College basketball countdown: No. 9 Villanova

As a youngster growing up in Herndon, Va., Villanova senior Scottie Reynolds rooted for the Maryland Terrapins, so naturally his favorite buzzer-beater was Drew Nicholas' fadeaway 3-pointer that beat UNC Wilmington in an NCAA first-round game in 2003.

Now Reynolds has a new No. 1 buzzer-beater: his own shining moment in the NCAA Tournament. Reynolds' thrilling length-of-the-court-drive through the Pitt defense last season sent the Wildcats to the Final Four for the first time since 1985.

"It's a lot different around here now," said Reynolds of life on the Villanova campus. "Everyone has embraced us like we won the national championship. The buzz is still that strong."

Villanova is among the favorites to make a return trip to the Final Four this season, and Reynolds is a big reason why. The 6-2 guard decided to come back for a senior season after withdrawing his name from the NBA draft in June. There were a lot of reasons Reynolds wanted to return to school, and one of them was the chance to make another Final Four and have a chance to win the national championship that eluded him last season when the Wildcats were knocked off by North Carolina in a national semifinal.

"I love this group of guys," Reynolds said. "(Last season's seniors) Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark motivated me to lead the team and wanting that challenge. We want to keep this thing at a high level. We want this team to reach its potential."

And Villanova has plenty of potential. Coach Jay Wright returns four players with starting experience and has added three of the top 30 freshmen in the country.

Reynolds (15.2 ppg) is the undisputed leader. He scored 20 points or more in nine games last year and led the team with 3.4 assists per game. He's a three-year starter and on pace to score 2,000 points for his career.

Junior guard Corey Fisher (10.8 ppg) earned the Big East's Sixth Man of the Year after assuming a reserve role midway through the season. He was the team's third-leading scorer and reached double figures 23 times in 38 games.

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Basketball becomes bat-sketball as player swats Halloween night invader

It was with an uncanny sense of timing that a bat chose Halloween to disrupt the NBA tie between San Antonio Spurs and the Sacramento Kings. What, perhaps, the creature did not count on were the quick hands of the Spurs' Manu Ginobili who, not content with scoring 13 points in his side's 113-94 win, swatted it from the air as it swooped across the court.

The bat had already sent players to the sidelines twice in the first quarter. The officials stopped the game as it circled then flew across the AT&T Center's court. First they called for a towel to catch it, then a net. But Ginobili took matters, literally, into his own hands. When the bat returned he simply smacked it to the ground before calmly carrying it off court to thunderous applause.

After a brief squirt of disinfectant from a trainer, and with the theme from Batman ringing in his ears over the venue's PA, the Argentinian player carried on much as if nothing had happened. "When you can't dunk anymore, you have to find a way to make it into the news," he said afterwards. "So that's what I did. I grabbed a bat. I didn't think it was a big deal. Then the whole arena started chanting my name."

It was his team-mate, Tony Parker, who led the Spurs' victory with 24 points and seven assists, however it was Ginobili's bat-slapping exploits that grabbed the attention. "That was amazing," said Parker. "The legend continues with Manu. Unbelievable. He's always doing crazy stuff."

It was something his coach, Gregg Popovich confirmed: "The drummer that he marches to sometimes is a little bit different. He never ceases to amaze me and he just did it again. The legend grows. It's incredible on Halloween night. You would call someone a liar if they told you that story."

"I guess in Argentina, bat hunting is part of everyday life," the Kings centre Spencer Hawes said. "Somebody had to do it, and it wasn't going to be me."

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Federer disappointed by Agassi drug admission

ZURICH — World number one Roger Federer on Thursday voiced disappointment at Andre Agassi's bombshell admission that he had taken drugs in 1997 and then lied to the ATP to avoid a ban.

"It was a shock when I heard the news. I am disappointed and I hope there are no more such cases in future," Federer said at a sponsors meeting at Kilchberg near Zurich.

But Federer also noted that Agassi "has done a lot for tennis, both as a player and as a human being".

"Today, he raises millions of dollars for his foundation for disadvantaged children," the Swiss commented.

Agassi, one of just six men to have won all four Grand Slam titles and widely regarded as one of the sport's finest players, stunned tennis this week by revealing he'd taken the highly-addictive drug crystal methamphetamine in 1997.

The American, now 39, also admitted that he lied to the governing body of the ATP to escape a ban.

Federer noted that today, players must make themselves available for dope tests between 20 and 30 times a year.

"Our sport must stay clean," he stressed.

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How tennis world reacted to Andre Agassi’s admission of taking crystal meth

Andre Agassi’s autobiography, ‘Open’, has been the talk of tennis since extracts were published in which he admitted to using crystal meth, with Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Boris Becker, Andy Roddick and many others having an opinion.

Rafa Nadal:

“If the ATP covered for Agassi then I think that’s dreadful. If they covered for the player and punished others for doing the same kind of thing then that would seem to me to be a lack of respect for all sportsmen.”

Roger Federer:

“It was a shock when I heard the news. I am disappointed and I hope there are no more such cases in future.”

Darren Cahill (Agassi’s last professional coach):

“[Agassi is] extremely proud of the book and I’m proud of him for giving such an honest and revealing look at his life”.

Boris Becker:

“I’m the last person to throw stones, as there have been some difficult times in my own life, but to hear that he took crystal meth, that certainly puts a whole new light on Andre and it’s not a beautiful light.

“I’m struggling to get my head around why Andre would want to confess to something so damaging as taking drugs and then getting away with it? Why would he want to be so brutally honest?

“I’m really surprised that he would want to discuss such a private part of his life, to talk about such a bad period in his life. I’m sure this will help to sell his book. He doesn’t need the money, though. He’s a rich man.”

Andy Roddick:

“Andre is and always will be my idol. I will judge him on how he has treated me and how he has changed the world for the better.

“If anything we (the top players) are subjected to way more testing and attention. That’s just a fact. And, to be fair, when Andre wrote the reported letter (which deceived the authorities), he was well outside the top 100 and widely viewed as on the way out.”

Venus Williams:

“I’m sure his book will sell. But I can’t say anything about Andre Agassi’s life.”

Serena Williams:

“I don’t know what crystal meth is, that’s my reaction,” said the newly-crowned year-end world number one. I haven’t read anything about his book.”

Martina Navratilova:

“Shocking. Not as much shock that he did it as shock he lied about it and didn’t own up to it.

“Andre lied and got away with it. You can’t correct that now. Do you take away a title he wouldn’t have won if he had been suspended? He beat some people when he should have been suspended.”

Nick Bollettieri (Agassi’s former coach):

“I don’t condone what he did – I’ve made mistakes too, but I’ve done more good than bad.

“Let’s look at what Andre has done, he funds a school for 400 kids from the inner-city. I know underneath he’s a hell of guy.”

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Serena Williams withdraws from next week's Fed Cup Finals

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the U.S. vs. Italy Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Final set to take place November 7-8 in Reggio Calabria, Italy. Williams will be replaced by Vania King. King will be making her sixth appearance on the U.S. Fed Cup team.

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Hussey guides Aussies to 229-5 against India

Sunday, November 01, 2009
NEW DELHI: Michael Hussey top-scored with an unbeaten 81 as Australia posted 229-5 in the third One-day International against India here on Saturday.

Hussey, 34, hit his third half-century of the series and shared 56 runs with captain Ricky Ponting (59) after the world champions won the toss and elected to bat on a slow track at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.

Opener Shane Watson made up for his disappointing batting in the first two matches, making a fine 41 off 59 balls with five fours in the day-night encounter.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja impressed the most among the bowlers on the tricky track, picking 2-41 off nine overs.

The seven-match series is tied 1-1 after India won the second match at Nagpur by 99 runs. Australia had clinched the opener at Vadodara by four runs.

The visitors were off to a steady start with Ponting — opening the innings in the absence of the injured Tim Paine — putting on 72 runs with Watson off 98 balls.

The Australian captain, taking the opener’s role for only the second time in his 327-match one-day cricket career, completed his 72nd one-day half-century off 74 balls before falling to Jadeja.

Ponting tried to clip the spinner across the line but the ball hit the base of the pads right in front of the stumps. He hit four fours in his measured 92-ball knock.

Hussey, who scored 73 at Vadodara and followed it up with a 53-run knock at Nagpur, accumulated his runs through some hard running between the wickets. He hit just three fours and one six, that too in the 50th over.

India need to score at 4.6 runs an over if they are to win the match and go 2-1 up in the series.

Australia, the top-ranked one-day team, brought in Doug Bollinger and Moises Henriques in place of Ben Hilfenhaus and Shaun Marsh.

India named an unchanged side.

Score board

Australia won toss

Australia

S R Watson st Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh 41

*R T Ponting lbw b Jadeja 59

M E K Hussey not out 81

C L White c Dhoni b Raina 0

A C Voges c Kumar b Harbhajan Singh 17

M C Henriques b Jadeja 12

M G Johnson not out 9

Extras (b4, lb3, w3) 10

Total (5 wickets, 50 overs) 229

To bat: †G A Manou, N M Hauritz, P M Siddle, D E Bollinger

Fall: 1-72, 2-128, 3-129, 4-172, 5-200

Bowling: Kumar 5-1-16-0; Nehra 9-0-51-0 (1w); Sharma 5-0-24-0; Jadeja 9-1-41-2; Harbhajan Singh 10-0-37-1 (2w); Yuvraj Singh 8-0-30-1; Raina 4-0-23-1

ODI debuts: M C Henriques and G A Manou (Australia)

Series: 7-ODI series level 1-1

Umpires: S S Hazare and A M Saheba. TV umpire: S K Tarapore. Match referee: B C Broad (England)

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