1) starting with the hawkeyes, coming up with the huge upset win 62-60 over michigan state at carver arena on thursday to open up big ten play. none of the announcers or experts were given us any love because they assumed our average record meant we were an average team, but we showed the world all that young talent we have. the funny thing is we won even though it wasn't a great game by our stars, but other guys stepped up and the hawks played great defense, and it took too long for their star point guard, drew neitzel, to start hitting shots. i have to give the scrappy spartans credit for making a big comeback, we didn't ice the game until mike henderson nailed some clutch free throws, because iowa dominated for most of the 1st half. but MSU dominated us on the boards (like every other team this season) and they hit big shots that they were not hitting at the beginning. adam haluska wasn't shooting very well but he's still our star and he carried us with scoring, hustle, defense, and leadership. tyler smith gave us a scoring spark and defensive energy with his speed and opportunistic playmaking but didnt get his usual scoring numbers. seth gorney was typically lacksadaisacal on the boards and defense but he gave us some good scoring, but the two dudes that stepped up were cyrus tate (mainly him) and kurt looby. tate was huge on putbacks and offensive boards and he made some big plays, while looby gave the hawks some momentum by coming in and blocking shots with a little scoring on the side. luckily the spartans hardly got any scoring production from their big men and neitzel was cold until the 2nd half, but some other young guys stepping into new roles for the spartans this year carried them with scoring and big plays and they just hung around for a while because neither team shot well. this win proves my point that we can play with anyone when we play at home, even though this is a down year for the depleted MSU squad, as this one makes it ten straight at home in conference play. this a big victory for the young players' mental game and confidence and it shows that they can win even when haluska is not getting 30 points. the main thing now for us is closing games and just showing some consistency, which will come with experience, and to just win some games on the road in the big ten, which has looked impossible this year. we go to champaign to play illinois on wednesday.

2)quick update on the rockets, who are 21-12 after splitting their last two games of the week. Tmac's prolific scoring stretch continued with a 44 point effort in a big win over utah, a team currently in the top 5 of the west. the jazz are an efficient team like always with some very underrated players and some breakout guys as well, you have to think if their stars like carlos boozer and andrei kirilenko would have been healthy in the past seasons that the jazz would have made the playoffs too. luckily they didn't shoot well against us and mcgrady was crazy and unstoppable, while the usual suspects juwan howard, shane battier, and dikembe mutombo continue to step up in yao's absence. juwan is still providing consistent scoring and surprising rebounding, while shane is our most reliable downtown threat and a fantastic defender and master of the "little things" and mutombo has been a beast on the boards, "turning back the clock" as bill worrell would say with 19 rebounds against the jazz. the timberwolves have been playing inspired ball of late, winning an overtime game on a last second shot by KG on friday and beating us in overtime on sunday. the rockets did not have a great shooting night at all and we didnt make the big plays when it mattered, cause it was a close game throughout. mcgrady still got his 31 but he didnt shoot well from downtown or the free throw line, while juwan gave us the scoring, battier the long-range shooting, and mutombo the boards. i really think rafer should have been benched this entire game, he could not make a shot and missed 12 straight yet continued to play, while john lucas and luther head both gave us sparks and momentum with their scoring but for the most part rode the bench. KG was draining shots and getting rebounds while mark blount shot exremly well and ricky davis gave them his usual scoring. mike james forced a lot of stuff to try and put on a show against houston, where he has a home and almost signed with in the offseason, but he had a bad game and did not shoot well at all, even though he had 10 assists. randy foye should really get more minutes for them, he plays smarter and better than mike james most of the time and has been a better scorer this year but i guess since the wolves signed him to that contract in the summer dwayne casey feels obligated to play him. Tmac looked a little slower in this game but im glad he has been playing up to his all-star rep and scoring so many points, and if he continues to play this way and the other mentioned players continue to step up we will win a lot of games and make the playoffs without yao, but we need the big guy back if we wanna make any noise once we get there.