Seattle Sports: In the Morning

LeBron James breaks Blazer hearts, scoring 15 fourth quarter points, then 2 more with less than a second left when he blew past Brandon Roy, maneuvered around LaMarcus Aldridge and hit an impossible reverse layin to give the Cavs an 84-83 win. Highlights.
Blazers 26-19, 1 GB of final playoff spot. Next game Friday at home vs. Knicks.

Sonics host Cavs tonight at 7. FSN. Tickets as low as $6.99 on Ticketmaster's Sonics Ticket Marketplace. Five players missed practice after yesterday's win, writes the P-I's Gary Washburn.

Huskies host Stanford tonight at 7. No TV. Tickets.

Wazzu hosts Cal at 7. No TV. Howie Stalwick previews the match-up for the P-I, and hears an interesting tale from the Bears' Jamal Boykin: "I've heard some recruiting stories. When they drive kids there, they'll have the windows tinted black where they can't see until they get there." This is actually true--at least Lute Olson wrote in his bio that one Wazzu coach (Raveling, I think) admitted it.

Todd Turner recaps his tenure as Husky AD in a long interview with the P-I's Greg Johns. Lots of good stuff here--probably you ought to read the whole thing--but the issue over whether to fire Willingham was most interesting to me. From Johns' piece, Turner talks: "We disagreed over time about where football was competitively," Turner said. "I wouldn't say we went to the mat. Those are your words, not mine. I just was pretty clear in my own heart and mind about where I thought we needed to be. And I was willing to put a lot at risk to make sure that happened." Willingham has since asked Turner what he could do to repay him for his support. "I told him to just give me the football when they win the Rose Bowl," he said with a wry smile.

Wrote a little item this week about how Michael Cage is a part-time volunteer youth soccer ref, adding that it was hard for me to picture. Well, reader Kevin Pelton of Supersonics.com found a visual aid.

P.J. Carlesimo doesn't condone the fact that LeBron James was caught driving 100 mph, but he's hardly immune to the urge. He tells TNT's Eric Williams he had the proclivity as a teenager, when he owned a 1967 Camaro. "(I went) a lot past 100. I probably went about 140 on Route 80 going from Pennsylvania to New York. I think about it now, and I’m scared now to go 80. It’s funny how your perspective changes."

Quincy Pondexter has, so far, not lived up to his NBA prospect hype, but Lorenzo Romar says that some players need time to develop in college. He tells the Herald's John Boyle: "Brandon Roy was not doing what he was doing when he was a sophomore. Bobby Jones was nowhere near an NBA player halfway through his sophomore year, but he kept working and kept working. The culture is people feel almost like an old maid. Why are you still in school?" Romar points out that even some college coaches feel this way, recalling a comment Illinois coach Bruce Weber made after seeing Brandon Roy play as a senior. "He made a comment after we played them and said, 'I have no idea why he's still in school,' like it was a bad thing. The message is that if you're not getting it done your freshman and sophomore year, maybe you're not that good of a player, but that's not true. Maybe you just haven't fully developed yet."

Stanford point guard Mitch Johnson, an O'Dea grad and son of 1979 Sonic John, may prove the point--he struggled his first two years at Stanford but is shooting 45% this year. Coach Trent Johnson (unrelated) tells Bob Condotta: "He's probably the biggest reason that we have won 16 games and lost three."

In the same story Condotta neatly encapsulates the Dawgs' NCAA tourney chances: "It's the beginning of a crucial few weeks for the Huskies that figure to determine where this season is headed. Washington is on the far edge of NCAA tournament talk (UW's RPI was 88 entering the week) but with the conference ranked at No. 2, any team that can get into the top five is likely in. UW is 3-4 and in seventh place, but this is the first of four in a row at home against all four California schools. UW has lost just five Pac-10 home games since the beginning of the 2004-05 season, giving it some confidence it can make up some ground."

Look for Joe Wolfinger get lots of minutes tonight, writes TNT's Don Ruiz, because the Wolf's three-point ability will force one of the Lopez twins to leave the key and guard him.

Matt Hasselbeck tells TNT's Frank Hughes he won't have any say about who his quarterbacks coach is. "We have smart people making those decisions. They have not asked me my opinion, nor should they. They know what is the right thing to do. And whatever that is, I embrace it."

If George Sherrill is traded to Baltimore in the Bedard deal, you'll probably find out sooner than he does, writes the P-I's John Hickey: "George Sherrill won't have cell phone service for most of the day Thursday as he drives from Mesquite, Nev., to Peoria, Ariz. So the Mariners reliever might not be the first to know if he's been traded to Baltimore as part of a deal to acquire starter Erik Bedard from the Orioles." It's things like these that remind me how weird it is to be a pro athlete. I mean, imagine if, tomorrow, you find out you have to move to, say, Philadelphia. Doesn't matter where you are in your lease, if you have a new girlfriend, if you just bought a new couch--pack it up.

The University of Oregon is planning to build a $15 million baseball stadium that the school's revived baseball program will share with the Northwest League Eugene Emeralds. Funded mostly from private donations.