Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Reuters fileA duo needing to be more dependable
Tony Allen is the Celtics most explosive player off the bench. He has the basketball instincts to do some marvelous things. He’s quick, he can jump, and he gets to the rim. He’s not a great shooter, but he doesn’t have to be since he can get by his defender and draw a foul in doing so.
Allen is a superb athlete who excels in the open court, but his production is not consistent enough. It’s never known when the switch is on with him. On some nights he can stink up the arena. If Rivers can get Allen to understand how to play more consistently and more productively, the shooting guard would give Boston a big pop off the bench.
House is the team’s most dependable reserve, but he’s basically a gunslinger. He’s either making shot after shot or missing shot after shot. No question he can shoot, but he’s streaky. House has come up big in some games but the regular season is so drastically different than the playoffs that he may or may not give the Celtics what they need come the postseason.
Defense can’t do it all
The Celtics rank No. 1 in the key defensive categories. They have played outstanding defense and deserve much credit for that. Their thought is if we defend, we can win, we can beat anybody. But here’s a bulletin to Boston: they can’t beat any team on defense alone come the playoffs. They need offense to go with defense and if they are not getting that offense from their Big Three it will be time to cue the bench and hope for the best.
The playoffs expose excellent defensive teams because under the weight of the postseason grind these teams are unable to maintain top level defensive intensity and a defense-first attitude for an entire game if they are not scoring the ball. If Boston goes through a stretch in a game where its shots are not falling, its vaunted defense can go out the window.
Detroit has the best chance to come out of the Eastern Conference because not only do the Pistons have the most balanced attack, they are using their bench the best and getting the most out of it. Detroit has gotten more from its reserves than has Boston and that’s something that has to change if the Celtics are going to do big things in the postseason.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.
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Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.