Month: April 2009 (Page 19 of 53)

      Seahawks to take Crabtree at No. 4?

      April 21, 2009 /

      Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News seems to believe that the Seahawks will take either USC quarterback Mark Sanchez or Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree with the No. 4 pick in this weekend’s draft.

      Vacchiano also had some other interesting tidbits in his “draft hints” article.

      • LSU DE Tyson Jackson will go in the Top 5. Not might. Will. This qualified as the biggest shocker, to me, since almost every mock draft I looked at pegged Jackson to be a mid- to late first-rounder at best. I thought the Top 5 was pretty locked in, too. But, of course, I shouldn’t have doubted Mr. Brandt. I asked around after the show to see if I could confirm it, and sure enough one NFL source I know did tell me he’s heard the Kansas City Chiefs might take Jackson at No. 3, or trade down and take him a few picks later.

      • The Seattle Seahawks, at No. 4, will likely select either Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree or USC QB Mark Sanchez.

      • The Saints, at No. 14, are looking for a big cornerback, and Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins is a good bet to be their guy.

      • The New England Patriots, at No. 23 will take a linebacker.

      • Oklahoma T Phil Loadholt (6-7, 332) will go in the first round of the draft. His teammate, G Duke Robinson (6-5, 330, and the top-rated guard on most boards), will not.

      These are some interesting thoughts and while I don’t disagree with any of Vacchiano’s tidbits, a lot of these seem to be a stretch. Tyson Jackson will definitely go in the top 5? Phil Loadholt will be a first rounder?

      The most noteworthy item in Vacchiano’s article is that the Seahawks will take either Sanchez or Crabtree at No. 4. Taking Sanchez makes sense for Seattle because Matt Hasselbeck is aging and is coming off an injury-plagued season. Crabtree makes sense because even though the Hawks signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh to a huge contract this offseason, Housh is 31 and would benefit from having another playmaker on the opposite side of him. (Crabtree would also arguably be the best player available at that spot.)

      But does Seattle really want to sink that much money into one position? Generally speaking, NFL teams don’t like to do that – especially at the wide receiver position. I’m sticking to my guns in saying that Seattle takes offensive lineman Eugene Monroe at that pick, but I’m not shooting down anything Vacchiano wrote.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      The NBA Finals, by the numbers

      April 21, 2009 /

      As I sit here waiting for the (inevitable?) Cavs/Lakers Finals, I started to wonder — how does playoff seeding relate to Finals appearances?

      The salary cap was (sort of) implemented during the 1984-85 season to level the playing field, so that’s where we’ll start. Since the ’85 Finals, #1-seeds have accounted for 58% (28 of 48) of the Finals participants. But that trend has changed over the last five years, where #1-seeds only accounted for 20% (2/10) of Finals participants. (This means that from ’85 to ’03, #1-seeds made up 66% of Finals participants.)

      Over the last 24 years, teams seeded #4 or higher made the Finals just three times: the ’95 #6-seeded Rockets, the ’99 #8-seeded Knicks and the ’06 #4-seeded Mavs. Only the Rockets managed to win the NBA Championship, so that means that 23 of 24 title winners were seeded #3 or better at the beginning of the playoffs. In fact #3-seeds have won just three titles over the last 24 years (’02, ’04 and ’07), so 83% of title winners start the playoffs as #1- or #2-seeds.

      Since 2001, we’ve had the vaunted #1/#1 matchup just once — last season’s Boston/L.A. matchup. From ’85 to ’00, that matchup occurred eight times, or 50% of the time.

      What does this all mean? Who knows. Even though the salary cap age has brought more parity to the playoffs, it seems to have only spread the wealth down from the top three or four teams to the top five or six teams. Teams not seeded in the top three are longshots to make the Finals. This is due to the seven-game format of each series. It’s completely feasible that a #4-#8 seed to take a game or two from a top seed, but far less feasible that they can win four out of seven.

      These playoffs would have been more interesting had Manu Ginobili, Kevin Garnett and Jameer Nelson stayed healthy. Still, we’re talking about teams that are seeded #3 or higher, so it wouldn’t have changed the fact that really only the top six teams in any given year have a legit shot at the Finals.

      After all of that, I think we’re still destined for a Cavs/Lakers matchup in the Finals.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Will the Chiefs trade Tony Gonzalez by draft weekend?

      April 21, 2009 /

      mill

      One of the more interesting situations that has been brewing for the past couple months is what the Chiefs are going to do with tight end Tony Gonzalez, who appears to desperately want out of Kansas City.

      Since February of this year, several media publications have speculated that Gonzalez has made it clear that he doesn’t want to be a Chief any longer. Yet every time a new rumor hits the web, Gonzo usually denies the claim within a few days.

      But he failed to report to KC’s voluntary minicamp last Saturday and his absence would seem to indicate that he does want out, or else why wouldn’t he be spending this time getting acquainted with new quarterback Matt Cassel? Gonzo is the consummate pro, so even though the workouts are voluntary, one would think that he would want to spend as much time as possible getting in sync with Cassel.

      New GM Scott Pioli has already stated that he doesn’t feel obligated to trade Gonzalez this offseason, yet he might consider it if the right deal comes along this weekend during the draft. Several teams could use Gonzalez’s services, most notably the Falcons (who have already been linked to Gonzo-internet rumors, although they proved to be false), Bills, Jets, Eagles and Browns.

      Continue reading »

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Point guards star in Monday night action

      April 21, 2009 /

      Having dropped Game 1 at home, both the Celtics and the Spurs were in “must-win” mode on Monday night.

      The Celtics/Bulls series is shaping up to be a great one. After a 29-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist effort in Game 1, Rajon Rondo turned in a stellar 19-point, 16-assist, 12-rebound triple-double in Game 2, which the C’s won, 118-115. He also had five steals and turned the ball over just twice. If this kid can get a consistent jump shot, he’s going to be a nightmare. Hell, he’s already a nightmare.

      Derrick Rose was the best player on the floor in Game 1, but he came back to Earth in Game 2. Ten points, seven assists and six rebounds is a solid line, but Ben Gordon (42 points) was the star for Chicago in Game 2. What’s amazing about Gordon is how thin his line is. He had one rebound and one steal, but failed to register an assist, a block or even a single turnover. Gordon is a scorer and that’s it, but the name of the game is basketball and he can really light it up.

      Ray Allen came up huge in the second half with 28 points over the final two periods, including the game-winner with just 0:02 to play. He scored just six points over the previous four quarters. Wow.

      Moving on to the San Antonio/Dallas series, without Manu Ginobili, the Spurs are lacking a third scorer, but Tony Parker was able to carry his team on his shoulders with a 38-point, eight-assist effort en route to a 105-84 win. Jason Kidd can’t keep Parker in front of him, which is why I thought the Spurs would win this series, but J.J. Barea came off the bench in Game 1 and did a decent job containing Parker. Game 2? Not so much.

      The Mavericks have home court advantage now and they’ve been great (32-9) at the American Airlines Center this season. The Spurs have the 5th-most road wins in the league, so they’re more than capable of stealing a game in Dallas.

      NBA, NBA Finals

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