Doron Lamb Drops 29 in Oregon
Doron Lamb dropped 29 points, 6 rebounds
Doron Lamb dropped 29 points, 6 rebounds
The Rockets have agreed to trade injury-plagued star Tracy McGrady, according to the Houston Chronicle.
McGrady has been granted an indefinite leave of absence from the team while a deal is struck.
McGrady’s expiring contract is worth $23 million, a hot commodity considering the free agent Class of 2010.
Expect Knicks president Donnie Walsh to reach out to Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey to see if a deal can be worked out. Despite a 1-9 start, the Knicks are on the periphery of the Eastern Conference playoff race and a player like McGrady could help vault them into the postseason.
As Alan Hahn of Newsday points out, Larry Hughes’ contract is worth $13 million and Al Harrington’s is $10 million, but the Knicks may have to throw in something
Dexter Strickland had a breakout performance against a team from his home state.
The former Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick star scored a career-high 18 points Monday to lead No. 9 North Carolina to an 81-67 victory over Rutgers at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Rutgers (9-3) closed within four points with about 2 minutes left, but Strickland hit a 3-pointer with 1:54 left that pushed the lead to 74-67.
“I mean, down four points with two minutes to go, we really gave ourselves a chance,” Rutgers head coach Fred Hill said. “But we made a mistake on the defensive end there. We didn’t pick up Dexter Strickland in transition, we made him hesitate, but he still got an open look. But you have to give him credit, he knocked down a big shot.”
After his 22-point, 17-rebound, 7-assist performance in West Virginia’s 90-84 OT victory over Seton Hall Saturday, Devin Ebanks was named the Big East Player of the Week.
The 6-foot-8, 205-pound Ebanks, who sat out the first three games of the season because of “personal” reasons, averaged 18 points and 15 boards in wins over Mississippi and Seton Hall for the unbeaten Mountaineers.
“I told him the other day he had 14 points and 13 rebounds. If he had thrown the ball out of bounds three more times he would have had a triple double. I’ve been on him about taking care of the ball and he did that [against Seton Hall],” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said, according to Jerry Carino of Gannett New Jersey.
Ebanks is expected to jump to the NBA after this, his sophomore season, and Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com that he’d take the Long Island City, N.Y. native 2nd or 3rd.
The lastest National Prep Poll is out
Da’Sean Butler spurned both Rutgers and Seton Hall four years ago coming out of Bloomfield (N.J.) Tech High School because coaching changes at the two New Jersey schools made his recruiting status there uncertain.
On Saturday he returned to his hometown of Newark, N.J. and helped No. 6 West Virginia down Seton Hall 90-84 in overtime at the Prudential Center in the first Big East game of what should be a competitive and exciting season.
“My mom and dad were there,” Butler, who scored six of his 21 points in the extra period and added 6 rebounds on the game, said by phone. “It was good to see everybody. I only had 10 tickets but I easily had 30 people there to see me.”
The game was nationally televised on CBS and gave the rest of the country a chance to see just how tough undefeated West Virginia (10-0, 1-0 Big East) could be this season.
“It’s a very big win,” the 6-foot-7,-230-pound Butler said. “It’s our first conference win. It’s very important for the school. It’s gives the school prestige and recognition.”
The Big East will tip off what should be an interesting campaign this Saturday with Bob Huggins and his West Virginia Mountaineers visiting Bobby Gonzalez and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center.
The Mounties are 9-0 after knocking off No. 15 Ole Miss 76-66 on Wednesday, while the Pirates are 9-1 after Tuesday’s 94-56 victory over Navy.
With the games about to begin, here are some pressing questions facing the conference’s teams:
1. Who wins the Big East?
At this point it seems like four teams have established themselves as the class of the conference. Syracuse (12-0), West Virginia (9-0), Villanova (11-1) and Georgetown (9-1) are a combined 41-2…so who wins?
THE PICK: Syracuse. The Orange own the league’s most impressive victory so far, a thrashing of defending NCAA champion North Carolina at Madison Square Garden. With talent inside (Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson) , outside (Scoop Jardine, Brandon Triche and Andy Rautins) and perhaps the league’s most talented player in Wesley Johnson, the Orange are the team to beat.
2. How many teams make the Big Dance?
You figure the above four teams are pretty much a lock to make it, and we’ll throw UConn into that mix as well. Then come a whole bunch of teams in the middle who have a real shot if they can pile up enough wins: Seton Hall (9-1), Notre Dame (11-2), Pitt (10-2), St. John’s
