Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
Lost in the wake of the Rice/Rutgers fiasco was the continuing investigation into Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Brian Wardle who had been accused of abusing his players both verbally and physically. On Friday, the school announced that an outside investigation had cleared Wardle. Unlike Rice, Wardle had the support of many of his players and perhaps most importantly did not have a video of his alleged actions floating around for the world to see. Given what was released the school’s decision should not be that much a surprise. What is interesting is the concessions that Wardle will have to make despite being cleared–receive a disciplinary letter, have someone overseeing him, and not be able to renegotiate his contrast, which ends in 2017. Given those concessions it would seem like there was something happening at Wisconsin-Green Bay (perhaps something considered as benign in sports as cursing) even if it was not as bad as what Wardle was initially accused of.
Battier also got into a minor scuffle with Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough in Game 1. The physical play continued with Heat guard Norris Cole being whistled for a foul while trying to drive past Indiana's David West. Cole hit West in the groin area, a play he says was unintentional.
"I don't think they were shots or anything like that," Bosh said. "It's a part of the game. We know some plays are going to be physical."
For all the talk of the knee toward the groin area of Pacers center Roy Hibbert by Heat forward Shane Battier in Game 1, and of Norris Cole landing a shot to the same area of Pacers forward David West, the NBA has lowered its hammer on a different play.
The Sun Sentinel learned Friday that the NBA has upgraded a foul by Indiana backup center Ian Mahinmi on James, with 11:38 left in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's game, from a common foul to a Flagrant 1 foul.
Had that ruling been made at the time of the foul, not only would James have received the two free throws awarded, but the Heat also would have retained possession, which was not the case on the play as called during the game.
No league action was taken on the Battier and Cole plays.
In Miami's case, key reserves Ray Allen, Shane Battier and Norris Cole combined to shoot 2 for 16. In Indiana's case, George - who finished with 27 points - only had two at halftime, and Lance Stephenson shot just 2 for 10.
It was just one of several physical plays in the series-opener that had 58 fouls. In the fourth quarter, Heat guard Norris Cole was called for an offensive foul after hitting Pacers forward David West between the legs while driving toward the basket.
“It's pretty slow honestly. I want to play high-major, but a lot of high-majors don't have any scholarships available right now, so there are quite a few mid majors interested like Valpo, Fairfield, Nevada, Ball State and a few more schools.”
2. The Heat’s 3-point shooters are due. Yes, Norris Cole (9-for-11 on 3-pointers) and Chris Bosh (4-8) have had great shooting playoffs from distance. But look at the players who are the Heat’s 3-point specialists. Ray Allen is (37.8 percent), Shane Battier (26.1), Mario Chalmers (23.8) and Mike Miller (16.7) all shot below their regular-season average – everyone but Allen by a significant amount. There should be a regression to the mean at some point. If it’s this series, Indiana will be pressed to match the Heat’s offense to keep up.
For now, it’s up to players such as Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers to carry the load for Wade.
Last year, despite his knee injury, Wade helped propel the Heat past Indiana when Bosh was out with an abdominal injury. It appears Bosh is now doing his part to account for Wade’s lack of production. After his 20-point, 19-rebound effort in Game 3, Bosh made seven of his first eight shots in Game 4. With Wade going 0 of5 from the field to begin the game — and 3 of 10 overall — the Heat needed Bosh to be on his game.
Said James: “When one guy goes down, another guy has to step up or the same guys just step up more, and we know that D-Wade is battling an injury right now and he’s nowhere near 100 percent, so everyone has to step up.”
Who else but Dwyane Wade to deliver the crushing blows. First he came on with a lovely floater, and the expression on Heat players’ faces changed from perplexed to miffed, as in let’s get this done already. Sure enough, a moment later Wade elevated as high as he’s been in a month to slam a follow-up of a Norris Cole miss.
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Cole passed to Chris “Birdman” Andersen for a dunk that inflamed the crowd and narrowed the gap to three points. Battier shook off his shooting doldrums. Then Cole sank a three to give Miami its first lead since 4:27 of the second quarter. When Cole snaked inside to dunk over the Bulls’ big men, the suspense began to ebb away.
"He's a competitor," guard Norris Cole said. "We don't doubt him. We don't worry too much in the locker room about what the media says. We know if he's out there, he's going to give us his all. We all know what he's capable of. His credentials speak for themselves. He's going to be productive in some type way for us."
In a laughter that became a near disaster, the Heat found a way behind 23 points from LeBron James, 18 from Dwyane Wade in a sharp bounce back from his knee issues, 12 from Chris Bosh and a late bench spark provided by Norris Cole and Shane Battier.
You expected a relaxed evening? You got Heat fans jumping off their seats when Norris Cole hit a jump shot, then ran down the lane with a dunk, to give the Heat a lead for the first time since the second quarter.
3. Norris Cole can change games (depending on the matchup). He had 18 points in each of Games 2 and 3. He shot nine of 11 on 3-point shots in the series. He kept Chicago’s 5-6 Nate Robinson from shooting over 40 percent in the final four games when he began to be used on him more. Even in Game 5, when Cole had only five points, four game in the final minutes to spark the Heat, including a drive through the lane and dunk.
But don’t overdo this: At six-feet, Cole needs the right matchup to play. The small Robinson was a perfect fit for him and a tough cover for Mario Chalmers. Indiana has 6-2 George Hill, so that’ll be interesting to see how it works.
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5. The Heat need to shoot better on 3-pointers. This team relies on great shooters from distance to separate themselves some nights. Cole aside, they aren’t burning it up in the playoffs. LeBron (32.1 percent), Allen (37.8), Shane Battier (26.1) and Mike Miller (16.7) are all shooting below their season average – Allen is the closest at 4.5 percent below his season average.
2. Valparaiso picked up a key big man in Alabama 7-foot transfer Moussa Gueye. Gueye, according to Valpo coach Bryce Drew, can play immediately. Gueye originally committed to the Crusaders before going to Alabama. Gueye blocked 52 shots last season for the Tide. He'll be a major distraction for teams in the Horizon League and give the defending conference champs quite a frontline with 6-9 Bobby Capobianco, 6-8 Rice transfer David Chadwick and 6-10 big man Vashil Fernandez.
Norris Cole also struggled with seven points after back-to-back 18-point performances, but the Heat had more than enough in this one.
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Carlos Boozer had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double in the postseason, but was just 3 of 14 from the field. Jimmy Butler scored 12 and Joakim Noah grabbed nine rebounds, but it was a miserable night for Chicago - particularly Nate Robinson. With Cole and Mario Chalmers harassing him and the big men helping out, he missed all 12 of his shots and did not score.
Against a Bulls team again without ailing Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Derrick Rose, that was more than enough, no need in this one for Heat bench theatrics from Norris Cole or Ray Allen, although Cole did beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer that pushed the Heat to a 61-42 lead entering the fourth.
The real heroes for the Heat were Chris Bosh and Norris Cole. Bosh had 20 points and 19 rebounds and Cole came off the bench for 18 points in just over 24 minutes of action.
Wade attempted just seven shots in Game 3. He not only deferred to James and Bosh, but he also facilitated the hot hand of second-year guard Norris Cole, who finished the game with 18 points. There was a time in Wade’s career when he viewed things like shot attempts and stat lines as proof of his greatness. Those days are gone.
Monday morning's shootaround brought additional, albeit measured, plaudits from Spoelstra regarding second-year point guard Norris Cole.
"He's gaining confidence [from] his teammates and the staff," Spoelstra said. "And I've said this before, it's steady improvement, and that's what you like. He's not trying to make shortcuts.
"He didn't get impatient at the beginning of the year trying to make big bursts of improvement. It's just steady. It's pure, every day. He's diligent."
Miami also got significant help from its bench as Ray Allen and Norris Cole each had 11 points and Chris Andersen just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Ray Allen was Miami's high scorer in Game 2 with 21. James had 19 points, nine assists and five rebounds, while Wade, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole all scored in double figures.
