- 06:01 AM
- 11/21/24
| Name: | ch murray |
|---|---|
| Member since: | November 18, 2002 |
| Last visit: | December 29, 2009 |
chmurray has posted 3 links and 182 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 0 comments to the Locker Room.
Jackson, others shoot their way out of Indiana: The Pacers have traded Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, Josh Powell, and fan favorite Sarunas Jasikevicius to the Golden State Warriors for Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu, and Kieth McLeod.
posted by chmurray to basketball at 02:04 PM on January 17, 2007 - 23 comments
Ron Artest wishes to be traded.: Some rather hot-headed analysis here. I don't understand what this guy is thinking.
posted by chmurray to basketball at 01:13 AM on December 11, 2005 - 56 comments
Atlanta 87, Indiana 85: "On one possession, Jackson was handed the basketball on an inbound play as he tied one shoe, and Atlanta knocked it from his hands and out of bounds. When Jackson got the ball back, he was tying his other shoe and nearly threw it away. That drew boos from a crowd, which was weary of Indiana's lazy shots and lack of emotion."
posted by chmurray to basketball at 10:33 PM on November 25, 2005 - 18 comments
I've been thinking about responding to this article for awhile now, not just to play devil's advocate but because I think Lewis' article is seriously deficient in some areas.
In 02-03 the Grizzilies went 23-59, and in 03-04 the Grizzilies went 28-54. Now in 04-05 they did go 50-32, but Battier only had one start that season and played the lowest amount of minutes per game in his career. If you look at their roster that season you'll see lots of good players - Pau Gasol, James Posey, Mike Miller, a still-relevant Jason Williams, Bonzi Wells, Earl Watson.
Thus it seems clear to me that his time with the Grizzilies is similar to his time with the Rockets, with one significant added benefit from a historical perspective - you get to see how his teams perform when the talent level around him is poor. And it's clear - their record is poor.
Now it's one thing to call someone the "ultimate glue guy" and it's another to call someone "the no-stats all star". The first description would describe the best second-round pick ever, the second asserts that he would deserve to play in the all-star game.
I think there is also a very real and legitimate reason to the seemingly incongrous lack of respect elite scores give him. For the elite scorer, there are some parallels to golf, with "take what the defense gives them" being somewhat analagous to golf's "competing against himself out there" - or at the very least if it's not it's important to the elite scorer's psyche to act as if it is. Granted this needs to be fleshed out more but the nub of something is there, I think.
To me, the bottom line is this: How valuable is he, exactly? It seems to be relative - he's worthless on very bad teams, and seemingly very valuable on very good teams. Well... ok, how much do you pay him then? He's clearly not a lottery pick (which he was), in fact you can probably argue that non-playoff teams shouldn't be bidding for his services at all. This puts him at mid-level exception pay for a playoff team - which is exactly where the NBA has him.
posted by chmurray at 09:51 AM on February 25, 2009
There was a moment there where Pittsburgh went up by 13 and the dynamics of the game started to shift. The Steelers started playing both safeties just ridiculously deep, the Cardinals went no-huddle, and it turned the game into a streetfight that, to me, looked like it was going in the Cardinals' favor. The strategy didn't seem to work for the Steelers but it made for a damn entertaining game.
posted by chmurray at 01:34 AM on February 02, 2009
You can keep the bullet and art monk, give me chris carter any day.
posted by chmurray at 01:21 AM on February 02, 2009
I can hardly believe they fired the coach. What a joke. If you go to the coach's website he notes that four years ago they lost a game by 76 points...
posted by chmurray at 10:40 AM on January 26, 2009
Inside the arena you're supposed to give 100% effort. Telling kids otherwise is bad advice for life, and (especially in contact sports) will increase the chances of someone getting hurt.
Once someone goes up 50 points I don't think the outcome of the game is in doubt any longer. Institute a mercy rule and keep the kids playing as hard as they can.
posted by chmurray at 10:24 AM on January 24, 2009
how is it a sport when you hit the absolute top of your game at 14?
posted by chmurray at 02:16 PM on August 23, 2008
It seems to me that the Mavericks offense is most effective when Dirk has the ball on the free throw line. You don't need much of a point guard in order to get him the ball. Their success without Nash should have made that clear. There was a window when Dirk's ability to stretch the floor seemed like it might be a natural counter to Duncan's dominance in the paint, but the Spurs now have Ginobli and Parker playing out of their minds, the Lakers have rebuilt, and Dallas and Phoenix are heading the wrong way. They correctly diagnosed a need for a true post presence, but they overpaid for Dampier, and just got rid of a developing Diop. From here, I think they need to let Dampier, Kidd, Howard, and George go. Which will take time. Dirk's game will last for some time still I think and I still think he's good enough to build around. Howard still has some trade value, so I'd look to either dump some contracts, or maybe make a play for someone like Marion/Artest/Tyson Chandler/Kenyon Martin.
posted by chmurray at 11:54 AM on May 03, 2008
Doesn't seem right. But there he is, up there telling us it's true. Still has more game than what, 3, maybe 4, other qb's in the league. Doesn't seem right. But there he is.
posted by chmurray at 05:03 PM on March 06, 2008
Back when Iowa upset LSU in some bowl game in 2005, Drew Tate was their star quarterkback and I saw my favorite sign ever: "Can't lick our Tate"
posted by chmurray at 02:40 PM on January 10, 2008
I was quite surprised that LSU put up 38. I still think Les Miles isn't a very good coach, but that was, by far, the best I've seen LSU look all year. I thought OSU would push them around but it didn't happen, so congratulations to them.
posted by chmurray at 02:55 PM on January 08, 2008
I thought a case could be made for the left guard committing a holding penalty on Garrard's run, which was the lane Garrard took. Overall, I feel that the officiating was fairly loose but it went both ways. The interference call against Jacksonville when replays showed Ward facemasking the defender being the worst call/non-call I can remember for the game. I felt during the regular season, and it's been repeating during these playoffs, that the rules for what constitutes made catch are getting a bit wonky in the defenses favor. It was a great game though, I hope the rest can matchup!
posted by chmurray at 03:15 PM on January 06, 2008
I'm just not understanding the vitriol leveled against WVU here. He's not just a prick who abandoned his home school before a bowl game, he's trying to run off with $4m that isn't his. How about this for a title: "Local coaching hero abandons team before big game with $4m in tow, sneering at terms of contract."
posted by chmurray at 08:41 AM on December 28, 2007
When nobody takes care of business, everyone left out gets to complain. Taking care of business includes not playing Northern Colorado or Charleston Southern. While I do think Ohio State-LSU is about as good as they could have done, I wouldn't have minded seeing Oklahoma or USC in there either. That said, I think all the voters have to take a real hard look at themselves after what they did to Georgia. If you're number #4 in the country, and #1 and #2 lose, how do you go from #4 to #5? Just letting Georgia slide on up the rankings when apparently voters don't think they're for real is a pretty mean trick. On a side note, games I wished we were getting: Hawaii vs. West Virginia, Virginia Tech vs. Georgia, Oklahoma vs. Florida, and Illinois vs. Missouri.
posted by chmurray at 03:52 AM on December 03, 2007
I really don't understand why minny gets a first round pick in exchange for dumping a bloated contract a year AHEAD of schedule - this is a great deal for minnesota. I really hope Ricky Davis is worth it.
posted by chmurray at 06:56 PM on October 24, 2007
Rasheed Wallace: Flopping is Watering Down the NBA
Personally I think five fouls is too many. I think you should foul out after three. I also think opposing teams should be awarded an additional free throw after a team racks up 15 fouls total in a game.
I don't think this will remove all attempts at defense. Right now too many players are entirely willing to just slap and flop if they get beat or challenged.
The game would be more entertaining if they just moved on to the next play instead of repeatedly sending people to the line, and sending in backups solely to foul elite post players, and all that "tough play" bullshit.