Thursday Links

Tomorrow, I promise a Rockets-Mavericks preview on the blog, but today, I must make it short and sweet.

Enjoy some Links:

Fraley says Bradley is the key …

Rockets proud of what they have accomplished thus far …

"I don't know how much we have left in the tank for the playoffs," Van Gundy said. "Sometimes we won this season because we were just more ready than the other team. Our guys were more professional. They may not have felt good, they may have been beat up, but they just dug it out.
"They've put in the preparation for a long time now. When we were 6-11 and then 16-17, when we were scratching and clawing to get to .500, our guys were putting the work in. All of a sudden you look up and it's clicking. That's pretty special. That doesn't happen much.

Nix up, Gonzalez down …

The tweaked roster creates these roles:
•As originally expected, Nix and Matthews will split time in center field. Nix, who had three hits and three RBIs in his debut Wednesday, will face mostly right-handed pitchers. Matthews will move back to the fourth outfielder role the Rangers expected him to fill. Matthews was just 2-for-13 against right-handers, and when the Rangers gave him time off, they struggled to find a replacement center fielder.
Nix hit .333 at Triple-A Oklahoma after his surprising end-of-spring demotion. He was 6-for-14 in the last five games, with two homers, a double and a triple. Perhaps most impressively, he had nine walks to only six strikeouts. Showalter acknowledged the walk-to-strikeout ratio played a part in Nix's return.
"I went where I was supposed to go and did what I was asked to do to the best of my ability," Nix said. "I tried to let the ball travel more to me and to be patient."
•Mench will become the everyday left fielder. After hitting 26 homers last year, Mench had started only 10 of the team's first 15 games because Showalter had to juggle several players for two spots. Perhaps because he was in and out of the lineup, Mench entered Wednesday hitting only .205 with no homers.
•Dellucci, who began Wednesday tied for the AL lead in walks, will be the regular DH. Though he entered the game with a .526 on-base percentage, he had appeared in only 10 of the Rangers first 15 games.
•Gonzalez will try to figure out what he must do to stay in the majors. The Rangers couldn't point to any one deficiency in his game. He had a 1-for-12 stretch over the last three starts; he appeared in nine of the first 15 games.

Gonzalez has to be wondering what he did wrong. It really is a raw deal for him that he can win the job over 6 weeks in spring training, only to be demoted after going 1-12. Hopefully, he keeps his head up, because he can really play.

NHL now strays from Replacement talk …

Liverpool 2, Portsmouth 1 …but after Everton beat Manchester United, I don’t think we can still catch them…

Jen Floyd looks at the Cowboys big day …


Deron Williams turns pro …

Adam Sandler is Grand Marshall in Talladega …

Sorry, Eagles fans, but McNabb will be cover boy on Madden 2006 …And thus, victim of the EA Sports Jinx…