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      Will Ryan Howard be worth the money?

      April 26, 2010 /

      Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports that the Phillies are close to signing slugger Ryan Howard to a new five-year, $125 million extension. Howard’s current salary is $19 million and he’s set to make $20 million in 2011 before he becomes a free agent in 2012.

      Howard has 16 RBI and three home runs in 18 games this year and showed his commitment to staying in shape by dropping weight in the offseason. He used the same trainer that Derek Jeter did before the shortstop went on to produce a career year in 2009 and the extra agility training has done wonders for Howard’s defense. (He’s not quite J.T. Snow at the one-bagger, but his defense has certainly improved.)

      As long as he stays committed to working out in the offseason, the Phillies won’t be burned by this deal. That said, it’s a little perplexing that they didn’t wait to sign him to the extension next year, seeing as how they already have him locked up for the next two seasons. Sluggers’ power numbers have a tendency to drop once they reach their mid 30s and thus, the Phillies could have waited to see how Howard (30) performs this season before committing to him long term.

      But again, with Howard’s new approach to offseason conditioning, this should be a deal that works out well for both sides. (Especially Howard, who will sign one of the few $100-plus million deals in baseball.)


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      Who is the best three-point shooter in the NBA?

      April 26, 2010 /

      After the season, I like to tackle questions like these. To me, a good three-point shooter has to shoot a high percentage and make a good number of threes per game, so I put a few requirements on the eligibility of players:

      1. They must have played in a minimum of 60 games during the season.
      2. They must make a minimum of 38% of their 3PT attempts.
      3. They must make a minimum of 1.0 threes per game.

      Here are the results:

      (As always, click on the graph for a larger version.)

      Most impressive shooter? It has to be the rookie Stephen Curry, who quickly adjusted to the longer distance in the NBA and finished with the fourth-highest percentage of eligible players. He was also in the top 10 in makes per game.

      Biggest surprise? Probably Jason Kidd. A career 35% shooter from deep, Kidd has been well over 40% since joining the Mavs. He’s hitting more of his threes because he’s able to play off of Dirk Nowitzki and can spot up instead of trying to hit threes off the dribble.

      Best big man shooter? Channing Frye, who hit 2.12 threes a game at a 44% clip.

      So who is the best shooter in the NBA? Well, it depends on your criteria. Accuracy and number of makes are important, but it’s even more impressive when the player in question is the first or second option on his team (like Aaron Brooks, Chauncey Billups, Paul Pierce, John Salmons, Steve Nash — or Jason Richardson — and Stephen Curry), and can still make a lot of threes at a high percentage when the defense is game-planning against him.

      You be the judge.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      The Packers would be a great fit for Thomas

      April 26, 2010 /

      It was only a matter of time before the Patriots gave outside linebacker Adalius Thomas the boot. He was already stealing money from them with his poor play before he became a distraction last season, thus leading to his release on Monday.

      One team’s trash is sometimes another team’s treasure, as the Packers could emerge as serious contenders for Thomas’ services. Even though GM Ted Thompson insists that the left outside linebacker position in Dom Capers’ 3-4 defense isn’t a dire need, it is.

      2009 seventh round pick Brad Jones saw a fair amount of playing time last year when Aaron Kampman went down with an injury. But while he was decent against the run, he’s not the pass-rusher that Clay Matthews is on the other side. And in Capers’ system, both outside linebackers have to be able to get after the quarterback.

      That’s where Thomas comes in. While the 33-year-old has lost a step over the past couple of years, Thomas can still get after the quarterback when he’s motivated. And seeing as how Thompson did nothing to upgrade the outside linebacker position during the draft, the Packers could use someone to push Jones for the starting job.

      The Packers could upgrade their LOLB spot by adding Thomas to a one-year deal and still groom Jones for the future if they wanted. If Thomas turns out to be a bust, then Jones has already shown that he’s a capable starter and the team could rid themselves of Thomas after the season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      Poll: Does a Cavs championship mean that LeBron will re-sign?

      April 26, 2010 /

      Every so often we examine the results of our weekly poll. Last week, we asked the following question, and 204 readers responded. Here are the results:

      (Click on the picture for a bigger version.)

      I’m a little surprised that almost a quarter answered that a Cavs championship would lead to LeBron’s departure because it seems counter-intuitive. If winning is the most important thing, and he just won a title with this roster, why would he bolt?

      I understand the argument that he would have just brought a title to Cleveland, so now he can leave, but this isn’t a prison sentence, is it? The idea is to win multiple championships, right? Why start over somewhere else?

      If the Cavs do win the title, I can only see LeBron leaving if he, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all agree to take a little less money to meet up in New York, and that scenario is a longshot at best.

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

      Are the Mavs done?

      April 26, 2010 /

      With their 92-89 loss in Game 4, the Dallas Mavericks find themselves down 3-1 and facing elimination. This is hardly what owner Mark Cuban expected after pulling (expensive) trades for Shawn Marion, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood in the past nine months and watching his new-look team win the #2 seed in the West. But the Spurs aren’t your ordinary #7-seed.

      If you would have told Cuban that his Mavs were going to hold Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to just 31 points on a combined 9-of-34 (26%) shooting in Game 4, I’m sure he would have felt pretty good about his team’s chances. But with George Hill’s 29 and Richard Jefferson’s 15, along with some old school San Antonio defense that held Dallas to under 42% from the field, the struggles of the Spurs’ Big Three didn’t matter much in the end.

      With two of the next three elimination games in Dallas, the Mavs do have a chance to pull out this series, but they’re in for some tough sledding. Vegas now puts the Mavs’ odds of advancing at around 4-1, which sounds about right.

      The question that Cuban doesn’t want to think about, at least not yet, is what does he do with this expensive lineup if it can’t even get past an aging Spurs team in the first round?

      Part of the problem is that, at least against the Spurs, the Mavs can’t play their five-best players at the same time. Assuming Rick Carlisle wants his most trustworthy shot-maker, Jason Terry, at the two (alongside Jason Kidd), then that pushes Butler back to his natural position (small forward). So unless he puts Dirk Nowitzki at center, there’s no room for Marion, who spent much of the fourth quarter riding the pine. It doesn’t make sense to pull Haywood when he was doing such a nice job on Duncan, and Carlisle wisely doesn’t want Nowitzki guarding Duncan for long stretches. Regardless, the Spurs are controlling the matchups and forcing one of the Mavs’ best defenders to the bench.

      If Dallas goes on to lose this series, we’ll be talking about what this playoff implosion means for a franchise that had a pretty good season. Cuban could elect to tweak the lineup around the edges, make a big change or two, or blow the entire thing up.

      But, for now, he is just hoping that his team can win Game 5 and make this a series again.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NBA, NBA Finals, Rumors & Gossip

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