Upon a Return

I just returned from a vacation in the sunny Dominican Republic, and it appears a lot has gone down in my absence.

NBA Trades- The trading deadline has come and gone, and the final deals in the NBA have been completed. Traded players are beginning to find their way into a flow with their new teams. Pau Gasol and the Lakers are currently at the top of the West, and Kobe Bryants finger injury is not holding the team back. Jason Kidd is dishing out assists, including a season high 17 yesterday, for a Mavs team that has won 2 of 3 since his arrival. Shaq and the Suns are still working out the kinks, though they did beat the Celtics. The addition of Bobby Jackson, who is reunited with his former coach from the Sacreamento Kings Rick Adelman, payed dividends for the red-hot Houston Rockets.

In a move designed to help, would you believe, a team from the East, the Cleveland Cavs dropped some flotsam in a big 11 player deal. They brought in Ben Wallace, Wally Szerbiac (or however you spell it), Delonte West, and Joe Smith. Big Ben, Big Z, and Varejo should be particularly pesky on the boards when Lebron goes one-on-five in big spots.

As for my hometown NY Knicks, I am not sure what adjective I should use for the Knicks failure to swing any deals. “Shocking”? “Appalling”? “Astounding”? Unfortunately, I think the most apt term is “unsurprising”. The fact that Isiah Thomas is still employed as the GM of one of the marquee franchises in the NBA (at least in terms of city, profitability, and potential fanbase) is beyond belief. However, in the scheme of things, this lack of any quantifiable progress is par for the course in this debacle of a team.

All-Star Weekend- Some interesting things happened in New Orleans during All-Star Saturday.

• Jason Kapono won back-to-back titles in the three-point shoot-out. Kapono set the final round record with a 25, which is some darn good shooting. He has a nice flat-footed white-boy jumper that is built for wide-open looks. (Lots of hyphenated words in that paragraph)
• San Antonio won the Shooting Stars contest which requires a current NBA player, former NBA player, and WNBA player from a city to make 6 shots from various spots on the court. The final shot is a half-cout heave. Who were the dead-eye shooters for San Antonio? None other than reputed marksmen Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Robinson even made his halfcourt shot without jumping, almost like a long free throw. The NBA could probably lose this event without much complaint. Maybe go the route Bill Simmons suggested and just keep the half-court shoot-out.
• The Dunk contest featured some really innovative dunks, especially from Dwight Howard, who was the eventual champion. Two years ago Andre Igodala had a  dunk where Allen Iverson threw the ball off the back-side of the backboard and Igodala caught it and threw it down on the front side. This year, Howard threw the ball to himself and windmilled it on the other side. He also had a dunk where he bounced the ball off the floor, bounced the ball off the backboard with his left hand while in mid-air, and then dunked with his right. This was very innovative, and something I have never seen. His biggest reaction came when he put on a Superman cape and took off his jersey to reveal a Superman t-shirt. He ran and took off from a step inside the free throw line, caught an alley-oop off the floor from teammate Jameer Nelson, and got so high in the air that he ended up throwing the ball down through the net. In my opinion, the pagentry and sheer magnitude of the attempt overwhelmed the fact that it technically was not a dunk. Former champ Gerald Green also had some excellent dunks, including one where he blew out a lit candle inside a cupcake on the back of the rim before dunking, and a highly underrated dunk where he went between his legs while barefoot. Unfortunately, we didn’t get much out of Rudy Gay, who staged a campaign on YouTube to get dunk ideas from fans, or Jamario Moon, whose opening round salvo was more skill than show. Overall, the dunk contest was exciting, and went a long way toward repairing the event’s sagging reputation.
• The Rookie-Sophmore Challenge again went to the Sophs, as it always has. The second-years are much more accustomed to the NBA game, and have better conditioning that many of the Rookies, who must feel exhausted after playing many more games than their college season. Standouts from the game included Al Horford of the Hawks, Rudy Gay of the Grizzlies, Brandon Roy (who pulled double duty in the Soph game and the big show) Daniel Gibson of the Cavs setting the record for 3-pointers made, and Sean Williams of the Nets with the highlight of the game, see below
• The All-Star Game itself was an exciting affair, coming down to the wire. The East prevailed thanks to some late sharpshooting from Ray Allen, and the MVP play of Lebron James.

Early on, the East ran out to the lead, and never trailed until the end of the 4th quarter. Lebron and Dwight Howard played dunk-o-rama, and Jason Kidd was the orchestrator in perhaps his final appearance as a player for the East. Chris Paul showed out for his hometown fans, and helped lead the West’s charge back.  Below are some of the highlights from the game, including Lebron’s ”that’s quite enough of that” game clinching dunk.

 

Baseball- I know that as a “sports writer” I should probably weigh in on the Roger Clemens situation. Unfortunately, I just don’t feel like writing on it until we get all the facts, if we ever do. To paraphrase Mark McGwire, “I’m not here to write about the past”.

What I am focused on is this upcoming season. The Yankee universe is very different than in recent years. The Joe managing the team is Girardi and not Torre. The big move of the offseason was the move that wasn’t.  The Mets were the NY team that got the big-money free agent. The Yankees, according to A-Rod, are not coming into the season as the prohibitive favorite.

A full Yankee preview…etc, will be coming up soon. Its good to be back. 

Upon a Pretty Picture

In honor of my new fantasy baseball team, the Nicaraguan Poor, this is a picture of what is done with the pre-printed clothes for the Super Bowl losers.

Upon a the Patriots Spying for Belichick’s Entire Tenure

According to Senator Arlen Specter, there appears to be confirmation that New England Patriot’s coach Bill Belichick has been illegally taping opponents signals since he took over with the Patriots in 2000.

In light of everything going on in baseball, and the irreprable damage being done to the reputation of certain individuals, I think that this is a very interesting development. Clemens and Bonds are two of the greatest players in baseball history statistically, and their (alleged) action have now forever tarnished their accomplishments. If Specter’s allegations are true, this means that a coach who has a reputation as one of the greatest ever, whose teams have won 3 Super Bowls and taken an undefeated record into a 4th, has been cheating the whole time.

The Patriot offense set numerous all-time records this season, and pundits were variously ascribing terms like “the best ever” to QB Tom Brady and WR Randy Moss. Now what do we make of these records? If they benefited from the cheating done by their head coach, do we asterisk their accomplishments?

What are fans to make of the three titles won by the Pats? There was an allegation that the Patriots videotaped the final walk-through of the Rams before they played in the Super Bowl, and similar questions about taping in the Super Bowl against the Eagles. Can we look on those titles as legit?

Cheating allegations in baseball and football, along with last year’s betting scandal in the NBA, are beginning to force everyone to reexamine the integrity of sports in general.

Upon NBA Stars Changing Places- Part 2 UPDATED

This morning, it was reported that Devean George of the Mavericks is taking advantage of an obscure contract provision to stall the deal, and potentially scrap it altogether. Read more here

In a response to the recent moves by the Suns, Lakers, and Spurs, The Dallas Mavericks have reportedly swung a deal to bring yet another marquee name to a top Western Conference team.

ESPN.com is reporting that the framework is in place for a trade that would send Jason Kidd to the Mavs. The main players that New Jersey would receive in return would be Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse and DeSagana Diop.

This deal would finally complete the trade which Kidd has been lobbying for each year, both publicly and behind the scenes. He had been standing on a request to be shipped to a title contender, and Dallas appears to fit the bill nicely.

Jason Kidd has repeatedly shown the ability to raise the level of everyone that he plays with. He is a triple-double machine, and gives Dirk Nowitzki a top-notch PG like he formerly had with Nash, but without the scoring instinct. Kidd is happy to collect 10-12 ppg, and complement that with 8-10 assists.  All the Dallas shooters now have better looks, and all the Dallas athletes now have lobs a-plenty.

On the New Jersey end, they get a nice player back in Harris, and an old veteran in Stackhouse. Diop is a defensive specialist with a limited offensive game, similar to the recently departed Jason Collins. The Nets appear to know that their season will not amount to much, and are looking for a good haul of players, expiring contracts, and cash.

 If this deal goes through, it will mean that every traditional power in the West has made a significant upgrade. Gasol was the first domino to fall, and Shaq and Kidd (apparently) came in very short order.

Even teams like Golden State with the Chris Webber addition, and Utah with the highly-overlooked Kyle Korver deal, have pushed their rosters to the next level. It now remains to be see what Houston, Denver and New Orleans can do to keep up in the increasingly wild west.

Upon a Poached Link

I saw this link on Bill Simmon’s website and I had to post it here for the sheer amount of time I spent watching these videos last night. For NBA fans its a fun ride in preparation for this weekend.

http://www.nba.com/allstar2008/video/asg_top10s.html

Upon NBA Stars Changing Places

As the 2007-08 NBA season steams toward the All Star Break, several teams who believe they have a shot at the title have made some high-profile roster moves.

Four big names in the NBA have found new addresses over the past month, as three Western Conference powers  try to knock the San Antonio Spurs from the title perch they regularly inhabit. In this post, I’ll look at the moves made, and their potential championship implications.

Pau Gasol to the Lakers (for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, the rights to Marc Gasol and first-round picks in 2008 and 2010)-

This move has obvious benefits for a Laker team which was coming into tis own before big man Andrew Bynumwent down to injury. With one of the greatest players in the league in Kobe Bryant, and the coaching of Phil Jackson who does well in constructing a team around superstars, the addition of Gasol makes the Lakers extremely dangerous.  Pau gives 19 points and 9 rebounds per game, and at 7 feet tall plays the center-esque position that is popular in the NBA these days.

If Bynum returns healthy, and mirrors his production from earlier this season, the Lakers top 5 looks like this:

PG- Derek Fisher- 12.6 PPG, .442 3-point %,

SG- Kobe Bryant- if you don’t know, I can’t help you

SF- Lamar Odom- 13.4 PPG, 9.7 RPG

PF- Pau Gasol- 18.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.4 BPG

C- Andrew Bynum- 13.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 2.1 BPG

This starting 5 is right there with any 5 in the league. With reserves like Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Ronny Turiaf and Jordan Farmar, the Lakers have a solid team top to bottom. They currently stand at 5th in the West, but stand poised to make some real noise. Los Angeles will be a very tough out in the playoffs.

Verdict- This trade was a slam dunk for the Lakers. It made the team better, and put some worry into other teams in the West. Spurs coach Greg Popovich, for one, was furious. Giving up mega-bust Kwame Brown and some picks for a legit title shot was a no-brainer. 

Chris Webber to the Golden State Warriors- (signed out of retirement)-

Chris Webber has returned to the team where his NBA journey began. Webber was drafted #1 overall by the Orlando Magic in 1993, then acquired by Warriors in a draft day trade for Penny Hardaway. He had an excellent first season, earning Rookie of the Year honors. After a nasty feud with then-coach Don Nelson, Webber forced a trade to Washington. Now, after 15 years, and stops in Sacramento, Philadelphia and Detroit, Webber has returned to Oakland.

In an interesting twist, Coach Don Nelson is also back in Golden State, after returning to lead the team to the playoffs last season, complete with a shocking first round upset over the Dallas Mavericks. Both he and Webber insist their feud is in the past. However, moody Webber and cantankerous Nelson may face a challenge this year.

When Nelson arrived in Golden State, he instituted Nellie-ball, a frenetic style of play which emphasizes quantity over quality in terms of shot selection. The goal is to have a shot in the air within 7 seconds of each possession. The roster of the Warriors is stocked with high-energy players who get up and down the floor at a jack rabbit pace. This is a perfect style for the excellent-passing, explosive player that Webber had been for much of his career. The problem is, after having the infamous micro-fracture surgery on his knee in 2005, Webber has rarely looked like that player.

While still putting up a respectable 11.2 ppg last year, while hauling down a very respectable 7.2 rpg, a now lumbering Webber does not seem to be the best match with the Warriors style of play. He is working his way back into game shape, and playing with the Warriors is like jumping onto a treadmill going 20 miles an hour.

Verdict- Webber still has size, experience, great passing skills and vision, and a jump-shot. He is coming out of retirement, so the Warriors didn’t have to give up anything but money. They are risking something in the team chemistry department, as minutes which formerly went to others must now come to Webber if he is going to be effective.  Webber was a solid edition to the Pistons during their run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, and if he can catch on to the Golden State way, the results could carry them past Round 2 this year. Low risk, decently high reward potential. Most likely though, the West is a bit too loaded for the Warriors to make much noise.  

And finally, the biggest move since Garnett to the Celtics

Shaquille O’Neal to the Phoenix Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks- 

Wow, this one caught a lot of people by surprise. It was no secret that Marion was not happy with the situation in Phoenix, and that there has been an alpha-dog fight between him and Amare Stoudemire. In fact, Marion was on record last year questioning whether he would prefer to be a role player on a championship team, or the main guy on an average team.

Regardless of the reasons for Marion wanting out, we are talking about a guy who was being considered as a straight-up swap for KG, or a talent and cap room trade for Andre Kirilenko. Then the word came down that Marion was headed to Miami for Shaq….

By anyone’s reconing, even despite his injuries, Shaq is a shadow of his former Wilt Chamberneezy self. Father Time has a way of bringing all players back to the fold, and Shaq’s policy of playing his way into shape was bound to have reprocussions on his body. ESPN columnist Bill Simmons remarked earlier this season that Shaq looked like he had been showering in concrete before games. O’Neal was never an 82 game-a-year player; because of the immense physical toll that playing the way he does and being guarded the way he is takes on his body. However, after a rejuvenated “I’ll show you!” year his first season in Miami, his points, rebounds, blocks, minutes per game and games played have been in a steady decline.

So what is Phoenix getting in Shaq? He did follow through on his promise of delivering a championship to Miami, helped out by a yeoman’s effort from Dwyane Wade (and some well-timed whistles from the refs). He also gave the Heat an MVP season in 2004-2005, though the trophy was presented to his new teammate Steve Nash. His “screw Kobe” mentality fueled him to 23 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.3 bpg, and a .600 field goal %. Can the Suns hope for a similar result?

Much like the aforementioned Chris Webber, Shaq is joining a go-go-go Phoenix team that burns up the hardwood and lights up the scoreboard. Shaq as he is today does not seem to be able to play at that tempo. The only thing might make one believe that he can fit in is if he has one more round of ego-fueled renaissance left in him.  But what if the Suns also work to fit in with Shaq. The loss of Marion will hurt the Suns, as he does many things very well. But can they replace him with parts? With shaq in the middle gobbling rebounds, Amare can stop playing out of position, where he admits he was less than comfortable. The lob-dunks that Marion soared for can turn into Shaq dunks on the block, and the three-point shooting from Marion can turn into and-1s for Shaq (more for opponent foul trouble than the unlikely Shaq free-throw conversion).

Where Phoenix has run into trouble in the playoffs has been when an opponent has slowed them down and forced someone to beat them in the half-court. This is an area where a still-healthy Shaq can turn the tide. steve Nash is a master-distributor, and always hits an open man. Shaq has excellent hands and can still do work around the basket. Shaq can not jump like he used to, and the once-unthinkable block of a Shaq dunk in the paint has happened. With Steve Nash driving and either scoring or kicking to a jump shooter, a defense has to sag in the middle and pressure the wings. This leaves the door wide open for a Nash foray to the rim followed by a wrap-around pass to a waiting Shaq for the hammer.  Like so..

  

Post-defense is another area where Shaq has not lost everything he once was. The centers in the West: Bynum, Yao, Dampier, Camby, Oberto/Duncan…etc, will not body Shaq on the block. With an explosive leaper like Amare providing weak-side help, shot-blocks that used to go to Marion on Stoudemire’s man will not go to Amare on Shaq’s man.

On the Miami side, the Heat get a point guard in Banks who never got a chance to play behind Steve “Mr. Durable” Nash, and Leandro Barbosa. Jury is still on him. In Marion, they are getting another freakish athlete to complement Wade. Marion does everything on the floor, both offensively and defensively, and works just as hard as Wade. He has a $17.5 million dollar player option for next year, which it would make the most sense for him to exercise. If his numbers hold, Marion is immediately the second leading scorer on the Heat, and by far the leading rebounder and shot-blocker. With Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem, Ricky Davis and Daequon Cook, Marion and Wade have some athletes to run with. The team still lacks a dead-eye shooter, but they have freed themselves some money from the Shaq contract to look for one. This season for Miami was long over anyway.

 Verdict: Contingent on Shaq’s health, this could be a big deal for the Suns. Adding some power to the Suns finesse, with whatever is left of possibly the most dominant big man of all time could be the move that puts Phoenix over the hump. If it doesn’t, people will question why a past-his-prime Shaq was the best that general manager Steve Kerr could get for an on the court glue guy like Marion.

PS- In the midst of these blockbuster deals, the San Antonio Spurs continued to fly under the radar and signed veteran point guard Damon Stoudamire while Tony Parker struggles with injury. The Spurs don’t make the BIG moves, but they usually make the right ones.

Upon Quite Possibly the Greatest Invention Ever

Upon YouTube Video of the Year

2008, the bar has just been set incredibly high!

Upon Reviewing Our Predictions

Readers can find nearly all the coverage that they might want of the Giants thrilling victory over the Patriots. Since the best sports writers in the world are covering the game, I don’t need to write the same story. What I will do is go over the pre-game predictions that Sherm and I came out with, and see how we did.

 The Pats O-Line- I quoted Olshansky from the Chargers, who believed the Giants could exploit the offensive line of the Pats. During the game, Tom Brady was on his seat as much as his feet, and the Giants hit, hurried, and bothered the hell out of him.

Verdict- Very Accurate

Stephen Gostkowski- I thought that the Pats would face a test with an unproven kicker. Gostkowski did shank a kickoff out of bounds (though it didn’t result in points) and Belichick chose to go for it on fourth down with the Pats in position for a 49 yard field goal. Any doubts that Adam V would have trotted out and nailed the kick?

Verdict- Accurate

Steve Smith- I wish i would have had the prescience to predict David Tyree as a game-changer and participant in what may now stand next to the “Immaculate Reception” and “The Catch” as one of the greatest plays in playoff history.  What I did precdict was that Steve Smith would be an important player in this game, keeping drives alive with key third down catches. Early on, a balled bounced off Smith’s hands and was picked off, making me look dead wrong. However, Smith did conver many third downs for Manning, including a HUGE 12 yard catch and out of bounds on a 3rd and 11 with the clock runnning. His awareness on the sideline kept the game-winning drive alive.

Verdict- accurate when it mattered most 

 What about Sherm?

 Hit Brady- They sure did. Sherm worried that they wouldn’t hit him enough to make a difference. They did and then some

Verdict- Accurate, though Sherm didn’t believe 100%

Hit Moss- With the exception of the TD, Moss was largely ineffective. I don’t recall the coverage, but I know that Moss was again a shadow of the monster he was in the regular season.

Verdict- Accurate

Hold them to field goals- Didn’t happen, but it didn’t matter. “They’re gonna move the ball on us- can’t stop that”… sure you can! Pats scored a TD both times in the Red Zone, put they were also held out of the Red Zone  on every other posession.

Verdict- almost n/a

Get Bradshaw involved in the passing game- Didn’t happen. Bradshaw was the game’s leading rusher, but that wasn’t saying much in this game as he only gained 45 yards (albeit with a great 5 YPC average). He caught only 1 pass for three yards.  Passing was the order of the day, but it involved little used guys and not the RB.

Verdict- Not accurate

Short Field- The Giant’s did well with field position, with the exception of the two biggest and most important drives of the game. Hixon got stopped cold on the last kickoff and the Giants had to march all the way down. “It’s hard to go 80 yards and score without big plays“- very true. Thank goodness we got HUGE plays from, of all people, Kevin Boss, Steve Smith, and above all David Tyree.

Verdict- n/a

 Overall, I think we got to some good keys to the game.  I went with some safer picks, and they did come out right (except the pick on the throw to Smith). Sherm tried to cover all angles, and keyed on the biggest thing of all, stopping Brady.

 I don’t think either of us could have predicted that the Giants would put on that kind of defensive show, but we will take it 10 times out of 10.

 The NY Giants are the world champs.

Upon an Enjoyable Commercial

If you are a Giant fan, the below link should be particularly enjoyable….

http://www.rbk.com/us/perfectville/