http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4789 Recent articles about Deron Williams en-us It's no coincidence that most of the MSM has turned into a hype machine for Team USA and that's because these upcoming Olympic Games are the most important we've ever known, in terms of basketball. The Americans had their creation and their domination, and their ultimate tragic fall at the hands of hubris. We've heard it all: "Foreign teams train for months!", "We didn't even send our best players!", "Larry Brown suxorz!", "Why didn't we send any shooters?", etc., etc. What's done is done, and while the USA should not have lost in 2004 (and 2006, really), they did. There's no rewriting that, no matter what happens in August. But what Team USA does have a shot at is responding...[continued] Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:33:24 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293809 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/293809 Who is going and who is staying? More importantly, what sort of fantasy impact will the decisions made during NBA Free Agency have on fantasy GM's? Screaming Sports' Serena Hays takes a look at several early moves and answers those very questions. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:08:38 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292490 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292490 Deron Williams possesses all of the factors that determine whether a guy has a long successful career as a point guard : height, passing ability and shooting touch. If a guy satisfies just two of the factors, he will have a long NBA career; if he has all three, then he will be great. I tried Googling the ESPN.com article that covered the success-determining variables for a point guard, but I couldn't find it. In addition to height, Deron's got muscle; he's got the slashing ability to supplement his passing ability; and he's got the explosion and defense to match his shooting touch. The way he runs the court reminds me of a young Jason Kidd : Deron is like a truck. If defenders don't have to worry about what poison from Deron's arsenal they have to choose, they have to worry about getting run over. That's absolute insanity - and the Utah Jazz did a wise job in getting the deal done. ( We have a nice video after the jump ) Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:50:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292320 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292320 A couple of weeks ago, Chris Paul re-signed with the Hornets. Now it's Deron Williams' turn. "According to league sources, Williams agreed to a three-year extension with a player option for the fourth year. The deal will pay Williams the maximum allowed by the NBA's collective bargaining agreement and the earliest he can become a free agent would be the summer of 2012..." (Read the rest after the jump.) Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:29:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292200 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/292200 Baron Davis led the Golden State Warriors to one playoff appearance in three seasons and he has been injury-prone for most of his career, so the Warriors understandably declined to offer him a long term contract extension--but they inexplicably are reportedly willing to pay more than $100 million to pry Gilbert Arenas away from the Washington Wizards. Fortunately for Golden State fans, the Warriors apparently will not have a chance to overpay Arenas because the Wizards and Arenas have reached a verbal agreement for $111 million over six years (contracts cannot be signed until July 9 when the precise amount of next season's salary cap is calculated). If that deal goes through it will be the sixth largest NBA contract signed since the implementation of the 1999 Collective Bargaining Agreement. While the L.A. Lakers--who signed Kobe Bryant for $136.4 million in 2004--and the San Antonio Spurs--who signed Tim Duncan for $122 million in 2003--are undoubtedly pleased with the return they have received on their sizable investments, the Indiana Pacers (Jermaine O'Neal, $126.6 million in 2003) and Sacramento Kings (Chris Webber, $122.7 million in 2001) surely have experienced serious buyers' remorse. It remains to be seen what the Orlando Magic will think of the $126 million investment they made in Rashard Lewis in 2007 but that seems to be an awfully steep price for a player who has made one All-Star appearance in 10 NBA seasons. Arenas missed 69 games due to injury last season, was a shell of his former self during the playoffs and missed the entire 2007 postseason due to injury. He has led the Wizards past the first round of the playoffs once in five seasons. The word "elite" is poorly defined in reference to NBA players and it is thrown around far too casually. Bottom line: if you are not on one of the three All-NBA Teams--or a player who deserved to be there but clearly got snubbed--then you are not an elite player. An All-Star is not an elite player; every year there are 24 All-Stars plus another 5-10 players who could just as easily have made the cut. An elite player must be no worse than one of the top five players at his position and one of the top 15 players in the NBA. Even when fully healthy, Davis and Arenas operate at the fringes of elite territory: Arenas made the All-NBA Second Team in 2007 and the All-NBA Third Team in 2005 and 2006, while Davis made the All-NBA Third Team in 2004. Of course, the most relevant issue is the likelihood that they will be elite players in the future. Let's compare Arenas and Davis to the truly elite NBA point guards. 1) Chris Paul is the gold standard for current NBA point guards. He scores, passes, rebounds and defends. His main weakness is that because he is only 6-0, 175 he can be posted up by bigger point guards and in certain situations he can be taken advantage of defensively when switching pick and roll plays. His shooting touch was a bit suspect prior to this season but Paul largely put those concerns to rest by putting up career high numbers in field goal percentage (.488), three point field goal percentage (.369) and free throw percentage (.851); however, in the playoffs he shot poorly from three point range (.238). Key 2007-08 numbers: 21.1 ppg, 11.6 apg (first in the NBA), 4.0 rpg, 2.7 spg (first in the NBA), .488 FG%, .369 3FG%, .851 FT% in the regular season; 24.1 ppg, 11.3 apg, 4.9 rpg, 2.3 spg, .502 FG%, .238 3FG%, .785 FT% in the playoffs while leading Hornets to the second round. Finished second in MVP voting, made the All-NBA First Team. 2) Steve Nash won the 2005 and 2006 MVPs. It should be obvious that he was not in fact the best all-around player in the NBA during those seasons but it is equally obvious that he was the best point guard in the league during that time and that is all that is relevant in this discussion. Nash finished second to Dirk Nowitzki in the 2007 MVP voting but was still the best point guard in the NBA. Last season, Paul ended Nash's three year reign as the assist champion and Paul also took the crown as the best point guard. Nash is the best pure shooter among NBA point guards and he is a tremendous passer, particularly in pick and roll situations. Nash is a poor one on one defender and his weakness in that area has really hurt Phoenix during the playoffs. Key 2007-08 numbers: 16.9 ppg, 11.1 apg (second in the NBA), 3.5 rpg, .7 spg, .504 FG%, .470 3FG% (second in the NBA), .906 FT% (fifth in the NBA) in the regular season; 16.2 ppg, 7.8 apg, 2.8 rpg, .4 spg, .457 FG%, .300 3FG%, .917 FT% in the playoffs during a 4-1 first round loss. Finished ninth in MVP voting, made the All-NBA Second Team. 3) Deron Williams will likely be battling with Paul for many years to earn recognition as the NBA's best point guard. The 6-3, 210 Williams is significantly bigger and more physically powerful than Paul but he is not as explosively quick and is a surprisingly poor rebounder considering his size and strength. I'd give Nash a slight edge over Williams in 2008 based on Nash's shooting prowess and his greater amount of experience but I expect Williams to be the superior player starting next season. Key 2007-08 numbers: 18.8 ppg, 10.5 apg (third in the NBA), 3.0 rpg, 1.1 spg, .507 FG%, .395 3FG%, .803 FT% in the regular season; 21.6 ppg, 10.0 apg, 3.6 rpg, .6 spg, .492 FG%, .500 3FG%, .773 FT% in the playoffs while leading the Jazz to the second round. Finished 12th in the MVP voting, made the All-NBA Second Team. 4) Tony Parker has yet to make the All-NBA Team even once but he is worthy of being considered an elite point guard in light of his 2007 Finals MVP performance and the fact that he has been a vital contributor to three championship teams as the starting point guard. Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili divide the scoring load pretty evenly and Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich limits their regular season minutes to preserve them for the playoffs, which means that none of the Spurs' "Big Three" put up huge regular season statistics. Parker is not as good of a pure shooter as Paul, Nash or Williams, nor is Parker quite as adept as those guys in terms of playmaking, but Parker's blazing quickness and ability to finish strongly at the rim make him very difficult to contain. Parker has wisely slashed his three point attempts from a career-high 243 in 2002-03 (his second season) to 36, 38 and 66 the past three seasons. Nash had better regular season numbers than Parker but Parker completely outplayed Nash in the Spurs' win over the Suns in the first round. Key 2007-08 numbers: 18.8 ppg, 6.0 apg, 3.2 rpg, .8 spg, .494 FG%, .258 3FG%, .715 FT% in the regular season; 22.4 ppg, 6.1 apg, 3.7 rpg, .9 spg, .497 FG%, .350 3FG%, .753 FT% while leading the Spurs to a 4-1 loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Paul, Nash and Williams were the only point guards on this year's three All-NBA Teams. The other guards (Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Manu Ginobili) are shooting guards, as is Denver's Allen Iverson, who received the most points (116) in the voting of any player who did not make the team. Chauncey Billups and Baron Davis received slight consideration, amassing 38 and 32 points respectively; Ginobili, the last guard on the All-NBA Third Team, received 123 points, while Williams--who had the lowest total of the three point guards who made the cut--had 228 points. Billups could perhaps be granted "elite emeritus" status based on his 2004 Finals MVP, his fifth place finish in the 2006 MVP voting and a pair of selections to the All-NBA Team (Second Team in 2006, Third Team in 2007), but he is a level below Paul, Nash, Williams and Parker now. In the 2007-08 regular season, Billups put up these numbers: 17.0 ppg, 6.8 apg, 2.7 rpg, 1.3 spg, .448 FG%, .401 3FG%, .918 FT%. His performance declined across the board in the playoffs.Davis had an excellent season, perhaps the best all-around campaign of his career when you consider both production and durability, but I would not take him over Paul, Nash, Williams or Parker. Davis averaged 21.8 ppg, 7.6 apg (sixth in the NBA), 4.7 rpg, 2.3 spg (third in the NBA), .426 FG%, .330 3FG% and .750 FT% in 2007-08. Davis settles for jumpers and three pointers far too frequently, a flaw that he shares with Arenas, who played in just 13 regular season games and four playoff games in 2007-08. At his best, Davis is an explosive talent who can physically dominate bigger players but his shot selection, subpar shooting ability and inconsistent defense render him a less reliable player than the truly elite point guards. Similarly, Arenas is a streak shooting talent who can be dazzling when he is hitting his shots but his shot selection is poor, his defense is worse than Davis' and he often seems to be more concerned about being the center of attention than winning games.Davis and Arenas are not better than Paul, Nash, Williams or Parker and thus it is very difficult to objectively justify awarding a maximum contract to either of them. I say "objectively" because there are many other considerations that come into play: marketing, ticket sales, the reaction of the fan base of their respective teams, etc. However, purely on the basis of their individual skill sets and their ability to lead a championship contending team, neither Arenas nor Davis are worthy of receiving maximum contracts. Arenas is being lauded now for "giving back" $16 million instead of insisting on receiving the absolute maximum deal from the Wizards--I put "giving back" in quotation marks because you cannot really give something back that you never had in the first place; Arenas said, "You see players take max deals and they financially bind their teams. I don't wanna be one of those players and three years down the road your team is strapped and can't do anything about it." That is a laudable sentiment but even at this supposedly "discounted" rate Arenas is still vastly overpaid and it is questionable how much the Wizards will be able to do with that $16 million, an amount that could do a lot of good in the real world but does not necessarily give the team that much ability to significantly upgrade the roster. I commend Arenas for making that gesture but I still maintain that with him as the featured--and highest paid--player the Wizards will not get past the second round of the playoffs.OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK The First Six "Governors" of Red Sox Nation Announced - The Biz of Baseball MLB TV Ratings Down. Networks Look Past All-Star Game - The Biz of Baseball XM Satellite Radio Has Complete Coverage of All-Star Gm - The Biz of Baseball MLB Names Jacqueline Parkes as CMO - The Biz of Baseball Linkin Park, MLB Properties Hook-up For 3rd Year - The Biz of Baseball Wrigley Field It Is: NHL Outdoor Classic in Chicago Jan. 1 - The Biz of Baseball Passing Gas? Rays, Hess to Give Away $5 Cards on July 18 - The Biz of Baseball All-Star Game Starters, Reserves, and Pitchers Announced - The Biz of Baseball Is the Ed Wade/Shawn Chacon Altercation a First? - The Biz of BaseballYou Really Like Me! Rays See Highest TV Ratings Ever - The Biz of Baseball Chicago's Wrigley Field to Host Next Outdoor Classic on New Years Day - The Biz of Hockey Jaromir Jagr First Major NHL Player to Crossover to Continental Hockey League - The Biz of Hockey Free Agent Signings - July 1, 2008 - The Biz of Hockey NHL Free Agent Listing As of July 1, 2008 - The Biz of Hockey Ducks owner Henry Samueli Suspended by NHL - The Biz of Hockey NHL 2K9, First Officially Licensed Game by NHL and NHLPA for Wii, Coming this Fall - The Biz of Hockey Dion Phaneuf Selected for Cover of EA Sports "NHL 09" - The Biz of Hockey Commissioner Roger Goodell to Be First American Sports League Exec to Visit Iraq - The Biz of FootballDan Patrick and Keith Olbermann to Reumite for NBC's "Football Night in America" - The Biz of FootballXM Satellite Radio Locks Up SEC. Adds Alabama, Auburn, Florida, and Vanderbilt - The Biz of Football Don Imus, "Pacman" Jones and Media Correctness - The Biz of Football 15,000 General Admission Tickets for London NFL Game Sell Out in 30 min. - The Biz of Football Papa Replaces Gumbel as NFL Network's Play-by-Play Announcer - The Biz of Football TNT Lands Full Slate of Sponsors For "Wide Open Coverage" Telecasts - Maury Brown's Biz of Sports David Friedman is a weekly contrinutor to the Business of Sports Network. To read more of his basketball articles, just take a 20 Second Timeout. His general sports commentary can be found at Best Ever Sports Talk, where "Rafael Nadal is Coming for That Number One Spot," "Torres' Tough Training Pays Off," "Brett Favre's Selfishness" and "Dara Torres Turns Back the Clock in Bid to Make Olympic Team for Fifth Time" are among the subjects that have been recently discussed. Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:12:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287949 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287949 Last Monday, USA Basketball announced the 12 man roster that will comprise the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team. Five of the 12 have participated in the Olympics previously (Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, LeBron James, Jason Kidd and Dwyane Wade); the only U.S. team that had more Olympic veterans was the 1996 squad--the so-called "Dream Team II" that welcomed back six players from the first Dream Team, the 1992 U.S. Olympic team that is the only group that truly deserved the "Dream Team" designation. Eight members of the 2008 team played in the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament, which Team USA won with a 10-0 record; here is a list of those eight players, along with some of their statistics from the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament. Carmelo Anthony (21.2 ppg, .613 FG%, .578 3Pt FG%, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 apg in nine games) LeBron James (18.1 ppg, .760 FG%, .622 3Pt FG%, 3.6 rpg, 4.7 apg in 10 games) Kobe Bryant (15.3 ppg, .548 FG%, .459 3Pt FG%, 2.0 rpg, 2.9 apg in 10 games) Michael Redd (14.4 ppg, .530 FG%, .453 3Pt FG%, 1.4 rpg, 1.5 apg in 10 games) Dwight Howard (10.0 ppg, .814 FG%, 5.3 rpg, 18 blocked shots in 10 games) Tayshaun Prince (7.3 ppg, .481 FG%, .357 3Pt FG%, 5.0 rpg, 2.1 apg in nine games) Deron Williams (4.7 ppg, .613 FG%, 5-10 3Pt FG, 1.0 rpg, 4.6 apg in 10 games) Jason Kidd (1.8 ppg, 6-10 FG, 5-8 3Pt FG, 3.3 rpg, 4.6 apg in 10 games) Amare Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups played in 2007 but withdrew their names from the selection process this time around. Tyson Chandler played the fewest minutes on the 2007 team and Mike Miller had the second lowest field goal percentage on the 2007 team. Those four players have been replaced by Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade. In addition to the Olympic and international experience listed above, the current roster has the 2008 NBA MVP (Bryant), four of the five members of the 2008 All-NBA First Team (Bryant, James, Howard and Paul) plus a 2008 All-NBA Second Team selection (Williams) and a 2008 All-NBA Third Team selection (Boozer). Since the debacles for Team USA in 2002, 2004 and 2006, USA Basketball has emphasized that it wants a three year commitment from players so that the team can develop cohesion and chemistry. That is why the fifth member of the 2008 All-NBA First Team, Kevin Garnett, is not on the roster. USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said of Garnett, "We never got any positive feedback of his interest. It was more about 'I've been there, I've done that and it's time for someone else to do it.' I had a number of conversations with his agent just to check the temperature of the water, and there was never any positive response. We would have loved to have had him...but obviously, it wasn't in the cards." The key additions to the 2007 team were Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd; they quickly emerged as team leaders because of their professionalism, work ethic and defensive intensity, three qualities that had been noticeably missing on recent editions of Team USA. U.S. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "Kobe is unbelievably committed to representing his country. Last summer playing for our team, the first time he saw his uniform, he got emotional...The first thing he did for us last summer, he was our best perimeter defender--and that's a role he wanted...I think we'll start out with the same thing because he knows he can play that way and expend the energy on defense because of the offensive talent of his teammates...We usually put him on the best perimeter player on the opposing team whether it be a point guard or a wing, and that's how we started the game. And that's how I want to start our practice sessions with that in mind." Bryant sacrificed some of his offensive game to concentrate on defense but still managed to finish third on the team in scoring and fourth in assists.In a December 5, 2007 post, I mentioned some things that Suns General Manager Steve Kerr told me that then-Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni--a Team USA assistant coach--had said about Bryant's role on Team USA:Prior to each game in last summer's FIBA Americas tournament, Bryant asked the coaching staff, "Who do you want me to take out?" In other words, Bryant wanted to know who was the toughest perimeter threat on each team so that he could study his tendencies on film and then completely neutralize him on the court. I said to Kerr, "That sounds like a sniper zeroing in on a target" and Kerr replied, "Yeah--and he was serious." Kerr went on to say that Bryant's "focus" and "bravado" added an essential missing element to the squad and elevated everyone else's play. Kerr noted that the previous Team USA squad had performed reasonably well other than the infamous loss to Greece but that it lacked a certain "swagger," as he termed it, and that Team USA did not have a "player who everyone feared." Kerr literally shook his head in wonderment as he described Bryant's impact on Team USA. Kidd's leadership came in a much subtler form; there is virtually no statistical evidence of it, other than the fact that he ranked second on the team in assists--but make no mistake that he played a very key role on the team. He has never lost a game while wearing a Team USA jersey and he made it clear that he does not intend on ending that streak now. The usual starting lineup of Bryant, Kidd, James, Anthony and Howard generally led the team to such big early leads that players like Redd, Stoudemire and Williams put up a lot of their numbers in de facto garbage time. Though casual fans probably assume that Chris Paul will be the starting point guard, I expect Coach Krzyzewski to use the same starting lineup during the Olympics that he employed during the FIBA Americas tournament; Kidd only ended up playing 15.9 mpg because Team USA won so many blowouts but I think that it is important to start the game with a group that has played together before in FIBA competition. This is not some All-Star exhibition in which Team USA can rotate who starts. Paul may end up playing more minutes than Kidd, particularly if Team USA builds big leads, but I would be surprised if Coach Krzyzewski changes his starting lineup. The main early criticism of the 2008 roster is the supposed lack of big men but I disagree with that assessment. Chandler hardly played at all in the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament and although Stoudemire rebounded well he was not much of a defensive presence (six blocked shots in 10 games). Boozer and Bosh should be more than able to replace them, so this team is deeper and more versatile up front than the 2007 squad. Furthermore, the most effective style of play for Team USA in FIBA events is to go small, play pressure defense, force turnovers and score in the open court. Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James can easily play power forward in such a lineup, so on this team they are essentially "bigs" also. As for the perimeter players, Billups and Miller were two of the least productive members of the 2007 team, so it is difficult to believe that there will be any drop off by replacing them with Paul and Wade. Thus, the 2008 team should be even better than the 2007 squad, though it is also true that the competition at the Olympics will be much tougher than the competition at the FIBA Americas tournament. Anthony will almost certainly be Team USA's leading scorer. He feeds off of the open court scoring opportunities provided by the pressure defense of Bryant, Kidd and James and he is also a tough cover in the half court for most FIBA forwards. If anything, Anthony plays even worse defense in FIBA competition than he does in the NBA but he is such an efficient scorer--and the other four starters defend so well--that his offensive output outweighs his defensive liabilities (which was not the case in the 2004 Olympics, when Bryant and Kidd were not on the team and James did not defend nearly as well as he does now). Some quotes from Anthony and Wade give an indication of why they failed to lead the 2004 and 2006 teams to gold medals. Anthony said that he joined the 2004 team expecting to have "some of the best workouts in the summertime with the best players in the world" and he assumed "the USA is supposed to win everything." Wade candidly admitted that being an Olympian had never been a dream of his, adding, "I didn't have a clue what I was getting into...Now, we respect the game so much. We respect the team basketball that they play internationally so much." You don't have to read too far between the lines to understand that in 2004 Anthony and Wade underestimated the competition that they faced and did not realize how much hard work and intensity would be necessary to win the gold medal. Now, they know better and the team has a much better leadership structure--with Bryant and Kidd on board no one will be taking any shortcuts in practice or at the defensive end of the court (well, Anthony probably will still take some shortcuts there but the team can survive that as long as he keeps shooting over .600 from the field). The prevailing myth about Team USA's failure to win gold medals in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 FIBA World Championship is that a lack of outside shooters proved to be fatal. However, as I demonstrated in a September 4, 2007 post titled The Real Story Behind Team USA's Losses in Previous FIBA Events, what really killed those teams was poor defense, particularly regarding the short three point shot (20'6" as opposed to 23'9" in the NBA) that FIBA teams love to launch. It is absolutely vital that Team USA shut down the three point shooters on opposing teams and that they do so without leaving the lane open to cutters; shooting well from the three point line would certainly be a nice bonus but perimeter defense will be the linchpin of Team USA's success. Good perimeter defense will fuel transition offense that will result in open three pointers and fast break dunks; the gaudy field goal percentage posted by Team USA in 2007 was largely the result of great defense leading to high percentage scoring opportunities in transition. OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK FInal AL All-Star Game Voting Update has Tight Races - The Biz of Baseball DC and Virginia Lotteries Team with Nationals For Scratch-It - The Biz of Baseball Aw, Tapioca! Kozy Shack the Official Pudding of the Mets - The Biz of Baseball MLB.com Releases 3-D Enhancements to Gameday - The Biz of Baseball Take in an Orioles Game, Win $50,000 or $100,000 - The Biz of Baseball SEE IT: Red Sox/AAA Ford Fusions to Run Sat. and Sun. at New Hampshire Motor Speedway - The Biz of Baseball Deadline Pushed Back to July 31st for Cubs/Wrigley Field Sale - The Biz of Baseball Dunkin?' Donuts Promo Features Joba Chamberlain and Jonathan Papelbon - The Biz of Baseball Ducks owner Henry Samueli Suspended by NHL - The Biz of Hockey NHL 2K9, First Officially Licensed Game by NHL and NHLPA for Wii, Coming this Fall - The Biz of Hockey Dion Phaneuf Selected for Cover of EA Sports "NHL 09" - The Biz of Hockey NBC Reports 6.8 Million Viewers for Game 6. Up 111% from 2006 - The Biz of Hockey 15,000 General Admission Tickets for London NFL Game Sell Out in 30 min. - The Biz of Football Papa Replaces Gumbel as NFL Network's Play-by-Play Announcer - The Biz of Football NFL Network May Partner Up With ESPN - The Biz of Football NFL Players Help Hometown Tornado Victims - The Biz of Football Recently Retired Strahan Joins Fox NFL Pregame Show - The Biz of Football Anheuser-Busch to Sponsor New Meadowlands Stadium - The Biz of Football TNT Lands Full Slate of Sponsors For "Wide Open Coverage" Telecasts - Maury Brown's Biz of Sports David Friedman is a weekly contributor to the Business of Sports Network. To read more of his basketball articles, just take a 20 Second Timeout. His general sports commentary can be found at Best Ever Sports Talk, where "Smokin' Joe Frazier Fires Off One Liners in Guest Appearance on Friday Night Fights," "Old School Video: Hagler Versus Hearns, The War," "Why Steroid Users Should be Banned for Life" and "Tiger's High Stakes Gamble Pays Off—For Now" are among the subjects that have been recently discussed. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:11:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287771 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/287771 Conley Jr. averaged 9.4 PPG, 4.8 APG, 0.8 SPG in 53 games in his rookie year, after injuries, highlighted by a mild chest strain, shortened his season. Here is my proposed trade between Memphis and Denver: www.rawsportsblog.com Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:00:40 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284988 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284988 Last Monday, USA Basketball announced the 12 man roster that will comprise the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team. Five of the 12 have participated in the Olympics previously (Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, LeBron James, Jason Kidd and Dwyane Wade); the only U.S. team that had more Olympic veterans was the 1996 squad--the so-called "Dream Team II" that welcomed back six players from the first Dream Team, the 1992 U.S. Olympic team that is the only group that truly deserved the "Dream Team" designation. Eight members of the 2008 team played in the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament, which Team USA won with a 10-0 record; here is a list of those eight players, along with some of their statistics from the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament. Carmelo Anthony (21.2 ppg, .613 FG%, .578 3Pt FG%, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 apg in nine games) LeBron James (18.1 ppg, .760 FG%, .622 3Pt FG%, 3.6 rpg, 4.7 apg in 10 games) Kobe Bryant (15.3 ppg, .548 FG%, .459 3Pt FG%, 2.0 rpg, 2.9 apg in 10 games) Michael Redd (14.4 ppg, .530 FG%, .453 3Pt FG%, 1.4 rpg, 1.5 apg in 10 games) Dwight Howard (10.0 ppg, .814 FG%, 5.3 rpg, 18 blocked shots in 10 games) Tayshaun Prince (7.3 ppg, .481 FG%, .357 3Pt FG%, 5.0 rpg, 2.1 apg in nine games) Deron Williams (4.7 ppg, .613 FG%, 5-10 3Pt FG, 1.0 rpg, 4.6 apg in 10 games) Jason Kidd (1.8 ppg, 6-10 FG, 5-8 3Pt FG, 3.3 rpg, 4.6 apg in 10 games) Amare Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups played in 2007 but withdrew their names from the selection process this time around. Tyson Chandler played the fewest minutes on the 2007 team and Mike Miller had the second lowest field goal percentage on the 2007 team. Those four players have been replaced by Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade. In addition to the Olympic and international experience listed above, the current roster has the 2008 NBA MVP (Bryant), four of the five members of the 2008 All-NBA First Team (Bryant, James, Howard and Paul) plus a 2008 All-NBA Second Team selection (Williams) and a 2008 All-NBA Third Team selection (Boozer). Since the debacles for Team USA in 2002, 2004 and 2006, USA Basketball has emphasized that it wants a three year commitment from players so that the team can develop cohesion and chemistry. That is why the fifth member of the 2008 All-NBA First Team, Kevin Garnett, is not on the roster. USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said of Garnett, "We never got any positive feedback of his interest. It was more about 'I've been there, I've done that and it's time for someone else to do it.' I had a number of conversations with his agent just to check the temperature of the water, and there was never any positive response. We would have loved to have had him...but obviously, it wasn't in the cards." The key additions to the 2007 team were Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd; they quickly emerged as team leaders because of their professionalism, work ethic and defensive intensity, three qualities that had been noticeably missing on recent editions of Team USA. U.S. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "Kobe is unbelievably committed to representing his country. Last summer playing for our team, the first time he saw his uniform, he got emotional...The first thing he did for us last summer, he was our best perimeter defender--and that's a role he wanted...I think we'll start out with the same thing because he knows he can play that way and expend the energy on defense because of the offensive talent of his teammates...We usually put him on the best perimeter player on the opposing team whether it be a point guard or a wing, and that's how we started the game. And that's how I want to start our practice sessions with that in mind." Bryant sacrificed some of his offensive game to concentrate on defense but still managed to finish third on the team in scoring and fourth in assists.In a December 5, 2007 post, I mentioned some things that Suns General Manager Steve Kerr told me that then-Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni--a Team USA assistant coach--had said about Bryant's role on Team USA:Prior to each game in last summer's FIBA Americas tournament, Bryant asked the coaching staff, "Who do you want me to take out?" In other words, Bryant wanted to know who was the toughest perimeter threat on each team so that he could study his tendencies on film and then completely neutralize him on the court. I said to Kerr, "That sounds like a sniper zeroing in on a target" and Kerr replied, "Yeah--and he was serious." Kerr went on to say that Bryant's "focus" and "bravado" added an essential missing element to the squad and elevated everyone else's play. Kerr noted that the previous Team USA squad had performed reasonably well other than the infamous loss to Greece but that it lacked a certain "swagger," as he termed it, and that Team USA did not have a "player who everyone feared." Kerr literally shook his head in wonderment as he described Bryant's impact on Team USA. Kidd's leadership came in a much subtler form; there is virtually no statistical evidence of it, other than the fact that he ranked second on the team in assists--but make no mistake that he played a very key role on the team. He has never lost a game while wearing a Team USA jersey and he made it clear that he does not intend on ending that streak now. The usual starting lineup of Bryant, Kidd, James, Anthony and Howard generally led the team to such big early leads that players like Redd, Stoudemire and Williams put up a lot of their numbers in de facto garbage time. Though casual fans probably assume that Chris Paul will be the starting point guard, I expect Coach Krzyzewski to use the same starting lineup during the Olympics that he employed during the FIBA Americas tournament; Kidd only ended up playing 15.9 mpg because Team USA won so many blowouts but I think that it is important to start the game with a group that has played together before in FIBA competition. This is not some All-Star exhibition in which Team USA can rotate who starts. Paul may end up playing more minutes than Kidd, particularly if Team USA builds big leads, but I would be surprised if Coach Krzyzewski changes his starting lineup. The main early criticism of the 2008 roster is the supposed lack of big men but I disagree with that assessment. Chandler hardly played at all in the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament and although Stoudemire rebounded well he was not much of a defensive presence (six blocked shots in 10 games). Boozer and Bosh should be more than able to replace them, so this team is deeper and more versatile up front than the 2007 squad. Furthermore, the most effective style of play for Team USA in FIBA events is to go small, play pressure defense, force turnovers and score in the open court. Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James can easily play power forward in such a lineup, so on this team they are essentially "bigs" also. As for the perimeter players, Billups and Miller were two of the least productive members of the 2007 team, so it is difficult to believe that there will be any drop off by replacing them with Paul and Wade. Thus, the 2008 team should be even better than the 2007 squad, though it is also true that the competition at the Olympics will be much tougher than the competition at the FIBA Americas tournament. Anthony will almost certainly be Team USA's leading scorer. He feeds off of the open court scoring opportunities provided by the pressure defense of Bryant, Kidd and James and he is also a tough cover in the half court for most FIBA forwards. If anything, Anthony plays even worse defense in FIBA competition than he does in the NBA but he is such an efficient scorer--and the other four starters defend so well--that his offensive output outweighs his defensive liabilities (which was not the case in the 2004 Olympics, when Bryant and Kidd were not on the team and James did not defend nearly as well as he does now). Some quotes from Anthony and Wade give an indication of why they failed to lead the 2004 and 2006 teams to gold medals. Anthony said that he joined the 2004 team expecting to have "some of the best workouts in the summertime with the best players in the world" and he assumed "the USA is supposed to win everything." Wade candidly admitted that being an Olympian had never been a dream of his, adding, "I didn't have a clue what I was getting into...Now, we respect the game so much. We respect the team basketball that they play internationally so much." You don't have to read too far between the lines to understand that in 2004 Anthony and Wade underestimated the competition that they faced and did not realize how much hard work and intensity would be necessary to win the gold medal. Now, they know better and the team has a much better leadership structure--with Bryant and Kidd on board no one will be taking any shortcuts in practice or at the defensive end of the court (well, Anthony probably will still take some shortcuts there but the team can survive that as long as he keeps shooting over .600 from the field). The prevailing myth about Team USA's failure to win gold medals in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 FIBA World Championship is that a lack of outside shooters proved to be fatal. However, as I demonstrated in a September 4, 2007 post titled The Real Story Behind Team USA's Losses in Previous FIBA Events, what really killed those teams was poor defense, particularly regarding the short three point shot (20'6" as opposed to 23'9" in the NBA) that FIBA teams love to launch. It is absolutely vital that Team USA shut down the three point shooters on opposing teams and that they do so without leaving the lane open to cutters; shooting well from the three point line would certainly be a nice bonus but perimeter defense will be the linchpin of Team USA's success. Good perimeter defense will fuel transition offense that will result in open three pointers and fast break dunks; the gaudy field goal percentage posted by Team USA in 2007 was largely the result of great defense leading to high percentage scoring opportunities in transition. OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK FInal AL All-Star Game Voting Update has Tight Races - The Biz of Baseball DC and Virginia Lotteries Team with Nationals For Scratch-It - The Biz of Baseball Aw, Tapioca! Kozy Shack the Official Pudding of the Mets - The Biz of Baseball MLB.com Releases 3-D Enhancements to Gameday - The Biz of Baseball Take in an Orioles Game, Win $50,000 or $100,000 - The Biz of Baseball SEE IT: Red Sox/AAA Ford Fusions to Run Sat. and Sun. at New Hampshire Motor Speedway - The Biz of Baseball Deadline Pushed Back to July 31st for Cubs/Wrigley Field Sale - The Biz of Baseball Dunkin?' 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Up 111% from 2006 - The Biz of Hockey 15,000 General Admission Tickets for London NFL Game Sell Out in 30 min. - The Biz of Football Papa Replaces Gumbel as NFL Network's Play-by-Play Announcer - The Biz of Football NFL Network May Partner Up With ESPN - The Biz of Football NFL Players Help Hometown Tornado Victims - The Biz of Football Recently Retired Strahan Joins Fox NFL Pregame Show - The Biz of Football Anheuser-Busch to Sponsor New Meadowlands Stadium - The Biz of Football TNT Lands Full Slate of Sponsors For "Wide Open Coverage" Telecasts - Maury Brown's Biz of Sports David Friedman is a weekly contributor to the Business of Sports Network. To read more of his basketball articles, just take a 20 Second Timeout. His general sports commentary can be found at Best Ever Sports Talk, where "Smokin' Joe Frazier Fires Off One Liners in Guest Appearance on Friday Night Fights," "Old School Video: Hagler Versus Hearns, The War," "Why Steroid Users Should be Banned for Life" and "Tiger's High Stakes Gamble Pays Off—For Now" are among the subjects that have been recently discussed. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:55:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284084 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284084 Staying on basketball for a little bit more, I wanted to take a look at the U.S. Olympic squad.  Before I get into it, let me just say that it's hard for me to handle my country losing at anything.  Maybe it's because I spent the first 9 years of my life in a real "Red White and Blue" part of Texas, and have grandfathers that fought on Destroyers in WWII, or maybe I'm just a sore loser.  Either the case, if there's one team I root for that I don't accept losing from, it's the United States Men's Basketball team. I know how talented the rest world has become at playing basketball, but this is a sport that is still dominated by Americans at the highest level (NBA).  Since 2000 the team has taken a step back mainly due to a lack of participation from most of the elite American ball players.  In 2004 we sent what I would've considered our 2nd and 3rd teams to the Olympic Games in Greece.  The team's starting line up consisted of Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, LeBron James, Carlos Boozer, and Tim Duncan.  Sounds like a good enough squad, but far from our nation's best.  The first team should've consisted of a 4 year younger Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, and a still dominate Shaq at center.  Now I understand that Garnett, Shaq, and Kidd already have Gold medals from past Olympics, but it's not like Manu Ginobili will miss a single international competition even though he's already won Olympic Gold. This year's team does have some of the same faces that failed miserably 4 years ago, but with good reason.  In the last 4 years LeBron has become a figurehead in the league, Carmelo has led the league in scoring, and although Dewayne Wade has struggled to stay healthy, he's still the most talented young 2-guard in the world.  I like Carlos Boozer, but he replaces a guy I like a lot more, Amare Stoudemire.  He'll be the only guy missing from what should be a once again dominate American squad.  Boozer and Stoudemire both were on the 2004 team, but Boozer has gotten older, smarter, and has been an All-NBA selection (2nd and 3rd team) in each year since '04.    Another guy who's grown a lot in the last 3 years is Dwight Howard.  The starter at center for the U.S. is young and has pride for his country that should keep him coming back for Gold until he retires.  We know what starters Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant will bring to the table, but it's going to be interesting to see these young guns who have truly come into their own play against elite international competition (Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Howard, Melo, and James). I believe one key to sure victory is Michael Redd; no country in this world will come close to defeating this team if he hits his 3's.  With the All-World skill that the 3 U.S. point guards (Kidd, Paul, Williams) have for driving into the paint and dishing out to an open shooter, Redd will get many chances every game to make big shots.  And if he hits a majority of them, the games will be over after the 3rd quarter.  Oh I guess I forgot to mention, not only do expect victory, but I expect domination.  I grew up on the Dream Team; destroying every country they faced 3 Olympics in a row (1992-2000).  I still think we're that talented, and will always be more talented, so I don't accept any country coming within 10 pts of this squad, or any other squad we put together from now on.  LeBron, Melo, Paul, Williams, Howard, Bosh, and Stoudemire seem to have a lot more pride for their country's basketball heritage than older players (i.e., Shaq, Garnett, McGrady).  Like me, the young men in the previous sentence grew up watching the first NBA players participate and dominate in '92, so hopefully they want what I want, to see this country return to that form. The only concern I have is with head coach Mike Krzyzewski's decision to not take Tyson Chandler to Beijing.  Chandler played very well last summer for team USA during Olympic qualifying, and without the help of one of the key's to his success, Chris Paul.  CP3 was left off last summer's roster by coach K, and Paul made it quite clear that he was irked by the decision.  But sure enough, after an MVP caliber season, we'll finally get to see the most talented young PG in Red White and Blue.  We already know that Kidd will start, and Paul will come off the bench, I just think he would be better off coming off that bench with a teammate.  Chandler is a good defender and rebounder, but becomes a scorer when Paul is on the court.  A 7'1" scoring threat sounds pretty good to me.  I think Deron Williams could have been left off to make room for Chandler.  Williams will be a good asset in China, but Chandler could've been a force.  The roster may look similar to the one Larry Brown put together 4 years ago, but things should run a lot smoother. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:20:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283189 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283189 With the conclusion of the NBA Finals this June and the 2008 Summer Olympics looming on the horizon, we here at WhatIfSports have had basketball on the brain. We weren't alone in this mindset, however, as internet bloggers over at BrewHoop.com also began to theorize about the great basketball queries of today- namely, who would win between the 2008 Men's Olympic Basketball Team and the 07-08 Boston Celtics Championship squad. This competition was made even more intriguing by our recent calculations which determined the 07-08 Celtics to be the 3rd greatest NBA Championship team of all time. (Article Available on Askmen.com next month.) Being devoted sportsfans ourselves, we decided to once again call on our super computer to create a real life solution for this fantasy problem, and the results were much like you would expect. Using 1,000 separate simulations of a seven-game "NBA Championship"-esque series, we determined the most common result to be a Team USA victory in five games. This outcome occurred 85% of the time, with an average 14 point margin of victory. Our game summaries also revealed that LeBron James (40%) and Kobe Bryant (35%) were the most frequent recipients of Player of the Game honors with superstars Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, and surprisingly Rajon Rondo also being mentioned many times. Click below to see projected boxscores, play-by-play descriptions, and stats for each game in the series. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:10:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283073 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283073 Over the past two or three days, the team for the USA Men's Basketball team had been discussed and reported. I am looking forward to how this team will work out together. They have until august to get ready. The fact that LeBron AND Kobe will be on the same team is ?????... I cant wait to see how they will mesh together as a team, knowing that both are the "star" players of their teams respectively... But i wonder if one will try to outshine the other. Watching the Olympics four yrs ago as a 14 yr old... and seeing how horrible the team played together, makes me excited and ready to watch for this new team to redeem this country's basketball talent. I kinda feel confident, knowing that compared to 2004's team... this team has more depth.. and the players are similar... and know each other.. In 2004, the team seemed to be as if the coach just jumbled and added players together... based on ability.. and not on chemistry they might have with each other to work together effectively.. I want to also see how Deron Williams and CP3 will handle playing together... seeing how these two are always compared and poked and researched on who is better... D Williams has a better jumps shot outside of the arc, while CP3 mostly goes to the paint and to the glass... and is excellent at finding his teammates. Will Melo be able to leave his immature ways behind and help his team win a gold medal?. Can Tayshaun be the same guy he was on the Pistons?? Will Jason Kidd play the same way he did with the Mavs? Hopefully not, but i think his experience with the USA Olympic Team will give him confidence. Will Kobe be able to redeem himself from the embarrassing performance in the Finals? Im looking forward to Dwyane Wade redeeming himself too, from that terrible, terrible 07-08 season he had. I just wonder if his injuries will affect his play in August?? The only problem would be how we only have a couple strong big men on the team. The team is mostly composed of PG's, SF's and PF's.. and a only ONE center which is Dwight Howard... will that hurt the team?? There are many things to look forward to and many questions to be asked about this team. Will these guys playing together as s team. Leave past rivalries behind? And leave individual plans aside? Until the first game is over, ill see what i think... Hopefully, the USA can be represented as a top competitor in basketball, and come home withe a Gold medal.. just like they did 8 yrs ago... Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:30:53 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281760 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281760    One year ago, the NBA's two flagship franchises appeared to be in total disarray. The Boston Celtics had just completed a demoralizing 24-58 season and their "reward" for posting the worst record in the Eastern Conference was the fifth pick in what was considered to be a two player draft. The L.A. Lakers earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 42-40 record and got destroyed 4-1 by the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs. Kobe Bryant had just won his second straight scoring title with a 31.6 ppg average and he poured in a playoff career-high 32.8 ppg versus the Suns but he did not look forward to wasting the prime years of his career going into battle with Kwame Brown and Smush Parker starting at the two most important positions, center and point guard. Bryant had always wanted to be a Laker for life but he also wanted to win championships, so he publicly blasted the team's management and demanded that they work as hard to put together a championship team as he worked at being the best player in the league. What a difference a year makes! The Celtics packaged the fifth overall pick with other considerations and acquired All-Star guard Ray Allen from a rebuilding Seattle team. Now that the Celtics had two All-Stars on the roster, Kevin Garnett agreed to be traded from Minnesota to Boston and the remade Celtics were suddenly a bona fide threat to win the East and contend for a championship. Meanwhile, young Andrew Bynum emerged as a legit double double threat and the Lakers raced to a 26-11 start. Bynum went down with what turned out to be a season ending knee injury but Bryant held the team together until the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol from Memphis in exchange for Brown and other considerations. The Lakers now had a legit second option, which meant that overmatched second option Lamar Odom could now become a solid third option. The Celtics finished with the best record in the NBA (66-16), while the Lakers had the best record in perhaps the most competitive Western Conference race ever (57-25). The top two seeds have generally not both made it to the Finals in recent seasons but the Celtics and Lakers each vanquished tough foes to advance to the championship round, where Boston earned the right to hoist a 17th championship banner, denying Phil Jackson his 10th coaching title and Bryant his fourth ring as a player and in the process completing the one blank space on the Hall of Fame resumes of Garnett, Allen and 2008 Finals MVP Paul Pierce. I correctly predicted the outcome of 12 of the 15 playoff series this year and I correctly predicted that the Celtics and Lakers would meet in the Finals; my three incorrect predictions were that the Lakers would beat the Celtics, the Suns would beat the Spurs and the Mavericks would beat the Hornets. Last year, I also went 12-3, including picking the correct Finals matchup and the eventual winner. In 2006, I went 10-5 but did not correctly pick either Finalist, while in 2005 I went 9-6, correctly picking both Finalists but picking the wrong champion. So, in four years of posting playoff predictions online I have a 43-17 record (.716) and I have correctly picked six out of eight Finalists, though I have only been right about one out of four champions. Here are some final thoughts and observations about each of the 16 playoff teams: 1) My default position about players and teams is skepticism and there were plenty of good reasons to be skeptical about the Celtics prior to the start of the season. None of their "Big Three" had been able to lead their teams to the playoffs in 2007, the Boston bench was of questionable quality (Danny Ainge shrewdly strengthened it later in the season) and neither Pierce nor Allen had previously been known as great defensive players. However, once I saw the Celtics play during the regular season I began to modify my opinion of their team because they played so hard and so well defensively night after night. After their 5-0 start, I was already convinced that they could win more than 60 games, a significant departure from my preseason expectations. A couple days later, I saw them in person for the first time, observed that Pierce was playing at an elite level offensively and concluded, "I am impressed by how hard they played throughout the game, particularly on defense...Call it tenacity, heart or will to win, the great teams have it and that is how they win even when they are not at their best. The Celtics provided a glimpse of this against Indiana and it will be interesting to see if they can replicate such efforts at playoff time against the very best teams." The Celtics proved to be the best team in the NBA from start to finish, answering all questions about chemistry, defense and depth. The only question now is whether or not they can duplicate this high level of play next season. It is unlikely that they will win 66 regular season games, because that requires not only skill and tenacity but also good health, something that is hard to maintain two years in a row; the real issue is what level will the Celtics be playing at by the time next year's playoffs roll around. Are the "Big Three" satisfied with winning one title or will they pursue a repeat title with the same hunger that fueled their chase for the 2008 championship? My initial thought is, as usual, that I am skeptical; it is difficult to repeat, though the teams that have done so in the past 15 years were tough minded squads led by multiple All-Stars, a description that certainly fits the Celtics. 2) The blowout loss in game six of the Finals was without question a bitter pill for the Lakers to swallow but it should not lead to rash judgments or actions. The Lakers still have the same strengths that enabled them to not only post the best record in the West but also defeat three 50-plus win teams in the playoffs: they have a Hall of Fame coach, the best all-around player in the NBA and a high powered offense. The Finals highlighted the weaknesses that they overcame to have such a great season: a lack of toughness that manifests itself defensively and on the boards and the lack of a legit, top flight small forward who can make a significant offensive contribution and/or lock down the opposing team's high scoring small forward. If Andrew Bynum returns to health and is productive then he can start at center and Pau Gasol can shift to power forward. In that scenario, the ideal move for the Lakers would be to trade Lamar Odom for a quality small forward. Odom is not an ideal small forward, so a frontline of Bynum-Gasol-Odom is not feasible, despite what some people may try to convince you; the only way that those three players can effectively coexist is if one of them comes off of the bench. Gasol is the second best player on the team, so he is not going to be a reserve. Bynum is the best postup player, so it does not make sense to sit him either. 3) As long as the San Antonio Spurs have Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich they are going to be a formidable team. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are perfect complements to Duncan and the Spurs do an excellent job of finding veteran players who fit in perfectly to their system. Barring injuries or a marked decline by Duncan, the Spurs should be right back in the mix as a contender. 4) Joe Dumars finally figured out that Flip Saunders was never going to lead the Pistons back to the Finals, let alone win a championship. The question now is whether the team's championship-contending window is still open with the current nucleus of players or if Dumars is going to overhaul the roster. Until I see what happens on that front it is impossible to predict how good the Pistons will be in 2009. 5) The Utah Jazz have a dynamic young duo in Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, plus a talented supporting cast that includes two former All-Stars, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko. They certainly have to be considered a Western Conference contender. If not for Kobe Bryant's heroics against them in the Western Conference semifinals (33.2 ppg, 7.2 apg, 7.0 rpg, .491 field goal shooting) they could very well have made it to the Finals for the first time since the Stockton-Malone era. 6) The Cleveland Cavaliers remain one of the most misunderstood and underrated teams in the league. All season long I heard "experts" talking about how the Cavs would not even make the playoffs, a ludicrous idea that I consistently rejected. The Cavaliers' formula for success is the brilliance of LeBron James, defense and rebounding. Everyone except Skip Bayless realizes that LeBron James is a great player but few people appreciate or respect the way that Coach Mike Brown has turned the Cavs into San Antonio East in terms of defense and rebounding. What happened to the Cavs in the playoffs is that they ran into a Boston team that matched their commitment defensively and on the glass and had three All-Stars to match James' offensive production. The Cavs need one more player who can create his own shot and/or create shots for other players but even if they don't add that player they still will be a serious Eastern Conference contender next year. Injuries or personnel moves around the league could change this but right now they are the biggest threat to knock off the Celtics in the East. 7) Chris Paul emerged as the best point guard in the NBA, David West is probably still underrated even though he made the All-Star team and New Orleans looks like a legit Western Conference contender. The playoff experience that the Hornets gained this year should serve them well in the future. The Hornets' defense is underrated and that defense--combined with the brilliance of the Paul-West duo--could very well carry them to the Western Conference Finals in 2009. 8) Dwight Howard is already the dominant low post force in the NBA and the scary thing is that he is still improving. I question whether Jameer Nelson is a championship level point guard and I think that the Magic need to still improve their overall talent base but Orlando is a team on the rise. 9) I've been saying for a couple years that the Raptors are the Phoenix Suns East: that means that they can win a lot of regular season games and be a tough playoff matchup but unless they become more stout defensively and on the glass they will not beat Boston, Cleveland, Detroit or Orlando in a seven game series. 10) The Philadelphia 76ers were one of the real surprise teams of the season--as opposed to a team like the Cavs that only surprised people who were foolish enough to not understand how good they are. No one expected the 76ers to be a playoff team. Whenever a young team comes out of the woodwork like that there is always a question of whether they were one year wonders or if this was the first step toward bigger and better things. I think that the Sixers took the first step toward bigger and better things but they won't be a serious contender unless they upgrade their roster a little bit and become a better half court team. 11) The Phoenix Suns were never going to win a championship with their previous nucleus, so I still think that trading for Shaquille O'Neal was a worthwhile risk to take, even though they still failed to beat the Spurs. New Coach Terry Porter will surely try to instill more of a defensive mindset in this team but if the Suns' championship window has not close the opening is very, very small: young teams have emerged in L.A., New Orleans and Utah and the Suns have yet to prove that they can beat their old nemesis San Antonio, let alone deal with the new kids on the block. 12) Point blank, it seems like the Mavericks have never recovered from blowing a 2 3/4 games to 0 lead over the Miami Heat in the 2006 Finals; one more good quarter and they might have swept Diesel and Flash but it's been all downhill for the Mavs since Gary Payton hit one of his few playoff field goals in 2006. The Mavs still have a very good team but it just seems like the rest of the top West teams are better than they are now. 13) Houston put together an amazing winning streak but everyone understood that the Rockets could not go far in the West playoffs without Yao Ming. If Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming can both stay healthy for a full season, this would be a very formidable team. Rick Adelman has proven that he can take teams deep into the playoffs, though he has yet to win a title. 14) The Atlanta Hawks almost rewrote the entire script of the 2008 playoffs, pushing the Celtics to seven games in the first round. The future looks bright but keep in mind that Golden State knocked off the defending conference champion one year and did not even make the playoffs (albeit in a very tough conference) the next season. As with the Sixers, there is the question of whether the Hawks are a team on the rise or a one year wonder. 15) The Denver Nuggets are the NBA's mystery team: they have a former MVP who is still playing at a high level (Allen Iverson), one of the premier scorers in the league (Carmelo Anthony), a former Defensive Player of the Year (Marcus Camby), a top sixth man (J.R. Smith)--and yet they simply cannot get out of the first round of the playoffs. Despite all of the talent on their roster, they have problems at both ends of the court: their defense is terrible and their offensive execution is wildly inconsistent, with Iverson and Anthony taking turns running the show while the other players pick up the table scraps that are left over. It is either entertaining or sickening to realize that ESPN pays "expert" Stephen A. Smith a lot of money for "insights" such as saying prior to the 2008 season that the Cavs won't make the playoffs and the Nuggets would win the West. Hey, I don't get everything right but I don't miss the mark that wildly either. 16) The Washington Wizards will never make it further than the second round of the playoffs as long as Gilbert Arenas is their primary offensive option. Period. I don't care how certain people crunch various numbers to "prove" his value and I don't care that the Wizards were once in first place in the East for a minute and a half almost two years ago when Arenas had some high scoring games. Arenas is a player who is primarily focused on scoring points and on settling old scores (being a second round pick, being left off of Team USA, etc.). It seems highly unlikely that he will ever change his mindset and that makes him ill equipped to lead a legit contender. OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK Portable, Battery-Driven CT Scanner for Bats to Be Unveiled - The Biz of Baseball MLB Launches "Welcome Back Veterans" Initiative - The Biz of Baseball Sunday MLB on TBS: Comments from Red Sox/Cards Game - The Biz of Baseball Matt Sosnick Talks Being a Player Agent - The Biz of Baseball New Bidders in the Mix for Cubs. One Would Offer Shares - The Biz of Baseball Anheuser-Busch to Sponsor New Meadowlands Stadium - The Biz of Football Big Ten Network Nearing First Major Cable Deal with Comcast - The Biz of Football Cowboys Stadium Site Allows Fans to View Their Seat Before They Buy Tickets - The Biz of Football Former NFL Steroids Dealer Found Shot to Death - The Biz of Football Cowboys, Bank of America Extend Sponsorship Deal - The Biz of Football NHL 2K9, First Officially Licensed Game by NHL and NHLPA for Wii, Coming this Fall - The Biz of Hockey Dion Phaneuf Selected for Cover of EA Sports "NHL 09" - The Biz of Hockey NBC Reports 6.8 Million Viewers for Game 6. Up 111% from 2006 - The Biz of HockeyNASCAR on TNT Live: Comments and Interviews from the Toyota/Save Mart 350 from Infineon Raceway in Sonoma - Maury Brown's Biz of SportsDavid Friedman is a weekly contributor to the Business of Sports Network. To read more of his basketball articles, just take a 20 Second Timeout. His general sports commentary can be found at Best Ever Sports Talk, where "Tiger's High Stakes Gamble Pays Off—For Now," "Tiger Woods Marches—and Limps—Toward Golf Immortality," "Sports are Part of What Makes Us Uniquely Human" and "'The Kid' is 'The Man': Griffey Blasts His 600th Home Run—Naturally" are among the subjects that have been recently discussed. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:50:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281654 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281654 Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets Deron Williams, Utah Jazz Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers Lebron James, Cleveland Cavaliers Michael Redd, Milwaukee Bucks Tayshaun Prince, Detroit Pistons I listed them in alphabetical order by first name, so let's start with Carlos the Jackal. Boozer was not part of the team in 2006, but did take part in the 2004 Olympic disaster. Four years ago, Boozer was a spry 22 year old, and actually bounced back from the Olympics by playing 34 minutes for the second straight year and increasing his scoring by more than 2 points. But - oh wait! - that was the year he left the Cavaliers and LeBron James for the Alaskan Wilderness Look-A-Like that is Utah. Boozer did play a career high tying 81 games last season, and had a career high number of points per game. He doesn't rely on quickness like fellow Olympians Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe Bryant, so his game shouldn't suffer too much from playing a few extra games over the summer. And it's not like the Jazz have any choice but to keep feeding him the ball in the post. It's not like they have LeBron James or anything. Carmelo Anthony has rolled with the men's national teams through two world-level competitions and both times, his numbers have dropped in the follow year. After the Olympics in 2004, Melo played 2 less minutes per game and his numbers dipped slightly. After the Worlds in '06, though, Melo played an additional minute and a half per game, increasing his scoring by almost 2.5 points, while grabbing an extra rebound+, and also getting an extra assist. Of course, that was also the year that the Nuggets got Allen Iverson, and their scoring as a team increased by 5 points per game. But, I think whatever data we use, it's safe to say that Carmelo will have his usual fantasy production in 08-09. Chris Bosh's numbers were almost exactly the same from 05-06 to 06-07, so I'm not worried about his fantasy production this coming season. What I am worried about is that his blocks went down from 1.3 to 1.0 from 06-07 to 07-08 which means that an already porous interior defense is going to be that much more wide open in the middle. Chris Paul is already this season's consensus #1 fantasy pick. I'm not one to want to be punched in the face, but I'm sure if Chris Paul spent as much time getting a chub looking at pictures of Patrick as the other way around, he would not be a #1 fantasy pick. And he'd probably have to skip the Olympics. Paul did suffer some injuries after the 2006 World Championships and only played in 64 games. That said, he did finish with a GMTR Player Rater score that was 27% higher than whatever kind of knowledge was in 2nd place. The difference between 2nd and 3rd place was only 12.5% just to give you an idea of the size of Chris Paul's massive game. Deron Williams is another young guy who upped his game after the summer of 2006. The extra 7 minutes of playing time probably didn't hurt. Williams will be a late 3rd/early 4th round pick. Dwyane Wade is the first real question mark here. After the 2004 Olympics, he went from 61 to 77 games. But if I recall, he didn't play a whole lot over there in Athens. After playing 75 games in 05-06, he only got to 51 in 06-07, suggesting perhaps that the extra play might have taken a toll. Yes, it was a bit of a fluke play in which he was injured, but this time he'll be playing during the summer on a surgically repaired knee. I know I'll be staying away from Wade come fantasy draft time this year. Dwight Howard won't even be 23 until December of this year. After the 2006 games, he improved almost everything about his game except free throw shooting and turnovers. Hopefully he can learn some more lessons from the Olympics this year and come away an even better basketball player. I don't think he's going to suddenly figure out how to shoot free throws in China, though. If the extra games this summer are going to take their toll on anyone, it will be Jason Kidd. The last time Kidd played in the Olympics was eight years ago, and at that time, it didn't have an appreciably impact his stats. With Chris Paul and Deron Williams on the team, the US will probably keep Kidd's minutes fairly low, using him in crunch time situations and for resting the other Point Guards. That said, he is 35 years old now, so any activity as intense as the Olympics will definitely drain the batteries a bit. Is it enough to move Kidd out of the Top 50 fantasy players? Probably not… but it's certainly a reason not to take him any higher that #47 position he ended the season at on the GMTR Player Rater. Kobe Bryant is the one player I feel should be on the floor all the time for the US. Well, Kobe and Chris Paul and LeBron James. Kobe will turn 30 this year, and I feel like if he plays as much as he should in the Olympics, it will have an effect on his game. Add in that the Lakers should have both Pau Gasol and a healthy Andrew Bynum in 08-09, and you've got a recipe for Kobe as no higher than the 3rd best fantasy player next season. I will definitely be tempted to look at guys like LeBron and Garnett ahead of Kobe next year, but we'll have to see how many minutes he's playing in Beijing first. LeBron James needs to dominate the Olympics and take over like he does in the playoffs. Really, if it takes the Celtics to stop him in the NBA, what country can come up with that kind of defense? LeBron will be a Top 5 fantasy pick next season unless he gets injured. And even then… As far as Wikipedia knows, Michael Redd has not played on a men's national basketball team. I don't see him doing a lot of the heavy lifting on this Team USA, though. He'll have some good games at The Games because he can pull the trigger on the three as fast as anyone not named Ray Allen. He'll be good to stretch defenses, and as long as he doesn't take so many shots that he gets Repetitive Stress Disorder, he will be able to bomb threes and make a lot of free throws just like the Michael Redd we all know and are okay with. I was surprised when I checked just now to see Tayshaun Prince all the way down at #110 on the GMTR Player Rater. I thought he was better than that. But he played about 4 minutes less in 07-08 than he had in the previous season, and his numbers were down across the board. I was also surprised to see him on the Olympic roster instead of another legit center. But I'm sure the people picking the team know more than I do about international basketball, as well as who was actually available for the team. I don't see Prince being called on to play heavy minutes for Team USA, so keeping up his level of play at 32-33 minutes a game for the Pistons shouldn't be a problem. That's not to say that his stats won't go down, because Detroit might drop him to 30-31 minutes a game and let the younger Pistons play a little more. But his play for Team USA will probably only have an effect when it gets to the end of the season, right when you need to win some playoff games. And Prince had his minutes dropped at the end of the after the Pistons had clinched their spot in the playoffs. There may well be some more rest time like that at the end of the 08-09 season for Prince. So, to summarize, the question marks for next season are: Dwyane Wade, Jason Kidd, and Kobe Bryant. And you might want to stay away from Tayshaun Prince unless you draft someone you think will be stepping up at the end of the season when Prince is tapering off. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:51:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281402 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281402 The 12 man roster for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was announced today. Players selected for the 2008 Senior Men's National team include: Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz) Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors) Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks) Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets) Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons) Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks) Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) Although Paul Pierce was in the 24 player pool from which the Olympic team was chosen, he wasn't chosen for the team. It could be due to concerns over the knee injury he suffered in the playoffs. Pierce missed the FIBA championships due to an elbow injury and that may also have played a role in his being left out. According to the Globe, Team USA is interested in having Celtics guard Rajon Rondo and center Kendrick Perkins on a young select team that could play against USA in Las Vegas during training in July to help them prepare them for the Olympics. By participating, Rondo and Perkins could put themselves in position to play for USA in the future. Hopefully Perk's shoulder will be well enough for him to take them up on the offer. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:52:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281166 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281166 All right, Mr. General Manager, you're on the clock. Be careful. This pick is VERY important for your franchise. Choose the right guy, and you could be headed for the NBA Finals. Make a blunder, and you'll be right back here in the lottery. You've reviewed all the tape, taken all the measurements and worked out all the players. This is why they pay you the big bucks. Go get yourself a star. Throughout the years, NBA general managers have proved that drafting is not an exact science. As good as a kid looks in college, on paper or in a workout, it might not translate to playing in the Association. Sometimes blunders happen when the team goes along with the general consensus, and sometimes they happen when the team drafts someone unexpected. For one reason or another, whether it's innate talent, hard work or the just the right situation, certain players develop into stars while others do not. And it's the GM's job to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Of course, blunders are relative, so for this exercise the size of each blunder was determined (loosely) by the following equation: B = [(Tp * Np) - Td] / Nt Where: B = size of blunder Tp = talent level of player(s) passed up Np = number of good players passed up Td = talent level of team's draftee Nt = number of teams making the same blunder (misery loves company) Honestly, I eyeballed most of these, but don't tell me you didn't have a good time trying to figure out that equation! So here they are – the 11 biggest draft day blunders since 1980, in order of size. (By the way, if you think you already know what the biggest blunder is, you might be surprised.) #11. In 1993, Philadelphia passes on Penny Hardaway and Jamal Mashburn to take Shawn Bradley #2 overall. Why it was a bad pick: At the time, Bradley was billed as an athletic 7'5" center who could run the floor. He turned out to be another big stiff, but he did put together a 12-year career, averaging 8.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. Conversely, Hardaway had four All-Star and two first team All-NBA appearances, while Mashburn averaged 19.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists during his solid 11-year career. In their defense: Personnel people (scouts, GMs) always fall in love with size, and Bradley had it in spades. Too bad that's all he had. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:16:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281110 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281110