitt’s future non-conference schedules after that. The Panthers andMountaineers have played 104 times.
Belichick loosens up at Super Bowl week
February 4, 2012
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, whose dourdemeanor matches his gray hoodie and whose quotes make cliches seem original,actually has a colorful side rarely seen by football junkies.
For some reason—and Belichick has a reason for everything—he’s loosenedup this Super Bowl week with a season’s worth of smiles, jokes and fashionableattire.
“He’s a good dude,” tight end Aaron Hernandez said. “You just have tocatch him on the right day.”
There have been several of those this week, as the Pats prepare to play theNew York Giants in Sunday’s NFL title game, enough to show that Belichick ismore than a one-dimensional gridiron “genius” but perhaps not enough to provehis public makeover will last until next season.
New England Patriots tight end… AP – Feb 3, 1:11 pm EST New England Patriots head coac… AP – Feb 3, 8:59 am EST 1 of 2 NFL Gallery
Matt Light, who has played left tackle for the Patriots since 2001, haswatched Belichick coach about 1,000 practices. He’s heard him rip players of allstature—from stars to practice squadders. And he’s seen him offerencouragement with a pat on the back.
Light also noticed that Belichick has relaxed with age; he turns 60 inApril, and has spent 37 of those years in various capacities on NFL coachingstaffs.
“He’s had a little more fun with some of the things that surround the gameof football,” Light said. “Whether it’s just his old age softening him alittle bit, he seems to be having a little bit more fun with it.
“At the heart of everything he does, he just wants to win football games.Football is football and everything else is kind of secondary to that. His mainfocus is the game. I’m not sure you need to have a whole lot of humor whenyou’re that focused on what you do, but it’s kind of nice to see it every nowand then.”
For six straight days during Super Bowl week, Belichick regaled reporterswith humor and historical reminiscences, careful all the while not to reveal anygame plans or speak of the Giants with anything but admiration.
“Trust me, at times Bill can be difficult to deal with,” nose tackle VinceWilfork said, “but he sees a difference in this team. He knows that he has apretty tough football team, a smart football team and a team that’s never goingto let him down. We have one more game to go. Hopefully, we won’t let himdown.”
However it turns out, it will mark the start of Belichick’s offseason. Atsome point, he’s likely to return to Nantucket,, where he relaxes on his boat“V Rings” and fishes for “Nantucket Blues,” drops by the island’s summerwine festival and maybe strolls into Rocky Fox’s “Chicken Box.”
Belichick popped in there with some friends a few summers ago to hear aBruce Springsteen cover band, said Fox, one of three owners of the nearly50-year-old nightclub that he calls “a five-star dive bar.”
“He was low-key, kept to himself with his friends, just enjoyed the musicand was very hospitable,” Fox said. “When they left he said, `See you guyslater.’ He was the coolest guy in the building, just chilling out.”
He chilled at a Boston Celtics playoff game few years ago, too. Sittingbeside girlfriend Linda Holliday, a former Mrs. Arkansas contestant, the twoturned to each other in their courtside seats and kissed. He waved when he wasintroduced, getting a loud ovation from the crowd.
“I don’t know if it’s a lady in his life or what the deal is, but hedefinitely smiles a little more than he used to,” wide receiver Wes Welkersaid.
Is he putting on a front for the national audience? Is he loosening upbecause he’s confident he’ll win his fourth Super Bowl with the Patriots? Or ishe polishing his image for a post-football job, perhaps as a TV commentator?
“Bill may be wanting to market himself more and this may be a long-termchange. Time will tell,” said Bob Williams, chief executive officer of BurnsEntertainment and Sports Marketing in Chicago, a company that matchescelebrities with advertisers and endorsement opportunities.
Belichick, slipping into his old style of answering a question that wasn’tasked, brushed aside one from a reporter who wanted to know if he might retireif the Patriots win on Sunday.
“Right now, I’m really thinking, `What’s the best thing I can do to helpour football team on Sunday against the Giants?’ I want to really try to do agood job in the job that I have,” he said.
More important, he really likes the job and all that comes with it:drafting, trading, practicing, coaching games, teaching rookies and working withveterans.
“I enjoy the competition on a weekly basis,” Belichick said, “not just onSundays, but the preparation leading up into the game. I enjoy all of it. Itbeats working.”
Follow Yahoo! Sports NFL coverage on Twitter.
Iowa off. coordinator O’Keefe resigns
February 4, 2012
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)—Iowa used to have one of the nation’s most stablestaffs under head coach Kirk Ferentz. In less than two months, he has lost theonly coordinators he has ever had.
Iowa announced Friday that offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe had resignedafter 13 seasons, leaving the program for another coaching position the schooldid not identify. The surprise departure, first reported by the Des MoinesRegister, leaves both coordinator jobs open at Iowa.
“Ken’s work contributed greatly to our program’s success during the past 13years, and more impressively to the growth and development of the young men inour program,” Ferentz said in a statement.
Ferentz is expected to name a replacement for longtime defensive coordinatorNorm Parker, who retired, sometime next week. Iowa has also yet to officiallyreplace defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski, who left for a similar job at rivalNebraska.
The 58-year-old O’Keefe was known for running a balanced, pro-style attackat Iowa that some fans considered too conservative. The Hawkeyes finished 58thin the country in scoring offense in 2011, averaging 27.5 points per game,behind first-year starting quarterback James Vandenberg, star wide receiverMarvin McNutt and running back Marcus Coker.
Though the Hawkeyes never really lit up scoreboards during O’Keefe’s tenure,the past 13 years have included some of the best seasons in school history.
Iowa has missed a bowl only once in the past 10 seasons, winning 85 gamesoverall and 50 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes were undefeated in November 2009before an injury to quarterback Ricky Stanzi helped knock them out of nationaltitle contention, though they recovered in time to beat Georgia Tech in theOrange Bowl.
Quarterback Brad Banks finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2002,and running back Shonn Greene was named the Doak Walker Award winner in 2008under O’Keefe’s watch.
O’Keefe graduated from John Carroll University in 1975. He was the headcoach at Allegheny College from 1990-97 and spent 1998 as the head coach atFordham.
Spartans F Green says he’ll play Sunday
February 4, 2012
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP)—Michigan State forward Draymond Green says hewill play against Michigan on Sunday despite his sprained left knee.
Green declared himself fit to play after Friday’s practice. He was injuredin Tuesday night’s loss at Illinois
Spartans coach Tom Izzo says he is a little apprehensive, but was encouragedby Green’s progress.
The ninth-ranked Spartans host the 23rd-ranked Wolverines, who have wonthree straight in the series.
Green is averaging 14.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.1 blocks pergame, leading Michigan State in each category. He is second on the team with 3.5assists per game. Teammates said they knew he would try to play in the finalgame against Michigan of his college career.
Follow Yahoo! Sports college basketball coverage on Twitter.
