October 2009 Archives

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?

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Point guard Stephon Marbury, who signed with the Boston Celtics in the middle of last season, told the New York Post he'll be taking this basketball season off.

He played 24 games for the Celtics and saw action in 14 playoff games. The Celtics offered the veteran minimum to Marbury this off-season, but the former New York Knicks guard declined to re-sign.

"I'm resting, doing what Michael Jordan did, enjoy life, do things I haven't done in 16 years, keep building my empire," Marbury told The Post. "I wasn't going to Boston for that money. It was a prudent business decision to take off this year."

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

It may not be on the calendar, but October 15 is Hoop Day. College basketball teams are allowed to begin full team practices on this date. The UMass Lowell men's basketball team tipped-off the 2009-10 season with a midnight practice at Costello Gymnasium.

The River Hawks come off a 21-8 season in 2008-09, the first season for head coach Greg Herenda.UML opened up the preseason with 13 players suited up. Senior guard Craig Heatherly had limited participation because of an ankle injury.

Two freshman and one graduate student were added to this year's team with Scott Tavares-Taylor and Romeo Diaz forming the incoming class, and former Lowell High School standout Kingsel Onyechi coming aboard as a grad student (he played at New England College as an undersgraduate).

Sophomore forward Kyle Mayers will also be fully eligible to play this season after sitting out as a redshirt last year.

A few players did not return from last year. Forward Victor Colon did not return to school. Junior college transfer Lance Greene ended up heading to UMass Dartmouth, while walk-ons Justin Graham and Shawsheen Tech graduate Joe Gore were not at the first practice and are also not listed on this year's roster.

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

A few Columbus Day thoughts as Red Sox nation sets sail on talk of shipping Jonathan Papelbon out of town:

-It's only a matter of time now. Papelbon shot off his mouth about wanting big money, had a subpar (for him) season, then coughed up a lead on the way to elimination. Soon the whisper campaign will begin in management friendly corners of the media. And before you know it, the former Lowell Spinner will be on his way to another baseball town, replaced by the new favorite (and cheaper) flavor of the month, Daniel Bard.

Don't be so quick to give up on Little Papi (Big Papi is another story, entirely). His off year would be a fantasy come true for any closer not named Mariano Rivera. I believe poor pitch location, as opposed to a loss of "stuff," is what led to the Game 3 collapse and the 2009 struggles. Remember, those earned runs given up Sunday were the first earned runs Papelbon has ever given up in post-season play.

Let's see how the fiery closer responds in 2010 before making any hasty decisions. 9th inning pitching was the least of Boston's issues this year.

-Instead of focusing on Papelbon, Red Sox Nation should turn up the heat on a front office that tends to get complacent after winning a World Series.

While it seems silly to complain after two World Series titles in 6-years, especially after an 86-year drought, the team with the priciest "game experience" in all of baseball should never, ever cut back on payroll like Theo Epstein does after winning it all.

In 2003, when the Sox lost the ALCS to the Yankees, total team payroll was just under $100-million. Spurred on by that heart-breaking setback, they went on an off-season spending spree, bringing the payroll to $127-million. Not so coincidentally, they finally brought a championship to Beantown.

In 2005, payroll dropped to $123-million, and the Red Sox suffered an opening round playoff loss to the White Sox. In 2006, total salaries dipped once more to $120-million and the Sox missed the playoffs completely. As the goodwill from the title began to fade, another shopping binge ensued, and Boston's Boys of Summer celebrated after the Fall Classic in 2007, as the $143-million team won it all. $10-million was trimmed from the books that offseason, the payroll dipped to $133-million in 2008 and the team lost in the ALCS to Tampa, followed by another drop to $121-million in 2009 and an opening round sweep at the hands of the Angels.

See the pattern there? Spend money, win it all. Cut back on payroll, get eliminated early. Don't get complacent like the front office, Red Sox fans. Hold their feet to the fire and demand they go all out to win every year. If they don't, they should at least cut back on ticket prices at the same time they cut back on payroll. It's only fair, isn't it?

-Red Sox offseason priority #1: go get a big bat! Offseason priority #2: go get a big bat!

That's the view from here...how do you see things? Why did the team built for the playoffs fall short when it mattered? Is Papelbon done? Should the Sox turn closer duties over to Daniel Bard? What do they need to do this offseason to get back on top?

Brian Fuentes, who led the AL with 48 saves during the regular season, retired the Red Sox in order in the bottom of the ninth for his second save of the series as the Angels won 7-6 and eliminated the Red Sox from the playoffs in three straight games.

Papelbon's amazing postseason scoreless streak couldn't have ended at a worse time for the Red Sox. He blew the save in the ninth as the Angels rallied for three runs after two were out and nobody on base.
Erick Aybar, the ninth-place hitter in the lineup, started things with a single and took second on defensive indifference. Chone Figgins walked, and Papelbon was one strike away from ending it when Abreu walloped an opposite-field double off The Wall in left, scoring Aybar.
That ended Papelbon's streak at 26 1/3 innings, 1 2/3 short of the major-league record for the start of a career set by Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson from 1905-11.
Hunter was walked intentionally to load the bases and get to Guerrero, but Guerrero lined Papelbon's first pitch up the middle as Figgins and Abreu raced home to put the Angels ahead 7-6. The RBI were only Guerrero's second and third in his last 20 post-season games.
Hideki Okajima took over and retired Morales for the final out.

The Red Sox gave themselves a little breathing room in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Kevin Jepsen, staging a two-out rally. David Ortiz lashed a single up the middle for his first hit of the series. Joey Gathright pinch ran and did his best Dave Roberts imitation by swiping second on a pitchout. Lowell slashed a single inside first base, and Gathright raced home to make the score 6-4.

The Angels touched up the Red Sox bullpen for a pair of runs in the eighth, chopping Boston's lead to 5-4.
Bobby Abreu greeted reliever Billy Wagner with an infield ground-rule double, a shot down the first base line that Kevin Youkilis lunged for and knocked into the photographers' dugout. After fanning Torii Hunter, Wagner did the near-impossible by walking Guerrero, then retired Morales on a grounder to second.
Francona brought in Jonathan Papelbon, and Juan Rivera lined his first pitch into right-center for a two-run single. Reggie Willits pinch ran for Rivera, and Papelbon, reprising his pickoff of Matt Holliday in the 2007 World Series, nailed Willits diving back into the bag to end the inning with the Red Sox now clinging to a one-run lead.

The Angels loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth inning, but the Red Sox escaped the mess while allowing just one run.
Torii Hunter led off with a double and was awarded third base on a balk by Buchholz. Vladimir Guerrero reached on an infield hit off the glove of third baseman Lowell diving to his left, and Hunter remained at third. After Buchholz walked Morales to load the bases, Terry Francona went to the bullpen for fireballing rookie Daniel Bard.
Bard fell behind Juan Rivera on the count 3-and-1 but got him to ground into an around-the-horn double play as Hunter finally scored. Maicer Izturis popped to to short, and the Red Sox led 5-2 after 5 1/2 innings.

The Red Sox bounced right back in the bottom of the fourth and increased their lead to 5-1. Mike Lowell drilled a single off The Wall, and J.D. Drew lined a homer off one of the struts of the TV hut in straightaway center field. It was the seventh career post-season homer for Drew, his fourth with the Red Sox.

The Angels quickly retaliated against Clay Buchholz in the top of the fourth when with one out Kendry Morales lofted the first post-season home run of his career into the right-field grandstand, cutting the Red Sox lead to 3-1.

The Red Sox, limited to eight hits and one run over the first 20 innings of this series, finally broke loose in the third inning and scored three times off southpaw Scott Kazmir.
Alex Gonzalez started the rally with a one-out walk, and Jacoby Ellsbury slapped an opposite-field single to left, the Red Sox' first hit. Dustin Pedroia then slammed a double off The Wall in left-center to chase home both Gonzalez and Ellsbury, and Victor Martinez flicked his bat at a 1-and-2 pitch and doubled into the left-field corner to bring in Pedroia and put the Red Sox in front 3-0.

This is when the Red Sox are often at their best, when their backs are against The Fenway Park Wall with nowhere left to go.
The Red Sox are the only team in major-league history to twice win a Division Series after being down 0-2 in games. Throw in the 2004 ALCS when they were down to the Yankees 0-3 and came back to win the pennant, the Red Sox are historically the most dangerous team when they're on the brink of elimination.
In fact, since 2003 the Red Sox are 12-3 in elimination games, including a 7-1 mark at Fenway Park.
On the negative side, by being held to four hits or less in three consecutive postseason games dating back to last fall, the Red Sox have matched the second-longest streak of four hits or less in major-league history, joining the "Hitless Wonder" Chicago White Sox, who still managed to win the World Series that year.
The starting lineups for today's elimination game at Fenway Park:
Angels
Chone Figgins, 3b
Bobby Abreu, rf
Torii Hunter, cf
Vladimir Guerrero, dh
Kendry Morales 1b
Juan Rivera, lf
Maicer Izturis, 2b
Mike Napoli, c
Erick Aybar, ss
Scott Kazmir, lhp
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, cf
Dustin Pedroia, 2b
Victor Martinez, c
Kevin Youkilis, 1b
Jason Bay, lf
David Ortiz, dh
Mike Lowell, 3b
J.D. Drew, rf
Alex Gonzalez, ss
Clay Buchholz, rhp

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The Sporting News released its preseason Division 2 Top 10 rankings and All-American Teams for men's basketball in the annual NCAA Basketball Preview.

UMass Lowell's men's basketball team, coming off a 21-8 record last season, did not crack into the top 10. The River Hawks were one of 32 schools listed as "Possible Breakthroughs."

The Northeast-10 Conference placed one squad in the Top 10: Bentley University.

Also listed as "Possible Breakthroughs" were NE-10 members Adelphi, Merrimack, Le Moyne and St. Anselm.

The NE-10 Coaches Poll has not been released yet, but the votes were due to be turned in more than a week ago. The polls figure to be out in the near future.

The Sporting News also listed several NE-10 Players on its All-American Team.

Merrimack guard Darren Duncan and Bentley guard Jake Westrol were each selected as First Team All-Americans, while last year's NE-10 Player of the Year forward Laurence Ekperigin of Le Moyne made the second team.

Making the honorable mention list were Richard Byrd of Adelphi, Darin Mency of Merrimack and Thomas Boudinet of St. Anselm.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The UMass Lowell men's basketball team will be without Second Team All-Northeast-10 Conference performer Victor Colon this winter.

Colon, who would have been a senior, decided not to return to school this fall for his senior year. The Chicago native led the River Hawks in scoring (14.6 points per game) and rebounding (5.7 rebounds per game) during the regular season.

Though he was very strong, Colon was somewhat undersized for his power forward position at 6-foot-3. He hurt opposing defenses with his shooting range. He ranked fourth in the NE-10 in 3-point shooting percentage (45.7 percent).

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

From Red Sox playoff previews to Patriots game reviews:

-OK, so Terry Francona once again ignored my advice and went with John Lester over Josh Beckett in Game 1. I guess the move makes sense, especially if Lester goes on short rest in Game 4. He's much more likely to bounce back strong than Beckett, who would hurl Game 5 on normal rest or be ready for Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

Clay Buchholz over Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 3 is a bigger gamble, in my book. Not that I'm overly confident in Dice-K, but I'm always nervous about rookie pitchers in the post-season. Then again, Tito has two World Series rings and I have ring around the collar, so take my thoughts for what they're worth...not much.

-A quick gaze into the crystal ball shows the Yankees beating the Detroit-Minnesota survivor, St. Louis over Los Angeles and Philadelphia climbing over the Colorado Rockies.

As for the local nine, I was all set to go with the Angels. Then I remembered Mike Scioscia. The Halos manager is likely to cost his team a game with his boneheaded baserunning strategy, and in a best-of-five, one game is all it takes to swing a series. So I'll take the Sox...in five.

-That smile on Bill Belichick's face at the end of Sunday's game told me how much that game meant and how much of a struggle it was.

The Patriots, while still sporting many soft spots, are slowly jelling, especially on defense. The one guy they could least afford to lose from that unit without it falling apart was Jerrod Mayo. Yet lo and behold, they've survived 3 ½ games without Mr. Indispensible, and have beaten two very good offensive squads back to back in Atlanta and Baltimore.

By the way, rookie cornerback Darius Butler is the real deal. The kid has playmaker written all over him.

-A week after arguing for Fred Taylor to become the workhorse out of New England's backfield, I watched in amazement as Laurence Maroney not only started the Ravens game, but also carried the ball more than any other runner until finally being banished to the bench after a measly 6-yards on 7-carries.

I get that there's going to be a committee out of the backfield in Foxboro. But does Maroney have to chair that committee? The former first round pick is just plain awful, something that became even clearer when he tip-toed around on kickoff returns instead of using that blazing speed to blast through an opening somewhere.

I say put Maroney in a sequined shirt and send him to Dancing with the Stars. Just get him the heck off the football field!

-Finally, Rush Limbaugh wants to buy St. Louis' NFL team. Does this mean the Rams will switch to the Right Wing-T offense?

That's the view from here...how do you see things? What are your Red Sox and MLB playoff predictions? Should it have been Dice-K over Buchholz in Game 3? Are the Patriots on the right track? Is Laurence Maroney officially a flop yet?