Sunday, July 25, 2010
Total Fail on Baseball
Swing and a miss. Man I suck at being a baseball fan these days. Even more, I think, than I suck at actual baseball. Not only have I failed at following the Mets on this blog, but I realized how far I'd fallen when I took a look at league leaders and thought to myself, Joey Votto? Who the hell is that dude? Eh, just an MVP sorta candidate playing at a near-Allstar level for the last two years. Well, anyway, it's all made me feel the dumbass and helped me realize just how much more attention I should be paying to what was once my favorite sport. Here's to old new beginnings again, or something like that.
Bulls Update
The Bulls off-season seems to winding down. For an off-season so focused on attracting D-Wade or LeBron James and not getting either one, I think the Bulls had a pretty decent off-season and have constructed a roster that will compete for top honors in the Eastern Conference. Returning from last season are Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, and D-League James Johnson. Free agent additions so far include Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, CJ Watson, and Kurt Thomas. That leaves two open roster spots that they will have to fill to get to NBA minimum roster size of 13. They're taking a close look at swingman Tracy McGrady and are expected to add another combo guard type of player before they're finished.
It's amazing how far T-Mac has fallen, as he was once a max contract sort of player who now seems almost an afterthought. He had microfracture surgery to fix an ailing knee that got him a reputation for being completely soft. Who knows if he is or not, but he's visiting the Bulls on Monday. They're looking at him as a bench kind of player, and as far as I'm concerned there's only really upside. If he's healthy and doesn't have ridiculous money demands, then I think he's a good risk. If he's 85% the player he was before he could really be a big deal for the Bulls.
It's amazing how far T-Mac has fallen, as he was once a max contract sort of player who now seems almost an afterthought. He had microfracture surgery to fix an ailing knee that got him a reputation for being completely soft. Who knows if he is or not, but he's visiting the Bulls on Monday. They're looking at him as a bench kind of player, and as far as I'm concerned there's only really upside. If he's healthy and doesn't have ridiculous money demands, then I think he's a good risk. If he's 85% the player he was before he could really be a big deal for the Bulls.
My thoughts on the NBA SuperFriends landing in Miami
This is very dated at this point, but it's something I thought a lot about so I'm going to go ahead and subject you to my thoughts on Chris Bosh and LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat. Chris Bosh, back before it seemed realistic for LeBron to be a serious free agent or a Bulls possibility was my own personal "top target" for the Bulls. I though him combined with Rose and Noah would make for a powerful NBA squad... So when he signed with Dwyane Wade in Miami it was a little disappointing for me, but it was a move that made some sense. Bosh and Wade could easily do a lot of damage together and make for a good fit. Not, maybe, quite as good as Bosh on the Bulls, but like just about everyone else I'd become fixated on the suddenly available LeBron James. LeBron is the most talented player in the NBA and any time you have a shot at a player like that, you take it. So, with Wade and Bosh ostensibly taking down maximum salaries in Miami there just wasn't enough cap space for the Heat to sign LeBron...
I got excited. At that point there was no better place for LeBron than Chicago-- except maybe LeBron's hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. If he decided to stay home, well I figured, that's life. I could never bring myself to criticize a player for deciding to play for hometown pride, even if it went against the "logic of winning." But, if LeBron decided he wanted to go to a team set up to win for a long time, then Chicago made the most logical team by a long shot. Chicago, having missed out on Bosh, moved quickly to snap up LeBron's former teammate and rebounding demon Carlos Boozer. Boozer signed for a bit less than maximum so the Bulls had plenty of space to add LeBron to a lineup that includes a very young all-star PG (Derrick Rose), a center who can take out the trash (Joakim Noah), a tough rebounder and post scoring threat (Carlos Boozer), and a dangerous if overpaid small forward (Luol Deng). Throw LeBron into that lineup and you'd have a hard time projecting anything other than an appearance in the NBA Finals to face the LA Lakers. Nothing could make more sense to me, in terms of basketball, than LeBron taking a max contract in Chicago. Oh, what could have been, I guess.
News started coming out that LeBron would announce "The Decision" on a national primetime broadcast on ESPN. Though I was on vacation with my in-laws I decided to ensure I'd be in the hotel to watch The Decision. That morning sources started to indicate LeBron was leaning towards joining the Miami Heat. "No," my brain said, "He can't get a max contract there. If he does sign there they'll have literally nothing else on the roster. It just doesn't make sense." Then, as the program kicked off on ESPN even Chicago's own Michael Wilbon essentially conceded that everything he knew said Miami. I started to lose hope, despite the fact that him doing so just wouldn't make any sense.
Well, I guess to LeBron it did. He, looking unhappy and uncomfortable, told the nation that he was going to join the Heat because it offered him the best chance to win now and later. It was at that point my respect for LeBron took a nose dive. I don't believe it's because he's not a Bull-- despite my obvious allegiance... It's because it doesn't offer him the best chance to win now. It seems basketball stupid to me, and it seems like LeBron took the easy way out. Dwyane Wade orchestrated all this, and he's The Man, while LeBron, who we used to call The King (I'm thinking he just got demoted to "landed gentry") is just lurking in the back, peering from the shadows over Daddy Dwyane's shoulder. If they win, it'll probably work out. If they don't, I think this will turn ugly fast...
And I'm betting on ugly. I don't see the Heat winning more than 55 games, which will be enough to get them into the playoffs, sure, but I don't think they'll beat a lot of the actual TEAMS they'll face in the playoffs. The Heat have managed a couple of decent free agent signings in SG Mike Miller and post player Udonis Haslem. That's about it, though. Their bench will be awful, and a single injury will render them almost ordinary. I think they'll struggle against complete teams, and I think they're not ready for the fact that everyone will hate them and every player who isn't on the Heat will be gunning just to show they are not what they think they are. I think if they win 55 games this year, they'll win 45 or 50 the next and it's going to turn bad. I could be wrong, and they could prove that out of your 13 required roster spots you only really need 3 players... We'll just have to see. And that's my problem with this thing, as for winning now, there was no better option for LeBron than Chicago so he either doesn't see that, or it's not about winning for him. Either way, he just lessened his stock for greatest ever as almost everyone seems to have dismissed him as having taken the easy way out with erstwhile greats like Jordan, Magic, and Bird all saying they'd have never made such a decision. So, I'll be watching D-Wade, Bosh, and Landed Gentry, but I'll be rooting against them in every game.
I got excited. At that point there was no better place for LeBron than Chicago-- except maybe LeBron's hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. If he decided to stay home, well I figured, that's life. I could never bring myself to criticize a player for deciding to play for hometown pride, even if it went against the "logic of winning." But, if LeBron decided he wanted to go to a team set up to win for a long time, then Chicago made the most logical team by a long shot. Chicago, having missed out on Bosh, moved quickly to snap up LeBron's former teammate and rebounding demon Carlos Boozer. Boozer signed for a bit less than maximum so the Bulls had plenty of space to add LeBron to a lineup that includes a very young all-star PG (Derrick Rose), a center who can take out the trash (Joakim Noah), a tough rebounder and post scoring threat (Carlos Boozer), and a dangerous if overpaid small forward (Luol Deng). Throw LeBron into that lineup and you'd have a hard time projecting anything other than an appearance in the NBA Finals to face the LA Lakers. Nothing could make more sense to me, in terms of basketball, than LeBron taking a max contract in Chicago. Oh, what could have been, I guess.
News started coming out that LeBron would announce "The Decision" on a national primetime broadcast on ESPN. Though I was on vacation with my in-laws I decided to ensure I'd be in the hotel to watch The Decision. That morning sources started to indicate LeBron was leaning towards joining the Miami Heat. "No," my brain said, "He can't get a max contract there. If he does sign there they'll have literally nothing else on the roster. It just doesn't make sense." Then, as the program kicked off on ESPN even Chicago's own Michael Wilbon essentially conceded that everything he knew said Miami. I started to lose hope, despite the fact that him doing so just wouldn't make any sense.
Well, I guess to LeBron it did. He, looking unhappy and uncomfortable, told the nation that he was going to join the Heat because it offered him the best chance to win now and later. It was at that point my respect for LeBron took a nose dive. I don't believe it's because he's not a Bull-- despite my obvious allegiance... It's because it doesn't offer him the best chance to win now. It seems basketball stupid to me, and it seems like LeBron took the easy way out. Dwyane Wade orchestrated all this, and he's The Man, while LeBron, who we used to call The King (I'm thinking he just got demoted to "landed gentry") is just lurking in the back, peering from the shadows over Daddy Dwyane's shoulder. If they win, it'll probably work out. If they don't, I think this will turn ugly fast...
And I'm betting on ugly. I don't see the Heat winning more than 55 games, which will be enough to get them into the playoffs, sure, but I don't think they'll beat a lot of the actual TEAMS they'll face in the playoffs. The Heat have managed a couple of decent free agent signings in SG Mike Miller and post player Udonis Haslem. That's about it, though. Their bench will be awful, and a single injury will render them almost ordinary. I think they'll struggle against complete teams, and I think they're not ready for the fact that everyone will hate them and every player who isn't on the Heat will be gunning just to show they are not what they think they are. I think if they win 55 games this year, they'll win 45 or 50 the next and it's going to turn bad. I could be wrong, and they could prove that out of your 13 required roster spots you only really need 3 players... We'll just have to see. And that's my problem with this thing, as for winning now, there was no better option for LeBron than Chicago so he either doesn't see that, or it's not about winning for him. Either way, he just lessened his stock for greatest ever as almost everyone seems to have dismissed him as having taken the easy way out with erstwhile greats like Jordan, Magic, and Bird all saying they'd have never made such a decision. So, I'll be watching D-Wade, Bosh, and Landed Gentry, but I'll be rooting against them in every game.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Bradley Basketball Doings and Transpirings
Atlanta media sources are reporting that a guard named Jordan Brown (pictured here) will attend Bradley this next year as a preferred walk-on on an academic scholarship. According to the guys over at Bradleyfans.com NCAA rules are such that a player who receives financial aid, was recruited by the university out of high school, and will walk on to the basketball team must take his freshman year as a redshirt. Jordan Brown's "commitment" to Bradley on these terms is interesting for a couple of reasons. First is that it seems if they're taking a player as a walk-on that they may have considered a full scholarship for, they're likely to use that scholarship on another player... Michael Ocherobia, or perhaps a transfer? I think that's good news, personally, since I don't have interest in "banking" a scholarship for a year when three major minute-contributing guards (Warren, Maniscalco, and Dunson) will graduate. The second thing is that this guy is hitting lists as a top 20 player in Atlanta. I try to ignore, when I can, hype in Bradley recruiting because hope is always springing eternal, but what is a top 20 Atlanta player doing as a walk-on? That could be a ridiculous steal for our program... He plays on the same nationally recognized team, Atlanta Westlake HS, as highly rated (#1 in Atlanta on many lists) Marcus Thornton. That team went 30-3 and lost the state championship game after Thornton hurt himself in warmups. Again, trying to discount the hype, but the last player we got out of Atlanta who played on a good HS team but was overshadowed by a more highly recruited teammate was Taylor Brown. And Taylor Brown is good! In any case, welcome to the family, Jordan!
Here's Dave Reynold's article in the PJ Star. That article also quotes an unnamed official confirming that the final scholarship is being reserved for Michael Ocherobia.
In other news...
Chris Roberts is "drafted" by the Harlem Globetrotters.
Also the posters at Bradleyfans.com have begun reporting on Bradley recruiting for the 2011 class in earnest. Here's a list of targets and a link to the Bradleyfans discussion.
Remy Abell, 6-4 SG, 3 stars. Louisville, KY.
Max Bielfeldt, 6-8 PF, Unrated. Peoria, IL.
Quinton Chievous, 6-5 SG, Unrated. Niles, IL.
Jamarlas Demas, 6-2 PG, Unrated. Garland, TX.
Justin Gant, 6-8 PF, 3 stars. Terra Haute, IN.
Toddrick Gotcher, 6-3 SG, 3 stars. Garland, TX.
AJ Price, 6-3 SG, Unrated. Lewisville, TX.
Jacob Williams, 6-5 SF, 3 Stars. Chicago, IL.
Looks like a good group of recruits to me. Would be nice to pull in another point, and an off-guard, and a wing, as far as I'm concerned. Also interesting, if you follow the link to AJ Price you'll see that the conversation includes someone who is a family member of AJ's posting on bradleyfans.
Back from my little hiatus. LOTSA stuff happened.
Sorry. Kinda took a break while everyone was saying in the house here. As it was I made the decision to split the blogs and that seemed like a whole lotta work to undertake while entertaining my in-laws and wife's friend all in from Tokyo. I think I played a decent host, plus we did some vacationing. I guess you don't care much about that, and the unfortunate part of it is... All kindsa sports stuff went down. I'll try to catch up, even if it's not exactly timely to do so.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Please Mind my Dust
Welcome to my "new" sports blog, which carries the old title of my but not URL of my original all topics blog. I've decided to separate sports topics from other topics since I believe they draw two different audiences. Appearance has changed a little, I guess, but anyway, I brought forward all of the sports related posts and got rid of all the other stuff... So welcome, and enjoy. If you are so inclined, please check out my other blog (as yet lacking in pithy title) at johnbdwyer.blogspot.com
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Bulls Free Agency Musings
It's midday July 3. Third day of free agency in the NBA, and the day on which LeBron will meet with the Bulls delegation in Cleveland. I'll be anxiously watching the news to see what rumor we can gleam from comments made by seemingly everybody. The Bulls appear to have had some positive developments yesterday when they met for a second time with Dwyane Wade who's now reported to be on the fence about Chicago or Miami. Another interesting tidbit is that Chris Bosh reportedly joined the Bulls and Wade for that second meeting. D-Wade is a great player, and he wouldn't make the Bulls a worse team if he joined them by any means, but I think LeBron is still the prize and best fit. Dwyane Wade is the ultimate combo guard, and most experts seem to agree he doesn't need to play on a team with a great creative point guard. I agree with those experts and think that Wade and Rose on the same team puts you in a position where you "waste" a portion of either player's maximum performance potential by having them on the floor at the same time.
Incidentally, I know that LeBron also handles the ball at times and definitely likes to distribute, but he doesn't have to have the ball to play his game and is at least as good away from the ball. As such, I kind of feel that if you put Rose and LeBron on the same roster you have a chance to multiply the talents of both with Rose handling the ball most often but LeBron giving you a hugely different look from time to time. A D-Wade/D-Rose combo would be hard to defend, but a LeBron/D-Rose combo would be even harder to defend as far as I'm concerned. That's all ignoring the defensive advantages that I believe LeBron offers over D-Wade.
The Bulls have also reportedly met with David Lee and Carlos Boozer. Both a talented offensive power forwards who rebound well and have defensive problems. Both would be decent fits in Chicago and probably command less than a maximum deal. I believe Boozer (as much as I enjoy watching him at times) is a lesser player and injury prone to boot so I don't know that I want him regardless of what develops with Bosh. Bosh, I think, is the obvious prize for low-post scoring but I think he wants to get paid so a sign-and-trade is probably required. I do believe the Bulls are fairly well positioned to make a sign-and-trade but I think that if it doesn't work out David Lee would be an excellent fall-back option. Rose-James-Lee is only a little less attractive than Rose-James-Bosh as long as Joakim Noah is still on the roster to do all the dirty work in the paint.
Anyway, it should be a lot of fun as it unfolds, and I'm still hoping for my "ultimate" outcome of Bosh and LeBron joining the Bulls along with another free agent to handle outside shooting duties (Mike Miller seems like an excellent potential fit)... Stay tuned, or whatever.
Incidentally, I know that LeBron also handles the ball at times and definitely likes to distribute, but he doesn't have to have the ball to play his game and is at least as good away from the ball. As such, I kind of feel that if you put Rose and LeBron on the same roster you have a chance to multiply the talents of both with Rose handling the ball most often but LeBron giving you a hugely different look from time to time. A D-Wade/D-Rose combo would be hard to defend, but a LeBron/D-Rose combo would be even harder to defend as far as I'm concerned. That's all ignoring the defensive advantages that I believe LeBron offers over D-Wade.
The Bulls have also reportedly met with David Lee and Carlos Boozer. Both a talented offensive power forwards who rebound well and have defensive problems. Both would be decent fits in Chicago and probably command less than a maximum deal. I believe Boozer (as much as I enjoy watching him at times) is a lesser player and injury prone to boot so I don't know that I want him regardless of what develops with Bosh. Bosh, I think, is the obvious prize for low-post scoring but I think he wants to get paid so a sign-and-trade is probably required. I do believe the Bulls are fairly well positioned to make a sign-and-trade but I think that if it doesn't work out David Lee would be an excellent fall-back option. Rose-James-Lee is only a little less attractive than Rose-James-Bosh as long as Joakim Noah is still on the roster to do all the dirty work in the paint.
Anyway, it should be a lot of fun as it unfolds, and I'm still hoping for my "ultimate" outcome of Bosh and LeBron joining the Bulls along with another free agent to handle outside shooting duties (Mike Miller seems like an excellent potential fit)... Stay tuned, or whatever.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)