KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011 / SPORTS/
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I love this city, man, they love me back, you know what I'm saying? So it's good — it's a blue-collar town and I'm a blue-collar player. I'm a hard worker, and this is a hard-workin' town. Ain't nothin' been given easy to me, ain't nothin' easy been given to this town, so it's a fit!"
Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies
FACT OF THE DAY
Of the 16 game sevens in NBA Finals history, the Western Conference won the first three. Then the East won 10 in a row. And now the West has won three straight again. The average score of Finals Game 7s (by conference) has been East 98, West 96.
— nba.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: How many NBA Finals Game sevens have gone into overtime?
A: Just two. In 1957 between the Celtics and the Hawks, and in 1962 between the Celtics and the Lakers.
nba.com
MORNING BREW
It's a bad time for an NBA lockout
All spring long I hoped that the NBA would lock out, giving the Morris twins incentive to stay in school. Now that there is no chance of them returning for their senior campaign, my stance has changed. I absolutely don't want the NBA to lock out.
I'm a die-hard NFL, soccer and college football and basketball fan. I'll watch the NBA, but the only teams I take a particular interest in are the ones with former Jayhawks on them. Often, I get disgusted at the passionless play exhibited by NBA stars. Nevertheless, I don't think a lockout would be good.
Although popular, the league will never enjoy the undying adulation reserved for the NFL. The NBA has struggled with fan relations in the past with the 2004 Pacers-Pistons brawl, the notorious Portland Jail Blazers teams of the early 2000s, and the cocaine craze that swept the league in the 1980s, among other problems. Most notably, the league has struggled racially in the past decade, as commissioner David Stern tried to clean up the ghetto image presented by the mostly black league to make it easier to market the game to white fans and corporations.
BY GEOFFREY CALVERT
gcalvert@kansan.com
If the NBA can resolve its labor strife, it won't be faced with any major problems for the foreseeable future, making a potential lockout even sadder. The upcoming draft is predicted to be a weak one, but that doesn't change the fact that the league is full of exciting young players. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant
is a four-year veteran, but he is only 22. The Miami Heat's LeBron James is still only 26. Boston's Rajon Rondo and New Orleans' Chris Paul are two of the top point guards in the league, and they're both 25. Chicago's Derrick Rose was announced this week as the NBA's MVP, even though he is only 22 and in his third season in the league. And of course, the Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin has been possibly the most electrifying offensive force this season, seemingly throwing down a mouth-dropping dunk every night. The 22-year old was rightfully named the Rookie of the Year yesterday by a unanimous vote.
The NBA's youth movement would be noticeably damaged by a lockout. The current batch of young stars would be robbed of a year in the league, and the fans would be robbed of a season watching them develop and challenge one another for league supremacy. The players could still work out and scrimmage on
their own, but losing a year of meaningful games would leave more rust on the players than any of us would care to see. Also, aging players such as Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Tim Duncan might be enticed to retire, rather than come back for one final hurrah after the lockout ended. Perhaps most damagingly, the NBA would lose fan support, much as the MLB did in recent years.
As I watch the never-ending NBA playoff season, I am actually taking the time to appreciate the players' mesmerizing abilities. Although the NBA is not my favorite sports league, as a sports fan, I think it would be incredibly sad to see the league, players and fans robbed of a year with the current cast of stars, both young and old.
Edited by Danielle Packer
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
THURSDAY
Softball vs. Drake 5 p.m. Lawrence
vs. Drake
7 p.m.
Lawrence
Women's golf
NCAA Regionals
All day
TBA
FRIDAY
Baseball
vs. Oklahoma
6:30 p.m.
Norman, Okla.
Women's golf
NCAA Regionals
All day
TBA
TBA
Track and field Arkansas Twilight All day Fayetteville, Ark.
SATURDAY
Baseball
vs. Oklahoma
2 p.m.
Norman, Okla
Women's golf
NCAA Regionals
All day
TBA
MLB
All Carlos Zambrano could do was leave Dodger Stadium and wonder whether he could have stopped Andre Ethier's 29-game hitting streak.
Zambrano beats Ethier-less Dodgers
The Chicago Cubs' excitable right-hander never got the chance, because Ethel missed his first game of the season with an inflamed left elbow. As a result, Zambrano dominated the Los Angeles Dodgers for eight innings in a 5-1 victory Wednesday
Chicago scored all of its runs on homers by Geovany Soto, Carlos Pena and Marlon Byrd.
"Sometimes you don't want to face (Ethier) when he's hot and he has a streak like that," Zambrao said with a laugh. "He can hit anything. You throw it down to him; he hits it. You throw it inside to him; he hits it. Outside, up, away — I mean, he's in a zone. But as a competitor, I like to be challenged all the time. I was surprised when they told me he wasn't in the lineup today."
Etheir, who has seven hits in 16 career at-bats against Zambrano including a home run, remained two games shy of the longest streak in Dodgers history that was set by Willie Davis in 1969.
"It's been sore for the last couple of days;" Ethier said.
"i was prepared to go up there and have a last-inning at-bat today, if that what's the case was, and put it all on the line for one at-bat to get a hit," Ethier said.
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