I was going to write this post in the morning but I've been busy considering whether or not I want to purchase the iPad for the last couple of hours.  If you've been away from your computer all day and haven't heard about Apple's newest hot item, let me fill you in on what this thing is.  The iPad, from everything I've seen so far, is a blown up version of the iPod Touch featuring an (approximately) 10 inch screen, E-Reader functionality, HD Video, and all the apps you could ever need.  What I am wondering, is what functionality does this device have that I can't get out of my laptop or iPod already?  As someone who reads a lot of newspapers online, I get how the ease of being able to get to the New York times without having to boot-up my laptop in the morning would be nice, but that is a rather small niche for something that is going to retail for no less than $500 when it comes out.  Two things that the iPad is really missing is Flash (which most websites use to stream videos with) and multitasking (for example: you cannot check your Facebook and be on the iTunes store at the same time), which really makes me think of this device as little more than a big brother to the iPod Touch, which I already own.  It is a slick looking device, and I'm sure it will sell great given the amount of marketing Apple puts into its products, but I'm not sure it does enough to warrant a purchase from me; especially when I'm trying to save up enough for a MacBook.  I guess that the lesson here is, one way or another Apple gets everyone's money.  If you want to check out the iPad for yourself, click here.

Wow, sorry for the tech rant, let's get back to the sports.

It's funny that I spent so much time talking about John Wall yesterday (He was great last night, even in a loss to South Carolina) and now I'm going to talk about Derrick Rose today.  Just a couple of years ago Rose was getting the same kind of praise that Wall is getting right now in college.  Everyone knew that Rose was going to be a fantastic NBA point guard at some point, and by the way he's playing right now, we may be seeing glimpses of just how good Rose is.  Let's just look at the numbers he's been able to put up against some of the better teams in the NBA over the past couple of games.

1/14 Win @Boston: 17 Points, 4 Assists, 8 Rebounds, 50% Shooting
1/22 Win @Phoenix: 32 Points, 5 Assists, 71% Shooting
1/23 Win @Houston: 20 Points, 4 Assists, 50% Shooting
1/23 Win @San Antonio: 27 Points, 6 Assists, 56.5% Shooting

Rose has shown a kind of maturity and leadership that was not there last year.  He has learned that there are points where he has to take over game, and with his combination of speed and size, he can get almost any shot he wants for himself or his teammates.   The biggest knock on Rose is his mid-range game, but as you can see by his shooting percentages over the past couple of weeks, it would appear as if he beginning to find his jump shot. (Editors Note: Chad has informed me that Rose's mid-range game is actually a strength of his, and that he needs to work on his 3-Ball, ball handling and defense.  Thank you Mr. Ruter.)

Chad and I like to talk about how the Bulls are in "basketball hell," which is when a team plays well enough to just make the playoffs, but never seems to get out of the first couple of rounds.   When a team is in basketball hell, it's almost impossible to improve via the draft because they are not in the lottery and don't have a  shot at getting any of the best college/foreign players available.  The Bulls are in a strange place right now because they have a great player in Rose, a strong post player in Noah (who is quietly second in the league in rebounding), but are missing another strong presence in the post, and another guard who can play shut-down defense and hit the three.  I know Kirk Heinrich plays serviceable defense and shoots the three around 38%, but he is not the kind of game changer that the Bulls need if they want to compete with the Celtics, Cavs and/or Magic in the playoffs.

I expect the Bulls will be very active around the trade deadline looking to either dump some dead weight in anticipation of this summer's Free Agent Sweepstakes, or pick up a impact post player (Amare Stoudemire?) in order to make a run in this year's playoffs.  I think the wise thing to do would be to clear as much cap as possible, and pray that you can land a player like Chris Bosh in the summer.   One way or another, you have to get as much talent around Rose as possible, because he's the kind of guy you can build a title contender around.

 Speaking of teams that have a ton of young talent and are lead by one of the league's emerging super stars, let's talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder!  The Thunder are 24-20 on the year, tied for ninth place with Houston, and have lately been playing some of the best teams in the league extremely tough.  Check out some of these scores:

108-109 Loss against San Antonio
98-99 Loss @Dallas
98-80 Win against Miami
94-91 Win @ Atlanta
84-86 Loss @ Memphis (Who are better than you think!)
99-100 Loss @ Cleveland

It's clear that the Thunder are not afraid to play any team either at home or on the road.   Probably the biggest reason for the team's success this season is the play of Kevin Durant, who is currently third in the league in scoring, and has a stat sheet that would make any basketball stats junkie wet himself.  Just look at these numbers:

29.9 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 48% FG, 36% 3PT, 87.5% FT

Durant may be one of the leagues best five players right now, which isn't bad for someone who is only 22 years old.  You probably remember that block that James had on Durant in the closing moments of their match-up last week. It was a great play by The King, but you have to respect the balls on Durants part for taking it right to the best player in the league with the game on the line.   Durant is fearless, and he's given his team a certain level of legitimacy, even though they are still very much in the middle of a growing-up process.

Tonight we get to watch both Durant and Rose play against each other.   One of the great things about the NBA, and the reason why it's my favorite sport, is that you get these kinds of match-ups on a nightly basis.  Durant and Rose are two players that will be headliners in this league for years to come.   Chad and I are both picking this game for our daily pick'em.  I am going to take Oklahoma City minus the 5.5 points, Chad will take his Bulls plus the points.  

It should be a great game, enjoy it!

By now most of you probably already know about Kentucky's freshman phenom, John Wall, but if by some horrible set of circumstances you haven't, let me fill you in.  Wall, is a safe bet to be the number one pick in next year's draft despite the fact that he is only 18 years old.  The super freshman is averaging 17 PPG, 7 APG, and 2 steals every contest.  As impressive as these numbers are, they fail at really capturing just how talented he is.  Wall has a first step that is unmatched in college basketball, and you'd be hard pressed to find more than a handful of people walking this earth that could stay in front of him.   

It's safe to say that I have developed a bit of a mancrush on the guy, but you could probably say the same thing for anyone who has more than a passing interest in the game of basketball.  Every time Kentucky plays on national TV it becomes mandatory viewing for myself as well as the droves of basketball geeks who get giddy by the things that John Wall can do on the court.   This is what makes Wall such a special player, he joins a group of a few players who are sure things when it comes to college players making the jump to the NBA.

 It's funny that Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari has been able to lock up two of these players, Derrick Rose being the other, in the past four years.  Calipari has shown that he is willing to sign players that have NBA caliber talent but will probably only stay in college for a year or two. This has drawn criticism from many academic groups, but has spelled nothing but success for his teams at Memphis and now Kentucky.  The Wildcats are currently the number one team in the country, and have loads of talent at nearly every position on their team. Freshman Eric Bledsoe, who plays guard across from Wall, could probably start at point guard on any other team in the country.   Freshman forward, DeMarcus Cousins, is considered by most NBA scouts to be a lottery level talent and is averaging 15 and 10 on the season.  On a team with so much young talent, it's Wall who keeps the train on the tracks.  Every time Kentucky finds itself in a close game Wall makes a big play, and what makes him so special is that he does not have to score to change the outcome of a contest.   Time after time the freshman has made a big steal and turned it into automatic points for the Wildcats via an assist, a thunderous dunk, or an ice cold dagger of a jump shot.  Just ask North Carolina or UConn how good John Wall is... on second thought, that may be a sore subject for those teams right now... ask them later.

I guess now would be a good time to mention that we are starting a new running feature on the site where we take a game everyday and try to pick it against the spread.   This isn't going to be the same as our NFL Pick'em contest, it's going to be more of a way to talk about some of the more exciting games on a daily basis.  Given Chad's line of work, he will not be able to pick college games, but believe me, anytime John Wall is playing I will probably be picking that game.  Tonight, for example, I like Kentucky as a seven point favorite over South Carolina and their own stand-out point guard, Devan Downey.  The game is being televised on ESPN at 9 PM Eastern Time.  If you enjoy college hoops (or just basketball in general) it doesn't get much better than John Wall, but don't take my word for it, check him out for yourself.   If you can't get to a TV tonight, don't fret, you'll be seeing a whole lot of this guy in March.  Actually, you'll probably be hearing the name John Wall for years to come, and as a basketball junkie, that makes me extremely happy.

Today's Picks

Justin: Kentucky Wildcats -7 over South Carolina Gamecocks

Chad: Phoenix Suns -5.5 over Charlotte Bobcats

It's a sad day here at the G-Sports headquarters as one of Chicago's endangered species is being shipped to New Orleans.  That's right, the white Panther, Aaron Grey, is a Bull no more.  So we'd like to dedicate this podcast, which coincidently has nothing to do with basketball, to a guy who probably should have nothing to do with basketball.  

On today's podcasts we talk about the Conference Championship games that featured Peyton Manning doing what he does best, and Brett Favre doing - well, what he does best.  It only took me the entire season, but I have gained some respect for Mark Sanchez, and we talk about that a little, but mostly we just talk about how great Peyton Manning is.   

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Despite having the pick'em competition locked up, J and I are picking the games throughout the playoffs to see if Justin can go 0-11.  Here are our quick picks:

Justin's Picks:

Indianapolis -8 vs. NY Jets

New Orleans -3.5 vs Minnesota

Chad's Picks:

NY Jets +8 vs. Indianapolis

Minnesota +3.5 vs New Orleans

So maybe last weekends slate of NFL games weren't the most interesting to watch, but there is still plenty to talk about heading into the conference championships.  Is anyone else surprised that the Jets are still lingering around like the way your shirt smells like Subway for the rest of the day after you ate there?  I know I am.  We also get into a heated discussion about kickers at about the 6:58 mark leading to a landmark moment on our show, which I think clearly states our feelings on kickers. I'm was also happy to see that the Cowboys got a taste of their own medicine Sunday when the Vikings ran the score up on them. Could it be that I'm just bitter about all those mid-90's Dallas teams running it up on the majority of the NFL?  Possibly.  We talk about all of this, and much more on today's show.

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