Monday, December 18, 2006

The Brawl and the Bulls

The New York Knicks have dropped to a new low. In the much-publicized brawl that occurred, New York coach Isiah Thomas, a perennial loser in every role in the NBA outside starting point guard, is reported to have “advised [Carmelo] Anthony not to go near the basket shortly before the hard foul” that started the whole thing.

Thomas and some of this players, namely Nate Robinson, who has shown more skills in thuggery than on the court, felt that the Denver starters being in a 20 point game with under 2 minutes was a slap in the face.

Here’s an idea: Play better basketball instead of complaining about what the other team is doing.

Most of the times when players cry about “disrespect,” they’re simply going to alienate fans and show their lack of maturity and professionalism. As a teacher, I’m disrespected everyday. Just as it would be unprofessional to attack a student either verbally or physically because I perceived some disrespect coming at me, it’s the same for these whiny basketball players.

I’d love to see any of them last in a real job(such as mine, or any other job where you ACTUALLY get disrespected). They’re throw a fit, get in a fight, and end up in jail.

The good news for the Bulls on this is that it will likely give the Bulls a better shot in the Greg Oden lottery. They have the right to exchange picks with the Knicks because of the Eddy Curry trade. We’ve already got Tyrus Thomas because of that trade from last year’s pick from the Knicks. With suspensions coming for New York, and the possibility of the precedents of the Indiana/Detroit brawl a few years ago heightening the penalties, New York could be an even more pathetic team. The Knicks are currently the 6th worst team in the NBA. If they drop into that bottom 3, then the Bulls chances of getting the top pick rise dramatically.

And for those of you who haven’t seen Greg Oden at Ohio State, make sure you catch a game sometime. He’s currently playing with one hand, because of hand surgery he’s recovering from. Despite his dominant hand being injured, he’s still turning into a double-double machine. I personally think he looks about as dominant in the college game right now as Dwight Howard has looked against NBA players. Oden, like Howard, looks like a man among boys playing in the paint.

A frontcourt of Thomas and Oden, with guard play from Hinrich and other players like Nocioni and Deng sounds like a beastly team to deal with. Now, Oden’s arrival in Chicago is obviously a longshot at this point, but it should not be overlooked that it is a possibility.

Other News

The Cardinals seem to be mostly set in their starting 8, but speculation continues about who will fill out the rotation. Right now, Carpenter is obviously the ace, and Wells, Reyes and Wainwright appear to fill the 3-5 spots, in whichever order you think is the most fitting.

Others possibly filling the last role at this point: Mark Mulder and Jeff Weaver are still being considered by the Cardinals. Mulder would not be available until probably June, so that would make a trip to the rotation more likely for one of the other bullpen guys. Brad Penny is being shopped, and while he had injury problems, he would be the #2 guy that the Cardinals desire to put behind Carpenter. The Cardinals would probably be dealing bullpen help to LA for Penny.
If all else fails, it may be a three-way competition for the #5 spot in the rotation with the other guys moving up. Long-time reliever Braden Looper, reliever Brad Thompson, and Memphis starter Chris Narveson could all potentially be battling for the fifth spot. Hopefully, this is an all-else fails plan .

Labels: , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home