I'm going to break with my habit of posting almost exclusively on NBA topics today. See, there's another League that has taken my interest lately. No, I'm not talking about Big West Basketball. That goes without saying. No, I'm talking about the Mar Vista Rec Center Winter League, Majors (10/11/12 years old) division. I will be taking the MVRC Jazz to the mountain top from my perch along the sideline. I'll try to list the times here so all of my many (2) readers can come and support the kids and see some good, clean, fundamentally sound basketball. After each game, I'll try and give a recap and include any significant stats, game trends or interesting/funny moments during the game.
We had our draft on Tuesday. We based the draft on rankings we determined by putting the kids through basketball drills a week earlier and rating each basketball skill on a 1 to 5 scale, then averaging those scores for a final number. Some of the kids weren't able to make it to the evaluation day, so the coaches who knew them gave us all rankings based on what they knew about their athletic abilities and basketball skills. Now, the fact that all of the other coaches in the league have sons playing created some interesting dialogue. Here's one of my favorites:
Coach 1: How would you Rank your son?
Coach 2: Umm... I would say he's about a ... uhh... four or so.
Coach 3: No! There's no way your Kid's a four. I'd Say a two. 2.5 at BEST.
Coach 2: ...Um ... Oh.
That's great! You're basically telling the guy that his kid sucks. Yes, I'd say a good time was had by all. I ended up with what looks like a pretty good team. Now, I can't wait to get all the kids in the gym and start practicing. As I was drafting, I kept in mind the different ways that we could use the players' skill sets to our team's advantage. Originally, I thought that we might do a 40 minute full court press a la Rick Pitino, but that was shut down quickly when I found out that I don't control substitution patterns. I'm not trying to tire out all of my kids. I'm going to love this! I know that it's not much, but for someone who loves basketball as much as I do, this is going to be GREAT!!! I'll keep you all (both) updated.
In other news, one of my friends from college, Ross Schraeder, was caught up in a great YouTube Moment in Spain recently. Yeah, that's him with the double-low-fist celebration. Good Job on the Buzzer-Beater, Ross. Keep up the good work! It was kind of an illegal pick, but with .9 seconds left, it's not called "illegal", it's just "Savvy".
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Fantasy Basketball Update #3 (Trades: The Alpha Factor!!!)
OK, so we discussed draft strategies and the folly of overreacting to Two DNPCDs to start the season in our last update. Now let's discuss another aspect of your 30 week odyssey into Basketball Geekdom; namely, Trades. I'm not talking about the fantasy trades that only affect how well your opposition is doing relative to your own team. I'm talking about real-world, NBA-League trades. Sometimes, those trades can give a player you have a sudden, unexpected fantasy boost, sometimes, your player ends up losing out. For instance, let's say you have Allen Iverson and he plays for... I don't know, let's say the Nuggets. But then, he gets traded to... just for the sake of argument, let's say he gets traded to the Detroit F'ing PISTONS! Well, then you might see his stats take a hit from a trade like that. Don't worry though, it shouldn't be anything drastic. He shouldn't go from top 5 in scoring with 7+ assists to 17 points and 3 assists. Right? I'm going to cry.
OK, so I'm back. Let's talk about the other side of these NBA Trades. Sometimes, you look at the NBA and there are trades that seem so obvious at the time that they're made that you just ask yourself "Why didn't the Commish (AKA the accomplice) just mandate this one at the beginning of the season?" Al Harrington got traded to New York for Jamaal Crawford. How perfect is that!?!?! This trade takes one valuable fantasy player and creates 3 high-quality fantasy players with a single swipe of the pen. Crawford is a good player. But he's no All Star. He doesn't have the personality or the game to Rule a city like New York. But in Golden State, where they sell out 50 loss teams and stand up rooting like it's the final four? He will be treated like a king. The fact that he shoots too often and doesn't really give your team a chance to win won't matter, which means that Don Nelson will be free to play him at the 3 alongside Stephen Jackson with both of them jacking up half-court fallaway threes with two guys on them. Throw Monta Ellis in the mix, driving into two seven footers and just throwing it off the back-board a la Dwayne Wade, but without the accuracy or the foul calls... a la Flip Murray... Well, Let's just call this team the "7 passes or less" era for Golden State. If the guards make more than 20 passes in a game, everyone in attendance gets a free Chalupa from Taco Bell!!!
Look at New York's end of the Deal, though. Not only do you get a shooting "big-man" to go alongside David Lee, but you free up time on the floor (and thus, shot attempts) for Nate Robinson. Harrington was not happy in Golden State for whatever reason. Now he's going to the only other Coach in the league that will absolutely correctly utilize his exact offensive skill set while gleefully ignoring his glaring defensive deficiencies (read: Steve Nash, 2-time MVP, 438th out of 367 in Defensive Player of the year voting).
Interesting side note here: The two best offensive head coaches, who play nearly the exact same style of basketball made a trade involving players who were built and trained to only play in that type of system. This is like the Rockets trading Shane Battier for Bruce Bowen. It's a once-every-ten-seasons trade that makes perfect sense for every single person involved. From the parties traded, to the other members of the teams they were traded to/from, the coaches and even for the franchises and the fans. And speaking of those coaches, everyone knows that Nelson practically invented NBA Small Ball. I mean, we call it "Nellie-Ball" for defense' sake. But I think D'Antoni has perfected it. Nelson said that he could win without defense, as long as his players could rebound, run fast and shoot. And he was right. But D'Antoni had this crazy idea that his players should also be able to pass to the open man so that guy could take the shot. Simple, obvious, should have been done from the start. Just like this trade.
The NBA: Where "Why didn't I think of that?" Happens
OK, so I'm back. Let's talk about the other side of these NBA Trades. Sometimes, you look at the NBA and there are trades that seem so obvious at the time that they're made that you just ask yourself "Why didn't the Commish (AKA the accomplice) just mandate this one at the beginning of the season?" Al Harrington got traded to New York for Jamaal Crawford. How perfect is that!?!?! This trade takes one valuable fantasy player and creates 3 high-quality fantasy players with a single swipe of the pen. Crawford is a good player. But he's no All Star. He doesn't have the personality or the game to Rule a city like New York. But in Golden State, where they sell out 50 loss teams and stand up rooting like it's the final four? He will be treated like a king. The fact that he shoots too often and doesn't really give your team a chance to win won't matter, which means that Don Nelson will be free to play him at the 3 alongside Stephen Jackson with both of them jacking up half-court fallaway threes with two guys on them. Throw Monta Ellis in the mix, driving into two seven footers and just throwing it off the back-board a la Dwayne Wade, but without the accuracy or the foul calls... a la Flip Murray... Well, Let's just call this team the "7 passes or less" era for Golden State. If the guards make more than 20 passes in a game, everyone in attendance gets a free Chalupa from Taco Bell!!!
Look at New York's end of the Deal, though. Not only do you get a shooting "big-man" to go alongside David Lee, but you free up time on the floor (and thus, shot attempts) for Nate Robinson. Harrington was not happy in Golden State for whatever reason. Now he's going to the only other Coach in the league that will absolutely correctly utilize his exact offensive skill set while gleefully ignoring his glaring defensive deficiencies (read: Steve Nash, 2-time MVP, 438th out of 367 in Defensive Player of the year voting).
Interesting side note here: The two best offensive head coaches, who play nearly the exact same style of basketball made a trade involving players who were built and trained to only play in that type of system. This is like the Rockets trading Shane Battier for Bruce Bowen. It's a once-every-ten-seasons trade that makes perfect sense for every single person involved. From the parties traded, to the other members of the teams they were traded to/from, the coaches and even for the franchises and the fans. And speaking of those coaches, everyone knows that Nelson practically invented NBA Small Ball. I mean, we call it "Nellie-Ball" for defense' sake. But I think D'Antoni has perfected it. Nelson said that he could win without defense, as long as his players could rebound, run fast and shoot. And he was right. But D'Antoni had this crazy idea that his players should also be able to pass to the open man so that guy could take the shot. Simple, obvious, should have been done from the start. Just like this trade.
The NBA: Where "Why didn't I think of that?" Happens
Monday, November 17, 2008
RIP Pete Newell
Pete Newell passed away today. For anyone who has enjoyed the game of basketball over the last 50 years, and especially if you, like I, have enjoyed watching the great post-players of the last half-century, then you understand why I couldn't sleep tonight without mentioning coach Newell first in this space. He has influenced nearly every post-player in the world and EVERY coach who teaches Low Post/High Post offense or defense on the West Coast.
I first learned about Pete Newell through his Big Man Camps because my favorite team, The Lakers, employs one of the longest tenured coaches for the Camp (Stu Lantz) as a color-commentator. Through his tutelage, and his philosophies on Post play and "Big-Man" play, some of the most famous and successful players have increased their skill level and overall knowledge of the game. Coaches the world over teach his techniques to their players because he his nuanced, results-oriented training approach has produced a list of basketball legends who quickly credit Pete Newell with helping them to improve their game as long as any coach you can name: Bobby Knight, Coach K, John Wooden... Pete Newell.
Here's a few of the names on that list that I can think of right now:
Kareem Abdul Jabaar
Jack Sikma
Bill Walton
Shaquille O'Neal
Alonzo Mourning
Hakeem Olajuwon
Moses Malone
Karl Malone
Patrick Ewing
David Robinson
Stu Lantz
Tim Duncan
Andrew Bogut
Shareef Abdur-Raheem
Derick Coleman
and plenty of others
A moment of silnce for Pete Newell:
...
...
...
...
I first learned about Pete Newell through his Big Man Camps because my favorite team, The Lakers, employs one of the longest tenured coaches for the Camp (Stu Lantz) as a color-commentator. Through his tutelage, and his philosophies on Post play and "Big-Man" play, some of the most famous and successful players have increased their skill level and overall knowledge of the game. Coaches the world over teach his techniques to their players because he his nuanced, results-oriented training approach has produced a list of basketball legends who quickly credit Pete Newell with helping them to improve their game as long as any coach you can name: Bobby Knight, Coach K, John Wooden... Pete Newell.
Here's a few of the names on that list that I can think of right now:
Kareem Abdul Jabaar
Jack Sikma
Bill Walton
Shaquille O'Neal
Alonzo Mourning
Hakeem Olajuwon
Moses Malone
Karl Malone
Patrick Ewing
David Robinson
Stu Lantz
Tim Duncan
Andrew Bogut
Shareef Abdur-Raheem
Derick Coleman
and plenty of others
A moment of silnce for Pete Newell:
...
...
...
...
Friday, November 14, 2008
Fantasy Basketball Update #2 (Damn You Scott Skiles!!!)
OK, so a month ago, I went on and on about how much energy we put into something with the word "Fantasy" in its title. For me, at least, it has paid off. In the opening week, I won in all 5 of my Fantasy leagues. in 3 head to head match ups, I cam out on top and in two Rotisserie Leagues I was number 1. This, depite starting Ramon Sessions in Week 1 and Scott Skiles Vowing to forget that he exists and leave him on the end of the bench, as well as starting Deron Williams on the Same Fantasy team in a format that counts totals, not averages.
Well, this brings me to my real point here. If you are so damn stuck on Defense that you are willing to allow Offense to go by the wayside for FOUR SEASONS in Chicago; if you refuse to play players who don't earn their minutes defensively; if you claim to be a "True student of the game" who has his team playing a certain way and doesn't want to change because of popular opinion; and if these oh-so-strong core values of your are so important that you would basically flip off a guy who's being paid millions of dollars by your employer to do a job that you're not letting him do, just because he doesn't do it exactly like you think he should; then stick to your F'ing guns!!!!
Ramon Sessions got two DNP-CDs in his first two games this year, despite being the best Point guard on the team presumeably because he doesn't play defense. Now I could understand this if Joe Dumars was your other Point Guard. Or even Derek Fisher. But he sat Ramon Sessions for the "Defensive Juggernaut" known as Luke Ridnour. Just to put that in perspective, imagine parking your Lamborghini for your Pinto because the Lambo doesn't have any cup-holders built into it... Only, your Pinto's cup holders are too small to hold your cups. So your coffee keeps spilling into your lap and burning your right leg. Now imagine that the guy who sold you the Pinto told you before you bought it "Oh, don't try to use the cup holders. I know it says that it has cup holders, but they don't work. Trust me. I've tried it. It just won't work", and you still do it anyway.
That's what Scott Skiles did for the first few games causing me to say "You know what? Even though I spent more hours than Ramon Sessions' stalkers did keeping up with his movements, workouts and medical reports this summer. I knew that Skiles was more of a defensive-minded coach, but I didn't think he was insane. Clearly, he is insane and he's not going to play his best lineup because of a tiny little issue that he has. One that's not even resolved by playing the alternative. It's a lost cause, I shouldn't have drafted him in the Sixth Round. I'm going to drop him and pick up Wilson Chandler (who I'm not mad I picked up at all).
And, of course, as soon as offered to wash the Pinto, the Lamborghini comes out of the garage. And someone else swoops in to take him. Damnit! Damnit, Damnit, DAMNIT, Scott Skiles!!! A Pox on your house for further ruining a fantasy basketball team that already included injured superstars Deron Williams and Josh Smith. A Pox, I say!
Well, this brings me to my real point here. If you are so damn stuck on Defense that you are willing to allow Offense to go by the wayside for FOUR SEASONS in Chicago; if you refuse to play players who don't earn their minutes defensively; if you claim to be a "True student of the game" who has his team playing a certain way and doesn't want to change because of popular opinion; and if these oh-so-strong core values of your are so important that you would basically flip off a guy who's being paid millions of dollars by your employer to do a job that you're not letting him do, just because he doesn't do it exactly like you think he should; then stick to your F'ing guns!!!!
Ramon Sessions got two DNP-CDs in his first two games this year, despite being the best Point guard on the team presumeably because he doesn't play defense. Now I could understand this if Joe Dumars was your other Point Guard. Or even Derek Fisher. But he sat Ramon Sessions for the "Defensive Juggernaut" known as Luke Ridnour. Just to put that in perspective, imagine parking your Lamborghini for your Pinto because the Lambo doesn't have any cup-holders built into it... Only, your Pinto's cup holders are too small to hold your cups. So your coffee keeps spilling into your lap and burning your right leg. Now imagine that the guy who sold you the Pinto told you before you bought it "Oh, don't try to use the cup holders. I know it says that it has cup holders, but they don't work. Trust me. I've tried it. It just won't work", and you still do it anyway.
That's what Scott Skiles did for the first few games causing me to say "You know what? Even though I spent more hours than Ramon Sessions' stalkers did keeping up with his movements, workouts and medical reports this summer. I knew that Skiles was more of a defensive-minded coach, but I didn't think he was insane. Clearly, he is insane and he's not going to play his best lineup because of a tiny little issue that he has. One that's not even resolved by playing the alternative. It's a lost cause, I shouldn't have drafted him in the Sixth Round. I'm going to drop him and pick up Wilson Chandler (who I'm not mad I picked up at all).
And, of course, as soon as offered to wash the Pinto, the Lamborghini comes out of the garage. And someone else swoops in to take him. Damnit! Damnit, Damnit, DAMNIT, Scott Skiles!!! A Pox on your house for further ruining a fantasy basketball team that already included injured superstars Deron Williams and Josh Smith. A Pox, I say!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Really? Mike D'Antoni Isn't The Early Favorite For Coach Of The Year?
OK, so someone said to me a few months ago "Why do you even need a coach in professional sports? If they're being paid that much money, shouldn't they just be able to play?" Well, here is the difference that a coach can make. The Knicks come back with essentially the same team they had last year, and not only do they have a winning record (Anyone can have a winning record 8 games into the season) but they actually look good doing it. They have an offensive system that they all seem to believe in and D'Antoni is clearly a master at casting the right actors as the right characters in his plays (or lack-thereof). It's amazing what they're doing so far and I, for one, hope it continues. It's always nice to see the Knicks in the Playoffs because there is NO better atmosphere for a sporting event than MSG in May... except maybe MSG in June. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The NBA: Where "Injuries" Happens
Greg Oden was the Number one pick in the draft. A year removed from high school, he was given the hopes of a franchise, along with a multi-million dollar contract and a plenty of endorsements. He then had micro-fracture surgery on his knee and it was declared that he would not play for at least a year.
So we waited. We waited for an entire year for him to make his debut. And on the eve of his return, the newspapers were littered with stories pitting him against Andrew Bynum - who had taken 8 months to come back from his own knee injury, four years after being drafted at 17 years old. The Matchup of 7'0", 285 pound, young centers could not be ignored. It was billed as everything from Olajuwon Vs. Robinson to Bush Vs. Ahmadinejad... And then, he got injured in the second play of the game. And then, yesterday, Andrew Bynum was hurt IN PRACTICE(!!!)
Deron Williams, Micheal Redd, Monta Ellis, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Manu Ginobili, and of course Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, when they get injured around 45-60 games from now. The List of Big-Name Starters (and Manu Ginobili) getting hurt to start this NBA Season is enough to drive a guy away. I'm almost afraid to ask who's going down next. It just goes to show you exactly why people involved with teams always throw that little caveat in there when talking about their hopes for the season ("We could go all the way, barring any serious injury").
It's been a minute since I actually posted ANYTHING. I wanted to wait until the election was over (it's over for me, I voted this morning after waiting in line for over two hours) before I posted anything. Politics are important in this country, people. More important that sports (even basketball?). If you haven't voted yet tonight, and still can (HI, CA, OR, WA, AZ, AK, etc), I Urge you to hurry out to your polling place and do it. It's one of the most powerful decisions you'll make all year, and it only takes the stroke of a pen or the push of a button... or the touch of a screen or the depression of chad... Look, just vote, OK!!! And make your vote Count.
UPDATE [Friday, November 7th, 2008]: We didn't even get out of the week before another star player went down. Josh Smith will likely be out for about a month, thus ruining my fantasy league in which I picked up Deron Williams and Josh Smith 12th and 13th (Yeah, I picked last in my draft).
UPDATE [Friday, November 7th, 2008]: As if to prove my point, today shortly after Josh Smith's ankle fell off, Kirk Hinrich suffered a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament because every team is trying to have at least one injured player before the week is out. Thankfully, for the Lakers, that one player is Sun Yue, who got Mono a couple of weeks ago.
UPDATE [Sunday, November 16th, 2008]: OK, so get this. For the last four years, T.J. Ford has been regarded as a good player who can change a game wiht his speed, passing and ballhandling ability, but one who just can't stay healthy. Last year, when he inevitably missed half of the season, his backup played better than he did and the team was better too. so this summer the Raptors traded Ford away to clear room for Jose Calderon to take over the starting position because you can't ever guess whether or not Ford will be in the lineup from one game to the next. Well, of course, Jose Calderon was held out of today's game and it's unsure how many games he will miss because of this injury. Meanwhile, TJ? Healthy as an ox. Ah, the NBA. "Where Irony Happens"
So we waited. We waited for an entire year for him to make his debut. And on the eve of his return, the newspapers were littered with stories pitting him against Andrew Bynum - who had taken 8 months to come back from his own knee injury, four years after being drafted at 17 years old. The Matchup of 7'0", 285 pound, young centers could not be ignored. It was billed as everything from Olajuwon Vs. Robinson to Bush Vs. Ahmadinejad... And then, he got injured in the second play of the game. And then, yesterday, Andrew Bynum was hurt IN PRACTICE(!!!)
Deron Williams, Micheal Redd, Monta Ellis, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Manu Ginobili, and of course Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, when they get injured around 45-60 games from now. The List of Big-Name Starters (and Manu Ginobili) getting hurt to start this NBA Season is enough to drive a guy away. I'm almost afraid to ask who's going down next. It just goes to show you exactly why people involved with teams always throw that little caveat in there when talking about their hopes for the season ("We could go all the way, barring any serious injury").
It's been a minute since I actually posted ANYTHING. I wanted to wait until the election was over (it's over for me, I voted this morning after waiting in line for over two hours) before I posted anything. Politics are important in this country, people. More important that sports (even basketball?). If you haven't voted yet tonight, and still can (HI, CA, OR, WA, AZ, AK, etc), I Urge you to hurry out to your polling place and do it. It's one of the most powerful decisions you'll make all year, and it only takes the stroke of a pen or the push of a button... or the touch of a screen or the depression of chad... Look, just vote, OK!!! And make your vote Count.
UPDATE [Friday, November 7th, 2008]: We didn't even get out of the week before another star player went down. Josh Smith will likely be out for about a month, thus ruining my fantasy league in which I picked up Deron Williams and Josh Smith 12th and 13th (Yeah, I picked last in my draft).
UPDATE [Friday, November 7th, 2008]: As if to prove my point, today shortly after Josh Smith's ankle fell off, Kirk Hinrich suffered a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament because every team is trying to have at least one injured player before the week is out. Thankfully, for the Lakers, that one player is Sun Yue, who got Mono a couple of weeks ago.
UPDATE [Sunday, November 16th, 2008]: OK, so get this. For the last four years, T.J. Ford has been regarded as a good player who can change a game wiht his speed, passing and ballhandling ability, but one who just can't stay healthy. Last year, when he inevitably missed half of the season, his backup played better than he did and the team was better too. so this summer the Raptors traded Ford away to clear room for Jose Calderon to take over the starting position because you can't ever guess whether or not Ford will be in the lineup from one game to the next. Well, of course, Jose Calderon was held out of today's game and it's unsure how many games he will miss because of this injury. Meanwhile, TJ? Healthy as an ox. Ah, the NBA. "Where Irony Happens"
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
I don't care. It's not just Fantasy to me!!!
So it's that time again, kids. The beginning of the NBA season is about 2 weeks away and while most people have gotten their fantasy teams ready to go, some people are still trying to get a few more owners for their leagues, or updating their player-rankings one more time before the draft. It's amazing how much time and effort we put into this stuff.
A friend of mine once asked me, after watching me spend no less than 16 hours with my pre-draft ranking of over 400 NBA players, "...And you're not getting paid for any of this?"
But what does she know? I may not be making any money, but I will win the right to call myself KING OF THE FANTASY REALM!!! Or at least brag to my friends that I beat them.
Here's my key to a successful Year of Fantasy Basketball - Superstars and Sleepers. Most Players in the NBA are going to average around 10 -13 points, 3-5 rebounds, 2-4 assists, etc, etc, etc. Now, while it's important to draft people who will be near the higher end of those averages, it's not going to make a huge difference. Those are the players that everyone is getting in the middle rounds. You'll hear people saying things like "Oh, he's still available, I have to take him there." or "I'll take him now, hopefully, he won't get injured." Not a big risk, not a big reward. Those are the middle rounds. In a 13 round draft, with a 12 team league, those would be approximately rounds 4 through 9. They're the fluffer rounds. Nothing Gained, nothing lost. Fantasy Basketball, though, is won at the beginning and the end.
See, everyone knows who they're going to pick first. You have your list of eleven or twelve players and if you're first, you know you're taking CP3 or LBJ, if you're 8th, you know you're taking Dwight Howard or Amare Stoudemire. Whatever it is, there's not much excitement. but rounds 2 and 3? That's when you get to look over last year's list of "budding superstars" and make that decision: "Who is going to take a step back because they can't handle the pressure (Bogut, Tinsley, etc) and who is going to break out of the pack? Who will be the next "Greatest thing since Sliced Bread"? Will it be Brandon Roy or Kevin Durant? Should you pick Danny Granger, Rudy Gay or Josh Smith? These are the questions that can make and break a season in those 2nd and third rounds. Last year, I felt that I was right on the money when I took Al Jefferson in the late 3rd round last year (34th overall pick). This year, there's no way he gets close to the end of the 1st round. My breakout SUPERSTAR picks for this year are - in order:
Josh Smith
Brandon Roy
Danny Granger
Rudy Gay
Tony Parker (at least until Manu gets healthy)
Jamal Crawford (He will remind you of Bernard King and score 40 at least 5 times this year)
Lamarcus Aldridge
note: I know that all of these players are already good. TP already has a finals MVP to his credit, after all. But this is the list of players that, after you see what they do this year, you will think "There's no way I'm letting him get past me in the first round next year (a la Amare Stoudemire).
But that's not all you have to manage. Because, while picking the right breakout candidate can move you from middle-of the pack- to leader-of-the-pack, if you want to leave the pack behind you, you're going to need at least one sleeper. What is a "sleeper", you ask? Well, that's someone who is "Slept On", and then has a good showing that no one really expected them to have. Now, this is the biggest kept secret in Fantasy Sports because the minute that someone get some hype around them, they're no longer a sleeper. I.E. Greg Oden, who is overvalued in Fantasy Circles right now just because of his name. He could have been a nice sleeper candidate if people hadn't been talking about him so much since high school. However, he's got a couple of team mates who might qualify.
Here's my list of sleepers (since no one really reads my blog, I can go ahead and put them out there. But don't tell anyone that I'm in a league with because I don't want them to take my guys before I can get to them in the last couple of rounds.
Ramon Sessions
Nate Robinson (I'll take a small, quick Point Guard playing for D'Antoni any day)
Derrik Rose (he'll be even better than the being the #1 pick would indicate - and soon)
Rudy Fernandez (Maybe not a sleeper after his showing at the Olympics)
Marc Gasol (See note for Rudy Fernandez)
Daequon Cook
If any of these guys are still available and you don't know who to pick last - take one of them. You can't go wrong. Especially with Ramon Sessions. He's going to be the next Jose Calderon and you'll want him on your team and probably try to trade for him by December.
A friend of mine once asked me, after watching me spend no less than 16 hours with my pre-draft ranking of over 400 NBA players, "...And you're not getting paid for any of this?"
But what does she know? I may not be making any money, but I will win the right to call myself KING OF THE FANTASY REALM!!! Or at least brag to my friends that I beat them.
Here's my key to a successful Year of Fantasy Basketball - Superstars and Sleepers. Most Players in the NBA are going to average around 10 -13 points, 3-5 rebounds, 2-4 assists, etc, etc, etc. Now, while it's important to draft people who will be near the higher end of those averages, it's not going to make a huge difference. Those are the players that everyone is getting in the middle rounds. You'll hear people saying things like "Oh, he's still available, I have to take him there." or "I'll take him now, hopefully, he won't get injured." Not a big risk, not a big reward. Those are the middle rounds. In a 13 round draft, with a 12 team league, those would be approximately rounds 4 through 9. They're the fluffer rounds. Nothing Gained, nothing lost. Fantasy Basketball, though, is won at the beginning and the end.
See, everyone knows who they're going to pick first. You have your list of eleven or twelve players and if you're first, you know you're taking CP3 or LBJ, if you're 8th, you know you're taking Dwight Howard or Amare Stoudemire. Whatever it is, there's not much excitement. but rounds 2 and 3? That's when you get to look over last year's list of "budding superstars" and make that decision: "Who is going to take a step back because they can't handle the pressure (Bogut, Tinsley, etc) and who is going to break out of the pack? Who will be the next "Greatest thing since Sliced Bread"? Will it be Brandon Roy or Kevin Durant? Should you pick Danny Granger, Rudy Gay or Josh Smith? These are the questions that can make and break a season in those 2nd and third rounds. Last year, I felt that I was right on the money when I took Al Jefferson in the late 3rd round last year (34th overall pick). This year, there's no way he gets close to the end of the 1st round. My breakout SUPERSTAR picks for this year are - in order:
Josh Smith
Brandon Roy
Danny Granger
Rudy Gay
Tony Parker (at least until Manu gets healthy)
Jamal Crawford (He will remind you of Bernard King and score 40 at least 5 times this year)
Lamarcus Aldridge
note: I know that all of these players are already good. TP already has a finals MVP to his credit, after all. But this is the list of players that, after you see what they do this year, you will think "There's no way I'm letting him get past me in the first round next year (a la Amare Stoudemire).
But that's not all you have to manage. Because, while picking the right breakout candidate can move you from middle-of the pack- to leader-of-the-pack, if you want to leave the pack behind you, you're going to need at least one sleeper. What is a "sleeper", you ask? Well, that's someone who is "Slept On", and then has a good showing that no one really expected them to have. Now, this is the biggest kept secret in Fantasy Sports because the minute that someone get some hype around them, they're no longer a sleeper. I.E. Greg Oden, who is overvalued in Fantasy Circles right now just because of his name. He could have been a nice sleeper candidate if people hadn't been talking about him so much since high school. However, he's got a couple of team mates who might qualify.
Here's my list of sleepers (since no one really reads my blog, I can go ahead and put them out there. But don't tell anyone that I'm in a league with because I don't want them to take my guys before I can get to them in the last couple of rounds.
Ramon Sessions
Nate Robinson (I'll take a small, quick Point Guard playing for D'Antoni any day)
Derrik Rose (he'll be even better than the being the #1 pick would indicate - and soon)
Rudy Fernandez (Maybe not a sleeper after his showing at the Olympics)
Marc Gasol (See note for Rudy Fernandez)
Daequon Cook
If any of these guys are still available and you don't know who to pick last - take one of them. You can't go wrong. Especially with Ramon Sessions. He's going to be the next Jose Calderon and you'll want him on your team and probably try to trade for him by December.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Who wants to go to a Sparks Game?
I think I'm going to go to a sparks game on Thursday... or maybe against Seattle on Sunday. Do any of my two readers want to join me?
So football started this week, and, like most people in the country, I was watching. And like most people who live in Los Angeles, I was watching, somewhat. But no matter what sport I'm watching, my heart is always with Basketball. LeBron was at Cleavland's game on Sunday. Carmelo was Baltimore's honorary team captain for the day. See what I mean? I see it everywhere I go.
I'm going to try to pursue a career in basketball. I'm not sure, yet, what that will entail. I'd love to coach, but I don't have the experience, nor the expertise needed for that. Or to be a scout. Or really anything. Maybe I should get a reality show a la "New York Goes to Hollywood" to chronicle my journey into the world of sports professionals.
I have begun by writing all the contacts that I have on organized basketball teams and asking for advice. And we'll see if he writes or calls me. I'm thinking about going to ASU (American Sports University, not Arizona State) to take classes in coaching and Sports Journalism, while doing a little networking with other up and coming sports professionals. Updates on this will follow.
Stay tuned for next week's WNBA Preview.
Until next time Bat fans,
So football started this week, and, like most people in the country, I was watching. And like most people who live in Los Angeles, I was watching, somewhat. But no matter what sport I'm watching, my heart is always with Basketball. LeBron was at Cleavland's game on Sunday. Carmelo was Baltimore's honorary team captain for the day. See what I mean? I see it everywhere I go.
I'm going to try to pursue a career in basketball. I'm not sure, yet, what that will entail. I'd love to coach, but I don't have the experience, nor the expertise needed for that. Or to be a scout. Or really anything. Maybe I should get a reality show a la "New York Goes to Hollywood" to chronicle my journey into the world of sports professionals.
I have begun by writing all the contacts that I have on organized basketball teams and asking for advice. And we'll see if he writes or calls me. I'm thinking about going to ASU (American Sports University, not Arizona State) to take classes in coaching and Sports Journalism, while doing a little networking with other up and coming sports professionals. Updates on this will follow.
Stay tuned for next week's WNBA Preview.
Until next time Bat fans,
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Where Have I Been? Where Have YOU Been?
Hey you! Yeah, you. The guy who likes to write about basketball. Yeah, you. You know, there's a little tournament going on right now in this gym in Beijing that you might be a little interested in.
Ok, so I know it's been a minute or two since I last wrote anything. In case you didn't know, there are sports in existence other than basketball (I was as shocked to find this out as you are). The Olympics has been a joy to watch. Not just because I enjoy sports or for all of the normal reasons. Because NBC.com has the best Olympic coverage EVER! Now this is not to say that other networks didn't do great jobs in their own rights. But the technology that NBC has at its disposal is so far advanced compared to just four years ago, it's astounding. My main problem with the Olympics has always been that during the opening ceremony, we see all of these different countries and cultures coming together to compete. Then we see two weeks of America and it's over. This year's coverage has been unparalleled for several reasons:
First of all, this year, NBC has 5 different channels covering the Olympics, some of which are minimally interactive, all of which are recording and broadcasting every jump, hurl, stroke, sprint dive and toss in beautiful High Definition. In the past, it was unnecessary because not too many people had High Definition televisions in 2000 and in 2004, it was still too expensive to broadcast that much HD programing. Maybe one channel would have been in HD in 2004 with the rest in standard definition.
But that doesn't solve my main problem, because, even with 5 different channels, the only event I have been able to watch thus far that did not directly involve at least one American has been the Women's Beach Volleyball match up between Russia and Georgia yesterday (Georgia beat Russia 2 sets to 1, while being outscored 47-53, if you're interested). Evidently, the NBC Execs thought that the burgeoning war between the two countries provided enough drama to justify televising the two countries' volleyball match. So while the five channels does allow me to watch everything from Badminton to women's weightlifting, if I want to watch the finals in Greco-Wrestling, or Group B in Womens and Men's Basketball, for that matter, I'm out of luck.
In steps the internet! In 2004, the technology existed for streaming video to be fed over the internet. In fact, it was widely used. I had a 3 mbps download speed back then and all the capability of using the technology. But 3 was fast for the time and still is a far cry from the most common speed today - 6! Now, in 2008, EVERYBODY has broadband internet. It's as common as the telephone - many of which are run through broadband internet services now. And NBC is taking full advantage of this fact. You can literally watch every single second of every single sport, whenever you want.
You can even watch up to four sports at once right from your browser! To give you an idea of what this can do to someone, just take a look at what it has done to me. We are on day 6 of the Olympics and I have not gotten a full 3 hours of consecutive sleep in 1 week. In that time, I have found time Around my 3 jobs to watch:
Women's Basketball (haven't missed an American game yet)
Women's Table-Tennis
Men's Basketball (Watched two replays online, but seen each game)
Men's Badminton
Women's Fencing
Men's Fencing
Women's Cycling
Men's Cycling
Women's Weightlifting
Men's Weightlifting
Women's Team Gymnastics
Men's Team Gymnastics
Women's individual Gymnastics
Men's Individual Gymnastics
Women's Rowing (team of 4)
Men's Rowing (team of 4)
Women's Rowing (team of 2)
Men's Rowing (team of 2)
Women's Indoor Volleyball (Oooh, those Brazilian women!!!)
Men's Indoor Volleyball
Women's Beach Volleyball
Men's Beach Volleyball
Women's Soccer
Men's Soccer
Women's Field Hockey
Men's Boxing
Women's Softball
Men's Baseball
Women's Swimming
Men's Swimming
Women's Team Archery
Men's Team Archery
Women's Individual Archery
Men's Individual Archery
Women's Judo
Men's Judo
Men's Greco-Wrestling
Men's Kayaking
Men's Taekwondo
Women's Shooting (Air Rifles, I think)
Men's Shooting (Air Rifles, I think)
Women's Handball (That was weird. I had never seen it and it's like soccer mixed with basketball... Just weird)
Women's Equestrian (can't we just call it cowgirl?)
Men's Water Polo
I think that might be it for now, but keep in mind that it's only day 6 and I'm about to wet myself just thinking about the next week. So that explains why I haven't been writing, right? Before the Olympics started, I was watching the prelims and trials. How could I be expected to do things like Blog, and sleep when there are so many sports to watch?
Anyway, about the Basketball teams:
First the women. I Know I've said it before, but Candace Parker is Amazing. I just want to see her dunk on Margo Dydek! That would cap off a perfect summer for her so far. And speaking of Candace Parker, how bad do you feel for Anthony Parker? Probably the only NBA player who knows deep down that his little sister could beat him in a pickup game. Yesterday, I was thinking about how cool it will be to see the US women win Gold again (Four times in a row after this Olympics is over) and know that they are only the second - or maybe even third most dominate American Women's team. And not far from fourth. Here's how I have it ranked:
#1 - Women's Softball: Haven't gotten anything less than gold in any international competition (World Championships, Pan-Am games, Olympics, etc.) since International competition in the sport began back in the mid-eighties. In their opening game of the Olympics this year, they set a record for most runs scored in the Olympics by ANY team by the fourth inning... and at the same time, they threw a shared no-hitter. The game was stopped early on the "Mercy Rule". So far, they have not given up a hit in the Olympics.
#2 - Women's Basketball: Lisa, Candace, Seimone and company are going for their fourth straight Olympic Gold Medal. The US Women have not lost a single Olympic game since 1992 semifinal game and ended up 8-1 that year. Since then, they are a staggering 27-0 in Olympic competition. So far, they are winning their games this year by an average of 47 points per game including a 56 point win against Mali. Now let's put that in perspective. The 1992 "Dream Team", which included Magic Johnson, Micheal Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Stockton to Malone, David Robinson and about 5 other Hall of Fame players (and Christian Laettner) but contained ZERO opposition from any other teams, won their games by an average margin of about 41 points. Their Largest margin of Victory? 50 Vs. Angola. I'd say this team is good, but that would be giving the word "Good" too much credit.
#3 - Women's Beach VolleyBall: Every once in a while, we get to see a pair of truly dominant individuals who come together to become so much more than their individual selves. Micheal Jordan and Phil Jackson in 1996, Mohammad Ali and Howard Cossel in the 1970s, Serena and Venus Williams during the Wimbledon Doubles competition in 2002, Snoop and Dr. Dre in the early nineties, Mario and Luigi in 1986, Chaz Micheal Micheals and Jimmy McElroy during the 2007 ice skating doubles at the winter Olympics. What I'm trying to stress is that the teaming of Misty May-Treanor and Keri Walsh has created a duo of historic proportions. They have now won about 100 straight matches. No, that is not a typo. They simply do not lose. Period. Watch them play. Just watch them. It's like losing is against their religion. You'll see Jews and Muslims gathered 'round a table pork chops and hamhocks together before you see them submit to losing. I'm convinced. The only reason they aren't higher on this list is because the two teams above them win in such demoralizingly perfect fashion. Still, neither of the teams above can claim the kind of winning streak that Treanor-Walsh can. And most people never will. Not even the '72 Lakers could boast such a long list of consecutive losers in their path.
#4 - Women's Fencing: It's Hard to rank this women's fencing team 4th on ANY list. Individually, they just swept with three medals, and now they're fighting on the same team. Need I say more? Well then let me repeat that. Individually, US Women took home the Gold, Silver AND Bronze, and now they will compete together against a bunch of people who couldn't beat any of them apart.
I know that wasn't all about the Women's Basketball team, but... whatever. Sue me. I'll post on the Men's Basketball team tomorrow.
Until then, sports fans,
Ok, so I know it's been a minute or two since I last wrote anything. In case you didn't know, there are sports in existence other than basketball (I was as shocked to find this out as you are). The Olympics has been a joy to watch. Not just because I enjoy sports or for all of the normal reasons. Because NBC.com has the best Olympic coverage EVER! Now this is not to say that other networks didn't do great jobs in their own rights. But the technology that NBC has at its disposal is so far advanced compared to just four years ago, it's astounding. My main problem with the Olympics has always been that during the opening ceremony, we see all of these different countries and cultures coming together to compete. Then we see two weeks of America and it's over. This year's coverage has been unparalleled for several reasons:
First of all, this year, NBC has 5 different channels covering the Olympics, some of which are minimally interactive, all of which are recording and broadcasting every jump, hurl, stroke, sprint dive and toss in beautiful High Definition. In the past, it was unnecessary because not too many people had High Definition televisions in 2000 and in 2004, it was still too expensive to broadcast that much HD programing. Maybe one channel would have been in HD in 2004 with the rest in standard definition.
But that doesn't solve my main problem, because, even with 5 different channels, the only event I have been able to watch thus far that did not directly involve at least one American has been the Women's Beach Volleyball match up between Russia and Georgia yesterday (Georgia beat Russia 2 sets to 1, while being outscored 47-53, if you're interested). Evidently, the NBC Execs thought that the burgeoning war between the two countries provided enough drama to justify televising the two countries' volleyball match. So while the five channels does allow me to watch everything from Badminton to women's weightlifting, if I want to watch the finals in Greco-Wrestling, or Group B in Womens and Men's Basketball, for that matter, I'm out of luck.
In steps the internet! In 2004, the technology existed for streaming video to be fed over the internet. In fact, it was widely used. I had a 3 mbps download speed back then and all the capability of using the technology. But 3 was fast for the time and still is a far cry from the most common speed today - 6! Now, in 2008, EVERYBODY has broadband internet. It's as common as the telephone - many of which are run through broadband internet services now. And NBC is taking full advantage of this fact. You can literally watch every single second of every single sport, whenever you want.
You can even watch up to four sports at once right from your browser! To give you an idea of what this can do to someone, just take a look at what it has done to me. We are on day 6 of the Olympics and I have not gotten a full 3 hours of consecutive sleep in 1 week. In that time, I have found time Around my 3 jobs to watch:
Women's Basketball (haven't missed an American game yet)
Women's Table-Tennis
Men's Basketball (Watched two replays online, but seen each game)
Men's Badminton
Women's Fencing
Men's Fencing
Women's Cycling
Men's Cycling
Women's Weightlifting
Men's Weightlifting
Women's Team Gymnastics
Men's Team Gymnastics
Women's individual Gymnastics
Men's Individual Gymnastics
Women's Rowing (team of 4)
Men's Rowing (team of 4)
Women's Rowing (team of 2)
Men's Rowing (team of 2)
Women's Indoor Volleyball (Oooh, those Brazilian women!!!)
Men's Indoor Volleyball
Women's Beach Volleyball
Men's Beach Volleyball
Women's Soccer
Men's Soccer
Women's Field Hockey
Men's Boxing
Women's Softball
Men's Baseball
Women's Swimming
Men's Swimming
Women's Team Archery
Men's Team Archery
Women's Individual Archery
Men's Individual Archery
Women's Judo
Men's Judo
Men's Greco-Wrestling
Men's Kayaking
Men's Taekwondo
Women's Shooting (Air Rifles, I think)
Men's Shooting (Air Rifles, I think)
Women's Handball (That was weird. I had never seen it and it's like soccer mixed with basketball... Just weird)
Women's Equestrian (can't we just call it cowgirl?)
Men's Water Polo
I think that might be it for now, but keep in mind that it's only day 6 and I'm about to wet myself just thinking about the next week. So that explains why I haven't been writing, right? Before the Olympics started, I was watching the prelims and trials. How could I be expected to do things like Blog, and sleep when there are so many sports to watch?
Anyway, about the Basketball teams:
First the women. I Know I've said it before, but Candace Parker is Amazing. I just want to see her dunk on Margo Dydek! That would cap off a perfect summer for her so far. And speaking of Candace Parker, how bad do you feel for Anthony Parker? Probably the only NBA player who knows deep down that his little sister could beat him in a pickup game. Yesterday, I was thinking about how cool it will be to see the US women win Gold again (Four times in a row after this Olympics is over) and know that they are only the second - or maybe even third most dominate American Women's team. And not far from fourth. Here's how I have it ranked:
#1 - Women's Softball: Haven't gotten anything less than gold in any international competition (World Championships, Pan-Am games, Olympics, etc.) since International competition in the sport began back in the mid-eighties. In their opening game of the Olympics this year, they set a record for most runs scored in the Olympics by ANY team by the fourth inning... and at the same time, they threw a shared no-hitter. The game was stopped early on the "Mercy Rule". So far, they have not given up a hit in the Olympics.
#2 - Women's Basketball: Lisa, Candace, Seimone and company are going for their fourth straight Olympic Gold Medal. The US Women have not lost a single Olympic game since 1992 semifinal game and ended up 8-1 that year. Since then, they are a staggering 27-0 in Olympic competition. So far, they are winning their games this year by an average of 47 points per game including a 56 point win against Mali. Now let's put that in perspective. The 1992 "Dream Team", which included Magic Johnson, Micheal Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Stockton to Malone, David Robinson and about 5 other Hall of Fame players (and Christian Laettner) but contained ZERO opposition from any other teams, won their games by an average margin of about 41 points. Their Largest margin of Victory? 50 Vs. Angola. I'd say this team is good, but that would be giving the word "Good" too much credit.
#3 - Women's Beach VolleyBall: Every once in a while, we get to see a pair of truly dominant individuals who come together to become so much more than their individual selves. Micheal Jordan and Phil Jackson in 1996, Mohammad Ali and Howard Cossel in the 1970s, Serena and Venus Williams during the Wimbledon Doubles competition in 2002, Snoop and Dr. Dre in the early nineties, Mario and Luigi in 1986, Chaz Micheal Micheals and Jimmy McElroy during the 2007 ice skating doubles at the winter Olympics. What I'm trying to stress is that the teaming of Misty May-Treanor and Keri Walsh has created a duo of historic proportions. They have now won about 100 straight matches. No, that is not a typo. They simply do not lose. Period. Watch them play. Just watch them. It's like losing is against their religion. You'll see Jews and Muslims gathered 'round a table pork chops and hamhocks together before you see them submit to losing. I'm convinced. The only reason they aren't higher on this list is because the two teams above them win in such demoralizingly perfect fashion. Still, neither of the teams above can claim the kind of winning streak that Treanor-Walsh can. And most people never will. Not even the '72 Lakers could boast such a long list of consecutive losers in their path.
#4 - Women's Fencing: It's Hard to rank this women's fencing team 4th on ANY list. Individually, they just swept with three medals, and now they're fighting on the same team. Need I say more? Well then let me repeat that. Individually, US Women took home the Gold, Silver AND Bronze, and now they will compete together against a bunch of people who couldn't beat any of them apart.
I know that wasn't all about the Women's Basketball team, but... whatever. Sue me. I'll post on the Men's Basketball team tomorrow.
Until then, sports fans,
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
OMG!!! What the hell was that, Brand?
Ok, so I thought that none of the Big names this year would be talked about that much on this space. Well I was wrong. This is my Sad-Angry-Brand Rant. Ever since before he entered the league, in '99, I loved to watch Elton Brand Play. I never wanted Duke to win so bad. When Chicago picked him, I kind of secretly rooted for Chicago. He's just a great player and a nice guy and he's fun to watch, and he clearly wants nothing more than to win. That's why, when the Clippers Drafted Tyson Chandler and promptly traded him for Elton Brand, I was ecstatic! More than ecstatic, I was in near Nirvana.
When we came one Tim Thomas 3 pointer away from an L.A. - L.A. Hallway Series in the Playoffs a couple of years ago, I cheered my heart out for a player who was everything that, historically, the franchise was not. Even when he missed about 65 games in a season, but came back for the last 10 or so, I was impressed to no end. I mean, who has a guaranteed contract and still does that? There was no way the team was going to win a Championship - Hell, they were 20 games out of the playoffs with 10 to play. Three teams' entire rosters would have had to have fallen off the face of the earth simultaneously to even consider putting them in the playoffs. But There was Elton Brand, Second Game of his season, playing like it was game 7 of the NBA Finals.
And if that wasn't enough to make me love him, when he opted out of his contract on June 30th, he and his agent played it to everyone like it was an act of charity (presumably, Brand was going to give up about 2-4 million dollars in order to provide the team the financial flexibility to bring in Baron Davis. See, Baron Davis also opted out of his contract unexpectedly on June 30th, then quickly committed to a verbal agreement with the Clippers on July 1st. All I saw were pictures of Baron and Elton together (they are both friends and movie producers who it would make sense to have together in Los Angeles). I even told several people myself, "Elton Brand, Chris Kaman, Baron Davis, Al Thornton... The Clippers are going to make some noise next year." It was that much of a slam dunk. But there was one thing that I forgot. The Clippers are the Kwame Browns of NBA Franchises. The Ryan Leafs of the sports world. Even a slam dunk can clang off the back of the rim and bounce 3000 miles away.
See, I understood when he signed that offer sheet with Miami in 2003. It made sense then. The Clippers said that they would match any offer, but who really believed them? Their entire history had been a business school lesson on running an NBA Franchise - Successful Failure 101: How to make money without winning, EVER. But then the unthinkable happened. They matched offers for two players resulting in the spending over 130 million dollars that summer. Now they were for real! Now, they were going to matter! Now, they had one of the best low-post presences in Basketball locked up for 5 years!!! And they continued their commitment to trying to WIN through this summer by letting Maggette go ONLY so that they could add Baron Davis to the bunch. What could go wrong?
But the player who played just for the sake of playing; the player who almost added "Generous" to a list of adjectives to describe him that already included "Ferocious", "intense", "Committed" and "Hard-Working"; the player who made us all believe it was possible for a Clippers team to be good; he left. Why? Because Philadelphia offered him more money. Considerably more money than the Clippers could after agreeing to terms with Davis. And I understand all of this. Hell, if somebody offered me an extra 2 dollars an hour right now, I would put in my two weeks notice tomorrow morning. But it's about the way that he left. Players leave all the time. Lamar Odom Did it a few years ago when he signed with Miami and told the organization "Please don't match the offer". Maggette is probably signing a contract with the Warriors as I type this. I understand all of this and wished them both the best when they left. But this... This is Carlos-Boozer-esque.
The problem isn't that he left. It's about HOW he left. I was content before he came loving the Clippers from a distance, unconditionally, no matter how many games they lost. I was happy content having something to root for in the lottery every year. But then he came and made me think that something speacial was going to happen. That there was a chance. I don't remember a summer since he got here when I thought "The Clippers are going to be Really bad next year"... until he left and toook the franchise's hopes and dreams with him.
I never thought that I would or could ever feel like this, but I want Elton Brand to Lose. A LOT. I wish he weren't going to Philly. That's a respectable franchise. That's the franchise of Allen Iverson, Charles Barkeley and so many others. I wish he were going to Oklahoma where they have no franchise to sit around and not even exist for the next 5 years. I don't wish any particular harm as far as his well being, but as far as his basketball career goes, I wish him no good. None whatsoever.
When we came one Tim Thomas 3 pointer away from an L.A. - L.A. Hallway Series in the Playoffs a couple of years ago, I cheered my heart out for a player who was everything that, historically, the franchise was not. Even when he missed about 65 games in a season, but came back for the last 10 or so, I was impressed to no end. I mean, who has a guaranteed contract and still does that? There was no way the team was going to win a Championship - Hell, they were 20 games out of the playoffs with 10 to play. Three teams' entire rosters would have had to have fallen off the face of the earth simultaneously to even consider putting them in the playoffs. But There was Elton Brand, Second Game of his season, playing like it was game 7 of the NBA Finals.
And if that wasn't enough to make me love him, when he opted out of his contract on June 30th, he and his agent played it to everyone like it was an act of charity (presumably, Brand was going to give up about 2-4 million dollars in order to provide the team the financial flexibility to bring in Baron Davis. See, Baron Davis also opted out of his contract unexpectedly on June 30th, then quickly committed to a verbal agreement with the Clippers on July 1st. All I saw were pictures of Baron and Elton together (they are both friends and movie producers who it would make sense to have together in Los Angeles). I even told several people myself, "Elton Brand, Chris Kaman, Baron Davis, Al Thornton... The Clippers are going to make some noise next year." It was that much of a slam dunk. But there was one thing that I forgot. The Clippers are the Kwame Browns of NBA Franchises. The Ryan Leafs of the sports world. Even a slam dunk can clang off the back of the rim and bounce 3000 miles away.
See, I understood when he signed that offer sheet with Miami in 2003. It made sense then. The Clippers said that they would match any offer, but who really believed them? Their entire history had been a business school lesson on running an NBA Franchise - Successful Failure 101: How to make money without winning, EVER. But then the unthinkable happened. They matched offers for two players resulting in the spending over 130 million dollars that summer. Now they were for real! Now, they were going to matter! Now, they had one of the best low-post presences in Basketball locked up for 5 years!!! And they continued their commitment to trying to WIN through this summer by letting Maggette go ONLY so that they could add Baron Davis to the bunch. What could go wrong?
But the player who played just for the sake of playing; the player who almost added "Generous" to a list of adjectives to describe him that already included "Ferocious", "intense", "Committed" and "Hard-Working"; the player who made us all believe it was possible for a Clippers team to be good; he left. Why? Because Philadelphia offered him more money. Considerably more money than the Clippers could after agreeing to terms with Davis. And I understand all of this. Hell, if somebody offered me an extra 2 dollars an hour right now, I would put in my two weeks notice tomorrow morning. But it's about the way that he left. Players leave all the time. Lamar Odom Did it a few years ago when he signed with Miami and told the organization "Please don't match the offer". Maggette is probably signing a contract with the Warriors as I type this. I understand all of this and wished them both the best when they left. But this... This is Carlos-Boozer-esque.
The problem isn't that he left. It's about HOW he left. I was content before he came loving the Clippers from a distance, unconditionally, no matter how many games they lost. I was happy content having something to root for in the lottery every year. But then he came and made me think that something speacial was going to happen. That there was a chance. I don't remember a summer since he got here when I thought "The Clippers are going to be Really bad next year"... until he left and toook the franchise's hopes and dreams with him.
I never thought that I would or could ever feel like this, but I want Elton Brand to Lose. A LOT. I wish he weren't going to Philly. That's a respectable franchise. That's the franchise of Allen Iverson, Charles Barkeley and so many others. I wish he were going to Oklahoma where they have no franchise to sit around and not even exist for the next 5 years. I don't wish any particular harm as far as his well being, but as far as his basketball career goes, I wish him no good. None whatsoever.
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