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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