In no shocker, the Flyers announced today that they will not submit an offer sheet for Stamkos. Which in all reality, isn't a bad move if they want to win now. The problem with RFA's in the NHL is that, when an offer is made, the team that the player is an RFA for (Tampa) has up to a week to match the offer or release the player to accept whatever offer he wants. So essentially, if the Flyers sent him an offer...They may not know until next Thursday if Stamkos were to sign with the Flyers. Flyers would have to assume he would sign, and would not have the money to sign any other FA's. If they assume that and then he signs elsewhere, Flyers have likley missed out on many free agents.
Now that we have turned off our video game minds, who will the Flyers end up getting?
The Flyers have yet to officially sign Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds, but they are RFA's who the Flyers are more than likley going to resign once they see who else is coming to this team.
Villie Leino will hit free agency tomorrow as a UFA, meaning he is officially off the Flyers roster. While I am sure the Flyers want to resign him, he is the type of player who will be overpaid by another team. Flyers don't believe he's worth more than 3.5 million a year (quarter of a million less than Giroux), and I can't argue with that. Hopefully Leino takes a home-town discount, but that's not guaranteed.
Daniel Carcillo is a RFA...but all intentions are that the Flyers are going to let him sign wherever he wants, depending on the offers he gets.
Zherdev, O'Donnell, Boyton, and Boucher are all UFA's come tomorrow, and I would be shocked to see any of those 4 back in Philly.
Now onto other teams....
One man who was swirling around was Zach Parise...however, he has entered arbitration with New Jersey, and more than likley will resign with the Devils.
Brad Richards is considered the "cream" of the weak crop of stars in this years free agent poll. He will get overpaid, and end up being a little more costly than what the Flyers are looking for. However, the Ottawa Sun reports that the Flyers may be looking to trade Meszaros and that 4 million dollar a year hit he has to free up more cap space. This would likley lead to the Flyers trying to resign O'Donnell or using Matt Walker next year.
But here's some names that make sense.
Simon Gagne - He isn't exactly the player the Flyers need, but I wouldn't put it past Gagne taking a reduced $$ contract to come back to Philly for a year. If he takes a contract in the 2-3 million a year range, that may happen. If it's more than that, I'm not counting on him coming back.
Michael Handzus - Would be a great fit, however he has slowed down and under-performed the last 2 years. He is a big center who wins faceoffs and kills penalties, two things we could really use.
Jamior Jagr - This is a new rumor, but while the Penguins were told they would hear from Jagr on Wednesday and never got a response....his future is still up in the air. The Penguins offered Jagr a 2 million dollar deal for next year, Philly has the capability to offer him a little more. If age is your concern, Mark Recchi dropped nearly 50 points at the age 43, and held a cup over his head. Watch some of Jagr's recent film, he still has game left.
Erik Cole - He's a guy I am very interested in. Solid 2 way player who scored 20-30 goals a year (quietly in Carolina) over his 10 year career. Even with the emergence of Skinner in Carolina, it's hard to imagine them letting him go.
Michael Ryder - Another solid winger who would be a good fit on this team. Good two way player.
And there's a dozen other players we can name. These however are the few players I'd love to see join the Orange and Black. But who knows what will happen.
All we know is that a lot will unravel over the next day or two.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Post-Apocalypse at the Well.
Now that a week has passed, the moving of two of the Flyers top 5 players has settled in a little more...
I still think the Carter deal was a great deal for the team. Moving Carter for a solid 2/3rd liner in Voracek, along with the #8 pick and a 3rd round in the draft sounded decent enough, and sounds much better when you realized that freed up the salary to sign Ilya Bryzgalov. Carter was an invisible post-season player, and caused the team headaches outside of the well, but also wasn't praised amongst the Flyers locker room. Courtier is a hot prospect, and should one day be a NHL forward. Only the future will tell how good he will become. Flyers got a steal snagging him at the 8 spot.
And we can all sleep a little easier now.
Now for the Richards deal, one that's still a little tough to swallow. But I am not one to criticize too much, Paul Holmgren is not an idiot. I seriously believe that there was locker room issues with Richards, and he had some off-ice issues as well. Of course Lavs downplayed any issues with Richards, and so did the team. If they didn't downplay those issues, Richards could of been to hockey what Haynesworth has become to the NFL, just a great player who causes problems. Now I'm not saying Richards is half as bad as that overpaid man in DC, but the second you talk about issues with Richards, his value as a player drops.
On paper, LA got the better end of the deal. And to this day, they still did. Simmonds is a hard nose player that Philly fans will fall in love with....he's essentially a Dan Carcillo style player who focuses on offensive production a little more...but still isn't afraid to drop the gloves when the timing is right.
Brayden Schenn is the "Cam Newton/Kyrie Erving/Bryce Harper" of the NHL right now. It's hard to find people who say he isn't the best non-NHL prospect player in the world, and those who say he isn't put him in the top 5. While it's a lot of "what if's", there was a lot of the same questions when the Penguins drafted that kid named Sidney Crosby, and when the Flyers drafted that youngster out of Jersey named James Van Riemsdyk. I think Schenn will start and be an exciting youngster on this team, who has no ceiling. Who knows how good he will become.
Everyone is also fast to forget that, July 1st is tomorrow. The Flyers have enough money to sign 2 quality 2nd/3rd line players, and if they drop a guy like Bobrovsky (who will be by far the highest paid backup goalie), they do have the money for a name like Stamkos. While again that's unlikely, it was also unlikely the Flyers would get rid of both Carter and Richards...and well....you know what happened.
Here's what we have as of today:
Forwards
1. Danny Briere
2. Claude Giroux
3. James Van Riemsdyk
4. Scott Hartnall
5. Kris Versteeg
6. Jakub Voracek
7. Brayden Schenn
8. Wayne Simmonds
9. Andres Nodl
10. Blare Betts
11. Jody Shelly
12. Eric Wellwood/Zach Rinaldo/etc
Phantoms : Testwudie, Ryan, Lappy, Holmstrom.
As for Parings:
Line 1. JVR/Giroux/Briere (lamp-lighters)
Line 2.Hartnall/Versteeg/Voracek (I thought Hartnall and Versteeg played well. Voracek adds size to the line too)
Line 3.Simmonds/Schenn/Nodl (Simmonds takes care of anyone who messes with the kids)
Line 4.Whoever
Defensemen
1. Chris Pronger
2. Kimmo Timonen
3. Braydon Coburn
4. Matt Carle
5. Andrej Mezardos
6. Erik Gustafsson (had a great year for the Phantoms last year)
Phantoms : Bartulus, Marshall, Syvret
Goalie
1. Ilya Bryzgalov
2. Sergi Bobrovsky
Phantoms : Backlund, Leighton
Again, that's not including guys who will become free agents for the Flyers on Firday (Leino, Zherdev, Carcillo, O'Donnell)...And the Flyers WILL sign more players.
Just who they sign is the great mystery.
For those who are nerds like me, check out CapGeek to see just what the Flyers money situation is.
Stamkos
One word that has echoed through the streets of Philly for the last week. I have been very hesitant to jump on board, but I finally will share my thoughts.
Before even writing, I DO NOT believe #91 will be in orange and black next year. But the argument for him being "guaranteed" back in Tampa isn't how I see it.
My first concern is how he hasn't signed with Tampa yet. We can put him in the same echelon as Ovechkin and Crosby for offensive production, and yet those two were signed 200-350 days before they even hit the RFA market. And with Tampa saying they will "match any deal," you would think they would have offered Stamkos basically whatever deal he wanted.
So why hasn't he signed yet? My belief is that he doesn't want to be in Tampa Bay. Steve Yzerman is making a big deal stating that the Bolts will "match any deal" Stamkos is offered......Well just because they match it doesn't mean Stamkos has to accept their deal. Could Yzerman and his "match" clause just be there to save his ass when Stamkos leaves Tampa, and make it look like Stamkos was the bad guy picking another city instead of Yzerman being the bad guy.
Next we have to look at the Salary issue. While I am not fully involved and know the numbers in Tampa like I do in Philly, I know it is fact that the lightning entered the postseason with 36.5 million commited to 12 players. You generally need about 23 guys signed, and with 30 million to spend...sounds easy. But the guys they need to sign include some starters and goalies. If Stamkos takes up 8-10 million a year of a hit....they have about 20 mil to spend on a dozen players. They have already signed Roloson to a 1 year 3 million dollar deal, giving them even less cap space than before.
Basically the moral of that is, the Lightning are currently not in a salary position to match a super offer a team could throw at Stamkos with a lot more money avalable (to spend on a couple players instead of a dozen like Tampa)
Now since we talk Flyers here, I can give my pitch for the Fly Guys.
Flyers currently have around 8 million in cap space. They can also trade Bobrovsky (1.7 mil), trade a guy like Shelly (1.1 mil). If they do that and do not resign Leino; they do have the money for Stamkos if he's in the 8-10 million range. Flyers historically always field a roster within 500k of the Salary Cap number.
However, I think it's more likley the Flyers sign a Brad Richards esque 20-30 goal scorer, along with a #3 or #4 defender that would play on the 2nd line.
Sadly I do not think Leino will be back in Philly. I've heard that he was "a million dollars and a year" apart from what Philly wanted to pay him, and he will hit the free agency market. And when he (along with every other 2-3rd line player) hits free agency, he will get overpaid by a team...and that offer will not be matched by the Flyers
BUT since we're talking about it....I think the chances of Stamkos back in Tampa are less than everyone else thinks. If Stamkos were to come to Philly, It appears that he would be taking a discounted price (like Cliff Lee) to come here, since Florida and Toronto have a little more cap space to work with. Those two teams have the option of making Stamkos the highest paid NHL player to date..if they so wish.
The next 24-48 hours will answer all our quesitons
(Flyers last EA Sport Cover Sport athlete, FYI)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
How the NHL realignment should work.
Very simple. No division. 15 teams in the east, 15 teams in the west. Top 8 make the playoffs (as is the case now)
In your conference you play each team 4 times (twice on the road, twice at home). That accounts for 56 games in a season. Then you play 2 inter-league games, one at home, one on the road. That accounts for 30 games.
So we now have an 86 game season. This could make less rivalry games, but also makes rivalries games a little more special.
It evens the playing field. Divisions are irrelevant when it comes to who makes the playoffs and where you get seeded, so why even have them? Why does Washington get to play Florida more than the Flyers do, if those two teams are fighting it out for the last spot in the playoffs?
As for the Conferences, simple east and west, similar to how it is now.
East.
Boston, New York, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Columbus, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida.
West.
Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, Dallas, Colorado, Phoenix, Anaheim, LA, San Jose, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton.
Zero rocket science here.
In your conference you play each team 4 times (twice on the road, twice at home). That accounts for 56 games in a season. Then you play 2 inter-league games, one at home, one on the road. That accounts for 30 games.
So we now have an 86 game season. This could make less rivalry games, but also makes rivalries games a little more special.
It evens the playing field. Divisions are irrelevant when it comes to who makes the playoffs and where you get seeded, so why even have them? Why does Washington get to play Florida more than the Flyers do, if those two teams are fighting it out for the last spot in the playoffs?
As for the Conferences, simple east and west, similar to how it is now.
East.
Boston, New York, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Columbus, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida.
West.
Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, Dallas, Colorado, Phoenix, Anaheim, LA, San Jose, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton.
Zero rocket science here.
Friday, June 24, 2011
24 hours later. The Richards deal
While this deal is harder to swallow, I don't think we know the whole story.
The deal doesn't make sense. There must be more or something else we don't know about.
Richards was a great player. Easily one of the best two way players in the game. Despite all of this, his role as captain was constantly in question, and there was instability between Richards and Lavs. His performance in the 2010 playoffs was great, but it is true that his performance in 2011 was less than expected.
I believe that either the Flyers are going to flip another deal, or there was serious problems between management and Richie.
Flyers did receive what's regarded as the #1 prospect in the NHL, Brayden Schenn from LA. While I love what this 19 year old has to offer, I am not set on a love affair yet, since I feel he will be moved. More at the bottom.
Flyers also picked up Wayne Simmonds from LA, which will likley lead to the Flyers not resigning Carcillo. Simmonds is a enforcer, who is a little more offensive minded than Carcillo or Brasher was for the Flyers.
I still think the Flyers are out to make another move. The #8 pick is incredibly useless for the Flyers, since they're in to win now and not a couple years down the road when the 17-18 year old they pick makes it pro. And we already have the kid who would be the #1 pick in the draft today.
If they draft someone in the draft, the Flyers have two incredibly valuable prospects. They also have a valuable prospect in Bobrovsky, who becomes the highest paid backup goaltender in the NHL with the signing of Ilya. I really wouldn't be surprised to see the Flyers pack a deal with those 2-3 guys and someone else for a big name. Just my hopes and thoughts.
We do have about 8 million in cap space now.
The deal doesn't make sense. There must be more or something else we don't know about.
Richards was a great player. Easily one of the best two way players in the game. Despite all of this, his role as captain was constantly in question, and there was instability between Richards and Lavs. His performance in the 2010 playoffs was great, but it is true that his performance in 2011 was less than expected.
I believe that either the Flyers are going to flip another deal, or there was serious problems between management and Richie.
Flyers did receive what's regarded as the #1 prospect in the NHL, Brayden Schenn from LA. While I love what this 19 year old has to offer, I am not set on a love affair yet, since I feel he will be moved. More at the bottom.
Flyers also picked up Wayne Simmonds from LA, which will likley lead to the Flyers not resigning Carcillo. Simmonds is a enforcer, who is a little more offensive minded than Carcillo or Brasher was for the Flyers.
I still think the Flyers are out to make another move. The #8 pick is incredibly useless for the Flyers, since they're in to win now and not a couple years down the road when the 17-18 year old they pick makes it pro. And we already have the kid who would be the #1 pick in the draft today.
If they draft someone in the draft, the Flyers have two incredibly valuable prospects. They also have a valuable prospect in Bobrovsky, who becomes the highest paid backup goaltender in the NHL with the signing of Ilya. I really wouldn't be surprised to see the Flyers pack a deal with those 2-3 guys and someone else for a big name. Just my hopes and thoughts.
We do have about 8 million in cap space now.
24 hours later. The Carter Deal
If you live under a rock, the Flyers pulled off a day now being called "2nd most shocking" day of trades in hockey history, only 2nd to when Edmonton traded Gretzky to LA.
First off here's what the Flyers lost, and gained, in my eyes.
Jeff Carter - This was forseen. Carts wasn't performing up to what he was being paid, and was injured all the time. While he was a goal scorer, he didn't dominate games and rule the ice like so many of the games elites players. He deserves upmost credit for his goals last year, but on the ice, his presence wasn't there. And my eyes will never look at him the same considering if he would of lifted a wrist shot, we would of been 60 minuets away from winning the Stanley Cup. I think that play spoke louder than words.
1. If you forgot, he didn't score, and 51 did not deflect the shot in any way. 2. If you forgot, that was with 1:31 left in the 3rd period of a 3-3 tie in Game 6.
First off here's what the Flyers lost, and gained, in my eyes.
Jeff Carter - This was forseen. Carts wasn't performing up to what he was being paid, and was injured all the time. While he was a goal scorer, he didn't dominate games and rule the ice like so many of the games elites players. He deserves upmost credit for his goals last year, but on the ice, his presence wasn't there. And my eyes will never look at him the same considering if he would of lifted a wrist shot, we would of been 60 minuets away from winning the Stanley Cup. I think that play spoke louder than words.
1. If you forgot, he didn't score, and 51 did not deflect the shot in any way. 2. If you forgot, that was with 1:31 left in the 3rd period of a 3-3 tie in Game 6.
While Carts was appreciated, I think the Flyers got the better end of the deal. They got to unload a overpaid player who had a incredibly long contract.
They picked up a very talented 21 year old skater in Jakub Voracek who tallied around 30 assists a season and had 18 goals last year. He's also 6'2" 215lbs, a big winger, which the team needs urgently. Voracek is a member of the Czech-Republic World Juniors team for the last couple of years.
Also just as important, Flyers picked up the 8th pick in the NHL draft, along with a 3rd round.
They picked up a very talented 21 year old skater in Jakub Voracek who tallied around 30 assists a season and had 18 goals last year. He's also 6'2" 215lbs, a big winger, which the team needs urgently. Voracek is a member of the Czech-Republic World Juniors team for the last couple of years.
Also just as important, Flyers picked up the 8th pick in the NHL draft, along with a 3rd round.
Monday, June 20, 2011
MLB Realignment??
A week ago, an ESPN article made front-page news talking about Major League Baseball considering a realignment, placing the Houston Astros in the AL West (with the Texas/Dallas Rangers) making both the AL and NL housing 15 teams, and each division consisting of 5 teams.
This leads to a thousand headaches, but the most painful, would be the fact that the last series of the season, and all 162 gamedays would consist of interleague play with the odd numbers in each division.
I really hope MLB doesn't make even divisions. In a sport where you don't play a different team every night, and you play to win the division to get into the playoffs, inter-league play would be completely unacceptable in the last week. People do always make the claim about how unfair it is that a team in the AL West only has to beat 3 other teams to get to the playoffs, while a team in the NL Central has to beat 5 other teams to win the division.
While I agree that you must win to win, it isn't right for the oblong sizes of divisions.
The best answer for MLB is to cut to 28 or go up to 32 teams. With 32 teams, 4 division of 4 teams could exist (like the NFL) and have divisional games at the end. At 28, I'd love to see 2 divisions of 7.
While I don't think what i'm about to post is what should happen, I like to be open minded and think about change. Here's some realignment to think about for the MLB. This is my realignment based on geography and city rivalries.
EASTERN CONFRENCE
Division 1.
Division 2
Division 3
WESTERN CONFRENCE
Division 4
Division 5
Division 6 (California Love)
Now I based my alignment on boundaries, and this would create cross-town rivalries and some of the rivalries we love in other sports.
While it's all a bunch of nonsense, some of these divisions would be great, the kind of divisions I'd make when I got bored with a MLB video game and wanted to play a season. I never understood the Phillies playing two teams 10+ hours a way for 2 of their division rivalries, along with teams like Baltimore-Washington and Cincinatti-Cleveland never get to go head to head.
While I totally disagree with the inter-league play that would have to happen, the team who finished last in each division could be responsible for the last 3 series (9 games) of the season.
As for Playoffs, I know that MLB will expand. There is too much money for them not too. I think a playoff parallel to that of the NFL with 6 teams (2 from each division) would work. But this isn't as easy as if they just added a team to 2 more cities, but that will never happen.
But encase they do; Charlotte, Indianapolis, Portland, Norfolk, and Orlando are adequate metropolitan to house a Major League Baseball team.
And for those who are a little more visual, here's my thoughts.
Despite MLB being right going east-west, they forget that it's 1,309 mile drive from Citi Field to Sun Life Stadium, taking 21 hours and 49 minuets. it's also a 1,459 mile drive from Fenway to Tropicana Field.
Current alignment.
And since we're talking about realignment, here's my NFL east/west conference wishlist.
This leads to a thousand headaches, but the most painful, would be the fact that the last series of the season, and all 162 gamedays would consist of interleague play with the odd numbers in each division.
I really hope MLB doesn't make even divisions. In a sport where you don't play a different team every night, and you play to win the division to get into the playoffs, inter-league play would be completely unacceptable in the last week. People do always make the claim about how unfair it is that a team in the AL West only has to beat 3 other teams to get to the playoffs, while a team in the NL Central has to beat 5 other teams to win the division.
While I agree that you must win to win, it isn't right for the oblong sizes of divisions.
The best answer for MLB is to cut to 28 or go up to 32 teams. With 32 teams, 4 division of 4 teams could exist (like the NFL) and have divisional games at the end. At 28, I'd love to see 2 divisions of 7.
While I don't think what i'm about to post is what should happen, I like to be open minded and think about change. Here's some realignment to think about for the MLB. This is my realignment based on geography and city rivalries.
EASTERN CONFRENCE
Division 1.
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- New York Yankees
- New York Mets
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Boston Red Sox
Division 2
- Baltimore Orioles
- Washington Nationals
- Atlanta Braves
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Florida (Miami) Marlins
Division 3
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Cleveland Indians
- Detroit Tigers
- Cincinatti Reds
- Kansas City Royals
WESTERN CONFRENCE
Division 4
- Chicago White Sox
- Chicago Cubs
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Minnesota Twins
Division 5
- Seattle Mariners
- Colorado Rockies
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Texas (Dallas) Rangers
- Houston Astros
Division 6 (California Love)
- Oakland Raiders
- San Francisco Giants
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Los Angeles Angels
- San Diego Padres
Now I based my alignment on boundaries, and this would create cross-town rivalries and some of the rivalries we love in other sports.
While it's all a bunch of nonsense, some of these divisions would be great, the kind of divisions I'd make when I got bored with a MLB video game and wanted to play a season. I never understood the Phillies playing two teams 10+ hours a way for 2 of their division rivalries, along with teams like Baltimore-Washington and Cincinatti-Cleveland never get to go head to head.
While I totally disagree with the inter-league play that would have to happen, the team who finished last in each division could be responsible for the last 3 series (9 games) of the season.
As for Playoffs, I know that MLB will expand. There is too much money for them not too. I think a playoff parallel to that of the NFL with 6 teams (2 from each division) would work. But this isn't as easy as if they just added a team to 2 more cities, but that will never happen.
But encase they do; Charlotte, Indianapolis, Portland, Norfolk, and Orlando are adequate metropolitan to house a Major League Baseball team.
And for those who are a little more visual, here's my thoughts.
Current alignment.
And since we're talking about realignment, here's my NFL east/west conference wishlist.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Phils Dominate the Game I Thought They'd Lose and Squeak Out the Game I Thought They'd Win + Boston Edition.
First and foremost, absolute congratulations to one of my favorites off all time; Mark Recchi, on getting his name etched onto the holy grail of hockey for the 3rd time. It's a shame it never happened in Philly, but I still have the utmost respect for him over every player in the game today. Congratulations to the Boston Bruins, who outright deserved and outworked the rest of the NHL on their way to the Stanley Cup Championship.
It hurts knowing that the 0-3 comeback doesn't quite have the luster that it did 2 hours ago, but you can't take anything away from how well this team played top to bottom.
It's worth noting, some of Philadelphia's last playoff runs;
Flyers - Lost to Boston (Champions)
Sixers - Lost to Heat (East Champions)
Eagles - Lost to Packers (Champions)
Phillies - Lost to Giants (Champions)
Flyers - Lost to Chicago (Champions)
Eagles - Lost to Dallas (sucks)
Phillies - Lost to New York (Champions)
All that put aside, I will not sleep easy knowing Boston has won 7 championships this decade.
But now onto the Phillies. What a day for this team. First game was of utmost dominance, and quite an impressive start by Kyle Kendrick. Time to stop making jokes about this kid until he blows up again, cause he's putting together some good numbers this year. And it's about time he does so.
The offense is finally clicking. Halladay has one of his "bad" starts (7ip, 4 runs on 6 hits, 8k's), but the team went out and got the job done when it counted. Timely hits has finally entered this teams vocabulary, and they are finally playing with some swag (not to be cliche)
Not much more can be said. When everything is going right for this team, you got to just sit back, relax, and watch every at bat this team has, because something special could happen the very next pitch.
It hurts knowing that the 0-3 comeback doesn't quite have the luster that it did 2 hours ago, but you can't take anything away from how well this team played top to bottom.
It's worth noting, some of Philadelphia's last playoff runs;
Flyers - Lost to Boston (Champions)
Sixers - Lost to Heat (East Champions)
Eagles - Lost to Packers (Champions)
Phillies - Lost to Giants (Champions)
Flyers - Lost to Chicago (Champions)
Eagles - Lost to Dallas (sucks)
Phillies - Lost to New York (Champions)
All that put aside, I will not sleep easy knowing Boston has won 7 championships this decade.
But now onto the Phillies. What a day for this team. First game was of utmost dominance, and quite an impressive start by Kyle Kendrick. Time to stop making jokes about this kid until he blows up again, cause he's putting together some good numbers this year. And it's about time he does so.
The offense is finally clicking. Halladay has one of his "bad" starts (7ip, 4 runs on 6 hits, 8k's), but the team went out and got the job done when it counted. Timely hits has finally entered this teams vocabulary, and they are finally playing with some swag (not to be cliche)
Not much more can be said. When everything is going right for this team, you got to just sit back, relax, and watch every at bat this team has, because something special could happen the very next pitch.
Plaxico???
As Michael Vick tweets about Plaxico, and Plaxico is rocking another Phillies hat, we start to ponder just the option of seeing Mr. I-forgot-to-turn-the-safety-on-my-gun in green and white next year.
Would Plaixco want to play in Philly? Absolutely. Try and make a case for why anyone wouldn't want to play with the most explosive offense in the league. As long as he kept himself in shape, it isn't too difficult for someone with talents like him earn a spot as our #3 WR.
Is Plaxico a good fit in Philly? Absolutely. The biggest flaw with our offense (minus the o-line) is the fact that the top two WR's are shorter than 80% of secondary players in the NFL. While the size pays off in speed, you aren't burning anyone when there's less than 30 yards between the ball and the back of the endzone. If you watched the Eagles successful and unsuccessful red zone trips last year. A lot of those successful trips involved Vick scrambling, McCoy running it, or a WR getting open using a cut or post route. I almost forgot that TD pass to O-Liner Herremans in Dallas too. A lot of failed trips included Vick dropping back into the pocket and looking for the open receiver. Jackson and Maclin are too short to dominate a zone defense in the red-zone.
Plaxico was always a great red-zone WR, and with his size, gives the Eagles that jump ball slash throw it to the back of the endzone where only our tall WR can catch it type of play. I dont remember one successful jump ball for the Eagles offense last year, or a toe touch grab over a corner by a WR. This is something Plaxico feeds off of, and rightfully so with his size. Only type of play I remember, was that faithful throw against the Packers in the playoffs to Riley Cooper, that was slightly underthrown and picked off.
Riley Cooper is the Eagles future tall WR, but despite flashing some brilliance last year, he certainly isn't ready to be a go to guy game after game. Not saying he never will be, but not today.
The Eagles time to win is now. Vick won't get any younger, and despite the youngsters of our offense, who knows if we can keep them all together in the long run. If you can get Plaxico for a deal similar to Vick, one year guaranteed, and a 2nd year club option worth a lot more, absolutely do it.
As for Plaxico's jail sentence, what a joke. Donte Stallworth drives drunk and kills a man, and that warrants a week behind bars. Ray Lewis was involved in a fight where 2 guys ended up stabbed to death, pleded guilty for obstruction of justice, settled out of court and gave a ton of money to the families two people who were stabbed, and he's a saint in the NFL. Plaxico shoots himself with his own gun? 2 years no questions asked. I'm all for second chances, but all things considered, 2 years was pretty ridiculious.
Maybe next time we go to the Linc, next to those dumbass Vick protestors who PAID THE EAGLES AND VICK MONEY to buy his jersey; in return to spraypaint X's over it, we will see gun control guys next to them. Hey I dunno if I can get more laughs then I already do out of the crowd in JFK park and tailgating before Eagles games, but just maybe some gun control protestors would.
Cheers!
Chase Utley looks like he's back, Domonic Brown looks like he's a starter.
Coming off a quality offensive outing (first 5 HR game this year) and Cole Hamels battling Roy Halladay for the starter in the all star game; tonight was one of those Phillies games that we just love to watch. The team that "relied on the Home Run" too much or the "homeruns only get you so far" hoopla we heard night in and out over the last couple years; had one of those games.
Hamels was pulled from the game, from what appears to just be his back tightening up. When asked in the postgame interview if he will make his next start, he emphatically responded "oh yeah."
Chase Utley had a great weekend, and including his bomb tonight, it's almost safe to say he's back. I still cringe and hold my breath every-time he's up to bat or gets a ball hit hard at him, but I think he's getting back to the Chase Utley form we love. Which has certainly been a spark for this team.
Domonic Brown is your RF from here on out. I don't care what can be said about another lefty in the lineup, the kid is ready to be a major league ballplayer. And his 2nd HR was Howard/Thome esque landing easily in the 2nd deck. Hopefully he stays around in Philly and doesn't become another great young OF shipped off (Byrd/Bourn), because this kid will be an exciting player.
Big day tomorrow for the Phils, as Kyle Kendrick takes on someone making his first MLB start for Florida in the 1:05 game, and then a great pitching matchup between 6-1 3.06ERA Anibal Sanchez takes on Doc, sitting at 9-3 with a 2.39ERA. Taking these two games would be huge.
Hamels was pulled from the game, from what appears to just be his back tightening up. When asked in the postgame interview if he will make his next start, he emphatically responded "oh yeah."
Chase Utley had a great weekend, and including his bomb tonight, it's almost safe to say he's back. I still cringe and hold my breath every-time he's up to bat or gets a ball hit hard at him, but I think he's getting back to the Chase Utley form we love. Which has certainly been a spark for this team.
Domonic Brown is your RF from here on out. I don't care what can be said about another lefty in the lineup, the kid is ready to be a major league ballplayer. And his 2nd HR was Howard/Thome esque landing easily in the 2nd deck. Hopefully he stays around in Philly and doesn't become another great young OF shipped off (Byrd/Bourn), because this kid will be an exciting player.
Big day tomorrow for the Phils, as Kyle Kendrick takes on someone making his first MLB start for Florida in the 1:05 game, and then a great pitching matchup between 6-1 3.06ERA Anibal Sanchez takes on Doc, sitting at 9-3 with a 2.39ERA. Taking these two games would be huge.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
This series is more important than you think. Phillies vs Marlins
Why is this series important, against a .500 team that's 3rd in the division?
1. The Braves start a 3 game home series against the Mets. And we only have a 2.5 game lead on the underrated Braves. And after the Mets, they have home series against the Rangers and Blue Jays. Despite those two teams being good, they are still home games for Atlanta.
2. Hanley Ramirez is returning to the lineup for the Marlins tonight. While he might do nothing , he might spark the team out of the slide they've been on recently.
3. The next couple series are going to be tough. This weekend is one of the worst weekends in sports, where the Phillies have 10:05 starts Friday and Saturday in Seattle. No teams from Philadelphia are ever successful on the west coast, and it's just a weird 3 game interleague series out west. Then the Phillies have a travel day, but things wont get any easier against the Cardinals in St. Louis (Please Charlie, if Pujols is up with the game on the line, walk him.) Then were looking at the throwback series as the Oakland A's come to town and then the awfully-scheduled mid week series with Boston in town.
So the Phillies need to win this sereis. It's not your typical Phillies-Marlins series. If the Phillies put together a bad series, it's hard to get out of slumps on the road, especially against two quality teams.
Tonight we'll see Chris Volstad with a 2-6 record and a 5.5 ERA, taking on Kid Cole Hamels. Lets get this started off right.
Don't forget to mark your calendars, July 8-10 the Braves come to town. Huge early-July series for the Phils. And I'm excited to make a post about just how wrong those people who want to bring the Oakland A's back to Philadelphia, and just how bad that would flop. Expect to see that when the A's series starts.
Cheers
1. The Braves start a 3 game home series against the Mets. And we only have a 2.5 game lead on the underrated Braves. And after the Mets, they have home series against the Rangers and Blue Jays. Despite those two teams being good, they are still home games for Atlanta.
2. Hanley Ramirez is returning to the lineup for the Marlins tonight. While he might do nothing , he might spark the team out of the slide they've been on recently.
3. The next couple series are going to be tough. This weekend is one of the worst weekends in sports, where the Phillies have 10:05 starts Friday and Saturday in Seattle. No teams from Philadelphia are ever successful on the west coast, and it's just a weird 3 game interleague series out west. Then the Phillies have a travel day, but things wont get any easier against the Cardinals in St. Louis (Please Charlie, if Pujols is up with the game on the line, walk him.) Then were looking at the throwback series as the Oakland A's come to town and then the awfully-scheduled mid week series with Boston in town.
So the Phillies need to win this sereis. It's not your typical Phillies-Marlins series. If the Phillies put together a bad series, it's hard to get out of slumps on the road, especially against two quality teams.
Tonight we'll see Chris Volstad with a 2-6 record and a 5.5 ERA, taking on Kid Cole Hamels. Lets get this started off right.
Don't forget to mark your calendars, July 8-10 the Braves come to town. Huge early-July series for the Phils. And I'm excited to make a post about just how wrong those people who want to bring the Oakland A's back to Philadelphia, and just how bad that would flop. Expect to see that when the A's series starts.
Cheers
49 Days Until the Trade Deadline? Let's talk about it!
We all know a lot can happen to a baseball team over the course of a week for a baseball club, so talking about a day that's a month and a half away seems foolish. While it may be, it's one of those days that can win and lose World Series titles.
Remember the 2008 trade deadline? Probably not. But the Phillies picked up this guy named Joe Blanton. What did he do after the trade deadline? Go 4-0 in the regular season. Then ended up 2-0 in the postseason, including 1-0 in the World Series. Players like him were underestimated and under-credited toward the World Series that we will never forget.
Everyone in Philly wanted us to bring in C.C, but He ended up 0-1 in the postseason, thanks to Mr. Victorino and Brett Myers. Everyone wanted the Phillies to bring in Manny Ramirez. Had we got Manny, we wouldn't of been guaranteed those game 5 hits Geoff Jenkins and Pat Burrell put up that ultimately led to that swing and a miss from Hinske.
But these days leading up to the trade deadline often determine champions. Will the Phillies pull the trigger, and if so who? Here's my thoughts.
First I take a look within the Phillies organization. I dont see JC Romero and Danny Baez having guaranteed playoff spots. I wouldn't be surprised to see either of these guys go with just how well Stutes has pitched. With their play recently tho, there isn't too much that can be said about the bullpen in the negative light we got so used to talking about in the past. I assume the Phillies will turn to a 4 man rotation come playoffs, and it's likley that Joe Blanton or Kyle Kendrick could be dropped for a guy like Vance Worley who has a little more experience coming out of the bullpen.
Don't get me wrong, I do not want to see Vance Worley make an appearance on the Phillies for the rest of the year unless one of our starters goes on an extended DL stint. He needs to start in a consistent rotation, since I fully believe he will be on the Phillies staff next year.
The use of position players in the Phillies organization isn't what it used to be. Along with success comes a standard lineup, and we haven't seen the integration of players from AAA into games like we used to just 6 or 7 years ago. Scott Posednik, Ronnie Belliard, Delwyn Young are three household names in our minor league system, but none of them have had a season this year good enough to mention. In reality, there aren't many position players in our minor league system that could help us out.
So in reality, the Phillies could very well reach out to pick up another bat. Speculation about the return of Jim Thome to be that big pinch hitter came and left without anything happening, but in reality, it still makes sense. Ross Gload has had that persistent injury, and I don't know how reliable he can be down the stretch. I say the Phillies trade something for Thome, and then god forbid something happens to Howard, we have Thome backing him up. Then Gload can finally go on the DL instead of sitting in the dugout every game doing nothing. Thome and Manuel have a great relationship, and Thome and the city of Philadelphia have just as great of a relationship. And wouldn't we all love to see Thome hit the 2nd deck in right once more?
That doesn't address their biggest issue, a right handed bat. Mayberry Jr had his chance to be that man, and did nothing worth remembering after his opening day walk off hit. Buster Olney of ESPN has said the Phillies may be interested in guys like Josh Willingham and Michael Cuddyer. While I love the idea, I dont think it'll be all that easy to get guys like that.
In reality, I could pull up a ton of names of right handed bats who would be great for the Phillies, and are likley available come this trade deadline.
If the Phillies get a right handed bat, who leaves the lineup? I can't see how it's anyone other than Francisco or Martinez. Phillies have 4 replaceable bench players (not including a catcher); Gload, Martinez, Valdez, and Francisco. You can eliminate Gload since he's the only guy who's ever played first (and why Thome isn't a bad idea.) You can eliminate Valdez for how good he's been as a filler, and you are left with Martinez and Francisco. I think it'll come down to if we get an IF or OF player as to who goes. I'm more satisfied with letting Francisco walk, he's had his chance, and he's failed. Martinez is a Rule5 player, who if the Phillies release, is out of our organization. He's young and hasn't really had the chances Francisco has had, and his versatility in the field is unappreciated.
And I want everyone to understand, despite how frustrating the Phillies have played so far this year, they are still the best team in baseball. They aren't as bad as you think. As one of my favorite blogs Zoo With Roy states :
"As everyone knows, the Phillies are in serious trouble and the roster is flawed and their offense stinks and Jimmy swings too early in the count and too many guys are past their peak and Ryan Howard's contract is terrible and there are too many lefties and Cliff Lee has given up runs and Victorino is a space cadet and basically their problems are way too huge to ever think about overcoming.
Oh yeah also we have the best record in baseball."
-Cheers!
Remember the 2008 trade deadline? Probably not. But the Phillies picked up this guy named Joe Blanton. What did he do after the trade deadline? Go 4-0 in the regular season. Then ended up 2-0 in the postseason, including 1-0 in the World Series. Players like him were underestimated and under-credited toward the World Series that we will never forget.
Everyone in Philly wanted us to bring in C.C, but He ended up 0-1 in the postseason, thanks to Mr. Victorino and Brett Myers. Everyone wanted the Phillies to bring in Manny Ramirez. Had we got Manny, we wouldn't of been guaranteed those game 5 hits Geoff Jenkins and Pat Burrell put up that ultimately led to that swing and a miss from Hinske.
But these days leading up to the trade deadline often determine champions. Will the Phillies pull the trigger, and if so who? Here's my thoughts.
First I take a look within the Phillies organization. I dont see JC Romero and Danny Baez having guaranteed playoff spots. I wouldn't be surprised to see either of these guys go with just how well Stutes has pitched. With their play recently tho, there isn't too much that can be said about the bullpen in the negative light we got so used to talking about in the past. I assume the Phillies will turn to a 4 man rotation come playoffs, and it's likley that Joe Blanton or Kyle Kendrick could be dropped for a guy like Vance Worley who has a little more experience coming out of the bullpen.
Don't get me wrong, I do not want to see Vance Worley make an appearance on the Phillies for the rest of the year unless one of our starters goes on an extended DL stint. He needs to start in a consistent rotation, since I fully believe he will be on the Phillies staff next year.
The use of position players in the Phillies organization isn't what it used to be. Along with success comes a standard lineup, and we haven't seen the integration of players from AAA into games like we used to just 6 or 7 years ago. Scott Posednik, Ronnie Belliard, Delwyn Young are three household names in our minor league system, but none of them have had a season this year good enough to mention. In reality, there aren't many position players in our minor league system that could help us out.
So in reality, the Phillies could very well reach out to pick up another bat. Speculation about the return of Jim Thome to be that big pinch hitter came and left without anything happening, but in reality, it still makes sense. Ross Gload has had that persistent injury, and I don't know how reliable he can be down the stretch. I say the Phillies trade something for Thome, and then god forbid something happens to Howard, we have Thome backing him up. Then Gload can finally go on the DL instead of sitting in the dugout every game doing nothing. Thome and Manuel have a great relationship, and Thome and the city of Philadelphia have just as great of a relationship. And wouldn't we all love to see Thome hit the 2nd deck in right once more?
That doesn't address their biggest issue, a right handed bat. Mayberry Jr had his chance to be that man, and did nothing worth remembering after his opening day walk off hit. Buster Olney of ESPN has said the Phillies may be interested in guys like Josh Willingham and Michael Cuddyer. While I love the idea, I dont think it'll be all that easy to get guys like that.
In reality, I could pull up a ton of names of right handed bats who would be great for the Phillies, and are likley available come this trade deadline.
If the Phillies get a right handed bat, who leaves the lineup? I can't see how it's anyone other than Francisco or Martinez. Phillies have 4 replaceable bench players (not including a catcher); Gload, Martinez, Valdez, and Francisco. You can eliminate Gload since he's the only guy who's ever played first (and why Thome isn't a bad idea.) You can eliminate Valdez for how good he's been as a filler, and you are left with Martinez and Francisco. I think it'll come down to if we get an IF or OF player as to who goes. I'm more satisfied with letting Francisco walk, he's had his chance, and he's failed. Martinez is a Rule5 player, who if the Phillies release, is out of our organization. He's young and hasn't really had the chances Francisco has had, and his versatility in the field is unappreciated.
And I want everyone to understand, despite how frustrating the Phillies have played so far this year, they are still the best team in baseball. They aren't as bad as you think. As one of my favorite blogs Zoo With Roy states :
"As everyone knows, the Phillies are in serious trouble and the roster is flawed and their offense stinks and Jimmy swings too early in the count and too many guys are past their peak and Ryan Howard's contract is terrible and there are too many lefties and Cliff Lee has given up runs and Victorino is a space cadet and basically their problems are way too huge to ever think about overcoming.
Oh yeah also we have the best record in baseball."
-Cheers!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Wow
When this picture came across my Twitter Feed this morning, Mark Cuban solidified himself as my favorite owner of all time
Via Mark Cuban's Twitter
Lets Hope the Flyers Mean Business
The sun rises, the sun sets, and we are another day closer to losing one of the best goaltenders in the league. A common mistake is being made every day, that goaltending sensation Ilya Bryzgalov is going to be a Flyers goaltender in 2011-2012.
Inaccurate.
The Flyers traded one of those orange Gatorade containers and a pair of Chris Pronger game used sticks for the rights to Bryzgalov. As of today, Ilya is a player on the Philadelphia Flyers. And as of July 1st, Ilya will no longer be in Black and Orange. Bryza-howdoyoupronouncethat was traded by the Phoneix Coyotes to the Flyers, because the Coyotes knew they had zero chance to resign him. And lets be real, who wouldn't want to have one of Chris Pronger's 6 foot long sticks??
Basically, Phoneix got the two draft picks and scrub for nothing. Flyers gave away those two picks and whoever just so they could sit down and try and negotiate a contract with Ilya before any other teams had the chance to. He will still enter the NHL free agency market on July 1st at 12pm EST. And by 2pm on July 1st, he could be on the New York Islanders.
Flyers are famous for these kind of deals long after the season ended. In what's regarded as one of the first deals like this in history, Flyers traded some odds and ends to Nashville Predators for the rights of Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnall, before the two players became free agents, they were signed to the Philadelphia Flyers. Flyers also did this for the rights to Dan Hamhuis, and in which there never was a deal signed, the Flyers basically threw away Ryan Parent to have a couple weeks of negotiation with Hamhuis.
The situation is different for the Flyers and Ilya (sorry i'm to lazy to go check his spelling every time). Ilya has showed great interest in the Flyers organization and the city of Philadelphia (which Hamhuis didn't).
The only concern swirling around Philly, is how could they afford this guy? Reality is, a guy like Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnall, Chris Pronger, or (yikes) Mike Richards may be traded away for meaningless draft picks, so they could fit a guy like Ilya's contract could be held under the salary cap.
I am still furious that the Flyers haven't worked out a deal with Villie Leino, who will become a free agent, and is close to being gone. I think that's a great young talent who will be a solid 2nd liner in the league for quite some time. But there's guys like him, Boucher, Nodl, and Carcillo who are likley not coming back to Philadelphia next year. Not big name big dollar guys freeing up salary cap space. Flyers must also consider that JVR's contract will be up after next season, and they can not sign him, Ilya, and keep the big name big dollar guys we currently have on the roster.
It's safe to say the Flyers MUST have a major shake up to afford Ilya Bryzgalov. If they don't, then your opening day starter may very well be Bob. Flyers have too many forwards, not enough defense, and a 22 year old + 2 AHL Goaltenders. Defense wins championships.
Every day tho, we move one day closer to losing Ilya. Flyers pick him up, and your looking at one hell of a good team next year.
Inaccurate.
The Flyers traded one of those orange Gatorade containers and a pair of Chris Pronger game used sticks for the rights to Bryzgalov. As of today, Ilya is a player on the Philadelphia Flyers. And as of July 1st, Ilya will no longer be in Black and Orange. Bryza-howdoyoupronouncethat was traded by the Phoneix Coyotes to the Flyers, because the Coyotes knew they had zero chance to resign him. And lets be real, who wouldn't want to have one of Chris Pronger's 6 foot long sticks??
Basically, Phoneix got the two draft picks and scrub for nothing. Flyers gave away those two picks and whoever just so they could sit down and try and negotiate a contract with Ilya before any other teams had the chance to. He will still enter the NHL free agency market on July 1st at 12pm EST. And by 2pm on July 1st, he could be on the New York Islanders.
Flyers are famous for these kind of deals long after the season ended. In what's regarded as one of the first deals like this in history, Flyers traded some odds and ends to Nashville Predators for the rights of Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnall, before the two players became free agents, they were signed to the Philadelphia Flyers. Flyers also did this for the rights to Dan Hamhuis, and in which there never was a deal signed, the Flyers basically threw away Ryan Parent to have a couple weeks of negotiation with Hamhuis.
The situation is different for the Flyers and Ilya (sorry i'm to lazy to go check his spelling every time). Ilya has showed great interest in the Flyers organization and the city of Philadelphia (which Hamhuis didn't).
The only concern swirling around Philly, is how could they afford this guy? Reality is, a guy like Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnall, Chris Pronger, or (yikes) Mike Richards may be traded away for meaningless draft picks, so they could fit a guy like Ilya's contract could be held under the salary cap.
I am still furious that the Flyers haven't worked out a deal with Villie Leino, who will become a free agent, and is close to being gone. I think that's a great young talent who will be a solid 2nd liner in the league for quite some time. But there's guys like him, Boucher, Nodl, and Carcillo who are likley not coming back to Philadelphia next year. Not big name big dollar guys freeing up salary cap space. Flyers must also consider that JVR's contract will be up after next season, and they can not sign him, Ilya, and keep the big name big dollar guys we currently have on the roster.
It's safe to say the Flyers MUST have a major shake up to afford Ilya Bryzgalov. If they don't, then your opening day starter may very well be Bob. Flyers have too many forwards, not enough defense, and a 22 year old + 2 AHL Goaltenders. Defense wins championships.
Every day tho, we move one day closer to losing Ilya. Flyers pick him up, and your looking at one hell of a good team next year.
Why Does Everyone Think That's It for the Heat??
The Heat's nearly magical decent from their self-proclaimed greatness couldn't of been written better by Shakespeare himself. Losing a game at home on a 20-2 run, losing two games the Heat were dominating for over 40 minuets of the game? Losing the title at home after your team gave up half-way through the 4th quarter? Self-Proclaimed King being outscored by dime-a-dozen players in the fourth quarter? Another team hoisting the trophy in your own place (it hurts Flyers fans)? Storybooks couldn't of written it better.
Everyone's quick to jump on the "Heat are Trash" bandwagon. Guess our nation has such a short attention span. Long forgotten is the fact that in the Playoffs, the Heat were 12-3 against the young, fast, and intense Philadelphia 76ers, the defending East Champion and just as talented as ever Boston Celtics, and my consideration (among many others) for the best team in the NBA during the regular season, Chicago Bulls. Facts are, Star players were shut down by Miami's defense, and Miami flat out took care of business, and couldn't be stopped all playoffs long.
What did stop Miami was one of the old school Boston Celtics teams that was arguably the deepest NBA team I've seen in my lifetime. You will hardly ever lose if you can get 27 points by one player off your bench, regardless of who your playing. Dallas assembled a team of seasoned veterans who were accustomed to playoff basketball, and that showed. Miami's 3 stars and random assortment of players didn't pay off. Yet.
I asked everyone if they thought the Heat would win the Championship this year after Lebron took his talents to South Beach. Most people (including myself) took that stance of "I don't think they can do it this year, but in a couple years, they will have a couple titles." This team has only played together for about 100 games, and they aren't going to get any worse. And remember, they decimated the Eastern Conference. By my pre-season predictions (Bulls-Celtics for the finals), they overachieved. We were all quick to forget that when they started putting up win after win in the 2nd half of the season.
Another fact is, Chris Bosh will most likely not return to this team, due to the NBA negotiations and the pending lockout. It looks like there will not be any NBA next year, and the owners as a collective whole will not let another game of basketball be played until guaranteed contracts are abolished, and the NBA reconstructs rookie salaries. In this case (and not the case with the NFL), I totally agree with the NBA Owners. While I am not fully informed on the NBA labor situation, this lockout is very similar to the NHL's just a couple years ago, which led to a season of no Hockey. Of course we will see every player disagree with money being taken away from them (abolishing guaranteed contracts and paying rookies a little less before they touch a basketball court), but ultimately, that's what's going to happen. Here's some outright robbery some players stole from NBA organizations last year.
Peja Stojakovic = 15.3 Million Salary, 8.5PPG, 2.3 Boards, 0.9 Assists
Samuel Dalembert = 13.5 Million Salary, 12PPG, 12.2 Boards, 1.2 Assists
Rashard Lewis = 20.5 Million Salary, 11.7PPG, 5.1 Boards, 1.6 Assists
Elton Brand = 15.9 Million Salary, 15 PPG, 8.3 Boards, 1.5 Assists
If you guys want some comparison; in the 2010-2011 season, Dwyane Wade made 14.2 Million, Lebron James made 14.5 Million, Kevin Durant made 6.5 Million, Derrick Rose made 5.5 Million, Kobe made around 24 Million, Tim Duncan made 18 Million. And yes, when the Sixers had Brand and Dalembert, that cost them as much as Wade and Lebron cost Miami this year.
Regardless of that, When the lockout is over, there (more than likley) will be a hard salary cap in place, which teams can not go over (which the Heat went over the current "soft" cap). And the blame has to be placed somewhere, which will likley be Bosh. He's being paid just as much as Wade and Lebron, but doesn't have half the affect on most games. I see him leaving and two solid big men coming to Miami, who can rebound in the 4th quarter, and play adequate offense.
On paper, Miami and Chicago will dominate the East. Boston is passing it's prime, and in my opinion not going to win another title anytime soon. Atlanta and Philly will have promising teams, and other teams will take shots and beat the Heat and Bulls in the future (that's why you play the game.)
If your quick to call the Miami Heat a bunch of bums and a bunch of losers, tell me what derogatory words you have for the Sixers who went 1-4 in the playoffs against this Miami Heat team, and that one win came on the shoulders of Lou Willams. The Heat are still a great team deeper than the big 3, but they were beat by a deep time who rode on amazing perimeter shooting. Give the Mavs some credit finally for how great they played beyond Dirk's great performances night in and out.
Everyone's quick to jump on the "Heat are Trash" bandwagon. Guess our nation has such a short attention span. Long forgotten is the fact that in the Playoffs, the Heat were 12-3 against the young, fast, and intense Philadelphia 76ers, the defending East Champion and just as talented as ever Boston Celtics, and my consideration (among many others) for the best team in the NBA during the regular season, Chicago Bulls. Facts are, Star players were shut down by Miami's defense, and Miami flat out took care of business, and couldn't be stopped all playoffs long.
What did stop Miami was one of the old school Boston Celtics teams that was arguably the deepest NBA team I've seen in my lifetime. You will hardly ever lose if you can get 27 points by one player off your bench, regardless of who your playing. Dallas assembled a team of seasoned veterans who were accustomed to playoff basketball, and that showed. Miami's 3 stars and random assortment of players didn't pay off. Yet.
I asked everyone if they thought the Heat would win the Championship this year after Lebron took his talents to South Beach. Most people (including myself) took that stance of "I don't think they can do it this year, but in a couple years, they will have a couple titles." This team has only played together for about 100 games, and they aren't going to get any worse. And remember, they decimated the Eastern Conference. By my pre-season predictions (Bulls-Celtics for the finals), they overachieved. We were all quick to forget that when they started putting up win after win in the 2nd half of the season.
Another fact is, Chris Bosh will most likely not return to this team, due to the NBA negotiations and the pending lockout. It looks like there will not be any NBA next year, and the owners as a collective whole will not let another game of basketball be played until guaranteed contracts are abolished, and the NBA reconstructs rookie salaries. In this case (and not the case with the NFL), I totally agree with the NBA Owners. While I am not fully informed on the NBA labor situation, this lockout is very similar to the NHL's just a couple years ago, which led to a season of no Hockey. Of course we will see every player disagree with money being taken away from them (abolishing guaranteed contracts and paying rookies a little less before they touch a basketball court), but ultimately, that's what's going to happen. Here's some outright robbery some players stole from NBA organizations last year.
Peja Stojakovic = 15.3 Million Salary, 8.5PPG, 2.3 Boards, 0.9 Assists
Samuel Dalembert = 13.5 Million Salary, 12PPG, 12.2 Boards, 1.2 Assists
Rashard Lewis = 20.5 Million Salary, 11.7PPG, 5.1 Boards, 1.6 Assists
Elton Brand = 15.9 Million Salary, 15 PPG, 8.3 Boards, 1.5 Assists
If you guys want some comparison; in the 2010-2011 season, Dwyane Wade made 14.2 Million, Lebron James made 14.5 Million, Kevin Durant made 6.5 Million, Derrick Rose made 5.5 Million, Kobe made around 24 Million, Tim Duncan made 18 Million. And yes, when the Sixers had Brand and Dalembert, that cost them as much as Wade and Lebron cost Miami this year.
Regardless of that, When the lockout is over, there (more than likley) will be a hard salary cap in place, which teams can not go over (which the Heat went over the current "soft" cap). And the blame has to be placed somewhere, which will likley be Bosh. He's being paid just as much as Wade and Lebron, but doesn't have half the affect on most games. I see him leaving and two solid big men coming to Miami, who can rebound in the 4th quarter, and play adequate offense.
On paper, Miami and Chicago will dominate the East. Boston is passing it's prime, and in my opinion not going to win another title anytime soon. Atlanta and Philly will have promising teams, and other teams will take shots and beat the Heat and Bulls in the future (that's why you play the game.)
If your quick to call the Miami Heat a bunch of bums and a bunch of losers, tell me what derogatory words you have for the Sixers who went 1-4 in the playoffs against this Miami Heat team, and that one win came on the shoulders of Lou Willams. The Heat are still a great team deeper than the big 3, but they were beat by a deep time who rode on amazing perimeter shooting. Give the Mavs some credit finally for how great they played beyond Dirk's great performances night in and out.
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