Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
With the UMass Lowell men's basketball team set to take on UConn this Sunday, Northeast-10 Conference member Le Moyne went into the Carrier Dome and defeated Syracuse, 82-79, in an exhibition game on Tuesday night.
Reigning NE-10 Player of the Year Laurence Ekperigin scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Christopher Johnson made six 3-pointers and led the Dolphins with 22 points.
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
The Boston Celtics officially announced a multi-year contract extension for point guard Rajon Rondo tonight. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Rondo, a 6'1" guard, is second in the NBA in assists per game (11.8) through four games this season. The former Kentucky Wildcat is also leading the NBA in steals (10). Rondo was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team last season.
Last spring, Rondo became the second Celtic to post three triple-doubles in a postseason joining Larry Bird when he posted three during the 1985-86 postseason. During the 2009 postseason, Rondo averaged 16.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.8 assists in 41.2 minutes per game.
"I would like to thank the Celtics ownership, Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers, my teammates and the Celtics organization for all of their support over the years," Rondo said in a statement released by the team. "I would also like to thank my family, friends and fans. I'm ready to do everything I can to bring banner 18 to Boston."
Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
In keeping with the spirit of Election Day, here are a few endorsements from the sports world (unlike Choice Voting, these aren't ranked in any particular order of preference or common sense):
1) The Boston Celtics could win this season in a landslide. They are good...scary good. Assuming relatively good health, the '95-'96 Chicago Bulls record of 72-wins in a season is in serious jeopardy.
2) Forget the traditional chant of "four more years." C's fans got an election eve bonus with Danny Ainge and Rajon Rondo voting to let the incredibly gifted point guard serve another five year term in Green.
Rather than sulk and pout over offseason criticism at his leadership skills and maturity, Rondo listened, learned and apparently did what was necessary to convince his bosses he was a keeper. While that might sound like a common sense way to act, it isn't always how things work out with spoiled young athletes these days.
3) Don't worry so much about the Bruins record this year. Early exit polling indicates they aren't going to win the Stanley Cup in 2009-10. They simply aren't built to do so yet, injuries or no injuries.
Pay closer attention instead to the won-lost ledger for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who currently posses the NHL's worst record. Through the very shrewd Phil Kessel deal, the Black and Gold own the Leafs first pick in the next two drafts. The player or players to lead Boston back to the Promised Land could very well come from those two selections.
4) Even a critic like yours truly has to admit the honeymoon period of Brett Favre's term in Minnesota has gone better than expected. The last washed up athlete to be this adored in the Twin Cities was Jesse "The Governor" Ventura. Unfortunately for Vikings fans, that'll make the inevitable game-losing playoff interception that much harder to stomach.
5) As for another frequent target in this space, there's no backhanded compliment forthcoming for C.C. Sabbathia...just a legitimate admission that I was wrong. The hefty lefty not only does have the stuff to win in the playoffs, but he's done it on three days rest twice this playoff season. Not many starters are asked to that even once, never mind back to back times.
Sounds silly to say it, but New York's $161-million investment over seven years has already been worth every penny.
6) The MVC Large School runoff will be decided on a Friday the 13th...November 13th, to be exact, when Billerica travels to Lawrence to battle Central Catholic. The projection here: home field advantage gives head coach Chuck Adamopoulos and Central the edge. (Had the game been scheduled for "the 'Ric," Peter Flynn's Indians would be the choice)
7) The Small School votes won't be tallied till Turkey Day, when Dracut hosts Methuen in what would have been an intense matchup even without a playoff berth on the line. You have to hand it to Methuen head coach (and former Lowell High assistant) Pat Graham, who has his Rangers in serious contention despite returning only six starters. That said, Dracut's experience, plus the revenge factor from last Thanksgiving, will catapult the Jeff Moore's Middies back into the post-season.
That's the view from here...how do you see things?
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
As one wise knucklehead warned in today's edition of The Sun, there was nothing to worry about in the Rajon Rondo situation.
Yahoo! Sports basketball writer Marc Spears reports this morning that the Boston Celtics and the point guard's agent have reached an agreement on a contract extension. Spears has the deal as a five-year extension which guarantees Rondo at least $55 million.
The deadline for reaching a contract extension is today. If an extension is not finalized before the end of the day, Rondo becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
The UMass Lowell men's and women's basketball teams, in conjunction with Student Activities & Leadership and the Department of Athletics, will host the Second Annual River Hawk Hoop Fest in Costello Gym on Wednesday, Nov. 4 beginning at 7 p.m.
Fans can enjoy free pizza, t-shirts to the first 100 students and prizes throughout the evening. Special prizes will be awarded for best dressed school spirit costume, throw for dough contest, $10,000 shootout and a free textbook giveaway. Other prizes include cash, restaurant gift cards, Celtics tickets and gear.
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
The Boston Celtics announced today that forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis underwent successful surgery to reduce and fix a right thumb fracture.
The surgery was performed by Celtics Team Physician, Dr. Brian McKeon and was assisted by Dr. Hervey Kimball and Dr. Drew Terrono at New England Baptist Hospital.
Davis is expected to miss the next six weeks.
"I would first like to apologize to my fans, teammates, coaches and the entire Celtics organization," Davis said in a statement released by the Celtics. "I am extremely disappointed that this incident occurred and that it will prevent me from starting the season with the rest of my teammates. My teammates and the entire Celtics organization are extremely important to me and I will do my best to expedite the healing process and be back on the court as soon as possible."
Celtics managing partner Wyc Grousbeck was asked about Davis during an interview on 98.5 FM "The Sports Hub" this afternoon.
Grousbeck stressed that he had not spoken with Davis directly at the time of the interview.
The Boston Herald reported today that the injury took place as Davis defended himself in an altercation Sunday night with a former teammate who'd flown up from Louisiana.
"What I've heard second hand is that it was an altercation with somebody he knew and probably not the best of judgment on anybody's part is my guess," Grousbeck said.
He also said a suspension was "most likely" coming after take the time to sit with him and his agent.
"I think we're going to ask him to chip in," Grousbeck said. "He's going to miss a bunch of games, and we're going to ask him to help defray some of the costs, I think."
The Celtics signed Davis to a contract extension this off-season after Davis tested the free agent market as a restricted free agent. Grousbeck did seem disappointed with the results, regardless of how the injury happened.
"You're not supposed to do that stuff when you're a pro," Grousbeck said. "It's damaging the team unfortunately."
While conveying disappointment in Davis' actions, Grousbeck said the organization did not have questions about Davis' maturity prior to signing him to a contract extension this off-season.
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
The Boston Celtis begin the 2009-10 season tonight in Cleveland against the LeBron James and the new-look Cavaliers with Shaquille O'Neal as Cleveland's biggest off-season acquisition.
Here is a quick look at how the national news organizations predict things will shake out at the end of the season.
- The Sporting News: TSN has the Celtics losing in the Eastern Conference finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Celtics age apparently is the deciding factor as "a younger, more athletic Cavs team figures to be too much for Boston."
- ESPN: ESPN.com's group of NBA experts average ranking int the Eastern Conference for the Celtics is 2.1 just behind Cleveland. The Cavaliers are the favorites with an average ranking of 1.7.
- Sports Illustrated: SI predicts banner number 18 for The Green. NBA Writer Ian Thomsen gives the Celtics the second seed in the East behind Cleveland, but he has the Celtics beating the Cavs in the East finals and then beating the Lakers for the title.
- FOX Sports: Foxsports.com doesn't pick a particular winner in the East, instead previewing the Lakers match-ups with the Cavaliers, Celtics and Magic.However, NBA columnist Charley Rosen gives the Lakers the edge in a Celtics-Lakers match-up largely because of the Ron Artest addition. It should be noted that Rosen is a very close friend of Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The two have coached together before, and they've co-authored the book "More Than A Game."
- USA Today: The paper's tag team of Chris Colston and Jeff Zillgitt were split on the decision. Colston picked the Celtics to win the East and the NBA title with Celtics head coach Doc Rivers taking Coach of the Year honors. Meanwhile, Zillgitt gives the East crown and the NBA Championship to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
The UMass Lowell men's basketball team received a verbal commitment from New Jersey guard Chris Thompson this week.
Thompson, who attends Life Center Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, is listed as 6-foot-2 and somewhere around 160 to 170 pounds. According to MaxPreps.com, he averaged 11.3 points per game as a junior playing alongside a several NCAA Division 1 scholarship caliber players.
Life Center also played a highly competitive schedule which featured games against nationally recognized programs such as Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and National Christian Academy (Washington, D.C.) as well as New Jersey powerhouses St. Patrick's, St. Anthony's and St. Benedict's.
Thompson and his family were on campus last week and attended the River Hawks practice at Tsongas Arena last Friday prior to the Celtics open practice session.
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
The UMass Lowell men's basketball Blue/Red Scrimmage scheduled for tomorrow at noon has been moved to the Campus Recreation Center.
This season kick-off event is open to all members of the 6th Man Club and their families and will include an intrasquad scrimmage, shooting and dunk contests and a post-scrimmage reception.
The event was previously scheduled for Costello Gymnasium.
More information is available on the River Hawks website.
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
The Boston Celtics made their first move to trim their roster by requesting waivers on forward Mike Sweetney yesterday.
The 6-foot-8 270-pound Sweetney signed with the Celtics on September 28 as a free agent. The former Georgetown Hoya appeared in five games for the Celtics during the 2009 preseason and averaged 3.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in 6.4 minutes per game.
Sweetney hasn't appeared in a regular season NBA game since 2006-07 with the Chicago Bulls. The New York Knicks selected Sweetney ninth overall in the 2003 NBA Draft.
In three seasons at Georgetown University he had a distinguished career, ranking seventh in Hoyas all-time list in scoring (1,750 points), fifth in rebounding (887) and sixth in blocks (180).
The Celtics now have 15 players on their roster.
Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
Jim Calhoun doesn't have a reputation for sugarcoating his observations.
The UConn men's basketball coach told reporters during the Big East Media Day that freshman big man Alex Oriakhi "has to be" an impact freshman for the Huskies this season.
The video is streamed on the Hartford Courant's website.
Oriakhi, a McDonald's All-American and New Hampshire's Gatorade Player of the Year last year, is a Lowell resident. The 6-foot-9 forward/center graduated from the Tilton School this past spring after helping lead the basketball team to a Prep National title and a 29-2 record.
UConn has to replace center Hasheem Thabeet, the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft, and power forward Jeff Adrien.
Thabeet won back-to-back Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors as well as back-to-back NABC National Defensive Player of the Year honors. He was also the Big East Co-Player of the Year in 2008-09.
Adrien ranked second on the team in both points per game (13.6) and rebounds per game (9.9).
Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
Blowing out a few weekend observations while wondering who perpetrated the biggest fraud on America...the Tennessee Titans or Balloon Boy's family:
-The temptation is to say Tom Brady is back.
The five touchdown passes in a quarter are impressive, no matter what level of competition one is facing, even if those 5-TD's came against a college team. Of course, a college team at least would have put up more of a fight than the throwback uniform wearing Titans, who disgraced themselves by quitting somewhere around the time snow started falling on Foxboro, which was about 4-hours before kickoff.
That said, it was good to see Brady find a rhythm and build confidence. He gets another easy one on paper as the Patriots travel to London to take on a second consecutive winless foe in Tampa Bay. That should take New England into the bye week with a 5-2 record and end the "work out the rust" period of Brady's comeback. After that, we'll find out once and for all if the Pats QB is back for good, or if his days as a sure thing are behind him.
-This probably isn't a popular thing to say around these parts, but on a professional level, I'm kind of happy for Alex Rodriguez. (Would be even happier if he wore different laundry than pinstripes)
It's annoying to hear fans talk in absolutes about athletes and their failures, as if you can define an entire career based on a limited number of playoff performances. A great example was Barry Bonds, who was branded as a choke artist based on a few bad Octobers with the Pirates. A torrid playoff run with the Giants ended that silly thought. Same with Peyton Manning, who until finally leading the Colts to a Super Bowl victory, had to live with the "he'll never win one" label.
It appears A-Rod has put an end to his personal playoff hell and is about to load the Evil Empire on his back and carry it to another title. It's almost comical watching the same Yankee fraud fans who tried booing him out of town just a year ago now tripping over themselves to get a front row seat for his curtain calls. Heck, even "class act" Derek Jeter might be ready to stop throwing his rival for greatest shortstop of this generation under the bus.
(And to those of you who had some not-so-kind things to say in this direction two years ago when I dared suggest it might be a good time to say bye to Mike Lowell and go after Rodriguez in free agency, you can come out of hiding now. All is forgiven)
-It's fitting that Kevin Youkilis is going to be presented with the Lowell Spinners Dick Berardino Award at the team's December 29th Alumni Dinner.
The award is presented annually to a member of the Spinners alumni who has displayed tremendous coachability, determination, dedication, a passionate work ethic and the heart to make it to the major league level. That pretty much sums up the Greek God of Walks, who turned himself from an unlikely prospect into an All-Star.
When I think of players who've gone from the Spinners to the majors, he's the one who always pops to mind first.
That's the view from here...how do you see things? Is Brady back? Or do you need to see him do it against "NFL" competition before jumping back on the bandwagon? Can anyone stop A-Rod and the Yankees from another title? Are you still thinking it was a good idea to pass on Rodriguez when he became a free agent? Who is the first player you think of when you hear the words Lowell Spinners?
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