I have to mention something, even with the likelihood I will offend the easily offended. A few days back I was at a restaurant and I heard a commotion behind me. I turned to find an older man punching another patron who responded with some heavy shoving that ended up turning a dining table over and spilling a bucket full of beer over the floor.
Two burly security guards separated the two, although it took a bit of doing and seemed more like the half-hearted attempts by NHL referees to break up a hockey fight before enough blood hits the ice. As a quick aside, the security business in the country I was visiting may be the fastest growing job sector with security at most restaurants, shops, malls, clubs, parking lots, office buildings, even private security guards. Despite the number of beef at most places I go, I don’t feel much safer.
Once the fighters calmed down, the security guards turned the table back over and rearranged the chairs. The combatants each sat down at the same table and began talking to each other with very little anger, it appeared. So the fighters were actually friends – maybe even relatives – and must have figured a point needed to be made with fists rather than a tough talk. As far as fights go, it wasn’t much of a thing to watch and was more reminiscent of the break-dance fighting from the movie Zoolander than a heavyweight championship bout. Still, it was a head-scrather….
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
We Need Another Hero
Some of you may read this and think, “Oh crap, he’s writing about sports.” But this is about more than sports; it’s about the intrusion of sports into modern culture and taking a look back at how professional athletes used to fit into our society.
Barry Bonds is chasing a milestone that up until 1974 was believed to be unreachable. That year Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth’s career home run record of 714 dingers. Now Bonds is within six homers of tying Hank Aaron’s record of 755 and there simply isn’t any excitement out there. At least there isn’t the excitement Aaron generated – both good and bad – in his run at the record in 1973 and 1974.
During the end of the 1973 season, the news media hounded Aaron and television cameras were everywhere to record the record-breaking home run. An America still steeped in racial bigotry was also present as Aaron received thousands of letters of hate mail because a black man dared to break a white legend’s record – never mind the fact that the white legend was a legendary cad.
Now that Bonds is nearing the record, it seems there is a collective ho-hum from the media and fans. It could be because the old Roger Maris record of 61 home runs was shattered three times by supposed steroid-filled hitters Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and then Bonds with 73 home runs. Or it could be that Bonds is not liked by fellow players and is silent to the media. Perhaps it is the swirl of controversy emanating from the BALCO scandal that implicates steroid use by Bonds, though he has never admitted using steroids nor been found guilty of their use. For all his current 749 home runs, nobody knows how many were hit before his alleged use of steroids, how many during or how many after, so we’ll always wonder where his legitimate talent ended and was overtaken by performance enhancing substances.
It’s likely baseball fans are yawning at what should be a major achievement for all of these reasons. And that’s what’s wrong with athletes and sports these days. Putting aside all the arguments that Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron hit in smaller ball parks, batted against pitchers whose arms were dead from overuse and never had to face a split-finger fastball or a slider that fell off the plate, Aaron was easy to celebrate because he endured the attention and handled it all like a gentleman. One gets the feeling Bonds has become driven to break the record simply because he can and gets no enjoyment out of it. He knows once he breaks the record it will forever come with an asterisk, which will say more about the man than the towering home runs and his remarkable baseball longevity.
In many ways, it’s too bad Bonds is the bad guy in this. However much he has been rumored to be pumped up on steroids, he is hitting against pitchers who are likely steroid users and that’s only when they actually pitch to him. He draws a walk nearly twice as often as the next hitter and nobody is saying it takes steroids to have a good eye. This means he gets half as many attempts to hit a home run and even fewer good pitches to take a swing. Basically, he gets a home run every time a pitcher makes a mistake by throwing near the plate. Still, all is not right in Mudville.
I was talking to The Boy the other day and was lamenting (yes, Lazlo does lament) that he never got the chance to see Magic and Bird, the old Knicks and Lakers from the 1970s, Jim Brown, Gayle Sayers and the Bears and the Lombardi Packers. I wish he could have seen the old baseball players like Bob Gibson, Carl Yastrzemski and Al Kaline, the first Major League player to be paid $100,000 per season. Perhaps it’s just faded memories, but it seemed like they all played for the joy of the game and not the fame that has suddenly become greater in importance off the field and off the court than on them.
Much of the problem lies in the money today’s athletes earn. Outside of Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan, nowhere does someone get paid more for having so little talent. Third rate short stops are earning $10 million per year, aging point guards $18 million per year and pot-bellied golfers (sorry Ber) are getting millions in endorsements to stretch into their stretch pants. But what they are paid is not everything. It’s the whole illusion of fame and the fact they have it thrust upon them at such a young age. You can find a website today that will tell you who the best 5th graders are at basketball and a 14-year-old basketball player just verbally committed to USC before he decided which high school to play for (hat tip to Nicholas on these tidbits before he desecrated my cell phone).
Sports is also covered differently today than it was in the past. We now have ESPN 1-8 with 24-hours of news to fill and a magazine to fill what’s left. Flip on any sports show tomorrow and you’ll hear more about the NBA draft than you ever heard about the military draft. Sure, I enjoy watching ESPN more than I do CNN, but all the coverage seems to go to the athlete’s heads, making sports more about the “bling” and $4,000 suits than getting the privilege to play a sport that most of us would do for minimum wage.
There was a time (sadly, during my time), that sports writers were the stars. Everyone knew and worshiped Red Smith, Ring Lardner, Grantland Rice and Jim Murray. Their stars were bigger and brighter than the players they covered and they were beloved because they too could do things few mere mortals could: bring the color and texture to sports before it was on television. These writers were paid more than most, if not all, of the sports figures they covered and the players looked up to them and hoped to get a mention in their columns.
After Curt Flood’s legal test brought about free agency and players salaries began to rise to 10 and 20 times that of the average sports writer, a certain economic and social status began to separate the two. Players and writers were no longer invited to the same parties and what they did have in common – the love of the game – began to fade away as the disparity in economic conditions drove a wedge between them. Today sports writers are often overly cynical of athletes and athletes do much to confirm an image of a coddled and protected super class of the modern star. When a minor football player like Pac Man Jones gets nearly as much air time for his third arrest as Paris Hilton did for hers, it’s saddening to see where sports has crossed over to the worst of our modern culture. And while film stars would love to get Paris et al off the cover of the tabloids, so we sports fans look for a throwback to a time when we looked up to our athletes both on and off the field. I suppose in both cases Tina Turner was wrong – we do need another hero.
Barry Bonds is chasing a milestone that up until 1974 was believed to be unreachable. That year Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth’s career home run record of 714 dingers. Now Bonds is within six homers of tying Hank Aaron’s record of 755 and there simply isn’t any excitement out there. At least there isn’t the excitement Aaron generated – both good and bad – in his run at the record in 1973 and 1974.
During the end of the 1973 season, the news media hounded Aaron and television cameras were everywhere to record the record-breaking home run. An America still steeped in racial bigotry was also present as Aaron received thousands of letters of hate mail because a black man dared to break a white legend’s record – never mind the fact that the white legend was a legendary cad.
Now that Bonds is nearing the record, it seems there is a collective ho-hum from the media and fans. It could be because the old Roger Maris record of 61 home runs was shattered three times by supposed steroid-filled hitters Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and then Bonds with 73 home runs. Or it could be that Bonds is not liked by fellow players and is silent to the media. Perhaps it is the swirl of controversy emanating from the BALCO scandal that implicates steroid use by Bonds, though he has never admitted using steroids nor been found guilty of their use. For all his current 749 home runs, nobody knows how many were hit before his alleged use of steroids, how many during or how many after, so we’ll always wonder where his legitimate talent ended and was overtaken by performance enhancing substances.
It’s likely baseball fans are yawning at what should be a major achievement for all of these reasons. And that’s what’s wrong with athletes and sports these days. Putting aside all the arguments that Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron hit in smaller ball parks, batted against pitchers whose arms were dead from overuse and never had to face a split-finger fastball or a slider that fell off the plate, Aaron was easy to celebrate because he endured the attention and handled it all like a gentleman. One gets the feeling Bonds has become driven to break the record simply because he can and gets no enjoyment out of it. He knows once he breaks the record it will forever come with an asterisk, which will say more about the man than the towering home runs and his remarkable baseball longevity.
In many ways, it’s too bad Bonds is the bad guy in this. However much he has been rumored to be pumped up on steroids, he is hitting against pitchers who are likely steroid users and that’s only when they actually pitch to him. He draws a walk nearly twice as often as the next hitter and nobody is saying it takes steroids to have a good eye. This means he gets half as many attempts to hit a home run and even fewer good pitches to take a swing. Basically, he gets a home run every time a pitcher makes a mistake by throwing near the plate. Still, all is not right in Mudville.
I was talking to The Boy the other day and was lamenting (yes, Lazlo does lament) that he never got the chance to see Magic and Bird, the old Knicks and Lakers from the 1970s, Jim Brown, Gayle Sayers and the Bears and the Lombardi Packers. I wish he could have seen the old baseball players like Bob Gibson, Carl Yastrzemski and Al Kaline, the first Major League player to be paid $100,000 per season. Perhaps it’s just faded memories, but it seemed like they all played for the joy of the game and not the fame that has suddenly become greater in importance off the field and off the court than on them.
Much of the problem lies in the money today’s athletes earn. Outside of Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan, nowhere does someone get paid more for having so little talent. Third rate short stops are earning $10 million per year, aging point guards $18 million per year and pot-bellied golfers (sorry Ber) are getting millions in endorsements to stretch into their stretch pants. But what they are paid is not everything. It’s the whole illusion of fame and the fact they have it thrust upon them at such a young age. You can find a website today that will tell you who the best 5th graders are at basketball and a 14-year-old basketball player just verbally committed to USC before he decided which high school to play for (hat tip to Nicholas on these tidbits before he desecrated my cell phone).
Sports is also covered differently today than it was in the past. We now have ESPN 1-8 with 24-hours of news to fill and a magazine to fill what’s left. Flip on any sports show tomorrow and you’ll hear more about the NBA draft than you ever heard about the military draft. Sure, I enjoy watching ESPN more than I do CNN, but all the coverage seems to go to the athlete’s heads, making sports more about the “bling” and $4,000 suits than getting the privilege to play a sport that most of us would do for minimum wage.
There was a time (sadly, during my time), that sports writers were the stars. Everyone knew and worshiped Red Smith, Ring Lardner, Grantland Rice and Jim Murray. Their stars were bigger and brighter than the players they covered and they were beloved because they too could do things few mere mortals could: bring the color and texture to sports before it was on television. These writers were paid more than most, if not all, of the sports figures they covered and the players looked up to them and hoped to get a mention in their columns.
After Curt Flood’s legal test brought about free agency and players salaries began to rise to 10 and 20 times that of the average sports writer, a certain economic and social status began to separate the two. Players and writers were no longer invited to the same parties and what they did have in common – the love of the game – began to fade away as the disparity in economic conditions drove a wedge between them. Today sports writers are often overly cynical of athletes and athletes do much to confirm an image of a coddled and protected super class of the modern star. When a minor football player like Pac Man Jones gets nearly as much air time for his third arrest as Paris Hilton did for hers, it’s saddening to see where sports has crossed over to the worst of our modern culture. And while film stars would love to get Paris et al off the cover of the tabloids, so we sports fans look for a throwback to a time when we looked up to our athletes both on and off the field. I suppose in both cases Tina Turner was wrong – we do need another hero.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
U-C-L-A
Some years things go well for a sports fan, but usually there are more downs than ups. The Michigan Wolverines took a thumping from Greater Sladed Family’s favorite USC Trojans. The San Diego Chargers, the only professional football team I care about, got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs and then crashed the entire team despite a 14-2 record.
Mrs. Sladed would lament more about the Padres falling apart in the playoffs than I would, but I am with her in spirit having lived through decades of mediocrity with the Pads. The only other baseball team I care about, the Detroit Tigers, didn’t fare much better.
Then, the fog seems to clear and your team does something good for a change. My Team, the UCLA Bruins, is in bollege basketball's Final Four and doing it with grit, hard-nose defense and crappy shooting. Except for the crappy shooting, I haven’t seen a team like this in Westwood since the old Wooden days.
Here’s hoping the Bruins hoist another Championship banner at Pauley Pavilion. Of course you can check back in a week to find out they didn’t get any farther. And that’s the funny thing about sports. There are hundreds of teams that only dream of being in the Final Four, and who could complain for very long about a 14-2 record? I guess it’s all about finishing the job and I suspect we fans put too much on winning it all. We’re so fickle!
Mrs. Sladed would lament more about the Padres falling apart in the playoffs than I would, but I am with her in spirit having lived through decades of mediocrity with the Pads. The only other baseball team I care about, the Detroit Tigers, didn’t fare much better.
Then, the fog seems to clear and your team does something good for a change. My Team, the UCLA Bruins, is in bollege basketball's Final Four and doing it with grit, hard-nose defense and crappy shooting. Except for the crappy shooting, I haven’t seen a team like this in Westwood since the old Wooden days.
Here’s hoping the Bruins hoist another Championship banner at Pauley Pavilion. Of course you can check back in a week to find out they didn’t get any farther. And that’s the funny thing about sports. There are hundreds of teams that only dream of being in the Final Four, and who could complain for very long about a 14-2 record? I guess it’s all about finishing the job and I suspect we fans put too much on winning it all. We’re so fickle!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Michigan Gets Hosed Again By Trojans
Also posted on Laz's Sports-O-Rama.
Looking at this from as much distance as possible, I don’t know how USC can jump ahead of Michigan in the most recent AP and USA Today poll. Yes, I am more fan than outsider, but let’s take a look at the situation strictly from cold, hard facts.
Michigan had one loss, a 3-point loss to the Number 1 team all season, while USC also had one loss, a 2-point loss at Oregon State, which did not even finish in the Top 25. The teams had one common opponent in Notre Dame. While it’s true that USC gave the Fighting Irish a real pasting last night, they did so at home, winning by 20. However, Michigan also gave Notre Dame a good spanking, beating them by 26 AT South Bend. Which win is more impressive: a win by 26 points on the road or 20 at home?
There are those who say the Pac 10 is a stronger conference and therefore Michigan’s in-conference wins mean less. The pollsters don’t agree. The Pac 10 has two teams in the Top 25, No 2 USC – disputed, mind you – and No. 21 California. The Big 10 has three teams in the Top 7 with a combined record of 34-2. While both conferences had fairly weak non-conference schedules, the Big 10 still won 41 out of 52 games, a 79 percent winning percentage. The Pac 10 had far fewer games outside of their conference but still won 23 of 31 games – a 74 percent winning percentage. Once again, the edge goes to the Big 10.
I will grant that USC had quality wins over Arkansas and Nebraska and a final strong win over Notre Dame, but they looked pretty weak during a four-week string of three close wins over Washington State, Washington and Arizona and then a loss at Oregon State. Michigan was never seriously challenged in any win with the exception of a 7-point win at Penn State – once ranked 15th in the country.
Slade441 attempts to make good points but doesn’t have the research to back up his arguments as are displayed in this intelligently written report. He does make sense in one of his recent posts of keeping the old-fashion bowl game schedule, which would have pit Michigan against USC in the Rose Bowl. That is the only way to really settle which team is better and then the winner of that game would end up playing a one-game playoff against, presumably, Ohio State to determine the national champ. I would be in favor of that.
While I expect Michigan to get hosed in the near-term rankings, I do think they will end up ranked Number 2 following USC’s humiliating defeat in the Fiesta Bowl against the Buckeyes. I just may end up getting the last laugh on this.
Of course this isn't the first time USC snuck ahead of Michigan. Who could ever forget the cheating Charles White in his fake touchdown during the 1977 Rose Bowl? There can be nobody alive who doesn't remember that, right?
Looking at this from as much distance as possible, I don’t know how USC can jump ahead of Michigan in the most recent AP and USA Today poll. Yes, I am more fan than outsider, but let’s take a look at the situation strictly from cold, hard facts.
Michigan had one loss, a 3-point loss to the Number 1 team all season, while USC also had one loss, a 2-point loss at Oregon State, which did not even finish in the Top 25. The teams had one common opponent in Notre Dame. While it’s true that USC gave the Fighting Irish a real pasting last night, they did so at home, winning by 20. However, Michigan also gave Notre Dame a good spanking, beating them by 26 AT South Bend. Which win is more impressive: a win by 26 points on the road or 20 at home?
There are those who say the Pac 10 is a stronger conference and therefore Michigan’s in-conference wins mean less. The pollsters don’t agree. The Pac 10 has two teams in the Top 25, No 2 USC – disputed, mind you – and No. 21 California. The Big 10 has three teams in the Top 7 with a combined record of 34-2. While both conferences had fairly weak non-conference schedules, the Big 10 still won 41 out of 52 games, a 79 percent winning percentage. The Pac 10 had far fewer games outside of their conference but still won 23 of 31 games – a 74 percent winning percentage. Once again, the edge goes to the Big 10.
I will grant that USC had quality wins over Arkansas and Nebraska and a final strong win over Notre Dame, but they looked pretty weak during a four-week string of three close wins over Washington State, Washington and Arizona and then a loss at Oregon State. Michigan was never seriously challenged in any win with the exception of a 7-point win at Penn State – once ranked 15th in the country.
Slade441 attempts to make good points but doesn’t have the research to back up his arguments as are displayed in this intelligently written report. He does make sense in one of his recent posts of keeping the old-fashion bowl game schedule, which would have pit Michigan against USC in the Rose Bowl. That is the only way to really settle which team is better and then the winner of that game would end up playing a one-game playoff against, presumably, Ohio State to determine the national champ. I would be in favor of that.
While I expect Michigan to get hosed in the near-term rankings, I do think they will end up ranked Number 2 following USC’s humiliating defeat in the Fiesta Bowl against the Buckeyes. I just may end up getting the last laugh on this.
Of course this isn't the first time USC snuck ahead of Michigan. Who could ever forget the cheating Charles White in his fake touchdown during the 1977 Rose Bowl? There can be nobody alive who doesn't remember that, right?
Friday, November 17, 2006
Say It Ain't So, Bo
Nobody may know Bo like I know Bo. He was Michigan. He was as big of an icon in the 1960s and 1970s in Michigan as any professional athlete or coach. When you thought of the Wolverines, you thought of Bo. You may not have always been happy with Bo, but it’s difficult to argue his career coaching record, which includes finishing in the Top 10 in college football 16 of his 21 years at Michigan and only twice out of the Top Twenty. No Schembechler team ever finished without a winning record on his way to198 career coaching victories.The Wolverines could be boring at times – the cheer “up the middle, up the middle, pass, punt” was invented in Ann Arbor – and you were often suckered into believing their mighty 10-0 record headed into the final game of the season was good enough.. But too often the season ended with a loss to chief nemesis Ohio State and Woody Hayes or, if Michigan got by the Buckeyes, it invariably lost in the Rose Bowl.
There was the heart-shattering loss to Stanford and Jim Plunkett in 1970 (heart shattering to Bo too, as it turns out, as he suffered his first heart attack before the game). And of course who can forget the cheap Rose Bowl loss to USC in which Charles White fumbled the ball before heading into the end zone in 1977? Well, Mrs. Laz may remember because she almost decided to stop dating me after I went outside and laid in the middle of a rain-dampened Lamont Street waiting for a car to swiftly end my misery following that loss. You would think she would recognize by now that I take the Wolverines very seriously, wouldn’t you?
The rivalries between the Big 10 and the Pac 10 brought out the fight in us and I remember the pranks I played on the Biggest USC Trojan Fan In The World, Hank Snow. The day of one Rose Bowl game between Michigan and USC, I placed an ad in the San Diego Union urging all Wolverine fans to attend a lunch and rally at Hank’s house to support the team and made sure his telephone number was prominently displayed so fans could call for directions. I don’t know who had more fun with that prank.
To my cousin, the Michigan Wolverines were everything to him and his family and Bo was an early inspiration in his life. When cancer took him at the young age of 39, he was buried in a Michigan Wolverine casket and dressed in Michigan hat, scarf and jacket.
Bo brought that spirit out in people and gave me and 110,000 Wolverine fans in the Big House so many good memories. He was a class guy in an awkward time in our history and understood the role Saturday football could have on the American psyche. He loved his players, knew their families, knew what the games meant to Michigan, knew that the first 10 or so games were meaningless if he couldn’t beat the Buckeyes or get to the Rose Bowl. He placed all the fans’ expectation on his shoulders and drank bottles of Pepto Bismol instead of complaining about the pressure he was constantly under; pressure he created himself just by winning.
He not only had a great sense for the importance of the game of football and its value to the community and the University, but he took great pride in understanding the relationship between athletics and real life lessons. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have made the controversial decision as Michigan’s athletic director to fire basketball coach Bill Frieder on the eve of the NCAA Tournament because Frieder announced he had taken a job with Arizona State. He said he didn’t want an Arizona State coach to lead his team; he wanted a Michigan coach. Steve Fisher took over as coach and his team won the NCAA championship, proving Bo’s instincts right.
I remember many of the players but it was always Bo we counted on to deliver us the victories we needed. I wonder if the players on this year’s team will be pushed for one more victory knowing his spirit will be hovering around Columbus. If they win, I can just imagine the big grin on Bo’s face as the clock ticks down to zero and his good buddy Woody is on the other side of the field cursing under his breath.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
All Sports All The Time
I heard from a few of you that you either don't much care for sports or don't care for my writing about sports. But I used to be a sportswriter...it's in my blood, dammit. Also, I have a daughter in sports and she needs to know her dad knows more about sports than she does.
In the interest of keeping all heads calm, I have created a new site just for sports. I call it Laz's Sport-O-Rama and you can link to it here or to the right at my Link section under sports.
Although I may have to write in this space about Michigan beating Ohio State by one-point to keep USC ranked #3.
In the interest of keeping all heads calm, I have created a new site just for sports. I call it Laz's Sport-O-Rama and you can link to it here or to the right at my Link section under sports.
Although I may have to write in this space about Michigan beating Ohio State by one-point to keep USC ranked #3.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
NBA Power Rankings
This is the first of several irregular NBA Power Rankings done, in most part, to rankle my daughter who doesn’t believe I know anything about professional basketball. If it irritates others, so much the better.
Week One:
San Antonio Spurs: Well, this isn’t a difficult choice since everyone else in the world picked the Spurs at the top spot. And why not? They have one of the best and most consistent players in Tim Duncan who enters this season rested and healthy. Give him the NBA’s best coach with Gregg Popovich, the quickest player in the League in Tony Parker, Mr. Perpetual Motion in Manu Ginobili and a number of seasoned veterans who know their roles, and you have a team that should be at the top spot.
Dallas Mavericks: I hate putting them this high up because I don’t care for the players. Dirk is whining big man who lacks toughness to go inside and mix it up, Erick Dampier will mix it up but has become a cheap player, Josh Howard is one of those players that does all the annoying, but effective, things and Jason Terry is a bit too temperamental for my tastes. Oh, and they have a whack job for an owner. They do have a great coach in the Little General, Avery Johnson and he somehow makes it all work and, besides, he’s the only likeable guy in the organization.
Detroit Pistons: It wasn’t the Tigers’ year this fall nor the Pistons’ year last year, but the Detroit Shock won the WNBA Championship over the summer and that’s cause to put the men’s varsity up this high. Well, that’s not the only reason: they have really, really good players who know how to win. Yes they lost Ben Wallace and a few players like Rasheed Wallace, Dale Davis, Antonio McDyess and even Chaunchey Billups are getting a bit older, but they still have Richard Hamilton, Tayshun Prince and a couple good free agent acquisitions in Nazr Mohammed and Flip Murray. They may not beat you with flash and athleticism, but they will beat up – as long as they don’t listen to the other Flip, coach Flip Saunders.
Phoenix Suns: This team is the Ferrari in the League with speed and handling and no reason for brakes. Steve Nash still leads this team but gets plenty of help from a group that can shoot from anywhere on the floor and jump higher than Baryshnikov. They also get Amare Stoudemire back this year who can be one of the most dominant players in the League when he wants. Of course he is working his way back from micro-fracture surgery on his knee and there is a virtual boneyard of previous NBA players who never made it back from such an injury.
Denver Nuggets: Nobody has this team this high up but I want to be a bit controversial. Besides, there are a bunch of teams that fall into this second tier category and I’d rather put this young and promising team this high rather than the Clippers who never seem to live up to the hype. This last summer, the Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony was the best and most consistent player for Team USA and he may yet prove to be the best player to come out of the LeBron, Dwayne Wade, Darko draft year. He also has a better cast around him this year with Kenyon Martin slightly happier, Marcus Camby healthier and Nene just plain healthy. He also has J.R. Smith who has a huge upside, the steady, if slow, Andre Miller at the point and a couple of hacks in Reggie “The Ballgrabber” Evans and Eduardo Najera who may keep a number of players from thinking twice before heading for the basket.
Los Angeles Clippers: If the whole team had the attitude and talent that Elton Brand squeezes out of his undersize body, they’d be on the top of the list. Sam Cassell is a proven winner but he from Mars and is as old as dirt. Shaun Livingston and Chris Kamen are supposed to have breakout years, but what Clipper isn’t? Cuttino Mobley and Rebraca (what’s the point in his first name) will provide the outside shooting with Corey Maggette the athleticism (although he really doesn’t fit this team and wouldn’t surprise me if he’s traded before the season is out). Anyway, the Clips could end up higher or lower depending on undependable factors.
Miami Heat: OK, so I cheated a bit and watched them lose to the Bulls tonight by 40. They looked old and awful and seem to depend more than ever on Dwayne Wade who scored 25 with no other player in double figures. Of course the team barely made double figures either. Shaq looks slow and disinterested, Jason Williams is hurt, James Posey only plays defense and Antoine Walker just jacks up threes to see if he can draw iron. One game does not a season make, but the most recent NBA Champions should have given back the championship rings they were handed in the pre-game ceremony out of shame.
Chicago Bulls: One game does not a season make, but I repeat myself. The Bulls look like the real deal with a solid starting lineup and pretty decent depth. Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Nocioni and newly acquired Ben Wallace make up a formidable core of a good, young team. But that’s the problem; they are young and have never been in the spotlight like this before. Will take a wait and see approach to see how they respond to the new pressure.
Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cavs won 50 games last year because LeBron James is the best player since Michael Jordan. He still could use a little help for the team to improve on last year, but he probably didn’t get his wish as the team is made up of mostly the same has-beens and never-weres as last year.
New Jersey Nets: I was not one of those who predicted the Nets would do well last year, but they still won their weak division by January, I think. Jason Kidd looks like an old wife beater rather than a young one these days but the Nets have Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson and a much improved Nenad Krstic (get that man a vowel). They don’t have a great deal more than that, but won’t need it in the East and especially in their conference.
Houston Rockets: Go figure this team out. They have the best center in the League with Yao Ming, one of the best swingmen to play the game in Tracy McGrady and a pretty good supporting cast with Bonzi Wells and Rafer Alston. They also stole Shane Battier from Memphis who is one of those guys you need on a team if you want to get better. Battier can be counted on to play defense, get 6-7 rebounds each game, 3-4 assists, a few steals and dozens of hustle plays.
Sacramento Kings: They could be good this year or a bust. Already the injuries have diminished the roster as Mike Bibby will sit the first few weeks out sucking his thumb and Brad Miller got a little banged up at the end of pre-season. But they still have the League’s craziest player in Ron Artest who will either score or brawl with the opposing team – or his team, it’s all the same to him. Could be a breakout year for Kevin Martin and the team has more depth than last year’s team that finished strong. The Kings are still in search of a leader and probably won’t find it in their coach who you can find cleaning up the freeway in an orange vest for his drunk driving conviction. Great influence on these impressionable players, don’t you think?
Los Angeles Lakers: I just want to make sure I keep the Lakers below the Kings. It won’t last long. As soon as Kobe comes back from his injury without a corresponding rape charge he will have a team used to playing without him and one that Coach Phil Jackson will have convinced they don’t need to take his staredowns when they don’t get him the ball. Lamar Odom, the second nuttiest player in the League has improved immensely, Luke Walton is one of those Battier-type players and Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum both look like solid big men. In the end, Kobe is the difference maker and it will be up to him to carry this team on his shoulders again. I am sure he hates that kind of attention, don’t you?
Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, Golden State Warriors: All these teams are interchangeable and have the ability to move up higher in the rankings or drop down, depending on my mood and how they play. The Pacers have the third craziest player in the NBA in Stephen Jackson (third with a bullet, pardon the pun); Utah has all of its players back from injury and still has Jerry Sloan to guide them or kill them, his choice. Also Deron Williams appears to be turning into a star at the point; the Wizards can’t play defense but Gilbert Arenas and team can put up a lot of points; the Timberwolves got rid of Wally-ball, which helps, but KG’s got some mileage on him and not much help other than stat-conscious Rickey Davis; I’m not one of those big Hornet fans yet since Chris Paul seems like the only legit star on a team that made a number of off-season moves but seemed to just improve their starting lineup by 5-6 wins for this year; the Milwaukee Bucks got better in the draft and through free agency but still need more than Michael Redd to score consistently, but this team could jump up in the rankings if they can mesh well; the Magic are an intriguing team this year as Dwight Howard looks like a stud, Darko seems to be emerging from the shadows, Jameer Nelson looks like he can play and maybe Grant Hill might play a whole season; Golden State got Nellie but still has a collection of misfits. My daughter gives me the inside scoop that they may trade for AI which may help attendance if not wins.
Then there is a next group of teams not ready to do much. They include the Toronto Raptors who have a good, young and very foreign team, the Seattle Supersonics who still have Ray Allen if not an arena. The Charlotte Bobcats who at least have a Fantasy League superstar in Gerald Wallace who will probably lead the league in steals, and get his share of blocked shots, rebounds and points and play well with a good young nucleus led by Okafor and Morrison. The Memphis Grizzlies who lost their star player in Pau Gasol and did very little to help themselves while he’s out. The Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers did nothing to improve during the offseason but perhaps a less-injured, less-shooting Chris Webber will help along with hopeful improvements from Kyle Korver and Iggy.
I'm a fan of the Atlanta Hawks who are led by Joe Johnson and Josh Smith and should improve a few games this year. The Boston Celtics traded for Wally Szczerbiak and Michael Olowokandi and, except for making their team the most difficult to spell, they will do little other than add to Paul Pierce’s growing impatience. The New York Knicks are a disaster that has four point guards and five forwards and all locked into large contracts for a team that finished 41 games back last year. In other words, good luck to them. Bringing up the rear are the Portland Trailblazers who have nothing but misplaced aggression in Zach Randolf and an embarrassed owner. Zach is certain to vie with former teammate Rasheed Wallace for most technicals in League history with the new whistle-happy rules.
Did I forget anyone? Check back in a bit to see if I’m scurrying about to explain my rankings.
Week One:
San Antonio Spurs: Well, this isn’t a difficult choice since everyone else in the world picked the Spurs at the top spot. And why not? They have one of the best and most consistent players in Tim Duncan who enters this season rested and healthy. Give him the NBA’s best coach with Gregg Popovich, the quickest player in the League in Tony Parker, Mr. Perpetual Motion in Manu Ginobili and a number of seasoned veterans who know their roles, and you have a team that should be at the top spot.
Dallas Mavericks: I hate putting them this high up because I don’t care for the players. Dirk is whining big man who lacks toughness to go inside and mix it up, Erick Dampier will mix it up but has become a cheap player, Josh Howard is one of those players that does all the annoying, but effective, things and Jason Terry is a bit too temperamental for my tastes. Oh, and they have a whack job for an owner. They do have a great coach in the Little General, Avery Johnson and he somehow makes it all work and, besides, he’s the only likeable guy in the organization.
Detroit Pistons: It wasn’t the Tigers’ year this fall nor the Pistons’ year last year, but the Detroit Shock won the WNBA Championship over the summer and that’s cause to put the men’s varsity up this high. Well, that’s not the only reason: they have really, really good players who know how to win. Yes they lost Ben Wallace and a few players like Rasheed Wallace, Dale Davis, Antonio McDyess and even Chaunchey Billups are getting a bit older, but they still have Richard Hamilton, Tayshun Prince and a couple good free agent acquisitions in Nazr Mohammed and Flip Murray. They may not beat you with flash and athleticism, but they will beat up – as long as they don’t listen to the other Flip, coach Flip Saunders.
Phoenix Suns: This team is the Ferrari in the League with speed and handling and no reason for brakes. Steve Nash still leads this team but gets plenty of help from a group that can shoot from anywhere on the floor and jump higher than Baryshnikov. They also get Amare Stoudemire back this year who can be one of the most dominant players in the League when he wants. Of course he is working his way back from micro-fracture surgery on his knee and there is a virtual boneyard of previous NBA players who never made it back from such an injury.
Denver Nuggets: Nobody has this team this high up but I want to be a bit controversial. Besides, there are a bunch of teams that fall into this second tier category and I’d rather put this young and promising team this high rather than the Clippers who never seem to live up to the hype. This last summer, the Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony was the best and most consistent player for Team USA and he may yet prove to be the best player to come out of the LeBron, Dwayne Wade, Darko draft year. He also has a better cast around him this year with Kenyon Martin slightly happier, Marcus Camby healthier and Nene just plain healthy. He also has J.R. Smith who has a huge upside, the steady, if slow, Andre Miller at the point and a couple of hacks in Reggie “The Ballgrabber” Evans and Eduardo Najera who may keep a number of players from thinking twice before heading for the basket.
Los Angeles Clippers: If the whole team had the attitude and talent that Elton Brand squeezes out of his undersize body, they’d be on the top of the list. Sam Cassell is a proven winner but he from Mars and is as old as dirt. Shaun Livingston and Chris Kamen are supposed to have breakout years, but what Clipper isn’t? Cuttino Mobley and Rebraca (what’s the point in his first name) will provide the outside shooting with Corey Maggette the athleticism (although he really doesn’t fit this team and wouldn’t surprise me if he’s traded before the season is out). Anyway, the Clips could end up higher or lower depending on undependable factors.
Miami Heat: OK, so I cheated a bit and watched them lose to the Bulls tonight by 40. They looked old and awful and seem to depend more than ever on Dwayne Wade who scored 25 with no other player in double figures. Of course the team barely made double figures either. Shaq looks slow and disinterested, Jason Williams is hurt, James Posey only plays defense and Antoine Walker just jacks up threes to see if he can draw iron. One game does not a season make, but the most recent NBA Champions should have given back the championship rings they were handed in the pre-game ceremony out of shame.
Chicago Bulls: One game does not a season make, but I repeat myself. The Bulls look like the real deal with a solid starting lineup and pretty decent depth. Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Nocioni and newly acquired Ben Wallace make up a formidable core of a good, young team. But that’s the problem; they are young and have never been in the spotlight like this before. Will take a wait and see approach to see how they respond to the new pressure.
Cleveland Cavaliers: The Cavs won 50 games last year because LeBron James is the best player since Michael Jordan. He still could use a little help for the team to improve on last year, but he probably didn’t get his wish as the team is made up of mostly the same has-beens and never-weres as last year.
New Jersey Nets: I was not one of those who predicted the Nets would do well last year, but they still won their weak division by January, I think. Jason Kidd looks like an old wife beater rather than a young one these days but the Nets have Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson and a much improved Nenad Krstic (get that man a vowel). They don’t have a great deal more than that, but won’t need it in the East and especially in their conference.
Houston Rockets: Go figure this team out. They have the best center in the League with Yao Ming, one of the best swingmen to play the game in Tracy McGrady and a pretty good supporting cast with Bonzi Wells and Rafer Alston. They also stole Shane Battier from Memphis who is one of those guys you need on a team if you want to get better. Battier can be counted on to play defense, get 6-7 rebounds each game, 3-4 assists, a few steals and dozens of hustle plays.
Sacramento Kings: They could be good this year or a bust. Already the injuries have diminished the roster as Mike Bibby will sit the first few weeks out sucking his thumb and Brad Miller got a little banged up at the end of pre-season. But they still have the League’s craziest player in Ron Artest who will either score or brawl with the opposing team – or his team, it’s all the same to him. Could be a breakout year for Kevin Martin and the team has more depth than last year’s team that finished strong. The Kings are still in search of a leader and probably won’t find it in their coach who you can find cleaning up the freeway in an orange vest for his drunk driving conviction. Great influence on these impressionable players, don’t you think?
Los Angeles Lakers: I just want to make sure I keep the Lakers below the Kings. It won’t last long. As soon as Kobe comes back from his injury without a corresponding rape charge he will have a team used to playing without him and one that Coach Phil Jackson will have convinced they don’t need to take his staredowns when they don’t get him the ball. Lamar Odom, the second nuttiest player in the League has improved immensely, Luke Walton is one of those Battier-type players and Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum both look like solid big men. In the end, Kobe is the difference maker and it will be up to him to carry this team on his shoulders again. I am sure he hates that kind of attention, don’t you?
Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, Golden State Warriors: All these teams are interchangeable and have the ability to move up higher in the rankings or drop down, depending on my mood and how they play. The Pacers have the third craziest player in the NBA in Stephen Jackson (third with a bullet, pardon the pun); Utah has all of its players back from injury and still has Jerry Sloan to guide them or kill them, his choice. Also Deron Williams appears to be turning into a star at the point; the Wizards can’t play defense but Gilbert Arenas and team can put up a lot of points; the Timberwolves got rid of Wally-ball, which helps, but KG’s got some mileage on him and not much help other than stat-conscious Rickey Davis; I’m not one of those big Hornet fans yet since Chris Paul seems like the only legit star on a team that made a number of off-season moves but seemed to just improve their starting lineup by 5-6 wins for this year; the Milwaukee Bucks got better in the draft and through free agency but still need more than Michael Redd to score consistently, but this team could jump up in the rankings if they can mesh well; the Magic are an intriguing team this year as Dwight Howard looks like a stud, Darko seems to be emerging from the shadows, Jameer Nelson looks like he can play and maybe Grant Hill might play a whole season; Golden State got Nellie but still has a collection of misfits. My daughter gives me the inside scoop that they may trade for AI which may help attendance if not wins.
Then there is a next group of teams not ready to do much. They include the Toronto Raptors who have a good, young and very foreign team, the Seattle Supersonics who still have Ray Allen if not an arena. The Charlotte Bobcats who at least have a Fantasy League superstar in Gerald Wallace who will probably lead the league in steals, and get his share of blocked shots, rebounds and points and play well with a good young nucleus led by Okafor and Morrison. The Memphis Grizzlies who lost their star player in Pau Gasol and did very little to help themselves while he’s out. The Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers did nothing to improve during the offseason but perhaps a less-injured, less-shooting Chris Webber will help along with hopeful improvements from Kyle Korver and Iggy.
I'm a fan of the Atlanta Hawks who are led by Joe Johnson and Josh Smith and should improve a few games this year. The Boston Celtics traded for Wally Szczerbiak and Michael Olowokandi and, except for making their team the most difficult to spell, they will do little other than add to Paul Pierce’s growing impatience. The New York Knicks are a disaster that has four point guards and five forwards and all locked into large contracts for a team that finished 41 games back last year. In other words, good luck to them. Bringing up the rear are the Portland Trailblazers who have nothing but misplaced aggression in Zach Randolf and an embarrassed owner. Zach is certain to vie with former teammate Rasheed Wallace for most technicals in League history with the new whistle-happy rules.
Did I forget anyone? Check back in a bit to see if I’m scurrying about to explain my rankings.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Overrated
Ohio State won in convincing fashion and should be the unanimous Number 1 team in the country when sportswriters go to the polls this week and vote. But which team should be Number 2? Florida, ranked second or third depending on which unfair voting system you believe, lost to Auburn tonight. Certainly they will drop in the polls like a Ricky Davis fumble at the goal line during the Rose Bowl.
University of Southern California, arguably the weakest Number 2 team ever in the history of college football rankings, barely beat a weak team from Arizona. It doesn't matter which Arizona team -- Arizo
na State, University of Arizona, Northern Arizona, Scottsdale Community College -- they're all terrible and it's a huge embarrassment that USC escaped with a late touchdown AT HOME NO LESS. They looked about as sharp as white socks with a black suit tonight.
Besides the close shave USC had against a junior varsity team, they are coming off lackluster wins at unranked Washington State (28-22) and a time-conveniently-running-ou
t-win at home against Washington, 26-20. I guess the Trojans should enjoy life at near the top for a short time, because I don't think they will be able to finish the season undefeated with home games against highly-ranked Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame coming up. Home games? Geez, how many home games do the Trojans get against good teams?
On a much brighter note, fourth-ranked Michigan won another game on the road in stronger fashion than the score would indicate. They defeated the tough Penn State Nittany Lions 17-10, but it took a late touchdown to make the score look close. Until the final Penn State drive, they had been held to 52 yards of total offense by the stingy Wolverine defense, which also racked up seven sacks. In the end, Penn State was held to a mere 119 yards of total offense after the Wolverines put in their second and third defensive teams leading 17-3 late in the game.
With this impressive win, along with what can only be described as an ass-pounding (can I say that in a sports story? You bet your Red Smith I can) at Notre Dame, followed by solid wins against good Big 10 teams Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State, Michigan should be moved up to the second spot in the rankings. I don't think there is a convincing argument otherwise.
Now I am sure there are some ignorant football fans out there from the LA area that will disagree, but USC may as well start its gradual decline in the rankings now while the big boys, Michigan and Ohio State, fight it out for the top spot.
There, I've said it. I'm pretty sure I'm right about this.
University of Southern California, arguably the weakest Number 2 team ever in the history of college football rankings, barely beat a weak team from Arizona. It doesn't matter which Arizona team -- Arizo
na State, University of Arizona, Northern Arizona, Scottsdale Community College -- they're all terrible and it's a huge embarrassment that USC escaped with a late touchdown AT HOME NO LESS. They looked about as sharp as white socks with a black suit tonight.Besides the close shave USC had against a junior varsity team, they are coming off lackluster wins at unranked Washington State (28-22) and a time-conveniently-running-ou
t-win at home against Washington, 26-20. I guess the Trojans should enjoy life at near the top for a short time, because I don't think they will be able to finish the season undefeated with home games against highly-ranked Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame coming up. Home games? Geez, how many home games do the Trojans get against good teams?On a much brighter note, fourth-ranked Michigan won another game on the road in stronger fashion than the score would indicate. They defeated the tough Penn State Nittany Lions 17-10, but it took a late touchdown to make the score look close. Until the final Penn State drive, they had been held to 52 yards of total offense by the stingy Wolverine defense, which also racked up seven sacks. In the end, Penn State was held to a mere 119 yards of total offense after the Wolverines put in their second and third defensive teams leading 17-3 late in the game.
With this impressive win, along with what can only be described as an ass-pounding (can I say that in a sports story? You bet your Red Smith I can) at Notre Dame, followed by solid wins against good Big 10 teams Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State, Michigan should be moved up to the second spot in the rankings. I don't think there is a convincing argument otherwise.
Now I am sure there are some ignorant football fans out there from the LA area that will disagree, but USC may as well start its gradual decline in the rankings now while the big boys, Michigan and Ohio State, fight it out for the top spot.
There, I've said it. I'm pretty sure I'm right about this.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Rough Water Ahead
Ed-duh-tor's note: My buds were not in the La Jolla Rough Water but at a near equally crazy event in which they swam 1000 meters and then ran a 5K. They survived and lived to tell about it. See Sladed Blog for details and pictures of the surprisingly in shape old men: http://sladed.blogspot.com/2006/08/aquathlon.html
Sunday between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. my soon to be former best friends will become shark bait. Oh the horror of it all. They will swim in the La Jolla Rough Water Swim, a one-mile race at the Cove in La Jolla. De Woppo and Mr. Sladed will make this bold athletic try for the first time in decades. We all did it as studly young males, but I only tried it once (if I hadn't worn goggles and seen "shadowy things" lurking beneath me, I may have done it again).
In all truth, I wish I was there to join them. Alas, they are in shape and I am not. I am working on it, but they have each other to push themselves and I just have a hyper doctor and old lawyer to swim with up here. Just finishing will be good enough, but it will be interesting to see their times. Guys, please post them on here when you're done. Good luck and don't wear goggles or keep live bait in your Speedo.
Sunday between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. my soon to be former best friends will become shark bait. Oh the horror of it all. They will swim in the La Jolla Rough Water Swim, a one-mile race at the Cove in La Jolla. De Woppo and Mr. Sladed will make this bold athletic try for the first time in decades. We all did it as studly young males, but I only tried it once (if I hadn't worn goggles and seen "shadowy things" lurking beneath me, I may have done it again).
In all truth, I wish I was there to join them. Alas, they are in shape and I am not. I am working on it, but they have each other to push themselves and I just have a hyper doctor and old lawyer to swim with up here. Just finishing will be good enough, but it will be interesting to see their times. Guys, please post them on here when you're done. Good luck and don't wear goggles or keep live bait in your Speedo.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Sorry, Rick
There was a moment late in the game against the Clippers last week that really crystallized this thought: Kings’ coach Rick Adelman, much-maligned this year in the press, on talk shows, and even in this blog, deserves some recognition as Coach of the Year.
The Kings were up by four and came out of a timeout in a rare zone defense. It threw the Clippers off, they turned the ball over, and the Kings scored quickly on the other end. Now all teams have a zone defense they use, some more than others, so it’s no sensation the Kings have one too.
The fact is, all the other teams had pre-season to work on their zone defense while Adelman has had to piece his together on the fly. Because of injuries and mid-season trades, this current team has had no practice time, no ability to drill over and over the defensive shifts of a zone.
If you look back in the history of sports, mid-season blockbuster trades rarely help either team right away. There may be a burst of quick wins as there were in Indiana this year, but ultimately the team’s chemistry is so thrown off with unfamiliar faces, that they eventually look like strangers on the court and the losses pile up. This hasn’t been the case in Sacramento this year. Who would have thought taking a gamble on the mercurial Ron Artest could be managed so well, especially at mid-season?
Artest has been given a lot of the credit for the resurgence of the Kings, and deservedly so. Each player has stepped up their defensive play to such a level that even Mike Bibby is bragging about his defense. The Kings have always been a leaderless team and either Artest is leading by words and example or the players are afraid of what Artest might do to them should they miss a defensive assignment.
Giving Artest his share of the due is appropriate, but you don’t hear much credit going to Adelman. Despite the fact his team has had the mid-season makeover, battled through countless injuries, and said good-bye to very popular teammates, the Kings are 23-10 since they were at a season-low eight games under .500. Over the same 33-game span, only the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks have a better record in the West.
We can certainly say Artest was the catalyst for the turnaround, but it is also true that Adelman has been able to gradually get his players to coalesce into a system that fits this particular team. The Kings are no longer the pretty team with behind-the-back passing and quick-shooting three-point specialists. They defend tough, they rebound with enthusiasm despite undersized starters at center and power forward, and they’re economical with their shots. Or as Bibby best describes the new Kings, “we’re four power forwards and a point guard.”
Somebody had to stage manage this progression and someone had to work hard to develop ways to exploit the match-ups that most coaches would view as a headache. And this person had to do it without the luxury of practice time and without a contract for next season. He sits on the end of the Kings bench and never demands the respect he has earned over the past 16 years in which he has won 753 games – or an average of 47 wins each year. To Rick Adelman, my apologies for suggesting your firing and I hope the League, your team, and especially your owners realize what an impossible coaching job you have done this year.
Now, if you somehow slip up and don’t make the playoff, or the Kings are an early exit in the playoffs, please be ready to hear more talk show callers asking for you to be fired and replaced by …. That’s always been the rub, hasn’t it Rick, whose better than you not named Pop, Sloan, Larry, or Zenmaster?
The Kings were up by four and came out of a timeout in a rare zone defense. It threw the Clippers off, they turned the ball over, and the Kings scored quickly on the other end. Now all teams have a zone defense they use, some more than others, so it’s no sensation the Kings have one too.
The fact is, all the other teams had pre-season to work on their zone defense while Adelman has had to piece his together on the fly. Because of injuries and mid-season trades, this current team has had no practice time, no ability to drill over and over the defensive shifts of a zone.If you look back in the history of sports, mid-season blockbuster trades rarely help either team right away. There may be a burst of quick wins as there were in Indiana this year, but ultimately the team’s chemistry is so thrown off with unfamiliar faces, that they eventually look like strangers on the court and the losses pile up. This hasn’t been the case in Sacramento this year. Who would have thought taking a gamble on the mercurial Ron Artest could be managed so well, especially at mid-season?
Artest has been given a lot of the credit for the resurgence of the Kings, and deservedly so. Each player has stepped up their defensive play to such a level that even Mike Bibby is bragging about his defense. The Kings have always been a leaderless team and either Artest is leading by words and example or the players are afraid of what Artest might do to them should they miss a defensive assignment.
Giving Artest his share of the due is appropriate, but you don’t hear much credit going to Adelman. Despite the fact his team has had the mid-season makeover, battled through countless injuries, and said good-bye to very popular teammates, the Kings are 23-10 since they were at a season-low eight games under .500. Over the same 33-game span, only the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks have a better record in the West.
We can certainly say Artest was the catalyst for the turnaround, but it is also true that Adelman has been able to gradually get his players to coalesce into a system that fits this particular team. The Kings are no longer the pretty team with behind-the-back passing and quick-shooting three-point specialists. They defend tough, they rebound with enthusiasm despite undersized starters at center and power forward, and they’re economical with their shots. Or as Bibby best describes the new Kings, “we’re four power forwards and a point guard.”
Somebody had to stage manage this progression and someone had to work hard to develop ways to exploit the match-ups that most coaches would view as a headache. And this person had to do it without the luxury of practice time and without a contract for next season. He sits on the end of the Kings bench and never demands the respect he has earned over the past 16 years in which he has won 753 games – or an average of 47 wins each year. To Rick Adelman, my apologies for suggesting your firing and I hope the League, your team, and especially your owners realize what an impossible coaching job you have done this year.
Now, if you somehow slip up and don’t make the playoff, or the Kings are an early exit in the playoffs, please be ready to hear more talk show callers asking for you to be fired and replaced by …. That’s always been the rub, hasn’t it Rick, whose better than you not named Pop, Sloan, Larry, or Zenmaster?
Monday, December 26, 2005
Time To Say Adios To Rick
This is particularly harsh, especially coming so close to the good will and mirth conjured up by Christmas. The holiday season aside, it’s time for the Sacramento Kings to fire head coach Rick Adelman, which makes it all the more harsh because he’s a good coach who deserves better and because the losses piling up in Sacramento are not his fault. Just the same, it needs to be done now and not at the end of the season as has seemed to be the plan all along.The truth is, the Kings stink and the owners and the players are the stinkees, not Adelman. His teams have won 718 NBA games in 15-plus years, and his winning percentage at better than 60-percent is one of the tops in the League. He’s had players of lesser talent who have won, but never players with lesser heart than this current team. He hasn’t had the support of the players or the team owners all year as he lingers in coaching purgatory as a lame duck in the last year of his contract. If he can’t see the writing on the wall, his players can and they quit him a long time ago.
The Maloofs did the same by tinkering away with a good product; adding a piece here and there until all athleticism and chemistry vanished. Who knows how they really feel about Adelman as a coach? They seem far more interested in getting their mugs on MTV and flipping the pockets out of their Armani pants to show the city of Sacramento they don’t have enough money for a new arena. Anaheim beckons and this ownership clan will fit right in with the collagen and silicon crowd down south.
As for the players, they should all be sharpening their writing skills to craft the right letter of apology to Adelman. Without a strong coach who is backed by management, this has become a leaderless team. Surely a professional player can see what the fans see and you’d thing pride alone would give one of these Alpha Males the desire to lead. Mike Bibby was the obvious choice but he didn’t even have the discipline to come into training camp in shape. He muddled through the pre-season and the early games, treating them as nothing more than an aerobics class at the local gym. His shot was off, he was a step too slow, and his defensive play looked about as sharp as white socks with a black suit. Who would follow the lead of a player who cared so little that the gift of being one of the world’s greatest athletes seemed to be a burden and not worth the effort?
This season will mark the end of Peja Stojakovic as a King and it seems the right time to pack up his wide ties and wide pin-stripe suits and ship him off to New York or Philly where they will throw beer cups at him for his lack of effort. Has there ever been a player who runs from rebounds and fears mixing it up in the middle more than Peja? People used to compare Peja to Larry Bird but the truth is he will go down as a timid, spot-up shooter who lost his will when Vlade Divac left the Kings. Any team willing to part with $12 million a year for him as a free agent deserves what they get.
Brad Miller is certainly no leader and I’m not sure if the players really like him anyway. He’s temperamental, slow of foot, short for a center, can’t jump and makes big stiffs like Joe Przybilla and Eddy Curry look like the second coming of Wilt. He can shoot a mid-range jumper, pass well for a center, and have the occasional good game on the boards, but he looks spent this year after watching too many passes fly through the hands of players who don’t have their head in the game.
The Kings are 10-17, have dropped five straight and are 3-9 for the month of December. They have lost nine of 16 games at home this year, which is already more losses in a season at Arco Arena then they have endured since the 1999 season. They have the collective talent to be a better team but there’s just something wrong with the mix. It’s tough to watch the Lakers win with only Kobe and a group of players who would ride the bench for most teams, including the Kings. The Lakers winning puts the spotlight on the obvious: good coaching and leadership make a difference.
There are a number of sports clichés, among them that the coaches get fired because you can’t fire the team. The good people of Anaheim may facilitate the equivalent of a mass firing of the players, but until then, coach Adelman has to go and a caretaker put in his place. This season is shot and next year the Kings will have to start over with new faces and maybe a new hometown. It’s difficult to see a better coach out there, which is further evidence that the ownership doesn’t know what they’re doing. Last year the Maloofs had Maurice Cheeks, Nate McMillan, Larry Brown, Flip Saunders and even Phil Jackson to lure to Sacramento with their inherited money. Who do they have to court at the end of this year?
John McKay, the great football coach at USC and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was once asked a stupid question by a rookie sports writer from California who was out of league. “What do you think about your team’s execution?” he was asked after losing 33-6 to the Dallas Cowboys in a playoff game. Steam came out of his ears as he searched the room for the weasel who asked such a stupid question. And then the answer, “I’m for it.” After tonight’s lackluster performance by the Kings against the former worst team in the Western Conference Rick Adelman knows exactly what McKay was talking about.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
When the Cow Bells Fall Silent
(Editor's note: I apologize to my fan that it has been so long since my last post.)
When I was struggling through my first adolescence during my high school years, I heard stories of real-life girls my age who were called a tease. Except quite often there was a word and a hyphen placed before the word tease. Many late hours did I scheme to meet such a creature. To no avail and little surprise, I never got the hyphenated girl. Regrettably there is a balance in the universe that dictates that a 16-year-old male with gentlemanly habits well beyond his years and hormones gets approximately the same from the opposite sex.
During my college years while my brothers were burning the midnight oil (and quite nearly my parent’s garage) with hyphenated women of all sorts, I did meet Mrs. Laz who had to beg for a goodnight kiss on our first date. The fact she agreed to a second evening out with me on the basis of a quick peck on the cheek may say more about her than me.
The reason the tease comes up is due to sports. The female tease causes a certain kind of frustration not easily requited in a crowded house with no locks on the doors. A sports tease is worse. It takes the whole body prisoner and doesn’t release it until all hope of being liberated back into normal society has vanished.
My sports tease, my never ending lost romance without any return on investment, is the Sacramento Kings.
Sure, there were moments when the Kings took me to the brink and then left me without as much as a good-bye peck on the cheek and cold shower. They have been able to keep me close and monogamous, sports speaking, by simply promising to give me what I want: a championship. I feel so cheap because I’ve been believing their promises for so long. Like the enabler I am, I continue to wait them out. The waiting may be over and I think I have finally mustered the strength to start talking about a break-up.
The Kings and I had our first real date six or seven years ago. It was a magical eveing – more than a peck on a cheek. I was tempted to take the risk and date the “pretty one” because of a trade for Chris Webber, a free-agent signing of Vlade Divac and the drafting of Jason Williams. Three pretty maids all in a row and they were all mine for the season; or so it seemed.
They were collectively so good looking that I missed key danger signs. Webber was damaged goods from several previous relationships and reluctant to get into another so soon, especially in a cowtown like Sacramento. But his rugged, muscular body and wink in his eye made all his suitors weak in the knees (which, ironically, turned out to be his weakness). Vlade, despite the fact he came aboard at age 50, brought along his skills from previous relationships, including many with much older Europeans. He had the guile of a worldly man and the playfulness of a youngster to keep it interesting. And Jason, flashy, impetuous Jason, came with a swagger and bad-boy attitude, just like those girls smoking out behind the high school gym.
It was a relationship that you knew was bad for you and one your mother would warn you against. But it all felt so good. For the first time, you were in the midst of a winning streak so it was easy to overlook the frayed edges. You could even envision settling down with them and exchanging Championship rings every year.
After a few years, our relationship went down hill. Webber kept the twinkle, Divac the finesse, but Jason stopped calling. For months I’d wait by the phone hoping against hope he’d just say hello or go through the motion of tattooing my name on his spindly arm. No such luck, however. I heard he moved to Canada and then to Memphis and later to south Florida. Someone who once dated him heard he was doing well in Miami but I don’t care anymore. I’ve shed enough tears over him, I promised myself I wouldn’t do it again. Besides, there was a new face in town with better pedigree and a far more stable personality. His name was Mike Bibby, and after never knowing where I stood with Jason, Bibby’s steadiness was far more appealing than J-Will’s style.
Now there was more promise with the core of Divac, Webber and Bibby. It felt even better when we traded an under-sized power forward named Corliss for a defensive stalwart name Doug, allowing a young Serbian sharpshooter the chance to play at the three. I never gave a moment’s thought that Doug came with the baggage of a relationship that was embarrassingly clingy.
There were no longer just the three to keep my fantasy going, there was a full five stars to watch. You knew there would be children and grandchildren to bring up with this bunch. And the bench? Oh, the bench could have outplayed nearly all of the others with Bobby and Hedo, and Gerald, and Jon. We called them the “Bench Mob” and between them and the five stars, never had so many white guys outside of Boston caused so many hearts to flutter.
Did you ever have one of those relationships where there were so many good things happening that it just had to be wrong? Twice these guys took me to the brink of the Championship altar and twice they left me there in a tuxedo and a real bow tie, not just the kind you clip on your collar. Suddenly my stars couldn’t perform. These missed the gimmies one year and said they felt it best to wait for another year. The next year they stumbled down the aisle, one with a bum knee the others with that glassed-over look as if they were searching for the church exit and hoping the priest got drunk in the confessional with an altar boy and wouldn’t show up. I knew in my heart it just wasn’t right. They were forever damaged goods and no amount of vases full of flowers or awkward poetry would work anymore (although the chocolates had me for a while).
I admit it, I started over. I said good-bye to all of them except for Peja and Mike and told them to come around every now and again and I might take them out for a drink if I was feeling charitable; no hard feelings, it just didn’t work out between us.
Now there is a new bunch surrounding the remaining two – the two I had only half a heart for, Mike and Peja. There’s a new guy named Shareef who never had a good home and seemed to fail no matter how hard he tried, but he’s so good looking on the outside that you had to take him. There are no plans to make much of an investment in him, though. Another guy just started hanging around named Bonzi. He’s on his best behavior right now, trying to fit in and feel loved and escape his past. I’ve heard about it; the drug use, fights, no heart. It’s easy to tread cautiously with him and not be swept away by a few pretty quotes in the paper and a strong desire to please. Even Corliss came back (unfortunately not Corliss Campbell), and, you know, it’s not too bad having him around as long as you don’t have to think about him that much.
For the past few years there has been a simple country boy named Brad at the arena. One moment you want to love him but there are too many times he chews tobacco and burps whenever you bring him home to your parents. He sometimes puts in a big effort but too often he sulks when things aren’t going his way. I just don’t have anything left for malcontents.
Peja’s become distant, protecting himself from the pain of playing the game. You wish he would just drop the pretty-boy persona and put more heart and energy into our relationship, but I’m learning that you can’t start out expecting to change the man. Poor Mike. He has a faraway look in his eye. I suspect he’s lonely now that all his friends are hanging out in LA, Philly, Detroit and Houston. It seems he’s just going through the motions of our relationship and it’s tough to bear.
I tune them out now. There are times when I know they’re on TV and all I can think of is heading for the bedroom with a bottle of Ambien stolen from my daughter and watching Will and Grace re-runs. Some days I wish I was Will, or even Grace; I don’t think it matters anymore my heart is so beat up.
Don’t get me wrong, they have their moments. They won three straight in fine fashion after dropping five straight. I’m too jaded now and I’ve learned when a tease is just a tease. I’ve been there before and I just won’t go down that road again.
I have my eyes open on a new bunch in Philly who seem to have a heart if not a lot of wins. There’s a steady bunch in San Antonio and Detroit. They have occasional flash of personality but always in the context of doing what’s best for the others. I think about them a lot, but following the words of JB, “I had a lover, it’s so hard to risk another these days." If only JB was Jon Barry….
When I was struggling through my first adolescence during my high school years, I heard stories of real-life girls my age who were called a tease. Except quite often there was a word and a hyphen placed before the word tease. Many late hours did I scheme to meet such a creature. To no avail and little surprise, I never got the hyphenated girl. Regrettably there is a balance in the universe that dictates that a 16-year-old male with gentlemanly habits well beyond his years and hormones gets approximately the same from the opposite sex.
During my college years while my brothers were burning the midnight oil (and quite nearly my parent’s garage) with hyphenated women of all sorts, I did meet Mrs. Laz who had to beg for a goodnight kiss on our first date. The fact she agreed to a second evening out with me on the basis of a quick peck on the cheek may say more about her than me.
The reason the tease comes up is due to sports. The female tease causes a certain kind of frustration not easily requited in a crowded house with no locks on the doors. A sports tease is worse. It takes the whole body prisoner and doesn’t release it until all hope of being liberated back into normal society has vanished.
My sports tease, my never ending lost romance without any return on investment, is the Sacramento Kings.
Sure, there were moments when the Kings took me to the brink and then left me without as much as a good-bye peck on the cheek and cold shower. They have been able to keep me close and monogamous, sports speaking, by simply promising to give me what I want: a championship. I feel so cheap because I’ve been believing their promises for so long. Like the enabler I am, I continue to wait them out. The waiting may be over and I think I have finally mustered the strength to start talking about a break-up.
The Kings and I had our first real date six or seven years ago. It was a magical eveing – more than a peck on a cheek. I was tempted to take the risk and date the “pretty one” because of a trade for Chris Webber, a free-agent signing of Vlade Divac and the drafting of Jason Williams. Three pretty maids all in a row and they were all mine for the season; or so it seemed.
They were collectively so good looking that I missed key danger signs. Webber was damaged goods from several previous relationships and reluctant to get into another so soon, especially in a cowtown like Sacramento. But his rugged, muscular body and wink in his eye made all his suitors weak in the knees (which, ironically, turned out to be his weakness). Vlade, despite the fact he came aboard at age 50, brought along his skills from previous relationships, including many with much older Europeans. He had the guile of a worldly man and the playfulness of a youngster to keep it interesting. And Jason, flashy, impetuous Jason, came with a swagger and bad-boy attitude, just like those girls smoking out behind the high school gym.
It was a relationship that you knew was bad for you and one your mother would warn you against. But it all felt so good. For the first time, you were in the midst of a winning streak so it was easy to overlook the frayed edges. You could even envision settling down with them and exchanging Championship rings every year.
After a few years, our relationship went down hill. Webber kept the twinkle, Divac the finesse, but Jason stopped calling. For months I’d wait by the phone hoping against hope he’d just say hello or go through the motion of tattooing my name on his spindly arm. No such luck, however. I heard he moved to Canada and then to Memphis and later to south Florida. Someone who once dated him heard he was doing well in Miami but I don’t care anymore. I’ve shed enough tears over him, I promised myself I wouldn’t do it again. Besides, there was a new face in town with better pedigree and a far more stable personality. His name was Mike Bibby, and after never knowing where I stood with Jason, Bibby’s steadiness was far more appealing than J-Will’s style.
Now there was more promise with the core of Divac, Webber and Bibby. It felt even better when we traded an under-sized power forward named Corliss for a defensive stalwart name Doug, allowing a young Serbian sharpshooter the chance to play at the three. I never gave a moment’s thought that Doug came with the baggage of a relationship that was embarrassingly clingy.
There were no longer just the three to keep my fantasy going, there was a full five stars to watch. You knew there would be children and grandchildren to bring up with this bunch. And the bench? Oh, the bench could have outplayed nearly all of the others with Bobby and Hedo, and Gerald, and Jon. We called them the “Bench Mob” and between them and the five stars, never had so many white guys outside of Boston caused so many hearts to flutter.
Did you ever have one of those relationships where there were so many good things happening that it just had to be wrong? Twice these guys took me to the brink of the Championship altar and twice they left me there in a tuxedo and a real bow tie, not just the kind you clip on your collar. Suddenly my stars couldn’t perform. These missed the gimmies one year and said they felt it best to wait for another year. The next year they stumbled down the aisle, one with a bum knee the others with that glassed-over look as if they were searching for the church exit and hoping the priest got drunk in the confessional with an altar boy and wouldn’t show up. I knew in my heart it just wasn’t right. They were forever damaged goods and no amount of vases full of flowers or awkward poetry would work anymore (although the chocolates had me for a while).
I admit it, I started over. I said good-bye to all of them except for Peja and Mike and told them to come around every now and again and I might take them out for a drink if I was feeling charitable; no hard feelings, it just didn’t work out between us.
Now there is a new bunch surrounding the remaining two – the two I had only half a heart for, Mike and Peja. There’s a new guy named Shareef who never had a good home and seemed to fail no matter how hard he tried, but he’s so good looking on the outside that you had to take him. There are no plans to make much of an investment in him, though. Another guy just started hanging around named Bonzi. He’s on his best behavior right now, trying to fit in and feel loved and escape his past. I’ve heard about it; the drug use, fights, no heart. It’s easy to tread cautiously with him and not be swept away by a few pretty quotes in the paper and a strong desire to please. Even Corliss came back (unfortunately not Corliss Campbell), and, you know, it’s not too bad having him around as long as you don’t have to think about him that much.
For the past few years there has been a simple country boy named Brad at the arena. One moment you want to love him but there are too many times he chews tobacco and burps whenever you bring him home to your parents. He sometimes puts in a big effort but too often he sulks when things aren’t going his way. I just don’t have anything left for malcontents.
Peja’s become distant, protecting himself from the pain of playing the game. You wish he would just drop the pretty-boy persona and put more heart and energy into our relationship, but I’m learning that you can’t start out expecting to change the man. Poor Mike. He has a faraway look in his eye. I suspect he’s lonely now that all his friends are hanging out in LA, Philly, Detroit and Houston. It seems he’s just going through the motions of our relationship and it’s tough to bear.
I tune them out now. There are times when I know they’re on TV and all I can think of is heading for the bedroom with a bottle of Ambien stolen from my daughter and watching Will and Grace re-runs. Some days I wish I was Will, or even Grace; I don’t think it matters anymore my heart is so beat up.
Don’t get me wrong, they have their moments. They won three straight in fine fashion after dropping five straight. I’m too jaded now and I’ve learned when a tease is just a tease. I’ve been there before and I just won’t go down that road again.
I have my eyes open on a new bunch in Philly who seem to have a heart if not a lot of wins. There’s a steady bunch in San Antonio and Detroit. They have occasional flash of personality but always in the context of doing what’s best for the others. I think about them a lot, but following the words of JB, “I had a lover, it’s so hard to risk another these days." If only JB was Jon Barry….
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Crazy Pacers Lead the East
It’s no longer the “Leasts of the East.” The East is back on the rise in the NBA with talent shifting via free agency, trades and draft picks to create a few powerhouse teams. Of course most of the worst teams are in the East too so, while there is a rarely a soft schedule in the West, East teams will be able to toy with a few of the weaker franchises.
The Atlantic Division may not have a team finishing above .500 and Atlanta, bless their hearts, may not win 15 games this year and New Jersey, reeling from the loss of Brian Scalabrine to free agency, just looks awful.
Still, Miami, Detroit, Indiana, and up and coming teams in Chicago, Cleveland and Washington should make for an interesting season. A key injury here and there – or more suspensions in Indiana – will make the difference.
Most people think Miami has all the guns they need this year. While it’s true that any team with Shaq in the middle has a chance, the Heat still seem to be missing a few pieces. They also made a lot of strange off-season moves to a team that took Detroit to seven games in the Conference Championship. I’m not sure I would have tinkered with the team that was really playing its first season together. The Heat added Antoine Walker who needs 25 shots per game at the same time Shaq is demanding the ball more, and they traded steady Eddie Jones for James Posey and Jason Williams. Williams and Dwayne Wade will make a decent backcourt but both will want to push the ball at every opportunity; meaning they will be at one basket while Shaq is at the other. In other words, every move the Heat made gives Shaq the ball less. We’ll see a lot of two on four fast breaks, three-point shots by Walker and Williams before Shaq gets set, and very little half-court offense because, with the exception of Shaq, this isn’t a half-court team. They should win the Southeast quite easily, though, and get a high playoff seed.
The Pistons have essentially the same team that has been in the NBA Championship the past two years. They only have one key missing component and that is coach Larry Brown. They players said quietly they hated Brown and wanted him to leave. Now that they have gotten their way, I suspect they will realize two things: Flip Saunders can’t coach, and Larry Brown can. Still look for good years from Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton, but age may start to get to Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Antonio McDyess. I think we’ll see more of Darko this year as he crawls out of the Brown Doghouse and I like the athleticism of Maurice Evans but not sure he’ll see much playing time.
The only other team that has a chance is Indiana. After the injuries and suspensions last year, the Pacers are back in full and have a simmering anger over the events of last year that may give them purpose behind their talent; something they have never had. Ron Artest has come back with a vengeance during pre-season and the Pacers have a strong starting five to go with him in Jermaine O’Neal (assuming he stays healthy), Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, and a couple of stiffs to play center in Jeff Foster or Scot Pollard. Depth will be a bit of problem if injuries strike again as only Fred Jones and Jonathan Bender are any good. Lithuanian Sarunas Jasikevicius may surprise a few people and is someone to watch.
Of the remaining teams, Washington looks pretty strong despite losing Larry Hughes (who will be aptly replaced by Caron Butler giving the Wizards the tallest backcourt in the League). Cleveland could also surprise this year just because it has LeBron James. But the Cavs have also added the aforementioned Hughes and three-point specialist Damon Jones an
d have one of the most underrated players in the League in 7-3 center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They also have a bit of depth they didn’t have last year.
I also have to mention the 76ers or Emily will hate me. I think they will win a very weak division but AI has to give the ball up more and trust his teammates -- as long as he doesn't give it up to C-Webb who just doesn't flow well in an offense in which he is not the central figure. He also broke up with Tyra Banks and that has to hurt his self-esteem.
A lot of pundits think the Chicago Bulls are back near the top this year. Essentially, they’re three best players are point guards, Tyson Chandler is looking more like Michael Olowokandi than Yao Ming, and they traded away their only power players in Eddie Curry and Antonio Davis for a loaf of day old bread. Figure the Bulls to finish behind Indiana, Detroit and Cleveland in their own division making them a low playoff team at best.
Predictions:
Atlantic
Philadelphia*
Boston*
New York
Toronto
New Jersey
Central
Indiana*
Detroit*
Cleveland*
Chicago*
Milwaukee
Southeast
Miami*
Washington*
Orlando
Charlotte
Atlanta
* Playoff team
Round 1
Indiana vs. Boston
Miami vs. Chicago
Detroit vs. Cleveland
Philadelphia vs. Washington
Round 2
Indiana vs. Detroit
Miami vs. Philly
Championship:
Indiana vs. Miami
Winner
Indiana
The Atlantic Division may not have a team finishing above .500 and Atlanta, bless their hearts, may not win 15 games this year and New Jersey, reeling from the loss of Brian Scalabrine to free agency, just looks awful.
Still, Miami, Detroit, Indiana, and up and coming teams in Chicago, Cleveland and Washington should make for an interesting season. A key injury here and there – or more suspensions in Indiana – will make the difference.
Most people think Miami has all the guns they need this year. While it’s true that any team with Shaq in the middle has a chance, the Heat still seem to be missing a few pieces. They also made a lot of strange off-season moves to a team that took Detroit to seven games in the Conference Championship. I’m not sure I would have tinkered with the team that was really playing its first season together. The Heat added Antoine Walker who needs 25 shots per game at the same time Shaq is demanding the ball more, and they traded steady Eddie Jones for James Posey and Jason Williams. Williams and Dwayne Wade will make a decent backcourt but both will want to push the ball at every opportunity; meaning they will be at one basket while Shaq is at the other. In other words, every move the Heat made gives Shaq the ball less. We’ll see a lot of two on four fast breaks, three-point shots by Walker and Williams before Shaq gets set, and very little half-court offense because, with the exception of Shaq, this isn’t a half-court team. They should win the Southeast quite easily, though, and get a high playoff seed.
The Pistons have essentially the same team that has been in the NBA Championship the past two years. They only have one key missing component and that is coach Larry Brown. They players said quietly they hated Brown and wanted him to leave. Now that they have gotten their way, I suspect they will realize two things: Flip Saunders can’t coach, and Larry Brown can. Still look for good years from Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton, but age may start to get to Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Antonio McDyess. I think we’ll see more of Darko this year as he crawls out of the Brown Doghouse and I like the athleticism of Maurice Evans but not sure he’ll see much playing time.
The only other team that has a chance is Indiana. After the injuries and suspensions last year, the Pacers are back in full and have a simmering anger over the events of last year that may give them purpose behind their talent; something they have never had. Ron Artest has come back with a vengeance during pre-season and the Pacers have a strong starting five to go with him in Jermaine O’Neal (assuming he stays healthy), Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, and a couple of stiffs to play center in Jeff Foster or Scot Pollard. Depth will be a bit of problem if injuries strike again as only Fred Jones and Jonathan Bender are any good. Lithuanian Sarunas Jasikevicius may surprise a few people and is someone to watch.
Of the remaining teams, Washington looks pretty strong despite losing Larry Hughes (who will be aptly replaced by Caron Butler giving the Wizards the tallest backcourt in the League). Cleveland could also surprise this year just because it has LeBron James. But the Cavs have also added the aforementioned Hughes and three-point specialist Damon Jones an
d have one of the most underrated players in the League in 7-3 center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They also have a bit of depth they didn’t have last year.I also have to mention the 76ers or Emily will hate me. I think they will win a very weak division but AI has to give the ball up more and trust his teammates -- as long as he doesn't give it up to C-Webb who just doesn't flow well in an offense in which he is not the central figure. He also broke up with Tyra Banks and that has to hurt his self-esteem.
A lot of pundits think the Chicago Bulls are back near the top this year. Essentially, they’re three best players are point guards, Tyson Chandler is looking more like Michael Olowokandi than Yao Ming, and they traded away their only power players in Eddie Curry and Antonio Davis for a loaf of day old bread. Figure the Bulls to finish behind Indiana, Detroit and Cleveland in their own division making them a low playoff team at best.
Predictions:
Atlantic
Philadelphia*
Boston*
New York
Toronto
New Jersey
Central
Indiana*
Detroit*
Cleveland*
Chicago*
Milwaukee
Southeast
Miami*
Washington*
Orlando
Charlotte
Atlanta
* Playoff team
Round 1
Indiana vs. Boston
Miami vs. Chicago
Detroit vs. Cleveland
Philadelphia vs. Washington
Round 2
Indiana vs. Detroit
Miami vs. Philly
Championship:
Indiana vs. Miami
Winner
Indiana
Sunday, October 16, 2005
The Kings in Seven!
You can skip the following post about disease and pestilence if you’re not into ruining your day. On the eve of beginning of the 2005-2006 NBA season, it’s important that I state my predictions for the upcoming year and add a little expert insight. Of course you may disagree, but you’d be wrong.
The most important question on everyone’s mind is; is this the year for the Sacramento Kings? Yes, of course it is – every year is. It’s just that it may be more probable this year. They have a lot going for them this year with the additions of Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Wells gives them a new head case AND a two-guard who can post up most opponents. Abdur-Rahim, while always being on a losing team (including Cal), is a legitimate 20 and 10 power forward without being the “Born Under a Bad Star” Chris Webber.
Mike Bibby is one of the steadiest point guards in the league, Brad Miller, although you can’t stick a newspaper under his feet when he jumps, adds shooting and passing skills at the center position, and this had better be the best season for Peja Stojakovic as he is entering into a free agent year. Coupled with a stronger bench of Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner, Corliss Williamson, and Jason Hart and the Kings look to have the depth they didn’t have last year. They also have a full training camp together that won’t be as disruptive as last year when they made two major personnel changes.
I suppose you’ll year a lot about the Spurs in the coming months. Just because they are a better team than last year’s NBA Championship team doesn’t necessarily make them the odds on favorite to repeat this year. Just because they’ve added the steady Michael Finley, King-killer Nick Van Exel and Argentinean stud Fabricio Oberto to their already star-studded lineup means nothing. It’s chemistry that’s important and enough basketballs to go around. Just because they have the best coach in the NBA who also happens to be the best at managing his team’s minutes is less meaningful than Tony Parker ending up on the cover of US Magazine in a publicized spat with Eva Longoria. Why think of basketball when you have her to come home to anyway?
Of the other contenders in the West last year, only Houston has improved while Dallas has fallen a bit, Seattle lost a few key players to free agency, Minnesota only has Wally and Garnett left, and Phoenix has lost its best player for at least two-thirds of the season as well as making a few weird off-season trades. Memphis made some good and bad moves in the off season and I wonder if they have the stuff to make the playoffs. As for the Lakers, who knows? A certain somebody who thinks they know a lot about basketball says Phil Jackson will be the X-factor. I think we’ll find out if he’s a good coach or just a lucky coach who has had the best four or five players in NBA history. Nine championships are meaningless unless you coach a team like the Clippers and take them to the Promised Land.
If you’re looking for rising teams, the Warriors look loaded this year and so do the Clippers, but everyone says it’s the Clippers year every year and they never make the playoffs. This year really could be the year for them, though.
Here’s my prediction for the West:
Southwest
San Antonio*
Houston*
Dallas*
Memphis
New Orleans
Northwest
Denver*
Seattle*
Minnesota
Portland
Utah
Pacific
Sacramento*
Phoenix*
Golden State*
Clippers
Lakers
* Playoff teams
After the first round, the four remaining survivors will be San Antonio, Houston, Sacramento and Dallas. Sacramento will defeat Houston and San Antonio will beat Dallas. In the West final, San Antonio will defeat the Kings in seven games but the West championship will be given to the Kings because it will be determined that Robert Horry’s foot was on the line for a game-winning three in the final game. Well, it’s about time something good happened to the Kings, isn’t it?
Later I will make my predictions on the East.
The most important question on everyone’s mind is; is this the year for the Sacramento Kings? Yes, of course it is – every year is. It’s just that it may be more probable this year. They have a lot going for them this year with the additions of Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Wells gives them a new head case AND a two-guard who can post up most opponents. Abdur-Rahim, while always being on a losing team (including Cal), is a legitimate 20 and 10 power forward without being the “Born Under a Bad Star” Chris Webber.
Mike Bibby is one of the steadiest point guards in the league, Brad Miller, although you can’t stick a newspaper under his feet when he jumps, adds shooting and passing skills at the center position, and this had better be the best season for Peja Stojakovic as he is entering into a free agent year. Coupled with a stronger bench of Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner, Corliss Williamson, and Jason Hart and the Kings look to have the depth they didn’t have last year. They also have a full training camp together that won’t be as disruptive as last year when they made two major personnel changes.
I suppose you’ll year a lot about the Spurs in the coming months. Just because they are a better team than last year’s NBA Championship team doesn’t necessarily make them the odds on favorite to repeat this year. Just because they’ve added the steady Michael Finley, King-killer Nick Van Exel and Argentinean stud Fabricio Oberto to their already star-studded lineup means nothing. It’s chemistry that’s important and enough basketballs to go around. Just because they have the best coach in the NBA who also happens to be the best at managing his team’s minutes is less meaningful than Tony Parker ending up on the cover of US Magazine in a publicized spat with Eva Longoria. Why think of basketball when you have her to come home to anyway?
Of the other contenders in the West last year, only Houston has improved while Dallas has fallen a bit, Seattle lost a few key players to free agency, Minnesota only has Wally and Garnett left, and Phoenix has lost its best player for at least two-thirds of the season as well as making a few weird off-season trades. Memphis made some good and bad moves in the off season and I wonder if they have the stuff to make the playoffs. As for the Lakers, who knows? A certain somebody who thinks they know a lot about basketball says Phil Jackson will be the X-factor. I think we’ll find out if he’s a good coach or just a lucky coach who has had the best four or five players in NBA history. Nine championships are meaningless unless you coach a team like the Clippers and take them to the Promised Land.
If you’re looking for rising teams, the Warriors look loaded this year and so do the Clippers, but everyone says it’s the Clippers year every year and they never make the playoffs. This year really could be the year for them, though.
Here’s my prediction for the West:
Southwest
San Antonio*
Houston*
Dallas*
Memphis
New Orleans
Northwest
Denver*
Seattle*
Minnesota
Portland
Utah
Pacific
Sacramento*
Phoenix*
Golden State*
Clippers
Lakers
* Playoff teams
After the first round, the four remaining survivors will be San Antonio, Houston, Sacramento and Dallas. Sacramento will defeat Houston and San Antonio will beat Dallas. In the West final, San Antonio will defeat the Kings in seven games but the West championship will be given to the Kings because it will be determined that Robert Horry’s foot was on the line for a game-winning three in the final game. Well, it’s about time something good happened to the Kings, isn’t it?
Later I will make my predictions on the East.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Lord of the Rings
I have some proud news about Emily. No, I’m not going to be a grandfather. At least I don’t think so. For those who are ardent followers of the WNBA, you know that the Sacramento Monarchs won the championship this year, surprising a few and doing it with a tenacity that was Jordan-esque.
When a team wins a championship, the players and personnel vote on who is deserving of the championship ring. Well, Emily was voted a ring and she gets it in May (who knows why it takes so long.)
I always knew Emily was a champion but now she has the ring to prove it and the ability to bruise and batter anyone who has ideas on making me a grandfather. She never ceases to amaze me.
When a team wins a championship, the players and personnel vote on who is deserving of the championship ring. Well, Emily was voted a ring and she gets it in May (who knows why it takes so long.)
I always knew Emily was a champion but now she has the ring to prove it and the ability to bruise and batter anyone who has ideas on making me a grandfather. She never ceases to amaze me.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Internships On Offer
There's a keen observer of modern culture who writes for www.espn.com named Bill Simmons, AKA The Sports Guy. Under the guise of writing about sports, he sprinkles in the impact the NBA, NFL, and MLB, among others, has on modern culture and sometimes the other way around. How else can one explain the tortuous route he took to find the best quotes of the movie Anchorman and squeeze comparisons about NBA teams and players out of it?
One of the best intern jobs in the history of non White House-related internships, is the Sports Guy’s internship. His job is to scan the internet and look for funny or sometimes odd internet sites. Here’s a sample of a few sites:
http://saabbumper.blogspot.com/ (read from the bottom up.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/links/050901
The Sports Guy’s favorite is unintentional humor, which can best be described as someone acting as they normally do (usually a celebrity) and being funny. Unintentionally. Does that make sense? Better still, here’s a good example: A few days ago I read a story about Cindy Sheehan and rather than the story quoting her, it’s quoted her spokesperson. The unintended humor of this is that she started out as a lone voice in the wilderness carrying the “absolute moral authority,” as per Maureen Dowd, of a mother who lost a son in battle, and now she has a PR team to help her convey her simple story in a more complicated way. That’s funny. And unintentionally so.
So I have a job offer for anyone out there other than Skip (who has too much on his plate – Sorry Skip, but you need to give full effort to your family and other projects). Lazlo’s Lament is looking for an intern to supply this site with funny and weird websites that may classify as unintentional humor. Now’s the chance to break into Big Time journalism – or at least have an excuse to search the internet instead of doing your homework. Applicants will be screened on their dedication and family lineage.
One of the best intern jobs in the history of non White House-related internships, is the Sports Guy’s internship. His job is to scan the internet and look for funny or sometimes odd internet sites. Here’s a sample of a few sites:
http://saabbumper.blogspot.com/ (read from the bottom up.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/links/050901
The Sports Guy’s favorite is unintentional humor, which can best be described as someone acting as they normally do (usually a celebrity) and being funny. Unintentionally. Does that make sense? Better still, here’s a good example: A few days ago I read a story about Cindy Sheehan and rather than the story quoting her, it’s quoted her spokesperson. The unintended humor of this is that she started out as a lone voice in the wilderness carrying the “absolute moral authority,” as per Maureen Dowd, of a mother who lost a son in battle, and now she has a PR team to help her convey her simple story in a more complicated way. That’s funny. And unintentionally so.
So I have a job offer for anyone out there other than Skip (who has too much on his plate – Sorry Skip, but you need to give full effort to your family and other projects). Lazlo’s Lament is looking for an intern to supply this site with funny and weird websites that may classify as unintentional humor. Now’s the chance to break into Big Time journalism – or at least have an excuse to search the internet instead of doing your homework. Applicants will be screened on their dedication and family lineage.
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