2B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
trivia of the dav
Q: Before this season, when was the last time the Orlando Magic won a playoff series?
A: 1996. A young Shaquille O'Neal led the Orlando Magic to a three-game sweep against the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. Shaq left Orlando that off season and 12 years of futility followed for the Magic — fans even blamed the problems on the "Shaq Curse."
fact of the day
www.espn.com
Magic center Dwight Howard averaged more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game in this year's first round series against the Raptors. Howard is the first player to accomplish this feat in a series since Wilt Chamberlain in 1972.
quote of the day
"It hasn't hit me yet that we're moving past the first round, but it's such an unbelievable feeling. It's really hard to explain how I feel because we've done something that hasn't been done around here in a while."
Dwight Howard
on tv tonight
SOCCER:
— Liverpool at Chelsea,
1:30 p.m., ESPN2
VOLLEYBALL:
AVP Tour in Dallas, 2 p.m.,
FSN
BOWLING:
BOWLING:
— USBC Queens Tournament, 6 p.m., ESPN2
MLB:
MLB:
— Milwaukee at Chicago
Cubs, 7 p.m., ESPN
— Kansas City at Texas, 7
p.m., FSN
NBA:
First-round game, 7 p.m., TNT
BOXING:
First-round game,
9:30 p.m., TNT
BOXING:
— Joel Julio vs. Ishe Smith,
8 p.m., ESPN2
NHL
NHL
— Montreal at Philadelphia,
6 p.m., VS.
— San Jose at Dallas,
8:30 p.m., VS.
calendar
TODAY
Softball vs. Nebraska, 3 p.m., Lincoln, Neb.
softball vs. Nebraska 5:30 p.m., Lincoln, Neb.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FRIDAY
Baseball vs. Oklahoma,
6 p.m., Lawrence
Track & Field, Arkansas
Twilight Meet, All day,
Fayetteville, Ark.
Just call me Barack O-balla
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-III., center right, drives to the basket against the University of North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough during a basketball practice in Chapel Hill, N.C., Tuesday.
ELECTION Obama makes basketball part of his political strategy
ELECTION
"We're a very sports-loving country and it would be unusual if our president in one way or another was not sports connected," said Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar who served in the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations.
"I do think you can tell something about people by the way they play basketball," he told HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" this month.
PITTSBURGH — He's confident and competitive. Superstitious and silly. Admits his mistakes. Shares credit. Always in control. That's Barack Obama on the basketball court, the hardwood hideaway that helped him adjust to a white world as a racially mixed teenager — and now stands as a sweaty platform for his Democratic presidential campaign.
More than that, Obama hopes his passion for basketball helps soften his image as cool and aloof.
For months, the Illinois senator kept his "first love" under wraps, but suddenly basketball is center court as a political strategy. It's no accident: Obama needs something — anything — to deflect attention from the re-emergence of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his bombastic former pastor whose racially charged opinions threaten to widen the disconnect between the Illinois senator and white working-class voters.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden and 2008 first-round draft pick Aquib Talib appear at a news conference Monday morning in Tampa, Fla. Talib played cornerback at Kansas.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
>> NFL
Aqib Talib joins Buccaneers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Aqib Talib fielded question after question. When he finally encountered one he couldn't answer, the first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got some unexpected assistance.
"My first name means the last to come. I'm the youngest out of four kids. My last name, I don't know," the ballhawking cornerback said Monday before being joined on a podium by Bucs coach Jon Gruden.
The two held up a No.1 jersey with Talib's name on the back.
The room erupted in laughter, but Gruden was only half joking.
"That name," Gruden said,
"means good corner, i hope."
The Bucs selected a cornerback in the opening round for the first time since 1986, bypassing an opportunity to upgrade the offense with the coach's choice of any receiver in the draft. They're counting on Talib to prove they made the right call.
The startling cornerbacks for much of the past decade have been Ronde Barber and Brian Kelly. Barber turned 33 three weeks ago, while the 32-year-old Kelly skipped town this winter as a free agent.
Talib, who Gruden describes as a "dynamic playmaker" at Kansas, will compete with Phillip Buchanon for the starting left cornerback job and play a key role in nickel situations.
"We always let guys come in and compete, especially first-round or second-round picks. ... But that doesn't mean that we just start them. They have to earn it because we like who we have right now," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said.
"Last year we ran like 1,082 plays
on defense, and 42 percent of the time we played nickel, which means three wideouts in the game. So, we got to match up with three corners. That's why you need a really good third corner. He not only is one snap away from being a starter, but is also going to play right now close to 50 percent of the time."
He looks forward to learning from Barber and others, like linebacker Derrick Brooks and safeties Jermaine Phillips and Tanard Jackson, on a defense that's ranked among the league's best 10 of the past 11 seasons.
The ultra-confident Talib is eager to learn the defense and contribute any he can.
"I'm on their team now. I think they want me to come in and compete. They want me to come in and help the team win a championship. That's what we're trying to do," said Talib, selected the most valuable player in this year's Orange Bowl after scoring on a 60-yard interception return to help Kansas beat Virginia Tech.
As part of the core of players that helped put the Kansas football program back on the map, Talib had 13 career interceptions in college. He also made an impact on offense as a
"If there's a player here who's going to help them win a championship, they want him to do his hardest to be on the field. I think I'll fit in perfect. I'm a people person. I've never had a problem fitting in with a crowd."
He doesn't anticipate his upbeat, sometimes brash personality rubbing teammates the wrong way.
NBA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Larry Brown, right, the new coach of the Charlotte Bobcats basketball team,
speaks during a news conference on Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., Michael Jordan, manager of basketball operations for the Bobcats, listens at left.
Jordan recruits Brown to coach N.C. Bobcats
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Larry Brown wanted to resurrect his vagabond, Hall of Fame coaching career. Michael Jordan needed a veteran teacher and a big hire to rescue his sinking reputation as an NBA executive.
The two former North Carolina players teamed up Tuesday when Jordan introduced Brown as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats — his ninth NBA coaching job. Brown agreed to a four-year contract, returning to the state where his nomadic coaching journey began.
"How are you going to say no to Michael?" Brown said. "I've known him a long time. The things he stands for have made our game better. There's no way I could say no to him. It was a pretty easy decision once my wife said yes."
The 67-year-old Brown replaces Sam Vincent, whom Jordan hired last year despite no NBA head coaching experience. Vincent, who was fired Saturday, struggled to find consistent rotations and clashed with players in a 32-50 season.
The Bobcats are in their fourth year, and Brown gives the struggling franchise instant credibility. He's one of only five NBA coaches with more than 1,000 wins and the only coach to lead teams to NBA and NCAA titles.
"I think I've coached almost everybody in the NBA, but I'm going to challenge everybody to do their best," Brown said. "That's what Michael is about and that's what I'm about."
"I don't want to put too much pressure on Larry," Jordan said. "But I think this is the atmosphere he enjoys."
While Brown took UCLA to the Final Four and won an NCAA title with Kansas, most of his experience has been in the NBA. Brown improved teams in Denver, San Antonio, Indiana and Philadelphia and won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
Brown's nine NBA teams are three more than any coach
Brown's nine NBA teams are three more than any other coach — Kevin Loughrey and Lenny Wilkens each coached six.
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