The Front Row: Peak at the right time

ON A ROLL: No Mike Candrea, no problem.

After an up-and-down regular season that saw the Arizona softball squad get swept by archrivals Arizona State, the Wildcats are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak that ranks among the most dominant stretches of any team, anywhere.

The Wildcats traveled to New York last weekend to take part in the opening round of the NCAA regionals. Three games later, Arizona is set to travel back to Tucson, where it will host the Super Regionals this weekend.

Arizona swept through Canisus and Hofstra, winning the three games by a combined score of 26-0.

In fact, during this eight-game run, the Wildcats have outscored their opponents 48-1.

With Candrea currently preparing Team USA for the Beijing Olympics, interim head man Larry Ray has guided this team to a No. 7 seeding in the tournament.

The Wildcats will battle No. 10 Oklahoma in a three-game set, beginning Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Hillenbrand Stadium.

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NBA ROUNDUP: Lingering thoughts after a pair of interesting Game 7s:

Welcome back to professional basketball, San Antonio. Instead of flopping and whining for four quarters, the Spurs slapped together an inspired four quarters to take down the Hornets in New Orleans and remind basketball fans exactly why they’re the defending champions.

I know Jannero Pargo hit a number of key shots down the stretch, but he was hogging the ball to a degree that would’ve made Pete Maravich blush. Pargo essentially froze out Chris Paul during crunch time. Inexplicable.

Boston’s thrilling win over Cleveland came close to erasing the damage those two teams inflicted on the viewing public during Games 1-6. It wasn’t quite Bird versus ‘Nique, but Paul Pierce and LeBron James put on quite a show.

The NBA desperately wants the Celtics and Lakers to advance to the Finals, so those are my picks — Boston in seven, L.A. in six. Even though it's not wise to pick against Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant seems like a man on a mission right now.

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