Via Dime Magazine, here's some great footage of Eddie Jones inbounding the ball to... no one?
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Here's a story about Female Russian tennis star who was tied up while her house was robbed (via The Big Lead, of course).
I wonder if anyone is going to write an article about how she must be tied to the Russian mob lifestyle, right? You know, because anytime something bad happens to a black athlete, it's because he's tied to that "thug" lifestyle, right?
Note: I just checked out D-Wil's site, and saw that he addressed this in this post. This is particularly on target:
Just like with the Iraq War and the latest G-8 conference, we should be hitting the streets in massive protest against this problem that is killing our people. But you never heard our “leaders” George Bush or Tony Blair when he was the prime mover of England running to Moscow, or running to the tony side of London or River Forest, Illinois getting the attention of CNN in protest of the real global killers ruining our streets.
You’ll never see them protesting the global white KKK. You won’t see our so-called leaders drawing attention to the baggy jean wearing, Gwen Stefani listening to, Volvo-driving thugs who would don ski masks and rob our athletes.
And I bet Chakvetadze will stop going to clubs in Monaco and Dubai and flaunting her wealth. If she doesn’t, which one of these irresponsible athletes like Roger Federer or James Blake or Harley-Davidson-riding Davis Love III is next? If they don’t pay attention and stop heading out with national Harley clubs for their nationwide drive, or hanging out at clubs around the Boston Commons or Harvard Square, or flying to play tennis tournaments in their private jets, they too will make themselves targets of the global white KKK.
And if we don’t wake up, after the GW KKK gets through with these athletes, they’ll terrorize us and our streets next.
I hate to be the first to say it, but if I don’t, no one will. Anna Chakvetadze brought this on herself; she had it coming
LOL, D-Wil's tongue is clearly in his cheek! Too bad most of the time you read something like this in the MSM, they don't do it tongue-in-cheek...
Speaking of targeted black athletes, here is David Aldridge's solid column on the topic.
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Along those lines, Mizzo from The Starting Five posts an interview he did with Ron Artest. It's a great read, and Ron Artest is certainly one of the more entertaining people in the NBA. And goodwilled... he talks extensively about his charity work, which we have chronicled here before. And Ron Artest speaks a bit about John Green, the real "thug" who started the brawl in Detroit that night, and whom we have written about before.
It's a great interview, so go check it out.
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Blogs around internet have some beef with Bill Simmons, with the release of his Annual Trade Value column. At the very least, it's good for discussion.
First up, our old friend MC Bias has a post on Simmons in general (as part of his Simmons week). That post was actually written by The Extrapolater, who does a great job of
breaking down how and why Bill Simmons is no longer as relevant a writer as he once
was. Or to be fair, he's still the same, but alot of readers (myself
included) have moved him from "must-read" to "once in a while check in"
status.
Speaking of MC Bias and Simmons, that reminds me: Random easy ways to increase traffic to your blog: "Kari L. Crichton Simmons is the Sport Gal's real name". I do not have photos or pictures of the Sports Gal. But thanks for coming to my site, please check it out and tell me what a loser I am.
Tom Ziller of SacTown Royalty has some problems with Kevin Martin not making the cut. I was going to comment on his site (but I lost my password) that I, too, thought Monta Ellis was a ridiculous choice to make the list. Mainly because, even on the Warriors, I just don't like his style. I don't see him being that successful, honestly. He's too out of control, and turns the ball over way too much (plus he makes bad decisions, though that is something that, hopefully, he can improve upon with age).
To put him on the list, ahead of several other players, is ridiculous. Especially when, as Ziller points out, he's going to get an extension this offseason anyway. Soon he'll be overpaid.
And the fact that Michael Redd makes the list is crazy. Michael Redd is overpaid, aging, and one-dimensional, like Martin, but without the steals and way older (four years older).
And, as Tom Ziller of AOL Fanhouse (damn, that guy gets around) points out that future contract extensions distort some of these players' trade values. Luol Deng now is a player everyone wants; Deng at $12 million a year one season from now is questionable (especially if his back problems linger); ditto Josh Smith, Andris Biedrins, and eventually David Lee (next season is his last "cheap" year). All can easily jump from "underpaid" to "overpaid" if they get a big contract.***********
Continuing the criticizing the MSM: Signal 2 Noise points out that SI missed a big moment in their Top-10 list(s) of Sports Moments of the Year.
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The Commission has a great old school post up today, featuring some Holiday-themed videos, including one 5-minute clip from a Star Wars Holiday special from the 70's that blows my mind with its general suckitude. Wow. Please check it out, near the bottom of that post.
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Alright, let's look at some Knicks links:
- Isiah: "Give me 2 weeks":
Most of the players privately were angered at Thomas' accusation, according to a person close to the team.
For weeks, Thomas seems to be longing to be fired to collect an estimated four-year, $24 million...
Jay Greenberg suggests that maybe Herb Williams can get through to the team:
Losers by 10 points or more for the 11th time in their 18
losses...
It won't fix the problem, because most of these veterans not
showing heart weren't showing it elsewhere when Thomas acquired them.
But at least some accountability would be demanded of players no longer
listening to a coach who refused to listen to them.
However, Filip Bondy of the News, one of the few fair and relatively unbiased local writers, wrote an article on Isiah, and whether he is correct in criticizing
this Knicks team's heart or not.
Everyone is trying to figure out what is wrong with the Knicks, and how to fix it. Here's a pretty comprehensive breakdown of how the Knicks fell apart this season, from who else, Cosellout:
Some key points: Modi points out that Thomas has not tinkered with the starting lineup enough. Very true, though he has used various starting PGs - Marbury, Fred Jones and Mardy Collins, started David Lee a bit when Curry and Randolph missed games, and used Jared Jeffries for a few games while Q-Rich was out. Still, he's made those changes out of necessity, and has not addressed the fundamental problems with the starting team.
Modi's other points are terrific... especially when he points out that when Balkman plays more than 15 minutes, the Knicks are 5-4.
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Other Knick links:
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This website has a post (found via Deadspin) on whether Zach Randolph is a franchise killer. It's typical Deadspin stuff... fluffy post devoid of hard statistical or observation analysis. The author suggest that the Knicks sucking, plus the Blazers improving, might equals "Randolph...might be... a player that makes other players worse". To be fair, he doesn't state it as fact, and is just throwing it out there for discussion.
Fair enough. Zach Randolph has been the best player on the Knicks this year, and the hardest working one. His presence does hurt Eddy Curry's growth; Curry is also well-liked, so maybe that's a factor in why the Knicks are struggling this year. Also, Curry's game makes for a more efficient offense; that is to say, because an offense that will toss it in to a posting Curry is going to get a good return on that offensive possession (except for those 3 turnovers a game that Curry will have) well over 65% of the time. Curry shoots 60% from the field, plus he also gets to the line alot, and his misses lead to more offensive rebounds than most players in the league (because he draws doubles, and the movement of defenders towards Curry creates "The David Lee Vacuum", allowing an aggressive Knick to pick up a reboard.
Now the offense revolves through Randolph, who has been functioning as a perimeter player.
Of course, the other problem with the Knicks is that is their only options. And Marbury isn't even a reliable scorer this season. Richardson has been worse... despite shooting mostly with open looks, he hasn't hit jack this season. Nate Robinson is in the doghouse, and the rest of the team is no offense kinda players (Lee, Balkman, Collins, Jeffries, even Fred Jones).
The post is interesting because it also points out that Brandon Roy called out Zach Randolph in a practice (Randolph is generally known for being a hard practicer who spends a lot of time in the gym), and may have pushed for him to get traded.
Our feelings on the matter? This 8 games winning streak or whatever got the Blazers to .500. That illustrates how poorly they were playing up until December. So which is more indicative of the Blazers' team: That they sucked so badly they needed an 8-game winning streak just to break even, or that they are good enough to win 8 in a row? I don't know. Put it another way: If the Knicks won 9 games in a row tomorrow to even up their records, would you think that they just got hot, or that they were really that good and the first months plus of the season was an anomaly (they were "gelling")?
That's why it's a little too early to say stuff like "the Blazers are better" or "the Knicks are worse"... it's only been 25 games.
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Finally... JD (James Dolan) and The Straight Shot's myspace page.
That's the page for Dolan's blues band. I kind of feel sorry for the douchebag... a lot of the comments (12 out of 14) are about "Firing Isiah" or "sell the team", and hardly about his band.
On the other hand, Dolan humbly writes:
"For a guy who spends 9 to 5 holding the reins of power
at two successful businesses, Jim Dolan knows how to kick out the
jams."
Not too much pity for the big-headed douchebag here.
I like that he's friends with a joke entry for "Isiah Thomas".
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Hey SML, thanks for chiming in on Simmons Week. It's my fault for running it so close to Christmas, ha; no one's reading that much now.