Star Power
Stars in the NBA are somehow both overrated and 100% necessary. The "somehow" is actually not a mystery. In the regular season they are overrated while in the playoffs you essentially can't win without them. Want proof? Look at the Knicks and the Lakers last night.
Both teams are struggling at the moment. Outside of their stretch between coaches, the Lakers have struggled all year. Bernie Bickerstaff for the win(s). The Knicks however have been struggling since basically Christmas and the reasons are similar. First, injuries have depleted both rosters. Raymond Felton and Rasheed Wallace were playing major roles and producing at a high level for New York and have been missed dearly. The absence of Felton has meant more minutes for Jason Kidd and he just can't handle that at his age. The rotation was basically perfect to start the year. It's now a mess. You can tell a coach is searching for answers when he starts a player, plays him two and a half minutes and then doesn't play him for the rest of the half. That's exactly what Mike Woodson did with James White last night.
Meanwhile the Lakers have illustrated the other two main reasons both teams are struggling endlessly. The second issue both teams suffer from is a lack of defensive effort. Whether it's mental lapses, miscommunication or not being in the right position, the Lakers are putting on a "what not to do" defensive clinic this year. The Knicks at least know what they're supposed to be doing (Woodson>>>>D'Antoni defensively) but inconsistent effort has cost them games. The third thing is the star power. The Lakers at one point last night had a lineup of Chris Duhon, Darius Morris, Jodie Meeks, Earl Clark and Robert Sacre. A magical thing happened. The ball moved.
Ball movement is essential to basketball. It's a simple concept. The more the ball moves, the more the defense moves. Think of the 5 defensive players as a 5 cog machine. The more pieces there are in a machine and the more they are used, the more likely one of them is to break. The more the defense moves, the more likely they are to make a mistake. This is why when the ball stops in the hands of Carmelo Anthony/JR Smith or Kobe Bryant, the Knicks and Lakers offenses dissolve into futility. Plus, the rest of the team has no rhythm and doesn't feel involved. This crushes any flow and consistently hurts defensive intensity and causes a cycle of bad basketball hell.
Without a ball stopper on offense, this doesn't happen. No one's sitting around watching Darius Morris want to make a play. It's not always the star's fault. Often other guys see the ball get to the star and just stop. It's part proper spacing, but after about a second and a half, if the guy with the ball doesn't make a move, you've got to continue doing something. Instead, bad basketball hell cycle happens and so does losing.
NFL Picks
Normally my picks come in podcast form with Alex Brewer. One of us got distracted when we were supposed to record this week and I'm not going to point any fingers but it was him. Instead you have to read more. Which is ironic. Because Alex can't read. (BOOOOOOOM!!!)
Baltimore at Denver
Doesn't it seem appropriate that the one to end Ray Lewis's Hall of Fame career is another future Hall of Famer in Peyton Manning. The cold weather is going to be a factor. Today's tilt will be the coldest game in the NFL this year. Baltimore's offense is predicated on Ray Rice and the big play. It's hard to hit the big play in snow, ice and freezing cold temperatures, especially when Denver's defense, and specifically their pass rush are fantastic. Meanwhile Denver has offensive balance and there's a reason they haven't lost in forever. I'll take Baltimore to cover a massive -9 spread, but Denver wins at home.
Green Bay at San Francisco
The logic here is simple. Take the best quarterback in the league and he plays for Green Bay. Add in the fact that said quarterback has a vendetta against his opponent and I feel even better about it. Aaron Rodgers is a northern California kid who got passed over for Alex Smith on draft day and has never let that go. It'll be up to Smith's replacement Colin Kaepernick to generate points and more importantly not turn it over. Rodgers loves to take advantage of opponents' mistakes and defending him on a short field is near impossible. Justin Smith being back is huge as it makes Aldon Smith relevant again but it's not enough. Give me Green Bay to cover the 3 and win outright on the road by the bay.
Seattle at Atlanta
This game makes no sense. Non whatsoever. The #1 seed coming off a buy is a monster at home. Their quarterback is 33-6 at home in his life as a pro. The visitors have to fly cross country for the second time in a week, just lost their best pass rusher and have a rookie QB. However the home team is the Atlanta Falcons who have been absolutely housed the last two years in the playoffs by the eventual Super Bowl champion who was the hottest team in the league. That distinction could certainly go to Seattle who has only lost once since the calendar turned to November. The rookie quarterback is Russel Wilson who's as unflappable as any rookie in recent memory.
No outcome would surprise me, but I'm starting to get more concerned about my Seattle lean. There's a lot of noise around the Seahawks. Both coordinators are spending the day before the game not with their team but other teams, interviewing for head coaching jobs. I'm going to stick with my gut and say Seattle goes on the road and pulls this off, but it wouldn't surprise me if Atlanta finally breaks through in the post-season. If the Falcons do "pull it off" (amazing that we frame it like that given they are the #1 seed at home), look for Tony Gonzalez to be a major factor. Seattle's corners are fantastic and could limit Roddy White and Julio Jones. The biggest shocker of all of this though is that a win would be Gonzalez's first in the playoffs for perhaps the greatest tight end ever. I'll take Seattle to cover (+1) and win outright.
Houston at New England
Some people feel like this is the biggest lock of the weekend. I'm not one of those people. In playoff games that are rematches of 28+ point regular season blowouts, teams that won (and lost) are 11-11. Houston was the best team in the league for the first half of the season and then seemingly stopped playing. They now have something to play for again and had a warmup week against Cincinnati. It's imperative that Arian Foster has a big impact but Matt Schaub will need to make a few plays. More importantly for Houston is J.J. Watt. He's won games for Houston this year by completely wrecking the other team's offense. Doing that to Tom Brady is infinitely more difficult than doing it to anyone else not named Peyton Manning. If you hear Watt's name a lot, Houston has a chance. If not, Houston we have a problem. That was the lowest of the low hanging fruit and I apologize. I just can't do it. Take Houston to cover the 10, but New England wins outright.
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Random Rumblings
There's a ton of stuff going on right now and I haven't written in a while so it's time to empty the mind brain on a few things. I was going to write today on the somewhat complicated place of Jim Boeheim in history, which is actually a stupid argument over semantics, but I think I'm going to save those thoughts for an Orange Fizz post. Normally I write there on Fridays, but tomorrow is the day Ebenezer Ogundeko announces and that will likely take precedent. Stay tuned to Twitter for the Boeheim article. On to the other sports related thoughts floating around my otherwise empty head:
Amare says he's never been told how to play defense:
Amare Stoudemire told reporters yesterday he's never been taught how to play defense until now, with Mike Woodson as the Knicks head coach. Stoudemire spent most of his career playing under Mike D'Antoni who is known as an offensive genius, but his teams have often been less than stellar defensively.
Defense is about three things: effort, instincts and positioning. Fixing Amare's defensive effort (if that's deemed a problem) is pretty easy. So much of defense is making a commitment to engage and push that extra little bit to get into position and make the right plays. However within a defensive scheme, which many average fans might not notice during a game, positioning is everything. The first step to stopping a drive to the basket isn't cutting off the ballhandler as he starts to go, it's the helpside defender already being in position so the drive never happens in the first place.
I learned a lot about defense during my two years at MTSU going to both Kermit Davis's and Rick Insell's practices. Great defenses are a step ahead of the offense. Rick had his girls work nearly every day on cutting off the cross court pass so many players make when they drive baseline and run out of room. Kermit screamed endlessly when his guys didn't get to the mid-line (an imaginary line that cuts the court into a left and right half) as that discouraged drives and put you in a perfect position to take a charge if the offense did try to come into the lane. These things can be taught, and it's shocking that in a 10 year NBA career, Amare's allegedly never gotten that coaching.
That said, he can learn and even a decade in can become a much better defender within a team context. However, it's not going to be easy as Amare clearly lacks superior defensive instincts. Two blocks per game should come easy to him based on his athleticism, however he's only hit that mark once in his career. Specifically being called into question is Amare's pick-and-roll defense. Stoudemire is considered one of the best pick-and-roll finishers in the league when healthy, yet he's never been able to turn that knowledge of how he reads and exploits basketball's most basic play offensively into defending it on the other end.
Marrone to the NFL
As a selfish Syracuse fan, I hope Doug Marrone stays in Orange. He said it's his dream job but as you achieve your dreams, you dream new ones and the reality is competitors want to compete at the highest level and no man is above a bigger paycheck. There's no doubt the NFL is the highest level of competition in football and Marrone has experienced that as a coach and as a player. We know he's interviewing for a number of jobs and it shouldn't surprise any of us if he takes one.
Marrone is a different kind of guy though and it wouldn't surprise me if he kicks the tires and decides to stay in Orange. He's got a new challenge ahead of him in moving to the ACC and while he's losing an NFL caliber quarterback in Ryan Nassib (I'm in still in disbelief that the previous statement is true, but it is even if he's a backup), he's gaining what many think is a future pro in Elite 11 QB Zach Allen and the chance to develop him could be one of the many reasons Marrone eventually winds up staying in Orange.
The bigger question is what does SU do if the two-time Pinstripe Bowl winner Dougies up to the NFL. Based off per speculation and minimal logic, here are SU's two best options in my mind:
1) Jim Tressel, former Ohio State Head Coach
We all know he left in a terrible manor from Ohio State, however how bad was it really? We all hate the NCAA's stupid rules, yet see a guy like Tressel as a horrible person for not following them? I can get over that. Tressel is an offensive minded guy who would be good for Allen and he's spent some time at SU as well as the QB Coach in 1981-82. He's an Ohio guy which is one of Syracuse's crucial recruiting areas and he might be willing to keep the defensive staff in place. This leads me to candidate number two.
2) Scott Shafer, SU Defensive Coordinator
I think we'd all agree we'd gladly take more of what Marrone is building, so why not just shift some pieces around and keep rolling? Shafer's a coaching lifer who's defensive resume is incredibly impressive. His players love playing for him and that's a key part of being a head coach. He preaches accountability (like Marrone) and that every man must simply do his job. I don't know if Shafer has head coaching chops because I'm not around him every day and he's never had to make clock management decisions, etc (some guys are meant to be coordinators) but I wouldn't be mad if he was given a shot.
Making the Jump
On top of Marrone, a ton of other college coaches could be making the jump to the pros including Oregon's Chip Kelly. The debate is endless on whether his uptempo system could work in the NFL, but I think the answer is clearly maybe. So decisive. I know.
There would have to be some changes and Kelly would absolutely have to have the right personnel to make it all work. The question is how realistic is getting that personnel (definitely possible) and will those small changes be enough to make the whole thing not work (maybe). I know if I was a GM/owner I'd be willing to find out and I wish the owner of my team would take that shot. Cam Newton cost Chip Kelly his best shot at a national title game in January of 2011 when Cam's Auburn team beat Kelly's Oregon Ducks on a last second field goal. To make his system work, Kelly needs a versatile and mobile quarterback and an army of running backs. No team fits that model better than the Panthers who have Newton to go with Deangelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart (a pre-Kelly Oregon Duck) and Mike Tolbert in the backfield.
Both coaches in this year's national title game will also be on NFL radars. Brain Kelly is ahead of schedule at Notre Dame being in the national title game this year. If I'm him, I'd wait. Even though this team was carried by the defense, the experience it's younger players, especially freshman quarterback Everett Golson, have gotten is invaluable. Perhaps the Irish can be right back in the title game a few times in the next few seasons and Kelly can leave in a few years tens of millions of dollars richer and a Notre Dame legend.
If Alabama wins Monday night, Nick Saban would only be further cementing his status as a legend in Tuscaloosa. That would make 3 titles in four years and at that point, what's the point? The NFL is the one thing Saban never mastered and for as competitive as he is, that has to eat at him. He spent two years with the Dolphins and got screwed over by his own medical staff who didn't clear Drew Brees. That meant the Dolphins had to sign Daunte Culpepper who was mediocre in 2005, got hurt and was had to be benched in 2006 for Joey Harrington who was so bad he got benched for something named Cleo Lemon. With that (whatever that combination of awful is) at quarterback over two years, he went 15-17 which is far from the abject disaster that everyone seems to make Saban's time in the NFL out to be. If Saban wins, he should go. Why not, unless he's comfortable crushing it in college, having a lighter work load and making NFL money. While that sounds awesome to most of us, the 61 year old Saban is an uber-competitor and he doesn't have that much time left if he still has an NFL itch to scratch.
#TallPeopleProblems
Tweet of the day (which I've never done before, but might do again) comes from former Syracuse center Fab Melo. Ol' Fabricio got called up from the D-League yesterday! Is it because he's averaging 10.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 3.8 bpg? Is it because on Dec. 26th he had 32 points, 9 boards and 9 blocks? Nope! It's because he ran into a door at a hotel and got a concussion. In order to be treated by the Celtics team doctors, he has to be on the active roster and thus he got called up. As for Melo:
I don't even break 6 feet, so I won't ask. The world isn't designed for people his size so I'll cut him some slack. Hell, I hit my head on a car door last week. It happens. As long as he's okay, we can laugh about it and knowing Fab's light-hearted personality, he'll laugh right along with us.
Amare says he's never been told how to play defense:
Amare Stoudemire told reporters yesterday he's never been taught how to play defense until now, with Mike Woodson as the Knicks head coach. Stoudemire spent most of his career playing under Mike D'Antoni who is known as an offensive genius, but his teams have often been less than stellar defensively.
Defense is about three things: effort, instincts and positioning. Fixing Amare's defensive effort (if that's deemed a problem) is pretty easy. So much of defense is making a commitment to engage and push that extra little bit to get into position and make the right plays. However within a defensive scheme, which many average fans might not notice during a game, positioning is everything. The first step to stopping a drive to the basket isn't cutting off the ballhandler as he starts to go, it's the helpside defender already being in position so the drive never happens in the first place.
I learned a lot about defense during my two years at MTSU going to both Kermit Davis's and Rick Insell's practices. Great defenses are a step ahead of the offense. Rick had his girls work nearly every day on cutting off the cross court pass so many players make when they drive baseline and run out of room. Kermit screamed endlessly when his guys didn't get to the mid-line (an imaginary line that cuts the court into a left and right half) as that discouraged drives and put you in a perfect position to take a charge if the offense did try to come into the lane. These things can be taught, and it's shocking that in a 10 year NBA career, Amare's allegedly never gotten that coaching.
That said, he can learn and even a decade in can become a much better defender within a team context. However, it's not going to be easy as Amare clearly lacks superior defensive instincts. Two blocks per game should come easy to him based on his athleticism, however he's only hit that mark once in his career. Specifically being called into question is Amare's pick-and-roll defense. Stoudemire is considered one of the best pick-and-roll finishers in the league when healthy, yet he's never been able to turn that knowledge of how he reads and exploits basketball's most basic play offensively into defending it on the other end.
Marrone to the NFL
As a selfish Syracuse fan, I hope Doug Marrone stays in Orange. He said it's his dream job but as you achieve your dreams, you dream new ones and the reality is competitors want to compete at the highest level and no man is above a bigger paycheck. There's no doubt the NFL is the highest level of competition in football and Marrone has experienced that as a coach and as a player. We know he's interviewing for a number of jobs and it shouldn't surprise any of us if he takes one.
Marrone is a different kind of guy though and it wouldn't surprise me if he kicks the tires and decides to stay in Orange. He's got a new challenge ahead of him in moving to the ACC and while he's losing an NFL caliber quarterback in Ryan Nassib (I'm in still in disbelief that the previous statement is true, but it is even if he's a backup), he's gaining what many think is a future pro in Elite 11 QB Zach Allen and the chance to develop him could be one of the many reasons Marrone eventually winds up staying in Orange.
The bigger question is what does SU do if the two-time Pinstripe Bowl winner Dougies up to the NFL. Based off per speculation and minimal logic, here are SU's two best options in my mind:
1) Jim Tressel, former Ohio State Head Coach
We all know he left in a terrible manor from Ohio State, however how bad was it really? We all hate the NCAA's stupid rules, yet see a guy like Tressel as a horrible person for not following them? I can get over that. Tressel is an offensive minded guy who would be good for Allen and he's spent some time at SU as well as the QB Coach in 1981-82. He's an Ohio guy which is one of Syracuse's crucial recruiting areas and he might be willing to keep the defensive staff in place. This leads me to candidate number two.
2) Scott Shafer, SU Defensive Coordinator
I think we'd all agree we'd gladly take more of what Marrone is building, so why not just shift some pieces around and keep rolling? Shafer's a coaching lifer who's defensive resume is incredibly impressive. His players love playing for him and that's a key part of being a head coach. He preaches accountability (like Marrone) and that every man must simply do his job. I don't know if Shafer has head coaching chops because I'm not around him every day and he's never had to make clock management decisions, etc (some guys are meant to be coordinators) but I wouldn't be mad if he was given a shot.
Making the Jump
On top of Marrone, a ton of other college coaches could be making the jump to the pros including Oregon's Chip Kelly. The debate is endless on whether his uptempo system could work in the NFL, but I think the answer is clearly maybe. So decisive. I know.
There would have to be some changes and Kelly would absolutely have to have the right personnel to make it all work. The question is how realistic is getting that personnel (definitely possible) and will those small changes be enough to make the whole thing not work (maybe). I know if I was a GM/owner I'd be willing to find out and I wish the owner of my team would take that shot. Cam Newton cost Chip Kelly his best shot at a national title game in January of 2011 when Cam's Auburn team beat Kelly's Oregon Ducks on a last second field goal. To make his system work, Kelly needs a versatile and mobile quarterback and an army of running backs. No team fits that model better than the Panthers who have Newton to go with Deangelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart (a pre-Kelly Oregon Duck) and Mike Tolbert in the backfield.
Both coaches in this year's national title game will also be on NFL radars. Brain Kelly is ahead of schedule at Notre Dame being in the national title game this year. If I'm him, I'd wait. Even though this team was carried by the defense, the experience it's younger players, especially freshman quarterback Everett Golson, have gotten is invaluable. Perhaps the Irish can be right back in the title game a few times in the next few seasons and Kelly can leave in a few years tens of millions of dollars richer and a Notre Dame legend.
If Alabama wins Monday night, Nick Saban would only be further cementing his status as a legend in Tuscaloosa. That would make 3 titles in four years and at that point, what's the point? The NFL is the one thing Saban never mastered and for as competitive as he is, that has to eat at him. He spent two years with the Dolphins and got screwed over by his own medical staff who didn't clear Drew Brees. That meant the Dolphins had to sign Daunte Culpepper who was mediocre in 2005, got hurt and was had to be benched in 2006 for Joey Harrington who was so bad he got benched for something named Cleo Lemon. With that (whatever that combination of awful is) at quarterback over two years, he went 15-17 which is far from the abject disaster that everyone seems to make Saban's time in the NFL out to be. If Saban wins, he should go. Why not, unless he's comfortable crushing it in college, having a lighter work load and making NFL money. While that sounds awesome to most of us, the 61 year old Saban is an uber-competitor and he doesn't have that much time left if he still has an NFL itch to scratch.
#TallPeopleProblems
Tweet of the day (which I've never done before, but might do again) comes from former Syracuse center Fab Melo. Ol' Fabricio got called up from the D-League yesterday! Is it because he's averaging 10.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 3.8 bpg? Is it because on Dec. 26th he had 32 points, 9 boards and 9 blocks? Nope! It's because he ran into a door at a hotel and got a concussion. In order to be treated by the Celtics team doctors, he has to be on the active roster and thus he got called up. As for Melo:
If you stand under 7feet don't ask me how I did it.
— Fab Melo (@Fabpmelo) January 3, 2013
I don't even break 6 feet, so I won't ask. The world isn't designed for people his size so I'll cut him some slack. Hell, I hit my head on a car door last week. It happens. As long as he's okay, we can laugh about it and knowing Fab's light-hearted personality, he'll laugh right along with us.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Funemployment Podcast 3: NBA Top 10
Alex Brewer and Kevin Brown join me as we re-draft the NBA in an effort to find out who are the best players in the league for this season.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Knicks/Nets - This is Real
There are a million things that make sports great. It's the best reality on television as games have ups and downs that aren't scripted and often you can't make up. There is drama. There is tension. There is conflict and it's all very real. All of these are heightened in rivalry games and in early December it is abundantly clear that the rivalry between Knicks/Nets is real.
It started before it started when Mikhail Prokhorov and some guy named Sean Carter (you know him as Jay-Z, even if you're this lady) took out space on the side of a building (New York's version of a billboard) across from Madison Square Garden, sending the message of "we're coming for you."
After last night's epic, the story lines were endless but it all starts with the fact that both teams are actually good, something that couldn't have been said basically ever. The Nets have been a model of mediocrity or worse with the exception of the 5 season stretch last decade led by Jason Kidd, ironically the man who hit the game winner last night for the Knicks. During that time the Knicks were at their worst, missing the playoffs every year except 2004 when they were swept by the Nets.
There was always the big brother/little brother dynamic where the Knicks were far and away the talk of the town, and the Nets were more of a geographic annoyance between the Knicks and Sixers than an actual rival. However the fact that the two teams have never been good at the same time makes the timing of the Nets move to Brooklyn all the better.
Of course this wasn't coincidence. If the Nets hadn't moved, Deron Williams has admitted he would have left for Dallas last off-season. They never would have traded for Joe Johnson. There's also the sleeping giant that no one is talking about yet that if the Nets can trade the oft-injured Brook Lopez (not possible until Jan. 15) for some expiring deals, they might be able to land Dwight Howard this summer if the Lakers' disastrous season continues and Superman wants to fly away.
From the chants of "Brooooooklyyyyyn" to Jay-Z and Queen B sitting on the sidelines, the atmosphere in the Barclay's Center is infinitely better than any of the arenas the Nets called home in Jersey, and the Nets really feel like Brooklyn's team. The Nets for a time played at the Meadowlands across the street from the Jets and Giants both of whom claim New York as home. With all due respect to the Garden State, there is just no respect for the Garden State. Being stationed in New York makes the Nets a legit force and whether Knicks fans like it or not, the Nets just hit puberty and the little brother you used to beat up is now your size and not so easy to manhandle anymore.
It started before it started when Mikhail Prokhorov and some guy named Sean Carter (you know him as Jay-Z, even if you're this lady) took out space on the side of a building (New York's version of a billboard) across from Madison Square Garden, sending the message of "we're coming for you."
After last night's epic, the story lines were endless but it all starts with the fact that both teams are actually good, something that couldn't have been said basically ever. The Nets have been a model of mediocrity or worse with the exception of the 5 season stretch last decade led by Jason Kidd, ironically the man who hit the game winner last night for the Knicks. During that time the Knicks were at their worst, missing the playoffs every year except 2004 when they were swept by the Nets.
There was always the big brother/little brother dynamic where the Knicks were far and away the talk of the town, and the Nets were more of a geographic annoyance between the Knicks and Sixers than an actual rival. However the fact that the two teams have never been good at the same time makes the timing of the Nets move to Brooklyn all the better.
Of course this wasn't coincidence. If the Nets hadn't moved, Deron Williams has admitted he would have left for Dallas last off-season. They never would have traded for Joe Johnson. There's also the sleeping giant that no one is talking about yet that if the Nets can trade the oft-injured Brook Lopez (not possible until Jan. 15) for some expiring deals, they might be able to land Dwight Howard this summer if the Lakers' disastrous season continues and Superman wants to fly away.
From the chants of "Brooooooklyyyyyn" to Jay-Z and Queen B sitting on the sidelines, the atmosphere in the Barclay's Center is infinitely better than any of the arenas the Nets called home in Jersey, and the Nets really feel like Brooklyn's team. The Nets for a time played at the Meadowlands across the street from the Jets and Giants both of whom claim New York as home. With all due respect to the Garden State, there is just no respect for the Garden State. Being stationed in New York makes the Nets a legit force and whether Knicks fans like it or not, the Nets just hit puberty and the little brother you used to beat up is now your size and not so easy to manhandle anymore.
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