The NBA Is No Longer Boring

Despite my love for the sport of basketball, I must admit that the NBA regular season is usually rather dull. The current playoff format makes for mediocre to bad teams (if they're in the East) duking it out for the final playoff spot during the final weeks of the season while the top dogs cruise to the post season. When those final teams are in contention don't happen to include the Hawks, I find it rather unsatisfying to watch mediocre basketball games. Unlike baseball, where the wild card team has a legitimate shot to win the title each and every year, the eight seeds are the equivalent of a 12 seed in the NCAA tournament. Perhaps they have a chance to raise some eyebrows in the early rounds and pull of an upset or two, but they have no real chance of winning the whole thing. This year, however, is entirely different, with a myriad of interesting story lines grabbing my attention.

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Story line: Blockbuster trades

In a league often derided as the "No Balls Association," general managers have broken out of their shells and made some truly gutsy trades that have involved superstar caliber players. It all started last year when Iverson was sent to the Nuggets, continued through the summer as KG finally left the Minnesota tundra for Beantown, and reached its climax with an array of deals leading up to this year's trade deadline. Gasol goes to the Lakers. J-Kidd returns to Dallas. Shaq ends up in Phoenix. Bibby finds his way to Atlanta. While some of these deals were steals (Gasol), some were great moves (Garnett, Allen), some were questionable (J-Kidd), and some were head-scratchers, at least in my opinion (Shaq), the avalanche of deals has certainly made regular season games more interesting as I watch to see how the relocated stars adapt to their new teams.

Story line: The Wild West

I'm a Hawks fan and would be more inclined to root for an Eastern Conference team to win it all. However, I don't think anyone can deny that the battle for supremacy in the Western Conference will make for one of the most exciting regular season finishes in years and create a playoff picture in which virtually no team could be counted out. The Lakers are an offensive juggernaut having added Gasol to Kobe and Odom. Farmar and Fisher have held down the point. When Bynum returns from injury, this team will be one of the most dynamic offensive teams we've seen in a while. They can bang inside, shoot the three, break down defenses off the dribble, isolate, pass out of double teams . . . they are loaded. The Suns and the Mavs, despite their questionable trades for aging superstars remain near the top. New Orleans could potentially go as far as Chris Paul can take them. And judging from his performance so far this year, he could take them a very, very long way (someone tell me why he's not in a Hawks jersey, again). The Jazz may actually be better than they were last year, when they made it all the way to the conference final before falling to San Antonio. Of course, San Antonio may still be the team to beat. Tony Parker is now healthy. Manu Ginobli is arguably the best shooting guard in the game. Tim Duncan is still Tim Duncan. And, with a team full of savvy veterans who have won multiple championship rings before, it would not be surprising if the Spurs emerged yet again as the Western Conference Champs. Even the teams vying for the lower seeds are entertaining. Golden State is perhaps the most schizophrenic team in the league, but when they're on, they are fun to watch. Portland is full of young stars. The Nuggets, despite being ravaged by injury, still are entertaining with the Melo-Iverson combo running the show. It's exciting stuff.

Story Line: Celtics Revival

The Celtics have been irrelevant for so long that when I thought of the Celtics, I could only recall replays of Bird and Co. from the '80s. It is a sad fate for such a storied franchise. However, the Garnett and Allen deals have immediately turned that around. Garnett has been one of the best players in the league since he first set foot on an NBA court over a decade ago. After languishing in the backwoods of Minnesota for years, Garnett finally has a chance to flash his skills under the bright lights of Boston. Garnett, Allen, and Pierce combine to comprise a group of likeable superstars who, up until this point, were forced to suffer while playing for subpar teams. Now, all three have a legitimate shot to win the title while wearing the Celtics jersey. As much as I'd hate to see Boston enjoy post season glory with the Patriots, the Red Sox, and the Celtics, it is intriguing to watch these three stars revive the Celtic machine while simultaneously finally receiving an opportunity to play for a true contender.

The only thing that could make these story lines even more interesting would be a Hawks playoff run. Here's to eternal optimism!

I Love the Smell of Baseball in the Morning

That's right folks. Between all the wonderful soccer (yeah Spurs!), talk of college basketball and March Madness, an exciting NBA regular season (as unbelievable as that sounds), and the NFL draft (which takes up way too much room on the ESPN headlines than it should), it's easy to forget that Spring Training is running at full force now in Arizona and Florida. Here's a quick look at how the Braves lineup will probably shake down.

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The Braves' starting lineup for opening day projects to look something like this.

2B Kelly Johnson
SS Yunel Escobar
3B Chipper Jones
1B Mark Teixeira
RF Jeff Francoeur
C Brian McCann
CF Mark Kotsay
LF Matt Diaz (possibly in platoon with rookie Brandon Jones)


From an offensive standpoint, the 3-7 spots are extremely intimidating to opposing teams. The switch-hitting power combo of Chipper and Tex is right up there with the best heart-of-the-order tandems in baseball. Francoeur is now entering his third full season in the bigs and, if he can combine his power numbers of '06 with the average of '07 and continue to improve on his BB/K ratio, could look to make the transition from local star to national star. Brian McCann battled an unfortunate hand injury that hurt his average through the middle of the season. However, if he can remain healthy, he is one of the very best offensive catchers in baseball and should hit close to .300 with 20 HR's and 90+ RBIs. Two switch hitters followed by a righty-lefty combo in Francoeur and McCann will make late game situations difficult for opposing managers. If Chipper can play 140 games, this group could easily go for 400+ RBIS, 90-100 HR's and a composite BA right around .300.

However, outside of this core, there are a lot of lingering questions. There is a lot of pressure on Escobar to live up to his stellar rookie campaign. Bobby Cox may consider batting Escobar later in the order against right-handed starters to ease some of the pressure on the young Cuban. Mark Kotsay will not be able to replicate the power numbers of Andruw Jones, but he will also be under pressure to hit upward of .260 and get on base consistently. It will also be interesting to see if Matt Diaz, who has been one of the best hitters for average in all of baseball over the past few years, continues to succeed as he enters his third season with the Braves. If Kotsay, Escobar, or Johnson struggle in the one or two holes, Diaz could fill their spot. However, Kelly Johnson may actually be the most important key to success for the Atlanta offense. In 2005, Johnson was heralded as the Braves top offensive prospect, ahead of Francoeur and McCann. However, an 0-30 start to his big league career followed by a lost season in 2006 recovering from Tommy John surgery have caused him to fall of the radar. Yet Johnson is only 25 years old and is coming off his first full season in which he posted an OPS in excess of .800, which is excellent for a second baseman. A late slump hurt his average but that is common for young players. Now that he has gotten comfortable with his new position at 2B and has a year and a half of experience, look for Kelly Johnson as a sleeper to emerge as one of Atlanta's best offensive weapons. He has enough speed to be effective in the leadoff spot. He has the eye to bat second. And he has enough power to bring some pop to the back of the lineup. A season hitting .280 with 15 HR and 60 RBIs should be no problem, but I would not be surprised if he were able to push his average closer to .300 and hit 20 HR. If he hits in the 1 or 2 spots all season, I look for him to pass 100 R. The Braves have not had a 2B who has had numbers like that since the All-Star seasons of Marcus Giles four and five years ago. Such a performance from Johnson this season would ease some of the pressure on Escobar and Kotsay as well as give Tex and Chipper more RBI opportunities. Excluding the Phillies Chase Utley, 2B is a weakness for NL East teams. Johnson has a chance to become one of the better offensive 2B in the NL and give the Braves a weapon as second base that they have lacked for a few years.

While Atlanta is excited about Jordan Schafer, the power-hitting, base-stealing 21 year-old heir apparent to the CF job in 2009, there is another youngster who may have a bigger role to play this year. AAA Richmond shortstop and stud prospect Brent Lillibridge came over from the Pirates last year when the Braves sent LaRoche to Pittsburgh and, if not for the emergence of the slightly older Escobar, would probably be penciled in as the Braves SS of the future. He can hit for average, has great gap power with occasional HR distance, and has great speed on the bases. In addition, he is a wizard with the glove. He lacks the arm strength of Escobar but still has plenty of strength to make all the throws. He also has the ability to play the outfield, as well. Although Omar Infante will start the season as the Braves utility player (provided he recovers from the broken hand he suffered in winter ball), I personally would like to see where Lillibridge will fit in. Though he's inexperienced, he's well seasoned having been drafted after his junior year of college and spending last year in AAA Richmond. His ability to play 2B, SS, 3B and the outfield make him a wonderful asset and his speed fills the stolen bases void that opened after Furcal left for Dodgertown a few years back. He is great insurance if Escobar or Johnson sruggles or goes down with injury. Many scouts regard Lillibridge as a better overall prospect than Escobar. It will be interesting to see how Bobby Cox envisions Lillibridge's role with the Braves. He will probably start the year in Richmond so that he can continue to play everyday, but don't be surprised if Lillibridge becomes an important component of the Braves lineup come July and/or August.

I'll give a rundown of the Braves starting pitchers in a couple days. Until next time . . .

Spurs are on their way to wembley because we beat the scum 5-1, and we'll do the business that's for sure! -- SUPER DELUXE GUEST POST!!!

so tomorrow is the big day. the mighty tottenham hostpur vs. the blue meanie, commie bastard, evil chelsea scum in the carling cup final. 'curry' and i are sitting around in his basement drinking and listening to 'ossie's dream -- spurs are on their way to wembley' on repeat with 'under siege' muted in the background. oddly fitting, since spurs will probably be in that condition from the word 'go' at wembley tomorrow, and they'll have to play with the same skill and passion as they did when they destroyed the significantly more evil, dirty, filthy, whiny, gooner scum last month. still, i've got a good feeling going into the game, much like the semi-final, or at least i'm not shitting my pants, but i could just be delusional.

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despite having played their uefa cup game on thursday, scraping through against slavia prague, spurs are in good shape heading into cup final sunday. keane and berbatov only played 45 minutes each, lennon came off after an hour, jenas got 30 minutes, robbo had a good game coming back off the bench and looks set to start, and the king remained wrapped in his cotton wool. meanwhile, reports are that frank lampard and john terry may be out for chelsea, but that could just as easily be avram grant misinformation. typical soviet politburo deception and such.

whatever, it's high time for tottenham to bring home a cup again, and i couldn't be more excited for tomorrow -- hopefully it'll end without me wanting to jump off the george washington bridge.

LISTEN TO ME SPURS -- IT'S ALL IN YOUR HANDS! and since i can't think of anything else to say, here's who i think will/should start for spurs tomorrow:

Berbatov -- Keane

Malbranque -- Jenas -- Tainio -- Lennon

Chimbonda -- Woodgate -- King -- Hutton

Robinson


so there.


14 hrs., 27 min. to go.... COME ON YOU SPURS!


-- sir alec GUINNESS (from the grave)
(a.k.a. captain james mcbride)

Mid-Week Rundown

Work, music, and travel have kept me away from more important things . . . like blogging, but I'm back with a quick overview of some of the top sports stories I've been following.

The Champions League is back in action with matches today and yesterday. No, Spurs isn't in the competition, but it still remains perhaps the most exciting club competition in all of professional sports. What more can you ask for than the best teams from the best European leagues competing to become European (and, by extension, world) Champs?

In college hoops, Duke looks to rebound after an abysmal loss to Wake Forest on Sunday. (22 turnovers! Forget the cold shooting night. No one can turn the ball over that many times and expect to win!) Miami, however, is in a similar situation as Wake Forest in that a win against Duke is a must if they are to entertain any notions of playing come March.

And in the NBA, Shaq and Kobe square off as the Suns battle the Lakers in what will be Shaq's first start with Phoenix.

Also, with Spring Training getting off the ground in Florida and Arizona, I'll be keeping up with news from around MLB. Hopefully it won't have to do with steroids.

I'll be checking in later with a rundown of some of the day's games.

Live Blogging from... the NBA All-Star Dunk Contest!

This competition used to be something magical. Dominique, MJ... it used to be legendary. It used to display all that set basketball apart from other sports - the pure aesthetics of a guy gliding through air the rest of us can only dream of reaching, effortlessly, and punctuating the art with power. Unfortunately, these days, we see little but derivative dunks and people overhyping mediocre attempts. The competition now means nothing. But I'm sick at home, watching this and eating pizza, so... let's go!

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Jamario Moon, Dunk 1: Impressive. Lobbed it perfectly, caught it with one hand and went for the windmill. Good height, nailed it on the first try, a solid 9 in my eyes. Aesthetically nice and athletic - reminds me of the great old school dunks.
Score: 46

Rudy Gay, Dunk 1: Missed the first attempt. Simple two handed double pump, nothing special. A 7 in my eyes.
Score: 37

Dwight Howard, Dunk 1: Had my favorite dunk of last year, when he slapped up a sticker of himself with a goofy smile on the top of the backboard with one hand while slamming home with the other. Missed the first attempt. Pretty good dunk - bounced off the back of the backboard, and actually kind of screwed up the toss so it bounced off the rubber on the edge of the board, but was still able to grab it and complete a pretty impressive windmill from the side, ducking under the backboard. I think it's a 9; the judges are more impressed.
Score: 50

Gerald Green, Dunk 1: Last year's winner has been talking up this dunk for a while. He calls it "The Birthday Cake". First, a teammate puts a cupcake on the back of the rim and lights the birthday candle in it. Hm. Green goes for the dunk - blows out the candle! - and slams it home. OK, that's a 10 just for creativity and the slow mo replay of him blowing out the candle. Haha, very nice. But apparently a couple of the judges either missed the candle, or don't like gimmicks.
Score: 46

Rudy Gay, Dunk 2: Kyle Lowry throws it off the basket support, Gay runs down the baseline and slams it in. Not really that great, and Chuck hates it, but the judges like it. See, this is why this competition now means nothing.
Score: 48

Jamario Moon, Dunk 2: He runs from way back, Jason Kapono bounces it to him.. failure. Second try - nails it. Takes off with a foot inside the free throw line. Another kind of old school athletic dunk. I like it a lot. Again, aesthetically pleasing. This guy is growing on me.
Score: 44

Gerald Green, Dunk 2: Rashad McCants sits on a ladder in front of the basket, slightly to the side, with the ball. Green at halfcourt. McCants holds the ball out, drops it to Green, who comes in and slams windmill style. Good height. Not particularly impressive.
Score: 45

Dwight Howard, Dunk 2: Jameer Nelson holds a Superman cape and puts it on Howard, who is wearing a Superman costume underneath his jersey - haha, funny. Nelson tosses the ball to Howard from behind the basket, Howards comes flying in, wow, what height, what power! But he didn't actually dunk it, he threw the ball through the basket. Looked good enough though.
Score: 50

So Jamario Moon is unfairly knocked out - Green's first dunk was great from a showmanship perspective, but neither of his dunks were particularly impressive, while Moon looked artful with both of his dunks. Gay is rightfully gone, and Howard powers through with a perfect score, which is fine by me - he deserved it last year, in my opinion. No scoring for the second round - the judges will each reveal who he thinks is the winner after watching all four dunks.

Gerald Green, Dunk 3: A teammate lobs the ball over the basket from behind. Bad lobs the first few times. Green tries for a through the legs dunk and hits it on the second try. Impressive, reminiscent of Vince Carter. Too derivative, but a good dunk in and of itself.

Dwight Howard, Dunk 3: From midcourt sideline, Howard runs in, throws the ball up, it bounces... HOLY CRAP! He taps it off the backboard with his left hand and dunks it with his right! Kenny Smith proclaims it's over, and he's right! Amazing! That one will be remembered!

Gerald Green, Dunk 4: He takes off his shoes, autographs, them, and puts them on the judges' table. Um, OK, you're not good enough to be handing your signed shoes to Doctor J. Then he does the same through the legs dunk with no shoes. Sorry Gerald. Yeah, it's harder without shoes. But the dunk did not look impressive.

Dwight Howard, Dunk 4: This is practically a formality, but let's see. Hm, he's holding one of those small hoops with suction cups on the backboard, and he's calling for the ladder. The small hoop is attached to the backboard, on the right side. The ball rests in it. He grabs the ball from the small hoop and goes for the roundhouse, but misses. He has them raise the small basket. Attempt 2 is successful. Not as impressive as the others, but he'd already set the bar really high.

Chocolate Thunder, aka Daryl Dawkins, declares that Howard brought power and "magistration". I have to agree. All the judges choose Howard, and he wins the fan vote. Howard deserves it, far and away. But props to Jamario Moon, who also impressed. That was actually kind of fun.

'Roid Wrap-up

Waxman wraps things up, and the main story is that we know that Pettite and Knoblauch have corroborated McNamee's story. He struck his gavel as Clemens tried to speak out during the close. Waxman apologized to McNamee, and rightly so - he took some really unwarranted abuse from some of the more deranged members of the committee. It becomes very clear during this kind of testimony which Congresspeople have law degrees and which do not.

Waxman appears to be biased against Clemens, but as the committee member who has spent the most time on this, it's understandable. The evidence is stacked against Clemens. Pettite and McNamee were both good friends of Clemens who in the past had stridently defended him, but in the end, under oath, they both told the truth. Knoblauch as well. McNamee's story holds up to scrutiny; Clemens' is highly implausible (and he doesn't have much of a response, really, aside from talking about how awesome he is and attacking McNamee's character).

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McNamee's behavior in response to a lot of the questioning was surprisingly composed. If anyone had come at me the way Burton had, I would have angrily asked him whether he was really seriously putting his committee and NY tabloid papers on the same level. But he calmly answered Yes or No to most of the questions from his assailants. Only when Shays (R-CT, again, a Republican) characterized him as a drug dealer towards the end did McNamee say anything more in response to an attack, and that was only to say "In your opinion." McNamee, it must be said, was literally a "drug dealer", but to characterize him as a common crack hood is misleading, as HGH and steroids are not exactly drugs of recreational abuse, and his illegal work was at the behest of two or three pretty rich and famous people. Waxman pointed out the latter fact (pointing at Clemens) after Shays ceased his attack.

Cummings was just being interviewed on TV upon conclusion of the session. He said that he thought these proceedings cleared up a lot for him. I think they did for the public as well. Clemens' ship is sinking. His attempt to silence the nanny before she spoke to the committee is really damaging. You just can't make this stuff up, can you? What a bizarre circus.

It's odd, as a sports fan working in Washington, DC, to sit here and see these two worlds collide. As Jayson Stark pointed out, it's sad, because most of us enjoy sports largely because they're an escape from real life. But in sports, as in politics, justice is paramount. Nothing today was definitive, but the session was clarifying. We might not be sure of Clemens' guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but I think we're getting to the point where a preponderance of the evidence weighs against Clemens. Someone committed perjury here today. I think the Rocket's future destination may well be federal prison.

Partisanship and Baseball

Virginia Foxx opens her mouth again and attacks the Mitchell Committee representative for saying that they had evidence against Clemens when in her estimation they only had allegations. Ms. Foxx, you might be surprised to know that statements people make can be entered as evidence. Foxx tries to continue but Waxman cuts her off, as she's gone well over her time.

It has to be said: so far the Republicans appear to be big Clemens fans who will defend him in the face of all evidence to the contrary. The conduct of Foxx and Burton today has been shameful, and Issa (R-CA) has been almost as bad. Is Clemens a major Republican party donor?

The proceedings return to Rep. Cummings, who sensibly brings back up the point that the most believable people here are Pettite and Knoblauch, and that for Clemens' account to be true, it would require a lot of other people to be lying and for his implausible story to be true. Clemens repeats that he can't believe Pettite used HGH, and that Pettite must be mistaken about Clemens. Pettite's wife has also submitted an affidavit that Pettite and Clemens talked about his steroid use. "It is very hard to believe you," says Cummings.