Exile on Waveland

I think Mayo was a good pick for NE, which I'm loathe to admit. They gained a third round pick in the process and subsequently addressed a major need. They really, really needed a youth infusion at LB -- and backer is a more important position for their system than CB. That said, I hope he's terrible.

lol at the Jags.

No, not really. Obviously, he gets steals. I honestly don't watch much NBA during the regular season (so you can now discount my MVP opinions if you want). He wasn't good at Wake Forest; but everyone on that team was a sieve. My guess would be that he's not that great. He is not all that good defensively. He is however, improving that aspect of his game. That's what I figured, but I haven't seen enough to have an informed opinion. Thanks.

What are Augustin's draft chances? If the Sonics end up with Beasley, I really hope Augustin falls to 24. An Augustin/Durant/Beasley trio would look pretty sweet in OKC next year. I would doubt Augustin makes it past the Pacers (unless, of course, the Pacers win the lottery).

I hope the Colts are as fortunate as you were with Felix Jones being there. I'd be thrilled. I'd also agree with your assessments; while OG is a pretty big need, Polian is almost certain to wait until the middle rounds to take one. I have to imagine the first pick comes down to a RB or a DE (with TE a darkhorse position). Oh, and I'm in the middle of finals and pretty much forgot about this. Oh well. Nice pick.

Basically everyone had NO out by the end of round 2. I've never understood why no one thinks they'll get to the West Finals and I definitely don't get it right now. Personally, I don't put much stock in this series because I feel that Dallas was a good matchup for New Orleans - I probably should have had New Orleans winning in 5 rather than 6 because of the home court advantage. I didn't really understand why a lot of people had Dallas pulling off the first round upset. Either way, the winner of Phoenix/San Antonio is going to be a much tougher matchup for the Hornets - especially the Spurs. I could see New Orleans advancing to the West finals but winning the next round is not going to be easy for them. Yeah, I still think the Spurs-Suns winner will beat the Hornets. I did think, however, that they'd have much more trouble with Dallas (I was thinking 7-game series).

No, not really. Obviously, he gets steals. I honestly don't watch much NBA during the regular season (so you can now discount my MVP opinions if you want). He wasn't good at Wake Forest; but everyone on that team was a sieve. My guess would be that he's not that great.

I didn't see it; studying for finals and following online. That's unbelievable. Game-tying own-goal in stoppage time. Liverpool is going to have a difficult time advancing now.

Ugh. John Arne Riise equalizes in stoppage time. *And, by equalizes, I mean he scored an own-goal.

Garnett: 18.8 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.2 BPG Jefferson: 21.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.5 BPG C'mon now, let's be honest here. There isn't a single rational person that would take Jefferson over Garnett at this stage, regardless of what those numbers say. Plenty of players have put up big numbers for bad teams. This also isn't baseball; defense matters a great deal (as, to a lesser extent, do intangibles). Garnett is a much better player at this time than Jefferson. The above poster was correct, Garnett will be in the Hall of Fame and it's not likely Jefferson will join him. I'm not arguing for Jefferson being as good as KG, I'm just giving one example of KG not being the most valuable player in the league this year. KG had a wonderful season for a great team, and I'm sure he did in fact have some intangible impact on the team too, but there is simply no way I can justify voting KG the MVP, especially in a season with three otherworldly candidates the caliber of Kobe, CP, and LeBron. I'm not supporting KG as MVP; you can see an earlier post I think it should be LeBron. KG would be fourth on my ballot. However, in arguing against him, posters have totally discredited how good he is. He's a great, great player. This isn't baseball. Numbers mean a lot, but they're not everything. Defense matters a great deal and KG is a phenomenal player on that end of the court. Intangibles also come into play and KG thrives here, too. Amassing stats on bad teams is one thing (Abdur-Rahim, Randolph, etc), doing it while leading a 67-win team is different (though KG had been on poor teams the last two years). That's also something I hold against LeBron - he's not a horrible defender but he's not anything special either. Kobe, on the other hand, has been on the All-Defensive team for seven of the last eight years and frequently will guard the better player late in the game if necessary. There was a game earlier this year where Allen Iverson had 49 points through three quarter but Kobe switched onto Iverson and held him to two points in the fourth while scoring 12 himself. There's an argument I like for Kobe over LeBron. Kobe is an outstanding defensive player; and while LeBron has improved defensively, he's nowhere near Kobe. I should have included defense as a reason for Kobe as MVP.

Garnett: 18.8 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.2 BPG Jefferson: 21.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.5 BPG C'mon now, let's be honest here. There isn't a single rational person that would take Jefferson over Garnett at this stage, regardless of what those numbers say. Plenty of players have put up big numbers for bad teams. This also isn't baseball; defense matters a great deal (as, to a lesser extent, do intangibles). Garnett is a much better player at this time than Jefferson. The above poster was correct, Garnett will be in the Hall of Fame and it's not likely Jefferson will join him. I'm not arguing for Jefferson being as good as KG, I'm just giving one example of KG not being the most valuable player in the league this year. KG had a wonderful season for a great team, and I'm sure he did in fact have some intangible impact on the team too, but there is simply no way I can justify voting KG the MVP, especially in a season with three otherworldly candidates the caliber of Kobe, CP, and LeBron. I'm not supporting KG as MVP; you can see an earlier post I think it should be LeBron. KG would be fourth on my ballot. However, in arguing against him, posters have totally discredited how good he is. He's a great, great player. This isn't baseball. Numbers mean a lot, but they're not everything. Defense matters a great deal and KG is a phenomenal player on that end of the court. Intangibles also come into play and KG thrives here, too. Amassing stats on bad teams is one thing (Abdur-Rahim, Randolph, etc), doing it while leading a 67-win team is different (though KG had been on poor teams the last two years).

Yeah except those numbers aren't even all that close. I'd say those stats are pretty damned close, especially considering the difference between the two players. Also, give me some leeway as those were the first two names I searched.

This reminds me of 2000, when Shareef Abdur-Rahim (20.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 3.3 apg) was basically as good as Tim Duncan (23.2 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 3.2 apg). It's also reminiscent of 2001 (20.5, 9.1, 3.1 to 22.2, 12.2, 3.0).

Garnett: 18.8 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.2 BPG Jefferson: 21.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.5 BPG Plus didn't the Wolves win about the same number of games with Jefferson? Garnett is a good player, but so is Jefferson. They won 10 less games this year.

Garnett: 18.8 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.2 BPG Jefferson: 21.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.5 BPG C'mon now, let's be honest here. There isn't a single rational person that would take Jefferson over Garnett at this stage, regardless of what those numbers say. Plenty of players have put up big numbers for bad teams. This also isn't baseball; defense matters a great deal (as, to a lesser extent, do intangibles). Garnett is a much better player at this time than Jefferson. The above poster was correct, Garnett will be in the Hall of Fame and it's not likely Jefferson will join him.

Helped his team get the No. 1 seed in the playoffs in the far, far tougher conference despite a number of injuries? So the MVP should invariably go to the best player on the team with the best record in the best conference?

In what way did Kobe have a better season than LeBron? LeBron scored more (30-28.3), assisted more (7.2-5.4), rebounded more (7.9-6.3), blocked more shots (1.08-.49), and shot a higher percentage (.484-.459). Steals were even (1.84-1.84). Kobe did shot better from the foul line (.840-.712) and from 3 (.361-.315). LeBron's PER was also substantially higher (29.23-24.3). LeBron also has worse teammates and, as far as I remember, never publicly pouted, demanded a trade or trashed his teammates. Kobe does, obviously, play on a superior team in the superior conference. Outside of people thinking Kobe deserves an MVP at some point, I'm not sure what he's done this year to deserve it over LeBron.

Let me get this straight. It was a dumb contract for Longoria to sign because he's a future star and could make more later. However, the Rays aren't likely to be good in the future because prospects don't always pan out. You see any inconsistency within those two statements?

I'm very concerned about Marmol.

This is the NBA. It's going to be LA-Boston.

He also said Kobe wasn't the best player in the LA-Denver series.

Wish I could say I'm surprised.

Providence is a very difficult job, though. $7,000,000 If Davis stayed at Drake, he coulda been gone in 5 years and never see the MVC again. I compare it to the pre-arb guys signign the long-term contract early and getting set for life. He doesn't need to do a lot at Providence to keep his name in the mix. A few 20 win seasons there and he'll be up for a better job. PC also figures to be pretty good next year, so he might be able to build some momentum and jump jobs again. Money talked here, I know.

Providence is a very difficult job, though.

Jason Kidd is 6'4". Rose (6'3") is taller than Iverson (6'0") though.