- 11:23 AM
- 11/05/24
| Member since: | May 06, 2003 |
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| Last visit: | October 02, 2004 |
cg1001a has posted 15 links and 75 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 0 comments to the Locker Room and 4 columns.
Kobe's Lakers: This is bull. I expect Kobe's Lakers to be one of the best teams in the NBA this season.
posted by cg1001a to basketball at 03:04 PM on September 03, 2004 - 7 comments
Something to think about: Reading this column made me wonder if something like this wouldn't be a good idea for developing NBA players. As a developmental league, it would have enough prestige to be attractive to promising young hoopsters. It would also have a built-in fan base as Team USA. Sort of like Little League for 18-20 year olds.
posted by cg1001a to other at 01:09 PM on August 05, 2004 - 1 comment
Take the best player: This SI.com columnist claims that NBA teams should draft the best player rather than fill a specific need.
posted by cg1001a to basketball at 08:58 PM on June 23, 2004 - 25 comments
posted by cg1001a to commentary at 03:07 PM on May 06, 2004 - 0 comments
Exhibit A: against Maurice Clarett joining the NFL early. As some have argued, why should pro football let immature young jerks mess up its product the way the NBA has.
posted by cg1001a to basketball at 04:27 PM on October 16, 2003 - 7 comments
We'll see. That's why they play the games.
posted by cg1001a at 07:11 PM on September 04, 2004
I'm no fan of Kobe Bryant (other than his superior bball skills), but I still can't believe that the media has subjected everyone to 14 months of this "rape" case. A year ago in this same forum I deplored the media coverage of this case, saying that the case had no substance. It seemed obvious, to me anyway, that this was a case where a rich celebrity met up with a sex partner who, well, acted differently. There are bad people out there, predators: rapists, pedophiles, psychotics. This is not one of those situations. Celebrities have to put up with a lot, but there are privacy boundaries. Thank God it's over. Now I can focus on the Yankees, Cardinals, and BoSox, on the NE Pats and Joe Gibbs, and on Shaq in Miami and T-Mac with Y-Ming, without that ridiculous Kobe Bryant case crap constantly being in the sporting news.
posted by cg1001a at 09:16 AM on September 02, 2004
Can't blame the Nets for moving K-Mart; it's not clear he's worth a max contract. Surprising, though, that the Nets didn't get any players in return. I guess the Nets will take a step back for a while.
posted by cg1001a at 07:18 PM on July 16, 2004
Good point, jackhererra, but I would rate Bulls GM Jerry Krause up there with Jerry West. Because West's team was in L.A., both KAJ and Shaq wanted to play for the Lakers. That's your eight championships right there. The Chicago Bulls, on the other hand, had no tradition, had to create a championship aura from scratch.
posted by cg1001a at 07:47 PM on June 25, 2004
I can't understand why teams still go for size when a 6-6 player (Jordan, Pippen, Kobe, Rip Hamilton) is just as if not more valuable. In the last 15 drafts Olowokandi, Joe Smith, and Pervis Ellison have been TOPs. NBA teams have gotten better over time at drafting, but there are always unknowns. Not even Shaq or Tim Duncan were considered 100% sure-shots for superstardom when they were drafted.
posted by cg1001a at 06:21 PM on June 24, 2004
I disagree with this columnist. Look at teams that had consecutive top draft picks (Rockets: Sampson & Olajuwon, Nets: Derrick Coleman & Kenny Anderson, Magic: Shaq & Penny). None of those teams won an NBA title, and those players eventually didn't mesh. On the other hand, filling specific needs with the ultimate team in mind works. No one paid much attention when the Pistons drafted John Salley and Dennis Rodman in 1986 or the Bulls drafting of Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen in 1987, but those moves were specifically to improve the team's defense. And look at the results. This year's champion Pistons did the same thing with trades, acquiring the Wallace boys. Look at the flack that Detroit Pistons executive Joe Dumars received for selecting Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony in last year's draft. Dumars was ridiculed for saying that his team already had a similar player in Tayshaun Prince. In the finals against the Lakers, when Tayshaun Prince's defense on Kobe Bryant was obviously a factor in the Piston's rout of the Lakers, Dumars' detractors were the ones who looked ridiculous. Carmelo is a heck of a player, but he didn't fit in to where the Pistons were going.
posted by cg1001a at 09:01 PM on June 23, 2004
Was Mark Cuban right or what? I expect, however, that when the NBA season opens this November both Shaq and Kobe are in the Lakers starting lineup.
posted by cg1001a at 12:30 PM on June 20, 2004
thewittyname, exactly when did you spend those two years in Boston?
posted by cg1001a at 12:22 PM on June 20, 2004
(last word) I hear you, I hear you, but you are looking at what the people whose job it is to manipulate public opinion said. I'm speaking as a somewhat knowledgeable NBA fan. When the New Jersey Nets played the Lakers in the finals two years ago that was a situation where I figured the Nets had absolutely no shot at winning the series, none. If the Nets had won that series it would have been inexplicable (except for key injuries or something like that). But when I thought about the Pistons-Lakers series before it started I felt that the Pistons could conceivably win the series if they played well, which they did, and the Lakers did not. There were a few NBA analysts who had a similar opinion.
posted by cg1001a at 08:02 PM on June 17, 2004
rcade, I'm not talking hindsight or Vegas odds...fans who follow the NBA gave Detroit a shot if they played well. "Biggest upset in history" should be reserved for events like Douglas over Tyson or Patriots over Rams, cases where absolutely no one figured the underdog could/would/should win.
posted by cg1001a at 04:04 PM on June 16, 2004
Wiley's quote is just another take on the old Woody Allen line, "90% of life is just showing up". A little too much is being made of the Pistons upset; fans who follow basketball thought from the start of the series that the Pistons could win if they played well. What happened was that they played very, very well, and the series wasn't even close.
posted by cg1001a at 09:33 AM on June 16, 2004
Funny how we sports fans have redefined the word "dynasty", which actually refers to a group that stays in power across changes in personnel, e.g., like the NY Yankees from 1921 to 1964. Like grum above, we now use dynasty to describe a professional sports franchise which wins multiple championships in a relatively short time span.
posted by cg1001a at 01:47 PM on January 19, 2004
I can't dump on Philly the way their fans and the media are doing. They had a good season, finishing strong. And that counts for a lot: I got the distinct impression during the Colts-Pats game that if the game had been in the dome in Indy the Colts probably would have won. So a good regular season record is important come the playoffs.
posted by cg1001a at 11:46 AM on January 19, 2004
From a bball standpoint the Nets are picking up Griffin because of the big hole caused by the retirement of A. Mourning. I guess what Thorn means is...what do they have to lose. Nets really need some help at center and a 2/3 who can score consistently from the outside.
posted by cg1001a at 07:00 PM on December 29, 2003
258!
No asterisk needed. Sisler's record was set in 1920, the year the A.L. said, hey, maybe this Ruth guy will put a few extra fannies in the seats if we use a juicier ball. In fact, the top ten hit seasons of all time occurred between 1920 and 1930 with the exceptions of Ichiro and the incomparable Ty Cobb.