tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69992935961841089692024-03-05T13:14:39.915-08:00Undrafted Free AgentWelcome to Undrafted Free Agent. If you like what you read, send it along to you and yours.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-85302344402962406872009-06-09T20:16:00.000-07:002009-06-09T20:17:17.736-07:00New HomeI'm going to be posting here starting today:<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/undraftedfreeagent/">http://blog.seattlepi.com/undraftedfreeagent/</a><br /><br />If you like what you've been reading here, please continue to visit that new address and bump up my numbers. Let's see if we can make me into a real writer...Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-78228577256519870682009-06-07T15:44:00.000-07:002009-06-07T15:46:15.154-07:00Heaps<div align="justify">Everyone, please settle down.<br /><br />We see this story almost every year.<br /><br />A great example of this is Chris Leak. Here was a guy who did everything he was supposed to do in high school and was highly recruited by everyone, but I wondered then, “What’s the big deal? He’s 6’0 tall. The NFL will never give him a chance. No matter how ‘good’ he is.” As it turned out, he won a national title with Florida, but that was after being a pretty big disappointment under Ron Zook and he really won that title because of Florida’s offense under Urban Meyer, and their suffocating defense and overall team speed. Oh, and Tebow did a lot of damage as a true freshman that year. Heaps has similar hype as Jimmy Clausen (incomplete, although a disappointment thus far) and Chris Leak (won a title, but will not be remembered for that).<br /><br />Clausen was the golden boy of all golden boys. He was heralded as the messiah. He had tremendous success in high school and even before then he was being tutored by Steve Clarkston. People were making ridiculous claims like Clausen could start for several college programs as a 13-year-old kid, a claim even Clarkston called ridiculous. But that didn’t stop the fawning. Clausen was a boy wonder. He would immediately lead whatever team he joined and become a surefire No. 1 draft pick in the NFL. I’m not sure what the rush is. Why is it necessary to hype a kid when he hasn’t done anything yet? There are scores of kids who were alpha dogs in high school who end up flaming out in college or guys that were superhuman in college who turn out to be nothings in the NFL. It’s a weird phenomenon. Aren’t there enough guys who are actually doing something right now in their leagues that warrant the hype? I understand that an unknown quantity is sometimes more appealing than the known, but that’s mostly because you’ve had a chance to see what you’ve got and pick apart the flaws. With the unknown, all you’ve heard about is how great this kid is, and since you haven’t had a chance to see the kid perform yourself, you take their word for it.<br /><br />He must be great. Scout.com says so!<br /><br />Rivals.com has him ranked No. 1 in the Country!<br /><br />Settle down, please. He’s only a name. You know nothing about him. Unless you have followed a kid’s career to the point of watching all of his games, then there is no way you have any idea if he’s good or not. You only know what other people tell you. It’s ridiculous to get overly excited or overly bummed regarding a recruit. Recruiting matters, but leave that to the guys who actually do the recruiting. We have no idea how much they want a kid or not because, for one, they aren’t allowed to talk about it.<br /><br />Clausen hasn’t done a thing at Notre Dame that puts him anywhere near the hype that he was generating. I remember reading about him and wondering why he was so hyped up, because he looked undersized. I suppose in college a guy can be successful despite his size, but isn’t this just about getting to the NFL? That’s how I evaluate these guys, and by “evaluate” I mean, watch them through a somewhat educated layperson’s lens. The NFL is not kind to small QBs, it never has been and I doubt it ever will be. Drew Brees is an exception, and a notable one, because he’s been overwhelmingly successful. However, there are so few guys that size who actually get a chance to play or even make a roster. The NFL looks at production in college, but when it comes to QBs, they really, really, really focus on potential. If a QB is considered too small, then these guys have got their minds made up no matter how insane the QB’s stats were in college. Look no further than Graham Harrell. No QB was anywhere near him from a production standpoint over his career, but he went undrafted and probably won’t make any team. That’s the NFL. It’s cruel. But no matter how polished a guy is, if he doesn’t have the physical makeup, it’s usually time to head up to Canada.<br /><br />I’m very confused as to why these recruiting services continually list these undersized QBs as the top QBs in the country. Is it because they put up great stats? And what about these other QBs who actually have, or project to have, NFL size? Where are they in these rankings? If they are low, why are they so low? Are they always late bloomers? I’m confused by the whole thing.<br /><br />I know that UW fans are likely crushed by the whole Heaps-going-to-BYU thing, but honestly how much of that is tied to his actual ability? I’m assuming he’s a great high school player, based on what scouting services and Hugh Millen tell me. They ought to know since they’ve seen this guy play and I’ve only seen him play one game (last year’s state title game). He looked very good to me, but like so many others before him, he also looked small. I would have been happy if he signed with UW, but only because of what it means for the whole UW program from a stature perspective, not from an actual production perspective. It seems to me that if people are disappointed that Heaps is not going to play at UW, it’s because he’s a local guy, he’s been hyped up nationally, and UW didn’t get him. I’m bummed about it too, but for perception reasons only.<br /><br />Even if he is such a highly ranked QB, I’m actually a little relieved that he’s not going to UW. I’m sure he’s as “great” of a kid as everyone says he is, but it sure seems that he (and more likely his family) lacks any true humility. How else do you explain his family hiring a PR firm to handle his announcement? How else do you explain sending a press release announcing that he’ll make his decision the next day? How else do you explain flying to Provo, Utah to make the announcement? And another thing, I’m baffled as to why a player “announcing” where he’s going to school is an event in the first place. Aside from attention (for the player, player’s family, and the school) is there any other reason to do it? I don’t hate the players for doing it, but that doesn’t mean I like it. It’s uncomfortable. Essentially the whole system is in place so that the kid can be lauded and applauded. How strange and empty is that? So I’m relieved he’s not going to UW because he may be talented and poised, he may be a little too poised for my liking. He seems a bit entitled to me and kids like that don’t necessarily turn out to be the best fighters when faced with adversity.<br /><br />Another reason that I’m relieved that he’s not going to UW is that he may have maxed out already. He’s been coached for so long, does he really have that much more to improve on? Perhaps the reason we’ve seen these scouting services hype players like Heaps is because he is technically better than his peers because he’s had the benefit of great coaching. From what I’ve read, Heaps has been driving to a special QB coach in Oregon for years now, almost every weekend. Obviously he’s going to have a much better understanding of throwing mechanics and reading defenses than some kid who has bad coaching, is less affluent than Heaps’s family, and has less involved parents than Heaps. So, for all we know, Heaps, while very skilled and talented, may have reached his peak. He may not get any better because he’s so prepped now. This other kid may have more talent than Heaps, may have more size than Heaps, and may deal with adversity better because he’s been put in more challenging situations than Heaps, but just hasn’t had the opportunity yet. That opportunity may present itself in college or even later in the NFL.<br /><br />I only know what I’ve read about Heaps, so I have no insights into his true character. For all I know, he may turn out to be Joe Montana. But I do know that when a kid is given everything he wants so early in life, the end result is not always pretty, in sports or elsewhere.<br /><br />Take a look at this list of names and you’d do well to calm down about not getting the highest ranked QB:<br /><br /><strong>2002 Rivals.com 5 star QBs </strong><br />Ben Olson (BYU, then UCLA)<br />Trent Edwards (Stanford)<br />Vince Young (Texas)<br />Marcus Vick (Virginia Tech)<br />Andy Goodenough (ASU) <br />James Banks (Tennessee)<br /><br /><strong>2003 Rivals.com 5 star QBs </strong><br />Kyle Wright (Miami)<br />(notables: Chris Leak, 4 stars; Jamarcus Russell, 4 stars; Brady Quinn, 4 stars; Matt Ryan 3 stars)<br /><br /><strong>2004 Rivals.com 5-star QBs</strong><br />Rhett Bomar (Oklahoma)<br />Anthony Morelli (Penn St)<br />Chad Henne (Michigan)<br />Xavier Lee (Florida St)<br />Matt Tuiasosopo (Washington – chose baseball)<br />Robert Johnson (Texas Tech)<br /><br /><strong>2005 Rivals.com 5-star QBs</strong><br />Mark Sanchez (USC)<br />Ryan Perrilloux (LSU)<br /><br /><strong>2006 Rivals.com 5-star QBs</strong><br />Matthew Stafford (Georgia)<br />Mitch Mustain (USC)<br />Tim Tebow (Florida)<br />Brent Schaeffer (Ole Miss)<br /><br /><strong>2007 Rivals.com 5-star QBs</strong><br />Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame)<br />Ryan Mallett (Michigan)<br />Tyrod Taylor (Virginia Tech)<br />Cameron Newton (Florida)<br /><br /><strong>2008 Rivals.com 5-star QBs</strong><br />Blaine Gabbert (Missouri)<br />Dayne Crist (Notre Dame)<br />Terrelle Pryor (Ohio St)<br /><br /><strong>2009 Rivals.com 5-star QBs</strong><br />Matt Barkley (USC)<br />Garrett Gilbert (Texas)<br />Russell Shephard (LSU)<br /><br /><strong>2010 Rivals 5-star QBs</strong><br />None (Jake Heaps is a 4-star QB)<br /><br /> </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-82509108115126296052009-06-02T12:41:00.000-07:002009-06-02T12:44:23.465-07:00Cleveland<div align="justify">I got sucked in.<br /><br />I thought that the Cleveland team that ran through the regular season and through the first two rounds of the playoffs was legit. Since I didn’t watch Cleveland closely during the year or even during those first two rounds, I didn’t realize that “LeBron at the top of the key, forcing shots” was a play. It’s pretty clear that LeBron is a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1-10 as a one-on-one (or one-on-three) player. But he’s a 10 when the ball and his teammates are moving. He’s fabulous off of the ball because he’s quick and smart and can get open for easy shots, either on the floor or in the air for ridiculous alley-oops. He’s superhuman at finding other guys open for easy shots. But he’s bad or merely mortal when he freezes at the top of the key while his teammates space the floor and stare at him. It doesn’t work. It didn’t work all series against Orlando and will never work long term. It’s terrible. It’s also aesthetically awful. I love basketball and I absolutely hate seeing this “we don’t trust anyone to do anything except LeBron play” being run. It’s ugly, it’s awful, it’s selfish, and it’s probably the number one reason why non-NBA fans say that they hate the NBA. If that’s all the NBA was, I’d hate it too, but it’s not.<br /><br />I simply don’t understand why the Cavs would purposefully eliminate their best asset and make LeBron into a one-man team when he’s best at creating. The only good thing that can happen is he makes that awful step-back 22 footer. If he does actually drive to the hole out of this set, maybe he’ll get fouled or maybe he’ll get a layin, but those take effort (which explains why he rarely does it late in games). Also, how easy is that to defend? The other players can simply box out or help on LeBron. It’s much easier to guard someone if they’re just standing and watching, but it’s not easy to guard someone who is moving without the ball expecting a pass if they’re open. I hope they realize that they are wasting LeBron’s true gifts and knock it off next year. Also, since he’s a smart player, he must realize this too. Hopefully he realizes that it doesn’t work and waves the play off when it comes in and just does his thing. What is Mike Brown going to do? Bench him?<br /><br />All that being said, his teammates were absolutely terrible in this series. I’ve ranted too much about this already. I picked Cleveland to win simply because of LeBron. This is a 30-win team without him.<br /><br />Contrast that to Orlando, where Jameer Nelson, arguably Orlando’s best player during the year, gets hurt and Orlando is in the finals. If Hedo Turkoglu goes down, then Pietrus would step in and they wouldn’t miss a beat, same for Rashard Lewis. If Howard goes down, then Gortat would step in, no worries. I should have known better. Even though LeBron was wonderful this series, he needed role players to step up. Jordan, for as awesome and dominant as he was, always had someone on his team hit big shots in big moments. LeBron did not have that this series and it’s a shame. Also, as for next year, how do they get over the hump with these four guys taking up space and not doing much of anything to help the team win? </div><ul><li><div align="justify"><strong>Zydrunas Ilgauskas </strong>– signed through next year, making over $10M (he grabs a stray rebound here and there and hits the occasional 20-foot shot, but is virtually no threat and no force defensively, he’s essentially worthless out there for the low, low price of $10M!)</div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Anderson Varejao </strong>– signed through next year (player option for this year), making around $6M (I hate him, but I guess he’s not that expensive) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sasha Pavlovic </strong>– signed through next year, making around $5M (he was used in a strange way this series, and wasn’t effective)</div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Ben Wallace </strong>– signed through next year, making over $14M (I’ve heard rumblings that he will retire. If he does so, when he’s owed over $14M next year, then I’d be more surprised at that than if my dog, Sully, started talking to me about the weather and that he likes cheese more than sausages). </div></li></ul><p align="justify">That’s $35M set aside for next year for guys who give Cleveland no shot at winning. As much as I hate Varejao as a player, he does bring some things (rebounding and annoyance) that may lead to wins, but he’s a zero offensively and that’s where the Cavs had their biggest issues… aside from being completely unable to contend three-point shooting, which is interesting for such a “good” defensive team. Maybe they’re just good until they play a team that can actually shoot and isn’t the least bit afraid to do so.<br /><br />Now L.A. has role players who have stepped up in the past, in fact recently, so I can certainly see them winning this series. From an athletic standpoint, it seems like the two teams match up well. Odom should be able to defend Lewis better than anyone Cleveland threw at him (with the exception of LeBron for very limited minutes), of course, Gasol starts and will get run ragged by Lewis until Phil makes a change to Odom. Ariza should be able to guard Turkoglu. Kobe will probably match up with Lee/Pietrus. Fisher will attempt to guard Alston (or Nelson, if he plays), who is quicker, but not that dangerous. Bynum/Gasol will match up with Howard/Gortat.<br /><br />I like Orlando’s chances and I actually trust them a bit more than I trust L.A. because they are super talented and can really shoot the rock, and they are also playing fearlessly. But I can’t shake the matchup problems. Cleveland was either too small (West and Williams) or too slow (Z and Varejao) to contend with Orlando. L.A. does not have that problem.<br /><br />I originally thought that Orlando was going to win in six, but now I’ve changed course, simply because I looked a little closer. LA wins in six.<br /><br /><strong>On LeBron’s Exit</strong><br />Here’s what I’ve heard:</p><ul><li><div align="justify">he should have been gracious in defeat </div></li><li><div align="justify">he should have walked over to Dwight Howard and wished him well in the next series </div></li><li><div align="justify">he should have addressed the media and answered questions about the series and about his future in Cleveland and the state of the franchise around him</div></li><li><div align="justify">when he spoke a couple of days after the series ended, we wanted him to say that he was remorseful for not doing what we wanted him to do in the first place </div></li><li><div align="justify">I’ve heard that even the greats walked over and said good luck and that it’s just part of the game</div></li></ul><p align="justify">Look, I’m a fan of good sportsmanship too. I would have liked him to respect the game and his opponents. I don’t know exactly what that means, but an overt handshake and a look saying “you beat me this time, but you won’t next time” or something like that would have been fine. But here’s the thing: I do not like contrived graciousness. I don’t like contrived anything for that matter, but if LeBron was so upset that he lost and couldn’t deal with the situation, why be phony? He acted how he acted. He owes nothing to anyone. I don’t understand how “saying the right things” means that he’s a better person when, in effect, he would have been lying to us. His non-verbal gesture said more than any verbal statement could have. He let us know exactly how he feels.<br /><br />He’s pissed.<br /><br />He’s pissed he lost.<br /><br />He’s pissed his teammates pissed down their legs.<br /><br />He’s pissed that he has a coach who can think of no better gameplan than “LeBron, you bail us out.”<br /><br />He’s pissed that he’s missed another opportunity to mark his greatness by winning a title.<br /><br />He’s pissed that he played as well as he could play and came up short.<br /><br />He’s pissed.<br /><br />I like that certainty.<br /><br />I dislike being lied to.<br /><br />He would have had to suppress his true feelings if he went through some b.s. press conference lauding the Orlando Magic. He would have had to lie to our faces if he said that his team is not to blame for the losses. He would have danced around the subject of 2010 even though he probably knows what he’s going to do (nice touch wearing the Yankee cap when he finally did talk though). I respect what he did. LeBron is no dummy. He knows exactly what his actions meant. He didn’t have to call Danny Ferry and idiot for putting that squad out on the floor with him.<br /><br />It doesn’t matter to me whether he stays in Cleveland or goes elsewhere, but I do want him to be put in a situation where he has the right complementary players and the right coach who knows how to deal with championship caliber teams. It doesn’t look like Mike Brown has it. Sadly, the one guy that does is in L.A. where he’ll likely nab his 10th ring. </p><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-85992978345324621372009-05-29T12:48:00.000-07:002009-05-29T12:52:47.885-07:00I've Figured Out Shaq and Kobe<p align="justify">When I’m watching these playoff games on DVR, I often fast forward through all of the pre-game, commercials, some free throws, and halftime commentary. But I always stop to watch the LeBron/Kobe puppet commercials—by the way, why didn’t they get Kobe and LeBron to do the voices? Or did they and they just don’t sound like themselves at all? And I love the slow-mo “Where Amazing Happens” commercials. Since they are showing those in slow-mo, I was able to notice something that I hadn’t seen before during the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onEnvKrxHVc">Kobe-to-Shaq alley oop </a>over Portland. It is an iconic play, obviously, or it wouldn’t be a part of this ad campaign. But it’s iconic not only for the play itself, but also for what seems to be a microcosm of Kobe and Shaq’s relationship, of which there are 7 elements: </p><ol><li><div align="justify">Both were otherworldly talented</div></li><li><div align="justify">Both played big in big games and big moments </div></li><li><div align="justify">Both needed each other to make big plays and win</div></li><li><div align="justify">Both benefited greatly from having the other on the floor</div></li><li><div align="justify">Shaq needs to be the center of attention</div></li><li><div align="justify">Kobe wanted Shaq to love him and appreciate his greatness </div></li><li><div align="justify">Shaq never gave Kobe his love and appreciation sincerely<br /></div></li></ol><p align="justify">Anyone who even passively watched these two play together would agree with numbers 1-4 without too much argument. I had my thoughts about numbers 5-7, but after watching this 30-second clip, I feel like I have my proof. After Shaq dunked, watch what happens as he runs back up the floor. He makes the O face with the huge googley eyes. He screams and points to the crowd. His crowd. He never takes his eyes off his adoring masses. You will see Kobe extend his hand for a high five, even pathetically slapping Shaq’s wrist as Shaq races past him—ignoring him completely. Shaq is too busy reveling in his greatness to extend his hand to the teammate who tossed him a perfect pass which enabled him to make the play that everyone adored him for. This one play, this one sequence, sums up their entire relationship. Great play, by two great players, who never could last long-term because they both need to be loved at the expense of all others.<br /></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-44912027477282022142009-05-28T18:33:00.000-07:002009-05-29T07:59:38.313-07:00Weak Draft<div align="justify">I’ve been reading how weak this draft is relative to others, which I thought was interesting because it seems like there are some really quality players who are draft eligible this year. I decided to take a look at the first rounds of the past 9 drafts (2007-1999… I didn’t look at 2008 because it’s too soon, although 2007 probably is also) to put in perspective just how “weak” this current draft class is relative to the last 9 years. </div><div align="justify"></div><ul><li><div align="justify"><strong>1999</strong>: 8 All-Stars out of 29 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>2000</strong>: 1 All-Star out of 29 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: None) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>2001</strong>: 3 All-Stars out of 28 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: Pau Gasol, Tony Parker) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>2002</strong>: 3 All-Stars out of 28 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>2003</strong>: 6 All-Stars out of 29 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>2004</strong>: 3 All-Stars out of 29 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: Dwight Howard) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>2005</strong>: 3 All-Stars out of 30 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: Deron Williams, Chris Paul) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>2006</strong>: 1 All-Star out of 30 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: Brandon Roy)</div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>2007</strong>: 0 All-Stars out of 30 picks (All-NBA players from this draft: None) </div></li></ul><p align="justify">Now let’s take a look at some of the names routinely mentioned as first round picks and see where this perceived “weakness” emanates.</p><ol><li><div align="justify"><strong>Blake Griffin </strong>– considered by many (not me) as the no-brainer, best player in the draft. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Ricky Rubio </strong>– widely thought to be a fantastic NBA point guard despite slight build and shaky shooting. He’d also be a top 5 pick in any draft the past 10 years. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Hasheem Thabeet </strong>– mock drafts have had him ranked high for years. While I believe that he has several shortcomings, would he have ever been considered anything other than a top 10 pick in the last 10 years? Before you answer, take a look at some of these names, all of whom were indeed top 10 picks in the last 10 years: Danillo Gallinari, ’08; Joe Alexander, ’08; Yi Jianlian, ’07; Brandan Wright, ’07; Adam Morrison, ’06; Shelden Williams, ’06; Patrick O’Bryant, ’06; Mohammed Saer Sene, ’06; Martell Webster, ’05; Channing Frye, ’05; Ike Diogu, ’05; Shuan Livingston, ’04; Rafael Araujo, ’04; Luke Jackson, ’04; Darko Milicic, ’03; Mike Sweetney, ’03; Jay Williams, ’02; Mike Dunleavy, ’02; Nikoloz Tskitishvili, ’02; Dajuan Wagner, ’02; Kwame Brown, ’01; Eddy Curry, ’01; Eddie Griffin, ’01; DeSagana Diop, ’01; Rodney White, ’01; Stromile Swift, ’00; Darius Miles, ’00; Marcus Fizer, ’00; DeMarr Johnson, ’00; Chris Mihm, ’00; Jonathan Bender, ’99. That’s what I thought. The answer is no. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Jrue Holiday </strong>– Here is where I’ve seen the rumblings that the draft begins to get weak. Holiday is an intriguing player who has high value because he can play PG and good defense. I don’t understand the weak commentary. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Jordan Hill</strong> – I like his toughness and size, he has a ceiling to be a Nene-type of player, but he could also bust. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>James Harden </strong>– I dislike his game. I see him as a definite bust candidate. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Brandon Jennings </strong>– I have no idea and neither does anyone else. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Stephen Curry </strong>– I love this guy, but he has huge bust potential because he’s so frail and not quick. He definitely could be a better Mike Bibby though. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Tyreke Evans </strong>– Not a fan, but he’s got moxie. I don’t see him busting. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Jonny Flynn </strong>– nice player who will definitely get a chance because of his speed and strength at his position </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>DeJuan Blair </strong>– he’ll do really well because there are so many finesse big guys in the league and he can push them around. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>DeMar DeRozan </strong>– one of my favorites in the draft. He’s got something going on. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Jeff Teague </strong>– If Wake Forest didn’t get trounced early in the tournament, I might have an opinion on him, but I don’t. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Earl Clark </strong>– I don’t like him and see huge bust possibilities. He’s physically extraordinarily talented, but if there are effort concerns about him in college, why wouldn’t he have them once he’s paid? Haven’t we seen this story before? Also, I’m not convinced that he knows what he’s doing on the floor. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>James Johnson </strong>– see Jeff Teague </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Gerald Henderson </strong>– role player at best. I don't see it in him.</div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Eric Maynor </strong>– I like him a lot. I see a lot of Andre Miller in him without the ‘tude. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>B.J. Mullens </strong>– I’ve got four words for you: B. U. S. T. Come on, there’s no chance he plays meaningful minutes ever, right? </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Ty Lawson </strong>– I like Ty, for the same reasons I like Flynn, only Lawson has a better shot (I’d call it a jumper, but it’s really a set shot) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Tyler Hansbrough </strong>– most people think that he’ll fail, so he can’t really bust, can he? I do like his chances more than most, though. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Chase Budinger </strong>– he’s been touted as a lottery pick ever since his freshman year. He’ll be fine because of his athleticism and range. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Terrence Williams </strong>– I’ve always liked him, but I don’t see him ever developing a reliable jumper. If he shot so poorly from 3pt range in college, how is that going to improve in the NBA when the line is much further back? I think I’ve said before that he just needs to establish a consistent release point, but I don’t know if he’ll ever do that. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Austin Daye </strong>– I’ve stated my case against Daye for a long time and I’m very tired of reading how he is one of the most “skilled” guys in the draft. I don’t really get that. I will say that he has a nice looking jumper and can block jump shots, but can he pass? Can he rebound? Can he move? He hasn’t shown any ability whatsoever in college that he can do that. For being so “skilled” he’s painfully slow and has terrible feet. I don’t get him at all. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Nick Calathes </strong>– no idea. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Gani Lawal </strong>– no idea </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>DaJuan Summers </strong>– no idea </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sam Young </strong>– tough player who can play a role, but not much more. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Darren Collison </strong>– was formerly thought to be a top 10 pick. I see a lot of Darrell Armstrong in him but with longer arms. That’s not too bad. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Toney Douglas </strong>– love him. He’ll be one of the better players in this draft. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Patrick Mills </strong>– tough guy who will play some decent minutes for a good team and a lot of minutes for a team that needs a point guard (and many other things)</div></li></ol><p align="justify">It looks like there are around 17 guys that I like in this draft and around 6 that look like they have All-Star ability. Does that make it weak? Sure, I suppose so, but it doesn’t make it any weaker than any of the 9 previous years. Even the 2003 draft, widely believed to be one of the all-time best produced only 15 players worth talking about, of course, included in that list of 15 are four super-duper stars: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and four good players: David West, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, and Josh Howard, but that year was an aberration. More commonly, the drafts feature players who have similar ability and potential as this year’s class.<br /><br />The point is, this draft is no weaker than any other year and I’m tired of reading that statement as if it were fact. </p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-25770627390107000962009-05-26T17:35:00.000-07:002009-05-26T17:47:05.769-07:00J.R. Smith etc.<div align="justify">I’m with Jeff Van Gundy on this one; I didn’t know that J.R. Smith had this kind of court vision. The guy looked like a great point guard last night and he doesn’t even play the point. Finding an open teammate now and again is one thing, but he kept slipping great pass after great pass by people leading directly to dunks or layins. Now that he’s shown this part of his arsenal, is there any that he can’t do? I even saw him get pissed when there was a breakdown defensively leaving Jordan Farmar with a wide open three (which he missed). I’m baffled by this whole thing. It has become abundantly clear that Smith needed a guy like Chauncey Billups to take the knuckles out of his head. His game is completely different than it has been in years past because he’s now added defense and passing, you know, almost like a complete basketball player.<br /><br />Is it possible that we’re seeing a superstar in the making? He’s 23 (turns 24 on Sept. 9). He bound by nothing physically because he’s got terrific size for a 1 or a 2 at 6’6 220. He has a beautiful jumpshot with unlimited range. He has good court awareness and a knack for finding open players (which has been apparent in this series). He’s explosive as hell, possessing a preposterous, but believable when you see him jump, <a href="http://www.nba.com/draft2004/profiles/J.R.Smith.html">44-inch vert</a>. (I really wish that he would have flushed right on Kobe’s head last night, even if it was a foul). He’s quick and fast. He’s strong. He’s got it all.<br /><br />So, adding Chauncey Billups to his life has probably added several million dollars to his name because if he continues on this path of becoming a complete guard he will be a wildly valuable asset. Ever since he’s been in the NBA he’s either been first, second, or third team all knucklehead squad. He shot with no conscience and had no idea how to be a team player. Some switch must have been flipped because he doesn’t resemble, at all, the player that he used to be. He looked like the second coming of Larry Hughes. For those of you out there who have never seen Larry Hughes play, believe me, that’s not a compliment.<br /><br />I’d like to see him become an even better defensive player and there is absolutely no reason why he can’t be because he’s so quick and strong. I’m excited about watching this dude explode. With his size and skills, I could easily see him averaging 25 points 6 assists 4 rebounds 2 steals through the prime of his career.<br /><br />Oh, and he comes very cheap (relative to production) with a contract that will pay him about $5.5M through 2010-2011.<br /><br />If Kenyon Martin really has a broken ring finger on his left hand and isn’t even taping it, then he truly is crazy. Right handed players who are shot blockers often block shots with their opposite hand. I have no idea how he’s doing this without writhing in pain. Broken fingers hurt!<br /><br />Speaking of blocked shots… the Birdman is on a tear. Shannon Brown has got to know better than to throw up that weak mess.<br /><br />I, like many others, was disappointed in Melo, but I’ll give him a pass if he had a stomach virus and was yakking. Along those lines, shouldn’t he be quarantined? The stomach flu is so incredibly contagious so shouldn’t we expect someone else to start heaving any second? On both teams? When I was in college, we had some crazy strain of stomach flu run through nearly our entire campus, causing people to expel out of the front and the rear. We dubbed it “The Beast.” It was like the movie Outbreak, except with better acting. Also, instead of some exotic monkey who spread the virus, we presumed that it was a friend of ours who was, and still is, shaped like a perfect square, who exposed everyone on campus. He probably picked up the strain at an exotic porn shop. The point is, as soon as one person got it, nearly everyone got it. I’ve got to think that Melo left some the virus all over the locker room and on the court. Someone else is going to come down with it, trust me.<br /><br /><strong>Cleveland </strong><br />I would be remiss if I didn’t harangue the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the exception of LeBron, whom I love, I hate their team right now. None of them can do anything. I don’t like Big Z, at all. I’d rather see Joe Smith out there. At least he can bend over and pick up a ball and he’s also shooting the ball really well. As opposed to Z who has been hitting some jumpers, but who doesn’t seem the least bit confident. Smith needs more minutes at the expense of Big Z and a guy I’ve already killed—the much despised Varejao. However, I’ve only railed against his personality rather than his ability, of which he has none, aside from being tall. But here’s the deal, he’s an awful player, who occasionally chases down rebounds, fouls people, and annoys the living hell out of the opposition, referees, fans, and probably his teammates. I loved watching him get beat so badly down the court by his man (Odom) who subsequently flushed it on the other end because he runs like he’s dragging 20 lbs of sand tied to each foot.<br /><br />Additionally, and I’m not stating anything new here, Mo Williams and Delonte West have been atrocious, and that’s putting it mildly. I don’t see how Cleveland wins this series after watching three games. Orlando looks like the far better team, even without Dwight Howard. If they had Marcin Gortat playing instead of Howard, they’d still be in the same position. Dwight is good, but he’s not the difference maker (Gortat is much, much, much better than I realized, but still not “just as athletic” as Dwight Howard as Reggie Miller would have you believe). Rashard Lewis is playing like he’s getting paid insane money (oh wait, he is). Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus are fantastic role players and scorers. I was so wrong about this Cleveland team to the point of embarrassment. LeBron is doing this on his own (his block and alley oop the other night were breathtaking… he was above the square) and it’s really too bad. It’s not as if he’s not passing the ball, he’s doing that with regularity, but his team just keeps missing. Which reminds me, shouldn’t Wally Szerbiak get some run? If there is anything that the guy can do, it’s shoot, and no one else has been able to do it. He needs to play.<br /><br />I’m fine with LeBron not driving to the hole every single time down the court (although that would be effective, it’s just not possible, he’s be completely spent after 2 quarters of doing that and playing defense). I just ask that when he settles for a jumper that he do so decisively. These jab-step-launching a 20%-chance-of-making-it jumper from 20 feet are not getting it done. It’s times like that when I have to concede to non-NBA fans the following: “Yes, that was a bad shot and makes for bad basketball viewing.”<br /><br />If they don’t turn it around tonight, it’s curtains and I’m officially bummed about it because I’d like to see him win this year.<br /><br /><br /><br /> </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-60026602988396837412009-05-22T23:52:00.000-07:002009-05-23T00:05:37.946-07:00Cavs - Magic Game 2<div align="justify">If you don’t like the NBA, fine. But if you love basketball and you aren’t watching what’s happening, then I don’t know how to relate to you.<p></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Here’s a breakdown for you. With one second left on the clock, the best player in the NBA hit a fadeaway three at the buzzer for the win. Does that sound exciting enough for you? Thus far, every conference finals game has come down to the last shot or last possession. It’s not like these teams are bad and it’s a battle of attrition. We’re seeing really talented teams playing at peak levels. I’m sucked in completely. I love what I’m seeing. If anyone tells you that the NBA is boring, then they’re simply not watching the games. It’s that simple. <P></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">I was way off on this series though. I thought for sure that Cleveland was going to roll Orlando, especially the way that they were playing. However, it has become abundantly clear that Orlando is a gutsy team that can simply shoot the lights out and plays pretty decent defense. I love Rashard Lewis, as I’ve said before. Hedo is pretty much the same player. Both have a sense for the dramatic. Courtney Lee is going to outstanding, if he’s not already. I don’t care much for Skip. I think Howard is a beast, but he’s limited. They are a fun team to watch. If this series doesn’t go seven games I’m going to be surprised.</div><div align="justify"> <P></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">As for Cleveland, they played well in stretches and it’s nice to see Pavlovic get some run. He’s a talented player but don’t understand how a European shooter shoots only 40something percent from the free throw line. Is that even genetically possible? For awhile there, I was seriously thinking that Mo Williams was on the take. He looked like garbage for long stretches. I mean, he’s a shooter, and how many open threes does LeBron need to get him before he catches fire? I don’t know if I’m in the proper mindset to talk about this but I cannot believe how much I hate Anderson Varejao and I like this Cavs team (ok, I like LeBron, but still). I hate Varejao for the same reason I hated John Stockton. He’s a whiny little B. How can he, in good conscience, grab a guy’s arm and pull him down to pretend like he’s been pushed? That’s straight out of the Stockton handbook. Also, he thinks he’s fouled EVERY SINGLE TIME HE DOES ANYTHING and continually whines to the refs. I hate him. I don’t think he’s the same as Joakim Noah because Noah doesn’t complain like Varejao does. I just can’t stand how much he cries, it drives me crazy. I’ll root for an outright villain before I root for an cheating little sissy like Varejao. </div><div align="justify"><P></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Now that that’s off of my chest I look forward to watching the rest of the series. A few non sequiturs:</div><ul><li><div align="justify">That’s an incredible sport coat, shirt, and tie combo by Mike Brown. Dude looks sharp.</div></li><li><div align="justify">Is the voice that chants “DE-FENSE” a computer? The same voice announces who scores or who was fouled etc. It’s brutal. He needs to knock it off. </div></li><li>TNT’s floating camera, which gives me the feeling that I’m hanging by a noose in the rafters, is not appreciated</li><li><div align="justify">SVG looks either like a cop or an old Vietnam vet buddy who is still running heroin out of the country. Or both.<br /></div></li></ul>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-10734135554321734202009-05-22T17:24:00.000-07:002009-05-28T18:33:45.291-07:00Denver v. LA<div><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify">I am so pleased that I’m actually watching these NBA playoffs. These conference finals games are especially delectable, since each game has literally come down to the last possession.<br /><br />The LA v. Denver game last night started out horribly because it looked like Denver’s players had spent their day off playing beach volleyball, lying in the sun, and blowing into Corona bottles—all while George Karl was trying to coax them back into their hotel rooms. Speaking of Karl, his face was so red and shiny last night that I couldn’t stop picturing him standing in the middle of the street, wearing a Tony Soprano robe, staring directly at the sun for 11 hours. You could have sautéed onions on his dome he was so hot. Also, I feared that his face was going to melt off from the heat (a la Raiders of the Lost Ark) when Denver allowed that inbounds play that went for a Pau Gasol dunk. That was absolutely amazing<br /><br />Nevertheless, since LA looked terrible to begin game one (and won) and Denver looked terrible to begin game two (and won) I guess that means that starting out playing horribly is an advantage in this series.<br /><br />I have one last thing about Karl’s appearance (or as I like to call it my “layup line”), his face is small. Really small. But his head is huge. It’s like his facial features are meant for a person with about 1/3 the size of his head. It’s not sweet to have a big head small face. But I guess that’s better than the alternative because you could have eyes on the top of your head, and that can’t look good.<br /><br />Not sure if you knew this or not, but the TV cameras love Jack Nicholson. Hey, I love Colonel Jessup as well, but my goodness does he look terrible. They showed him sitting there and I couldn’t help but notice how extraordinarily flabby his belly is. It literally hangs down. Look, if you’re fat, it’s ok, but at least have the decency to put out a distended belly, not some horrible skin flap looking thing. I know that you’re old, Jack, but clean it up.<br /><br />Now, about the game itself. I will continue to profess my love for Melo’s game, except his pouty, not getting back on defense b.s. that he must eradicate immediately. As such, my love is conditional. I’m hard to get. I enjoy watching Pau Gasol in the post, especially when he’s made up his mind that he’s going to score. He’s got great moves and is shockingly quick and aggressive when he wants to be. But then he gets semi-bullied by Kenyon Marin and he shuts down. It’s abundantly clear that you just need to push him around and hack him a little and he hates it. I do like him though, he shoots a great percentage and gets quality and garbage points.<br /><br />I did not enjoy the officiating, as per usual, especially the 10 second delay blocking call that Dick Bavetta called on Nene (I think) and Kobe doing a full on two-handed shove in Dahnaty Jones’s back, causing him to fall on his face, right in front of Bavetta. Brutal.<br /><br />A few other things about appearances, I’m doing left handed layups now, Andrew Bynum has the face of 14-year old, right down to the peach fuzz. It looks pretty clear to me that he’s never shaved before. Also, he’s huge. I don’t think he’s the second coming of Shaq or anything, but he’s a very quality big guy that shouldn’t be overpaid but probably will be.<br /><br />I’ve said before how much I like Chauncey Billups. His game, demeanor, and everything are great. But he is kind of a weird-looking guy. I’ve said for years that he kind of looks like a long-lost Murphy brother, but a more accurate description is this. If, on that evolution scale (fish swimming, then getting on the beach and with its flippers turning into feet, then into an alligator and so on…) Eddie Murphy is the end of the evolution, then Chauncey is like 4-5 spots from him, with Eddie’s brother, Charlie Murphy right before Eddie. He just looks like a less evolved Murphy brother. But hey, I love the guy more than I love Eddie Murphy these days. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8I6M98rZlwqq_GS_afyfCcn7xep4i2TkQKmeUcqWq2pGQw-ISv3Eh39cU371x5z1G5AawuZFejb2y1WIBNMidM5gaiXVuzwNjclAbHHV0wzu0wfBjSDgzi04sMrOri1z7fK6JJ1vLq0/s1600-h/Chauncey.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340142035345332242" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 157px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8I6M98rZlwqq_GS_afyfCcn7xep4i2TkQKmeUcqWq2pGQw-ISv3Eh39cU371x5z1G5AawuZFejb2y1WIBNMidM5gaiXVuzwNjclAbHHV0wzu0wfBjSDgzi04sMrOri1z7fK6JJ1vLq0/s200/Chauncey.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtYmBrQ0i4dd5QkuHMmyQOD1RFPfczRdfRXbFSR2y-ptlEbE2mDnPrmeRsSYVa6DyW3z53vxAQRsEDsg4SGJga3HD8_wuo_XIAnsVV5X-K8d6pLC44c3Hv22PKOTnjdtOfbY9IdCpaQLA/s1600-h/EddieMurphy.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340142466196450210" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 141px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtYmBrQ0i4dd5QkuHMmyQOD1RFPfczRdfRXbFSR2y-ptlEbE2mDnPrmeRsSYVa6DyW3z53vxAQRsEDsg4SGJga3HD8_wuo_XIAnsVV5X-K8d6pLC44c3Hv22PKOTnjdtOfbY9IdCpaQLA/s200/EddieMurphy.bmp" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340142207863209890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 132px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNh1GHb2IFd6WNM5WCFZAKNqpIvsffolj67M0ri-9PEkYOVezOveFmYnqxcFe3ds62vtCTnnYizNNoDbxG4YXlUvP7zQ4chXHnqPCQZcS2PW8IByP_UxAsyjrqvleuafoijIHg_I50hI/s200/CharlieMurphy.bmp" border="0" /></div><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">One final thing. I just read <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090522/part2&sportCat=nba" target="_blank">Bill Simmons’s mailbag </a>this afternoon and saw this:<br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><blockquote>Editor's note: On Tuesday, ESPN.com examines the question of whether LeBron<br />James could play in the NFL. We talked to Bill Parcells, scouts, LeBron's high<br />school coaches and will have video of LeBron playing high school football. </blockquote><br /><br /><div align="justify"><br />Let it be known that I posted my take on this <a href="http://undraftedfa.blogspot.com/2009/05/conference-finals-and-gridiron-lebron.html" target="_blank">yesterday</a>. If ESPN is the “Worldwide Leader” what does that make me?<br /><br />P.S.<br /><br />I smell Cleveland by 15 tonight… </div></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-31748931636228076132009-05-21T12:56:00.001-07:002009-05-21T13:07:50.752-07:00Conference Finals and Gridiron LeBronSince I’m pulling for a Denver v. Cleveland final it makes perfect sense that both teams would go on to lose their opening games.<br /><br />But here is what I saw ... <div><div><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">I saw a determined, strong as a bull, Carmelo Anthony. He’s an absolute beast to handle in the post and there isn’t enough praise to heap on his wildly improved three-point range.<br /><br />A pretty bad game out of Chauncey Billups (and certainly out of J.R. Smith), right down to missing free throws (including two-in-a-row) which was almost jarring to see. He, like Anthony Carter, failed to close out on LA threes and it ended up costing them the game. I don’t see a need to double anyone but Kobe occasionally because Denver’s big guys (Nene, Martin, Birdman) can manhandle LA’s big guys (Gasol, Odom, Bynum) straight up. Of course Gasol and Odom are going to win some battles, but don’t give Fisher, Farmar, and Ariza consistent wide-open threes, because those are the only shots that they can make. I saw too many occasions where Chauncey or some other guard could have at least given a token close-out, but didn’t. They can’t do that again. Those threes got LA back into the game, but if Denver doesn’t shoot terribly from the line, they win that game going away. I’m still confident that they will take this series. I don’t see LA getting that lucky again – of course, I don’t see Kenyon Martin shooting the ball as well as he did the other night either… but I do believe that Melo will continue to indefensible.<br /><br />I’m surprised that Orlando was able to take that game from Cleveland, but only in the result. These two teams look very even to me, and here I thought that Orlando would be lucky to win one game. I have a soft spot in my heart for Rashard because of the whole Seattle thing, and he really looks fantastic. I love watching him take the ball strong to the hoop, which is enabled by his fantastic jumper. He’s a tough cover at 6’10 and as agile as he is. His defense is bad and always has been, but that’s not where his value is. Dwight Howard is a physical marvel, but I stand by my proclamations that his post game is garbage. I did see a decent-looking running hook shot out of him (with touch) that surprised me, but I only saw it once. He’s mostly a dunking machine, which is working well for him to the tune of 30 points last night… Mikaele Pietrius looks great, by the way. He looks nothing like any Euro player that I’ve ever seen, of course, he’s not white, but still. His mentality is completely different than most Euro players. He’s aggressive and strong and athletic. I like his game and he looks like he could, at the very least, make LeBron work on offensive (and some on defense). He should be playing 35 minutes a game.<br /><br />Now, to Cleveland… that fourth quarter was disgusting offensive basketball. The four corners, let LeBron hold the ball at the top of the key for 22 seconds jab stepping, and launching a terrible fadeaway 23 foot jumper just isn’t working for me. He was screaming-teakettle hot for awhile, hitting every midrange jumper he tossed up. He also nearly catapulted himself to the ceiling after that backdoor dunk. One other thing, that helpside swat of Howard’s shot was so incredible because you could see it coming as LeBron crept away from his man when it was clear what Howard’s intentions were. I love watching him play… except when they run the four corners offense. Then it’s horrible to watch. LeBron is the best player in the game not just because he can score, but because he creates so much trouble for the other team. Limiting him to that stupid offense hurts their team. His teammates need to be in constant motion to that he can hit them as they get separation from their man. LeBron’s gifts are showcased when he gets easy buckets for himself or his teammates, not when he’s forcing nochance fadeaway jumpers. Those types of shots lead to losses because their deflating and no one else is involved. It’s just a bad scene.<br /><br />Speaking of LeBron, given that he is 6’8 and anywhere between 260 and 275, couldn’t he play (and excel) just about anywhere on the field in the NFL except offensive line, defensive tackle, tailback, or f<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9-32Cg07NFnTAR-vYCYertBS5HZWe5tCkrFf4zwN8QbZ3QA9Ehx3R9AdSHAkbOkeIZ9d6G5PjMK0tbe31nI8tlg_gxXB10PmsvXy5M6rKIIuPEWlPxf9ZFFLDtXuAbDY8CS03YPVsD0/s1600-h/lebron_browns.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338370035503129410" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn9-32Cg07NFnTAR-vYCYertBS5HZWe5tCkrFf4zwN8QbZ3QA9Ehx3R9AdSHAkbOkeIZ9d6G5PjMK0tbe31nI8tlg_gxXB10PmsvXy5M6rKIIuPEWlPxf9ZFFLDtXuAbDY8CS03YPVsD0/s200/lebron_browns.jpg" border="0" /></a>ullback? Here is how I see it:<br /><br /><strong>Quarterback</strong>: He has tremendous court vision and I see no reason why this wouldn’t translate to the NFL. Is there any part of you that thinks that he can’t throw a football 70 yards in the air? He has great anticipation, a key component for a QB’s accuracy. He is commonly mentioned as one of, if not the fastest guys in the NBA. He has great size. He is a great leader. I have no doubt that he’d be a Pro Bowl QB. I say this without pause even though I’ve never seen him throw a football. You see, I know how to spot talent. That’s my gift.<br /><strong>NFL Comparison</strong>: Ben Roethlisberger + Michael Vick<br /><br /><strong>Wide Receiver</strong>: The position he played as a high school <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/sports/basketball/03james.html" target="_blank">all-state player </a>in Ohio. He has huge hands, unparalleled leaping ability, great size and strength, explosive speed and quickness. He’s a runaway semi-truck when he screams through the lane in hoops, I see him doing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6mKBqF8vSmKRmn3HHAhJusDL4jguITK4jsX1WDW704nuklMmRETX0wrSSzxYA2-EWOQDNpjVGcNcLdFTDxOUc9ebj5NVHbIc9hlSTXE-vg9rXCwxjtn8Sqg2oJScwQv2NyUgCFTlBDQ/s1600-h/LeBron-Football.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338370136416999554" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6mKBqF8vSmKRmn3HHAhJusDL4jguITK4jsX1WDW704nuklMmRETX0wrSSzxYA2-EWOQDNpjVGcNcLdFTDxOUc9ebj5NVHbIc9hlSTXE-vg9rXCwxjtn8Sqg2oJScwQv2NyUgCFTlBDQ/s200/LeBron-Football.jpg" border="0" /></a> the same thing when careening through the secondary. Because he’s so tall, I’m sure that corners would attempt to get up under his pads and jam him, but because he’s so athletic and strong, he’d brush them off and fly by them. Those commercials depicting him playing for the Browns are not far off. He could also be the first player to dunk a football on the crossbar from the plane of the goal line. But would that be a safety if he crossed the goaline but never set foot in the end zone and the ball sailed out of bounds after he dunked? Technically he broke the plane, which would mean it’s a TD and he maintained possession as he was double pumping. Maybe I’ll ask the NFL what they think. For the record, I rule that a TD just for sheer awesomeness. Of course, LeBron would have to long jump 30 feet (or 7 ¾ inches past the WORLD RECORD) in football pads just to get to the back of the end zone, not to mention needing to get above the crossbar to do so. Look, I put nothing past him, not even setting a world record in the middle of an NFL game.<br /><strong>NFL Comparison</strong>: Larry Fitzgerald + Andre Johnson + Terrell Owens + Tony Gonzalez (in other words, the best WR in the NFL) </div><div align="justify">(As an aside, look at the photo of him and Pacman... notice anything weird about it? LeBron has a cell phone clipped to his pants... I'm saddened by this. He went from being quite possibly the coolest cat in the world to possibly 2nd or 3rd place... disappointing).</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>Tight End</strong>: For the same reasons that he’d be a great wide receiver, he’d be a great tight end, but would be clearly wasted here. He certainly has the size and strength to do it, but he’d be called on to block too much, which he could do, but it makes much more sense to send him downfield, constantly.<br /><strong>NFL Comparison</strong>: Antonio Gates + Tony Gonzalez + Shannon Sharpe<br /><br /><strong>Defensive End</strong>: He would be an absolute terror getting after the QB, with his size and physicality. Because he is so fast, he’d have terrifying closing speed as well. Teams would have to game plan around him for sure. Because I don’t know how he tackles in the open field, this is the best place for him because he can just hone in and kill people without having to adjust too much. If you can’t picture LeBron putting a swim moving Jason Smith, dipping his shoulder, exploding into Marc Bulger, and subsequently wearing Bulger’s spine as a boa, then you have no eye for the inevitable.<br /><strong>NFL Comparison</strong>: Mario Williams + Julius Peppers<br /><br /><strong>Linebacker</strong>: He may struggle here in space and because of his size, offensive linemen may be able to get great leverage on him and shove him around. That being said, since he guards point guards from time to time, I see no reason why he couldn’t handle fleet-footed WRs as well. He has fantastic body control so he’d be able to stay with shifty dudes with no problem. I also like the idea of h<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5muYwd5PeaViST8FNltfTPA2eN7r1MS2aMhjHAlkq9R_FJqnte4EucvFmIw1Z9qIDq00zCAd3LTVNajYdq_aVbTcf4xeuzdVLrGUmYyF04MvQzCKcIVwGDPx-YyS3fgaZ4FVzsiq8Nzk/s1600-h/sellers.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338370214476302034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 111px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5muYwd5PeaViST8FNltfTPA2eN7r1MS2aMhjHAlkq9R_FJqnte4EucvFmIw1Z9qIDq00zCAd3LTVNajYdq_aVbTcf4xeuzdVLrGUmYyF04MvQzCKcIVwGDPx-YyS3fgaZ4FVzsiq8Nzk/s200/sellers.jpg" border="0" /></a>im leaping over linemen to sack the QB. That reminds me of a story of my friend Josh who, for a time, played QB for his high school freshman team. He was lined up under center playing against North Thurston and took the snap only to be grabbed by his shoulders and yanked to the ground after each subsequent snap. The linebacker was lined up directly in front of the center and kept reaching across and throwing him to the ground. The linebacker’s name? Mike Sellers, who happens to carry the nickname “Big Mike.” Look, if you play in the NFL and the guys around you deem it appropriate to toss “Big” into your nickname, then you are one big S.O.B. At the time, Sellers was a freshman and was probably already 6’4 200+ lbs. As it is, he’s 6’4 285 starting at fullback for the Washington Redskins. I saw Sellers once at a club when we were both seniors in high school. I was 5’11 150 at the time. He was 6’4 245. He did not look like a normal human being, starting with the size of his head, which looked like an oscillating fan crossed with a pumpkin.<br /><strong>NFL Comparison</strong>: A much taller Shane Merriman (he’s best suited as a 3-4 OLB).<br /><br /><strong>Defensive Back</strong>: He would be the largest DB in captivity, which would be so weird to see. He has such speed and range so it makes sense to put him at FS and just let him completely control the field. QBs would be terrified to throw it anywhere near him because the normal rules wouldn’t apply. QBs would never be able to put touch on a ball because he’d go up and get it everytime. Their only hope would be to throw on a line underneath or go for the deep, deep ball and hopefully overthrow him. I see him being less successful as a CB because while he’s able to stop and start on a dime and cover smaller guys, physically he just won’t be able to keep that up because the other dudes are just closer to the ground. I do like the imagine I have in my mind of him jumping about six feet in the air and picking off passes with one hand.<br /><strong>NFL Comparison</strong>: A ridiculously tall Ed Reed<br /><br /><strong>Special Teams</strong>: He would be the best FG blocker of all time, again, just like the commercial. He’d be just like Finch in Wildcats, except he’s not a morbidly obese extortionist.<br /><br />So there you have it. I guess I’ll need to him in EA Sports NCAA Football and let you know which position makes the most sense for him and report back. If you’re wondering, and I know you are, my preferences are, in order: FG Blocker, WR, FS, QB, DE, OLB, TE. </div></div></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-18498805355270647602009-05-18T18:15:00.000-07:002009-05-18T18:42:21.561-07:00Let Ron Mexico Play<div align="justify">Grant Hill sounds exactly like Tony Dungy. I mean exactly like him. I was listening to the radio this morning and Hill was on the Mike & Mike show, but before I realized who it was I just assumed that it was Dungy, probably on the show to talk about visiting Michael Vick in prison. But it was Hill and he didn’t have anything interesting to say. That’s no knock on Hill, it’s just that he’s one of those boring/nice guys who doesn’t add much to a broadcast because he’s not especially insightful, he’s definitely not funny, but he’s a nice enough, well-spoken (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkqwspFr3D8" target="_blank">channeling the Chris Rock Colin Powell bit</a>) guy, who is good looking, so he get opportunities. You know, exactly like Tiki Barber.<br /><br />Regarding Vick, I’ve been reading about his imminent release from prison and the possibility that he’ll have to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFyHTU8tg_0" target="_blank">kneel before Zod </a>before he’s reinstated. I’ve also read that if Goodell does reinstate him, that he may make him sit out some games to punish him for what he’s done. I guess because a 23-month prison sentence wasn’t punishment enough. Why does the NFL feel the need to tack on its own extra special suspension? Because he lied to almighty Goodell? Does the suspension have any meaning to Vick? Does Goodell think that this extra suspension will make Vick more remorseful for what he’s done? If Goodell doesn’t want “bad” guys in his league, then he simply should use Vick as a warning to all of the current and prospective players in the NFL and deny him reinstatement. F with me and you don’t play in this league. Plain and simple. This half-assed possible suspension serves no purpose, unless, of course, that Goodell is using the suspension as a passive-aggressive way of denying Vick reentry. He could impose a suspension that is so onerous (eight games, for instance) that would turn off nearly every team in the league because they’d have to sign Vick knowing that he couldn’t play for half of the season. That might essentially end Vick’s chances this year. Plus, if he does come back as a QB, then it would be even more difficult for him to assimilate because, as we’ve been told many times, NFL playbooks are difficult to learn.<br /><br />That being said, this may not matter to some teams because I doubt very seriously that any team looking at him views him as a fulltime solution at QB. Because of the NFL’s copycat nature, Vick, through a strange twist of fate, may be coming back into the league at the right time. Because of the University of Arkansas’s success running the “Wildcat” with Darren McFadden, and the subsequent success that Miami had with the formation last year, suddenly teams are looking for a guy who can possibly run this scheme a few times per game. To wit, Miami nabbed West Virginia’s Pat White in the second round solely for this purpose. White is essentially Michael Vick. They’re about the same size, both are extremely elusive, and both are left-handed. Of course, White does not have nearly the arm strength that Vick has (or had, we don’t know if he still has it) but he’s far more accurate, and while White is fast, he’s not the Madden-99-speed fast that Vick is (or was). Actually, the guy that Pat White resembles the most is Seattle’s Seneca Wallace. For those of us Seattle fans who want to see more of Wallace, perhaps this the year because Holmgren has departed and the new regime is probably a little less conservative than he was offensively (on a consistent basis, I’m not talking about flanking him out wide for one play in one playoff game). It would be hard for them to be as conservative and impossible to be more conservative. Wallace may actually get some burn this year in certain packages and not just because Hasselbeck is hurt, but because it’s part of the game plan. But I digress…<br /><br />Back to Vick, he’ll be 29-years-old next month, and I haven’t seen any footage of him running or throwing a football, but suffice to say, he’s going to be rusty. I doubt that he’s anywhere near tip-top shape, I’m guessing that a near superhero-level elite athlete like Vick can rebound with aplomb.<br /><br />As an aside, with the advent of the Wildcat and Vick’s likely position running such an offense, it’s a good thing that he never had any problems with cats or else his comeback could go awry. Although I suppose that it’s possible that the authorities haven’t unearthed “Bad Pusseeezzz Kat Fightazzz,” the underground mountain lion fighting ring that Vick is financing.<br /><br />Taking a look at current NFL rosters after the draft and free agency, here are each team’s QB situations.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>AFC East</strong>: </div><div align="justify"><strong>New England</strong>: QB1 Tom Brady, QB2 Kevin O'Connell, QB3 Matt Gutierrez </div><div align="justify"><strong>New York Jets</strong>: QB1 Kellen Clemens, QB2 Mark Sanchez (R), QB3 Erik Ainge </div><div align="justify"><strong>Miami</strong>: QB1 Chad Pennington, QB2 Chad Henne, QB3 Pat White (R) </div><div align="justify"><strong>Buffalo</strong>: QB1 Trent Edwards, QB2 Ryan Fitzpatrick </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>AFC South</strong>: </div><div align="justify"><strong>Indianapolis</strong>: QB1 Peyton Manning, QB2 Jim Sorgi, QB3 Curtis Painter (R) </div><div align="justify"><strong>Jacksonville</strong>: QB1 David Garrard, QB2 Cleo Lemon, QB3 Todd Bouman </div><div align="justify"><strong>Tennessee</strong>: QB1 Kerry Collins, QB2 Vince Young, QB3 Patrick Ramsey </div><div align="justify"><strong>Houston</strong>: QB1 Matt Schaub, QB2 Dan Orlovsky </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>AFC North</strong>: </div><div align="justify"><strong>Pittsburgh</strong>: QB1 Ben Roethlisberger, QB2 Dennis Dixon, QB3 Charlie Batch </div><div align="justify"><strong>Baltimore</strong>: QB1 Joe Flacco, QB2 Troy Smith, QB3 John Beck </div><div align="justify"><strong>Cleveland</strong>: QB1 Brady Quinn, QB2 Derek Anderson, QB3 Brett Ratliff </div><div align="justify"><strong>Cincinnati</strong>: QB1 Carson Palmer, QB2 J.T. O'Sullivan, QB3 Jordan Palmer </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>AFC West</strong>: </div><div align="justify"><strong>Denver</strong>: QB1 Kyle Orton, QB2 Chris Simms, QB3 Tom Brandstater (R) </div><div align="justify"><strong>San Diego</strong>: QB1 Philip Rivers, QB2 Billy Volek, QB3 Charlie Whitehurst </div><div align="justify"><strong>Kansas City</strong>: QB1 Matt Cassel, QB2 Brodie Croyle, QB3 Tyler Thigpen </div><div align="justify"><strong>Oakland</strong>: QB1 JaMarcus Russell, QB2 Jeff Garcia, QB3 Andrew Walter </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>NFC East</strong>: </div><div align="justify"><strong>New York Giants</strong>: QB1 Eli Manning, QB2 David Carr, QB3 Rhett Bomar (R), QB4 Andre Woodson </div><div align="justify"><strong>Philadelphia</strong>: QB1 Donovan McNabb, QB2 Kevin Kolb, QB3 A.J. Feeley </div><div align="justify"><strong>Dallas</strong>: QB1 Tony Romo, QB2 Jon Kitna, QB3 Stephen McGee (R) </div><div align="justify"><strong>Washington</strong>: QB1 Jason Campbell, QB2 Todd Collins, QB3 Colt Brennan </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>NFC South</strong>: </div><div align="justify"><strong>Tampa Bay</strong>: QB1 Byron Leftwich, QB2 Luke McCown, QB3 Josh Freeman (R), Josh Johnson </div><div align="justify"><strong>Carolina</strong>: QB1 Jake Delhomme, QB2 Josh McCown, QB3 Matt Moore </div><div align="justify"><strong>Atlanta</strong>: QB1 Matt Ryan, QB2 Chris Redman, QB3 D.J. Shockley </div><div align="justify"><strong>New Orleans</strong>: QB1 Drew Brees, QB2 Mark Brunell (what?), QB3 Joey Harrington </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>NFC North</strong>: </div><div align="justify"><strong>Green Bay</strong>: QB1 Aaron Rodgers, QB2 Matt Flynn, QB3 Brian Brohm </div><div align="justify"><strong>Minnesota</strong>: QB1 Tarvaris Jackson, QB2 Sage Rosenfels, QB3 John David Booty </div><div align="justify"><strong>Chicago</strong>: QB1 Jay Cutler, QB2 Caleb Hanie, QB3 Brett Basanez </div><div align="justify"><strong>Detroit</strong>: QB1 Daunte Culpepper, QB2 Matthew Stafford (R), QB3 Drew Stanton </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>NFC West</strong>: </div><div align="justify"><strong>Arizona</strong>: QB1 Kurt Warner, QB2 Matt Leinart, QB3 Brian St. Pierre </div><div align="justify"><strong>Seattle</strong>: QB1 Matt Hasselbeck, QB2 Seneca Wallace, QB3 Mike Teel (R) </div><div align="justify"><strong>San Francisco</strong>: QB1 Shaun Hill, QB2 Damon Huard, QB3 Alex Smith </div><div align="justify"><strong>St. Louis</strong>: QB1 Marc Bulger, QB2 Kyle Boller, QB3 Brock Berlin<p> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Any team with a young QB as a starter or as a starter of the future is likely out because the attention that Vick will receive will detract from the young QB’s development. Even if it’s best for young QBs to fly under the radar, I’ve got to think that the distractions from a media perspective will cause the young QB to harbor some resentment. So for that reason, the following teams are out: New York Jets (Sanchez and Clemons), Miami (Henne and White), Houston (Schaub, while he’s not exactly young, he hasn’t started much, plus he was Vick’s backup and I’m sure he’s telling the front office to stay the hell away), Baltimore (Flacco and Smith, kind of), Buffalo (Edwards), Cleveland (Quinn), Oakland (Russell), Washington (Campbell), Tampa Bay (Freeman and Johnson), Atlanta (Ryan and other reasons), Green Bay (Rodgers, Brohm, and Flynn), Chicago (Cutler – he would melt down), and Detroit (Stafford). </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Similarly, any team that has an established core of three QBs that suit their needs or who don’t gamble on “character risks” (either they never have or have sworn off of them) will be eliminated. So the following teams are out: Indianapolis (they’ve got as solid 1 and 2 in the league and a pretty decent rookie in Painter at 3), Tennessee (after dealing with Vince Young, would they want to pick up Vick? I could see if they dumped VY, but not if they kept him), Cincinnati (come on, they can’t do it, right?), Kansas City (they’ve got a solid 1-3), New York Giants (Plaxed out), Philadelphia (McNabb still has it; despite Kolb’s meltdown, they still like him; Feeley is capable especially at no. 3), Dallas (Jerry Jones has to draw the line somewhere, doesn’t he?), Minnesota (while their QB situation is far from solid, they’re still holding the line for the stubbled one), and Seattle (for two reasons: 1. Ruskell is a slave to character, 2. Mora would never coach him again). </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify">Some teams already have a player like Vick in the mix without the baggage, so they’d likely be out as well (I already mentioned Miami for different reasons): Pittsburgh (Dixon)<br /></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">That leaves the following teams in play: New England, Jacksonville, Denver, San Diego, Carolina, New Orleans, Arizona, San Francisco, and St. Louis. </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify">So let’s take a closer look at these remaining teams: </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>New England</strong>. Brady is coming off of his serious knee injury and we’re all expecting him to be fine, especially given that they let Cassel walk for a second rounder. But no one has seen Kevin O'Connell or Matt Gutierrez play any meaningful minutes. Vick would be surrounded by a team chockfull of veterans and would have no pressure to perform except in limited circumstances (or in case Brady goes down again). He would best be used in a package situation because New England’s offense requires an accurate passer and Vick has never been that. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Jacksonville</strong>. David Garrard is a good player who had a down year in ’08, but their backups are not inspiring. I’d be surprised if Cleo Lemon and Todd Bouman could beat Vick in a pie-eating contest much less for the number 2 job in Jacksonville. They’ve got a good running game and a revamped offensive line and a fairly basic offense. Vick could excel here as a package guy and as a backup. </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong>Denver</strong>. No one knows what the hell is going on there. Kyle Orton is a nice QB, who can throw it around a little bit and might very well thrive under McDaniel’s guidance. Chris Simms is always going to be a guy who people are going to be disappointed in because he really looks like he should be better. The whole spleen thing really screwed him up and he hasn’t gotten any real action for a long time. No one knows if he’s any good or not, but if he was, it would make sense that he’d see the field given the lack of quality QB play in the league overall the last few years. I am unfamiliar with third-stringer Tom Brandstater. Vick would do well here in packages, but since the offense would be similar to what McDaniels ran in New England, it’s not well-suited to Vick’s strengths. Also, unless Vick could also play defense, I’m pretty sure everyone in Denver would be pissed. If he did join the team, he could wear No. 7 because no one of any note wore that number here, right?</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>San Diego</strong>. Billy Volek and Charlie Whitehurst at 2 and 3. Come on. Volek had some crazy games in Tennessee a few years ago, but he’s not that good and I’m sure that Clemson fans could tell you a thing or two about Whitehurst. Vick is clearly superior to both of those guys and you know how much he loves throwing to tight ends and even though Antonio Gates is getting old, he can still bring it. Plus they’ve got a great running game. San Diego looks very promising for Vick as a Wildcat QB and backup, even if Tomlinson might get upset about getting TD passes taken away from him. </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong>Carolina</strong>. Jake Delhomme was as bad as he possibly could have been against Arizona in the playoffs last year. Josh McCown may be an able backup, but doesn’t seem to have much more ability than that. Matt Moore could grow into something given time, but he’s not going to threaten any number 2 guy out there right now, much less any starter. They have an absolutely fabulous running game featuring DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart aka “Double Trouble” formerly known as “Smash and Dash.” With the addition of Vick, I’d suggest that they change the moniker to “Boom Bash Dash” which, aside from sounding incredibly cool, actually fits their running styles and would be harrowing for D-coordinators to stop if all three were on the field at the same time. In case you’re wondering: Vick is “Boom” (as in “boom” he’s gone), “Bash” is Stewart (because of his bruising running style—and underrated speed), and “Dash” is Williams (because of his speed both in the hole and breakaway). Yes, I’m a loser.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>New Orleans</strong>. I love Drew Brees and so does the City of New Orleans and his coach. Vick’s role here would be solely for Wildcat package purposes and to cause D-coordinators to dampen their khakis when he and Reggie Bush are on the field. They could run the legitimate veer option and gain 10 yards a pop. Believe it. The backup QB situation is pathetic here. I loved Mark Brunell—19 years ago at UW, now? Please. As for Joey Harrington. I’m not even going to waste my time. Let’s just say Vick has a good chance of making this team.</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>Arizona</strong>. Just as in New Orleans, Vick would go here as a Wildcat specialist. Warner is entrenched (obviously) and to the extent that Arizona still has faith in Leinart, it would be weird if he was pushed out in favor of Vick. I’m wholly unfamiliar with Brian St. Pierre. I doubt that Arizona would make this move. I don’t have much else to say here except that I look forward to them having a letdown year and Anquan Boldin playing for someone else (please).</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>San Francisco</strong>. Let’s be honest with each other here. San Francisco’s QB situation might be the worst in the league. I’ve been hearing about this as a team on the rise, but how could that be with these as your top three guys: Shaun Hill, Damon Huard, and Alex Smith? Get the hell out of here. There’s no chance. Huard has had his chances and has hung on in the league far longer than anyone could have anticipated and good for him for doing so, but get real. Alex Smith has been on death watch for years now (even though he did renegotiate his deal to stick around, everyone always says that he’s a really bright guy…). Vick could absolutely give this team some life, so much so that he could literally compete for the starting job. </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify">St. Louis. Ok, St. Louis might be in a worse QB situation than San Francisco. That’s not entirely fair because Marc Bulger is still a nice player, but he’s suffered some injuries and there is no chance that either Kyle Boller or Brock Berlin will be successful. Boller has had numerous chances to make his way and has failed miserably. Berlin was awesome. In high school. Not since. Vick might be a good backup guy here and since they already have a guy who <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/thenetwork/news/2000/01/27/cnnsicomprofile_little/" target="_blank">killed someone </a>on their team, they could make room for a dog murderer. </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Of the teams that I’ve decided could take a look at him for various reasons, I like Carolina, Jacksonville, and San Diego as my top three destinations for him. All three are in smallish markets, so the national spotlight would not shine too brightly on him or the team, he would be able to make a difference on winning teams by playing in spot situations, and he fits the personnel of the teams. </div><div align="justify"><br />As a dog owner, I view Vick as a despicable human being and I wish (as he does, I’m sure) that he had the good sense to not commit those terrible acts (dude, a rape stand?), and I hope that he never has a chance to play again, or if he is, that he has to run from a pack of rabid dogs in order to gain reinstatement. As a football fan and a guy who is entertained simply by watching an incredible athlete run as fast as he can, I want Vick back in the game—or to watch a video of Vick running from said dogs, either one. </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-6061281041833476292009-05-17T21:24:00.000-07:002009-05-17T21:45:40.503-07:00Goodbye, Beantown<div align="justify">While I enjoyed all of the drama that Boston brought to the NBA playoffs these past two years, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm glad to see them go. They're missing one of their best players and what they've done without Garnett is admirable. We got to see two young big guys grow up and emerge as solid role players in Big Baby Davis and Kendrick Perkins. We got to see Rajon Rondo play the point guard position as well as anyone (he's even got some confidence in his jumper, watch out league...). We got to see Ray Allen's long-legged, busty jumper. And we got to see Paul Pierce coaxing more out of one of the most unathletic bodies that a superstar NBA swingman can posses in 2009. But they fell on their face in this game and ran into an Orlando team that simply played better, smarter, and hit huge shots time and time again. So that's it. I'm dying to see what Cleveland is going to do to them, though. They are a tough as nails team that has a completely healthy roster, and the best player in the game. I don't see this ending well for Orlando. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong>A few things about the game: </strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Reggie Miller said that Marcin Gortat is “just as athletic as Dwight Howard.” Look, that’s a very nice thing for Miller to say about Gortat, but with all due respect to Gortat's considerable abilities (afterall, he IS playing meaningful minutes for a team that is in the Eastern Conference Finals) but considering that Howard is one of the best athletes in the world in any sport (is Gortat even the best athlete from Poland?), it’s probably safe to say that Miller should rethink his comment. I know it’s hard to come up with things on the air, but you can’t just say something like that. At the very least, Marv should have made fun of him.<br /><br />While Howard is a phenomenally rare athlete he simply has no ability to shoot the ball in the post, unless he’s attempting bury the ball and rim into the floor. I don’t mean to be too disparaging here, but when I watch him shoot, the first thing that comes to mind is a girl I went to high school with who would shoot without looking at the rim. Honestly, he just needs to slow down, and that may come in time, but we’ll see. As I've said before, <a href="http://undraftedfa.blogspot.com/2009/04/overemphasis-on-big-guys.html" target="_blank">I have my doubts</a>.<br /><br />It’s weird seeing a guy like Big Baby Davis, who is significantly less physically gifted than Howard, have a much more refined offensive game, but he definitely does.<br /><br />While Howard had great anticipation to block shots and probably earned his defensive player of the year award, a 6’2 Rajon Rondo should not dunk on you. At the very least, Howard should have shoved Rondo’s ass to the ground. In fairness to Howard, he didn’t see Rondo soon enough, but still. It’s not the first time it’s happened.<br /><br />Another thing that I’ve noticed during this series and many others is the reluctance of some guards to pass the ball when they have clear paths to the hoop for fear of getting their shots blocked. I suppose that they do this because so many guys in the NBA can shoot jumpers at a high percentage. As good as a Rashard Lewis jumper is from 25 feet, it seems like a Rafer Alston layin from 1 foot is better. Maybe he’d get his shot tossed back in his face, it’s still good to challenge dudes at the rim. I say this, but yet I’m sure I’d do the same thing if a 6’10 Kendrick Perkins was staring me in the face.<br /><br />One last thing: Hey, Boston fans, just because your guys miss shots or something doesn’t go your way, doesn’t mean that your player was fouled, just so you know. Also, nice of these Great Boston Fans to stick around for the end of the game. At least they aren’t frontrunners. </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-69641126319111391772009-05-13T22:03:00.000-07:002009-05-13T22:10:11.628-07:00Mile High<div align="justify">I really like this Denver team and I’m reiterating my thoughts that they will <a href="http://undraftedfa.blogspot.com/2009/05/artest-and-rethinking-playoffs.html" target="_blank">take down the Lakers</a>.<br /><br />They are playing great team basketball. They’re making the extra pass and getting easy buckets. Their frontline is intimidating and can finish (although Martin needs to crush some of those layins and remove all doubt that the ball is going through the hoop). They can score in crazy bunches. I just like what I’m seeing.<br /><br />I also love the way that Chauncey Billups plays. Tom Friend had a <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=090511/billups" target="_blank">cool, lengthy feature </a>the other day kind of explaining why Billups is who he is. I enjoyed it immensely. <br /><br />There really is no reason not to like the guy, especially since he is so clearly in command of this team and can dress down even the seemingly undressdownable Kenyon Martin. For instance, at the end of the first half Billups waved away Nene as he attempted to set a screen and pointed at Martin. Martin came over, but didn’t do so with much urgency, so Billups took it to the hole, got fouled, and made the shot, he walked toward Martin pointed, and said, “I wanted YOU in the pick and roll, dog.” Martin did not argue, but instead repeated “My bad” several times. Martin was wrong. Billups was right. Martin knew it. It’s almost like he’s a dad out there. He has this way about him where he almost nonverbally says, “It’s not that I’m mad, I’m just disappointed.” Anyway, he’s such a smart offensive player and it’s really clear why his teammates love playing with him.<br /><br />However, I do not like the way that he played defense on Jason Kidd. Look, we all know Kidd is past his prime, certainly defensively, but he’s still crafty and quick with the ball in his hands, as evidenced by the several occasions where he actually And1 Mixtaped Billups on defense and drove straight to the hole, except he never finished, but that’s a different matter. Another thing is that he, and several Dallas players (Howard, Terry, sometimes Dirk) were left WIDE open on threes. Denver plays very good defense in the post and on drives to the basket, but for some reason they do a really poor job closing out on three-point shooters, which is strange. It’s one of the easier things to do because while it takes effort, the effort required is minimal. They can’t continually do that against a good shooting team and expect to survive (although they just did that, didn’t they? So what am I talking about?)<br /><br />I’m a converted Melo believer. I’ve wanted to like the guy for a few years now and he’s convinced me that he’s worthy. He’s such an explosive offensive force and is actually showing quite a bit of defensive prowess, as evidenced by his strong post defense against Dirk. Granted, Dirk is not a post player, but Melo did not give any ground and did not bite on Dirk’s many, many headfakes. Since he’s such a solidly built guy with quickness and speed, so it makes sense that he should be a good defender. Actually, the only thing holding him back is effort. He’ll get there though. But his real value, obviously, is his offense. He’s such a strong player going to the hole, his straight-up-and down jumper looks great and when he’s on, it’s like his shot finds the bottom of the net quicker than most. It’s kind of like when people talk about how a ball sounds different when it comes off Josh Hamilton’s bat. Melo’s swishes are just prettier than most.<br /></div><div align="justify"><strong>A few other random thoughts: </strong></div><ul><li><div align="justify">I hated PJ Carlesimmo as the coach for the Sonics, but I must admit, he’s a good color analyst. The guy knows what he’s talking about and he doesn’t come across as a jerk that I’d perceived to be. He doesn’t belabor points, he doesn’t seem to have any grudges, he doesn’t over-talk, and he’s been around the league for so long he knows all of the players really well. What can I say? I like the guy. </div></li><li><div align="justify">Another guy that I like is Brandon Bass. He’s a tough, effort guy with some skills, a decently reliable jumper, and doesn’t seem to be a quitter. He showed a ton of heart down the stretch when the game looked like it was out of hand. Anyway, I’ll say this, even though he’s only 6’7 or 6’8 I’d much rather have him at $2-3M per year (he’s an unrestricted free agent and made under $830K this year) than Erick Dampier at $11M per year through the 2011 season, but that’s just me. <a href="http://undraftedfa.blogspot.com/2009/04/overemphasis-on-big-guys.html" target="_blank">But I hammered this point home earlier</a>.<br />I don’t like the Pepsi Center. It looks fine on TV and I’m sure it’s a nice place to watch a game, but man, it seats over 19K, but the acoustics make it sound like there are far less people in there. It’s like the noise just evaporates. I felt the same way about Dallas’s American Airlines Center (which seats over 20K). Maybe they need to lower the ceilings or something, but it just sounds dead in those arenas. </div></li><li><div align="justify">Just how disgusting is that Dominos Pasta Bread Bowl? I thought that we had turned into a very carb-conscious society, so how did this make it through testing? What’s next, a baked potato bread bowl stuffed with fettuccini alfredo and topped with croutons with a side of chips? I’m curious to see how these things sell. My guess? Very well. </div></li><li><div align="justify">I am thoroughly enjoying the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=714haGstoHk" target="_blank">"Old School" T-Mobile commercial </a>with Barkley, Magic, and Dr. J. I especially enjoy the poster and video game case depicting a caricature of Barkley playing hoop in red Chuck Taylors and a hospital gown with an IV in his arm. Nice subtle move by the T-Mobile folks. The three of them look legitimately sad about wearing the motion capture outfits. Also, they don’t overact, but instead play it straight up, and it’s legitimately funny. Nice job, fellas.</div></li><li><div align="justify">I seriously doubt that I’ll be “Meeting the Browns.” </div></li></ul>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-69692317579686081972009-05-12T12:54:00.000-07:002009-05-12T13:01:41.307-07:00Post Ty<div align="justify">As fans of UW Football, we were all hoping that Willingham wasn’t as much of an ass as he seemed to be. He came to UW not a as a savior really, but rather a guy that the administration thought would bring accountability, hard work, and honor back to the program. When he was hired, I didn’t know too much about him except that it looked like he was forced out of Notre Dame unfairly. But then, I don’t care for Notre Dame, and I figured that anything that they did was nefarious in a secret society kind of way.<br /><br />The only opinion that I really had about Willingham was that he was boring. I recall bits and pieces of his opening press conference at Notre Dame when he was clearly kissing up to the administration by talking about ending practice at a time so that his players could attend church service at “Twelve Noon.” I remember thinking three things: (1) “who says twelve noon?” (2) “Wow, I didn’t know that Notre Dame was so religious,” and (3) “Willingham sounds really, really, really boring.”<br /><br />He had a great first season with the Irish going 10-3 but got throttled 28-6 by NC State in the Gator Bowl. His next two seasons were massive disappointments at 5-7 and 6-5 which featured several blowout losses (if that wasn’t a harbinger for UW, then I don’t know what was).<br /><br />He had an OK record at Notre Dame and he may have been fired a little too quickly, but looking back, is that really the case? Wouldn’t he have just dug Notre Dame into a deeper hole? We can only wish that he’d stayed there longer because while Notre Dame thinks that it is better than everyone else, they can’t hold the jocks of non-BCS schools like Boise State, Utah, BYU, and even Fresno State, but that’s another rant for another day. The point is Notre Dame fired him and he ended up at UW where he stood on a program that was mired in a tar pit and did nothing to prevent it from sinking into its murky depths, but instead stood with his arms folded, hand on his chin, wearing his sunglasses and headset.<br /><br />He had many problems, but here are a few that stood out:<br /><br /><strong>He was never upfront with the media.</strong><br />Because of this, no one knew exactly what was going on. Not the media, not the fans. Everyone was left to try and interpret his cryptic comments in search of real meaning. In response to direct questions (e.g. “What went wrong with the running game today, why did you keep running the ball up the middle with Chris Polk when he was gaining a yard at best?”), he would “answer” with nonspecific pabulum, such as (and I’m paraphrasing here): “You want to win in the game of football, oookaaay, and when you don’t win, it’s frustrating, but we are all dedicated to winning the game of football.”<br /><br />Thanks, Ty. So what does that even mean? There is probably one reason why coaches do this and it’s because they abhor the media. But there are different motivations for different coaches. Let’s take two extreme examples: Bill Belichick and Tyrone Willingham.<br /><br />Belichick pulls the “I hate talking to you people and will say as little as possible” stunt all of the time, but it’s different with him because he wins. He does not want to talk to anyone about his team because it could give a competitive advantage to the opposition (I guess). So he’s curt and boring and he does this so he can get the hell away from the media as soon as possible.<br /><br />Willingham pulls the same stunt, but has a very different motivation, which is: he has no idea what to say because he doesn’t know what he was doing. Both are strategic moves for the coaches. They want to hold things close to the vest. Belichick does it to protect his knowledge and to protect his team. Willingham does it to hide his lack of knowledge and to blame his team. They behave in much the same manner, but have very different motivations.<br /><br />A good friend of mine has an uncle who played football professionally and subscribes to this theory about Willingham. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Actually, the more everything makes sense about his entire reign at UW. He wanted to portray a certain image and wanted people to think that he was: professional, stoic, measured, reserved, respected, disciplined, and intellectual. He may actually have been one or two of these things, but these character traits really were a mask. As the Fugees once said, “Yeah everybody wears a mask but how long will it last?” Willingham acted the way that he did with the media, with former players, with fans, and with boosters because under his professional veneer was a shocking abundance of ignorance. He never had any answers so the best way to deal with that is to completely make it uncomfortable for anyone to speak with him. Conversations with people were always short because people got tired of talking to him. So his plan worked. He never had to really explain himself. Now the closed practice thing makes sense, because he didn’t want anyone to know that all he did was walk around practice for a few hours looking like a general (we can only surmise) when really all he was doing was waiting for practice to end so he could go home. I’m sure it seemed like he was just giving his position coaches and coordinators the freedom to coach, but really he couldn’t have helped them in any way because, again, he did not know what he was doing. If he opened practices, then people who actually know what to look for in a coach would know that he was a fraud and he might have been called out even sooner.<br /><br />We probably never heard about this because his assistant coaches would never sell him out while they worked for him because, hey, he game them their job and loyalty goes a long way. If they badmouthed Willingham, then they’d be labeled backstabbers. If that’s the case, then how do they get hired by the next guy? It’s in their best interest to keep their mouths shut.<br /><br />For the players, what do they really know? If they didn’t transfer into the program, then Willingham would have been their only exposure to a college head coach on a daily basis. So through no fault of their own, they’re unaware of how a successful coach runs his program.<br /><br />You have to admit, it makes sense.<br /><br /><strong>He sold out his players.</strong><br />Several times during Willingham’s tenure he would lead his players to the slaughter. A comment like “We didn’t execute” is code for “Hey, this isn’t my fault, my players suck and didn't do what I told them to do.” I’m a firm believer that coaches should never baby their players and should hold them accountable for things that they do wrong. But a good coach wouldn’t air out his players in public, but rather would kick their ass behind closed doors. I never heard him do anything like that, instead, he employed classic passive-aggressive behavior and essentially talked behind their backs, but in broad daylight, if that makes any sense. Perhaps he was just “sending a message” but the way he acted, frankly, was cowardly. Especially when he, as head coach, is to blame.<br /><br />Also, when players were hurt or injured, he’d always play it down. Perhaps he was doing this because he didn’t want his players to use injuries as an excuse for bad play, but it still made those players look like fools if they were playing poorly. Instead of them being hobbled and unable to make a play because of a physical malady of some sort, Willingham would trot out his: “We just didn’t execute in the football game” line.<br /><br />Another thing, I’m not 100% sure he knew the names of all of his players or anyone else in college football. He’d constantly refer to “our running back” or “the young man” or “number X” when referring to a specific player. I could never figure out what sort of mind game he was playing with all of us. Is it like not mentioning a competitor in a commercial and instead calling it “another leading brand?” I suppose that would make sense if he was talking about opposing players, by not wanting to give them credit or something, but he’d often do it with his own players. Was he trying to maintain some sort of weird distance with players in his program? I’m now convinced that there is a more simple explanation. He just didn’t know their names.<br /><br />Anyway, now he’s gone and I couldn’t be happier, but on his way out he managed to tank swimming right along with the football team. The funds from his buyout would have more than made up for the cost to run the swim team, at least for the next year, who knows what would have happened after that. Willingham could mend a lot of fences if he donated some cash back to the school to save swimming, but he’s probably too professional, stoic, measured, reserved, respected, disciplined, and intellectual to do something like that.<br /><br />I am overjoyed with the future prospects of this program under Sarkisian though. He’s everything Willingham is not. Personality is one thing and Sarkisian’s got truckloads of it, which is great, but his willingness to engage the media and fans and speak about his team shows me that he is confident and competent in addition to being fun to listen to. If he fails it won’t be because of lack of effort or knowledge, it will be because this program has fallen to such depths that it cannot be revived in five years or less. I’m attempting to temper my enthusiasm, but it’s difficult to do so when reading things about him and the recruiting efforts that he and his staff are taking. He also seems a lot more invested in the program, inventive in his approach to the game, and, to be honest, more trustworthy, than Willingham.<br /><br />It would be glorious if he could lead them to a bowl game this year, but even the most ardent supporters don’t believe that will happen and are giving him time to implement his scheme, get his players in here, and change the losing attitude.<br /><br />While I’ve known the schedule for quite some time, I haven’t done the game-by-game thing, so let’s do it now, just for fun. And in case you didn’t know, last year I picked this team to go 7-5. Unbelievable.<br /><br /><strong>2009 Football schedule</strong></div><ul><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Sept. 5 LSU </strong>– <em>loss </em>(LSU’s purple and gold program is so far ahead of UW’s it’s laughable. The offense is no great shakes, but LSU’s defense will cause all kinds of problems. The speed on the field will be shockingly one-sided.) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Sept. 12 Idaho </strong>– <em>win </em>(I’m happy to see them back on the schedule, welcome, Vandals.)</div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Sept. 19 USC </strong>– <em>loss </em>(but I feel kind of good about this game, the team lost a lot on defense and has a new QB even though their skill players are still great) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Sept. 26 at Stanford </strong>– <em>win </em>(I’m not confident in this pick, but Stanford has lost a lot and are engulfed in a QB controversy. They also may lose their highly productive RB, Toby Gerhart, to baseball). </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Oct. 3 at Notre Dame </strong>– <em>loss </em>(they are not that impressive, but they weren’t impressive last year and for all intents and purposes held UW under 100 yards of offense last year. Of course that was with Ronnie Fouch running the show…) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Oct. 10 Arizona </strong>– <em>win </em>(No more Willie “Light Up UW” Tuitama. That’s a good thing.) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Oct. 17 at Arizona State </strong>– <em>win </em>(They’ve lost a ton of players, including their QB, and were highly overrated last year anyway. I don’t like this team at all). </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Oct. 24 Oregon </strong>– <em>loss </em>(Despite losing quite a few quality starters, they are still far superior than UW at this point). </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Nov. 7 at UCLA </strong>– <em>win </em>(They’ve got huge QB problems, don’t have a stocked cupboard, and Neuheisel doesn’t have them going yet). </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Nov. 14 at Oregon State </strong>– <em>loss </em>(this is a very good team that has a good, experienced QB and explosive playmakers. This game could get out of hand.) </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Nov. 28 Washington State </strong>– <em>win </em>(they were dreadful last year and nothing tells me that they’ll be anything but atrocious next year. They have not solved their QB questions and are lacking across the board and lost Brandon Gibson). </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Sat., Dec. 5 California </strong>– <em>loss </em>(another very good team that may just throttle UW).<br /><br /><strong>Final Tally</strong>: 6- 6</div></li></ul><p align="justify">Look what I just did. I just made fun of myself for predicting that UW would go 7-5 in 2008 and now I’ve made them bowl eligible in Sarkisian’s first year? What’s wrong with me? I’m way too cynical to be such an optimist. But going through this game-by-game exercise you have to admit that it’s possible, right? Ok, maybe I’m being a little too bullish on their chances against the Arizonas and Stanford…nevertheless I’ve now convinced myself that 4-8 would be a disappointment, 5-7 is the most realistic, and 6-6 is attainable.<br /><br />That’s not too much to ask, right? Right!?<br /><br />Please let me be right.<br /><br />I love college football and I need UW to be relevant again because I can’t, in good conscience, leap into the arms of another program next year without feeling dirty. Being just a little too interested in how Georgia is going to do with the loss of Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford just won’t sit well with me.<br /><br /><br /> </p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-69311547267636622382009-05-11T12:56:00.000-07:002009-05-11T13:13:49.183-07:00The Cohen Brothers<div align="justify">I saw <em>Burn After Reading </em>this weekend and while I heard that the movie wasn’t very good, I wasn’t prepared for 96 minutes that felt like 180 minutes. This was dreck. My knee-jerk reaction was something like, “How can the Cohen brothers, the geniuses behind <em>Fargo</em>, <em>The Big Lebowski</em>, and <em>O Brother, Where Art Thou </em>give me something as crappy as <em>Burn After Reading</em>?” As an aside, you’ll notice that I did not include <em>Raising Arizona </em>in the mix of genius-level movies. The reason is simple. I did not like that movie. I realize that many people do and are baffled when I tell them that <em>Raising Arizona </em>simply doesn’t do it for me. I’m sorry. I just don’t like it.<br /><br />Back to the Cohen brothers, I'm not sure why I was surprised that <em>Burn After Reading </em>was so bad because this isn’t the first time that they’ve lobbed a bag of vomit at me. Granted, I haven’t seen all of their movies, but I have seen several. Here’s the list and my comments next to each:</div><ol><li><div align="justify"><em>Blood Simple</em>. (1984) – didn’t see it. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>Crimewave </em>(1985) – didn’t see it. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>Raising Arizona </em>(1987) – didn’t like it. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>Miller's Crossing </em>(1990) – interesting Irish gangster movie. I didn’t see it when it was new, but saw it probably about 10 years ago. I remember liking it, but not loving it by any stretch. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>Barton Fink </em>(1991) – this was an extremely weird movie filled with caricatures and themes, I wasn’t into it. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>The Hudsucker Proxy </em>(1994) – absolutely horrible. Tim Robbins was lame in this movie and I wanted to punt Jennifer Jason Lee out of a skyscraper’s window as soon as she appeared on screen. I hated this movie so very much. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>Fargo </em>(1996) – One of my favorite movies of all time. I love the story. I love the characters. To this day I still quote the movie (“You’re such a super lady!”) and I will always watch it if it’s on TV. It’s a nearly perfect movie. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>The Big Lebowski </em>(1998) – Quite possibly my favorite comedy of all time. Walter’s anger is fantastic. The Dude is flawless, and every character is wonderfully played (although I could have done without Julianne Moore to be honest). Gets high marks for possibly being more quotable for me than <em>Fargo </em>is. Also, for how mellow The Dude is, I love how he gets frustrated with Knox Harrington, the video artist. As a bonus, we named one of our intramural hoops teams in law school “Autobahn.” </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>O Brother, Where Art Thou</em>? (2000) – This movie was great but does not reach <em>Fargo </em>or <em>Lewbowski </em>territory. However, it’s beautifully shot. The artistry is amazing and Clooney is very good. Also, the music is fantastic and the sirens scene is super, duper cool. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>The Man Who Wasn't There </em>(2001) – I didn’t see any reason to watch this one. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>Intolerable Cruelty </em>(2003) – massively disappointing. So much overacting and wildly uninteresting. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>The Ladykillers </em>(2004) – sometimes just having an accent isn’t funny enough, Tom Hanks. More overacting here. Simply a stupid movie. Although I did like how the guy’s face in the painting kept changing. That was kind of funny. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>No Country for Old Men </em>(2007) – They did a great job with this one. The movie stayed very true to the book and the casting was great. I enjoyed this a great deal. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>Burn After Reading </em>(2008) – one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. I knew it would be terrible minutes into it because of Frances McDormand’s scene in the clinic. The jokes weren’t funny, the accents weren’t funny, she wasn’t funny (and she's typically great). It sucked. I’m a Brad Pitt fan and he brought absolutely nothing to the table. It’s just like they decided to make Brad Pitt play a kind of dorky guy and that would be enough to make it good. It wasn’t. Same with Clooney, I love the dude, but his character was unappealing, unlikeable, and far from funny. Whatever. I was pissed that I sat through this. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>Hail Caesar </em>(2009) (pre-production) - I know nothing about this. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><em>A Serious Man </em>(2009) (post-production) – or this. </div></li></ol><p align="justify">So, of the 11 movies that these guys have made, I’ve loved three, liked one, was lukewarm on one, and hated six.<br /><br />None of this means anything except that I (or you) should not blindly think that a Cohen brothers movie will be good.<br /><br />It’s just strange that guys this talented who put out such great stuff can then release garbage like <em>Burn After Reading </em>and not feel bad about it. Perhaps they do and are just cashing checks, which is something that I completely understand, but that doesn’t make it right.<br /><br /> </p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-19834300655209473832009-05-10T19:56:00.000-07:002009-05-10T20:02:47.474-07:00Artest and Rethinking the Playoffs<div align="justify">I love the way that Ron Artest plays defense and it’s weird that he’s such a big guy who can move as fluidly as he can. I do not like his offensive game, such as it is, because he has no regard for what a good shot is. If he did, he wouldn’t launch contested threes or force simply horrible shots with time left on the shot clock and when he’s got other players on his team capable of actually hitting shots (really, anyone else on the team). But I love this <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=dw-hawkscavs050709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns" target="_blank">anecdote </a>that he told the other day when asked about rough play in the Houston, L.A. series:</div><blockquote><div align="justify">In brushing off the idea that the Rockets-Lakers series had<br />gotten uncomfortably rough, Ron Artest even related a story about a playground<br />game that ended when someone broke a leg off a table and stabbed a<br />guy. </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify">“It went right through his heart and he died right on the<br />court,” Artest said. “So I’m accustomed to playing basketball really<br />rough.”<br /></div><div align="justify">It turns out the story is true – although it happened at a<br />YMCA, the stabbing was in the back and Artest was only 12 at the time, so he<br />probably wasn’t in the game. The man who died, Lloyd Newton, was from Artest’s<br />hometown of Queens.</div><div align="justify"><br /></div></blockquote><div align="justify">Here’s the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/15/nyregion/player-dies-in-stabbing-at-basketball-game.html?scp=1&sq=%22Brian%20C.%20Young%22&st=cse&pagewanted=all" target="_blank">story </a>of the stabbing.<br /><br />When I was watching the game where he got tossed for rushing Kobe and telling him that he was <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-lakers-sider7-2009may07,0,1929366.story" target="_blank">hitting the wrong person</a>, I kept thinking, “I wonder if Ron is going to come back onto the court, put a 38 to Kobe’s temple while he’s shooting a free throw, and squeeze.” Admitedly, it’s highly unlikely that he’d do that or even attempt to do that, but not completely out of the realm of possibility, afterall, some dude <a href="http://video.aol.com/video-detail/moments-that-changed-the-game-seles-stabbed-during-match-in-93/390649532" target="_blank">stabbed Monica Seles </a>during a tennis match.<br /><br />Also, given what has transpired the last few days, I clearly need to rethink my prediction on the Lakers. If they make it out of this round against Houston, and I still think that they will. How in the world are they going to tussle against Denver? That team is playing great basketball and has highly effective role players (Nene, Birdman, <a href="http://undraftedfa.blogspot.com/2009/04/nba-draft-mba-horse-crabtree.html" target="_blank">Blake Griffin 1.0</a>, Dahntay Jones) to go along with Melo, Chauncey, and the extraordinarily knuckleheaded but equally extraordinarily talented J.R. Smith. They’re playing good defense and will have several days to rest after possibly sweeping Dallas, while L.A. is at 2-2 with Houston. They way that they’re playing right now makes them honest-to-goodness title contenders.<br /><br />Cleveland looks like a goddamn unstoppable train right now (well, at least LeBron does, both literally and figuratively) but a tough Denver team would by no means be an easy out. If given the option, I’d bet that Cleveland would rather face L.A. than Denver because L.A. does not have anywhere near the thuggish ruggish persona that Denver is strutting right now, and it doesn’t look like an act. L.A. for as talented as they are, still lack any sort of pimp slap mentality. I love Lamar Odom, but I wouldn’t fear him. Kenyon Martin on the other hand would make me soil myself and I’d also be deathly afraid to catch anything from Birdman (e.g. avian flu or just the clap). Plus, add the unreal hostile environment that Kobe will face in Denver and it’s going to be a damn tough series for L.A. if they get there. By the way, that Kobe-the-Rapist thing could go one of two ways. One: he’ll feed off of the negative energy and shut the crowd up by scoring at will and defending like a mother bear. Two: he’ll force everything in order to shut the crowd up but completely shoot his team out of the game while getting pissed at his team at the same time. I’d bet we get to see both sides with scenario two happening first, then scenario one happening at least once.<br /><br />While I’m not an L.A. fan by any stretch I’d much rather see them face Denver than Houston, so here’s hoping that happens. </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-50435348276994601862009-05-08T18:18:00.000-07:002009-05-08T18:29:33.333-07:00Renardo Sidney<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEPUYFXJVHoaQARuCNG6ovl8eJjz6FKePxIMEPM72_hsjgms0NV2ACNf50w1Dl0Z1i-uLrDzth0eTZBqGVFiKY2sLbyOVUhN-NYkljIyuwilPIW9cGds4NWEpiT_oKmB5rQSzVIorMnE/s1600-h/renardosigneyanddad.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333629455106167682" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 154px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEPUYFXJVHoaQARuCNG6ovl8eJjz6FKePxIMEPM72_hsjgms0NV2ACNf50w1Dl0Z1i-uLrDzth0eTZBqGVFiKY2sLbyOVUhN-NYkljIyuwilPIW9cGds4NWEpiT_oKmB5rQSzVIorMnE/s200/renardosigneyanddad.bmp" border="0" /></a>It’s nice to see teams use their heads every once and awhile. Renardo Sidney is a 6’10 hihg school senior forward from LA who recently had his scholarship offer from <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4137169" target="_blank">USC revoked after UCLA did the same</a>. I read about him a few months ago in <em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112sidney.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">The New York Times Play </a></em>Magazine and the singular thing that stuck out about him was that at age 18, he sucks his thumb and carries a woobie with him. Here’s the quote:<br /><br /><br /><div><blockquote><p>“I’ve been sucking my thumb since I was a kid,” he says. “Sometimes, I do it<br />just to do it. Like, when I’m mad.” He also travels with a lucky blanket. His<br />father — Renardo the elder — is seated across the table. He chuckles. “It’s a<br />sheet,” he clarifies.</p></blockquote></div><div>I'm glad we cleared that up. Evidently he’s, quite literally, a Baby Huey type. He’s one of those kids who has a tremendous amount of baby fat on him to the extent that his face is almost completely round. <a href="http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=2007369" target="_blank">Scouting reports </a>and <a href="http://slamonline.com/online/media/slam-tv/2009/01/renardo-sidney-at-pacific-shores-tourney/" target="_blank">hyperbolic articles </a>say that he has natural ability on the court, but reading deeper, the kid seemed to have a gigantic attitude problem and he’s not helped out by what seems to be an overly meddling dad who only enables his bad-attitude kid.<br /><br />I had my biases against him and then I saw him play in the McDonald’s All-America game and my biases were cemented. I hated this kid’s game. He managed to look lazy in an all-star game, when everyo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJ2UeNeSvLCMjTPXaTLSWJoAqkS_4Kxzt5yezc2ti0CU5_BZrcJ0vJPoHa1tETgqK7ziVusxUYaqtZ8LNz7P0YKaqKO4XcvNibe3Dmeb1CHuK8-okTcToa17bxoDyFEuE7iaBidTNb8Q/s1600-h/renardo-signey43.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333629753610321314" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 132px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJ2UeNeSvLCMjTPXaTLSWJoAqkS_4Kxzt5yezc2ti0CU5_BZrcJ0vJPoHa1tETgqK7ziVusxUYaqtZ8LNz7P0YKaqKO4XcvNibe3Dmeb1CHuK8-okTcToa17bxoDyFEuE7iaBidTNb8Q/s200/renardo-signey43.jpg" border="0" /></a>ne plays lazily. I didn’t understand why college coach would want him on their team, and now it appears that at least two, UCLA’s Ben Howland and USC’s Tim Floyd, do not. Their decisions make perfect sense to me. I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be to have a 6’10 270 kid on your team who will very likely frustrate you every minute of the day he’s on the court because he has the size and natural ability to be good but plays like a lazy, fat, spoiled, entitled, washed-up YMCA guy </div><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Who-s-Yet-to-Decide-on-the-2008-NBA-Draft-/" target="_blank">DraftExpress.com </a>had some interesting insight on the kid the other day calling him “Antoine Walker in the later stages of his career.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement. There is no player in the history of the NBA whose game I disliked more than Walker. His insistence of launching 3s to the complete detriment of his team was nauseating. His shimmy shake thing he did was worse. I hated his game in the early stages of his career, but he got much worse over time. The point is Sidney is like that now. At 19. No NBA team should touch him. He’s not worth the roster spot. He will not change his stripes, and if he does, it won’t be for five years or so, in other words, too far down the line for any GM or coach who lobbied to get him to reap the rewards because they will be fired by then. Teams should run away and not look back.<br /><br />I don’t like hating on kids, but I love hoops, and this guy’s game is utterly detestable. I thought that having LeBron James being the gold standard in basketball these days that the trend would be kids would try and emulate his unselfish, all-around game. Maybe that is happening to some extent, but until some sycophantic members of the media stop deifying dudes like Sidney the LeBronization of the game is not complete. </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-26968741592536209452009-05-06T12:57:00.000-07:002009-05-06T13:26:43.985-07:00Leftover NBA Thoughts<div><div>A few lingering thoughts from the extraordinarily entertaining Bulls / Celtics series:<br /><br /><u><strong>Joakim Noah</strong></u><br />People dislike this man and even <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090423&sportCat=nba" target="_blank">derisively refer to him as a woman</a>, I guess because he’s got long hair and wears it in a ponytail.<br /><br />He is brash, he is exuberant, he has possibly one of the ugliest looking shots I’ve ever seen, he has the aforementioned ponytail, and he screams a lot, much to the annoyance of nearly everyone around him, probably even his teammates. If I rooted for the guy, I’d cringe every time he let out a primal scream after a putback dunk or a block. I’d want him to put a lid on it and just play, but that’s not him, and it’s frustrating and annoying. It is definitely easy to hate him.<br /><br />But here’s why I don’t. He’s a great team player and he makes his team better. He is never going to be an elite or even functional scoring option on a good team because he has no post moves to speak of and he certainly cannot hit a jumper (from any distance) with any degree of consistency. But as a result, he does not do these things because he is very aware of his limitations, which makes him a smart player. He knows his role as a defensive role player, agitator, rebounder, and garbage point collector. In addition to being a savvy player, he also has the benefit of being 6’11, possessing boundless energy, and surprising quickness and agility, all of which makes him very effective. He’s a perfect player for this young Bulls team because they have several other scoring threats so his scoring is not necessary. In fact, if he had the ability to score, it may create discord amongst the team because he would think he needs more shots. He may develop offensively over time, but because he’s so unselfish now, their present team is better for it.<br /><br />I’m not a fan of his, because I do not like the screaming, but I do appreciate his value and would be pleased to have him on my team, if I had one to root for, and I don’t.<br /><br /><strong><u>Rajon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7rFPGnva08UqSmf4F-DcrP0Stj5Ipv3FIti0FJ18b6FVapa0UecM8qWJZq81qM-HnRMyg1KA3r3uByLa9ll8ZSEd-myk_Lucbrg7DbvMSTH5IElBsDbGv26LRk2HaOSfHHU0Z2hZ-DA/s1600-h/Dhalsim.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332808478882690386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 134px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7rFPGnva08UqSmf4F-DcrP0Stj5Ipv3FIti0FJ18b6FVapa0UecM8qWJZq81qM-HnRMyg1KA3r3uByLa9ll8ZSEd-myk_Lucbrg7DbvMSTH5IElBsDbGv26LRk2HaOSfHHU0Z2hZ-DA/s200/Dhalsim.jpg" border="0" /></a> Rondo</u></strong><br />He’s got some interesting qualities. Every time I see him I think of the video game <em>Street Fighter II </em>because he reminds me of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN6j27HkxK8&feature=PlayList&p=03EB89A535FE4ABA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=26" target="_blank">Dhalsim</a>, the Indian dude with the crazy long arms and legs. Is Rondo just straight up African <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHc529wUu0zIVTEwpPSe5D5j0puqJEZzDgHTQd0KtRfGRN0UVCouCVvVA6c_cqZCVZuFQIUVgKK-XA7jvzelJb_0vP3jqn2bRx0OTE8vUiTt4kOTWWtuF5MYo8Ezx1udmfgVTPLeObgo8/s1600-h/rondol.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332809322066527090" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 136px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHc529wUu0zIVTEwpPSe5D5j0puqJEZzDgHTQd0KtRfGRN0UVCouCVvVA6c_cqZCVZuFQIUVgKK-XA7jvzelJb_0vP3jqn2bRx0OTE8vUiTt4kOTWWtuF5MYo8Ezx1udmfgVTPLeObgo8/s200/rondol.jpg" border="0" /></a>American or is there something else going on there? My friend, Chris, thinks that he looks like a good-looking Alien, not an ugly one like Sam Cassel. He’s on to something.<br /><br />My wife thinks that his face is very feminine, which is also true and made me think of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001109/" target="_blank">Jaye Davidson</a>, the guy who played the chick in <em>The Crying Game </em>and the sun god Ra in <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111282/" target="_blank">Stargate </a></em>that could have been super cool but instead was just kind of cool (I blame James Spader). He shares a lot of similarities with that androgynous person. However, I'm not saying that Rondo could slip on a dress and pass for an attractive female. He’s end up looking like ET when Drew Barrymore dolled him up. I find that I’m digging myself a hole here and I don’t mean to disparage Ro<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hNm7Oq-5CdWMpWflv_UV8dnW_3PPcIpG87l__5BRwTcoMPC3T51brKjo50H7To4sw_PSb7EZVwUQPzNzOs5SoRCTG5ifI5PqiZhXNqOp1BG5AdShrmVjqqkT1hNUV53C3LayoAx816o/s1600-h/jayedavidson-ra.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332808983373966898" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hNm7Oq-5CdWMpWflv_UV8dnW_3PPcIpG87l__5BRwTcoMPC3T51brKjo50H7To4sw_PSb7EZVwUQPzNzOs5SoRCTG5ifI5PqiZhXNqOp1BG5AdShrmVjqqkT1hNUV53C3LayoAx816o/s200/jayedavidson-ra.jpg" border="0" /></a>ndo’s looks, but he just looks a lot different than a lot of other brothers out there.<br /><br />Nevertheless, he’s a wonderful point guard player who I’ve decided is better than Deron Williams right now even if Williams is much, much, much more of a threat with his jumper than Rondo is with his.<br /><br />That’s not to say that I don’t love Williams’s game; I do, but Rondo looks like he has a sort of indestructibility, defensive prowess, and cocky, bad-assness to him, sort of like GP did back in the day. Taken a step further, GP had a compound-fracture level broken jumper when he started out in the league, just as Rondo does. Jumpers, like bones, can be mended over time (just look at Tony Parker). Attitude and drive are harder, if not impossible, to acquire. Rondo has these qualities already.<br /><br />Just for fun, here is my top five list of young (meaning under 25) PGs in the league in descending order of my admiration:<br /><br /><div><div align="justify"></div><ol><li><div align="justify"><strong>Chris Paul, age 24 (May 6, 1985) </strong>– despite a horrid performance by his team in the playoffs he is the best. He controls every single thing on the floor. His team was hurt and overmatched against a hungry, tougher team on a mission, who look to be on their way to the conference finals by the way. We’ll see what happens next year and if Byron Scott will be back. There has got to be a bunch of coaches who are more qualified than Scott, of course, if there is a buyout involved, then there are issues here because the ownership is notoriously cheap. I love Paul’s game and he remains at the top of the list for me. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Derrick Rose, age 20 (October 4, 1988) </strong>– he’s got all of the ability in the world to be the best and he’s only 20. Like Rondo, his jumper is suspect, but it’s not broke. He just needs to spend a ton of time this offseason working on it. It will come. One nitpicky thing about him that will likely dissipate with age and experience is his eagerness to defer. As good of a ball handler he is, I’d prefer him to dominate the ball more than he does. I also understand that he’s got Ben Gordon on his team who lives to shoot and does so voluminously, and will probably bitch if he doesn’t get his looks. My point is, too often he’ll bring the ball up the court and pass it to Gordon or someone else and then disappear for the remainder of the possession. Look, I know that point guards are supposed to pass, but the pass that I just described doesn’t doing anything, except allow Gordon to dribble around and launch up a shot. I also understand that this may be what Vinny calls in from the sideline, whatever the reason, it shouldn’t happen with the frequency that we see it. Taking the ball out of Rose’s hands does nothing but benefit the defense. It lets them off of the hook. He should penetrate at least 70% of the time because by doing so he’ll get to the rim or he’ll find an open guy. Every time. In a few years, we’ll see this, he is only a rookie and a very young one at that. The bottom line is this: He’s great right now and will only get better. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Rajon Rondo, age 23 (February 22, 1986)</strong> – he’s in the three spot solely based on what I’ve seen out of him during these playoffs. He’s been nothing short of fantastic, but his lack of any sort of offensive perimeter game limits him presently. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Deron Williams, age 24 (June 26, 1984) </strong>– I’d love to have him on any team I root for. He’s got great size and strength and plays good defense. It’s just that his top-end is below what the other three have to offer. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Russell Westbrook, age 20 (November 12, 1988) </strong>– I can only go on what I’ve read about him and what I saw of him at UCLA since I haven’t seen a single game of his. He was an explosive guy and a terrific defender at UCLA and it seems as though that has carried over to the NBA. As an aside, I just looked at their roster and Shaun Livingston is on their team. That poor dude. He was on his way to becoming a very good point guard in the league if he didn’t suffer that dry-heave inducing leg injury (link). That, and looking exactly like Wallace, doomed him. (images). Upon further review, his birthday isn’t helping matters either… September 11, 1985. On the bright side, he’s got two years to be a member of this exclusive list of mine, so there’s that. But really, is Livingston capable of making a comeback? And if so, will the Sonics have the skinniest 1 and 3 east of Serbia? Neither Durant nor Livingston was able to press 185 off of their chests at the NBA Pre-Draft Combine. I’m pulling for the guy to make it back simply because, in limited time, he looked like he had a great feel for the game. He also seemed like a good dude and the league could always use more legit PGs who can see the floor and make plays. Here’s hoping that he continues to round back into shape and not explode on impact. </div></li></ol><p align="justify">Guys that didn’t make my list but whom I’ve heard good things about and will try to watch them even though it’s impossible because they are never on TV:</p><ol><li><div align="justify"><strong>DJ Augsustin, age 21 (November 10, 1987) </strong>– I remember him at Texas, and am surprised that he’s been able to do what he has in the NBA, of course he plays in Charlotte (for now) and that team will never be relevant because it’s very likely that their ownership and management don’t know what they’re doing. Plus, I hate the sanctimonious Larry Brown</div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>O.J. Mayo, age 21 (November 5, 1987) </strong>– I’m told that he’s a point guard. I don’t know how that is the case. When he was at USC he didn’t really play the point, but he did have the ball a lot. He’s also got Mike Conley on the team, whose strength is not shooting. If I cared about Memphis in the least I’d put more thought into this. Mayo just seems like he fits the trendy combo guard label than point guard, but does that really matter? All of those combo guards can all thank Chauncey for this, by the way. </div></li></ol><p align="justify">Guys that I’m interested in, but probably only because they are from the Seattle area and don’t have the special gifts that the top five have but I’m going to mention them anyway because I am intrigued by them and they are still young and this is my site and I’ll do what I want. </p><ol><li><div align="justify"><strong>Aaron Brooks, age 24 (January 14, 1985) </strong>– He’s incredibly quick, but small, and has a great jumper. I see no reason why he shouldn’t be Jason Terry for years to come (yes, I made that reference because they both are from the same high school in Seattle, but you have to admit, it works). </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>Rodney Stuckey, age 23 (April 21, 1986)</strong> – Not overly impressive, but he’ll get better. He’s physically gifted and has great size. I’m very intrigued by his potential. People ought to settle down with the Dwyane Wade comparisons. Just because he resembles him physically doesn’t mean he’s the same player. He has attributes, but Wade is super duper special. Stuckey can also thank Chauncey (for the combo guard thing and also for the leaving Detroit thing).<br /><br /></div></li></ol></div></div></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-82863899341251115462009-05-04T12:59:00.000-07:002009-05-04T13:23:53.080-07:00The Derby<div align="justify">I watched the ponies run this weekend with some good friends over beers and pizza. Someone asked this hypothetical question: “Would you rather go to the Kentucky Derby or the Indy 500?” Since none of us are fans of racing, equine or automobile, we all understood that the venue’s atmosphere would be the only thing to consider. More specifically, we were interested in the talent-level and attire of the spectators. At least for me, this question is best posed to the single, early-to-mid twenties me as opposed to the married, about to have a kid, mid-thirties me.<br /><br />That being said, we all picked the Derby.<br /><br />As NBC scanned the crowd, we saw a lot of dresses and big hats. The really disappointing aspect of the Derby, at least this year, was the weather. As we all know, hot, sunny weather (and scores of Mint Juleps) brings out the weaponry. Because of the rain, it seemed, to me anyway, that the crowd held back a bit. Don’t get me wrong, we still saw some things that still enticed us to go, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel letdown.<br /><br />Maybe we’ll get together during the Indy 500 to see what there is to see there. As I said on Saturday, I’d expect to see a lot of Daisy Duke-esque jean shorts with the insides of the front pockets visibly sticking out. Tube tops and half shirts would also rule the day. Hmmm. Why did we all choose the Derby again? I guess that’s not fair because I’m told the infield in both places sport the same cast of characters. I suppose the difference I’m speaking about are in the actual seats (or luxury boxes in Kentucky).<br /><br />There’s another element at work here that goes hand-in-hand with the talent issue that may increase or decrease your level of viewing enjoyment. That element is the talent’s date, otherwise known as husband or boyfriend of the talent. Answer me this, of these two profiles who are you more afraid of? </div><br /><div align="justify"><div><ol><li><div align="justify">Drunk guy (off of Busch Light), age 22-35, crappy manual labor job, wearing 501s and an Urlacher jersey, sunburned, mad at the world, jealous of everyone. </div></li><br /><li><div align="justify">Drunk guy (off of life and Mint Juleps), age 40-50, mutual fund manager (they still get paid, a lot), wearing a seersucker suit, spa-treatment skin, pleased with himself and his place in the world, apathetic (at best) toward everyone. </div></li></ol><p align="justify">I’d fear No. 1 simply because he’s got absolutely nothing to lose by picking a fight with you for looking in the direction of his “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/quotes" target="_blank">special lady</a>.” No. 2 would probably be so distracted by the scent of his own cash that he wouldn’t even notice if you switched hats with his date. Also, it’s likely that you could simply give No. 2 two for flinching, of course, he may have bodyguards, which changes things, but only slightly. Edge to the Derby, yet again.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGIZ8v5ciMdaNqK7c43OhKUUt0Pnwjf6UM7p0Uy7xR_fInRUtt5AU6NX9NFfy_LqiN0uY5NWY10eHA3kwLF5lPUUrW5cgKEEh18oLsd479omRA_nMSpbdZD9841ZYkMq3i4kO7qlnJ8g/s1600-h/MJ-Derby.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332063461079318722" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 138px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGIZ8v5ciMdaNqK7c43OhKUUt0Pnwjf6UM7p0Uy7xR_fInRUtt5AU6NX9NFfy_LqiN0uY5NWY10eHA3kwLF5lPUUrW5cgKEEh18oLsd479omRA_nMSpbdZD9841ZYkMq3i4kO7qlnJ8g/s200/MJ-Derby.jpg" border="0" /></a>Incidentally, I demand to know why NBC didn’t find out the reason behind Michael Jordan’s suit and why didn’t we get a full body shot on TV. We saw that preposterous jacket and tie, but we never got to see the suit in its full shoulder to feet glory. That thing looked like it came from <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/business/132303_momentwith25.html" target="_blank">Leroy’s Menswear </a>on 3rd and Pike in Seattle.<br /><br />One last thing about the race, which was interesting, but maybe due more to the jockey than the actual race itself. First, are all jockeys cocky? I don’t know who Calvin Borel was pointing at, but I’d like to think he was doing the equivalent of a Deion Sanders high stepping to the end zone. If so, god bless Calvin Borel because that was awesome. There’s nothing like a 4’10 guy telling other 4’10 guys that they can’t touch this. </p><p align="justify">Speaking of Borel, does he or does he not look like Gollum? My buddy Kevin and I thought of that at the same time on Saturday. I vote yes, but with a few caveats. Gollum may have been taller. Gollum clearly has upper teeth, whereas it’s unclear if Borel has any. I could understand Gollum a little more clearly than I can understand Borel; his animated Cajun twang was nearly indecipherable. One last thing, Chris noted that in addition to Gollum, he looks like the late Jim Varney of <em>Earnest Goes to </em>__ fame. By the way, take a look at how <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001815/" target="_blank">many of those Earnest movies were made</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuaGReoP8mJvD3qF-VhcNn0VWRsXVhmfAuaGlJizmUN7sRej2RjlWELVcBsD1KH_ugPSq1wDhu5z4M9gDYttNnUARDUAOdmecAVW3S7Y2FHFDp25mLLCnAaUhtfCs2lfentRoCmBcUA8/s1600-h/CalvinBorel.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332063197179153586" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuaGReoP8mJvD3qF-VhcNn0VWRsXVhmfAuaGlJizmUN7sRej2RjlWELVcBsD1KH_ugPSq1wDhu5z4M9gDYttNnUARDUAOdmecAVW3S7Y2FHFDp25mLLCnAaUhtfCs2lfentRoCmBcUA8/s200/CalvinBorel.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNlk_gkp4envC2elhVEokVJzDkNqY8_nfAEULo21hX8hXD7q3YpLHlM7lnkLqthJR6LxBnLN-lOFF0dTO8dwcEOcwBzIy6cxuUWYrU0OeoXJe53zpca3lJnF7nv4YKvPdBc3FeazT5pg/s1600-h/jim_varney.jpg"></a> That’s a startling amount of films for something so preposterous. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAKM9oBFLIGu7KAYVyEBNqQztikZVG__GtGMA8dz2JG3jW7Djv0Orgn1y_JcYPcltHMsWJOMKlCE4x4Cb833d-tGWXxTDjaJEF2GWk8jxcI-BQMyagRTiSOu8so9tK3XIg4wnO2RIRWA/s1600-h/jim_varney.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332067016189939426" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 172px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 172px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAKM9oBFLIGu7KAYVyEBNqQztikZVG__GtGMA8dz2JG3jW7Djv0Orgn1y_JcYPcltHMsWJOMKlCE4x4Cb833d-tGWXxTDjaJEF2GWk8jxcI-BQMyagRTiSOu8so9tK3XIg4wnO2RIRWA/s200/jim_varney.jpg" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332063289837908578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoncGGJQDXH8ccCF0xBx1MJI8sWn-rQNR41CodpSZAya9QcpK4iVRwI5XCsu5KuDAMN7X4H4iBZ6E8QZjAxdumnZ9SS3Bid_sv6gIxnNM8knXA8LvvCKuTpkC9FwHrEOLpp9kmkC2HFCc/s200/gollum.jpg" border="0" /></span>One last thing about the broadcast, aside from the Olympic gymnastics, Bob Costas must love covering horseracing. These are the only times when he completely dwarf his interview subjects. </span></p></div></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-55626224682641829792009-05-01T12:51:00.000-07:002009-05-02T09:50:59.692-07:00BT<div align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330949458872701666" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 189px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mrZ_QjIMDtdYcoyyVwrA_PhUkOjOwLO3SPQCUs5QdBRW8YAHEzbJAB04yvGFWOeFMZlqt9ZfBlKhj7UYTOqvBFbQa_nZR_RO99B6Z-7_zGnbjtBHkMAylWGDymAZqn43N9mY1AB_Z1U/s200/A-Rod-BT.jpg" border="0" />It's impossible for me not to pile on here, so here goes, what else are we going to find out about <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/04/30/arod.book.ap/index.html" target="_blank">A-Rod</a> in the coming months?<br /><br />How great is it that he has “rounded pectoral muscles” so much so that his Yankee teammates call him “<a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4114292" target="_blank">bitch tits</a>”? I thought steroids helped guys look more muscular and manly. It's news to me that it makes guys resemble women. We all know about the shrinking testicle thing, but this A-Rod story has brought new stuff to light. Steroid dealers must leave out that part when slangin roids to their junkies.<br /><br /></div><strong></strong><div align="justify"><strong>Dealer</strong>: “Yeah, these will get you really pumped up.”<br /><strong>Junkie</strong>: “So, will my pecs get really huge if I use this stuff?”<br /><strong>Dealer: </strong>(suppressing laughter): “Yeah. Definitely.”<br /><br />As an aside, just look at that picture. I mean really look at it. It's too perfect.<br /><br />The BT term has been tossed around to fatter dudes for quite some time. I first heard the term in college and it was appropriate for some guys. For all I know, they could have been roided up and couldn’t very well confess to that (either that, or they were just fat and sloppy).<br /><br />Back to A-Rod, what else is there? Was he selling credit default swaps? Was he an advisor to Bernie Madoff? Did he bring the swine flu to the U.S.? Has he been secretly arming the insurgents in Iraq? Did he waterboard detainees? Was he behind the sale of the Sonics to Clay Bennett? Did he hurt Tiger’s knee? Did he kill that guy’s mom in “Slumdog Millionaire”? Was he a consultant for George Lucas on the prequels? Did he turn Lindsay Lohan? Was he filming hand signals? Did he kill Tupac and Biggie?<br /><br />All of the above are possible. What’s also possible is that A-Rod may not be human. It’s unclear what evil forces are behind his creation, but some nefarious beings are pulling the strings and it’s getting out of hand. It’s too bad Arnold is busy running California (into the ground) because we could really use Douglas Quaid, John Matrix, Ben Richards, Dutch, or even Detective John Kimble to get to the bottom of this. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7B96UuKPEWFISKTsS3z-fDkFGk5gyuEHSgq6PJ0DxNsOTAGW2Eleu7ztkCa3q-Drkomczlt38dSJv2b6BpScXw-SbBbTeXIM8rNdB8bcqa5FzHZsXwiv6JwMmaVqnaedR3RBeIybDQko/s1600-h/arnold.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330949588978268434" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 182px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7B96UuKPEWFISKTsS3z-fDkFGk5gyuEHSgq6PJ0DxNsOTAGW2Eleu7ztkCa3q-Drkomczlt38dSJv2b6BpScXw-SbBbTeXIM8rNdB8bcqa5FzHZsXwiv6JwMmaVqnaedR3RBeIybDQko/s200/arnold.bmp" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtzz8jrymuusJecuEKF3zKiP3_9FkDunXpTtgqMcdxpsMNTjb93CjFa2uu9YXWBjGuMyQYLau8b_sYYBAv6yI76niWleXYiO0daVio6bAhK-DazNvK6OBZESav-7oti_iWhfDG-kG95_E/s1600-h/The_Running_Man_lg_239.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330949924397596434" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 154px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtzz8jrymuusJecuEKF3zKiP3_9FkDunXpTtgqMcdxpsMNTjb93CjFa2uu9YXWBjGuMyQYLau8b_sYYBAv6yI76niWleXYiO0daVio6bAhK-DazNvK6OBZESav-7oti_iWhfDG-kG95_E/s200/The_Running_Man_lg_239.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCQu4EGLYqt0v0wvz_Y8osaiW8wExcsMjhibF39vhwBVV2raSkSLMJdiOztcIeT4aAGQqq9COqh782CBpSoZEI5Uu7chDybwI14MjhyuM1fF1P3dOhT7RsbZMrYzrHyZZFY_aq5-GArY/s1600-h/Predator_gr.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330949820937547714" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCQu4EGLYqt0v0wvz_Y8osaiW8wExcsMjhibF39vhwBVV2raSkSLMJdiOztcIeT4aAGQqq9COqh782CBpSoZEI5Uu7chDybwI14MjhyuM1fF1P3dOhT7RsbZMrYzrHyZZFY_aq5-GArY/s200/Predator_gr.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330949710424070066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 118px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5VTSVgq9Q0nuFXuRJgOKm1yc6UM537GtyksNF77xpYEWEbvDz0Q1eQ9rA0MSmigTOwGx24D7MGAEF4uiRYzVjKZnWv2fYF1v0lSPcqiCuMd6i4tseGRP8aF7fgFz2fn2Wzr1FDGQduBE/s200/johnkimble.jpg" border="0" />Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-90595242667501334022009-05-01T12:35:00.000-07:002009-05-01T12:51:18.691-07:00Leroy<div align="justify">Sometimes I absolutely love being wrong. <a href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlesports/archives/167755.asp?source=mypi" target="_blank">This </a>is one of those times. I’m floored that the Hawks were able to sign Hill. It looks like Hill meant it when he said <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4101934" target="_blank">he’d love to stay in Seattle</a>. He wanted to stay here and it looks like he got a very reasonable deal. The reported number is 6 years 38M with over 15.5M guaranteed. That looks like a very fair deal for both sides. Hill is a hell of a player who deserves that payday. The Hawks also need him so that they’re able to do what they want to do defensively.<br /><br />By waiting until after the draft and after most free agency money has been snatched up, the Hawks essentially screwed Hill by giving him no chance to sign elsewhere for big dollars. Ruskell knew this and was banking on him not signing elsewhere out of spite. It was a huge risk and he would have been absolutely ridiculed and vilified if Hill left, but he didn’t and that’s why he sits where he does and I sit here with my thumb up my ass.<br /><br />But that doesn’t mean that Ruskell is not to be questioned. We don’t know if Ruskell is the least bit influenced by fans and the media, but it’s clear that the public outcry was “We Can’t Lose Leroy Hill.” If that outcry affected his decision to sign Hill, even to the most minute degree, then the spouting off, premature worrying, and doomsday scenarios were worth it. I will gladly look like a fool if the result benefits the team that I root for.<br /><br />The team is shaping up, on the defensive side of the ball anyway, quite nicely.</div><ul><li><div align="justify"><strong>DE: Kerney</strong>. Please don’t be hurt. It would be very nice to see him make it through the entire year creating havoc on a consistent basis. They need him to be destructive. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>DE: Redding? Tapp? Jackson? </strong>What is up with Daryl Tapp? Is he simply not that talented because of his size? He had a monster four-sack game against St. Louis in ’07, but that’s highly skewed because St. Louis had one of the worst offensive lines in the game. It seems very likely that they don’t trust the guy to do the job and that he won’t be here much longer. I had high hopes for him, but the coaching staff doesn’t seem to. Who knows what to expect of Jackson, he didn’t show much during his rookie year, but he’s got size and ability so the book is still out on him. I actually thought that Redding was a DT when they traded for him because of his size (6’4 295) and he seems like a weird fit as a DE in a 4-3 alignment, but whatever. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>DT: Mebane</strong>. I love what I’ve seen out of this guy in his first few years. He was a great find in the third round and we’re lucky to have him. Rocky Bernard was fine, but not at any meaningful salary number. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>DT: Cole? Bryant? </strong>No idea what to expect out of these guys. They are both huge guys who will plug up holes and keep linemen off of the LBs. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>OLB: Curry</strong>. My man crush on Curry is in full effect. From a “good dude” perspective, he’s off of the charts. From a football player perspective, I only know what I’ve been told and seen in the highlights because I never saw Wake Forest play (a club that includes nearly everyone outside of the ACC). I choose to believe what people are telling me. Someone said that they reminded him of Julian Peterson. That seems like a very lazy comparison. For one, their body types are very different. Peterson was two inches taller (6’3 compared to 6’1) and weighed about 15 lbs less (240 compared to 254). Peterson is ripped like no one’s business, but he’s a more sinewy, athletic looking guy whereas Curry looks a lot more bulky and compact. I see Curry as more effective against the run with the ability to cover probably better than Peterson (in addition to being heavier, Curry is also faster than Peterson, at least timed faster <a href="http://www.nfl.com/draft/2009/profiles/aaron-curry?id=79842" target="_blank">4.56</a> compared to <a href="http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives/draft_1999/scoutingreports_lb.asp#OLB-DE%20JULIAN%20PETERSON" target="_blank">4.7</a>). My hopes are dangerously high for this guy. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>MLB: Tatupu</strong>. Love him. Don’t have much more to say about him. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>OLB: Hill(!)</strong>. See above. I’m ecstatic. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>CB: Trufant</strong>. He played well last year, but will be even better this year with Lucas on the other side. They are a great duo. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>CB: Lucas</strong>. Great signing for a cheap salary. They completely lucked into him. Also, I doubt very seriously that Nate Burleson will punch him in the face. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>SS: Grant</strong>. I still like this guy. Big hitter and great leader from all accounts. </div></li><li><div align="justify"><strong>FS: Russell</strong>. I am unbelievably down on this guy. I can see very easily the young buck from Rutgers, Courtney Greene, beating him out. He didn’t make plays in the run or pass game and was massively disappointing. They need to upgrade here. </div></li></ul><p align="justify">I’m looking forward to reading the reports out of minicamp this weekend.<br /><br />Now, Ruskell, please get Curry into camp on time. I’m begging you. A training camp holdout would be akin to submerging my testicles in an ice bath.<br /> </p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-12553946148836278322009-04-29T13:03:00.000-07:002009-04-29T13:15:33.847-07:00Jeremy Tyler<div align="justify">I love this Jeremy Tyler story that I first read <a href="http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2009/04/jeremy-tyler-is-17-and-ready-for-pro-hoops.html" target="_blank">here</a> and then subsequently <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/sports/basketball/26tyler.html?ref=sports" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/04/23/tyler.europe/index.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4096202" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div align="justify"><br />From a “what the hell?” standpoint, I love that Olden Polynice was a volunteer coach on Tyler’s high school team. O.P. was on some spectacularly mediocre Sonics teams in the late 80s and I’ll never forget him. I remember going to a game when I was 15, looking at the program, and thinking that there was something wrong with his face, and then feeling sorry for him. Not that how he looks had anything to do with his ability to play hoops, but it’s the singular thing that I remember about him. He was never a horrible player and was certainly better than the cavalcade of Rich King-like stiffs the Sonics subjected us to over the years.<br /><br />On a national level, I’m guessing that O.P. was best known for one of two things:</div><ol><li><div align="justify">His arrest for impersonating a police officer</div></li><li><div align="justify">Getting traded on draft day from Chicago to Seattle for Scottie Pippen</div></li></ol><p align="justify">Number two is especially galling on a personal level. I would have liked a core of Gary Payton, Scottie Pippen, and Shawn Kemp a great deal. Um, that probably would have been a decent defensive squad. Of course, Pippen may never have blossomed into Pippen if not for Jordan, but it’s very likely that he would have thrived alongside The Glove and the Reign Man… sigh… anyway, it looks like O.P. was the key ingredient (aside from Jordan) in the Bulls Dynasty.<br /><br />Getting back to O.P.’s influence on Tyler, I really enjoyed this part of the article: </p><p align="justify">"Still, Polynice disagrees with Tyler’s decision to go to Europe. He said Tyler was being 'pimped;' he would not elaborate."<br /><br />So O.P. just called Tyler a whore, which is a very nice thing to say about someone. Also, O.P. was never known for his work ethic, so it’s always funny to me when a guy like that gets to have any influence whatsoever on young people. For instance, when O.P was finishing his third tour of duty with the Sonics in the lockout shortened ’98-’99 season (otherwise known as the “Vin Baker Fattening Project”) and shooting an ungodly 30% from the free throw line he was routinely seen practicing half court shots at practice instead of working on parts of his game that might help the team.<br /><br />O.P. comedy aside, it’s a very interesting story. Brandon Jennings’s story was and is fascinating because he was bypassing Arizona (who <em>really </em>could have used him this year) to play for cash in Italy. I loved that he was doing it because it sounded like he wasn’t going to qualify to play college ball and he wanted to stay sharp, learn some skills, and get paid. I mean, why not? I loved the Josh Childress story as well because he was being held hostage by the NBA restricted free agent rules and decided to exercise his options, as a free man in society, to do what he pleased, and get paid more for doing it. Good for him.<br /><br />Now here comes young Jeremy Tyler and his decision to go to Europe and bypass his senior year in high school along the way. Every time I hear about a kid who leaves high school early (like the football players to enroll for the spring semester at Universities to take part in spring practices), I can’t help but think, “why would you want to leave high school early? I had fun in high school, especially my senior year.” Then I snap back to reality and realize that their lives and my life as a high schooler are slightly different. They’re going to be playing big time sports in college or the pros and I was going to run track in the spring and miss going to the state meet because I wasn’t good enough. I guess that’s different.<br /><br />From what I understand, Tyler is going to leave school, but take online courses or be homeschooled, so he’ll still get his high school diploma. So what’s the big deal? Doesn’t this happen all of the time but we just don’t know about it or don’t care? Don’t child actors do this all of the time? The SI article pointed to entertainers who leave school early and finish elsewhere. The ESPN article talked about tennis and golf players who do this with regularity. I don’t get what the big deal is. Why the hand-wringing? Why the concern?<br /><br />ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb, arguing that Tyler’s decision to go abroad said the following:<br /><br />"If it is acceptable for Tyler to leave high school after his junior year to play professionally, when does it not become OK to leave? Tyler is setting a dangerous precedent by making this move. What about a sophomore or a freshman making a similar decision? Why even have high school at all?"<br /><br />A few things here: </p><ol><li><div align="justify">I’m not sure who needs to “accept” that Tyler could leave high school. It’s of no one’s concern but his and maybe his parents. It’s not a question of it being acceptable or “OK” for him to do this. He, or anyone else, can do this whenever the hell he feels like it. </div></li><li><div align="justify">This “dangerous” precedent-setting decision that Tyler is making is, again, of no one’s concern but his. Does he have some sort of obligation to anyone else but himself? Is he supposed to “think of the children”? If he wants to do this, then he should do this. If it affects someone else’s decision down the line, is that really on him? And if it does, does it matter?</div></li><li><div align="justify">Gottlieb asks, “Why even have high school at all?” I have the same question myself and am planning on writing about this at a later date. If these guys want to pursue their dreams of playing basketball and who also don’t care about school (I’m making assumptions here, but by and large if a guy leaves after one year in college or, previously, skipped college altogether, then they aren’t very interested in school… I’m just sayin’) then why should they go to school? </div></li></ol><p align="justify">Aside from the obvious ethnocentric (scared of the European sports system) and racist stuff at work here (again, no worries about tennis/golf academies, entertainers, or foreign athletes who do this same thing) there is another element that doesn’t get mentioned and that’s the nationwide high school graduation rates for African Americans hovers around the mid 50% range every year. From what we know, Tyler is going to graduate from high school. What about the millions of kids who do not graduate from high school and who are not immensely talented basketball players? Where is the outcry about the education of these kids? Kids drop out of school at alarming rates and those that do earn far less than their cohorts that do earn their diplomas. Tyler is leaving high school, but plans on graduating, and is getting a head start on a potentially lucrative career.<br /><br />People lament that kids are lazy and don’t take advantage of the opportunities that are provided to them. We get upset when someone doesn’t maximize his potential and make use of his talents. Well, Tyler’s talent is in basketball. He’s making a professional decision to do what he thinks is best for him.<br /><br />Is it sketchy that <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/boys/news/story?id=4093515" target="_blank">Sonny Vaccaro</a> is involved? Sure. But how is this any less seedy than college programs hiring a big-time recruit’s <a href="http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1143490/index.htm" target="_blank">AAU coach</a> or someone affiliated with that player with the hope that doing so will land them that recruit. </p><p align="justify">I mean, please. Stop with the goddamn hypocrisy already. Whether we agree or disagree with his decision is of no consequence. The teeth gnashing is insincere. </p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-76287276381160878132009-04-28T18:03:00.000-07:002009-04-29T19:23:59.982-07:00Overemphasis on Big Guys<div align="justify">I alluded to this <a href="http://undraftedfa.blogspot.com/2009/04/nba-playoffs.html">point in the previous post</a>, but to reiterate, teams, the media, and fans tend to inflate the importance of big guys in the draft and through free agency (power forwards and centers). That’s not to say that when a clearly superior big guy is available that a team shouldn’t take him. Guys that come to mind are Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Shaq, Chris Webber, (come on, we all thought he’d be awesome), Tim Duncan, maybe Yao Ming, and Dwight Howard. Those guys are easy picks. They were considered franchise-changing talents, and for the most part they lived up to their billing.<br /><br />The promise of the above guys are what lead teams astray. They see a guy like Greg Oden and try to forecast him into one of the guys who were franchise changers. They compare him to David Robinson because he’s a nice guy, he’s physically huge, he can block shots, and he has a “raw” (read: massively underdeveloped) offensive game. It’s not Oden’s fault that he’s not as good as everything thinks he should be or that he’s suffered injury after injury and will be arthritic prematurely. It’s just that we love to project big guys into stardom when they don’t really deserve it. I’m particularly sensitive to the big guy love affair because the Sonics, for three miserable drafts in a row, picked “raw” seven-foot “projects” early in the first round. From Robert Swift (picture him wearing all black, sitting in the back of a classroom looking sullen, and tell me you’re not thinking to yourself “Is the quickest way out of here through the window or do I try and bolt for the door?” – I realize that it’s the 10th anniversary of Columbine and that Virginia Tech was not long ago, and that it's completely insensitive and inappropriate, but when I see Robert Swift, I see that kind of kid, I can’t help it. I'm sorry.), <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxVHSQle02fZiUjP78C-My6DdId913RXyZT7NbzzbtOn9wnpjx7HpE4hKUuFEfgVOW_Cz3DRgVwQsikkpI0PUwHOdtScSJ1yK9rUJMeIlEkouX9h1bfDZXcZIqXJ7-SBSiZhJC2eIC30/s1600-h/robert_swift1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329913119062380018" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 167px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxVHSQle02fZiUjP78C-My6DdId913RXyZT7NbzzbtOn9wnpjx7HpE4hKUuFEfgVOW_Cz3DRgVwQsikkpI0PUwHOdtScSJ1yK9rUJMeIlEkouX9h1bfDZXcZIqXJ7-SBSiZhJC2eIC30/s200/robert_swift1.jpg" border="0" /></a>to Johan “I’m as soft as an éclair” Petro, to Mohammed “I have no earthly idea how to play basketball, but I’m tall” Sene. I’m sure they are all nice enough guys, but they will never be a reason that a team wins a playoff series in the NBA. They are seven foot albatrosses and they litter the NBA landscape. Big guys like this linger at the ends of benches year after year. They have different names, but they are all the same player. Tall guys who don’t have any basketball skills who costs teams far too much money and are taking up spots that should go to talented players who are six inches shorter, but several times more valuable in terms of actually playing and winning games.<br /><br /></div><div align="justify">It’s unfair to lump all big guys who are non-stars into this category. Not all big guys are complete wastes of space. Some non-star big guys actually contribute in many ways because they bring things to the table. Guys that fit this mold, in the playoffs are Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao, Chicago’s Joakim Noah, New Orleans’s Tyson Chandler (when not injured), LA’s Andrew Bynum, Boston’s Kendrick Perkins, Philly’s Sam Dalembert (although he costs way too much, at least he plays), Dallas’s Erick Dampier (same comments as Dalembert), Portland’s Joel Przybilla, and Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia. These guys actually bring things to the table and are useful, but not vital parts of their teams. Quite honestly, most teams could probably get by without having them at all except on the nights that they face an actually talented big guy, of which there are very, very, very few in the league.<br /><br />I feel bad for big guys because oftentimes we hear stories about them where they sort of fell into hoops because they were tall and someone convinced them to play, so they played and are now making loads of money (so I don’t feel too bad for them) because of this genetic freakiness. Because a guy is tall and because there are guys who exist (the aforementioned superior big guys) who are great, we lump them together. We wonder why our big guy can’t simply get the ball in the post, turn to the center or baseline, and drop a jump hook through the hoop. We ask, “What’s so hard about that?” or say, “He’s seven-feet tall, why can’t he do that?” The answer is, “He’s not good.” A big guy will disappoint teams, media, and fans more than he will please them. We believe that all big guys are unstoppable because they physically resemble Olajuwon, when in fact they’re just tall and not special beyond that. Anyway, I’m not anti-big guy, but I do feel that a team should only acquire one for specific purposes. Some non-exhaustive purposes are:<br /></div><div align="justify">1. If he’s a definite star (a la Tim Duncan)<br />2. You need a big guy for your definite star to beat up in practice<br />3. You need a big guy to sub into games to give your definite star a break or if he’s in foul trouble<br />4. When traveling, you want to make it abundantly clear that you are a basketball team<br />5. The big guy is young and you see promise, but only if you’re going to draft him very low and only if you have someone to teach him how to do big guy stuff<br /><br />Drafting a big guy is like drafting a quarterback in the NFL. There is a big risk/reward ratio to work out. NBA teams often need quality big guys and NFL teams often need quality QBs for the same reason: there are only so many to go around. But teams make mistakes in both leagues when they project a player to be someone he’s not because a true big man/QB star isn’t there. The Detroit Lions may have made this error by picking Matthew Stafford (although he may be good) and the Portland Trailblazers definitely made this mistake when drafting Oden over Durant. For what Portland is doing, Przybilla fits them fine and Channing Frye could be playing Oden’s minutes as a backup. He’s more than capable even if he is a less-talented Aldridge. Portland with Durant on board would be a nasty, nearly unguardable team. As it is, they have Oden, who, again through no fault of his own, is placed in a position where he has so many expectations heaped on him. He’s never going to come close to reaching those expectations and it’s more likely that he’ll fall far short of them. It’s too bad, really.<br /><br />If I was running a team I would continually value basketball IQ, skill, and ability above size. Always. I would keep rolling the best damn 6’7 and under team in the league unless and until a truly dominant big guy became available either through the draft, trade, or free agency. Why waste a pick (and money) on a big guy that you know damn well is not as talented and can help your team less than a swingman who has actual basketball skills? For example, I’d rather have DeMar DeRozan on my team than Hasheem Thabeet. Yes, I realize that Thabeet is a great shot blocker, but he’s a train wreck with the ball in his hands, whereas DeRozan has the talent and ability to develop into a super-duper star. Thabeet will never be a star, and it’s a virtual guarantee that he’s going to have some sort of weird injury directly related to being 7’3. I’d bet money on that if I could (and if I had any money to bet…).<br /><br />Just for fun, here is a list of the teams in the playoffs and a list of the players who play vital roles determining the outcome for their team. For example, if Derrick Rose and Ben Gordon both have great games, then there is a more than likely chance that the Bulls are going to win. If they both have terrible games, then there is a more than likely chance that the Bulls are going to lose. If Brad Miller or Joakim Noah has a great or terrible game, then it’s doubtful that their performance will have much to do with the outcome of the game.<br /><br /><strong>The playoff teams </strong><br /><strong>Boston</strong>: Paul Pierce, Ray Allen Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett (not playing)<br /><strong>Chicago</strong>: Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon<br /><strong>Orlando</strong>: Dwight Howard (maybe), Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkolu, Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston<br /><strong>Philly</strong>: Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Sam Dalembert<br /><strong>Atlanta</strong>: Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby<br /><strong>Miami</strong>: Dwyane Wade<br /><strong>Detroit</strong>: Rip Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey, Rasheed Wallace<br /><strong>Cleveland</strong>: LeBron James, Mo Williams, Big Z<br /><strong>LA Lakers</strong>: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom<br /><strong>Utah</strong>: Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer<br /><strong>San Antonio</strong>: Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili (when playing)<br /><strong>Dallas</strong>: Dirk Nowitski, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry<br /><strong>Portland</strong>: Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge<br /><strong>Houston</strong>: Yao Ming, Ron Artest (kind of)<br /><strong>Denver</strong>: Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony<br /><strong>New Orleans</strong>: Chris Paul, David West<br /><br />Based on this self-serving list I’ve created here are the numbers:<br /></div><div align="justify">Non-Bigs: 27<br />Bigs: 15 (and I included Rashard Lewis, Thaddeus Young, Dirk Nowitski, Lamar Odom, and David West in this group, even though they play more like guards than forwards)<br /><br />What’s my point?<br /><br />My point is that non-bigs determine the outcome of NBA playoff teams than bigs do. It’s a fact. Having a “dominant” big man does not determine success in the NBA. It’s pretty evident that Dwight Howard is the most gifted big out there right now. And where is that going to get Orlando? An appearance in the second round of the playoffs? Maybe the third? Maybe as Howard grows, he’ll lead his team out of “almost there” status. But, and be honest here, do you really see it? He’s awesome right now at what he does, but do you see him getting any better than he is? Do you see his game progressing to incorporate a great, consistent hook or jumper? I don’t. It’s not like he can’t get there, I just don’t know that he will get there. I do know this though, I’d choose LeBron, Kobe, CP3, and Wade over him.<br /><br />This is my really, really, really roundabout way of telling you that I would absolutely draft Ricky Rubio over Blake Griffin in the upcoming draft and not feel the least bit bad about it. I’ve seen Rubio play (albeit in short stints) and the guy is fantastic. Also, since he’s a guard, he will be in a position to dominate the ball and make decisions. Griffin can’t do much except be explosive and finish around the rim, which is great, but he seems more like a complementary player than a star player. Rubio is a star and has been in the professional ranks for years. He won’t be phased in the least and will thrive in any system. I love the kid and can’t wait to see him play here. </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-89055387199363415742009-04-28T17:34:00.000-07:002009-04-28T18:02:19.223-07:00NBA Playoffs<div align="justify">As much as I love the NBA playoffs, we can all agree that they stretch the games out too long. I mean, each team has only played four games and it’s been like two weeks. It’s no wonder the playoffs take two months to finish. I fully understand why the system is the way it is, the NBA and the TV corporations are attempting to maximize their dollars. I get that, but do we really need a best of seven series for every series? I loved the best of five format that we had in the first round (with the notable exception of the ’94 playoffs when the Sonics had the look of a championship-caliber team and lost to the goddamn Nuggets). <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrcoDb8v2c5Cu9Ude74icXExWleSzdwYeSCT19fxOcp3kA9mXV2u2cc2uX-jcx80O44Pinjk4EpUyXKGyIkgIDBIpUmdnNOoZnpnYSCHTiVj9usOarFqKj_O_mv3SDgIeglRMQb9qCeM/s1600-h/deke.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329910680893794658" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 151px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrcoDb8v2c5Cu9Ude74icXExWleSzdwYeSCT19fxOcp3kA9mXV2u2cc2uX-jcx80O44Pinjk4EpUyXKGyIkgIDBIpUmdnNOoZnpnYSCHTiVj9usOarFqKj_O_mv3SDgIeglRMQb9qCeM/s200/deke.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I doubt very seriously that they’ll revert to a five-game series in the first round, despite how much people would actually like it. People would love an NFL Playoffs vibe even more because any team can beat any other team if they’re both good on any night. The NCAA Tournament captures this as well, and that’s what makes it so special. The beauty of the postseason generally is the win-or-go-home mentality. It’s so much fun to watch these games because the finality ratchets up the intensity.<br /><br />Contrast that with the win-four-times-or-go-home mentality of the NBA playoffs. Not quite as exciting is it? Of course elimination games are fun and game sevens are incredible to watch, but we just have to wait so damn long to get there. I suppose they’re worth the wait though. Also, the best team usually will prevail in a seven-game series, which is somewhat satisfying. It’s pretty uncommon for an inferior team to beat a clearly superior team in a seven-game series. It’s just too hard to hide weaknesses and unless certain players on an inferior team are just treeing for an entire series, that team is typically going to lose. There are exceptions, of course, but the better team usually prevails, not that it matters in the least, unless you have rooting interest, in which case then it definitely matters.<br /><br />While I’m complaining about the length of these playoffs, I’ve definitely been interested. Since I work for a living and have a wife who would threaten, and probably follow through with, murder if I watched every single game that’s on TV, I have to pick and choose which games to watch, and even then, it’s hard. Plus, it’s nice outside now and it makes it very difficult to justify sitting inside when it’s 70 degrees and sunny. That’s what happens when you live in the Seattle area, I spend at least half of my time bitching about the weather, so when it’s finally tolerable to be outside, I must go outside, games be damned. But that’s what DVR is for, if I’m willing to stay up until 3:00 a.m. to pound out all of the games.<br /><br />Back to the subject, there are only two of these series that I’ve dubbed appointment TV. Chicago v. Boston and Houston v. Portland.<br /><br /><u><strong>Chicago and Boston </strong></u><br />I’m heavily intrigued by the Bulls and Derrick Rose and their mighty rise from freaking nowhere, so I’m enthralled by that series. I’m somewhat invested in the Blazers solely because of Brandon Roy, and tangentially interested in the Rockets because of Aaron Brooks; Seattle ballplayers, both of them. I guess, for the same reason, I should care about Atlanta (Marvin Williams), Detroit (Rodney Stuckey), and Dallas (Jason Terry), but I don’t, at least not as much because those other three series just aren’t as interesting. Houston and Portland, beyond the Seattle connection, is a very interesting matchup because Houston hasn’t gotten out of the first round in forever and Portland is making its first trip back in forever. Both teams are talented and could do some damage to LA. The series has produced some very close games, but sadly, it looks like Houston is going to take this, and that’s a damn shame considering how good Portland has looked at times. That said, if not for Ron Artest attempting to shoot his team out of the playoffs, Houston would have beaten Portland by at least 10 the other night, instead of winning a close one down the stretch.<br /><br />Chicago and Boston, on the other hand, has been an otherworldly series. Taking a step back, it looked like Chicago was headed this way a few years ago when they made the playoffs and looked good. They had a young, talented team that was hungry and making noise. But then they got greedy, trade rumors were swirling, they started to hate their coach (more), and eventually fell on their face. Then they ass backward into Rose and everything changed.<br /><br />Rose, simply put, is amazing. I fawn over him. He will be legitimately discussed as the best player in the league within five years, easily. I doubt that he (or anyone else) will ever dethrone LeBron while he’s in his prime (that would be NOW until about 9 or 10 years from now), but Kobe Bryant (who is probably too old for this discussion) Rose, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Brandon Roy, Deron Williams, and maybe Carmelo Anthony will be contenders for ‘Bron’s crown. Of course, Ricky Rubio, John Wall, and some other young bucks may storm the castle too. We just don’t know if they’ll get hit by the cauldron of oil or make it through the gate yet.<br /><br /><u><strong>Orlando and Philly </strong></u><br />The other games don’t interest me as much. Orlando and Philly has some intrigue, but I don’t care about either team. I like Orlando a little bit because Rashard Lewis plays for them and he was always a decent guy here in Seattle. Dwight Howard is fun to watch because he’s looks so strangely huge amongst huge people. Plus, he’s abundantly talented, but ultimately flawed because he really can’t be counted on yet. I’d love to see him put it all together and become a 35 point scorer. He could easily do that if he shot 75% from the free throw line, but somehow I doubt he’ll ever approach that mark. Philly is kind of interesting, but ultimately how can I even dedicate any time to a team that has killed itself with that horrible Elton Brand signing? They’re doomed for years and it was their own damn fault. Why bail out the Clippers like that? I do like Thaddeus Young, though. The kid seems like a very solid player and I will forever like Andre Igudola for the singular reason that he nearly decapitated himself in a dunk contest. So I like some individuals on those teams, but neither one has a legit shot at winning the title or even pushing a team very much (no, Orlando has no shot) so I’m uninterested ultimately.<br /><br /><u><strong>San Antonio and Dallas </strong></u><br />San Antonio and Dallas couldn’t bore me more. There is no chance I’ll watch any part of that series. I’m dog tired of San Antonio and have been for years, I’d really prefer it if both of these teams would just exit out of the playoffs after this series is over, sort of like an instant double elimination, but without having to lose twice… wait, that doesn’t make any sense. Maybe it’s a single elimination spread over two teams simultaneously. Whatever. I just don’t want to see either one advance, despite Jason Terry’s excellence.<br /><br /><u><strong>Atlanta and Miami </strong></u><br />Atlanta and Miami presents two young teams who may be on their way to better things, but probably not. I haven’t seen anything but the highlights of this series and I doubt they’ll make it into the regular rotation. I am interested to see how Michael Beasely plays, since I haven’t seen one minute of him this year, but I suspect I’ll be underwhelemed. Is it just me, or do people get way, way, way to proud of big guys? How could he ever have been considered by any team over Derrick Rose? He had a rep for being a lazy, immature dude prior to the draft, but he could score and rebound. Rose had a rep for being emotionally invested in the outcomes of games, being massively unselfish, and possessing unspeakable talent and played maybe the most important position on the team, depending on the offense a team runs. This isn’t revisionist history. He’s always been the better player. Whatever, I’m just saying that teams and the media over-emphasize “big” guys. A point I’ll get to in a separate post.<br /><br />I guess I was talking about the Atlanta/Miami series. I’m somewhat interested in this Hawks team because they seem to be properly constructed with some really good young players and they finally have a point guard who can do some things for them in <a href="http://undraftedfa.blogspot.com/2009/02/red-white-and-blue-athlete-transfer.html" target="_blank">Nougat All-Star Mike Bibby</a>. I just can’t get into them. Hopefully they’ll advance and I’ll get to check them out in the next round.<br /><br /><u><strong>Denver and New Orleans </strong></u><br />Before I say anything here, I’ve got to start with the following number: 58. It’s amazing that a team with Chris Paul, David West, James Posey, and Tyson Chandler would lose by fifty eight points. Those guys are legitimately good players who are extremely prideful, it’s striking to me that they’d roll over like that. At home. To a Denver team that is good, but certainly not whip-your-ass-on-an-historic level good. I’ve read that there are issues (to put it mildly) with Byron Scott as a coach. Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski, wrote about <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-hornetsblowout042809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns" target="_blank">it today</a>. ESPN’s Bill Simmons has <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/081126&sportCat=nba" target="_blank">written about it</a> earlier this year after watching Scott and Paul’s interaction (if it can be called that) live at a Clippers game. I don’t understand how, as a coach at the highest level of sport, Byron Scott could be unprepared and pay little attention to detail. Is it that difficult to do? Do you not have various scouts and assistant coaches informing you of things or do you simply choose not to listen? The whole thing confuses me. Why not be prepared even if you don’t manically control every part of the game (like Larry Brown or Avery Johnson), at least have an answer for things if whatever gameplan that you’ve cooked up isn’t working. How the hell is a player supposed to respect a coach who doesn’t put in the time to help his team perform to the best of its ability, especially when the players are busting their asses? If Byron Scott is truly the way that he’s portrayed, then how in the hell is he still the coach of a team like New Orleans with the best point guard in the game? I’m glad I’m not a New Orleans fan (although, as I’ve stated in the <a href="http://undraftedfa.blogspot.com/2009/04/thanks-ric-bucher.html" target="_blank">past </a>I will gladly, if not gleefully, accept their team as the new Sonics).<br /><br />As for the series itself, aside from the last game, it didn’t really look like New Orleans had a shot. Denver has been playing too well and Chauncey Billups has been rubbing New Orleans players’ faces in their own feces, and then swatting them with a rolled up magazine all series. He’s been unstoppable. He was great in Detroit, but he’s been incredible for Denver. He’s been hitting his shots, which had been a missing ingredient in his game in the post-championship years in Detroit. Plus, there is the whole hometown thing going for him. I love seeing guys get a chance to play where they grew up, there’s just something cool about that.<br /><br />Another thing that Denver has working for it is their cumul<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TCjRxhqjf0OUF83Bf-yJ-Io5BU7t-sNRX70tiVU2cAnuwcRuQIxjc2BVhwkkUEUMiJLQ6n3yiDcrst_Pj6G5qfnRSYWFreuO0HJzahO0_tAJixEZkzhtJDSaLYv9_hP5Qvfs87nJJHU/s1600-h/jr-smith.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329906922422754658" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 177px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TCjRxhqjf0OUF83Bf-yJ-Io5BU7t-sNRX70tiVU2cAnuwcRuQIxjc2BVhwkkUEUMiJLQ6n3yiDcrst_Pj6G5qfnRSYWFreuO0HJzahO0_tAJixEZkzhtJDSaLYv9_hP5Qvfs87nJJHU/s200/jr-smith.jpg" border="0" /></a>ative ink. I defy you to find me a team who sports more tats than these Nuggets. It’s not just the amount of tats they have, but the shocking amount of surface<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgar7fiZaBZDSc-yCEo6cwm3edmSF8StYKzeQZd4U7S_IE1eFXQHUlp2JRWMEtKShXd5II5CEUhMv20PXz3OGuCkbkq4ydkdbkS2050gl6RWwqDk4Ex2RHxSjAprlHEq1rHnLEL3pD-egk/s1600-h/fundip.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329911082509189250" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 165px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgar7fiZaBZDSc-yCEo6cwm3edmSF8StYKzeQZd4U7S_IE1eFXQHUlp2JRWMEtKShXd5II5CEUhMv20PXz3OGuCkbkq4ydkdbkS2050gl6RWwqDk4Ex2RHxSjAprlHEq1rHnLEL3pD-egk/s200/fundip.bmp" border="0" /></a> area that these tats cover. J.R. Smith is literally wearing long sleeves, Kenyon Martin has been tagged by a “writer” from the Bronx, and the Birdman looks like an entire grade school pelted him with Easter eggs and Fun Dip. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLoFqXhoHpKi_9Wz2fthKLqHbwHjPd_CGNCHGScDzEpzfMeBMtXXhyYYw7EuxGd397OcISc4LhEHCJX9bvkYVtzEn9Zkbr3ZNgmH-LXVfsQ_RUdGvCkJeM16_8M2L0Tt1Yx81dwUnwmc/s1600-h/fundip.bmp"></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">Speaking<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbbMJcYG0n9SW6APpu5m47eESnZVsvjhLJIrPe6-SkNgv7IQSGBorRL03es6pYyErrgPPBX1EVsFco2KVQ0En7C4Sk7eEruRUJbNyBbFgcsKJ22prN_HYYzZa6WURik9XgmkKUnq39cA/s1600-h/birdman.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329906861191975202" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 186px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbbMJcYG0n9SW6APpu5m47eESnZVsvjhLJIrPe6-SkNgv7IQSGBorRL03es6pYyErrgPPBX1EVsFco2KVQ0En7C4Sk7eEruRUJbNyBbFgcsKJ22prN_HYYzZa6WURik9XgmkKUnq39cA/s200/birdman.jpg" border="0" /></a> of the Birdman, just because you were once down-and-out as a drug-addled idiot does not mean you must continue to look the part. He’s the latter day Rodman, right down to the hustle and annoyance factor<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQzBMwSMYkWPJbsJzNSSVduMSYL0A1u0ZJygfz90VYFvhulppl88QpLee71Kmo2rd8BTBpeX-IA5NHMiHImCAi0k09LFQeWbxWTluaid-ZMgGUBdedwvrUUgmjqi628npXHCtpkIk3aY/s1600-h/dennis_rodman.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329911276181514946" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQzBMwSMYkWPJbsJzNSSVduMSYL0A1u0ZJygfz90VYFvhulppl88QpLee71Kmo2rd8BTBpeX-IA5NHMiHImCAi0k09LFQeWbxWTluaid-ZMgGUBdedwvrUUgmjqi628npXHCtpkIk3aY/s200/dennis_rodman.jpg" border="0" /></a>s. How soon until he dons a wedding gown to marry himself? Although, he’s so militantly ugly that I doubt he has the stomach to even masturbate, let alone be his own bride.<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkNNGCUyKAMnhFDLvyNAto0t03sMXJMOnm1QIDFheErUeA0FMraj4Bbk5oKkFk19s9oCIv1R_WhesrNvw19zU7QBZJXVu2ojtF0lY4saqInqf69VY34RxhSK3YO9SKf92yNcg6Sqv4sA/s1600-h/dennis_rodman.jpg"></a></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><u><strong>Los Angeles and Utah </strong></u><br />I’m beginning to wonder if anyone, even Cleveland, is going to beat this Lakers team. They are pissing on Utah, and while Utah is an eight seed, they’re not a garden-variety eight seed. They have talented players with great size, a good coach, and a great home court advantage. But this Lakers team is frightening. It’s insane that they can legitimately roll out a lineup like this:</div><br /><ul><li><div align="justify">Center: Bynum: 7’0 </div></li><li><div align="justify">Power Forward: Gasol: 7’0 </div></li><li><div align="justify">Small Forward: Ariza: 6’7 </div></li><li><div align="justify">Shooting Guard: Bryant: 6’7 </div></li><li><div align="justify">Point Guard: Odom: 6’10 </div></li></ul><div align="justify">That’s preposterous. Not only is this lineup huge, but it's highly skilled. Odom is more than capable of bringing the ball up and setting up the offense just as Ariza and Kobe are capable of guarding smaller players. This eliminates the Lakers’s weakness at the PG spot and pretty much guarantees that they’ll get nearly every rebound. If the Lakers lose more than twice the rest of the way in the Western Conference I’ll be surprised.<br /><br />I don’t have much to say about Utah except that I don’t understand why you’d live there unless you love skiing and are Mormon. Why else would you bother? But I will say this, they’ve made a great uniform switch over the years. Their present gear is pretty awesome. Good job there, guys.<br /><br /><strong><u>Detroit and Cleveland </u></strong><br />Everytime I watch LeBron play I feel like Anton Ego, the restaurant critic in “Ratatouille,” when he takes his first bite of the dish of the same name at the end of the movie. </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7oCC0pZnyevOgD_EF6FZWO3iKrZJWe7fm3p4ZoCNV4bdDPC79eVromorHlBQovbdVVl-CHmi5L8dBCsipJmtZlThWqRovtEeRa6U7oHmXBBPZHXjzWceTyTk98ryIOeJDQpC6lom9Jc/s1600-h/ratatouille.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329908379354501234" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 151px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7oCC0pZnyevOgD_EF6FZWO3iKrZJWe7fm3p4ZoCNV4bdDPC79eVromorHlBQovbdVVl-CHmi5L8dBCsipJmtZlThWqRovtEeRa6U7oHmXBBPZHXjzWceTyTk98ryIOeJDQpC6lom9Jc/s200/ratatouille.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">LeBron is so mesmerizing it makes me weep and transports me to a time where basketball is pure and beautiful to watch. He’s the most gifted and perfect basketball creation. I am amazed that this team has been able to do so much when it trots out a starting five with a center who is not a post presence, a power forward who is absolutely no threat offensively (to the point where, if left completely alone at 15 feet will frantically look around for someone to pass to), LeBron, an undersized, streaky, and sort of diseased-looking guy with a neck-tat, and Mo Williams. That’s not an imposing team. Not even close and they won 67 games. In order for us, the basketball watching world, to fully experience the Holy LeBron Experience, he needs to have more awesome guys around him. I don’t know if he’ll leave Cleveland (I hope he doesn’t, because I’m sentimental and I know a guy from Cleveland), but I do hope that they continue to bring in guys that can play.<br /><br />I didn’t catch much, if any, of this series, but Detroit simply had no chance. It will be interesting to see what they do next year now that they have money to spend after shedding ‘Sheed and Iverson. By the way, what the hell is going to happen to Iverson next year? Obviously someone will sign him, but who? No team with a young nucleus is going to sign him because he won’t be worth it and will stifle the growth of any young player. Look, I love A.I. and it’s fun watching him play, but he’s not and never has been the best example. He could probably work in a place like Houston because sometimes that squad gets bogged down and has trouble scoring, something A.I. has never had a problem with. I can’t see him co-existing with McGrady, but isn’t McGrady all but finished?<br /><br />Anyway, as much as I’d like to see the NBA playoffs changed, I’ll still watch what’s on and the games will get a lot more interesting once the pretenders get weeded out. </div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-30977901321026484152009-04-27T13:18:00.000-07:002009-04-27T13:31:56.402-07:00Failing Franchise [Tag]<div align="justify">Why is Tim Ruskell so scared of the franchise tag? This Leroy Hill thing has me flustered. I love the guy. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3X4lhRLeK0Fb8xtbmHy5n7ebQWuBAjVO5c4P9ZkPEClK8WNhFZUtELSQm5mOZeFrRczOQpKUu0f30ZtKD-htMVDO_-UJFzgBtsxFCxVrU6O5FF_Go_9AcfwPRhABrObNoHr0dKOiEvUw/s1600-h/2-Lofa-Leroy--nfl_large_580_1000.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329471385042460722" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3X4lhRLeK0Fb8xtbmHy5n7ebQWuBAjVO5c4P9ZkPEClK8WNhFZUtELSQm5mOZeFrRczOQpKUu0f30ZtKD-htMVDO_-UJFzgBtsxFCxVrU6O5FF_Go_9AcfwPRhABrObNoHr0dKOiEvUw/s200/2-Lofa-Leroy--nfl_large_580_1000.jpg" border="0" /></a>He’s as sure a tackler as there is in the game and he drops bombs on ballcarriers. He’s instinctive and makes plays. It defies reason to let this guy, at 27 years old at the beginning of the season, potentially walk away for nothing (or what would amount to a compensatory pick in next year’s draft).<br /><br />Because they were unable to get a long-term deal done, they did the reasonable and responsible thing; they franchised him. Now Ruskell says that they removed the tag because things weren’t progressing. He cited that Hill didn’t show up for voluntary workouts as one of the reasons for removing the tag. That doesn’t even begin to make sense. Since when do franchise players ever take part in voluntary workouts or even mini-camp and most (if not all of) training camp? However, like all GMs in the league, Ruskell is not being 100% truthful with his statements. It’s impossible that he believes that because Hill did not report to volunteer camp that they need to go in another direction. It’s clear that he’d like Hill here, but ONLY at the right price. I get the sense that if Hill asks for a dollar over, then they won’t pay it and be fine with him leaving. I don’t agree with that philosophy and they are misreading Hill’s talent and what he means to this team.<br /><br />It’s pretty clear that there are other things at work here. The two sides must be so far apart in negotiations rendering it nearly impossible that a deal will get done. As we all know, it’s all about guaranteed money in NFL contracts so that must be the sticking point. The reported contact that he turned down was six years at $36M. I haven’t seen the signing bonus or any other guaranteed amount assigned to that contract, but it must not be that high. I’m guessing that the guaranteed amount was somewhere in the neighborhood of $10M and Hill told them to put that figure in a diaper, where it belongs. He’s probably thinking that he’s worth at least $25M that amount, maybe more, and he’ll definitely get it elsewhere, if given the chance. Well, removing the franchise tag gives him that chance, and it’s a dumbass move.<br /><br />We’ve seen this movie before with Steve Hutchinson and I didn’t like it then. I don’t like this now. Hill may not be as important to the defense as Hutchinson was to the offense, but it’s pretty close. It wouldn’t make sense to break the bank for Hill, but that’s not what the issue is here. I didn’t want them to overspend, but I did want them to keep Hill, and the franchise tag accomplishes that.<br /><br />It’s hard to understand Ruskell’s willingness to give away every bit of leverage that he had. If the franchise tag causes ill will, who cares? At least Hill would still be guaranteed to be on the roster. He’s not going to sit out a season if he stands to lose $8.3M. He was on his first contract as a third-round pick; he hadn’t had his big (relatively) payday yet. He’s not going to turn that down, we’re not talking about a first round pick who made tons of money before earning it. We’re talking about a guy who is hungry to play well because of his pride (I guess) and because he wants to get paid. He’d be playing for next year’s deal with another team or the long-term deal he was seeking with the Seahawks. At the very least, he’d be franchised again and make close to $9M the next year.<br /><br /><br />If he walks, I will be furious and so will anyone else who follows this team. Yes, I want Ken Lucas back here, but not at the price of losing Hill.<br /><br />I like some of the things Ruskell has done since he’s been here. He’s drafted some good players in Tatupu, Hill, Mebane, Carlson… but there have been some huge misses and I’m concerned that he’s blowing it a little. I still have faith, but it will be rocked if Hill bolts.<br /><br />The optimist in me says that Hill wants to stay in Seattle because he sees that he’ll have a good opportunity to blow up in a new defensive scheme. From all accounts he likes being here and has reiterated that several times. Optimism says that he’ll stay. The pessimist (or more accurately, the realist) in me says that he’s gone and that he’ll sign elsewhere for the money that he’s seeking. I can’t blame the guy for doing so. He is now an unrestricted free agent and he wants to get paid. He’s earned that payday and if a team doesn’t swoop in and offer him a decent offer, I’d be shocked. Of course, Seattle screwed him a little by waiting until after the draft to remove the tag, but still. He’s a prized commodity and a team like Kansas City should sprint to get to him.<br /><br />Another bizarre thing that Ruskell said was that they wouldn’t have done this if they hadn’t drafted Aaron Curry. Essentially he’s saying that they are comfortable if Hill leaves. If that was the case, then why didn’t they go after another LB in the draft? I’m very confused that they picked up Nick Reed. What good is a 6’1 245 lb DE in the NFL unless his name is Dwight Freeney? He’s a 4.71 40 guy (not a 4.38 40 guy, like Freeney) I could see if the Hawks ran a 3-4 defense and wanted to line the guy up as an outside LB in that scheme, but won’t he just get his ass kicked against NFL tackles since he’s undersized and not overly fast? Plus, I don’t know if I can get behind a guy who wore a longish t-shirt under his jersey. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcWAwBVnldyML19w1CDjxP5Kle1i8lwk7rAe0GjKXMmWHJ_SGQhOOQUP2iAHwt_6_NK_OpLasMj35iBZYQ9QFrjtKpZbgdGXctpd0tqr6fvkhRq76yq90g5ZbC4ZVaMr2UYDtJeoB9gg/s1600-h/nick_reed.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329470581633002130" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 148px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 188px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixcWAwBVnldyML19w1CDjxP5Kle1i8lwk7rAe0GjKXMmWHJ_SGQhOOQUP2iAHwt_6_NK_OpLasMj35iBZYQ9QFrjtKpZbgdGXctpd0tqr6fvkhRq76yq90g5ZbC4ZVaMr2UYDtJeoB9gg/s200/nick_reed.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /></div><p align="justify"></p><div align="justify"><br /><br /></div><p align="justify"><br /></p><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify"></p><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify"></p><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify"></p><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify"></p><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify">I suppose they didn’t see any other player of value at that level, but I don’t see how this guy gets on the field. I’d love to be wrong about this.<br /></p><div align="justify"><br /><br /></div><div align="justify"></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6999293596184108969.post-77981278967363615832009-04-25T20:38:00.000-07:002009-04-25T20:40:49.753-07:00Aaron Curry<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328839810584176034" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 225px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIfDHi3nsjswabTHyrhtYXmLI3p2VMZN0lX-O3uJTSweCI9moBB4cUCf3KNZWbPNFW9bE5ZRFo4UJsQzsUjOmuko8AbVPoS1kHj7kOpqie2SslwlFyU8VhmB5szQPedZqIM1bZIohwt4/s400/aaroncurry.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6uxslNjux7XSatHHhqorIroGmdOWSuMRgRRj8NLV4O8Sm8o-nWu0ju3sICsGluC_WpnBCilmOW6t2Z5aNlHfm0sgQu3gwfDShUuKfDMA_jlgTmYWqFZdSxF6n0ifTLt_Adb3qHbXjAAw/s1600-h/aaroncurry.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div></div></div><br /><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>That's what I'm talking about. </p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17717350251369147863noreply@blogger.com1