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02/10/2007 -
Gilbert Arenas settled one part of a grudge from last summer with a 54-point performance in December. He's predicting the next part of his settling of the score will go just as well as the first.
After claiming in a blog entry that he'll reach the 50-point mark again Sunday, the star guard leads the Washington Wizards against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Verizon Center.
Arenas made his prediction in an entry on NBA.com entitled "Time to Get my 50 Points vs. Portland." The desire to score 50 against the Blazers isn't random, as Arenas sees it as payback for anyone who might have had anything to do with his not making the U.S. national team for the world championships last summer.
Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni and Portland coach Nate McMillan served as assistants on that team, and Arenas unleashed his frustrations against D'Antoni on Dec. 23, scoring 54 points as the Wizards snapped the Suns' 15-game winning streak with a 144-139 overtime victory.
Arenas pounded his chest in that game and appeared to stare into the stands at Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo, the head of USA Basketball, and at D'Antoni several times during the contest.
Arenas said afterward that he wasn't staring at D'Antoni and didn't know Colangelo was there, but his blog post seems to indicate that last summer's snub is definitely on his mind.
"Even if you don't watch the game, you're going to look at the box score to see what happened," wrote Arenas, second in the league with 29.4 points per game. "My last one o'clock game was 51 against Utah. So I'm feeling pretty frisky."
Arenas said before Washington's rematch with Phoenix in January that he wasn't looking to repeat his first performance against the Suns, adding, "The next team is Portland. One down, one to go."
D'Antoni's joked after Arenas' spectacular effort against his team that "He's gonna kill Duke," a reference to Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, who as head coach of the U.S. team cut Arenas. The Wizards guard reacted by saying he'd 'score 84 or 85' against Duke.
All three of Arenas' 50-point games have come this season, and he had a personal-best 60 in an overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 17.
Arenas' coach and teammates didn't seem too thrilled by the prediction following Washington's 110-83 loss to San Antonio on Wednesday, which matched its largest margin of defeat of the season.
"I'm not going to comment on that," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said of the blog entry. "He talked about that. That's for him. I'm concerned about how we should perform as a team."
Washington looked listless in suffering its third loss in four games without starting forward Antawn Jamison, who's sidelined for three-to-six weeks with a knee injury. The Wizards had won seven of eight.
"We're going to have no distractions," forward Caron Butler said. "We just want to play basketball and win the game. Obviously, (Arenas) made statements, and it is what it is.
"Coach is just saying the main thing is to win games - we're not going to feed into an extra hype."
Arenas had 29 points against the Spurs, but Butler was the only other Wizards player in double figures with 15.
"That was just a flat-out, 48-minute, thorough beating - right from the beginning to the end," Jordan said.
While Butler and the Wizards would like to avoid distractions, they added one more to Arenas' prediction and Jameson's absence Saturday. Etan Thomas was suspended two games by the team for throwing a punch at Brendan Haywood in practice Friday, the latest clash between two players competing for time at center.
With Jameson already out, the suspension leaves Washington even more thin in the frontcourt, and Jordan admitted after Saturday's practice that the feud is one more thing for his team to deal with.
``For the moment, yes. But after everything is said and done and everything is taken care of, no,'' he said. ``We had a morning meeting, watched film, moved on to practice and we had a very good practice today. We addressed various things at the meeting.''
Forward Michael Ruffin, who has played only 10 games this season because of a foot injury, could return to help Washington in a limited role Sunday.
Like Washington's best player, Portland star Zach Randolph may also be using a snub to motivate him.
The power forward, who averages 24.3 points per game, had 40 points and nine rebounds Friday to lead the Blazers (21-30) past Charlotte 108-100 in overtime in the opener of a four-game road trip.
"I feel like I'm up there with the best players in the league," said Randolph, who was left off the Western Conference All-Star team.
"I guess I just get no respect doing the same thing other guys are doing. They're on winning teams and I understand that. But we're going to continue to get better and I'll get the respect I deserve."
Randolph has struggled against Washington in his career, managing only 12.3 points per game in eight meetings - his second-lowest average against any team.
The Blazers and Wizards split their series in 2005-06, with each club winning at home.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP
With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.
There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to check out the complete odds for NFL MVP as well as all of the new football related futures. With the popularity of NFL futures, these betting lines will be sure to change as the money comes in; get the early sports lines now.
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Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)
"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."
Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins
There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.
Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins
Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.
USC Trojans - 10.5 wins
A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.
Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy
Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.
"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."
Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1
The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.
Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1
If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.
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