After Further Review A sports commentary by Phil Watson
Golden State Warriors have a future this time
Six years ago, the Golden State Warriors went on a playoff run, stunning the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round before falling to the Utah Jazz in the conference semifinals. The following year, the Dubs earned a dubious distinction—at 48-34, the 2007-08 Warriors have the best record of any team to not make the [...]
Memphis Grizzlies in uncharted territory
The Memphis Grizzlies are in the Western Conference Finals of the NBA playoffs, holding off a furious late charge by the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder for an 88-84 victory to close out their conference semifinal series in five games. This is the NBA playoffs, where Cinderella almost never happens. Memphis is the lowest seed to [...]
Bashing the NBA playoffs because of injuries misses the point
Michael Wilbon’s been doing it. It’s become almost fashionable to do it. Lots of people are. What is “it?” “It” is all the complaining about the NBA playoffs because of the absence of injured star players. INJURIES ARE KILLING THE NBA PLAYOFFS! Kobe/Rose/Amare/Lee/Granger is one team Westbrook/Rondo/Bynum/Galinari/Love is 2nd team All- Injured! — Michael [...]
Boston Bruins stage the mother of all comebacks
You had to see it to believe it and even after I saw it, I still wasn’t sure I believed it. The Boston Bruins were dead, done, finished, getting ready for the golf course, left to dine on the ashes of blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then they weren’t. The [...]
Detroit Red Wings thrive in a different role
As the National Hockey League’s regular season wound down, there was talk that the Detroit Red Wings might miss the playoffs. Why was it such a big deal? Because the last time that happened—the Red Wings not being part of the Stanley Cup festivities, that is—the first George Bush was in the White House and [...]
Endless Derrick Rose talk an exercise in pointlessness
For a point guard who has played as many minutes for the Chicago Bulls this season as Norm Van Lier, John Paxson, B.J. Armstrong and Guy Rodgers have, there sure is a lot of talk about Derrick Rose in these playoffs. I get it: He was medically cleared in February and it’s May and he [...]
Blown home run call should be reversed, period
Adam Rosales of the Oakland Athletics hit a game-tying home run with two outs in the top of the ninth against the Cleveland Indians Wednesday night … except, he didn’t. Well, he did, at least in the opinion of most people who have seen a replay of the play in question—including me. But he didn’t [...]
Mike Conley isn’t just Greg Oden’s buddy anymore
It’s taken awhile for Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley to emerge from the shadows, but he is putting together one heck of a playoff run this spring. Conley went to Ohio State in 2006 trapped within the confines of a giant shadow—the one cast by his high-school teammate in Indianapolis, Greg Oden. Conley wound [...]
Banged-up Chicago Bulls keep defying the odds
Last year, the Chicago Bulls lost their best player—former MVP Derrick Rose—in the first game of the playoffs and became just the fifth No. 1 seed to lose in the first round to a No. 8 seed. This year, the Bulls are even more banged up. Rose hasn’t played a minute since shredding his knee [...]
MLB Power Rankings: Week 6
Rumors of the New York Yankees’ demise appear to have been premature and the After Further Review Power Rankings bear that out. This was the year age and injury was supposed to catch up to the Bronx Bombers. But someone forgot to tell manager Joe Girardi and his gang of fill-ins. New York won five [...]
