NBA Blog

The NHL is back and my favorite team will have the first pick to take some guy named Crosby who is supposed to be the second coming of Wayn...scratch that... Mario Lemieux!!!!!!!

If the league weren't so watered down with talent, and if it were ever on television, I would be really excited about this.  As of right now, I'm mildly impressed, which is far more than tennis and golf can offer me right now.

This really has been a pretty good year for me in the fan department.  Let's recap:

1.  The Spurs won it all
2.  The Cobra Kai win the Brandeis Fantasy Football League behind dominant performances by my man Priest Holmes. 
3.  Pitt won the Big East in football
4.  Louisville won the Liberty Bowl
5.  Texas won the Rose Bowl in a fantastic game
6.  The Orioles are contending (and if they were smart, which they are not, they would make the Burnett/Lowell trade and eat Lowell's contract.  they need some pitching and Lowell still has many hits left in him when he gets out of his slump.)
7.  The Penguins get the first pick in the NHL draft lottery.
8.  Brett Favre continued to play
9.  I saw the Red Sox win the World Series (something never before believed would happen)
10.  My Pirates and 49ers suck (well, the first 9 were good.)

Now some of you may read those and think I'm a bandwagon jumper, but I am not.  I've been an Orioles fan since the days of Eddie Murray.  I've been a Packers fan since the Majik Man Don Majkowski.  I've always liked the 49ers, Pitt, and the Spurs.  If you have any doubts, I'm sure my parents will back me on that one. 

Since I go to Louisville, I feel the need to root for them, except when they play Pitt this year. 

Since I consider myself a Texan, and my girlfriend went to A&M, I root for Texas.  Well that and the fact that the stuff that Aggies do is just plain freaky.  I consider it cult-esque.

After a whole lot of nothing for several days, what an interesting 24 hours. 

Larry Brown is once again on the move.  Perhaps he will last more than two years at his next destination.  I find it interesting, in a league where teams rotate coaches so frequently, the alleged greatest coach of all time can't keep from walking out on teams after a few years.  Brown has always done this song and dance.  He coaches a team to the playoffs and then walks out on them.  The only difference with Detroit is that he walked into a title-contention team.  New York should get ready, because it looks like he's coming home.  Just don't expect him to stay too long.

The Rockets just got a huge upgrade at power forward.  Stro' Swift will be a solid, if not great, rebounder and trash bucket player for the Rockets.  He doesn't need many shots, since most of his points come off dunks.  He should have ample opportunities for minutes, because the Rockets have no power forwards.  I really like (and by like, I mean I'm worried about H-town now) what the Rockets have done here.  If they can land another point guard/shooting guard to help when Bob Sura goes down, this team will be extremely scary. 

I might have to apologize to Bruce Ratner if he continues at this pace.  Last summer I hammered him for unloading K-Mart for nothing.  But then that nothing turned into a rejuvenated Vince Carter.  Now the Nets are on the verge of getting Shareef Abdur-Rahim at a third of the cost of K-Mart.  This deal could greatly help the undersized Nets, and it will leave them some wiggle room to bring in Keyon Dooling to limit Jason Kidd's minutes.  Rahim's career numbers are 19 and 8, which are far better than K-Mart.  Rahim also shoots the ball much better than K-Mart.  Sure the leaping ability isn't there, but I seriously doubt that Rahim (who has never played in the postseason) will pull a disappearing act like the one K-Mart does annually.  If you don't believe me, go back and check K-Mart's postseason stats against quality power forwards.  Duncan has beaten up on K-Mart far worse than he has any other power forward in the postseason over the past couple of years. 

I didn't realize that my favorite team was Team Argentina.  The Spurs added Fabrico Oberto to their roster for next season because they coudn't bring Luis Scola in due to his international contract buyout issues.  Fabrico has been awesome in the international scene for several years, and this looks like the steal of the free agent season.  He very well could edge out Nazr for the starting spot next season.  This also signals the end of the run for Rasho in S.A.  He won't be getting many minutes behind Oberto, Nazr, Duncan, and Horry.  He's also way overpaid to play the Tony Massneburg-Kevin Willis role.  The Nets have balked at the Blazers asking price of a first round pick for Shareef Abdur-Rahim in a sign-and-trade.  This opens the door for the Spurs to make an offer of Rasho and next year's first rounder, (which won't be higher than 28 anyway) in order to procure the services of Shareef.  The Spurs really like him, and have been pursuing him for several years. 

Shareef is a quality player, but what I'm wondering is, if they really want someone like him, why don't they pursue Stromile Swift?  Swift is younger and much more athletic at this stage of his career.  The Grizzlies are desperately trying to find a center so they can move Gasol to power forward full time.  Last time I checked, Rasho was center-esque.  Since Swift is bolting anyway, wouldn't the Grizzlies like something in return?  I think a deal including Rasho and a future first-rounder would be enough to get a deal done for his services as well.  Just an idea. 

While we are talking about back-up power forwards, I think another avenue is Donyell Marshall.  He would easily fill Horry's regular season role, and then step in once Big Shot Rob's tenure is done in two years (when he retires).  The Raptors are also desperate for some help in the post.  I think the deal already mentioned would certainly work for the Raptors as well.  You all know I like Marshall because of his ability to play three positions (center, power forward, and small forward) and he reminds me of Horry without any of the postseason highlights or box office smashes.  (Yes that is a reference to how much Horry looks like Will Smith). 

Like I said, these are just some ideas.  I'm throwing them out there to see if they'll hold water.

The Knicks have a center!  The Knicks have a center!  And it is…

Jerome James?

That was the best that they could do?  Look at those career averages of 4.3 and 3.2.  Whoo, now that will fill up the stat sheets like no other has done since the days of Patrick Ewing.

Now before all the Knick fans get upset for my continuous Knick-bashing, and throw their royal and orange gear to the floor in protest, proclaiming James’ tremendous statistical output and dominance in the postseason; let’s remember one thing.  All that impressive scoring and rebounding was done against the Kings.  Let’s take a moment to look at the some history including the Kings from the postseason:

1.      No Brad Miller – he was on one leg when he was able to play

2.      Kenny Thomas was their only big man, and well, frankly, with his size, he should be a power forward for the Knicks.

3.      These are the Kings who play defense like the, well, like the Kings.  That means they play absolutely no defense at all.

4.      The Kings didn’t even have a healthy Peja to pretend that he was going to use his 6’10” size to rebound.

5.      James reverted back to non-existence and got killed on the glass by Nazr and the Spurs.  That’s the same Nazr that Isiah felt the need to deal for Malik Rose last season. 

6.      James is 30, and has been a non-factor for his entire career.  Now that he has hit that point where big men start to slip off, he is supposed to improve his ability to get up and down the court to board and score?  I don’t think so.  Remember Dean Garrett, and his one good season for the T’Wolves?  Didn’t think so.

7.      Mark Blount. 

Now that the Sonics have lost their starting center, they will be able to focus on re-signing Reggie Evans and go after another big man who will get up and down the court to give the team quality minutes.  I would recommend making an offer to Steven Hunter who is incredibly athletic and should come relatively cheap.  With their young big guys, including Collison and Swift, the Sonics need to get some athletes to split up time with those guys.  Steven Hunter is exactly that.  They should also pursue Jake Voskuhl.  (I can’t help it, I’m a Voskuhl fan because his mother- and father-in-law were great when they sat next to us in the playoffs three years ago, and he always did very good things against the Spurs.)  There are a lot of serviceable big men in free agency that the Sonics can pursue.  Heck, they could even renounce Vlad Radmanovic, who wants to go elsewhere, giving them even more money to go after Eddy Curry.  With other teams pursuing Tyson Chandler and/or Curry, the Sonics may be able to swoop in and make an offer to Curry once someone else makes an offer to Chandler, with the hopes that the Bulls want Chandler more than Curry. 

Poor Kwame Brown.  Now he has to be a teammate of Kobe’s.  I wonder what that will do to him.  He couldn’t handle playing alongside the greatest-of-all-time.  He struggled taking over once the greatest-of-all-time was gone.  And now he has to play alongside the wannabe-greatest-of-all-time.  If I were Kwame, I would have been hoping for a trade to Toronto where I could have played alongside Chris Bosh, who would have taken all the pressure away from me down low, and also relished in relative obscurity, since Canada doesn’t really care about sporting events.  Before ANYBODY comes at me for dogging Canada, let’s take a moment to focus on their support for their teams:

1.      Wayne Gretzky:  The nation actually allowed one of its teams to trade the Great One to a dismal franchise in L.A.

2.      Mark Messier:  The nation actually allowed one of its teams to trade the other guy to the Great One to a dismal franchise in N.Y.

3.      Hockey in general.  There are (allegedly, because I refuse to believe it) teams in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Florida, and California (culminating in a team named after a Disney movie).  Not good folks.

4.      Vancouver Grizzlies:  Ultimately the biggest sports blunder of all time.

5.      Montreal Expos:  Ultimately the most depressing sports franchise ever.

6.      Toronto Blue Jays:  They can’t get any fan support even after the run they had in the early ‘90s.  They had to change their uniforms to have more red in them for the country, despite being named the Blue Jays.  Now they can’t get on television in Canada, and they don’t even have any blue in their uniforms.  What’s going on here?

But I’m not trying to start some foreign conflict, I just want Canada to show the support for it’s sports’ teams like it has shown the Barenaked Ladies and Bryan Adams.  Is that too much to ask?  I think not.

What an exciting week for sports.  The league formerly known as the NHL has decided to grace the world with its presence again.  I can't wait for those exciting stars like, ... umm, ...hmm, ... well does any know of any NHL stars that still exist.  Gretzky, Messier, Lemieux, Bourque, et al have all retired.  Seriously, who's left?  I need some help with this one.  And if anyone mentions a player from Nashville or Columbus or any other state that should not have hockey, we will fight.  Those teams do not exist.  Where the hell are the Whalers and the Nordiques when we need them?

The MLB All-Star Extravaganza was a lot of fun.  The homerun derby in the post-roid era had plenty of excitement.  Granted the excitement died down after the first 7 hours of the event, but all in all, I think it was a grand old time.  Congratulations to Bobby Abreu, who is an incredibly talented BASEBALL player.  He does everything extremely well, including field his position and hit above .300 regularly.  Not since Garrett Anderson won the event a few years ago has a player both won the event and not been recognized by 90% of the casual fans watching event. 
     The game also proved to be exciting, and I'm not referring to the Kenny Rogers bashing.  Miggy Tejada and Andruw Jones unleashed mammoth shots.  It was also good to see so many new-comers to the game.  I think there has finally been a shift to the new guard.  MLB needs to do a better job of marketing its young talent.  Guys like Miguel Tejada, Miguel Cabrera, Dontrell Willis, Bobby Abreu, Mark Teixiara, and so on should become the main players to carry the game into the future.  There have not been enough citings of these players as only Dontrell Willis has gotten any real pub over the past year.
     While I'm talking about baseball, how about Derrek Lee?  That guy has put together an astonishing season.  Everyone is claiming this is coming out of nowhere because he never hit more than .280 with 30 hr's and 90 rbi's.  However, he was stuck in obscurity in an enormous stadium while playing for the Marlins.  Now that he is playing in an average size park, and yes, Wrigley Field has become an average size park, Lee is putting up obscene numbers.  (Wrigley used to be one of the smallest parks around, but you should check out the stadium sizes around the league for more proof of its status.)

Finally, on to the hoops scene.  The Clippers have done something!  They lost Bobby Simmons, but in a move unseen in Clipper-land for quite some time, and by that I mean ever, the Clippers stole a free agent from another team.  They reportedly will sign Cuttino Mobley once the moratorium has been lifted, meaning the Nuggets lost out on a free agent to the Clippers.  This is the first big move the franchise has made since it traded Danny Manning for Dominique Wilkins in the worst trade in NBA history not including Isiah Thomas as g.m.  I'm excluding the Elton Brand-Corey Maggette signings because those two players actually belonged to the Clippers at the time and they re-signed their own players. 

The Heat will be awesome once they land a point guard.  I think Damon Jones should realize that the grass ain't always greener on the other side and re-up with the Heat.  If not, Riley should get on the horn to Antonio Daniels and lock him down to a couple of years.  Either way, now that Shaq-daddy, Wayne Simien, Udonis Haslem, and Alonzo Mourning are all members of the Heat, I think it is safe to say they will run roughshod through the Eastern Conference this season.  That is an impressive front line, no doubt about it.

Larry Brown still hasn't made up his mind, and neither have the Pistons, making this the longest, annoying subplot for a coach since Coach K "flirted" with the Lakers last season to get publicity.

The Bucks have made some big moves this summer.  They landed the Number 1 pick and drafted a center who could either be Brad Miller or Jeff Koncak.  We'll have to wait and see.  The also held onto their top-scorer/shooter in Michael Redd.  They've added a hard-working, versatile scorer in Bobby Simmons.  (If you haven't noticed, I'm a fan of his game.)  They are getting T.J. Ford back to run the point, and average 9 assists a game this season.  Now the Bucks are going to have an opening day starting five of:

1.  T.J. Ford
2.  Michael Redd
3.  Bobby Simmons
4.  Joe Smith
5.  Andrew Bogut

This means that Desmond Mason will be able to settle into his role as the future winner of the 6th Man of the Year.  Dan Gadzuric will be the 7th man off the bench to provide some serious shot blocking in limited minutes.  (Check out his blocked shots per 48 minutes.)  Mo Williams will become the backup point guard, where he belongs, and the Bucks won't lose too much with him on the floor when T.J. rests.  If the Bucks can do something to add some depth to the four spot, perhaps get involved in a three-way trade with the Kings, Nuggets, or Celtics, the Bucks could bring in another power forward for when Smith gets hurt.

All of that looks fantastic, if they weren't being coached by Terry Stotts.  Seriously, why did they fire Terry Porter?  Weren't they going after a quality coach?  Couldn't they wait for the Larry Brown fallout, and sweep in for Flip Saunders, if Brown stays?  Was someone else going to grab Stotts before them?  I seriously doubt it.  But hey, what do I know, I'm just a guy praying that some bored NBA exec. will stumble upon my site while surfing, and swoop me up.  One can hope right?

Yes, I bash the Knicks.  And it's fun, because, one, I don't like the Knicks and never have, and, two, they deserve at least some of it.

I made a point to talk about all the shooting guards and power forwards on their roster, and who is the first person they talk to in the free agency period?  Stromile Swift.  What does he play?  Power forward.  Obviously, Zeke wanted to balance out the loss of Kurt Thomas.  I just don't get it.

However, Zeke may be dealing Steph' Marbury.  I will take a lot back if he does that.  That move would be brilliant, especially if he can land Dalembert.  'Bert can board and plays excellent defense.  He's young, and incredibly athletic and should average a double-double for the next 7-8 years if he can stay healthy.  I look at him, and someone who could become one of the top 5 centers in the league as his game grows.  He's like Mark Blount with hands and a heart.  There's something to be said for both of those. 

I need to take a minute and talk about Marbury.  He's so talented, and I used to want him to do well.  Seriously.  But now, I don't really care.  I'm sick of his self-proclaimed best point guard in the league status.  If he's so good, and his numbers suggest that, how come he's been to the playoffs twice in 10 years?  And his numbers are down from his career numbers during the playoffs.  Also, how come teams get much better after he leaves.  Minnesota trades him and brings in Terrell Brandon and makes it to the playoffs immediately.  New Jersey deals him for J.Kidd and goes to the playoffs.  Phoenix unloads him, brings in Nash and gets exponentially better.  Sure there were other factors in many of those situations, like adding a few other pieces, but it's foolish to fail to assume that Starbury didn't have some effect on that.  I also think that the development of Amare was slowed by playing with Steph.  I think we would have seen more of what he did this past season if Steph didn't follow the philosophy of dribbling around for 20 seconds and then trying to do something in the final four seconds. 
Steph could have and should have become one of the greatest point guards EVER with his strength, shooting, and ability to penetrate.  But, if he can never get a team to the playoffs, or make a team better, what good are his numbers? 

There have been some serious computer issues since my last posts.  My laptop appears to be on it's last leg.  And since I've been in Calvert City for nearly a week, I haven't had any access to a computer to get anything posted.

I'll start with some interesting news.  Nate McMillan is finally leaving the Sonics after spending his entire career, both playing and coaching, with the Sonics.  It is very disappointing that the Sonics didn't do more to keep him.  After watching his team overachieve all season, I thought he was pretty good.  Then I watched him battle with Popovich in the Sonics-Spurs series.  He did a great job of adjusting on the fly to make some matchup difficulties for the Spurs with a trio of Ridnour, Allen, and Daniels at times, and then throwing multiple defensive sets and bodies down low to make up for their complete lack of size.  Unfortunately, Nate chose the Blazers.  Now we will really see how good he is.  That team is a mess.  I have no idea what they are doing, or where they are going.  With Telfair, Outlaw, Miles, Jack, and Khryapa (just wanted to type that) there are some interesting and talented players, but I really don't see them making any noise in the Western Conference.  Especially with the development of Golden State late last year. 

What the Spurs need to do:
1. Sign Big Shot Rob - Done
2.  Bring over Luis Scola - I'm guessing it will take around $2.5 million per year as a starting salary.  (At least that is what I'm hoping for in order to save some money for other things.)
3.  Extend Nazr or at least make a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent.
4.  Re-sign Devin Brown.  His injury at the end of the season may actually help the Spurs because he was out for an extended period of time causing his value to drop.  For a while, when he was stealing Barry's minutes, Devin was looking like an exciting player that could become a sixth man for several teams in the league.
5.  Give Devin, Beno, and, most importantly, Romain Sato max minutes in the summer league.  Sato is a TREMENDOUS athlete, and he could eventually supplant Bowen as the defensive stopper for the Spurs in two years.  Sato is very similar to a player like Tony Allen in Boston, and Allen is an exciting young player.  Sure they aren't the caliber of Andre Igoudala, but with Duncan, Nazr, and Rasho taking care of everything underneath, players like Bowen and Sato have the freedom to tighten up on the perimeter.
6.  Try to sign Big Dog to a contract.  They picked him up for nothing to close the season, and he did some very good things, whether it was hit a few jumpers or actually play defense during the playoffs.  I think there are still some quality miles left in the Big Dog, but I also think several other teams NEED to pursue him (SEE BELOW.)
7.  Trade Rasho to the Bucks - historically, they have loved 7'0" stiffs.  (That's a joke.  He just needs to find his, um, think Pedro Cerrano in Major League 2.  And yes, that is the first and last time I will reference Major League 2.)
8.  Find another back-up point guard in case Beno completely falls apart again like he did in the Finals.  This is why I think the Spurs should start Scola at $2.5 to $3 million.  Saving some of the money could enable them to land another back-up point guard along the lines of Dan Dickau, who has no room in New Orleans, but shoots lights out and does solid things in limited minutes to avoid being taken advantage of defensively.

Now, another team that really, really needs to make a move: Cleveland.  Danny Ferry has a lot of money to work with, and everyone says that they should go after Redd and 'Z' with their money.  However, that will kill the vast majority of their cap, and they still have some glaring holes.  I suggest another course of action for the team, since landing Redd may cost them the max for him.
1.  Secure Z first.  If LeBron wants a big man, especially Z, then get him a big man, especially Z.
2.  Look at some other shooters along with Redd to feel out the market.  The Suns just offered Joe Johnson less than the max, and that helps the Cavs.  But he will still be expensive.  What about a player like Bobby Simmons, who resembles a cheaper version of Joe Johnson.  Seriously.  Look at his stats when given the minutes.  He averaged 16 points, and nearly 6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.  He's a career 84% free throw shooter, and shot nearly 50% from 3 for most of the season, and the only reason his shooting percentages dropped to .466 and 4.35 from the field and 3, is because he had an injury to his left hand.  By the way, that is his shooting hand.  Yet, he still shot lights out.  Isn't that what the Cavs need, and I guarantee he will come in at half the cost of Redd or Johnson.
3.    Get a real point guard.  I like Eric Snow, but he looked older than Dikembe Mutombo at times last year.  His time as a starter has run it's course.  However, he could back-up someone who can knock down jumpers and minimize turnovers.  I'm suggesting someone who had one of the highest efficiency ratings last year.  I'm referring to my man, Antonio Daniels.  (Quick sidebar: I gave A.D. an assist when the Spurs worked out at Trinity University.  Okay, so I just passed him the ball when it rolled onto our court, but he still hit his next jumper.  I swear it was the pass.)  A.D. wants to start, he's from Ohio, and he already knows how to play next to superstars.  He was fantastic against San Antonio in the postseason.  And for a team that struggled to score in the second half of the season, A.D. can light it up at times as well.
4.  Donyell Marshall.  Marshall shoots well from everywhere and provides Abdur-Rahim type athleticism for a nearly 6'10" player.  Marshall could come in and win 6th Man of the Year with this squad.  He would average around 14 and 8 if given the opportunity.
5.  Get more bodies to protect LeBron.  I suggest Dale Davis (for the veteran's minimum) and Jake Voskuhl.  These two guys have size and muscle to rebound and provide solid back-up minutes for 'Z' and the Varejao/Gooden tandem.  Also, do you really think guys are going to take out 'Bron if D-squared is waiting with his 'penitentiary style' (he actually used that line when he was playing with the Blazers.  Fitting).  Plus, if (and when) Z's foot issues act up again, both players could fill in as serviceable centers.
6.  Remember how I said Big Dog still had some run in him, and teams should pursue him.  I was suggesting the Cavs.  Either picking up Big Dog or Donyell Marshall would exponentially help the Cavs.  Both guys can score some serious points.  Dog would love to play alongside 'Bron.  Imagine how many open jumpers he would get, and how many extra assists 'Bron would get. 
7.  Play Luke Jackson, Martynas Andriusvisiviscibiusucvus (seriously, not a clue how to spell that one) and Pavlovic a ton this summer.  I'm still on the Luke Jackson bandwagon.  I scored heavily with Igoudala last year, and I'm not bailing on the Mophead yet.  He's not as selfish as Wally Sczerbiak, but he can shoot like him, and that ain't bad.  Martynas needs mui, mui, mui time to develop, but he could be good, and Pavlovic is almost there.  I think he could do some things in the second half of the '05-'06 season.
Let's take a look at the Cavs squad if they can pull this off:
PG:  Antonio Daniels / Eric Snow
SG:  Bobby Simmons / 'Bron / Luke Jackson
SF:  'Bron / Donyell Marshall (or Big Dog) / Pavlovic
PF:  Varejao / Gooden / Martynas
C:  Big Z / Dale Davis / Jake Voskuhl

This is a pretty good roster.  I could see A.D. going for 10/2/7, Simmons 15/6/1, 'Bron 27/9/7, Varejao-Gooden 17/13/3, and Z 17/8/1, and Marshall going for 13/7/2.  With Davis, Snow and Pavlovic filling out the rotation, this squad could easily put up offensive numbers in the high 90's.  And with Mike Brown at the helm, a disciple of Popovich and Carlisle, the team WILL play defense. 
Caveat:  Now if the Cavs can land Redd, and still pull most of this off, then this whole section is moot.  That is why I still don't have a job as a g.m., and Danny Ferry does.  Of course, if he doesn't, my resume is available to the rest of the teams to chase 'Bron in a few years.