Significant Progress Made Towards Ending The NBA Lockout

So no ultimatum? That’s what happened. The thing with this lockout is that it’s entirely too difficult to predict just what’s going to happen. Everyone’s throwing threats, ultimatums and “take it or leave it” offers when the truth is that both sides aren’t going to abide by this stuff. Yesterday, there was a 5 p.m. deadline… and the talks ended up going on long into the night. The lockout may not have ended, but significant progress was made. A 50/50 split appears to be the likely scenario, and now the two sides are working on system issues. The players have given up a lot and now they want to win this part. At this point, as long as the union can win most of these smaller system issues, then they should be able to approve a deal. At the same time, the owners may still put the rug out from under them, asking for more than 50 percent of the BRI … Random thought, but this is one of the coolest sites ever. Type in what music you’re listening to and it tells you what to drink … It took Arizona nearly 35 minutes to show up against Duquesne. But when they did, it was a wrap. Jordin Mayes (19 points) went nuts, banging threes, hitting floaters in the lane and balling out like he wanted to keep the starting spot he got last night after Josiah Turner showed up late to shootaround. He was the spark in the second half as Duquesne ran out of gas after playing ‘Zona to a standstill in their house for most of the night. In the final stretch, the game became a complete mismatch. The ‘Cats ended up winning 67-59 in a pretty impressive unimpressive win (if that makes sense) … Arizona’s freshman Nick Johnson – who can really fly and has a 42-inch vertical – apparently isn’t even close to the athlete his father was. The announcers said his father – “Jumpin'” Joey Johnson – once registered a 52-inch vertical. We’re gonna have to call that one an urban legend … If you want to know why there are people out there who can’t stand watching college basketball, all you needed to do was watch the final 60 seconds of St. John’s 78-73 win over Lehigh. All that happened was missed free throws and turnovers. St. John’s – who were up by four to six points during the span – were missing more free throws than a blindfolded Bo Outlaw. But at the same time, Lehigh turned it over three straight times with sloppy plays. Overall, St. John’s moved to 2-0 with another come-from-behind win (they were down 14 with 11 minutes left) as Steve Lavin made his season debut on the bench. During the post game, we felt bad for God’sgift Achiuwa (21 points, eight rebounds). Lavin tried to give him some face time at the end of the game, introducing him and pushing him towards the mic from Len Elmore. Instead, ESPN just switched off … Speaking of God’sgift, he has a teammate named Sir’Dominic Pointer. Lavin must’ve had a recruiting rule: only recruit kids whose parents were drunk when they named them … Remember how we said Mississippi State was a sleeper to watch? Forget it. Pretend we never said it. They were awful last night, completely lackadaisical in losing to Akron 68-58. All you needed to know was to check out Renardo Sidney three minutes into the second half, standing at the top of the key and refusing to move or bend his knees or pretty much do anything but look like a pole. He’s just looked out of shape. Akron has a few players though: Quincy Diggs (19 points) is a very nice looking wing player, and Zeke Marshall (10 points, five blocks) is like the college version of Tyson Chandler … No. 19 Texas A&M ran away from Liberty 81-59 behind Ray Turner‘s 20 points … Can you remember the last time you were cut/let go from a basketball team? Tyrell Young probably wants to forget everything associated with it. After being let go from Fresno Pacific University’s team, the 21-year-old went on a naked rampage. He was finally arrested but not before Young ran through a parking lot, tried to steal a police car, struck an officer and police dog and even assaulted two women. He was completely naked the whole time. Sounds out Young really wanted to go out with a “bang” … Two cities that desperately needed a celebrity playground team are getting one. Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams are organizing a game between Seattle and Atlanta. Isaiah Thomas told us earlier this summer that Seattle would beat anyone. Now he has the chance. Thomas and Crawford will be joined by Nate Robinson, Spencer Hawes, Jon Brockman, Marvin Williams, Terrence Williams and Will Conroy. Atlanta will be headlined by Damien Wilkins, Derrick Favors, Anthony Morrow, Joe Johnson, Jeff Teague and Josh Smith. The game will take place at Morehouse College on November 19 … And was there any doubt that Joe Paterno was never going to be allowed to coach Penn State again? Yesterday was nearly a formality. That stuff goes on in your building, and all you do is report it to a university official… and then let that same dude continue to have an office on campus and continue to come around? C’mon son. Everyone who was at all involved or had knowledge of the situation is either out already or will soon be gone. There’s no other alternative. Clean house, and then tell the students to stop rioting and clamoring for Paterno to be allowed to coach because they just look stupid … We’re out like Joe Pa.