Here are my sports thoughts for today.
1. The scene here in Portland related to the NBA draft is driving me crazy. Even if you don’t live in Portland, you may have heard about the “draft the stache” campaign aimed at convincing the Blazers that not a single person will attend their games or buy their merchandise unless they wager the entire future of the franchise on Adam Morrison. If the Blazers trade a valuable asset to trade up and get Morrison with the first pick, I’m going to launch an immediate investigation to determine whether Isaiah Thomas has secretly taken over the Blazers. The Blazers have, for a while now, been about the worst run franchise in sports with the exception of the Knicks and maybe the Hawks, but that would be a new low.
If you’ve read this blog before you know I don’t hate Adam Morrison. In fact, he was by far my favorite player and I would not shut up about him at the beginning of the season to anyone who would listen. He was a sensational college player in the WCC….in the WCC! He may turn out to be a fine scorring 3, but that’s it. He can’t rebound, pass or even really handle it all that well and he can’t jump or contribute on the defensive end. And this is the guy Portland wants to trade up to get?
If he’s there at 4 and the Blazers take him, I won’t be crushed, though I think there will still be better options, but if they trade something to move up to get him, and heap the pressure of the number one pick on him and make him the focal point of rebuilding, I may have to light myself on fire. The local media defend him like he was their child by saying that “one on one defense is overrated” and “Portland needs to draft someone who will excite the fans.” Let me take those one at a time.
First, being able to defend your man one on one is no less important now than ever before. The mere fact that it is harder to do with the way they call fouls arguably makes quickness and good defensive footwork and technique even more important since the days are gone when you could just bump and grab someone until they wore down. Not every player has to be Ron Artest, but it would be nice if your team didn’t have to create bizarre defensive schemes just to hide you. Unless you play for Phoenix, on the ball defense still matters.
But even if it didn’t or didn’t as much, you still need every player to contribute on the defensive end. Playing the passing lanes, defensive rebounds, reading the offense as it develops, knowing how to chase around a screen, knowing when to play up or back off, all of those things matter if you want your team to be good at defense and I have seen nothing that indicates to me that Morrison can do any of those things. Of course, the same could be said for a number of the Blazers, but that’s not a good reason to add yet another bad defender.
The Blazers or at least the Portland media are acting like the rookie owner in your fantasy hoops league who has been following the NBA, but never played fantasy. That guy will always draft the one-dimensional scorers too high. He’s good to have around because you know Carmelo Anthony will go flying off the board with the 5th pick and leave someone like Shawn Marion, who doesn’t score as well or get as much hype, but does just about everything well. Make no mistake, Carmelo Anthony is a 3rd round fantasy pick because all he does is score. Now fantasy doesn’t always equate with real life NBA, but here it does. Scoring is important and goodness knows the Blazers need it, but it is only one part of a complicated game and if you are thinking of drafting a guy first overall, it would be nice for him to have some basketball related skill other than hitting a jumper.
Second, when your best reason to draft a guy is that he will bring back some excitement, that is code for saying, “he’s not that good, but lots of people know who he is and like him, so hopefully they’ll come to watch him.” Well, they will and that’s important for a sports franchise obviously, but it is as short sighted as you can possibly be. People will come watch if we draft Ammo, but those same fans will turn on the Blazers as soon as they realize the Blazers aren’t any better as a team and left Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy and LeMarcus Aldridge on the board and they’re now all fighting it out with some Italian guy for ROY honors.
I hope Morrison has a great career. He’s a goofy weird guy who would be great for the league if he turns out to be good. And if he does, I would love to see him in Portland, but I think all this hype and hope is completely misguided and seem destined to lead Portland flush yet another lottery pick. ….sigh.
To help combat the “Draft the Stache” campaign, I’m thinking of starting my own campaign for a couple guys in the draft I prefer over Morrison. What do you think about a “Gay Pride” parade or perhaps a Roy for ROY t-shirt?
2. Staying with the NBA…. I heard the rumor yesterday that Phoenix and Chicago are talking about a trade that would send Marion to Chicago for Marcus Camby’s back…er, I mean Tyson Chandler and the number 2 pick. Before we even get to how stupid this is, it begs the question, who does Phoenix want so bad at number 2? They have to know Bargnani will likely be gone to Toronto. I could see why they would want Morrison as his game is tailor made for that team. Morrison might actually run away with rookie of the year if he went to Phoenix, because he would never be asked to play D and would get tons of open looks to do what he does best: shoot and score.
Or maybe they want Thomas, who may have the potential to be the next Marion, but at a much cheaper price. He too seems like he could flourish in Phoenix catching lobs from Nash and finding the offensive glass of the weak side when Amare is doubled. I don’t really see anyone else in the draft exciting Phoenix enough to trade up. So now, lets get back to that first point. Why in the world would they want to trade Marion. I’m told by the “experts” that this would free up money they could use next year to sign Barbosa and Diaw. Ok, so let’s trade away a top 10 player, who carried our team to within one game of the finals for an unknown quantity in the draft with “rollplayer” talent and a guy who is always injured and not that good when healthy. What is wrong with NBA GMs? Do they not even watch their own sport?
Not even the Clippers would make that trade. Not even the Knicks because Chandler’s contract isn’t big enough. If that happens it will go down as one of the worst trades in NBA history. Chicago would instantly be a force in the East and Phoenix will take a huge step back when they are right on the edge of a championship. That makes it a near certainty that it will happen.
3. Now that the US team is out of the World Cup, I just have two questions.
a. Ever since the US team lost their first game, I have been hearing the argument made that the US sucks so bad because our best athlete’s play real…oh, I mean…other sports. The argument went that if Vick and TO and D Wade played soccer, instead of the tiny, schwimpey guys that play, we would dominate like we do in every other sport. The problems I have with that are that are best athletes are huge and that’s not always an advantage in soccer…so I’m told; we don’t dominate any international sport at the moment even with our best athletes; and finally, are you telling me in a country approaching 300 million, we couldn’t come up with enough good athletes to compete with Ghana who boasts a population of 22 mil? I think their maybe something else going on here, like Americans are bad soccer players and mostly we don’t care.
b. Now that the US is out, can we stop hearing about the world cup? Whether Germany beats Brazil in soccer ranks right up there with: who wins WNBA MVP; what Ozzie Guillen things of gay people; anything related to Duke Lacrosse; and Davis Cup tennis on the list of things I have no desire to hear, read or think about ever. Please, ESPN, stop with the world cup. It’s enough.
4. I’m really hoping the Giants step up and go after another bat and maybe some bullpen help this season. The NL West is pretty mediocre at best with all the teams hovering around .500 and none of the teams being able to really take advantage of the other teams slumps. In other words, it is very winnable. The problem is that the Giants seem to think Barry is still Barry. He’s not. He’s a shadow of himself up there. Now pitchers are starting to figure out that they don’t have to walk him twice a game since his bat speed and range over the plate is greatly diminished. Plus he only plays half the games. This leads a gaping hole in the middle of that lineup and a bunch of hitters who are decent when they have a lightening rod like Bonds to play off of, but are less than adequate when they don’t. the Giants have pretty good starting pitching that I think will get better as the year goes on, but they need some more arms in the pen and need at least one more scary hitter in that lineup. Maybe if they got Griffey he and Bonds could coordinate the days they miss with injury and could combine to be half the player each of them were in their prime, which might still be good enough to win the division.
5. Football’s coming. When football season hits this will be a place to hear my rants about the NFL and the 49ers and also about my fantasy football league: the Boyz Near the Hood league. So, while I will try not to let Fantasy take over, if you are a fantasy nut, this will become a place where you can weigh in about trades, the draft, player values, etc. The once proud StumpTown franchise looks to storm back into the playoffs this year after a two year absence. Friend and fellow owner John Lloyd was recently misquoted as saying: “It makes me sick to my stomach to think about having to play StumpTown this year.” As it turns out, that is a fairly common reaction when someone is forced to face me.
6. Larry Brown just got paid 50 mil to coach for a year in NY and now look for him to get huge jack to go coach somewhere else. He’s my hero. As you may know, I am not a big Isaiah Thomas fan. I think he was an overrated player, a horrible business man, a terrible coach and the worst GM of my generation. Plus he didn’t like Larry Bird, so I have no use for him. But I do think he will get more out of that Knick team he built than Larry did. Of course that might be like saying you can squeeze more water from a blade of grass than from a rock, but I do think they will play better for Thomas. They won’t be a playoff team or even good, but I bet Marbury’s numbers go through the roof as Thomas gives him the green light to do whatever he wants in an attempt to increase his trade value enough to trade for Chris Webber.
More later.
1. The scene here in Portland related to the NBA draft is driving me crazy. Even if you don’t live in Portland, you may have heard about the “draft the stache” campaign aimed at convincing the Blazers that not a single person will attend their games or buy their merchandise unless they wager the entire future of the franchise on Adam Morrison. If the Blazers trade a valuable asset to trade up and get Morrison with the first pick, I’m going to launch an immediate investigation to determine whether Isaiah Thomas has secretly taken over the Blazers. The Blazers have, for a while now, been about the worst run franchise in sports with the exception of the Knicks and maybe the Hawks, but that would be a new low.
If you’ve read this blog before you know I don’t hate Adam Morrison. In fact, he was by far my favorite player and I would not shut up about him at the beginning of the season to anyone who would listen. He was a sensational college player in the WCC….in the WCC! He may turn out to be a fine scorring 3, but that’s it. He can’t rebound, pass or even really handle it all that well and he can’t jump or contribute on the defensive end. And this is the guy Portland wants to trade up to get?
If he’s there at 4 and the Blazers take him, I won’t be crushed, though I think there will still be better options, but if they trade something to move up to get him, and heap the pressure of the number one pick on him and make him the focal point of rebuilding, I may have to light myself on fire. The local media defend him like he was their child by saying that “one on one defense is overrated” and “Portland needs to draft someone who will excite the fans.” Let me take those one at a time.
First, being able to defend your man one on one is no less important now than ever before. The mere fact that it is harder to do with the way they call fouls arguably makes quickness and good defensive footwork and technique even more important since the days are gone when you could just bump and grab someone until they wore down. Not every player has to be Ron Artest, but it would be nice if your team didn’t have to create bizarre defensive schemes just to hide you. Unless you play for Phoenix, on the ball defense still matters.
But even if it didn’t or didn’t as much, you still need every player to contribute on the defensive end. Playing the passing lanes, defensive rebounds, reading the offense as it develops, knowing how to chase around a screen, knowing when to play up or back off, all of those things matter if you want your team to be good at defense and I have seen nothing that indicates to me that Morrison can do any of those things. Of course, the same could be said for a number of the Blazers, but that’s not a good reason to add yet another bad defender.
The Blazers or at least the Portland media are acting like the rookie owner in your fantasy hoops league who has been following the NBA, but never played fantasy. That guy will always draft the one-dimensional scorers too high. He’s good to have around because you know Carmelo Anthony will go flying off the board with the 5th pick and leave someone like Shawn Marion, who doesn’t score as well or get as much hype, but does just about everything well. Make no mistake, Carmelo Anthony is a 3rd round fantasy pick because all he does is score. Now fantasy doesn’t always equate with real life NBA, but here it does. Scoring is important and goodness knows the Blazers need it, but it is only one part of a complicated game and if you are thinking of drafting a guy first overall, it would be nice for him to have some basketball related skill other than hitting a jumper.
Second, when your best reason to draft a guy is that he will bring back some excitement, that is code for saying, “he’s not that good, but lots of people know who he is and like him, so hopefully they’ll come to watch him.” Well, they will and that’s important for a sports franchise obviously, but it is as short sighted as you can possibly be. People will come watch if we draft Ammo, but those same fans will turn on the Blazers as soon as they realize the Blazers aren’t any better as a team and left Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy and LeMarcus Aldridge on the board and they’re now all fighting it out with some Italian guy for ROY honors.
I hope Morrison has a great career. He’s a goofy weird guy who would be great for the league if he turns out to be good. And if he does, I would love to see him in Portland, but I think all this hype and hope is completely misguided and seem destined to lead Portland flush yet another lottery pick. ….sigh.
To help combat the “Draft the Stache” campaign, I’m thinking of starting my own campaign for a couple guys in the draft I prefer over Morrison. What do you think about a “Gay Pride” parade or perhaps a Roy for ROY t-shirt?
2. Staying with the NBA…. I heard the rumor yesterday that Phoenix and Chicago are talking about a trade that would send Marion to Chicago for Marcus Camby’s back…er, I mean Tyson Chandler and the number 2 pick. Before we even get to how stupid this is, it begs the question, who does Phoenix want so bad at number 2? They have to know Bargnani will likely be gone to Toronto. I could see why they would want Morrison as his game is tailor made for that team. Morrison might actually run away with rookie of the year if he went to Phoenix, because he would never be asked to play D and would get tons of open looks to do what he does best: shoot and score.
Or maybe they want Thomas, who may have the potential to be the next Marion, but at a much cheaper price. He too seems like he could flourish in Phoenix catching lobs from Nash and finding the offensive glass of the weak side when Amare is doubled. I don’t really see anyone else in the draft exciting Phoenix enough to trade up. So now, lets get back to that first point. Why in the world would they want to trade Marion. I’m told by the “experts” that this would free up money they could use next year to sign Barbosa and Diaw. Ok, so let’s trade away a top 10 player, who carried our team to within one game of the finals for an unknown quantity in the draft with “rollplayer” talent and a guy who is always injured and not that good when healthy. What is wrong with NBA GMs? Do they not even watch their own sport?
Not even the Clippers would make that trade. Not even the Knicks because Chandler’s contract isn’t big enough. If that happens it will go down as one of the worst trades in NBA history. Chicago would instantly be a force in the East and Phoenix will take a huge step back when they are right on the edge of a championship. That makes it a near certainty that it will happen.
3. Now that the US team is out of the World Cup, I just have two questions.
a. Ever since the US team lost their first game, I have been hearing the argument made that the US sucks so bad because our best athlete’s play real…oh, I mean…other sports. The argument went that if Vick and TO and D Wade played soccer, instead of the tiny, schwimpey guys that play, we would dominate like we do in every other sport. The problems I have with that are that are best athletes are huge and that’s not always an advantage in soccer…so I’m told; we don’t dominate any international sport at the moment even with our best athletes; and finally, are you telling me in a country approaching 300 million, we couldn’t come up with enough good athletes to compete with Ghana who boasts a population of 22 mil? I think their maybe something else going on here, like Americans are bad soccer players and mostly we don’t care.
b. Now that the US is out, can we stop hearing about the world cup? Whether Germany beats Brazil in soccer ranks right up there with: who wins WNBA MVP; what Ozzie Guillen things of gay people; anything related to Duke Lacrosse; and Davis Cup tennis on the list of things I have no desire to hear, read or think about ever. Please, ESPN, stop with the world cup. It’s enough.
4. I’m really hoping the Giants step up and go after another bat and maybe some bullpen help this season. The NL West is pretty mediocre at best with all the teams hovering around .500 and none of the teams being able to really take advantage of the other teams slumps. In other words, it is very winnable. The problem is that the Giants seem to think Barry is still Barry. He’s not. He’s a shadow of himself up there. Now pitchers are starting to figure out that they don’t have to walk him twice a game since his bat speed and range over the plate is greatly diminished. Plus he only plays half the games. This leads a gaping hole in the middle of that lineup and a bunch of hitters who are decent when they have a lightening rod like Bonds to play off of, but are less than adequate when they don’t. the Giants have pretty good starting pitching that I think will get better as the year goes on, but they need some more arms in the pen and need at least one more scary hitter in that lineup. Maybe if they got Griffey he and Bonds could coordinate the days they miss with injury and could combine to be half the player each of them were in their prime, which might still be good enough to win the division.
5. Football’s coming. When football season hits this will be a place to hear my rants about the NFL and the 49ers and also about my fantasy football league: the Boyz Near the Hood league. So, while I will try not to let Fantasy take over, if you are a fantasy nut, this will become a place where you can weigh in about trades, the draft, player values, etc. The once proud StumpTown franchise looks to storm back into the playoffs this year after a two year absence. Friend and fellow owner John Lloyd was recently misquoted as saying: “It makes me sick to my stomach to think about having to play StumpTown this year.” As it turns out, that is a fairly common reaction when someone is forced to face me.
6. Larry Brown just got paid 50 mil to coach for a year in NY and now look for him to get huge jack to go coach somewhere else. He’s my hero. As you may know, I am not a big Isaiah Thomas fan. I think he was an overrated player, a horrible business man, a terrible coach and the worst GM of my generation. Plus he didn’t like Larry Bird, so I have no use for him. But I do think he will get more out of that Knick team he built than Larry did. Of course that might be like saying you can squeeze more water from a blade of grass than from a rock, but I do think they will play better for Thomas. They won’t be a playoff team or even good, but I bet Marbury’s numbers go through the roof as Thomas gives him the green light to do whatever he wants in an attempt to increase his trade value enough to trade for Chris Webber.
More later.
Comments
Barry needs to switch to DH.
Chicago Bears rule.
Sadly, you're probably right about Barry, but since real baseball is played without a DH and he is a Giant, I don't see it happening until he sells whatever remains of his soul and signs with the Yankees to finish out his career in the DH.
Ummmm...no they don't. it's too bad the Niners and Bears are so much less than they once more you and I could have weekly shouting matches about who has the better franchise.
All time low-life in Blazers history... watching one of this year's Sonic's vs. Blazers game in the rose garden and realizing I'd actually paid full-price for the tickets.
Hey, It's July... start with the Football talk (not futball, as the World Cup is unpleasant to you).
Will blog more Later,
Patrick
aka blognfrog