Hughes’ big night equals big win for Cavs
February 12, 2008King Of His Castle, Indeed
February 12, 2008Yes, Dwight, that is a “40” next to “32”
If you were to tell me that LeBron James would put up 29 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists and was not the leading scorer in the game, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t believe you. It was simply one of those games where a player finds his rhythm. One of those games where everything seems to fall in, regardless if it’s from the floor (12-19), the three-point line (4-5), or the foul line (12-13). Larry Hughes, last night was your night. As a Cavalier fan, I am loving the 40-point outburst. It came at a time where we needed it most as we’re riddled with injuries and heading in to the All-Star break. It came on the second of back-to-back games, on the road, after the team had troubles even getting down to Orlando. And mostly, it came after a game where the team leader was questioning the mental toughness of the collective 12.
With that said, now we need to hope that Hughes doesn’t take this 40-point game to his head and starts launching 20-footers against the Spurs tomorrow. And it isn’t surprising that HeyLarryHughes… is looking to sell high. They make quite the sales pitch!
It is also worth mentioning that Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Damon Jones all played in last night’s contest. The fact that they didn’t exactly light up the box score is secondary to the fact that they were able to suit up. Could this break be any more timely?
Shifting gears, lets hope that last night’s debacle between Georgetown and Villanova takes some of the recent bad press away from the Big Ten. While youth and speed reign supreme in the football world, the USA Today feels that Purdue’s lack of experience – though leading the conference – does not cast a good light on the rest of the “Ten.”
Could the conference leader possibly not make the NCAA Tournament?
“We were talking three weeks ago about getting into the tournament,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Now, we feel we still have some work to do to get into the tournament, but our résumé keeps improving.”
Losing records for Iowa, Penn State, Illinois, Michigan and Northwestern are dragging down the top teams’ strength of schedule. Yet Painter isn’t worried that will hurt his team’s seeding in the NCAA tournament with Selection Sunday nearly a month away. Nor is he concerned that a 69-66 December loss to Wofford, 160th in the NCAA RPI, will haunt the Boilermakers.
Only time will tell.
Have a great Tuesday, all.
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