Lakers not done...yet

Kobe and Howard, despite previous problems, have figured out
how to play together on the court and have won three straight.
 Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)

Kobe, Lakers build momentum before road trip

Jonathan Thompson

    Five days ago just about everyone, including many Laker fans, were ready to write the Lakers off. Sure, maybe they'll make the playoffs but no chance for a championship or even a chance at going deep in the playoffs.

     Now, after a team meeting and 3 victories, Los Angeles seems to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Is that light a championship? Not exactly. Three wins doesn't mean anything has changed necessarily. If you watch this team, however, it is a different type of basketball.

     Kobe Bryant, who personally I believe takes too many shots, deserves a lot of credit because he's forfeited shots for the team. He's passing more and really playing well with Howard, whom apparently have had some off the court issues.

     Bryant has had double-digit assists in all three wins. Kobe has 39 assists over the past three games which is the most he has ever had over a three game stretch.

     Head coach Mike D'Antoni also deserves tons of credit. He came to a Laker's team with old starters and not much of a bench. He's been willing to try just about everything to find something to work and maybe they've found what they need.

     Times get tougher for the Lakers, who after beating New Orleans, go on the road for seven games away from the Staples Center. Los Angeles doesn't have many losses to spare being five games under .500 at 20-25. It will be interesting to see if the Lakers can keep the momentum going on the road.

     The Lakers still face some questions concerning Howard, D'Antoni, and their future. And don't think this season is going to be a success just off of these three games. But for now, with Kobe playing defense and passing dimes, the Lakers seem to be headed in the right direction.

The Revis Roller Coaster

ADAM FENSTER/REUTERS

The future of New York Jet's corner back Darrelle Revis remains in question after some interesting statements. Revis, 27 years old, is facing trade rumors after his recent contract wants. Revis sat out all year with after sustaining an injury.   

Revis wants to stay in NY,

but maybe it's time the Jets split ways

Jonathan Thompson

          
     The Jets have been in many headlines the past year, and that continued this weekend with talk of their situation with star corner back Darrelle Revis. 

     New York, coming off a 6-10 season and missing the playoffs, are facing lots of off season questions. From the front office, to head coach Rex Ryan, to their quarterbacks, the Jets face many problems.

    Most recently is Revis, who just asked for a 100 million dollar contract extension, is now in headlines after newly acquired general manager John Idzik and Rex Ryan didn't seem too happy with their player's request. Idzik might possibly be looking to trade Revis who has one year left on his contract.

     Revis, after hearing what his  coach and general manager had to say, took to twitter tweeting, "I'm speechless by far but more importantly I feel more upset for the jet nation for having to go through this!!!" And also tweeting, "I guess we'll see how this plays out."

     Personally, I love Revis. He's a great player and by far the best corner back in the league, if not one of the best overall players in the league. That said, the Jets are doing the right thing in exploring options with Revis.

     New York has too many other needs. They have quarterbacks that wouldn't start on any NFL team right now and their offense was poor all season. Plus, if there was a bright spot with the Jets this year it would be their defense. They were second in the NFL in pass defense without Revis.

     Also, corner backs seem to be less important today. Teams are using slot receivers and tight ends much more. Look at New York's divisional rival the New England Patriots. It's Welker, Gronkowski, and Hernandez. Revis wouldn't cover any of these guys.

     Bottom line, Revis is a great corner back and a great player. It's amazing what he's done for the Jets, but New York needs to improve in lots of aspects of the game. In this day in the NFL, Revis is a luxury, not a necessity. Revis has said he wants to be the Derek Jeter for the Jets, but the Jets aren't the Yankees of the NFL. 

     
      

Do RGIII, Shanahan deserve criticism?

Al Bello/Getty Images

Lashedric Dailey
    
     Watching the close divisional playoff games, more and more I find myself thinking about last weekend’s Washington and Seattle game. The Washington redskins are under a lot of heat for the actions of Robert Griffin and Mike Shanahan.  My take on it: Can you really blame either of them?

     When you look at form a player’s point of view, what athlete ever wants to sit out of a game? Plus, this wasn’t just any ordinary game. This was a NFL playoff game, which the Redskins haven’t been to since 2007.

     Robert Griffin said it best. He was the team’s best option to win and he played until he couldn’t continue. Maybe he made the wrong choice by disobeying Dr. Andrews’s orders, but when a team trades up in the draft for a player like RGIII you expect this.

     And yes, Kirk Cousins is a good back up but he limits Washington’s offense. There are a lot of people attacking Mike Shanahan asking why he would let Griffen continue on a unstable knee.

     I for one don’t fault him at all. If a player tells you that he’s fine, why would play the backup instead of the starter? In postseason or even regular season, your job as a head coach is to put the best product on the field, which is what Shanahan did.

     This is the same coach that put Terrell Davis in the game during the Super Bowl when he was having migraines and couldn’t see. Nobody faulted Shanahan for one reason; they won.

     The statement that RGIII won’t ever be the same again is foolish to me with the advances in orthoscopic knee surgery. A player can come and be just as dominate, if not better. Look at Adrian Peterson. It’s been proven that players can come back and succeed.

     The bottom line is that players and coaches have to make tough decisions all the time and they will forever be scrutinized for them no matter the outcome.

NFL Divisional Playoff Preview

Arkansas starts conference play with tough road test

Guards BJ Young (11) and Ky Madden (00) look to get Arkansas off to a good

start at Texas A&M on Wednesday night in College Station. Photo by Gareth Patterson.

Hogs travel to College Station to start

Conference play versus new member of SEC

Jonathan Thompson

 

 

     The Arkansas Razorbacks (9-4) open conference play Wednesday night at College Station against one of the newest members to the SEC, the Texas A&M Aggies (10-3).

 

     This conference opener should be an interesting match up. The Hogs play an up-tempo game that Mike Anderson in his second year as coach has coined the phrase "The fastest 40 minutes in basketball." The Aggies on the other hand, play a slow, half-court type game.

 

     The Aggies come into the game scoring only 65 points a game. That's almost 20 less than Arkansas' 83. Defensively, the Aggies give up 59 points a game, while the Hogs give up more at 72 points per game.

 

     Stats are often very deceiving going into conference play. With a mixture of cupcakes and tough opponents, some team stats reflect the team more than other teams stats.

 

     One thing these stats do tell is that this game is between a very fast-paced team and a slow, methodical team.

 

     Whoever wants to come out on top will need to control the pace. Texas A&M will have home court advantage which could play a huge role in beating this Arkansas team. Arkansas has played only one road game and lost at Michigan, even though they played the Wolverines pretty well

 

     Arkansas will have a good shot at winning if they are able to hang around and keep it close going into the last five minutes. Texas A&M will want to have a decisive lead which might be difficult with the half-court style play they run.

 

     Either way, this game should be very interesting, and show a lot about both teams, which didn't make a whole lot of noise during their non-conference schedules.

Alabama rolls over Irish

 

Photographer: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Copyright Getty Images

Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix #6 of the Alabama Crimson Tide intercepts a pass intended for DaVaris Daniels #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the third quarter of the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game at Sun Life Stadium on January 7, 2013. The Crimson Tide won their third National Title in four years by a score of 42-14.

Crimson Tide capture dynasty,

third title in four years

Jonathan Thompson

 
     Alabama put on a show early and coasted to Nick Saban's fourth coaching National Title, third with the Crimson Tide, defeating the undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish 42-14.

    Leading up to the game Monday Night in South Beach, most thought the game would be very defensive. People knew Alabama's defense was solid year in year out, and Monti Te'o had gained the Irish defense some respect this season with his run at the Heisman.

     However, AJ McCarron decided it was time for the Alabama offense to show people the Crimson Tide aren't just a defensive team. McCarron himself added four touchdowns to his 26 in the season, along with 264 yards passing.

     Two Crimson Tide running backs had went over the century mark. MVP Eddie Lacy rushed 20 times for 140 yards and both a rushing and receiving touchdown. TJ Yeldon added another 108 rushing yards on 21 rushes and punched one of those in for a touchdown as well.

     Alabama clicked on all cylinders offensively attaining 28 first downs, 529 total offensive yards, and 6 touchdowns. The Crimson Tide didn't turn the ball over at all and had a time of possession of 38:13.

     Notre Dame found some holes in the Alabama defense in the second half passing for 270 yards. The Fighting Irish couldn't find any hoes running the ball rushing it 19 times for only 32 yards.

     Alabama won the game in the trenches and the Irish should be glad the game was as close as it was. Saban called the dogs off in the second half with a 28-0 lead.

     Alabama showed why the SEC is the best conference in college football after a rather mediocre showing in other bowl games this season. Alabama gave the SEC their seventh straight national title, and labeled this Crimson Tide team a dynasty in a very strong era of college football.

BCS National Title Preview

Trouble in New York

After having their playoff hopes crushed by Miami,

the Jets look forward, sit Sanchez

Jonathan Thompson

     The New York Jets watched their playoff chances slide away Monday in a 14-10 loss to Miami. The Jets (6-8) needed to win out to even have a shot of making the playoffs.
    
     New York faced lots of controversy this season after acquiring Tim Tebow in the off-season, but then not playing him much at the quarterback position.

     Now, with the season pretty much over for the Jets, Sanchez has been benched, but not for Tebow. Second-year quarterback from Alabama Greg McElroy will start his first NFL game when New York plays the San Diego Chargers this Sunday.

     This move brings lots of questions for Jet fans and Tim Tebow fans. Why even sign Tebow if the Jets aren't going to use him? Overall, I'd say yes, this was a bad acquisition by the Jets. Rex Ryan had his quarterback in Mark Sanchez, and in Ryan's defense, Sanchez probably was the better quarterback.

      So why not start Tebow now? There are three main things to take into consideration when thinking about this.

      First, the season is over. For the first time in five years, week-16 doesn't matter for the Jets, and not in the good, let's rest our players because we're in, type of matter. They're out. They are 6-8 and their record reflects their team this year.

      Next, Sanchez has proven he's not a quarterback capable of leading the Jets to where they want to go. His turnovers are too costly and he's not consistently good enough to be a top-caliber quarterback in the NFL. It's time for the Jets and Sanchez to part ways and that's probably what will happen.
 
      Finally, with Sanchez most likely out of the picture, the Jets face the decision of who to replace him. This is easy, right? Tebow's a winner and you signed this guy for a reason. Wrong. Tebow isn't a franchise quarterback. He's a guy you have to plan your whole offense around and if he's injured, consider your season over. That's why Denver didn't want him, and that's why the Jets have already given the reigns to McElroy.

     It will be seen if the Jets made the right choice in McElroy, but Tebow just isn't the guy for the job. He's a great competitor and he is a winner, but the Jets need more than that.

     That being said, don't expect McElroy to light it up Sunday, or the week after that. It's going to be  a process. The Jets are a long way away from being elite, but they just might be moving in the right direction.