Author Archives: itgoestoxi

Last Night in Maui

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The Butler Bulldogs defeated the Marquette Golden Eagles last night in the first game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. Butler needed a ridiculous one-handed three-pointer from Rotnei Clarke at the buzzer to steal a 72-71 win. Click here for the highlights, including Clarke’s answered prayer.

After missing the NCAA tournament last season following consecutive national runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011, Butler looks to rebound this year. The Bulldogs with have to do so in a much tougher conference, though; they have departed the Horizon League and joined the Atlantic 10. This is a plus for local fans of coach Brad Stevens and his crew; Butler will play in Richmond on March 2 against fellow A-10 rookie VCU.

Back to Marquette for a minute: in the loss to Butler, two local players, junior Davante Gardner (Suffolk / King’s Fork) and freshman Jamal Ferguson (Norfolk / Maury) saw action for the Golden Eagles. Ferguson played only a single minute, but Gardner made the most of his 16 minutes off the bench, filling the box score with 12 points, 7 rebounds (5 offensive), and a blocked shot (also, 4 personal fouls). Gardner and Ferguson are doing the 757 proud: Ferguson has appeared in all four games for the 3-1 Eagles, and Gardner is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder despite not starting a single game.

Local fans who want to catch a Marquette game in person are in luck; the Eagles play Georgetown at the Verizon Center in D.C. on February 11. Road trip!

Welcome to the League, Kid

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Jonas Valanciunas, the fifth pick in the 2011 draft, made his NBA debut this season and is now four games into his NBA career.

Game number four, a 108-88 road loss to the Thunder, included the following lowlight for Mr. Valanciunas:

 

 
How do you say “posterized” in Lithuanian?

So Good to Be Back

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KB hams it up on Media Day. AP photo courtesy of The Basketball Jones.

Rejoice! Basketball is back!

The NBA opened its regular season on Tuesday night, with lots of big national stories right away, but two relatively low-profile teams, the Golden State Warriors and the Orlando Magic, may be of most interest to local fans.

Orlando opened its season last night with a surprising 102-89 home victory over the Denver Nuggets. Although Glen “Big Baby” Davis and J.J. Redick led the way for the Magic, the big news here is that Kyle O’Quinn of Norfolk State made his NBA debut, becoming the fourth NSU Spartan to play in the league. Although O’Quinn played just three minutes, he filled up the box score with a field goal attempt, a personal foul, a defensive rebound, and a turnover.

Out west, the Golden State Warriors have started their season 1-1, opening with a road win over the Suns, and then returning home for a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. ODU alum Kent Bazemore has made the Warriors’ 15-man roster, but has been inactive for each of the first two games. The Warriors play on the road against the Clippers tonight; Bazemore may be activated in place of Kareem Rush, who was scheduled for an MRI today following a gruesome knee injury in the game against the Grizzlies. (Click here to see the injury, if you’re so inclined. If not, watch the clip anyway and stop it after the sick reverse dunk by Rudy Gay.)

Stay tuned to follow as we await Bazemore’s debut and O’Quinn’s first NBA points.

Basketball is back!