Author: Gerardo Orlando (Page 31 of 75)

      Gerardo is the founder of Bullz-Eye.com along with Black Mountain Publishing, LLC which publishes 30 blog titles across a variety of topics.

      Lamar Odom traded to the Mavs

      December 11, 2011 /
      Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzski, right, goes up to block a shot off Los Angeles Lakers’ Lamar Odom in the second half of Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on May 4, 2011. The Mavericks defeated the Lakers 93-81and lead the best-of-seven playoff series 2-0. UPI/Christine Cotter

      The Dallas Mavericks acquired Lamar Odom from the Los Angeles Lakers, which will have ripple effects throughout the NBA as teams try to finalize rosters in this chaotic period following the NBA lockout. Above you see a photo of Odom battling Dirk Nowitzski last year in the NBA playoffs. Instead of working to get revenge for the Lakers, Odom will now be a crucial part of the Dallas effort to return to the NBA finals.

      This trade signals the end of the bizarre saga surrounding the Chris Paul trade that was rejected by David Stern. That controversial decision has rocked the NBA, and now we’ll be hearing about it over and over again as New Orleans tries to unload Paul to another team. The Lakers decided to back out of the talks rather than submit a new trade from Chris Paul to the league, and in dealing Odom put an abrupt end to that scenario. Meanwhile, the Lakers now seem to be focusing their attention on acquiring Dwight Howard in a deal that would involve Andrew Bynum.

      As for the Mavericks, this trade for Odom became possible when they decided to work a deal with the New York Knicks when it became clear they would be losing center Tyson Chandler to the Knicks. That gave the Mavs an $11 million trade exception which they then used to acquire Odom. Odom made it clear he didn’t want to leave LA, but the powers that be clearly decided to go in another direction.

      Dallas has more moves to make as it reworks in roster in the wake of losing Chandler. Chandler was a very important piece of their championship puzzle, but he’s the kind of player that can be replaced. Dallas is now one of the teams that might get a shot at landing Dwight Howard as the Orlando Magic have permitted them along with the Lakers and the New Jersey Nets. There’s also buzz out there that Vince Carter will land in Dallas as well. Carter can still score, but he’s not the kind of player one thinks of to help a championship team. Maybe he’ll be better in a reduced role.

      The Dwight Howard sweepstakes will be the next big story that will have ripple effects around the league. We’ll see how serious Dallas is in that contest.

      NBA, News

      The Chris Paul fiasco gives NBA a black eye

      December 9, 2011 /

      The proposed Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Lakers has created a firestorm.

      The Hornets, who are owned by the league which acquired it from George Shinn a year ago, realized it was unlikely they would be able to retain Paul with a contract extension or in free agency after he opted out of his contract after this season.

      So New Orleans general manager Dell Demps, a respected player personnel man who came from the respected San Antonio Spurs, went to work, hoping to get something for Paul instead of nothing if he left in free agency. Or in Stern’s words, “Getting something more for that player in the event he will leave than if he stays.”

      Demps, in his second year as GM of the Hornets, arranged a huge three-team trade with the Lakers and the Houston Rockets: Paul to the Lakers; Los Angeles forward Lamar Odom to the Hornets and Los Angeles forward Pau Gasol to the Rockets, who would have sent forward Luis Scola, guards Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic and a first-round draft pick to New Orleans.

      Stern got serious pressure from a number of owners, including Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who fired off a letter to Stern and other owners calling the trade a travesty.

      This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.

      Over the next three seasons this deal would save the Lakers approximately $20 million in salaries and approximately $21 million in luxury taxes. That $21 million goes to non-taxpaying teams and to fund revenue sharing.

      I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard.

      The teams are still talking in an attempt to salvage the deal and they have appealed Stern’s decision.

      Meanwhile, Stern and the NBA are being savaged by commentators everywhere. Here’s Bill Simmons and Micheal Wilbon.

      NBA, Video

      The BCS hits a new low

      December 4, 2011 /
      Oklahoma State Cowboys Joseph Randle (1) celebrates his first quarter touchdown with teammate Tracy Moore against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri on October 22, 2011. Oklahoma State won the game 45-24. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

      Has there ever been a worse year in college football? Even before the season started all we heard about were stupid scandals involving silly things like tattoos. Then we had the tragic events at Penn State. And now we have the annual joke called the BCS, though this year it’s worse than usual. While many of us will concede that the SEC has been producing the best teams in recent years, do we really need to watch two of them play for the national championship?

      This system is so lame and corrupt that you have to be either a complete idiot or an overpaid hack on one of the BCS bowl committees to defend it.

      Hopefully T. Boone Pickens will start throwing some money around and pull every political string he has to change this system. A real playoff system might be too much for the corrupt conference hacks to muster at this point, but at least we should get to a plus-one system. In the future a final four could easily be expanded to an 8-team playoff.

      College Football, External Sports

      Report: Mike Leach hired by Washington State

      November 30, 2011 /

      Bruce Feldman and others are reporting on Twitter that Mike Leach will be named as the new head football coach at Washington State.

      Leach has been sitting tight waiting for the right opportunity after he left Texas Tech in a controversial breakup at the end of the 2009 season. He’s been hanging out in Key West and doing some announcing. Leach is widely considered to be one of the best offensive minds in college football and he turned the Texas Tech program into consistent winners. His overall record at Texas Tech was 84–43.

      Meanwhile, Washington State has become an embarrassment in the PAC-12 under Paul Wulff, going 9-41 over the past 4 years. To put it in perspective, Wulff is coming off his best season with the Cougars at 4-8. Washington State isn’t considered to be on of the marquee programs of the PAC-12, but the school has had some excellent teams over the years and has produced some good quarterbacks like Drew Beldsoe and high draft picks like Ryan Leaf.

      Leach has helped to develop some excellent college quarterbacks. He coached Tim Couch at Kentucky and Couch became the #1 pick in the NFL draft. At Oklahoma he coached Josh Heupel and he coached Graham Harrell at Texas Tech. Michael Crabtree was considered the best receiver in college football under Leach’s supervision.

      It looks like a great fit for both parties involved. Leach will bring a high-powered offense and some attitude to a program that has hit rock bottom. The PAC-12 is competitive, but Leach comes from the equally competitive Big-12 where he battled the likes of Oklahoma. Leach probably won’t elevate Washington State above USC and Oregon, but he’ll likely make them competitive. He should also do well with recruiting given his history of coaching scoring machines.

      Leach also brings some baggage as well, so he’s a high risk/high reward candidate. The Adam James incident was ugly for Leach and for Texas Tech. For that reason, he didn’t get serious consideration from the biggest programs. For example, I couldn’t see Leach being considered for the open UCLA job. But Washington State is perfect. Given their recent history, what do they have to lose? At the same time, it’s a big enough program where Leach could do some serious damage and build a dangerous football team.

      College Football, External Sports, News

      Will the Jaguars stay in Jacksonville?

      November 30, 2011 /

      Mike Florio isn’t convinced. He makes a good point about Wayne Weaver’s credibility, as Weaver insisted repeatedly that the Jaguars were not for sale. There’s no provision requiring Shahid Khan to keep the team in Jacksonville as part of the sale, and while the lease extends to 2029, there may be ways to get around it. Given the amount of money at stake and the specter of Los Angeles looming out there as a possible destination, anything is possible at this point.

      As a Browns fan, I’m sympathetic to any situation where a community might lose a team. But Jacksonville just doesn’t support the team. Let’s see if the community can rally around the new owner and convince him to keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville.

      External Sports, NFL

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