NBA Trades

Let's start with the Melo deal. The one thing that matters for the Knicks playoff success now is how well they finish the regular season. If they stay at six they're not going to win without home court against either the Bulls or Celtics, I don't see Miami slipping to three right now (I definitely don't think they're a lock for first either though). But if they can make up the five and a half that they're down right now and play Atlanta or Orlando, I guarantee the Knicks will win either of those series. Two reasons for this, first is the David Stern factor. David Stern loves the Knicks and would love to see the Knicks be a title contender again, not to mention how much he would love having New York's TV audience watching for multiple series. If you don't think David Stern loves the Knicks and wants them to win watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWExLwQenW0&feature=related if you don't think the NBA is fixed watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhlGYvIMPgQ&feature=related and the other parts or read this http://deadspin.com/#!5392067/excerpts-from-the-book-the-nba-doesnt-want-you-to-read and the rest of Tim Donaghy's book, or just look at free throw disparity in playoff games favoring the more “elite” teams. The other reason I think the Knick's would beat Orlando or Atlanta is simply because this deal does make New York a very good team. Their bench is pretty thin and Ronny Turiaf as the starting center is going to leave them pretty weak on the inside, but Billups, Anthony and Stoudemire is a great core. Obviously because they're all great players, but also the chemistry seems so much better than the group in South Beach. Billups and Anthony have already been playing together so there shouldn't be any major issues there. While he may not have quite played with an Amare Stoudemire caliber scorer, Melo has played with some better scoring options than either Lebron or Dwayne Wade had before they joined forces, so it shouldn't result in one of them awkwardly standing in the corner while they watch the other one score all by themselves, like the Heat were doing early on. Stoudemire played with some very good players in Phoenix, so he shouldn't have much problem joining these two. And Billups brings experience to the table, he's a guy who has a ring and was the Finals MVP when he won that ring. So this is a good team. If they make it past the first round, the David Stern factor will probably end, so it comes down to who the Knicks would play. I don't think the Knicks match-up all that well against Boston or Chicago. Boozer and Noah are too strong inside for Stoudemire and mainly Turiaf to handle. As good as Billups is, he's no Derrick Rose, and the Bulls actually have a bench they can turn to. The Celtics also can probably beat up on New York inside a little bit, and they're too deep for the Knicks to handle. I actually think the Knicks match up the best with the Heat. Both teams are pretty similar; lacking a strong starting center, lacking a deep bench, built around three players. I think this would end up being a very interesting series, where Stoudemire could potentially go off on Bosh. Landry Fields could be the best starter outside of either teams big three, which gives the Knicks a nice weapon. I wouldn't pick the Knicks but I think they'd have a pretty decent shot at pulling off the upset.

The downside of this trade is for this team to be good they need Billups or another good starter to contend for a title. That leaves them with a pretty short window unless they can make some other moves in the offseason, which would probably have to be through free agency as they really didn't leave themselves with many pieces to trade. Not to mention they need to sign more bench players as well. Overall I'll give this trade a B- for the Knicks. They probably overpaid giving up so many young pieces, but they traded potential for proven players who make them a great team now, and I think it was a small victory that they only had to give up one pick.

From the Nuggets standpoint, I think this was a great move. Billups is getting old, they haven't been able to win with Melo and the possibility that he might not re-sign, as slim as that may have been, made it a good decision to move him. They got some great young pieces with Gallinari only being 22, Wilson Chandler's only 23, Mozgov is 24 and Felton is 26. In a couple of years this gives the Nuggets potential to be one of the best teams in the west. Trading Gallinari for a pick might be risky as he's shaping into a very good player, but getting a lottery pick might be able to add a superstar to this core of already strong players which would make the Nuggets title contenders around 2014 or so. Grade: A

Also on the trade horizon, the Celtics are trying to get Shane Battier. I love it. I love it, I love I love it. Even though I personally believe C's would have won the championship the last three years if it weren't for injuries, the last two years have lacked something that the '08 team had. First was James Posey, who played lockdown defense off the bench. Last year the team also lacked Eddie House being a spark-plug off the bench. So, why not bring both those attributes back with one player? Sounds like two-time NBA All-Defensive second team member and career .385 three point shooter Shane Battier could help. Battier would be able to matchup with LeBron in a series against the Heat, and he would be a shooter off the bench, something the Celtics really don't have right now. And to top it all off, he would be expiring contract at the end of the year. This deal could not possibly be any better. The only setback is the Celtics may not have the pieces to deal. Ideally, the trade would involve Nate Robinson, who the Celtics will not need with the return of Delonte West, and Battier could replace him as a decent scoring option off the bench. Normally I'd be really hesitant about trading picks with the end of the big three era looming, but I think it may be worth it here, as I think this would make a huge difference in the Celtics winning this year. Potential Grade: A+++++++++++.

Mike Brown: The Most Valuable Coach in NBA History?

On July 2^nd, 2010, the landscape of Cleveland basketball changed when the Cavs chose to bring the talents of Coach Byron Scott to Lake Eerie Beach. The move was met with less skepticism than one may have expected following Coach Mike Brown leading the team to 66 wins in 2008-2009 and 61 in 2009-2010, but his inability to win a title led to the organization bringing in Byron Scott, who had led the Nets to two NBA Finals in the early 2000's. While the move seemed like it would not hurt the Cavaliers too badly, as they retained a strong nucleus of players centered around Antwan Jamison, JJ Hickson, Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Anderson Varejao, Boobie Gibson and the versatile Leon Powe, not to mention electrifying newcomers like Ramon Sessions, few could have imagined that Brown was quite as important to Cleveland as it is now clearly evident that he was.

The Cavs recently snapped their NBA record, 26 game losing streak, leading many to wonder how could a team with only 21 losses in the entire season last year have slipped so far? One need look no further than the top and Coach Mike Brown. “Guys just responded to his coaching style,” former Cav and current Miami Heat Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said in an interview last week, “I couldn't imagine that team being successful after he left. When he was out, so was I.” While the players have clearly struggled with the loss of Coach Brown, so has the local economy. In a study by Justin Snydor, economic professor at Case Western University, Snydor estimates that due to the decrease in Cavs attendance figures caused by Brown's absence, and the subsequent lack of success, the economy in downtown Cleveland will lose about $20 million from potential shoppers and eaters before and after the games. Paul Bettany, owner of Earl Averill's Bar and Grille on 34^th street, has been a diehard Cleveland sports fan his whole life, and showed his dedication 15 years ago when he proudly opened his establishment named after the late Indians center fielder. Bettany has felt the effects of Brown's departure more than most, “People used to pack this place before and after Cavs games,” Bettany told us on Sunday, “Now, we're lucky to fill up half the tables. With Mike Brown at the helm there was an expectation we'd win, Byron Scott's still got most of the same players, people just don't understand why he can't figure it out.”

Ironically, perhaps the greatest testament to Brown was given by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert when he wrote an open letter to Cavs fans hoping to console them and boost morale shorter after Scott was hired in place of Brown. Though Gilbert did not use the former coach's name in the letter, he made it clear he was referring to the Columbus-born Brown when he wrote, “As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted...is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.” Gilbert went on to guarantee that the Cavs would win a title before the so-called “king” won one. “Dan and Coach Brown never got along all that great, so I was surprised to see Dan using the king as his nickname,” Ilgauskas said, “but you can see from that guarantee that there may have been some hard feelings there.” The hard feelings are felt by neither Brown nor the city of Cleveland. Brown, chose not to coach this year to allow Cleveland a head start on winning a title that Byron Scott now seems like he almost certainly will not deliver. “No, there are absolutely no hard feelings on our side,” said Bettany, “This city loves Mike Brown and would take him back in an instant. This guy had a .764 win percentage last season, right now we're at .164, get the man back as soon as possible.”

Despite the lack of success under Byron Scott, he has earned the support of his players. “Coach Brown was great, we can see now just how valuable to the franchise he was,” said Jamario Moon after last weeks losing-streak snapping win over the Clippers, “But he never had to deal with the adversity we're facing. We lost [Anderson] Varejao, Mo [Williams] and Leon [Powe] to injuries this season. We got Mo back tonight and we won, don't count Coach Scott out yet.” And Moon may be correct. It may not be so much Scott is a poor coach, rather Mike Brown is perhaps the most valuable coach in NBA history. “I don't want to knock my former teammates,” said Ilgauskas, “but if Coach [Brown] were to go to say the Bucks and get an opportunity to work with guys like Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings, man, I don't know if we never had that much talent back in Cleveland. I wouldn't want to play that team come June.” No team likely would. Our statistical analysis based on the Cavs win percentage with and without Brown estimates that a Mike Brown coached Milwaukee would have approximately 82 wins in the regular season. Byron Scott has done one successful thing in Cleveland this year and that is to show Mike Brown is the most valuable coach in since Red Auerbach.

Celtics vs. Lakers Reactions

Here comes a plethora of NBA posts in the next few days or even hours, starting off with last night's NBA Finals rematch between the Celtics and Lakers. First of all, the Lakers did not beat the Celtics last night. They beat a “Celtics-Iceberg,” on the surface it looked pretty good, with all five of the Celtics starters from last years NBA Finals starting once again for the Celtics. But below the surface this was not the true Celtics team. This was a team missing three centers! The Lakers only have two centers, Andrew Bynum and Theo Ratliff, on their roster. The one center the C's had, Kendrick Perkins, has played in all of nine games this season. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Celtics started the game missing their backup point guard. This loss has been extremely understated this season. If Nate Robinson were even six feet tall, nobody would think of him as a point guard. He has good athleticism and can heat up shooting, but his game, especially his mindset and his court vision, do not reflect that of a true point guard at all. Still, he brings enough to the table that he is not the worst option as a third string point guard, it's just easy for people to forget at times that this offense would probably flow much better with Delonte West running the show rather than Nate. But then of course, with the Nate Robinson injury, the C's were forced to call on their fourth string option, Avery Bradley, freshly called up from the D-League. Since the 'tics were hindered at the 1 and 5 positions, it's only fitting they were missing backup 3 man Marquis Daniels as well, who brings a mixture of some size and athleticism that Von Wafer does not. This is a Celtics team who lost game seven last year because they got killed on the boards, and are winning this season because they move the ball so well. If you take away three centers, two point guards, and throw in the fact that Paul Pierce, the team's leading scorer, missed Wednesday's practice due to illness, it's pretty easy to explain the Celtics loss.

All injuries aside, maybe the biggest factor of this one was the Lakers had to win. They needed this game and while the Celtics would have enjoyed sweeping the season series with the team that ended their hopes of an title hopes last season, this was not a must-win. The Lakers came into last nights contest a combined 0-5 vs. the Celtics, Heat, Spurs and Mavs. They had to prove to both their critics and mostly themselves that they were still a team who could go on the road and beat the NBA's best. If they had lost this game, it would've been time for the Lakers to go into panic-mode. Instead, Lakers fans can breath a sigh of relief because their team proved it is good enough to win when it has to, and Celtics fans can breath a sigh of relief as well. This game showed that the injury bug, possibly the Heat and maybe, maybe the Bulls, are the only things that will stop the Celtics from raising banner number eighteen to the rafters following this season.

(Do not think I forgot Ray, more to come on the record.)

Super Sell Out

Last night's Super Bowl XLV was an exciting game in which the Green Bay Packers, defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. Everybody should know that because the game was watched by 111 million people, but I decided to restate it because if you do a google search for “Super Bowl,” the top results include stories about; The fans who lost their seats, “Why were the Super Bowl Commercials Extra- Violent this Year,” Super Bowl Social Media Marketing, “Groupon CEO's Non-Apology Letter for Super Bowl Ad,” Christina Aguilera's missed lyrics during the National Anthem, another article about commercials, an article about the half-time show, an article about the episode of Glee following the show, you get the picture. I went through several pages before giving up without finding a single writeup about the game, and very few articles relating to gameplay at all. And herein lies the problem. I love sports. I am an American. The Super Bowl is supposed to be the greatest event in American Sports. To top it all off, I'm a Steelers fan. While football isn't my favorite sport, I still should have been in a level of sports heaven near where I was when my beloved Celtics were in the NBA Finals last summer (before the game that will never be mentioned on this blog), but I wasn't.

Let's backtrack to before the game. This was a matchup between the NFL's two most storied franchises. Aaron Rodgers was the quarterback who had replaced Brett Favre and saved Green Bay, Ben Roethlisberger was rebounding from a shaky off-season looking to win his third Super Bowl. There were plenty of stories for the media to cover, more than in most years. So why was such a large part of the coverage in the week leading up to this game on “Ben Roethlisberger going out to a piano bar not being a story” (They sure covered it like a story!), the weather in Dallas (The game was in a dome for crying out loud!), who was included in the Green Bay team photo and more? Easy. The Super Bowl has sold out. And who can blame it? If sports fans are going to watch it why wouldn't they show it. But unfortunately, with all this hype and advertising and media, its easy to lose sight of the game itself. This year's game was very exciting too. Green Bay jumping out to a large early lead, the Steelers coming back and having a chance to win on the final drive and complete the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Classic. You don't need $2 million commercials, the Black Eyed Peas, Usher and Slash, Christina Aguilera, and a bunch of stories hardly relating to sports to make this a great game. This is America's most popular sport, most popular league and biggest game. I understand that the opportunity to make money is there and will almost always be taken when it is, but the Super Bowl is a game, not a giant commercial and the NFL should not turn its back on the glory of the game.

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my blog. My name is Greg and I will be blogging about just about every sport from baseball to association football to track and field and everything in between. Enjoy.