soccer10k

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I'm not sure if this is me you are referring to but I talked about the Bulls players making natural progressions because they are young and not the 3rd year leap theory. I was referring to Nocioni who only averaged 13 ppg in the regular season but averaged 22.3 in the playoffs. He might drop a bit but he should still average close to 20 ppg starting every single game. The Bulls do have a young team that is likely to improve again next year as they did this year.

Sucks that the Bulls aren't in the Atlantic Division. But they'll still do well regardless. BOOOOO to steve smith! I can see every team in the Central making the playoffs for several years in a row. I could see 4 making it, but there is no way all 5 make the post season next year. All you need is a key injury to Indiana or Milwaukee and they'll miss the playoffs. Same goes for Cleveland if LeBron gets hurt and misses an extended period of time. Too many things have to go right for this to happen. Didn't all 5 make it this year? Besides, I don't see any reason why Philly, Boston, NY, Toronto, Orlando, Charlotte, or Atlanta would be better than Indiana or Milwaukee. Of course, if there are injuries to key players, one of the 5 might not make it, but I'd say there's a better chance for it to happen than not happen. Yes it did happen last year but the odds of it happening "several years in a row" are slim and none. It could happen next year but as I said, one key injury leads to a big time slide for Indiana/Milwaukee/Cleveland and they miss the playoffs. Wouldn't Larry Hughes qualify as a key injury for the Cavs last year? I know you said losing Lebron would disqualify them from the playoffs, but that's the same for most teams--you lose your star player it's hard to overcome. But seeing as the Cavs lost their #2 guy for a significant portion of the season and still took the 4th seed, I think its safe to say they are a lock for the playoffs. Looking at the conference right now, Miami, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and New Jersey are safe bets for the playoffs. 5 or 6 teams, including the Pacers and the Bucks will battle it out for the last three seeds. So to say the odds are slim for that to happen isn't exactly true, considering the Central contains 5 of the likely 10 teams with a legitimate shot at the playoffs. Now, I will say that the Pacers probably have the worst shot out of the division after losing Peja, but reports are they are trying to sign Harrington, which would put them right back into the mix. So you know which free agents are going where in the next couple years? I didn't think so. My point was that the chances of all five Central teams making it to the playoffs for several years in a row are slim and none. I agree that all five could make it next year, which I stated in my previous post. But you have no idea what the landscape of the NBA is going to look like for the 2007-2008 season so saying that it's a lock for all five Central teams to make it to the playoffs in that season is absolutely absurd. Take the Magic with Dwight Howard. Darko improved significantly in the 30 games with the Magic. Who's to say he won't improve in the offseason and next year when he gets regular playing time. They also drafted J.J. Redick who I'm not that high on but is on the right team with a good post presence (which was the key for him). Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson are both decent players. With Steve Francis the Magic were 19-33. Without Steve Francis the Magic were 17-13. That bodes well for them and they were the team I was thinking of beating out one of the Central teams. You don't know what trades are going to be made and where next years free agents are going to end up so the odds that all five Central teams are going to make the playoffs for the next several years are infinitely small. Actually, in your first post, you stated "there is no way all 5 make the post season next year." My post simply pointed out that there is a very strong chance that it will happen. (Not that it will, as I only said the Central contains 5 of the top 10 teams.) I also never said I knew who was going where, just that the Pacers are going after Harrington, which is true, and that it will improve them, which is also true. Guilty, forgot about that. For the rest of it, fair enough.

Bingo. Wilt's 50.4 ppg average will never be touched. Wilt changed the game, not Mikan. Mikan forced them to change the shotblock rule, the width of the lane, and institute the three second rule. not sure what rules you are saying they changed for Wilt. Chamberlain forced rule changes as well.

Just curious Vance, but who do you consider the better quarterback, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? I don't need an explanation, just a name. Manning. Thank you Vance and I now understand how you look at things. This isn't a good or bad thing, I just wanted to know how you rated football players and now know why you back Emmitt Smith. Again, not a bad thing, just information for me.

You're comparing a 6'8" that can move to guys that are shorter but what your missing is that Mikan didn't dominate the game like Brown did. Yes, Mikan was a cordinated big guy but Brown owned defenses like no other. Chamberlain made the NBA change the key rule not Mikan. Mikan was an inovator but don't confuse that with being the best ever and IMO that's what you are doing. Bingo. Wilt's 50.4 ppg average will never be touched. Wilt changed the game, not Mikan.

Just curious Vance, but who do you consider the better quarterback, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? I don't need an explanation, just a name.

Sucks that the Bulls aren't in the Atlantic Division. But they'll still do well regardless. BOOOOO to steve smith! I can see every team in the Central making the playoffs for several years in a row. I could see 4 making it, but there is no way all 5 make the post season next year. All you need is a key injury to Indiana or Milwaukee and they'll miss the playoffs. Same goes for Cleveland if LeBron gets hurt and misses an extended period of time. Too many things have to go right for this to happen. Didn't all 5 make it this year? Besides, I don't see any reason why Philly, Boston, NY, Toronto, Orlando, Charlotte, or Atlanta would be better than Indiana or Milwaukee. Of course, if there are injuries to key players, one of the 5 might not make it, but I'd say there's a better chance for it to happen than not happen. Yes it did happen last year but the odds of it happening "several years in a row" are slim and none. It could happen next year but as I said, one key injury leads to a big time slide for Indiana/Milwaukee/Cleveland and they miss the playoffs. Wouldn't Larry Hughes qualify as a key injury for the Cavs last year? I know you said losing Lebron would disqualify them from the playoffs, but that's the same for most teams--you lose your star player it's hard to overcome. But seeing as the Cavs lost their #2 guy for a significant portion of the season and still took the 4th seed, I think its safe to say they are a lock for the playoffs. Looking at the conference right now, Miami, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and New Jersey are safe bets for the playoffs. 5 or 6 teams, including the Pacers and the Bucks will battle it out for the last three seeds. So to say the odds are slim for that to happen isn't exactly true, considering the Central contains 5 of the likely 10 teams with a legitimate shot at the playoffs. Now, I will say that the Pacers probably have the worst shot out of the division after losing Peja, but reports are they are trying to sign Harrington, which would put them right back into the mix. So you know which free agents are going where in the next couple years? I didn't think so. My point was that the chances of all five Central teams making it to the playoffs for several years in a row are slim and none. I agree that all five could make it next year, which I stated in my previous post. But you have no idea what the landscape of the NBA is going to look like for the 2007-2008 season so saying that it's a lock for all five Central teams to make it to the playoffs in that season is absolutely absurd. Take the Magic with Dwight Howard. Darko improved significantly in the 30 games with the Magic. Who's to say he won't improve in the offseason and next year when he gets regular playing time. They also drafted J.J. Redick who I'm not that high on but is on the right team with a good post presence (which was the key for him). Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson are both decent players. With Steve Francis the Magic were 19-33. Without Steve Francis the Magic were 17-13. That bodes well for them and they were the team I was thinking of beating out one of the Central teams. You don't know what trades are going to be made and where next years free agents are going to end up so the odds that all five Central teams are going to make the playoffs for the next several years are infinitely small.

Bill Simmons is an NBA guru? Nah. Bill Simmons isn't a guru of anything other than writing Boston-centric, poorly researched articles filled with boring pop culture references and analogies. You are right about the third year thing though. I wouldn't necessarily call Bill Simmons a guru but he is fairly knowledgeable when it comes to basketball. And he hates what the Bulls are doing. He makes an excellent point about Wallace peaking a couple years ago. Look at what he is known for: rebounding and defense (blocks). His rpg have decreased 3 straight years and his bpg have decreased 4 straight years. Ben Wallace is an upgrade over Chandler but it still amazes me that a guy that averages just over 7 ppg can get a contract worth 15 mil a year. And based on that he is right that the Bulls will essentially be playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end since Wallace can't score. If the other guys can make natural progressions and become better players then it won't hurt the Bulls as much. I don't completely agree with Simmons but I do see his point.

Sucks that the Bulls aren't in the Atlantic Division. But they'll still do well regardless. BOOOOO to steve smith! I can see every team in the Central making the playoffs for several years in a row. I could see 4 making it, but there is no way all 5 make the post season next year. All you need is a key injury to Indiana or Milwaukee and they'll miss the playoffs. Same goes for Cleveland if LeBron gets hurt and misses an extended period of time. Too many things have to go right for this to happen. Didn't all 5 make it this year? Besides, I don't see any reason why Philly, Boston, NY, Toronto, Orlando, Charlotte, or Atlanta would be better than Indiana or Milwaukee. Of course, if there are injuries to key players, one of the 5 might not make it, but I'd say there's a better chance for it to happen than not happen. Yes it did happen last year but the odds of it happening "several years in a row" are slim and none. It could happen next year but as I said, one key injury leads to a big time slide for Indiana/Milwaukee/Cleveland and they miss the playoffs.

This year he's hitting lefties reasonably well. Over the course of his career, he hits them like crap, though. Neifi has a .275/.299/.429 line against lefties in his career. Is that better than Todd or Ronny vs lefties? Perhaps, but I really don't think it's enough to justify the roster space he takes up, and certainly not at the price he's being paid. For comparison, Todd vs lefties in his career: .259/.311/.370 Against lefties for Ronny: 2006: .177/.210/.208 in 96 AB's 2005: .256/.275/.333 in 39 AB's That would give him an estimated line of .200/.235/.250 for his career against lefties. Neifi's career numbers against lefties look much better than that don't they?

I never said his ERA HAS to go down. I said it was LIKELY to go down. Likely as in not for sure. If we can get him for a good price, then go for it. But the Yankees/Angels/Dodgers are likely to outbid the Cubs.

Under no circumstances should the Cubs trade Carlos Zambrano.

I figured I would give this thread a bump to update to say that with four of the seven games complete, the Cubs have scored 5 runs this week. Average three a game for the next three games and they'll only have 14 runs for the week. I have faith that the Cubs can pull through.

I have Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton. Don't forget that not only did Jim Brown only play 9 seasons, but four of those were 12 game seasons and the other five were 14 game seasons. Compare career yards/attempt averages: Brown: 5.2 Sanders: 5.0 Payton: 4.4 Smith 4.2 Obviously this isn't the only way to measure how good a running back is, but it's a very good measure nonetheless. EDIT: Note: I did come up with my top three before looking up any stats though. Just a coincidence that they match up.

Sucks that the Bulls aren't in the Atlantic Division. But they'll still do well regardless. BOOOOO to steve smith! I can see every team in the Central making the playoffs for several years in a row. I could see 4 making it, but there is no way all 5 make the post season next year. All you need is a key injury to Indiana or Milwaukee and they'll miss the playoffs. Same goes for Cleveland if LeBron gets hurt and misses an extended period of time. Too many things have to go right for this to happen.

Give Neifi enough ABs and Walker's numbers will look like Big Popi's. As was stated above, Neifi hits lefties just fine but it's the righties that he can't hit which drops his average. If you only let him hit against lefties, his numbers would look decent rather than horrible.

Oh, but ESPN managed to get me with that anyway a couple days ago. I'm driving home to my parents house on Tuesday night and tune in to sports talk radio. I turn on the SF Giants station - they were on a rain delay at the time - and there was one of their guys talking. That got boring so I turned on ESPN radio. Apparently they were doing the Braves-Cards game (which I found out later) but that was rain delayed as well. So the first words I hear are 'Mark Prior' and I think they are doing a recap of Tuesday's Cubs game because Prior started that day. Then I hear 'Castillo' and I instantly know it's Game 6. ESPN was replaying Game 6 - just the eighth inning mind you - on the radio during the rain delay. The worst part was I couldn't turn it off. I kept hoping that Alou makes the catch or Gonzalez doesn't make the error. I almost cried.

Yeah, Wojo didn't really make a good argument there. It will sound good to the casual fan but to the people that actually watch the games, we know he's wrong.

I have noticed a lot of instances this year where Len and Bob have been critical of moves that Dusty has made or plays on the field. I still like Chip and Stone better, but not by much.

And once the end of spring training comes and you realize he can't play anywhere but first base anymore, what do you do until June 15 when you're allowed to trade him? He hadn't played more than half a season since 2003, and if he was healthy he probably would only be able to play where we had an MVP caliber player. There was plenty good reason not to pursue him after last season, and it's still valid considering the Cubs' injury troubles last year and considering Nomar hasn't shown an ability to play anywhere other than first(despite LA going to multiple options at 3B and LF). The playing just first base and often injured arguments were my main reasons why I didn't think Nomar should have been resigned. Obviously nobody knew DLee would miss 2 months considering he's never injured. I just didn't want the Cubs to sign Nomar and have him go down with an injury again and end up wasting the money on a guy that only plays half the season at most. Nomar's play has proven me wrong on the injury part but like TT said, we haven't seen him play anywhere other than first. If Nomar was putting up numbers like these in RF, then you could have easily made the 'we should have resigned him' argument. But Nomar has only played 1B where DLee plays. It still ends up looking like a bad move to not resign him because Nomar is hitting .360 and DLee got hurt. For a team that didn't have a 1B like the Dodgers, signing Nomar was a good gamble to take. All that being said, I am happy for him that he is finally healthy and putting up great numbers again.

Or you could just make it easier and just have Nomar play 1B, leave Walker at 2B and put Hairston in RF. After all, Nomar is playing 1B for the Dodgers right now and Walker's natural position is 2B.

And it didn't really matter much in Capuano's third start.

I'm too lazy to go back and read, but was that seriously his argument? If you remove his bunt singles his SLG% isn't impressive? That's like Dave Wannsdedt saying "If 5 or 6 plays go our way, we win the game." I'd imagine anyone's SLG% would go down if you removed one type of hit from the equation. And that is what he somehow failed to grasp.

Not surprising in the least.