Thursday, February 6, 2014

Nuggets' McGee could be out for the season

JaVale McGee could miss the rest of the NBA season for the Denver Nuggets as he recovers from a stress fracture in his left leg.

Yahoo! Sports reports the 26-year-old center is now seeking further medical consultation for the injury that has sidelined him since early in the season but has yet to properly heal. The website adds a final decision on his status is expected within the next several days. In all, McGee has played in just five games this season.

If the Nuggets rule McGee out for the rest of the season, he would be the team's third player to be ruled out for the year based on injury. Guard Nate Robinson and forward Danilo Gallinari both recently had season-ending surgeries to repair torn ACL ligaments. This would be another blow to the Nuggets if McGee can't comeback this season.

McGee had averaged 9.1 points and nearly five rebounds a game for Denver in the 2012-13 season. The Nuggets have filled McGee's void in the lineup with J.J Hickson, Timofey Mozgov and Anthony Randolph.

The Nuggets can't afford anymore injuries and need to acquire depth at the trade deadline if they are to make a move for the playoffs.

Iowa State's Rhoads calls out schools trying to get prized recruit to flip

Iowa State doesn't get too many blue chip football recruits, so when they get a commitment from one they have to fight hard to keep it.

Hours after grabbing the national letter of intent from one of the most sought-after high school football players in the state, Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads tossed jabs at a pair of teams that tried steering him away.

Rhoads talked up the future Cyclone and ripped schools trying to take him away.

“That’s Allen Lazard’s National Letter of Intent,” Rhoads said of his four-star crown jewel recruit. “Let me talk about Allen Lazard a little bit.”

“He’s not going to a school in northern Indiana,” Rhoads said of Lazard, a high school all-American. “Boy, they wasted a lot of time and money. He’s not going to another school in this state, who feverishly tried to call him about a half a dozen times in the last week.”

Rhoads isn't referring to Valparaiso and Northern Iowa. Those were shots directed at Notre Dame and Iowa for trying to steer Lazard away from Ames, Iowa.

“Much to the dismay of people in this room who wasted a lot of space and time challenging his words of commitment, he’s going right here to Iowa State University,” Rhoads added. 

Lazard is considered the crown jewel of Rhoads’ class and has been the subject of constant questions regarding his commitment to Iowa State. Lazard continued to visit Notre Dame after he first committed to Iowa State more than a year ago.

I can understand Rhoads' apparent frustration but he should know that recruit poaching goes on all the time. It's all a part of college football and if a school like Iowa State gets a player of Lazard's ilk, Rhoads can expect the big boys to keep coming after them.