UEFA Europa League: Spurs Beat Dnipro, Will Face SL Benfica

It was an exciting match on Thursday that featured some interesting back stories and development as the Tottenham Hotspur was able to get 3-1 comeback win over Dnipro. With the win, the Spurs qualify for round of 16 wherein they will face SL Benfica.

Here's the game recap from UEFA's official website.

UEFA Game Recap

Spurs were stunned by Roman Zozulya's header after half-time, but any hopes ex-Tottenham boss Juande Ramos harboured of a successful return to his former stomping ground were dashed by Christian Eriksen's set piece and a five-minute Emmanuel Adebayor double salvo that followed Zozulya's red card.

With his team losing 1-0 in Ukraine last week, Tim Sherwood took the proactive approach to reversing Spurs' fortunes in this last-32 tie, starting both Roberto Soldado and Adebayor. The latter made an early impact, nodding down a high ball for Eriksen, whose deflected volley dropped just over. Eriksen was Tottenham's main protagonist, but the Denmark schemer's hesitancy in promising areas extinguished several opportunities, and a curling free-kick was smothered by Dnipro goalkeeper Denys Boyko.

Despite the bodies the Premier League side had devoted to attack, an interval lead eluded them. The home fans' frustration was then compounded moments after the restart when Dnipro captain Ruslan Rotan's set piece was met by Zozulya's flashing header that left Hugo Lloris with little chance.

That stung the hosts into life. Mousa Dembélé's bouncing volley clipped the crossbar before Eriksen squeezed another exquisite free-kick inside the base of the left upright to equalise. At the other end, Yevhen Konoplyanka cracked a low shot off the left post, though the momentum shifted again soon after as goalscorer Zozulya was sent off for violent conduct on 63 minutes.

From then on, the match became the Adebayor show. The forward stabbed in Eriksen's swinging cross to level the aggregate score on 65 minutes, and then put Spurs in the driving seat when he brought down Zeki Fryers' long diagonal and finished with aplomb. Lloris was called upon to repel Yevhen Seleznyov's thumping drive and Konoplyanka's set piece as Dnipro strove to spoil the party late on – but Sherwood's charges survived the onslaught to advance.

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Hawks Slide All The Way Down to Eighth Spot in the East

Just two months ago, the Atlanta Hawks seemed to have a firm grasp on the 3rd seed in the eastern conference. However, after suffering the team suffered through a litany of injuries that resulted to ever-changing lineups and rotations, the Hawks suffered strings of losses. Players on the team had struggled as their roles got changed from one game to another as the coaching staff tried to patch up the holes that is left by the absence of injured players.

 After going 2-8 in their last 10 games, the Hawks are now below .500 with 26 wins and 29 losses. The team is currently holding the 8th and the last playoff spot in the east.

Although they have comfortable lead over the 9th-place Detroit Pistons, they will have to turn things around in a major way if they wish to reach the playoffs. This is going to be hard considering the fact that the team is not out of the woods yet in terms of injury situation. It also didn't help that the front office didn't make any improvements before the trade deadline ended.

If the team is going to turn things around, it will have to rely on individual improvements from players.

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Despite Carmelo Wanting to Stay, Knicks Future Still in a Bind

With the horrible season the team is having, talks of trades regarding the New York Knicks didn't exempt anybody on the team. Even Carmelo Anthony, the franchise's prized star, was involved in trade rumors. Anthony is planning to opt out of his contract by the end of the season and this meant that the team could lose him for zero return. As such, talks of trades were only logical.

However, Anthony recently expressed his desire to stay with the team. In a story by Marc Berman of the New York Post, the 30-year old forward said:

"I don’t want to be traded. I came to New York, I said before I wanted to retire here. I said it, meant it. That’s how I feel. I still feel strongly about that. That’s why at the end of the season, everything has to be laid out — something that we can grow with and build on."

Despite his desire to stay, the future of the team is still in question. Anthony wants to compete but with the current salary situation of the team, making an improvement is going to be a very tough challenge as the Knicks are already locked to pay $91 million for next season. Unless the Knicks front office can conjure a miracle, the team is going to be stuck in a bad shape for at least one more season.

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No Westbrook No Problem for OKC Thunder

As of the writing, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a record of 43 wins and 12 losses. This record puts the team on top of the league. While having the best record is already impressive, what makes it even more amazing is that the team is winning games despite missing their best player in dynamic guard Russell Westbrook.

The driving force behind this success is forward Kevin Durant who has been playing absurdly well. The 25-year old is doing it all as he averages 31.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists so far this season. He is also making shots at high percentage as reflected by his 51% field goal percentage.

In the absence of Westbrook, backup guard Reggie Jackson has proven his capability to handle point guard duties. He is a solid  defender and also has the speed and finishing ability near the rim which makes him a tough cover for opposing guards. In a way, Jackson is what many thought Westbrook should be.

Since he entered the NBA to play alongside Durant, many criticized Westbrook for being too aggressive on offense. He looks for his own shot far too often which resulted for poor forced shots. While there are plenty of advantage to Westbrook's aggressiveness, Jackson has shown how the powerful and scary the team can be when it is able to take advantage of Durant's various abilities.

Watching the Thunder right now reminds me of the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks. The team that went on to win the championship relied on Dirk Nowitzki for offense. Dirk was impossible to guard on 1-on-1 back then and when he was doubled-team, he was able to make the right decisions. It is very much the dame for Durant right now who puts up points and facilitates well. The only difference is that Durant today is way much better than Dirk in 2011.

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Barca Retakes Top Spot in La Liga with Win Over Sevilla

After the 4-1 win over Sevilla last weekend, Barcelona re-takes the first place in La Liga from Athletico Madrid who suffered a shocking loss against Almeria.

Sevilla started strong with Alberto Moreno scoring the first goal in the 15th minute of the match. Sevilla had a chance to take a 2-0 in the 20th minute but the header from Carlos Bacca hit the post, saving Barca from getting into a deep hole.

Barca was largely passive in the early going. Sevilla already had 5 attempts in the first 20 minutes of the match while Barca had zero tries. It was only until Sevilla scored that Barca became more aggressive.

However, Barca wasn't able to score until the 34th minute, in which a header by Alexis Sanchez from a long free kick by Lionel Messi tied the game. With two minutes remaining before halftime, Barca was able to score their second goal courtesy of Messi. From there on, it was pretty much a soft sailing for the visiting Barcelona team.

Messi scored another goal in the 56th minute to extend the lead 3-1 and a Cesc Fabregas goal in the 87th minute resulted to a final score of 4-1.

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Outdated Post: Grizzlies Slips Into a Playoff Spot, Mavericks Slips off

This is a bit late and thus outdated but for my personal record-keeping purposes, I've decided to just post this right here. It's about the time last week when the Grizzlies where able to temporarily slip into a playoff spot. Obviously, it's not true now but whatever.

Grizzlies Slips Into a Playoff Spot, Mavericks Slips off

After a strong run to start the year that saw them win 13 of their 16 games, the Memphis Grizzlies have slipped into the 8th playoff spot in the very competitive western conference. The team started season poorly due to a new and more fast-paced system the coaching staff was trying to put in place. A couple of weeks later, the team fell back on their old and lumbering system which allowed them to win a string of games. However, they lost their defensive anchor in center Marc Gasol as he injured his knee on November 22. The team struggled throughout the next month of December and the first two weeks of January.

However, after Gasol returned on January 14, the Grizzlies have improved their play. Their defense is back to its old stingy self and their offense is also much improved.

With the rise of the Grizzlies, it also meant that one other team had to fall. That team is the Dallas Mavericks who aren't exactly having that good of a run in January. Although Dirk Nowitzki is putting up some pretty good numbers, the team's unreliable defense has been its downfall. The team has only won 9 of their 17 games for the month which is far from being good and resulted to them slipping off the top 8 teams in the west.

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Indiana Pacers Interested in Bynum

Skilled 7-footers are rare and very valuable in the NBA. That is why it isn't surprising that the Indiana Pacers are reportedly interested in making recently waived center Andrew Bynum a part of the team. It was reported a day ago that Bynum and his agent are in Indianapolis and are very much likely in discussion with the Pacers.

Although Bynum has lost some mobility due to injuries, his elite skills can still allow him to contribute to a team despite playing limited minutes. The question now is if he can play as a backup behind Roy Hibbert who's one of the best centers in the league right now. If he can, then he will be a very big boost to the Pacers second unit as there's really no second-unit centers that can compare to his combination of size and skills.

Another point of interest with the Pacers signing Bynum is the fact that it will allow to stop other teams from getting their hands on the center. The team's advantage has always been their size and that is why it makes sense for them to deny opposing teams from getting players who could decrease their advantage.

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Serie A: Inter Milan Sign Hernanez

On January 31, news from the official website of Inter Milan announced the completion of the signing of Brazilian midfielder Hernanez. Prior to the signing, the 28-year old midfielder has been playing for Lazio since 2010 and has become one of the prominent stars on the team and the league.

This is a great acquisition for the club who could seriously benefit from the Brazilian midfielder's playmaking. Hernanez handles the ball pretty well and is an accurate passer and shooter from long range. His abilities just matches well with the current system Inter Milan is running.

Hernanez has been relatively quiet this season and playing a bigger role in Inter Milan's system could get him back to looking like his old and effective self.

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Manchester United and Chelsea Agree to Malta Transfer

There's the headline. Here are the details.

Manchester United have  officially confirmed that the club has agreed to a deal with Chelsea for the transfer of Spanish Juan Mata.

The 25 year old Mata plays attacking midfielder and have signed with Chelsea  since 2011 and had 69 appearances in his first two seasons. After getting regular time in his first two seasons, he's only had 11 starts this season and reports earlier this month stated that he was eager to leave the club.

Manchester United currently ranks 7th in the Barclays Premier League and the club is hoping that the addition of Mata could add some life into their season.

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Kawhi Injures Right Hand Against OKC Thunder

During the January 22 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs wing Kawhi Leonard suffered a broken finger in his right hand and had to be taken out of the game and did not return after coming in contact with the arm of Thunder center Steven Adams in the second quarter of the game.

There is still no timetable for his return. The Spurs are already without two starters as guard Danny Green and center Tiago Splitter have also been out for a while due to injuries. These injuries are unfortunate as the Spurs are just about to enter the tough part of their regular season schedule and are competing with the Thunder and the Trailblazers for the best record in the western conference.

Leonard has been averaging 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds this season. He is the team's premier wing defender who often gets the unenviable assignment of checking an opposing team's best player. With him out for a while, the Spurs defense is certainly going to suffer.

76ers Looking to Trade Hawes and Turner

They are tanking. That there is the story for the Philadelphia 76ers during the off-season. Stuck in mediocrity for years as they reached the playoffs but just never looked competitive enough, many believed that the best plan for the team is to throw away the season and improve their chances for the 2014 draft.

During the off-season, the management decided to trade away fast-rising point guard Jrue Holiday for a Nerlens Noel, a rookie recovering from ACL injury and likely to miss the entire season. It became clear that winning wasn't a part of the plan for the team this season. The is looking for building blocks and the upcoming draft provides quite a few of those. The worse the record, the better the chances of the team getting a good player. Obviously, losing was the way to go and bookmakers have pegged the 76ers to win around 12 games this season.

Spencer Hawes

However, the season didn't went the way many expected it to go. They played fast and aggressive and teams who weren't prepared were surprised by the pesky energetic team. Racking up some unexpected wins that the anticipated 12-win team has already surpassed the mark only mid-way to the season. Several players on the team has been playing quite well this year and have become attractive to other teams and thus have had their trade value increased. Two of these players are Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner who are now reportedly being shopped around for trades.

Evan Turner

Both Hawes and Turner have expiring contracts after this season which are valuable by itself for other teams looking to have a cap room to sign free agents in the next off-season. They are also quite valuable for their abilities. Hawes is a big man who can stretch the floor with his shooting while Turner has been a better dynamic guard who can make plays and can score.

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Weak East is Bad for the West

As of writing, among the 15 teams in the NBA's eastern conference, only 4 teams have above .500 records. The western conference, on the other hand, have 9 teams with above .500 record. This data paints an unflattering picture of the lopsided situation the team is in. I guess this isn't really something new as the east always seemed to be the inferior of the two conferences for years now.

It is also this long-standing status of unbalanced conferences that have resulted to many debates among basketball fans whether the NBA should adapt a new playoff structure. After all, if the playoff season is supposed to feature the best teams, why are bad teams get to play while good teams miss out due to geological reasons? I don't think anyone can argue with the idea that those who perform better should be rewarded better. 

Anyways, more than just about giving the deserving teams the proper rewards, there is also the issue of the weak eastern conference giving some advantage to the some of the teams. When the playoff season comes around, eastern teams like the Heat and the Pacers are going to have an easy time reaching the finals as they'll be playing against the inferior teams in preceding rounds while western teams like the Spurs, Thunder and other good teams in the west will face tough challenges from round 1.

Aside from the playoffs, playing in the weaker conference will also allow teams to give their stars some much needed rest during the regular season as they don't have to play as many tough teams compared to the stronger conference.

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EPL: Liverpool Defender Daniel Agger Could Miss a Month

After suffering a calf strain during last Sunday's FA Cup game against Oldham, Liverpool defender Daniel Agger could miss a month as he recovers from the injury. Due to the injury, it is very likely that he will miss big games against the fifth place Everton and the league-leading Arsenal.

The injury adds more problems for Liverpool on the defensive end. Prior to Agger's injury, the team is already without one center-back and two full-backs in Sebastian Coates, Jose Enrique  and Jon Flanagan.

La Liga: Messi Impressive in His Return

Image from fcbarcelona.com

As the header says, Lionel Messi was impressive in his return after not having played since November as he nursed his injury. On Wednesday night, Messi was able to make two goals within four minutes as Barcelona defeated Getafe 4-0.

The first goal came at the 89th minute in somewhat a lucky fashion as the ball deflected off a defender and into the feet of Messi, in which he proceeded to  kick into the goal. The second goal was more impressive as fans got to see the Messi of old as he dribbled past a defender to get close to the box and kicked the ball in with ease.

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Defense Still a Problem for the Mavs

After winning the NBA championship for the 2010-11 season, one would thought that the Dallas Mavericks might have figured out the formula for winning titles or, at the least, being elite contenders. However, the team hasn't had much success since then. In the 2012 playoffs, they got booted out in the first round. In 2013, they missed the playoffs.

Over the off-season, the Mavs management tried to go after the big free agents. They failed and had to resort to finding what many considered lesser basketball talents. It wasn't exactly a bad move as I honestly think they've made some smart signings.

However, more than two months into the season and the team doesn't really look primed for a successful run this season. Their records isn't that bad with 20 wins and 15 losses. However, the way they are losing games, it is hard to imagine them winning games against the top teams in the western conference. 

While their offense has been decent, their deficiency on the defensive end is stopping them from consistently winning games. Due to have Mavs not having a good enough defensive wing, the team's defense is quite vulnerable to penetrating drives. This wouldn't have been so much of a problem if the team has a rim protector to somewhat patch the hole. However, the team doesn't have that guy and as a result, the entire defense ends up being compromised.

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Can the Nets Salvage their Season?

The Brooklyn Nets have mortgaged their future for a chance to win now. They have traded draft picks and are set to pay over $180 million in salary and luxury taxes that resulted from going over the salary cap. I could also add the lack of flexibility in terms of cap hold for the next season, but when the owner is willing to overspend, it really doesn't matter.

Anyways, we are all currently seeing what is happening with the win-now plan. The Nets right now are 11-21 and similar to the Knicks, have become a butt of jokes. In the first couple of weeks, many tried to explain the poor performance due to team chemistry and injuries. However, after two months into the season and the Nets are finally out of excuses.

As they are right now, I just don't see enough improvement from the team that would make me believe that they could still save the season. The injury to Lopez was a huge blow as the team lost one player who could produce consistently.

With him being out, the guys who will have to produce are a bunch of old guys who have been very inconsistent and unreliable this season. While they could surprise in some games, I doubt they can play consistently enough to save the season.

The Nets might be able to reach the playoffs due to the sheer volatility of the eastern conference, but I just don't see them having much of a success this year or the next unless some big moves are made, which is still very unlikely.

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NBA: Dragic Keying Suns Success

Talk about surprises. The Phoenix Suns right now are in a position that nobody expected them to be in. Their formula for success is simple. They play at a breakneck pace that not many teams can match up to. They are like a sports car that when they get it going, it is very hard to stop them. As all sports car, someone needs to be driving. On the driver seat right now is Goran Dragic.

The Slovenian point guard is not perfect by any means. His half-court game still could use some polishing here and there. However, is aggressiveness is just what the team needs.

He is so good in taking the ball to the basket and finishes quite well. In transition, he is almost unstoppable as he uses his explosive speed and contorts his body while in the air to make difficult layups look much easier.

EPL: Paulinho Suffer Ankle Injury

Hotspur midfielder Paulinho  has suffered a right ankle injury that could take him out for at least 4 weeks. Here's the announcement from the club's official website:

Following a MRI scan, the Club can confirm that Paulinho has sustained significant ligament damage to his right ankle after a heavy challenge from Charlie Adam during Sunday's win against Stoke City. The Brazil international was forced off as a result of the injury and is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks.

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