McCants Traded, College Hoops Shizzle

The Rashad McCants era in Minnesota came to an end today when he along with Calvin Booth were traded to Sacramento for Sheldon "Mr. Candace Parker" Williams and Bobby Brown. This trade was an exchange of scraps for the most part. All four players in the deal have expiring contracts and it is unlikely that any of them will stay with their new teams beyond this season.

McCants, with his selfish offensive play along with his horrible defense, wore out his welcome in Minnesota. He has proven to be a coaches nightmare for as long as he's been in the public spotlight. He got Matt Doherty fired. It is widely know that he wasn't one of Roy Williams favorites. He could never get into Dwayne Casey's rotation. Randy Whitman had little patience with him and Kevin McHale finally sent him to the bench for good.

McCants will likely join the likes of Ndudi Ebi, William Avery and others in the Minnesota Timberwolves Draft Pick Hall of Shame. It stings Wolves fans even more due to the fact that they passed on Danny Granger to select McCants.

McCants does have some ability. He has shown flashes of being a productive scorer. The key for McCants being able to survive in the NBA will be a major attitude adjustment. He's going to have to commit to playing some defense, become a more unselfish player on offense, and get along with his coaches. In the right system, Rashad just might be able to make something of his career. It just doesn't look good right now.

Although McCants time in Minnesota was largely unproductive, here are some of my favorite Rashad McCants moments:

• As a rookie, Rashad threw down a nasty dunk on Marcus Camby...but received his second technical for taunting.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQwS6SJED40


• Another nice dunk by Rashad on Jason Maxiel and Amir Johnson....Shad was also hit with a T following this dunk. Do you see what I mean about his attitude problems?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn6C4-khm2Q&feature=related


• Rashad assists Gerald Green with the cupcake dunkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz6EKkF0gi8&feature=channel


• Earlier this year, after Carmelo Anthony hung 33 on the Wolves in the 3rd quarter, he was interviewed on Sportscenter by Neil Everett. Everett asked Melo if he was trash talking any of the Wolves during his scoring spree. Anthony responded with the following: "I don't really get into the trash talk but one of they players, McCants, was talking at me in the 2nd quarter and I told him I was gonna' have something for him in the 2nd half." Credit McCants with pissing off Melo provoking him to tie the NBA record for points in a quarter.



• Here's a hobby McCants picked up while he was busy NOT working on his game.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWNsvbVourc
  
  Farewell Rashad, I'm sure you will find all the shots you need in Sacramento.
  

College Hoops Shizzle

• In case you missed it yesterday, and I pray to God that you did, Penn State was held to 38 point for an entire game.....AND THEY WON!!! They beat Illinois at illinois 38-33 making it the 2nd time Illinois has been held in the 30's this year in the Big 10. Big 10 basketball makes me want to puke, become a hockey fan, and move out of the Midwest.



• More reasons why Duke is not a good pick in this years tournament; they have no point guard and no big man.



• I know what Kyle Singler should be for Halloween next year...

Possible Return of Tyler Zeller

Big news out of Chapel Hill today. Report claim that 7 foot freshman Tyler Zeller could return to the Tar Heels on Wednesday against NC State. Zeller has missed all but 2 games this season after breaking his left wrist against Kentucky.

This would be a huge boost to a North Carolina team that was already hitting its stride. Getting Zeller back will give the Heels some much needed depth and this will be quality depth. Zeller, a McDonalds All-American, started the two games he played filling in for an injured Tyler Hansbrough.

With Zeller back, the Heels add another quality big man in the middle. This could prove to be vital given the inconsistent play of Deon Thompson. As a 7 footer, Zeller will be able to give the Heels more length inside which could make up for some of their shortcomings on defense. With Uconn's Jerome Dyson going down for the year and the return of Zeller, North Carolina once again is emerging as the favorite to cut the nets down in Detroit.

News & Notes

• Apparently Mike Tyson is writing a tell-all book about his life. There's no way he can actually be writing this thing himself right? If Tyson wants this to be a success he needs to have this book available on audio with himself as the reader. That would get him out of debt in a hurry. Mike, we can't wait for your book. I'd love to hear about your boxing career and you as a semi-good husband. Praise be to Alah!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBqoaW2oEsU



• Sam Cassell traded to the Kings??? I could've swore he was a coach for the Celtics.


• I really liked the Thunder's rebuilding project. Obviously Kevin Durrant is a stud. Russell Westbrook has tons of potential and Jeff Green seems to slip under every ones radar. Today they added Tyson Chandler in a trade giving up Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox. Add in another high lottery pick this year and they could have one hell of a team in a couple years. Imagine adding a Blake Griffin into that mix.

College Hoops Shizzle

Big game tonight in college basketball land. Pittsburgh went into Connecticut and knocked off the #1 team in the nation 76-68. I was really looking forward to this game and it didn't disappoint other than the game failed to be decided in the final seconds.

The battle of the bigs between Pitt's DeJuan Blair and Uconn's Hashem Thabeet was won convincingly by Blair. He nearly broke Thabeets arm early in the game with a nice takedown. On a side note, I found it kind of weird that between commercial breaks of watching these giants do battle I flipped to Little People Big World. Anyway, Blair put a hurtin' on Uconn with 22 points and 23 boards. Sam Young also chipped in 25 points but it was 2 late 3's by LeVance Fields that put this game away.

Fields nailed a pair of ballsy 3's with under 2 minutes left in the game after missing his first seven shots of the game. Pitt isn't a perfect team by any means but they are as tough as they get in college basketball.

Sean McDonough made a great comparison at the end of the game when he compared this years Pitt team to last years Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas hadn't made the leap to a Final Four team under Bill Self until last year when they won the national championship. Pitt is in a similar situation never getting passed the sweet 16 under Jamie Dixon. This year definitely looks to be the year that Pitt gets over the sweet 16 hurdle and reaches a Final Four.

Other College BBall Shizzle

• It's kind of disappointing that we can't have a player of the year debate. Blake Griffin has had this thing won for weeks. Check his line from Saturday if you don't believe me.


• Speaking of player of the year talks, to me Ty Lawson is more of a POY than Tyler Hansbrough has been this year. Lawson was the reason the Tar Heels beat FSU at the Buzzer, rallied past Duke, and fended off a tough Miami team.


• When is Duke going to learn? You cannot go deep in the tournament without a big man in the middle. This team looks a lot like the teams that lost to West Virginia in the 2nd round and VCU in the first round. Don't get your hopes up for a deep tourney run Dookies.


• We all know the Big 10 is brutal to watch but there will be an interesting match up when Minnesota travels to Michigan on Thursday which could leave the loser on the outside looking in on selection Sunday. Notice I said this game would be interesting, not entertaining. Don't put words in my mouth.


• Notre Dame, Texas, and Georgetown are clearly the disappointments of this season. I can remember watching Notre Dame and Texas play a fairly exciting game early this yea and Maui thinking that these teams were solid. The reason they looked decent was because they both sucked leading me to my next point....


• Luke Harangody better not win Big East Player of the Year. His stats are good for a losing team. A lot of games he has jacked up questionable shots late in games that left his team behind the 8 ball.