The playoffs are now set for the 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. After a solid week, Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones made history Friday night in Kingston, Ontario, by becoming the first female skip to go a perfect 12-0 in the round robin of the national curling championship. Manitoba will now play Ontario’s Rachel Homan in the 1-2 playoff game (Saturday, TSN, 5:00 p.m.) with the winner advancing to the final (Sunday, TSN, 5:00 p.m.) and the loser playing the winner of the 3-4 game between British Columbia’s Kelly Scott and Canada’s Heather Nedohin (Saturday, TSN, 12:00 p.m.) in the semi-final (Sunday, TSN, 7:00 a.m.).
Posts Tagged ‘dallas mavericks’
Weekend Sports Preview–Curling, NBA, NHL, PGA & NASCAR
Saturday, February 23rd, 2013
Lakers are off to a lousy start
Thursday, November 1st, 2012
Ok. It has only been two games. But seriously, how many people who follow the game of basketball at the professional level would have thought the Los Angeles Lakers would be 0-2? With the additions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, expectations were huge in Hollywood this season.
This week the Lakers have lost twice. On Tuesday, they lost 99-91 in their home opener to the Dallas Mavericks and then last night, got completely outplayed by the Portland Trail Blazers in a 116-106 defeat.
Significant offseason transactions in the NBA
Friday, October 26th, 2012
Joe Johnson (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
The 2012-13 NBA season starts Tuesday. Yes, I know the Los Angeles Lakers now have Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, the Miami Heat have Ray Allen and the Toronto Raptors have Kyle Lowry and Landry Fields, but I think it is time to look at other significant off-season moves in the offseason.
The Dallas Mavericks have changed their roster significantly, and got younger in the process. In are German center Chris Kaman (from New Orleans), shooting guard O.J. Mayo (from Memphis) and point guard Darren Collison (from Indiana). All three averaged in double digits in scoring. Out meanwhile are Jason Kidd (New York) and Jason Terry (Boston).
Another team that has a completely different look are the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are gambling on Russian forward Andrei Kirilenko from Utah (11.7 ppg) and Brandon Roy from Portland who is coming out of retirement at the age of 28.
Heat one win away from NBA Championship
Wednesday, June 20th, 2012
LeBron James (Wikimedia Commons)
The Miami Heat are very close to winning their their second NBA title in franchise history.
On Tuesday night in Miami, the Heat got a double double from LeBron James (26 points, 12 assists) in a 104-98 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers also came up huge for Miami with 25 points each.
The real story from game four is the status of James, who was experiencing cramps late in the contest and had to sit out for some key minutes. When he was on the court however, he was dominant. James delivered a key three pointer to break a 94-94 tie with 2:50 left. The Heat would not relinquish the lead after that.
In other NBA news, the Charlotte Bobcats have hired Mike Dunlap as their head coach. He most recently worked as an assistant coach at St. John’s University and has previous NBA experience as an assistant coach in Denver.
Heat knock off Celtics to win Eastern Conference Final
Sunday, June 10th, 2012
The Miami Heat have advanced to the Eastern Conference Final by beating the Boston Celtics 101-88 on Saturday night in south Florida. The Heat won the best out of seven Eastern Conference Final 4-3 and will play the Oklahoma City Thunder.
LeBron James led the Heat attack with a double double 31 points and 12 rebounds.
James, was solid but the Heat had great performances from Shane Battier and Chris Bosh, who were a combined 7-for-13 from downtown. Dwyane Wade also added 23 points.
The Heat are headed to their second consecutive NBA Finals. They lost last year in six games to the Dallas Mavericks. This is the third time the Heat have qualified for the NBA Finals. They beat the Mavericks 4-2 in the NBA Finals.
Bulls receive massive blow in quest for NBA Championship– Are they done in 2012?
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
Derrick Rose (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
The Chicago Bulls will have a difficult time now in their attempt to win their seventh championship in franchise history and first since the Michael Jordan dynasty.
On Saturday in Chicago, Bulls star guard Derrick Rose tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be out for the postseason.
If you were interested in watching Chicago’s 103-91 win over Philadelphia, you needed NBA Canada, a station only available on a higher subscription package than the regular sports package available to Shaw subscribers.
Even though the Bulls won the game by a dozen, they will automatically not be the clear favourite to win the series. The 76ers definitely have the tools, even as the number eight seed in the East, to beat the Bulls without Rose.
The best game yesterday was in Oklahoma City where the Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks 99-98 as Kevin Durant made a 15 foot jump shot with two seconds left.
Weekend Sports Preview–Davis Cup, NHL, NBA, PGA
Saturday, February 11th, 2012
Daniel Nestor (Wikimedia Commons)
One of the most exciting sporting events of the entire year got under way last night in Vancouver.
For only the fourth time since 1923, Canada is in the main World Group of the Davis Cup, and yes folks there are reasons to be very excited.
Last night, Milos Raonic was dominant with his serve in his 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 win over France’s Julien Benneteau. Equally as dominant though was France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who beat Canada’s Vasek Pospisil yesterday afternoon 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
Now the stage is set for exciting doubles action today. I know Milos Raonic is the best Canadian tennis player today, but you could make the serious case that Daniel Nestor is the greatest Canadian tennis player ever. Nestor is a doubles specialist, who has a remarkable career record of 830-318. The seven-time major winner is still going great at age 39 and is currently ranked number three in the world. Like Steve Nash who I discussed yesterday, Daniel Nestor is playing at an elite level which is truly amazing to watch. Nestor along with Pospisil will play the French duo of Michael Llodra and Benneteau with the Canadian team favoured to win the match (Sportsnet, 3pm).
Play will continue Sunday (Sportsnet, 3pm) with Raonic taking on Tsonga and a fifth match with possible meaning. The two have never faced each other.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
Nash sets NBA record in Suns win over Hornets
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Steve Nash (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
The magic of Steve Nash continues.
The greatest Canadian basketball player ever had another magical game last night as he scored 30 points and 10 assists in Phoenix’s 120-103 win over the New Orleans Hornets.
At age 37, Nash became the oldest player in NBA history to record a 30/10 double double. Nash also became the Suns all-time leader in assists with 6,522. Kevin Johnson had the old record with 6,518.
If you combine Nash’s 6522 assists with Phoenix and his 2889 career assists with the Dallas Mavericks from 1998-2004, Nash has a career total of 9441 assists. Nash is sixth all-time behind John Stockton of the Utah Jazz, Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Jackson of the New York Knicks, Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Oscar Robertson of the Cincinnati Royals.
Unfortunately though at 8-13 it is unlikely the Suns will make the postseason this year, meaning Nash will need to play elsewhere to have a chance at winning his first Championship.
Kerrzy’s Notebook: When Sports Go Viral
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
When it comes to sports and the internet, sometimes the only thing better than an amazing [insert sport here] highlight is a goofy video!
It’s not always pro athletes trying to be funny either – sometimes it’s a terrible blooper or an ugly fall, occasionally a team mascot might be involved and other times, a popular “trend” may pop up where you least expect it.
Take the act of “Tebowing,” for example.
Ever since quarterback Tim Tebow took over in Denver, “Tebowing” has become an incredibly popular thing to do. The Broncos pivot is deeply religious, you see, and he routinely takes a knee to throw up a prayer, unmoved by anything that is happening around him.
When I say it’s become a popular thing to do, I’m not kidding! The internet is now full of “Tebowers,” and that trend has even made it to semi-pro and pro hockey. My pal Adam Chorneyko threw down a “Tebow” after potting a goal for the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles back in November, and it happened again this week in the NHL:
I mentioned earlier that sometimes mascots get in on the action – check out this video featuring Rocky the Mountain Lion of the Denver Nuggets. (VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP!) (more…)
Bargnani has solid start to the Raptors season
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Andrea Bargnani (Wikimedia Commons)
It has been a respectable start to the season for the Toronto Raptors as they are currently at 3-3 and only half a game back of the first place Philadelphia 76ers in the Atlantic Division.
So far this week the Raptors have defeated the Raptors have defeated the New York Knicks 90-85 and the Cleveland Cavaliers 92-77 to get back to the .500 mark after a three game losing streak to Indiana, Dallas and Orlando.
Over the last two Raptors wins, it has been the play of Bargnani that has been at a very high level. Bargnani had 21 points in the Raptors win in New York and 31 points in their win over Cleveland.
But it has been Bargnani’s defensive commitment that needs to be praised. He was a +22 last night, and that should please head coach Dwane Casey, who was brought in from Dallas in the off-season to improve the Raptors play on their own end of the court.
In Dallas, Casey got to know Dirk Nowitzki really quite well, and if he can make Bargnani half the player that Nowitzki is, the Raptors will be in great shape.
In terms of defense, one player in the NBA that has become a defensive stud to start the season is Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic. So far Howard is leading the NBA with 16 rebounds a game, including back-to-back performances where he had 24 rebounds last week against New Jersey and Charlotte.
In other NBA news, there have been two significant injuries to start the season. Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs is out five weeks with hand surgery and Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies is out eight weeks with a torn knee ligament.
Also today, the Sacramento Kings have fired head coach Paul Westphal and replaced him with Keith Smart, who has previous head coaching experience in Cleveland and Golden State. Smart also has a Canadian connection, as he played for the Halifax Windjammers of the World Basketball League in 1991.
Christmas Sports Weekend–NHL, NFL, NBA & World Juniors
Saturday, December 24th, 2011
It may be the Christmas season, but it is a very big weekend on the world sport stage. On Boxing Day, the sports world will be focused on Alberta for the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship. The event is significant because it is the first time that Edmonton and Calgary, two bitter provincial rivals have joined forces to host a world class sporting event. Edmonton will host all of Team Canada’s round robin games, with Calgary hosting the medal round.
Team Canada’s first game is Monday at 1:30pm against Finland (TSN). Both teams have something in common. They both lost to Russia in the medal round at the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo. Finland lost 4-3 to Russia in the quarterfinals, while Canada lost 5-3 to Russia in the Gold medal game.
Paul traded to the Clippers
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Chris Paul (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
In one of the more bizarre events in the history of the National Basketball Association, point guard Chris Paul is going to Los Angeles after all–just not to the Lakers but the Clippers.
Paul went from the New Orleans Hornets to the Clippers for Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, Chris Kaman and a first round draft choice.
Paul was originally dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team deal involving the Houston Rockets. The trade however was blocked by the NBA, who controversially currently owns the Hornets. According to the Associated Press, NBA Commissioner David Stern told General Manager Dell Demps, the Hornets could do better than acquiring Lamar Odom, or better known as Mr. Khloe Kardashian. Odom, meanwhile, would be later dealt to the Dallas Mavericks.
Paul is the best player in the deal between the Clippers and Hornets. The four-time all-star point guard led the NBA with 2.4 steals per game in the regular season and 11.5 assists per game in the playoffs.
What is your take on Stern getting involved in the Hornets basketball operations? Should they have the right to own the Hornets when their original owner was cash-strapped and couldn’t find someone to buy the team?
In other NBA news, Richard Hamilton has signed a three year deal worth $15 million to join the Chicago Bulls. In three years with the Washington Wizards and nine years with the Detroit Pistons, Hamilton averaged 17.7 points per game.
NBA settles lockput dispute
Saturday, November 26th, 2011
It might have been black Friday in the United States yesterday, but for the NBA it is anything but black right now.
According to The Associated Press, the NBA and players have reached a tentative agreement to end the 149 day lockout and hope to begin play on Christmas Day.
The three games set for December 25 are Boston @ New York, Miami @ Dallas and Chicago @ the Los Angeles Lakers.
The NBA is also hoping for a 66 game schedule. Details of the agreement have not fully been released yet, but still need to be approved by 15 of 29 owners (league currently owns the Hornets) and the union which dissolved November 14.
My big question is, does anybody care? I think there is a strong population in Canada that actually do. I was talking to two nephews of mine in the summer, and to my amazement all they were talking about was basketball. Well, the season is not lost, and for many Canadian basketball fans, Christmas came a little early.
The Hoop & The Harm: NBA Lockout Looms
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
It looks like it’s going to be a long summer for NBA fans!
The collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players expires today, which will more than likely signify the beginning of the second big pro sports lockout in North America this year. The two sides are meeting for one last bargaining session today, but the word on the street is that they are still very far apart on a number of issues, and a work stoppage is almost inevitable at this point.
What are the issues? Just like in the NFL labor situation and the NHL one before it, the owners say the players are making too much money and are earning too big a share of overall league revenues. Other issues plaguing the NBA process are the owners desire for a “hard” salary cap to control spending and non-guaranteed contracts, which players are staunchly opposed to. So, despite any progress that was made in the past month or so, there is seemingly still a long way to go. (more…)
Loading ...
