In the second half of the Nets game -especially the last 6mins - (wherein the Nets were slaughtered after a more then decent first half), was the reason for the Nets being unable to penetrate to the basket Avery or was it the Steamer? All I saw (and I probably missed at least one penetration) was a series of jump shots taken by the Nets. Most at or further out then the foul line. I'm sure some of it was the attitude of many players "it's my ball, I got the ball and I'm gonna shoot it" but Avery certainly was all over the opposing PG, keeping him from initiating any good offense and killing the clock. But how much of it was the Steamer? "Hey, he can't block me if I don't try to penetrate and just take long jump shots".

Moral: If you didn't watch the game, don't pay any attention to the box score and folks saying "he only got one block last night". They didn't go NEAR him.

ESPN reported Jamal Samsom was cut today. All we knew of him was that he was tall and skinny, didn't play in exhibition game 1 and just for about the last two minutes of x game 2. That leaves two more who have to go to get down to the 14 that Danny/Doc want. That will leave one hole so if someone they really wants is cut, they can move on it uber fast.

    I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep so I solved the problem, or at least put the players into a winnable or worst case break even mode. The answer: The LOOO. AKA, A League Of Our Own. I worked out all the details of financing, stadiums, teams, players, refs, travel, etc etc even down to the ticket takers, but it's all too lengthy to type in here.  Essentially, financing would be done by the Kevin Garnets and similar team leaders with very large dollars. Each player would get a stipend (around 200K a year) , pro-rated for the length of time the LOOM existed. At the end of the year any profits would be distributed equally with a share for each player, the Coach and the "Owner/Financier".  Schedules would be much more intelligent, reducing travel costs. EG: If the Boston team and the Chicago team were to play four games vs each other during the 'year', they would each play a two game series at home. Think major league baseball scheduling.  Also eastern conference teams would only play western conference teams in a 'world series', again, think how baseball used to be. Again, no time to type in all the stuff but I got it all figured out (Grin).

    I can't see the players winning this battle since they have so much more to lose then the owners, EG:

   1. An athlete's time is limited. Garnett and Allen would lose around 30K (includes endorsements) that can never be made back.

    2. Garnett, Allen and PP would all lose the added pumps to their legacies, ie Allen three pointers, Garnett alltime rebounds and scoring, PP all time scoring and all Celtics numbers.

   3. The Lebum types would lose a year and when you have all the money and fame, you are working really for your legacy........all time scoring records etc etc

   4. The Kobe types are in the same boat as KG, RA, PP.

   5. The young guys who were just drafted  NEED the cash. And perhaps worse, if  a whole year should go by, and another draft occur, their chances of making a roster are perhaps halved.

   IMHO, like most 'strikes' etc etc, it's the Union leaders trying to justify their existence so then tell the players to "Don't give in to those dirty rotten 888888888888".

   The trade may turn out great, indifferent or bad in the long run, depending mostly on whether certain peeps can be resigned and injuries. EG: Perkins can't play (or well) this year because of lingering injuries and then in the off-season signs with Miami or Orlando. But barring injuries or resignings, this is why its a great trade:

   Jeff Green is a vastly better 3 than KP. Jeff green is a much better 4 then KP. Jeff Green is a much better offensive 5 then KP. Jeff Green is (I think, KP seems to have improved a bit) a better foul shooter then KP. Jeff Green is much better then KP in that he is not getting dumb technical fouls. KP is a much better defender and screen setter then JG.

   I loved Nate. His play was electric and he gave it everything he had! However, his basketball IQ rivaled that of the lately departed Tony Allen. How many games in the past month have you seen him - the leader of the bench - blow (and quickly) a ten point lead? Scenarios:  Nate comes in, grabs a rebound, leads a fast break with two wing man and fires up a errant 3 pointer.  Or, Nate comes in scrambles on the floor, gets a loose ball, starts the fast break and throws a bad pass out of bounds. Again, I loved watching him.

  Nenad. I really don't know much about him....but.....Lawrence Frank certainly does and I'm sure he had his input. I have read he has a jump shot and I'm sure he can make layups as well or better then KP. Apparently his defense is fairly weak, not non-existent, but weak. I think it's reasonable to expect he can shoot Free Throws better then KP.

  It appears that the majority of the readers on this blog, including our 'big guy' authors, oppose the trade. However, the two best minds that I read on this blog belong to MMMM and DRJ1 and I think they will mostly agree with me.

   It seems like any player who isn't under a contract is now picked by at least one of our members here as just what we need. "Get Him At All Costs". "Here's how we trade/connive/useSheed/futuredraftpick/whatever we can to get this jewel".  Bah Humbug (and it's not even close to Xmas yet)!

   Let's just assume we all know who the starting five are, so lets make another five with what we already have or can have very easily:

     C - Erden    PF - Baby  SG Bradley  PG Robinson. 

    SF - I know everyone here except me knows that Hargodly cannot play SF. Well, errrr, he would be a very good rebounder as a SF. And , yes he can shoot good and from distance but........He won't be able to play great defense. (I really don't care about his defense, he won't be playing against Wade, Kobe etc etc etc, he will be against the other teams 2nd stringers). But Wait (as the television  sales commercials say), we've still got Gaffney, who is supposed to be a excellent defender. But he can't shoot! Who Cares? While above I referred to this unit as a fiver, in real life, it wont be, so if Gaffney is in, either PP (at PF) or Ray would be available.

   Hmmm, this still leaves us with a 'free' Layfayette, our third string PG, needed if either Rondo or Nate go down.

   How many is that? Ah 12, the magic number required for a team. But Wait (I love that) we still have 3 spots open....errrr No, we are carrying Perk for the season, hoping he can help us in the playoffs. Ok 2 spots. Well we could use a cheap enforcer/rebounder. How about Artis Balurian from our summer league team? Sure!  Cheap and can bound and shoot a little. Still have one spot. Lets save it in case a 'good deal' pops up later.

   There, we've covered all the spots, spent almost nada and still have the Sheed option open, either as a player or a trading card if needed to close that 'good deal'.

Now in Real Life, stands back with head bowed, waiting for the torrent of ridicule, sneers and shouts of 'Ban that idiot from this board' that are sure to come  - well maybe mmmmm might give me a bit of support.

Now that HOPEFULLY all the media hype is over and those dumb talking heads "experts" have HOPEFULLY shut up.......here's perhaps Reality. (at this time)

1. The Heat have no one who can guard Rondo.

2. The Heat have no center AT ALL and won't have one that can guard JO.

3. KG has always OWNED Bosh.

4. In some games, PP has outplayed  Lebron.

5. Ray can have a hot game and Wade might not.

6. There is only one ball and so many shots in a game. If Lebron takes his 30 shots, it doesn't leave that many for Wade and VERY few for Bosh. 

PS: If they can't handle JO down low, what would happen if they had to go up against D Howard, or the Gasol/Bynum duo?

Perhaps Jeff, Master Po, mmmmmm and/or others could explain some of the following items:

1. Under what conditions does one become a Restricted Free Agent? I know draftees, after their original contract is finished fall under this category. Anyone else?

2.  How long must a player be under contract before 'Bird Rights' kick in and is this only in effect if you had originally drafted the player?

3. Is the LLE available every year and for ONE player per year only?

4. Is the Veteran minimum available for as many peeps as you want? And can it be for multiple years.

   

     A different possibility exists.   We select either Bradford of Claussen with pick number 4. Why? We don't need another QB. But suppose, we had a 'deal' in place with a team that DID want one of the above and was willing  to trade us a LT or just a bit lower draft choice,  AND other considerations.  Hmmm you say, why wouldnt they just make the trade and take the pick. Ah because trades can get complicated, far beyond the ken of the likes of me, but agents, odd contract restrictions,  re-signings, dollar amounts etc etc can get into this.

    Of course if you wanted to get really WILD, you could say, the staff is figuring out who of the above they would want, and IF available when number 4 comes around, draft him for ourselves and trade both Campbell AND McNabb for OL help and/or equivalent draft choices.  This would at least explain why the Redskins BIG BOYS  just completed private evaluations of both SB and JC.  I would have to assume in this case a agreement was already in place with DM as to where and at what terms.

    Didn't like either of those possibilities? Thought it was stupid? Well, at least this gives you who were offended by the ideas something new to rant and rave about (grin).

   I filled out BBD's report card for this season as best I could and here are the results:

Rebounding        F

Scoring                F

Jump Shot          F

Conditioning      F

Attitude                F

Now I am hearing that he wants to change his name to UnoUno. I would answer by saying in the immortal manner of Reddy Foxx:  " Not UnoUno, GoneO, GoneO"

PS There has to be at least a dozen guys in the NBADL  who are better rebounders then Davis and since we are getting constantly killed by opponents OFFENSIVE rebounding, make the move Danny. Don't care what we get back.

     There are a few things that I'd like to ask Doc about but I don't have the necessary muscle to do so. However,  our noble team of Green 17, FlCeltsFan, Master Po, Greg Payne, whoever I left out inadvertently and of course their Lord and Master, Jeff Clark hisself DO have the muscle. Here are some questions:

1.  Why did the team rate JT Giddons as more useful then Lester? Because of rebounds? Or ?

2.  Why does BBD look fatter then a ten pound robin, when all I heard during his absence was that he was in 'great shape'?

3.  Why do you let Raheed toss up bricks from downtown when he is so effective in close?

4.  Has Paul P lost the one step that age steals in the early 30's?  The step that allowed him to dribble thru the opponents defense and get either a foul call or a layup? Also has Doc noticed the fatigue factor that PP seems to have late in the 4th quarter?

5. What is Doc saying to Perk and Wallace about their rediculous technicals?  Does he think their hissy fits are cute? Mein Gott (speaking in my native best French) has he reminded them that they are not 2 year olds any more?

6. What does Doc want to use that open roster spot for? Front court? Wing? POINT GUARD?

   I live in Florida and in a rural area where Comcast rules but has obsolete equipment, meaning that they do not offer NBA ?Ticket?. For technical reasons , satellite tv in my home is not appropriate. Therefore I have to watch the nationally televised C's games or nada. I see some are occasionally on "NBA.COM". Does this mean they are available to all peeps with a computer and Inet? Or is some sort of signup required. I am currently logged on to NBA.Com, but of course, as in all things from the NBA HQ, there is no such Icon stating something like "this is how you get NBA.Com

   Any help would be appreciated. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like assistance here.

   I just got done looking up Mike Shanahan on Wikipedia and was VERY impressed by what I saw. Most of the negative posts I've seen about him go something like this "Ya ..he ain't dun nuttin' since Elw...Alw...Allway reti...reet...rttir....err quit". You can tell the quality of the posters by the aforesaid sentence.  In any case, he has done LOTS of good things. One notable was that he was the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco team that held  the league record for most points scored in a year (since broken by Belichick's Patriots).  Read the Wiki stuff and hope we actually get him here.

    Heh, just below a bit I saw a headline stating "WJX 13 Sports declares Tiger Woods Athlete of the Decade". First of all I consider Advanced Croquet (Golf) something you do when you are too old to ride motorcycles and chase girls. I don't even consider it a Athletic Event.   Ride that golf cart and wear funny clothes! Don't know who WJX is but they obviously must think that driving  that golf cart is equal to Grand Prix racing and the 19th hole is where you get Blitzed. 

   It seems like almost all the fans here want to bad-mouth the Danny as (take your choice of) the Devil Incarnate, or at best a fool, who has destroyed the RedSkins.  What do I know or think I know about the Danny?

  Has ANY owner in the league spent more of  HIS money to try and improve the team? (The other side of the coin is would you want an owner who was to cheap to ever sign a notable free agent?)  Or a HIGHLY regarded Head Coach? (Forget Jim Zorn, who appears to be a very nice person with a decent background but.....

 I don't know but certainly strongly suspect that the free agents signees and the Head Coach signees were made with not only the eager collusion of supposed football "experts" but at their instigation. You don't actually think the Danny is so dumb he would commit millions and the team's future without a thorough back-ground check of the potential signee/Coach?

If you do think Danny is that dumb, please tell me how he made all that money. I'm pretty dumb too so perhaps I could get my fingers into some of  that largesse.

Is there anyone, I SHOUT ANYONE! who doubts that Danny is a life-long, numero uno Redskin fan?

Here's the big one! Be honest with yourself now!  Were you happy when he signed Steve Spurrier? Happy when Joe Gibbs came back? Happy with the signing of Haynesworth? Happy with most of the other free agent signings? If you were, then you went along with the 'experts' from ESPN, FOX, CBS, CNBC , The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, etc etc etc.

Some big questions that are unanswered and perhaps not even thought of:

1.   We have heard all the plaudits about signing Sheed...but.... what was K Perkin's reaction (as perhaps the most effected)?  Also don't you think that also really encouraged BBD to leave?

2.   Have heard all the rumors about Starbury, but what about MMoore? I assume he had a one year deal and has been told "Don't rent a new apartment here" But nobody has said.

3.  Anyone interviewed T Allen? HIs thoughts (if any).

4.  What is the condition of KPerkin's shoulder? This is a pretty vital piece of the Celtics pie!

5.  For that matter, how about PP's ankle (heard a while back he had chips)?  And I've only heard a sketchy "his knee is fine" about KG - talk about vital!

6.  Has TThibodeaus (Spelling ?) still on the fence looking for a Head Coach job or has he given up and signed? Or maybe he won't sign?

7.  Will Semir Erwhatever come over for training camp? I know he's commited to a Euroleague for the next year, but does that preclude him from joining us for the camp?

8. What about our draft choice with the broken finger? All I've heard is he had 'successful surgery'.  Did you ever hear of anyone who had surgery that wasn't 'successful'. Even if the patient died! Them Docs gottah protect themselves!

9. Same subject as above: How come our vaunted medical staff let Garnet go all year without determining he would not be able to play?

10. Who are the C's looking for for replacement assistant coaches? We lost someone other then Thibs and still might lose him?

          Ok, those ten should give some fodder for the trotters!

                            Dipper

       I've heard forever that BB and Leon are undersized, too short, etc., etc., but I have never seen a listing of their actual heights. I know BB is listed at 6'9 (and is prolly around 6'5"?) and Leon is listed at 6'8" (and is prolly around 6'6"?).

      Does an inch really matter? Nah. Two inchs? Nah. Three inchs? Maybe...depends of arm length...size and thrust of arse...and other things. 4 Inchs? yeh getting tough now.

     Oh, BTW, KG must be the tallest 6'11" in the league...or, as I saw listed somewhere a while back a comment that he was really 7'1". I also always thought Lew Alcindor was taller then his listed 7'2".

                   Comments? Inform me please - grin

     Anyone have any news about Semir Erwhatever, our 6'10" Turkish draftee?

I have looked for info about him with no success, of  course I really can never remember his last name.

I suspect he may be a non-prospect since he doesn't appear to be not only not among the leaders of any of the advanced Euro leagues, but I can't even find him down in the dregs. Perhaps one of Danny's few mistakes?

    Just forget the hate thing for a bit and put yourself in Danny's shoes. Your job is to win. Now what would happen if:

      1. Rondo turns a ankle just before the playoffs start?

       2. What is Rondo's contract status for next and perhaps the one after (maybe

            he told Danny he is opting for warmer weather when he is able?)

       3. How about even if House turns a ankle, or has a bad traffic accident, and

          has Pruitt in the car with him?