Austin Daye considers this season a failure

Usually when an NBA player hits his third season you know what kind of player he is. In the case of Detroit Pistons forward Austin Daye, he still remains a mystery. Daye didn't expect the season to go like this. Sitting on the bench and playing in spot duty. He thought it would be his breakout year and it has been far from it.


"My rookie year I wasn't expecting a whole lot but I got time here and there," Daye said. "This year is not what I thought coming into this season. You set goals for yourself and this year is a failure. Not a wasted year but a failure."

Daye went to play in Russia for two months during the lockout and he admitted that it was a mistake. He lost weight and is just now getting back to his playing weight of 205 from last season. It really didn't help his game either if you ask me.

Even though Daye has had a lost season, he says don't question his committment to the game.


"I want to make clear that I've been doing my job every day, getting my body right, trying to develop and get better," Daye said. "No matter what the situation may be, I'm still in the gym every day. I just want to let everyone know even though I'm not playing, I'm still putting forth the effort to do what's right."


He's going to have to put in more work this offseason since the Pistons will be in possession of a high draft pick and might be taking a small forward. For his sake he better hope for more playing time since it's the equal of garbage time for the Pistons.

Join the 'Bobby Petrino Motorcycle Club'

In light of Bobby Petrino being fired over his ill fated motorcycle ride, a t-shirt is now available to commemorate the experience.

Get one of these and be a member of the newest motorcycle club in Arkansas.

Gordon to play for the British in the London Olympics

When the Olympics roll around this summer in London, the British basketball team will have a few familiar faces. NBA players Ben Gordon (Detroit Pistons), Byron Mullens (Charlotte Bobcats), and Luol Deng (Chicago Bulls) will be suiting up for the host team.

British basketball says Deng, Detroit Pistons guard Ben Gordon and Charlotte Bobcats center Byron Mullens have “confirmed their availability and commitment” to play at the Olympics.


While Deng has played on the British team since 2007, Gordon and Mullens are available for the first time.

Deng and Gordon don't surprise me, but the addition of Mullens does. I don't think anyone knew that Mullens had dual citizenship or anything like that.

Doug Collins calls young players sensitive and fragile

It looks like Doug Collins may be wearing out his welcome in Philadelphia. After the 76ers got off to a fast start, shocking most of the league, they're sputtering to the finish and Collins' hard driving ways may be too much for the young Sixers.

The Sixers were one of the top four teams, record wise, in the Eastern Conference, now find themselves trying to fend off the Milwaukee Bucks for the eighth and final spot.

Collins wants to be hard on his young team, but says that he can't because they're too sensitive and fragile.


“The one thing about players today is that they’re very sensitive, and very fragile,” Collins said before his team’s game against the Boston Celtics on Easter Sunday. “They didn’t grow up with tough coaches. You know, I had my ass kicked since I was six. It’s a different time, and so I treat this team very much with kid gloves. I really do, and I’m still looked at as an ogre…


“It’s terrible, I mean, it’s hard. It really is hard,” he said. “I honestly find myself during the games looking at the coach [and asking], ‘Was I alright with those guys during that timeout? Did I hurt anybody’s feelings? Was I OK?’… ‘Coach, you’re fine, you’re fine’… I said ‘OK, OK, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt anybody’s feelings.’ That’s the sensitivity, and the younger the guys, it seems like the more sensitive. And that’s what you’re wrestling with.”


Collins has worn out his welcome every where he's been. Chicago, Detroit, and now here in Philly. My guess is that the young Sixers are tuning him out and he might know the end is near. I'll be watching to see how this plays out. 

Zach Randolph involved in car accident

Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph is trying to find his rhythm after coming back from knee surgery and missing a good portion of this NBA campaign. Randolph is a walking double-double and is slowly finding his way as the Grizzlies try to secure the fourth seed in the Western Conference NBA playoffs.

What Randolph didn't count on was being involved in a car accident that left him with a sore back by his own admission. Randolph did not participate in the team's shootaround and replied to a text message that asked if he was ok.

Randolph replied: “Yes. My back is just a little sore.”


A preliminary Memphis Police Department report stated that Randolph was driving his 2011 Dodge Charger westbound on the 385 exit ramp toward 240 when his vehicle was struck in the rear by a 2000 Honda CRV. There were no visible injuries on the scene and no one was transported in an ambulance. The driver of the Honda received a citation for Failure to Maintain a Safe Lookout.


The Grizzlies are battling with the Los Angeles Clippers for the fourth seed and home court in the first round. They'll need Randolph at nearly full strength to make a run. Even with him trying to find his rhythm that would be good enough for the Grizzlies. If the back is going to be a problem, it could be a first round flameout for Memphis.

Izzo thinks it would be different if Kentucky's players were white

John Calipari doesn't have too many fans in the college basketball world. Bob Knight is the most famous Calipari critic, citing his recruitment of one and done players that many say are ruining the sport of college basketball.

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has a different take on the national championship winning program. In an article with William C. Rhoden of the New York Times, Izzo doesn't hold back when he was asked if the Kentucky players were white and athletic, would they be thought of differently.

 “I want to answer that as honestly as I can,” Izzo said. “I think it would be different. I hate to say that.”


The perception is that these five black players are not serious students and don’t belong at the university. If they were white, there would be more acceptance that they belong at the university.


“It’s sad for me to say, but it’s probably the truth,” Izzo said. Perception or not, the reality is that the sports industry has done its part preparing young men and women for their careers as professional athletes. Only a small percentage will succeed, but only a fraction succeed at the highest level in any profession.


It's the age old question. The double edged sword. No one says anything when a bonus baby is drafted out of high school into Major League Baseball. Or when golf, tennis, or hockey players go pro. But when underclassmen declare for the NBA draft, most of them young and black it's a big deal. It's like when the Fab Five were at Michigan, when they lost they were undisciplined and thuggish. But when they won they were "playing the right way".

Can someone please define that one for me. If you can play and are good enough to go pro right away, then go.

Ozzie Guillen apologizes for his comments about Fidel Castro

Everyone knows Ozzie Guillen is a loose cannon. He says what's on his mind and doesn't care who he offends. Sometimes it's a breath of fresh air, sometimes you wonder when it's going to come back and bite him in the backside.

His most recent comments did the latter. In a recent issue of Time magazine Guillen said that he loves Fidel Castro and has respect for him for staying in power for so long. In Miami, which has a high Cuban population, those comments didn't sit well with some of the locals. After reading what he said, Guillen said he felt sick about it.

On Saturday in a closed door meeting with beat writers before the Marlins' game against the Cincinnati Reds, Guillen apologized for what he said.

"I will apologize if I hurt somebody's feelings, or I hurt somebody's thought," Guillen told the writers. "I want them to know I'm against everything 100 percent – I repeat it again – the way this man (been) treating people for the last 60 years."


The Marlins also issued a statement denouncing Guillen's comments.


"There is nothing to respect about Fidel Castro.


"He is a brutal dictator who has caused unthinkable pain for more than 50 years. We live in a community filled with victims of this dictatorship, and the people in Cuba continue to suffer today."


This isn't the first time Guillen has had something wild and crazy to say and it won't be the last. When it comes to some of the world's leaders he might want to think before he speaks.