Here’s some footage of Rondo covering LeBron on Sunday’s game in Boston.
I don’t know why the Heat didn’t just throw it to LeBron in the post over and over when Rondo was on him. He has no business covering LeBron on the block, but then again, LeBron doesn’t really like to post up. It’s a shame, really.
When Shaun Rogers wants to play, he’s a fine player. He’s versatile in that he can play in either the 4-3 or 3-4 and in the right situation, the 31-year-old would be a good fit as a stopgap for one or two years.
The problem with Rogers is that he’s lazy and someone will be willing to overpay for his services. So naturally Dan Snyder is interested.
Two days after the Browns released him, Rogers was already at Redskins Park meeting with team officials. It makes sense that Snyder and Co. would be intrigued by a player like Rogers, who has a questionable attitude and is unwilling to practice. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer notes, because of the Browns’ inability to get him on the practice field during the week (in addition to other injuries along the defensive line), coaches had to devise schemes that used as few lineman as possible because that’s how they practiced during the week.
Does this sound like a player that most teams would want to add? Again, if a team was able to sign him to a reasonable contract, then you could do worse than having Shaun Rogers in a defensive line rotation. A team like the Patriots could handle him because he’d shut up and play for the opportunity to win a ring (just like Corey Dillon did in ’04).
But when has Snyder ever signed a free agent to a reasonable contract? In case anyone needs a reminder, the Skins still employ Albert Haynesworth – the same Albert Haynesworth who stole $100 million and who has been a total malcontent since arriving in D.C. Why would Washington want to replace one headache with another?
Redskin fans will argue that Snyder doesn’t run the team anymore – Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan do. But Snyder clearly still sets the tone. A mere hours before the Skins got the beating of a lifetime by the Eagles on national television, the front office signed Donovan McNabb to a five-year extension worth $70 million. Are we to believe that Shanahan was at the forefront of that deal? The same Shanahan who benched McNabb for Rex Grossman late in the year? No? It was GM Bruce Allen? So the GM signed a quarterback to a new deal even though his head coach was unsure whether or not he could run his offense? That…doesn’t…sound…
I know, I know – if they cut McNabb then they only owe him $3.75 million. The bottom line is that the timing of it all reeked of Snyder. There are many problems with the Redskins owner but the biggest issue holding the team back is his unwillingness to rebuild. He says he’s allowing the football minds in his front office to run the show and yet the team is still making questionable decisions. The Packers and Steelers reached the Super Bowl because they’re two teams that draft incredibly well. When was the last time the Redskins had a great draft? Try never under Snyder. His belief is that if you throw enough money at free agents, eventually you’ll buy a Super Bowl. The NFL is a copycat league but instead of trying to copy the success that the Packers, Steelers and Patriots have had, Snyder refuses to do things the right way.
What the Skins need to do is shed their overpriced, past-their-prime talent and rebuild through the draft for the next three years. But they won’t because Snyder has no concept of long-term plans. Maybe things will be different now that Shanahan is in charge and I’ll eat crow in a couple of years. But even having interest in a player like Rogers is like adding a new verse to a very old, familiar tune when it comes to this team.
Now that the Eagles have assigned their franchise tag to Michael Vick, one would think that they could begin working on a long-term contract with the quarterback. And once they sign him to a long-term contract, they can trade backup Kevin Kolb for a draft pick or two.
Or none.
The Kolb situation is a sticky one in Philadelphia. Even if the Eagles work out a deal to keep Vick long-term, it might not be enough for coach Andy Reid to leave himself exposed at the most important position on the field. Vick’s playing style leaves him open for injury and if the Eagles didn’t have a decent backup to step in, they would likely suffer the consequences.
The other problem is that even if the Eagles wanted to move him, once the current CBA expires they won’t be able to trade for 2011 draft picks. Instead they would be acquiring picks for the 2012 draft and therefore, selections that wouldn’t be able to help them this year. Would the Eagles be willing to do that?
The saving grace for Kolb is that time is on his side. He becomes a free agent in 2012 and unless the Eagles plan to franchise him (which is highly doubtful – especially if they sign Vick to a long-term deal), he’ll be able to walk. His hope should be that Vick signs a contract extension and the Eagles find a suitable backup either via free agency or the draft. Then Reid and Co. would feel safe trading him away and acquiring draft picks that won’t make an impact until at least next season.
Either way, Kolb won’t be an Eagle in 2012. As for 2011, well that’s a different story.
According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, Donnie Walsh did indeed turn down the Nuggets’ latest trade offer involving Carmelo Anthony. Isola has a “team source close to the negotiations” that is probably with the Knicks given Isola’s job covering the team.
The Nuggets, according to a source, are asking for three starters – including Danilo Gallinari and Raymond Felton – plus Eddy Curry’s expiring contract and at least one first-round pick. In that proposed deal, Anthony and veteran point guard Chauncey Billups would be coming to the Knicks.
The third starter could be Landry Fields, Wilson Chandler or even Timofey Mozgov, though it should be noted that the trade only works as it stands with Mozgov included. More salary (Al Harrington?) would be needed from Denver’s end to balance things out if Chandler or Fields were included. One would think that the Nuggets would want to include Harrington in any deal, but I can’t imagine the Knicks are eager to take him back.
I suspect the Knicks would be most willing to give up Chandler and/or Gallinari, since Carmelo would be replacing a lot of their minutes on the wing. At this point, it would be tougher to part ways with Fields given his excellent all-around play this season as a rookie and cult status amongst the Knicks faithful. Felton is an interesting inclusion seeing that the Nuggets already have a point guard in Ty Lawson that is capable of becoming a good starter, but Felton probably has more long-term value than Billups at this point, so why not?
The saga continues.
…for dealing with adversity that he created. FanHouse has the mind-bending quote.
“I think it takes a strong-willed person, a strong-minded person, to deal with the stuff that I deal with and still go out there and go to work every day and perform on a nightly basis,” the Denver forward said about trade rumors that have swirled all season as the Feb. 24 trade deadline approaches. “I take my hat off to myself for dealing with all this stuff that’s going on and still be able to go out there and play at the high level that I can play at. I really don’t think an average person can walk in my shoes. I don’t think that.”
This guy…
If Carmelo didn’t want to deal with swirling trade rumors in February of 2011, then he should have signed the Nuggets’ three-year extension that has been on the table for the last six-plus months or demand that the team trade him before the season started back in October.
What a strong-minded individual he is, to perform well in the bad situation that he created.
His numbers are hovering around his career averages, which is admirable, but the Nuggets are just 31-25 (.554) after compiling a winning percentage of .638 over the last three years. According to the Nuggets’ performance over that span, they should have four or five more wins right now, especially since the roster has suffered no significant injuries and is getting a career season from Most Improved Player candidate Arron Afflalo.
So why the extra losses? Well, the trade clouds have been looming over Denver all season and it’s clearly taking its toll on the team. If the Nuggets were sitting with 35 or 36 wins and were in the #3 or #4 spot in the West, I could see Carmelo giving himself some credit. But considering he’s the source of all the drama in Denver this season, I don’t think it’s wise for him to break his arm patting himself on the back.
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