Happy 100th!! Top 10 Posts in Daily Onions History

It's a big day today with lots of reason to celebrate. Yes, Christmas is only 5 days away, and yes Hanuka starts tonight, and yes there is a very important birthday today, but most importantly, today marks the 100th post in Daily Onions history!!

We figured there is no better way to celebrate number 100, then by looking back and reminiscing about where this blog has been over the past 99 posts. Here are the Top 10 posts in Daily Onions history, counting down from 10. (click the link to open story in a new tab)

10. Unit, Corps, God, Country- Daily Onions dives in to the Op-Ed world with its thoughts on BYU's Brandon Davies being suspended for breaking the school's Honor Code. Bonus - anytime you can work a quote from A Few Good Men into a column, it's a must - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/03/unit-corps-god-country.html

9. ONIONS Exposed- What would a college basketball blog be without a contest for March Madness. This post goes 1 on 1 with the 1st Annual Daily Onions Show Us Your Onions Winner - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/04/onions-exposed.html

Photo: SI.com

8. Memorable Melo- One of our favorite college basketball players (for obvious reasons), puts up an epic performance for a different orange and blue in last year's NBA playoffs - http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/04/memorable-melo.html

7. Mach3 Fact Shaving- Remember when the biggest scandal involving Syracuse basketball was a bad rumor about point shaving? http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/02/mach3-fact-shaving.html

6. LeBron Best in Show...Right Now- We are very lucky that we included the words "right now" in this title, because after the Eastern Conference Championship, LeBron truly was on top of the game. Then we all know what happened in the finals. Go Mavs! http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/05/lebron-best-in-showright-now.html

5. State of the Onions Address- If your blog title resembles Union, the State of the Union address is a perfect time to piggyback with your own speech your constituents...with Raftery and Gus presiding, obviously. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/state-of-onions-address.html

4. Gimme Jimmer: Running Diary- Daily Onions had Jimmer Fever last year (hopefully we'll catch it this year too), and we documented every minute of one of his games at BYU. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/gimme-jimmer.html

3. Big E Hoops Weekend Recap- This could be number 1 on the list. Three days, three basketball games, three college alma maters. It doesn't get any better than that. Relive one of the greatest sports weekends. Thank you Basketball Scheduling Gods. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/01/survive-and-advance-big-e-hoops-weekend.html

Photo: New York Times

2. Why Blog? Why Onions? You never forget your first. This was the first ever post of Daily Onions, which explains why we got started in the first place. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-blog-why-onions.html

1. One Shining Moment- Do you remember where you were when this happened? One of the defining moments in the past year. http://dailyonions.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-shining-moment.html

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to having you around for the next 100 posts!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Weekend in College Basketball

The Good: I feel like this section should be entitled "The Great" or "The Unbelievable", because that's exactly what the Indiana-Kentucky game was. We predicted on Friday that IU would keep it close, but eventually UK would pull it out for a victory. Well IU did more than keep it close, and when they were down 2 (thanks to Doron Lamb only making 1 of 2 free throws) with 5 seconds to play, IU placed itself back in the national basketball picture.



A few things to note in this video:

• Check out Tom Crean's reaction at the 23 second mark. Hey Tom, you just had your biggest win at IU. We know you are a super hyper passionate guy. I get trying to act like you've been there before, but a smile would have been nice.
• Great court storming by the IU student section at Assembly Hall. Nice work on a very worthy storm.
• Nice job by ESPN's Dan Shulman staying quiet and letting the moment breathe. I'm guessing they had to unplug Dick Vitale's mic to keep him quiet at this time.
• Is there any camera shot cooler than the wide angle where you get to the see the entire stadium, arena, etc explode at the same time?
• A few thoughts on the game - best way to beat Kentucky is to get Anthony Davis in foul trouble, make some outside shots, and hope Terrance Jones is allergic to the basketball for the majority of the game.
• Its obvious Kentucky had a foul to give, and you know Calipari told his team to get one early. His young team didn't execute, and his first reaction to the made 3, was wondering why his team didn't foul (at about the 1:58 mark).

Other goodness from Saturday - Syracuse remains unbeaten by taking care of business with George Washington. Bottom line, GW isn't very good, and the Orange jumped on them right away and never looked back. That's what good teams are supposed to do. Thanks to a couple of loses elsewhere, Syracuse should be #1 in the new polls.

The Bad: We won't necessarily saw this is bad, but rather unfortunate. It was unfortunate that Jared Sullinger wasn't able to play at Kansas on Saturday. The Jayhawks ended up winning, but OSU was right there most of the game. If Sullinger is healthy, I think OSU wins. KU's Thomas Robinson continues to impress. He was 7-9 from the field, 7-8 from the line, 7 rebounds and 21 points.

The Ugly: To say that the end of the Xavier - Cincinnati was ugly would be a huge understatement. As bad as the scene was with punches being thrown, sucker punches being landed and bodies trying to be stomped on, the post game comments from Xavier's Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons were almost just as worse.




This video doesn't show Holloway's comments, but he basically said that his own team had a bunch of "gangstas" in the locker room (he clarified by saying, not thugs, but gangstas). He then went on to say that he had no regrets for anything that happened, and that's what you want to see in the XU-Cincy rivalry. Not sure if Holloway and Lyons have a nickname yet, but it should be Dumb and Dumber.

On Saturday, everyone gave credit to Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin for his post game comments. Here's some of the best:

“We represent an institution of higher learning. It’s way more important than basketball games. I made everybody take their jersey off and they will put it on again until they have a full understanding of where they go to school and what the university stands for and how luck they are to even be there let alone have a scholarship. Because there’s a whole lot of kids that can’t pay for college and don’t get to go to school....

......they are all sitting in there (the locker room) with no jersey on. Some of them I physically took them off........

.....We talk all the time, toughness is doing the right thing in life. That is what we talk about. If that is the case, you are being provoked, this or that, true toughness, you walk away from it. You take your ass whipping and you go home and you get better."

Cronin talked the talk on Saturday, but he along with the University and the Big East did not walk the walk on Sunday when handing out punishment. The fact that Yancy Gates, who connected on a sucker punch, threw numerous other punches and could barely be restrained, was suspended a total of 6 games is absolutely ludicrous. After the game Cronin talked about not knowing who would even be on the team anymore (you have to think he was referencing Gates), to now having one of his best players only miss the next 6 games, and only one of those being on the Big East conference schedule.

In my opinion, 10 games would have been acceptable, 15 games would have probably be right on, and being kicked off the team would not be out of the question. Six games? Six lousy out of conference games doesn't send a message. Cronin said he was embarrassed after the game. Well he should be embarrassed by what he thinks is an acceptable punishment.

Holloway will get one game, while Lyons gets two games for their role in the brawl, but mostly for their post game comments. Both of these suspensions are probably a bit light at well. It's obvious Holloway and Lyons didn't "get it" after the game. Let's hope they do, sooner rather than later.

+1: Since we don't want to end on such a sour note, let's give you a bonus video from the weekend. One of the coolest traditions in college basketball comes from Taylor University and their annual "Silent Night". Spend the next 3:27 watching this video. It's worth it.

Workin' for the Weekend

Now that we have the Loverboy hit in your head for the rest of the day, let's talk about the evolution of workin' for the weekend (also if you get the chance to check out the video for this song - its all kinds of amazing).

When we first got out of college and started in the "real world", we weren't used to working 8-9 hour days, 5 days a week, every week. We were coming off our last semester of college, or if we were lucky, a summer following college graduation. Working for the weekend meant we needed the the weekend to sleep in, go out at night and make questionable decisions, all mostly for a good story to tell our buddies.

Sullinger probable for match up with KU

As we grow up, working for the weekend has been given new meaning. Adult things like wedding planning, kids (don't worry, First Lady and I are not expecting a little one any time soon), trips to Bed, Bath and Beyond (Frank Ricard knew what he was talking about) and other domesticated related things make up the weekend activities. One thing that stays consistent though, is looking forward hanging on the couch, watching the big games of any given weekend (yes, I know this is going to change when little ones are around - that's why naps and DVR were invented). I might start listing "Strategically scheduling my weekend plans around games I want to watch" as a skill on my resume.

This weekend, which will be sprinkled with holiday festivities, wedding checklists, laundry and grocery shopping, will also feature some can't miss college hoops games.

Crean and IU fired up for UK on Saturday

Saturday kicks off with #2 Ohio State at #13 Kansas. An asterisk next to this game as it could be short all of its star power if Jared Sullinger's back spasms keep him sidelined. Let's hope he plays since he'll be matched up with Kansas's Thomas Robinson in the post. Sullinger and Robinson considered two of the best big men in the country. Don't forget about Aaron Craft and William Buford for the Buckeyes, and Tyshon Taylor, Elijah Johnson and an annoying "Rock Chalk" chant for the Jayhawks.
Daily Onions pick: If Sullinger plays, we like OSU. No Sullinger, gotta go Kansas.

That game should be getting over just as #1 Kentucky travels to Assembly Hall to take on undefeated Indiana. Interesting matchup here. Arguably the best team in the land going up against arguably one of the greatest traditional basketball programs in the land. One program has been in the Top 5 consistently the last few years, the other team hasn't sniffed the NCAA tournament in years. Both coaches are two of the most energetic and passionate you'll see roaming the sidelines, with one a favorite of Daily Onions (Crean), the other not so much (Calipari). Saturday's game marks the first true road game for Kentucky and their young freshmen. Indiana's best win this year is either home against a young Butler team, or on the road at North Carolina State. If IU pulls it out, they'll join the Top 25, and will have a huge resume win for March.
Daily Onions pick: IU keeps it close, but UK wins.

Order of Onions for the Hoyas

Before we get into last night's action, let's talk about Onions. Bill Raftery coined the phrase for when players come up with big time shots down the stretch. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING, better than a classic Raftery "ONIONS" call. We can talk all about his other phrases and made up words that Raftery goes to throughout a game, but Onions is what we all want. Here is one of our favorite examples of an classic Onions call from last year's NCAA tournament.



Since it's Friday, here's another CLASSIC Raftery call, along w/ Gus Johnson. I wish we had a camera on what Gus and Bill looked like as they were doing this. I mean you have a couple of Onions calls from Raftery, you have Gus going nuts, even letting out a "Larry Bird" (where'd that come from), and you get a lot of weird noises.
                                                    

Anyway, back to current day. To follow up the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, last night kicked off the two day Big East-SEC Challenge. While tonight's games between Syracuse and Florida, and Louisville and Vanderbilt will get most of the hype, a few of last night's games had some classic finishes. Before we get to that, let it be known that Kentucky put a spanking on St. John's behind the ridiculous 15-15-8 (blocks) line from super frosh Anthony Davis. Providence got one back for the Big East with their nine point win over South Carolina.

The two exciting finishes featured Ole Miss getting a running layup in the final seconds of the game to break a tie and defeat DePaul in the suburbs of Chicago.

The best game of the evening was between unranked Georgetown and #12 Alabama, in Tuscaloosa. Bama used a 10-0 run in the final minutes to take a 55-54 lead with 12 seconds to play in the game. In a perfect world, Raftery would have been calling this game, but he wasn't. Regardless, Hollis Thompson w/ an order of Onions for the Hoyas.

This is a huge victory for the Hoyas, who have now knocked off Memphis and Alabama early on this season. Expect G'town to join the Top 25 next week.

Heavyweight Week - Top Ten Matchups Highlight College Basketball

If last week was "Feast Week," according to ESPN's marketing department, because of the great games/lineup in the Maui Invitational (along with that whole Thanksgiving holiday thing), then Daily Onions is dubbing this week "Heavyweight Week." Think about it, the only suitable follow up to a week of feasting, is a week of being a heavyweight.

Actually, "Heavyweight Week" references the all the Top 10 match ups that we have this week. Last night's hyped up game (no, not Syracuse vs. Eastern Michigan), featured #2 Ohio State vs. #4 Duke. Not sure we can even say Duke was there though. After dropping behind the Buckeyes 11-0 to start the game, the Blue Devils were able to get back into the game to make it close halfway through the first half. From that point on, it was ALL (and I mean all) Ohio State. A few thoughts from the game:

-Austin Rivers crossover.....oh my. Quickest since.....Iverson? D. Rose? Man, that thing is impressive. He's got a decent jumper too. With that said, let's remember, Rivers has only played 7 college basketball games. Still lots to be learned.

Aaron Craft arguably the best PG in the country (Pic: US Presswire/SI.com)

-Sullinger, Buford, Craft and.....Deshaun Thomas (who?): We all knew Ohio State would depend on their big three of Sullinger, Buford and Craft. We rode the Buckeyes hard last year, and then Sullinger and mostly Buford pulled the disappearing act in their Sweet 16 loss to Kentucky.  These two (Sullinger 21, Buford 17) along with Craft (17 and 8 assists) were on top of their games on Tuesday night, and it was a bit of a coming out party for sophomore Deshaun Thomas. Check out the 6-7 swingman's line: 8-12 from the field, 2-4 from 3, 18 points and 5 rebounds. Thomas now averaging 12 points a game on the season. He'll be key for the Buckeyes, who try to replace the scoring of David Lighty and  Jon Diebler.

-I think I heard Dick Vitale cheating on Duke a bit, as he praised Sullinger and Buford throughout the night.

-LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were in attendance for the big game as well. LeBron was comfortable being there, since there isn't a 4th quarter in college basketball games (heyoooooo).

-One more thought on Duke: They are really going to miss Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Rivers is the only player on that team can create his own shot, and he isn't really a distributor yet. Curry is deadly from outside, but Ryan Kelly, the Plumlees, etc shouldn't really scare people.

With last night's game being a bit of a dud. We'll hope the rest of the marquee match ups live up to the hype.

Tonight: #9 Wisconsin vs. #5 UNC - The Tar Heels were anointed the head and shoulders favorite coming into this season, but have been knocked off their pedestal after a loss to UNLV in Vegas over the weekend. Harrison Barnes has a slightly injured ankle coming into tonight's game. UNC's Kendall Marshall is one of the best PG's in the country (from a getting teammates involved standpoint), but is a liability on defense. It will be interesting to see if he can match up with Wisconsin's preseason All-American Jordan Taylor. Daily Onions is a fan of freshman P.J. Hairston (McDonald's All-American last year), who leads the team in 3-point percentage and can get to the rim as well. We also like what we saw from junior guard Dexter Strickland against UNLV. Look for him to be a spark for the Heels tonight.

Friday: #4 Syracuse vs. #10 Florida - By far the toughest test for the Orange thus far this season. They needed to comeback wins in NYC last week to beat Virginia Tech and Stanford. Besides those games, they've handled the likes of Colgate, Eastern Michigan, Albany, Manhattan, etc. Will be interesting to see what Jim Boeheim does with Rakeem Christmas, Michael Carter Williams, and even James Sutherland. In tight games w/ Tech and Stanford, Boeheim tightened his rotation (as we've seen over the years) to 7 guys (Joseph, Scoop, Waiters, Triche, Fair, Fab, and Keita). Florida, whose only defeat this year was a seven point loss at Ohio State (ask Duke if its tough to play there). Last year, many people thought the Gators were a year away from being a contender. Well, now we're here. Keep your eye on freshman Bradley Beal, who hit 5 three pointers last time out. Throw in Kenny Boynton in the backcourt, the Gators will be ready to chomp (too easy) on the 'Cuse 2-3 zone.

UK's Davis (Kentucky.com)

Saturday: #5 UNC vs. #1 Kentucky - UNC took a little air out of this matchup after losing to UNLV. A loss tonight to Wisconsin would raise even more questions about Roy Williams' squad. Kentucky once again is stacked with freshman. Their starting five, which includes three freshmen, all average in double figures. Anthony Davis, from Chicago, might be the number 1 pick in the NBA Draft next year. Sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb (leading the team in scoring this year) add some experience for the Cats this season, who have already beaten Kansas by ten two weeks ago. Before they get UNC, Kentucky hosts St. John's on Thursday.

Daily Onions picks for Heavyweight Week: UNC over Wisconsin, Cuse over Florida and Kentucky over UNC.

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No Money, No Problem

If you've been a loyal reader over the past 11 and a half months, you'll know a few things about Daily Onions: We bleed Syracuse Orange, we love college basketball and we've become enamored with the Butler basketball program, more specifically their coach Brad Stevens (still waiting for my chance to do a flying chest bump with him). Did this affection start when the Dawgs ruined Syracuse's National Championship hopes in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 in 2010? Maybe, but let's not talk about the game anymore.

Stevens and Butler have their eyes set on a 3rd straight Final Four appearance

Last night on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, they profiled Stevens and his accomplishments over the past 4 seasons at Butler. Everyone knows about the back to back National Championship game appearances. But what you might not realize, is that in his first four seasons as a head coach, Stevens has the most wins in NCAA history during that time. Coach K's first four years, Jim Boeheim's first four years, Calipari, Pitino, Knight, Huggins, etc, none of them had more wins in their first four years as a head coach.

Its been well documented that Butler is the small, bare bones, Indiana basketball school right out of the movie Hoosiers. Their home court, Hinkle Field House, was built 83 years ago (83!) right before the Great Depression in 1928.

The most interesting and unbelievable piece of last night's story was when Stevens was asked about Butler's recruiting budget. It was estimated that Butler men's basketball program spent about $73,000 on recruiting in 2010 (a number in which Stevens called a bit inflated). Let's compare that number to the teams that Butler played in the National Championship game the past two years, Duke and UConn.  In 2010, Coach K and the Blue Devils spent over $900,000, while UConn spent close to $525,000 (and Jim Calhoun isn't giving back one dime of that).

Duke spends 13 times as much on recruiting as Butler does, yet the Dawgs have ended up in the final game in the past two seasons (a couple inches away from beating Duke in 2010).

Hinkle Field House in Indianapolis (pic:Butler Athletics)

Stevens says that its all about recruiting the kids that will become the players you want them to be in college, as well as getting kids that will play with 'moxy' (his words). When asked if he thinks Butler can get back to the final game for an unprecedented third time in a row, Stevens says its all about winning the next game, winning the next play.

One of the next times that Butler steps on the court, December 3rd against Valpo to be exact, Daily Onions will be there in person, getting its first look in person experience at Hinkle Field House. If given the opportunity, you can guarantee we'll try to measure the height of the rim (10 feet) and the distance to the foul line (15 feet), since Hinkle has "the exact same measurements as our gym in Hickory."

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Syracuse Community Reacts to Allegations Against Bernie Fine

I’ve been a Syracuse fan since I was in the 4^th grade. If my math is correct (was a Communications major, so bear with me), I’ve been bleeding Orange for almost 21 years. My Syracuse fandom can legally drink alcohol now.           

There is no question that I am passionate about my alma mater (class of 2003), always quick to highlight the accomplishments of our athletic programs or the success of our alumni.I had the privilege of covering the football, basketball and lacrosse teams while in school, and was sitting court side when Syracuse cut down the nets in New Orleans.

When the allegations against Bernie Fine were released last night, my phone lit up with calls, texts and tweets from friends, fellow alum and anyone else that could connect me to Syracuse. After 10 days of nonstop Penn State media coverage, I think many of us had in the back of our mind, “I’m glad this isn’t my school.”  Well now it is my school. I am sickened by the allegations, and the content of the victims’ stories are unimaginable.

With that said, I’m proud of how Syracuse University has handled this situation (thus far). From the school releasing a statement within an hour of news hitting the wires, to putting Fine on administrative leave while this gets hashed out, to Chancellor Nancy Cantor writing a thoughtful letter to the Syracuse community stating they (administration) are not afraid to “shine a harsh light on its athletics program.”

When Bobby Davis (alleged victim) brought his story to ESPN in 2003, the sports network decided not to run the story because it didn’t have any other witnesses or individuals to confirm his story. With police not able to investigate the situation because of the statute of limitations, Syracuse University launched its own four-month investigation into the allegations. Davis brought other individuals to the school that would help support his claims, yet none of those stories checked out.

Bernie Fine in the middle of sexual abuse allegations (Pic: Post Standard)

From what we know, Syracuse has done everything right to date and as an alum, that’s what you like to see. The next 24-48 hours should paint a better picture to what claims are factual and which are false.

If you ask Jim Boeheim his thoughts on these allegations, he’s not holding back. Calling these claims “a bunch of a thousand lies,” saying that Davis “is lying,” mentioning that the timing of this story is “suspicious” and believing that the two alleged victims are looking for money, Boeheim is laying his neck on the line for his long time assistant coach.

My thoughts on Boeheim’s comments are two fold: Either he knows that there is no way these allegations are true, so he is coming out strong to try and show that; or he thinks that if these allegations are going to bring down him and the program, he is going to go down swinging.

Personally, I would be shocked if Boeheim made those comments last night without knowing to the fullest extent that the claims are just not factual. If the allegations do end up being true, then I will be extremely disappointed that a man as smart as Jim Boeheim would have tried to cover up an unthinkable crime, especially in light of the events at Penn State involving Joe Paterno.

So if you are asking my thoughts on this whole situation as a an alum of Syracuse, I’ll tell you that I am proud of the way the school has handled its business thus far. They’ve been proactive, transparent and have made it clear that no one’s legacy or stature is bigger than this investigation.

If and when the truth comes out, if it shows that Syracuse University, Jim Boeheim or Bernie Fine are at fault, well then you can check back for my updated thoughts then.

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DaJuan Coleman: Syracuse Looking for the Man in the Middle

Coleman, from nearby Jamesville-Dewitt, is headed to 'Cuse in 2012 (Picture: Syracuse Post Standard)

With DaJuan Coleman's decision to attend Syracuse last week (beating out Kentucky and Ohio State), the Orange not only catapulted into a Top 10 recruiting class for 2012, but they also might have secured a dominant true center, something they've been searching for for a long time.

Coleman checks in at 6-10, 280 lbs, (for sake of comparison, Ohio State's super sophomore Jared Sullinger is listed at 6-9, 280) making him a true center in ever sense of the position. With the Fab Melo experience entering its second year, we should get a better sense of just how good he can be, or whether or not we need to move our hope in the middle to Coleman (Fab did look good in last night's exhibition against Cal State - LA, with 12 pts, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks).

With Fab's ceiling still unknown, and Coleman coming in next season, we started thinking when was the last time, Syracuse had a dominant center? Let's look back at the last 15 years.

• On the cusp of the 15 year time frame we had the '96 final four team, that had three headed monster of John Wallace, Otis Hill and J.B. Reafsnyder  in the middle. With Wallace playing all over the court, Hill being more of a undersized four, and JB being a guy that rocked an undershirt and a pair of knee braces, we don't have that dominant post player here.
• Next it was Etan Thomas. A first team All-Big East selection his senior year, and back-to-back Big East Defensive Player of the Year Awards, Thomas ended his career averaging 11 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game. Great on the defensive end of the court, solid on offense. The fact that he has also been a definition journeyman center in the NBA can tell you that he was a pretty damn good big man.
• After Etan, Syracuse had a combination of Jeremy McNeil, Billy Celuck and Craig Forth. Here's what we can tell you about McNeil, who had the affectionate nickname of "Big Perm": his favorite movie back in 2002 was Training Day (insider information gained thanks to having a class together junior year), Boeheim enjoyed throwing him back as the last line of defense in the Syracuse press, giving him free reign to try and block or foul everythig that came near him, and he played a huge role in Syracuse's epic win over Pitt at the Dome in 2003. A follow up tip dunk and two crucial free throws led to my second and final court storming of my college career.
• Not sure how many words to spend on Celuck. Let's put it this way. You had a better chance of seeing him at Lucy's or 44's than seeing him make a difference in the middle. With that said, he started numerous times and got decent minutes during the 2000-01 season.
• Forth, who started every game of his four year career (136 for 136). He has a National Championship, regular season Big East Title, and three NCAA tournament trips. Known for his sometimes stone hands, and being one of the best all-around student athletes you'll ever meet, Forth was a local kid (Albany) who had a solid college, accomplished career.
  
• Terrence Roberts and Daryl Watkins held down the lane for the Orange the next three years, which included two first round NCAA tournament losses and an NIT berth. Roberts, who came from St. Anthony's in New Jersey, was an athletic as heck power forward who never really lived up to the hype. Watkins was a raw, big body who, all things considered, had decent junior and senior year seasons averaging 8 points and 7 rebounds each year.
• Give credit to Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson. For what they lacked in size and athleticism, they made up for it with good posts moves and they could both score with their back to the basket. Onuaku's unfortunate injury in the Big East Tournament in 2010 led to him missing NCAA tournament games, including the Orange's heartbreaking loss to Butler in the Sweet 16, when they Cuse was one of the favorites to go to the Final Four. Jackson also had is post season struggles. Despite being a double-double machine his senior season, he was held to 7 points and 4 rebounds when the Orange were bounced in Round 2 of the NCAA tournament last year.
• Syracuse now has another three-headed monster in the middle, with Melo as a true center (7-0 and a slim-downed 244 lbs), Baye Keita (a long, athletic and raw 6-10, 213 - get this man some food), and freshman Rakeem Christmas (more of an athletic power forward at 6-9 - unless he grows back the "gumby" he rocked in high school). 

All signs are pointing to Fab being primed for a breakout sophomore season: he's in better shape, he's got a year of experience under his belt and it seems like he's having more fun thus far this year. If Fab is able to have a breakout year, that's fantastic - it makes next year's outlook even better. If he struggles again though, Syracuse at least can look forward to the potential of DC 2.0.

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One time, at Big East Media Day....

If Midnight Madness is the official kickoff of college basketball season, then the conference Media Days are the....end of the first quarter? Hold on, what? Screw the football analogy (we'll get to an interesting analogy in a little bit though), let's just say, Media Day is awesome. We get to see who the coaches pick as the best teams and players in the conference, and you get to see a bunch of college kids look uncomfortable in a shirt and tie.

Scoop, in a Suit. (Syracuse.com)

Today was Big East Basketball Media Day in NYC, which is the home of one of the homes of Syracuse University basketball. The coaches selected Syracuse and UConn as the co-favorites for the league title this year. Next was Louisville, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova, Notre Dame and Georgetown rounding out the top 10. Jeez, this conference is tough.

On an individual basis, Pitt's Ashton Gibbs (and his undershirt) was selected as the Player of Year, while UConn's Andre Drummond was voted Freshman of the Year. Syracuse has Kris Joseph on the 1st team and Scoop Jardine on the 2nd team. West Virginia's Kevin Jones and Tim Abromitis of Notre Dame, both return for their 8th year of college, and were both voted as preseason 1st Teamers as well.

Daily Onions had the opportunity to attend Big East Media Day back before the 2002-03 season, when we were more Orange than Onion. We thought it'd be fun to reminisce about some of the names we chatted with that day at Madison Square Garden.

Let's check out the preseason 1st All-Big East honors that were handed out that day:

Probably taken before 1 of Bell's 6 NBA Games

• Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh - Selected as the preseason conference player of the year in '02-03, you can still find Knight in the Steel City, now as an assistant coach.
• Troy Bell (left), Boston College - This guy could absolutely light it up in college, is BC's all-time leading scorer, and had half a cup of coffee in the NBA.
• Emeka Okafor, Connecticut- Almost 10 years later, its crazy to think there was a debate over who should go #1 in the NBA Draft, Okafor or Dwight Howard. With that said, Okafor did win a National Championship, and has had a serviceable NBA career.
• Mike Sweetney, Georgetown - Undersized, big man for the Hoyas. Didn't have the body for an NBA career.
• Darius Rice, Miami, Jr.- Remember this guy? Freakishly athletic, McDonald's All-American, nephew of Jerry Rice. He ended up staying all 4 years of college, went undrafted and bounced around overseas and the D-League.
• Marcus Hatten, St. John's - Kind of like Bell, a pure scorer. Best memory of Hatten has to be playing for Uncle Phil at St. John's.

The 2nd team featured guys like: James Jones - yep, the same James Jones that is hitting 3s for the Heatles. He got his start in Miami as Hurricane; Chris Thomas - In a recent survey we just made up, this Notre Dame PG was voted most annoying player by opposing fans teams. Good to know he got an acting gig playing the PG in the movie Finding Forrester; Jerome Coleman - this Rutgers shooting guard led the Scarlet Knights to an upset over the eventual National Champions (Syracuse) that year in...New Jerrrrsey, and allowed me to exclaim "Send it in Jerome" (a Raftery fan even at a young age!) over the Syracuse radio airwaves. Shout out to Herve Lamizana as well.

Always a good time to look back at some of the players who came through the Big East. Carmelo Anthony was a freshman in 2002-03, and was picked to be the best Freshman of the Year in the conference, but was left off the 1st and 2nd team. Looks like Melo got the last laugh there.

Slick Rick: Why Don't You Sit the Next Few Plays Out

Speaking of laughs, today at Big East Media Day, Rick Pitino had some choice words about Syracuse and Pitt leaving the conference. Rick, who has been known to compare a tough start to a seasons to... 9/11, added this analogy to his resume:

"My problem is not them leaving," he said. "My problem is you did it in 48 hours. Don't run away with a girl after one date when you've been dating someone else for three or four years. You've been dating this woman for 30 years, show a little respect."

In case you forgot, Pitino, who has been married to his wife for more than 30 years, once met a woman in a restaurant, had a few drinks, and then proceeded to have sex with her in the bathroom. This occurred in 2003, and in 2009 Pitino admitted to not only having consensual sex, but also paying for an abortion. 

Pot, meet kettle. Hope you enjoyed media day.

College Basketball is Back! (Kind of)

A wise man once said, "I don't know if it will make any change, but I figure its time for me to start playing ball." That wise man was Jimmy Chitwood. And in the spirit of Jimmy, Hoosiers and basketball, Daily Onions doesn't know if it will make any change, but we figure its time for us to start writing about basketball.

Check out video of Jimmy Chitwood Gettin' Back into the Game

With the official kickoff of college basketball season (practices at least) tonight with "Midnight Madness", Daily Onions takes a look at what's on tap for the upcoming season:

1. Preseason Rankings!! We actually wrote about how stupid preseason rankings were last year in December after Harrison Barnes, a preseason 1st Team All-American before he even put on the baby blue Tar Heel uniform, struggled out of the gate, and UConn, the eventual National Champion catapulted to #9 a few weeks into the season, after being left out of the Top 25 preseason poll. This season's Top 5 Preseason Poll looks like this:

• UNC: Harrison Barnes, Kyler Zeller, John Henson, Kyle Marshall all return. That should be enough. Throw in two McDonald All-Americans....the early favorite to win it all and run the table.  
• Kentucky: Terrence Jones surprised everyone and came back to school, along with Doron Lamb (the 2nd best Lamb in college bball), and Darius Miller. Coach Cal, the snake oil salesman, also brings in the two of the best freshman in the country in Anthony Davis (Chicago) and Michael Gilchrist (NJ). Good combo of NJ and Chicago there.
• UConn: The Defending Champs bring back Jeremy Lamb, the little brother of Daily Onions loyal reader, Ramy. He joins one of our favorite big man underclassmen from last year, Alex Oriakhi, along with Shabazz Nappier, Roscoe Smith, and Tyler "White" Olander. Stud newcomer Andre Drummond will help as well.
• Syracuse: Oh, no (Cuse is in the House). High expectations for the Orange this year? That can't be good for the Cuse faithful. Everyone's favorite PG to hate, Scoop Jardine is back to run the show. All reports say that Scoop had a great summer at various camps and a stint w/ Team USA. Let's hope he learned how to be smart with the ball. The Cuse also returns Kris Joseph, who was picked as a 1st Team All-American. And that's right there is why we talk about how preseason rankings don't mean anything. We love Joseph, but a 1st Team All-American?!? Prove me wrong, Kris. Rounding things out for the Cuse are Brandon Triche, CJ Fair (Daily Onions Favorite), Dion Waiters (hopefully with a new attitude), Fab Melo, Baye Moussa Keita, James Southerland, Mookie Jones, Andy Rautins, Otis Hill.......right, you get it. The Orange return a lot. They also bring in 2 McDonalds All-Americans in Rakeem Christmas (lots of puns coming your way) and Michael Carter Williams. Trevor Cooney is another frosh, who folks are hoping can light the Dome up from outside.
• Ohio State University: No THE this year for OSU. Since we picked them to win it all, and they decided to bounce in the Sweet 16, you get no love from Daily Onions....for now. Once we see that large backside of Jared Sullinger (he actually slimmed down, though), I'm sure we'll rekindle the love. William Buford and Aaron Craft important returners for the Buckeyes.
• Duke: Yes, we can count. Duke is #6. Quick thought on the Blue Devils. They have arguably the best freshman in Austin Rivers, they return guards Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins, and now have three, yes THREE Plumlee brothers (not that that means anything). We are very excited to see Austin Rivers play. When we saw him at the McDonald's All-American game, we called him "Steph Curry with a little more pop".....whatever that means.

2. Basketball: Yep, it's that simple. The fact that basketball will be played is a huge thing to look forward to. With no NBA season in sight, the youngsters will have center stage, and that will be awesome. Throw in the fact that the greatest basketball conference ever assembled, The Big East, will be playing one of its final seasons (could be final, could have one or two more) as the dominant conference, culminating with the basketball orgy that is the Big East Tournament in March. Man, are we going to miss that tournament.

3. Road Trippin': While the schedule Gods did not grace us with a Big E Hoops Weekend Round 2 scenario, Daily Onions is planning on hitting the road to catch lots of games in person this season. We'll catch the Cuse at Notre Dame in January, we are taking a trip to see Brad Stevens and Hinkle Field House for a Butler game, we'll see what Big East teams roll through the Windy City to play DePaul, and will be sure to catch some Big Ten action up in Evanston. In short, we love college basketball, and we can wait to watch it....as I am sure that goes for the First Lady of Daily Onions as well.

With that said, in order to live up to our Jimmy Chitwood promise, we'll be posting weekly leading up to the start of the season, and then will get things going a bit more from there. We are only 9 posts away from 100, so we'll be sure to have a HUGE celebration commemorating some of our favorites from the first 100, and previewing what the second hundred have in store.

Thanks for reading, and here's to a great college basketball season.

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Syracuse in the Eye of Conference Realignment Hurricane

There aren't many things that could bring Daily Onions out of hibernation before the start of the college basketball season. However, there are a few things...in no particular order:

• A face to face meeting with Daily Onions favorite Brad Stevens
• Winning a contest that allows us to go to the Final Four the next 10 years
• Daily Onions being bought by a huge sports website
• A monumental move that changes the landscape for Syracuse and Big East Athletics.

We really wish we were writing about one of the first three items on that list. But instead it looks as if Syracuse, one of the founding members of the Big East Conference back in 1979, is packing its bags and heading to the ACC.

Our initial reaction, as you would expect from a life-long fan and alum of Syracuse, is anger, disgust and sadness. While football is obviously driving this decision, we immediately turn our thoughts to the effect on Syracuse basketball. Let's think about the potential changes we'll see:

• Long-time rivalries with Georgetown and UConn, become yearly matchups with Wake Forest and Virginia (yes, as well as Duke and UNC....still, not the same).
• The Big East Tournament every March at Madison Square Garden turns into a trip to Greensboro, NC...I hear its lovely in early March.
• At least 4-5 games on ESPN's Big Monday, with Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery calling the game, the obvious best team of college basketball announcers in the business. We'll now have to endure Mike Patrick and Dick Vitale making out with each other on the air while talking about how good Duke is.

It's obvious that Big East die-hards and traditionalists are disappointed with this move. However, with conference realignment such a fluid situation (seems like you sound smarter if you say something is "fluid"), this could be a case of Syracuse making a proactive move to ensure that they aren't "standing up when the music stops" (credit to 'Cuse fan @cbombard for that analogy).

Hurricane Realignment headed straight for Big East

We'll take it one step further. Conference realignment is a hurricane, and it is coming straight for the Big East. Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross gets a call that says "if you know what's good for you, evacuate now." The storm is coming, and you are better off getting to a safer place now because we don't know how bad this could get.

How bad could it get for the Big East? Well, there might not BE a Big East (somewhere Mike Tranghese is crying). With rumors of four super conferences emerging - Pac12, Big 10, SEC and ACC - said hurricane could take out what we all once knew as the Big East.

If Syracuse ignores the evacuation warning, and like a stubborn homeowner on the east coast in the eye of the storm, says "I built this place, I'm not going anywhere," they could end up standing on the roof of their house waiting for someone to rescue them. If Syracuse waits to long, there might not be anyone coming to pick them up.

We're not quite ready to embrace this potential change, and it will indeed take some time to get used to it. But if this hurricane is as bad as it could be, we should be glad Syracuse got out before it was too late. 

Draftastic Voyage: NBA Draft 2011

In our first A.E. post (after engagement...the First Lady and I made it official over the weekend), Daily Onions is going to breakdown one of our favorite nights of the year, the NBA Draft. Whether we've watched it from home, or live from the MSG theater, or got updates via text alerts, the Draft has always been a night of excitement for NBA fans because there is always so much "upside potential" for trades, new stars coming into the league, GMs making awful picks, etc. This year, however, stands out a bit from other years because.....this year's crop of draft players is AWFUL. Who knows, maybe in 5 years we will look back and talk about the surprise of how good the draft of 2011 was, but more likely it will be about the guy being drafted at number 14 being just as good as the guy drafted at number 3.

Best Dressed Wes

Daily Onions isn't going to do a mock draft as our preview. Wanna know why? Because if you Google "NBA Mock Draft 2011", 4,350,000 results come up in .32 seconds. Instead, we'll take a look at some of the things we are expecting tonight, what players we are rooting for to go into good situations, who's slipping, who's got a cool name, and who is going to be this year's best dressed player, aka The Wes Johnson Award. And now, in no particular order, let's explore this year's Draftastic Voyage:

• Top Two: All signs are pointing to the Cavs (who have the first and fourth pick) going with Kyrie Irving to be the savior for the city of Cleveland. If that is the case, then Minnesota has the opportunity to grab potentially the best player in this draft at Number 2. BUT, Derrick Williams is a tweener in the sense of is he a 3, or is he a four. If they draft him, Minnesota should just change their name to the TweenerWolves, because their roster will consist of Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson, Lazar Haywood, Anthony Randolph, and Martell Webster - all guys with no true identity in their position. Throw in an undersized Kevin Love into the mix, and a log jam at the point guard position, and the TweenerWolves are a bad pick away from combustion. In our opinion, Wolves need to aggressively shop that pick and see if they can make their roster look more like an NBA team, and not a Picasso painting

  

• The man, the myth, the Jimmer: If you aren't rooting for Jimmer to be successful, please leave the blog. No hard feelings, but we don't want you here. We are trying to figure out what would be the best situation for Jimmer. Is it Utah because of his local ties from BYU, and the tradition of John Stockton (aka white point guard), or is it Phoenix because he would have the best mentor a rookie point guard could ask for in Steve Nash (unless Nash is traded), or is it Indiana (Basketball, Indiana, White Kid that can shoot, it all goes together perfectly), or is it Sacramento (he can take over the point and form the backcourt that will average the most FGA's in the history of the league with Tyreke Evans). We are rooting for Phoenix (with Nash of course), or Utah (Jimmer and Gordon Hayward would be instant best friends).

• Best in Show: Shout out to Jim Nantz...sorry I stole your line about Kemba Walker and the Huskies being the Top Dog of college basketball. Seems like Kemba's stock is slipping in the last few days though. We've seen mocks with him as high as 5 and as low as 17. Daily Onions has had a love/hate relationship with Kemba this year. We think he can succeed in the right situation. If he goes to a bad team, I don't think he can put them on his back and make them a contender in the NBA, like he did w/ UConn in the Big East and NCAA Tournament. We'd like to see him go somewhere that he can be a 6th man/backup point guard, and can basically become a Ben Gordon or Jamal Crawford type player. Recently, Kemba hung out at the AXE Lounge (click here for video) and answered a few questions about his favorite sneakers, pre-game music, etc. One of our favorite questions was what UConn player he most admired. He said Rudy Gay was his favorite (Daily Onions is cool with that), but then said the player he admires most is Ray Allen (Daily Onions loves that). Kemba shows us he is smart, not only by finishing his degree in three years, but also by showing respect to the best shooter the game has ever seen. We'll let him slide w/ his answer to who he was rooting for in the Finals.

• Foreign Exchange: There is a possibility that 5 foreign players go in the top 15 tonight, and 3 of them could be selected in the top 6. Is there the next Dirk Nowitzki somewhere in that crop, or is there the next Darko Milicic. That's the risk GMs will face if they roll the dice and pick one of these guys early. It seems like the recipe for success with a lot of the international players is drafting them, keeping them stashed away for a year or two, and then bringing them over after a few more years of seasoning in their overseas league. Our favorite international player this year is Bismack Biyombo. Not only is his name really cool, but he is 6-9, 243 lbs, and has the potential to be another Serge Ibaka in a few years.

• Baby I Like It: Just when you thought we couldn't incorporate an Enrique Iglesias song into an NBA Draft preview, we go there. Here are some other players that we like, and are rooting for to get drafted into good situations: Kawhi Leonard (athletic as heck, great defender, can put the ball in the bucket, and was a joy to watch as part of the SDSU squad last year); Kenneth Faried (he's the next David Lee/Taj Gibson....you'd take a guy like that on your team any day, he'll be a great rebounder/energy guy); Tobias Harris (we wish he would have stayed one more year in college, especially if he would have chosen Syracuse over Tennessee...so much potential here, hopefully he doesn't rot away on someone's bench); Jimmy Butler (No, we didn't include him just for the Butler jokes, but he's another tough player w/ a lot of heart and can do all the little things for your team, would be a great fit for a perennial contender, also glad that he isn't playing for Marquette anymore); JaJuan Johnson (most likely a second rounder, but had a breakout senior season at Purdue, he can do a lot on the court and actually stayed in school for 4 years); Chandler Parsons (good to know that if MGMT ever breaks up, he can still be successful playing basketball); Shelvin Mack (he's from Butler, we love Butler, and we think Shelvin would be a great addition for a good team like the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, etc).

• Iggy Outta Here: As a 76ers fan, we know that tonight could be the end of the line for Andre Igoudala in Philadelphia. We are completely fine with that. He is a better fit for another team, and could be great for a contender, as a #3 option and lockdown defender. He is just one of the many names out there being discussed in trades tonight, along w/ Monta Ellis, Steve Nash, Lamar Odom (and Khloe?), Tony Parker, Johnny Flynn, and so on and so on. The Sixers have the 16th pick (aka Who the Hell Knows What Value You Can Get Here), but we hope they are wheeling and dealing to unload Iggy, move up in the draft, or bring in some help in the middle. 

There you have it. Everything that you needed to know about what Daily Onions was thinking about going into tonight's draft. T-minus 7 hours until the fun begins.

Final Thoughts on Mavs Win

WE DID IT! Dirk looks like an old-school Little League Coach w/ that hat though.

Thank you to the Dallas Mavericks for saving the NBA (minus that whole lockout thing). Besides some of those fans in Miami (can we really call them fans), no one wanted to see Wade, LeBron and Bosh team-up and win it in year 1. Before the season, everyone said, "The Heat might win 3 or 4 Championships down the road, but they can't win it THIS year." And then as the playoffs wore on, and the Heat took care of the Celtics and the Bulls, we were frightened. It was going to happen. LeBron, Wade and Bosh were going to walk around saying, "We told you....that celebration back in July, just a sign of things to come."

What would that have done to the professional sports landscape? What example would that have set for young athletes? If you want to win, there is a shortcut. Team up with the best, and that will make everything easier. That whole "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" would have been truer than ever. But instead, justice prevailed. A team with a couple of aging future Hall of Famers taking possibly one last crack at their shot to get a championship, along with a few cast-offs from other teams, and a coach that was forced out of a few other jobs for no good reason. The Mavericks were confident, not cocky. They played as a team, and got contributions from almost everyone on their active roster throughout the Playoffs and in tonight's clincher. They showed that there are no shortcuts. They showed that just because you don't get the job done once (Dirk) or twice (Kidd) in the Finals, you keep working to get better for when you make it back. They showed that it takes more than 3 players to win a championship. They showed that superstars step up when the game is on the line, want the ball in the hands, put the team on their back, and get the job done.

Thank you, Dallas Mavericks. You made 99.9% of sports fans proud tonight.

NBA Finals Game Six: Pregame thoughts and a (psuedo) Running Diary of the Rest

It's amazing what can happen in two weeks, five basketball games and five quarters of basketball. The last time we wrote, LeBron James was fresh off a complete takeover of the Eastern Conference Finals, proving that he had taken the next step and could succeed in the role of "closer" (or so we thought).

LeBron walked into the Finals on top of the NBA World

What has occurred in the NBA Finals through five games has been baffling. The same LeBron that had the killer instinct in knocking out the Bulls, went back to looking like a scared and uninterested player, scoring just a total of 11 points in five 4th quarters.

I'll admit, I stuck up for LeBron after Game 3, using the argument that Wade was the guy that night, and there was no reason for James to try and take over. He ended up making one of the biggest (and underrated) plays of the game with a tough no-look pass to Chris Bosh(face) for the game winner. After Games 4 and 5 though, its easy to see that LeBron still isn't the player we want him to be. We want him to be THE man. He is the most gifted athlete we've ever seen play in the NBA. He allegedly is "The Chosen One" and "The King". If that's the case, then put your team on your back (Wade included) and live up to your "Global Icon" status. And when you do record the quietest triple-double in NBA history, don't act as if you don't know why people are criticizing your performance.

With all that said, we have some basketball to play and watch. Some thoughts on Game 6 (currently in progress):

-Five minutes remaining in the 1st quarter and Dirk picks up his second foul. Brian Cardinal comes into the game, and the Mavericks go on a 17-3 run to open up an eight point lead right before the end of the first quarter.

-LeBron came out hitting a few jumpers. Definitely important for him to get going early, but no one will REALLY care what he does unless its in the 4th quarter.

-DeShawn Stevenson and Eddie House try to steal the spotlight in the 2nd quarter w/ a barrage of three pointers. After one of House's threes, Stevenson and Haslem start a little "fake tough guy" skirmish (Kevin Durant is smiling) going to timeout. Mario Chalmers came in from out of nowhere to get involved. His nickname should be "The Mosquito", because he is that annoying.

-Since the skirmish, Jason Terry scored 8 of the Mavericks next 11 points to give them a 2 point lead late in the 1st half. Jet has 17 points. Oh, and that guy named Dirk....he's 1-11 shooting. So for those of you scoring at home, the Mavs are up by 2, and Dirk only has only made one FG. If you have any involvement with the Miami Heat franchise, you can't feel good about that.

-At the half, Mavericks lead 53-51. Jason Terry, who was quiet (and called out for it) in the first three games, has now TOTALLY redeemed himself, Lloyd Christmas style. He's got 19, while LeBron has 11, and Dirk is 1-12.

SECOND HALF

-Dirk hits the first shot he takes. Chalmers makes a three and probably has an annoying little celebration afterwards. Normalcy restored.

LeBron's Disappearing Act in the NBA Finals

-LeBron passes up a 15 ft jumper, and then passes up a wide open 3 pointer only to turn it over on the drive. I don't get it.

-Wade hits a runner in transition to cut the Dallas lead to 65-62. Wade now has a 11, wouldn't be surprised if he goes into take over mode right now.

-And with that said, next possession James has 4-11 JJ Barea guarding him, and he gets called for an obvious offensive foul.

-Brian Cardinal with a hard foul on Chris Bosh. Cardinal's nickname is "The Custodian". Amazing.

-Two minutes later, The Custodian takes a charge on Wade. Wade gets a Technical. The Custodian is seriously having a huge effect on this game. A few plays later he delivers a hard foul on Haslem.

-With 1:49 left to go in the 3rd quarter, LeBron takes (and makes) his first shot of the quarter, a layup in the post. Dallas still leads 74-71.

-Jason Kidd is playing like its 2001. Just throws up a three and it goes in. Actually, in 2001 he couldn't make threes either....but you get what I mean. Dallas up 79-71 w/ under a minute to go in the 3rd quarter.

-Thanks to an Ian Mahinmi 15-footer at the buzzer, Dallas leads 81-72 going to the fourth. That's Mahinmi, number 28 in your program. Story of the game could be LeBron scoring a total of 5 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, or Jason Terry dropping 21 thus far, or The Custodian's. But if you really look at it, the Heat have missed 11 free throws thus far. Can't do that in any game, but especially in an elimination game.

-Wade with a STRONG drive to the hoop - gets it but misses the free throw (shocker). I'll say that "Wade is about to takeover" line again, just in case.

-PUERTO RICO......OHHHHHH. Huge three by JJ Barea. Mavs go up 7 with 10 minutes left. Oh, and LeBron is on the bench.

-9:30 left. Heat down 8. LeBron comes back into the game.

-LeBron drives, spins, shoots and hits the backboard and nothing else. That was the possession after D-Wade dribbled off his foot. Heat are falling apart.

-Barea w/ a nifty drive and layup. Mavs up 89-77. Does ABC have a camera anywhere in Puerto Rico??!? They must be going nuts for JJ right now.

-With 7 minutes left, LeBron makes a bucket in the 4th quarter. Cuts the lead to 91-82.

-With 6:30 minutes left, LeBron makes another bucket in the 4th quarter. Heat still down 8.

-With 5:00 minutes left, LeBron drives and turns it over. Heat still down 8.

-Tyson Chandler with a huge offensive rebound to give the Mavs a new :24....didn't someone once say something about rebounding and rings?

-DIRK!!!  WADE!!! Superstars exchange CLUTCH shots with 3:15 left. Anyone seen LeBron lately?

How you like me now? (nice touch w/ the tongue, Dirk)

-DIRK!!! with 2:27, Dirk drains a another  patented fadeaway jumper. Mavs up 99-89 under 2 to play.

-LeBron knocks down a 3 with 1:55 with the Heat down 12. Garbage points, Bron. They don't count.

-DIRK!! with some style points....Mavs go up 103-92 with 25 seconds left.

-The Mosquito hits a 3 to make the score 105-95 with 16 seconds left.

-Mavs dribble out the clock and knock off the Miami Heat. THANK YOU to the Dallas Mavericks. I would say, you have no idea what you've just done...but I think you know. Huge win for sports in general.

-Some final stats: Jason Terry finished with 27 points and one tattoo of the championship trophy on his bicep. Dirk had 21 and another clutch performance down the stretch to quiet the critics. The Custodian had 3 points, 3 hard fouls, took a charge and has a really cool nickname. For the Heat, Wade finishes with 17, while James finishes with a quiet 21, including 7 in the 4th quarter, and another disappointing performance when it counts.

-Congrats to Dirk, J-Kidd, Jet, JJ, and the rest of the Mavs. Huge shoutout to head coach Rick Carlisle, who has long been one of the more underrated coaches in the league. This playoffs, he took down Phil Jackson and the Lakers, took Scotty Brooks "pants off" when it came to coaching, and taught Coach Spo a thing or two in the Finals. With his new crew cut, Carlisle doesn't look like Jim Carey that much anymore, but he does look like an NBA Champion.

LeBron: Best in Show...Right Now.

Before you start reading this post, reach up to your eyes and remove the "I Hate LeBron" colored shades you might be wearing. I took mine off on Tuesday night. That allowed me to watch LeBron close out Game 4 that night, and then help orchestrate the greatest comeback/collapse in recent memory. I'm just waiting for the new NBA commercial..."The Eastern Conference Finals: Where 18-3 in the final two minutes and forty-five seconds Happens."

This is not the scene most NBA fans wanted to see.

It's well documented that Daily Onions has not been the biggest fan of the Miami Heat, LeBron James and Chris Bosh this year. We weren't impressed when LeBron lit up the Cavs in his first return, we knocked them when they cried after a regular season loss, we said LeBron couldn't close (which was valid), and we thought LeBron's apology to for The Decision AFTER he beat the Celtics was a day late and a dollar short.

Now I'm not going to go all Scottie Pippen on you and claim that LeBron James is the greatest all-around basketball player ever. That's just stupid, Scottie. I will say this though. LeBron James might be taking that next step. It's the step that he has been missing for the past 7 years. The step that is him putting his foot on the throat of the opponent, and closing something out. He did against Boston by scoring the final ten points of a game to seal it. He closed out the Bulls in Game 2, 4 and 5. Remember that suspect jump shot that he had, well it looked to be quite deadly last night with a couple of threes to get the Heat back into the game, and then the 18 foot pull-up jumper to give them the lead for good. Throw in what he did on the defensive end, shutting down this year's (well-deserved) MVP Derrick Rose in the last quarter of the final two games, pretty damn impressive (We'll get to Rose's struggles in a second).

You can hate the way LeBron James left Cleveland (we do), but if you truly enjoy watching the game of basketball on the court, what LeBron has done in the last two weeks has proven that he is hands down the best player in the NBA right now (Scottie, notice the two words "right now"). We've all witnessed him go through his growing pains over the last few seasons, but in this playoffs he's started to put it all together. Does the fact that he teamed up with Wade and Bosh to help get to this point rub me the wrong way? Yes. It does. Does his wink after the flop last night annoy me? Absolutely. But the skill, athleticism, and tenacity that he has had in the past few weeks, is all him. And its scary good.

As much as it pains me to say this, I think Miami beats Dallas in the Finals. I hate that part of this whole thing. Its bad for the future of the NBA. You get 2 super-duper stars on one team, throw in another all-star (I'll admit, Bosh had a pretty good series vs. the Bulls), and you can win in your first year of playing together. That pep-rally they threw in mid-July was just foreshadowing for what they'll do to celebrate in a few weeks. I don't like that part of it. I wanted LeBron to go head to head with Wade to see who was the best in the league, not team up with him to dominate the next few years. That's not happening, and now we need another super team to form and knock off the Heat (Dwight Howard, or a good shooting guard, if you are reading this, feel free to crash in our guest room while you are thinking about how to get traded to Chicago).

And now a few words about Derrick Rose. First of all, don't rip on Rose for taking a jumper at the end of regulation of Game 4. At that point in the game, there was NO WAY Rose was taking LeBron off the dribble to get to the rim. Either there needs to be a play drawn up where Rose is coming off a screen and catching on the wing, or you are living and dying by a pull-up jumper. Last night, the final three minutes of the game could have been Rose's worst three minutes of the season, or even career (minus a nice baby hook floater in the lane w/ 1:45 left). He fouled Wade on a breakaway layup for a 3-point play, he fouled Wade on a three for a 4-point play, he turned the ball over when the game was tied, and missed a free throw that would have tied the game with 25 seconds left. Before we take the MVP trophy away from him, let's remember this. First, his supporting cast let him down. Carlos Boozer might have replaced Chris Bosh at the top of the "Daily Onions Most Disliked Overrated Power Forwards with the initials CB" list. The Bulls aren't winning anything if Boozer is your next best scoring option. Secondly, Rose is 22-years old, and this was his first Eastern Conference Finals. Not many of the greats won at this age, or their first time around. Derrick Rose will be back to this stage (next year?) and he'll be better. The "only" bad thing is, so will the Heat.

Daily Onions Page 5: Celeb Sightings for NBA's Eastern Conference Finals

Instead of going to the New York Post's Page 6 to get your celebrity dirt and sightings, just come to Daily Onions Page 5 (its a page earlier, so its quicker to get to).

Between the Eastern Conference Finals featuring the Bulls and Heat, and some woman named Oprah filming one of her last tv shows, the city of Chicago has been buzzing with celebs from entertainment and sports.

While we didn't run into any of the Oprah crew, Daily Onions was running in the same circles as some sports notables last night.

With a college friend in town (Go Cuse!) covering the Heat-Bulls series, we've done our best to hit some of the best restaurants the Windy City has to offer. Last night it was Gibsons Steakhouse. A late reservation due to prior job #1 commitments meant we were entering a packed house at 9 pm.

Bosh Face

• On the way to our table we spotted Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher finishing up dinner with some friends.
• Following our own dinner, which included the avocado and crab meat appetizer (amazing), salad, filet mignon, side of mash and some strawberry shortcake to close things out (who's hungry now??), we rubbed shoulders with the Heat's top player in Game 1. Chris Bosh, who is known for the Bosh Face and for being a foodie, strolled into Gibson's at 11:15pm to sit down for dinner. I guess if you don't need to be at shoot around until 11 am the next day, you can start thinking about dinner plans around midnight.
• Working the bar at Gibsons as if it were the sideline of an NBA game, TNT's Craig Sager was missing his loud and eclectic collection of blazers, but he was rocking a pretty sweet zip up argyle sweater, with some multi-colored Nike sneaks (as a sneakerhead myself, I was impressed).
• We eventually moved from Gibsons to The Lodge (how can this night get any better - The Lodge - one of my favorite bars in the city). Holding court at The Lodge was TNT's Steve Kerr, who was laughing it up with some friends, most likely reminiscing about all the big shots he hit for the Bulls back in the day. Broadcast partners Marv Albert and Reggie Miller were nowhere to be found.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't Oprah's "Murderer's Row" of Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Madonna, Beyonce, etc; but for basketball fans following the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals, it wasn't too bad. Now we'll just need to figure out where Ernie, Kenny and Charles will be after the game tonight.

It's Too Late to Apologize

Congratulations, you now will all have OneRepublic's Apologize in your head for the rest of the day. But we're not here to talk about R & B hits of the last five years. We're here to talk about the week that was in the NBA for apologies. If you ask me, we were 0 for 2, striking out badly on both.

No place in the game for this

We'll start with Andrew Bynum of the Lakers. His flying elbow to the ribs of an airborne J.J. Barea can be summed up in two words: bush league. In fact, that is exactly the term ESPN's Mike Tirico (Go Cuse!) used to describe the play. With eight and a half minutes to play, and the Lakers trailing by 30, Bynum's forearm shiver earned him an ejection. He then proceeded to act like a 4-year old and took his jersey off as he strutted off the court. Who would have thought that Ron Artest would be the guy trying to calm down a teammate while escorting them off. Go figure.

Everyone in the world knows that was a dirty play. I have no problem with a hard foul when you are playing the ball. But throwing and elbow to the ribs when someone is in the air, not even coming close to making a play on the ball is flat out wrong. In Bynum's post game comments, he said, "We were getting embarrassed, they were breaking us down. So I just fouled somebody, I was just kind of salty about being embarrassed. ... For me, it was embarrassing to have the smallest guy on the court keep running down the lane and making shots."

Right, you were embarrassed. I get it. Still not a good enough reason for your actions. As your teammate Kobe Bryant said, "they played better than we did, so to make the game ugly like that where players could potentially get hurt, you don't want to see that happen ever. ... It's not something that you want to see happen in the game of basketball, ever."

The fact that Bynum didn't apologize for the dirty play after the game might be more ridiculous than the play itself. Don't give me the "players need a cooling off period after the game" line. Bynum was tossed with eight minutes to play, so he had plenty of time to "cool off". Instead, he waits 2 days, TWO DAYS, to come up with a prepared apology. Big thanks to his manager, agent, Lakers PR staff for help crafting that one.

Poor Decision: LBJ definitely didn't handle his exit from Cleveland the right way

Two days might seem like a long time for Bynum, but that's just small peanuts when it comes to LeBron James. Last night, after the Heat disposed of the Celtics in five games, LeBron James apologized for "The Decision". He didn't apologize for leaving Cleveland (and he shouldn't have to), but he apologized for "the way it happened". Well, first of all, that was your decision to do "The Decision". Secondly, that happened back in July. Now eight months later you are finally sorry about it? You beat the Celtics, so you are now sorry for it? What if the Heat would have lost to the Celtics this round, would LeBron not be sorry about the way it went down?

Here's what I think. I think LeBron knew within a week after The Decision, that is was a bad.....decision. He should have apologized then. Those advisors that were in his ear telling him The Decision was a good idea, should have come right back to tell him that was a mistake. Actually, he shouldn't need someone else to tell him what was right or wrong. He knew it was wrong, and he should have been a man about it much earlier. Don't want to apologize a week later? Fine, why not apologize  during training camp, or after his return to Cleveland, etc. Instead James decided to apologize after accomplishing something that he couldn't do in Cleveland with his teammates there. In my book, that's a cop out. You went and joined forces with a superstar and an annoying sidekick to take down the Celtics. So now you think its acceptable to apologize for the way things went down? That's what I call bush league.