Jared Sullinger is staying another year at Ohio State, spurning a top 5 draft pick position in the NBA Draft. While the sentiment is admirable, and his dedication to the college team is a rarifying trait, there are reasons why turning pro is indeed the best move for him.
One only needs to look at the story of Chris Marcus to see fragile life can be.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3742592
Assuming there are no trades (and with a new CBA before the draft rather unlikely), the Carolina Panthers will make the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. There are several options without a clearcut 1 pick. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen failed to impress and the Panthers could go with Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton or Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert.
Both have their flaws.
Newton is extremely raw and has had no experience in a pro-style offence, especially with regards to footwork and making reads, both pre- and post snap.
Gabbert has also not shown any adeptness at reading the game, and his especially inaccurate long ball will not improve his chances of getting drafted by the Panthers, with Carolina likely to focus on a vertical passing attack.
If Carolina decide to give Clausen another year (and perhaps pin their hopes on Stanford superstar Andrew Luck) they could instead choose to go with one of the top non-QB prospects in the draft, such as WR A.J. Green, DTs Marcell Dareus or Nick Fairley or CB Patrick Peterson. However, with the importance of the QB position now realised, and with multiple teams in the top 20 looking for QBs (Cincinnati, Arizona, San Francisco, Tennessee, Washington, Minnesota and Miami), the Panthers may very well look to trade down, picking up extra 2nd or 3rd round draft picks and taking a dip from this very deep drafting pool, albeit one lacking true superstar talent.
Dan Gilbert promised that Lebron James would regret ever ‘betraying’ the city of Cleveland by taking his talents to South Beach.
For most of the season, his words were, by the diminishing few who even remembered them, laughed at. But on Tuesday night, the Cavaliers dealt the Heat a big blow in Miami’s ambitions at topping the East and securing home court advantage through to the conference finals.
The Heat fall to third in the East, placing them with a first round matchup against the defensively minded 76ers, who have all the pieces to pull an upset- a dynamic young point guard who will burn Bibby and Chalmers all series, post scoring in Elton Brand, and one of the league’s elite perimeter defenders, Iguodala.
Even worse, it means that in the conference semi-finals and finals, they will have to travel to TD Gardens and the United Center for potential game 7s.
The regular season isn’t over, but with the Celtics and the Bulls both holding the tie-breaker to determine playoff seedings, Dan Gilbert may have staved off Lebron James’ first championship, at least for this season.
Andrew Bynum’s seemingly figured it out.
This team is going to win regardless of if I get 15 points or if I get four points. That’s the kind of team we are,” Bynum said. “But this team won’t win if we don’t have defensive toughness on the inside. I just think that’s the biggest thing I can bring.”
Bynum has always been criticised for focusing too much on scoring, and not enough on defence and rebounding. But with a fully motivated Bynum protecting the paint, as he has been in the Lakers’ seven game winning streak, the Lakers look unstoppable.
Williams for Harris, Favors and a bunch of picks
WELL DONE NETS…as a franchise player I would far rather Deron Williams, one of the best 5 point guards in the league, than Carmelo Anthony.
Not sure what the Jazz are doing…letting one of the most respected coaches in Sloan go reputedly because of Williams’ influence, then trading him just a few weeks later. Harris is nothing special and neither is Favors…Can’t see the Jazz competing any time soon, and with them still owing a few picks from the Jefferson trade, and big salaries in Jefferson, AK47, Okur…Jazz are in trouble.
Nets aren’t doing anything in the near future…but I love Deron Williams. He is a competitor who plays hard on both ends of the floor…Really he has no weaknesses in his game unlike the other elite point guards.
After months of drama, Melo is finally heading to New York.
Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari and Timofey Mozgov go to the Nuggets, along with the Knicks’ 2014 first-round draft pick, the Warriors’ 2012 and 2013 second-round picks and $3 million in cash.
The Knicks received Melo, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman and reportedly Corey Brewer.
The Knicks will also send Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry to the Timberwolves.
Looking at the Knicks’ projected new roster:
Billups/Douglas/Carter
Fields/Azuibuike
Melo/Brewer
Amare/Balkman
Turiaf/Williams
Lacking a bit of bigman depth, but I would not be surprised if they signed center Earl Barron to a minimum in the next few days.
Finally, in a few years, if the Knicks can sign Deron Williams, Chris Paul or Dwight Howard, they may finally be a powerhouse in the NBA.
I’ll preface this post by stressing that I know absolutely nothing about baseball and the MLB. All I know that Pujols is one of the best players in the league and a three-time MVP winner.
However, I was reading in the papers that Pujols turned down an 8 year 200 million contract, with Pujols also set to be a part owner of the franchise when he retired. His contract demands are somewhere in the region of 10 year 300 million.
I’m quite frankly baffled. How greedy must these sports superstars be? Should these athletes, the best at what they do, really be paid such ridiculous amounts to play sport?
Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks seems almost a certainty. Whether they trade for him in a mid-season blockbuster, or wait to sign him in free agency is the only unresolved question.
The later would be fantastic. It would further raise the profile of the team, and add one of the most dangerous players to an already potent mix.
Trading for Melo however, would be a disaster.
Such a trade would involve players like Wilson Chandler or Danilo Gallinari- two young players with high potential. There is also some talk of swapping Raymond Felton for Chauncey Billups in such a trade. That swap would mean the Knicks are forced to contend- whereas with young players like Chandler, Gallinari, Douglas and Fields supplementing Felton, Melo and Amare, the Knicks will be able to build a platform to a far longer championship window.
Its not like getting Melo this season will mean the Knicks do any damage in the playoffs, a team with Melo and Amare as its main stars has glaring defensive deficiencies to address.
But with Melo apparently nixing trades to other teams and other teams consequently afraid to trade for Melo because his contract expires in the summer, the Knicks wasting precious resources to acquire Melo this season would be a rash and silly decision.
Ben Roethlisberger is one of the most overrated quarterbacks running around today.
There i said it.
He’s a very good quarterback. But I cringe everytime anyone puts him in the same echelon as your Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Phillip Rivers and soon to be Aaron Rodgers.
His reputation is based on his supposed clutchness and late-game heroics, especially the final 88 yard drive in Superbowl XLIII which led to a touchdown and a dramatic win.
But lets examine his latest game. He threw an intercept early which was returned for a touchdown. He threw another intercept which a few plays later was thrown for another touchdown. He threatened to mount another big comeback, but his last 3 passes on the last drive were errant. He ended 25/40 with 2 TDs and 2 INTs, with a passer rating of 77.4.
But a few more breakdowns show how badly Roethlisberger really fared.
Both his touchdown passes came with Green Bay’s superstar playmaker of the secondary, Charles Woodson out of the game with a collar injury. More damning, Mendenhall and co. easily outrushed the Packers running game to the tune of 126 to 50 rushing yards, averaging 5.5 yards/carry compared to just 3.8 for the Packers. Behind such a dominant running game and offensive line and with the Packers secondary wounded (also missing Sam Shields for parts of the game), Roethlisberger’s performance cannot be described as anything but distinctly average.
It leaves Roethlisberger with a career record of 3 TDs and 5 INTs in Superbowls. Not a record anyone would be proud of.
Its not often that there are so many doubters to a team that has won the last two championships and is currently cruising at 2nd in the West with a 34-15 record. However, General Manager MItavch Kupchak and part-owner and Laker legend Magic Johnson have both come out saying that the Lakers need a trade this season. Worrying signs indeed. With losses against Chicago, Miami, San Antonio, Dallas and Boston already (the teams that are most likely to contend this year), the LA Lakers certainly look far more vulnerable than they have in the past few years.
With only two key contributors younger than 30 (Shannon Brown-25, Andrew Bynum-23), the LA Lakers definitely need an injection of youth. But who holds trade value on the team?
Thoughts?
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