The Wade Phillips 3-4

What happened to it?  Here are some quotes from Tank Johnson:

“Bottom line is we are trying to do too many things. We are a talented enough group that we can do two or three things and beat the stew out of people,” Johnson said. “I think less is more when it comes to the talent we have. When you have so many talented players, give them a few things to do and give them a chance to get really good at it.”

Didn’t they hire Wade because they thought Bill Parcells defense was too simple and predictable?  I remember people saying that his defense would just line up and try to beat you by being physical.  Their first responibility was to stop the run and rushing the passer came second.  So now, the team is switching back to Parcells style.   Then why did we hire Wade and Stewart? 

Read this quote shortly after Wade was hired:

Last season, players voiced their concerns about the direction of the Cowboys defense. What bothered them? Not enough blitzing, creativity or positive results, they said.

And another quote from the preseason in 07

This defense will attempt to create havoc in any number of ways. The predictable 3-4 that we saw under coach Bill Parcells has been scrapped.

“I’ll let you guys decide from what you’re seeing if this defense is more creative,” said defensive end Marcus Spears, who had a fumble recovery that set up a touchdown.

“Everyone’s got a chance to make some plays. That’s what this defense allows you to do. It’s a totally different style from what we’ve played here in the past. You’ll see a lot of guys moving around, you’ll see blitzes from the weak side if the strong side isn’t working. That’s just what this defense is designed to do.”

Seems to me that the players, fans, and ownership wanted this new defense and now that it’s not working, they want to quit and go back to more of a Parcells defense.  Lots of excuses by those defensive players and not many plays.  Don’t make things simpler for them Wade…make them play better.

Post Dallas Cowboys Game Thoughts

Here’s your Monday Report for the underachieving:

• I told you Brad Johnson sucks and the Rams dropped 3 INT’s yesterday.  It could have been a lot worse.  He threw high too many times and he has zero zip on his throws probably more due to his lack of leg strength at this point than lack of arm strength.
• Marion Barber has fumbled 5 times in 7 games. That should worry everybody.  Romo has fumbled 6 times in 6 games.  In the last 8 games Barber has started we are 4-4. 
• I’m going to say it because no one else seems to: Zach Thomas is not good.  Give me Akin back anyday.  Zach is small, old, and slow at this point in his career. 
• That team really quit yesterday and as long as Jerry is the one that chews them out then it won’t work.  They need a coach to get their focus back. 
• Nice job of creating another distraction by dressing Romo as the #2 QB.  If he can’t play then he’s the #3, if he is healthy enough for #2 then he starts.  Pretty simple.
• I have  strong feeling that Galloway gets healthy this week and he and Antonio Bryant are going to put up huge numbers.

And one non-Cowboys thought:

Shut up John Kitna.  You are a below average qb who turns the ball over too much to whine all the time.  Orlovsky (as stupid as that safety was) hasn’t thrown a pick in the last two games and the Lions at least didn’t get blown out both weeks.   Your Career #’s of 152 TD’s and 151 INT’s speaks for itself.

Brad Johnson Should Start Over Tony Romo

I’m serious.  Look at what everyone is saying about Brad Johnson’s dominating pre season performance:

2. Brad Johnson. Can we now leave Brad Johnson alone? Finished two scoring drives including a long pass play.

Leave him alone?  Give him the starting job!  And look what Spagnola has to say over at dallascowboys.com

Johnson was razor sharp, and against the Broncos’ first-team defense, mind you, completing nine of 12 passes for 114 yards and one touchdown.

To those who say his arm is shot, we give you the mighty fine 37-yard pass to Austin streaking down the right sideline. To those who say he won’t hang in the pocket, we give you the perfectly thrown five-yard fade to Austin for a touchdown. And for those who wanted to insist after the San Diego game that he is so old he can’t make good decisions anymore, we give you the 11-yard pass to tight end Martellus Bennett, a nine-yarder to Isaiah Stanback and the six-yarder to Tony Curtis, showing he’s patient enough to take what the defense during a two-minute drill will give him.

I mean even Tony Romo gets into the act:

Tony Romo did, coming up from behind the team’s oldest player, throwing his arms around his 39-year-old shoulders, and with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen proclaim, “That’s 2001 right there; that’s Brad Johnson 2001.”

Romo spoke of his immediate backup, the soon-to-be 40-year-old quarterback who had a vintage year in 2001, leading his Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Super Bowl title, basically playing the same style of football then as so many are quick to criticize and want to retire him for now.

Brad Johnson is the only answer to the question “which QB can lead the cowboys to the super bowl”?  Don’t believe me?  Are you a Brad Johnson Hater/Doubter?  Then check out these stats:

Brad Johnson has a career passer rating of 83.1 (one year it was as high as 92.9!)…what’s Romo’s you ask?  A pathetic 96.5(worthless) and he’s already got almost 2 years of playing experience.  And Brad Johnson is clearly the more accurate passer (even though he only throws downfield and never dump offs) with a career mark of 61.8 compared to Romo’s erratic 64.4.  How Does Dallas expect to win anything with Romo?

Let’s talk TD’s.  Johnson once threw 26 TD’s in one year!  One freaking year!  So he threw 21 picks also…still 26!  Romo barely topped 35 TD’s last year.    Also, Brad knows how to get the ball downfield and show off his rocket arm with a career avg of 6.7 per attempt while Romo with his weak girly arm is afraid to go down the field and dumps the ball off at 8.3 per attempt.   You starting to get on the Brad Johnson express?

It’s pretty clear that Brad Johnson can not only still play in the NFL (he dominates in the pre season)but he just opened up an old fashioned can of quarterback controversy in Dallas (Hogeboom?).  Dallas can continue to sputter along with Romo or they can take a chance on the 39 year old young rocket arm of Brad Johnson.

My name is Brad,  Brad Johnson.

I keep the ladies in the 90’s, Cravin.

Who’s That Rocking the Spot,(It Brad Johnson)
Who’s that keepin it hot,(I’m Brad Johnson)
Who’s That Bringin the pain,(It’s Brad Johnson)

What Green Bay Should do with Farve

I tried to stay out of it.  I really did but I can’t anymore.

Green Bay trade Aaron Rodgers to Kansas City.  Start Farve this year and go for the super bowl.  You have Brohm behind him for the future and I would be that Brohm will be a better QB than Rodgers.  Not right now but a year or two from now. 

Green Bay’s offense is stacked and their defense is good except for their DT’s.  They need to make a run this year and could do it with Farve.  I just don’t see the need for them to gamble on Rodgers at this point.  If they were rebuilding or if Rodgers had proven that he was really good then yeah…but neither of those has happened. 

KC would have control over Rodgers for two years.  The Packers get a pro bowler and make another run.  KC gambles on a 1st rounder instead of Croyle…who doesn’t offer a lot of hope.   But, here’s why it won’t happen:

• McCarthy wants that entire team to worship him and Farve won’t do it.  He’s a control freak who can’t get Farve under control. 
• Farve waited too long for this.  Should have done it in June at the last mini camp. 
• Neither side wants to lose the pissing contest
• Green Bay didn’t hire Ari to sit around and do nothing. 

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. 

Those Crazy Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers are once again a joke on the field this year.  Today, they decided to change their fortunes by cutting Jason Botts and calling up Chris Shelton.  Yeah, that will do it John Daniels.  I expect the Rangers to make the playoffs now. 

There are so many problems with this move.  Try to stay with me on this: 

The Rangers did not play Jason Botts last year, instead keeping him in AAA for nearly the entire season.  This year they keep him on the 25 because (and I’m guessing) they thought he could play and they wanted to give him his shot in the MLB.  So after 38 at bats they decide to send him down to the minors and expose him to another team.  Now, I’m not arguing Botts’s abilty…I have no idea.  I will say that the decision to keep him on the 25 should mean that the Rangers coaches and management believed that he had MLB potential and cutting him after 38 at bats is hasty…at best.  Now add in the fact that the Rangers are terrible this year and should be in rebuilding mode and it gets even more cloudy.  So let’s say that the Rangers were wrong on Botts in Spring Training and he isn’t a MLB bat.  That’s fine.  Let’s move on to the next part.

Bringing up Chris Shelton to team with Broussard at 1B.  Now the obvious question is why didn’t you just keep shelton at 1B out of spring training?   Or why not keep Nelson Cruz out of spring training to be your backup OF?  He is actually good on defense unlike guys like Cat and Botts and he would have stepped right in with the Byrd injury. 

Another question, why not cut Broussard and keep Botts?  Do you need two marginal 1B on a rebuilding team?  And finally, couldn’t you cut Botts and play a platoon at 1B with Shelton or Broussard with Saltalamacchia when he’s not catching?  You brought up Salty to platoon with Laird at catcher but he has the ability to play 1B also…so why not play him there when he’s not catching instead of DH’ing him?  And if you do that then you don’t need 2 spares in Shelton and Broussard.  It makes too much sense for Daniels and Washington to figure out I guess. 

You could sell me on the Shelton move if the Rangers were competing for anything other than last place or the biggest joke in the majors but they stink and should be rolling the dice with younger players not taking multiple gambles on marginal players.   Its’ ok to have Shelton or Broussard…just not both, there’s no development in that scenario.  Ranger fans should also be wary of the organization’s ability to judge its own talent after the fast starts by gallaraga, danks, and volquez and the miscalculations of Chris Young, and Adrian Gonzalez.   Do you really feel good about them being able to judge if one of their minor league guys can produce at the MLB level or will they get nervous if the kid doesn’t immediately produce and ship him out?

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.