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Tied at 86 with 23.7 seconds remaining Wednesday night, Pistons coach John Kuester called time-out and designed a play for Stuckey.He drove against 76ers guard Andre Iguodola, who blocked his first attempt.New Jersey Devils sale
But Stuckey calmly gathered the loose ball and nailed a 9-foot baseline jumper to propel the Pistons (9-12) to a 90-86 victory and their third straight victory. The 76ers (5-17) dropped their 11th straight.It capped off a night in which he had 27 points, eight assists and five rebounds in 40 minutes. “You saw a lot of growth in a young man that I have been talking to you people about how good he can be,” Kuester said. “He’s somebody that’s got a chance to be one of the best guards in our league and he showed it tonight.“There’s no question I want the ball in his hands the entire time.”The scenario was similar to a situation last season when, at Houston, a play was called for Stuckey and he passed, leading to a missed shot. They eventually lost the game in overtime.But this time, the third-year pro didn’t hesitate. “The play was drawn for me so I had to make the play,” Washington Capitals JerseyStuckey said. “Coach wants the ball in my hands and he wants me to take the shot so I got to take it.”Stuckey was taking them all night as he was aggressively attacking the basket and went 9-for-17. But for as well as he played offensively, he also drew praise for his defense of Iguodola (18 points, 7-for-18 shooting).“Stuckey has taken it upon his shoulders to be one of the better defenders in the league,” Kuester said.As for Kuester’s accolades, Stuckey said he doesn’t even think about being the best. He’s just playing.“I just love to play basketball,” Stuckey said. “I don’t even think about that. “If I come out and play hard every night, things will take care of themselves. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do. We’re down right now three of our players (Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Tayshaun Prince) so I’m just going out there, trying to be aggressive and win games.”The 76ers still had a chance when Iguodola missed a wide-open triple with 3.9 seconds left. Stuckey corralled the rebound and made two free throws to account for the final margin.Washington Capitals Jerseys“It couldn’t have been any better than that,” said Allen Iverson, who scored 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting against the team he played with for the majority of last season. “We got everything that we wanted on that last play and more.“The shot just didn’t go down.”Contact VINCE ELLIS: vellis@freepress.com. Check out his Pistons blog at freep.com/section/blog16.
Thoughts on the Curtis Granderson-Edwin Jackson deal? Can the Detroit Tigers honestly portray themselves as contenders next season?There’s always been an unwritten pact between teams and their fans. Regardless of the sport, we buy the tickets and the gear and the food and the hype. In exchange, we expect certain things.Washington Capitals for men
When a manager or executive stinks, he should be fired. When the team is out of it, it is expected to trade big salary for prospects. And when the team is close to the playoffs, it is expected to go for it. It’s expected to make the aggressive moves necessary to push things over the top.The Tigers just violated the pact. You don’t get any closer to the postseason than the Tigers got this year. They were the best team in the division for most of 2009 and might have been a tough out in the postseason for the Yankees or any other team. But instead of identifying the one or two things that the team was missing and addressing those through free agency or a trade, the Tigers instead are bracing for an uncertain financial future and setting things up for 2011 and beyond more than they are for 2010. You can debate whether this constitutes a fire sale. But there is one fact that is not debatable: This trade is not about making the team better for next season. If the Tigers were all about pushing it over the top in 2010, Placido Polanco, Edwin Jackson and Curtis Granderson would be back. They may all have flaws (and in Polanco’s case, he is getting older) and all had poor stretches in 2009. But none was the biggest reason the Tigers failed to finish it off.That’s why this day is so depressing for Tiger fans — on two levels. [Page 2 of 2]Sure, part of it is the loss of Granderson, who is understandably one of the most popular athletes in Detroit. In a totally unscientific poll, I would argue that there were more No. 28s in the stands than there were No. 35s (Justin Verlander, Cy Young Award candidate) or No. 24s (Miguel Cabrera, MVP candidate) or even No. 15s (Brandon Inge, inexplicably popular). The Free Press headline this morning said it best: Who’s Your Tiger Now? In this economy, it’s a very risky decision to send your most popular player out of town. Ask Joe Dumars how that’s working out. Or more specifically, ask the Pistons’ ticket office how it’s working. I don’t think it will play well here.But this also is almost an announcement by the team that it’s not going for it this year. The Tigers won’t come out and say this, and they’ll try to spin it like they truly intend to contend in 2010. Men’s Los Angeles KingsBut their actions don’t validate their words. This is a fluky sport, and they still could be a factor next year. Any team that has Cabrera in the middle of the order and Verlander at the top of the rotation can make some noise. But we all knew that the team was flawed in ’09, and it’s now much more flawed. When I read in the paper that the Opening Day lineup might include Wilkin Ramirez, Scott Sizemore, Ryan Raburn, Gerald Laird and Adam Everett, I’m not exactly expecting a lot of souvenirs to be landing in the stands at CoPa. Sports is a business. This is just your daily reminder. But I am thinking about all the kids out there who are now learning this for the first time. Kids adored Granderson, and for good reason. They probably thought, the way a lot of us did, that he’d be a Tiger for life. And I’m sure at a lot of breakfast tables around Detroit this morning, there were sons asking their dads the same question: “Why would they trade my favorite player?” How do you explain a shrinking payroll, shoddy management and bad fiscal planning to a 6-year-old? I thought this morning about a huge Tiger fan named Timmy Vachon, who was tragically killed at the age of 7 in an accident at a ski slope in 2007. His favorite player — like so many in Detroit — was Curtis Granderson. Men’s los angeles kingsWhen Curtis heard of the accident, he contacted the family and wore a bracelet in games to honor the memory of Timmy. Here’s a link to a video by my man Matt Shepard that tells you the story of an amazing ballplayer and a more amazing young boy.Watch that video and then try telling your kids why the Tigers traded away a player like that. We all get that it’s a business. But a player like Granderson should trump that.Single-page viewNext Page1 | 2Previous Page
They seem to think the prolonged absences of Rip Hamilton (severely sprained right ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (ruptured disk) are evidence of an impending trade.NHL Jerseys
They point to the fact that Hamilton doesn’t sit with the team during games and say that’s proof.Well, Hamilton said before Wednesday night’s game against the 76ers that there’s a good reason for that — he’s getting treatment for the injury he suffered in the opener at Memphis.”It’s 24-7,” he told the Free Press.And he had some more good news — he’s feeling a lot better, and he expects to be back in the lineup by Jan. 1.Meanwhile, he is getting treatment for the ankle that was nearly broken. He has started taking part in lay-up drills (along with Prince) and is getting closer to participating in all stages of practice.Hamilton missed his 20th game in a row Wednesday night; Prince missed his 18th straight.Ben Gordon also sat out Wednesday with a left ankle sprain.NHL JerseyMANY THANKS: Coach John Kuester already has gotten a first-hand look at the effectiveness of Chauncey Billups, who returns to the Palace tonight with the Denver Nuggets.Kuester was an assistant under Larry Brown in 2004, when the Pistons won the NBA title, and he still marvels at Billups.”Chauncey was one of the consummate point guards,” Kuester said before the team’s morning shoot-around Wednesday. “In ‘04 he continually got better with Coach Brown in running the team, a focus on what he wanted to get accomplished defensively,NHL Jersey sale and he had a presence about him on the court that made it very comforting for all the players.”NOTEBOOK: Kuester has many ties to the Philadelphia area, including his daughter, Katie, who is a sophomore on the St. Joseph’s women’s team. She wasn’t able to attend the game against the Sixers because she had a game. … Prince made the short trip to Philadelphia.Contact VINCE ELLIS: vellis@freepress.com.
Jones’ Okemos team beat Lucas’ Orchard Lake St. Mary’s team in the Class A state basketball semifinals by one point.”Me and him have been competing for the last couple of years,” Lucas said, laughing. “In summer leagues, too. I most definitely hold that grudge because we were supposed to win that game and we lost by one.NHL Jersey sale
“Lucas has been on the winning end since coming to MSU, though, as the Spartans have beaten Oakland twice since Lucas arrived and every season since 2005. The Golden Grizzlies visit MSU tonight.MSU coach Tom Izzo said after the Spartans returned from The Citadel that he still wasn’t happy with the direction of the team to some degree, although the 7-2 record was close to what he expected.”I honestly hoped we would win that tournament and hoped we’d be 8-1,” Izzo said. “I thought that would be a best-case scenario. I thought the worst-case scenario could be 6-3. nhl jerseys wholesaleWe’re close where I thought we’d be in wins and losses, but not as close as I thought we’d be getting our chemistry together.”We’re not playing as well as a group. Durrell (Summers) didn’t score a point (against The Citadel), and we can’t have that. I think Kalin could play better. You’re really going to go as your best players go. Even Ray (Raymar Morgan) had good numbers, but he needed more energy.”Oakland always provides a challenge for MSU, and the Golden Grizzlies have several players — including Jones and Derick Nelson (Lansing Everett) — who are from the Lansing area.”They’ve got 2-3 players from this area — we recruited both of them at one time — I always think they have something to prove, but they’re both great guys,” Izzo said.nhl jersey “This is a good basketball team that plays a terrific schedule. They’ve been to Kansas, been to Wisconsin … so when you do that, you’re not afraid of being on the road. When you’re playing the home-state team, that gives you a little motivation.”Contact SHANNON SHELTON: . Check out her Spartans blog at
MSU followed a dismal performance in losing to Indiana with a thorough domination of No. 9 Xavier, 66-53, Wednesday night at the Breslin Center.”We play big against big teams,” said Allyssa DeHaan.cheap nhl jerseys
”We need to play like this every single game, no matter our competition.”Nobody was bigger — literally or figuratively — than 6-foot-9 DeHaan, who had 22 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots.”They don’t like to play defense for too long,” she said. “A big thing for us was to run completely through our offensive set and not settling for the first quick shots. It did get them in trouble, and we got good looks when we reversed the ball twice. They broke down.”Xavier, a tall team, had not trailed by more than five points in winning its first seven games. But the No. 21 Spartans (6-3) owned the boards, 54-30.”I knew it would be a battle that either team could win, but we knew that was a big key for us,” said MSU coach Suzy Merchant. “We had to win that battle somehow — plus-five, plus-eight. I thought our kids got after it a little bit harder.”Freshman Jasmine Thomas (10 points) led a 10-0 run in the first half that gave MSU the lead for good.2009 nhl jerseys The Spartans led, 35-26, at halftime.Xavier got within seven with 7 minutes left, but Thomas drilled a three-point shot that killed the Musketeers.”It was a risky move, but I felt that I wasn’t contested enough,” said Thomas. “I mostly did it because I was open, but I knew if I made it that it would be a mood and game-changer.”Taja Wilson came off the bench with six points and five rebounds and played physical defense against Xavier’s bigger inside players.”We can never rebound too much,” she said. “When anybody gets an opportunity, we need to take advantage. With the game plan, Coach set us up to do great things.”Men’s Montreal CanadiensXavier broke down just as MSU did against Indiana, which followed a win over No. 4 North Carolina.”When you look at Michigan State,” Xavier coach Kevin McGuff said, “I told my team if not once, 75 times, they were going to be very hungry coming into the game, and if we didn’t match their passion and energy we were going to be in for a long night, and we didn’t. Therefore, we got our butts kicked.”Contact MICK McCABE: mmccabe@freepress.com.
With David Foster blocking nearly everything that came within his lengthy reach, Utah didn’t need much more in a 68-52 win over Michigan on Wednesday night.Men’s Montreal Canadien
The Utes dominated the Wolverines inside and used a 9-0 run late in the second half to end any hopes Michigan had of a comeback.“I don’t think nobody came in here, at least on our team, thinking we were the underdogs,” said Brown, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.Henderson scored 22 points, the most in his nine-game career, and Foster added 10 points, five blocks and six rebounds for the Utes (5-4).Utah fans relished the win over the big-name opponent from the Big Ten and taunted the Wolverines with the chant “Just like football!” — referring to the Utes’ win at Michigan to open the 2008 season.The only blemish for Utah was turnovers. Utah had 10 at halftime and another seven in the second half, but was playing well enough in other areas to make up for the gaffes. Utah outrebounded Michigan, 41-25, and held the Wolverines (4-4) under 30 percent shooting in the second half.Since opening the season 3-0, Michigan has lost four of five.Manny Harris had 25 points and DeShawn Sims scored 10, but they were the only Michigan players to score in double figures.Harris was also Michigan’s leading rebounder with just six as the Utes controlled everything inside, outscoring the Wolverines, 38-16, in the paint.Michigan could not find a way around or over the arms of the 7-foot-3 Foster, who has 35 blocks in nine games this season.“Sometimes we got really great looks and he just changes them,” Michigan coach John Beilein said.Utah went 14-for-24 from the field in the second half while holding Michigan to eight field goals on 28 shots in the final 20 minutes.Men’s Montreal Canadiens discountThe Wolverines played without starting guard Zack Novak (stomach flu) and went to the foul line more than twice as many times as Utah, but made only 11 of 20 free throws.[Page 2 of 2]Luka Drca had 11 points and six assists for Utah.The Wolverines were able to get within a point midway through the second half, but Utah stopped that with a 6-0 run. Then when Michigan threatened again late in the game and was within four points, Utah broke it open with nine straight points.Foster banked in a jumper to put Utah up, 57-51, Brown hit a three-pointer and then stole the ball and took it for a layup through traffic that put Utah up 62-51 with 3:44 left in the game.“I just knew that toward the end of the game I had to be more aggressive. I had to try and close the game out and I was able to do that,” Brown said. “I hit that three. I got my confidence going and I was ready to win the game.”Brown’s steal and drive gave Utah its largest lead and Foster followed that with a layup with 3:13 to go, increasing the run to 9-0.Henderson, a freshman, had never topped the 18 points he scored in his college debut in Utah’s season opener against Idaho. He had 16 points at halftime Wednesday, including four three-pointers, and finished the game 9-for-18.“I’ve been waiting for a game like this since I got here because I know I’m capable of doing it,” Henderson said. “For it to happen against Michigan was great.”Men’s Pittsburgh PenguinsThe Utes had pulled away at the end of the first half with a 12-6 run to end the period. Kim Tillie converted two three-point plays during the run and Jay Watkins added an exclamation dunk to give the Utes a 35-27 lead at halftime. The Utes outrebounded the Wolverines, 22-9, and outscored Michigan, 18-8, in the paint.Single-page viewNext Page1 | 2Previous Page