Monthly Archives: August 2012

Hey Dwight, Meet Nash and Kobe

The Los Angeles Lakers have instantly become favorites to win the championship. They are officially the best team in the NBA, better than the Miami Heat. Yes, I said it.

On Thursday night, four teams agreed to a deal that will send Dwight Howard to the Lakers. As of now, this is what the deal looks like:

Lakers: Dwight Howard

Philly: Jason Richardson and Andrew Bynum

Denver: Andre Iguodala

Orlando Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, and one protected future first-round pick from each of the other three teams.

Other names may emerge by the time the deal is finalized, but the Lakers have pulled off the unthinkable. First, it was Steve Nash. And now, they have the best center in the league. The Lakers might be the first team in NBA history to have four All-Stars in their starting line-up! Are you kidding me? Here is the projected starting line-up.

PG: Steve Nash, SG: Kobe Bryant, SF: Metta World-Peace, PF: Pau Gasol, C: Dwight Howard

This is absolutely ridiculous. This is unreal. This is crazy! The Lakers have three future-HALL OF FAMERS in their starting lineup! I know I picked the Thunder as the #1 seed in the West but the Lakers are my new top seed in the Western Conference.

Not to mention, the Lakers still have depth with Antawn Jamison, Steve Blake, and Jordan Hill. After watching Kobe yesterday against Australia, I think it is safe to say that he is still an elite player in the NBA. With the addition of Nash and Howard, the Lakers will be a dominant force.

This is the perfect mix for a championship. The Canadian has the ability to get Dwight and Kobe their touches while managing to keep Gasol happy. Pau will definitely have to agree to take on a smaller role but I think that will lead to a higher efficiency rate.

LA now has two elite veterans in the backcourt and the 26 year old down low in the paint. The Lakers have improved in every single category over this off-season. Dwight Howard will help lead the Lakers to another championship.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Al Harrington, All-Star Center, Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bynum, Denver Nuggets, Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, Kobe Bryant, LA, Lakers, NBA, Orlando Magic, Pau Gasol, Philly | Comments Off on Hey Dwight, Meet Nash and Kobe

Hey Dwight, Meet Nash and Kobe

The Los Angeles Lakers have instantly become favorites to win the championship. They are officially the best team in the NBA, better than the Miami Heat. Yes, I said it.

On Thursday night, four teams agreed to a deal that will send Dwight Howard to the Lakers. As of now, this is what the deal looks like:

Lakers: Dwight Howard

Philly: Jason Richardson and Andrew Bynum

Denver: Andre Iguodala

Orlando Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, and one protected future first-round pick from each of the other three teams.

Other names may emerge by the time the deal is finalized, but the Lakers have pulled off the unthinkable. First, it was Steve Nash. And now, they have the best center in the league. The Lakers might be the first team in NBA history to have four All-Stars in their starting line-up! Are you kidding me? Here is the projected starting line-up.

PG: Steve Nash, SG: Kobe Bryant, SF: Metta World-Peace, PF: Pau Gasol, C: Dwight Howard

This is absolutely ridiculous. This is unreal. This is crazy! The Lakers have three future-HALL OF FAMERS in their starting lineup! I know I picked the Thunder as the #1 seed in the West but the Lakers are my new top seed in the Western Conference.

Not to mention, the Lakers still have depth with Antawn Jamison, Steve Blake, and Jordan Hill. After watching Kobe yesterday against Australia, I think it is safe to say that he is still an elite player in the NBA. With the addition of Nash and Howard, the Lakers will be a dominant force.

This is the perfect mix for a championship. The Canadian has the ability to get Dwight and Kobe their touches while managing to keep Gasol happy. Pau will definitely have to agree to take on a smaller role but I think that will lead to a higher efficiency rate.

LA now has two elite veterans in the backcourt and the 26 year old down low in the paint. The Lakers have improved in every single category over this off-season. Dwight Howard will help lead the Lakers to another championship.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Al Harrington, All-Star Center, Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bynum, Denver Nuggets, Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, Kobe Bryant, LA, Lakers, NBA, Orlando Magic, Pau Gasol, Philly | Comments Off on Hey Dwight, Meet Nash and Kobe

Counterpoint: The Rumored Jason Bay Trade Would Create A Worse Situation

Rumors were swirling late last week that the Marlins and Mets were throwing around the possibility of a change-of-scenery trade between the teams. The rumored trade would send outfielder Jason Bay to Miami for catcher John Buck and reliever Heath Bell. This is is the second part in a series, opposing the trade.

Obviously, I’m not Jason Bay’s biggest fan, but I’d rather keep him then get back Buck and Bell.

Yes, there are the pros I listed the other days, and developing Valdespin would be nice, but what’s stopping the Mets from doing that without trading Bay? Just because Bay is making more than 20 times Valdespin is making doesn’t mean Bay should get 20 times the starts.

The Mets can’t try to justify the Bay contract anymore and they’re just starting to realize that.They made another huge mistake and it’s going to hurt the team in the upcoming year, but they can deal with it. They don’t need to take on an extra $9 million in 2014, with another possible $9 million due in 2015 based on Bell’s performance.

While Buck would be a nice complement to Thole behind the plate, neither are really cornerstone players, and Buck is certainly not worth his $6 million contract next year.

But the biggest issue in this trade would be bringing Bell back to New York. Not only was Bell flat-out awful in his three-year stint with New York (4.92 ERA over 108 IP), but he harbors hatred towards the Mets franchise.

He was a fan-favorite, kind of like a Rick Reed of the ’90s, or a Mike Baxter of today. Not a superstar, but a cult hero for fans. Bell went out of his way to please Mets fans, developing his sprint from the bullpen in Flushing, and always willing to stay late to sign autographs.

Omar Minaya and the Mets’ brass at the time returned Bell’s dedication to the team by sending him between AAA and the majors multiple times in his stints. He was left of the postseason roster and given away in a trade to the Padres for journey Rob Johnson. He’s harbored ill-will towards the Mets ever since, and was delighted when he got the first save in Citi Field history.

He’s been vocal about his displeasure with the organization and the change-of-scenery this trade would give Heath Bell may reduce his performance even more. A toxic situation when the franchise is a year away from contention would set the Mets back more than Jason Bay already has. It’s a good deal on paper, but the Mets can’t make this trade.

Posted in Counterpoint, Heath Bell, Jason Bay, Jason Bay's Contract Is So Big It Requires It's Own Tag, John Buck, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Omar Minaya, Point, Rob "Generic Journeyman" Johnson, San Diego Padres | Comments Off on Counterpoint: The Rumored Jason Bay Trade Would Create A Worse Situation

Counterpoint: The Rumored Jason Bay Trade Would Create A Worse Situation

Rumors were swirling late last week that the Marlins and Mets were throwing around the possibility of a change-of-scenery trade between the teams. The rumored trade would send outfielder Jason Bay to Miami for catcher John Buck and reliever Heath Bell. This is is the second part in a series, opposing the trade.

Obviously, I’m not Jason Bay’s biggest fan, but I’d rather keep him then get back Buck and Bell.

Yes, there are the pros I listed the other days, and developing Valdespin would be nice, but what’s stopping the Mets from doing that without trading Bay? Just because Bay is making more than 20 times Valdespin is making doesn’t mean Bay should get 20 times the starts.

The Mets can’t try to justify the Bay contract anymore and they’re just starting to realize that.They made another huge mistake and it’s going to hurt the team in the upcoming year, but they can deal with it. They don’t need to take on an extra $9 million in 2014, with another possible $9 million due in 2015 based on Bell’s performance.

While Buck would be a nice complement to Thole behind the plate, neither are really cornerstone players, and Buck is certainly not worth his $6 million contract next year.

But the biggest issue in this trade would be bringing Bell back to New York. Not only was Bell flat-out awful in his three-year stint with New York (4.92 ERA over 108 IP), but he harbors hatred towards the Mets franchise.

He was a fan-favorite, kind of like a Rick Reed of the ’90s, or a Mike Baxter of today. Not a superstar, but a cult hero for fans. Bell went out of his way to please Mets fans, developing his sprint from the bullpen in Flushing, and always willing to stay late to sign autographs.

Omar Minaya and the Mets’ brass at the time returned Bell’s dedication to the team by sending him between AAA and the majors multiple times in his stints. He was left of the postseason roster and given away in a trade to the Padres for journey Rob Johnson. He’s harbored ill-will towards the Mets ever since, and was delighted when he got the first save in Citi Field history.

He’s been vocal about his displeasure with the organization and the change-of-scenery this trade would give Heath Bell may reduce his performance even more. A toxic situation when the franchise is a year away from contention would set the Mets back more than Jason Bay already has. It’s a good deal on paper, but the Mets can’t make this trade.

Posted in Counterpoint, Heath Bell, Jason Bay, Jason Bay's Contract Is So Big It Requires It's Own Tag, John Buck, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Omar Minaya, Point, Rob "Generic Journeyman" Johnson, San Diego Padres | Comments Off on Counterpoint: The Rumored Jason Bay Trade Would Create A Worse Situation

Random thoughts

Team U.S.A. beat Australia 119-86 and advance to play Argentina once again. Now we get to see what happens when Carmelo Anthony and Facundo Campazzo meet again. I’m pretty sure nothing too serious is going to happen between the two, but the incident of the last time they met should spark some major tension between the two teams. It’s really as close to two gangs coming to meet each other at the park as it can get, without two gangs meeting each other at the park.

I read an article or commentary on the U.S.A./Australia game on the The Guardian website. The Guardian is a British national daily newspaper. In the article Hunter Felt states that Lebron James’s triple double on paper sounds like a big deal but in real life, not so much. And that’s paraphrasing but this is what he really says “Some triple-doubles seem more like quiet statistical oddities, it appears on the box score but it doesn’t seem impressive live I call these “Rondos…”

I am not going to even start on why I think this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But I am going to go in and make the assumption that Brits no jack about basketball and should hire an American analyst for their paper. Maybe they don’t need one because basketball isn’t an iconic sport like in the U.S. but if you’re covering something where worldwide attention is involved do it right if not you’re just retarded. Come on now Brits…

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