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Monthly Archives: August 2012
Kobe is back and LeBron is still really really really good!
After having an atrocious last few games in the Olympics, Kobe Bryant was able to find his killer instinct. He had a pretty awful first half with just two points and a couple turnovers. The second half was quite different.
Australia went on an 11-0 run to start the third quarter and the Americans appeared to be in trouble. Clinging to just a six point lead, Bryant was able to make his first three pointer of the game. On the very next possession, Kobe stole the ball giving the United States a fast break. He pulled up from beyond the arc and nailed another three.
Australia was forced to call a Timeout, which presumably would slow down the “Black Mamba”. But Kobe was not done. Just about halfway through the fourth quarter, Bryant made four three pointers in a row in just a fifty-six second span! That was the dagger!
After the game, Kobe was asked what helped him get out of his ten quarter slump. He said that he got angry. When asked if he was angry about playing Argentina next, he responded, “Livid.”
But I respect the Australians performance. Australia was able to stay with the Americans for three quarters. They were only down fourteen going into the fourth and they had it down to six at one point in the third quarter. Back-up San Antonio Spurs point guard Patty Mills led the team with twenty-six points. But Team USA just has too many All-Stars and LeBron James is one of them.
LeBron was absolutely masterful even though he only converted three field goals. He had his first triple double in Olympic history! James scored 11 points, 11 assists, and 14 rebounds. Might I add that he also did not record even one turnover! He did it all.
LeBron’s performance was riveting and he was seeing the court just as well as Magic Johnson did back in the day. There were two plays where James was on the wing and was able to find a three-point shooter in the weak side corner for wide open buckets. He is so big that he has the length to pass it over the defense. James also had a spectacular pass in the first half when he placed the ball perfectly through the defender’s legs finding Carmelo Anthony who got the “and one”.
James is 6’8” but was running around the court like he was Steve Nash in his prime. And at the same time, he was able to lead the team with fourteen rebounds including three on the offensive end of the court. I used to hate “King James” but I just cannot dislike the guy anymore. He is amazingly talented and is the MVP of this Olympic team.
So after a sluggish first half, Team USA was able to trounce Australia 119-86 and move into the semi-finals. Lithuania was close to defeating the Americans earlier this week but they lost to Russia earlier today. So at this point, only a miracle could stop Team USA from winning the gold medal.
Posted in Australia, Basketball, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Olympics, Team USA, Three-Pointer
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Injuries Catching Up
The Yankees are now only 4.5 games ahead of the Orioles after dropping 12 of the last 18. There has been some talk that the injuries are finally slowing the Yankees down, especially with A-Rod being out of the lineup. A-Rod’s stats are not the only ones that are stagnant right now, and because of the lack of offense this mid-summer slump could be deeper than it appears on the surface.
The Yankee M.O. of staging late game comebacks with ninth inning bats statistically has not changed much. According to the NY Post with A-Rod in the lineup the Yankees averaged 4.81 runs per game, while with him injured they are averaging 4.85. Pitching is also to blame as this seems like a team problem. Phil Hughes roller coaster season continues as he is on another low, failing to put batters away, or go deep into games, but CC and Kuroda are pitching well.
Curtis Granderson’s slump is a big part of the overall picture. Last night a ninth inning rally was abruptly ended and another Yankee loss was confirmed to the Tigers when Granderson popped out making him 2 for 20 with six strikeouts over the last week.
“I am just not putting the ball in play the way I want to”, Granderson told the NY Post. “I am still getting pitches to hit. It doesn’t make a difference if you are hitting first, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth, when you are not hitting you are not hitting. I am getting balls around the middle of the plate and not being able to do what I want to.”
The sky is not falling yet though. A 4.5 game lead is still substantial, and with CC and Kuroda starting the next two games things will turn around. Getting the slumps and losing streaks out of the way in August may just be a prelude to turning it on in October and making a run at another championship. If the Orioles end up in first place, then we can all start worrying!
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Injuries Catching Up
The Yankees are now only 4.5 games ahead of the Orioles after dropping 12 of the last 18. There has been some talk that the injuries are finally slowing the Yankees down, especially with A-Rod being out of the lineup. A-Rod’s stats are not the only ones that are stagnant right now, and because of the lack of offense this mid-summer slump could be deeper than it appears on the surface.
The Yankee M.O. of staging late game comebacks with ninth inning bats statistically has not changed much. According to the NY Post with A-Rod in the lineup the Yankees averaged 4.81 runs per game, while with him injured they are averaging 4.85. Pitching is also to blame as this seems like a team problem. Phil Hughes roller coaster season continues as he is on another low, failing to put batters away, or go deep into games, but CC and Kuroda are pitching well.
Curtis Granderson’s slump is a big part of the overall picture. Last night a ninth inning rally was abruptly ended and another Yankee loss was confirmed to the Tigers when Granderson popped out making him 2 for 20 with six strikeouts over the last week.
“I am just not putting the ball in play the way I want to”, Granderson told the NY Post. “I am still getting pitches to hit. It doesn’t make a difference if you are hitting first, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth, when you are not hitting you are not hitting. I am getting balls around the middle of the plate and not being able to do what I want to.”
The sky is not falling yet though. A 4.5 game lead is still substantial, and with CC and Kuroda starting the next two games things will turn around. Getting the slumps and losing streaks out of the way in August may just be a prelude to turning it on in October and making a run at another championship. If the Orioles end up in first place, then we can all start worrying!
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Injuries Catching Up
The Yankees are now only 4.5 games ahead of the Orioles after dropping 12 of the last 18. There has been some talk that the injuries are finally slowing the Yankees down, especially with A-Rod being out of the lineup. A-Rod’s stats are not the only ones that are stagnant right now, and because of the lack of offense this mid-summer slump could be deeper than it appears on the surface.
The Yankee M.O. of staging late game comebacks with ninth inning bats statistically has not changed much. According to the NY Post with A-Rod in the lineup the Yankees averaged 4.81 runs per game, while with him injured they are averaging 4.85. Pitching is also to blame as this seems like a team problem. Phil Hughes roller coaster season continues as he is on another low, failing to put batters away, or go deep into games, but CC and Kuroda are pitching well.
Curtis Granderson’s slump is a big part of the overall picture. Last night a ninth inning rally was abruptly ended and another Yankee loss was confirmed to the Tigers when Granderson popped out making him 2 for 20 with six strikeouts over the last week.
“I am just not putting the ball in play the way I want to”, Granderson told the NY Post. “I am still getting pitches to hit. It doesn’t make a difference if you are hitting first, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth, when you are not hitting you are not hitting. I am getting balls around the middle of the plate and not being able to do what I want to.”
The sky is not falling yet though. A 4.5 game lead is still substantial, and with CC and Kuroda starting the next two games things will turn around. Getting the slumps and losing streaks out of the way in August may just be a prelude to turning it on in October and making a run at another championship. If the Orioles end up in first place, then we can all start worrying!
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A Grandiose Center Fielder
From a Tiger to a Yankee, 31-year-old Curtis Granderson can say he’s accomplished a hefty load in his professional baseball career and in his personal life. Even though his original plan was to play professional basketball, his talent with the bat had other plans for him.
While playing baseball in High School in his hometown of Illinois, he batted a .369 average which quickly got him recognized by plenty of college baseball programs but opted to attend the University of Illinois-Chicago. Selected in the third round of the 2002 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers, Granderson put his college career to the side for the time being to focus on his athletic career. Eventually moving up through the farm system, the Center Fielder made his debut in the Major League’s on September 2004. He ultimately ended up completing his degree in business administration and business marketing via online courses.
In his five years with the Tigers (2004-2009), he began exemplifying his true talent early on. In August of 2007 he followed the footsteps of past Tiger Charlie Gehringer, and became the second player in the team’s club history to in a single season have at least 30 doubles, 15 triples, 15 home runs, and ten stolen bases. One month later and Curtis Granderson became only the sixth player to become part of the 20-20-20 club in baseball, a group reserved for players who have 20 doubles, 20 triples, and 20 home runs in one season. This feat didn’t come easy, because in order for a player to reach those 20 triples, he has to have bolting speed–a quality Granderson has shown with ease. In his last season with the Detroit Tigers he was voted on to his first MLB All-Star appearance, an appearance in which he ended up getting the game-winning hit, a triple, at the top of the 8th inning.
Since his move to Yankees Stadium in 2010 through a trade that send Phil Coke and Austin Jackson to the Tigers, the lefty Chicago-native has homered 94 times. Now with the pinstripe boys, he’s earned the nickname around the clubhouse of “Grandy”. In his years with the Tigers, Granderson was known for having difficulty batting against left-handed pitching but when he teamed up with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long, those numbers have thus improved. The center field took the initiative to ask Long for help, and the numbers showed a quick improvement. Before Long, Granderson was hitting .239 for the season, but in the 12-game span after the duo began tweaking his batting techniques, Granderson was batting .282 (11 for 39). In 2009, his average against lefty pitching was .183, in 2010–.234, and in 2011–.272, so the effort in perfecting his swing is showing.
Curtis Granderson put on a spectacle throughout his 2011 season where he was in the the race for first place in home run totals in the Major Leagues against the dangerous Jose Bautista. He ended his season being two shy away from the Toronto champ who had 43 homers overall. This however only made him more popular with the fans; they were finally seeing the power numbers that this Yankee is capable of. Because of all of the numbers Granderson has been putting up in his baseball career, he is now considered a five-tool player, which only greats like Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Barry Bonds have had the privilege of being called. A five-tool player surmounts in hitting for average and power, has tremendous speed and base running skills, and shows exemplary fielding and throwing abilities.
One of the major things that makes Curtis Granderson stick out from the rest of many professional players, is the time and effort he spends off the field contributing to the sport of baseball. For the past couple of years, Granderson has been an ambassador Major League Baseball International, which promotes the sport to countries outside of the Unites States. In 2006, he began involving himself with the Major League baseball Players Association and has taken part in labor contracts to make sure that nothing similar to the NBA lockout in 2011 occurs in baseball. The foundation he founded in 2007 to help benefit the education system of inner-city children across the country, the Grand Kids Foundation, has done so much for the community that it has even been noticed by and has teamed up with First Lady Michelle Obama in the past. In fact, his foundation means so much to him that when he grabbed endorsements from big-name companies like Nike and Louisville Slugger, he refused to receive a paycheck for himself and instead asked for the money to be donated to his charity. If that doesn’t scream “humble”, then I don’t know what does.
Curtis Granderson has become known to the world of sports and to the fans as a great dedicated player, as well as one of the nicest. Not to rub it in, but this grandiose center field even landed one of the top five spots in a poll by ESPN that ranked the “nicest players in Major League Baseball”. With the amount of work he does on the field to perfect his abilities and the amount of work he does off the field to better the community, Curtis Granderson is sure to be a great topic of conversation when baseball is brought up. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig even once wrote to him, “There are so many fine young men playing Major League baseball today, but I can think of no one who is better suited to represent our national pastime than you.”
Posted in Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees
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