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MLB Sleepers: Who will be this year’s Giants, Rangers, Reds, Rays and Padres?

March 29, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Sleepers can come in a variety of forms. Not all of them win the World Series, or their division, or even make the postseason for that matter. But all sleepers do have one thing in common: They do something unexpected.

The five sleepers listed below all did something unexpected in 2010. Let’s recap.

Giants: The team that seemingly came out of nowhere to win the World Series on the strength of their young pitching and a bunch of hitters that got red-hot at the right time.

Rangers: The team that everyone knew had talent to reach the postseason but were still hesitant about predicting them to win the division.

Reds: The youngish team that everyone knew would eventually compete, but were surprised to see that “eventually” meant 2010.

Rays: The team that people knew had the talent to reach the postseason but still stuck them behind the Yankees and even Red Sox in the division.

Padres: The team that nobody thought would challenge for a postseason berth and would have been the surprise of the year had they not collapsed down the stretch run.

So who are this year’s Giants, Rangers, Padres, Reds and Rays? I’m glad you asked.

The 2011 Giants: Oakland A’s
The strength of Oakland’s club is its young pitching, led by four pitchers in Gio Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill and Dallas Braden, who are all 27 or younger. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Giants won the World Series last year with four pitchers (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner) who were all 27 or younger. The Giants also had an offense that would hardly keep opposing pitchers up at night but after GM Brian Sabean re-signed Juan Uribe and added guys like Cody Ross and Pat Burrell during the year, it was enough to be dangerous. Just like SF’s offense last year, Oakland’s bats aren’t going to scare anyone but after the offseason additions that Billy Beane made this offseason (Hideki Matsui, Josh Willingham and David DeJesus) they’re enough to be dangerous. And just like the Giants, if they can reach the postseason (where pitching matters most), the A’s might be able to do some damage.

External Sports, MLB

2011 MLB Season Preview Anthony Stalter mlb season preview mlb sleeper teams

What kind of point guard WAS he?

March 29, 2011 / John Paulsen

My post from a few days ago was relatively well-received at reddit, and one of the readers there said that he’d like to see the same graph for some of the all-time great point guards.

So with a little help from Basketball-Reference.com, I compiled a list of (all?) the Hall of Fame point guards: Oscar Robertson, Lenny Wilkens, Bob Cousy, Jerry West, John Stockton, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Dennis Johnson, Tiny Archibald, Calvin Murphy, Pete Maravich and Walt Frazier. Unfortunately, the NBA didn’t start keeping track of turnovers until the 1977-78 season, so there’s no assist-to-turnover data for the first four (Robertson, Wilkens, Cousy, West) and the data for Archibald, Murphy, Maravich and Frazier is incomplete, so I could only use their post-1977 numbers.

I also compiled a list of the top non-HOF point guards who are both retired and still active: Jason Kidd, Mark Jackson, Steve Nash, Gary Payton, Rod Strickland, Maurice Cheeks, Terry Porter, Tim Hardaway, Andre Miller, Muggsy Bogues, Kevin Johnson, Derek Harper, Stephon Marbury (yes, Stephon Marbury), John Lucas, Norm Nixon, Mookie Blaylock, Sam Cassell, Avery Johnson, Baron Davis, Nick Van Exel, Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups and Mike Bibby. All of these players have at least 5,400 career assists, which seemed to be the cutoff for players I was interested in using for this study.

Lastly, I added seven of the top current point guards who have yet to break the 5,400-assist barrier: Tony Parker, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Deron Williams and of course, Chris Paul.

I first tackled this subject two years ago, and settled on the shot-to-assist ratio to determine whether a player is “pass-first” or “shoot-first.” The higher the number, the more of a “shoot-first” player he is. To determine whether or not a player is “turnover-prone,” I calculated each player’s assist-to-turnover ratio. The higher the number, the better the player is at taking care of the ball, relative to what he’s asked to do as a playmaker for his team. The graph takes a gentle downward slope because assists are part of both calculations. (Note: While I do like FGA/A as the criteria for shoot-first/pass-first, I am not completely sold on A/TO as the criteria for turnover-prone. Perhaps (A+FGA)/TO would show shoot-first guards in a better light? Maybe I’ll try that next year.)

External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

Allen Iverson Andre Miller Avery Johnson Baron Davis Bob Cousy Calvin Murphy Chauncey Billups Chris Paul Dennis Johnson Derek Harper Deron Williams Derrick Rose Gary Payton Isiah Thomas Jason Kidd Jerry West John Lucas John Stockton Kevin Johnson Lenny Wilkens Magic Johnson Mark Jackson Maurice Cheeks Mike Bibby Mookie Blaylock Muggsy Bogues Nick Van Exel Norm Nixon Oscar Robertson pass-first point guards Pete Maravich Rajon Rondo Rod Strickland Russell Westbrook Sam Cassell shoot-first point guards statistical studies Stephon Marbury Steve Nash Terry Porter Tim Hardaway Tiny Archibald Tony Parker turnover-prone point guards Walt Frazier

Broncos to take Marcell Dareus?

March 29, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

The Denver Post is reporting that the Broncos are leaning towards Alabama DT Marcell Dareus with the No. 2 overall pick.

• The Broncos will draft a dominant defensive tackle — Marcell Dareus is the leader in the clubhouse — or trade the pick if they can get Patrick Peterson or Von Miller several picks later. Perhaps they can persuade the 49ers, at No. 7 (yes), the Titans (8), Washington’s Mike Shanahan (10th; he grabbed Jay Cutler at 11) or the Vikings (12) to trade up with additional draft choices for the Broncos’ pick.

With teams being unable to trade 2012, 2013 and 2014 picks, it’s going to be difficult for the Broncos to move down. They’ll either have to take less value than a team holding the No. 2 pick would, or stay put and take whichever player is on the top of their board. I would imagine that the latter is the more likely scenario.

In my latest mock draft (which I compiled earlier this month), I have the Broncos taking Dareus at No. 2:

No. 2 Denver Broncos: Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama
I had the Broncos taking Da’Quan Bowers with this pick in my second mock, but since then they’ve released Jamal Williams and, in a rather surprising move, Justin Bannan. Those moves open up a huge need at defensive tackle and Dareus’ stock continues to soar. The question is, will the Broncos look to trade this pick knowing that QB-needy teams draft behind them? They may lose the opportunity to take Dareus, but maybe they can trade back and still land Nick Fairley (a nice consolation prize).
Combine Comparisons: Marcus Thomas; Corvey Irvin; Red Bryant.

External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

2011 NFL Draft Denver Broncos marcell dareus marcell dareus draft rumors

Cruz, Faber to face off at UFC 132

March 29, 2011 / Staff

HeavyMMA.com writes that the biggest bantamweight fight in history is set for this summer as Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber will battle at UFC 132.

The long-awaited rematch between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber is now set for UFC 132.
UFC officials announced the bout on Saturday. UFC 132 takes place July 2 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
The Cruz/Faber bantamweight title bout will serve as the main event for the card, the first time former WEC lighter-weight stars will serve in that capacity for a UFC event.
Cruz and Faber first met at WEC 26, where Faber submitted Cruz in just over one minute. It was the only loss of Cruz’s career. Since that time, Cruz has gone on an eight-fight winning streak and captured the WEC (now UFC) bantamweight championship.
The rivalry between Cruz and Faber has blossomed since their first meeting, with the normally-affable Cruz saying that Cruz is one of the few people in the sport that he genuinely doesn’t like. The feeling is mutual for Cruz.
The two fighters were rumored to coach The Ultimate Fighter, but that’s not the case.