CubbieBum

Oh and coming out and playing like complete crap when you had three extra days to prepare is as bad as it gets. Singletary needs to stop acting like everything is cool. It's time to sound off and start calling people out like he did last season because this team shouldn't be going 3 and out 75% of the time and shouldn't 350 yards in a half.

49ers OC Jimmy Raye is the worst OC in the league. He is not giving the ball to Gore and keeps passing for no reason. Run the ball on first and second down and stop trying to pass. It isn't working and hasn't worked since you went to this offense when Smith became the starter. Frank Gore is averaging over 5 yards a carry this season and yet has two games of 20+ carries and only three with more than 15. That is inexcusable. Raye isn't the only one to blame. Singletary should have stepped in by now and really needs to stop saying Raye is doing a great job. Time to force changes like you did with Martz last season. Demand the team runs or go back to being an assistant coach.

My God we can't keep our OL healthy. We have had 4 OT's get hurt/retire due to injuries this year and now David Baas is hurt.

Depth at the PG is my biggest worry for Purdue with LewJack hurt. We have Keaton but after that not much. I'm guessing Moore will handle the ball more and will log a lot of minutes. Obviously if D.J. Byrd shows he can handle a press he could handle it some when both Moore and Grant need a rest. No matter how it works out we only have one PG and even he is a converted SG. Oh and Kramer isn't good enough of a handler to handle a press in Big Ten games. He's a good passer in the half court but isn't over agile or great when dribbling the ball.

And I would bet some mediocre to bad team offered him more money at some point and he chose to sit out rather than go to a team he wouldn't have the chance to get to the WS with.

The fact that someone is the #1 pitcher in a rotation doesn't necessarily guarantee that he will be in the biggest games. With injuries and off days, it's impossible to make that happen all the time. Where egos might come into play more would be the postseason rotation. And I will bet that money is a much, much, much bigger factor into a free agent's decision than where they are in the rotation. 1. Of course it doesn't guarantee they pitch in the bigger games but teams will sometimes mess with the No. 5 starter's rest so the ace can go in a big series. Also I said it is mostly about the postseason rotation. 2. As I said, in Pedro's case money is not a big factor. His case is rare. He has already made load so of money and showed this season he will take a small contract to go to a contender. Most FA's obviously take money first or at least factor in heavily. Pedro will probably be looking for 1-teams winning likelihood, 2-position in rotation, 3-money. I doubt where a pitcher is in a postseason rotation is a huge factor into where they are going to sign. As far as Pedro, I think he's more focused on having a guaranteed spot in someone's rotation, regardless of whether it's the first or fifth spot. And to say that money isn't a big factor for Pedro is, to use your word, naive. No one was giving him the $5 million he wanted last season, so he sat out a couple months. If he thinks he's worth $3 million to someone this season, he's not going to settle for $1 million. He will if its a team he thinks he can win with. He didn't come back for the money. He came back to win (both a WS and prove he can still win games as a pitcher). If the Giants offer 5 million and the Phillies offer 1 million I'm pretty sure he will go to the Phillies.

obviously not lol

The fact that someone is the #1 pitcher in a rotation doesn't necessarily guarantee that he will be in the biggest games. With injuries and off days, it's impossible to make that happen all the time. Where egos might come into play more would be the postseason rotation. And I will bet that money is a much, much, much bigger factor into a free agent's decision than where they are in the rotation. 1. Of course it doesn't guarantee they pitch in the bigger games but teams will sometimes mess with the No. 5 starter's rest so the ace can go in a big series. Also I said it is mostly about the postseason rotation. 2. As I said, in Pedro's case money is not a big factor. His case is rare. He has already made load so of money and showed this season he will take a small contract to go to a contender. Most FA's obviously take money first or at least factor in heavily. Pedro will probably be looking for 1-teams winning likelihood, 2-position in rotation, 3-money.

Syracuse had a loss. Wasn't that an exhibition game though? Yes it was which is the best part of Andy's streak.

What do you consider super great? Only top 5 teams? If so then you can make that statement every year. Otherwise the Big Ten has more than MSU. I think anyone that you know has a deep run in them come tourny time. You know MSU does. A few other teams could, but it will depend on their draw. And last year the Big East had three or four teams you could count on sticking around for a couple of rounds. I'm just not that high on the other teams. They all could be good, but right now have some warts. Purdue, OSU and Michigan have no more "warts" than every other team. Almost every team has "warts." Kentucky is relying heavily on a freshman, Texas wasn't that great and didn't even make Sweet Sixteen last year, UNC is young ... etc.

The Rockets are well over the cap this year but are only on the board for 20 million for sure next season (not 100% sure on this as there are conflicting reports from many different sites). Now that is certainly not how much we will end up having. Yao has a 17,689,100 player option that he has said he will taking (feels obligated because of his injuries). Then we a $3 million team option on Landry that we will be taking. We then have qualifying offer on Kyle Lowry and Luis Scola. I think we will resign both (we really like both of them) and lets assume they get $10 million a year combined (qualifying offers add up to $7 million). So with all that we are sitting at $50 million with a roster of Yao, Landry, Scola, Lowry, Brooks, Budinger, David Anderson, Ariza, Battier and Jermaine Taylor. We do have a team option on Chuck Hayes for $2.3 million but I don't think we will pick it up. Joey Dorsey also has $1 million but its not guaranteed and we will probably cut him. We will either do what I wrote above and have $8 million plus the MLE to sign free agents or we will not keep Scola putting us in position to go after a big free agent. Not resigning him gives us roughly $14 million plus MLE to get a big name guy. We are supposedly very interested in Chris Bosh because they think he is perfect to run next to Yao. If this is truly the case I'm betting we move Battier and use our $5 million in trade exceptions to get an expiring big contract to free up another $7 million. Battier is falling off but is still a good player that a true contender could use. He also only has that one year left after this season so the team trading for him won't be stuck with a player who could completely fall off soon. SO long story short the Rockets could pretty easily be in position to have the cap space available to go after the big names. McGrady's 23 million will be gone. The others leaving are Brian Cook (3.5), Chuck Hayes (2.1), Carl Landry (3.0), Kyle Lowry (2.0) and Luis Scola (3.3). We love Lowry and Landry so I would all but guarantee they are resigned. Lets say they end up combining for 10 million in salary with their new contracts. That still gives us 20 millio

If he is training I say put him on the 23. It's enough people that having a guy that could possibly become a great end of game sub when we need to score is well worth it. Then again Freddy Adu I would say fits in that role. He can score and be subbed in at the end of the game if we need a goal.

I think the Knicks have played themselves out of the LeBron sweepstakes with all the controversy and non-basketball headlines. The Nets likely won't get anyone for the reason you said. There are enough teams out there with a crap ton of cap space for next season that none of the top FA's are going to go to a team where they would have no help.

For someone who talks about how little things matter in college basketball this early you sure like to brag about meaningless Big East things. There are 20 posters in this thread who will spend the entire season fellating the Big Ten, so I guess I just have to pick up the slack, don't I? I just thought it was a cool little run to have at the start of the year. I'm not stupid enough to draw blanket conclusions about the Big East based on mostly meaningless games, but it's good to see Cuse beating up on UNC, great to see DePaul beating a good mid-major team. Since I really don't think Notre Dame's going to be making headlines apart from Harangody, I'm planning on enjoying the entire conference, hence my interest. While there are some B10 homers here, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that you will talk about people fellating the B10 a great deal more than it will actually happen, which is saying something. The Big Ten is deep, but it isn't super great at the top. Besides MSU of course. What do you consider super great? Only top 5 teams? If so then you can make that statement every year. Otherwise the Big Ten has more than MSU.

They aren't strictly starter-backup anymore since they are combining for 55 minutes but Scola and Landry give the Rockets whats got to be one of the best PF combos in the game. They are combining for 30 points and 15+ rebounds while shooting 53%.

For someone who talks about how little things matter in college basketball this early you sure like to brag about meaningless Big East things.

They never play together. Every week either Arenas, Butler or Jamison gets hurt. Hard to build chemistry and find a way to play and share when you never play together. They also don't have much depth.

It's bad but I'm not overly surprised. We did lose to Wofford at home a few years ago. Takes us awhile to get going. As for the tourny isn't not as good as the preseason-NIT but Saint Joseph's, Tennessee and Boston College are in it so it won't hurt our RPI.

I hope they get in the top ten pick picture. DIAF :flame:

So Syracuse is destroying UNC. Not too surprised considering UNC's youth (will take awhile to get up to speed). Syracuse is a solid top 20 team but with this win and the first one they will likely jump into the top 10. I don't think they will end up being that good but have been very impressive so far. On another note neither ESPN nor cbssports are doing a box score for the Purdue game and BTN isn't showing it. I realize its in the Virgin Islands but they could still do a box score for a top 10 team.

If you were the GM for the Thunder would you give up some of your young pieces and who? obviously russ has to go in CP3 comes this way. Would have to be something like russ, an expiring, our 2 firsts this year and something else I guess. I don't know, I cant imagine how to make it match up Would you do that with an extention? OKC isn't realistic. The teams willing to give up a lot will be teams that have a realistic shot at keeping Paul and getting him ro sign before free agency. I don't see OKC as one of those teams. If Paul hits the open market I think he would be the most sought after following LeBron. I think teams would want him before Wade and the others.

Hadn't put much thought into it but I don't see how Redd and Jennings will be a great tandem. I think they will steal each others thunder to an extent.

Naive? What you are saying is really stupid. Guys follow the money. They don't go to where they can be the #2 instead of the #5. They all freaking pitch. Number 5 pitcher isn't a position, neither is ace. They are all just starting pitchers. Pedro barely pitched last year. He's not going to be a regular in anybody's rotation this year. Guys who have already made millions upon millions and are in their twilight years looking for a new mo ... err new team a lot of times don't go for the money. They go to a the best team that they will actually be able to play for. And you are right ace and No. 5 pitcher aren't technical positions but they do factor into free agent SP's decisions. Saying pitchers don't want to be the ace or don't care if they are the last SP on the depth chart thus the one normally scratched or have their days of rest messed with is naive the first time you say it and stupid the second time. Pitchers do make decisions based on where they will be in the rotation. Some are looking to be the top dog who get the ball in the biggest games and some are looking to not be the bottom guy. In Pedro's case he will almost definitely go to only a contender, figured it went without saying, but after that will be looking for what team will be wanting to use him most. I highly doubt money will matter much at all to him. This is from a story when he signed Pretty sure he didn't turn down other teams because they weren't offering the $1 million the Phillies gave him. I'm also pretty sure Pedro is going to be wanting a team that he will get to pitch in the playoffs for i.e. not be the No. 5.

Hmm being the No. 2 is completely different than what you said so yes. Playoffs, assuming we make it, would be the big issue and is also the time I wouldn't want any issues. What in the world are you talking about? Guys don't sign as number 2 or number 5 starters, they sign the best contract they can get. As for what he did this year, Pedro threw 44 innings this year and was pretty good. He threw 100 the year before and sucked. Pedro is going to get a contract that reflects whatever team gets him expecting to get an occasional spot starter. He's not going to sign as a number 2, or a number 5. Saying pitchers don't sign based on where they will be in the rotation is naive especially with someone like Pedro. He may not find one but I think he is going to be looking for a place that he won't be at the bottom of the latter i.e. looking for a place he knows he will start regularly and not be No. 5.

I hope they get in the top ten pick picture.