Anthony Stalter will be on with Rex Snider of WNST Sports Radio in Baltimore today at 3:40PM ET talking about the Ravens’ upcoming season. You can listen live at WNST’s website.
Month: July 2010 (Page 4 of 62)
Shaq is a 38-year-old center without a home and he’s holding out for a sign-and-trade hoping to get a deal that starts above the mid-level exception, which starts at around $5.8 million per season. But get this — he only wants to play for a legitimate contender.
That’s a short list of teams.
What follows is an open letter to Mr. O’Neal.
Shaq, you are one of the most dominating players the league has ever seen, and the NBA has been good to you. According to Basketball-Reference, you have made more than $290 million in your career. And that doesn’t even count the money you’ve made from sponsorships.
Don’t embarrass yourself by trying to orchestrate a sign-and-trade. If you want to keep playing, just sign for the veteran minimum and join the best fit of the short list of teams that are after your services. Everyone knows you are not the player that you once were, and haven’t been for the last few years, (when you were making $20+ million a season), so take the pay cut with a smile and put yourself in a position of relevancy to finish off your illustrious career.
Who knows, maybe you’ll be the difference in a playoff series for the Celtics or the Hawks, and people will look back on your final games and say — man, the guy could still play, even at 38-years-old.
Chris Bosh responded to claims made by embattled Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo that he ‘checked out’ at the end of the season.
Here’s exactly what Colangelo said, via the Toronto Sun:
“Despite limited swelling and any excessive damage on an MRI, he felt like he needed to sit for six more games … I’m not even questioning Chris’ injury. I’m telling you he was cleared to play subject to tolerance on his part, and the tolerance just apparently wasn’t there and he chose not to play,” Colangelo said.
“The fact that our season was spiralling downward and we were hoping he’d come back sooner and we were also dealing with a few other things at that point … we were really struggling there.”
“Whether he was mentally checked out or just wasn’t quite into it down the stretch, he wasn’t the same guy. I think everybody saw that, but no one wanted to acknowledge it.”
Colangelo is acting like a jilted lover and is trying to cover his own ass. He could have traded Bosh last summer or at the February deadline and gotten something in return, whether it be someone like Joakim Noah from the Bulls or maybe David Lee from the Knicks. His defenders say that no team would have traded for Bosh not knowing if he’d re-sign, but I think both Chicago and New York (or L.A., Oklahoma City or Houston, or any number of teams) would have rolled the dice to get the opportunity to re-sign him to a max deal, since that was reportedly what he was after. (Before you Raptor fans start slamming me for speculating, do you really think the Lakers would have turned down a Bosh-for-Bynum deal in the middle of last season? Really? Go and look at yourself in the mirror — do you really believe that?)
Granted, the Raptors were fighting for a playoff spot at the time, so had Colangelo made the trade, his fan base might have revolted. But that’s only because they didn’t see the writing on the wall.
Bosh (sort of) responded to Colangelo’s allegations in an interview with Sportsnet.ca:
“No, at any time, did I ever give up,” Bosh told Sportsnet. “You know, I take that very seriously. I work hard every time I step on the court — practice, games, shoot-around, whatever you want to say — I take this job seriously and I take my effort on the court seriously.
“I play this game as hard as I can every time I step on the court. On the back of my jersey, it says Bosh,” the 26-year-old forward continued. “The Boshs are hard workers. We have a lot of pride in what we do in our jobs and in life. There was no time, at any time, that I ever stepped on the court — in my NBA career, in my life — and stop playing hard or give up.”
Bosh is talking about his on-court effort while Colangelo accused him of packing it up early when he was injured. Those are two different things. I’d like to hear Bosh answer questions about his injury.
He also asked Toronto fans not to boo him when he comes back to play.
Yeah, right.
Merry training camp season, everyone. It’s been a long offseason, but football is finally gearing up again and to celebrate I’m rolling out a new series on TSR entitled “2010 NFL Question Marks,” where I discuss one or two of the biggest concerns that teams have heading into the new season. Granted, some teams have more issues than others, but I’ll primarily be focusing on the biggest problem areas. Today I’ll be discussing the Bills, who, as you may imagine, have a couple of issues on their plate.
Ugh. I think I had the Bills in mind when I first thought about doing this series, as there’s no limit to the number of issues going on right now in Buffalo.
Actually, that’s not fair because the Bills are moving in the right direction and the hiring of GM Buddy Nix is proof of that. Nix has 14 years of NFL experience and previously spent 26 years coaching in the college ranks. The guy knows how to scout and for a team that desperately needs to re-stock their roster with talent, that’s huge.
Whether or not Chan Gailey was the best choice for head coach is debatable, but at least a) he has experience and b) isn’t Dick Jauron. For the time being, let’s give Gailey a chance and take solace in the fact that the Bills actually have people in their front office who don’t base their decisions on simulations in “Madden.” (“Madden says that the Cowboys would be willing to take Marshawn Lynch, a fourth, and a seventh for Tony Romo, so get Jerry Jones on the phone and let’s see if we can wrap something up by lunchtime.”)
That said, things still look bleak for this team, especially compared to the rest of the AFC East. Defensively, the secondary is deep and the team devoted a lot of time this offseason re-tooling the line for new coordinator George Edwards, who will implement the 3-4. It’s going to take time for the new scheme to take shape, which is why I’ll leave the defense alone for now.
The offense, however, is another story.
Much has been written about how LeBron James will fit in an offense alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Many pundits are skeptical about the possibility of it working, but I’m not. The trio may not be perfectly designed to play together, but their skill sets aren’t as incohesive as some are saying.
Tom Haberstroh writes about a yet-developed statistic that would be able to determine LeBron’s impact on the game.
What is WPA? Starting with the beginning of a play, what is the probability of winning the game, given the situation? After the conclusion of that play, recalculate and debit/credit the player for the change in win probability. That’s WPA. This is the essence of sport: each play contributes to a team’s chances of reaching its collective goal of beating the other team.
James would have to pass up the shot that he loved to take in Cleveland because probabilistically it may be the better play with his new Super Friends. But as any coach will attest, player ego often gets in the way of a team’s goals. If James swallows his pride and makes the pass to an open Wade for a game-winning shot, it wont signal that Wade is The Man, even if that’s what the media would decide. In reality, it means James has fully recognized his role as the facilitator of victory, whether that’s taking the big shots or creating better ones for his teammates.
All three Super Friends are willing passers, so sharing the ball shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think LeBron is heading to Miami thinking he’s going to be taking most of the shots up against the shot clock. That will largely be Wade’s job. LeBron will likely handle the ball a lot on the break and early in the shot clock, when he can use his considerable ball handling and passing skills to create open shots for his teammates.
Since he has thus far been unwilling to develop a post game or much of a midrange jumper, LeBron will generally do one of two things when he gets the ball: 1) attack the basket for a layup, or 2) attack the basket and create a shot for a teammate.
If the trio has one weakness, it’s consistent shooting from outside (though Bosh is pretty steady). That’s why the Heat signed Mike Miller, Eddie House and James Jones, who are all 39%+ shooters from long range.
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