Blogs

Ben Gordon was playing as well as he ever has during his first two weeks with the Pistons, but he blew an engine Sunday against Dallas.

Gordon went 1 for 16 from the field for 5 points and added 4 turnovers as Detroit lost to the Mavericks 95-90 at the Palace. His only made shot was a layup.

I remember plenty of quiet nights for Gordon during his five seasons with the Bulls, but don’t think he ever came close to a shooting night this bad. Heading into the game, Gordon was averaging 24.3 points per game and shooting a stellar 49 percent from the field. His career-high field-goal percentage is .455, set both last season and in 2006-07.

Thanks to the mediocrity of the NFC so far this season, the Bears are still very much in contention for a wild-card berth, although that would require that they raise their level of play significantly.

Despite four losses in their last five games, including a couple of tremendously embarrassing performances, the Bears are only a game away from the sixth and final playoff spot. Winning the NFC North is out of the question at this point considering the Vikings’ 8-1 record.

But, after eliminating the four current NFC division leaders, the two wild-card spots are up for grabs among the Packers, Eagles, Giants and Falcons, all of whom are just 5-4.
The Bears, Panthers and 49ers are all a game back at 4-5.

As soon as the Bears “go back to the drawing board,” and “look at themselves in the mirror,” and “refuse to quit,” and “watch the film to see what they can do better,” they should consider a few things.

First, they need to keep throwing screen passes. It seems the Bears have never been able to execute that play, but against the 49ers, Matt Forte had pickups of 37 and 31 yards on screen passes. Since the offensive line doesn’t appear capable of slowing down the pass rush, the Bears have to find alternatives.

In Sunday's paper, I wrote about the Blackhawks possibly having an interest in Carolina Hurricanes center Matt Cullen as a replacement for Dave Bolland.
Who knows if this will happen, but the 32-year-old Cullen would be a nice fit playing on the second line.
Things are going from bad to worse in Carolina, where the Hurricanes were off to a 2-12-4 start going into Sunday games, and changes are believed to be coming.
Forget this year's stats (3 goals, 4 assists, minus-9) - Cullen is a responsible player with good offensive upside and does not come with a long-term contract.
Cullen has a $2.875 million cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Before this year, Cullen averaged 19 goals and 45 points over the four previous seasons and was a plus player each year.

This is not necessarily Bulls related, but the strangest thing about Saturday’s 94-88 win over Philadelphia is how Sixers coach Eddie Jordan refuses to play Elton Brand in the fourth quarter.

Brand went to the bench with 44 seconds left in the third and never returned, making it six times in the last seven games that he’s sat out the entire fourth quarter.

The veteran power forward had a decent game against the Bulls, hitting 5 of 11 shots for 11 points and 6 rebounds. Backup Marreese Speights went to the locker room early in the fourth, but still Jordan didn’t send in Brand.

Before we get into it, click here if you want referee Dan Capron’s explanation regarding Sherrick McManis’ clinching interception with 32 seconds to go: http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/2924

WHAT THIS GAME MEANT
Northwestern’s 21-16 win ensures the Wildcats (7-4, 4-3) get to play in a bowl in back-to-back years for just the second time in program history. Early scuttlebutt suggests NU could be ticketed to the Champs Sports Bowl, which gets the third pick after the BCS pairings are settled. The Insight Bowl also looks like a sound choice since NU hasn’t played in Arizona. Nothing against the Alamo Bowl, but the Cats were in San Antonio in 2000 and again last year.

Hi gang,

If you saw the finish of Northwestern's 21-16 victory over Illinois, then you saw the officials rule that NU cornerback Sherrick McManis took the ball away from WR Jarred Fayson on a diving play with 32 seconds to go.

While most of the 60,000-plus inside Memorial Stadium thought the referees blew the call -- that Fayson made his diving catch and rolled onto his back to end the play before McManis came in -- here's the official statement from referee Dan Capron:

Just when I was researching the last time Northwestern went scoreless in the first half, Illinois redshirt freshman QB Jacob Charest picked an inopportune to throw his first INT.

To recap:
Pat Fitzgerald went against his character (he doesn't like to give the other team momentum going into halftime) and went for it on fourth-and-1 from Illinois' 43 with 1:12 to play. But Zeke Markshausen dropped Mike Kafka's short pass -- the Wildcats' third drop of the quarter -- and Illinois took over.

On the first play, Charest fired over the middle toward Rejus Benn...but MLB Nate Williams got in the way to give NU the ball at its 46 with 1:00 left. Five plays later, Kafka hit Markshausen for a 28-yard score. That put the Wildcats up 7-3 at the break.

A FEW THOUGHTS:

And here I thought I wasted four years of high school French and a year of college French. For some reason, it all paid off on Friday night in Evanston.

Among the many things we learned during Northwestern’s 77-55 season-opening win over Northern Illinois? That senior forward Kevin Coble has what currently is diagnosed as a mild Lisfranc fracture in his left foot…and that senior guard Jeremy Nash was “ a little bit of a dilettante” in coach Bill Carmody’s eyes.

Northwestern senior Kevin Coble just met with us before the Northern Illinois-NU opener and laid out his options.

1) The initial diagnosis is a mild Lisfranc mid-foot fracture. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisfranc_fracture

2) He's visiting a second specialist on Monday to determine whether surgery is necessary on his left foot. It sounds like the first specialist suggested surgery, but everyone wants to be sure.

3) If he needs surgery, it would be four months before he could do anything on a court. Though he's on target to graduate in June, he's more than willing to redshirt and return next year.