Warriors Tanking and That Wonderful Time of Year

The NBA playoffs are rapidly approaching and for most of the teams that means jockeying for the top eight in the conference.  Unfortunately, the Warriors are pursuing a different goal of getting into the bottom seven in the league in order to keep their first round draft pick.  As of now the Nets have a conditional first round pick that originally belonged to the Warriors.  If the Warriors end the season with one of the bottom seven win percentages in the league they get to keep their first round pick.  Now the Warriors would never openly admit that they are pursuing this, but they are taking all the necessary measures to make sure they have the best chance of losing.  They shut down David Lee, their leading scorer since the Monta trade, and are resting Steph Curry for the remainder of the season due to a recurring ankle injury.  The good news is that rookies Klay Thompson, Charles Jenkins, and Jeremy Tyler are gaining experience game by game and Klay has developed into a solid provider.  And so continues the common thought that means the conclusion of another Warrior season "There's always next year."

On a lighter note springtime means the beginning of a new baseball season.  In the off season the revamped Miami Marlins landed Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell, and Jose Reyes while Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder opted for a change of scenery.  So far the Rangers are looking like the early favorite given their pitching depth and explosive line-up.  The Tigers also sport an offensively charged line-up and have a 20-wins or more pitcher in Justin Verlander.  The Giants are looking solid again this year thanks to new additions Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan.  Posey is back to his usual self as is Sandoval and Matt Cain has already thrown a couple pitching gems in his first starts of the year.  The only major question marks are whether Tim Lincecum can regain former glory and who will step up in the absence of Brian Wilson.  Wilson recently underwent Tommy John surgery for an injured elbow which effectively ends his season. Sergio Romo certainly has the beard to replace Wilson, but it is yet to be seen if he has the closer mindset that is so crucial to a closer's success.  The A's have also come into this season with some life behind the efforts of Jemile Weeks and Yoenis Cespedes.  While I don't expect the A's to have much success this year it will be fun to see Cespedes grow as a player. He has shown glimpses of being a five tool player including the 462 foot home-run he launched on a cold night in Oakland.  There is still a long way to go in the season and there is nothing better than baseball in the spring so I'm excited to see how this season plays out.

Goodbye Monta, Welcome Bogut.

Well its official Monta Ellis is no longer a Warrior.  He departed Golden State a few days before the trade deadline with Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown to the Milwaukee Bucks for center Andrew Bogut and small forward Steven Jackson.  This was quite a hefty price for Andrew Bogut, but I feel they got a bargain for such a quality center in today's league.  The Warriors later swapped Steven Jackson for Richard Jefferson from the Spurs and took on a veteran three point specialist with a fairly large contract.  Although many were skeptical of this trade, mainly because of the Warriors history of trades, but also because Bogut is hurt for the rest of the season , I am simply excited for the change of scenery.  While Monta Ellis put up All-star potential numbers  he is an undersized shooting guard who provides little defense and doen't make the other players around him better.  Bogut on the other hand is an anchor inside defensively and will erase David Lee's deficit defensively.  Bogut provides a reliable scoring option and a dominant rebounder to the largely undersized Warriors.  This is the center they have been waiting for and it is a steal with such a center desparity in the league today.  Another reason I'm conident in trading Monta is the consistant production of Klay Thompson who seems to get better every game.  These new aquisitions have me excited for the Warriors potential next year if Steph Curry can stay healthy and Klay Thompson can continue to develop into a repectable shooting guard in today's NBA.

NFL Draft and NBA trade rumors

Although the NFL draft starts on April 26th the combine happened last week and everyone is abuzz about Robert Griffin III's 40-time.  For those who didn't hear RG III ran a time of 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash which is the third fastest time for a QB ever at the combine.  RG III is projected to be drafted second in the upcoming draft, but with the Rams believing Sam Bradford is their future QB this opens up many trade possibilities for the rebuilding Rams and if they play their cards right they could really speed up that rebuilding process.  Teams needing quarterbacks such as the Browns, Redskins, and Dolphins all have high draft picks and should be willing to give up some keys pieces for the highly sought after Robert Griffin III.  In my opinion the best deal for the Rams is to trade the rights to RG III to the Redskins for their 6th pick and maybe a key player from their defense such as Laron Landry if the Redskins are willing.  As the draft approaches we will see what the Rams decide to do with their many possibilities.  If they play this opportunity right they have a chance of turning their season around next year and challenging the 49ers for the division title.

Now in NBA news the trade deadline is a little more than a  week away and this is the time when the trade rumors are at an all-time high.   With the Magic considering trading Dwight Howard since the beginning of the season, the Celtics reportedly shopping Rondo around, and the Warriors contemplating the trade possibilities of Monta Ellis it should be an exciting week in the NBA.  I'm going to focus mainly on the Warriors situation because they are the most in need of a trade and I know the most about their situation.  With the Warriors in extreme need of a center I believe that trading Monta Ellis is inevitable the dilemma is that there is a disparity of quality centers in the league.  Due to this disparity the Warriors are going to have to give up one or two key pieces to get a good center.  Also, the question of whether Steph Curry's ankle injury is going to keep reoccurring over the rest of his career makes me worried about putting more pressure on him by losing his back-court teammate.  A factor that makes me encouraged about this trade is the development of Klay Thompson who seems to get better every game although I think some time is needed before he is ready to take over as a starter.  These factors have me excited about a trade happening and if the do get a good center it will help alleviate David Lee's weakness.  If this trade happens and Steph Curry stays healthy I'm excited about the Warrior's chances going into the rest of the season.

Around the NBA: "Linsanity" and other news from the First Half

This shortened NBA season has already produced many story lines the most recent of which is the "Linsanity" that is striking New York.  Jeremy Lin, the Palo Alto High School  phenom and Harvard graduate, has been on an incredible streak of late with three straight games of at least 20 points and 7  assists.  Lin got his opportunity due to Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudamires absences andthe fact that the sub-par Knicks have been searching for an answer.  Recently they have found that answer as Jeremy Lin has risen to the task and lead the Knicks to three straight wins against tough opponents.  The Warriors cut Lin this off-season in an attempt to free up cap room to make a move for a center.  Lin hardly made an impact for the Warriors last season playing in only 29 games and averaging only 3 points.  Lin has been called the Tebow of the NBA and is one of the top 10 social media topics in China.  New York's recent success seems to be due to "Linsanity", but I accredit it to the Melo Effect.  Melo is considered a star in the NBA due to his stats, but in my opinion he makes whatever team he plays for worse.  Take the Nuggets for example last year they traded Carmelo to the Knicks for a bunch of role players in what seemed like a lopsided deal.  However, the Nuggets are doing much better with what they have than the star-studded Knicks are this season.  Melo is a complete player, but he doesn't fit into many systems because he has to have the ball in his hands to be effective.  Now on to other news in the NBA.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been the surprise team of the year so far with a record of 18-8 through 26 games.  They don't have many big names on the team, but they play with such a cohesion that they make up for this lack of star power.  They have a deep bench and their starting five all average over ten points a game which makes it hard for teams to game plan against them.  The Bulls and Heat are also at the top of the Eastern conference as expected.  In the West, Oklahoma City has the best record followed closely by the Spurs and Clippers.  A lot can change during the course of a season, but I'm going to predict the Heat and Thunder will meet in the NBA finals with the Heat winning and Lebron finally getting his ring.  This shortened schedule and season favors youth and depth and the Heat and Thunder have the best chances to stay healthy and consistent given those factors.  The All-Star game is February 26 and marks the half-way point in the season.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and hoping for "Linsanity" to continue.

49ers Season Reflection and Warriors Update

On Sunday January 22 the 49ers adventurous season came to a devastating conclusion.  As many already know the 49ers lost in an overtime thriller the the New York Giants on a field goal set up by a costly Kyle Williams fumble.  Williams, who had also muffed a punt earlier in the game that set up a go-ahead touchdown, has since gotten endless criticism via twitter including multiple death-threats.  While its hard to argue that Williams' turnovers did not allow the Giants to win the game you can't help but feel sorry for the man.  Williams was the punt returner for that game due to a Ted Ginn knee injury and his team backed him up by saying they had complete confidence in his abilities as a punt returner and that if they had the choice they would trust him again with the game on the line.  This sentiment proves how much of a great coach Jim Harbaugh is and how his players respect him along with supporting their teammates.  There were stories earlier in the week about the Raven's Ed Reed calling out QB Joe Flacco for "looking shaky" in their playoff game against the Texans the week before.  This makes the 49ers team  unity even more impeccable because even with heavy  hearts from a loss caused mostly by Kyle Williams they stuck by their teammate and said they were looking forward to next year.  In fact I'm sad about the loss obviously, but I'm more sad that I have to wait almost a whole year just to watch this great 49er team make another playoff run.  Just think Harbaugh accomplished all that he did this season without training camp or a proper off season.  What a wonderful surprise this season turned out to be.

The Warriors are looking like their old selves this season and that is a statement that would make any Warrior fan cringe.  They are getting great production out of their stars and Mark Jackson has them playing some shred of defense which is new for them, but Biedrins is playing like last year and their big defensive stopper in the middle Kwame Brown recently tore his pectoral muscle effectively ending his season.  They are 6-11 so far putting them 3rd in their division, but one would hope this pattern will not remain because Steph Curry had been hampered by an ankle for much of that stretch.  This season has started out pretty hectic and even though the Warriors are looking no different from last year I'm just glad to have basketball back.

Welcome Back NBA

ITS OVER!!!  The NBA Lockout ended just in time to salvage a season which starts on Christmas day.  The lockout ended so abruptly that it seems the players and owners decided that having a season is more important than actually fixing the issues at hand.  I'm not complaining in fact I support the decision to remember the fans and give them something to cheer for.  The funny part is that since the league was so eager to end the lockout and salvage the season, some of the new rules set in place aren't clearly defined.  Take the new amnesty clause as an example.  This clause allows teams to choose one existing contract to eliminate so that it doesn't affect there salary cap or luxury tax.  The player is then bid upon by teams under the salary cap with the highest bidder getting the player.  If nobody bids on the player they can then go anywhere.  This is a timely rule which saves the owners from over paying underachieving players, but nobody has any clue how the bidding is supposed to work because the league is still working that out.  Also both sides basically agreed to put off the lockout until a later date because the players are required to give back very little of their BRI (Basketball Related Income).  Another huge fact is that both sides have the option to opted out of the contract after 6 years of the 10 year contract.  This foreshadows an even nastier lockout in the near future, but lets try not to dwell on that.

I am excited to see how the free agency situation ends up this year because we have already had many trade rumors and a vetoed trade.  This vetoed trade is something unprecedented in any other sport because it is rare that the league owns a team going into the off-season as the NBA owns the New Orleans Hornets.  Stern said he rejected the three team trade that would send Chris Paul to the Lakers because he wants younger players or draft picks for the Hornets so they are a more appealing team to potential buyers.  This is a baffling situation where the commissioner has the ability to dictate whether a trade is allowed to happen even when the trade fits the guidelines set in place.  In a league where players are pretty much allowed to dictate where they want to go this move is a step in the right direction in my eyes.  The new labor deal also did a good job of limiting this in the future by cutting down on teams ability to sign and trade.  There are three big free agents in this year's free agency pool:  Nene, Tyson Chandler, and Marc Gasol.  This may seem relatively unexciting, but with Chris Paul and Dwight Howard supposedly wanting out the trade possibilities are numerous for any team with a valuable trading chips.  I would like to see the Warriors go after a big free agent center with their newly freed up cap room (gained by the Biedrins amnesty) but they can also trade for one with their numerous trading chips.  With some fancy off-season maneuvering the Warriors can set themselves up nicely for the upcoming season.  Let the games begin.

Still Locked Out, Red Hot 49ers, and College Football Rant

With the NBA still locked out, the outlook isn't a positive one for the 2011-2012 season.  The negotiation attempts have reached a dead end of greed and finger pointing as the players are now trying to sue the owners by claiming that they were illegally locked out.  This is a sad day when the legal mumbo jumbo and reality of the world has invaded the very thing we turn to in attempt to avoid it.  While the NBA sorts out their mess of a lockout I have no choice but to turn to football at this time of year.

Luckily, the 49ers are looking the best they have in recent years moving to 8-1 with their great win over the Giants in week 10.  Alex Smith settled the debate over whether or not he is an elite quarterback in the NFL with his performance last Sunday by picking apart the Giants defense for 242 yard and one touchdown.  Although Eli Manning finished with better numbers (311 yards 2 TDs and 2 INts) Alex Smith proved to be the better quarterback by coming up with a number of clutch throws down the stretch.  Ultimately the driving force behind this victory was once again the defense.  They picked off Eli Manning twice and limited RB Brandon Jacobs to 55 yards.  Harbaugh seems to have found the winning formula as the 49ers have already passed their win total for last year.  The 49ers play the 3-6 Cardinals next week and the Ravens on Thanksgiving night.  This season looks to be full of excitement for the 49ers and I can't wait to see more.

One last note on how deeply flawed the college football system is.  As some of you may know fourth ranked Stanford lost to seventh ranked Oregon last Saturday and because of the absence of a college playoff system this was essentially a must-win if they wanted a shot at the Pac-12 championship.  The college is more worried about keeping the advertisers that support the bowl games and fund the leagues than providing an environment where the top ranked teams all have an equal shot at the national title.  Due to the college bowl system only two teams essentially have a shot at the national title.  No other sport allows only the best two teams to fight for the title and also allow teams to be determined better than each other without ever playing the other team.  At a certain point as a fan your not that thrilled if your team is competing in the frito bean-dip bowl and even if you win you're unsure of what the win means.  College basketball's March Madness system provides the best experience for the fan and allows every team in the tournament an equal shot at the title.  I know that playing a 64-team football tournament is next to impossible due to the violence of the sport, but I"m just asking that college football think of its fans and teams involved rather than selling out to big corporations.