Wednesday, March 18, 2009

At the sports desk: favorite teams update

The Notre Dame men's hoops team survived in the NIT, edging a tough UAB squad 70-64. It was a bit of a choppy game, but I was glad to see that ND played hard, came back in the second half from a deficit, and got some big defensive stops. It was too bad that the home crowd was so small--only about 2000 showed up in the JACC for the game. But that's to be expected--this team had a disappointing year, and the NIT just doesn't excite (at least at first). Still, this team has a chance to earn some respect by getting to New York. At least they still have a chance to do that.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Pistons lost to Dallas, 103-101, on the road. Certainly no disgrace--the Pistons were without Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, and Allen Iverson. Mavericks-watchers should be concerned about such a close win against a shorthanded opponent, and they are--the Mavs especially are giving up too many offensive rebounds these days.

The Detroit Red Wings played well, though, and beat the Philadelphia Flyers at home, 3-2. The Wings outshot the Flyers 48-26. Wow...