SB Nation User Blog: Starkstastic

This would never happen at the Garden

Starkstastic — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:48:44 -0000

My boy called me up this afternoon offering extra Nets tickets. Kinda random I know, but shit was free so I took him up on his offer. They played OKC, so needless to say the arena was half empty. Four of us went to the game and sat in Section 118 -- for $1.50 per ticket no less -- and proceeded to get a little tipsy. Now you know as a Knicks fan I can't ever root for New Jersey. We ended up spending the entire time booing the fuck outta Vince Carter. I preferred to wait until the crowd was quiet to scream about him being a disgrace and how the Nets would always play second fiddle to the Knicks. The amazing thing is that not one person in the crowd even gave me a sideways glance. Not once in the entire duration of the game. That shit would not fly in the Garden, and I let people know about it. The moral of the story is Nets fans are bitches. They're the same fools who rooted for Pat and our Knicks in the '90s, only to abandon the franchise when NJ finally got competitive. Fuck em...just wait till we're back on top (it will happen). They'll probably come crawling back. We'll have the satisfaction of knowing we stuck through the hard times. All you true fans: keep your head up. We're still better than the Nets, regardless of record.

Eli vs Ben: A look at division disparity

Starkstastic — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:23:17 -0000

Teams play division opponents in 37.5% of regular season games - a significant percentage. The NFC East has been the better division by a wide margin compared to the AFC North. And not just this season, but for the past few years. The Steelers have been a very good/great and consistent team, but look at who they've benefited by playing nearly 40% of their games against: Cleveland, Cincy, and a very inconsistent Ravens team. By contrast, Eli and the Giants have had to deal with three division opponents who have all been good, and at various times great, over the course of his career.

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum in a post by ETVal from yesterday, but I saw no one bring up this angle in their discussion. It's true Big Ben's numbers are better. Here they are, copied from said post from yesterday:

Completion percentage: Advantage Roethlisberger, 63.2% to 55.4%.
Quarterback rating: Advantage Roethlisberger, 93.0 to 74.9.
Interceptions: Eli has 68 to Ben's 57, although Eli has about 400 more attempts.
Touchdowns: Advantage Roethlisberger, 93-85.

Now, can we assume that two quarterbacks can be compared ceteris parabis? The answer, of course, is no, since all other things are not equal! Had both QB's in question played all the same teams then sure, one could make that claim. Unfortunately for those in the Roethlisberger camp this is not the case. I assert that Ben's career stats have been padded while Eli's were stifled due to the disparity in power of their respective divisions.

Here's the proof: Starting with the '04 season, Roethlisberger has played 62 games; Manning has played 63. This is to illustrate that they have nearly the same amount of pro experience and time on the field. During this time, the combined record of Pittsburgh's division opponents is 96-115 (a .455 win percentage) while the combined record of the Giants' division foes is 116-96 (.547). This is quite the disparity. In looking back at the numbers above copied from yesterday's post, Ben's stats aren't that much better. If division disparity is taken into account, a stronger argument can be made for Eli Manning.

This by no means is to say Eli is definitively the better QB. I think it's still too soon to tell. The point of this post is to show that they are actually closer than fans and pundits think. We might see on Sunday whether or not this is true, but it still won't give a clear answer. I'd like to know what you guys think (especially Ismail, who certainly had a lot to say in Roethlisberger's defense). Does my argument make sense?

Sports Guy on Jamal Crawford: "A mortal lock to get traded."

Starkstastic — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:47:34 -0000

I read this in Bill Simmons' NBA Fantasy Preview. Here is the link to the article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/081024

What do you guys think? I hadn't heard anything about this, even in rumors, but I do realize Simmons can be kinda douchey like that sometimes. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. Should he stay or go? Who'd want him and what could the Knicks even get in return? I've always liked Jamal and think he's a decent ballplayer, but after awhile people realize you're just not going to win with certain guys on your team. I think potential trade partners look at Jamal's career win percentage and want to stay away, or give the Knicks cents on the dollar in a trade at the very least.

Avery Johnson as Knicks coach?

Starkstastic — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:38:00 -0000

(Editor's Note: Now that Avery's actually free, Starkstastic's diary from a couple days ago deserves another look. AJ as the Knick coach...what do you think?)

There has been no mention of this as far as I've seen. I think it's at least worth discussing, as Johnson's exit in Dallas seems likely. Mark Cuban and Co. were head over heels for this guy back in 2006 when the Mavs made it all the way to the NBA Finals, even taking a 2-0 series lead before the refs, ahem, Dwayne Wade and the Heat took over and won 4-2. We all remember Dallas's exciting, if not epic collapse to Golden State in last year's playoffs. Now it looks as if the same disappointing fate awaits Avery Johnson's club. Chris Paul has been unstoppable. J. Kidd has looked like absolute shit, something that makes me very happy. New Orleans looks younger, faster, hungrier, and even more talented. If Dallas can't get their act together the team may have to be blown up -- including getting rid of the coach. I anticipate a lot of you dismissing AJ as a solid candidate for his excitability and need for control issues, but the above picture of Johnson fisting Eddy Curry and the rest of New York's lackluster roster into giving a shit gives me hope for the future. All of the big personalities are not in the Knicks' long-term plans anyway, so who cares if player and coach end up clashing? Expectations are low, right? Primary objectives are to get under the cap while getting more competitive now, right? Why not Johnson? Don't get me wrong, I think several of the candidates already mentioned elsewhere could be nice fits. Mark Jackson is intriguing, and he has no shortage of praise from others who know him from around the league. Rick Carlisle is battle-tested and proven. I just don't feel an A-List coach is necessarily the answer. Herb Williams has great rapport with the players and within the organization; as a fan I would like to see someone from the outside coach so as to signify a complete regime change from Isiah. Even Paul Silas is an interesting wildcard because of his ties to LeBron. Obviously, Dallas is not done yet and there's no guarantee Cuban would fire his coach anyway. Even if this happens, New York could very well have found a coach already. All I'm saying is if Johnson becomes available and the Knicks are still looking, he should get a look. What do you guys think?

Changes look awesome!

Starkstastic — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:43:01 -0000

Nice work Seth. This is definitely an upgrade. Hopefully all these new distractions will take away from the pain of another 23-win season. Let's go Draft Lottery!!! If we don't get Derrick Rose, and end up with some brick layer combo guard like O.J. Mayo I'm gonna be pissed. Do you guys realize we had 13% of our wins in this last week of the season -- when we were supposed to be losing?!? This team is so frustrating.

Patrick Ewing Jr.

Starkstastic — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:40:24 -0000

I was watching the Georgetown - Nova game and the announcers (Billy Packer and Digger Phelps, I think) mentioned that they saw Patrick Ewing Jr. as having NBA talent and any team with a 2nd round pick should take a long look at him. Phelps views Ewing Jr. as a better version of Renaldo Balkman.

So my question to all you Posters & Toasters is: Do you think anyone will take a chance on him? The Knicks perhaps? It'd definitely be a good PR move, but I doubt it'd happen unless Isiah gets canned prior to the draft. Your thoughts?