Category Archives: Uncategorized

January 2, 2013 · 3:14 pm

Headlines 1/3/2012

Yesterday’s biggest news story was the return of Amar’e Stoudemire.  But the story turned familiar.  The Knicks came out ice cold and couldn’t buy a lay up, while the other team was hitting every open shot they were given.  At one point the Knicks went down 19 and once again climbed to within one shot of tying, but could never find the defensive stop they needed.

“You can’t keep spotting teams 20-plus leads and think you’re going to win,” Mike Woodson said. “The last few games have been a disaster in terms of how we’re starting games.”

Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News writes that Amar’e Stoudemire is in direct competition with Carmelo Anthony to get touches and therein lies the rub and the greater storyline as it relates to the rest of the 2012-2013 season.  In a more optimistic story, the New York Post’s Kevin Kiernan writes that if Carmelo and Amar’e learn how to work together, and the fans are patient, a bigger reward awaits the Knicks. Zach Schonbrun of the New York Times writes that Amar’e Stoudemire’s standing ovation was ripe with optimism but filled with caution.

Yesterday’s game was a pretty familiar storyline.  Fall down early, make a great comeback but ultimately fall short.  The added storyline of Amar’es return and Carmelo’s return from a two game sit out due to a hyper extended knee made this a must watch game.  Nothing about this game was pretty, despite 45 from Carmelo Anthony.  The Knicks continue to live and die by the three and yesterday they were slaughtered.  The Knicks were 10-37 from beyond the arc while the Blazers shot 11-33.  It seemed that every shot that Nicholas Batum took either went in or airballed and he didn’t airball much.  He was the high man, and also the one given the responsibility of trying to guard Carmelo.  When one on one defense didn’t work, the Blazers began double teaming Melo.  Credit Melo with finding his open teammates, but nobody ever found a rhythm that would make the Blazers go away from the strategy of doubling Melo.  

JR Smith continues to be a real Six Man of the Year candidate playing an all around game that everyone thought he could play but never lived up to, either due to immaturity or indifference.  Either way, the idea I would think, is to have Amar’e and JR come in to give the team an offensive lift when they can’t seem to score points.  At some point Steve Novak will start hitting the close to 50% that he can, and the Knicks will have a formidable 9 man rotation.  Of course, the odd man out in this rotation will be Ronnie Brewer who is known for his defense and is a starter by name only, but plays very few minutes thanks to his inability to hit the wide open corner three, once Iman Shumpert returns.  That return is still being speculated about, but expect in the next two weeks to hear an announcement from the usually tightlipped MSG office.  I found the rotations a bit weird, as this was kind of a throwaway game for the Knicks.  They were working with several line ups, but having a very quick hook with any line up that had Carmelo and Amar’e in it which was odd to me.  Its a chemistry issue they want to avoid for now until Amar’e gets fully healthy, or its something they have decided upon for the betterment of the team.  Stoudemire’s minutes were limited to 20 yesterday but while he only played 17, he seemed tentative and hesitant.  Too amped up on his first few attempts before settling down on his old familiar: the pick and roll drive to the hoop dunk.  Once he got that lead pass from Pablo Prigioni, and he dunked, there was that familiar spark in his eyes.  

On the other side, I was extremely impressed with Damian Lilliard.  I had heard he was a legit rookie of the year candidate (the lead dog IMO), but to see him in person was impressive.  He’s got that quickness and body control that makes him a poor man’s Derrick Rose.  That step back three was the kind of shot that you only see from more poised veteran guards and it tells you how much more mature beyond his years this kid really is.  A four year starter from Weber State, Lilliard is proving to be the team’s best draft selection since LaMarcus Aldridge.  Also, how in the hell does JJ Hickson dominate us EVERY FREAKING TIME?  He’s in the ALL-“ROLE PLAYERS WHO HAVE CAREER GAMES AGAINST THE KNICKS ALL THE TIME” Team.  

The Jets offseason unofficially started the day they couldn’t beat the Tennessee Titans, but their official offseason started Monday when they fired the GM, Mike Tannenbaum.  Many wrote about how Rex should have been given a pink slip with the GM.  Rich Cimini of ESPNNY writes why this plan of action, hiring a GM while keeping the incumbent coach, could be a death penalty for Rex. Ben Shpigel of the New York Times writes “No doubt the Jets’ position is appealing; only 32 of these jobs exist, after all. But whoever takes over for Tannenbaum will inherit a mess at quarterback, several bloated contracts and a roster in dire need of an overhaul, not to mention a coach he did not choose in Ryan, whose return in 2013 Johnson guaranteed.”  Mark Cannizaro of the Post writes that a curious decision was to let Tony Sparano hang on to his job as offensive coordinator, though he admits that the Jets lead the league in curious decision making.  Steve Serby of the Post writes that Rex needs to come out and talk about it.  His press conference was canceled by the team on the day that Mike Tannenbaum was let go.  The owner Woody Johnson had a five paragraph statement read.  In fact, the only member of the Jet hierarchy that did any talking, was the guy they let go: GM Mike Tannenbaum.  Finally, Manish Mehta of the Daily News, and Rex Ryan’s favorite scribe writes, “Rex Ryan, the king of transparency and accountability, isn’t talking.”

You can understand the frustration from the beat writing community as it relates to the Jets.  The team had a frustrating and disappointing season.  They aren’t in the mood to answer some difficult questions.  But the bigger dilemma becomes that the Jets organization wanted to dump everything on the lap of the GM while saving the coach who’s been at the head of much of this mess.  What I don’t know and what will apparently never be clear, is who was responsible for the Tim Tebow signing?  That was a decision made by an influential voice within the organization.  Was it Rex Ryan?  It didn’t look like it from the amount of playing time he got and the constant refusal to name him the starting QB especially in the meaningless week 17 contest against Buffalo.  Was it Mike Tannenbaum?  Maybe.  He did make the, now idiotic, decision to resign Mark Sanchez and guarantee him $20 million basically bolting him down to the Jets roster for the 2013 season.  But then why would he turn around the next day and go after Tim Tebow?  His decision to give Sanchez that contract extension was definitely influenced by the fact that he openly went after Peyton Manning and Mark found out and was upset by it, and yeah, this whole thing sounds soap opera-ish.  My guess is that it was owner Woody Johnson who has never really made a good decision since he’s taken over the team’s ownership.  

Woody has always been about the bottom line and winning the back page war with the Giants who never have had any desire to partake in that kind of thing.  This move was meant to distract everyone from the poor season they had.  Add to that, the whole building up a wall and the almost CIA Top Secret Tebow playbook and you had the makings of a ridiculous campaign that became bizarre.  Needless to say the Tebow situation was NOT the only reason the GM got fired, but the quarterbacking position was a major influence.  Add the contract, and the overall lack of depth to the roster and very few draft picks with which to fix the roster, Mike Tannenbaum leaves his successor very few avenues to go through in order to cure what ails this team.  

I know Jet fans won’t want to hear this and obviously they won’t consider this move, but the best way to get all of your draft picks back is to trade one of your best players.  Yes, if the Jets pay most of Mark Sanchez’s salary they may get a sixth round pick, but why do that deal in the first place?  My guess would be to bring in a strong QB’s coach to work with Mark.  The Jets should invest in a running game.  Steven Jackson will be a free agent soon, and he would like another chance at winning.  His price range may be too high for the Jets but they should consider knocking on that door.  They still have stars.  Maybe if they trade a guy like Muhammad Wilkerson OR Darelle Revis, they will get a bunch of draft picks back- maybe even a number one.  Remember, the Rams still have picks from their RGIII trade with Washington, and they are trying to find building blocks and Wilkerson would definitely be looked at as something they would want.  Would that be worth it? 

As it relates to media relations, this won’t get better unless the team gets better.  But even then, there are some feelings that need to be mended.  Its clear that several in the media are feeling ignored and not being given a story and don’t expect for them to continue to speculate, thereby giving the reader and the fanbase something to worry about.   Lately, the boastful and talkative Jets have gone into bunker mode.  What is the deal there?  The Jets will certainly have many questions to answer.  Once they find a new GM perhaps some of those answers will be given by an actual member of the Jets hierarchy.

While the Jets are majoring in confusion and outright non-commital, the Giants are in a different state of mind.  They were left with no answers as to why they no-showed their week 15 and week 16 contests against two playoff teams while demolishing the pathetic Eagles (there was no homer-ism in that description of the Eagles, just outright contempt.  Please note the difference).  Changes are coming for the Giants and one change that seemed imminent is now as close to official as can be: Osi Umeniyora announced on the Michael Kay show that he probably won’t be returning to the Giants and he will test the open market.  Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News writes that panic isn’t setting in on the Giants, a team who came within one game of making the playoffs.  Paul Schwartz of the Post writes that it won’t be easy identifying what exactly happened in those week 15 and week 16 games, but it won’t be tough to know what needs to be done.  Zach Shonbrun of the New York Times writes that remorse is the word around Giants camp.  Remorse that a quality team didn’t get to defend its Super Bowl title.  Finally Ohm Yungmisuk of ESPNNY writes the same thing only with hilarious quotes from Martellus Bennett.

I’m not going to try and figure out weeks 15 and 16.  The usual flat performance that we’ve come to expect was the immediate answer following each loss, but it never seemed to accurately describe what happened.  Losing 34-0 to a Falcons team that shouldn’t have soundly beat the Giants?  Losing 33-14 to a team and a QB who had issues galore?  It just didn’t seem right.  If it was lack of focus and intensity then doesn’t some of that fall on the coaching staff?  Just trusting that a team that has done it before will pick it up automatically won’t be an easy sell to a fanbase that went into the season and especially after blowout wins against the 49ers and the Packers.  Clearly the talent is there to compete and a returning core will be a good start, but with almost two dozen players becoming either restricted or unrestricted free agents (here is a list) there will certainly be a good amount of change at the Timex center come next season.  

IF I had to guess who is definitely coming back from that list, I would say that Stevie Brown, Victor Cruz, Andre Brown (all restricted free agents), Lawrence Tynes, Kevin Boothe, Will Beatty, Sean Locklear,  Bear Pascoe, Adrian Tracy aka YOsi (young Osi), and Domenik Hixon.  Guys I would like to be re-signed but are iffy because of either price or shaky health are, Kenny Phillips, Martellus Bennett, Rocky Bernard, Ramses Barden, Chase Blackburn, and Keith Rivers.  Every other guy on that list is a goner in my eyes.  The Giants had another good to great year on the offensive line but saw too much of their health depleted.  

If I were in charge of the draft, I would try to find an offensive lineman (you draft tackles because they are usually the best athletes), before they find a pass rusher.  I think the Giants just had a off season in terms of pass rushing and Perry Fewell made the mistake of trusting that his line would apply pressure without any stunts or blitzes.  That last game against the Eagles, the Giants used a lot of stunts and linebacker blitzes and created a ton of turnovers.  That may be a blueprint for how Fewell designs pressure in the upcoming season.  The Giants line were not winning their one on ones which they were used to winning, so perhaps mixing in some pressure from the LB’s and corners along with winning some one on one match ups will help but the team needs to begin to play with more fire.  Maybe next year they won’t enter week 16 and 17 having to win games just to make it into the playoffs.  This is still a team capable of winning a Super Bowl and the window is right now open. As Martellus Bennett hilariously put it, 

“It is a big a– window, we are not talking about apartment windows on the side. We are talking like mansions.  Like [Evander] Holyfield’s house in Atlanta where he had people working the grounds for you,” the tight end continued. “I don’t think the window is closing. I think there are other guys coming in to open up another window.”

That remains to be seen.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

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January 2, 2013 · 12:35 am

Black Monday and beginnings

I want to begin by telling you emphatically that this is NOT A RESOLUTIONS article.  I’m not doing this to tell you how much better my life will be thanks to a new found purpose in my life to write.  I’m merely going to try to be more regular on this thing than I have ever been.  In what format or what I will choose to focus isn’t really the point, I’m more just going to do what I feel, and write what I want to write about and let the critics be damned.  All three of you.  So instead of confining myself to sports, I may one day decide that I want to review a movie that I just saw (chances are that won’t happen that often because I only go to theatres for the action stuff, and well I’m just not that well versed).  Maybe I will throw my two cents in on this fiscal cliff, if I’ve somehow managed to stay on as opposed to falling off it.  The point is, I want to use this as a sounding board until my voice becomes clear to me- if that even makes sense to any of you.

So when I thought about what I wanted to write about with my very first foray into 2013 analysis, I found a ton of material on beginnings and ends.  Seven head coaches, and four GM’s woke up this morning in the NFL not knowing where their next paycheck will come from.  All of them with families and other support systems that depend on their salaries to provide.  But the fact is no one would argue with any of their firings.  One coach in particular, the longest tenured head coach in the four major sports, was let go and you could have swore that it was years in the making.  Andy Reid has never been a popular man in Philly.  His faults were right there before us and as a Giants fan, and a Philadelphia hater, there was always this little glimmer of hope that he would screw up a big decision.  One thing you couldn’t deny was his ability to coach and prepare his teams.  His record speaks to a level of consistency that allowed the Eagles to not only build a new stadium through its revenue accrued through years and years of building a winner, but also tells a tale of what truly matters.

If fourteen years and 5 NFC Championship games with one Super Bowl trip (a loss to the Patriots) is looked upon as failure then you’re probably a local yoke who’s had an ax to grind with Reid for years.  But stepping away from the 215, you can be sure that Reid is nationally looked upon as a successful coach who could set his team up for success but just couldn’t go all the way.  Eight out of the 14 years, he led them to 10+ wins.  Compare that with the previous 14 seasons, with 3 head coaches, the Eagles did that 7 times, four with Buddy Ryan at the helm.  There’s something to be said about that kind of consistency and much of that can be credited to Reid and the front office.  Fourteen year tenures don’t happen in pro sports and its something to be marveled at when considering the longevity that he was able to have.

But no one will deny that a clean break was needed for all parties.  Sometimes that’s what’s needed.  The Browns got a new owner, and realized that the Pat Shurmur, Tom Heckert combination had to go because a new regime had come to town.  Ken Whisenhunt lost his job once the losing streak of the Arizona Cardinals reached a mind numbing 10 after starting the season off 4-0.  Meanwhile, the only member of Whisenhunt’s staff that didn’t get released was Ray Horton who led a pretty solid defensive unit and is widely considered a very hot coaching commodity.  God forbid, the Cardinals should lose the next Mike Tomlin from right underneath their noses.  Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson handed power over to Russ Brandon and they fired Chan Gailey one of many should be assistants who got promoted to head coach and realized they were in way over their head.  Speaking of guys who should be coordinators, Norv Turner returns to the market and is available to any team hoping for a quick fix.  Who knows he could wind up in NY to try and salvage the Jets QB situation if they find that trading Mark Sanchez is near impossible.  The task of figuring it out will not be Mike Tannenbaum’s.  The Jets GM was fired but Woody Johnson, the owner of the Jets, kept Rex Ryan basically throwing all the blame of this season’s sub .500 record at the feet of the man making the personnel decisions.  Oh and coaches who should be coordinators aren’t just offensive guys, Romeo Crennel had his second head coaching stint end in horrible fashion with a 2-14 mark and a legion of Kansas City fans hoping and praying for Black Monday to come.

The one that really surprised people were Lovie Smith.  After starting the season off at 7-1, Smith saw his Bears lose their status and their ability to control their own fate.  Ultimately they watched Adrian Peterson run wild, sowing up the MVP award in the process and almost set the single season record falling 9 yards short.  A 10-6 record should buy you a one year window at the least, but Bears fans have had 9 seasons of Lovie and while the show was often a good one, it went on too long without a good enough finish to warrant more of the same.

So what if anything did we learn?  Easy, that winning doesn’t guarantee you a job, but losing guarantees that you won’t have one.  That despite all the assurances you get from your boss midseason, that can change in a hurry.  What we didn’t learn from Black Monday?  Simple- how to figure out who’s the best person for each job.  If we did, then perhaps there would be no firings.  Hiring employees is a very tough job, but hiring someone to lead employees is an even tougher job.  The person has to be a willing listener and a fervent believer in what he’s doing.  He has to inspire while maintaining a level of humanity that players can go and feel heard.  He has to be someone feared but loved.  He has to be someone everyone is willing to believe in.  The head coach has many tasks that sometimes don’t get told to them when they are hired for the job.  The responsibilities are endless.

I remember watching the Tom Coughlin documentary via the NFL Life series on the NFL Network and saw how he had to change aspects of his personality to reach his team.  Sometimes that kind of wholesale change is necessary.  He kept his belief in strict but fair.  He continued to insist on the five minute rule.  He worked his players into a unit that doesn’t beat itself.  He shaped a champion but he did that while changing parts of himself for the betterment of the team.  I don’t pretend to know what it takes to be a successful head coach.  That is a round the year job that has no real rest period.  Their busy season lasts from July till hopefully February if everything works out right.  That’s when they work 18-20 hour days during the week, see their families occasionally and if they are good even have to miss holidays.  Then they get a few weeks off before having to go into day long meetings about shaping the team for the future as the NFL Draft approaches.  It takes a level of commitment that has to be evident from the moment they enter a staff.

The 95 Browns documentary from the same NFL Life series showcased a staff that had a ton of familiar names but back then, they were middling coaches and paper pushers hoping for an opportunity.  The level of focus and attention to detail oftentimes begins there.  Its easy to say now that certain guys would make it but who’s to say that Bill Belichieck is this special had Tom Brady not still been on the board at pick 199?  Nick Saban was the defensive coordinator at Cleveland, and he’s had success as a head coach…in college.  He’s still trying to destroy footage of his Miami years.  Kirk Ferentz is also successful at college but only doing a mediocre job.  Jim Schwartz, after a year, has watched his team regress in Detroit.  Then there’s Thomas Dmitroff who has GM’d the Falcons into a number one seed….that evidently NOBODY is afraid of.

There really isn’t any real indicator of future success to point to when looking for a head coach.  Its trial and error.  You will pick a winner and sometimes you will pick a loser, but like any good poker player you have to know when to fold them.  Seven teams will be looking to make a change this offseason.  Seven teams will turn their fortunes over to the hands of a head coach who will come in with a thick binder and a set of skills that either will impress or overwhelm the employer into giving them the job.  But sometimes its just about walking in to the right door and into the right situation.  14 years ago, Andy Reid did.  He took that team from 3-13 in 1998 to 11 wins just two years later.  Lovie Smith took a 7-9 team to 11 wins two years later and a Super Bowl appearance a year later.  In these two instances, Reid had the opportunity with that 1999 team to draft a franchise QB in Donovan McNabb and Lovie Smith took over a team that three years prior had gone 13-3.  They had both walked into favorable situations, and taken advantage.  There’s an opportunity awaiting the next Eagles head coach, the next Bears head coach, the next Chargers head coach, the next Browns head coach and the next Bills head coach as well.  There’s a chance that somebody will walk through that door and get the opportunity they so richly deserve and they were truly fit for.  Until then, there will be more head scratching hires and more reason to doubt.  The lesson here is, there is no formula for success, but we do know the recipe for disaster.

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November 30, 2012 · 1:49 pm

David Wright, the myth of a superstar

David WrightDavid Wright has agreed to sign the rest of his life away to the New York Mets, agreeing to the richest contract the franchise has ever given out.  The total value of the contract will net him $138 million, making him the highest paid Met.  EVER.

I’ve never been a David Wright fan.  I’ve always felt like his value has been overstated because of his Derek Jeter like presence in the club.  He’s a good looking guy who plays the game hard and never becomes back page folly.  He avoids any and all kind of blame, an amazing feat considering he’s viewed as the leader of a New York sports franchise.  Ask Patrick Ewing what it was like never winning a championship in New York and having to come into work amongst fans who blamed him for it.

The thing is not every player is Derek Jeter.  He’s won five championships.  He dates super duper models*.  He sends women gift baskets after he’s had his way with them at night.  He’s a living legend in almost every right.  When he reaches a milestone, he does so in style.  See, getting his 3,000th hit while hitting a home run.  And judging by his stats from last year reports of his decline were very much said too soon.
*=He dated Miss Universe.  You know how many guys get to date women on that scale?  And he did so publicly with an Indian woman at that.  Do you understand what that entails when a non indian man decides to date an indian woman?  Did her parents just never pick up a paper?  Were they Yankee fans and were excited that their daughter was dating the shortstop and future hall of famer? Miracle worker this Derek Jeter.

But David Wright, as stated above, is no Derek Jeter and the fact is no matter how many toothy smiles he gives he won’t ever resonate with the Met fan base the way Jeter does with the Yankee fan base.  If he’s our Derek Jeter than we’re as third class as every Yankee fan claims.  Its not to say that Wright isn’t a great player.  He is, but he’s not what we think he is and he’s not what we based his new contract on.

Most Met fans are rejoicing in the news that David Wright will be a Met for life.  I’m not.  He’s not a great fielder, he’s a good fielder.  He’s not a great clutch hitter.  In fact he’s very rarely clutch.  He’s got great stats but he racks up those numbers in meaningless games.  He’s the leader of a team that has not had a winning record in four seasons.  This is the guy you paid $138 million to over the final seven seasons.

I’m sorry if you’re waiting for stats to back up my case here.  But I don’t need them.  I’ve watched 90% of Mets games that Wright has played in and he does two things well: he racks up stats during blowouts and he smiles well enough to engender compassion and gratefulness.  The biggest argument that most Mets fans have is look at his statistics.  And I will argue back that they have not seen him in situations over the last few years with the chance to drive in more runs where he failed by doing the absolute worst thing you can do in those situations: strike out.  You can give me any advanced metric you want to play up Wright but he doesn’t pass the all important eye test.  Any real fan, who truly cares and watches the team as closely as I do (yes I’m being perfectly objective when I say this), knows what I’m talking about.  He doesn’t strike fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers and there are enough holes in his swing that pitchers feel confident enough to get him out.  That’s not a superstar.  That’s a star.

But in our ever present struggle with Yankee fans the Mets fans have put it in their heads that Wright is our Jeter and that argument falls on completely deaf ears as well.  He’s not.  He doesn’t have the rings, or the general ability to come through that Jeter has shown throughout his career.  Wright does many things well, but all in moderation, making him a superstar by default because there’s some unwritten rule that says every team MUST have a superstar.  But that mandate doesn’t sit well with me and shouldn’t for Mets fans.  When a guy of superstar ilk comes along, you will know him.  He walks different.  He gives you confidence in any and every situation.  You don’t dread his at bats like a kid waiting for a report card.  But the Mets fans have decided to look past the eye test and enjoy the illusion.  And the Mets in turn have paid him handsomely to keep the fan base playing up to that illusion.  Its a win win for both sides.

All of that to secure the services of a home grown star and avoid any further embarrassment.  This deal doesn’t secure the Mets first winning record in five years.  This only secures the Mets ongoing war with the press to win their half hearted approval.  Not signing Wright would’ve meant mutiny within the fan base and total bashing by every media outlet in New York for an ownership group who (literally) can’t afford to lose any more paying customers.  In reality, Wright is the only thing clean about this Mets franchise and the only pristine thing in the whole organization.  The Coupon family couldn’t let him walk away.  Then the focus would be completely on them and they couldn’t have that.  They can now throw David Wright in front of the fire before it reaches them but the truth is no one blames him because everyone knows what a complete screw up they are in the first place.  Really, who can look bad standing next to the Coupon family?  Doesn’t Wright become bigger and better in light of the Coupon family’s distressing financial situation and idiotic decision-making?

But is that the right reason for signing Wright?  Did the Mets compromise their own team for the next few seasons by signing Wright to a deal that could financially cripple them for years to come?  If this contract is backloaded and there truly is a “hard cap” that even has the Steinbrenners running to shave a few million off the edges, exactly how much money will the Mets have to throw around on a 25 man roster?  We know now that Sandy Alderson was brought in to cut payroll and fatten the farm system up.    But will he stay long enough to reap the rewards when the next two seasons could entail more of the same?

The Mets are looking at 2014 as the year of the purge.  When Johan Santana’s contract and Jason Bay’s contract magically disappear off the payroll.  But what will happen next is anybody’s guess.  We’re hoping that a bunch of kids mixed in with a free agent or two will mesh perfectly to finally reward Met fans for their patience.  Patience that has been long waning thanks to ponzi schemes and putzes running the organization.  But the feeling is that the David Wright signing begins a new era in Mets land.  A promise that the payroll restrictions aren’t as crippling as people think.  That the Mets can drop an ineffective player regardless of salary ramifications (see Bay, Jason).  That the Mets do care about the product on the field and the fans who pay to see them play by signing talented home grown players that fans have seen age before their very eyes.  That the fans have a legacy player in the ilk of a Tom Seaver because they were robbed of that with Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden.

I agree that the Mets deserve those things and should get those things, but let’s remember one thing:  the goal is to win and get better.  I woke up this morning to the news of David Wright’s signing not sure if we accomplished either goal.

 

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November 16, 2012 · 11:26 pm

Post game react: Knicks vs. Spurs

Tony Parker had just delivered another pinpoint pass to Tiago Splitter who had somehow managed to score the Spurs last 12 points (and also had outscored the Knicks 12-5 in the 4th quarter up until that point) and while finishing the dunk, Tyson Chandler fouled Splitter hard.  Some of it was frustration and some of it was the inability of the Knicks to control Tony Parker’s ability to find the open man on a consistent basis.  But there was an extra muscle added to that foul.

The lead ballooned to 11 and it seemed as though the Spurs were on the kind of run that good teams manage to negotiate in critical moments of games.

And yet there was 7:14 left in the game.  A timeout was called.  Splitter hit the free throw and the Knicks came right back up without missing a beat and Raymond Felton decided he wasn’t going to be outdone by his point guard counterpart.  He drove to the hoop and had an opportunity to get the and one but failed.  But the foul by Parker was a loud snap on the wrist of Felton and it seemed as though both teams were beginning to get chippy.

Much of the premise of last night’s game was that this was going to be the Knicks first real test.  They had written off the Miami win as a product of an emotionally charged Knick team playing for a noble purpose that Miami almost felt guilty about ruining.  Translated: the Miami Heat gave up on that game the moment they stepped foot in to superstorm Sandy ravaged New York and the moment Wade made his now infamous comments about the game which made him give up his salary to benefit relief efforts. The Sixers were playing without Andrew Bynum and were a mess offensively without their anchor in the middle.  And of course the Magic were a lottery team.  All valid arguments.  Yet, how could you possibly do it this time to a Spurs team who picked up right where they left off from last year’s 50 win regular season.

So there were the Knicks 7 minutes away from validating everyone’s eyebrow raising over the Knicks 5-0 start.  They were going to lose to an actual contender that everyone had penciled in for, at the very least, the Western Conference semis.  The Knicks for the second straight game turned it on in the fourth quarter and began to pull away thanks to a strong defensive effort.  But it came from two places that one couldn’t have possibly seen coming.

Stephen Jackson said of Carmelo Anthony following the game: “I think last year Melo would have forced a lot of shots,” Jackson said. “This year he’s trusting his teammates and it’s shown out there, especially tonight. It’s amazing how they went from two guys shooting all the balls to a team that everybody has confidence in everybody else.’’

There he was with the Knicks down 6, getting an entry pass with a clear look at the basket and passing off to Tyson Chandler who had a clear path for a dunk and an and one.  If that weren’t enough for you Carmelo doubters there was this: with the Knicks down by a single point, following a steal by Kidd on a bad pass from Manu Ginobli, Kidd fed Melo for what usually would’ve been one of Melo’s patented stop and pop three point shots.  Instead he faked, took a quick step towards the rim, saw the defense collapsing on him and passed to Felton who was cutting towards the basket from the opposite side.  It was critical from this sense: Kidd from the moment he began pushing saw Melo working his way up the court in transition and anyone in Kidd’s position would’ve expected Melo to shoot the ball or take the ball to the hole there and initiate contact and, best case scenario, get an and one.  Its why Melo is paid the big bucks: he’s the best player on the Knicks.  Their best offensive player.

But last night was not Melo’s night offensively.  The defensive pressuring of Stephen Jackson, Kawhi Leonard, and the doubling of Melo when others would switch defensively had done a number on Melo.  So there was Melo feeding the guy who had the hot hand: Ray Felton on what would’ve been an easy lay up had Tim Duncan’s hall of fame shadow not shown up to dismiss that thought from Felton’s brain.  Felton immediately turned his body and saw JR Smith waiting for the ball and for the moment.  Three point.  Gun shots.

But that was NOT the end.  There’s something equally impressive Melo managed to do on the following possession by the Spurs.  With the Spurs trying to recover from a backbreaking JR Smith 3 to give the Knicks their first lead of the quarter, the Spurs kept going east and west, and when the ball finally landed in Kawhi Leonard’s arms, Melo SOMEHOW angled his body away from Kawhi Leonard who was scared of taking the corner three thanks to Melo’s crazy waving arms and couldn’t get the shot off in time.  24 second violation.  Imagine that.  Carmelo going from making the unselfish offensive move to the rotating defense that caused a shot clock violation.  Was there a better indication of whether Carmelo “gets it”?

It was always the big question about Carmelo: did he understand what it took to play on both ends?  Everyone knew what he was offensively: a me first guy who put the team second.  Who could play that kind of way because his offense was just so good sometimes that even in the face of double teams he could manage to get off shots and make them that made you shake your head.  Those makes, reinforced in Carmelo’s mind perhaps that maybe it was ok to hoist those shots.  Even when people (stats included) told Melo that playing the 4 would make him unstoppable, early on he resisted.

But he’s been everything the Knicks had ever hoped for him to be.  A superstar understanding what it takes to win.  That in the course of 82 games, not every shot will fall, but when there’s a match up that is working like Raymond Felton against Tony Parker, that you go to it.  That when there’s an open man you trust your teammates to make the shot.  Those realizations are huge and if Carmelo gets it and I mean truly gets it, the sky is truly the limit.  He’s trying on the defensive end like I had seen from him in spots last season.  He’s buying in to Coach Woodson’s system.

Then there’s the ageless wonder Jason Kidd.  Kidd had said prior to the season that he didn’t care to play major minutes.  He came to mentor Jeremy Lin.  But most important, in those critical final four to five minutes of a tight ball game, he wanted in.  He wanted the opportunity to help the Knicks win.  Well, two out of three aint bad.  He once again proved his worth by playing stellar defense and doing all the little things during the course of the game and when Tony Parker’s slashing and Tiago Splitter’s offense was destroying everything in its path, it was Kidd who like in the Orlando game had managed to calm the Knicks down as things seemed to be going against them, calmly hit two threes back to back to cut a 12 point lead to 6 and inject life to a hapless Knicks squad.

Huge swings of momentum are gifts given to teams by fortune, but sometimes players can force nature’s hand and cause it all by themselves.  And when the Knicks needed to hit a back breaking three to extend the 2 point lead, there was Jason Kidd with a hand in his face, off balance hitting his final three of the night to put the Knicks up 5.  There are players who have a sense of timing about these things and when you have a veteran laden team you’re bound to have a couple who get it.  This is why Kidd was brought to this team.  These are the moments he desired to be a part of.  These are the situations he was born to lead and direct.  There he was playing maestro and the lead role.

There’s much to like about this Knicks team.  And I haven’t even got to the point guard situation yet which is light years ahead of what last year’s team had.  But if you’re not a fan of Melo “getting it” or of J.R. Smith changing his outlook on the sixth man role or Jason Kidd, Rasheed Wallace, Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas’ combined experience being a good omen for this squad then you’re not a Knicks fan. But that’s alright.  But as a basketball team when you see a team playing together.  Understanding roles.  Having each other’s back.  Its just fun to watch.

This is great basketball.  Who would’ve thunk that meant New York Knick basketball.

NOTES:

– Tim Duncan said it all when he glanced at Carmelo Anthony’s point total and said ”  “You assume we win that game.”  So would everyone else Timmy.  The Big Fundamental joined the rest of the Spurs organization in singing the Knicks praises after a gutty comeback win by the Knicks in which the Knicks showed mental toughness and the ability to pull a comeback with their best star only scoring 9 points.  It indeed is a new age for the Knicks who are probably as shocked as their opponents are at how great Anthony is playing on both ends.  He’s the epitome of a leader and in my opinion is doing what he needs to do to shed all the previous labels that stuck through his career.  It will be interesting to see how long this new attitude by Melo can last but having this many veterans on the team, especially guys with rings can ONLY help.  Right?

– Again, all of these are small sample sizes but right now Raymond Felton is playing the kind of basketball that begs the question: Does the New York Knick uniform give him super powers?  Many had attributed his success in his first stint with the Knicks to playing in D’Antoni’s uptempo system.  Of course many had also made the Pudge Felton jokes too.  But perhaps the Woodson system that asks him to slow it down here and there and penetrate through screens and get assists through pick and rolls (which he’s building quite the rapport with Tyson Chandler by the way), is the best system he’s been a part of.  Lin was brought to the Rockets where he would be head of an offense that he was probably as aptly suited for as the D’Antoni system.  But Lin is still having his turnover issues whereas the Knicks are NOT.

– One of the biggest surprises of the early season has been the almost allergic reaction to turnovers that the Knicks have.   Zack Lowe of Grantland says that not only would it be historic, its a clip thats unsustainable.  That tweet, got him in so much hot water from Knick fans who attacked him as a hater.  BUT, the fact is, to expect the Knicks will go an entire season averaging 10 turnovers a game, is not realistic and fans can expect that number to go up as the season progresses.  But that’s not the only thing that the Knicks are doing that bear watching and Knick fans can expect to regress:  JR Smith is currently hitting 70% of his 3 point field goals.  The Knicks are also beating teams by over 13 points.  But then there’s the poor shooting of Steve Novak, the inclusion of Amar’e Stoudemire which at the very least will help the offense (maybe?) and the return of Iman Shumpert that should help the team defensively so there are some things that bear watching.

– The game tonight against the Grizzlies is probably going to be closely watched by those in NBA circles to see the Knicks ability to respond after an emotional win against the Spurs.  Should they win tonight, the Knicks would almost definitely have to be taken seriously by the talking heads of the NBA who marginally praised them following the win against the Spurs.  The Grizz feature Zack Randolph and Marc Gasol- the best front court they have faced thus far.  It will be interesting to see toned down Carmelo giving up 30 pounds to Z-Bo in the paint.  That will be very loud match up.

Other than Marc Gasol, I think the player I’m most impressed with on that roster has to be Mike Conley who, at one time, had one of the worst contracts when he first signed it, but over time has justified the investment by getting better in increments.  That’s all you can ask for from your team’s point guard.  It will be interesting to see the Mike Conley and Ray Felton match up tonight.

 

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November 15, 2012 · 7:53 pm

Knicks vs. Magic Post game react

The New York Knicks remained undefeated at 5-0 thanks to another stellar effort defensively in the fourth quarter.  Led by superstar Carmelo Anthony’s 25 points and team high 8 rebounds, the Knicks held their fourth team in five games to under 90 points and won by double digits for the fifth time in as many games.

Read that sentence over again and try to comprehend what’s going on.  Is this really happening?  Can this be happening?  Does this even seem right?  It seems about as probable as a hurricane devastating thousands in New York or a reputable energy company being unable to restore power to thousands of homes in the most densely populated city in all of America.

But all of these things are and continue to happen.  The fact is, the Knicks are a team in every sense of the word and it’s almost comical now to see NBA TV on a nightly basis try to explain how that came to be.  Buy and sell segments are being filed nightly on sports talk shows and its 50/50: those that have seen this act before in small samples and refuse to believe in its longevity, and those who are willing to take a leap of faith that these Knicks as presently constructed are as good as they are showing.

 Well, its not a question of talent- clearly the names speak for themselves.  It’s how long this act can keep up and how the act will change once Amar’e Stoudemire returns to the lineup.   Coach Mike Woodson has pushed all the right buttons and has gotten through to notorious knuckleheads like J.R. Smith who last night poured in 21 points on what was an off night for the Knick offense.

 Coach Woodson has a team held together by a belief that if they play team basketball they will win.  A simple enough concept but when you realize who this message is going to, the task becomes more and more difficult.  J.R. Smith?  Carmelo Anthony?  Two players who have a reputation of being me-first everybody else second players are buying into the team first mentality that Coach Woodson preached before the season began.  Remember, it was Coach Woodson who began the season by letting players know that if they didn’t buy in they wouldn’t get an opportunity to play.  That message was extended to all players- not just non-superstars and I guess the message stuck.

 Now the magic trick becomes this:  how to get Amar’e Stoudemire to buy in as well?  We knew he had eye issues, knee issues (two microfracture surgeries) and back issues but it’s a mystery what’s keeping him out of games at the moment.  A knee procedure put him on the sideline and will eventually get him back on the court but at what level and exactly what mental state?

 This is a guy who was heralded as the savior of the franchise when he was the lone superstar to take the big city plunge in the famed free agent class of 2010.  He played like an MVP through half the year when, right from under him, the owner who gave him an insurance free contract of 5 years and $100 million, traded for Carmelo Anthony and in turn found himself a new team savior.  Since then Amar’e has played like a player in purgatory.  Not knowing whether to play leader of a franchise he’s no longer the apple of the owner’s eye of, or to play as a dynamic wing man to Carmelo Anthony’s lead role.  The uneasy co-existence over the last year and a half have led many to believe that the relationship can’t work and have ruled out the Knicks from any kind of championship contention.

 Of course, a strong willed coach who knows how to control a locker room can make the easy decision: tell Amar’e when he gets back that he’s the sixth man and he will anchor the team’s second unit which has proven to be a strength.  The current line up with Felton, Kidd, Brewer, Melo (as an undersized 4) and Chandler has been effective begging the question why Amar’e would want to break up a good thing.  Of course that may not even be Coach Woodson’s decision to make.

Many outside the team have held this belief that the Knicks are run by CAA.  Many of their clients are under the employ of the Knicks and it comes as no surprise either.  Then again, James Dolan still calls Isiah Thomas a close friend despite the fact that he drove the Knicks into such an embarrassing state with the Anucha Brown scandal and blunder after blunder with the team’s roster shaping as GM.  What is clear is that what’s best for this franchise right now is to have Amar’e buy in really early. 

 What’s ironic is that if Amar’e really wants to be the leader he was excited to be in 2010 when he came to NY and declared to the NBA world that the Knicks were back, he would announce that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help continue this success.  He would take on whatever role Mike Woodson gives him.  But again the question that’s begging to be asked is: who is going to make that decision?  With the Knicks you never know.

 

NOTES:

Orlando’s offense and surprisingly stingy defense made this a close game till the fourth quarter when the Knick defense overwhelmed the upstart Magic squad into a meager thirteen 4th quarter points.  The Knicks pulled a Magic act of their own- transforming the Magic back into the team that- to borrow a phrase from former NFL head coach Dennis Green- they are who we thought they were.  Lacking a go-to scorer, though Magic Center Nikola Vucevic was doing his best impersonation of one, the Magic couldn’t get any easy buckets when the Knicks tightened up.  Eventually the Knicks pulled away despite the Magic’s best intentions to keep it close.

 The credit post game was given to Jason Kidd’s demeanor in the huddle as he calmed his teammates down as things were beginning to get a little tight amongst the Knicks who were seeing their perfect season go down to a team many expected to be competing for a lottery pick.

 That’s the beauty of this team:  there are too many veteran players on this team that perspective and leadership won’t be lacking.  If the veterans hold the stars to a standard on a nightly basis it will be interesting to see how far they can maximize the talents on this team.

– One guy I was impressed with on the Magic is St Johns’ and Queens product Mo Harkless.  He’s a guy that’s a part of this youth movement going on as a result of the Dwight Howard trade and I’m excited about how far this kid can go.  He’s got the skillset of a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the sense that he’s a jack of all trades and he’s got interesting dimensions to him that allows him to play defensively against a  number of positions.  He held his own against Carmelo Anthony last night.  Melo never had a comfortable shot last night and that’s a credit to Harkless’ defense and Melo’s solid night is a credit to how good a basketball player Carmelo Anthony is.

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November 12, 2012 · 7:06 pm

The Mystery and beauty of not knowing…that’s Showtime

The news this morning that Mike D’Antoni took the job as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers certainly raised eyebrows across the Association’s landscape.  For one, it was NOT the name that Los Angeleans had expected to hear be announced as the replacement to Mike Brown.  Most thought that Tuesday morning, when they held the press conference, Phil Jackson would come limping into the room and commandeering the super team that the Buss family and Mitch Kupchack had assembled.

Most NBA fans know that there’s only ONE guy who is truly qualified to deal with this many egos and one, Kobe Bryant.  There’s only one guy who can go death stare for death stare with Kobe and there’s only one guy that can truly hold Bryant accountable for his demeaning attitude towards teammates.  Phil Jackson has made a career of coaching the best and intertwining their massive egos and massive talents into a championship concoction and most automatically assumed that this was the perfect job for him.

But as we all know, sometimes the best laid plans wind up staying in the meeting room, never to see the light of day.  Most Laker fans assumed Phil would be their coach because usually this kind of stuff just falls into their lap like pigeon droppings do for others.  But the most interesting part of the next few days will be figuring how this all fell apart and why.  Because in the end, there are too many characters in this drama for it not to be a fun reconstruct for the avid basketball fan.

First, Mike Brown.  Brown was hired after Phil Jackson left the Lakers in 2010 winner of back to back championships the year before and having gone to the Finals 3 years in a row.  He won five titles in two separate stints with the famed franchise and was revered in L.A. as the guy who was the missing piece and quite possibly the greatest head coach in all of basketball.  Mike Brown was the guy who had won a ton of games with Lebron, but no NBA championship.  Brown came from the San Antonio Spur organization, a franchise run so well that I’m ESPN’s 30 for 30 crew is already working on interviews set for five years down the road when we will be seeing all the links to that team talk about how they became champions as a result of being a part of that organization.

Immediately from the start, many questioned LA’s hiring.  Curious to many since the players, fans and even Phil gave the head nod to Brian Shaw, longtime assistant head coach and Triangle disciple.  What many didn’t know is that Jim Buss, brother of Jeanne (Phil’s long time girlfriend) and son of Dr. Jerry Buss, wanted to move away from the slow down pace of the Triangle.  An offense too boring for a town too hip.  Its why they hired Rudy Tomjanovich the first time Phil left and its why they hired Mike Brown the second time Phil left because both promised a different style of basketball.  A more fun style.  Except, neither performed the task ownership set them out to do: recreate showtime and win championships.

Brown was known as a defensive minded coach, except the stats don’t bear that reputation out.  The Lakers went from the 8th best defensive team in Phil’s last season to 15th best defensively in Mike Brown’s first full year.  This season, Brown decided to change the offensive philosophy to play the Princeton offense.  There was a good news/bad news aspect to this change.  The good news is that philosophically it could have worked given what the team had: the Princeton offense’s main goal is to keep the ball moving and for points to be made through players taking advantage of the mismatch by doing back door cuts and executing flawless passing.  They had Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant who all are above average passers (Kobe haters, stop laughing at the notion that Kobe’s not a good passer.  Now, whether he wants to pass or not is a discussion for another day), and they had Steve Nash, a former two time MVP and top 5 point guard on the roster.  In the Princeton offense, there aren’t PG’s, G’s F’s or PF’s.  The concept is to keep passing the ball until there’s an open man found.  It depends on the passing ability of its players.  They hired Eddie Jordan, the guru of the Princeton offense, to run it.  The bad news was that meant limiting the ball in the hands of Steve Nash which is maybe NOT such a good idea considering he’s one of the best ball handlers in the NBA.  Even at age 38.

Brown came into the job on a work shortened season.  And then lucked out by having this super roster and even more super expectations placed on the team by both its fan base and its impatient ownership.  The Buss’ wanted a winner and an exciting one to boot.  Brown failed to do that and as they saw the team suffer they couldn’t continue watching it.

The next character is Phil Jackson.  As the Lakers opened the season up at 1-4, the fan base and the media began buzzing for Phil to return.  Looking at the roster, it was immediately clear to everyone that only Phil Jackson could come and save this team from itself.  Phil, for his part, had built a reputation for being able to coach the best players and guide them to titles through his Zen-like qualities.  His ability to massage egos and win at a remarkable rate was all the cred he needed to deal with those who came to clash with the super coach.  The spin from the Laker end will be that he asked for an ownership stake and for more say in personnel decisions, undercutting Jim Buss’ authority, and the spin from Phil’s side (already released) would be that he was willing to take the job as long as the money was right.  But the more I read it, the more it comes down to that the power struggle between he and Jim Buss would be too much of an elephant in the room for even Phil to figure out.  The Zen master does indeed want more power in his next location but perhaps asking for it from the Laker franchise was just a tiny poke at Jim Buss and to see how desperate they were to make this team work.

The third character would be those Buss’.  Its hard to figure who’s on Phil’s side and who wasn’t, but one thing is for sure:  Jeanne is still his girlfriend making her on his side.   That’s all we know, everything else is purely hearsay but there were plenty of whispers that Jim Buss and even Dr. Jerry Buss wanted to move away from the slow paced style of the Triangle to a more Showtime-esque offense that dazzled the NBA and the greater Los Angeles area in the 1980’s.  Of course it was led by Magic Johnson, who at 6’9 was as unique a point guard as there was in the NBA.  Dr Jerry Buss is as close to George Steinbrenner as you will get in the NBA.  An owner used to winning; accepting nothing less and paying whatever the cost to field a winner was not happy with the landscape of the NBA.  The Lakers seemed to be heading into the sunset of the Kobe Bryant era without being close to title contention, and that wasn’t acceptable.  So he, through Mitch Kupchack engineered the stunning Dwight Howard trade (as a result of the Nets falling out), and got Steve Nash for a bunch of second round picks and a bunch of basketballs.

And yet, even as the roster constructed seemed to put the Lakers in the drivers seat in the Western Conference they had entrusted Mike Brown to do so.  The moves may have started the clock on Mike Brown’s tenure because of the next two characters:

The next two characters are time and Dwight Howard.  This time last year, it seemed as though Dwight Howard was headed to Brooklyn one way or the other.  He was excited about teaming up with Deron Williams and playing out their careers together.  The Lakers wanted in on Dwight but were getting lukewarm responses from the former Orlando center.  Of course, as fate would have it and somehow it manages to all the time, Dwight put himself in a situation where he gave his team very limited time to work out a deal with Brooklyn, and ultimately wound up going to Los Angeles in a three team trade that saw the Lakers give up their own young big man, Andrew Brynum, but keep Pau Gasol.  Suddenly Dwight was in LA, and the Lakers had assembled a team capable of battling the OKC’s and the Miami’s of the world and were thrust into the championship chatter.

The problems are three fold:  Dwight is not a 100% at the moment.  Its clear that he hasn’t recovered from offseason back surgery and will probably require more rehab before we see the real dominant Dwight Howard.  Second, he’s a free agent in July of this year having not signed an extension with Los Angeles just yet.  Which makes this a probationary period in Los Angeles for Dwight.  With an 0-8 preseason and a 1-4 start, the early reviews were probably not good.  Third, the Lakers know that Dwight is the link to another great run.  They can’t afford to let him walk this offseason given the advanced age of the rest of their roster.  Kobe is in his 17th season, Pau is 32 and has been playing internationally since 18, and Steve Nash is 38 going on 51.

That leads us to the obvious character of time and time is NOT on the Laker’s side.  Time was cut short on Mike Brown thanks to a quirky 66 game schedule that was more a game of attrition for an old team like the Lakers.  Many people had fun poking at the Knicks for their advanced age and yet, the average age of their starting five is 30.4 (that’s without Amar’e, which would ultimately alter their line up and replace Kidd who’s 39 with Amar’e who’s 30 on 11/16 and would give them an average age of 29) while the Lakers average age of their starting five is 32.8 (that’s with Steve Nash, but even replacing him with Steve Blake would still make them 31.6).  That’s significant when understanding the urgency to win a championship this year which would convince Dwight to stay for the long term.  If all Dwight knows is complete and utter chaos, then his Laker career will be short lived and all those good tidings that came with his trade to LA will disappear.  We’ve seen how Dwight can flip flop between allegiances and loyalty and anything is fair game.  Besides, judging by their advanced age, they have a two to maybe a three year window to win.  Oh and by the way, that window coincides with Lebron James entering his physical prime, which by the way could also result in the greatest statistical 5-7 year run in all of basketball.  EVER.

And in my opinion, Dwight’s future is the impetus in all of this.  The coaching change so quickly into what promises to be an 82 game marathon showed the Lakers inability to wait for the team to adjust to each other.  The Lakers signed a brand new lucrative television deal that will ultimately pay them royally thanks to the Kobe Bryant era.  In order to keep them interesting and keep the rising Clipper team in their place, the Lakers have to ensure that the transition from the Kobe Bryant Lakers to the Dwight Howard Lakers go as smoothly as the other ones have: with rings.  The Lakers are at another moment in their franchise’s history where they had to make an important decision for the sake of the team.

But ultimately this will show that as much as winning is a priority in the Staples Center, its not the ONLY thing.  Its about selling tickets and merchandise and keeping them relevant in a very crowded marketplace.  In a few years a football team will join Los Angeles and with their co-tenants having two superstars in tow, the pressure is mounting on a very old Laker team to be champions again.  Was Phil Jackson pricing himself out?  Or was it that the Buss’ were tired of being held up by Phil without a gun.  Any opportunist would see this moment in Laker history and understand the significance of having a winner.  While the Lakers will be good without Phil, everyone knows they can be world champions WITH him.  And that was done WITHOUT the kind of star power they have now.  So what to make of the D’Antoni signing?

Simple.  In the end, ownership is always the final say.  Forget the fans.  Forget the players.  While the influence can be strong, a very strong ownership can ultimately override all of them.  The Buss’ were not willing to give Phil what he wanted because what he wanted was theirs.  All of the credit, and all of the love would have gone to Phil had this pre-assembled lineup won a championship.  And that in the end was not something Mitch Kupchack, or the Buss’ wanted.  This ownership group survived one power struggle with Phil and Shaq against Kobe and they feel they can survive another.

Mike D’Antoni will open up the offense and will utilize the team’s talent to make them into a great offense.  It will make them into as close to the Showtime teams used to be which should appease the fanbase. They will win a ton of regular season games, but that goes without saying.  But what will they do when they get into the playoffs and teams with great front court depth begin wearing them out and slowing down the pace.  We’ve seen this with the D’Antoni Suns of the mid 2000’s.  The only problem is, they were dealing with an early 30’s Steve Nash leading the break and had young, quick playmakers who could run up and down the court and wear teams out.  Who’s running this team at a breakneck pace?  Kobe Bryant with his young legs at 34?  Maybe Antawn Jamison at 36 off the bench? Maybe its Dwight with the bad back.  Or Metta World Peace who will somehow be confused into letting go of this self held notion that he’s a prolific 3 point shooter and he’ll run.

Unfortunately the statistics have held that the problem was not the offense.  It was the defense.  The problem is they gave Mike Brown 5 games in the regular season to make them into a team when that’s never going to work especially given the team they’ve assembled.  The problem is that Dwight’s not at 100% and Steve Nash has played exactly one game with this team.  So before people begin to wonder about the Lakers and Phil Jackson, remember that the problems don’t end because they shut the door for Phil to return.  No, they opened the door to the more obvious problem that now circles the Lakers should they be unable to win a title this year, and lose Dwight Howard in free agency (which would be worst case scenario): maybe the Lakers don’t want to win anymore.  May be they are just ok with competing and being competitive and selling out their arena and collecting the rewards of all those Phil Jackson-Kobe Bryant-Pau Gasol-Shaquille O’Neal titles.  Maybe the Buss’ don’t want to give control to a guy that knows how to work around their present problems.

Or maybe Mike D’Antoni will re-work this line up and figure out what he did wrong in Phoenix and NY and become a great coach.  Maybe this will work out for the Lakers like it always does.  Maybe Dwight will re-sign with the Lakers and the Lakers will have one more major move to make before the trading deadline that will make them younger and more dangerous.  Who knows?  The fantastic part is, the less we know the juicier the story becomes.  At the end of the season, none of the build up or the hype will matter because we will know the ending.  The best part of the story is now.  The best part of the story is not knowing how the movie ends.  That’s LA!  That’s Showtime!

 

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November 12, 2012 · 12:48 pm

Thoughts on the Knicks start, why its all one guy, and how the Olympics shaped it.

Knick fans woke up this morning again to the news that their team was 4-0 and probably assumed this was an eerily too real dream that they would rather be asleep for.  Lord only knows how wide awake they were for those Isiah teams and those that played to the tune of no defense and not enough offense that left the Garden faithful talking up the team’s what ifs rather than what actually happened.

But the dream isn’t dead yet.  Your Knicks may be this good.  At the very least, we know this: when the effort is there, this team can and WILL compete in the Eastern conference.  A conference that should you believe conventional wisdom is the Miami Heat and then everybody else.  But conventional wisdom didn’t have the Knicks as the last undefeated team in the NBA either so let’s hold to what we’re seeing.

Currently the Knicks are holding opponents to the fewest points per game (87.5),  have a point differential (+17) that’s a shade under 9 points better than the second best (+9.5), holding opponents to the worst shooting percentage in the league (.407), and are third in forcing turnovers (18) while being number one in terms of turning over the ball (only 11.3 a game.).

All those stats show the obvious proponent of this current hot start: their defense.  But the real reason for it may be that their superstar Carmelo Anthony’s has a newfound dedication on the defensive side of the ball.  Its easy to draw the conclusion that because the Knicks are being coached by Mike Woodson, a defensive oriented head coach, his influence is rubbing off on Carmelo.  But in reality, whats happened could be traced back to the Olympics when Carmelo was able to watch the newly minted champion Lebron James work his way up and down that locker room and hold court as the best player in the league.  Its obvious that this Olympic experience was far different for Carmelo from the perspective that he knew the focus of many people’s interest would turn to him, as he’s the final member of that famed quartet from the 2003 draft class still without a ring.  Wade has 2, Lebron (finally) has one and so does Chris Bosh.

Much like Lebron in 2008, Carmelo’s Olympic experience was more about his own personal growth as a basketball player.  Watching Kobe Bryant get up at 6 AM and work on his craft, having won 3 championships at the time (and on his way to 4 and 5), and yet still working on his craft as if he were ringless.  The bar Kobe set was high, but perhaps that’s what was needed for Lebron to realize what he had to do in order to accomplish his goal of winning an NBA championship.  Remember, also that Kobe had just come off a Finals loss to the Celtics, and was determined to get back and ultimately would and win back to back championships that year and the following one.  That Olympics shaped and transformed Lebron.  Remember, it was that Olympics that many conspiracy theorists believe that he, Dwayne Wade and Bosh decided to team up and come together in 2010.  Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Carmelo and CP3 were good friends but became very close on that trip and yet, Melo and CP3 were left out of that super team.  Of course that’s because Carmelo could only become a free agent the year after and CP3 was still only 2 years into the league and locked into his original rookie deal, but for anyone in a similar position, it could feel like you were being left out.  That may explain CP3’s half joking/half serious intimation that he, Melo and Amar’e (who had signed a 5 year $100 million deal with the Knicks that summer) would band together as well to form their own super team at Carmelo’s wedding, days after Wade, Bosh and Lebron had revealed their plan to the world.  But much like Lebron, this Olympic experience may have shaped his mind.

In 2012, he saw his close friend Lebron realize his dream of being a champion and yet Carmelo could only watch as he took his rightful place at the top of the game.  There was no discussion any more.  This was Lebron’s league and finally, to some, we could get to the business of cementing his legacy with a run of championships.  The vultures had left South Beach and were headed Melo’s way.

But the talk circling Melo has always been far different from Lebron.  Lebron has always been viewed as having the skillset to be the greatest ever, a discussion that will certainly heat up with all the hardware he accumulates.  Melo is seen as just a scorer.  The comparison would be Clyde Drexler and Michael Jordan.  In the Dream Team book written by SI columnist Jack McCallum, Clyde Drexler expressed his belief, at the time, that he was as good as Michael Jordan.  Drexler wound up winning a championship in Houston, but history shows that it was never as “the man”, that would be Hakeem.  Michael, of course went on to win 6 championships and change basketball for the generation we’re watching now.

But I started thinking about Melo and, what sometimes could be perceived as, his steadfast stubborn nature to accept generally held beliefs about him.  Case in point, when the idea was suggested to Carmelo that he should move from the 3 to the 4 where his athleticism and body could handle and overwhelm other 4’s, he responded as if someone had made the suggestion that he couldn’t play the 3.  Despite overwhelming evidence that his game would benefit tremendously by playing in the paint, its come with Carmelo kicking and crying along the way, no way to act for a guy trying to shake the reputation that he’s NOT a team player.

But Carmelo has come out of the gate being aggressive and judging by some overly handsy defensive that resulted in some foul trouble, its clear that he’s still not completely comfortable.  But I’ve forgiven Melo because its clear that his effort is turned up and he’s completely tuned in because of the offseason the Knicks had.  It became clear why Carmelo is all in with Coach Woodson.

This offseason, fans were confused by the number of “veteran” players the Knicks brought in.  Guys who were perhaps well past their primes.  While Los Angeles added 2 superstars, and OKC was subtracting one, and Miami was adding stars, the Knicks went a very different route.  They cut ties with their super nova point guard, Jeremy Lin and watched him go to Houston.  They traded for point guard Raymond Felton who enjoyed his time in NY enough that he forgave the team for trading him for Carmelo in the first place.  They traded for Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, signed Ronnie Brewer and stole Jason Kidd from the Mavericks.  None of these moves really rocked the basketball blogosphere except for the excess of material for NBA writers to use to poke fun at the Knicks, an unusually favorite past time for most national reporters.

It might have seemed weird, but it became clear the message that GM Glen Grunwald was sending, and who he was sending it to.  He was telling Melo that this was indeed his team and that the collective talent he had assembled was there NOT to take away from Melo’s star, but to make it shine brighter.  No offense to Amar’e Stoudemire, the lone free agent from the famed 2010 free agent class, to sign with the Knicks, but it was an obvious nudge to him in the ever present power struggle that the two super stars wage to win over New York.

But it matters not.  The average NBA fan knows who the better player is and finally Carmelo is getting his chance.  Too many times his reputation was limited to: “great offensive player, but not willing to play within the construct of the team.”  Through four games, he’s given his team points and more rebounds but also given his team a head turning statistic as well: blocks.  This was his second game in the span of three that he’s blocked two shots, a statistic that if he allows it to trend will ultimately get him the kind of recognition that his Olympic teammate Lebron did: MVP.  Finally we can begin to assess Carmelo fully and not just through the lens of just an offensive game.  We can begin to take him seriously as a leader, and as one of the best players in the NBA.

Clearly the effort is there, and the record is there, the recognition will be soon to follow.

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October 11, 2012 · 3:58 pm

Giants/Browns Post game Reaction

The Giants went down 14-0 before people got comfortable, but just as the rain let up at Met life Stadium, the Giants began pouring on the points as they ran away with the game in the second and third quarters.  Here is the box score, as the Giants improved to 3-2 setting up the week 6 rematch of the NFC Championship game against the 49ers.

Here are some of the storylines coming out of this game:

Story lines

1. Plug and Play.  No Hakeem Nicks for the third straight game.  No Ramses Barden thanks to a concussion.   Martellus Bennet went down with a leg injury (more on him.)  And yet, there was Ruben Randle getting more looks his way.  There was Victor Cruz doing the salsa three times.  There was the running game coming alive.  There was Domenik Hixon, the oft-injured and oft-forgotten member of this receiving unit making tough catches.  Its amazing what a good, sound offensive unit looks like without making excuses and just simply executing.  I know I’m beating a dead horse with it, but Eli Manning’s leadership can’t be under sold.  He makes the wheels turn here.  He and Kevin Gilbride have the kind of relationship where both know how to direct the offense and work in tandem to put the Giants in the best position possible.  Its almost redundant at this point to say it but the offense’s injury woes are nothing but a speed bump for this team.  They keep plugging new guys in and keep clicking.  Of course, that depth will be tested this Sunday against arguably the best team in football, the San Francisco 49ers.

2. The running game is making a comeback.  In 2008, after a Super Bowl campaign, the Giants were looked upon as lottery winners against a Patriot team that would’ve beat them 9 times out of 10.  A 10-6 team that made it to the playoffs on the next to last week of the regular season and rarely looked the part were under dogs in EVERY SINGLE playoff game including the final one where they overcame the largest set of odds EVER for a Super Bowl game.  Of course, that season, the Giants just continued their magical carpet ride and ran out to an 11-1 start and looked the part of defending Super Bowl champions that many suggested they were lucky to be.  We all know what happened next: Plax enters the club with gun.  Plax shoots himself with gun.  Giants wind up losing in teh first round of the playoffs thanks to the distraction.  What that season had was a lot of running and the Giants ran the ball because they COULD.  They were the best offensive line in football that nobody cared to discuss.  This season’s offensive line has also been markedly improved over previous units and yesterday Ahmad Bradshaw working primarily as the lead back thanks to Andre Brown’s injury, rushed for 200 yards on 30 carries.  Even David Wilson got into the act and ran for his first TD through huge gaping holes.  When the offensive line pushes around the D-line like that its a beautiful thing and it will be very important for them to do the same next week against the uber tough San Fran D line.

3. Speaking of the D-Line… Where is the feared, vaunted pass rush that every broadcaster likes to bring up whenever the Giants are being talked about?  Granted they went up against an offensive line that features two of the best linemen in all of football in Alex Mack, the Pro Bowl Center and Joe Thomas the Pro Bowl LT, but STILL.  I’m convinced JPP is injured and needs a week off, of course that’s not going to happen anytime before the bye week, but its emerged as the most unlikeliest of concerns.  Yesterday I saw them play a lot of contain which had to do with the threat of the running game.  Trent Richardson looked like the number 3 pick and never seemed to go down with the first hit.  Elusive guys like Trent Richardson and LeSean McCoy give any team fits but when they get on the edges against the Giants they wreak havoc because the backside just does a horrible job in tackling rushers.  Especially rushers who bring the specific dimensions that Trent Richardson and LeSean McCoy do.  Guys who can cut on a dime or guys who have that extra muscle to shake off that first arm tackler.  The Giants began to gang tackle more as the game progressed because it seemed like they underestimated T. Rich’s ability to shed the first tackle.  The Giants were fortunate in facing a QB as inexperienced as Brandon Weeden, as they tried to play more coverage while playing contain on the line to make sure that they stayed at home to try and stop Trent Richardson.  Getting to the edge became difficult but not an arduous task and you can expect that more teams will try to employ that same strategy against the Giants.  Running to the edges will be something that I’m sure Perry Fewell and the Giants defensive coaches stress during the coming week of practice as they head west to face off against Frank Gore and that amazing running game of 49ers who just rushed for their second consecutive 300 yard game collectively.  If the Giants don’t get any pressure on Alex Smith like they did during the NFC Championship game, the Giants will be in for a long day as the Niners have obviously improved their passing game with Randy Moss and Mario Manningham in the fold with Michael Crabtree and Ted Ginn while also having Vernon Davis.  That’s a lot more than they had during the NFC Championship game where receivers had a total of 1 reception for six yards.  An improved receiving corp though has helped out the running game because of the respect defenses must give to the passing game.  If the Giants get zero pressure schematically like they did in these last few games the Niners will have their way with the defense because the secondary can not be left on an island to be picked apart, even if its Alex Smith doing the picking apart.

4. Do the Giants have the deepest receiving corp in football?  I’m not willing to go that far yet but I know Giants fans are thinking that following another game in which another receiver broke out.  Ruben Randle was the Giants 2nd round pick from this year’s draft and they love his athleticism.  They always felt like his potential was limited thanks to the bad quarterbacking in LSU.  You forget about Domenik Hixon because he’s gone down with injuries the last two years.  Ramses Barden was a featured receiver these last two games before his concussion forced him out of Sunday’s game against the Browns.  There was a Jernel Jernigan sighting.  But the Giants real star has always been continuity.  Whether it be at the quarterbacking position OR the offensive philosophy, the Giants bring up their receivers in the same system and give them time to grasp it before throwing them out there.  Victor Cruz might have come out of nowhere but he was in the Giants camp the previous summer and had a whole year to grasp the complicated offensive system.  Ramses Barden has been under bubble wrap since being drafted in the 3rd round in 2009.  Hixon has had two ACL surgeries worth of years to sit and learn the system.  Jernigan is entering his 3rd season in the system.  These aren’t newbies walking on and making the team. These guys earn their stripes by sitting and learning.  They gradually get comfortable and that’s why the Giants always look so good when they plug in these guys.  Its because of the experience they have.  So when the argument starts up with do the Giants have the deepest receiving corps in football?  I’d answer not exactly but they are the most prepared to step in and step up thanks to the Giants extensive grooming process they have.

5. New Giants showing their toughness.  I’m giving away the game ball early here but Martellus Bennet showed me something Sunday by playing with what was being announced as a hyperextension of the knee.  That happened in the first quarter and yet there was Bennet, toughing it out and playing through the injury.  That may not sound like much but for a brand new teammate who still has to prove his worthiness, not only to his teammates but to his coach, he showed them that he’s willing to play through it.  That builds trust in you from your teammates and gives the coaches an understanding of what you are willing to do in order to help the team’s success.

Decisions worth a second look aka In Hindsight, get ya mind right.

Just as self serving as the title is, we look at decisions that affected the turn out of the game after they were made and tell you why they were stupid.

In this situation, the Giants have just scored and have cut the deficit to 17-10.  Its the second quarter and 4:30 remains in the first half.  Trent Richardson has rushed the Browns to a 3rd and 1 situation at the Giants 25 yard line.  This is basically a wet dream for offensive coordinators because they can virtually call any play they want to depending on how frisky they are feeling at the moment.  So now that your star rusher has just got you to that position, what do you do?  Do you

A. Go with a simple rushing play up the middle?

B. Go with a rushing play to the edges where its been working all day?

C. Go with a play action for the big play?

D. Take out Trent Richardson and roll out with Brandon Weeden?

Well, you won’t believe it, but the Browns picked D.  Its easy to say that Trent needed a rest.  Its also easy to say that the Giants needed a rest too.  Why take out your most effective offensive weapon on a play in which even using him as a decoy would’ve increased the chances of you getting that first down?  Unless you just feel that your offense is good enough to make plays regardless of who is out there both on offense OR defense.

Subsequently Weeden rolls out, double clutches the football and overthrows the receiver and into the waiting arms of replacement safety Stevie Brown and into another Giants scoring drive.  Yes, it turned out to be a terrible decision and yes, judging by how the rest of the afternoon went, even if they had punted the feeling was that the Giants still would’ve scored.  But by turning the ball over they gave the Giants an extra possession at the close of the half and let’s not even get started on why the Browns would ever draw a pass interference call with :04 left in the half and gifting the Giants 3 points by setting them up in field goal range when they were no where near close to it.  These are the plays that separate the good and bad teams and why the Browns are winless and why the Giants are 3-2.

For some reason, there were people who questioned Tom Coughlin’s decision to leave Ahmad Bradshaw in the game after the opening hand off resulted in a fumble.  Where does this come from?  Simple.  We’ve been talking non stop about the Giants ability to plug and play.  The next man up attitude has filtered into our genome and enabled us to believe that no matter who steps in for the G-men, they too will be successful.  Its been a luxury but as we can see, a curse as well.  It makes us say and think stupid thoughts like bench Bradshaw.

There are subtle moves to coaching and much of it has to do with gut instinct.  First you have to ask yourself who could Coughlin turn to?  Sure, you had Andre Brown (who later left with a concussion) and David Wilson.  Secondly you have to look at the actual play that resulted in the fumble.  If you did, you would see that Chris Snee actually ran into the arm of Bradshaw and caused it to drag Bradshaw’s arm and pop the ball loose.  It was a freak play.  Plain and simple.  But those decisions have to be taken within context and in the context of that particular play, I don’t see how Tom Coughlin could reach in and bench Bradshaw.  Its a good thing to.  30 Rushes and 200 yards later, Coughlin’s non move was the right one.

NOTES

– There were a few pass interference penalties not called on the Browns that I thought were egregious.  Buster Skrine on Ruben Randle in the third quarter where half his shoulder pad was out was one of those “how did he not see those” penalties where the evidence was right there.  Then there was the interception where Sheldon Brown (former Eagle- no wonder I hate him so) had his arm in Victor Cruz’ arms before the ball got there, enabling him to swat the ball to Usama Young who made the interception.  That should have been pass interference and the interception should’ve been wiped off.  It wasn’t called and it will stay as an interception even IF that shouldn’t be the case.  There hasn’t been a graphic released about how many fewer pass interference calls there are but its clear that the regular refs have allowed a ton of contact down the field.

The reason I suspect that’s the case is that the flow of the game would be ruined.  We all cried about how long the games had become under the supervision of the replacement refs who enjoyed drawing attention to themselves by throwing laundry on to the field, but its clear that for the benefit of keeping the game moving they swallow the whistle.  Especially considering that the game was firmly in the grip of the Giants, the refs made a gut decision to NOT call that.  Of course, had the game been tight I’m willing to believe that the refs would have blown the whistle there but I’m sure that will come to play too.

– Not to offer excuses for his play but could there be something ailing Jason Pierre Paul?  After notching 16 sacks last season he has 1.5 and sometimes that number goes dramatically down for an established player when he’s playing through injuries.  Some believe its the constant double teams he faces now that are affecting his sack totals, but his motor isn’t one to just slow down and its clear that he doesn’t have similar burst off the line like he did.  The great thing about JPP is that he understands pad levels and normally gets his meat hooks underneath the pads and has enough strength to bull rush right up and collapse the pocket and force the QB into a mistake which are his specialty.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we learn that JPP is actually battling a few injuries much like Justin Tuck was all last season.

Looking ahead:

– The Giants now have established Ruben Randle, Ramses Barden, Martellus Bennet, and Andre Brown, as offensive weapons that teams must worry about to add on to Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks the established head ache inducers.  The beauty of that is how it plays into game planning against the Giants especially, if as rumored, Hakeem Nicks comes back.  Much like the Super Bowl where the Patriots used the presence of Rob Gronkowski as a decoy, the Giants can widen the playbook and force the Niners to play one on one across the board when the Giants go 4 WR.  The good thing about the Niners is this: they have LB’s who can cover in space as well and they are across the board solid tacklers.  The issue for the Giants will be to force the Niners into match ups that they don’t like and go with whatever Eli picks.  Eli will have added pressure of releasing the ball quickly enough to make the Niner pass rush obsolete.  This means that the Giants may do some quick slants and WR screens.  Of course this means that their play makers have to do things in space that teams have not been able to do against this aggressive Niner defense.  What the Giants have to protect against is merely being satisfied with the underneath routes.  Having Barden or Nicks go deep on routes are great but if they aren’t catching them it won’t mean anything.

The biggest players on the field this Sunday may be Martellus Bennet and the offensive line.  Bennett will have a lot of underneath passes thrown his way early to set up the deep ball.  It will be the offensive line’s job to keep the Niner pass rush at bay which will NOT be an easy task given who the Niners line up.  As great as Justin Smith and Aldon Smith are, Ray McDonald is such an important presence inside because he’s able to push the pocket almost as effectively as Justin Smith does and when they line up McDonald and Smith inside, and rush Willis, Brooks or Bowman through that opening that almost always opens up, the QB has about five seconds to release that pass.  Its an amazing testament to how great those inside guys are.  Underrated member of that linebacking corp is Ahmad Brooks who has had a sack in each of his last three games.  Of course he’s a recipient of all the attention that Bowman and Willis get but he’s taking advantage and it seems at times that there aren’t any weaknesses on the linebacking unit.

– The Giants have a ton of injuries but I expect guys like Jayron Holsley, Keith Rivers and Hakeem Nicks to play Sunday because of how important it is to the Giants to have a good group out there to play a quality team.  Had the Niner game been last Sunday, I fully believe Nicks would’ve played.  The Giants do tend to err on the side of caution but make no mistake that this team understands the importance of a conference game in October especially after going 0 fer in the division.  The schedule offers no gimmies and does no favors for the boys in blue, but this is most certainly not a definite loss for the Giants.

– The one group we will find out about tonight more so than any other group on the Giants is the offensive line.  They have been pretty good leading up to this game and have rarely given Eli reason to push them around on the sideline like Jay Cutler, but this week they face a defensive front as talented as there is in this league I’m dying to see how they respond.  They have now been together for the better part of three years and most of them have played together during that stretch.  Offensive lines usually take a few seasons to really gel to the point where you feel good as a coach and the Giants may be nearing that point on the line.

The Giants face another great offensive line but nothing like the one in Cleveland.  Like I said earlier, the offensive line for Cleveland has two Pro Bowlers who are the best at their individual positions (Center Alex Mack and LT Joe Thomas), and so I give them somewhat of a pass.  But come away sack less against the Niner offensive line and the alarm bells will definitely be ringing.  Not just because of the donut they put up, but also because if the Giants defensive line doesn’t get pressure on Alex Smith the Giants are going to lose this game.

– One thing I’ve noticed about Smith is that he’s quicker making decisions.  That comes with having experience in Jim Harbaugh’s system.  Alex Smith is making the proper reads and couple that with his ability to throw the touch passes he becomes a real head ache.  What the Giants will see offensively from the Niners is what every team should always do.  Generally you should always draw up a play that the defense doesn’t see coming.  Now, there’s enough data compiled this season in which teams have a good sense of what personnel will appear for what packages.  You see Colin Kaepernick you know to expect Wildcat.  The Giants conversely run a traditional offense not predicated on trick plays.  They may run a reverse but that was run with Mario Manningham mostly and wouldn’t you know, that the Niners have run the Mario Manningham reverse play twice, both resulting in gains of over 20+ yards.

The 49ers, across the board, understand that winning with Alex Smith will take more than just running a conventional offense.  It will take a few creative plays, a bunch of different formations running the football and a atleast 7-10 looks to Vernon Davis in space.  Many times people last year wondered how in God’s name Vernon Davis ever got open if he were the only weapon in the Niner arsenal in terms of receivers.  But what the Niners did well was keep Vernon in to block as a means of play action.  Davis has the body to be an excellent down field blocker.  Imagine Joe Staley, Anthony Davis and Vernon Davis all pulling left, those plays will almost always net you a large chunk of yardage.  When they effectively run that play well, it means they are setting it up for play action where Davis chips an oncoming rusher OR gets a clean release from the line of scrimmage and he wanders into an open space in any zone and sits there for a big gain.  They also LOVE to line him up in the slot as a traditional receiver and he automatically becomes a match up nightmare because he’s too fast for linebackers and too big for corners.  If Chase Blackburn winds up covering Vernon Davis the Giants will have a long day.  Which is why it might behoove the G-Men to use Jacquian Williams or even Michael Boley as a spy to stay on Davis.  Jacquian can stay there to match him for speed and Boley can keep up with him and play physically with him.  He creates spacing for the other receivers as much as the running game does.

Dont forget, that Mario Manningham will be playing for revenge and so will the Niners who still are under the same mystic spell that the Packers are that the Giants STOLE their chance at winning a Super Bowl last year.  Oh and Randy Moss I’m sure doesn’t forget that 2008 undefeated, greatest team of all time label that the Giants robbed his Patriots of.  There’s plenty of motivation on the San Fran sideline and plus they are playing at home which is an added bonus.  We’ll see how it plays out this Sunday.

Enjoy the game everyone!

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September 25, 2012 · 1:10 pm

The Official Disaster

courtesy of SI.com
Two refs, two calls.

Barring a miracle it seems, replacement refs will again be on football fields all across America come Thursday night into Monday Night.  That is the reality staring NFL players in the face if they don’t do anything, but the question now becomes what?  What can anyone besides the regular refs and Roger Goodell do to solve this huge crisis that has erupted?  Yesterday I heard multiple people tell fans of the sport to write to their owner.  To threaten to not watch the games when they come on to show the NFL that they are serious about a solution.  I heard people say that the players should strike and threaten to not play as a show of solidarity for their zebra brethren.

But those two things won’t happen because the NFL in the end is king.  No matter how loud the voices get or the cries become, the NFL doesn’t have to budge and Monday Night’s game showed that neither do the refs.  And the stalemate continues.

According to sources in the know, the major dispute is over money.  Surprised?  That’s what all these things come down to.  The NFL wants the refs to take a 401k pension package equivalent to what most employers across America offer their employees.  The refs want to stay with their fixed pension plan.  The referees also want a pay raise but that is more a secondary concern to the pension plan.  The NFL’s thinking is that its foolish to offer part time employees like the refs, a better pension than full time employees, but the real concern becomes future negotiations.  If the NFL relents on this issue with the referee union, imagine the leg that the players union can stand on once they have to re-enter into negotiations down the road in 2020.  The NFL would rather avoid setting this precedent and have dug their heels in thinking that offering $2 million extra dollars will appease the referee union.  The refs in turn have rejected all proposals and have decided to be gung ho about getting what they want.  Remember, a majority of these refs have day jobs, some are even lawyers and so they understand fully what they are getting into and have banded together because this is supplemental income.  This is not something that will ruin their lives.  The NFL can’t hold that same kind of carrot over them like they did the players.  Every day the players held out, they knew that the players would feel the sting of losing another paycheck and so they atleast had that.  In this case, they don’t hold that leverage and worse, the replacement refs are NOT doing them any favors.

The first two weekends were not a complete disaster.  Then came week 3.  To count, the replacement refs gave the 49ers, an extra timeout they didn’t have.  One ref threw his hat on to the field which Kevin Ogletree subsequently slipped on preventing him from making an attempt at a catch that would’ve resulted in a touchdown in the Cowboys/Bucs game.  In Washington, anticipating a ten second run off that could’ve ended the game as a result of a false start penalty with :07 seconds left, the Bengals began walking on to the field and an incensed Redskins sideline erupted saying the game wasn’t over (which they were correct on), and were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct which resulted in another 10 yard penalty which pushed the Redskins back even further.  Kyle Shanahan, the son of Redskins coach Mike stalked the referee all the way to the locker room.  Then there’s the helmet to helmet hit that Darrius Heyward-Bey took in the Oakland/Pittsburgh game that was not called a penalty despite the fact that everyone in San Francisco heard that hit.  That hit resulted in Bey being taken off on a stretcher and suffering a neck injury and a concussion.  Oh and by the way, the Raiders were penalized only 3 times during that entire game while the Steelers were tagged for ten flags.  When have you ever seen the Raiders NOT get more yellow flags than the other team?  They gave the game to the Saints when Roman Harper looked like he recovered a fumble and ran it in during overtime but the replays showed that Kansas City RB Jamaal Charles clearly was down before the ball came out.  By the way, an estimated 80% of calls were overturned on replay this weekend.

But those pale in comparison to the legitimate gripes that came as a result of the two nationally televised games.  As in, everybody and their mother were watching these games.   During the Patriots/Ravens game, the Pats were whistled for 24 penalties and the Ravens got an equally disturbing 14.  Those penalties ruin the flow of the game and worse, if there isn’t any consistency, can be maddening for any team.  The final kick went way above the right side of the goal post, which the refs ruled as good.  Earlier in the week, the NFL had sent a memo to all 32 teams to “respect the shield” and warned players AND coaches to not try and intimidate the referees.  A lot that accomplished; Belichiek was last seen running down an official and even putting his hands on him to try and stop him from going into the locker room.  That will certainly warrant a hefty fine and given Roger Goodell’s recent abuse of power, could even result in a suspension depending on how hard a line he wants to take on this.  The Commissioner is stuck between a rock and a hard place here.  If he gives out a $25,000 fine despite warning everyone to not cross that line, he will be viewed as going soft.  If he suspends Belichiek it will seem too harsh.  One thing is for sure, the discussion will still be on the refs.

The problem with Sunday night’s game was that flags weren’t consistent.  Some plays got flagged and some were ignored.  During the final few minutes the referees tried to remove any of the aggressiveness the defense wanted to use by constantly throwing flags.  It was embarassing and did further damage to any kind of reputation these replacement refs were trying to build with the players.  But Monday night’s game may take the cake.  If you thought the home team got some calls on Sunday night, Monday night’s game was more of an all-in move by the replacement refs to completely sabotage the integrity of the game of football.  I do take this time to remind folks that I’m not blaming these refs.  To go from division 3 college games to the pros is a leap of extraordinary measure and to expect them to be completely caught up on everything would be asking too much.  We know this, they know the rule book but NOT completely.  Meaning they know the rules but they dont know when to enforce them which is like saying you know how to fly a plane in those simulators but have no confidence to fly a real plane.  The replacement refs are equal victims in this as are the fans and the players of this league.  They are being blamed despite the fact that these are honest, hard working men who are just doing what they are being told.*

*= that is until we find out that they were involved in a huge gambling scandal which would ultimately destroy the reputation of the NFL as a whole.  Watch last night’s game and especially that last drive by Seattle and tell me you didn’t feel something funny with those two calls that set up the final play.  

On Monday Night, in a tight game and the Packers leading 12-7, the Seahawks got the ball with :46 seconds left.  After completing a laser to Sidney Rice.  Two plays later, Russell Wilson spun away from pressure, looked up field and heaved a pass to the left corner of the end zone where MD Jennings leaped and instead of batting it down, attempted to make the interception but, as he was coming down with the ball, both hands on it, Golden Tate had one arm on the ball and slipped his second hand in there to make it seem as if there was simultaneous possession.  The rule book states that any simultaneous possession calls go to the offense.  However, the rule book also states that it can not be simultaneous possession if the defender establishes possession of the ball and another player sticks his hand in there to try and get possession at the last minute.

Every scoring play is held up for review so the referees had a chance to review the play and come to their own conclusion.  But the review had to be based on the call on the field which was what caused even more confusion.  One referee signaled INT and touchback, while a second referee signaled TD, resulting in the tie being broken by the head referee.  We all knew that the home team was going to get the call.  Now, in replay there has to be sufficient video evidence to overturn any call and after a plethora of replays I can’t see how you overturn the call regardless of how they called it.  It was such a 50/50 proposition that you were damned if you do damned if you dont, except that a majority of America thought it was an INT because of the replays clearly showing MD Jennings coming up with the interception.   After review the play was upheld and mass chaos and WTF bombs were dropped in Seattle and we wake up to the chaos of sports radios clamoring for an end to labor strife and await a statement by the NFL as it relates to last night’s game.

Most would agree that the Commissioner, outside of resolving this case, probably will NOT make a statement directly though Greg Aiello, the NFL spokesperson will surely send an email to all teams and to the media on behalf of the league.  Will it address JUST last night’s game or will it account for all the games directly affected by the questionable officiating throughout Week 3’s and even the previous weeks games remains to be seen but last night was a clear case that the regular officials are needed.  But I don’t even want to get into specific plays.  Its clear by the extra pushing and shoving by the players after almost every play that none of them respect the officials to restore order and so its almost an anything-goes type of atmosphere sometimes.  The refs are, to their credit, trying to dissuade that by calling a bunch of penalties but that’s only getting the teams more frustrated and when you have a sport in which players constantly get hit, they will lash out.

Initially I was on the replacement refs and the league’s side in this.  I felt as though the regular refs were asking for too much in this case despite the overwhelming profits that NFL teams and the league has as a result of television contracts and all the other revenue streams they can generate out of thin air.  I figured that regular refs make horrendous calls too that decide games and because its all human interpretation anyway, that maybe it isn’t right to be all up in arms.  But after 3 consecutive weeks of horrific calls I’ve turned and last night’s game was the turning point.  Games are going longer because the refs are inexperienced and are trying to get the call right.  Players are blatantly hitting each other with cheap shots and the like with no real fear of being reprimanded.  There are more in-game scuffles than I can previously remember.  But more than any of these reasons, I’m looking at it not from week 3’s perspective, I’m looking at down the road during week 14 when divisions become at stake.  What happens if this call were made in week 14, and it cost the Packers a division?  What happens then?  How does the NFL respond then?  How can they make the case that they want to hold on to a few more dollars while threatening the integrity of the game?

We’ve all heard the arguments that the integrity of the game is on the line, and that player safety is key here but more important than all of that, despite all that’s going on, because there is no resolution it seems as if the Commissioner and the owners don’t care.  This kind of attitude that’s clearly in the air will only result in one thing, something worse than Belichiek grabbing an official or Kyle Shanahan running an official into the tunnel or Brandon Spikes tweeting that they need to send these replacement refs back to foot locker where they belong.  A line will be crossed that the NFL can not expect to fully recover from and Roger Goodell will personally be held responsible for and that line will be too hard to see because they have already been blurred.

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September 21, 2012 · 12:19 pm

Jets post game reacts vs. the Steelers

Did one for the Giants, and now here it is for the Jets.

The Jets (1-1) lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) at Heinz Field Sunday.  Here is the boxscore.

STORYLINES:

1. The Jets started off the game hot, but then, what had happened was…  We don’t know.  The first drive of the game seemed like it was a continuation of last week where the Jets ran off to a 21-0 start before Buffalo could tighten the laces on their shoes, and yet on Sunday, the Jets failed to gain any momentum after their first two drives that resulted in 10 points.  Why?  Having two completions to a WR after the first quarter sure won’t help, the first coming at the :22 second mark of the 4th quarter with the game over with.  Some poorly thrown passes by Mark Sanchez to relatively open players won’t help either.  The fact is, after the first two drives the Jets stalled and Sanchez was afraid to throw down the field when he had opportunities to do so.

The Jets were playing this game without Darrelle Revis but the Steelers were playing with Troy Polamalu.  Both teams were without significant players to their defense and yet it seemed like the Steelers, with each passing second, gained more and more momentum and strength.  The Jets, particularly Sanchez seemed confused by the varying blitz packages that Steelers’ legendary defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau threw at him.

There were times when the offense just didn’t seem to have a flow.  They ran the ball effectively and yet couldn’t take advantage of it with the play action pass which is where Sanchez is most effective.  Sanchez’ footwork is something I’ve always lauded.  He has excellent balance and has an ability to sell the fake very well and incorporating more trick plays into the game plan could help take advantage of one of his strengths.  I’m not saying that the Jets should turn into a gimmicky offense but, let’s be real, didn’t they do that by bringing in Tim Tebow?

2. They have Roethlisberger for a sack….no they don’t.  Sanchez’ opposite, Ben Roethlisberger, does a few things VERY well.  Two things in particular were on display on Sunday.  His ability to elude defenders is by now a staple in every team’s scouting report.  And yet, teams can’t help but try and tackle him like a normal QB who doesn’t possess the ability to slide away from danger or the kind of awareness that Ben has.  This has helped mask terrible offensive lines throughout the last 6 years that he has had to play behind.  He’s able to extend plays and any defense that has to cover receivers for an extended period of time become vulnerable and it allows the Steelers to pick up so many first downs.

Many would regard those plays broken plays but at this point, you have to consider re-naming that in Roethlisberger’s case because he becomes more comfortable when the pocket breaks down.  He always manages to shift his body around so defenders can’t get their arms around his body.  Its not that he has world class speed like Vick or even his elusiveness, its that he’s so big and weirdly configured that defenders end up wailing at his hips and no one is going to grab hold of him there to bring him down.  This affords Steeler receivers to not just break from their route, but sit in areas of the zone that is not being covered.  Mike Francesa said this Monday and I want to echo it, most people figure that the Steelers are a run first team, but they transitioned from that almost 4 years ago when Bruce Arians became the offensive coordinator and are now an excellent passing team.  It was only this year when they drafted two linemen early in the draft that they addressed the weakness of their offensive line.  They scored huge with Maurkice Pouncey but otherwise its a patchwork line that will be an area of concern moving forward.  The team relies on Ben’s ability to avoid pressure because he sees so much thanks to the line, and Ben routinely makes plays when in that kind of danger.  Its as if he loves the pressure and  his teammates never get frazzled when the play breaks down because at this point its becoming second nature to deal with it.

His other great trait is his ability to make it 3rd and manageable.  So many QB’s forget that and lose sight of game situations and managing the game.  Big Ben is NOT one of them.  When he has 2nd and 10 he goes to his check down which create 3rd and short.  Execution is simple when you’re asking your receiver to go up the field five yards and turn and get a pass.  Its also very tough to defend without being called for a penalty.  Here’s also why its important to Pittsburgh’s offense and any offense: when you have speedy recievers like Pittsburgh you could be vulnerable to the double move and no one recovers from that.

By putting the team in a manageable 3rd down situation, they can go with a short pass or a run play.  They sometimes go deep in that situation too thanks to the speed on the outside of their receivers.  But Ben gets them to those positions thanks to his shiftyness and his ability to manage the situation.  When you can get in a 3rd and short in any decent offense you will convert more often than not, and Ben is right to play the percentages and get his team in that position.  On Sunday he did that time and time again.

3. What exactly IS the Jets passing game?  The story coming out of preseason was that the Jet offense couldn’t score points.  Then they dropped 48 on the Bills and the team got a good laugh at the expense of all the critics that had given them a hard time.  But against a top flight defensive unit (and that’s more on reputation nowadays), the Jets were abysmal.  We can talk about Mark Sanchez’ numbers for the game but the fact is, his receivers weren’t doing him any favors.  After the first drive where he went 4/5 for 80 yards, Sanchez went 6 for 22.  That’s like the QB-who-shall-not-be-mentioned was playing.

Two plays crystallize what went wrong.  On the very next drive, during the 2nd quarter,  with 13:04 left on a 1st and 10- Stephen Hill was one on one vs. Ryan Clark.  Sanchez threw a good ball but Ryan Clark got his hand on Hill’s hand and Hill couldn’t open his hands to get the throw.  Yes, that technically isn’t Hill’s fault but its a case of anything that can go wrong, will.

Three running plays later, Sanchez rolls to this left, play actions, and then turns and runs to his right and tries to throw off balance to Santonio Holmes who is open in the end zone.  Naturally he throws it above his head.  Sanchez had enough time to stop, set his feet and make a confident throw into the end zone but he never did that probably figuring that he would not have that kind of time to make that throw.  Again, I love Sanchez’ foot work when he rolls out and his fake, they are above average, but basics like throwing on the run and knowing that to begin with, he isn’t the most accurate of quarterbacks increases the degree of difficulty on that play for no reason.  Stop and gain balance and throw OR, tuck it and run for another first down.  Just like Ben doesn’t try to make crazy plays, Sanchez has to learn that skill.  Its a very difficult talent to grasp and Sanchez is still finding it difficult to do so.

What the Jets need to do is get them running slant patters and quick out patterns.  When Ben Roethlisberger came out of college he wasn’t given this huge playbook to learn, and make reads from a complex offense.  He was put in positions to succeed and he was coached up well.  You can blame coaching but its also putting your players in a position to succeed and the Jets did Sanchez no favors by completely reversing the course of this team by going from ground and pound to the air show.  They seemingly have come back to a combination of both creating this weird hybrid that scored 1 TD this entire preseason and then scored a whole bunch in the first regular season.  In week 2, they looked like they were building momentum but the Jet offense went to sleep and made some critical errors.  Both self inflicted and those out of their control.  Those things happen but it happens to the Jets alot which would lead me to believe that maybe they aren’t good.

4. What offensive player needs to step up? Can Step up? In my preview I put Jeremy Kerley as the guy to watch for the Jets this year and I stand by that selection for two reasons.  One, I think he can be another security blanket for Mark Sanchez, just like Dustin Keller is.  He is the guy I’m looking at to do that for the Jets and I think he can this team’s Wes Welker.

The player that stuck out in that game was Bilal Powell who many had expected to separate himself.  The worst kept secret is that they want ANYONE to step up in that second RB slot other than Joe McKnight who has been a colossal disappointment.  McKnight was supposed to be the  change of pace back but he hasn’t performed the way that the Jets would like and so they would love Powell to step up in his stead.  Powell will be important.  Austin Howard is the final player that needs to step up.  His play in week 1 was great, limiting Mario Williams to “where the heck is he playing?” status.  But going against Lamar Woodley and co is a whole other challenge that he should not feel he flunked.  He did well at times and others he looked like a guy who only had one career start.  Howard is still a better option than Wayne Hunter was so there’s nothing to be dismissive over his performance on Sunday.  He will need a few more games to get his feet set in the right places but there’s enough tape there now to see that he will be fine which for the Jets is a huge relief.  If he stays healthy, Austin Howard will be effective as the season wears on and he gets more reps.

4. Missed Opportunities- Forget all the missed tackles on Roethlisberger, the missed opportunities on defense that they had were also huge.  Here’s a sequence that took place during the 3rd quarter:

3Q, 9:45

1st and 10- Roethlisberger tries to throw it to Jerricho Cotchery and David Harris turns and bats his pass, ALMOST intercepting it.  A second later with that throw, and it would’ve been picked off.

9:40

2nd and 10- The Jets tackle Jonathan Dwyer for a 6 yard loss thanks to Muhammad Wilkerson’s ability to get a great push against Max Starks.

8:53

3rd and 16,

Roethlisberger slips away from a would be sacker.  Steps into a heave and Mike Wallace stops on a dime and frees himself from Antonio Cromartie and catches the ball while putting both feet inbounds to complete the catch.

Two plays and the Jets seem to get great momentum and the very next they get beat for a touchdown.  It shows Roethlisberger’s strength and what makes him special and why the Jets can’t afford to take a single play off.  But plays like the David Harris ALMOST interception are plays that you HAVE to make against Ben because you will pay.

 

NOTES:

– The Jets schedule reads as such, @Miami vs the Dolphins and then home for the 49ers and Texans.  I know after week 5 is when you want to make conclusions about a team but it will be extra true for the Jets as they face, arguably, two of the best teams in the NFL .  The Niners and Texans coming to Metlife will help but let’s be realistic.  Heading into week 6 vs the Colts the Jets should probably be 2-3.  So is Sunday’s game a must win for the Jets?  Yes.  The Jets must win.  Starting the season 1-4 will be tough if the Jets have any aspirations to make the playoffs.

– Shonn Greene is one of my favorite runners because he reminds me of how Brandon Jacobs used to run when the Giants were a great running team.  Tough, physical and never afraid of contact.  But he has two or three runs in which he goes head first into a defensive player and winds up missing three or four plays in succession and make you wonder if that style of running won’t affect him in the long run.  Perhaps those are the conversations the Giants had with Jacobs that eventually made him soft at the line and had him start to dance and tippy toe around the line of scrimmage, but the Jets have to hope that he can keep his health and be smarter about how he finishes runs off.  There’s no problem with going down if you know you will get hit.  Trying to run through everything won’t work and Greene needs to be taught that if he wants any longevity in the NFL.

– Safety seems to be an area of concern for the Jets.  Last year, the Giants used Antrell Rolle as a nickel corner and Deon Grant as a linebacker to pick up the tight end closer to the line of scrimmage, and it seems like the Jets are employing that strategy with Laron Landry and Yeremiah Bell who often times play in the line of scrimmage.  Bell is their best deep cover safety and that isn’t exactly a good thing for the Jets because last year Brodney Poole did a poor job for them and they still haven’t found a guy yet that gives them that back end support.  Perhaps Antonio Allen is that guy but the Jets had better hope he comes of age very quickly because the Patriots loom and there are plenty of big play threats coming up on their schedule.  Remember, they still have the Patriots twice.

– I know this is almost a “duhhh” statement but without Darelle Revis, the best defensive player in the NFL in my opinion, they were vulnerable in the passing game and it showed.  After the first quarter, the Steelers realized that Landry couldn’t cover anybody and he was in there more so to hit guys after the catch because it wasn’t like he could pass defend.  The Jets shouldn’t need Revis on Sunday to beat the Dolphins but it bears watching if they bring Revis back for this game because it will tell you how important the Jets view Sunday’s game at the Dolphins is.  Remember, the Jets destroyed Buffalo and they HAVE to win all the games that they are favored in because they face some difficult tests this season because it looks like the NFC West, at least in the early going, is a much improved division and no cake walk and if the Jets don’t get their offensive issues figured out, that schedule that many thought would help the Jets get to the playoffs may not be as easy as we all once thought.

GAME BALL

Goes to Ben Roethlisberger who continues to play effectively despite a terrible offensive line.  The Steelers were excellent defensively without Troy Polamalu and James Harrison, and the offense keeps doing its thing whether it be running or having those excellent group of receivers.

 

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