Quickies

Kentucky point guard John Wall is the best freshman in the country playing like a fourth year senior. He is making John Calipari's young wildcat team look like the real deal. Calipari is saying his team has four losses, regarding multiple two point wins his team has been lucky to pull out. Fact is the fourth ranked wildcats just beat UCONN in Madison Square Garden behind another standout performance by Wall. He finished with 25 points including the go ahead bucket in the final minute. Husky's head coach Jim Calhoun put 6'9" Stanley Robinson on Wall in the final minutes, hoping the lanky forward would stop the true freshman. No luck, 9-0, next up Indiana at Assembly Hall.

Manny Pacquaio has agreed to a 50-50 split when he meets Floyd Mayweather on March 13th. The fight is anticipated to eclipse the all-time pay-per-view record of 2.44 million buys (Mayweather v. De La Hoya, 2007). The fight is being held in March, not May (which HBO preferred) due to Pacquaio's plans to run for a congressional seat in the Philippines. The only other issue still being addressed is location. One venue that will not be hosting the fight is Cowboy's Stadium in Arlington, TX. Although Jerry Jones is looking for big time sporting events to take place in his castle that seats more than 100,000, this fight won't be one of them.

Allen Iverson has been warmly welcomed by Philadelphia 76'ers fans. They loved him and are glad to see him return to the city he once put on his shoulders. However, Iverson isn't ready yet and although his life is playing basketball, he has no legs. Ty Lawson ran circles around him a couple nights ago and AI missed an open lay up last night against the Pistons. I'm happy to see him back and in Philly. I was happy to see him pass up the final shot and feed Andre Iguodala (who missed the shot). He will find his legs and eventually take 25 shots a game. Then, and only then will all be right in the world.

The Yankees acquired Curtis Granderson in a three team trade that headlined the winter meetings. They lost Phil Coke, Ian Kennedy and minor league standout Austin Jackson. They get Granderson who is an average outfielder and very balanced offensive player. He has some pop, speed and scored 100+ runs last year. His average fell in 2009 and he struck out 141 times, but those numbers don't stand out as much when countered with his power and stolen base numbers. I like this trade because it shows the Yankee's aggressive mentality even after winning the world series. I question giving up on Jackson, a youngster who has true potential. He looked like he would eventually become a Granderson type player with a low price tag. Oh well. Look for the Yankees to package Joba Chamberlain and Jesus Montero (Mike Piazza 2.0) in a deal for Toronto Blue Jay's ace Roy Halladay. If that happens, the 2010 rotation would be absolutely bananas.

Mike D'Antoni continues to keep Nate Robinson on the bench, his DNP total up to four. The Knicks are playing solid basketball and making a real effort on defense. This has been the main factor in Robinson's benching of late, he can't guard anyone. Yea he can score in bunches and brings real energy to the team, but the Knicks need to stop teams to win and having a 5'7 two guard makes that difficult. Could he run the offense better than the mediocre Chris Duhon, unfortunately no. He in no way is a pass first player. Duhon knows how to run the pick in roll on the NBA level and that often is the Knicks bread and butter. In addition, young Tony Douglas continues to play hard and brings a defensive presence to the team. Sorry Nate, but get comfortable.