Lack of Activity
sorry for the lack of activity lately, i'm bombed at work. transitioning a couple of my clients to someone else and taking on some new clients.
here's what is bouncing around in my head:
- superbowl - both superbowl teams play straight up defense. no gimmicks, no blitzing. for me, it reinforces the notion that JJ's scheme is flawed.
- signing day - penn state managed to eek into the top 25 (24) in rivals.com's rankings for their recruiting class, but this is how bad it's gotten for them: a) as big dog mentioned, joe pa is losing the battle in NJ to rutgers. RUTGERS! b) broderick green (rated the 14th best running back in the nation) chose USC over PSU even though USC also signed two guys who not only are the number 1 and 2 RBs in the nation but some also consider the two best players in the nation. meanwhile, PSU's RB stable is bare and green would have had a chance to start right away. gah.
- sixers - this is just awful. this team is just perky enough to get into the playoffs in the awful east. the sixers are blowing their chance at getting either difference making player. i can't stand it. billy king is on TV preaching some nonsense about not tanking because he has to be concerned about teaching the players how to win. hey billy, here's how you win. it's pretty simple -- have the best freaking players.
- phillies - still getting really excited about the team. watched the meet the phils show the other day. haven't done that in years. i'm with ben this year, win or lose i'm along for the ride. give pat some credit here, he's converted an unlikeable team into a likeable one pretty quickly.
here's what is bouncing around in my head:
- superbowl - both superbowl teams play straight up defense. no gimmicks, no blitzing. for me, it reinforces the notion that JJ's scheme is flawed.
- signing day - penn state managed to eek into the top 25 (24) in rivals.com's rankings for their recruiting class, but this is how bad it's gotten for them: a) as big dog mentioned, joe pa is losing the battle in NJ to rutgers. RUTGERS! b) broderick green (rated the 14th best running back in the nation) chose USC over PSU even though USC also signed two guys who not only are the number 1 and 2 RBs in the nation but some also consider the two best players in the nation. meanwhile, PSU's RB stable is bare and green would have had a chance to start right away. gah.
- sixers - this is just awful. this team is just perky enough to get into the playoffs in the awful east. the sixers are blowing their chance at getting either difference making player. i can't stand it. billy king is on TV preaching some nonsense about not tanking because he has to be concerned about teaching the players how to win. hey billy, here's how you win. it's pretty simple -- have the best freaking players.
- phillies - still getting really excited about the team. watched the meet the phils show the other day. haven't done that in years. i'm with ben this year, win or lose i'm along for the ride. give pat some credit here, he's converted an unlikeable team into a likeable one pretty quickly.
Labels: baseball, basketball, college, football
posted by The Mean Guy at 9:36 AM
14 Comments:
It's good to have TMG back...I have to disagree with the Sixers. Yes yes yes I want them to get Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. But I can not possibly hope that they lose games. Losing is a sick, contagious, horrible mindset, that even a good player may not be able to get you out of. The way I see it is they have 3 #1 picks. There is no certainty that they will get #1 or #2 with the lottery and even if they did there is no certainty that Durant will come out...I am assuming Oden will just because what more do you have to prove if you are definitely #1? So there is absolutely no certainty who they would have a chance to draft. You figure with 3 #1s and their's more than likely being a high pick, they are going to improve with the draft....furthermore there is no certainty that Oden will be a stud (although he probably will)...high draft picks are not a lock (see Olowakandi and Shawn Bradley) and you can get great players down in the first round...see Nowitski, Kobe Bryant, et al...if they win after deep sixing their "stars" and play well with a core of Iggy, Korver, Dalembert, Green, and Carney...they add some good players in the draft and don't have a "we suck" attitude...isnt' that win/win?
imo, you need to think strategically about the situation, not tactically. losing is not a disease. it's a result of a competition and an outcome based on a certain mix of players, coaches, and opponents. if you change one of those things, you change the whole dynamic.
the rockets tanked to get olajuwon - result, title. the spurs tanked to get tim duncan - result, title. the knicks tanked to get patrick ewing - they didn't win a title, but ewing was a pretty good big man. i didn't see tanking infect these teams and have a lasting effect.
you have to think about the situation with a broader timeline. the sixers will not win a title with this core group. it can not, will not happen. unless they can add a bona fide difference maker into the mix it will not happen.
oden is that guy. olowokandi was a non-consensus number 1 pick and was drafted purely on size and potential. after watching oden play, i am certain that he will be the best defensive player in the nba. seriously.
dalembert is a decent shot blocker, but he's a horrible defender. he can't handle anyone in the post and lacks the court awareness to be a great help defender. oden already has these skills and he's an unbelieveable shot blocker.
if greg oden is not a stud, i'll eat a pound of butter.
re: your point about the 3 number 1 picks
it is so unlikely (as to be almost impossible) to get a difference making player outside of the top 10 in the nba. you have to be incredibly lucky to have someone fall to you there. kobe was the first non-big man out of high school to have success in the NBA. you'd never see him fall outside the top 5 now.
in addition, there are only 5 players on the court at any one time. this is not the nfl, in the nba, quality matters way more than quantity. there are fewer injuries and the best players dominate the game.
you add some good players to this mix and in 5 years they'll be a good team... but not a great one unless they get really lucky and hit the jackpot on a late flyer.
at the rate they're going, they'll make the playoffs and miss the lottery entirely. this is a once in a generation top of the draft. the sixers are making a catastrophic mistake.
Wade Phillips looks like the next Cowboys coach.
Steve72=happy.
me too, steve.
Phil=happy. They couldn't be stupid enough to keep TO, could they?
i'd like to add that it's not the players' job to tank the season. it is billy king's job.
when the spurs tanked to get duncan, they held out a healthy david robinson because there was no strategic advantage gained by playing him.
i'm guessing paul pierce doesn't see the court again this season in an effort to maximize the celtics draft position.
the sixers situation is different because they have virtually all young players now, but andre miller is making them semi-competitive. i'd like to see him develop some sort of mysterious ailment that shelves him for the season.
TMG I hear what you are saying and I agree....and keep in mind I want them to get Oden. The only part that I kind of disagree with you on is your assessment of "the disease of losing"....we totally are in sync with team chemistry, especially on the Birds. Losing is a state of mind....batting slumps are a state of mind....many things in sports are psychological. I think that team chemistry and team psychology are almost one in the same. And if you feel that you are a loser, then you are. Now does that mean that I want the Sixers to sneak into the play-offs and fall in the draft...not necessarilly. They need and must have more talent, I 100% agree....you may be onto something though with Miller's phantom injury. Whatever, I can't believe I am this concerned with the Sixers. By the way, Bumble ate a pound of butter on a dare.
It was a stick of better for $57 and I believe TMG was 5 feet away cheering the horrendous event on.
I am mixed. I cannot stand to see losing and I want to see them develop winning habits now. Iggy, Carney, Dalembert, and Miller can play a little and Korver is a decent 6th man. That said, the NBA is horrible and if you're not in the lottery, you have absolutely no prayer of improving. Do try to look at this from King's persepctive. He cannot hemmorage cash and he needs to sell that deep sixing Iverson was the right move, and make no mistake about it that was the right move. Only wins quell the crowd. I would like to see them win 25-30 games and be competitive. They need to get in the lottery for the top 3 guys. I hate to lose, but lose and be competitive. They have an easy schedule right now and they need to stop winning!
By the by, no love for Joey Chestnut? The man ate 182 wings in Wing Bowl. Woof!
Bumble
Last Sunday there were multiple eating events on ESPN 2, including Nathan's hot dog eating event from last 4th of July with Kobayashi....like World's Strongest Man I just can't off IFOCE events....I even know rankings and events...Joey Chestnut is top 3 in the US...Black Widow, Cookie Jarvis, Badlands Booker, Kobayahsi, that 130 pound old man from Colorado....ironically most of the competitive eaters are not el gordo's like most of the Wing Bowl contestants....Bumble, Mike Behl from Paulsboro was in it this year....TMG, the Flyers lost ANOTHER close one last night...come now, how can you say losing is not a psychological sickness?
big dog, you are right that a team's chemistry and psyche are closely related and i have always believed that they can have a big impact on winning and losing (as i've written), however please consider:
- team chemistry and psyche can change in a finger snap. look at the eagles this season. something caused the chemistry to change mid-season. was it winning that caused it? was it removing don from the team mix? was it replacing mccoy? who knows? what i do know is that team chemistry can change on a dime if you identify the root cause and deal with it. losing is not a root cause i don't believe. the eagles were perennial losers and andy reid changed the psychology of the team in his first year.
- team chemistry and psyche matter more in football and baseball than basketball and hockey. in football, there are so many players on the field and teams are so close in overall talent that team emotion and cohesiveness is a huge factor. the mental aspect of football and baseball also heighten the importance of team psychology. basketball and hockey are almost always won by the team with the best players. not the team with the greatest quantity of good players, but the teams with the best and usually the second best player on the court. the rest just need to play roles. the sixers have a lot of players who will develop into the third best or possibly second best player on a contending team. they're locked in NBA purgatory until they do.
bumble is right. in many ways, the NBA has become franchise mode in madden. if you know can't win, it is better to tank and better prepare yourself for the future. it's not ideal, but that's the way the game is set up right now. you can either play to win (i.e. tank) or you can be happy you lost while fighting the good fight.
BTW - with the third pick we're going to get the sam bowie equivalent of the michael jordan, hakeem olajuwon draft.
third might as well be last.
Found a 2007 m ock draft. Lots of white guys projected for the Sixers...probably not a good thing.
Also, look at the last 5-7 drafts. There is nothing in round 2 and there are very few guys after the first 7-8 picks who are worth squat.
http://www.nbadraft.net/index.asp?content=mock2007
Hey we lost tonight. I cannot root for it, but I am not against it. A 90-89 loss is certainly not as bad as a 110-87 drubbing.
Bumble
Speaking of drafts, who do the Eagles pick? Think Reid sticks around given his family issues? Any chance of them signinh Briggs?
I don't care about team chemistry in the NBA, at all. The NBA is a superstar league, there are 5 guys who can take a team to a title in any given year. If your team doesn't have them, doesn't matter.
If Iggy or Korver have bad attitudes, but the Sixers have Oden or Durant, fine. Say goodbye, Iggy and KK. Role players are a dime a dozen, superstars come along every 5 years.
- Behan
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