Isiah Thomas the Knicks current GM did not just turn into a genius yesterday. Despite what Steven A smith told you last night during breaks in between giving Zeke a BJ and despite what Bill Simmons wrote in his column, Thomas is not any smarter today than he's ever been. The Knicks traded for Zach Randolph a legit all-star quality talent and were able to trade away Steve Francis' contract. Those two moves on their face are great, HOWEVA' , Zach Randolph's contract is even worse than Francis' contract and Randolph doesn't fit on the team. If the plan is to start Eddy Curry and Randolph at the same time, then I'm pretty sure I could drive to the basket at will on this team. Which of these big men is keeping guards out of the lane? David Lee? Additionally what are they gonna do when Randolph and Curry fight over the last Big Mac of the night... i mean who gets the ball more often in the post. You're going to have Randolph trying to post up on one block, Curry on the other, and Marbury not wanting to pass it to either. Lastly he also just traded the Knicks only remaining tradeable asset in Frye.
This is just one in a long line of awful moves Thomas has made, from getting Francis in the first place, to trading for Marbury a guy who's never won anything anywhere. He acquired Eddy Curry with his massive contract and massive behind, when he could have had his choice between studs like LeMarcus Aldridge, Ty Thomas and Brandon Roy for 1/10 the price and had this years ninth pick. Spike Lee wants us to give him credit on his draft prowess because he picked Balkman last year who turned out to be a good player. As i wrote about in my pre-draft posting no matter how good Balkman turns out to be it's still a bad move since you could have gotten him at 30 and taken a player like Marcus Williams at 20. They could have had their pick of Williams, Rondo, Josh Boone, Jordan Farmar and Sergio Rodriguez and instead ended up with Mardy Collins. Steven A Smith also wants us to love the pick of Wilson Chandler, because "he got the guy he was targeting all along." By that logic if he was targeting me it'd be a great pick. I mean I'm a 5'3 point guard without great ball handling skills, athleticism or a jump shot, I'd definitely provide the Knicks with something they don't have.
How he got a contract extension last year is beyond me. The Knicks owner wanted "significant improvement" and apparently not making the playoffs with by far the largest payroll in the league is significant improvement. I mean it's not his fault though, you can only do so much with the players you decided to bring in and you're coaching. All i can say about being a Nets fan is, I'm glad I'm not a Knicks fan.
I'll end it on a positive for Zeke though... he has picked some good guys in the draft, and he just traded for Demetrius Nichols who i think is going to be a solid role player in this league.
(p.s. I'm sure there are moronic things that Zeke has done that i'm not mentioning but there's only so many hours in a day)
Friday, June 29, 2007
NBA Draft Recap
Below are the teams the grade they get, the player they actually took, the player(s) they should have taken and a brief comment on each (Note: was formatted much better when i wrote it, but the posting messed up the spacing)
Por A+ Oden Oden
Got rid of Randolph and got a franchise center
Por A+ Oden Oden
Got rid of Randolph and got a franchise center
Sea A Durant Durant
No brainer once Oden was gone
Atl D Horford Conley Jr
Your biggest need is PG, great PG on the board you need to take him
Mem A Conley Conley
needed a PG, got a great PG
Bos D+ Green Brewer
A desperate Danny Ainge Traded for Allen, an over the hill SG just because they want veterans, seattle should have taken Brewer
Mil A/D Yi Noah
Yi clearly didn’t want to go there which makes it an A on the comedy meter, but they should have taken Noah as a defensive complement to Bogut and Villenueva especially since china will bomb Wisconsin
Minn A Brewer Brewer
Assuming Garnett stays you have KG, Foye and Brewer not a bad core
Cha B Wright ?
They could potentially upgrade at about every position and they’re not going anywhere too fast, so take the most talented guy. traded him for Richardson a proven player who you can plug in with Okafor, May, Dudley and felton. Just better hope those big guys actually stay healthy.
Chi B Noah Hawes
Not sure how talented Hawes actually is, but Noah helps the bulls how? They already have defensive big men, but you can’t criticize too much for taking a guy like Noah
Sac INC Hawes ?
This is a cop out, but I have no idea whether Artest or Bibby will be there, is Brad Miller really as done as he looked last year?
Atl B Law Law
Didn’t take Conley, still needed PG, guy is tough, is gonna be a pretty good player, but maybe not a pure point and how high is the upside?
Phi B- T. Young J. Wright
Another shooting SF to go with Korver and AI? Wright would have been a great disruptive talent, getting steals, blocking shots as a 3/4
NO C Wright N. Young
Needed a shooter since you can’t count on Peja to be healthy and you need another shooter even if he is. Nick Young is a much better fit in that lineup.
LAC B- Thorton N Young or Crittenton
Need an upgrade over Mobley or a PG since Cassell is really old and
Det C+ Stuckey ?
better resign Billups and keep Mcdyess or get a replacement
Was A- N. Young N. Young
Great fit at SG on this team, their aren’t really any big man worth taking over him
NJ B+ Williams Williams
What kind of dumbass gets caught multiple times for weed? However he’s by far the best big man available and could be an amazing fit
Comments overall:
-Joakim Noah looked like Willy Wonka, normally I would bash this more but he has too good an attitude.
*Why does
- Love the "Thanks Isaiah" signs, if you need to know how that deal went, just ask a
- Adidas’ commercial with Tim Duncan saying basically ‘you were fooled when you thought it was about me, it’s really about the team’ is one of the dumbest commercials I’ve ever seen. No one ever said it’s all about
- Stewart Scott was awful tonight and has been awful recently. His act is old, very old.
- Zeke never fails to amaze I’ll have to devote a post to him tomorrow and the BJ that Stephen A was giving him all night. Stephen A did an awful job tonight.
-
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Quick Thoughts
couple quick thoughts on random topics:
1) I previously wrote i don't want the Nets to pick Sean Williams, and i still hope he's not the best option, but he most likely will be. He's a much better option than any of the other bigs out there and unless a quality SG falls to them so they can replace Carter, you go with Williams. the worst that happens is he gets suspended for marijuana and they got nothing, which is essentially what they'll get if they draft big baby, jason smith or mcroberts. not that they'll all be busts but they're not good fits for NJ.
2) There's a rumor that Jason Smith is being considered by Washington, but they're worried that he won't get playing time ahead of Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood. Really? Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood? combined they averaged 12 points and 11 boards, and they're worried about him getting playing time? wow
3) The Yankees are back to playing some of the worst baseball in the league, and i won't devote more than a paragraph to it right now since its disgusting. All i can say is i hope they either catch fire and get back into the race or just continue at their current pace and completely fall out of it. The former will lead to minor deals hopefully leading to a playoff spot and once you're in anything can happen. The latter will lead to them hopefully jettisoning old parts like Matsui, Abreu, Mussina and Farnsworth.
look forward to draft grades later. I'll be posting how teams did, who they should have taken and why.
1) I previously wrote i don't want the Nets to pick Sean Williams, and i still hope he's not the best option, but he most likely will be. He's a much better option than any of the other bigs out there and unless a quality SG falls to them so they can replace Carter, you go with Williams. the worst that happens is he gets suspended for marijuana and they got nothing, which is essentially what they'll get if they draft big baby, jason smith or mcroberts. not that they'll all be busts but they're not good fits for NJ.
2) There's a rumor that Jason Smith is being considered by Washington, but they're worried that he won't get playing time ahead of Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood. Really? Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood? combined they averaged 12 points and 11 boards, and they're worried about him getting playing time? wow
3) The Yankees are back to playing some of the worst baseball in the league, and i won't devote more than a paragraph to it right now since its disgusting. All i can say is i hope they either catch fire and get back into the race or just continue at their current pace and completely fall out of it. The former will lead to minor deals hopefully leading to a playoff spot and once you're in anything can happen. The latter will lead to them hopefully jettisoning old parts like Matsui, Abreu, Mussina and Farnsworth.
look forward to draft grades later. I'll be posting how teams did, who they should have taken and why.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Why Vince Carter Sucks
Let me begin by saying in all honesty Vince Carter doesn't suck... he's just not very good and he's about to get paid millions more than he's worth. You might like Vince Carter and you'd have good reason. He scores around 25 a night, he pulls down 5 boards and hands out 4 assists per game. I think you'd be hard pressed to find many players who do that. You're also going to probably recall some highlight dunks and many a V-C-3 and say wow this guy is exciting, and he puts up great numbers what are you talking about the Nets can't possibly let him walk.
Well that's when you have to really start thinking closer about Carters game. Is he at all a factor defensively? 95% of the time the answer is no. How does he score those 25 points a game? Does he move without the ball like Rip Hamilton? Hardly. He takes the ball at around half court, everyone else clears out and he tries to go one on one hoping no one double teams. Invariably someone will and he'll occasionally pass the ball but most of the time force bad shots that occasionally go in. Take enough shots and the points will come, in the meantime your teammates including a very talented Richard Jefferson are left standing at the three point line hoping to get the chance to jack up a 3. He doesn't look to run very often even with kidd on the floor because he's simply not in that great shape. (see videos of him writhing on the floor with cramps on multiple occasions for evidence) Maybe if I'd never seen good basketball played i wouldn't have a problem with all this, but in the Nets two conference championship runs they won by playing good defense, running and having a fluid offense were everyone got involved. Watch the Nets without Vince Carter on the floor and they often look the same way.
If you want evidence of this look no further than the playoffs, the Nets beat the Raptors despite the play of Carter who layed a complete egg in the games in Toronto. He shot 13 for 43 or 30 percent in the first two games in Toronto and 23 for 65 overall in the 3 games in Canada. Even in the final game of the series when they closed it out in NJ the Nets won despite a 6 for 19 shooting effort from Carter. This of course goes to a fact that anyone who's watched Carter over his career knows: he just doesn't have the killer instinct, the heart to be a champion. Imagine if Micheal Jordan was so disgusted with a team that he forced a trade, how many points would he score a game against them? 60? 70? heck imagine even if Reggie Miller was in that situation. He'd hit three after three and tell the crowd what they could do with their stupid red t-shirts.
Despite these facts the Nets are going to give Carter his money, cause he's a "exciting" player and by that i mean he occasionally gets on Sportcenter and their dunce of an owner likes that. How much money? well the same money Dirk is getting, and more money than Amare Stoudamire or Elton Brand. Money well spent? i doubt it.
Well that's when you have to really start thinking closer about Carters game. Is he at all a factor defensively? 95% of the time the answer is no. How does he score those 25 points a game? Does he move without the ball like Rip Hamilton? Hardly. He takes the ball at around half court, everyone else clears out and he tries to go one on one hoping no one double teams. Invariably someone will and he'll occasionally pass the ball but most of the time force bad shots that occasionally go in. Take enough shots and the points will come, in the meantime your teammates including a very talented Richard Jefferson are left standing at the three point line hoping to get the chance to jack up a 3. He doesn't look to run very often even with kidd on the floor because he's simply not in that great shape. (see videos of him writhing on the floor with cramps on multiple occasions for evidence) Maybe if I'd never seen good basketball played i wouldn't have a problem with all this, but in the Nets two conference championship runs they won by playing good defense, running and having a fluid offense were everyone got involved. Watch the Nets without Vince Carter on the floor and they often look the same way.
If you want evidence of this look no further than the playoffs, the Nets beat the Raptors despite the play of Carter who layed a complete egg in the games in Toronto. He shot 13 for 43 or 30 percent in the first two games in Toronto and 23 for 65 overall in the 3 games in Canada. Even in the final game of the series when they closed it out in NJ the Nets won despite a 6 for 19 shooting effort from Carter. This of course goes to a fact that anyone who's watched Carter over his career knows: he just doesn't have the killer instinct, the heart to be a champion. Imagine if Micheal Jordan was so disgusted with a team that he forced a trade, how many points would he score a game against them? 60? 70? heck imagine even if Reggie Miller was in that situation. He'd hit three after three and tell the crowd what they could do with their stupid red t-shirts.
Despite these facts the Nets are going to give Carter his money, cause he's a "exciting" player and by that i mean he occasionally gets on Sportcenter and their dunce of an owner likes that. How much money? well the same money Dirk is getting, and more money than Amare Stoudamire or Elton Brand. Money well spent? i doubt it.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
NBA Draft
With tomorrow comes the arrival of the NBA draft. While it may not be my favorite day of the year it's one of them. One reason is because it never fails to shock. The Hawks taking Marvin Williams over Chris Paul and Deron Williams was fun. The Hawks taking Shelden Williams over Roy, Foye or Marcus Williams was fun too, and the Knicks taking Renaldo Balkman probably took the cake. (yes he's good, but he could be the next Jordan and they still shouldn't have taken him at 20 when they could have had him at 30) This year i think we can look forward to the Hawks not letting us down again.
They're going to take Al Horford with the third pick in the draft, when they already have Shelden Williams and Marvin williams to play the 4 spot. They have two needs, a PG and a C; Horford is neither. Now Len Elmore and Kiki Vanderwiegh like this move because you should take the best available player, but there's probably a reason Kiki is a FORMER GM. Their points hold if there were no good point guard options available, but according to ESPN.com's John Hollinger's new system Mike Conley is the best rated point guard in the draft since Chris Paul. He also lead his young team to the national championship game. It's possible they're going to trade for Ridnour or Calderon... which would admirable because if you're going to do something, do it well. In this case that thing would be doing an awful job and they're doing very well at it.
Everyone is talking Oden versus Durant. Personally i don't know how you pass on Oden, the Rockets passed on Jordan, he turned out to be amazing and the Rockets still got The Dream. My point is worst case scenario you pass on a sublime talent and you still got an All-Time great. However, for Portland unless they have a legitimate deal for Zach Randolph i don't see how Oden fits. You then have Aldridge, Randolph and Oden to play two positions. If you keep Randolph you then have Alridge, Randolph, Durant, Roy and Jack as you're starting five. The only problem there is their coach probably can't handle that much talent.
On a related note there's been rumors that the Nets are thinking of trading Jefferson for Randolph. All i can do is pray that it's not the case. Jefferson is probably tied with Kidd for my favorite Net and i think when put in the right system he can put up over 20 points a night, defend, rebound, run the break, pretty much everything you'd ever want from a player. Meanwhile there's a reason Portland is looking to deal Randolph and his talent on the court ain't it. I hope they keep Jefferson, let Vince walk (ideally sign and trade him for something, but otherwise just let him go) and draft the best available big man or guard. I'll take my chances without Vince for reasons i will get to in another post. Unfortunately though Vince is probably coming back. I know a good SG is gonna fall, so until i see who's available i won't say who they should pick quite yet. I know i do not want it to be Sean Williams. No one cares if you smoke weed, but how smart are you if you get caught for it multiple time?
My final thought for this entry is that the Celtics and Knicks need to deal Gerald Green for Channing Frye. Eddy Curry and Frye do not mesh well together and Zeke ain't trading Curry, so Frye's gotta go. They could use a shooter at the SG/SF position which Green provides and also has tremendous potential. Frye's mid-range shooting would mesh great with the low post play of Al Jefferson (who the Celtics are not trading... nor are any big trades are happening. KG, Kobe, and O'Neal are going nowhere) and allow the Celtics to take Corey Brewer with the number 5 pick. Now Hollinger who i cited in saying Conley would be very good, says Brewer probably won't be. I agree, i don't think he'll be a star, he's not a great ball handler or passer but he can get to the rim. However, if you have a lineup of West or Rondo, Brewer, Pierce, Jefferson and Frye then all you need for Brewer is to hit open shots, move well without the ball and defend. These are all strengths of Brewers and he would be a great fit. Additionally I'm sure his stats (which Hollinger bases his rankings on) would be better if he wasn't busy winning championships with a stacked team. The Celtics bench would include West or Rondo, Tony Allen who had a breakout year, Gomes, and Perkins. There's no way you don't compete in the east with that team, well... unless you have doc rivers as a coach.
They're going to take Al Horford with the third pick in the draft, when they already have Shelden Williams and Marvin williams to play the 4 spot. They have two needs, a PG and a C; Horford is neither. Now Len Elmore and Kiki Vanderwiegh like this move because you should take the best available player, but there's probably a reason Kiki is a FORMER GM. Their points hold if there were no good point guard options available, but according to ESPN.com's John Hollinger's new system Mike Conley is the best rated point guard in the draft since Chris Paul. He also lead his young team to the national championship game. It's possible they're going to trade for Ridnour or Calderon... which would admirable because if you're going to do something, do it well. In this case that thing would be doing an awful job and they're doing very well at it.
Everyone is talking Oden versus Durant. Personally i don't know how you pass on Oden, the Rockets passed on Jordan, he turned out to be amazing and the Rockets still got The Dream. My point is worst case scenario you pass on a sublime talent and you still got an All-Time great. However, for Portland unless they have a legitimate deal for Zach Randolph i don't see how Oden fits. You then have Aldridge, Randolph and Oden to play two positions. If you keep Randolph you then have Alridge, Randolph, Durant, Roy and Jack as you're starting five. The only problem there is their coach probably can't handle that much talent.
On a related note there's been rumors that the Nets are thinking of trading Jefferson for Randolph. All i can do is pray that it's not the case. Jefferson is probably tied with Kidd for my favorite Net and i think when put in the right system he can put up over 20 points a night, defend, rebound, run the break, pretty much everything you'd ever want from a player. Meanwhile there's a reason Portland is looking to deal Randolph and his talent on the court ain't it. I hope they keep Jefferson, let Vince walk (ideally sign and trade him for something, but otherwise just let him go) and draft the best available big man or guard. I'll take my chances without Vince for reasons i will get to in another post. Unfortunately though Vince is probably coming back. I know a good SG is gonna fall, so until i see who's available i won't say who they should pick quite yet. I know i do not want it to be Sean Williams. No one cares if you smoke weed, but how smart are you if you get caught for it multiple time?
My final thought for this entry is that the Celtics and Knicks need to deal Gerald Green for Channing Frye. Eddy Curry and Frye do not mesh well together and Zeke ain't trading Curry, so Frye's gotta go. They could use a shooter at the SG/SF position which Green provides and also has tremendous potential. Frye's mid-range shooting would mesh great with the low post play of Al Jefferson (who the Celtics are not trading... nor are any big trades are happening. KG, Kobe, and O'Neal are going nowhere) and allow the Celtics to take Corey Brewer with the number 5 pick. Now Hollinger who i cited in saying Conley would be very good, says Brewer probably won't be. I agree, i don't think he'll be a star, he's not a great ball handler or passer but he can get to the rim. However, if you have a lineup of West or Rondo, Brewer, Pierce, Jefferson and Frye then all you need for Brewer is to hit open shots, move well without the ball and defend. These are all strengths of Brewers and he would be a great fit. Additionally I'm sure his stats (which Hollinger bases his rankings on) would be better if he wasn't busy winning championships with a stacked team. The Celtics bench would include West or Rondo, Tony Allen who had a breakout year, Gomes, and Perkins. There's no way you don't compete in the east with that team, well... unless you have doc rivers as a coach.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this blog is to state my views on different sports topics. I'm gonna focus on mainly NY/NJ sports and mostly on baseball, basketball and football. I grew up in NJ and followed these sports all my life. However I went to school in Boston so I'm probably going to write some stuff about the Celtics and since I've grown to love soccer i may even write about that occasionally. It probably won't be funny, since I'm not a natural comedian, but i might say something humorous from time to time, so look out for it. I'll admit I'm also not the most eloquent of writers, but i think you'll find i have solid if not entirely original ideas.
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