by Stop Mike Lupica on September 4 at 11:17AM
Bare with me while I try to get back into the flow of things. Let's start with FIBA basketball:
-The USA beat Argentina to win the 2007 Americas title. Both teams automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympics, which will be a greater test to the US than this tournament was. Argentina dominated just as much as the US team, winning all their games against the rest of the competition. The Argentina team was no match for the US team, but keep in mind that they were short like 4-6 of their best players. But it is clear that the US will be the team to beat in 2008; the difference is Kobe, in my opinion. Melo and LeBron are also huge factors, especially Melo - he is a proven winner who can will his team into a victory in close games. But after watching some of the tournament, how can you not think Kobe is the best basketball player in the world out there?
On a sidenote, if the Lakers get off to a bad start this season, I kinda wish Kobe would get injured. Not seriously, but maybe he can fake something and take the season off. He's putting on a lot of mileage on his body - he's been in the league more than 10 years, and played some very long seasons along the way, and now he's once again adding in summer balling for the USA team. He should take a break, and send a message to the Lakers' management all at once.
He is some footage of Dwight Howard's nice dunk in the Finals against Argentina:
-The Mariners have tremendous defense, particularly up the middle in the infield. Yuniesky Betancourt made some gems yesterday at SS, and started some nice double-plays that Jose Lopez and Willie Bloomquist also had some stellar defense on. The value of defense in MLB is often overlooked because it isn't a part of most Fantasy leagues, or a stat that fans can argue about. I mean, most fans know the HRs numbers for most players, but how many know their fielding stats? Yet most fans do know a good defensive player when they see one everyday - ask any Yankees fan about Jeter (whose defense is unappreciated by non-Yankees fans, and often regarded as overrated). The point? Betancourt's strong play yesterday allowed the young ace Felix Hernandez to calm down and not have to pitch under pressure (or out of the stretch) in some key spots yesterday. You can't overlook the value of defense - giving away outs has killed the Yankees earlier this season; turning possible hits into extra outs helped the Mariners break their 9-game losing streak yesterday.
The Yankees still have superior hitting and pitching to the Mariners, but defense could be an equalizer in the race for the wild card. Let's hope the Yankees realize this and upgrade their outfield (Melky in center has been great) and 1B (unfortunately Andy Phillips is done for the year).
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-The USA beat Argentina to win the 2007 Americas title. Both teams automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympics, which will be a greater test to the US than this tournament was. Argentina dominated just as much as the US team, winning all their games against the rest of the competition. The Argentina team was no match for the US team, but keep in mind that they were short like 4-6 of their best players. But it is clear that the US will be the team to beat in 2008; the difference is Kobe, in my opinion. Melo and LeBron are also huge factors, especially Melo - he is a proven winner who can will his team into a victory in close games. But after watching some of the tournament, how can you not think Kobe is the best basketball player in the world out there?
On a sidenote, if the Lakers get off to a bad start this season, I kinda wish Kobe would get injured. Not seriously, but maybe he can fake something and take the season off. He's putting on a lot of mileage on his body - he's been in the league more than 10 years, and played some very long seasons along the way, and now he's once again adding in summer balling for the USA team. He should take a break, and send a message to the Lakers' management all at once.
He is some footage of Dwight Howard's nice dunk in the Finals against Argentina:
-One more quick FIBA note: Luis Scola caused us to invest heavily in the Rockets this season... Houston is currently 12-1 to win the NBA championships. That's a great price - $25 gets you $400. As the NBA season gets closer, we'll do a post on our bets - we do better with the NBA futures than we do with NFL futures.
-Some baseball notes: first off, Ian Kinsler is our hero. Once again he came through for our fantasy team (the Harlem squad, a throwback to our East Harlem days). We stood losing 6-5 to our opponent on Sunday night, with ties in the HR and Runs category. Guess who broke the tie in both categories with a homer? Kinsler. We end up winning 6-5, and making the World Series (guaranteeing us a highly profitable season no matter the result). Kinsler, you are appreciated. No chance in hell I'll name my kid "Ian" or "Kinsler", but I'll let make him rock the #5 in your honor (when he's not wearing #21 for Roberto Clemente), and let him know why.
-Roger Clemens was taken out of yesterday's loss to the Mariners with elbow inflammation problems. Interestingly enough, I thought he pitched yesterday pretty similar to how he pitched against the Red Sox last Wednesday. He was wild, falling behind in the count a lot - many 2-0 and 3-1 counts. The difference being that the Sox would try to work a walk out of it (Moneyballing), and the Mariners just creamed the ball when ahead. The Sox lineup without Manny are a sorry bunch. They don't swing the bat enough, and the evidence was that Roger Clemens and Chien-Ming Wang both pitched no-hit ball against the Sox despite not having their best stuff, and lacking control. In fact, it might be good to be a little wild against the Sox, since that seems to makes their lineup less aggressive.-The Mariners have tremendous defense, particularly up the middle in the infield. Yuniesky Betancourt made some gems yesterday at SS, and started some nice double-plays that Jose Lopez and Willie Bloomquist also had some stellar defense on. The value of defense in MLB is often overlooked because it isn't a part of most Fantasy leagues, or a stat that fans can argue about. I mean, most fans know the HRs numbers for most players, but how many know their fielding stats? Yet most fans do know a good defensive player when they see one everyday - ask any Yankees fan about Jeter (whose defense is unappreciated by non-Yankees fans, and often regarded as overrated). The point? Betancourt's strong play yesterday allowed the young ace Felix Hernandez to calm down and not have to pitch under pressure (or out of the stretch) in some key spots yesterday. You can't overlook the value of defense - giving away outs has killed the Yankees earlier this season; turning possible hits into extra outs helped the Mariners break their 9-game losing streak yesterday.
The Yankees still have superior hitting and pitching to the Mariners, but defense could be an equalizer in the race for the wild card. Let's hope the Yankees realize this and upgrade their outfield (Melky in center has been great) and 1B (unfortunately Andy Phillips is done for the year).
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