NBA Finals Game 4 Journal

5:56 - I want to make it clear that I am rooting for LA because I can't stand Orlando's fanbase. A large majority of them probably don't realize that their team is even in the Finals because they're too busy buying Mickey Ears at DisneyWorld.

And you know what? They use the theme song to CSI for introductions, and had a MC who had a checkered suit that only a guy who still lived with his mom would wear. And the pregame intros were rather quiet. Remember when Seattle was in the Finals and you couldn't here the PA Announcer before the game? Oh yeah but they don't have a team anymore. No I'm not bitter... not in the least.

6:00 - They just showed a montage of NBA Champions and I think the Spurs got shown for roughly .02 seconds. I'm so glad the league is sweeping them under the rug as if their championships never happened.

6:06 - Considering the Dallas Cowboys reputation with the the structure strength of their buildings, do you really want the 2010 All-Star Game being played at Texas Stadium.

6:10 - Game starts, and they talk about how Kobe Bryant looked tired in the last Finals game - even though he was pretty much their entire offense in the first half of that game. How can anyone be "tired" is this day and age with luxury hotels, mega-conditioning, and plush conditions all around. It's not like he had to get off his construction worker job for the day to play basketball.

6:13 - Dwight Howard -- looks like what some football players want to look like with their shoulder pads on -- without any such assistance.

6:15 - Lamar Odom checks into the game. I really enjoy watching this guy play, I'm so glad he could finish his Butterfinger in time for the game.

6:21 - Commercial break shows Adam Sandler in a movie called "Funny People" ... how ironic.

6:24 - A shot of Amway Arena, does that place have the smallest parking lot in the NBA. I count three mini-vans, whatever Tiger Woods drove in on and Dwight Howard's groupie-wagon. That's it. Where does everyone else park? The Popeye's parking lot?

6:28 - Dwight Howard's parking spot must be at the free throw line because that's where he's been at for the entire game.

6:29 - Some guy from Congo checks in for the Lakers, meanwhile Adam Morrison doesn't make the playoff roster.

6:31 - With the score 18-15 Magic, Trevor Ariza gets called for a technical. In the first quarter. For an emotional outburst. Pace yourself. You'll be re-arranged JJ Reddick's facial structure by the third.

6:33 - Courtney Cox's latest project... Cougar Town! Just what I want to watch, old 40-year women hit on young guys! I can do that by going to a Spokane bar, so why would I need to watch this on TV?!?!?! (By the way I got groped by a Cougar down in Tri-Cities during the Shock game. Long story. Very Akward. And Weird)

6:33 - Stan Van Gundy quotes Greg Popavich during the pregame talk in some footage shown to us by ESPN. I wonder if Stan will be sporting the serial killer beard by game six.

6:37 - Riddle me this. So if the Lakers win the NBA Championship, Luke Walton will officially have more championship rings than Lebron James. Wow.

6:39 - Here's some insight - Orlando complains a lot about the calls... as in every single one.

6:44 - End of first quarter and we have our first WNBA Commercial, and Phil Jackson calls the officiating bogus. All right! Three more quarters to go of this.

6:50 - J.J. Reddick is playing well ... and I just wrote that.

6:56 - 37-27 Rashard Lewis hits a three to give Orlando its biggest lead of the series (they would lead by as much as 12 in the game). That's what you get for leaving the best 3 point shooter on the X-box version of NBA Jam open. Seriously.

6:56 - Another reason I hate Orlando fans. Those handclapper noise makers. ITS CALLED YOUR HANDS! SLAP THEM TOGETHER!!! How lazy has America gotten?

7:03 - Kobe's pregame interview shown by ESPN ends with Jeff Van Gundy saying that he sounds like a coach. Good god, if that happened not only would I be glued to my tv set for every single game but I think we would see the first ever occurance of the coach electing himself to take the technical foul free throw shot.

7:10 - HALFTIME

7:22 49-37 Magic, just for reference

7:47 - 51-44 Magic, the Lakers have definitely picked it up and Trevor Ariza can't miss.

7:55 - 55-54 LA's first lead.

7:59 - Adam Morrison sighting! He's in a bible salesman suit awkwardly high fiving Trevor Ariza, who doesn't actually know his name and wonders why Morrison is trying to get him to buy five copies of the Scientology Fundamentals.

8:02 - Chris Tucker has gotten fat. AND GEEZUZ! IS THAT TIGER WOOD'S WIFE? Holy hotness. I guess that is what you get when you're the best golfer on the planet. Ever.

8:05 - Magic commit their 15th turnover. Hey it's like the late 90s Seattle Seahawks!

8:07 - Things get physical, Howard grabs Kobe from behind, tempers flare, words are spoken and it's at this point that I realized that the refs need to let these guys play and stop freaking out every time there's any sort of contact. Howard and Kobe were members of the USA Gold Medal team. They're friends. They're playing for an NBA Championship so things are going to get chippy but at the end of the day, they're still going to be friends. So don't get your panties all in a twist when these hyper-competitive guys start speaking words to one another.

8:18 - Derek Fisher is still in the league?

8:20 - I love the random Kobe "I'm MAD!" cuts that ESPN does at random moments of the game.

8:37 - Jameer Nelson makes his first good play of the game with four minutes to go in the entire game. A pass to Howard for the dunk. Boy, I'm sure the Magic are glad he's finally coming around eh? Facing a possible 3-1 deficit and Nelson can pass now? Wowee!

8:49 - Three pointer, three pointer, three pointer...

8:50 - Dwight Howard misses both free throws. Yowza. This will come back to bite the Magic. That would have iced the game and instead it's 87-84 with 10.8 seconds to go. Orlando leads

8:53 - Derek Fisher is in fact, still in the league. Despite being 0-5 in the game from behind the three point line, he his a three-pointer with four seconds to go.

OVERTIME -Time for me to get my antacid pills

9:00 - Last Finals to have two overtime games? Boston vs. LA in 1984. That says something about where the NBA is right now as a league. So entertaining.

9:04 - Pau Gasol has the best "WHAAAAT?!?!" face. He must react wonderfully when his girlfriend tells him that she's pregnant or has 15 aliases.

9:06 - Second WNBA ad... and it's funny that they show them playing in packed Arenas.

9:09 - DEREK FISHER FOR THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! ... and did anyone notice Jameer Nelson get hit by Kobe Bryant's elbow of fury when he passed it out to Fisher? Me neither.

(Is this 2002 all over again with Fisher hitting big threes for the Lakeshow? Should I be listening to 98 degrees and Outkast? Can I get a copy of "The Spy Who Shagged Me"?

9:12 - 96-91 Pau Gasol breakaway dunk and he proceeds to akwardly chest bump everyone on the floor, even Adam Morrison, who drops the bibles he's selling. Game is over... now they just need to run out the clock.

9:14 - Gasol gets another bucket but is hard fouled by Pietrus. A very cheap shot by him because the only reason Gasol went for the bucket was because the Magic were still defending hard even though there was like three seconds left. They got chippy afterward, I'm pretty sure Gasol called Pietrus a "Mother Goose" or something like that.

99-91 Lakers win.

And Derek Fisher has that "I'm dating your hot ex-girlfriend" grin going on.

Has anyone noticed how Kobe Bryants muppet sounds and looks nothing like him?

I love Kobe Bryant right now.

Not only does the Game 1 victory by the Lakers allow me to leave work tomorrow thanks to a victory by a shrewd bet, but have you seen the Lebron-Kobe muppet commercials? Amazingly funny even though the Kobe muppet looks more like Tim Meadows.

But, like every rational NBA fan, I realize there's some baggage that comes with the black mamba, that's why I've decided to translate some of the NBA Finals post-Game 1 quotes for your reading pleasure.

Here's what they really meant...

"I just want it so bad, that's all," Bryant said. "I just want it really bad."

(I just want a bus to hit Shaq. That's all I'm asking.)

"This is a resilient team," he said. "They've been through a lot of adverse situations before. This is nothing new to them. We've got to forget about this and move on."

(Thanks for playing Orlando, if you even think about making this a series I will Kill Bill your a** so quickly, you'll all look like Hedo Turkoglu)

"We've never had a shooting night this bad," Howard said. "We've just got to come out and play a lot harder than we did tonight."

(And I've not got to go work on my lats and shoulder muscles. See you all in the gym!)

"He was great. He was tremendous," said Van Gundy, who felt his team did a poor job defending the Lakers' pick and roll. "We were giving him too much space on his pull-up jumpers and he did a good job of attacking us. I know this: We are a lot better than we showed."

(Good god, how the hell do we stop Kobe Bryant? Where are Tonya Harding's bodyguards when you need them?)

"We've just got to keep our foot on the gas and keep our head down and just keep on working," Bryant said.

(I'm going to rip Dwight Howard's face off and wear it a la Hannibal from "Silience of the Lambs" - hellloooo Claurice....)

... On second thought, I don't like Kobe Bryant

JustSON the Numbers: Dwight Howard

Here at Just South of North we have noticed a recent trend. That trend has been whatever person or team that has been featured on JustSON the Numbers has struggled after we have featured them.

Johnny Cueto of the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1, 1.65 ERA before being featured, he now sits at 4-2 with a 2.37 ERA and his cat died. Then Kasey Keller, 0.19 goals against average before, it's now gone up to 0.60 goals against average.

Even more recently the San Diego Padres had a 10 game winning streak snapped by JustSON because we had to mention it, and Joe Mauer of the Twins was featured sporting a .429 batting average, well he is 1 for his last 7 since.

With all that being said I figured I'd help out the NBA to prolong the Orlando Magic versus Cleveland Cavalier series and focus this edition on Dwight Howard. Since Howard has been such a big factor in this series, as he goes so goes the Magic, which isn't strange since he is the star of the team.

In breaking down Howard's numbers one thing is apparent, if he doesn't score they don't win, at least in the Cleveland series. The only game the Magic have lost in this series is the game that Cleveland managed to control him and that was in game 2. Howard managed only 8 shots in that game converting on just 3 of them and he went 4 of 8 from the foul line, far and away his worst shooting game. The Cavaliers should consider themselves lucky because even though they held Howard to just 10 points (about 10 below his playoff average) in the game, it took a miracle three pointer by LeBron James at the buzzer to finish off Orlando.

If you throw out Howard's dismal game 2 scoring performance he would be averaging 27 points a game in this series as well as an average of 14.7 shots per game and his free throw percentage would be at about 77%.

It appears that if Howard can stay out of foul trouble the Magic should be able to hold off Cleveland tonight at 7:45 pm eastern time on ESPN to advance to their 2nd NBA Finals in the teams history.

Well good luck beating Cleveland tonight Orlando, if the JustSON Jinx holds up it's going to be tough.

If anyone has any requests for this column let us know. I don't discriminate, no matter the sport or the stat.

JustSON the Numbers: NBA Draft Lottery

Tonight on ESPN at 8:30 pm eastern time in tropical Secaucus, New Jersey the NBA will hold the annual draft lottery. This installment of JustSON the Numbers will look into the history of this event, which began in 1985 after the Houston Rockets allegedly tanked games during the 1984 year so they would be able to select Hakeem Olajuwon (wasn't there a guy from North Carolina that came out that year?).

The first incarnation of the lottery had the non-playoff teams all with an equal chance at getting the #1 pick. In the '85 lottery the New York Knicks got the top spot (people to this day still swear this was rigged) and the Golden State Warriors who had the worst record got the 7th and final lottery selection. In 1987 the NBA decided to hold the lottery for only the 3 worst teams and the remaining non-playoff teams would select in order of finish (this ensured that the worst team would secure no lower than the 4th selection, the second worst would get no lower than the 5th, etc., that is still how the lottery process works).

In 1990 the NBA changed the lottery system again. At the time there were 11 non-playoff teams and the worst team had the best odds with 11 chances, second worst had 10 chances and so on. Then again in 1994 the lottery was altered when the worst team had a 25% chance of winning and the best non-playoff team had .5% chance of winning with the percentage odds increasing the worse the team was (unless there were any ties).

Since 1994 when the NBA changed the lottery to give the worst team an even better chance at getting the top pick, it hasn't always happened. Actually it's only happened 3 times, in 1996 with the Philadelphia 76ers (they were actually 2nd worst but the Memphis Grizzlies were barred from getting the 1st pick in '96 and '97 because they were an expansion team), 2003 the Cleveland Cavaliers (they were tied for the worst record this season) got the top spot and then again the following year when the Orlando Magic were first to select.

It doesn't get any better for the second worst team, the only times they've gotten the 1st overall was 1994 with the Milwaukee Bucks (they were tied for 2nd worst) and again in 1997 when the San Antonio Spurs (again because of the Grizzlies) got the first ping-pong ball drawn. If you're keeping score at home that is 5 out of 14 (about 36%) times since 1994 that the worst or second worst teams got the #1 overall.

Teams finishing 3rd worst overall have actually had as good a chance as the worst overall teams to get the first pick. From 1998 to 2001 it happened three times, 1998 the powerhouse Los Angeles Clippers, 1999 the Chicago Bulls and 2001 with the Washington Wizards. 8 of the 14 (57%) lotteries since 1994 have had one of the top three worst teams take home the 1st selection. Oddly enough the 4th worst team has never won the lottery since '94, that's good for us Oklahoma City Thunder haters since they finished 4th worst this season and have an 11.9% chance to win the lottery.

Since the 2005 lottery no team that has finished in the top 4 worst teams has won the lottery, '05 was the 6th worst Milwaukee Bucks, '06 the 5th worst Toronto Raptors, '07 the 7th worst Portland Trail Blazers and then last year the 9th worst Chicago Bulls who had only a 1.7% chance to win the lottery.

The Orlando Magic are the only team that has won the lottery three times since it began in 1985. Multiple teams have won it twice. Below is a list of teams that have won the lottery and who they selected.

3 Times: Orlando Magic ('92 Shaquille O'Neal, '93 Chris Webber and '04 Dwight Howard)

2 Times: Chicago Bulls ('99 Elton Brand and '08 Derrick Rose)
Cleveland Cavaliers ('86 Brad Daugherty and '03 LeBron James)
Los Angeles Clippers ('88 Danny Manning and '98 Michael Olowokandi)
Milwaukee Bucks ('94 Glenn Robinson and '05 Andrew Bogut)
New Jersey Nets ('90 Derrick Coleman and '00 Kenyon Martin)
San Antonio Spurs ('87 David Robinson and '97 Tim Duncan)

1 Time: Charlotte Hornets ('91 Larry Johnson)
Golden State Warriors ('95 Joe Smith)
Houston Rockets ('02 Yao Ming)
New York Knicks ('85 Patrick Ewing)
Philadelphia 76ers ('96 Allen Iverson)
Portland Trail Blazers ('07 Greg Oden)
Sacramento Kings ('89 Pervis Ellison)
Toronto Raptors ('06 Andrea Bargnani)
Washington Wizards ('01 Kwame Brown)

In conclusion it appears there is a 57% chance that either the Kings, Wizards or Clippers will end up with the right to select Blake Griffin #1 overall, and that the Thunder will not get the 1st pick. If Oklahoma City does get the 1st pick this will further add to the speculation that Clayton Bennett and the rest of the Thunder ownership group sold their soles to the devil.

If anyone has any requests for this column let us know. I don't discriminate, no matter the sport or the stat.

Celtics-Magic Game Seven Log

Since I got home late for the Lakers-Rockets Game 7 and that was an absolute sleeper of a game, I decided to do a game log for the match-up between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic. So here goes.

5:08 - The TD Banknorth Garden is hopping in Boston. Although I really wonder what the old, un-sponsored venue in Boston would have been like under these circumstances.

5:10 - Rondo hits a three for the first points of the game and the Garden explodes. Say what you will about March Madness but the collective experience of a home crowd in the NBA playoffs beats a half-empty football stadium any day.

5:14 - Dwight Howard gets away with a foul on Rondo. I love the collective crowd "we just saw what you got away with on the jumbo tron" noise. You know, the "awwww-AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" It's classic.

5:15 - Somebody might want to guard Howard. The Magic are getting him the ball now and he thinks this is the All-Star dunk contest.

5:22 - The sideline reporter lets us know that Dwight Howard apparently dreamed about hitting the game-winning three of Game 7 and missed practice because of this. If only Alan Iverson had used that excuse.

5:27 - Brian Scalabrine checks into the game, surely sending shivers down every Magic fans' back. He promptly passes up a wide open three and give it to a teammate who bricks the shot.

5:32 - What NBA coaches say during timeouts: You're passing the ball. Good job. We will win if we pass the ball.

Fantastic Xs and Os here in the NBA.

END OF 1st QUARTER - MAGIC 27, CELTICS 17

5:40 - Stephon Marbury is in the game and apparently has one speed: out-of-control. That guy looks terrible out on the court and probably could barrel over a kid on the sidelines after a game-winning shot if he tried.

5:41 - I just want to say now that Paul Pierce has been heavily underrated his entire career. He's been fantastic in Boston. And he got stabbed or shot in the face. Anyone who has that happen to them and can still play basketball, well they deserve a sticker in my book.

5:51 - I love when a crowd sarcastically cheers when a ref gives them a foul. Where else in the world does this happen. Like would you sarcastically celebrate if you worked at McDonalds and got a ten cent raise? Seriously, give me a instance where you've done this...

6:00 - 39-33 Orlando, timeout called. Momentum seems to be shifting towards Boston, and TNT just flashed the obligatory "81 percent of home teams have won games 7s" which basically jinxes the Celtics.

6:11 - Ray Allen always seems to be able to hit those "big threes" that gets the crowd really into it. He sinks one to make it 42-38 and cause pandemonium in the Garden. Orlando looks lackluster.

HALFTIME - MAGIC 45, CELTICS 38

6:34 - Apparently Orlando is employing the "let's bunch up four of our guys together in one spot and look like the Keystone Cops" defense. Boston gets some backdoor plays because of this.

6:41 - 54-50 Orlando, although the Magic aren't really playing that great of defense. The Celtics really aren't a hugely athletic team without Garnett and they certianly don't have the advantage talent wise. However, they keep finding a way to stay in this game.

6:42 - 57-50. Timeout. The Celtics apparently are taking a page out of the Gonzaga playbook and not guarding the three.

6:51 - What's it with Smirnoff commercials. They keep showing loads of guys drinking the stuff. In all my years of drinking, you wouldn't be caught dead with a Smirnoff.

6:57 - 66-61 Orlando. Rondo buries a three and you have to think Boston will have momentum going into the fourth quarter.

END OF THIRD QUARTER, MAGIC 66, CELTICS 61

7:03 - I was wrong, Orlando has made it 74-61.

7:07 - I love when TNT pans to the "celebrities" in the Boston crowd. You get shots like these...


Not so sunny and happy in Boston compared to LA. What the hell is wrong with Ben Afleck and why does he look like he's got some incurable disease from an after-school special? And why is Jennifer Garner not wearing any makeup? Ladies and gentlemen, your Boston celebrities!

7:11 - Marbury is back in the game. God help the Celtics.

7:20 - I noticed that Eddie House had "E-house" tattooed on his shoulder. Put that on the list of "things that only professional athletes can pull off." That's like one of those moves that frat house idiot would do and then always show it off at parties.

7:23 - I guess Marbury has a tattoo on his skull of his discontinued shoe line logo. That's worst that House. By the way, the Magic lead 90-73.

7:32 - How is Marv Albert looking younger these days? Herbalife? It's like the Curious Case of Benjamin Button and in about three years he's going to look like Bob Costas.

7:35 - Doc Rivers takes out Pierce and Allen. This game is Ova!

ORLANDO 101, BOSTON 82

Lebron James is licking his chops now.

JustSON the Numbers: NBA Playoffs Game 7

Since this Sunday will feature two separate game 7's in the NBA Playoffs I thought I would focus this edition of JustSON the Numbers on the history of game 7 in the NBA.

When the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers tip off at 3:30 pm eastern time on Sunday May, 17th in Los Angeles on ABC it will mark the 103rd game 7 in NBA Playoff history.

The Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic follow up that game at 8:00 pm eastern time on TNT in Boston marking the 104th game 7 in history. In this seasons playoffs there have been two game 7's that both took place in the first round and both ended with the road team losing. Boston defeated the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Miami Heat.

Unfortunately for both Houston and Orlando history is not on there side. In the previous 102 games the home team holds a big advantage with 82 wins and only 20 losses. The lone bright spot for Houston is that the last 3 road teams to win a game 7 have been from the Western Conference and 2 of the last 3 have taken place in the Conference Semifinals, which happens to be this round of the playoffs.

Houston has won 2 road game 7's in the past, once in 1981 against the San Antonio Spurs (who were the last team to win a road game 7) and then again in 1995 against the Phoenix Suns. Houston is also playing the Lakers who have just once been on the losing end of a game 7 that they hosted and that was back in 1969 against Boston. Los Angeles does carry a 13-8 record in game 7's all-time, while Houston has a 5-3 record in the deciding game.

The Magic will be facing the Celtics who have a 20-5 all-time record in game 7's. A ray of hope for Orlando is the fact that Boston has lost 3 times at home in a game 7, in 1973 against the New York Knicks, again in 1982 versus the Philadelphia 76ers and most recently in 2005 while hosting the Indiana Pacers. Since the Magic have only been in the league since the start of the 1989 season they haven't had much experience in game 7's going only 1-1 in the deciding games.

The numbers don't lie, it will be a big task for either the Rockets or the Magic to pull off road victories on Sunday. It seems like we will be one step closer to seeing a repeat of last years NBA Finals when the Celtics beat the Lakers, but that is why they play the games. Maybe the Rockets will beat Kobe Bryant and the Lakers (Kobe has disappeared in game 7's before, Phoenix anyone?) and perhaps Dwight Howard and the Magic can pull off the upset in Boston.

I guess myself and everyone else will have to tune in on Sunday to see if the two road teams can do the unlikely.

If anyone has any requests for this column let us know. I don't discriminate, no matter the sport or the stat.

Man Card Rules: Don't throw your coach under the bus

I like Dwight Howard. A lot.

He's really a lot of fun to watch out on the floor and seems like a nice guy. The kind you could throw back a couple cold ones with and make fun of "The Biggest Loser."

(No that's not a reality TV-show about the New York Knicks)

However, he must of had a major brain fart when he criticized his coach, Ron Jeremy-errrr Stan Van Gundy, for not giving him the ball enough during a game 5 loss to the Boston Celtics.

Howard never once mentioned that his own play may have been at fault when it's pretty obvious that sometimes his offensive game suffers a tad, especially against a tough defensive team like the Celtics.

Now I found this article that basically throws a big bag of douche in Howard's direction:

ESPN.com's John Hollinger has done the math and found that Orlando is pretty good when Howard shoots only 10 times. Says Hollinger:

During the regular season, the Magic were 16-7 when Howard shot 10 field goals or fewer, for a .696 winning percentage that's close to their .720 overall mark.

Also, 10 or fewer shots in a game isn't a rarity for Howard. That happened in 23 of his 79 games, and his season average was 12.4 shots per game.

And the bottom line is that Orlando doesn't win big when Howard fires away. He averaged 12.5 shots in Magic victories and 12.2 in losses.

Man Card Rule - Don't criticize your coach about not getting the ball enough when in reality, you actually hurt your team when you shoot too much. That's just silly.

Still like you though! Especially the commercial you're in with Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley!

Dwight Howard is a god

I watched Dwight Howard absolutely crush the Boston Celtics on the boards tonight, which allowed his squad to squeak out a 84-82 victory over the defending NBA Champions. That clinched the Southeast Division for the Orlando Magic and moved them percentage points ahead of the Celtics as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference (behind Cleveland of course).

And I don't know if it was the high definition TV I was watching, or the fact that he wears jerseys two sizes too small but my god - Dwight Howard is ripped. That is probably why he was able to get 21 Rebounds and 24 points tonight. He's like an athletic Shaq, complete with the goofiness that makes you want to root for him.

The only knock I have against Howard is sometimes he disappears offensively in big moments of the games, but seems to be able to make clutch rebounds - if that is even considered a viable stat - possibly the best clutch rebounder in the game. Nobody can touch him when he wants to ball.

And if you didn't notice, we're headed to one of the best NBA playoffs in recent history. We've got Cleveland, Boston, Orlando and LA all looking very good. I could very easily see any one of those teams winning a championship.

And the best part is Dickie V won't be calling the game.

Washington Huskies Weekly Update: KryptoNate!

Welcome back to the AP top 25 Dawgs. After being left out of last weeks top 25 the Huskies make a return this week at number 22. This after beating the Oregon schools at home (Oregon State Beavers 79-60 on Thursday, Oregon Ducks 103-84 on Saturday), both by 19 points. UW is in first place in the Pac-10 by a full game over the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Justin Dentmon continued his great play of late by scoring a total of 49 points and handing out 9 assists in the two games. Also in the Oregon game 4 of the 5 starters scored at least 20 points (Quincy Pondexter 20, Jon Brockman 21, Isaiah Thomas 24 and Dentmon 21).

Ex-Huskies also did pretty well over the NBA's All Star weekend with Nate Robinson winning the dunk contest in his all green suit of kryptonite over Superman Dwight Howard. Brandon Roy went for 14 points (on 7 of 8 shooting), 5 rebounds and 5 assists in Sundays All-Star game.

This week the Huskies face UCLA and USC both on the road. If they can pull off victories in both of those games that will put them in great position to win the Pac-10. After this weeks road games the Dawgs have the remaining 4 regular season games at home.