My Take: Break the Addiction

This is my response to "Josh Howard Lies Less Than Other Pot Smokers" on ESPN.com by Henry Abbott
These drugs are illegal. It does not matter if "everyone else is doing it" in the NBA .However, in reality, every body's not doing it. Athletes that do drugs(and drink alcohol) are bad examples for younger athletes in high school and college who are pressured by smoking everyday. They say no to it because it will effect there grades, quicks, memory, heart, lungs, and there own credibility to themselves. Others fall into it because they don't want to feel like a looser, a square, or outcast.But in reality the ones who say no, quit using it, or never put themselves in a position to use it are the true succers. Howard's statement imply that he believes that it is perfectly fine, but it is not. Howard makes smoking a every day, OK thing, but it is not. We know that most NBA athletes grew up around drugs. Falling into that life style of drinking alcohol and abusing drugs puts a person into a category of weak minded, selfish, insecure, and depressed about something that that person did not get over in there life. Having those drugs even in the same room that you are in can get you behind bars. But some looked at athletes as the ones who overcame street life and forsook all that they thought they loved. I just hope and pray that Howard changes his mind about drugs before it is too late. I don't want to judge him, but I do hope that he and others can come out of there drug addiction to be example for kids in the streets, in the city, and in the field. In closing, the love for the game will cause you to let that kind of life go. By the way, not every body's doing it.




So ask yourself, "How do I break the addiction?" Well there's only one answer, JESUS. Ask Jesus to save you and change you today because tomorrow's not promised! Turn your life to CHRIST today! Watch HIM work(cleanse you) and fight your battles so you don't have to!

Georgia Underdogs

Georgia had tremendous heart going into today's game against Xavier. The underdogs got out to an early lead with Gaines and Woodbury. Soon, Xavier began battling cutting the lead to two. Surged, Woodbury hit a floater in the after 3 straight misses by the Underdogs. Hard defense by both teams makes it hard for anyone to score. Bliss got into foul trouble early with 2 foul midway through the 1st half. Gaines leads his team giving the a 7 point lead. At the break Georgia leads 36-26.
The 2ND half started out with a Georgia bucket by Bliss. The Underdogs showed great confidence and that the SEC is still a tough conference. The Under Dogs were having fun and relaxed. A steal by Lavender gives Xavier a serge. Still Georgia finds a way to score. Gaines ,playing like a pro, gets yet another steal and dunks on the other end. Now forced to call a time out 41- 30.Woodbury played like a pro with stop an pops when his team needed them. # 31 answers with the three. High intensity and sloppy play keeps the game close with a 10 point lead for Georgia. Xavier cuts it to 6 with aggression by Duncan. Fouls hurt Georgia . Humphrey picked up two in 10 seconds. Wow, turnovers and sloppy play allowed Xavier to come back. Rebounds and steals by Gaines keep hoop alive for Georgia. Stop and pop for three by Humphry. On defense, Georgia uses a 1-3-1. This zone defense is very effective for the underdogs. Turnovers hurt Georgia late. Woodbury tries to carry some of the load from Gaines. Gaines gets two the hard way but no foul. Still carrying the team, Gaines picks up #4. Gaines and Bliss use the pick and roll to keep the game close. The game starts to slip away under th minuete mark.

Clemson vs. Duke :Tigers roars, Blue Devils defeated

Going into the game on Sat. Match 15,2008, Duke seemed to be the favorites over Clemson. Clemsen's last win over Duke was in 1997. Some say that this was Clemson's best team in years.

Liberty Tech: One Month Later

The Liberty Tech Crusaders and Lady Crusaders made an early exit in the first round of the region tournament on Feb.22 and Feb. 23. The Lady Crusaders took on Jasmine James and Bartlett on Friday. Jasmine James is arguably one of the best guards in Tennessee. The Lady Crusaders stayed with Bartlett and quickly realized teamwork and hard defense can over play a one woman show. Unseemly in the end Bartlett pulled away and sent the Liberty Lady Crusaders home. The next day, the Liberty Crusaders went off against Millington. This time the Crusaders were the favorites to win. The game was close upon exiting the first half. The Crusaders ,at the beginning of the second half, began doing what they did all year, the pulled away to a 10 point lead. Close to the end, Millington began fighting back with Steve Kerr,who finished with 19 points, on the attack. To accommodate the sharp shooter, Millington began pressuring. The press left a 3-point bucket open ever time down the floor and it seemed that almost ever time the Crusaders missed it. To Liberty Tech's displeasure, Tarius Johnson and Marlin Dotson both fouled out in the last minutes of the 4Th quarter. Johnson and Dotson are two key rebouders and scorers.The Trojans continued to pressure and rebound after a chronic 3-point miss by Liberty. Upon entering the game, many fans were displeased with decision to put the 6'8 center in after Dotson fouled out. However, to their surprise, Kirby Tritt drew an charge, offensive foul, at the late stages of the game. The play for Liberty was a missed 3-pointer by C.Williams, a missed 3 by C. Holt, rebound by Kirby Tritt, and a missed 3 by R. Williams. All of this in the last 20 seconds.+
Liberty Tech Crusaders
Today, the Crusaders must find ways to improve. This year the Crusaders will loose Charles Holt(SG),(Cordarius)Jay Greer(SG), and Kirby Tritt(C). This will leave it up to Ricky Williams(PG), (Tarius) TJ Johnson(SF/SG), and Cordaro (Cord) Williams(PG/SG) to assume role as the team leaders. Kendall Anthony(PG) did not see much of the court in his last game on Feb. 23 vs. Millington, but he will have to play a large amount of minutes for Liberty next season. Jauwon Cain(SG), Joevontae Arnold(SF/SG), and Ricky Parks(F) must step up as scorers and as defenders. Chris Johnson must improve his scoring in order to assume a position as a one of three senior leaders.

PBL: What's Happening Now?

In recent years, their have been many leagues such as WBA, UBL, NPBL, IBL, and ABA have arose in the Basketball world of America. None of these leagues even come close to the popularity and achievement of the NBA. Not the CBA, ABA, or th D-League. But perhaps the most recent to be announced is the Premier Basketball League or the PBL. Their are currently 10 team in the PBL. Their are open tryout for some teams like The Dallas Defenders (so anyone can show up in hopes to becoming the next big star). Just recently, Kenny Smith was named the commissioner of the PBL. Kenny Smith is not only an NBA legend but he also work along side Charles Barkley as an NBA analyst on TNT. Most PBL players have come from NCAA Division 1 schools.

Liberty Basketball:Winter Break Begins

The first part of the school year is over for Liberty the final exams were finished. The first half of the Basketball season is almost complete. On Thursday, Liberty Tech Boys played vs. Manassas in the Larry Finch Tournament to end in a disturbing loss. Tarius Johnson b.k.a. T.J. led the way fighting and never quitting in spite the fact that Liberty was down big. The following day Murray State's Jewuan Long and other former Liberty Tech Basketball players visited the practice. The Crusaders needed to come together for their games in the rest of the Larry Finch Tournament in Memphis (Dec. 20& 22) and the Poplar Bluff Showdown in Poplar Bluff Mo. (Dec 27-29).

Tennessee Liberty Technology Magnet High School's Amazing win over Bolivar

The defending Tennessee state champions were not 100% going into last night's game. Last night (12/7) Liberty Tech's Kirby Tritt, a 6'8 center, and star point guard Ricky Williams were both sidelined with injuries. But the Crusaders could still look up with senior shooting guard # 23 Charles Holt and #34 Sophomore Tarius Johnson. Liberty @ Bolivar started out strong for Liberty with Cordaro Williams taking the place of Ricky Williams. Charles Holt got into the foul trouble early and the leader was benched. #40 Cordarius Greer hit big three's while Holt was out in the first half. Only a sophomore, Cordaro Williams was able to hit big shots. But turnovers and rookie plays by the sophomore got him a seat on the bench. Bolivar’s quick guards were able to get into the lane and hit 3's as well. The Crusaders were down 3 at the half and were looking for a come back. Freshmen point guard, #3 Kendall Anthony, was put into the game after Williams began forcing the action. Anthony sparked the Crusaders with smart plays and solid defense. In doing so, he added 7 points. The Crusaders missed Holt's ability to score as he sat with foul trouble. Tarius Johnson was not getting calls but found was to get to the line and score. Johnson had 14 points. The second half ended in the favor of Bolivar. Soon Bolivar’s perimeter was able to get shots in the paint and in the mid-range area. They began to again separate from Liberty. Their guard play began to show the soft spots in the Crusader defense. At the end of 3, Bolivar was up by nine. In the fourth quarter the Crusaders played with new life. They began charging back in the. Bolivar however still worked and kept the game close In the Fourth the battle for the win was left up to who was going to make the big plays. In the late stages of the game Bolivar made big shots to keep them in the game. And the defending champs were the defending champs. Anthony made a huge shot late in the game that brought them within one. Liberty got a stop on the other end and were up 66-64.Bolivar was fouled and was put on the line. They made both free throws and tied the game 66-66. The last possession had questionable calls. 7.8 seconds Liberty called timeout. After about 3 timeouts in a row by Bolivar, Liberty in bounded the ball. Charles Holt got the ball in the corner. A scramble in the corner led to a questionable call by the ref with 1.3 seconds on the clock. The call was jump ball. The possession arrow stayed with Liberty. The Crusaders in bounded the ball to Holt. Holt went up for a three to beat the buzzer. Liberty beat Bolivar 69-66 in regulation. Everyone cheered as the ball left Holt's hand and swiftly moved through the hoop. This was a tough win for the Liberty Technology Magnet High School Crusader Basketball team. This game showed that they are tough as well.

Arizona Wildcat Basketball Arizona v. Illnois.

Arizona Wildcats can be said to be a team with adversary. From losing crucial games against unranked-put solid Virginia and ranked Kansas. But inspite of the adversary, Arizona sees the light through it all. Jerryd Bayless, only a freshmen, is the unprecedented leader of this Arizona team. Bayless surges his team with his energy and defence. He has a cunning eye to score. In Arizona vs. Illinois game at the United Center, Arizona did what they had done all season. In the first half of the game, Illinois completely shutdown Jerryd Bayless. He had no points in the first 19:30 of the game. In the first half Arizona shot 36% from the field and 20% from the 3 point line. The Baylessness scored about 18 PPG in the previous game. Shaun Pruit had his way in the paint first off. Jordan Hill kept Arizona close to striking distance. Hill hit huge shots and made defensive plays to keep his team in the game.Brock and Frazier made amazing plays to add to the Illini lead. Mike Tisdale made three that made Illinois pull away in the first half. Suprisingly, Arizona found an answer. With 23 seconds left on the clock, Jerryd Bayless hit a big three to accomidate a run by the Wildcats.
In the second half, Arizona seemed yet again surged by Jerryd Bayless's energy. Nic Wise made tremindous plays to help with the come back. Wise improved his game tremindously for Arizona. Jordan Hill had 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead his team. Trenton Mechom and Brock looking for the win made three for the Illini. Chase Budinger also added 8 point and 3 assists. But the hero was unquestionably Jerryd Bayless. Bayless had 17 point in the second half including OT. The last play after a Jordan Hill put back to tie the game, the Illini brought the ball down and Frazier attemped a shot with seconds left Nic Wise block the shot attemp and thus the end o regulation to overtime.
In OT, Budinger scored a 2 pointer at 4:41. Arizona found a way to stop Pruit and the Illini guard play. In the end, it was Jerryd Bayless all day. The play of the game was Jerryd Bayless driving and rising up for a monster slam. Later, Bayless made major free throws for the Arizona win. Jerryd Bayless's game is pretty yet powerful. He is the leader of the team on the court.
Later, Bayless talks about all-star coach Lute Olson. "Coach Olson is a great coach," said Bayless "We're going to give him his privacy, and we're going to wish him the best of whatever is going on. We just have to move on without him." A mature move by the Freshmen point guard striving to bring his game back to amazing play.

Texas Longhorns Doin' Just Fine

Today the number 8 Texas Longhorns squared off against Kevin Love the number 2 ranked UCLA Bruins. Many thought with the loss of stud guard-forward Kevin Durant that Texas would lose its ability to win as well. But the Texas Longhorns are doin' just fine. They are getting along very well without Kevin Durant in their offense. They are stronger. Perhaps the difference maker is D.J. Augustine who posted 19 points in tonight's game. He improved his scoring as well as his "point guard vision" over the summer.
The game started out with UCLA on top and soon Texas gained the lead. At the half, Texas led by 12 points. The superior guard play of Texas got them up early. Mason was Mr. Hot Shot in the first half, but D.J Augustin was The Second Coming of Steve Nash throughout the entire game. In the second half, got UCLA back into the game. Damion James hit needed shot for Texas. Atchley also contributed to the Longhorn victory.They led at points during the game. D.J. Augustin had the most amazing night finishing in the lane, creating for his team as well as himself ,and also keeping poise in end-game situations. The game winner for Texas was sparked by the aggressiveness of D.J Augustin. He drove in and threw up a shot(or was it a pass) and Damion James, Augustin's other partner in rhyme followed it to be up by two. The Bruins went to the other end and got an open three point look, but missed. This is no doubt the biggest game all season so far for Texas.

Ridgeway Classic in Memphis, Tennessee Part 2

The second day of the Ridgeway Classic feature girls' and boys' basketball from Memphis as well as in Jackson. These included Memphis Ovarton, Liberty Technology Magnet High School(girls), Ridgeway, Jackson Southside, and more.
Yesterday featured sightings of the Memphis Tigers basketball team. They could be described as incognito or in slight disguise. The team watched both girls and guys play. Players like Joey Dorsey and Derek Rose signed autographs for Liberty Tech's Girl's basketball players.

Ridgeway Classic in Memphis, Tennessee

The Ridgeway Classic was a star studded event full of the best High School Basketball teams in west Tennessee. The Classic was tipped off by the girls. The Rigdeway game was cancelled by forefoot. So the Liberty Girls squared off against the Memphis Ovarton Girls. Later, Melrose and Jackson Southside battled. Tigers Head basketball coach was seen there. Willie Kemp, Derek Rose and others were seen also. The Ridgeway Classic in Memphis, Tennessee is most likely a highly anticipate event for High School Basketball.

Maui Madness 2007 James v. Paulus

(photos from Espn.comAP Photo/Michael Conroy)
This year's Maui Invitational was full of spectacular play as well as play not so spectacular. The two finalist, Duke and Marquette, were by far and obviously the best teams in the invitational. The EA Sports Maui Invitational Championship game was a whirlwind to say the least. Two of College basketball's most improved point guards squared off. Dominic James's game has improved. However, during the game, he made some questionable shots and missed easy looks. In Dominic James's credit, he made plays that were so spectacular that awed the Duke Defense. He slashed through the Duke defense breaking it down for easy lay ins and offensive put backs. In the end he posted 12 points. Unfortuanetly for Marquette, the ability of the Duke Blue Devils to take charges and to draw fouls aloud them to get Marquette into foul trouble. Inspite of this, the Marquette defense still went strong with intensity. Cubillan's forcefulness on the ball and much needed 3's kept Marquette in the game. Acker, also a spark of the bench, made much needed plays. Marquette's Matthews and McNeal also contributed as well with McNeal putting up 11 and Matthews chiped in 12. Hayward, the sophomore power foward, came up big with 14 points.The Dukeys also had their share of highlights. Duke constant ability to execute and score on almost every possession it seems was one of the deciding factors for the game. Although Marquette's defense held Duke's Henderson to only 7 points, Duke charged on. The projected MVP of the tournament Kyle Singler gave his team a much needed 25 points. A series offhand screen-dribble-hand off freed Paulus only for a split second but was just enough time for him to put up daggering 3's that helped keep the game in further grasp from Marquette. One of the deciding facors was the rebounding. Duke out rebounded Marquette 34-24. In the end, Marquette's Big three and bench could not overcome Duke and fell 77-73.

"Fresh" Legs Getting "All-Star" Recognition

Everyone knows that the new College Basketball freshmen class is loaded with big talent. Most of the freshmen would already be in the NBA now if it wasn't for the ruling. This Freshmen class features guards like Eric Gordon of Indiana, Derrick Rose of Memphis, O.J Mayo of USC, and Jerryd Bayless of Arizona. All of these guards have had their stardom in their respected High Schools. But does that mean that these collegiate student athletes should be decked with their own websites before even playing a regular season College Basketball game. Now don't get me wrong. The class of 2007 has its studs, but we are still talking about strictly guarded and merchandised NCAA student-athletes. These athletes are being adored and they haven't even turned 19 yet. What is up with that? But seriously folks,I "ain't mad 'em". They are making all the right moves a good businessmen would make. Basically they are preparing themselves for the future.

It's Beginning to look alot like Basketball Season

The season is changing, High school football is reaching its final weeks, there are a lot less high school ballers on the streets.All of this can mean only one thing, basketball seasons are starting all across America. From the NBA, to the NCAA, to the NIAI, and to high school basketball, all across the nation basketball is starting to uproar once again. In the NCAA, there are some new legs that are sure to make a good impression in College Basketball. These players like Jerryd Bayless of Arizona, Kevin Love of UCLA, and Derrick Rose of Memphis. But College Basketball is not the only basketball with Rookie Phenoms.

Back to School Again?

This is the start of something new . Today I would like to congratulate the NBA prospects that decided

to go back to school. Those were some sweet choices. But the biggest story for the number one person who needs to come back to college basketball is Dominic James. Dominic James was named freshman of the year and rookie of the year in the 2005-06 season. With his spectacular athleticism and spunk , in mock NBA drafts, he was rank 15 -20.

Unfortunately, Dominic James could not keep that up for the 2006-07 season. He started out with a bang , but soon turned for the worst. From being booed by MU students to disturbing leg cramps. This has been a trying year for James. He went to draft camps in hopes to becoming the next best PG, but James had trouble getting invited to draft camps. Even in all of that James still has basketball dreams fueled by the successes of other athletes and his ambitions of greatness.
"Dominic James, I am begging you. If you have not already, go back to college. You are way too talented to be taking this abuse. James, McNeal, and Matthews can be the big three for college basketball. Then, after your Senior year go to the draft. You will be 110% better, trust me.You are a great player just get your head on straight and practice hard don't be arrogant, as some have called you, but walk with humility .Don't take this as a set back, but take this as a learning experience and practice for the next season and the next time you enter the draft. The road to success takes a lot of off season practice and hard work. Your work ethic must improve if you want to play on the next level. It is going to take studying Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, T.J. Ford, and even New Jersey's Marcus Williams. When people talk about Tiny Archibald or Earl the Pearl Monroe listen up and take notes. You must get mentally tough and make up in your mind that you are going to score when its needed. Don't just watch an NBA game, study it. Look at the spacing and the way good point guards breakdown defenses. Also look for new ways to get your shot off. You know what you have to work on so work on it so that I can see you in the NBA one day and say 'he's a hard worker' . Don't ever slack off in practice. Hustle on every level is rewarded and can compensate for your weaknesses. I am looking forward to seeing you in the MU gold and blue! Remember what one former MU player turn Finals MVP says, 'hard work pays off.' Get connected with JESUS. Accept HIM a just see where HE will take you. Dedicate your life to HIM today . Let HIM cleanse you from everything you have done wrong. I did and I will never be the same! 'For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4.'For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON that whosoever believeth in HIM should no perish but have everlasting life ! 'John 3:16 " says one anonymous fan of Dominic James.After listening to Stu Jackson, his decision may be to go back to school again.