Of course, Deron Williams being shipped to the Nets came out of left field, and I really don’t see how this helps the Jazz. They got rid of an elite point guard for an average player in Devin Harris, and the organization must really be banking on Derrick Favors to be the next big thing, even though he has shown few flashes of what is to come. I do think it is quite suspicious that Williams found out about the trade while watching Sportscenter in the weight room with his teammates. There may be more to this then we think, or it may just be nothing.

Like my man Danny Brains tweeted earlier, I am stoked for the Eastern conference playoffs, almost every matchup is enticing, you of course have the Celtics, Heat, and Bulls at the top, then you have the Knicks, Hawks and Magic creeping up from the pack. We will finally have great first round matchups excluding the 7 and 8 spots, but I’m sure we can all deal with that.

But suddenly, the West is hurting quite a bit, and they have reverted from their seemingly every playoff team reaching 50 wins. Two regular contenders in the Jazz and Nuggets have completely gutted their teams in the last week, and they both may still make the playoffs, but they will fall to the way side very quickly. Only the Lakers, Spurs, Thunder, and Mavericks are legitimate teams to compete for a title.

With all these trades, I am extremely excited for the playoffs to begin, and I will be ordering my DVR very soon and be ready to overload it with insane amounts of intense postseason ball.

IOWA CITY, IA-  Only a few weeks removed from a first round victory in the NCAA tournament, it would have been understandable for Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder to deny an opportunity to talk to a sports journalism class on Monday, April 12, but like the person she is, she saw it as a teaching moment and ran with it.

“I appreciate reporters who work hard to find the good story,” Bluder said.  “It drives you a little crazy when the reporter is always looking for the negative.”

Bluder mentioned how she likes when reporters are consistent with their questions and introduce themselves after the press conference.  Being knowledgeable and coming up with good questions is very important to a coach.  The reporter needs to be prepared and show up to the events.

“Some people just drive you nuts with the same questions all the time,” Bluder said.  “Some reporters tend not to show up and ask the same questions that have been asked the last six weeks.”

For 26 years Bluder has been in the coaching business and she has spent quite a bit of time around different types of media and has learned to be careful with the unknown reporters.  Bluder likes to have the ability to get to know a reporter which provides comfort.

She did mention the difference of coaching in a community like Iowa City compared to a big market like Chicago, and how sometimes it can have its disadvantages.  “We all would rather not have the attention even though there are some good things to it,” Bluder said. “But it’s hard to get from place to place, even go to the grocery store.”

In Bluder’s brief press conference with the journalism students she indeed used it to teach.  She touched on subjects on how to be a good reporter and even what she expects for next year’s team.  Even with her busy schedule she was able to help out the next generation of reporters.



The loss was the first conference defeat of the year for the Buckeyes (18-2, 7-1) which turned out to be more lopsided then the records would have suggested.  “You look at the scores and there is a definite sense of urgency we gotta maintain,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said after the meet.  “We’re tight, we gotta be able to create action and there is a lot of work to do.”

Carver-Hawkeye Arena said farewell to one of the more successful group of seniors at the Iowa program.  Headlining the group is Brent Metcalf at 149, along with Chad Beatley (197), Jay Borschel (174) Daniel Dennis (133), Dan EreksonMichael Fahrer (165), Phillip Keddy (184), Dan LeClere (141), Rick Loera (197), Ryan Morningstar (165), Joe Slaton (141). (197),

“The fans appreciated them,” Brands said. “At the end, most fans are heading for the exits and that is huge appreciation for the seniors, Phil Haddy (Sports information director) built them up and they deserve it.”

The highlight of the meet was at the heavyweight matchup when Dan Erekson of Iowa pinned Corey Morrison of the Buckeyes 53 seconds into the match and CHA erupted, all but guaranteeing the Hawkeye victory, putting the Hawks ahead 28-3.

Another crowd enticing matchup was at the 157 lb. class when Aaron Jansen defeated Sean Nmec in the final period, gathering the three points for the Hawks in a tightly contested matchup.

The only points the Buckeyes were able to gain came early in the meet in the second matchup of the night.  Montell Marion at 141 lbs, ranked no. 4 in the nation lost to Reece Humphrey 9-5, putting a little bit of worry into the crowd.  But the loss was quickly forgotten after Metcalf responded with a 3-1 victory that featured the top two wrestlers in the nation at 141.  Metcalf bought his time and took down #2 Lance Palmer of OSU.

It was a dominating performance throughout the night and was the perfect way for the senior class to end their home careers.

Amidst the sounds of ‘In Heaven There is No Beer’ and fans happily cheering, Iowa women’s basketball head coach Lisa Bluder celebrated her teams’ relatively easy 70-50 victory over Purdue on center court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Sunday afternoon, slapping hands with the likes of Herky and her players after the final buzzer had sounded.  Junior forward Kachine Alexander and freshman Morgan Johnson led the way for the Hawkeyes with 16 points apiece, two of the five players to reach double -digit scoring in the game.  In the closing seconds of the second half, with the game securely in hand, sophomore walk-on Megan Considine, sister of former Hawkeye football player Sean, entered the game to loud cheers and attempted one shot and grabbed one rebound.

With 2:40 left in the second half, Kamile Whalin nailed a three pointer from the corner to put the game away for good, extending the lead to 20 points.  From opening tip-off, the  Boilmakers never had  a chance of leaving CHA with a victory.  The Hawkeyes jumped out to a huge 19-1 lead to open up the game on freshman Jamie Printy’s layup. Purdue did not make their first field goal till the 11:40 mark of the first half.  Bluder’s bunch was all over the opposing team all afternoon, getting steals and converting on fast break opportunities with ease.

The victory moved the Hawkeyes to 11-10 on the year and  4-6 in conference play, taking advantage of playing on national television on ESPN2.  Coach Bluder at one point, had three freshmen on the court together early in the first half, Printy, Trisha Nesbitt, and Johnson, and it seemed to flow well.

The crowd at CHA was very into it from the get-go, with the theme of the afternoon about girl scouts, resulting in many young girls and their families cheering on the Hawks.

Iowa’s next game is in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, Feb. 4 against the no. 6 rated Ohio State Buckeyes at 6:30 p.m. The Buckeyes will be coming off an upset loss on Sunday against Indiana.

Iowa’s next game will be at 3:35 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30th at Michigan on the Big Ten Network.