Associated Press = Morons

Check out this great story on Elton Brand opting out of his contract.

And here is the part to pay attention to before they change it:

The Los Angeles Times reported earlier in the day that Brand’s teammate, Corey Maggette, filed the paperwork to opt out of his deal.

Brand played in only eight games last season because of a knee injury. In nine seasons with the Bulls and Clippers, Brand has averaged 20.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

A knee injury?  Really?  You sure it wasn’t a RUPTURED ACHILLES TENDON????

Sloppy reporting and just plain moronic.  And I don’t care when they correct it because it should never have made it out of the editing room.

Yes that was a foul. And yes it should have been called.

The big talk this morning is over the non-call on Derek Fisher when he jumped into Brent Barry.  David DuPree over at Cnnsi weighs in saying

Was Barry fouled? Absolutely.

Should it have been called? Absolutely not.

It’s all about consistency.

How is not calling a foul being consistent? 

And Johnny Ludden over at Yahoo Sports chimes in with this:

Barry’s wrong. Crawford should have called it. But maybe Crawford already knew what the Spurs should have known.

On this night, just like four years ago, the Lakers were better.

Nice cop-out.  Yes that foul should have been called but because the Lakers out-played the Spurs it doesn’t matter.  umm okay.  How about the bonehead plays by Kobe down the stretch…Lakers still deserve to win?

True Hoop over at Espn says the foul should have been called.

Before I get started on this let me just say that I hate the Spurs.  They are my least favorite team in the NBA.  I always root for them to lose.  I hate all their whiney players and flopping.  But, last night Brent Barry drew a foul on Derek Fisher and the worst ref in the league Joey Crawford swallowed his whistle.   Here is the key part of that play that I would like everyone to think about.  Brent Barry faked and Derek Fisher bit on the fake.  That was a terrible play by Fisher and he should have been penalized by it.  Barry’s strategy was better than Fisher’s and he didn’t get rewarded for it because some say he didn’t “sell” it enough.  Back to the flopping. 

So players are going to have to flop to get the call.  Refs in the NFL make calls all the time at the end of games…roughing calls, holding calls, off sides, fall starts…it doesn’t matter.  Derek Fisher is the one that screwed up.  I’ve had to sit and watch Fisher flop year after year with his terrible defense (it’s all based on him drawing charges off his flops) and horrible shot.   And the idiot Crawford (why is he still employed anyway?) bails him out again. 

 

Correcting the NBA Draft Lottery

I am so sick of hearing this argument.  Let’s get rid of the lottery!  Let’s fix the lottery!  Let’s leave it the same!

Look, it’s so simple.  Now stay with me.  First of all, the system is broke and needs to be fixed and the best part is that there is a really really easy solution. 

The draft lottery is set on March 1st.  If you are the worst team on March 1st then you get the first pick in the draft.  And the rest of the picks fall in order with the exception of any teams that make the playoffs…those teams will be seeded by record after all non-playoff teams are seeded. 

This will prevent teams from benefitting from tanking at the end of the season…Miami.  They tanked game after game this season in March and April.  It will also allow NBA teams to play their young players at the end of the year without affecting the order of the draft.  If a team sucks on March 1st then they suck and the worst team on March 1st should get that 1st pick.  Because all teams are competing up until March 1st and if you are getting beat during that time then yeah you are the worst team in the league and should get the 1st pick.  In March and April, teams who are already out of the playoffs start resting guys who otherwise would play and they do nothing to better the team..knowing that they need the draft pick. 

Many NFL fantasy leagues are run similar.  Whoever has the worst record after week 12 gets the 1st pick in the draft.  Because any one who has played fantasy football knows that if an owner is clearly out of the playoffs those last few weeks then they tank…either on purpose or just stop paying attention and start guys who are injured,etc.  I’m surprised someone as smart as Mark Cuban hasn’t presented this as a solution. 

Easy solution NBA.  There’s no real argument against it. 

Avery gone and Van Gundy in?

I want to punch my computer screen when I see this page with Jeff Van Gundy’s picture.  What has Van Gundy done to deserve another coaching job?  How did he help Houston when he was there? 

His teams always struggle on offense and their defense falls apart in the playoffs when teams try a little harder.  I’d rather have Roy Tarpley as head coach than Jeff Van Gundy.  He wouldn’t have a problem attending Josh Howards Birthday party…actually that might violate his probation. 

Chris Paul takes a shot at Avery Johnson

I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere but after Game 4, Hornets guard Chris Paul took a shot at Mavs coach Avery Johnson after the game on TNT.  He was asked about his own coach, Byron Scott and Paul responded by explaining how Scott allows his players to make mistakes and doesn’t pull them from the game immediately after a mistake.  He went on to say that he let’s his players play. 

If you aren’t familiar with the Dallas Mavericks and their coach Avery Johnson, then this might mean nothing but one of the big criticisms of Avery is that he is too controlling on the court.  You don’t have to read too far in between the lines to see that Paul was making a comparison to Avery when talking about his own coach.  Josh Howard has been upset ever since the Devin Harris trade and one of the big reasons that Devin was traded is because Avery never trusted him enough to let him run the team.  I think we can guess that Josh and Devin have voiced their displeasure with Avery’s style to other players around the league and most likely to Paul.  Otherwise, why would Paul make that statement…it had to be on his mind. 

Avery will probably be a good coach in his next job but his inexperience has made his current job a failure.  Anyone thinking of hiring Mark Jackson should reconsider until he has proven himself as a coach and until he has experience dealing with players and their egos as a coach and not a veteran player.  

Avery’s coaching style doesn’t produce enjoyable basketball for his players.  They don’t look like they are having any fun and I think it’s because they don’t believe in him or his style of coaching.  The Mavs are quickly becoming the Sacramento Kings as their window is closing with many of their players on the wrong side of their careers such as eddie jones, jason kidd, devean george, stackhouse, dampier, juwan howard, and tyronn lue. 

NBA vs NCAA Basketball

Just a few differences I’ve noticed:

• much less flopping in the NCAA and when players do flop it often isn’t called.  Love that part.  I think when a player flops that they should be called for a foul.  It’s out of control in the NBA.
• for me, the zone defense makes the game more exciting.  A true zone defense forces teams to pass and move and find the open spots to score.  It cuts down on the 1 on 1  stuff and forces a player to drive against the entire other team. 
• the shorter 3 point shot forces college teams to defend the perimeter at all times.   This has a couple of effects:  1) teams want to push the ball to get open 3’s off transition.  2) College players don’t get many wide open looks at the 3 point shot  3) defending so close on the perimeter opens up the lane for drives and dishes
• The refs are letting the college players bump and push on the block and they don’t call as many touch fouls on drives.  This keeps the flow of the game intact and keeps the crowd in the game.  The NBA refs tend to call fouls that have no bearing on the play at all.  Little touch fouls on the perimeter where the player doesn’t even have the ball.  Let them play.

So there you go.

Quick NCAA Tournament Thoughts

If you are an NBA homer or just want to get jazzed up then check out Rosen’s article on how the NBA is sooo much better than NCAA.  Of course Rosen is just talking out of his ass so who cares.  College Basketball is much better than the NBA and this year’s tourney has been great so far. 

My quick thoughts:

• A & M…soo close.  I can’t believe chunky Love hit that last fade-away. 
• Who knew Del Curry’s son could shoot?  Shocking, right?  How many will he put up today?
• I hate the Lopez brothers.  I don’t know why.  It’s like a cross between Noah and Neitzel.   And why do they have girls names?  I know there has to be some explanation but Robin and Brook?  Can’t root for you guys. 
• The Longhorns are in trouble if Augustin gets into foul trouble.  They don’t have anyone to handle the ball other than him.  Mason and Abrams try but they can’t handle the pressure. 
• I am so happy Duke lost.  I wish they would have lost in the first round.  I hate all Duke players past and present.  Enjoy watching the rest of the tournament. 
• Why do I hate Duke so much?  Who cares, they suck.
• Lose Arkansas.  Please Lose today.  I hate the beard. 
• Tough loss UCONN.  AJ can play and that loss cost you a chance to move on.  and busted everyone’s bracket.
• Memphis’ defense is still bad and UT Arlington couldn’t have played any better.  It’s amazing that they kept it that close without hitting 3 pointers.  That’s usually what keeps small schools in the game but UTA did it by going inside. 
• Ian Eagle.  Ian freaking Eagle.  So close.  Can we get “Chappy Sinclair” for one game?  Is that too much to ask?

Where are your Balls Mark Cuban?

I’ve never been a huge fan of Mark Cuban.  I liked what he did for the Mavericks but I never gave him the “god-like” status that some did.  He’s done some great things for the Mavericks and some really stupid things.  I’ve met the guy and talked to him and let’s just say there are things about him that I don’t admire.  If there was “ego porn” then “Big Cubes” would be in high demand. 

This would fall under that category.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has instituted a new policy banning full-time bloggers from the team’s locker room, drawing an official protest from The Dallas Morning News, which employs the only writer so far banned.In an e-mail sent to Cuban on Monday, Bob Yates, deputy managing editor/sports of The Morning News, wrote that the policy “is a veiled attempt at retribution” against Morning News reporter Tim MacMahon, who has been blogging about the Mavericks since 2006.

And to be fair….I think Tim MacMahon is a terrible writer.  But I wouldn’t ban him.  I think Cuban is feeling the pressure and knows that the Kidd trade is not going to bring the Mavs a championship.  He also knows that Avery is in over his head and coaches in the same way as Scott Skiles.  He wears on players and after the first season and a half…it’s over.  Here’s the Mavs take:

 The Mavericks’ new policy denies locker room access to writers whose “primary purpose is to blog.” The policy states that the team does “not have enough room in the locker room, nor enough media passes to fairly accommodate everyone.”

They stole a page from Fox News.  Remember when Fox used the same excuse to bar Ron Paul from the debate?  Not the best organization to pattern yourself after. 

Hey Mark, do us all a favor and let the bloggers (well blogger) back in.  Take your criticism like an adult and stop the childish games that have clouded your ownership of the Mavs.  Your positive energy is what set the Mavs on a path to winning and it would be nice to see a little more of that and less politics.  It’s just basketball…lighten up.

Kidd and Shaq Trades

I was holding off on this until I knew for sure Kidd was going to be traded…looks like it is going to happen so here is my analysis:

 First Shaq.

I love this trade for the Suns.  I think this is a chance they had to take.  They’ve never had a center and that has been a reoccuring theme for their fans over the past 20 years.  Enter Shaq.  First off, guys are not going to want to drive the lane with Shaq and Amare and this will make Nash a better defender.  The Suns also have scrappy Raja Bell and veterans Grant Hill and Diaw who all can rebound and play solid defense.  They do need one more wing player to fill in for Diaw and Hill at times but to me that’s all they gave up.  They will be a much better rebounding team on both ends of the court and I don’t think Shaq will have a problem fitting in that offense.  They will run about half the time and on those possessions he will just be resting at the other end of the court. 

He will be similar to Kareem in his final years in that some games he will be a non factor and other games people will say “that’s the old Shaq”.   The thing is, the Suns only need him about half the time to get themselves over the hump.

The Kidd trade.

I hate it.  I think it is a terrible move by the Mavs but then again I don’t like Jason Kidd.  He’s always been a whiny player and when things get tough…he will just quit.  I think the difference between Deven and Kidd isn’t that great…it just looks greater on the Mavs because Avery won’t let Deven loose.  Avery reminds me of a college coach who has to control everything…it’s probably because he doesn’t really have any coaching experience and just went from a player to a coach in one season.

The loss of Diop is huge.  Dampier is a soft, underachieving, and injury prone player who always wilts under pressure.  The pressure will all be on him now and will he actually stay healthy for the rest of the season?  I wonder who the Mavs will pick up….maybe Lance Allred but I think they need more of a shot blocker.  Diop hasn’t been playing as much this year but he would have made a difference in the playoffs for them.   The Mavs could have signed him in the off season as a free agent with Bird Rights.  Also, the Mavs gave up Van Horn who was a valuable trade chip that could have been used to upgrade the shooting guard spot or provide a backup center.  And think for a second…the Mavs gave up 2 first round picks.  2!  why?  Really? that was necessary to get this trade through? 

Jason Kidd is not good on defense.  Yes, he plays the passing lane well which leads to steals but is not good one on one.  Also, Kidd is not good in the half court.  He can’t shoot and cannot penetrate to score anymore.  Knowing this, I would just make him beat me with his offense cause he can’t do it.  Kidd is great in the open court and used to be the fastest player in the league with the ball in his hands..but he’s older and playing with a bum knee.  This trade would have been great 3 years ago but this year…it’s dumb.  To me, Avery is the one of the biggest problems with this team.  He needs to allow his players the freedom to play and become responsible for their play. 

It makes me think back to something Bill Parcells said once…he wanted his team to get to the point that after a play they didn’t look to the sidelines for the answers…he wanted them to have the answers and be confident in themselves and it is at that point where you can win Championships.

NBA = Joke

With all the trades going it has become clear that this league is a joke.  Let’s examine why the NBA sucks:

• Guaranteed Contracts:  Socialism 101!   same argument made against Socialism, can be made here.  There’s no motivation for these guys because they are guaranteed their salaries no matter what.  If someone told me my salaray was guaranteed for the next 6 years…what motivation do I have to do the little things to stay on top of my game.  It’s 6am in August, what is going to make your average NBA player get up and work on their dribbling? 

This is one of my favorite stories to suppor this argument.  Ron Mahay was a pitcher for the Texas Rangers who got a 2 year contract and got complacent in his off season workouts.  2 years!  that’s it, that’s all it took.    So imagine guys on 4 and 5 or even 6 year deals. 

Mahay, who signed a two-year contract at the end of 2004, said he simply grew content with his workout schedule after getting the security of a multiyear deal. That led to a poor spring training, during which his velocity dipped into the mid-80 mph range. He never caught up during the season.

“You have to continue to have a work ethic,” said Mahay, whose fastball has jumped back to the 90-91 mph range. “This winter, I took a lot of things to heart. I didn’t take anything for granted. You have to continue to have a work ethic. My mistake was that I got complacent.”

• Buyouts:  not only do these guys get guaranteed contracts but now they are negotiating buyouts to get off losing teams and onto winning teams.  Damon Stoudamire recently went from being a captain of a team to negotiating a buyout.  That’s just great team leadership.  The Mavericks are trying to trade Jerry Stackhouse to New Jersey…then have him negotiate a buyout and sign him again.  That make sense to anyone?  The NBA needs to bar guys who get buyouts from signing with another team that season…you negotiate a buyout…you sit out the rest of the year. 
• Players Demanding Trades:  Hey Jason Kidd you signed with New Jersey.  You took the money and stayed in Jersey and now you want out because your team is losing and you are unhappy.  You whiny baby…grow up and deal with it like a man.  Michael Pietrus you demanding a trade?  So you got a one year 3.5 million deal…yeah that sounds terrible and on top of that you say you can’t wait 3 more months to be a free agent you have to be one right now!    And your desire to be closer your home in the French Caribbean…is just laughable.  You are getting paid millions of dollars for playing basketball half the year!  3 hours closer to your home is that big of a difference?

So if you ignore everything else about the NBA and just think about those 3 things it’s not hard to determine that the product out there is not nearly as good as it could be.  Players have little incentive to play as hard as they can and they know they can always force their way out of a situation that doesn’t suit them.  This produces whiny players such as Kidd and Pietrus and even recently Devean George whose case is even stranger.  He wanted a trade and then once he got traded decided it wasn’t for him and blocked it. 

Genius.  You can have your socialist NBA.