Bad Decision

There has never been a more watched, scrutinized, analyzed, criticized and every other –ized word, free agency signing than “The Decision” made by LeBron James last night. Every talking head has an opinion about it. The fascinating thing about The Decision, is that there is so many different things to have an opinion on. There are more layers to this signing than Joey in the FRIENDS episode where he puts on all of Chandler’s clothes. There is the basketball layer to the decision, the historical layer, the human layer, the 2010 Miami Heat layer, the Dan Gilbert layer, and so many other layers, it’s difficult to analyze The Decision without mentioning all of them.

First, the basketball element of this decision by LeBron. I understand his desire to put himself in the best possible situation for winning. The ever-elusive ring is what every player wants. The Heat where the safest of all basketball-related destinations he could have chose. I use the word “safest” because that’s what it is. Safe. It is not the best destination. As much as the Chicago-hater in me hates to say it, The Bulls with LeBron would have been a title favorite for years to come. With Rose, Noah, Boozer and LeBron they would have been the odds on favorite to win the NBA championship. You also have to take into account that Rose and Noah as young and still have their best years ahead of them. The Bulls would have been an absolute juggernaut and the toast of Chicago again. Miami will still be a favorite to win the title, but who are they going to surround LeBron, Wade and Bosh with? The Heat are one injury away from big problems. Hypothetically, if everybody is healthy, the Heat’s starting five (LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Mike Miller? And, maybe, Mark Titus?) doesn’t match up well with the Celtics starting five (Pierce, Allen, Garnett, Rondo and Perkins). The chemistry will have to be developed in Miami, and it may be easier said than done.

The second element of all of this is the historical element. I’ve heard numerous times about LeBron is tainting his legacy because this isn’t really his team, he is riding coattails, the all-time greats would never have done this, and so on. I agree with this, but there is one thing that bothers me. Why does everybody insist on saying “Jordan would have never done this, he would want to destroy Wade every year to prove he was better. He wouldn’t quit on his team”? I agree with the competitive part of this, but in reality, Jordan quit on his team. Twice. The baseball experiment was the first time. He left that Bulls team and tried his ego out in minor league baseball, which didn’t work out too well for either party. Then after “retiring” the second time he came back for a run with the Wizards. I fell Jordan knew all along he wasn’t done, he just didn’t want to tarnish his Bulls legacy. That’s just my anti-Jordan sentiment coming out, back to the relevant information. If you want to romanticize the all-time greats who had a competitive spirit and stuck with their teams and led them to the promise land, there is plenty of great examples: Bird, Magic, Russell, Duncan, Kobe, Scalabrine. Forgotten in this is the greats who wouldn’t sell out on their teams because it was in their nature to take “their” team to the title, not someone else’s team, even if they didn’t succeed: Stockton, Nash, Reggie, Karl Malone..oh wait, scratch that last one. My point is that a lot of these guys gave up forming a “dream team” with other superstars to carry their team on their backs, for better or worse, and we respect and remember them for it. LeBron decided not to. While we are on the subject, he will tell you otherwise because he is well-spoken and humble, believe it or not, but Reggie Miller should be included in the discussion of “all time greats” who didn’t win a ring. He was that good.

The third element of all of this is the circus that was "The Decision". Was it really necessary? Absolutely not. This would hurt his reputation and break the hearts of Clevelanders anyway, but the pain would be far less had LeBron not acted like a child and made it into a spectacle on national TV. I had a few problems with this. Number one, in reality he probably is the biggest basketball star in the world, but does he feel that much more important than everybody else that he can’t just tweet his signing with the Heat? He has to do a ESPN special? And don’t give me the charity crap. LeBron is a very, very rich man, and he is getting ready to sign a max contract. I think I heard he raised 5 million dollars for the Boys and Girls Club. That’s great for the Club, but why couldn’t he skip the agony that was The Decision, and just donate five mil? I, along with many other people, would not be near as mad right now about his TV special if he had said “I am choosing to keep my talents here in Northeast Ohio”. This was cruel, unnecessary and a train wreck to watch.

The fourth element is how drastically LeBron’s public image changed overnight. He went from being the most liked basketball player in the world, to possibly less liked than Kobe. I would have never guessed that. Instead of a interview with Jim Gray, where he referred to himself in the 3rd person, basically tore the hearts out of Cav fans, and looked like a pure narcissist, he would have been better off meeting Dan Gilbert on national TV, agreeing to a contract with Cleveland, then kicking Gilbert through a Barber Shop window and tearing up the contract, a la Shawn Michaels. At least then we could all say “wow, that was mean, but LeBron really is a badass”. Instead we were all cringing and could almost hear the city of Cleveland’s hearts breaking. This was a heel turn unlike Shawn Michaels or Hulk Hogan where we were captivated and intrigued. This was an unintentional heel turn where I think LeBron legitimately thought everybody would still love him. He was wrong.

The fifth element, no, not that God-awful Bruce Willis movie, is the Cleveland Cavaliers and how they recoved from this. First of all, I understand LeBron leaving this roster. They are not the best supporting cast. However, isn’t this the same supporting cast that he signed off on? People are saying that LeBron doesn’t owe the Cavs franchise anything. I disagree. He wanted Mo Williams. They got him. He wanted Shaq. They got him. He wanted help at mid-season. They got Jamison. He wanted his buddies to fly on the team plane. They did it. They spent, and spent, and spent to appease LeBron. Some of these moves may have backfired, but you can’t say they didn’t try. He does own something to the franchise for the support they showed him. He does owe something to the community of Cleveland. The community he promised a championship. The community that forgave his wearing a Yankees hat to Jacobs Field for the Indians-Yankees playoff series in his own backyard. The community that forgave him for quitting in the playoffs last year and still lined up by the boatload with signs that read “HOME” last week. Yes, he does own these people a fulfillment of his promise. For that reason, I applaud Dan Gilbert.

The Gilbert letter: awesome. How often do we love people for the candor? For honesty. Dan Gilbert is a businessman. He knows this franchise is in trouble without LeBron. Ticket sales, merchandise sales, and TV earnings will all be down without LeBron. He did what any owner should do, but doesn’t have the balls to. He said publicly what his fans thought privately. He got the fans on his side. The Cleveland fans have had too much heartache caused by owners in the past. Art Modell moving the Browns in the obvious one, but what about the Dolans trading two Cy Young winner in consecutive years? The Indians are still trying to recover from that PR disaster, and it shows in lacking ticket sales. Gilbert got the fans on his side. They saw an owner who was willing to go to war with Goliath, and they are behind him. I haven’t heard anybody from Cleveland saying they disagree with Dan Gilbert. He made the Cavs relevant again, and took some focus on the poor heartbroken Clevelanders. He made them hungry for a team that can beat LeBron. Touche, Dan Gilbert.

The sixth element is what could we possibly compare this to? Some people said Favre. This is nothing like the Favre saga. First of all, the Packers wanted to get rid of Favre, not the other way around. Second, Favre wasn’t born and raised in the Green Bay area, like LeBron in Cleveland. Favre has a chip on his shoulder when he plays the Packers, and rightly so. They dismissed him. For the record, they were correct in doing so, it was time to move on with Aaron Rodgers, but they still dismissed Favre. No, not Favre, the person to compare him to is none other than public enemy number one, Alex Rodriguez. Both are arguably the best in the world at what they do. Both are obviously quite full of themselves. Both choked in the playoffs when they were “the man”. Both have joined a team with a defined leader who already has won the big one. The 2009 Yankees title is Jeter’s title, much like the Heat’s imminent title will still be Wade’s title, no matter how much the media wants to spotlight LeBron.

The seventh element is the losers. Obviously the Cavs lost out, but as did the Knicks, Nets and Bulls. These teams made huge pitches to LeBron and then apparently had to wait to find out with the rest of the world where he was going to sign. Have some class LeBron. At least tell these guys, “Thanks, but no thanks”. The fan bases of these teams also lose out. Most of these teams have very solid fan bases that are loyal. Miami is an awful sports city. I went to a Heat game last year when I went to Miami for the Orange Bowl. It was against the Hawks. Two playoff teams. At least a quarter of the fans there were Hawekeye fans just there to catch the game. Very dull atmosphere compared to other NBA cities. I bet it will be bumping next year though when the bandwagon fans come off their sea-doo and go over to the arena. (Another loser, my Indiana Pacers. 2011 was supposed to be their summer with huge cap space, now that summer is shared with the Bulls, Knicks, Nets and Clippers. Not good for Indy)

Finally, I would like to say I was wrong about LeBron. I was duped. I loved the guy. I liked the way the Cavs had fun, I liked the way he plays, I liked the way he presented himself, but now I am done with him. I will be cheering for the Celtics to beat them in the East. I’ll be cheering for Kobe to dismantle the Heat in the finals. I’ll be cheering for Noah and the Bulls to out-tough him. The irony of this is, I hate the Bulls, Celtics and Lakers. But they are not my least favorite team in the NBA anymore. Congratulations, Miami. My opinion of LeBron has done a 180. I still stand by the thought that if he stayed in Cleveland and won multiple titles he would go down as the best player of all time. That thought is out the window. On the bright side, maybe more people will watch the Indians now. Or maybe Cleveland will implode and I’ll have to find a new baseball team to cheer for. Either way, baseball season is looking up.

28 Up, 28 Down.

I was in a strange position tonight. Put yourself in my shoes: In the middle of June, in a relatively meaningless game, would you cheer for your favorite team to be perfected by the opposing pitcher or cheer for a hit? I flip-flopped on this during the memorable ninth inning more than John Kerry. I figured that dilemma would be my main story coming away from this game. First base umpire Jim Joyce made sure it wasn't. Let's set the stage and dive into both of these topics.


Top of the ninth, 3-0 Tigers, Mark Grudzielanek is up for the Indians with no outs and smokes a ball to left. It looks like it could be a home run or at least a gapper. Rookie center fielder Austin Jackson comes flying across the outfield and makes a Mayes-like catch to preserve Armando Galarraga's perfecto. Unbelievable catch. As good as Dewayne Wise's catch last year in the Buehrle game in my book. One out. 59 year-old catcher Mike Redmond comes to the plate and hits a grounder to short. The shortstop could have ran it to first and still got Redmond out. Two outs. Now it gets interesting. Jason Donald comes to the plate. Donald, a recent call-up from AAA Columbus is not a great hitter. His average is at .280, but was as low as under .200 a week ago. Donald hits a chopper in between 1st and 2nd. Miguel Cabrera, the 1st baseman fields it and throws to Galarraga who is covering the bag. It is a very close play, but in this situation, any umpire is calling the runner out. Crazy Colonel Mustard-looking Jim Joyce bucks the trend and calls the runner safe. My initial reaction is mixed between sympathy for Galarraga, relief for the Indians, and letdown as a baseball lover. The one feeling I'm sure of is one of respect for Joyce for seeing the runner was obviously safe (had to be right?), and having the balls to make the call.


Here is the kicker: the runner was out! Replays showed that Donald was out by at least a half step at 1st base. I understand umping is a difficult thing to do. For those that have never worn the "blue", it is harder than it looks and it is basically a no-win situation, however, it is a job that he is hired to do, and do correctly. After seeing the replays I was in shock. The always classy and intelligent Indians announcers were in shock. The Indians announcers on STO are very realistic in their views, so it came as no surprise they felt Donald was out and Joyce royally screwed up. How could a guy mess this up? Galarraga just threw the 21st perfect game in baseball history. He signed his name in the record books, then Joyce came by with one of those big PinkPet erasers you needed in 1st grade, and erased it. He failed at his job and he failed miserably. If someone like a doctor screwed up like this, people die. If a teacher screws up this bad, he (or she) has to be sleeping with a student. If a mechanic screws up this bad, the customer's car blows up right when driving it out of the garage. This will go down as one of the all-time great umpire screw-ups. ESPN's Tim Kurkjian said it was the worst call in regular season MLB history. I agree.


After the replays were shown numerous times and the disgruntled Detroit crowd was in a frenzy, I feared for Joyce's life. Literally. I didn't think a fan would kill him, security would be ready for that. I thought Jim Leyland or Jeremy Bonderman would kill him. The Tiger's bench was livid, and rightly so. There is no way Major League Baseball can send out that same four man crew with Joyce to do the noon game tomorrow in Detroit. It could end very badly. I would like to point out that Joyce has came out and admitted his mistake after seeing the replay. That is a difficult thing for an umpire to do and I commend him on his honesty and wish him the best from here on out. However, this is a story that will be talked about for years and will be big news for the next couple of days. This could be a big spark in the argument for instant replay. I know replay may make games a whole 5-10 minutes longer, but if it avoids something like this, then I say bring it on.


After all the hoopla and controversy surrounding Joyce's call ends, I'll still have to sort out if a baseball lover and die-hard Indians fan like myself should cheer for them to be perfected, or want them to break it up. Once again, keep in mind, this is happening in June. If it is happening in a critical game, then no way I want the Indians to be perfected. If I was sitting in Comerica Park on this June night I would have been for perfection. I would want to witness history in person. I wasn't in Comerica Park. I was in my chair with my dog watching my beloved Tribe play sub-par baseball as usual. About the eighth inning, I started to contemplate my feelings on the perfecto. At the start of the eighth, I wanted the Indians to break through. Carmona was pitching outstanding but was still behind 1-0. The Tribe only needed a bloop and blast for the lead. Detroit put up two insurance runs in the eighth that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for a bad call at first by our friend Jim Joyce. So heading into the ninth it was 3-0 Detroit. The baseball purist in me wanted the perfect game. The Indians fan in me felt enough embarrassment had been felt by the 2010 Indians and just wanted them to get a hit. After Jackson's catch in center, I was cheering for the perfect game. After Redmond's lazy grounder I wanted a Jason Donald hit. I was truly in a glass case of emotion. Then came the Donald play, and I was doubly heartbroken. Poor Galarraga, who was a class act after the fact, got his night taken away, and the Indians had a chance to show they could go 28 up and 28 down, which was history in itself.


I decided my answer to this quandary would in fact be a cop out. The answer for a truly die-hard fan is: It depends on the situation. If it was 8-0 Tigers, then I cheer for the perfect game and tip my cap. If it is 1-0 Tigers then I cheer for the Indians to not only break it up, but come back and win the game. If it is 8-0 Cubs, I cheer for the Indians to score 9 runs and win, or for the Cubs pitcher to get stung by a bee on the pitching hand, swell up, and walk a guy while unable to grip the ball. Everything depends on the situation. Seeing your team being perfected through eight innings is no different. Sometimes I cheer for history, sometimes I cheer for Tribe Time. Hopefully I don't have to make this decision again for a while. Get some hits Indians.

There's a Light on in Chicago

Two things I hate: Chicago sports teams and fake, bandwagon-jumping sports fans.

These two things tend to go hand-in-hand a lot due to the Cubs, Bulls, White Sox and Bears fans who are unrealistic, annoying, and not that loyal. I understand I could catch some heat from that because growing up in Davenport, Iowa, I have come to know quite a few Chicago sports fans who are loyal, intelligent and likeable. I know some people who follow the Bulls and Bears through thick and thin. I know some who go to Wrigley and go for the game, not the ambiance and Old Style. I feel there are many more, however, who hear through facebook statuses that the Cubs won today, then proceed to go out and talk trash all night about the great Cubbies, without ever seeing a pitch thrown in that game. These are the same fans who are all about the Cubs for one week in April, and then again in October, if they are in a pennant race, that is. These are the same fans who have watched maybe seven Bulls games (those games being either the 2009 playoff series against Boston and the 2010 series against the Cavs) since Jordan left, but will be full-fledged red and black maniacs again if LeBron goes to Chicago. While we are on the subject of Chicago, research shows 9 out of 10 Chicago suburb kids at the University of Iowa suck. That is factually correct.

For all these reasons, I hate Chicago sports teams. I get almost as much satisfaction out of seeing a Cubs, Bulls or Bears loss than seeing an Indians, Pacers or Vikings win. Here is the kicker though: I love the city of Chicago. I think the city itself is awesome. The skyscrapers. The lake. The Pizza. Pre-2006 Fall Out Boy. The city of Chicago is the biggest city in the Midwest and only a couple hours from my hometown. This all crossed my mind sometime last winter when I decided to embrace NHL hockey and become a fan.

The question became: which NHL team would I support? I had a Mighty Ducks Starter jacket when I was younger, but that was because I love Emelio and Charlie Conway instead of the actual team in Anaheim. Followed the Avalanche for a while, but that was only because my Mom's boyfriend was from Colorado. I decided then and there it was time to embrace Chicago a little bit, and become a Blackhawks fan. I went to Blackhawk College in Illinois, my roommate's step-dad became a Blackhawks fan a few years ago and follows them obsessively, and they are close by, so why not?

I learned a few things about the Blackhawks quickly. Their logo and uniforms are badass. I knew this already, but it still helped foster my fanhood. I learned their fans seemed to be more intelligent about their team. Maybe "intelligent" isn't the right word, maybe it is "realistic". The Blackhawks have good solid fans. I almost got an Iowa Wrestling vibe from Blackhawks fans. They knew things were going to happen before they did. I like this in fans. I learned they were a young, fast, exciting team. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Big Buff. These are stars that are fun to watch. I also learned that they haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1961. I don't care about the Cubs epic losing streak, although it makes me happy, but the Blackhawks lack of a title reminds me of my Indians, Vikings and Pacers. I like loyal fan bases.

The 2009 NHL playoffs were when I came around and started watching on a regular basis. I watched most of the games, and then this season I even tuned in for 8-10 regular season games. I cheered for Patrick Kane in the Olympics. I've been very into the playoffs this year and their exhilarating run to the Stanley Cup Finals. I will be watching the Finals with anticipation and will be emotionally invested in every game. So why does this make me any different than the fake sports fans I love to hate?

Reason number one is that I know, and will openly admit, that I don't like hockey like I do baseball, basketball or football, and will probably never follow it as close. Sure I'll be let down if Philly wins the cup, but not like in 2007 when the Red Sox beat the Indians or when the Vikings lost to the Saints last year. I really like the Blackhawks. I love the Indians, Pacers and Vikings. I know this and will admit it to anybody.

Reason number two is that I am waiting 7 years until I consider myself an actual Blackhawks die-hard fan. I feel like I need to earn my fanhood. This is no weekend courtship. Seven years make for common law marriage. If I'm still following hockey in 2016, which is 7 years from when I began my Blackhawk fandom, then I will consider myself a true Blackhawks fan. This 2010 playoff run has been a wild one, and I'm happy I'm on the bandwagon for it. I plan on wearing a Blackhawks t-shirt on Saturday and cheering on the team for game one. My interest is hockey has not been higher since Mighty Ducks 2 came out. If they go on and win the Cup, I won't consider this as ending my fan losing streak, at least for six more years. The Indians, Vikes or Pacers have to do that. I'll remain the most tourtured sports-fan born after 1985.

Reason number three is that I'm not an idiot like most Chicago sports fans. Sorry guys.

10 for 10

The Pacers didn't have any luck in the Lottery Tuesday night. I didn't expect they would, but it is still a gut punch to see the Pacers sitting with the 10th pick due to their inexplicable 11-5 run to end the season. Such memorable wins we had. Beating a Cleveland team without LeBron, then the next night coming home to beat the juggernaut New Jersey Nets. Ahh, quite a run, one I will never forget. I have never cheered against a team I like that hard since, well, since way back in 2009 when I sometimes secretly cheered against Iowa Basketball in hopes Todd Lickleiter would get canned, which worked out. But, before that I didn't cheer against my teams. It showed Tuesday night that my cheering against the Pacers, for the good of the organization mind you, was the correct thing to do. Now instead of someone like John Wall, Evan Turner, or Derrick Favors to play alongside Danny Granger, the Pacers are looking at a player the caliber of the rest of the team, aka a role player. So without further ado, I look at 10 possible players who the Pacers may pick with the 10th pick, assuming they don't trade it for someone like Adam Morrison. At the end I'll rank the 10 players in the order I would like to see them in a Pacers uniform.

1) Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake Forest)- Aminu falling to the 10th pick is unlikely, but possible. I didn't see Aminu play too much this year, but his numbers (15.8 ppg and 10.7 Reb/game) were pretty respectful, even in the weak ACC. Aminu is extremely athletic, and he has a lot of growing to do in terms of skills. Aminu could be a player in the mold of a Marvin Williams or a more skilled Jamario Moon. He lacks a shooting touch from the outside, but his energy on the offensive glass helps him contribute. I wouldn't mind seeing him in the blue and yellow, but it seems far fetched.

2) Xavier Henry (Kansas) - I'm pretty high on Xavier Henry. I thought he played well for Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament, and in their loss to UNI in the big dance. Granted, he didn't have as huge of freshman year as some expected, but I think if he was on a less talented team than Kansas he would have had the ball more and put up bigger numbers. He still put up 13.4 ppg on a team that was ranked #1 most of the year. Henry also seems like a good kid, which is of course what the Pacers are looking for. No more Tinsleys or Artests for Indy. Henry's body seems NBA ready right now, his ball handling and outside shooting will need some work, but I could see him and Granger being a very good 1-2 combo. I could also see him being Brandon Rush 2.0, which is a nightmare for Pacers fans.

3) Patrick Patterson (Kentucky) - I've seen Patterson everywhere from Pick 8 to the late teens. He was a great player in college, but actually saw his numbers decline in his junior year. I contribute this decline in points and rebounds per game last season to his maturity. Patterson saw that with Wall, Cousins and Bledsoe in the rotation there were less shots to go around. I found his acceptance of his role to be a good trait and a possible enticing quality for the Pacers. Patterson could be a big help inside for Roy Hibbert and his maturity and college experience could help him be a contributor right away.

4) Greg Monroe (Georgetown) - Monroe is a very attractive pick. He has a great basketball IQ, he passes extremely well for a big man, and he played for a Georgetown team that had guards who didn't utilize him enough. The big knock on Monroe is that he sometimes lags in the hustling department. Some people think he loses focus sometimes, just like our old buddy Brandon Rush. While we are on the subject, I would like to state I loved the Brandon Rush pick two years ago. I still think Rush could flick a switch and figure out he needs to work harder and has potential to be a really good NBA player, but this hasn't happened yet and Pacer fans are frustrated. I think Monroe would benefit immensely from working with Roy Hibbert. They are both Georgetown guys, and although their game is a little different, Hibbert has shown a strong work ethic and could rub off on Monroe.

5) Gordon Hayward (Butler) - This pick scares me to death. I feel like larry Bird is sitting in his office right now, calling all the Butler boosters trying to sell season tickets if they draft Hayward. I really like Hayward and hope he has a good NBA career, but I don't think he is 10th pick material. The white guy from Indiana who led Butler on a Cinderella run is frightening to me. Hayward showed he can compete with the big boys, but he also showed he has a lot of work to do both in terms of basketball and in terms of getting his body NBA ready. Please don't pick Hayward. Maybe trade T.J Ford or Solomon Jones for like the 16th or 17th pick and draft him there if you want to sell tickets. Don't waste the 10th pick.

6) Donatas Motiejunas (International) - Let's be honest, I don't know anything about any European players not named Josh Childress or Ricky Rubio. This guy is being hyped pretty hard. If he becomes the next Dirk or circa-1999 Peja, then he would be a good pick, but the Pacers saw what happens with hyped Europeans with the Saranus Jasikevicius disaster.

7) Cole Aldrich (Kansas) - I'm not an Aldrich fan. I know some people, like Bill Simmons, think he will be a 15 and 8 guy in the pros, but I'm not seeing it. We saw Jordan Eglseder from UNI play as good or better than Aldrich in the tournament, and Eglseder looks like Kane, so that's not a good sign for Aldrich. I just don't see his game transferring to the NBA very well. In my opinion he is more Josh McRoberts than Rik Smits.

8) Ed Davis (North Carolina) - Davis to the Pacers is a popular mock scenario. I'm not big on Davis. After the national title year, he was supposed to keep UNC relevant. He did not. He looks skinny and over matched against good players. With that being said, I felt the same about Roy Hibbert, and now I'm very happy with Hibbert's progress. If Davis can fill out a bit and get more of a face up game, he could be real good. Until he does that, I'm not sold on him.

9) Avery Bradley (Texas) - I really like Bradley. I think his potential is as high as anybody not named Wall in this draft. I could easily see him being the Brandon Jennings or Ty Lawson of the 2010 Draft. He is only a freshman, so he is young, but he has talent and he has a lot of it. His is great defensively and explosive offensively. His freshman season left something to be desired, but since when has someone not named Kevin Durant not been dragged down by the terrible in-game coaching of Rick Barnes?

10) Ekpe Udoh (Baylor) - Udoh is an enigma. He is athletic as all get out. He was a cornerstone of the team that brought Baylor to prominence. He averaged 3.7 blocks a game last year, which is ridiculous. He is 23 this month. His defense is good, when he wants to play it. I really would not be surprised by anything Udoh does in the pros, be it good or bad.

My Rankings in terms of who I want the Pacers to pick (1 being the highest)

10) Hayward

9) Motiejunas

8) Aldrich

7) Aminu (because I don't see him being available under any circumstances)

6) Davis

5) Patterson

4) Bradley

3) Udoh

2) Monroe

1) Xavier Henry

Weight of a Mistake

Tonight is the biggest game in Cleveland Cavaliers history. I don’t care that it is only the second round and that they have been to the East finals the last two years and the NBA finals the year before that, tonight is D-Day as far as Cleveland is concerned. Everybody knows I’m a fever-pitch Indians fan, so I understand the urgency and the sense of dread a Cleveland sports fan gets when seeing a potential heartbreak in the making, like tonight.

Every writer with any inkling of NBA knowledge has written something in the last two days about the importance of this game or the Cavalier collapse in game five. This isn’t revolutionary thinking on my part. I do think there are people out there like myself who are Indians fans or Browns fans who don’t necessarily love the Cavs, but understand the importance this team has in Cleveland right now. This is a cursed city. The public schools suck. The economy sucks. Downtown is in decline. I got lost downtown once, was only a couple blocks from Jacobs Field and was scared for my life. I was so low on gas I had to stop at a gas station, prepaid for $5 of gas, didn’t pump the last 30 cents where it slows down because I was already asked for money twice and was frightened. The Browns suck. My Indians suck, as evidenced by the 10,000 fan a game average. The other Cleveland poster boy, Grady, is sucking real hard right now. The two things the city of Cleveland has going for it is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Cavs. I’ve see the giant “WITNESS” billboard. Cleveland is a Cavs town right now.

LeBron is Cleveland right now. The guy is only 25, so his legacy still has a lot of time to be built, but this Cleveland/Boston series could be his Jordon-over-Ehlo moment, or it could be his Griffey to the Reds moment. One thing is for sure, this has to be LeBron’s moment. Mike Brown has won the award for the “Worst coaching in the 2010 playoffs”, although he can appeal his victory, and give the award back to Mike Woodson by doing something crazy in game six: Give the Fu**ing ball to LeBron.

Let’s go back to game five. A couple problems I had with this pile laid by the Cavs. One, why did LeBron only take 13 shots? Kobe, Iverson, and Jordan were and are masters of inefficiency, but they also were willing to put the team on their shoulders and take the shots. They may have taken 30 shots, but they got their points. LeBron needs to adopt this attitude. He needs to be the man in game six, not the 13-shots-per-game LeBron from game 5. Celtics announcer Sean Grande summed it up nicely when he said that LeBron looked like a college student who showed up for his final, got the test, and realized he didn’t study any of the answers. LeBron better have studied on Wednesday.

The other problem I have is where is Antwan Jamison? Nine points and six boards in 31 minutes? I hate to say it, oh how I hate to say it, but Cleveland would have been better off with trading J.J. Hixson for Troy Murphy. Hixson, who was supposed to be their wing-mate in waiting, only played four minutes in game five, yet they wouldn’t trade him to Indiana for Murphy. Seemed like a smart move at the time, but now it looks like Murphy is the better player than Jamison, and Mike Brown has decided Hixson is not ready for the big time.
Also, Mike Brown, you’re telling me Delonte West and Anderson Varejao are only going to play 26 minutes COMBINED, while Anthony Parker and Shaq are going to play 67 minutes combined?!? Why is this happening? I understand Parker played alright Tuesday night, and statistically so did Shaq, but West and Varejao could do much better, while playing up tempo against an aging Celtics team, and not clogging up the lane like Shaq who only grabbed four boards despite never being more than five feet from the basket. While we are on the rest of the Cavs, Mo Williams better show up at some point tonight. His playoffs the last two years have been very T-Macish.

These game five failures leave us with game six. The biggest game in Cavaliers history, and a game that could potentially change the NBA forever. First things first: will David Stern have the refs favor the classic Celtics or the face of the League in LeBron? Maybe he wants LeBron to leave Cleveland for the lights of New York or Chicago so the refs will be Celtic-friendly. Maybe he just can’t resist a possible LeBron vs. Kobe finals so they will be Cav-friendly. Ah, who am I kidding, they will call it right down the middle, like always. Right Phoenix?

The second question, and the biggie in the minds of Cleveland fans: Will this be LeBron’s last game as a Cav? I don’t think so but many people do. Chicago seems more likely every day. Although if it meant Deng or LeBron they might stick with Deng like they did a few years ago instead of going after Kobe. That worked out Chicago. New York is an obvious possible destination. The Nets new Russian owner just got approved. Cuban always throws money around and is not happy with his teams stink bomb from the first round. Maybe Ted DiBiase will buy a franchise and lure him with the money, money, money, money, who knows. There are a lot of potential suitors for LeBron. We will find out soon enough what type of man he is. If LeBron blows this series and flees Cleveland I will not be a LeBron supporter anymore. I’m telling you right now, I won’t like him anymore. I've always been a huge LeBron supporter. Some of this stems from the fact that I don't like Michael Jordan and want someone to take his title as "Best Ever". Some of it comes from me having a long subscription to SLAM magazine as a kid and following King James since he was like 15 years old (This also had the unfortunate ide effect of me being a Sebastian Telfair fan for a few years). Some of this stems from me liking the city of Cleveland, and liking the fact his teamates like him. Whatever the reason, I will turn on LeBron faster than Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Janetty if he sells out on Cleveland after not delivering a title. It says something about a player to spend his whole career with the same franchise. If LeBron blows this series and stays, that tell me he has taken some responsibility and wants to get Cleveland a championship. This series will tarnish his legacy a lot more if he doesn’t return to Cleveland. If he returns, then the Cavs, and the Cav fans can regroup and focus on next year. The obvious answer is just to come out tonight and win this game, then go to Cleveland and win game seven. That would let the LeBron offseason questions sit on the shelf for another couple weeks.

For all the complaining I and everybody else has done about LeBron’s supporting staff and Mike Brown, game six is LeBron’s make or break. This game is so important to the Cavalier franchise, Cleveland, and the NBA in general, that I am going to go out on a limb and say it is the most important round two game in NBA history. The Celtics are playing with a lot of confidence, and let’s be honest; this is not some scrub team. They are only two years removed from a title, and have three potential hall of famers on the team. Cleveland needs to bring it at the TD Garden tonight. LeBron has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Everybody is wondering if he will take the next step and put Cleveland in the Eastern finals, or if he will be bombarded with questions all summer if he can win the big one. What are you gonna do LeBron? The world is watching. We are all witnesses.

Start Watching

I had an argument with a co-worker way back during the Winter Olympics about which was more exciting to watch: NBA basketball or the ski jump. I was obviously on the side of the NBA. I'm a huge NBA fan and could care less about the ski jump. His resolution was to call his old roommate who was a "huge basketball fan" about which was more fun to watch. His friends response was something along the lines of "well both are boring if you watch them for more than five minutes so it's about the same". I immediately dropped the NBA vs. Ski jump battle, and began arguing that this guy is defiantly not a "huge" basketball fan. To be honest though, I don't think this guy is alone.

There is something about the NBA that turns Midwesterners, and more specifically Iowans, off in 2010. College basketball has a much larger following. I can't blame anybody for loving March Madness because I think March Madness is everything that is right in sports. However, how can people who grew up playing basketball, grew up in Jordan Country (or in my case Reggie Country), and love college basketball not be entertained and interested in the best players in the world going head-to-head for the ever-coveted ring? I have done little else in the last couple weeks than watch the playoffs and I have complied a list of 20 reasons why any average basketball fan Iowan should be watching the NBA playoffs.

20) Cavs Throwback Uniforms - The dark red road uniforms the Cavs have been wearing are just awesome. You don't see many teams bringing out uniforms like that for the playoffs usually, but the Cavs had the balls to do it, and while wearing them killed Boston in game three at the Garden. Maybe alternate uni's will become more widely used from here on out. We can only hope so in the Cavs case.

19) Ron Artest - Ron Artest is a polarizing figure. I've often considered, and still may, writing an entire column about the enigma that is Ron Artest. I loved him as a Pacer and thought he had endless potential if he ever, EVER, got his head on straight, or at least straighter than it is. Ron had been said to have lost a step. Everybody said that, except Ron Artest. Artest came out in that Lakers/OKC series and looked like Dennis Rodman with a jump shot, even if that shot usually didn't go in. Artest had ratcheted up his defense in this postseason and he helped the Lakers beat the Thunder with his defense of Kevin Durant. His hair was wild. He gets his teammates respect even though he shoots whenever he wants to, without caring what Kobe thinks. My theory is that even Kobe Bryant is scared to question Ron Artest for shooting a 3, even if Rom is 2-16 for the game. I would be.

18) Coaching Adjustments - An NBA playoff series is really a chess game. Teams make adjustments game-to-game, quarter-to-quarter and even possession-to-possession. How will we work the ball inside to get Dwight Howard in foul trouble? How can we slow down Steve Nash? How can we keep LeBron from dropping 50 on us? Things change so much between games one and two in every series. The master of adjustments is Greg Popovich. If the Spurs are trailing by 14 in the third quarter of game one, Pop may see something that could get them an edge, but not a big enough edge to change the outcome of the game, so he waits til game two to implement it. Pop is a adjustment genius. The collective intelligence of the Spurs, which all stems from Popovich, is what makes them fun to watch.

17) Role players - The playoffs are the time to see when which role players fill their roles when the pressure is on. Some try and shoot too much (Ron-Ron, Vince) and some fill their role to perfection (George Hill, John Salmons). These unsung heroes make the playoffs a team-centered thing that can't be won by a team with one great player.

16) Alpha-Dog battles - We saw this being demonstrated in the game 4 debacle in Oklahoma City. Pau Gasol wanted the ball, so Kobe gave it to him. Then gave it to him again and again. Dwight Howard complained last year about not getting enough touches even though Hedo Turkoglu was carrying the team in the final minutes. Some of the Celtics seems to take offense to Rajon Rondo being anointed the best player in Green. Team drama is always fun to see, especially if it involves the Lakers or Celtics.

15) Oklahoma City Thunder - This young team captured the hearts of NBA fans nationwide in the first round. It was very reminiscent of the 2007 Warriors team, except that the 2010 Lakers were better than the 2007 Mavs, and the 2010 Thunder were incredibly young. A young, fearless team, like the Thunder, taking on a title-defending veteran-led team and giving them all they can handle is one of the most exciting things to see in sports.

14) Jerry Sloan - When will Sloan get the appreciation he deserves? It better be on his first time on the Hall of Fame Ballot. I understand he has never won a championship, but he gets more out of his team and his system than any coach in NBA history. He had Stockton and Malone for so long that when they left many people felt the Jazz would be insignificant for years to come. Then he took Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer and turned them into the new Stockton and Malone and knocked off the more talented Denver Nuggets in round one without two starters. Sloan has a hand in every Utah win and still gets none of the publicity.

13) Guys playing through injuries - There are some pretty minor injuries that put people on the DL during the regular season. This isnt the case in the playoffs. We don't know how serious LeBron's elbow injury was, but he kept on playing. Manu Ginobili looks ridiculous, but he is still driving the lane with reckless abandon. We saw Brandon Roy make a Willis Reed-like return in game three of the Portland/Phoenix series. These guys, and other injured stars, gut out injuries in the postseason. I'm not sure the fans appreciate that these guys just got done playing 82 games of up-and-down basketball, banging bodies three or four nights a week, and are now selling out their bodies for the team. We rag on players for being sissies a lot, but sometimes forget the times they play through an injury.

12) Taking The Bumps And Bruises - This is for the fans who have no horse in the race. This is for Pacer fans, Raptor fans, Kings fans, Clippers fans, and all of those other tortured fan bases that haven't seen their team as a contender in a long while. Watching these games and the passion that goes into them will make it all the sweeter when your team finally makes their playoff run...I hope.

11) Big Shots - Who doesn't love a buzzer beater? The fourth quarter of NBA playoff games is basketball at it's absolute finest. This is when the best in the world truly shine and show who has the crunch time gene and who doesn't. Robert Horry had it. Reggie Miller had it. Kobe Bryant has it. LeBron seems to be just on the cusp of having it. Dirk? No so much.

10) TD Garden floor - The Boston Celtic's home floor is classic. It may not be the old Boston Garden parquet floor, but it is still a distinct look. Watching playoff games in Boston makes it seem like real playoff basketball.

9) Reggie Miller Announcing - Ok, Ok. This happens all season, and I have an obvious bias, but Reggie is a good announcer and he knows his stuff. Just admit it.

8) Upsets - Nuggets over Sonics. Warriors over Mavericks. Spurs over Mavericks. The Hawks almost pulled one off in 2008. The Bucks almost pulled one off this year. First round upsets in the NBA playoffs are always memorable. They may not hold the same aura and prestige of a bracket-busting March Madness upset, but they are surprising and heart-wrenching all the same.

7) Last hurrah teams - The Spurs and Celtics are the classic examples of this in 2010. The Spurs were written off as title contenders in April. Now? I don't care if Phoenix is up 3-0 in the series right now, nobody wants to play the Spurs. The Celtics were likewise left for dead. They came out in round one, much like the Spurs, and dominated with veteran led toughness. These teams may not have much left in the tank, but it is interesting to see them making one more run at a title before they are disbanded.

6) Good Guys Going for Rings on the Suns - The Suns have captured some hearts, much like the Thunder but for completely different reasons. The Thunder's youth was their calling card. With the Suns they have some veterans who are still looking for that first ring. Steve Nash and Grant Hill seem like legitimately good guys. Nash turned down a contending team and money to stay in Phoenix. Hill was once thought of as the heir to Jordan, 10 years of injuries later and here he is, being a defensive stopper and scoring when the spot presents itself. You also have Jason Richardson who toiled in Golden State for years and now has a legitimate chance for a finals appearance. It would make me very happy to see Nash and Hill hugging in June with confetti falling down on them.

5)Best in the world - Remember back in March when you watched the final four? Remember how many bad plays and missed shots we saw in the final four matchup between Butler and Michigan State? I'm not going to pretend that I didn't enjoy every minute of that game, because I love basketball whether it is college or professional, but those bad plays are not as common in the NBA. These guys are the best in the world at playing basketball. They are sometimes accused of coasting through games, but I think it is just because they make things like jump shots look so easy. These guys are so good that we sometimes forget how good they are until it is playoff time and they are going back and fourth with each other in the final minutes.

4) Nostalgia - The NBA playoffs bring back memories. 15 years ago today I remember sitting in my Grandma's kitchen and watching Reggie Miller score 8 points in 8 seconds to stun the Knicks. I remember wishing the Sonics would shock the world by beating the Bulls. I remember Reggie marching the Pacers to the finals only to lose to the Lakers. I remember LeBron dismantling the Pistons in crunch time a few years ago. These games help me remember some good moments from past playoffs. I spent a lot of time as a kid watching the playoffs, I can't turn my back on Geoff version 1997 and not watch these can I?

3) Wild home crowds - A big knock on the NBA from college basketball fans is the lack of crowd enthusiam. I know this is true in some cases, but sometimes a playoff crowd can rise to the occasion. I have only been to one playoff game in person and that was in old Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, and that crowd was pumped. Oklahoma City fans showed what a 2010 crowd can do to inspire their team. The Jazz crowd in Utah should be loud as ever tomorrow night against the Lakers. These passionate NBA crowds can lift a team to a win and scare a ref into a call. The passion some NBA fans show even get the viewer at home jacked up. Just ask anybody who watched that Oklahoma City series.

2) LeBron - LeBron James is unreal. He was put on this planet for one reason - to play basketball. His teammates get a lot of heat for sucking in the playoffs, which they have done, but let's be honest; Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao are no Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman or Horace Grant. Antwan Jamison has been playing decent so far, but this team so obviously goes as LeBron goes. Is this his last year in Cleveland? I don't think so, but it could be, and Clevelanders know it. This team and this fan base has everything riding on this season, on one man's shoulders. Don't forget, LeBron is only 25 years old. Most 25 year olds, like yours truly, have no idea what to do with their lives. LeBron has an entire city, an entire state, an entire worldwide following expecting him to deliver a championship. This isn't anything new to him either. He has had these expectations since he was about 16 years old. Too many people are quick to jump on LeBron for what he hasn't done (win a title) than what he has done. He has two consecutive MVPs. He has led Cleveland to the number #1 overall seed. His teamates love him, unlike other basketball Gods Kobe and MJ, and the fans and media love him. A lot of people are jumping on the Magic bandwagon again after they have demolished the Bobcats and the Hawks through seven games, but I wouldn't be so quick to discount King James, because when he is on there is nobody better than him in the world.

1)History In The Making - Remember that nostalgia argument? That the playoffs bring back old memories? The flip side of that is, they also make new memories for those smart enough to watch them. I have a lot of lasting memories just from the first two rounds. The Spurs using their veteran moxy to knock off the Mavs. The Oklahoma City youngsters giving the Lakers all they could handle. LeBron coming out after a loss and beating up on Chicago and Boston. Deron Williams making his case for best point guard in the league. Steve Nash getting nine assists in the first quarter against Portland. The Bucks stealing three games from Atlanta. I could go on and on, but the point it that the NBA playoffs are constantly writing history. Just like March Madness, you can never tell when a game or a series will be one for the ages. Last year's finals look lopsided in retrospect, but those who watched know the Magic really outplayed the Lakers in three of the first four games. This is the kind of history and memories you get from watching the playoffs. Wouldn't it be nice to look back in 30 years and tell your kids you watched the playoffs the first time LeBron won a title? Or to say you saw when the Thunder were becoming THE Thunder? Or to tell them you watched as Steve Nash took HIS team to the finals when many wrote them off months if not years ago? This is what sports is all about: seeing history being made before our very eyes.

Phil Jackson: A Study in Over-ratedness

Overrate – to rate, estimate, or value too highly

Phil Jackson is the most overrated coach in NBA history. I am sick and tired of hearing about Phil Jackson being the greatest coach of all time. Phil Jackson is probably a good poker player...he knows when he has a good hand, and he knows when to fold. I also find him to be a certifiable quack. Here's the thing, name me one time, ONE TIME, in the playoffs where you watched a Bulls or Lakers Jackson-coached team and felt like Jackson outcoached the other coach. I certainly can't think of one. Jackson coaches the Spurs in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007 and he maybe makes it out of the West and wins two titles. Popovich won four. Let's go back and figure out where this "Jackson is the Zen-master/greatest coach ever!!” stuff started.

Summer 1984 - the Bulls select Michael Jordan. Obviously, 95% of basketball people feel Jordan is the best ever. Jordan probably, at current time (ask me again when LeBron has three rings), is the greatest basketball player ever. It pains me to say that, because I personally have no love for Jordan. I think he is a competition-addicted jerk who happened to have been put on this earth to be a dick to people and play basketball. He did both incredibly well. So, Jordan is a Bull and starts his assault on the record books. It shouldn't have been a surprise he was so good, so soon He was coming off being the Naismith Player of the Year at North Carolina. (Note to Larry Bird: Not all UNC players that won player of the year should be a lottery pick, especially if they are white, slow, and undersized).

Before the 87-88 season, the Bulls got Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen. I’ve always felt Pippen is one of the most underrated players ever. Jordan got the pub, Pippen got the steals and boards. Many people argue that Pippen was nothing without Jordan. Remember when Jordan "retired"? Look at Pippen's stat line that year (22.0 pts, 8.7 reb, 5.6 ast, 2.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game, while shooting 49.1% from the field and a career-best 32% from threes, First team All-NBA, finished 3rd in MVP voting), and don’t forget he averaged 12,6,5, and 1.5 steals for the 1999 Portland team that should have went to the finals.

Back to the Bulls. 1987-1988 they got 50 wins and went to the Eastern Conference Semis. 88-89 they get Cartwright, win 47 games and lose 4-2 in the Eastern Conference finals to Detroit. Then, Boom. Coaching change. Phil is the man at the helm. Anybody who tells me Doug Collins couldn’t have taken this CONTINUALLY IMPROVING team to the finals is drunk. Anyway, Phil comes in; they get Stacey King and BJ Armstrong and lose to Detroit in the Eastern Finals again. Everybody knows what happened in the 89-90 season. Jordan won MVP, his 5th scoring title and his first NBA championship. The “triangle offense”, designed by Tex Winter, NOT Phil Jackson was in full effect. I’m sure many of AAU coaches used a form of this offense first, but they called it, “let’s have out best player do most of the ball handling and shooting and let him go one-on-one a lot”. Is it smart to run with Jordan? Yes. Smart with Kobe? Yes. A brilliant basketball scheme? Hardly.

So Phil and the Bulls win three straight rings, Jordan leaves, Pippen is the man. Scottie played great these years, as shown by the stats I presented earlier, but they couldn’t get past the Eastern Conference Semis running the genius Triangle offense without Jordan. The great Phil has seemingly lost control of his team a little bit. Pippen didn’t even want to take the game-winning shot which led to the infamous Kukoch incident. Here is a mystery of Phil I’ve always wondered…he is considered great for having great relationships with his players, what the hell happened when Jordan left? A lot of whining and bitching happened in Chicago. That’s what happened.

Jordan comes back at the end of the 94-95 season, and is in tip-top playing shape by the time the 95-96 season rolled around. The Bulls also acquired the four-time defending rebound champion and first-team All-NBA defensive player Dennis Rodman. Many people praise Jackson for his handling of Rodman. I feel everybody forgets that Rodman won championships with Detroit, had almost a father-son relationship with coach Chuck Daily, and was the FOUR TIME DEFENDING REBOUNDING CHAMPION! People act like Phil inherited a outcast delinquent, crazy-haired idiot who couldn’t play a lick of basketball or get along with anybody. That is false. Rodman had won before pretty much everywhere he went, even though San Antonio didn’t win a title with him, and I have found this strange relationship between winning, and notorious head-cases being well-behaved. Jordan scoring 30 a game and winning titles held Rodman in check, not Phil Jackson.

So Jordan is back, Rodman and Pippen are happy because they are winning, Chicago has the deepest bench in the league led by Toni Kukoch, and they win three straight titles again. This is about as shocking as LeBron’s high school team winning the state title. Any homeless person off the street could have coached those teams to a title. (I say homeless person, because Jim O’Brian has a home somewhere in the Indianapolis suburbs I assume, so that counts him out.) Jordan and Pippen were two of the best 10 players in the league, with Jordan head and shoulders above anybody else.

Jordan leaves after the 97-98 season, and here is a surprise…so does Phil. This is like the college coach (Calapari) who leaves the school with recruiting penalties and an empty cupboard. Better not try and take a non-championship team and build a winner. We’ll leave that for other people. In that same 97-98 season, the Los Angeles Lakers won 61 games and went to the Western Conference finals with Shaq leading the way and becoming the most dominant force in basketball.

That 98-99 season was shortened by a lockout, but the Lakers were coming into their own with Shaq being the best player in basketball and Kobe quietly becoming the new MJ. The Lakers were no doubt on their way to being the elite NBA team….Seems like a good time for Phil to swoop in. I imagine the call went something like this…”Is Kobe the best swingman in the NBA yet? So the triangle offense works with him? Nobody can stop Shaq? Can I sleep during games and still win them? Ok, you got yourself a deal!” Phil Jackson is a Laker.

2000, 2001, 2002 the Lakers are NBA champions. Phil has won nine rings now. All rings he won was with the best player in the NBA, whether it be Jordan, or the Shaq/Kobe teams, which really, either could be considered the best in the game. 2003 saw some tensions coming to the surface in L.A. Tensions bubbled up between Kobe and Shaq and between Kobe and Phil. The Lakers did not reach the finals, losing the San Antonio. The 2003-2004 team was supposed to be the greatest team in NBA history when the Lakers acquired Karl Malone and Gary Payton. This didn’t really work out for Phil and the Lakers as they coasted to the finals, only to be physically dominated by the better coached Detroit Pistons team led by Larry Brown. This loss was apparently too much, and Phil called it quits. He likely knew Shaq was going to be shipped out of town, which he was to Miami.

Jackson took a year off to regroup and returned to the Lakers in the 2005-06 season, only to lose in the first round of the playoffs. In 2006-07 they did the same, losing in the first round. By the 2007-08 season, the Lakers had retooled and were once again loaded with talent. They eventually won the West, but lost in the finals to Boston where Phil was outcoached by Doc Rivers. Congratulations Phil, you were the first coach to ever be outcoached by Doc Rivers, and that includes Vinny Del Negro.

2008-09 was when the Lakers got sick of losing and got Odom and Kobe on the same page. Kobe had a chip on his shoulder averaging 25, 5 and 4.6 for the season. The emergence of Trevor Ariza, Andrew Bynum, and Sasha Vujacic helped fuel the Lakers through the playoffs. Derek Fisher also ran a tight ship at the point guard, and the mid-season acquisition of Pau Gasol put the Lakers in a league of their own in regards to team talent. The Lakers did in fact capture the NBA title last year beating Orlando 4-1 in the finals, although many felt Orlando outplayed the Lakers in three of the first four games, just didn’t make the shots when it mattered, even though they had them. DO NOT tell me this is a sign of good coaching that the Lakers won these games while being outplayed. The Magic had the plays drawn up to beat the Lakers, just missed some timely shots. That’s luck, not coaching.

So here we are again in 2010 with the Lakers as the favorites to win the title. Phil is going for his 11th title. Impressive number, but not so impressive when you think of how he won those titles. The front offices of Chicago and Los Angeles deserve a lot of the credit, and the parents of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaq deserve most of it by giving their sons super-human basketball skills. Phil will go down as one of the greatest coaches of all time. His resume says this is true, however, a true basketball fan should recognize him for what he is: an overrated coach who was in the right place at the right time, coaching teams that 98% of NBA coaches would have won the title with.

The Lakers will likely win this series against Oklahoma City either tomorrow night in OKC or Sunday in L.A., but these young Thunder and Scotty Brooks have given him more than he can handle. It is a shame because the Thunder have taken me on a wild ride this last week or two. I haven’t enjoyed a series this much in a long time. ESPN writer Bill Simmons made a good point when he asked why it took Phil five games to figure out Russell Westbrook had been running Fisher ragged and he needed to have Kobe guard him. If L.A. people say he did this to save Kobe’s legs the first few games, then why didn’t he do it right away, sweep the series, and save his legs for a week while waiting for their second round opponent? Popovich would have.
Rumors are placing Phil Jackson in New York or Chicago next season, depending on where LeBron, Wade, and Bosh end up. Is it a surprise that Jackson is trying to cut and run from L.A. with Kobe starting to show his age, and the best player in the world (LeBron) coming into the prime of his career? Absolutely not.

I don’t mean to say Phil is a bad coach. I personally think he is nothing special, but he has won 10 titles. If this means his greatest attribute is that he is smart enough to not try and micro-manage people like Kobe, Jordan and Shaq, then so be it. He isn’t horrible. He is, however, overrated. To say Phil Jackson is a better coach than people like Popovich, Larry Brown, or Jerry Sloan is blasphemy. Phil Jackson needs to inherit a team like the 2010 Kings and take them to the promise land before I will be convinced he is anything but a good businessman who gets himself in situations where he has to do little work and just give the ball to the greatest player in the NBA. Zen is for monks and hippies, not basketball players.

Spring Preview/Review

It is that special time of year that sees each major sport (sorry, I'm excluding hockey, and if you want to talk NASCAR...shoot yourself) in a critical part of the year. The NFL draft is going on. The MLB season is about 15 games deep and teams are starting to make impressions. The NBA playoffs are underway, or as the Pacers call it "the offseason". And college football teams are having spring games and basketball teams are figuring out who they are losing to the NBA, or in Iowa's case, to MVC schools. With all that action going on, it is time for me to give my thoughts on only my teams. I plan on doing a full MLB early impressions column soon, and I'm going to hold off a couple weeks on the Iowa football and basketball previews because I want to see what Fran McCaffery does with recruiting this spring.


Vikings -

The Vikings draft has been real confusing to me. I understand the trade of the first round pick to Detroit, it has financial benefits to the Vikes, but I was under the impression we were going to try and take someone like Jimmy Claussen or Taylor Mays. Both were available. Claussen may be a douche, but at least he has potential to be a franchise quarterback. I don't like Claussen, but you have to see he has more promise than Tarvaris Jackson. I'm sorry, but I'm not a Tarvaris fan. I know lots of people, including Brad Childress is, but I'm not feeling him.

Anyway, we picked Chris Cook from Virginia, then traded up to get Toby Gerhart from Stanford. I like the Gerhart pick better than the Cook pick. Cook is a safety that the Vikings are planning to convert to cornerback. I could actually see Gerhart being Jim Kleinsasser 2.0.

In other Vikings news: does anybody actually think Bret Favre is not returning? I mean the guy has a great receiving core with Rice, Harvin and Berrian, along with Shiancoe at tight end. He has possibly the best running back in the NFL in Adrian Peterson, when he holds on to the ball that is. Good offensive line, good defense, creepy coach that would gladly give him sexual favors if he wanted. Favre has it made. Also, if there was any doubt in the organization, don't you think they would have taken Claussen?

The main questions the Vikes still need to address involve cornerbacks, quarterbacks and runningbacks. The cornerback position is solid if healthy. If Cedric Griffin is unhealthy, this Chris Cook pick could have to prove itself real quick. The quarterback question is solved real quick also with a simple "I'm coming back" from the Silver Fox. The running back position is more dicey. AP is a man. That is no secret. It is also no secret that Chester Taylor was a great insurance policy. AP has his fumbling problems and (God forbid) a history of injury in college. He runs hard. Guys that run that hard have a tendency to get hurt. Let's all pray that doesn't happen, but if it does, we need a backup, and I don't mean Toby Gerhart. That Tomlinson rumor had us all excited but didn't happen. Let's get Brian Westbrook and see how he fares being the backup. I think his playmaking and pass catching out the backfield would be ideal.

Finally, what the fuck is going on with the Vikings opening up in New Orleans? You're telling me we have to go down there, get fisted by the officials in that overtime when Greenway stopped that fourth down, then go back down for our very next meaningful game and see the fucking Saints receive their Super Bowl Championship ring that has eluded our franchise forever?!? Fuck you NFL.

Indians -

Ah my beloved Indians. These guys have had a roller coaster 15 games so far. The book on the Tribe this year is terrible starting pitching but good lineup. That could not be less true. The starters have been great. Carmona looks dirty again, both his pitches and him in general. Westbrook looks healthier every start. Justin Masterson needs to cut down his walks, but has looked like he has good stuff. David Huff has looked like 2007 Jeremy Sowers reincarnate, but with better stuff and a better ERA. Mitch Talbot has been the real bright spot. He looked a little overmactched in his first start at Detroit, but came back strong at home against Chicago and then looked great at Target Field in Minnesota.

The lineup looks shitty. I do like the Cabrera lead-off strategy with Grady hitting second. The problem with this is, with the exception of Big League Choo's monster week, he hasn't been great, Hafner is still living off his No County For Old Men fame, Russell Branyan has only played three games, Jhonny Peralta is my mortal enemy, and Valbuena is not a great hitter. We hit into a ton of double plays. We don't hit well with runners in scoring position, and the power has not been there all year from top to bottom. Gotta get them bats going to give this staff some run support.
Back to my "Peralta sucks" theory, how could you watch the Indians yesterday in Minnesota and not feel a little more excited seeing Andy Marte come to the plate instead of Jhonny? Marte has been a big bust compared to the hype that surrounded him, but I still like him better than Peralta.

The Austin Kearns and Russell Branyan pickups have been alright so far. Kearns has provided some steadiness to the lineup and even though we haven't seen much of him yet, having Branyan in the lineup makes it a little more scary.

Chris Perez has been alright as the closer except for the epic collapse in Detroit in the first week of the season. My only wish for Perez is this: If Perez is an effective enough closer that the front office decides to trade Kerry Wood, please get something for him other than a bag of shit. The Lee and Sabathia trades have not looked too good so far have they? Matt LaPorta still is young and could be great, but he has been slow in developing. Michael Brantly was sent back down to AAA and needs a lot of work. Zach Jackson sucked. As far as the Lee trade, the only thing we see for him so far is Lou Marson who is a disaster behind the plate. I actually feel better with Mike Redmond catching. Mike fucking Redmond!? Really guys? Why don't we just call up Carlos Santana? Don't give me the "rushing him" argument. The Orioles did it with Matt Wieters and he looks just fine. And while we are on the subject, how the hell did we get Carlos Santana and Mitch Talbot for Casey Blake and Kelly Shoppach respectively, but got the Bad News Bears rejects for Cliff Lee? Come on guys.

Finally, how great does Franklin Gutierrez look in Seattle? Wow. Way to go Indians. But, of course, I stay positive and hope we can finish .500 this year. I get mad at the Tribe, but I do it out of love and just want us to be beating the drum in October again.

Pacers -

The Indians are a pretty messed up franchise. They just saw their lowest attendance in the history of JACOBS Field. They were the first team ever to trade reigning Cy Young winners in consecutive years, and the fan base is very down on them. They have some excuses though. The team was losing and had to cut payroll. Fans in Cleveland have Cavs fever right now, and who can blame them with the possibility of LeBron leaving town in a matter of months. The economy in Cleveland is not great. Still sounds like a pretty F'd up franchise doesn't it? They don't hold a candle to my Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers are becoming the Pirates of the NBA. Seriously, I just said that. I know we have about 15 more losing seasons to go to match the bar set so low by Pittsburgh, but with the hard-headiness of the front office and the inability of the team to improve until the last two weeks of the season, they show little signs of moving in the right direction. Two years ago I was very happy with their draft picks: Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert. Rush has the drive of Rasheed Wallace and Hibbert is too prone to foul trouble. I still like Rush, but I would not be surprised if he played his last game as a Pacer. Last year's draft was a disaster in some ways and a success in some others. I don't want to say "I told you so", but I did when I told everybody I knew that the second round pick, A.J. Price, would turn out to be better than the first rounder, Tyler Hansbrough. Price quickly earned the love of the fans this year, but dumbass Jim O'Brien wanted to stick with Earl Watson and T.J. Ford for reasons that don't make sense.

The Pacers were in prime position to get a top 5 pick this year. They haven't had one since Rik Smits. So what do they do? Go 11-5 down the stretch, winning meaningless games in front of a crowd of about 27 people.

This brings me to my first improvement that needs to be made: Fire Jim O'Brien. For the love of God, why does this man have a job? I'm not one of those fans who hates the coach no matter who is in charge. I liked Larry Brown and I loved Rick Carlisle. Maybe if Larry Bird didn't make bonehead picks like Shawne Williams, Carlisle might have won some more games, like he is doing in Dallas. O'Brien missed a prime opportunity to tank without tanking by playing all the young guys (See: Price, A.J. and McRoberts, Josh.) to end the season instead of people like T.J. Ford and Troy Murphy all the time.

So O'Brien fucked up. Doesn't matter to Bird. O'Brien is back. So my next suggestion is this: pick someone with some potential, who preferably is not white, and not a shoe-in for jail time. It is looking like a pick between 9-12 for the Pacers, so take someone like Greg Monroe or Xavier Henry instead of a Cole Aldridch or Gordon Hayward. Both could be good players, of course, but I want some athleticism to play alongside Danny Granger. I understand Bird's insistence on drafting someone with high character so we don't have another team with Captain Jack, Tinsley and Artest, but studies have shown, and any idiot knows, the best way to bring fans in is to WIN BASKETBALL GAMES!

The next issue then becomes: when is this rebuilding really going to begin? Is it after the 2010-2011 season when the Pacers will be clearing some contracts? Hopefully. Want to know the best way to rebuild? Either do something this offseason to get a point guard such as Darren Collison, or play all the young guys and Danny Granger next season and if you lose, you lose. Get a high draft pick for once. If these young guys like Rush, Hibbert, Price, McRoberts and Jones grow along with Danny, then great. Win some games, clear the contracts and get another piece of the puzzle. Just please do something. Either become a playoff team to get some excitement inside Conseco Fieldhouse or lose, lose, lose and get a good young player.

AL Central Preview

Minnesota Twins – Bret the Hitman Hart

Why Bret Hart? – The Twins are baseball’s “Excellence of Execution”. The Twins never have the top payroll, or the most hyped players at any position (except of course for Joe Mauer), and they are usually not picked to win the AL Central, but yet, somehow they always do. Bret Hart used intelligence, confidence, scrappiness and heart (no pun intended) to become one of the best wrestlers to ever step into the squared circle. Then he used that same intelligence to write a phenomenal book about his life in wrestling, which I’d suggest any wrestling fan read. The Twins under always underrated coach Ron Gardenhire are classic overachievers. They have the pieces in place this year to possibly make a run at the playoffs and perhaps even a pennant. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to an October baseball game in the lovely Minnesota fall weather? If I know Minnesota fans, I don’t think they would mind one bit.

What I like – I am a fan of the 2010 Twins. Joe Mauer is the best catcher in all of baseball, hands down. He hit .365 last year on his way to the AL MVP. Justin Morneau is still an elite first baseman, and if he stays healthy all year, benefits from hitting behind Mauer. Denard Span and J.J. Hardy will have to get on base a lot in front of Mauer and Morneau to produce runs. Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel both had good seasons last year combining for 60 HR’s between them. They have another DH waiting on the bench in the form of Big Jim Thome. Also, I love the Orlando Hudson pick up, and I think he will see a lot of playing time at second base.
The pitchers all look good too. Scott Baker had 15 wins last year. Nick Blackburn had 11 and Kevin Slowey had 10. Francisco Liriano has looked great in the spring, and if he puts it together along with Carl Pavano coming off a good injury-free year, watch out for this staff.

Questions – How much will losing Joe Nathan hurt? Honestly, it will hurt a bit, but, I think national “experts” are more worried about it than Twins fans. If you remember back to last October all the Twins fans were saying “I told you so” after Nathan blew a save against the Yankees. It remains to be seen how the other bullpen pitchers fare as the closer, but I don’t think it will be as big of deal as it is being made out to be. Were the Twins smart to extend Joe Mauer’s contract for so long? Absolutley. There are fears of his knees giving out, as there is with any lifetime catcher, however, the Twins are riding a high after their playoff run last year and the opening of new Target Field, and signing the hometown hero was a must.

2009 Record – 87-76
2010 Prediction – 87-75

Chicago White Sox – Stone Cold Steve Austin

Why Austin? – This one is simple. Ozzie Guillen is to baseball what Stone Cold was to the WWE powers that be. McMahon always played the role of trying to silence Stone Cold’s antics even though he knew it was good for ratings, and I truly believe deep down the MLB knows Ozzie is too. I mean let’s be honest, when Ozzie goes on his rants, do you have any idea what the fuck he is talking about? No, me neither, but they are still hilarious. The White Sox also wear the same colors as the Texas Rattlesnake, and they have the bad boy reputation (as compared to the cross-town Cubs) like Austin. Look, I’m an Indians fan, therefore I do not like the White Sox. They are a rival. However, if I were to be asked if I would take Ozzie Guillen as the Tribe’s manager I would say “yes” in a heartbeat. And that’s the bottom line…cause Stone Cold said so!

What I like – I like the pitching staff a lot. Jake Peavy looks healthy and when he is, he is still an elite pitcher. He went 3-0 with the Sox last year with a 1.35 ERA. Not only is he a great pitcher, but he is apparently a great clubhouse guy, who will help Mark Burhrle mentor youngsters John Danks and Gavin Floyd. Those four pitchers could be a deadly rotation. I think the bullpen should hold up OK, but I have some doubts about Bobby Jenks. He will benefit from having J.J. Putz and Matt Thornton setting him up, but both of them need to lower their ERA’s from last year drastically.
The lineup leaves something to be desired. The Juan Pierre pickup could be smart. He played great for L.A. last year when Manny was suspended. Gordon Beckham is a player I like along with Alexi Ramirez. I know a lot of people felt Alexi had a big drop off last year, but he still hit .277 with 15 HR. That isn’t too bad for a ninth hitting shortstop. I think adding Omar Vizquel could do wonders for Ramirez as far as learning the game a little better. The big questions for the Sox comes in the heart of the lineup: Carlos Quentin, Paul Konerko and Alex Rios. These three need to have good years for this team to score enough runs behind that pitching staff to be a contender. Konerko is aging, and Quentin and Rios are coming off less than stellar years. Everybody is talking about Andrew Jones and his comeback year he had with Texas last year. He only hit .214! Add that to Quentin’s .236 and Rios’s .199 and they could have trouble hitting in runs.

Questions – Can the lineup win them games when the pitchers don’t? I have my doubts about this lineup. It has some pop, but I think they will miss Jermaine Dye’s bat. It falls on the veterans to carry this lineup. Is the pitching as good as anybody in the majors? I think with the exception of maybe the Yankees and Red Sox, this could be the best pitching staff in the majors one through five. Well, maybe one through four, Freddy Garcia should not be starting anymore.

2009 Record – 79-83
2010 Prediction – 87-75

Detroit Tigers – Mankind

Why Mankind? – The Tigers are Mankind because I sometimes wonder if they have idea what they are doing or if they are just committing slow suicide much like Mankind. A couple years ago they were a very veteran team, and faltered after their pennant winning season. Now their 1-2 hitters and CF and 2B are rookies. Identity crisis anyone? If the old Tigers are Cactus Jack, last year was Mankind and this year is Dude Love.

What I like – The first two pitchers in the rotation, Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello will be really good. The AL Central has become a pitching division. The Tigers loss of Edwin Jackson will hurt this rotation after Verlander and Porcello. The lineup is a mystery to me. I know Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez will produce. The rookies are a big question mark. I also hate the bottom three of the order: Ryan Raburn, Gerald Laird, Adam Everett.

Questions – Will the rookies be good enough to play 2B and CF and hit 1-2 and compete in the Central? I honestly do not know. I haven’t seen either Austin Jackson or Scott Sizemore play so I can’t say. Is the rotation any good after Verlander and Porcello? I don’t think it is very good. Armando Galarraga, Jeremy Bonderman and Max Scherzer do not impress me, and I think they will struggle when Verlander or Procello is not on the mind.

2009 Record – 86-77
2010 Record – 79-83

Cleveland Indians – Shawn Michaels

Why Shawn? – Ok, I admit this is an obvious bias decision. My favorite team probably has no business being represented by The Heartbreak Kid, but bear with me. The 2007 Indians were one win away from the World Series, which was like Shawn’s time with the Rockers. Never quite was the elite team. Then the last two years they have shed some baggage (Marty Janetty) and started over. They now have a new manager (Sensational Sherri) and are on their way to turn things around. The Indians are actually generating some excitement from fans that they have a little something to watch this year and in a couple years might be awfully good. The 2010 season is like when Shawn started his singles career, and the 2011 and 2012 seasons will equate to Shawn’s rise to stardom. Also, who better to be compared with the Heartbreak Kid than Grady Sizemore. You saw the pictures.

What I like – I think the lineup will be good this year. I like new manager Manny Acta moving Asdrubal Cabrera to the leadoff spot. He played great last year, and he is good defensively. Sizemore was never really healthy last year and it seems like a lot of people wrote him off. Don’t forget that in 2009 Grady won the Gold Glove Award AND the Silver Slugger Award. He can be THE elite centerfielder in the majors is he puts it all together. Shin-Soo Choo is an all-star caliber right fielder. He hit .300 last year with 20 HR and 21 steals. Now we just need to keep him out of the military. Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta look healthy and swinging better this spring, but I have my doubts about both of them. Hafner is bound to get injured and Peralta is bound to go into a couple extended slumps. The young guys will be exciting to watch. Luis Valbuena has the second base job, but he needs to hit better than the .250 he did last season. Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley have a lot of hype surrounding them, and rightly so since they were the centerpieces of the C.C. Sabathia deal. The catching spot is very deep. Lou Marson is likely to start the season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see top prospect Carlos Santana behind the plate at some point this summer.
The pitching staff is full of questions. Jake Westbrook hasn’t pitched in a year and a half, Fausto Carmona can’t throw strikes, Justin Masterson is extremely unproven and has a lot of pressure on him from Indians fans because he is the centerpiece of the Victor Martinez deal. Mitch Talbot and David Huff are both young arms who have potential, but could also self-destruct at any time. The bullpen is better than it is getting credit for I think. Kerry Wood is out for 6-8 weeks, but fill-in closer Chris Perez is the closer of the future anyway, so why not start now? Wood will likely be traded mid-season anyway. I know many are not, but I am still a fan of left-hander Rafael Perez. He was lights out in 2007 setting up for Betencourt and I think he could regain that confidence.

Questions – Will the Indians finish behind the Royals for last place? I do not think so. I think they have talent. Maybe I’m blinded by my fandom, but I think the pitchers will do well enough to get some wins behind this lineup to not finish in last place. Will the pitchers be surprisingly good or terrible? I think Carmona is set for a comeback year. His walks are way down this spring and that is really his downfall. Even when he has control problems, he is tough to hit because his sinker moves so much. Westbrook is steady when healthy. I expect him to have a slow start, but pitch well by the start of the summer. The youngsters are my concern but better seeing them than signing a washed up veteran like Ben Sheets to pitch. I’ll be back in a week or so to give my opening week thoughts on the Indians so look forward to that.

2009 Record – 65-97
2010 Prediction – 73-89

Kansas City Royals – Jerry the Kind Lawler

Why Lawler? – The obvious connection is the royalty aspect. Jerry the King could be the Royals mascot. The other connection is timeline. Both were powerhouses in the 80’s. Jerry the King was a big deal, as was George Brett, Bret Saberhagen, Bo Jackson and the Royals. Then, in the 90’s and early 2000’s they were pretty much turds. Lawler was entertaining as an announcer, I admit, but he was no Bobby Heenan. Now, Lawler is trying to reinvent himself as a straight announcer instead of the villain announcer, much like the Royals are trying to reinvent themselves with Zack Greinke and Billy Butler.

What I like – I think the Royals arms are good. Zack Greinke is coming off a tremendous season where he was near unhittable. Gil Meche, Kyle Davies and Luke Hochevar are all capable of winning some games. Brian Bannister also have potential. The lineup is not good. This will be the pitchers downfall: lack of run support. Billy Butler is a star on the rise, but Jose Guillen and Alex Gordon have been un-spectacular, Mike Aviles had a down year in 2009, Jason Kendall is old as balls, and Mitch Maier only hit .243 in center last year. With the exception of Greinke, Joakim Soria may be the team’s biggest star.

Questions – Will the lineup score any runs? As I said, I do not like the lineup. There is too many washed up veterans and youngsters with low upside. Will Greinke repeat as Cy Young winner? – I don’t think so. I think he will have a very good year, but 2009 was a great year and I don’t see that happening back-to-back seasons.

2009 Record – 65-97
2010 Record – 67-95