Links To The Present: March 2, 2010
2010-03-02
“As a Brown expert after five years of covering him, I can tell you “gut feel” means he had a meeting with his coaches and probably talked with the front office and perhaps even bounced it off an advisor or two. Brown does very little by “gut feel,” despite what he says.“ [Brian Windhorst from last night’s Beat Blog]
“Is it worth it for New York? Is it worth it to lose every game since Jan. 26 to every team but Washington? To come to Cleveland and leave with Tracy McGrady saying the Cavs are “one helluva team” and “we’re a team trying to find ourselves.” Is it worth it?” [Pat McManamon of Fanhouse]
“74 first half points for the Cavs, and then they added to it by holding New York to 11 points in the third quarter. Cleveland led by 49, at one point. It was, even without a rooting interest, almost distressing to behold.“ [Kelly Dwyer]
“While the Magic have improved a healthy amount, they are closer to the top of these rankings mostly because the Cavs have slacked off on the defensive end.” [HoopData’s Four Factors]
LeBron’s changing numbers. Now other teams are really going to have to ‘watch their 6‘ when going in for a layup.
“This should also be an encouraging sign to fans of the Cavaliers. Were he planning on leaving, there would be no need to petition the league to wear a new number as he’d be wearing an entirely new jersey anyways.“ –Ball Don’t Lie
[From Chad Ford’s Sportsnation Chat] “I think we’ll know in July. If they keep LeBron (especially if he signs a long-term deal) the ranking goes up dramatically. If they don’t, it sinks. I think we hedged our bets in the middle. Love Mike Brown, but he’s not a Top 5 coach in the league. Other than the Jamison trade, what other trades has Ferry made that amounted to highway robbery? The owner is a good owner and he will spend. I just think it’s a bit more nuanced than you’re making it out to be.”
-I don’t know about “highway robbery” but getting Mo Williams for Damon Jones was a steal, getting Shaq for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic was a steal, and getting anybody to take Larry Hughes’ contract with 3 years left on it was a minor miracle.
Some good tweets last night:
“Heard on press row: Mike D’Antoni is the most overrated coach in sports – not in basketball – in sports.” [George Thomas]
“How much do you think Danny Ferry and Mike Brown just love drilling the Knicks this way?“ [Adrian Wojnarowksi]
Watch this video of Delonte’s jam on McGrady last night. So many good things going on in this video. What is AP doing at the beginning?
“As you can see, some things about Michael have never changed, and apparently, they never will.” [Free Darko] (Warning: Language)
I can’t understand moving to NY. Moving to LA or Miami I could understand. In NY, he’d get ZERO privacy, plus he’d pay 3 times as much to live there. Plus the weather is no better than here. LA I can understand because of the weather and the star culture out there. They know how to deal with celebrities. Miami is similar. One scary destination is Dallas, who while they don’t have cap room can be a destination because they can trade Dampier who has a waveable contract. Plus they could play half their games at the Cowboys’ stadium. Chicago… Read more »
On the MJ vs Tiger issue… I think part of it is of course the steriotypes of the associated sports and the fact that they played into them from early on. Tiger was always seen as the straight laced golfer though it was acknowledged (though often overlooked by his fans) that he had a good bit of a temper. But another factor I would imagine is the reaction of the wives. Tiger got into a car crash with a window busted out by his wife and he couldn’t and/or wouldn’t offer any explanation for being in the car dressed as… Read more »
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebronjordan030210&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Discuss that article.
Isaac, I think back when it happened I wrote a comment basically saying what you just said. It’s just another writer trying to get his name out there by riding on Lebron.
Yeah, in that story did LeBron even say anything to the kid? I can’t remember if he had some words with him or if he just turned around and walked away.
That piece on Lebron and the ass grabbing was kinda funny. I thought about it and what I decided was:
-The writer wanted us to dislike Lebron because he was acting like an arrogant superstar.
-I am a normal person
-If some random dude grabbed MY ass I’d probably freak a little and move the hell away pretty quickly.
-Lebron freaked a little and moved the hell away pretty quickly.
-Lebron acted like a normal person
-The whole story was kinda.. pointles..
Anyway. Thats what I took from it.
Yea see you just can’t buy into that stuff.
Still, why Jordan’s cheating habits never made front page news are a mystery. Even if it is stereotypical of an NBA player, it was Michael Jordan. The biggest name in sports for the longest time. But yet…nada.
The FreeDarko post is, indeed, a piece of fiction. I definitely believed it for a second, though. Still amazing.
Tiger gets killed because he plays golf. That’s the nature of the beast. Golfers are supposed to act like the Dead Poets’ Society. I think it’s safe to say there are several negative stereotypes about NBA players that Jordan played right into the hands of by womanizing. Tiger’s story was a bigger deal because of the relative context.
I take the Jordan story lightly, because it’s impossible to prove. If you remember, a guy for the Portlant paper wrote an extremely scathing piece on LeBron, ripping him to shreds for something he claimed he saw pre-game earlier this year when the cavs were in Portland. Basically, he claimed LeBron lit into a young kid who reached out and grabbed him and went way over the top with his reaction to the situation Impossible to ever know if it actually happened.. So, it’s hard to take what this guy writes about Jordan as word for word truth. That said,… Read more »
Chad Ford’s comment about Ferry displays the remarkable amount of ignorance I’d expect from an ESPN writer. From the big name trades for Shaq, Jamison, Mo, Delonte, etc. to the signings of key role players like AP, Moon, Powe, etc. to the re-signings of LBJ and AV to the draft picks of JJ and Boobie to the “re-acquisitions” of Joe Smith and hopefully Z … Ferry has done the kinds of things that would make him a media (ESPN?) darling if the Cavs played in NY or Boston.
I hope LeBron James doesn’t follow in Jordan’s footsteps. The 6 rings he can follow, but the other stuff is just bad for the soul.
Hearing Delonte say: “LeBron’s a better person than he is a basketball player.” is nice to know.
Just, wow, at the the pettiness of one Michael Jeffrey Jordan.
Meant to point out AP last night in the Delonte dunk. Out of everything going on in that vid, AP jumping for w/e reason might be the best part.