 |
| RealGM Hoop Net |
|
| Search |
|
|
|
|
| Trade Checker ID |
| Draft Sim ID |
| Newsletter |
|
|
|
|
16th March, 2010 - 12:49 pm
|
|
|
| Current Features |
|
TEAM RANKINGS: Euroleague Top 16 Power Rankings
Barcelona, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Maccabi, Madrid and Siena enter the Top 16 phase as likely contenders to win the 2011 Euroleague.
STANDING 10: Non-National Games Of The Week (1/17-1/23)
The Knicks make three appearances this week, along with several from Blake Griffin and the Clippers.
PLAYER RANKINGS: 2010-11 NBA Player Rankings Through Dec. 14th
Now that more than a quarter of the season is in the books, we don't have many aberrations in the player rankings as Pau Gasol, Kevin Love, Deron Williams, Chris Paul and LeBron James comprise the top-five.
MOCK DRAFT: 2010 NBA Mock Draft, Version 5.0
An interesting week of prevalent deception is nearly over and the actual picks are hours away. Hundreds of hours have been spent watching the 60 players that 30 teams hope will improve their club in the coming years.
LOCKER TALK: Nash, Cleveland, & Orlando
Steve Nash could draw trade interest this summer and Cleveland isn?t overlooking Orlando?
CLASSICS: Hakeem Vs. Ewing: Who Was The Better Center?
Born within six months of each other in opposite corners of the world, two seven footers who are finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall are two of the best ever to play the center position.
|
By Christopher Reina
The Donnie Walsh
Knicks 94, Sixers, 84: "That Douglas fellow can play the?game", Posting and Toasting, Seth: Toney Douglas is averaging 20 points per game over his past three, as he is beginning to be worth the $3M New York paid the Lakers to acquire him.
Toney Douglas started slowly, but ended up with a very nice two-way performance in the victory. Toney's passing game was primarily beating his man off the dribble and kicking out to open shooters (It comes as no surprise that the Knicks have shot well in Toney's two starts). He had some trouble finding David Lee off of screens, but this is partly because the Sixers defended the pick-and-roll nicely and had Lee pretty well bottled-up. Douglas also looked to score some, favoring the outside shot (2-6) a little too much, but also pulling up from midrange and slicing to the rim. Above all else, though, Douglas' defense continued to impress. (Jrue) Holiday had himself a game, but several of his buckets came in the second quarter against Sergio Rodriguez or Eddie House. Toney did a very nice job on his fellow rookie, rarely granting him a step and either picking pockets or jumping passing lanes for a few open-court steals.
The Ernie Grunfeld
And the Blatche Played On: Buying Into the Lottery Revisited, Fanhouse, Bethlehem Shoals: If the forward/guard/undersized center can take some coaching, toughen up as a pro, and get the right opportunity in three years, the team that spends a second-rounder on him will be laughing all the way to the Blatche. After all, lots of franchises snatch up these picks as cost-cutting measures.
Buying into the lottery may only work out once in a blue moon, and it's not a foolproof proposition. Then again, you can ask the Wizards faithful whether they'd rather have cap space or Blatche right now, as their lousy team faces a long climb back to respectability.
The Daniel Ferry
Old Logos Never Die, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Brian Windhorst: Windhorst shows Detroit's use of the Andre Miller-era logo in the visiting locker room. It would take a lot more than LeBron James for that logo to be associated with winning rather than being one of the ugliest in NBA history.
Perhaps 5% of Cleveland's concerns about LeBron potentially leaving this summer has to be the unvalidated fear that the Cavaliers will revert back to that logo if he does leave.
The Jed Hoyer
The great debate about how long the Padres can keep Adrian Gonzalez, ESPN, Buster Olney: It is behind the Insider wall, but in Olney's excellent daily blog, he lists the six players who had a better OPS in 2009 than Gonzalez, along with their financial status. Among the names are Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Prince Fielder, Joey Votto, Derrek Lee and Kevin Youkilis.
Gonzalez will make just $4.75M in 2010 and $5.5M in 2011, which is a club option. Gonzalez signed that extension in April of 2007 after coming off his first full big league season in which he his for an .862 OPS. Gonzalez was the first overall pick in 2000 by the Marlins, but was a little slow to develop into the All-Star hitter and Gold Glove first baseman he is now.
Since 2006, Gonzalez ranks 15th in OPS+ (his home games in a pitcher's park are factored).
He clearly has one of the best contracts in baseball and as the 24th ranked player in terms of season FIC during the 2009 season, he had a Reina Value of +374%.
The Alex Anthopoulos
RealGM's 2010 Season Preview: Toronto Blue Jays: Here is the takeaway if you want the abbreviated version..
This will be a transition year where the front office will be able to evaluate their personnel and determine just how far away and how many players are necessary to acquire before they can piece together enough pieces to make a real shot at the playoffs.
With that stated and clear, the Jays should be better than expected and I believe they will outperform oddsmakers' expectations of 71.5 regular season wins. The judgments for Toronto unfortunately are always made under the prism of the gauntlet that is the AL East. If they were in the AL Central, I wouldn't rule out the postseason in 2010 and could envision them being amongst the favorites in 2011. Since they're so close to Detroit.. Realignment..?
The Ruben Amaro
RealGM's 2010 Season Preview: Philadelphia Phillies: Again, here is the takeaway if you want the abbreviated version..
Many people expect the Phillies to have elevated themselves to death, taxes, playoffs status, but the Braves and Marlins have enough talent to actually give them at least a small run for their money. The Phillies were 9-9 against Florida and 8-10 against Atlanta, who finished six and seven games behind them respectively in 2009.
A lot of things have gone right for the Phillies over the past few seasons, whether it is the Mets' meltdowns or their October timing and even though they are an easy bet to reach the playoffs again, Roy Halladay's first foray into the postseason may be short-lived unless that staff behind him delivers.
The Al Davis
About that Wimbley deal, San Francisco Chronicle, David White: While not a game changer, acquiring a still young Kamerion Wimbley for a third round pick is a nice pick-up for Oakland, particularly in light of last year's Richard Seymour deal where they sent a first rounder to the Patriots.
Wimbley is certainly versatile enough to fit into what the Raiders do. He can stand up as an outside linebacker and play defensive end, just as Trevor Scott did last season. He did the first in Cleveland's 3-4 defense and the latter in college.
He could be the strongside linebacker they've lacked for years, or a replacement for co-sacks leader Greg Ellis, who also came to Oakland as a 3-4 linebacker but played right end in their 4-3 scheme.
Add a mike linebacker and a big nose tackle, and the Raiders would have the makings of a pretty good 3-4 defense. They used the third-round pick from the Derrick Burgess-to-New England trade, so it's almost like playing with the house's money. Not bad.
The downside of the deal? It did nothing to address ongoing run-defense problems. They better be ready to draft or sign a nose tackle, or hope undrafted rookie Desmond Bryant is ready to take over.
The Ted Thompson
Coming out against Tauscher signing (and Santa, Easter Bunny too), Journal Sentinel, Greg A. Bedard: Re-signing (Mark) Tauscher was a luxury -- a great one to have, to be sure?-- but it was not a necessity like Chad Clifton was.
If Tauscher was brought back as a backup, then it would be absolutely understandable and something to be jumped at. I'm all for having a few well-placed veteran backups. The Packers could use more of them. Tauscher might top the list.
But to be the undisputed starter at right tackle? No, it doesn't make sense.
Here are some of the reasons:
1. It's a myth Tauscher spurred Packers' offensive turnaround
2. Should be able to replace performance level
3. The big one: It's past time to move on
The Gary Bettman
A New Approach?, Toronto Star, Damien Cox: Perhaps it's time for the NHL to look at a new way of doing things when it comes to supplementary discipline.
Perhaps the time is right for Gary Bettman to take centre stage, to become the man who makes these tough hockey decisions and puts his reputation on the line.
David Stern does it in the NBA. Roger Goodell was the one who banned Michael Vick and has to deal with trouble in the NFL when suspensions are required. Heck, Mark Cohon, every once in a while, at least tries to look like he's running the CFL show when something bad happens on the field.
But not Bettman. Whether it was Brian Burke or Colin Campbell, Bettman has preferred to stay in the background, just as was the case when Brian O'Neill dealt with supplementary discipline under John Ziegler.
But it wasn't always this way. Clarence Campbell, you'll recall, was the NHL president who suspended Rocket Richard..
..The current system isn't working. Players don't seem happy, GMs and coaches don't see the logic and fans are completely confused.
If Bettman really is the caretaker of the league, then this could be the time he stands up and takes on the toughest job.
Daily Briefing of RealGM Links
65 Players To Watch In The 2010 NCAA Tournament
The 2010 NCAA Tournament is upon us and in this space we examine 65 players who (in vast degrees of varying likelihood) could be soon playing in an NBA arena.
Curry Is The Cornerstone
What matters most over the next few months is that Warriors management looks at moves of all kinds through the lens of how they fit with Stephen Curry.
Flynn Versus Realistic Expectations
As his rookie season winds down, it seems that the lofty expectations of Jonny Flynn have proven out of reach. Were those expectations fair to begin with? After all, this is a team with a new GM and a new coach.
Beyond RealGM
Tiger Woods Says He'll Return For Masters: Aren't we a few months away from the Tiger scandal to be reduced to the occasional one-liner? A year from now, all we'll really have to take away from the past few months since Thanksgiving beyond the salaciousness of everything is a bunch of hyperbole.
Jackson estate in record deal worth up to $250 million: Sony will release 10 Michael Jackson projects over seven years. It amazes me that Sony is confident that they will get a good return on that kind of investment in the music piracy age.
The landmark deal is worth more than all other benchmarks, such as the all-encompassing rights deals that concert promoter and ticket-seller Live Nation Entertainment Inc. had previously signed with Madonna at $120 million and Jay-Z for $150 million.
Jackson's deal is even more remarkable because it does not include royalties from merchandise.
The contract shows the value of legacy artists. It also comes at a time of decline for the music industry, with sales down about half from their peak in 2000 mainly due to free file-swapping.
'Justified' scores with hot star, smart scripts: Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle returns a rave review for the 'Justified' pilot, which is looking like the John Wall of 2010 new shows.
Click here to follow Chris Reina's Twitter feed. |
