Month: August 2010 (Page 5 of 59)

      Shaq discusses his new role

      August 30, 2010 /
      Newly signed Boston Celtics player Shaquille O'Neal speaks to reporters after a news conference in Waltham, Massachusetts August 10, 2010. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      Shaq hit the Harvard Yard yesterday, which must have been quite the scene, and said that he wasn’t going to be a distraction for his new team.

      “I’m much older now,’’ he said. “This team is good with or without me. Sometimes, in order to win, you have to sacrifice. I don’t mind sacrificing. At the end of the day, it’s all about winning.’’

      “I’m going to do what I’m told to do. Whatever they need me to do. I’m not in a position to cause trouble or cause a ruckus. The reason why younger in my career I acted a fool is because they made me the CEO. If I’m the CEO and I’m getting all the blame, we’re going to start doing it my way.’’

      Love the part about being the CEO.

      All things considered, Shaq was a good teammate during his stint in Cleveland. The problem with the fit is that Shaq thrives in the half court, while LeBron and the rest of the Cavs did far better in an up tempo attack. He now joins a Boston team that tends to slow the game down, and he should be able to help with his ability to score in the post.

      He doesn’t have much left, but he has enough to help the C’s.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Team USA vs. Brazil at 2:30 PM ET on ESPN

      August 30, 2010 /
      USA's Kevin Durant goes high to dunk the ball against Slovenia during their FIBA Basketball World Championship game in Istanbul August 29, 2010. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (TURKEY - Tags: SPORT SPORT BASKETBALL)

      The Americans are 2-0 at the FIBA World Championship, and today they’ll face their toughest test to date, as they take on international power Brazil. Here’s ESPN’s preview of the Brazilians:

      Even with the talent displayed by Marcelinho Huertas, Leandro Barbosa and Splitter, Varejao is still the key to this team, no matter which way we look at it. In his participation in a recent friendly tournament in Logroño, Spain, Varejao’s defense was the factor that kept Brazil in the game after the absence of Nene and Splitter.

      In the highly physical international play, there may be no one better than the Cleveland Cavaliers power forward to keep a team together and provide scoring opportunities for Splitter and Barbosa.

      The only gray area is in the team’s adjustment to Magnano, who replaces Spain’s Moncho Monsalve, who took the helm in 2008, failed to qualify the team to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and then had to leave the job because of health concerns.

      Anyone would say that changing coaches midway through an Olympic cycle is hard and that it affects the players, who probably got used to a style of work and professional trust. And this is where Magnano may run into problems.

      The game is on ESPN at 2:30 PM ET.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News

      Will the safety position hold the Bengals back in 2010?

      August 30, 2010 /
      PITTSBURGH - NOVEMBER 15: Chris Crocker #42 and Chinedum Ndukwe #41 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrate in the bench area en route to an 18-12 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers during their game at Heinz Field on November 15, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Bengals defeated the Steelers 18-12. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

      Merry preseason, 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 breaking down the Bengals’ safeties and why they could become a liability for the team this season.

      Special teams is arguably the Bengals’ biggest weakness heading into the 2010 season, but I’ve avoided talking about kickers to this point and I’m not going to start now.

      Pass protection, pass rush and quite frankly, even Carson Palmer are question marks for Cincinnati heading into the season. But the safety position may be the biggest concern the Bengals have in 2010.

      Granted, this isn’t a huge issue because starters Roy Williams and Chris Crocker have loads of experience and Crocker has played very well in Cincinnati despite lackluster tenures in Cleveland and Atlanta earlier in his career. But both of these players have glaring weaknesses that can be exposed by opponents.

      We’ll start with Williams, because his weakness is more widely known. The man is a force against the run but couldn’t cover his bed in new sheets. He has also played in just seven games the past two seasons because of nagging injuries. His backup, 25-year-old Chinedum Ndukwe, has failed to impress in his first couple of years despite having the opportunity to see live action when Williams was out.

      As previously noted, Crocker has been a good Bengal over the years but he was assisted off the field in the first quarter of the Hall of Fame game earlier this month with a right ankle injury. He dealt with ankle issues late in the year in 2009 and had arthroscopic surgery on one of them in February so obviously that’s a concern.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, NFL

      10 Things Learned at UFC 118

      August 30, 2010 /

      E. Spencer Kyte of HeavyMMA.com compiled a list of 10 things he learned from UFC 118.

      The Shifting Legacy of B.J. Penn

      Before the fights Saturday night, I wrote a piece at my blog for the Vancouver-based newspaper I work for asking if we’ve all been buying into the B.J. Penn mystique for far too long. Watching “The Prodigy” look decidedly non-prodigious, it looks like maybe we have.

      Make no mistake about it: Penn is a supremely gifted talent who could be one of the greatest fighters of all-time, but his legacy might be moving closer to “imagine what could have been” territory.

      Some fighters work every day to prove why they are considered the best in the world (see St-Pierre, Georges), while others are willing to accept the accolades and get by on their natural gifts. That is where Penn rests right now, and he’ll stay there for eternity if he doesn’t make some changes.

      Read the full article here.

      External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

      It’s time to get back on the Jamaal Charles bandwagon

      August 29, 2010 /
      ATLANTA - AUGUST 13: Jamaal Charles of the Kansas City Chiefs against the Atlanta Falcons at Georgia Dome on August 13, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

      Heading into the preseason, Jamaal Charles’s stock was quite high, and for good reason. The 23 year-old had just come off an eight-game stretch where he averaged 140.8 total yards and 1.0 TD per game. He was going in the early second — I even saw a few drafts where he was going in the late first — but with the acquisition of Thomas Jones and the beginning of Todd Haley’s mind games (i.e. refusing to list Charles atop the Chiefs’ depth chart), Charles’s stock has slipped into the late 3rd/early 4th.

      I just snagged him in a slow email draft at 3.10 on the heels of his first start of the preseason. He fumbled his first attempt, but finished with 40 yards on six carries and caught a 20-yard pass. During the preseason, Charles has averaged 8.2 yards per touch versus TJ’s 3.2. Even Haley said that he’d “be a fool” if he didn’t play Charles given that type of disparity in production:

      “We want this guy to be playing when the games count,” said Haley. “He’s coming off a pretty significant (surgery). … We want him to be playing at a high level.” Haley admitted he’d “be a fool” to not play Charles if he’s severely outproducing Thomas Jones in terms of yards per carry. Added the coach: “We’ve got great competition. Both of those guys want to be pretty good.”

      Moreover, Footballguys lists KC’s schedule as the second-easiest for RBs, predicting four favorable matchups through Week 16 (along with zero unfavorable matchups).

      I’d still take Pierre Thomas and maybe even Ryan Grant ahead of Charles, but once they’re off the board and I’m staring at guys like LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte, Knowshon Moreno, Chris Wells and Jahvid Best, Charles is looking awfully good.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football

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