Dillon Brooks stole the show last night. The Houston Rockets defensive stalwart made the headlines during the game for his tough plays on certain Los Angeles Lakers players. His actions were such that even the great LeBron James avoided answering any questions pertaining to Brooks. The Lakers were on the receiving end of a horrible beatdown at the hands of Brooks and the Houston Rockets. One analyst had an interesting take on the topic of Brooks.
NFL Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Shannon Sharpe started off the discussion regarding Brooks on First Take. While speaking about the dirty plays Brooks used to rattle the Lakers, Sharpe said;
I believe you can play hard without playing dirty. Just let me come in at 55 years of age and I can do exactly what Dillon Brooks d
Sharpe alluded that Brooks could have played the game without trying to cause harm to anyone. He mentioned that Brooks pushing Jarred Vanderbilt in the back while he was in the air could have ended badly for Vanderbilt. Sharpe chastised Brooks’ hit on James.
Shannon Sharpe continued to say that Brooks can avoid using cheap shots to implement his toughness on the court. Dillon Brooks is known for playing tough and using mind games. But to use cheap shots that could cause harm was unnecessary. Dillon Brooks could have just used his toughness to win the mind games against the Lakers. He added that dirty plays are not what basketball is all about
Sharpe added that Brooks’ antics were anyways unnecessary as the Lakers played badly throughout the game. To this Kendrick Perkins, a guest on the show added that Brooks’ toughness had a massive impact on the way the Lakers played. According to him, had Brooks not used his toughness, the Lakers could have regrouped in the second half and come back to win the game.
How Dillon Brooks inflicted pain for the Lakers
Dillon Brooks has a long-standing beef with LeBron James. Brooks started the whole beef during last season’s first-round playoff loss to the Lakers. Brooks went into the series on a mission to harass and stop LeBron James from having any impact on the games. But the antics turned on Brooks’ head with James leading the Lakers to a blowout win to close the series.
This season with the Rockets, Brooks still has his sights on James. Earlier Brooks used to use stare-downs and elite defense to harass James. In this game, Brooks took his antics a bit further. He pushed Jared Vanderbilt in the back when Vanderbilt was in the air going for a dunk. Vanderbilt landed badly and was in pain. Then when James went up for a rebound, Brooks smacked him in the face leading to a Flagrant 1 foul. All those antics led to an embarrassing loss for the Lakers.
It wouldn’t be biased to say that Brooks and his antics had an impact on the game. But Shannon Sharpe says, the Rockets need not pay him NBA contract money to do the same dirty plays Brooks does.
Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed stunning new details Tuesday about Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland’s lengthy rehab and recovery from a fractured jaw. The one-time All-Star suffered the injury during a game against the Boston Celtics in mid-December and is planning to return to action on Wednesday when the Cavaliers host the Detroit Pistons. One day after Garland fractured his jaw in the third quarter of the contest vs. Boston, it was reported that he had re-entered the game and ended up playing for the majority of the second half with the injury. The 2019 fifth overall pick’s ailment came at a time when Cleveland was already dealing with loads of other injuries to key players. As mentioned by Charania, star power forward Evan Mobley returned to the court for the Cavs’ win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday but had missed the previous 22 games due to a knee injury. Cleveland was just 13-12, had lost three in a row and was in ninth place in the Eastern Conference when Garland’s 19-game absence began. Behind star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell and the leadership of head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, the team has gone 15-4 since then, are now 28-16 overall in fifth place in the standings and are threatening to move up further. In addition to the Garland and Mobley injuries, the Cavaliers also officially lost Ricky Rubio to retirement (which was expected) and saw big man Tristan Thompson earn a 25-game suspension for violating the league’s anti-drug program. Garland is second on the team in both points and assists per game — trailing Mitchell in both categories — at 20.7 points and 5.9 assists per contest, respectively. The Vanderbilt product is also shooting a career-best 47.0% from the field and is averaging a career-high 1.6 steals.
Not since the birth of the Baltimore Ravens has there been a bigger change to sports in the Charm City. John Angelos is selling the Orioles to David Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti for $1.725 billion, according to John Ourand of Puck News. The veteran sports business scribe, who recently joined Puck after a long career with Sports Business Journal, said that the two sides had been in discussions since December 2023. The news comes after the Angelos family announced that it was exploring a sale for the team during the 2023 season. Peter Angelos led a group to buy the team in 1993 for $173 million. The new owners will have a 40% stake in the team but will take full ownership upon Peter’s death. The Orioles have been in Baltimore since 1954 when a group of local businessmen purchased the St. Louis Browns and relocated the franchise. After nearly four decades in Memorial Stadium, the team moved to the groundbreaking Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the retro-styled ballpark that sparked a new stadium construction boom throughout the United States that has yet to fully subside. Oriole Park certainly must play a role in the current valuation, but a competitive team and a regional sports channel that is finally working through its years-long conflict with the Washington Nationals helped pull the asking price upward. While Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, and Arougheti are known for their private equity firms, it is difficult to say whether or not they will bring the controversial approaches of that industry to their stewardship of the team. The Orioles are far from a “distressed asset” these days and as many a billionaire can attest to (hello, David Tepper!), running a sports franchise is a far different challenge than other industries where they’ve had success.
The Washington Commanders front office likely wasn’t mad about Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson not being interested in their head-coaching job. What likely didn’t sit right with them was the timing of Johnson letting them know he was staying in Detroit. According to CBS Sports; Jonathan Jones, Johnson, the presumed favorite for the Washington job according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, informed the Commanders that he was withdrawing from consideration for their HC job while the team was in the air and en route to interview him for the position. Fortunately for the Commanders coaching search committee, which included team owner Josh Harris, recently hired general manager Adam Peters, newly hired head of football operations Bob Myers and former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman, they also had a second interview lined up with Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn as well, so it wasn’t a wasted flight. Washington has already interviewed a handful of head-coaching candidates and was beginning its second round of interviews that included Glenn, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Ravens defensive line coach Anthony Weaver and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, who announced on Tuesday he was staying in Houston. The Commanders also interviewed their own offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy, two weeks ago, but it doesn’t appear that he’s going to be a finalist. Washington is looking for a new head coach for the first time since 2020. The team fired Ron Rivera on Jan. 8 following a 4-13 season. In four years with the Commanders, Rivera compiled a 26-40-1 record with one playoff appearance and no winning seasons. His best year came in 2022 when Washington went 8-8-1.
Green Bay Packers Expected To Re-Sign Key Piece In Free Agency
As the NFL offseason prepares to get underway, the Green Bay Packers are going to be an intriguing team to keep an eye on. After shocking the league by reaching the playoffs and dominating the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round, the Packers are looking to build to get even further. In the NFC Divisional Round, the Packers should have defeated the San Francisco 49ers, but came up just short. Brian Gutekunst and the front office will have quite a few tough decisions to make. A few of those decisions will come on players like De’Vondre Campbell, Preston Smith, Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon, and David Bakhtiari. However, there are other decisions to make as well. One key player that is set to hit the free agency market is defensive back and return man Keisean Nixon. While he’s going to hit the free agency market, the Packers will undoubtedly want him back. He remained a key piece on special teams and stepped up in a big way on the defensive side of the ball as well. CBS Sports has projected that the Packers will end up re-signing Nixon this offseason. “The high-octane return specialist was also a regular on Green Bay’s defense in 2023. The Packers have more than a dozen other free agents set to hit the market, but he’s an electrifying prospect to keep. Projected team: Packers.” This should come as no surprise. The Packers re-signed Nixon to a one-year deal last offseason and will likely lock him up again this offseason. Nixon has also loved his time with Green Bay and would likely prefer to return as well. During the 2023 season with the Green Bay Packers, Nixon ended up playing in all 17 games. He racked up 80 total tackles to go along with 0.5 sacks, an interception, and six defended passes. In the return game, Nixon averaged just over 26 yards per return on kickoffs. He also returned 14 punts for 95 yards. Expect to see the Packers move quickly to re-sign Keisean Nixon this offseason. He’s a key piece of what Green Bay is trying to do and loves being a part of the team. It’s a match made in heaven. Want the latest Packers news, rumors, and updates? Click here. If you want coverage on all other NFL teams, visit our sister site over at NFL Analysis Network. Should you want NBA coverage, you can visit our partner site NBA Analysis Network.
Georgia Tech pulls off another stunning upset beating No. 3 North Carolina
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have not won a ton of games this season, but they have made the most of them by pulling off two massive upsets. Their latest came on Tuesday night when they knocked off No. 3 North Carolina, 74-73, thanks to a last second lay-up by Naithan George. Here is a look at the winning basket. North Carolina entered Tuesday’s game on a 10-game winning streak and was off to a 9-0 start in ACC play. That winning streak and perfect conference record came to abrupt end against a Georgia Tech that is developing quite a reputation for being giant slayer’s this season. The Yellow Jackets have won just 10 games this season, but three of them have already come against ranked opponents, including two of college basketball’s most prominent powerhouse programs — North Carolina and Duke. Georgia Tech beat then-No. 7 ranked Duke 72-68 earlier this season. That game came just after beating then-No. 21 ranked Mississippi State. Georgia Tech has made the NCAA tournament just once in the past 13 seasons (and just twice in the past 16 seasons) and has finished above .500 just six times since the start of the 2007 season. Even with Tuesday’s win, Georgia Tech is just 10-11 on the season under first-year head coach Damon Stoudamire, but they are definitely showing they can hang with some of the nation’s best teams.
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