So, here’s the thing. As much as I would love to be writing about and dissecting sports for a living, I’m really a lawyer with a family who was on the brink of two fairly major trials when my father got diagnosed with cancer. Why am I telling you that? Because it explains why I haven’t posted anything lately. But my trials went away, my Dad had successful surgery and is recovering nicely and my family and job still leave enough time for some blogging (barely), so I’m back. Enjoy.
Meanwhile, there is a ton of stuff going on to weigh in on, so here goes.
IVERSON
A buddy of mine in my fantasy hoops league has Iverson and is facing the best team in our league this week without the services of his best player because Billy King understands how to run an NBA team about as well as Jessica Simpson understands quantum mechanics (just a guess there). Anyway, he was asking me when I thought AI would be playing again and here’s my take on that question:
Not for several more days. Here's my theory about what’s gone on. The first wave of offers were 2 team offers and the Sixers discovered that the teams that had what they were looking for: Chicago, Dallas, Orlando had the pieces but didn't want to deal. Of the teams that were interested and had some good stuff to offer refused to offer the right stuff (Boston, LAC). Then there were a couple teams very interested with interesting pieces that Iverson nixed or scared off (GS, Sac). Now, negotiations are heating up with the teams that are desperate to land Iverson, but don't have the right pieces: Minny, Denver and, to my shock, Miami. Word is that the Sixers want a fat expiring deal, a young up and comer and a first round pick. None of the desperate teams have all that, but are willing to try to find it. That takes some time because it has to include a third or fourth team. So, I think Philly thought it was close this summer to something they would take now and assumed those packages would still be available or could be tweaked some now, so they thought they would do a deal right away. Now they are discovering that those deals are gone or can't be made sweeter so they have to hold out hope that one of the teams most desperate to get AI can find the pieces elsewhere. Don't count out Miami. I'm hearing Riley really wants it to happen and actually has the contracts to make it work. It may depend on whether they can talk Philly into taking J Will and how much Philly likes Dorel Wright.
Back to King. Was he in a coma last year? Did he learn nothing from the Artest thing? He should have traded Iverson this summer when he could have bargained from strength. Then he scared off a bunch of teams by announcing that a deal was imminent. The other thing that did was make Philly seem desperate (which they are, but you never want to appear that way), and as each day goes by, Iverson’s value drops. Denver now appears to be the front runner which, knowing that roster, means the Sixers are going to get worked in this deal. JR Smith? Joe Smith? Nene? Andre Miller? Those are some of the players being tossed around in rumours. Of those, only JR is a young player (not counting Nene because his knees are about 57), and I’m sorry, but he’s dreadful. A decent enough scorer when he gets all the shots he wants and has Melo attracting the D. Think a very poor man’s Ben Gordon. And that’s all you get for a former MVP who still has all his powers? Let’s just say that if Basketball was run like English soccer, no Billy King team would ever be invited up to the Premier League.
One more thing on AI. Why does Riles want him so bad? AI and Wade in the same back court? Does that make sense to anyone? Couldn’t this possibly set Wade’s career back 3 years? Why would you want to bring in a 3rd alpha dog to that team, especially when it is one with largely redundant skills of your best player? That sounds like a disaster and not just for the Heat but for all NBA fans. I’m excited to see Iverson in a new environment, but watching he and Wade battle to pump up a combined 50 shots a game from the perimeter, doesn’t sound pleasant. I’m still hoping to see him play with KG.
KG
That reminds me, you know why the Wolves want AI so bad right now? Because if they don’t get him, they know they will have to try to trade Garnett. But they should also know that after Iverson is traded a lot of the assets that would help make a KG trade possible will be spent. They have to get Iverson because if they don’t, they will lose KG for 40 cents on the dollar instead of the 60 they could have gotten if they went into the market before the Sixers did.
THE NEW BALL
I want to go on record as saying I don’t buy at all that the new NBA ball was actually cutting up players hands as some have complained. I understand that Kidd and Nash have complained that they are getting small cuts from playing with the ball. They use synthetic basketballs in HS and in college and I’ve been playing with them all my life and this is the first I’ve heard of these cuts. I think the players just hated the new ball, and I get why because it feels like a ball that K Mart would be ashamed to cell and so they found a new angle to get rid of it. The thing is, I think that is the one that worked. I think Stern feared that sticking with a ball that players were claiming caused injury would give the players union some leverage on this issue and that is something Stern never wants to see. Good move bringing the old one back. Bad move going with this terrible ball in the first place. There are nice feeling synthetics out there….just find one if it’s that big a deal. Oh, and why not just use the ball they use in the NCAA? One more thing, why Spalding? Have you ever played with a decent Spalding ball? In the world of the pickup player, the Wilson and Nike balls are the nicest with Spalding being like a distant 7th. What is wrong with the NBA?
BARRY BONDS
I’m glad he’s still a Giant. I want him to break the record and retire as a Giant. He’s the best hitter in the history of the game and probably one of the game’s 5 best players and he is a Giant. There I said it.
BRANDON ROY
As you may know, I’m a bit nutty over Brandon Roy. I loved his game in college. I love it for the pros. I love that my favorite team has him and I’m convinced he has the ability to become the best Blazer since the Glyde was in town. So, putting the whole future of one franchise on his shoulders wasn’t enough and I also overpaid for him in my fantasy hoops league. Now I’m worried. He had a tendon issue in his foot flair up and take him out of action. He’s been in a boot for about a month. It just came off and he’s been practicing. It’s basically inflammation that comes from having an oversized talus bone. There is surgery that can be done, but they wanted to let it heal on its own first. Now word is that it still hurts when he practices, but it is just some twinges like what it was back when he was able to play through it. Well, that isn’t the same as “healed.” That sounds like what happens when you rest a problem instead of fixing it. It gets better but not healed. I’m worried that we spent 6 weeks with no Roy and now he’s going to have to have surgery anyway. He’s supposed to come back next Wednesday. At this point I’ll be surprised if he plays more than 2 games and then he’s going to be out 4-6 weeks recovering from surgery. Hopefully he comes back in time to help me in the fantasy playoffs. Ugh.
FANTASY FOOTBALL
I’m pleased to report that I barely survived the loss of Hassleback and Fitzgerald (my two keepers) for the middle of the season and hung on to barely make the playoffs in my fantasy football league. This is the league I run with my buddy John and I have managed to miss the playoffs the last 2 years in my own league through a number of bad choices and bad injuries that I’m still not emotionally ready to discuss.
So the playoffs have started and you can click on the Boyz Near the Hood link to the right if you would like any more information on the playoffs since I wrote about a 25,000 word playoff preview there. You know, in case you’re having a slow day on things to read. Anyway, last night couldn’t have started the first round off any better. I opted at the last minute to bench Hassleback in favor of Jeff Garcia because of the crazy storm that we had last night here in the Pacific NW. My buddy Adam gets partial credit for getting me to think about it. Thanks Adam. I was glad to repay the favor by recommending he start Vernon Davis at TE who got a TD in last night’s game. I feared that this decision would be the one that haunted me the rest of the year, but the storm (and whatever else is wrong with the Seahawks) got to Hassleback and he had a bad game, which not only made me feel better, but also allowed the Niners to win.
As a loyal fan of a particular team, fantasy football can be tough at times. Whenever possible, I try not to pick guys from the Niners’ rivals, I have a strict no-Cowboy rule, and I try not to start players against the Niners. Perhaps this is why I keep missing the playoffs? Nah. Anyway, that contributed to my decision to start Garcia and so far, it appears to have worked out well.
Even better though, Frank Gore, after a weak first half, exploded in the second half and ended up with 144 yards rushing, another 30+ receiving and a TD. Good, good start. And how about that TD play to Gore? Did you see it? Alex Smith got hit by a corner on the blitz. Herndon came in untouched like a missle and was wrapping Smith up before any WR had gone down field more than 2 yards. It was 3rd down, key play late in the game. Smith shook off the tackle like Herndon was his 6 year old son trying to tackle daddy in the living room. He scrambled left and threw a beautiful throw down to Gore who went in for the TD. Faaaaaaaaaaaantastic. Me and my own 6 year old bounced around my living room like we had been mainlining espresso. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Now there is even some chance that the Niners could make the playoffs. Not much…but some…and for now, that’s enough.
THE BLAZERS
Quick point. The Blazers just won 3 straight on the road and one of those games was without Randoloph. If the Blazers were to, by some miracle, win 40 games this year, Nate should be the unanimous choice for coach of the year. He is amazing. Everything the Blazers are doing right is all on him. Please let Roy be healthy…please…I’m begging.
BLEDSOE
As I mentioned in my league playoff preview, I am going to take this weekend off and approach Drew Bledsoe about a new business venture. My plan is to first bring him to the Niners, have him declared the starter, then when he is benched in week 4, Alex Smith explodes. I mean why couldn’t Smith be the next Brady or Romo? Why not just go around the league, starting Bledsoe for a few games and then benching him when he gets hurt or you just can’t take it any more and then your backup becomes a super star and starts dating hot famous chicks. It is can’t miss. Cleveland, don’t worry, stick with Frye. Help is on the way.
FANTASY HOOPS
I started 0-3. Injuries hurt, but not as much as the fact that all my players were putting up about half the numbers they put up last year. I really thought I was staring at the worst fantasy basketball team of all time. Elton Brand, Mike James, Mo Williams, Shawn Marion, Eddy Curry, Richard Jefferson, troy Murphy, they were all playing terrible. Not just “not great”…terrible. I tried to trade anyone and everyone I could. I made ridiculous offers just trying to get rid of people. Very few took me up on them. Now those same players have all collectively awoken from their suckiness comas and I’m 3-3 with a good chance to go 4-3 after this week. Jury is still out on whether trading Jefferson for TJ Ford was a good move. Murphy still has some question marks and I don’t know when Roy will really be back, but other than that, as long as VC keeps averaging 7-8 3s a game, then I should be just fine.
Whew. Ok, that’s all for now. Check back after the weekend.
Meanwhile, there is a ton of stuff going on to weigh in on, so here goes.
IVERSON
A buddy of mine in my fantasy hoops league has Iverson and is facing the best team in our league this week without the services of his best player because Billy King understands how to run an NBA team about as well as Jessica Simpson understands quantum mechanics (just a guess there). Anyway, he was asking me when I thought AI would be playing again and here’s my take on that question:
Not for several more days. Here's my theory about what’s gone on. The first wave of offers were 2 team offers and the Sixers discovered that the teams that had what they were looking for: Chicago, Dallas, Orlando had the pieces but didn't want to deal. Of the teams that were interested and had some good stuff to offer refused to offer the right stuff (Boston, LAC). Then there were a couple teams very interested with interesting pieces that Iverson nixed or scared off (GS, Sac). Now, negotiations are heating up with the teams that are desperate to land Iverson, but don't have the right pieces: Minny, Denver and, to my shock, Miami. Word is that the Sixers want a fat expiring deal, a young up and comer and a first round pick. None of the desperate teams have all that, but are willing to try to find it. That takes some time because it has to include a third or fourth team. So, I think Philly thought it was close this summer to something they would take now and assumed those packages would still be available or could be tweaked some now, so they thought they would do a deal right away. Now they are discovering that those deals are gone or can't be made sweeter so they have to hold out hope that one of the teams most desperate to get AI can find the pieces elsewhere. Don't count out Miami. I'm hearing Riley really wants it to happen and actually has the contracts to make it work. It may depend on whether they can talk Philly into taking J Will and how much Philly likes Dorel Wright.
Back to King. Was he in a coma last year? Did he learn nothing from the Artest thing? He should have traded Iverson this summer when he could have bargained from strength. Then he scared off a bunch of teams by announcing that a deal was imminent. The other thing that did was make Philly seem desperate (which they are, but you never want to appear that way), and as each day goes by, Iverson’s value drops. Denver now appears to be the front runner which, knowing that roster, means the Sixers are going to get worked in this deal. JR Smith? Joe Smith? Nene? Andre Miller? Those are some of the players being tossed around in rumours. Of those, only JR is a young player (not counting Nene because his knees are about 57), and I’m sorry, but he’s dreadful. A decent enough scorer when he gets all the shots he wants and has Melo attracting the D. Think a very poor man’s Ben Gordon. And that’s all you get for a former MVP who still has all his powers? Let’s just say that if Basketball was run like English soccer, no Billy King team would ever be invited up to the Premier League.
One more thing on AI. Why does Riles want him so bad? AI and Wade in the same back court? Does that make sense to anyone? Couldn’t this possibly set Wade’s career back 3 years? Why would you want to bring in a 3rd alpha dog to that team, especially when it is one with largely redundant skills of your best player? That sounds like a disaster and not just for the Heat but for all NBA fans. I’m excited to see Iverson in a new environment, but watching he and Wade battle to pump up a combined 50 shots a game from the perimeter, doesn’t sound pleasant. I’m still hoping to see him play with KG.
KG
That reminds me, you know why the Wolves want AI so bad right now? Because if they don’t get him, they know they will have to try to trade Garnett. But they should also know that after Iverson is traded a lot of the assets that would help make a KG trade possible will be spent. They have to get Iverson because if they don’t, they will lose KG for 40 cents on the dollar instead of the 60 they could have gotten if they went into the market before the Sixers did.
THE NEW BALL
I want to go on record as saying I don’t buy at all that the new NBA ball was actually cutting up players hands as some have complained. I understand that Kidd and Nash have complained that they are getting small cuts from playing with the ball. They use synthetic basketballs in HS and in college and I’ve been playing with them all my life and this is the first I’ve heard of these cuts. I think the players just hated the new ball, and I get why because it feels like a ball that K Mart would be ashamed to cell and so they found a new angle to get rid of it. The thing is, I think that is the one that worked. I think Stern feared that sticking with a ball that players were claiming caused injury would give the players union some leverage on this issue and that is something Stern never wants to see. Good move bringing the old one back. Bad move going with this terrible ball in the first place. There are nice feeling synthetics out there….just find one if it’s that big a deal. Oh, and why not just use the ball they use in the NCAA? One more thing, why Spalding? Have you ever played with a decent Spalding ball? In the world of the pickup player, the Wilson and Nike balls are the nicest with Spalding being like a distant 7th. What is wrong with the NBA?
BARRY BONDS
I’m glad he’s still a Giant. I want him to break the record and retire as a Giant. He’s the best hitter in the history of the game and probably one of the game’s 5 best players and he is a Giant. There I said it.
BRANDON ROY
As you may know, I’m a bit nutty over Brandon Roy. I loved his game in college. I love it for the pros. I love that my favorite team has him and I’m convinced he has the ability to become the best Blazer since the Glyde was in town. So, putting the whole future of one franchise on his shoulders wasn’t enough and I also overpaid for him in my fantasy hoops league. Now I’m worried. He had a tendon issue in his foot flair up and take him out of action. He’s been in a boot for about a month. It just came off and he’s been practicing. It’s basically inflammation that comes from having an oversized talus bone. There is surgery that can be done, but they wanted to let it heal on its own first. Now word is that it still hurts when he practices, but it is just some twinges like what it was back when he was able to play through it. Well, that isn’t the same as “healed.” That sounds like what happens when you rest a problem instead of fixing it. It gets better but not healed. I’m worried that we spent 6 weeks with no Roy and now he’s going to have to have surgery anyway. He’s supposed to come back next Wednesday. At this point I’ll be surprised if he plays more than 2 games and then he’s going to be out 4-6 weeks recovering from surgery. Hopefully he comes back in time to help me in the fantasy playoffs. Ugh.
FANTASY FOOTBALL
I’m pleased to report that I barely survived the loss of Hassleback and Fitzgerald (my two keepers) for the middle of the season and hung on to barely make the playoffs in my fantasy football league. This is the league I run with my buddy John and I have managed to miss the playoffs the last 2 years in my own league through a number of bad choices and bad injuries that I’m still not emotionally ready to discuss.
So the playoffs have started and you can click on the Boyz Near the Hood link to the right if you would like any more information on the playoffs since I wrote about a 25,000 word playoff preview there. You know, in case you’re having a slow day on things to read. Anyway, last night couldn’t have started the first round off any better. I opted at the last minute to bench Hassleback in favor of Jeff Garcia because of the crazy storm that we had last night here in the Pacific NW. My buddy Adam gets partial credit for getting me to think about it. Thanks Adam. I was glad to repay the favor by recommending he start Vernon Davis at TE who got a TD in last night’s game. I feared that this decision would be the one that haunted me the rest of the year, but the storm (and whatever else is wrong with the Seahawks) got to Hassleback and he had a bad game, which not only made me feel better, but also allowed the Niners to win.
As a loyal fan of a particular team, fantasy football can be tough at times. Whenever possible, I try not to pick guys from the Niners’ rivals, I have a strict no-Cowboy rule, and I try not to start players against the Niners. Perhaps this is why I keep missing the playoffs? Nah. Anyway, that contributed to my decision to start Garcia and so far, it appears to have worked out well.
Even better though, Frank Gore, after a weak first half, exploded in the second half and ended up with 144 yards rushing, another 30+ receiving and a TD. Good, good start. And how about that TD play to Gore? Did you see it? Alex Smith got hit by a corner on the blitz. Herndon came in untouched like a missle and was wrapping Smith up before any WR had gone down field more than 2 yards. It was 3rd down, key play late in the game. Smith shook off the tackle like Herndon was his 6 year old son trying to tackle daddy in the living room. He scrambled left and threw a beautiful throw down to Gore who went in for the TD. Faaaaaaaaaaaantastic. Me and my own 6 year old bounced around my living room like we had been mainlining espresso. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Now there is even some chance that the Niners could make the playoffs. Not much…but some…and for now, that’s enough.
THE BLAZERS
Quick point. The Blazers just won 3 straight on the road and one of those games was without Randoloph. If the Blazers were to, by some miracle, win 40 games this year, Nate should be the unanimous choice for coach of the year. He is amazing. Everything the Blazers are doing right is all on him. Please let Roy be healthy…please…I’m begging.
BLEDSOE
As I mentioned in my league playoff preview, I am going to take this weekend off and approach Drew Bledsoe about a new business venture. My plan is to first bring him to the Niners, have him declared the starter, then when he is benched in week 4, Alex Smith explodes. I mean why couldn’t Smith be the next Brady or Romo? Why not just go around the league, starting Bledsoe for a few games and then benching him when he gets hurt or you just can’t take it any more and then your backup becomes a super star and starts dating hot famous chicks. It is can’t miss. Cleveland, don’t worry, stick with Frye. Help is on the way.
FANTASY HOOPS
I started 0-3. Injuries hurt, but not as much as the fact that all my players were putting up about half the numbers they put up last year. I really thought I was staring at the worst fantasy basketball team of all time. Elton Brand, Mike James, Mo Williams, Shawn Marion, Eddy Curry, Richard Jefferson, troy Murphy, they were all playing terrible. Not just “not great”…terrible. I tried to trade anyone and everyone I could. I made ridiculous offers just trying to get rid of people. Very few took me up on them. Now those same players have all collectively awoken from their suckiness comas and I’m 3-3 with a good chance to go 4-3 after this week. Jury is still out on whether trading Jefferson for TJ Ford was a good move. Murphy still has some question marks and I don’t know when Roy will really be back, but other than that, as long as VC keeps averaging 7-8 3s a game, then I should be just fine.
Whew. Ok, that’s all for now. Check back after the weekend.
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