Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Carson Palmer fumbles the ball as he scrambles against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on January 2, 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
A first-round pick in 2012 and a conditional pick in 2013 that could become a first-rounder based on playing time and incentives? For Carson Palmer?
Put it on the board: Mike Brown just hit a grand slam, then came up in the same inning and hit another grand slam. If the conditional pick winds up being a first-rounder and Brown actually nets two starters with the selections he received for Palmer, then he would have hit for the cycle while doing a handstand and eating a hot dog all at the same time.
Palmer could go on to lead the Raiders to the Super Bowl and Mike Brown would still wind up being a winner in all of this. Palmer was never going to play for the Bengals again. He said as much while digging his heels into the ground and standing firm on his retirement threat this offseason. The Bengals would have been fortunate to have received a third-rounder for Palmer and gotten his salary off the books. Instead, they net a first-round pick and another selection that could turn into a first-rounder.
Granted, we don’t know all the details yet. That conditional first-rounder may only be if Palmer wins two Super Bowls in Oakland and winds up with a bust in the Hall of Fame. But to receive one first-round pick for him was a massive victory for Brown and the Bengals. Let’s not forget that this is the same Palmer whose arm strength and mobility appeared to be declining badly last season and who hasn’t played in a live game (preseason or otherwise) since January 2.
Before I get too swept up in the sticker price for Palmer, let me state that I understand why the Raiders made this move. Due to Jason Campbell’s season-ending injury, they’ve mortgaged their future for the chance to win now. They know that if Darren McFadden stays healthy they’ll remain competitive and it’s not as if Palmer doesn’t know the offense. He and coach Hue Jackson spent time together in Cincinnati, so it theoretically shouldn’t take long for him to get up to speed. Plus, with Campbell and Kyle Boller set to become free agents at the end of the year, Terrelle Pryor was the only quarterback on the roster signed past 2011. Eventually they needed to address the position and had a chance to trade for a franchise quarterback, so they took the risk with Palmer.
That said, I still wouldn’t have made this deal. Not in today’s NFL where building through the draft is still the answer to winning over the long haul. Ask the Packers and Steelers, who have made minimal free agent signings over the years while combining to win three Super Bowls in the last six seasons.
Plus, it’s not like Palmer is in his prime or has won anything of substance as a professional. I would use the term “franchise quarterback” loosely when it comes to describing his talents. When the Bears traded a first, a third, and Kyle Orton to the Broncos for Jay Cutler, the latter was just about to turn 26. The Bears mortgaged their future for a young signal caller who played a position they had trouble filling for over two decades. Palmer is 31 and has already showed signs of decline.
The best case scenario for Oakland is that Palmer just needs a change of scenery and will be motivated to prove he still has a couple of years left in the tank. Maybe he gets to Oakland and has a resurgence just like Rich Gannon did early last decade.
But that’s the best-case scenario. The worst-case is that Palmer’s game continues to deteriorate, the Raiders lose two high draft picks and wind up paying an aging quarterback nearly $30 million to be Pryor’s tutor. (Assuming Oakland still views Pryor as the future, that is.)
For Brown and the Bengals, there is no worst-case scenario. Palmer was done in Cincinnati and if Andy Dalton pans out, the Bengals have already filled their need at quarterback. For once, Brown’s stubbornness finally paid off.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer looks at two receivers as he passes against the San Diego Chargers in the first half during their NFL football game in San Diego, California December 20, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (United States – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)
Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown reiterated on Thursday that he has no plays to trade disgruntled quarterback Carson Palmer.
“I don’t have anything more to say on that,” Brown told the media. “I’ve had my say on that, and it remains all there is to say.”
Following the team’s 4-12 season in 2010, Palmer requested a trade on January 23, 2011. Brown turned down the request almost immediately and Palmer retaliated by saying he’s prepared to retire if necessary. The veteran quarterback hasn’t filed his retirement papers with the league but he remains steadfast that he won’t play another down for the Bengals.
Cincinnati has seemingly found its quarterback of the future in 2011 second round pick Andy Dalton, who has compiled a 78.7 QB rating through five games this season. Thus, with the trade deadline coming up, many have speculated that the Bengals would be willing to move Palmer. Miami, Seattle and Indianapolis are all in need of a quarterback, so Cincinnati has trade partners if it eventually decides to deal the former USC product.
That said, Brown has made it perfectly clear that he is not willing to deal Palmer, who won’t become a free agent until 2015. If the trade deadline passes, the next chance Palmer has to get out of Cincinnati won’t be until March of 2012 when the new league year begins.
Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team’s owner Jerry Buss (R) and his son Vice President of Basketball Operations Jim Buss listen at a news conference to announce new head coach Mike Brown in Los Angeles, California, May 31, 2011. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)
Brian Shaw, who many thought was the heir apparent to Phil Jackson, says he found out that he didn’t get the Laker head coaching job by hearing the news on TV.
Shaw, in an interview with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky on “The Mason & Ireland Show” on 710 ESPN Radio on Friday, said he first learned that Mike Brown had been hired as the Lakers coach during a television interview with Brown on ESPN at halftime of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
“I wasn’t really told anything,” said Shaw, who had the public backing of players Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, among others, to take over for Jackson. “Unfortunately, I found about not getting the job and who was hired for the job on ESPN. I didn’t really talk to anyone for about three weeks after that.”
Just this week, Shaw was hired by the Indiana Pacers to be their associate head coach. He will work alongside Pacers coach Frank Vogel, a man he knows from their days on the Lakers staff together during the 2005-06 season.
Well, it’s good to see Shaw land on his feet, but…ouch. The Laker organization seems to be transforming under showrunner Jim Buss. Given the role he played in back-to-back championships, it seems like the franchise could at the very least notify Shaw of the decision before the news broke on ESPN.
2005–06: Avery Johnson, Dallas Mavericks, 60–22 (Fired April 30, 2008)
2006–07: Sam Mitchell, Toronto Raptors, 47–35 (Fired December 3, 2008)
2007–08: Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets, 56–26 (Fired November 12, 2009)
2008–09: Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers, 66–16 (Fired May 24, 2010)
2009–10: Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder, 50–32 (???)
They were all fired within two years. The post goes on to speculate that the reason behind this trend is heightened expectations and I tend to agree. I’d go a step further, however. The award often goes to a coach who “got the most out of his team” (i.e. the team played “over their heads”). When this kind of outlier occurs, it’s far more likely that the team will return to the mean instead of continuing to develop into an NBA champion.
In other words, all it takes is one bad/mediocre season and the guy is a bum again. And with 30 teams vying for a championship, a bad/mediocre season is far more likely than a great one.
In a move expected since the team lost three consecutive games to be upset by the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals, the Cavs fired coach Mike Brown on Sunday according to a league source. The news was first reported by ESPN.
Okay, no shocker there. What was the reason for his dismissal?
Some Cavs’ players, including LeBron James, also seemed to lose patience with Brown after some of his adjustments and rotations didn’t work against the Celtics in the playoffs.
However, James is not believed to have made a personal push with management for a coaching change. He left it to the front office to make the final decision.
Brown seemed to struggle with his rotations after having to incorporate Shaquille O’Neal back into the team in the playoffs after O’Neal missed the final six weeks of the season. He started a lineup in the first game of the playoffs that he hadn’t used all season and the turbulence from multiple players changing roles appeared to upset the balance of the team.
Those problems plus, according to sources, some disagreement over some game plans for playoff games with some of the team leaders eventually led to some discord in the locker room during the Celtics series.
I put that bit about LeBron in bold because it may hold a clue to his future. If it’s true that he left Brown’s fate up to management, then it seems like he’s not all that interested in who’s coaching the Cavs, and that’s a bad sign for Cleveland fans that are hoping he re-signs.
Mike Brown will land on his feet. He bungled the playoff rotations, but that was partly because he had too many good players he had to play, especially when the Celtics started picking the Cavs apart.
Official word of Mike Brown firing expected to be no later than Sunday, possibly as early as Friday. Entire staff expected to be let go.
This really shouldn’t shock anyone after the Cavs’ second-round exit. Brown is a very good defensive coach, but has always struggled to get the most out of his team on the offensive end of the floor. Most recently, he played with his rotations to the point where the 8, 9 and 10 guys didn’t know if they were coming or going.
The move clears the way for the Cavs to hire a new, presumably LeBron-approved, head coach sometime in the next few weeks.
By the way, Mike Brown was the 2009 Coach of the Year. Funny how things work.
In fact, according to one courtside observer, James and Cleveland coach Mike Brown got into a heated discussion about whether James should cover Rondo at the critical moments of the fourth quarter. Brown ultimately decided against it, but that could change moving forward.
“I would love to,” James said after Rondo had eviscerated the Cavs with 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. “It’s something we maybe should explore because Rondo is definitely dominating this series at the point guard position. For me, I don’t have a problem taking Rondo or guarding Rondo throughout the course of the game. If the coaching staff or the guys want me to do it, I will.”
The issue here is Mo Williams. He is not a good defender, and he can’t hang with Rondo. So the Cavs have Anthony Parker on the Celtics’ point guard and Williams on Ray Allen. If Mike Brown elects to put LeBron on Rondo, then he’ll have to put Parker on Paul Pierce, who has been very quiet in this series. Pierce is averaging just 12-3-3 on 32% shooting, likely due to the fact that LeBron has been up to the task defensively.
Pierce (6-7) has about an inch on Parker (6-6), but he probably has 20 lbs on him as well, which means he could get his game going in the post. The C’s need to be ready to use Pierce on the block if the Cavs elect to put LeBron on Rondo.
What’s amazing about Rondo is how productive he is despite his inaccuracy from 16+ feet. Of the 40 point guards who averaged 25+ minutes, Rondo has the fourth-lowest FG% from 16-23 feet. (By the way, the third-lowest clip belongs to Tyreke Evans, so it’s not unheard of to dominate play with a poor jumper.) Only Andre Miller and T.J. Ford are worse from 3PT range than Rondo.
Mo’s dunk in Game 1 against the Celtics was apparently the first of his career. After the game, Mike Brown was asked about it and could barely respond.
A crowd of over 14,000 fans rocked Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif. Saturday night to cheer on their hometown hero, Urijah Faber, as he headed to the cage to take on the World Extreme Cagefighting Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo.
All week the buzz has surrounded the city of Sacramento for this fight between Aldo and Faber, the headline bout of WEC 48, which was presented by AMP Energy. The event was the WEC’s first run at putting on a pay-per-view show and Aldo vs. Faber was the biggest fight the promotion could put on.
But just as much as the fans rocked Arco Arena as Faber headed to the cage with “California Love” blasting in the background, was as quiet as the arena got as Aldo picked apart their king in a decisive five-round unanimous decision victory.
“There is no doubt that (Aldo) is one of the best in the world, period,” WEC and UFC President, Dana White, said of the champion after the fight. “That is of all fighters, not just in his weight division. He’s definitely on the pound-for-pound (best fighters) list.”
Aldo came in as the favorite, but the local crowd truly believed in Faber. After all, he has been the city’s rallying cry seeing as their NBA franchise has struggled in recent years. The town even made April 22 “Urijah Faber Day,” earlier in the week. But, early in the first round of Saturday’s fight, it became clear that Faber was out-matched by the younger and faster Aldo.
From the start, Faber struggled to develop his timing in his strikes while Aldo unleashed leg kicks to Faber’s lead left leg. Late in the opening round Faber started to show signs of ware in the leg, and it only got worse as time passed.
World Extreme Cagefighting breaks into the Pay-Per View market on Saturday for WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber, presented by AMP Energy, from the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California.
The main card features five fights, including two title bouts. Here is a look at each fight and my expected outcomes.
WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo (16-1) vs. Urijah Faber (23-3): This fight is a big one. Not just for the WEC, but for MMA as a whole. Aldo is the young phenom at 24, who has dominated his opponents in a quick and explosive fashion. Faber is the former champion who was considered an unstoppable phenom years ago. Now, at 30, a loss for Faber could change the entire outlook on his career. He will have the bonus of fighting in his hometown, but that won’t matter in the cage. Look for this fight to be explosive but for Faber to utilize his strength and wrestling to get the fight to his advantage. If Faber can survive the opening explosion from Aldo, the fight is his. I suspect Faber will survive and earn a submission win in the fourth round.
