Get out your brooms

Two things I never thought I'd see from the Lakers: Great defense and single digit turnovers. But that's what we got in game 3. The Lakers held a potent Denver offense to 84 points, frustrating them to the point that Carmelo Anthony said his team quit. Denver shot 37 percent on their home floor and Vladimir Radmanovic, of all people, forced Carmelo into a 5-22 performance.

"In a game like tonight, on our home court, us giving up as a whole is uncalled for," Anthony fumed. "Yeah. We quit. Everybody. From the coaches to the players, we quit. And I said it.

"I'm not blaming anyone. I'm not pointing the fingers at nobody. I didn't play worth a [expletive] tonight, and I can accept that. But as a competitor, there's no way that I should lay down and quit and lay down on my team like we did tonight."

Anthony said the Nuggets surrendered in the third quarter, although head coach George Karl didn't empty his bench until the fourth.

"You could just sense it," Anthony said. "I'm saying 'we,' because I'm part of this, too. I'm saying I quit. We all just gave up."

At least one teammate concurred.

"That's the way it seemed," Denver's Kenyon Martin said. "Everybody came out of the game. A.I. came out, and he leads the league in minutes. It's frustrating."

Congratulations to Antoine Cason who was drafted in the first round, No. 27 overall, by the San Diego Chargers. Based on all the mock drafts, Cason was a second round pick, but the Chargers looked past the scouting report that says he doesn't turn his hips fast enough and selected the Arizona grad.

With all the character issues the NFL has had recently, the Chargers couldn't have selected a better person. They got themselves a true professional, and a person who has already made a great impact in the community. I truly wish Cason the best of luck. No one deserves being taken higher than expected more than him.

Other Wildcats taken:

Larsen was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round (183rd overall), cornerback Wilrey Fontenot was taken in the seventh round by the Atlanta Falcons (212th overall) and defensive tackle Lionel Dotson was selected in the seventh round by the Miami Dolphins (245th overall).

Draft winners:

I think it's unanimous, the Chiefs came away with an offensive lineman at No. 15, when most predicted they'd take that same lineman at No.5 Instead, they got arguably the best player in the whole draft at No. 5, Glenn Dorsey, who could be the next Warren Sapp if he stays healthy.

The fans: The first round didn't take a week, so that was nice. The new 10 minute first round and seven minute second round went over well with everyone except maybe nervous general mangers who had the guy they wanted taken right in front of them. Also, having the first two rounds on day 1 instead of the first three rounds was a good move.

Draft losers:

The Jaguars traded their first round pick, two third round picks and a fourth round pick to reach for a defensive end Mel Kiper Jr. said doesn't always show up. So they made a bad trade for a reach.

Wide Receivers:

No wide receivers taken in the first round and I'll tell you why. This was the year of character. Like the Woodland Hills Park League, where I was an All Star for many years, character counts. Wide receivers tend to have "me first" attitudes and carry some baggage with them, see Owens, Terrell, Johnson, Chad, and Warrick, Peter. Thus, no team wanted to take a chance on a guy who would burn them rather than cornerbacks. That's why Devin Thomas slipped from top 15 to the second round.

No D in AI
You know what's sad, Kirk Hinrich is a better defender than Allen Iverson.
Allen Iverson is a HORRIBLE defender. Jordan Farmar beat him off the dribble like he's a practice dummy.

He plays really hard...with the ball in his hands. But the rest of the time he doesn't really play that hard. That's the biggest misconception about AI. Everyone talks about him being a warrior and I won't deny that, but for much of his career he has been one dimensional. He averages more assists than you would think, but many of those come after he's dribbled the ball for 20 seconds and his teammates are standing around. AI is a ball stopper on offense and a gambler on defense. You can post him up, you an get by him with the dribble and you can shoot over him. I'm not here to argue that he's overrated, I'm just here to argue that the notion that he plays hard in all facets of the game is false.

Just Saying:

• Pat Riley is a quitter.
• The Raiders have three running backs, but no quarterback.
• Darren McFadden will not get in trouble with the law.
• The Wizards need to stop talking to Lebron. That means you too Brandon Haywood.
• I'm shocked the Mavs are down 3-1. I thought they'd win the series and they're getting blown out.
• I'm even more shocked the Suns haven't really put up a fight against the Spurs. I know they won game 4 and held leads in games 1 and 2, but I really though this series would go to 7. And I doubt that happens now.

Andruw watch:

Hide the honey buns, Andruw Jones is coming to a town near you.

Season: BA: .159, 29 ks, 1 home run