Category: News (Page 106 of 199)

      Bill Simmons’ idiot’s guide to Russian Mark Cuban

      May 26, 2010 /

      I missed this column over the weekend, but it’s a pretty good read for those interested in the Nets’ new owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. Here is Simmons’ prediction for Prokhorov’s first offseason:

      Still, allow me two making-a-splash predictions for this summer. The first: MRMC pounces on Phil Jackson with an absolutely unfathomable offer. How unfathomable? Five years, $85 million. Yeah. That’s what I mean. Prokhorov is already on record as saying that he wants an NBA coach. Why not overpay to get one of the greatest ever? How could the Lakers possibly come close to matching that commitment? And why would Jackson say no to finishing his career in the New York area for the most lucrative coaching deal ever, BY FAR? I say the Godfather offer gets made, and I say Jackson takes it.

      Second, instead of chewing up Jersey’s cap space with overpaid free agents, I bet Prokhorov trades for Andrei Kirilenko — his former CSKA star, as well as an expiring 2011 contract of $17.82 million — in a deal that won’t cost Jersey anything because Utah (struggling to find money for Carlos Boozer) could easily replace Kirilenko with its lottery pick (No. 8 overall) and a second trade. For the Nets, even if they just rented Kirilenko and picked Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors (the draft’s best power forward) at No. 3, that’s an intriguing short-term front line (Favors, Kirilenko and Brook Lopez) and they’d maintain flexibility for a run at Carmelo in 2011 and/or have Kirilenko’s expiring deal to shop this February. And it would go over big back home for Prokhorov. Win, win and win.

      That is a lot of money, but would Jackson agree to coach the Nets? I guess it would depend on how quickly they can turn the roster around. I’d say this is a long shot. But still, with Jerry Buss asking Jackson to take a pay cut, it would make a potentially huge raise pretty intriguing.

      The Nets missed out on the chance to draft John Wall, but they will have a shot at either Evan Turner or Derrick Favors at #3, or even DeMarcus Cousins if they decide that he’s not crazy enough to pass up. Cousins is more of a center, while I could easily see the developing Favors playing alongside Lopez. If Philly takes Favors #2, Turner would be a nice consolation prize, and he can play shooting guard if the Nets have their eye on Carmelo Anthony next summer.

      Regardless, the Nets are going to be an attracting landing spot for free agents over the next few years, especially when the move to Brooklyn finally happens. Players like to play for owners who are willing to spend to win, and there’s a great chance that the Nets will have one of the biggest payrolls within five years.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, Humor, NBA, News

      Jackson not willing to take big pay cut?

      May 26, 2010 /

      I wrote earlier today about Jackson’s willingness to field questions about his future in the middle of the Western Conference Finals, and now CBSSports is reporting that a person close to Jackson believes that the coach would be unwilling to take a major pay cut to stay with the Lakers.

      While Jackson reiterated his hunch Tuesday that there’s a 90 percent chance he’ll either be coaching the Lakers next season or retiring, a person with close ties to Jackson told CBSSports.com that it’s too early to set odds. If Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss insists on a massive pay cut, the person said, Jackson would not return. Published reports have indicated that Buss is seeking to pay Jackson $5 million next season, a pay cut of $7 million.

      The source close to Jackson indicated that the question of how much Jackson’s pay would be reduced is, to some degree, semantics. Given that he is close to retirement age, a significant portion of Jackson’s salary could be deferred in the form of retirement benefits that he would see without penalty in two years.

      Another person with knowledge of Jackson’s situation said it would be difficult to imagine him leaving the Lakers with Kobe Bryant in the prime of his career and having just signed a three-year extension. The person equated it to overtures that frequently came Jackson’s way when he coached Michael Jordan in Chicago, saying Jackson never would’ve left Jordan in his prime, either.

      But one of those sources said circumstances could change with the possibility of Jackson becoming bait to lure LeBron James to the Bulls, who have maximum salary-cap space to sign him and a quality roster that Jackson views favorably. The person said the Jackson/LeBron situation was plausible, considering Jackson would have the chance to complete a potentially irresistible trifecta – coaching Jordan and Bryant, and then capping his career with James.

      The bit about the “irresistible trifecta” is interesting. Jackson has been fortunate in that he has been in a position to coach some of the league’s greatest players, but if he were able to join forces with LeBron and win his 11th (or 12th) NBA title, it would certainly cap what has already been a remarkable career. Yes, he has been fortunate in the quality of player that he has coached, but it takes more than great players to win championships, and Jackson’s ability to manage massive egos and get 12 players pointed in the same direction is, for lack of a better word, uncanny.

      He’s not going to grind out 50+ wins with an inferior roster like Jerry Sloan does year in and year out, but if Jackson has the most talented roster, he’s a good bet to be the last coach standing at the end of the postseason.

      And that’s probably worth $12 million a season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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

      New York will host 2014 Super Bowl

      May 26, 2010 /

      Ian O’Connor spoke to Vince Lombardi’s son about the NFL’s decision to hold the 2014 Super Bowl at the Meadowlands…

      “My father and mother had real soft spots in their hearts for the New York metropolitan area; it was home to them,” said Vince Lombardi Jr., a 68-year-old motivational speaker whose son, Joe, is quarterbacks coach of the defending champion New Orleans Saints.

      “And my father would certainly say: ‘Hey, you play the game in all kinds of weather. You get up in the morning and play the game whether it’s 100 degrees or 13 below.'”

      For a fan base that is so tied up in tradition — just check out some of the debates we’ve had here about (gasp!) changing the overtime format — the Super Bowl has never been held outdoors in a cold-weather city.

      So why change now?

      Weather always seems to have a big impact on the conference playoffs, and that makes sense since teams battle and claw all season for home field advantage. Teams that are built for cold weather should have that advantage. But why bring that potential advantage to the Super Bowl, where the game is supposed to be played on a neutral field?

      One argument is that some of the most memorable games (i.e. The Ice Bowl) were played in horrible conditions. Sure, awful weather can make a game memorable, but do NFL fans really want to see two high powered teams like the Saints and the Colts play in a snowstorm? I don’t argue that it might be interesting, but the Super Bowl is already interesting.

      Others argue that rain is a possibility for outdoor venues in warm weather cities, but rain and snow/ice are two completely different animals. Teams often play well in light to medium rain, but it’s tough to execute offensively or defensively in freezing and sub-zero conditions.

      By the way, this is coming from a Packer fan whose team would no doubt have an advantage in a negative-windchill matchup with the Chargers. The advantage is the problem, no matter who gets it.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, News, NFL

      Phil Jackson not interested in coaching the Bulls

      May 26, 2010 /

      Before last night’s Game 4, Phil Jackson shot down the rumors about a possible return to Chicago.

      “I have no, at all, desire to go back to Chicago and coach the Bulls,” Jackson said, responding to an ESPN.com report from Monday night that the Bulls had reached out to Jackson through back channels to gauge his interest in a return.

      Jackson went on to say that the “probabilities are great” that he’d be coaching the Lakers next season, though the franchise has made it clear that they expect him to take a pay cut.

      The timing of this is curious. The Lakers are still in the playoffs, and Jackson is fielding questions about his 2010-11 salary and a possible job change. Sometimes he gets caught up in using the media to tweak his players or tweaking the media just for fun, but there’s a possibility that this is becoming a distraction to a Laker team that came to Phoenix looking invincible and is leaving the Valley of the Sun knotted in a 2-2 series and licking its proverbial wounds.

      With the media in a tizzy trying to predict the landing spot for LeBron James and several other big-name free agents, these questions are going to come up over and over again. Sometimes the best way to answer is just to say “no comment.”

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

      The curse of the Coach of the Year award

      May 25, 2010 /

      DIME MAGAZINE noticed something very odd with the last few NBA COY winners…

      2005–06: Avery Johnson, Dallas Mavericks, 60–22 (Fired April 30, 2008)
      2006–07: Sam Mitchell, Toronto Raptors, 47–35 (Fired December 3, 2008)
      2007–08: Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets, 56–26 (Fired November 12, 2009)
      2008–09: Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers, 66–16 (Fired May 24, 2010)
      2009–10: Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder, 50–32 (???)

      They were all fired within two years. The post goes on to speculate that the reason behind this trend is heightened expectations and I tend to agree. I’d go a step further, however. The award often goes to a coach who “got the most out of his team” (i.e. the team played “over their heads”). When this kind of outlier occurs, it’s far more likely that the team will return to the mean instead of continuing to develop into an NBA champion.

      In other words, all it takes is one bad/mediocre season and the guy is a bum again. And with 30 teams vying for a championship, a bad/mediocre season is far more likely than a great one.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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

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