The big two win again in the NBA
November 24, 2008
As each day passes in the 2008-09 NBA season it is looking more likely that the LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics will again fight it out for the NBA championship. Both teams have the best record in their conference.
On Sunday night the Celtics (13-2) were in action against Toronto (6-7) on the Raptors home court. The Boston team took control early as they opened with a 32-20 first quarter. At one stage the current NBA champions were ahead 21-6.
The Raptors got the margin down to 10 going into the halftime break but then Boston again outscored their opponents by 12 points in the third quarter. The score going into the fourth quarter was 95-73.
Ray Allen scored 21 points as Boston completed a start to finish 118-103 victory, this made it five wins straight. Allen’s backcourt partner Rajon Rondo also made a good contribution, and along with Keven Garnett scored 15 points. Chris Bosh scored 24 for Toronto.
The LA Lakers played the Sacramento Kings in LA. The Lakers lead early only to see the Kings take the lead in the second quarter. The Lakers then had to do some work to shake off the Kings. It was mid-way through the third quarter that the Lakers pulled away before recording a 118-108 win.
It is getting boring, but Kobe Bryant top scored for the Lakers with 24, Pau Gasol provided good backup with 16 points. For Sacramento it was John Salmons that matched Kobe’s 24 points. The Lakers were sloppy and committed 18 turnovers but still got the win.
In other games Detroit were beaten by the Timberwolves in Detroit. The Timberwolves were way too good for the Piston and ran out 106-80 winners. Randy Foye starred for Minnesota with 23 points and a career high 14 assists. Foye had been told by his coach to be more aggressive and with this at the back of his mind he delivered for the Timberwolves.
Allen Iverson by his own admission had a stinker of a game, he shot just 3-11 and scored 9 points. Tayshun Prince was best for Detroit with 20 points. Since Iverson has joined the Pistons they have been hot and cold. The highlights have been the victories over LA in Los Angeles and the Cavaliers.
The 76ers were lead by Elton Brand as he scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help his team to a 89-81 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
The Denver Nuggets have outscored the Chicago Bulls 31-16 to charge away from the Bulls in the final quarter. The Bulls after starting slow came back to lead the match 99-96 with 5:17 to play. From there the Nuggets came alive with a 13-0 run, thanks to 10 points in the last five minutes from Kenyon Martin. He shot an amazing 10-10 from the field including one 3-pointer on the way to 26 points.
Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said the Bulls’ fourth quarter collapse was simply due to an offense that got out of sync, something that can happen with a young squad. For the Bulls it was Ben Gordon who starred as he scored 28 points, hitting 5-of-7 3-pointers.
Liverpool fails to take opportunity after Chelsea held to draw
November 24, 2008
Liverpool and Chelsea have been going step for step in the 2008-09 English Premier League. They are both sitting at the top of the table on 33 points as they both collected a point from their weekend matches. They are eight points clear of third placed Manchester United who have a game in hand.
Chelsea hosted Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge and would have expected to take full points from that match. A stubborn Newcastle held the league leaders Chelsea scoreless to end the day with a 0-0 score.
Liverpool was also playing at home and faced Fulham. Australian goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer as he had done for Australia in his countries world cup qualifier earlier in the week, made several good saves to earn his team a point. Liverpool were playing without Steven Gerrard who was out with a torn groin muscle.
“It was a bad day, we did not have enough energy and we did not pass the ball well enough. And then when we got back into the dressing room we discovered Chelsea had drawn and Arsenal had lost. Those results would have been good for us had we won this one, said the Liverpool manager after the match.
Arsenal were thumped by Manchester City 3-0 at Eastlands. It is the fifth loss of the season for Arsene Wenger’s team. They have now slipped down to fifth spot on the EPL ladder. Aston Villa are a point ahead of Arsenal in fourth spot with 24 points.
Manchester United were also not able to take advantage of the 0-0 draws that both Liverpool and Chelsea got out of the weekend. Man Utd also drew 0-0 with Aston Villa.
Arsenal face Chelsea next weekend and will find themselves losing touch with the top two if they lose again.
Spain denies Argentina in Davis Cup final
November 24, 2008
The Spanish Davis Cup team were facing a tough task when they travelled to Argentina to take on the home country in the final of the tennis team competition. They were playing a team that had put together a 13 home tie unbeaten record, and they were without the nations top player and world no. 1 Rafael Nadal who sat out the tie with a knee injury.
Against the odds the Spanish have claimed their third Davis Cup title and the first on overseas soil. The win came after Fernando Verdasco defeated Jose Acasuso in a five set thriller. The final score was 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
“This is the most beautiful day of my life,” said Verdasco after he emerged from the celebrations on-court.
For the Argentines it is a huge dissapointment to lose the Cup on home soil, especially after David Nalbandian defeated David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the opening match. From there it all went wrong.
Feliciano Lopez got the Spaniards their first win when he defeated Juan Del Potro, 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 6-3. The Spanish pairing of Lopez and Fernando Verdasco then won the key doubles match 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5), 6-3 to edge Spain ahead. The is was left to Verdasco to claim Davis Cup glory.
The win caps off a good year for Spain as they saw Rafa Nadal go to the no. 1 ranking in tennis and now they have won the Davis Cup.
Craig Foster blasts current Socceroos
November 23, 2008
SBS football analyst got stuck into the current Socceroo team on SBS television today. He said they are nothing like the team was two years ago and he was also a bit annoyed with the comments from Socceroo star Tim Cahill in relation to past Socceroo teams.
Foster said Cahill stated that past Socceroo teams would not have been able to grind out a win as the Socceroos did in their recent World Cup qualifying match. Foster said Cahill should not comment on past Socceroo performances.
Do you agree with Tim Cahill or is Craig Foster right?
New Zealand stuns Aussies to take the Rugby League World Cup
November 22, 2008
New Zealand has won their first ever Rugby League World Cup following a stunning 34-20 victory over Australia in Brisbane.
The win for the Kiwis was the first time since 1972 that someone other than Australia has won the Cup. Great Britain were successful in 1972.
The match saw a penalty try awarded to New Zealand just when Australia got back to within two points of New Zealand. With the score at 22-20 to New Zealand Australia’s winger Joel Monaghan was ruled to have taken out New Zealand’s Lance Hohaia. Billy Slater was close enough for some to think that there was doubt if Hohaia would have beaten Slater to the ball.
Slater had played well in the first half and setup tries for Darren Lockyer and David Williams. With just under 20 minutes remaining he had a brain snap when he decided to flick the ball inside when trying to prevent it going over the sideline. He then watched on helplessly as Benji Marshall grabbed the ball and dived over to give his team a 22-16 lead.
Adam Blair put the icing on the New Zealand cake when he scored a try four minutes from the end of the match. He collected the ball after a kick by New Zealand was knocked down before being kicked along the ground two more times before coming clear for Blair to take it from the ground with one hand to stroll over untouched.
Game over and New Zealand had a few minutes left to play before the partying began. As fulltime came Australia’s players were stunned. They had let the match slip away and with it the top ranking in Rugby League.
A truly memorable victory for the Kiwis.
Socceroos steal points in Bahrain
November 20, 2008
In the latest round of Asian zone World Cup qualifying Australia has left it until the fourth minute of stoppage time to score the winning goal against Bahrain.
In a team that contained Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Josh Kennedy it looked as though the Socceroos would have to go away from there trip to the middle east with just one point. Thanks to Marco Bresciano the Socceroos now go away with full points and maintain their lead at the top of Group 1.
The goal came after Breschiano took advantage of a mistake from Bahrain captain Mohamed Husain. Bahrain had themselves not taken advantage of chances they had to score and paid the penalty with the late goal snatching the points for Australia.
In the other Group 1 match Japan travelled to Qatar and came away 3-0 winners. Japan are on 7 points in Group 1 and trail top of the group Australia by two points. Australia and Japan face each other when Japan hosts the Socceroos on 11 February 2009.
In Group 2 the United Arab Emirates and Iran had a 1-1 draw while the Korea Republic scored a 2-0 away win against Saudi Arabia. The Koreans are now on top of group 2 with seven points from three matches, followed by Iran on five.
The top two teams from both five team groups will earn a spot in the World Cup finals in South Africa. The two third placed teams will have a playoff for the right to take on New Zealand in an interconfederation play-off for the the last spot available.
Djokovic wins Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai
November 17, 2008
Novak Djokovic was on top of his game as he took on Nikolay Davydenko in the final of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. Both players were taking part in their first final in this lucrative event.
The world no. 3 and reigning Australian Open champ blitzed the Russian in the opening set to take it 6-1. Davydenko looked nervous early in the match and Djokovic took advantage to easily claim the first set. He looked headed for an easy victory with two match points at 3-5 on Davydenko’s serve however his opponent found some form and won seven of the next eight points to make Djokovic work for his win.
Djokovic regrouped and took the set 7-5 to wrap up a 6-1, 7-5 victory. After the match he said “It was special because I’ve played in the second part of the season in a couple of finals, and I didn’t manage to win the title for a long time, since Rome,” said Djokovic. “That’s probably the reason why I couldn’t close it out in 5-4. I was a bit nervous. It’s not easy, you know. There is a lot of pressure involved. I’m happy that I managed to hold my nerves in the end.”
This tournament brings to an end the tournament play on the ATP tour. The only tennis to be played this year is the Davis Cup final where Argentina hosts Spain.
New Zealand first into RL World Cup final
November 16, 2008
New Zealand has grabbed a spot in the RLWC final after an exciting 32-22 win over England. The result was in doubt right up until the final minute of the match when Benji Marshall crossed out wide.
New Zealand looked to be in control for most of the match, thanks in part to the errors the English team were making, but the English were in with a chance to at least level the scores right up until the Marshall try.
New Zealand jumped to a 16-0 lead but England came back to go in to the sheds at halftime down just 16-10.
The early tries scored by New Zealand came as a result of good ball movement with the use of some decoy runners to completely fool the English defence. Sam Perret was first to score in the ninth minute. A short time later Lance Hohaia went over. In the 22nd minute Jerome Ropati went over for New Zealand and it was looking like a thrashing was on the cards.
Somehow England came back with two tries before halftime. Captain Jamie Peacock forced his way over to open the English scoring. Englands luck seemed to have changed when just before halftime Danny McGuire scored after chasing down a grubber kickfrom lock Rob Purdham.
In the second half New Zealand kept edging away only to see England hit back. Bronson Harrison scored for New Zealand and then England followed up through Martin Gleeson. The conversion made it 22-16 to New Zealand.
Ropati scored and McGuire matched it for England. It was 28-22 with six minutes left. The Ropati try had come after two fumbles from the English after a New Zealand kick. It really should have been cleaned up before Ropati got his hands on the ball.
Also with Marshall’s try England had their chance. They almost got an intercept but let it slip through their hands and New Zealand were into the final.
If Australia defeats Fiji as expected in Sunday’s semi New Zealand are going to improve on this match to have any chance at defeating the Aussie’s in the final.
Chelsea continues to lead the way, Arsenal stumbles in EPL
November 16, 2008
Chelsea has maintained top spot on the English Premier League table following a convincing 3-0 win against bottom team West Bromwich Albion. Nicolas Anelka continued his hot goal scoring form netting two goals. He has now scored eight in his last four matches and has 12 for the season.
Chelsea also equalled a long standing record for the most successive away wins which stands at 10. The record is now jointly shared with Tottenham Hotspur’s team from 48 years ago.
Liverpool stayed level on points with Chelsea following a 2-0 over Bolton Wanderers. Liverpool were in control for most of the match and took the lead in the 29th minute through a Dirk Kuyt header. The Wanderers were denied a goal just before the break after the ref said Liverpool’s keeper was fouled.
Steven Gerrard secured the points with another headed goal on 73 minutes. The cross was supplied by Fernando Torres who was sent on as a substitute.
Arsenal has given up further ground to the top three teams after going down 0-2 to Aston Villa. Manchester United took advantage of Arsenal’s loss by jumping into third spot on the ladder with their 5-0 thumping of Stoke City.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and single goals to Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck set up the scoreline. Welbeck was making his debut for Man United.
In other EPL matches West Ham United drew with Portsmouth 0-0. Newcastle and Wigan also drew but there were four goals in the match. Sunderland defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-1and Fulham defeated Tottenham 2-1.
Two games are to be played on Sunday. Everton take on Middlesbrough and Hull City face Manchester City.
Davydenko too good for Murray at Masters Cup
November 16, 2008
Andy Murray went into the Masters Cup semifinal against Nikolay Davydenko with an undefeated record from the group play. Amongst his wins he had claimed the scalp of Roger Federer to deny him a semifinal spot.
In the semi Davydenko overcame Murray 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the final. The head-to-head record showed that both players had won 3 times before this meeting. The two meetings this year were split. Perhaps Murray may have been wiser to take it easy in his match against Federer and save himself for the semi.
Davydenko will now meet Novak Djokovic in the final. The pair met earlier in the week in the Gold Group. On that occasion Djokovic took the win 7-6(3), 0-6, 7-5. The players have only met one other time in their careers which is surprising. The previous meeting was in the first round Davis Cup tie in 2008. In that match Djokovic withdrew after feeling dizzy.
The final will see Davydenko have the slight edge as his semi was an easier match and he should feel slightly fresher. I am still picking Djokovic to win but it could go either way.
