The Mid-Week Rundwon

I haven’t been able to write as much as I would have liked this week, due to me being in Memphis helping out family and friends affected by the flood. Remember to keep those victims of the Spring tornadoes and flooding in your prayers as they need your strength their this time of need.

Dallas Mavericks march on to NBA Finals: Dallas defeated the OKC Thunder 100-96 last night to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2006. Dallas got a dagger 3-point shot by Dirk Nowitzski with 1:14 left to cap a 14-4 run and to seal the series. The Mavs have been the surprise team in the NBA playoffs this year as they knocked off the two-time defending champs L.A and have been on a roll every since. The Thunder are a group of young dynamic players as evident by the exploits of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. In the end Dallas just had too much experience and as the young Thunder wilted under the pressure. The Thunder will be a team to be reckoned with in the future as this lost is only a growing pain that will make them better. Dirk has proved this entire post-season that he wants his ring and he wants it now. The time is now for the German assassin and the rest of the grizzled vets like Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. Congrats to Dallas for an outstanding post-season run thus far.

L.A Lakers hire Mike Brown to replace Phil Jackson: In a stunning turn of events, the Lakers brass has found their man for their coaching vacancy signing Mike Brown to a four-year $18 million dollar contract. Brown as you may remember was the coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Lebron years and had an overall record of 272-138 in five seasons that included two Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals trip. Brown was also the NBA coach of the year in 2009. My personal take on the signing of Brown is this: Although he is a defensive wizard (His teams were in the top 10 defensively 3 out of 5 years he coached), his offense scares me because it often was stagnated and went all points through Lebron. Granted, the Cavs really had no choice because Lebron was clearly the best option on every possession. I just hope he can be a little more creative now that he has more talent at his disposal. Also he has the reputation as a pushover in the locker room as seen by his treatment of James. Kobe will be a different animal to contain. You’re talking about a champion and an MVP who doesn’t care that father time has caught up with him. He will still try and take over a game if he feels it necessary. If Brown can somehow found a common ground with Bryant and show some flair on offense then he should be just fine. Lebron’s comments on the hire: Good move.

Local Sports News:

Vandy downs Georgia 10-0: The freshmen duo of T.J. Pecoraro and Kevin Ziomek shut down the Bulldog bats as the Commodores shut out Georgia to opener of the SEC Baseball tournament. The game was actually stopped thanks to the mercy rule that goes into effect when on team leads by 10 or more runs after seven innings. The only negative about the thumping on Georgia was that Pecoraro’s forearm which forced him out of the game in the fourth inning. In came Ziomek, and he was in trouble to start as he inherited a batter that he walked and walked another to load the bases. He would get out of the inning by striking out Curt Powell and Jay Delmonico and kept the 3-0 lead for the Dores. Vandy will now take on number one seeded South Carolina today at 7:30 pm make sure you tune in.

Nashville Sounds Update: Wednesday’s scheduled game between the Nashville Sounds and Tacoma Rainiers was rained out and will be made up as part of an 8 p.m. doubleheader on Thursday. The teams will play a pair of seven-inning games Thursday to close out their four-game series. Right-hander Amaury Rivas (3-3, 3.73) will start for Nashville in the opener and face Tacoma right-hander Blake Beavan (1-1, 5.76). Left-hander Sam Narron (2-1, 3.30) will pitch for the Sounds in the nightcap to square off against Rainiers right-hander Charlie Haeger, who will make his first appearance of the season.

Editor’s note: For more content make sure you go to www.noomizo.com/sports.com as I continue my partnership in covering the sports section for them. Feel free to make any comments in that section as well and I will surely respond.