Mattie T’s Quick Hits for 12/17/08
Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on December 17, 2008
As talented as Derrick Rose has been for the Chicago Bulls this season, the 1st overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft still has some learning to do.
I say this, as i caught the final minutes in regulation of Tuesday’s Bulls-Bobcats game.
Rose committed a questionable call with 19 seconds left (which Bulls’ color commentator Stacey King didn’t agree with) against D.J. Augustin with Chicago leading 91-88. While it’s a basketball sin to foul a jumpshooter, you definitely can’t do it against a guy (Augustin) who is 3rd in the NBA with a 93.8% from the charity stripe.
Rose had a chance to redeem himself as the Bulls got the final possession of the game with the score tied at 91. Derrick drove left and appeared to have a game-winning layup, but it was blocked by Emeka Okafor, who is 11th in the NBA with 1.7 blocks per game.
Overall, Rose suffered the worst game of his short but impressive rookie season as he shot just 3-for-16 (18.8%) from the field & scored 6 points in almost 47 minutes. He’ll most definitely rebound from this, but this is why you review game tape of your opponents beforehand & he should’ve known of Augustin & Okafor’s strengths.
I have a bone to pick with these so-called NFL “voters”, who put Brett Favre on the AFC’s Pro-Bowl roster over other well-deserved candidates such as San Diego’s Philip Rivers & Denver’s Jay Cutler.
Favre leads all quarterbacks this season with 17 interceptions & is only averaging 218.0 passing yards per game. There are three Non Pro-Bowl AFC Quarterbacks with at least 14 starts who have a higher rating than Favre’s 86.5,, which are Chad Pennington (95.1), Jay Cutler (88.2) & Matt Cassel (87.1).
I’ll still watch the Pro Bowl, but i will be flipping channels when Favre enters the game.
Former Cub legend Ryne Sandberg made news this week as he was promoted to manage the AA Tennessee Smokies for the 2009 season. Sandberg has spent the last 2 seasons managing the Class A Peoria Chiefs & even made a Wrigley Field appearance last summer.
Is it possible that Sandberg could become the Cubs’ next manager after Lou Piniella’s current deal is up for 2012? I wouldn’t rule it out!
Until then,
Mattie T
Sports Writer for BMS Radio Chicago
www.BMSRadio.com
