Hot Confidence
On October 28th, my Aunt’s San Francisco Giants finished off a super squeaky clean sweep of the favored Detroit Tigers. Not even the extraterrestrial excitement of former Houston Astro Hunter Pence could save the 2012 World Series from outputting the lowest rated World Series in the history of the Earth!
Despite having the reigning MVP and Cy Young award winner and recently “triple crowned” Miguel Cabrera playing on their side, the Tigers went out faster than any recent Adam Sandler movie.
They dropped the first two of a best of five series to the Cincinnati Reds – at home. MLB’s 2012 bogus playoff format sent San Fran and the Reds to Cincy for the final three games of the series – if necessary. So the home team – the favorite – the higher seed – only had to take 1 out of 3 – at home. History wrote the rest of this NLDS series and the Giants advanced to face the defending champions who, through typical St. Louis Cardinal-esque heroics of their own, won their first series.
Again, the Giants found themselves in a seemingly fatal hole. No bother, the 2012 Giants grabbed the glaring series deficit by the throat and force choked it Vader-style. Through a series of record breaking hash tag trends, a brilliant “Torture Ball” engineered by manager Bruce Bochy, and the Hollywood resurgence of Barry Zito, the Giants went on to the Fall Classic to face the dynamic and superstar-studded Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers had the high-paid big names with trophy cases growing in large numbers and the immortal Jim Leyland at the helm, but before Barry Zito even threw the first pitch, I knew the Giants were winning it all in 2012. And here’s why.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Tigers roster holds more potential than San Fran’s. Higher payroll and higher ceilings are fine and dandy during the regular season but when the playoffs start, it only matters who is hot and who believes the most. I mean, really, really believes.
The Giants had been written off many times during the loooooooooooooooo….oooooooooooong season.
In rounds one and two, they were dead in the water under the Golden Gate Bridge – or even worse the traffic on it. They never lost hope but as fans, observers, and critical eyeballers we didn’t know that. Externally, the gobbling jive turkey media gobblers (haha what?) can write on end about something that proves non-existent the next day. (Right, Jason Whitlock?)
Internally, the San Francisco Giants never lost their swagger. This was evident in the jumpy, energetic outfielder Hunter Pence, who had only been with the club since the July trading deadline, and the always smiling, free-swinging third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who the media can’t understand anyway.
They never lost their composure, personified by the always calm, cool and collected manager Bochy.
And they never forgot who they were, a fundamental (Buster Posey) but also extremely fun (Brian Wilson) squad that truly never said never and would not die.
Why do I care so much?
Pence and Sandoval – JJ Barea and Tyson Chandler
The pitching – Jason Kidd
Bochy – Rick Carlisle
Buster Posey – Dirk
There’s only one thing that feels better than proving everybody wrong, and they have it..
2012-2013 NBA Preview; Western Conference
In the West, what better place to start than the team that won its conference last season.
“The Pose”
Up until 10:48 PM EST Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder roster was mostly identical to the one that they finished with in June. But Sunday night, the Thunder dynasty ended before it even began. Unwilling to bite into the luxury tax, OKC management made the incredibly bold move to deal the third member of their “big 3,” James Harden. Harden was the 3rd selection in the 2009 draft, and the deadline to extend his contract was Monday. Harden wanted a max deal he is definitely entitled to, but the Thunder had extended Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka already, chronologically leaving Harden as the final piece and consequentially the odd man out in the end. The Monday deadline causes all sorts of hoop-lah, if you will, seeing as how the season could start as early as 48 hours later if you are a part of NBA’s opening night.
Yes, Harden is gone and the core has been shattered and Kevin Durant’s post-trade “Wow” tweet seems rather concerning, but the Thunders did acquire veteran sharpshooter Kevin Martin, promising rookie Jeremy Lamb, and three draft picks including first rounders via TOR/DAL, but like Kenny Smith said on #InsidetheNBA, Thunder management has seemingly started building for the future when the present is already right in front of them.
Regardless of the deal, the NorthWest division is still the Thunder’s to dominate. The Denver Nuggets did add versatile all-star Andre Iguodala, in turn losing Aaron Afflalo and Al Harrington, an exchange that only happens with help of other teams – this time two others as part of the super-mega-ultra Dwight Howard trade. The Utah Jazz will be much improved and are one of my sleeper teams to make a lot more noise than 99% of 99% of the population think. Young stars in the making like Gordon Hayward (<3) and Alec Burks are just scratching the surface with this squad. The frontcourt Utah has the potential to roll out (salary forbidding) for the next many, many, many years is incredible. Al Jefferson and Paul Milsap are both all-stars and backup bigs Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter will be as well before long. But like Denver, the Jazz suffer from the dreaded “who gets the last shot” syndrome that is as unforgiving as ever in today’s NBA.
Minnesota has the whitest team I’ve ever seen, but a lot of the “white guys” are from overseas, so now it’s up to personal judgment. Regardless, the two faces and best players on this team – Love and Rubio are out for way too long. That is, any time at all for the T-Wolves to try and make a playoff run in 2013. It also doesn’t help them that Portland has retooled with some very nice young talent in high draft picks Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard. In case you hadn’t heard, the not-Kevin Durant era in the human personification of Greg Oden is no longer still a Portland Trail Blazer.
Thunder
Jazz
Nuggets
Blazers
Timberwolves
Pacific
Lakers. Kobe. Lakers. Dwight. Lakers. Nash.
We get it, you’re a big deal
As dominant as the Lakers are on paper, the pieces to me just don’t seem like a dominant regular season team. Dwight’s back will ache, Nash will need resting, Kobe will miss more shots than he takes (yeah) some nights, and somewhere along the way Pau Gasol will do something to remind the yellow and gold “faithful” that they actually sorta kinda hate the guy.
The Clippers added (insert veteran here) but they for some unearthly reason kept on Vinny Del Negro as Head Coach. Even though the NBA provided them with Chris Paul, they are still Donald Sterling run. I guess boss can only do so much.
Phoenix (signed and) traded Steve Nash to the rival Lakers, but after all he’s done for the Suns, if going to Hollywood is what Steve wanted, I applaud them for granting him that wish. The front office made some bold moves this off-season though. Avenging their Aaron Brooks trade skrew up, Goran Dragic was signed. Former no.2 overall pick that not even the Timberwolves wanted Michael Beasley and also, wait for it, Jermaine O’Neal was brought in to be to be a veteran mentor to emerging star center Marcin Gortat. Actually, I’m getting word now that the Suns plan to have O’Neal play in games this year. Still, Gortat is really, really good.
Golden State and Sacramento will be much improved. The former’s fate of any chance at competing is on the heavy, heavy ankle weights of Stephen Curry. The latter is expected back in the lottery, but myself and many others expect Demarcus Cousins to have a monster season and continue developing into one of the best centers in the Association.
Lakers
Clippers
Suns
Warrios
Kings
SouthWest
Last year I was a teensy weensy bit biased in predicting a Mavs repeat. Dirk is hurt for at least a month, Deron Williams and Dwight Howard are not on the roster (the cap space is still there, though) and those things alone would spell doom and gloom for the team that only has two players left (Marion, Dirk) from the roster that had a championship parade a mere 16 months ago. But even though superstars rejected the Mavs’ advances, the genius of Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson still turned a backup center into a starting point guard, Darren Collison, and swingman Dhantay Jones. OJ Mayo, Elton Brand and Chris Kaman are also on cap friendly deals, leaving the Mavs in prime position yet again next off-season for another round of heart-stopping, gut-wrenching, hair-pulling, chair-throwing, Ben&Skin-listening summer of free agency.
The Spurs will be a GREAT team once again, but even as a rival fan, I worry for them come playoff time, especially against the Thunder, who eliminated them last year with size, speed, youth, and flat out dominance after the Spurs started the playoffs 10-0. San Antonio looked on its way to running through the Western Conference after a top-seeded regular season, but after game 2 of the WCF that Spurs team basketball and chemistry went…poof.
The rest of the division has a ton of intrigue. Whether it was ri**ed or n*t, new Hornets ownership got off to one hell of a start when they won the lottery and drafted Anthony “Unibomber-no, UniBrow” Davis first overall. Last year the Hornets did not have a good team, plain and simple. But Head Coach Monty Williams had the Hornets in every.single.game. It was fun to watch but it really shouldn’t have been. The Grizzlies team is all too much the same for my liking, even with Z-Bo Randolph coming back healthy. In my opinion, they lack athleticism big time and their go-to guy Rudy Gay isn’t really a go-to guy yet. Also OJ Mayo (who I think they handled very, very poorly during his tenure there ((starting with trading him for Kevin Love)) departed for division the division foe Mavs.
Yeah it’s photoshopped, wanna fight about it?
The wildcard in the SouthWest – stress on the wild – is the Houston Rockets. The Rockets put about 98 of their 100 shoes in the Dwight Howard pool. They amnestied a very, very quality big in Luis Scola and traded for multiple draft picks hoping to give Orlando a package for the available big man. However, the big kicker in any D12 trade was his commitment to re-signing, and at the end of the day it would seem Houston’s efforts to convince him to love the Space City (hey, the Astros are moving to the American League) failed miserably. The Rockets instead went out and signed (overpaid?) center Omer Asik and #LINSANITY. Also, the aforementioned shocking James Harden transaction and ensuing maximum contract extension has the Rockets looking up, according to the Rockets.
Spurs
Mavericks
Grizzlies
Rockets
Hornets
2012-2013 NBA Preview
I can’t tell if it’s more sheer excitement or fantasy basketball scouting or simple enjoyment, but outside of the MLB playoffs, my jump channel has been Preseason Basketball. NFL Network’s Thursday night matchups are often the tiebreaker if I need one.
In any case, it is damn awesome to have the NBA back at its regular programming time. Last year Halloween felt empty as I somberly handed out candy with a fake smile, still grieving over what the Rangers did just about 72 hours earlier.
Not even the wide smiles from a beautifully balanced mixed of interracial children could fix the obvious scenario that life currently was. It was hockey. I was watching hockey. The only bright spot in any of this that I could dig at was that the 2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks provided the best moment of my life (by far I don’t recall any of my birth if that’s what you were going to poke at me) 3,216 hours before the Rangers did their very best to balance things out.
Anyway, basketball is back and I. Am. So. Excited! Here’s a division by division preview that Grantland will use for future reference.
I suppose the best place to start would be where the defending champion Miami Heat reside.
Eastern Conference
SouthEast:
Basketball’s Tim Tebow plus talent, LeBron James, finally popped his championship cherry and even added some whip cream on top. LBJ was brilliant in the playoffs after coasting to his third MVP season. But the NBA Finals MVP was the one he wanted and needed.
With the “DwightMare” finally over in Orlando and new management for the Magic opting against acquiring Andrew Bynum and for youth an cap space. The Atlanta Hawks finally cutting ties with Joe Johnson, (for my money one of the most overrated players in the Association) which on paper would present them as a lesser ball club than last season. With Joe departed, Atlanta has however built very, very nice backcourt depth with the signing of Lou Williams and dealing major draft bust Marvin Williams to Utah for my boy Devin Harris. The Washington Wizards revamped a terrible team into a respectable one, adding Florida guard Bradley Beal in the draft and also scooping up veterans Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor from the Hornets for the rights to whatever financial and medical benefits that buying out Rashard Lewis could provide. (Lewis would sign with the Heat) Then there’s the Michael Jordan run Bobcats who deserve no more than this sentence of mere mentioning. They suck. (2)
1. Heat
2. Hawks
3. Wizards
4. Magic
5. Bobcats
Atlantic:
If the Heat aren’t the best team in the Eastern Conference, only one team that comes to my mind is even close to dethroning the back-to-back East champs is the Boston Celtics.
Although the Heat won over the services of former “Green Big 3” member Ray Allen, Boston went way above and beyond replacing the future hall of famer. At this point in his illustrious career, Ray Ray can do little more than spot up, which is precisely what his role will be in South Beach. Led by Doc Rivers (best coach in the league for more of my money) and the still elite performing Pierce and Garnett, GM Danny Ainge acquired Jason Terry, (<3) Courtney Lee, Leandro Barbosa, and DARKO. Forward Jeff Green is also returning from a heart injury scare that thankfully only cost him one season. If Boston stays healthy, only one Eastern Conference team can matchup with them.
Led by world famous rapper and father of one Jay-Z, the Nets have turned over their franchise. New city, new arena, new logo, jerseys, (vibrant) colors, and a very new team. Dwight Howard wanted to join up with Deron Williams as ambassadors to Brooklyn basketball, but Nets management might agree with Shaquille O’Neal that Brook Lopez is the better option at center. *face palm* Gerald Wallace re-upped with Williams, Lopez, Kris Humphries and Joe Johnson joins the mix of new and exciting. But I’m not sold on this team to do anything outside of the first round.
To be quite honest, I could argue that the Nets is my least favorite squad in this division. I’ve been on the Raptors bandwagon for years though, and the acquisition of Kyle Lowry was the move to put this team over the top…of the lottery. But that’s progress. The 76ers added Andrew Bynum in the Dwight Howard super-mega-ultra-deal, sending Andre Iguodala to Denver. I’m not crazy about Nick Young for Lou Williams, but a rich man’s version of Young in Jason Richardson awaits the opportunity to take all the shots that Nick Young isn’t taking while he’s taking them…and all this for the hard-nosed, classic, tough guy Doug Collins…fun!
Then there’s the New York Knicks – possibly the biggest wildcard in the whole league – led by ‘Melo, Amare and Tyson Chandler, the latter two who are already nursing injuries. Raymond Felton re-joins the mix in place of Linsanity, hoping to rekindle his chemistry with Amare and company. Veterans Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby and Ronnie Brewer will provide much needed depth to matchup with Boston. But ultimately the fate of the Knickerbockers falls on the play of their corn row’d, headbanded superstar.
1. Celtics
2. Knicks
3. Nets
4. 76ers
5. Raptors
This really is the best division in basketball.
Central
Derrick Rose’s shattered leg, body, heart and soul will return no earlier than New Years Day, but the personnel within the Central division could help Michael Jordan 2.0 (pure geographical perspective) rest a little longer. The Bulls ceiling is the 3 seed in the East – even without their best player – because Coach Tom Thibodeau’s teams play the best team defense in the league night in and night out. They are always in games, and if Carlos Boozer can play his worth until Rose is healthy, I honestly do believe Chicago can finish with a better record than 85% of the Eastern Conference.
The Pacers paid the price and brought back franchise center Roy Hibbert, sending former point guard of the future Darren Collison and swingman Dhantay Jones to Dallas for Hibbert’s new backup Ian Mahinmi, and salary relief. Indiana acquired DJ Augustin and Gerald Green to reinforce their second unit. Paul George is expected to take another big leap forward but the fate of Indy seems to rest on Danny Granger’s regular season production, but more importantly postseason production. In 2009, Granger’s name was being mentioned in the same breaths as Kevin Durant in their respective rises to true stardom. His fantasy basketball ranking before the 09-10 season was as high as number five overall. This year ESPN has him ranked 44th and 3rd on the Pacers. (George, Hibbert)
The rest of the division leaves very little to be desired aside from potential, potential, potential. Milwaukee’s potential is sneaking into the playoffs but there real potential is what they could flip Monta Ellis into at the trade deadline. Detroit’s potential is two very, very exciting young big men. Third year power forward Greg Monroe and rookie center Andre Drummond lead a frontline of huge promise, but the Pistons will be in the lottery for at least one more year. The Cavaliers are still not a playoff team, but last year’s no.1 pick, rookie of the year and undercover uncle Kyrie Irving is on the same edge of stardom that Danny Granger can’t seem to climb over.
1. Bulls
2. Pacers
3. Bucks
4. Cavaliers
5. Pistons
Western Conference
In the West, what better place to start than the team that won its conference last season.
Up until 10:48 PM EST Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder roster was mostly identical to the one that they finished with in June. But Sunday night, the Thunder dynasty ended before it even began. Unwilling to bite into the luxury tax, OKC management made the incredibly bold move to deal the third member of their “big 3,” James Harden. Harden was the 3rd selection in the 2009 draft, and the deadline to extend his contract was Monday. Harden wanted a max deal he is definitely entitled to, but the Thunder had extended Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka already, chronologically leaving Harden as the final piece and consequentially the odd man out in the end. The Monday deadline causes all sorts of hoop-lah, if you will, seeing as how the season could start as early as 48 hours later if you are a part of NBA’s opening night.
Yes, Harden is gone and the core has been shattered and Kevin Durant’s post-trade “Wow” tweet seems rather concerning, but the Thunders did acquire veteran sharpshooter Kevin Martin, promising rookie Jeremy Lamb, and three draft picks including first rounders via TOR/DAL, but like Kenny Smith said on #InsidetheNBA, Thunder management has seemingly started building for the future when the present is already right in front of them.
Regardless of the deal, the NorthWest division is still the Thunder’s to dominate. The Denver Nuggets did add versatile all-star Andre Iguodala, in turn losing Aaron Afflalo and Al Harrington, an exchange that only happens with help of other teams – this time two others as part of the super-mega-ultra Dwight Howard trade. The Utah Jazz will be much improved and are one of my sleeper teams to make a lot more noise than 99% of 99% of the population think. Young stars in the making like Gordon Hayward (<3) and Alec Burks are just scratching the surface with this squad. The frontcourt Utah has the potential to roll out (salary forbidding) for the next many, many, many years is incredible. Al Jefferson and Paul Milsap are both all-stars and backup bigs Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter will be as well before long. But like Denver, the Jazz suffer from the dreaded “who gets the last shot” syndrome that is as unforgiving as ever in today’s NBA.
Minnesota has the whitest team I’ve ever seen, but a lot of the “white guys” are from overseas, so now it’s up to personal judgment. Regardless, the two faces and best players on this team – Love and Rubio are out for way too long. That is, any time at all for the T-Wolves to try and make a playoff run in 2013. It also doesn’t help them that Portland has retooled with some very nice young talent in high draft picks Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard. In case you hadn’t heard, the not-Kevin Durant era in the human personification of Greg Oden is no longer still a Portland Trail Blazer.
Thunder
Jazz
Nuggets
Blazers
Timberwolves
Pacific
Lakers. Kobe. Lakers. Dwight. Lakers. Nash.
As dominant as the Lakers are on paper, the pieces to me just don’t seem like a dominant regular season team. Dwight’s back will ache, Nash will need resting, Kobe will miss more shots than he takes (yeah) some nights, and somewhere along the way Pau Gasol will do something to remind the yellow and gold “faithful” that they actually sorta kinda hate the guy.
The Clippers added (insert veteran here) but they for some unearthly reason kept on Vinny Del Negro as Head Coach. Even though the NBA provided them with Chris Paul, they are still Donald Sterling run. I guess boss can only do so much.
Phoenix (signed and) traded Steve Nash to the rival Lakers, but after all he’s done for the Suns, if going to Hollywood is what Steve wanted, I applaud them for granting him that wish. The front office made some bold moves this off-season though. Avenging their Aaron Brooks trade skrew up, Goran Dragic was signed. Former no.2 overall pick that not even the Timberwolves wanted Michael Beasley and also, wait for it, Jermaine O’Neal was brought in to be to be a veteran mentor to emerging star center Marcin Gortat. Actually, I’m getting word now that the Suns plan to have O’Neal play in games this year. Still, Gortat is really, really good.
Golden State and Sacramento will be much improved. The former’s fate of any chance at competing is on the heavy, heavy ankle weights of Stephen Curry. The latter is expected back in the lottery, but myself and many others expect Demarcus Cousins to have a monster season and continue developing into one of the best centers in the Association.
Lakers
Clippers
Suns
Warrios
Kings
SouthWest
Last year I was a teensy weensy bit biased in predicting a Mavs repeat. Dirk is hurt for at least a month, Deron Williams and Dwight Howard are not on the roster (the cap space is still there, though) and those things alone would spell doom and gloom for the team that only has two players left (Marion, Dirk) from the roster that had a championship parade a mere 16 months ago. But even though superstars rejected the Mavs’ advances, the genius of Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson still turned a backup center into a starting point guard, Darren Collison, and swingman Dhantay Jones. OJ Mayo, Elton Brand and Chris Kaman are also on cap friendly deals, leaving the Mavs in prime position yet again next off-season for another round of heart-stopping, gut-wrenching, hair-pulling, chair-throwing, Ben&Skin-listening summer of free agency.
The Spurs will be a GREAT team once again, but even as a rival fan, I worry for them come playoff time, especially against the Thunder, who eliminated them last year with size, speed, youth, and flat out dominance after the Spurs started the playoffs 10-0. San Antonio looked on its way to running through the Western Conference after a top-seeded regular season, but after game 2 of the WCF that Spurs team basketball and chemistry went…poof.
The rest of the division has a ton of intrigue. Whether it was ri**ed or n*t, new Hornets ownership got off to one hell of a start when they won the lottery and drafted Anthony “Unibomber-no, UniBrow” Davis first overall. Last year the Hornets did not have a good team, plain and simple. But Head Coach Monty Williams had the Hornets in every.single.game. It was fun to watch but it really shouldn’t have been. The Grizzlies team is all too much the same for my liking, even with Z-Bo Randolph coming back healthy. In my opinion, they lack athleticism big time and their go-to guy Rudy Gay isn’t really a go-to guy yet. Also OJ Mayo (who I think they handled very, very poorly during his tenure there ((starting with trading him for Kevin Love)) departed for division the division foe Mavs.
The wildcard in the SouthWest – stress on the wild – is the Houston Rockets. The Rockets put about 98 of their 100 shoes in the Dwight Howard pool. They amnestied a very, very quality big in Luis Scola and traded for multiple draft picks hoping to give Orlando a package for the available big man. However, the big kicker in any D12 trade was his commitment to re-signing, and at the end of the day it would seem Houston’s efforts to convince him to love the Space City (hey, the Astros are moving to the American League) failed miserably. The Rockets instead went out and signed (overpaid?) center Omer Asik and #LINSANITY. Also, the aforementioned shocking James Harden transaction and ensuing maximum contract extension has the Rockets looking up, according to the Rockets.
Spurs
Mavericks
Grizzlies
Rockets
Hornets
2012-2013 NBA Preview; Eastern Conference
I can’t tell if it’s more sheer excitement or fantasy basketball scouting or simple enjoyment, but during the recently concluded MLB playoffs, my jump channel has been Preseason Basketball. NFL Network’s Thursday night matchups are often the tiebreaker if I need one.
In any case, it is damn awesome to have the NBA back at its regular programming time. Last year Halloween felt empty as I somberly handed out candy with a fake smile, still grieving over what the Rangers did just about 72 hours earlier.
Not even the wide smiles from a beautifully balanced mixed of interracial children could fix the obvious scenario that life currently was. It was hockey. I was watching hockey. The only bright spot in any of this that I could dig at was that the 2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks provided the best moment of my life (by far I don’t recall any of my birth if that’s what you were going to poke at me) 3,216 hours before the Rangers did their very best to balance things out.
Anyway, basketball is back and I. Am. So. Excited! Here’s a division by division preview that Grantland will use for future reference.
More?
I suppose the best place to start would be where the defending champion Miami Heat reside.
SouthEast
Basketball’s Tim Tebow plus talent, LeBron James, finally popped his championship cherry and even added some whip cream on top. LBJ was brilliant in the playoffs after coasting to his third MVP season. But the NBA Finals MVP was the one he wanted and needed.
With the “DwightMare” finally over in Orlando and new management for the Magic opting against acquiring Andrew Bynum and for youth an cap space. The Atlanta Hawks finally cutting ties with Joe Johnson, (for my money one of the most overrated players in the Association) which on paper would present them as a lesser ball club than last season. With Joe departed, Atlanta has however built very, very nice backcourt depth with the signing of Lou Williams and dealing major draft bust Marvin Williams to Utah for my boy Devin Harris. The Washington Wizards revamped a terrible team into a respectable one, adding Florida guard Bradley Beal in the draft and also scooping up veterans Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor from the Hornets for the rights to whatever financial and medical benefits that buying out Rashard Lewis could provide. (Lewis would sign with the Heat) Then there’s the Michael Jordan run Bobcats who deserve no more than this sentence of mere mentioning. They suck. (2)
1. Heat
2. Hawks
3. Wizards
4. Magic
5. Bobcats
Atlantic
If the Heat aren’t the best team in the Eastern Conference, only one team that comes to my mind is even close to dethroning the back-to-back East champs is the Boston Celtics.
Although the Heat won over the services of former “Green Big 3” member Ray Allen, Boston went way above and beyond replacing the future hall of famer. At this point in his illustrious career, Ray Ray can do little more than spot up, which is precisely what his role will be in South Beach. Led by Doc Rivers (best coach in the league for more of my money) and the still elite performing Pierce and Garnett, GM Danny Ainge acquired Jason Terry, (<3) Courtney Lee, Leandro Barbosa, and DARKO. Forward Jeff Green is also returning from a heart injury scare that thankfully only cost him one season. If Boston stays healthy, only one Eastern Conference team can matchup with them.
Led by world famous rapper and father of one Jay-Z, the Nets have turned over their franchise. New city, new arena, new logo, jerseys, (vibrant) colors, and a very new team. Dwight Howard wanted to join up with Deron Williams as ambassadors to Brooklyn basketball, but Nets management might agree with Shaquille O’Neal that Brook Lopez is the better option at center. *face palm* Gerald Wallace re-upped with Williams, Lopez, Kris Humphries and Joe Johnson joins the mix of new and exciting. But I’m not sold on this team to do anything outside of the first round.
I mean, do YOU know?
To be quite honest, I could argue that the Nets is my least favorite squad in this division. I’ve been on the Raptors bandwagon for years though, and the acquisition of Kyle Lowry was the move to put this team over the top…of the lottery. But that’s progress. The 76ers added Andrew Bynum in the Dwight Howard super-mega-ultra-deal, sending Andre Iguodala to Denver. I’m not crazy about Nick Young for Lou Williams, but a rich man’s version of Young in Jason Richardson awaits the opportunity to take all the shots that Nick Young isn’t taking while he’s taking them…and all this for the hard-nosed, classic, tough guy Doug Collins…fun!
Then there’s the New York Knicks – possibly the biggest wildcard in the whole league – led by ‘Melo, Amare and Tyson Chandler, the latter two who are already nursing injuries. Raymond Felton re-joins the mix in place of Linsanity, hoping to rekindle his chemistry with Amare and company. Veterans Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby and Ronnie Brewer will provide much needed depth to matchup with Boston. But ultimately the fate of the Knickerbockers falls on the play of their corn row’d, headbanded superstar.
1. Celtics
2. Knicks
3. Nets
4. 76ers
5. Raptors
This really is the best division in basketball.
Central
Derrick Rose’s shattered leg, body, heart and soul will return no earlier than New Years Day, but the personnel within the Central division could help Michael Jordan 2.0 (pure geographical perspective) rest a little longer. The Bulls ceiling is the 3 seed in the East – even without their best player – because Coach Tom Thibodeau’s teams play the best team defense in the league night in and night out. They are always in games, and if Carlos Boozer can play his worth until Rose is healthy, I honestly do believe Chicago can finish with a better record than 85% of the Eastern Conference.
The Pacers paid the price and brought back franchise center Roy Hibbert, sending former point guard of the future Darren Collison and swingman Dhantay Jones to Dallas for Hibbert’s new backup Ian Mahinmi, and salary relief. Indiana acquired DJ Augustin and Gerald Green to reinforce their second unit. Paul George is expected to take another big leap forward but the fate of Indy seems to rest on Danny Granger’s regular season production, but more importantly postseason production. In 2009, Granger’s name was being mentioned in the same breaths as Kevin Durant in their respective rises to true stardom. His fantasy basketball ranking before the 09-10 season was as high as number five overall. This year ESPN has him ranked 44th and 3rd on the Pacers. (George, Hibbert)
The rest of the division leaves very little to be desired aside from potential, potential, potential. Milwaukee’s potential is sneaking into the playoffs but there real potential is what they could flip Monta Ellis into at the trade deadline. Detroit’s potential is two very, very exciting young big men. Third year power forward Greg Monroe and rookie center Andre Drummond lead a frontline of huge promise, but the Pistons will be in the lottery for at least one more year. The Cavaliers are still not a playoff team, but last year’s no.1 pick, rookie of the year and undercover uncle Kyrie Irving is on the same edge of stardom that Danny Granger can’t seem to climb over.
#RomoBombed!
1. Bulls
2. Pacers
3. Bucks
4. Cavaliers
5. Pistons
Worried? Me Too
Worried? Me too.
I admit it. I’m a homer. I unconditionally support my home teams through the thick that Jerry Jones makes sure his (deteriorating) fan base endure or the thin that has been the past seasons of Texas Rangers baseball. Baseball’s emerging powerhouse has gone through their American League mates for two straight seasons, but despite a pair of pennants and matching flags that will indeed fly forever, the ultimate prize remains out of their hands.
After last year’s collapse at Busch Stadium, which everyone irresponsibly pins on Nellie Cruz and Nellie Cruz alone, the mindset was of no resemblance to the year before when the Rangers were swiftly taken care of by the San Francisco Giants in their first World Series appearance.
After Game 5 concluded the World Series and thus the baseball season, the attitude among the team and the city seemed just “happy to have been there,” which is entirely understandable. But after the nightmare-ish collapse last season, the angst and pressure on the back to back American League champions has been the topic of discussion whenever and wherever the ball club ventures – and rightfully so.
The 2012 rendition of Texas Rangers baseball was pretty much the same roster that fell just 60 feet 6 inches of a world championship just five hellish months earlier.
The first two months were not good, not great but legendary for the Rangers and their extremely talented but unique, headline-grabbing, free-agent-to-be superstar Josh Hamilton, who lit up the baseball world but also ignited the Twitter world in Major League Baseball’s first season that was a #season and a @season and not simply just a season.
#ContractYearJoshHamilton was used every time Josh did something worth talking about, which was at least twice a night.
A .395 average and 9 homers for Hambone guided the Rangers to a red hot start in April. In May, it got even more ridiculous for #ContractYearJoshHamilton, who slugged 12 more home runs to give him 21 in two months of work, putting him on pace to grab a pen and open up the record books.
Free swinging might not catch up to you in backyard wiffle ball, but even for one of the best hitters in baseball, keeping the foot on the pedal and the hand on fast forward (and the other hand on R2) eventually caught up to not just Hamilton but the whole ball club. Also, Josh Hamilton was no longer the hardest player to get out in baseball.
In particular, Josh hit an absolutely abysmal .177 in the month of July and the Rangers played well below average baseball around him.
Despite the team’s floundering play, headlined by the headline grabber himself, the Rangers remained – at least record wise – one of baseball’s elite teams because of a magical April.
162 games is a lot of games. There’s time to go on streaks of dominance and stretches of ugly, and still achieve a division title, then a pennant, and ya know…
Fans like me really had to simply keep a big, bold 162 in the back of our minds as the Rangers limped toward the finish line. Physically okay (to our knowledge) but mentally all over the place, treading instead of progressing, but all the while not really regressing.
Still, it would have all been forgotten if there were only 161, but lifeless, heartless, uninspiring baseball caught up with a team that diehards could hardly even recognize on 162, and now they play for their season on Friday.
My Fraction of The Extra 2%
110% inspired by Jonah Keri’s The Extra 2%; How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First.
In 2003, the story of ‘Moneyball’ was published to the world by Michael Lewis.. eight years later, the story was adapted into a(n altered to no end) feel-good Hollywood film. Starring A++ lister Brad Pitt, who reprized the role of Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland Athletics, as well as inventor, orchestrator, and engineer of the ‘Moneyball’ concept – putting together a championship caliber baseball team with the budget sizing a New York Yankee.
This strategy did indeed change the culture of baseball, but the results – while glamorous and without a doubt memorable – never resulted in a championship.
Beane’s Athletics reached their peak in 2006 when they reached the American League Championship Series, but were then swept by the Detroit Tigers.
Since, the A’s have not been back to the ALCS or even the playoffs. Their roster is reconfigured every year from top to bottom, dealing away any players soon eligible for a payday in exchange for handfuls of young talent. Promising talent, yes, but this never-ending cycle has kept Oakland out of contention until the ongoing 2012 season.
The strategy that somehow has gone and still goes relatively unnoticed – especially outside the baseball world (no thanks to the Moneyball film) – are the masterminded plans that escalated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from the laughing stock in all of sports to an American League champion, a feat even the great Billy Beane could not achieve.
Founded in 1998, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were run for eight years, in the words of Batman Universe’s John Daggett, “into the ground” with flying colors by their first owner Vince Naimoli. Naimoli’s era as a sports owner would put (Clippers owner) Donald Sterling in the hall of fame.
Under Vince Naimoli, plans for the Devil Rays changed by the year, even the month and the week, trying and failing to construct an expansion franchise, all the while driving away a rookie fan base and depleting the team’s financial balance and flexibility in just a few years.
As an expansion team, the Rays payroll debuted at $27,370,000 with an average salary just under $900,000. This was greater than seven teams, including the Oakland A’s, who were a year away from Beane and “Moneyball.”
Just four years later, signings like the inexplicable $34 million dollars given to Greg Vaughn and other epic fail investments like Jose Canseco and Wilson Alvarez, the Devil Rays were cornered into the lowest payroll in all of baseball.
Foolish signings and an astounding ignorance to player drafting and development kept the Devil Rays in a recycling state of being well below average, lethal in pro sports.
Finally after eight terrible years ‘highlighted’ by a 70 win 2004 season and the franchise’s first finish outside of last place, (not even my hero @FCat27 could help the 2004 Blue Jays) Vince Naimoli finally finally surrendered control of the franchise to the three-headed power combo that was and still is Owner Stuart Sternberg, President Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman, who was given the title Executive President of Baseball Operations.
Notably missing is the job of General Manager. In a highly non-traditional move, Sternberg did not appoint a GM, believing the spot to be “outdated.” Instead, the aforementioned “three-headed power combo” would put their unique print on a new era of Devil Rays baseball.
Part of my blabbing ends here – Just Like The Dark Knight Rises…. (spoilers ahead by the way) should have been two parts;
i mean, hey, GREAT movie don’t get me wrong but the last battle…Bruce returning to Gotham/finding Catwoman and trusting her with everything after ya know, she got his back broke and sent to die in a pit….the whole damn movie was about John Blake…i mean, seriously the orphanage scenes, it’s a BATMAN movie!
the user Willprot from forums.superherohype.com will take it from here
In Memory of Greg Zang – DONATE NOW
Greg Zang – Jesuit Dallas Class of 2003
A really good friend of the Dyce & Bishop Podcast and DFWFanbase passed away on Saturday afternoon after a 5 year long battle with cancer. Greg not only touched our lives, but he inspired hundreds of others with his positive attitude and willingness to always help others. We feel blessed to have spent time with Greg during his final days and will always enjoy the memories of Greg’s appearance on Bishop & Dyce.
After a 5 year battle with cancer, Greg and his family incurred a large sum of medical bills. Mike and Kent are joining Cameron’s Walk on September 22 to raise money to help cover some of these medical bills. We’ll walk from the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, to the Flying Saucer in Fort Worth, a 32 mile trek.
If you’ve been inspired by Greg or anyone else who has ever battled back from cancer, we would really appreciate your help. You can DONATE NOW to help us reach the goal of $10,000.
Donation Link (Cameron’s Walk for Greg): http://www.fundly.com/cameronswalk
Thank you so much for you support in advance. In honor of Greg and his love of The Ticket (1310 AM – KTCK)…..”STAY HARD, GREG!”
Cameron’s Walk for Greg – Sept 22 – 32 miles – Dallas to Fort Worth
Melk’d Up
Everyone has a favorite team, sometimes two if the situation allows it. I root for the Rangers and the Astros, which is okay because they are not in the same league. Next year they will be, but if you follow baseball you understand I won’t be conflicted in this scenario because it will be a few more leap years before the Astros threaten the Rangers developing AL West empire. (Have you seen the Astros roster lately? Have you seen the Rangers…AA roster?)
However, beyond the Astros and to a much, much (much) lesser extent, I have “adopted” some other teams spread across the galaxy that I root for if it does not directly – or even indirectly – affect, say, the Rangers, Mavs, or Astros.
Because of my lovely Aunt Linda in the Golden State and her generous gift giving (and a lost bet), the San Francisco Giants have become one of my adopted ball clubs. Their incredible and devoted fan base I have yet to see paralleled and AT&T Park is really an incredible park. I vividly remember attending a game many years ago when it was still Pac Bell and Barry Bonds (interesting) threw my cousin a warm-up ball in between the 3rd and 4th outs of the first inning, the only time all game he does throw one. On top of it all, Hunter Pence became a Giant at the trading deadline…more to love about this team.
So while my fantasy baseball brain was surely not as crushed and dissapointed as my Aunt, who as far as I’m concerned doesn’t have a fantasy baseball team but I do know is a die-hard Giants fan.
When it was reported that first-year Giant and (very) recently crowned All-Star Game MVP – not to mention on his former grounds in Kansas City – had vioalted Major League Baseball’s substance abuse policy, everything Cabrera had all of the sudden accomplished in the last year plus was not necessarily explained, but in the eyes of the public and the baseball world, it had been negatively justified and his name tarnished for good.
Cabrera began his career with the Yankees in 2005. The Yankees signed him four years earlier out of the Dominican Republic as a promising 17 year old that they planned to package with another youngster or two for someone over twice his age years later.
Five years later the inevtiable cycle of being a Yankees prospect that isn’t all-star ready commenced and the “Melkman” was part of a package to Atlanta that allowed New York to acquire starting pitcher Javier Vazquez.
Melky’s reputation was high ceiling, low IQ, and his many crictics went as far to label him “chunky.”
Cabrera’ time in Atlanta was short-lived abefore the 2011 season, he signed a 1-year flier with the finally (finally) emerging Royals, who were bringing along their long-awaited group of young stars (Hosmer, Moustakas, Escobar) in the infield but their outfielders of the future excluding Alex Gordon (Cain, Myers) were not quite ready for the show.
With that said, two outfield spots available and the Royals gave Cabrera a chance to play everyday and become the player his rookie card depicted.
His success was astounding, impressive, but in the usually dreaded hindsight, justifiably surprising.
Up until August 16 this year, everything was going according to plan for the impending free agent who was in the driver’s seat to contend for an MVP award and be rewarded with what many thought would be upwards of triple digit millions.
But that anti-climactic opening sentence of the previous paragraph is a dead giveway that trouble came about.
The uptick in production in every category on both offense and defensive for Melky was generally attributed to a newfound dedication to the game, work effort, weight loss, and finding the right situations to thrive in.
But then came the positive drug test. Testosterone. 50 games. Regular season over and one of baseball’s emerging players and a feel good story completely squashed and flushed down the drain.
Days later reports indicated that Cabrera went as far as to create a website advertising the illegel substance he was caught using in an effort to prove to the MLB and the world that he was simply the victim of a scam. Yeah, fail.
The fine men @MLB sniffed out the scam and hoping to salvage whatever he could of this disastrous, image shattering situation, Cabrera presented any and all remaining evidence to baseball, owned up to what he had done as well as accepting the mandatory suspension without a Braun-esque fight.
Even so, Cabrera let down his rapidly growing fan base – particularly the rowdy faithful that pack AT&T park each and every day – and also my Aunt, who, as a result of this unusual circumstance, made her call-in radio debut to voice her frustration with the Melkman.
And yes, she knows what she’s talking about.
Editor’s Note: Just 6 days later, a different type of resurgence was explained by the unfortunate way of illegal substance abuse. Oakland A’s pitcher (“Big Fat”) Bartolo Colon (also testosterone), thought to be done a season ago at the very least, had posted an astounding 3.43 ERA to go along with a 10-9 record at 39 years old.
Due to the suspension, Colon will lose the remaining $469,945 of his $2 million base salary this year.
Yeah, totally worth it.
Bishop & Dyce Show Podcast – 08.07.2012
Mark your calendars for tomorrow night’s Bishop & Dyce Show Podcast…
Rangers, Cowboys, Olympics, stuff…
Tuesday, August 7th @ 7pm CT
Stream: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dyce-and-bishop/2012/08/08/bishop-and-dyce-show
Come at me, bro!
DFW Fanbase 