Boomer’s Basketball “Full-Court” Press

Ok, now that we’ve hit MLK Day, it is time to start talking a little hoops and discuss the weekly CBB Top 25 and NBA Eastern Conference Standings. Along with that, I’ll be discussing Ohio State Buckeyes Men’s hoops and the Cleveland Cavs and give you an update on how the two (my favorites) teams seasons are going.

A Look at the Top 25 in CBB:

ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Syracuse (31)	19-0	775
2	Kentucky	17-1	742
3	Baylor	17-0	714
4	Duke	15-2	654
5	Missouri	16-1	629
6	Ohio State	16-3	619
7	Kansas	14-3	591
8	North Carolina	15-3	569
9	Michigan State	15-3	509
10	Murray State	18-0	449
11	Connecticut	14-3	416
12	Georgetown	14-3	410
13	Indiana	15-3	358
14	Florida	14-4	304
15	Mississippi State	15-3	288
16	San Diego State	15-2	282
17	Virginia	14-2	269
18	Creighton	16-2	260
19	Michigan	14-4	259
20	UNLV	16-3	252
21	Louisville	14-4	130
22	Marquette	14-4	119
23	Saint Mary's	17-2	100
24	Harvard	15-2	61
25	Illinois	15-3	58

This week UNC (most underachieving team so far this season) dropped 5 spots after getting hammered by 33 @ FSU. The Buckeyes after a 1-1 week just fell one spot to 6^th. Syracuse (which got another W, Monday night), Baylor (Lost, Monday night @ Kansas), and Murray State are the last remaining undefeated teams in the nation.

#6 Ohio State Buckeyes (16-3, 4-2 Big Ten)

After dropping another road game, this time out in Champaign, vs. Illinois, the Buckeyes won their rematch against Indiana on Sunday at The Schott, 80 to 63. In the win, Lenzelle Smith Jr. scored a career high 28 points on 10 of 12 shooting (4-5 3 PT) in a surprising effort in that matter. Honestly, Smith Jr. is the 5^th starter only because you need 5 and he plays good defense (scores 5.2 ppg). For Smith Jr. to have an outburst like this in the scoring column along with the 4 other starters, it makes things a little interesting heading into the meat of the conference schedule. Now, I don’t think Smith Jr. will be able to keep up the scoring, if he scores 28 points in the next 2 games total, I’ll be impressed, but it was nice to see him have a game like Sunday. Other scorers for the Buckeyes, the four starters next to Smith Jr.: Sully (16,9) Buford (12) Thomas (11) and Craft (8,7). The bench scored only 5 points and that’s 5 total points in the past two games, but that’s alright, I’ve come to the decision that the Buckeyes (IF they can stay out of foul trouble) have one of the best STARTING 5’s in the nation. The Buckeyes next game isn’t until Saturday night when they travel out to Lincoln to face the Cornhuskers of Nebraska (9-8, 1-5 Big Ten). Again, hats off to Lenzelle, keep up the hard work Buckeyes.

Check out the NBA Standings and see where your favorite team is:

Eastern Conference
EASTERN		W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
1	Chicago	13	3	.813	-	6-0	7-3	2-0	7-1	95.1	85.8	+9.3	Won 1	8-2
2	Orlando	10	3	.769	1 ½	5-1	5-2	3-0	6-2	98.4	92.9	+5.5	Won 5	8-2
3	Philadelphia	10	3	.769	1 ½	6-0	4-3	1-1	6-1	100.8	85.8	+14.9	Won 3	9-1
4	Indiana	9	3	.750	2	5-0	4-3	2-1	9-3	93.2	88.9	+4.3	Won 3	7-3
5	Atlanta	10	4	.714	2	6-1	4-3	4-1	9-3	98.4	90.9	+7.4	Won 3	7-3
6	Miami	9	4	.692	2 ½	4-1	5-3	3-1	6-1	107.2	99.2	+8.0	Won 1	6-4
7	Cleveland	6	7	.462	5 ½	2-2	4-5	1-1	4-3	96.4	96.2	+0.2	Lost 1	5-5
8	New York	6	7	.462	5 ½	3-3	3-4	2-1	5-3	93.9	95.2	-1.2	Lost 3	5-5
	Boston	4	8	.333	7	3-4	1-4	1-1	4-5	89.8	92.5	-2.8	Lost 5	4-6
	Milwaukee	4	9	.308	7 ½	4-1	0-8	1-0	2-2	91.8	96.1	-4.2	Lost 3	2-8
	Toronto	4	10	.286	8	2-4	2-6	1-2	3-8	86.0	91.9	-5.9	Lost 5	3-7
	Detroit	3	11	.214	9	2-5	1-6	1-5	3-8	85.0	94.8	-9.8	Lost 2	2-8
	New Jersey	3	11	.214	9	0-4	3-7	1-1	2-8	91.4	100.7	-9.3	Lost 2	2-8
	Charlotte	3	12	.200	9 ½	2-6	1-6	0-6	2-11	91.1	101.7	-10.7	Lost 2	2-8
	Washington	1	12	.077	10 ½	1-6	0-6	0-2	1-10	86.2	98.1	-11.8	Lost 4	1-9
Western Conference
WESTERN		W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
1	Oklahoma City	12	2	.857	-	6-1	6-1	1-1	9-2	100.1	95.1	+5.0	Won 7	8-2
2	LA Clippers	7	3	.700	3	6-1	1-2	2-0	4-2	99.3	95.7	+3.6	Won 3	7-3
3	LA Lakers	10	5	.667	2 ½	9-1	1-4	2-2	8-4	93.3	89.4	+3.9	Won 1	7-3
4	San Antonio	9	5	.643	3	9-0	0-5	3-1	9-3	100.6	97.0	+3.6	Lost 1	6-4
5	Utah	8	4	.667	3	6-1	2-3	1-1	4-4	94.7	94.7	0	Won 2	8-2
6	Denver	9	5	.643	3	6-2	3-3	1-2	5-5	104.1	98.4	+5.7	Won 1	7-3
7	Portland	8	5	.615	3 ½	6-1	2-4	2-0	6-4	97.9	94.8	+3.1	Won 1	5-5
8	Dallas	8	6	.571	4	6-2	2-4	1-1	4-5	92.6	88.5	+4.1	Lost 1	7-3
	Memphis	6	6	.500	5	5-2	1-4	2-1	4-5	93.6	93.7	-0.1	Won 3	6-4
	Houston	7	7	.500	5	5-1	2-6	1-2	3-6	97.4	97.8	-0.4	Won 4	5-5
	Golden State	5	8	.385	6 ½	3-4	2-4	0-3	0-5	95.6	99.2	-3.6	Won 2	3-7
	Minnesota	5	8	.385	6 ½	3-5	2-3	0-1	4-2	94.7	93.1	+1.6	Won 1	5-5
	Phoenix	4	9	.308	7 ½	3-4	1-5	1-1	3-5	94.1	97.1	-3.0	Lost 5	3-7
	Sacramento	4	10	.286	8	3-3	1-7	1-0	2-6	90.1	101.8	-11.6	Lost 3	3-7
	New Orleans	3	10	.231	8 ½	1-6	2-4	0-2	2-9	86.7	91.8	-5.1	Lost 4	1-9

Cleveland Cavaliers (6-6)

Hey, don’t look now, but the Cavs are sitting in the 7^th spot of the Eastern Conference. I know they have only played 12 games into this shorten 66-game season, but the Cavs (6-6) are definitely looking better in the 2^nd season post-LBJ. The Cavs are getting some balance scoring with rookie Kyrie Irving (17 ppg) and old journeyman Antawn Jamison (16.5 ppg) leading the team in scoring. The Cavs played on MLK Day beating the Charlotte Bobcats on the road, 102 to 94. The rest of the week looks like this for the Cavs (vs. Golden State 1/17, vs. Chicago 1/20, and @ Atlanta 1/21). As the season moves along, it will be interesting to see if the Cavs can keep pace and contend for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. (#avoidingthat26gamelosingstreak)

Now, here is a hilarious clip of Will Smith “playing” basketball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64neDXrcCAs&feature=related