The hack-a-Howard strategy started in the mid-90’s with another Magic center.  When Shaquille O’Neal entered the NBA, his free throws skills were marginal at best so teams began fouling him intentionally rather than having him dominate in the paint.  This strategy became known as “hack-a-Shaq”.

When Dwight Howard began dominating teams the way Shaq did, they took the same approach on the current Magic center.  But this year teams have taken it to a new level.  The new strategy was first adopted on January 12 by the Golden State Warriors.  When the Magic were in Golden State during their four game west coast trip, the Warriors began fouling Howard at mid court as not to let him or the three point shooters have any opportunities.  Howard took an NBA record 39 free throw attempts in that game hitting 21 of them.

Friday night the Cavs took a more extreme approach to hack-a-Howard when they began fouling him before the Magic even got the ball in.  With the Magic up 10 with about six minutes remaining in the game, the Cavs began fouling Howard immediately.  Howard ended up attempting 16 free throws in the final six minutes of the game.  He made nine of those attempts.

Under current NBA rules, if a player is fouled even without the ball, it is simply two free throws.  With teams using the hack-a-Howard defense to such an extreme now, that rule needs to be changed.  Under the current rule, the game becomes boring as most of the time is spent with the players walking down the court and Howard attempting free throws.

Some would argue that this strategy perfectly fine because it’s within the rules and it’s a legitimate game plan.  However, the NBA is meant to be entertainment.  Despite what we’ve seen from most of the teams so far in this shortened season, what’s most important is that the fans are entertained.  With teams using hack-a-Howard so much, the entertainment value drops dramatically.

There’s one simple solution to fix this problem.  If a player is fouled without the ball in his hands, that team should get one free throw and the ball.  If that was the case, it would likely stop the hack-a-Howard defense and games in which the Magic lead late would be much more free flowing.

Most likely the NBA won’t change this rule and teams will continue to use hack-a-Howard as a defense against the Magic.  But if the NBA would like more highlights from one of their biggest stars, they will amend the rules to put an end once and for all to this game stopping strategy.

Sapp has embarrassed the NFL enough.  (The domestic battery allegations led to his eventual suspension from the NFL Network.)  Sapp, complaining about Suh, said, “How’s he still standing there talking about [how] he was stepping away from this man? In what universe does he live in? I don’t get it.”  The bottom line is that Warren Sapp needs to understand that criticizing Suh’s actions on the field is hypocritical when, off the field, Sapp has some pretty scary skeletons of his own.

Sapp certainly has the right, as a football analyst, to critique players.  But when it comes to questioning another’s character, such as Ndamukong Suh, we should all take it with a grain of salt.  Sapp walks a fine line.  The pot calling the kettle black can hardly be considered critique or analysis.  Maybe Sapp should pay more attention to his own issues.

Suh has apologized enough [already] for his actions this past Thanksgiving.  It is time to move on.  Get ready to watch and enjoy the Super Bowl.  Then all of the NFL teams and their players can start to prepare for the upcoming 2012 season.  And that is what Suh wants to do.  He knows that he will have his detractors, and that analysts will always find a way to get on him for anything and everything.  If Suh is able to produce the way the Detroit Lions and their fans know he will, there are only good things to look forward to in the 2012 season.

NOTE: I would be remiss if I did not reiterate that allegations against Sapp have been dropped and he has since returned to “analyzing” for the NFL Network.

After a close first quarter in which the Magic ended up 18-17, the Magic opened up a solid lead in the second.  With 5:56 left in the second, starters Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Dwight Howard came off the bench with a 30-26 lead.  The Magic then went on a 14-4 run to take a commanding 44-30 lead.  It started with Ryan Anderson hitting a three.  Then Jason Richardson hit a three of his own and completed a three-point play.  Turkoglu ended the run with a three that gave the Magic a 14 point lead.

The Magic took an 11 point lead into the third quarter and then extended it by outscoring the Cavs 24-16 and taking a 19 point lead into the fourth quarter.  The Cavs fought hard in the fourth though and outscored the Magic 41-30.  However, it wasn’t enough as newly acquired Ish Smith and Jason Richardson made plays to hold off the Cavs for the win.

Midway through the fourth, the Cavs took hack-a-Howard to a new level where they would foul Dwight Howard before the Magic even inbounded the ball.  Howard didn’t attempt any free throws through the first three and a half quarters but attempted 16 free throws in the final six minutes.

Five players for the Magic scored in double figures led by Jason Richardson and Dwight Howard with 19, Hedo Turkoglu with 18, and Ryan Anderson with 17.  Von Wafer had a nice game off the bench scoring 11 points backing up Chris Duhon.  Howard added to his 19 points with 16 rebounds and eight blocks coming close to the second triple-double of his career.

The newly acquired Ish Smith who was signed Thursday by the Magic gave his new team an energy boost as he played nine minutes with two points, four assists, and no turnovers.  Turnovers were actually a strong spot for the Magic Friday night as they only turned the ball over five times.

The Magic will face Indiana Saturday night but with a bit of a wrinkle in the schedule.  Due to Super Bowl XLVI Sunday, the league has told the Magic that they will not be permitted to fly from Orlando to Indianapolis on Saturday.  Instead, they will fly to Cincinnati and take a two hour bus ride to Indianapolis for the game.  The reasoning for the disruption is that an airplane’s mechanical problem or bad weather could prevent the Magic from reaching Indiana on time and cause the game to be postponed.  The true reason though is because of bad planning on the part of the NBA in putting a game in Indianapolis the day before the Super Bowl which is causing the Magic to go through Cincinnati.

Up Next: Next the Magic will fly to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Pacers (15-6).  It will be the third game between the two teams in the past two weeks.  The Magic defeated the Pacers in Indianapolis nine days ago and then lost to the Pacers five days later.  The Magic will fly into Cincinnati and drive two hours to Indianapolis for the game because of Super Bowl XLVI.

After the first quarter, the Raps broke this one open and it wasn’t even close.

There is still no status on Andrea Bargnani, and he’s not close to returning.

Let’s get to the report card:

Offence- A

Positives

This was one of the best offensive performances of the season for the Raps. Leandro Barbosa poured in 19, Amir Johnson added 18, and the team was in great sync overall.

Negatives

DeMar DeRozan was very quiet once again, as he can’t seem to fully shake the slump syndrome. He scored a mere 11.

Defence- B

Positives

Amir Johnson was very solid with 3 blocks, and the team was just rock solid overall defensively.

Negatives

Not much to say here. Nick Young exploited the Raps for 21, but overall, good job containing the Wizards.

Rebounding- A+ 

Positives

Wow. The Raps outrebounded the Wiz 61-37.

This was the main difference between the two teams, and everyone contributed on the boards. Amir Johnson led with 13 off the glass.

Negatives

Nothing to say here.

Overall, this was a great game by the Raps. This was a huge win for a team that’s struggled as of late, and hopefully they can keep the momentum rolling for a Superbowl Sunday tilt against the powerhouse Miami Heat.

Follow me on Twitter @Thesachman

Like Raptors Cage on Facebook

Sachin will be starting a mailbox, where he will answer questions asked by readers once a week. Send Sachin a tweet or comment below to have your question answered

Bradley Leeb-US PRESSWIRE

After practice on friday, Michigan State forward Draymond Green says he will play vs in-state rival Michigan on Sunday.

Green exited tuesday’s loss at Illinois with a sprained left knee. While trying to fight around a screen, Green’s knee seemed to twist and he immediately went down. Thankfully for the Spartans, it was not as serious as it looked.

Green seemed to be very motivated to get revenge after the Spartans last second loss in Ann Arbor back in January.  He had a couple tweets in the past week indicating he would play no matter what.

Green is averaging 14.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.1 blocks per game, which leads the Spartans in each category. Talking to his teammates during the week, they all knew he would be playing against Michigan for the final time in his career.

Many fans remember Duce Staley for his ruggedness and tenacity.  Staley was a stocky 5’11 242 pounds, quite a load to bring down.  Duce would almost always break the initial tackle, dragging defensive players as he fought for every inch.  The Philly faithful loved Staley’s ‘lunch bucket’ approach to the game.

Duce Staley was not just a blue collar, tough minded running back.  He was extremely productive in his time with the Eagles, not just in the ground game, but through the air as well.  Many forget that Staley was an excellent receiver.

Staley played for the Eagles from 1997-2003.  Duce garnered 4807 rushing yards during this span.  Currently, that is the fourth most in Eagles history.  In his best year, Staley rushed for over 1200 yards in 1999.  During his Eagles career, Staley accumulated 22 rushing touchdowns.

For Eagles quarterbacks, Duce Staley presented an excellent target out of the backfield.  Staley compiled 2498 receiving yards during his Eagles career.  He also added ten receiving touchdowns from 1997-2003.  Duce Staley’s over all production of 7305 total yards from scrimmage ranks him fifth in the Eagles record book.

Duce was a terrific blocker as well.  He liked to do the dirty work that was required when defenses sent free men on blitzes.  Staley instilled the importance of blocking into Brian Westbrook.  Staley influenced Westbrook tremendously.  He helped make Brian Westbrook into a complete back.

Eagles fans are lucky to have the progression of running backs the likes of Duce Staley, Brian Westbrook and, now, LeSean McCoy.  All three knew/know the three phases that make up an excellent every-down running back:  rushing, receiving and blocking.

I was a huge fan of Duce Staley.  I loved in when the crowd roared “DUUUUUUUUCE” everytime he touched the ball.  The cool thing about the DUCE chant was that it happened everywhere Staley played, not just at home.  That is respect.

contact:  frank-benditt@comcast.net

I think the pass rushes and pass defenses will play much better than their rankings.  The one team that is able to create play action passes by running the football will win.  I feel like the Patriots have the edge in that category.

The New York Giants run defense was thin at defensive tackle depth earlier this year.  Even with the depth at defensive tackle, I feel like the Giants defensive tackles will focus more on block shedding while pass rushing so Brady has less time to get to the football.

The Giants weakest linebacker is middle linebacker Chase Blackburn.  I feel like New England can keep Eli Manning off the field by running the football.  I am also confident that New England’s front 7 will have more success at stopping the run than the Giants.

New England’s run defense held Ray Rice to 7 yards on his first ten carries.  Stopping Ray Rice is a lot tougher than stopping Ahmad Bradshaw or Brandon Jacobs.  Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, and Rob Ninkovich can make stops at linebacker.  Dane Fletcher can come in and rotate for Ninkovich on the strong side at left outside linebacker.

Running the football could go under the radar in this contest.  There has not been a Super Bowl MVP at running back since the 1997-1998 season when Terrell Davis won Super Bowl MVP.  Its been nearly 15 years since a running back has been Super Bowl MVP.  I feel like that will change.

I’ll recap why I’m more confident in Green Ellis than the Giants ground game one more time.

First, Green Ellis may not split as much carries as the Giants tandem of Ahmad Bradshaw or Brandon Jacobs.  Green Ellis will be out on plays where Danny Woodhead or Stevan Ridley is in.  BenJarvus Green Ellis can run the football.  Green Ellis had a few big runs against a Ravens run defense that ranked near the top of the league.

Second, New England’s front 7 is much better at stopping the run than the Giants front 7.  The Patriots would not have made it this far without their front 7 stopping Ray Rice against Baltimore.  Tom Brady did not throw a touchdown and New England still managed to win.  Brady threw 2 interceptions and 2 more that would have counted if Baltimore did not commit penalties on the plays.

Third, and finally look at who the Giants faced to get here.  The Giants defeated an undisciplined Falcons defense that could not tackle to save face in the wild card.  Next, New York faced a  Packers team that was more focused on run stuffing and interceptions than pass rushing and coverage.  Finally the New York Giants faced a 49ers team that showed great effort, but was too inexperienced to take the next step.  Go ahead and call Kyle Williams the goat.  First year coaches rarely get teams to Super Bowls.  Its amazing that Harbaugh got the 49ers to the NFC Title in the fashion he did straight out of Stanford.

New England faced two top notch run defenses anchored by the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens.  New England won both of those games and is facing a weaker run defense that is much stronger at pass rushing by getting to the quarterback.  New England has only surrendered 1 sack in two games to both Denver and Baltimore.  I feel like the Patriots can defeat the Giants considering the fact that the Ravens had 22 different starters and backups that could play on NFL rosters.

US PRESSWIRE

Middle relief is transcending the game of baseball. In the old days, relievers were failed starting pitchers that had to eat innings. Match-ups weren't played, they threw multiple innings at a time, and saves - let alone holds - didn't exist.

In 2012, bullpens can make or break a team. While closers are important in some capacity, relievers - or relief aces as I call them - can anchor a bullpen for long-term success.

Here are baseball's best relievers who aren't closers.

Starting Pitchers

Catchers

First Basemen

Second Basemen

Third Basemen

Shortstops

Left Fielders

Center Fielders

Right Fielders

Follow Bryan on Twitter at @Lutzifer35; Closers are next!