Although the Celtics swept the Atlanta Hawks on back-to-back nights last week, the Hawks impressed me with their play. I came to the conclusion that Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson is one of the only (and last) pure scorers in the league. This guy can flat-out shoot. Most of the big-time scorers in the NBA right now, T-Mac, Iverson, Kobe, are great athletes who learned how to score, but Robinson is different. He doesn't try to beat defenders off the dribble or use his speed and quickness; he comes off screens, pulls up for jumpers, and stops and pops all over the court. He is also one of the few jump-shooters left in a league full of set-shooters and slashers.
Big Dog was a star at Purdue where he scored early and often and was drafted first overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1994, ahead of Jason Kidd and Grant Hill. While Kidd has received recognition due to his recent success in New Jersey, Robinson has been an afterthought when people consider the best players in the league. Only once in his eight seasons has Robinson averaged less than 20 points per game, and that was during an injury-shortened season in 1998-99. Granted, Robinson's Bucks never produced results in the playoffs, even with talented teammates such as Ray Allen and Sam Cassell. But remember that Kidd's Mavericks and Suns teams didn't exactly frighten the Western Conference powers. Robinson deserves to be an all-star and to be mentioned as one of the top scorers and players in the league. In my opinion, Robinson is this generation's Mitch Richmond: not just a great athlete, but a basketball player who has the ability to score at will.
The Celtics swept the Hawks last week, then dismantled the hapless Bulls and lost a heartbreaker to the Raptors. The Bulls held Antoine Walker scoreless in the first half. But Tony Delk and Paul Pierce picked up most of the slack, scoring 20 and 30 points respectively. However, both Delk and Pierce were overshadowed by the play of forward Tony Battie, who scored 16 points and grabbed 9 boards.
Battie has shown glimmers of stardom during his four seasons in Boston, but this year he is finally becoming the player the Celtics envisioned to be when they traded for the former number five pick. A 6'10" center, Battie has unlimited potential and is one of the main reasons for the Celtics' 11-5 start this year. His coach in Denver, Dan Issel, called him "El Busto," but Battie has made a new name for himself in a center-deprived league. So far this season, Battie is averaging nine points, eight rebounds and almost two blocks per game and is shooting an incredible 57 percent from the field.
BCS: Barely Consistent System
Another December has arrived, and every college football fan knows that December has recently brought Bowl Championship Series (BCS) controversy. Surprisingly, only two teams remain undefeated this season: Miami and Ohio State. With two unbeaten teams, both playing competitive schedules, one would assume there is no reason to worry about the BCS messing up. If only it were that easy. College football is unlike any other college or professional sport. One loss can totally unravel everything that preceded it.
Since its inception, the BCS rankings have been one big "What if." This year, with only one week left in the regular season, there are several ways the Bowl picture might unfold.
If Miami wins next week against Virginia Tech, then everything will turn out perfectly with two undefeated teams-the BCS will be rendered useless. However, if Miami loses next week, which one-loss team will play Ohio State? Decent cases can be made for Iowa and Georgia (teams playing as well as anyone in the country), as well as for twice-beaten USC, which destroyed a formidable Notre Dame team on Saturday. Of course, it could always be Miami. The BCS was created to make decisions like this, but its decisions come with as much, if not more controversy than the decisions rendered by the old arbitrary system.
My biggest problem with the BCS is its over-reliance on other rankings. The BCS rankings use the AP rankings, the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll rankings and seven other computer rankings in its calculations. With so many possible outcomes, there are more than enough opportunities for problems to occur. A team could be either bounced from, or catapulted into a BCS Bowl because of an extraordinarily low or high ranking in any of the other nine polls.
Another problem with college football rankings in general is the importance of the timing of a team's loss or losses. A team that loses a game early in the season is likely to drop immediately in the polls, with the opportunity to slowly rise as the season continues. However, a team that loses late or even in the middle of its season will suffer the same plummet in the polls without much of a chance to rise. For example, if two teams in the same conference begin their seasons with the same national ranking and lose to and defeat the same conference opponents, they should ideally remain similarly ranked. However, if one of those teams loses in September, and the other loses in November, the team that lost in September will likely be ranked higher at the end of the season. To make matters worse, what if these two teams are competing for a BCS Championship Bowl? This is exactly what could happen this week if Miami loses to Virginia Tech. Will Miami fall enough in the polls to allow an Iowa or Georgia team to sneak into the National Championship game or will Miami's 11 victories before the loss be enough to keep them in National Championship contention? Let the controversy begin.
Everyone pray that Miami wins next weekend so that the two undisputedly best teams in the country can play for the National Championship. And everyone pray that eventually the NCAA will come to its senses, eliminate the BCS and create a playoff format with at least 8 teams.