NFL:  PATRIOTS & GIANTS TO THE SUPER BOWL  //  NBA: NUGGETS DEFEAT KNICKS IN SECOND OT

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            “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” HAS RETURNED TO POSTING ITS COLUMNS TUESDAY AND FRIDAY OF EVERY WEEK.  Editor/Publisher, Marvin Leibstone. Comments welcome---

NFL:   THERE’s no way of really telling, but Billy Cundiff not making that field goal in the last half of Sunday’s AFC championship game could be what cost the Baltimore Ravens a trip to the Super Bowl. Then again, Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, has had it in him to respond lethally in overtime, it might have been a 26-23 Patriots win, or maybe a Patriots victory by more than that, not the 23-20 that placed the New England team with the New York Giants for Super Bowl XLVI, scheduled for Sunday, February 5.

Though the Ravens were a much tougher team for the Patriots to beat than were the Denver Broncos in the previous week’s post-season battle, the Brady-led offense deserves credit having led Sunday’s AFC contest by driving holes through one of the better NFL defenses for 25 first downs, two touchdowns and three field goals.

But keeping the Patriots near a loss were several errors committed by its defense, which allowed the Ravens time and space for end-zone occupancy and a blitz for 10 points in the second and third quarters respectively. Yet keeping the Patriots close to a win were timely Brady/receiver reactions to “situational factors.” It’s a fair guess that the Patriots decided against sticking to a particular assault strategy over another, that a Patriots rushing or pass offense would be determined by existing conditions; further, that the Patriots defense wouldn’t deliberately weaken its pass rush so as to double-team the opposition’s better receivers unless conditions called for that to happen. It seemed that the Patriots applied, on both sides of the football, what was best needed for readings of the moment, instead of forcing up pre-planned plays irrespective of existing conditions, while the Ravens seemed to be more conventional in their tactical approaches and so less innovative, sticking to playbook calls.

Not that the Ravens attack-style hadn’t penetrated the Patriots defense, it just didn’t happen often enough to surpass the Brady-led scoring by a safe margin. Ironically, the Ravens gained more yards than the Patriots, 398 vs. 330, and maintained possession of the football for more minutes than the Patriots had. Given the large number of first downs and red zone grabs that the Patriots accrued, the Ravens defense tightened and sealed often enough to prevent a blowout loss; however, during Sunday’s game QB Brady and his receivers were incredibly fast and also accurate at looking ahead and along its flanks for what could work to advantage, which dominated and could be at the forefront of enablers for a Patriots Super Bowl win.

Meanwhile the New York Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17, on Saturday, guaranteeing the team’s fourth Super Bowl appearance since 1991, QB Eli Manning completing 32 of 58 passes for 316 yards and two TD’s.

The Giants beat the Patriots to win the Super Bowl in 2008, score 17-14. That Patriots visit to the Super bowl was the team’s fifth since 1991. That both teams won their 2011/12 conference championships also by three points could be an indicator of how close February’s Super Bowl match will be---the Giants approach to the NFL game is similar to that employed by the Baltimore Ravens against the Patriots: the pounce and grab pass rush, a relentlessly fast secondary suppressing wide receiver capacity, a QB passing short, mid-range and long to receivers that can evade and catch expertly.

(More Super Bowl coverage here on Friday, January 27)

NBA:   IT wasn’t vengeance, because that’s not what the Nuggets had in mind as they struggled to beat the New York Knicks on Saturday and did, final score: 119-114---but there had to be a pleasant sense of closure as players traded last year to Denver from New York performed enviably, as did star forward Carmelo Anthony, who left Denver’s Pepsi Center for Manhattan in that trade, each man now comfortable with his current role and new organization. Perhaps not even Nuggets head coach George Karl knew as the 2011 trade evolved, that the Nuggets needed to transition from a team dominated by star power to a collective of players at their best when supportive, in effect, “teamwork vs. reliance upon one or two star athletes.”

And Anthony wanted the large market environment that is New York, plus the opportunity to expand as a floor leader and superior scorer. He got to be that on Saturday, scoring 25 points and 10 assists, tying the game with less than two seconds to go in the fourth period. Yet the Nuggets Al Harrington dulled that Knicks edge with a three pointer that catalyzed the Denver win during OT-2. Nuggets forward and former Knicks player, Danilo Gallinari, had the night’s most points per game—37. Harrington followed with 24, next Timofey Mozgov, 16.

But not to make too much of the Nuggets/Knicks game. Though every win matters, a New York knockdown isn’t the huge uplift for Denver, in that the Knicks are an Eastern Conference franchise. More important challenges for the Nuggets are up ahead, starting February 2 vs. the Los Angeles Clippers (8-5), now leading the Western Conference’s Pacific Division, then on February 3 vs. second place-Pacific Division team, the L.A.Lakers (10-5).

Presently, the Nuggets are in second place of the WC’s Northwest Division at 12-5, one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder and the Nuggets are also holding first and second positions within the WC, and third and fourth within the NBA. Before the two franchises meet on February 19, the Nuggets will be matched against eight teams that are below the Denver franchise in organizational rankings, surely an opportunity for Denver to pull far ahead of the Thunder.

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