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(04/15/13 10:16pm)
The Boston Bruins are fourth in the Eastern Conference and a point behind the Montreal Canadiens in the Northeast Division.The Boston Celtics look to gain momentum with two games left to prepare for the playoffs.None of that mattered Monday.Even with two weeks left in the NHL regular season, it was a no-brainer for the NHL to cancel the Boston Bruins home game Monday due to the horrific attack during the Boston Marathon. The NBA announced that evening the Celtics’ home-finale on Tuesday would be canceled as well. It gave the city more resources to treat the victims and investigate the attack rather than police to attend a few sporting events.My prayers go out to those that lost a loved one, to those injured by the bombings and to those behind this heinous act. The person, or people, needs prayers just as much as the rest of us. It’s not acceptable in the most extreme uncivilized setting.The sports world has always been an escape from the real world.When the two collide in a tragic way, like it did Monday, it’s a reminder how little box scores matter. We like to base our happiness upon the results of a certain sports team. But keep the big picture in mind the next time a team’s season doesn’t end with a title.Reach the columnist at mtesfats@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @MasterTes
(04/09/13 10:37pm)
The scene spoiled the announcement.
(03/21/13 12:00pm)
Expectations are shifted during the season in accordance to one simple variable: wins.
(03/21/13 2:47am)
The Sun Devils (22-12, 9-9 Pac-12) defeated Detroit 83-68 Wednesday in the first round of the NIT.
(03/19/13 6:28pm)
ASU wanted to bring Sparky into the 21st century with a contemporary redesign.
(03/17/13 10:41pm)
The ASU men’s basketball team will play in a postseason tournament. It just isn’t for the National Championship.
(03/07/13 12:44am)
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook has been one of the best players at his position for at least the last two seasons.
This year, he’s making a case as one of the best players in the NBA. Westbrook is a complete player displaying unreal athleticism for a 6-foot-3 point guard with his scoring and facilitating capabilities.
He’s sixth in the league averaging 23.6 points a game. That’s with the NBA’s leading scorer, Kevin Durant, on his team. He’s fifth in the league with 7.8 dimes a game and has done a great job this season finding his teammates in the absence of James Harden. He’s also one of the best rebounding guards averaging 5.3 a game. Kobe Bryant and Andre Iguodala, both of whom are listed at 6 feet, 6 inches, are the only guards that get more boards than Westbrook.
What’s the most impressive thing about him is his energy. This guy really loves the game and brings a certain passion the team can’t get from Durant.
Bryant even said Westbrook has a little “mamba blood” in him after Westbrook dropped 37 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the 122-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday.
And there’s still people hating on him?
To quote Westbrook, “Bro what you talkin’ about man?
“I’m out man. Y’all trippin.'”Reach the columnist at mtesfats@asu.edu
(03/02/13 11:51pm)
ASU entered this week optimistic it could get two wins and revive its NCAA Tournament hopes.
(03/01/13 10:48pm)
Sparky the Sun Devil has a new look.
(02/28/13 5:36am)
The Arizona State men’s basketball team suffered yet another last second defeat this season. The Sun Devils (20-9, 9-7 Pac-12) fell to UCLA 79-74 in overtime in Pauley Pavilion Wednesday.
The Sun Devils had a chance to tie the game in overtime, but junior guard Evan Gordon and sophomore forward Jonathan Gilling missed consecutive three-pointers with less than 45 seconds left. UCLA freshman guard Jordan Adams then sunk two free throws to ice the game for the Bruins (21-7, 11-4 Pac-12).
Redshirt freshman point guard Jahii Carson was the only source of offense for ASU in the final five minutes of the game. Down 67-63 with 2:56 left, Carson scored the last seven points to tie the game at 70 and force overtime. Carson finished with 23 points, on 10-of-23 shooting, with seven assists and five rebounds.
The Bruins countered with their freshman three-headed monster in Adams, freshman forward Shabazz Muhammad and freshman wing Kyle Anderson. They scored 64 of UCLA’s 79 points and were the only Bruins in double figures. Anderson added 15 rebounds and four blocks to his line. The Bruins shot 42.4 percent in the game and 8-of-22 on three-pointers.
The Sun Devils were efficient to start the game up until the Bruins mixed in a zone late in the first half. Gilling had 18 points on six three-pointers and five rebounds. Senior wing Carrick Felix scrapped for loose balls and finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds.
The Bruins played without junior forward Travis Wear once again like they did the first time these teams faced off. Junior center Jordan Bachynski had one of his career-best games against UCLA earlier in the season without Wear, but he had just 10 points and seven rebounds Wednesday.
The Sun Devils’ chances at an NCAA Tournament bid are almost at an unreachable level following this loss. They have to win out and make a deep run in the Pac-12 Tournament, if not win the tournament and grab the automatic NCAA bid. This nearly impossible road starts Saturday at USC. Tip-off is 1 p.m. on Fox Sports Net and 860 AM.Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
(02/27/13 12:27am)
The ASU men’s basketball team’s trip to Los Angeles will be a short one Tuesday.
It might feel longer on the way back Saturday if the Sun Devils (20-8, 9-6 Pac-12) don’t chalk up some wins this week. ASU begins a two-game trip to the City of Angels to face UCLA Wednesday with its tournament hopes in jeopardy.
“There’s not a lot of words to describe our situation right now,” senior wing Carrick Felix said. “I still think we’re in a good place. We just got to battle in these last three games. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time and that game tomorrow is going to tell and let everybody know how we’re going to finish off the season.”
Felix said he checked online to see where ASU was projected by certain bracketologists. The Sun Devils are one of the first four teams out of the tournament on ESPN.com. Felix said the next three games are must-win games for his team.
“I do feel like we’re an NCAA (tournament) team right now, but I think we have some stuff that we need to polish and clean up,” Felix said. “We’re there, but we’re not at that elite status yet. I still think we have room to go and the season is not over yet. I think within these last three games and even the Pac-12 tournament, we can still become a great team.”
ASU’s first matchup against the Bruins (20-7, 10-4 Pac-12) wasn’t even close. The Sun Devils convincingly defeated the Bruins 78-60 at Wells Fargo Arena. UCLA did not have junior forward Travis Wear in the first meeting and he’s doubtful to play Wednesday according to ESPN.com. He’s second on the team in rebounds averaging 5.4 a game.
The Bruins have the worst defensive rebounding percentage in the conference at 67 percent. Without Wear, ASU outrebounded UCLA 49-29 in the first meeting. Junior center Jordan Bachynski had one of his best games this season with 22 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots.
“I think we’re far from our best,” redshirt freshman Jahii Carson said. “There really hasn’t been a special time where we’ve played our best ball in my opinion. We played one of our good games against Colorado, and we played one of our worst games against Utah. We played one of our good games against UCLA and one of our bad games against U of A.
“We really haven’t had a spurt where we’ve played excellent basketball, and I think this weekend we’re going to try and play our best basketball and people are going to see that on the floor.”
Tip-off is at 9:30 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
(02/24/13 8:06pm)
The emotions from Senior Night drifted out of Wells Fargo Arena in a span of 90 minutes.
(02/21/13 1:00pm)
(02/21/13 4:41am)
The ASU student section had "James Harden Beard Night" Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena.
In its attempt to honor former Sun Devil, students wore bandana beards and the section remained silent until the men’s basketball team scored its 13th point against Washington State.
Coach Herb Sendek didn’t receive the memo.
“I’m thinking to myself, 'This is the quietest arena I’ve ever been in,'” Sendek said of the silence, which lasted for the first 10 minutes of the first half. “There’s no energy. There’s no spirit. What should I do? It’s dead in here.”
Sendek can rely on senior wing Carrick Felix and redshirt freshman point guard Jahii Carson like the team has done all season. Felix and Carson gave the team a jolt to lift the Sun Devils (20-7, 9-5 Pac-12) over the Cougars (11-16, 2-12 Pac-12) 69-57.
The silence lingered until the 10:09 mark when Felix splashed a three-pointer to tie the game at 14. The crowd erupted following the strange gimmick and ASU responded on a 22-8 run to end the half.
“It was confusing,” Felix said of the silence. “I didn’t know what was going on. It was awkward at first. It was like, ‘Are we bringing enough energy or does our crowd just not like what we’re doing?’ It was fun.”
Felix and Carson have been the main source of energy for this team and scored the team’s first 16 points to start the game. They combined for 44 of ASU’s 69 points. Felix had his 11th double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Carson had 21 points, four rebounds, five assists and four turnovers.
Felix and Carson shot a combined 14-of-23 from the floor and made nine of the team’s 13 field goals at halftime.
“We just tried to bring the energy,” Carson said. “When he brings it, it gives me an extra boost to go out there and bring it. I think our whole team just capitalizes on all of our energy.”
The energy dipped in the second half despite ASU’s 36-22 lead at halftime. The Sun Devils committed 10 of their 15 turnovers in the final half. They were up by 21 with 12:27 left and saw their lead dwindle down to eight with 2:24 left. The Cougars outscored the Sun Devils 25-12 in the 10-minute stretch.
“We did let up in the second half defensively, and that’s something that we have to take a step back and look,” Felix said. “We’re down in February now and we can’t give up leads like that.”
ASU kept its lead by, of all things, free throws. It finished 8-of-8 in the final two minutes at the charity stripe and went 15-of-18 during the game. The Sun Devils were last in the conference shooting 61.6 percent this season at the free throw line.
“That’s definitely something we’ve been working on so to finally see progress at the free throw line was good for us,” Felix said. “Those free throws could’ve put Washington State potentially in a position to comeback.”
The Sun Devils will play their home finale Saturday at Washington. It will also be Senior Night for Felix, senior guard Chris Colvin and senior center Ruslan Pateev. Tip-off is at 9 p.m. on ESPNU and 620 AM.Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
(02/19/13 11:58pm)
The ASU men’s basketball team's tournament hopes still have a pulse.
(02/18/13 1:00am)
Michael Jordan celebrated his 50th birthday Sunday. It just so happened that this occurred at the same time LeBron James is playing out of his mind.
With these two worlds colliding, the Jordan vs. James debate has been brought up constantly these last two weeks. James has a great chance to not only become one of the greatest players of all-time, but to also dethrone Jordan as the greatest of all-time.
It’s remarkable that a player hyped-up as a teen not only lived up to the hype but has done things nobody expected him to do. The argument against James is he only has one ring or he’s won one title in three chances.
Go look back at how bad that Cleveland Cavaliers roster was that got swept by the San Antonio Spurs.
Nobody gives the Dallas Mavericks credit for the way they attacked the Miami Heat and James. And nobody gives James credit for making the only weakness in his game — working in the post — his biggest strength.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Heat win gets a three-peat in the next two years. The haters will hate and crack those hairline jokes. What they’ll fail to do sit back and enjoy what he has done during the last two years.
We are all witnesses.Reach the reporter at mtesfats@asu.edu
(02/17/13 6:03pm)
A look back at ASU's 63-62 overtime victory over No. 21 Colorado Saturday:
(02/17/13 4:11am)
Junior guard Evan Gordon didn’t see the result of the game’s final shot.
(02/14/13 3:14am)
The ASU men’s basketball team’s climb up the NCAA tournament mountain just got steeper Wednesday.
(02/13/13 2:11am)
The ASU men’s basketball team has five of its last seven games on the road.