How is Michigan (basketball) Not Top 25

With college football's regular season coming to a close you may not have noticed college basketball is in full swing. In that case you certainly would not know that Michigan has been excluded from the most current top 25. At 6-2 this isn't unfathomable until you take a closer look and when you do I think you won't be able to do anything else but scratch your head.

I have no love for Michigan Sports, C-webb blowing the national finals for the Maize and Blue didn't bother me one bit. That being said certain things in sports don't make sense to me and this is one of them.

Michigan as I stated is currently 6-2. Who have they lost to? At a neutral site to Duke who is 8-1 and the current number 7 team in the nation and on the road at Maryland a fellow fringe top 25 team. So neither of them were particularly bad loses.

So no bad loses how bout big wins? How does winning their second meeting with Duke who was in the top 5 at the time sound? How about a neutral site victory versus the then top 5 and current number 15 ucla bruins? Those sound like pretty nice wins to me.

So they have no big loses and a couple big victories, but that doesn't mean much if the rest of the top 25 can also make that case. They can't. Take number 25 Kansas their only loss was a neutral site loss to Syracuse who is currently number 13, so not a bad lose even if 'Cuse was unranked at the time. However who's their biggest win against? Washington? not an awful team, but not great either or maybe Kent State? New Mexico State?

Or how about number 24 Marquette who's 7-1 as well, and beat a very quality team in Wisconsin. However they also lost to Dayton, not a pushover, but not a borderline top 25 team either.

I could go on but I'll just add one more team they could easily be ahead of… UCLA. I know that's silly after all UCLA is much better right? But uh UCLA lost to Michigan, UCLA lost to Texas and you know who UCLA has beaten? NO ONE. I think everyone knows UCLA will end the season ahead of Michigan and yes early season rankings don't matter but I don't understand how they deserve a top 25 spot and Michigan doesn't.

Was it Really That Bad? Sean Avery Addition

So I read Sean Avery was being suspended for his comments the other day and I was shocked. Mostly because it’s not the playoffs yet so I didn’t know the NHL season had started, but also because he was suspended for comments.

Don’t get me wrong I can understand why the comments themselves were offensive to women, and shouldn’t have been said. As a guy I can’t fully understand how offensive they were but I understand they were offensive.

In all honesty I doubt a good percentage of women where all that offended and this yahoo article details that.

But I don’t want to argue about how offensive the comments are or are not, I’m willing to concede that they are offensive. However offensive they are though they’re still just words, comments, etc. Don’t we usually just fine people for comments? I mean in the NBA people get fined for all kinds of comments about referees and other things. I don't recall anyone getting suspended in this way for just comments.

The NHL has players elbowing each other, fighting each other, taking each other out at the knees and doing all types of reprehensible acts and this is what makes news? This is what warrants a 6 game suspension?

As far as I can tell the NHL made this a much bigger situation than it warranted by suspending him. There’s a good chance if they had just fined him and moved on no one outside of Dallas and parts of Canada would have even known he said it in the first place.

I’ll finish by asking this simple question: Sean Avery was suspended by Gary Bettmen and the NHL. Is it a coincidence that Sean Avery is also the same guy who basically said the NHL didn’t know what it was doing and didn’t know how to market itself?

The Giants Are Just Cooler Than You

Cool has a lot of meanings in our society. It could mean you’re just plain cold because the weather out is frigid. It could mean you’re the epitome of what’s “happening” or what’s “hip” or it could simply mean you don’t get rattled. If you haven’t guessed by now which cool I’m talking about in terms of the New York Football Giants it’s clearly the latter.

The Giants are not an exceptionally talented team. They have good players all around but I don’t think anyone would argue they have the QB, running back, LT, etc in the league. They had one of the better receivers in the league, but are currently 2-0 without him. One can’t really say they’ve been all that fortunate. They’ve had injuries to cornerbacks, Osi has been out all season, Brandon Jacobs has been out a game, and Plaxico is now suspended for the rest of the season for being the dumbest player in the league.

Yet despite all this they’re 11-1 and increasingly the biggest reason is they’re just plain cooler then you.

Perhaps it stems from the coaching staff, which demands complete focus no matter what’s going on around you. Or maybe it stems from their QB who once was criticized for being too unemotional, when in fact it’s his calm demeanor through the bad and the good that has been his biggest asset the last two years.

Whatever the case may be the Giants this year have been plain unflappable. Whether it’s the Plaxico suspension or the Plaxico self-mutilation, whether it’s a horrid loss against Cleveland on Monday Night or a schedule that features 10 straight winning teams to finish the season, the Giants just keep rolling along.

There’s still a lot of football to be played and still four more good teams in the regular season, but as a Giants fan I couldn’t be any more pleased with how they’ve played this year. I’m not going to predict the future I’m simply telling you where they are now and how they got there. Simply put they’ve shown that teamwork and coolness are probably the most important things that separate the 11-1 teams from the 0-12 in the NFL.

Hey Coach: Move the Ball to the Middle of the Field

If there was one thing that bothered me about this weekend’s games it was 2 coaches eschewing the chance to move the ball to the middle of the field for late game field goals. The coaches I’m talking about are Wake Forests Jim Grobe and South Florida’s Jim Leavitt.

Wake Forest was down a point with a minute or so to go in the game they drive down the field late and get it to the 23 yard line with about 15 or so seconds to go and a timeout remaining. The ball was on one of the hashmarks and it was second down and 4. Grobe elects to throw 2 passes that go incomplete and then try the field goal. Unfortunately while its only a 40 yard field goal for one of the nations best/most experienced kickers it is from the hashmark not the middle of the field. Luckily for Grobe they make the kick, but all I keep thinking is wouldn’t it have been smarter to run the ball to the middle of the field and then use your timeout and kick the field goal? While I may not be a kicker personally, kicking the ball from an angle is clearly tougher then kicking it straight on.

Later in the day Jim Leavitt makes a similar decision (maybe it’s a Jim thing). UCF tied the game late, but South Florida came down and had a chance to win the game in regulation with a field goal. Leavitt had a chance to move it to the middle of the field but didn’t and unlike with Grobe’s decision it did backfire as the kid missed the field goal wide left I believe. Had the ball been in the middle of the field and he kicks the same kick the ball goes in. Who knows if he kicks the same kick from the middle of the field then as from the left hash, but I like my chances better in the middle of the field.

Now maybe the reason I haven’t heard anything about these decisions is because both men won their games, but they both seemed like silly decisions to me.

How Brett Favre Made me a Worldly Individual or I’m sorry to see Brett Go

Editors Note: I wrote this a couple days ago, but i didn't get around to editing it or posting it till today, so hopefully it's still enjoyable.

Well Brett Favre has finally been traded. I’m not going to analyze the trade, or wax poetic about his time in Green Bay, I’ll leave that to others. What I will say is I’m somewhat sorry to see him go. Not because I wanted him to stay in Green Bay and not because I wasn’t sick of the coverage of will he or won’t he go, because I certainly was.

No I’m sad to see Brett Favre go because the coverage of his every move by ESPN was actually turning me into a worldly fellow. It used to be I would turn on ESPN in the background as I was on my computer or I would watch it while eating some dinner (yes I eat dinner in front of the tv, whatever). Then Brett Favre decided he wanted to play again and ESPN decided it was their duty to tell us of his every text message, let alone actual moves. Not only that, but we needed to know everything the Packers coach, GM and President were doing and thinking. If that wasn’t enough we needed the opinion on a daily basis from everyone on first and 10, PTI, Around The Horn, NFL Live, Sportscenter and pretty much every other show ESPN has. We needed their opinion on not only what was happening but what would happen next and what should happen.

So I could listen to this on a daily basis if I wanted or I could chose to watch something else. Personally over the last week or so perhaps more I made the choice to turn off ESPN every time they mentioned Brett Favre. So what’s a guy to do with no ESPN? I started watching the news instead of Sportscenter. I would occasionally turn on the history channel or even the e network to glimpse at who the paparazzi were stalking today. (I figure its good to be up on all types of current events even if you find them repulsive, because you wanna be able to speak with a variety of people)

Alas, Brett Favre has been traded and while it may take a little while for ESPN to get over it, maybe now they’ll actually cover stories that will interest me or at least ones I haven’t heard about constantly for days on end. Who knows they might talk about training camp developments around the rest of the league. They might talk about the Olympics, or the MLS, or even cover the NL West race a little bit (yes they suck but someone has to get into the playoffs). Heck they played a recap of the Houston Texans 2007 season and that’s more interesting then the Favre Saga.

So here’s to hoping now that the Brett Favre saga is over I won’t turn back into my normal mindless self.

Why the Timing of the Jeremy Shockey Trade is… Not Shocking

No one is surprised by the Jeremy Shockey trade. It’s been in the works for months and everyone knows why it happened, but people are a little confused as to why it happened now only 3 days before training camp. After all they got the same deal they could have had before the draft, so why do it now? Why not do it before the draft and get a replacement tight end through the draft or free agency?

All these questions can be answered fairly easily when you look a little closer at the situation. Who’s actually being traded here? Well we’re talking about Jeremy Shockey a multi-time Pro-Bowl tight end. Players like Shockey with speed, and toughness don’t come along every day. If you were the Giants wouldn’t you want to try to hold on to him? Then you consider the giants TE situation. They have Kevin Boss, no Jeremy Shockey certainly, but he made huge plays for the Giants in their Super Bowl run including an enormously important 45 yard reception in the Super Bowl itself. So while you’ll be downgrading at TE you have a guy who can block, and make the occasional big play. In other words you don’t necessarily NEED a replacement should things not work out with Shockey.

Now you consider how Shockey has acted this offseason. Instead of trying to help his teammates out during the super bowl run, he was sitting in the stands doing his own thing. I didn’t kill him for this as I figured he didn’t want to be a distraction, but it raises some questions. Then he skips the Super Bowl Parade and Ring Ceremony. Its not like he wasn’t part of the team, he made 57 fricken catches for them in the regular season, so there’s no reason he can’t get a ring, but he skips these events. In doing so to me it shows a complete lack of support for your teammates. Even if you feel you don’t deserve the ring yourself because you didn’t help them in the postseason wouldn’t you want to go support your teammates? Its not like you weren’t invited.

He also asked for a trade because he was worried about his role on the team. Last I checked his role was the same as it is on every team… HELP THE TEAM WIN. Apparently he was worried more about his stats then playing for the Super Bowl champs.

Will they win again this year? Probably not, but at least they have the talent to get it done.

Then he gets in a shouting match with the GM and I can only imagine what else was going on behind the scenes.

So why wait so long? Simply put because he’s a talented player who you don’t want to get rid of, you don’t neeeeed a replacement for him and you’re hoping things will work themselves out. When it became clear they would not and training camp was fast approaching they realized it was time to cut bait. So to me all the media types (and Plaxico Burress) expressing shock over the time, need to calm down.

Here's to You Ken Singleton

Many of you have never had the privilege of hearing Ken Singleton broadcast a baseball game, never mind the privilege of hearing him on a regular basis. As a Yankee fan in the NY area, I get the pleasure of hearing him quite often and I want to write a tribute to one of my favorite broadcasters out there.

Why is Ken Singleton so good? Well let’s start with that he’s completely unpretentious. He doesn’t speak down to you, and never comes off as self-important. At the same time he’s clearly very articulate. He doesn’t talk about things he doesn’t know about and keeps the focus on the game itself.

He’s completely self-deprecating and you’d never know he was really a quite good player, unless well… you knew was quite a good player. (No he wasn’t hall of fame material, but he was no slouch.) All these things allow him to work seamlessly with a multitude of partners, from Cone, to Lieter to Flaherty to Kay; he doesn’t miss a beat no matter who is in the booth.

But the best part about getting to listen to Ken Singleton? The little sayings you’ll hear every game.

One particular game a pitcher threw a curveball and they were showing the replay of said curveball and Singleton describing the brake on the pitch goes, “WEEEEE” like a school child going throwing his hands up and jumping down a slide. It was unexpected, enthusiastic and quite simply great.

Another game a Yankee (probably Jeter) made a high throw to first and Giambi has to jump up to grab it, lands on the bag and gets the out. Singleton says, “Giambi proves you gotta get up, to get down.” Once again unexpected, enthusiastic and great.

So here’s to you Ken Singleton, keep doing what you’re doing.

NBA Draft Grades/Analysis If You Can Handle It

NBA Draft Grades/Analysis If You Can Handle It

1) Chi –

Actual pick- Derrick Rose

Mock Draft Pick: Beasley

Should have picked: Beasley

Grade: B

Kirk Heinrich had a bad year last year, but is still a solid pg, not a star, but solid. Ty Thomas meanwhile has proven nothing in this league and Drew Gooden has proven that he’s nothing more then a role player. You’ve needed inside scoring for the last two decades, and Michael Beasley had the best freshman season ever. He LEAD the country in rebounding last year and was third in the country in scoring. As amazing as Durant was last season Beasley left him in the dust, nevermind Rose. On top of that Gooden and Thomas have much easier deals to trade for another pg if you aren’t completely sold on Heinrich.

One Final thought Rose had 4.7 assists per game last year… in Conference USA. Chris Paul and Deron Williams both had more assists and better assist to turnover ratios in college then Rose. While Memphis’ system probably has a lot to do with that has Rose really shown he’s the next Paul or Williams? He’s absolutely going to be good, but better then Beasley? We shall see.

2)Mia

Actual pick- Beasley

Should have picked: Beasley

Grade: A+

No brainer, he’s by far and away better then anything else on the board. Shawn Marion is not a PF (at least on the offensive side) and Haslem is an average player at best. Marion and Beasley should complement each other well with Beasley handling the scoring inside and Marion defending guys Beasley struggles to defend. Wade will have another player to lighten his load, and they were able to pickup a first round quality pg in Chalmers too. Riles may have had his reservation, but he better thank his basketball people cause they talked him into a GREAT draft.

3) Min (traded to Memphis)

Actual pick- OJ Mayo

Should have picked – OJ Mayo

Grade B+

They got a nice outside shooter in Mike Miller which fills a big need for them, but now they have two PF’s who aren’t really tall enough/tough enough to be dominant inside defenders. The knicks tried that… it didn’t work very well. I like Love (no pun intended) but I’m just not sure he makes sense there.

4) Sea

Actual pick- Westbrook

Should have picked – Lopez, Bayless,

Grade- C+

They need guys who can defend and they need a pg I get that. But they also have pretty much no one up front so Lopez would have been a better option and Bayless is more talented so he would have been a better option as well. Westbrook should be solid, but I question the value here.

5) Mem (traded to Min)

Actual pick- Love

Should have picked – Love, Lopez

Grade B+

They were able to get a lottery type talent at PF in Arthur and were able to trade for arguably the third best prospect in the draft (Mayo). I assume they’ll put Mayo at SG aside Conley with Gay at SF, Arthur and Warrick at PF and Milicic and Gasol at C, not a bad lineup if you ask me. They did have to take back Jaric’s contract though… yuck.

6) NY

Actual pick- Danilo Gallinari

Should have picked – Jerryd Bayless, DJ Augustin

If there was ever a team in need of a PG it’s the Knicks. Bayless is a top talent sitting right there for you. Clearly I’ve never seen Gallinari play and he’s put up some good numbers in Europe, but passing up on Bayless and Augustin here? Haven’t knicks fans been through enough? If Gallinari doesn’t come in and contribute they’ll boo him off the court from day one.

7) LAC

Actual pick- Eric Gordon

Should have picked – Eric Gordon, Bayless, Augustin

Grade B+

Maggette is likely to opt out, and even if he doesn’t they need a dominant scorer from the backcourt. He’s as good a value as anyone else here on the board and while they could use a PG I can’t find any fault in taking Gordon here.

8) Mil-

Actual pick- Joe Alexander

Should have picked – Darell Arthur, Anthony Randolph

Grade- C-

You just traded for Richard Jefferson… who I want back by the way and now you’re drafting another SF? I get that they like him, but does this pick make any sense?

9) Cha

Actual pick- DJ Augustin

Should have picked – Lopez

Grade B

I can’t kill this pick since Augustin isn’t a bad value here, but they already have Felton who’s more then serviceable. Meanwhile Lopez would have been a great complement to Okefor up front.

10) NJ

Actual pick- Brook Lopez

Should have picked – Lopez

Grade A+

They needed inside scoring, and they have two guys they can put alongside him in Sean Williams and Josh Boone who will cover for any defensive deficiencies. Having traded away Jefferson and having an aging carter they’re probably not going to be running much anyway so he should help them in the half court. Couldn’t have realistically hoped for a better pick; unless of course they got Alexander but for some reason Milwaukee took him.

11) Ind (traded to Portland)

Actual pick- Jerryd Bayless

Should have picked – Bayless

Grade B-

Loved bayless here, but then they went ahead and traded it for Brandon Rush. I like rush, now they’re going to have to count on Jack, Tinsley and Ford at the PG position. Hey, who knows one of them might stay healthy and be productive.

12) Sac

Actual pick- Jason Thompson

Should have picked – Chalmers, Arthur, Randolph, Speights

Grade D

He went to Rider… they couldn’t even make the NCAA tournament out of the MAAC. Your best option at pg right now looks to be Beno Udrih, while most of the top pg’s are off the board here I’m going to reach for the national champion over the guy who couldn’t make the NCAA tournament out of the MAAC. He was projected to go MAYBE 29… and you take him at 12… are we sure Isaiah Thomas isn’t in the building?

13) Por (traded to Ind)

Actual pick- Brandon Rush

Should have picked – Rush

Grade A+

They drafted Rush I was all ready to say how well Por did despite not having any prospect on the board who would be an upgrade over their current PG situation, but then they trade for bayless and I think this is a GREAT move. Jack had little value, and they got one of the top 5-6 players in the draft in my opinion and the number 4 prospect reportedly on their board.

14) GS

Actual pick- Randolph

Should have picked - Arthur

Grade B-

They need a big man and if he’s gonna play Nellie-ball he needs to be versatile, but for a team that’s already so thin up front you’re taking an 197 lb PF??? Arthur is another versatile PF who’s actually been to the dinner table once or twice. Randolph has a lot of talent though and put up great numbers, so I can’t kill the pick completely. If Baron Davis was younger I’d give this a B or maybe if they didn’t already have thin man Brandon Wright, but BD not being a spring chicken I’m giving it a B-

15) Pho

Actual pick- Robin Lopez

Should have picked – Donte Greene

Grade B

I know Steve Kerr wants to get better defensively, what he doesn’t realize is they’re never going to be very good at it as long as Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire are on the court. Donte Greene has top of the draft potential and would be a great swingman to take over for Grant Hill. As I said though they do need a big man who can defend and shaq can only play so many minutes at his age…

16) Phi-

Actual pick- Mareesse Speights

Should have picked – Speights

Grade A+

Speights has as much talent as anyone, and put up as good numbers as pretty much any PF. The Sixers need a PF with size who can play with his back to the basket. Excellent selection.

17) Tor (for Indiana)

Actual pick- Roy Hibbert

Should have picked – Hibbert, Arthur, Koufos

Grade B

They already selected a PG, so they needed to add some beef up front. You’re not going to find a much bigger player then hibbert. Teams like Tor (bosh) and bos (garnett) Mia (Beasley) will give them huge issues, but they’ll be better prepared for teams like cle (z) and mil (bogut) who are in their division.

18) Was

Actual pick- Mcgee

Should have picked – Mcgee

Grade B

Has great upside but he’s a big time project. However there weren’t really any players here who are clear upgrades over what they have (assuming Jamison, Butler and Arenas are back) so I don’t mind them taking a player based on upside.

19) Cle-

Actual pick- Hickson

Should have picked – Arthur, CDR

Grade B

Simply put they need guys who can put the ball in the basket. CDR would have looked great alongside LBJ, and I think Arthur would have been a nice replacement for the aging Joe Smith. Hickson did put up better numbers then Arthur, but it was on a much worse team so I don’t know what that means.

20) Cha

Actual pick- alexis aijinca

Should have picked – Kofous

Grade D

Workout warriors rarely turn into quality players. He barely played in the French league, and averaged a grand total of 5 points… need I say more?

21) NJ

Actual pick- Anderson

Should have picked – CDR

Grade – C

What I wrote at the time: You traded away Richard Jefferson, you already have Boone, Lopez and Williams not to mention Yi, and Kristic is a restricted free agent and you take another forward? How bout a swing guy to replace Jefferson, CDR would have been a great fit and would have started next year… god the Nets need Stefanski back.

Was all ready to give them an F for this pick, but then they got CDR in the second round, so I dislike this pick much less.

22) Orl

Actual pick- Courtney Lee

Should have picked – CDR, Lee

Grade B

They needed a tall starting shooting guard, but with turkogulo and lewis being great defenders CDR would have been the better pick here. People will be sorry they did not select him MUCH earlier… think Josh Howard (not the same type of players, but both players who went way too late)

23) Utah

Actual pick- Koufos

Should have picked – kofous

Grade B

Best value here given they don’t need a PF or a shooting SF. Speed really must not be something they pay much attention to.

24) Sea

Actual pick- Serge Ibaka

Should have picked – Anyone else, Darrell Arthur

Grade D

Here’s a predication this guy will never play in the NBA. He’s unlikely to play in the NBA this year, and if he’s as good as people say he is they won’t be able to pay him enough to come to the NBA with the rookie salary structure. If he isn’t… they won’t want him.

25) Houston (traded to Por)

Actual pick- Nicolas Batum

Should have picked – Arthur, CDR

Grade B

Ended up with Donte Greene who should provide some good scoring off the bench for a team that sorely needed another scorer. Why they didn’t just draft him though I don’t know.

26) SA

Actual pick- George Hill

Should have picked – Greene

Grade Spurs

They’re the spurs they don’t get a grade, I think they needed to get more athletic and needed more people who can score the ball, but they seem to know what they’re doing so who am I to question.

27) Cha (for Por) (Traded to Mem via Houston)

Actual pick- Darrell Arthur

Should have picked – D Greene

Grade A-

Didn’t really need Arthur but was too good of a talent to pass on so they turned it into a SF in Batum, not sure how good Batum will be, but I like the way Portland works.

28) Mem- (Traded to Houston)

Actual pick- Donte Greene

Should have picked – Greene

Grade B+

I like Greene he’s got lottery pick value but why Houston didn’t just take him themselves I’m not sure… I guess they must have gotten something for Batum/Arthur?

29) Det- (traded to seattle)

Actual pick- DJ White

Should have picked – whoever they like

Grade B+ (for both teams)

They don’t really have any glaring holes, so I didn’t mind them selecting White but he duplicates Maxiell, so I like them trading with Seattle, They’ll put the two second rounders in the D-league and hopefully they develop nicely. Meanwhile Seattle needed some beef up front and White should help provide that.

30) Bos

Actual pick- JR Giddens

Should have picked – Chalmers, CDR

Grade C

They could use an eventual replacement for Ray Allen, or a backup/upgrade for Rondo. Instead they take a headcase? I don’t like it.

Mock Draft Part 3 (picks 21-30)

You can read the run down of picks 1-20 below but to finish off my first round mock draft here are picks 21-30. There could still be alot of talent left in these picks, so teams selecting down here will definitely want to do their homework.

21) NJ- Batum

After drafting a post presence early in the draft the nets can either look to strengthen their bench with a shooter or can look to the future with an international pick that they can ideally stash over in Europe for a year or two. I say with Harris, M. Williams, Carter Jefferson, Speights Boone and S. williams around not to mention probably Nachbar you can afford to look ahead. Batum is young and was talked about as a lottery pick before the season I say draft him, put him in Europe and you have a potential replacement for carter in the future or Jefferson should you trade him.

22) Orl- CDR

Orlando needs a guard with quickness, who can penetrate when necessary or knock down shots when Howard passes it out. CDR is a perfect fit who is quick enough and big enough to handle the taller guards who Orlando is not currently equipped to guard.

23) Utah – Hibbert

They need quickness badly. Part of the reason they were eliminated this year was their inability to get back in transition because quite frankly they were too slow. However as I don’t have anyone on the board left who’s likely to help solve that problem so I take Roy Hibbert. They don’t like to run anyway so his lack of quickness wouldn’t be a huge problem, and he should be an improvement over Jarron Collins.

24)Sea – Chalmers

With all the young guys seattle is going to have on their roster I want a guy who’s been to the highest place possible, someone who’s seen what it takes to win. They need a pg and having based up on bayless I take Chalmers here.

25) Houston- Courtney Lee

Aside from T-mac and Yao every other position could probably be upgraded., raefer alston was very good last year so point isn’t a major need. With T-macs window closing they need people who can contribute right away, so I’m looking at one of the few seniors in the draft. Lee will knock down shots off passes from rafer and T-mac or Yao double teams and can also but the ball on the floor himself. When the rockets are struggling to score like they often do Lee will be a big help coming in for Battier or for T-mac when he needs to rest.

26) San Antonio- JJ Hickson

They have their big three, and a bunch of professionals but not a whole lot of athleticism. The spurs often look international and I would be surprised if they don’t, but Hickson will provide a nice option to help defend some of the quicker big men and aid their overall team speed.

27) New Orleans- Bill Walker

They don’t have too many needs. They could look to take a big man so they don’t have to play Melvin Ely ever again. Walker is too good to pass up here and with Bonzi Wells a free agent they can let him go Walker should be able to step into his role.

28) Mem- Kofous

I have them taking Eric Gordan at 5 so I would look big man here. Kofous I don’t see as a great NBA prospect due to his lack of athleticism but he should be able to score some points in the paint and that’s all the grizzlies can hope for here.

29) Det- Serge Ibaka

Mcdyess could call it quits which would change things a bit and rasheed could be dealt but right now it doesn’t look like too many guys will be getting playing time here so I’m looking to stick a guy in Europe for a year or two till sheed, mcdyess, rip and billups are closer to moving on. Ibaka is 18, you can let him learn the game in Europe for a couple years and bring him over when he’s ready and he’ll still only be 20-21.

Note: I’ve heard DJ whites name here, but I don’t see how that helps with maxiell already around.

30) Bos- Lawson

This pick will likely change based on how rondo does in the finals, but the Celtics need a pg that won’t be afraid to take open shots. I like rondo but they can use a replacement for House and Cassell and possibly a starter if rondo refuses to take the open shots he’s given. More likely the Celtics will look to a foreign big man like Ante Tomic, or Alexis Ajinca, but as I said I think the finals will show more about what the Celtics need to do.

Mock Draft Part 2 (picks 11-20)

After laying out my mock draft parameters and the first 10 picks in part 1, part 2 is here to give you picks 11-20.

To recap this is not what will happen, it's what should happen. i choose based on need and i don't care about what position you play just that you're the most talented player who will help my team get to the next level.

take a look at part 1 below for my reasoning as to why i have each guy at the positions but picks 1-10 where: Beasley, Rose, Randolph, Lopez, Gordon, Bayless, Mayo, Westbrook, Love, Speights

on to part 2:

11) Ind- Augustin

Indiana by all accounts is sick of Jamal Tinsley’s inability to play anything close to a full season. Assuming they don’t make some major changes (such as trading J. O’neal or Tinsley etc) it looks like Augustin is their best bet. Coming of a 19 pt 5 board a game season I might also look to deal Dunleavy and draft Galinari here.

12) Sac- Arthur

Assuming the top four point guards are off the board its probably too high to take a pg at 12, so I’m either looking to trade up (if Artest stays do they really need Francisco Gracia?) or trade down and get a power forward and a point guard (like Lawson or Chalmers later in the draft. If they stay here it looks like the choices would be Jordan or Arthur. I take Arthur.

13) Por- Alexander

Like Sac their biggest need is probably a pg and with Raef Lefrentz expiring deal they can probably make some moves, but with Brandon Roy on the roster they don’t neeeeed a pg. So Chad Ford tells me they’ll draft Joe Alexander and I have no problem with that.

14) G.S. – Galinari

Do they need Galinari? No, but we’re talking about G.S. here, Nelson loves 6’5”- 6’9” guys who can slash, shoot and pass. They could also draft Jordan here as they’re looking for more of an inside presence

15) Pho- Rush

Realistically their window has probably closed, because they’re not likely to overtake L.A., N.O., Utah, and S.A. but with Shaq and Nash around they need to win NOW. You’re looking for someone who can step right in and contribute so I think you’re looking at Rush or CDR. Rush is probably the better athlete and shooter and since they’re not looking for him to star anyway his reticence to do so is not a problem.

16) Phi- Jordan

Philly is an athletic team in need of more of an inside presence, put Jordan in the mix and they can keep their uptempo style while hopefully developing a low post scorer for the future. Note I have Jordan this low because I think he has high bust potential, at 7 ft you shouldn’t be averaging 8 pts and 6 boards in college. Granted he was a frosh, but was he even a starter at A&M?

17) Tor – Robin Lopez

With the team they have they need an athletic big who can also defend. They’re going to play uptempo and they have sufficient shooters, Lopez can run with them, but also defend guys who Bargnani and Bosh will struggle defending. SF is another option and Donte Green and CDR deserve looks

18) Was- Budinger

They have Caron Butler and a lot of question marks. I’ve seen McGee here, but with Blatche they don’t really need another tall developmental prospect. With Arenas, Jamison and Butler I put Budinger at the 2 and see if we can’t out shoot people. I’m not sure he’s a great pick for them but he’s the only one I see left having a chance to fit/contribute with them

19) Cleveland – Donte Greene

Simply put they need people who can score the basketball, and ideally some shooters. Hopefully Greene will add a little strength and develop a low post game in the future (he is 6’10”) but for now he’ll be a talented outside shooter not afraid to put up shots when Lebron throws it to him.

On a side note if they fail to turn Eric Snow and or their other expiring deals (Wally Sczcerbiak) into talented pieces then Danny Ferry needs to be catapulted out of town.

20) Denver- Mcgee

PG is definitely an option, with Chalmers being the pick over Lawson since they can’t get by with 2 under 6 foot guards in the backcourt. However with Camby getting up there in age, I take Mcgee who is a similar player and groom him as Camby’s replacement given Camby may even be traded.

Mock Draft Part 1 (picks 1-10)

To start I need to explain my mock draft a little.

This is in no way meant to be a prediction of what the actual GM’s will do. They have their favorites, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree it’s the best choice. So I give you what I think each team should do.

I believe in leaning towards need over talent. In some cases this would lead the hawks to choose mike conley over Al Horford, but in general I think you need to take a player who fits your system and who fits your needs. People will also bring up Bowie over Jordan but I would argue when your only other talented player is a SF, taking a SG is filling a need as well, so I’d like to believe I draft Jordan in that situation. In general that will ensure the hawks aren’t looking for their pg of the future for the past 10 years and the bulls a low post presence for the past 20.

I also don’t favor any one position over another unless it matters for your specific team. Jordan, Bird, Shaq, Duncan, Magic have all been the crucial components to multiple championship teams in the past and all play vastly different styles and positions.

1) Chicago- Beasley

They already have hinrich at pg, and have been looking for low post scoring for at least 2 decades. If they can trade hinrich for value they can consider Rose, but moving Gooden and Thomas will be muuuuuch easier. I’ve heard knocks on Beasley that he’s not necessarily a low post scorer, but lets not confuse his ability to do other things well with a lack of post scoring. After having one of the best freshman seasons EVER in college he will be a dominant force down low for the bulls and is the perfect fit.

2) Miami- Rose

I’m putting Rose here because he’s too talented to fall past the two spot, but if I’m Miami I’m seriously looking to trade down at least one spot and take Mayo or someone else. As Chard Ford has pointed out in his mock drafts with Rose and Wade in the backcourt they’d have one of the worst shooting backcourts in the league allowing defenses to sag off them and play their drives. However Rose would look damn good running the break with Wade and Marion.

3) Min- Anthony Randolph

I doubt they’d have the balls to take Randolph here, but to me he’s by far the best fit. He’s extremely talented with a skill set that’s been compared to Chris Bosh, but most importantly from what I can tell he can defend. He averaged 2.3 blocks a year, and with Al Jefferson being an extremely talented offensive player and equally disinterested defender they need to pair someone like Randolph with him.

4) Sea- B. Lopez

With no real inside presence to write of offensively or defensively I like Lopez here. Seattle does need a PG so Bayless is an option, but i’d be looking at a Mario Chalmers or Ty Lawson with their second first round pick rather then using the first pick on Bayless.

5) Mem- Gordon

I like Conley at point, Gay at SF and Warrick at PF the grizzlies could use a SG or C. Gordon is by far the best talent at either position available. Mayo is definitely an option if available as Anthony Randolph would be, but I have Randolph off the board and I’m not sure Mayo is big or strong enough for 2 guard in the NBA.

6) Knicks- Bayless

While Mayo is probably too talented to pass up here, I have my doubt about his ability to run an offense and with D’Antoni you need a strong PG.

7) LAC- Mayo

Clippers run up to the podium and rejoice that LA’s own OJ Mayo falls to them. The clips need a PG and whether Mayo is the prototypical pg or not he will fit in with them just fine.

8) Mil- Westbrook

With Mo Williams being more of a scoring pg, I’d like to pair him with another combo guard who can defend. The bucks have competent players at every position, but not necessarily any stars anywhere, so I take the best player available, but I think Westbrook is the best fit.

9) Char- Love

If I’m charlotte I probably look at Darrell Arthur, Speights, or DeAndre Jordan as they all have much higher upsides. However knowing Jordans hard on for guys that produce in college as well Larry Browns complete lack of patience in developing young guys I take Kevin Love. At least Love will get some playing time and contribute.

10) NJ- Speights

With harris, carter and Jefferson the nets are set 1-3, they have Williams and boone to provide a defensive presence so the nets need to look at the best scoring low post option. After averaging 14.5 pts on 62% shooting and 8 boards per game in the SEC last year I think he’s their guy. In comparison to other choices Darrell Arthur’s numbers were 12.8, 54%, 6.3 and DeAndre Jordan’s were… 8, 61% and 6.

So You Want to Draft Mayo

Editors note: i wrote this a week or so ago, and its probably not one of my better entries, but i hope you found it somewhat interesting.

Let’s say you’re the Knicks… ok I won’t subject you to such a scary fate… let’s say you’re the Timberwolves. If that’s too scary as well, just pretend you’re some other lottery team, for these purposes it really doesn’t matter which team, but the key is you could use either a point guard or a shooting guard and you don’t have a top two pick. So you take a look at the prospect available to you; you review the game film, work them all out, etc and you rate that OJ Mayo is the most talented pg/sg available after Rose is off the board.

In my best Stephen A. Smith voice I say, HOWEVA, you know he’s got all this USC baggage accompanying him. There’s going to be an investigation which may be a distraction for him and it certainly will provide some negative press, so is it worth it? What does it say about his overall character and will he be an issue over the course of his career?

Well my opinion is… unfortunately... this doesn’t matter. He’s probably not going to face any criminal changes for this or anything that would affect his ability to be on the court. As for negative press, well if the guy scores 15 a game (for example) as a rookie you’re fans won’t care. What does it say about his overall character? Nothing you probably didn’t already know. He’s a bit of a diva, but he’s also not selling drugs, stealing laptops or having sex with 13 year olds.

As we all know sports teams are businesses and your business is to make money. Fans want a winner and the more you win the more money you’re going to make. So to the GM who drafts Mayo I say good luck, and hope he pans out as a player because lets be honest fans will most likely only remember whether he was talented or not.

Editors note: i wrote this a week or so ago, and its probably not one of my better entries, but i hope you found it somewhat interesting.

Hank Steinbrenner: Just Shut Your Mouth Already

Hank Steinbrenner the new managing owner of the Yankees is running his mouth yet again. After already saying the Red Sox Nation was B.S., giving deadlines for the Santana deal and saying the Yankees wouldn’t sign A-Rod (and then did) Hank Steinbrenner has taken the cake recently. He said he wants Joba in the starting rotation and only an idiot would want him in the setup role. Additionally he mentioned 5 starters he wanted on the team going forward and one of them was not Mike Mussina who is currently in the rotation.

Previously I haven’t minded his comments and proclamation. Granted he’s probably hurt the Yankees bargaining position in certain situations, I figured as long as he keeps writing the checks like his father did it would be ok.

Now I’m going to not so politely have to tell him to Shut his Facking Mouth. First in saying he never liked them moving him to the pen last year he’s ignoring the fact that if they did not, there’s little to no chance they make the playoffs last year. Granted they didn’t get past the first round last year, however without a bad case of the bugs who knows how that series could have turned. My point is last year it was clearly a smart decision to move Joba to the bullpen.

Now I understand he’s probably been watching Bronx is Burning and wants to be like his dad when George told Billy Martin to hit Reggie Jackson fourth, but it’s possible to own a successful team without being an idiot.

Here’s a few reasons why Hanks comments are so dumb.

1) With his recent statements in one foul swoop you’ve alienated one of your starting pitchers, your GM and your manager.

1a) Mussina hasn’t been that bad, aside from his last start he’s pitched at least 5 2/3 every other start and not given up more than 4 runs in all of them

1b) Your general manager is the one who drafted Joba in the bloody first place

1c) Your manager is less than 20 games in, is there really a need to castrate him already and make him face constant questions?

2) His baseball people (you know the ones that actually know the game) think Joba should only pitch about 150 innings this year and if he went through 30+ healthy starts he would be way over that by the end of the season, lets just throw him out there anyway.

3) The Yankees really have no proven setup guy if Joba is moved to the rotation. Number one starters are more important than setup guys, but between Rivera in 96 and Nelson, Stanton and Mendoza after that the Yankees haven’t won a W.S. recently without a very solid setup crew.

4) We’ve never seen Joba as a major league starter. Is he doing to be as dominant throwing 94 instead of 97, and having to work in curveballs and changeups?

5) One of his reasons for thinking Joba needs to be in the rotation is because you don’t keep a guy with a 100 mph fastball as a setup guy. According to Jayson Stark: Joel Zumaya, Justin Verlander, Joba, Matt Lindstrom, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jonathan Broxton and A.J. Burnett. That's the list of all pitchers who threw at least three pitches last year that were clocked at 100-plus. Not including Joba that’s three starters and 3 relievers. And other than Verlander who has struggled this season, none of them are dominant.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not against moving Joba to the rotation and giving him a shot there, but to call people idiots for thinking its not a bad thing for him to be in the bullpen at this point is, well… idiotic.

Replay in Baseball: Get Your Head Out Your Arse and Use It

On ESPN Jayson Stark is having a chat about whether replay should be used in baseball. To summarize the argument for replay: those in favor of replay would basically like to get calls right. I don’t see any merit in getting calls wrong, so unless there’s a compelling reason not to get the calls right I say use replay.

The arguments against replay are many, but basically well… dumb. One argument is it will slow down the game. People argue that baseball is already a slow game, we can’t be going over to a replay booth to check every close call. That’s a valid, but again stupid argument. Why? Well for two reasons really…

1) no one is arguing we should replay every play. Balls and strikes will always be the umpire’s discretion. Certainly one could argue a system like ques tec or k zone would do a better job, but no one is arguing for it to be used for anything other than an evaluative tool. Some people would argue replay should be used for all close safe-out calls, but I won’t even argue for that. I’m simply arguing that on easy to review calls like whether a ball was fair or foul and whether a ball was trapped or not we can go to an upstairs umpire who probably won’t need more than one look at the play and can radio down with his decision.

2) In addition to it not being used on every play it will not in any significant way slow down the game. What happens when there’s a close play like a fair or foul home run? Often times the umpires will gather together discuss it and may or may not reverse the decision. Based on whether they reverse the decision or not one of the managers will come out there and discuss/yell about it. Let’s say the umpires discuss the call for 1 ½ minutes and then the manager comes out for another 2-5 minutes, that’s somewhere between 3 ½ - 6 ½ minutes for a close call. Instead of that couldn’t we just review the play for 2-3 minutes tops. We could probably have a good 3-4 replays per game in the same time span as one challenged call.

The other argument against replay is it takes out the “human element” of the game. I for one don’t even really know what that means, or why it’s so sacred, but I understand that it’s important for the purists. Again I’ll make a similar argument that there’s still a significant portion of calls (like balls and strikes) that will never be up for replay. So even with the most liberal use of replay there will still be the human element.

But again I question what’s so sacred about the human element? Baseball like every other sport needs to progress over time. They used to have storm drains in centerfield that severely affected the careers of players like Mickey Mantle who got caught up in them and got injured. New technology came along and they no longer need to put storm drains on the field, is anyone upset about that? Let’s go back in time further; they used to wear no gloves at all or if they wore gloves it was barely larger than their hands. Now outfielders wear gloves large enough for a small baby to sleep in. Again, where’s the complaining about that?

Technology is not a bad thing and it’s time for baseball to give it a shot. Lets try it out see where it works and were it doesn’t. I think most people would argue inter-league play and the wild card have been good for baseball and I think they’ll realize if replay is instituted it’s good for the game too.

Could the Nets be Tougher to Fix Than the Knicks?

Previously i wrote about how the Knicks could fix themselves, (basically trade Zach Randolph for expiring contracts and let the rest of their big deals expire). Today I want to focus on my team the Nets. They’re theoretically in better shape then the Knicks, after all this is the first year in awhile they’ve missed the playoffs and even this year they had a better year then the Knicks. However if they want to truly get good it may be tougher than what the Knicks need to do.

Current situation

The Nets currently have Devin Harris, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter locked up long term. The first two are young and talented, play offense and defense, so having them around is a good thing. On the other hand Vince Carter is old, rarely plays defense and his level of intensity fluctuates from night to night. Now that’s not to say he’s not talented, when he’s playing intense he can score 30+ hand out multiple assists and get double digit rebounds. However, his body at this age is not able to handle that kind of intensity regularly enough to win enough games either that or he just doesn’t give the effort on night in night out basis cause he’s lazy (take your pick).

The Nets also have Marcus Williams, Josh Boone and Sean Williams, three talented young players.

Throw in Bostjan Nochbar and Kristic and the Nets definitely have some talent. Yet they’re not winning.

Changes to the Current Roster

One answer could be to change the coach. I like Frank, but maybe they just need a new voice.

Aside from a coaching change what can the Nets do?

Well first, they need to decide on whether to keep Nachbar or Diop as they’re both free agents. I say keep Nachbar as he will be relatively inexpensive and is a nice role player. As for Diop look to keep him at a reasonable price but realize he’s not a necessity, if he gets big offers like Miki Moore did last year you let him go.

Then look to trade Carter. It won’t happen though as he’ll turn 32 next year and still has three more years left at big money. (15m + per year) Oh and did I mention he gives inconsistent effort on a nightly basis?

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Draft

So the next move, since they won’t have cap room until after next year, is to look at the draft.

What do the Nets need? Not a PG, SG or SF since they won’t play over Harris/Williams, Carter and RJ. They have Boone and Williams, possibly Diop and Kristic. So do they need a power forward or center? Yeah, they probably could use a dominant scoring post presence but at the ten pick (or wherever they are in the draft) who are they looking at? Some guys in that range they could be looking at include Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan, Marcus Speights, Darell Arthur and reaching a little bit for Donte Green. Love is not a great athlete so it’s tough to tell how he projects to the NBA. Jordan (8 points 6 boards) is not a dominant inside presences but has talent. Speights put up 15 pts and 8 boards last year, but I’ll admit I don’t know much about him. Arthur often gets lost during games but has a lot of talent. Donte Green intrigues me since he’s 6-10 and can shoot, possibly opening up the lane for drives by Harris Carter and RJ, but can he defend a PF? Probably not.

Lebron

Of course the Nets have been rumored to be looking towards Lebron for the 09/10 season. It makes sense since Jay-z is part owner and the Nets are supposedly moving to Brooklyn. However that may fall through since it’s unclear whether the Nets will have that kind of cap space and as far as I know ground hasn’t been broken in Brooklyn. Does Lebron fit with the Nets? Probably not but who cares if we wants to come you sign him and work everything else out later.

So good luck Thorn, it won’t be easy.

How the Knicks Could Get Good Soon… Enough

The Knicks have been the model of dysfunction as an organization. However they really need to only make one big move to change the direction of the franchise. They’ll need to make a whole bunch of smart moves and good draft choices, but one big move can change the franchises fortune and it’s not all that hard a move to make.

Trade Zach Randolph.

Now i'm not the first to suggest how the knicks can fix themselves so i may not be breaking new ground here. However as i said i think with some patience, some shrewdness and one big move the Knicks can get back on track.

Simply put if the Knicks trade Zach Randolph they will be back on the path to success. Getting rid of the 3 years left on his deal will put the Knicks in position to be under the cap by the summer of 2009. Marbury, and rose come off the cap in 2009, if they can find a trade to get Randolph’s contract off the books by then that’s approximately a total of 41 million coming off the books that summer. This would put the knicks at around 42 million dollars of committed payroll by then. The current salary cap is about 55 million and going up about $2 mil a year. If one assumes the salary cap for summer of 09 is $57 million at least the Knicks could have up to $15 million of free cap space.

Now I’ll start by detailing how they trade Randolph. Well Cleveland could be a taker for Joe Smith, Aaron Snow, and a draft pick. Both are expiring and Randolph fits a need for them. Or maybe GS for Al Harrington and a sign and trade for one to two year for Matt Barnes. How bout even a sign and trade with Miami for Jason Williams and ricky davis (one year contracts for both of them). I’m not saying it will be easy because the league knows he’s a loser, but there are teams he is a fit for.

They would still have David Lee a good rebounder and a great fit as a 6^th man bringing energy off the bench. (Probably not a good enough defender/scorer to be a fulltime starter but definitely worthy of good minutes). They have Jamal Crawford a good combo guard who can get you high teens in points a game. Eddy Curry is a good post presence who despite a complete lack of defensive intensity can score and rebound quite well.

Let’s say the Knicks get Jerryd Bayless in the draft, (a realistic projection based on the draft mock lottery) now you have Bayless at the point, Crawford, and Curry starting. You have balkman or Richardson to play sf, both who can be decent role players and you have Lee coming off the bench with Nate robinson backing up at PG. Your gapping hole is at c with the need for a defensive big man.

Now the Knicks could opt to try to draft one (maybe Thabeet or Robin Lopez falls to them early second round or they trade up for a late first round pick) or just be content with Randolph Morris, Curry and Lee upfront for a year. Or they can try to sign one. This summer they have no cap space. Realistically their options for 09 are limited with not too many talented guys being unrestricted free agents, the following guys are worth looking at who are restricted free agents although it’s unlikely they’ll able to pry any of them away as Indiana, LA, NO, and UT will clearly match offers for their guys:

Marvin Williams (restricted)
Raymond Felton (restricted)
Jason Maxiell (restricted)
Danny Granger (restricted)
Andrew Bynum (restricted)
Hakim Warrick (restricted)
Chris Paul (restricted)
Nate Robinson (restricted)
David Lee (restricted)
Channing Frye (restricted)
Francisco "Paco" Garcia (restricted)
Deron Williams (restricted)

So the smart move is to wait till 2010 where the following players can be unrestricted free agents (ignoring guys like Shaq and Ben Wallace who will both be about 80 at the time) :

Joe Johnson
Ray Allen
LeBron James
Dirk Nowitzki

Josh Howard
Marcus Camby
Rip Hamilton
Stephen Jackson
Tracy McGrady
Dwyane Wade
Michael Redd
Tyson Chandler
Eddy Curry
Amare Stoudemire
Brad Miller
Manu Ginobili
Chris Bosh

Lets say you can’t get Lebron because he goes to Brooklyn and D-Wade wants to stay in Miami well Imagine Chris Bosh or Josh Howard being inserted in that lineup. Or how bout Tyson Chandler in there? So now you have Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, Balkman/Q, Crawford and Bayless. I think you’ve got yourself a team now. If Lebron does sign in NY which is still a possibility given the lack of progress in Brooklyn then to borrow from Steven A… quite frankly you’ve got all you need.

NFL Mock Drafts Are a Waste of Time

Our country is addicted to the NFL. Despite a total of 21 weeks of meaningful games and only one game at most each week for your team you probably follow the game the entire year round. You probably follow the combine and you probably follow free agency etc. That’s all in good fun but when you take the time to do your own mock draft you’re wasting your time and more importantly you’re wasting mine.

Now i don't think all mock drafts are a waste of time. Mock drafts by professionals and mock drafts in the NBA are interesting. Yet I think NFL ones are a waste of time… so why the difference? Well let’s take a look at the talent pools which the nfl and NBA are coming from. NBA players are coming from 12 person college teams, where generally there aren’t more then 1-2 NBA players on that team and if there are then their team is on tv constantly (like a UNC for example). On the other hand The NFL is taking players from 50+ person teams where there could be up to 5 or more guys taken from that team.

Then let’s think about watching the games. Let’s say Joakim Noah is a top prospect and you’re watching Florida play it’s relatively easy to see what he’s doing on the court. Even if he’s not directly involved in the play it’s easy enough to see if he set a pick, how he's spacing the floor etc. Now let’s think about an offensive tackle or a defensive back. Are you really paying attention to what the left tackle is doing every play? If a cornerback is not being thrown at is that because of his coverage or are they getting more help from the safety so the qb is going to the other side?

Now if you’re Todd Mcshay and you have access to all the game footage from all the games and multiple views of it you can get a pretty good view of what the guy can do. How many of us have that kind of access? You might say, sure we don’t have all that extra video but we still can see the combine and we can still see what the scouts are saying and form our own opinions. Why shouldn’t we take all that, take look at team needs and go from there?

Well because quite frankly it’s useless. Should the Dolphins take Matt Ryan with the number one pick? Well I’ve never really seen Joe Flaco play, so should I tell them to take Matt Ryan with the number one pick when I don’t know whether taking Flaco in the second round could be a better value? Are you prepared to even look at the second round to see if they need to pick a certain Ryan that high?

One of the most valuable players on the Giants this season was a defensive end out of Troy that they took in the fourth round. You might have heard of Osi now, but I can’t imagine you did out of college. Yet you might have wanted the Giants to take a defensive end in the first round that year not knowing they were gonna take Osi in the fourth round.

To put it another way… people who do mock drafts are the same people who boo Donovan Mcnabb on draft day because they wanted Ricky Williams.

So enjoy your mock draft, but unless its your job, I’m not interested.

Live from The Rock: Big East Battle

Originally post here

I’m sitting here live The Prudential center in Newark writing about the Syracuse versus Seton hall game and wanted to share it live with the chair. This is game two of two that I got a chance to be a member of the press. My seat was about 7 feet from the court to the left of the cameras at the free throw line. The game is sold out, but only the first deck is open. One might wonder why they didn’t open the second deck and as I write this 40 minutes before the game I suspect they didn’t want the stadium to be overwhelmingly Orangeman fans as I suspect a strong contingent of Syracuse alum in the area would have bought the tickets.

The game is pretty big for both teams, if Seton Hall loses they could potentially miss the big east tournament, while Syracuse if they want to ensure themselves of an at-large big they will need to beat Seton Hall and Marquette and probably still win a game or two in the big east tournament.

Donte’ Green came over about 40 minutes before the game during shoot around and sign autographs for two young fans in Orangeman sweaters. While another women came down and took a picture with Paul Harris even though she didn’t appear to have a credential or tickets to be down on the court. She was a cute girl though so I don’t think Harris minded. Syracuse guys were out shooting and warming up long after Seton Hall guys had gone to the locker room. Its possible Seton Hall guys had warmed up more prior but SU looked like the more focused team.

The crowd is a little late arriving to their seats but that’s not surprising given the 7 o’clock start on a Wednesday and the multitude of things to do for the fans on the concourse.

I must admit… I’m completely biased in this game, having grown up a Syracuse fan going to games at the Carrier Dome from as long as I can remember I’m a pretty big Syracuse fan. And as a guy who lives in the same town as seton hall and is jewish I have no love for the team that comes along with a priest. That being said I’m a member of the press tonight so I’m unbiased I won’t be outwardly rooting for anyone and will try to provide a partial analysis of the game.

Based on what I saw when I came to the last game at the rock and my trip up to the Carrier Dome this Saturday I think SU will crush SHU, but we shall see.

7:01 The anthem is always an interesting thing to watch, Syracuse had their arms around each other, SHU had their arms over there hearts. So that either means nothing, or that Syracuse loves each other and Seton hall loves their country?

7:10 Harvey for SHU and Ongenaet for SU traded early threes showing Belgians apparently can play basketball. But Syracuse was otherwise sloppy while SHU settled for threes against the zone. Ongeneat the man who no one can pronounce his name with all 5 of Syracuses early points. Seton Hall fans told coach Boeheim to shut up and all was well. SU 5 SHU 3

7:18 Seton Hall is clearly inept versus the zone… sad since they play a good amount of it themselves… if SU knocks down some of the open shots they've been getting this game could get ugly. Onuaku with a couple buckets and will be at the line after the 12 minute tv time out. SU 13- SHU 8

7:27 Seton hall went to the press and was able to force some turnovers, but Donte Green was able to start knocking down some shots. Seton Hall despite being a less talented team was playing very hard keeping themselves in the game. Scoop Jardine pushed the lead to 11 and a fan behind me is calling for BLOOD! 28-17 SU

7:37 Syracuse has a HUUUUGE advantage on the boards and Paul Harris threw down a SportsCenter dunk. Watch for it... assuming anyone on the chair watches sportscenter anymore... SU 34 SHU 24

7:48 SHU came back within 5 but Donte Green hits a couple threes to bring the lead to 11. SU extended the leads to 15 and you could hear the “lets go orange” cheers start. The half ends with the SU up 17… I could probably stop now…

8:11 Big Delay at the start of the second half. The coaches and the refs were having a discussion. They decided to take two points off the board because “they hadn’t committed a foul and therefore the foul shots didn’t count"… can you do that???

8:30 My wireless connection gave out for awhile you didn’t miss much a few Syracuse turnovers a few giant seton hall cardboard heads (Bobby Gonzalez and a player) in the crowd. And seton hall got within 11. 58- 47

8:50 Syracuse continues to turn it over, SHU capitalizes and cuts the lead to 9 with 5 to go and the crowd finally comes to life. maybe this won't be a blowout after all... naaaaah...

8:51 Bobby Gonzalez is fun to watch on the sidelines, even if his team isn't so much right now...

9:00 Pirates cut it to 7 with 3 minutes to do and with no Donte Green (4 fouls) on the floor the orange look timid. Gotta give it to seton hall for not packing it in. but Harris scored 2 buckets to push it back to 11 with 2 to go…

Syracuse Knocks down their Free throws and wins the game 85-73.

Post Game Coach Boeheim came out quickly and talked about the inconsistencies of his freshmen laden team and how they needed to cut down the turnovers. saying they make great plays at times and awful plays at other times. He talked about Arinze's effort on the boards saying basically "a lot of nights he's satisfied with getting 4 boards, and we can't have that; but tonight after i took him out he was very aggressive." He gave Seton Hall their due saying they're a tough team talking about the same they won against Louisville and talking about their tough press

Coach Gonzalez took his sweet time coming out so i couldn't stick around.

Overall a great time. and I hope the AGMer's out there at least enjoyed this a little.

Nets Effect: Breaking it Down

So the trade deadline came and went and the Nets took one of two necessary moves. They traded away Jason Kidd the best thing that ever happened to the franchise. However as I wrote before he was traded they needed to do it and after seeing the trade I have to say Jason Kidd is still the best thing that ever happened to the Nets because they made out tremendously in this deal. In short they weren’t any good with him, he’s getting old and he’s very expensive. On top of that he asked for a trade so while he seemed to be playing hard I don’t think his head was truly in it. I wish him the best and I’d hold no grudge if the Mavs win the championship, but this needed to be done.

So now it’s done and as I said I think the Nets made out very well. They’re saving nearly 7 million in cap space for next year and they made off with a point guard who’s ten years younger then Jason Kidd and statistically speaking a better player right now. Granted he’s probably not the team leader and doesn’t set quite the tone as Kidd, but he’s quicker, better defensively, he’s locked in at a very affordable price and oh btw did I mention 10 years younger. Between him and Marcus Williams I’m very confident in the Nets future at the point guard position.

Unfortunately they were not able to move Vince Carter and really get some real cap space for the summer. Instead they’ll still have him around with 4 more years left on his contract. They’re going to have to hope he can be efficient on a nightly basis for the rest of the season. Notice I didn’t say great just efficient. If he takes good shots, gets to the basket, shoots a high percentage, doesn’t turn the ball over with stupid passes then he can be a very efficient and effective player. Whether he scores 17 points or 30 as long as he’s shooting 50% or greater, rebounding and passing well the Nets are a team to be reckoned with.

So the Nets are left with Harris, Carter, Jefferson, Boone, Marcus and Sean Williams, Maurice Ager and Stromile Swift. There’s plenty of talent there and they’ve won 2 of 3 since the break/trade. So the questions remain how efficient will Carter be, how will the William’s and Boone develop and how will Harris fit with the team once he returns from his ankle injury?

I think they’ll find a way to make the playoffs (not saying much in the east) but unless they’re able to catch Washington for the 6 seed it’s most likely a first round exit for them. If they do catch Washington they could probably find a way to beat Orlando a good but not great team, but either way I don’t see a long playoff run in store for the Nets.

Live From the Rock

Can also be seen on Armchairgm

Last night I was able to get a press pass for the Seton Hall versus Depaul men’s basketball game at the new Prudential Center aka the Rock in Newark NJ. While Newark is not the nicest area and I wouldn’t advise walking around aimlessly at night, the area surrounding the arena seemed very safe and it’s actually not a bad area with the NJ Performing Arts Center right next door (essentially). It was a bit of a run around to get the credential but when I finally got to the place to get my credential they were very friendly and helpful.

Now I could give a recap of the game, but being that it was Seton Hall versus Depaul I don’t think to many people are particularly interested (even if the game did end up being exciting coming down to the wire.) Instead I will focus on the atmosphere of the game and the arena. I got into my courtside seat about a half hour before the game. To my left underneath the basket was the student section and the Seton Hall band, always a great part of college basketball and Seton Halls band didn’t disappoint. In all honesty though, I could have used a little more cowbell.

The crowd was a little late getting into their seats and initially I assumed they just didn’t come as this isn’t exactly the biggest of rivalry games. However it seemed they were just a little late getting into their seats, which is understandable given the amount of things to do in the arena. There’s a bar, a “Belvidere” lounge overlooking the court, games, balloon making and face painting. I was very impressed by the amount they had going on for the kids. I was also impressed by the overall arena. It’s structurally impressive on the outside, but inside the amount of screens and quality of the video scoreboards and screens were top notch. The place basically puts the Izod center to shame.

Before the game Seton Hall was lead out by the cheerleaders and the Pirate. The cheerleaders while not the worst I’ve seen made me long for the Pac-10. The Pirate while agile was not quite the best costume I’ve seen. The game started and it was clear neither team was quite ready for the big time. Coach Bobby Gonzalez is a very energetic coach and coaches his team well, but they’ve got some work to do before they’re going to challenge the upper half of the Big East. I think Gonzalez was a good hire out of Manhattan and with some of the young talent they have like 6-11 freshman Mike Davis they could make some noise next year.

It’s overall a great place to go and I definitely suggest checking out the Prudential Center for either a Seton Hall game or a hockey game. I’m going to be back there in a couple weeks for Seton Hall versus Syracuse a sold out game and it should be a lot of fun even if I think Syracuse is going to destroy the Pirates (which despite living in the same town as Seton Hall I’m ok with since I grew up a Syracuse fan.)