Peyton Manning picks Denver Broncos; Tim Tebow status cloudy

 

Peyton Manning, the most prominent free agent in NFLhistory, finally made his big decision on Monday.

And the Denver Broncos won the prize of lofty new expectations.

Manning, who turns 36 on Saturday, instantly pushesTim Tebow out of a starting job and assumes his quest to win a second Super Bowl with the franchise hoping to repeat the glory it achieved more than 13 years ago withJohn Elway.

Manning informed the Broncos early Monday that they could begin negotiations with his agent, Tom Condon, according to ESPN, citing multiple people, and the Associated Press based on a person with knowledge of the discussions. Manning also phoned representatives of other finalists, the Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers, with his decision.

Manning, Condon and Broncos decision-makers were unavailable Monday, but that did not prevent the news from traveling fast.

"I think it's a great place for him," Broncos defensive endRobert Ayers told reporters who had gathered outside the team's headquarters. "I don't think that he made a bad decision. I think he made a great decision. Hopefully, we can prove him right."

When the Indianapolis Colts released Manning after 14 seasons March 7, the Broncos were considered a "mystery" team in the equation. Yet Manning began his methodical tour, which included meetings with at least five teams, in Denver.

Manning also met with the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins, and worked out for the Broncos, Titans and 49ers to show the teams where he stands after missing last season recovering from three neck surgeries.

According to the Denver Post, the Broncos were prepared to offer a deal similar to Manning's last pact with the Colts, a five-year, $90 million contract.

In Denver, he stays in the AFC and takes over a unit that had an 8-8 record in winning the AFC West crown last season behind Tebow.

"Basically, he can really take us to another level," Broncos running back Willis McGaheesaid during a radio interview. "We were young and I think those guys got the jitters out of them last year, even though we did go to the playoffs. It was a certain something that we were missing. We were missing that general to take charge in tough situations and I think he brings that to the table.

"And once those guys see him out there I think they're going to rise to the occasion and just have a breakout year."

Still, questions persist. Among them:

How good of a fit will Manning be with the Broncos' coaching staff?

If it's good enough for the savvy Manning, it is tough to argue that he won't mesh well with head coach John Fox, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and the rest of the staff.

There may not be a more coachable player in the NFL than Manning, even as he heads into his 15th season. Tony Dungy recently recalled what Manning told him on his first day as Colts coach: "I want to be coached."

That said, Manning is used to essentially being a coach on the field, having called plays at the line of scrimmage for years. That mental edge is crucial to his greatness, and something the Broncos coaches will have to factor into their system.

It's also worth noting that Fox, who did a wonderful job last season figuring out how to get the best out of Tebow, has a history of adapting well and quickly preparing new and young players.

Was Elway a key factor?

If anybody could convince Manning that he can finish his career as a champion, it would be Elway — the Hall of Fame quarterback who won Super Bowls at ages 37 and 38 in his final two seasons.

Elway and Manning have maintained a strong relationship, and it probably wasn't difficult for Elway to sell Manning on the benefit of an aging quarterback playing for a balanced team.

As great as Elway was, he never won a championship until running back Terrell Daviscame to town. Now, with Manning positioned to write his final chapters, the support he can get from a rushing attack that ranked No. 1 in the league last year and a stout defense could make the quest for another ring a bit easier.

Is Tebow destined to wind up in Miami?

Of all the teams that were bypassed in the Manning sweepstakes, the Dolphins might be the biggest losers.

The Titans still have Matt Hasselbeck, arguably the best free agent acquisition last season, and a quarterback-of-the-future in Jake Locker. And the Cardinals have Kevin Kolb, who has the benefit of a full offseason after last year's lockout limited his ability to prepare.

Yet the Dolphins are visiting with Jacksonville Jaguars castoff David Garrard, which is quite the drop off from Manning. Maybe Miami can make a splash yet by trying to swing a trade that would pave the way for the magnetic Tebow to return to his home state.

Remember where Tebow's rise began last season? Miami. It was the Dolphins' first sellout of the season. Bring him back, and Tebow would surely sell tickets and appeal to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross' celebrity factor.

But Tebow will still need to continue to develop as a passer. Stay put, and there's an excellent tutor in Manning. Either way, so much for the contention expressed by Elway after the playoff loss that Tebow had earned the opportunity to enter training camp as the starter.

When can Manning get to work with his new teammates?

There used to be a time when a big free agent addition could sign his deal and promptly proceed to camp out at his new team's headquarters, immersing himself in the playbook. Not anymore.

With the new collective bargaining agreement, Manning can't begin having meetings with the Broncos' coaching staff until April 16, when the team's offseason program begins. Because he's rehabbing from an injury, he can't hit the field until May 2.

Instead, Manning will have to organize workouts away from the supervision of coaches for a few weeks. That probably won't be too difficult as players will want to make a statement about where the team is headed.

What are some of the challenges awaiting Manning?

After all those years of playing home games in domed stadiums, Manning will have to deal with the elements in Denver, where it has snowed as early as September.

Then again, Manning won his only Super Bowl in a steady rain in Miami. The thin air will undoubtedly increase the velocity of Manning's throws, which can't be a bad thing as questions surround his arm strength following the neck injury.

But the real issue might be who is on the other end of those passes. Denver's receiving corps is thin with very little in the way of proven talent beyond former first-round pickDemaryius Thomas. The leading receiver last season, Eric Decker, caught just 44 passes for 612 yards. And Eddie Royal just signed with San Diego.

Beyond the task of establishing his rhythm in a new environment with new teammates, an intriguing set of challenges rests with the schedule. By winning their division, the Broncos earned a "first-place" schedule, which means Manning will face some of his old friends with the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans, in addition to a matchup with the New Orleans Saints. And an opponent that used to be such a pain to Manning — the San Diego Chargers, whom he is 4-5 against in his career — now comes twice a year in the AFC West.

Are the Broncos the team to beat in the AFC West?

A double-digit victory season with a healthy Manning would seem to be at the low end of expectations.

Manning guided the Colts to at least 10 victories in 11 seasons. Whether he can produce that type of consistency in a new environment is part of the challenge.

In any event, Chargers general manager A.J. Smith — no big fan of the Mannings after Eli snubbed his franchise coming out of college — and coach Norv Turner can't be thrilled about the signing. San Diego owned the division for a few years but could never get over the hump. Now comes Peyton.

Wade's big fourth quarter lifts Heat over Magic

 

Wade scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, Bosh made his first six shots and finished with 23 and the Heat held off the Orlando Magic 91-81 on Sunday night for their 13th straight win at home.

LeBron James finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and five steals for the Heat. His pass with 3:46 left made it past two Magic defenders and set up Bosh for perhaps the clincher, a three-point play that stretched Miami's lead to 84-73.

"He's the biggest piece of our team," James said of Bosh. "And when he's going, we're very dangerous. … That's what it was all about tonight."

Well, that and defense. Orlando scored 12 points in a span of nearly 16 minutes in the second half, finishing with its lowest point total in 11 games.

"Our effort defensively early in the game was not there," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We did not come to play. That's inexcusable particularly playing on the road against a team this good and then the 20 turnovers."

Dwight Howard finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando. Quentin Richardson was 5 for 7 on 3-pointers for a 15-point night for the Magic, who split four games with Miami this season, both teams going 2-0 at home.

The win kept Miami (33-11) one game in the loss column behind Chicago (37-10) for the NBA's best record and top Eastern Conference seed.

It was a 69-68 game before Wade made back-to-back shots to give Miami some breathing room, and the Heat never gave up control again. Wade wound up scoring 12 straight Miami points, and his assist set up Shane Battier's 3-pointer that made it 87-75 with 2 minutes left.

"I don't think (Wade) ever had a bad game against us," Van Gundy said. "Every game he's played it's been a great game. We never do a decent job on him."

James reached double digits for his 400th straight regular-season game, a streak beginning Jan. 6, 2007. According to STATS LLC, he became the first player since January 2010 to have at least 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in a game.

"If I'm not getting going it scoring, it's time to focus on something else," James said. "I try to be a complete basketball player."

Jameer Nelson scored 13 points and Jason Richardson added 12 for the Magic. After a three-game road trip last week that started by getting outrebounded by 10 in Orlando — then by 16 in Chicago and 12 in Philadelphia — the Heat outrebounded Orlando 42-36.

And they kept Howard in some sort of check: In Orlando's two wins over Miami this season, Howard averaged 24.5 points and 24.5 rebounds. In the two Heat wins, Howard averaged 'only' 15 points and 13 rebounds.

"It's the small things that matter in games like this," Howard said.

Like getting breaks — which Bosh got on his first shot.

His first attempt of the night slipped from his hands, went about two stories in the air and somehow dropped through the net. He wound up making his first six shots, after going a combined 7 for 27 in his previous two games.

"I was kind of like, 'Awww, here we go again,'" Bosh said. "And it went in. I said, 'All right.' Sometimes you need those, man. I hadn't gotten one all year. I thank the basketball gods and it was good from then on."

The Heat made 12 of 18 shots in the first quarter, running out to a 31-22 lead that had Van Gundy lamenting in a television interview between quarters that his team "didn't do anything well — nothing."

His assessment had to change from there, thanks to what Orlando started doing on the defensive end.

It took Miami the next 19-plus minutes to match what it scored in the opening 12, as the Magic steadily made what was as much as a 13-point deficit disappear. The Heat lead was only 50-47 at the break — a three-point play by Wade with inside of a minute left provided that margin — and Miami went on to miss eight straight shots early in the third quarter.

Even then, it was still nip-and-tuck, the Magic unable to take full advantage of the Heat going cold.

Jason Richardson's basket and foul with 8:26 left in the third gave Orlando what was then its biggest lead, 57-54. Then it was Orlando's turn to sputter offensively, scoring just six points in the remainder of the period, which was capped by James banking in an 18-footer with just under a second left for a 67-63 Miami lead.

Then Wade gave Miami just enough in the fourth, and the Heat didn't mind another grind-it-out evening.

"You have to weather a lot of storms when you play the Orlando Magic," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "And you have to stay the course."

Notes: Tennis star Andy Murray sat courtside. … Bosh had 18 points at halftime, matching his second-best opening 24 minutes of the season. The Heat are now 15-2 this season when Bosh is in double digits by halftime. … Heat assistant coach Bob McAdoo (deep vein thrombosis) and reserve center Eddy Curry (death of a grandmother) were back with the team after missing time last week. … Nelson missed about 6 minutes in the first quarter after being inadvertently poked in the eye by Heat center Joel Anthony.

Jeremy Lin, Amar'e Stoudemire reignite under Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson

 

Before his 13-point, five assist, +17 performance in Friday night's 115-100 win over the Pacers, Jeremy Lin had been nearly written off by the New York media. Interim coach Mike Woodson, Mike D'Antoni's replacement, was through to be pulling the offense away from Lin, whose status as a starter was suddenly up in the air.

But not only did Lin retain his starting spot, he facilitated the offense perfectly, helping the Knicks to make over 50 percent of their field goals against one of the top defensive teams in the NBA.

Will that be enough to save Linsanity?

Well, on the court that's a possibility. Off the court, from a merchandising perspective, Linsanity is already fading, according to Zach Schonbrun of The New York Times.

One store, Cosby's sporting goods (which is located right next to Madison Square Garden) said Lin T-shirt sales had dropped from 70 per day to only a handful, wrote Shonbrun.

"As long as they still make the T-shirts, we'll continue to bring them in," store manager Jim Root told The Times. "They're just now going to be coming in the same way other players were."

The manager at the Times Square Modell's had the same perspective.

"I guess the honeymoon has worn off a little bit," August Kuhling told The Times. "There are still a lot of people excited about him. The first few weeks obviously wasn't going to last forever."

Linsanity was alive and well at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, but it seems the market for merchandise may have been saturated.

***

The Knicks turnaround has been paced by power forward Amar'e Stoudemire's reemergence, primarily on defense. As ESPNNewYork's Johnette Howard asks, "Where has this Stoudemire been?!"

"But now Woodson's in charge," Howard wrote, "preaching more 'accountability' in every other sentence he utters. And all of a sudden, there was the Knicks defense rising up against the Pacers on Friday, just as it did when it held Portland to just 12 first-quarter points on Wednesday. And there was Stoudemire, right there with everyone else. Suddenly he was moving as if the floorboards beneath his feet were on fire. He was harassing the Pacers' David West and Tyler Hansbrough in the paint and trying to trap them way out on the wings; he smacked the ball out of Hansbrough's hands beneath the rim, blocked a shot, then blew by the Pacers at the other end of the floor for a dribble-drive basket and a dunk off a miss, which Stoudemire punctuated by doing a chin-up on the rim and then hanging there for a while."

Stoudemire has just 25 points and 14 rebounds in these consecutive wins, but as Howard puts it, "... all of a sudden even Stoudemire looks alive."

Reports: Peyton to work out for Broncos

 

Peyton Manning will work out for John Elway and the Broncos on Friday at Duke University, according to reports.

A private plane chartered by the Broncos was flying to Raleigh, N.C., apparently ahead of the session at an indoor facility on the campus in Durham, ESPN reported.

The group, led by Elway, Denver's executive vice president of football operations, flew out at 8:24 a.m. local time Friday and was scheduled to land at Raleigh-Durham Airport at 11:08 a.m., the Denver Post reported.

The development came as the NFL Network reported that the Miami Dolphins were out of the race for the four-time MVP. Multiple sources claimed Manning called the Dolphins personally Thursday to confirm he would not be relocating to Florida.

It left the Broncos, Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans awaiting Manning's decision, though the Cardinals were regarded as firm outsiders.

Whichever team wins the race will inherit a quarterback ready for NFL action, Manning's mentor David Cutcliffe said before news of Friday's workout broke.

The Duke head coach, Eli Manning's former head coach at Ole Miss and Peyton Manning's offensive coordinator while at the University of Tennessee, monitored the former Colt during recent workouts in Durham and was impressed.

"It's incredible how much progress he's made in throwing the football," Cutcliffe told The Tennessean. "He's gotten his arm strength back, and his accuracy is there."

Manning, who turns 36 on March 24, sat out the entire 2011 season and underwent four rounds of neck surgery.

His release earlier this month after 14 years in Indianapolis sparked a mass scramble within the league, buoyed by doctors clearing the future Hall of Famer to return to the field.

Cutcliffe said from a team's perspective, Manning was ready.

"I'm not an NFL coach, of course, but I think I know what it takes to complete passes in the NFL, and it's clear that Peyton can make all those throws," he said.

"From what I've seen, he's right on target [to play in 2012]," he added. "Everybody knows what a hard worker he is, and he's dedicated himself to getting ready for the season."

Bulls Finally Beat the Heat after 6 tries and did it without there Superstar

John Lucas III scored 24 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Miami Heat, 106-102, without Derrick Rose in a charged showdown between the Eastern Conference's top two teams Wednesday night at Chicago.

The Bulls built a 16-point lead in the second quarter, were up 11 at halftime and boosted it back to 17 in the third after a push by Miami. They then hung on after Miami pulled within two in the closing minute for their 11th win in 12 games.

Even better, they won without their superstar, and they did it on a night when Dwyane Wade scored 36 and LeBron Jamesfinished with 35 points for the Heat.

Rose didn't play because of a strained groin.

at San Antonio 122, Orlando 111: Getting 22 points and 12 rebounds, Dwight Howard lost perhaps his last game with the Magic. Tony Parker had 31 points and 12 assists, and Tim Duncan had 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Spurs closed a seven-game homestand by hosting the NBA's biggest drama. Parker, averaging 29.8 points in his last four games, was serenaded by chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!" in the closing minutes.

at New York 121, Portland 79: Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Carmelo Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising resignation of Coach Mike D'Antoni to rout the Trail Blazers and end a six-game losing streak.

at Indiana 111, Philadelphia 94: Danny Granger scored 20 points and the Pacers shot a season-best 57% from the field as a 76ers opponent scored more than 100 points for the first time in 13 games.

at New Jersey 98, Toronto 84: Kris Humphries had 16 points and a career-high 21 rebounds as the Nets ended a two-game losing streak. Former D-League star Gerald Greentied his season high by scoring 20 of his 26 points in the second half.

at Milwaukee 115, Cleveland 105: Drew Gooden had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists for his second career triple-double, and the Bucks beat the Cavaliers, who got 28 points from Kyrie Irving. Gooden also had a triple-double against the Cavaliers last April, marking the last time the Bucks had a player accomplish the feat.

at Houston 107, Charlotte 87: Luis Scola scored 23 points, Goran Dragic had 14 points and 10 assists and the Rockets handed the NBA-worst Bobcatstheir 20th loss in 23 road games. Samuel Dalembert added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jordan Hill scored 14 and grabbed eight rebounds for the Rockets, who've won two in a row after dropping six of their previous seven games.

Detroit 124, at Sacramento 112: Rodney Stuckey scored 35 points and Greg Monroe had 32 for the Pistons, who used a 40-23 edge in the third quarter, making 15 of 20 shots, to pull away.

at Phoenix 120, Utah 111: Steve Nash took only four shots, but he dished off 16 assists as teammates Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat and Channing Frye finished with more than 20 points for the Suns.

Boston 105, at Golden State 103: Kevin Garnett scored 24 points and made a jumper with five seconds left to give the Celtics the victory.

Warriors send Ellis to Bucks for Bogut, Jackson

ORLANDO – The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed in principle to trade center Andrew Bogutand guard-forward Stephen Jackson to the Golden State Warriors for guard Monta Ellis, forward Ekpe Udoh and center Kwame Brown, according to a person familiar with the deal who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly until the trade became official.

 

The deal also has a direct impact on the Orlando Magic, who inquired about landing Ellis to placate center Dwight Howard and convince him to sign a long-term deal with Orlando before the NBA's Thursday 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.

When it became known that Bogut was available, the Bucks began receiving phone calls from several teams. But to facilitate a trade for Bogut, the Bucks wanted a team to take Jackson, who will make $10 million next season.

• MORE: Howard could determine fate of Magic's front office

Jackson also wanted out of Milwaukee, where he has been unhappy since being acquired by the Bucks in a draft day trade last June.

The 18-24 Bucks have won three in a row to move into a tie with the New York Knicks for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Ellis gives the Bucks a prolific scorer in the backcourt with point guard Brandon Jennings. Ellis is the NBA's ninth leading scorer, averaging 21.9 points, and he adds six assists per game.

However, the Bucks might encounter a problem similar to the one Golden State had: how to match two guards who love to handle the ball.

The trade frees up Golden State's backcourt, which at times struggled to play Ellis and guard Stephen Curry at the same time. It also gives the Warriors another low-post threat to pair with forward David Lee.

However, Bogut has played just 12 games this season. He broke his left ankle against the Houston Rockets on Jan. 25 and is not expected back for at least another month.