Month: March 2010 (Page 58 of 59)

      Do the Nuggets have what it takes?

      March 1, 2010 /

      On the heels of their 95-89 loss to the Lakers on Sunday — the first time the Lakers beat Denver in three tries — J.A. Adande is left wondering if the Nuggets have what it takes to win a NBA championship.

      As much as they insist they’re not as running-game dependent as they used to be, here’s some evidence to the contrary: Denver now is 0-3 when scoring fewer than 90 points and 5-13 when scoring fewer than 100 points.

      Coach George Karl expounded on the Nuggets’ half-court issues, saying, “A lot of our losses, it’s because we don’t offensively trust the pass and have enough patience to fight through the defensive intensity. When we find the open man, when we move the ball and have a high assist night, it’s the key to us winning games.”

      When it goes bad, they’ll pull up for the quick jumper or they’ll forget to put the ball in the hands of Anthony, the third-best scorer in the league.

      When asked if he thought the Nuggets had a good chance of knocking off the Lakers or the Cavs, Bill Simmons said this in a recent chat:

      Absolutely. They’re one big body short, but other than that, they have everything I’m looking for in a legit contender. My 2 questions are these… 1) When is Chauncey going to realize that he hasn’t been Mr. Big Shot in about 4 years? When he waved Melo off vs. Cleveland last week to brick a game-winner, I was in shock. Melo has to get the ball in all big situations. So until they solve that alpha dog issue, I can’t buy in. 2) George Karl teams just have a habit of beating themselves in dumb ways in big playoff series. I worry about them playing a 7 game series against LAL in which they’d win 3 and give away 2 more… a little like the 2002 Kings

      I like what Billups has brought to Denver, but Simmons is right — he has to defer to Carmelo in crunch time. (Unless, of course, they occasionally want to use ‘Melo as a decoy, but that should be the exception, not the rule.) However, there is some evidence that Billups is simply better in the clutch. According to 82games.com, Billups’ FG% in the “clutch” (defined as 4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points) is 48% while Anthony’s is just 34%.

      But that just seems to be an anomaly. Last season, Anthony was one of the top crunch-time players in the league (57% FG%), so the Nuggets need to keep feeding him the ball. Remember, this is the guy who led Syracuse to a national title as a freshman, hitting a number of huge shots along the way.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Finals

      Will Peppers have a new home by Friday?

      March 1, 2010 /

      In the rumor section on ESPN.com, the site speculates that Julius Peppers could have a new team by Friday, which is when teams can officially start signing free agents.

      Julius Peppers will have a new team, and it could happen as quickly as this Friday. We continue to hear him linked to different teams, with varying degrees of certainty.

      The Eagles and Patriots have been considered the front-runners for some time now, and the Bears also appear to be one of the front-runners for Peppers, given the fact that they have no picks in the first two rounds to find a new pass-rusher; in other words, any big personnel improvements will have to come from free agency. Bears LB Brian Urlacher seemed very pleased with the possibility of adding Peppers in recent comments to the Chicago Tribune. Meanwhile, at the scouting combine, leader of the Browns’ world Mike Holmgren discussed the Peppers possibility to the media, per NFL.com.

      I think where Peppers will land will ultimately come down to two things: Money and whether or not he wants to play OLB in a 3-4. I’m sure he wants to play for a competitor too, but Peppers can also be lazy at times and if he has the chance to be a one dimensional pass rusher in a 3-4, then he may jump on the opportunity by signing with the Patriots or Browns.

      The Bears have been linked to Peppers multiple times over the past week, but I can’t envision Jerry Angelo opening the team’s wallet in order to bring the defensive end to Chicago. The Bears could definitely use a pass rusher (really, what team couldn’t?), but if history is any indication, then there’s no doubt Angelo will once again go shopping in the offseason bargain bin to fill needs.

      Another team I think we can safely cross off the potential candidates list is the Falcons, who are very familiar with the fact that Peppers will disappear during games and take plays off. The concept of adding Peppers to the same line as John Abraham and Jonathan Babineaux is enticing, but GM Thomas Dimitroff’s philosophy is to build via the draft. Plus, the Falcons already have younger, cheaper options than Peppers already on the roster in Kroy Biermann and Lawrence Sidbury, the latter of which is raw but has the size and speed to develop into a solid pass rusher.

      If I were to make an official prediction as to where Peppers will land, my guess would be the Eagles. He wouldn’t be able to play OLB, but I think Philly would be willing to throw the money at him and he’d be intrigued by the possibility of helping the Eagles get to a Super Bowl.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Shaq to have surgery on injured thumb

      March 1, 2010 /

      It looks like Shaquille O’Neal’s regular season may be over.

      Now the Cavaliers hope the center they acquired for the postseason will be back in time for the playoffs.

      O’Neal will undergo surgery Monday to repair his injured right thumb. He was examined Sunday by Dr. Thomas Graham at the National Hand Center in Baltimore. Graham will perform the surgery.

      The Cavaliers said they will update a timeline for his return following the procedure, but a typical recovery period is 6 to 8 weeks. There are seven weeks left in the regular season.

      With 22 games to play, the Cavs have a six-game lead on Orlando, so I don’t think they’re in any danger of giving up the top seed in the East. The greater concern to me is what kind of shape Shaq will be in when he returns to action. Six or seven weeks is a long time for a person with his weight issues to be sidelined, and he’s already looking a little heavy. While a thumb injury shouldn’t keep him off the treadmill, he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy that is going to bust his butt to stay in top physical condition.

      The Cavs may very well find their groove without Shaq in the lineup, and then his return could throw a monkey wrench into the machine. The good news is that he would return during the first or second round of the playoffs, so there would potentially be a series or two for him to work the kinks out. I think the greater concern is how his return would affect the way the Cavs play offensively.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      NFL to change overtime format for playoffs?

      March 1, 2010 /

      The NFL is considering a change of its overtime format for future playoff games.

      From ESPN.com:

      Under the new format, both teams would get the ball at least once unless the first team to get the ball scores a touchdown, Greg Aiello said. If the first team to get the ball makes a field goal and the other team ties the game, action would continue until a team scores again.

      The debate about the rules gained steam after the NFC championship game, when New Orleans beat Minnesota 31-28 in overtime and Brett Favre’s Vikings never got the ball in the extra period. Under the proposed rule, Minnesota would have gotten another possession because the Vikings didn’t allow a touchdown.

      John Paulsen and I recently debated what the best way would be to revamp the NFL overtime system, which you can check out here. He likes the idea of a blind auction, which would certainly be fair for both sides and add more intrigue than the coin toss. I wrote that I would be all for it as long as the process didn’t turn into a game show at midfield.

      That said, I’m also fine with a coin toss. Is it thrilling? No. Is it fair that one team can win without the other team even touching the ball? Probably not. But it’s simple and it’s tradition. The game is the thrilling part – I don’t need anything more elaborate than a coin toss to determine which team gets the ball first. And if more defenses rose to the challenge and stopped their opponent from scoring (which is the whole point of a defense in the first place) on the first possession in the extra quarter, then we might not be having this debate at all.

      If the NFL wants to change its overtime format, then I won’t be appalled or angry. But just make a decision and be done with it, because this is beginning to be a tired topic. I have a bigger issue with the fact that it took Brett Favre not getting a possession in last year’s NFC title game for the league to sit down and talk about a rule change. Why doesn’t the NFL just change its name to the Brett Favre League and be done with it. The “BFL” it is.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Are the Browns targeting Joe Haden?

      March 1, 2010 /

      Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that Florida cornerback Joe Haden could be a perfect complement to Eric Wright in the Browns’ secondary. ESPN’s Mel Kiper agrees.

      ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. predicts the Browns will take Haden in his current mock draft, compiled before the Combine.

      “Joe Haden makes the most sense, in terms of value,” Kiper said on a conference call. “We don’t know if he’s going to be Darrelle Revis [of the Jets] or [Oakland’s] Nnamdi Asomugha. They’re the two best cover corners in the NFL right now. They didn’t [get drafted] in the top 10. But Haden will.

      “Haden has potential to be an elite corner. He’s a complete corner, effective on the blitz, outstanding in coverage.”
      “I haven’t done a lot of work on him yet, but obviously he’s highly regarded, so we’ll look seriously at him,” Browns coach Eric Mangini said at the Combine.

      Browns General Manager Tom Heckert has studied him enough to be impressed.

      “He’s a heckuva football player,” said Heckert. “He’s one of the top corners, if not the top corner in the draft. He’s played at a big-time program and they won a lot of games. He’s going to go early.”

      Some people absolutely love Haden and say that he’s the safest pick in the top 10. Others, like the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock, believe he’s a borderline top-ten pick and that there’s some concern about Haden’s forty time. (Haden ran a 4.34 in high school, but Mayock says that he might only run a 4.52 or 4.55.)

      That said, there’s no question that Haden is the top corner in this year’s draft and reminds me of Darrelle Revis. He racked up a ton of experience playing against top competition while at Florida and he has the ability to be a shutdown corner if he can develop. While having a good forty is important for defensive backs, it’s not everything and I doubt that teams would pass on him just because he ran a slower time (although if molasses beats him, then there could be a problem).

      He seems like a perfect fit for the Browns.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football, NFL, NFL Draft

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑