Thoughts on the Major NFL Training Camp Injuries

Though it has only been about a week since training camps opened for the 2013-14 NFL season, we have already seen multiple season-ending injuries occur, delivering crushing blows to major contenders in the process.  On Saturday, Eagles WR Jeremy Maclin suffered a torn right ACL during training camp practice, ending his season before it even began.  Shortly after, word got out that Dennis Pitta, tight end for the defending champion Baltimore Ravens, needed surgery to repair a fractured and dislocated hip following a collision in practice.  Despite early reports that he would miss the season opener, as it turned out, Pitta was lost for the year as well.   A day later, Broncos center Dan Koppen suffered a torn ACL of his own, ending his season and perhaps even his career.  And a few days prior to that, it was revealed that the newly-signed Percy Harvin of the Seattle Seahawks had a partial tear of his hip labrum and might required season-ending surgery.  Crazy stuff.  Here's what this means for each of the contenders.

The loss of Jeremy Maclin is incredibly devastating for the Philadelphia Eagles but it is by no means a death blow.  New head coach Chip Kelly, formerly of the Oregon Ducks, likes to run the football.  We know that. His success at Oregon was based off a highly productive, up-tempo offense that always set the pace for the game.  That means a heavy emphasis on running the ball, and that the Eagles will do with stud running back LeSean McCoy and promising youngster Bryce Brown.  What was already going to be one of the most run-heavy offenses in the NFL is going to become all the more so now with Maclin's injury.  This is especially the case since we don't know what's going on with the quarterback situation.  Despite some rumblings that Michael Vick was falling behind Nick Foles on the depth chart (some said he might even be cut before the season), Vick has garnered the majority of the first-team reps in training camp thus far.  Plus there's still the presence of rookie Matt Barkley to cloud things up.  WR DeSean Jackson will probably see an expanded role now but between the cloudiness of the quarterback situation, the nature of Chip Kelly's offense, and unproven Riley Cooper moving up the depth chart to WR #2, it's hard to imagine the Eagles putting the ball in the air very much this season.  The real loser here is Maclin who is still only 25 years of age.  Not only is this the second torn ACL he's suffered (he tore it in college a few years back), but he was entering a contract year to literally add insult to injury.  Real shame.

Dennis Pitta's injury is even more crushing for the Baltimore Ravens.  Pitta served as quarterback Joe Flacco's safety net many times down the stretch last season, particularly in the playoffs, and Flacco was set to rely on him even more with Anquan Boldin now in San Francisco.  Last year, Pitta broke out to establish himself as a legitimate member of the second tier of tight ends in the NFL (right up there with the likes of Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, and Vernon Davis).  Now, he is gone for the year and it looks like the Ravens' passing attack is going to be the Torrey Smith show in 2013.  Granted, the Ravens still have Ed Dickson to fill in at tight end and they just signed free agent Visanthe Shiancoe, but neither is even close to the receiver that Pitta is.  If there's a silver lining to all of this, it's that the injury amped up the Ravens' sense of urgency in re-signing fullback Vonta Leach (a deal which they closed just today).  Re-signing the best fullback in the NFL means good things for Ray Rice and up and comer Bernard Pierce.  So the Ravens have that going for them.

The news that center Dan Koppen tore his ACL as well is disappointing for the Denver Broncos, but they should be able to overcome it.  It's still a shame since the Broncos just signed the former New England Patriot after original starting center JD Walton was lost to an ankle injury and also because Koppen still had a lot left in the tank, something that might be lost now given his age and the nature of his injury.  But still, the Broncos have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, anchored by former Boise State Bronco Ryan Clady, and while they might have to put their thinking caps on to fill in the void at center, it is something that the Broncos will be able to survive.

While the injury to Percy Harvin is the only one that isn't season-ending as of right now, it will probably have the greatest impact if it were to take a turn for the worst.  Harvin was acquired from the Vikings in the offseason as the Seahawks really liked his dual threat as a top 15 receiver and a rusher occassionally when need be.  Additionally, his ability to line up both in the slot and outside of the slot, plus his ability to serve as a decoy when necessary makes him a real asset.  Now if his hip injury causes him to miss significant time, it puts a damper on the ceiling of exciting young QB Russell Wilson.  The addition of Harvin was supposed to give Wilson a legitimate and explosive weapon in his receiving corps.  And though Wilson did just fine with the likes of Sidney Rice and Golden Tate last year, Seattle's offense would be that much more exciting with Percy Harvin catching passes down the field.  Should Harvin miss time, the likes of Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin will be relied on even more and they may just go the way of the aforementioned Eagles: going from a run-heavy team to a ridiculously run-heavy team.  We'll just have to wait and see and hope everything turns out OK with Harvin.

Thoughts on the 2013 MLB All-Star Game

Well after a semi-lengthy hiatus due to my busiest week in Summer 2013 thus far, I'm back and ready to give my take on some of the biggest recent sports stories.  First on my list, Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game where the American League shut out the National League 3-0 to clinch home field advantage for its representative in the 2013 World Series.  I'm liking my old, trusty format of a collection of random thoughts so that's what we'll go with.

What an evening for the great Mo, the last baseball player who will ever sport the number 42, the greatest closer in the history of the game, and one of the ten greatest New York Yankees of all-time, Mariano Rivera.  In his last All-Star Game, he pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and was awarded the All-Star Game MVP.  As he jogged out to his trademark entrance song, Metallica's "Enter Sandman," it was an incredible moment for fans, players, and just everyone who has a passion for the game of baseball. Both dugouts were united in applause and the Citi Field crowd  was absolutely thunderous.  It's moments like these that give you goosebumps and make you think, "Wow.  I'm watching sports history unfold right now." One of the best last All-Star Games ever right up there with Chipper Jones' last year and Cal Ripken Jr's. in 2001 where he switched with Alex Rodriguez and played shortstop, then went out and hit a home run.  You're the greatest Mo and it takes a great athlete to make an entire nation of baseball fans, team affiliations aside, feel compelled to root for you.   (Unpopular opinion: I don't think he was the most deserving for the award though.  He was certainly deserving but you look at the 8th he pitched and it was a groundout, a lineout, and a groundout.  Chris Sale was more deserving after a perfect 2 innings in relief (6 up and 6 down, 2 via punchout.  However, Major League Baseball would have been absolutely slaughtered if Mo hadn't gotten it so, even if I think it was kind of gift-wrapped for him, I don't have a problem with it at all.  Just that he wasn't the most deserving.  I also don't think Jim Leyland did anything wrong by putting him in in the 8th instead of the 9th.  What happens if the NL gets 4 runs in the bottom half of the 8th? Then there's no 9th for Rivera to pitch in.  Better safe than sorry.)

Way to rep Halo Nation Mike Trout.  On the first pitch of the ballgame, he ripped a screaming liner down the first base line for a two-bagger off Mets ace and hometown hero, Matt Harvey, who is the best pitcher in the bigs right now.  He looked comfortable up there surrounded by his fellow All-Stars and perfectly balanced the line between not appearing intimidated, but at the same time not appearing cocky and arrogant (I'm inventing a new word to describe the latter: "Puigy." Yeah I went there.)

Also, what a job by the aforementioned Harvey of working out of a jam.  After the leadoff double to Trout, he nailed Robinson Cano in the knee with a pitch forcing Cano to leave the game.  (Sidenote: the situation was handled pretty well by everybody.  Harvey was very apologetic about the incident and Cano did himself some good by not missing any games.  Nobody wants to see a crosstown war (Battle New York anybody?).  Crisis averted.)  After that, he really hunkered down and got the Murderer's Row meat of the order of Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis, and Jose Bautista to strike out, fly out, and strike out, respectively.  Definitely didn't look like a pitcher pitching in his first All-Star Game.

There's something great about low-scoring pitcher duels.  Sure, it's not the most exciting way to do things, especially in an All-Star Game, but I for one find something magical about two elite pitching staffs going toe to toe waiting to see who blinks first.  Heck, we only had 12 combined hits.  Two of the three runs came via sac fly and RBI groundout.  THE AL HAD A PERFECT GAME GOING UNTIL THE FOURTH INNING.  This is baseball at its purest.  None of that 12-10 ballgames stuff.  Don't get me wrong, I love shows of offensive fireworks, but every now and then, it's refreshing when pitchers are in the spotlight and not the other way around.

Prince Fielder hit a triple?!?!? That had to be one of the most exciting plays in All-Star Game history.  OK maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit but if you weren't sitting there captivated, watching him go around the bases, wondering if he would make it there in one piece and not just run out of breath and fall over between second and third, then you're lying.  You could see him turning on the after burners as he rounded first, almost as if there was a box of donuts waiting for him at third base.  And he made it.  Yep that's right.  Prince Fielder hit a triple.  I have officially seen everything.  (Actually, I have yet to see an intentional walk with the bases loaded.  I lied.  Sue me.)  Shame he was stranded there though.  Guess he would have been to winded to make it to home plate by then anyway.  Oh well.

Manny Machado flashing some leather at the hot corner.  Wow! After another insane play just weeks ago against the New York Yankees, he was at it again.  He made a tough play at third and threw out Paul Goldschmidt by about a step.  Maybe the Brooks Robinson comparisons aren't so far fetched after all.

Cliff Lee's poker face during the intros while he was being booed by the Citi Field fans was absolutely priceless.  That's all I have to say about it.  Let the picture in all its glory speak for itself.

I'm not a big fan of the whole one pitcher comes in to face one batter deal in the All-Star Game.  It makes sense during a non-exhibition game (weighing righty v. lefty matchups, bringing in a groundball pitcher to face a double-play prone hitter, etc.).  I get that.  But in the All-Star Game, it just serves to slow things down and interrupt the flow of the game.  Then again, it's the only good way to make sure every pitcher enters the game.  Maybe, it's just something we have to deal with.

I think Tim McCarver sent sports broadcasting back 15 years with his horrendous performance doing the game's color commentating.  First of all, after Harvey nailed Cano with a fastball to the knee, in the biggest facepalm of an utterance in sports broadcasting history. McCarver quipped  "Too much knee" in a casual, nonchalant manner.  Really? That's the best you could come up with?!?!?! Too much knee???? Words can't even begin to describe how ridiculous that sounds.  Then he was at it again in the 8th inning.  When Mariano Rivera entered the game to "Enter Sandman," McCarver did a rather disturbing WTF reading of the song's lyrics.  Enjoy.  Or not.




Man that sounded a lot like Christopher Walken reading "Good Night Moon" on the Simpsons.

And on that pleasant note, that's where I'll leave you.  It was an incredible All-Star Game and I'm looking forward to the second half of the MLB season! Go Angels!

Thoughts on Yasiel Puig Failing to Make the All-Star Team

Yesterday, we reached the conclusion the MLB All Star Game's "Final Vote" to determine who would be the final two names added to the 2013 All-Star rosters.  In the American League, Toronto Blue Jays reliever Steve Delabar won the vote.  However, the bigger storyline was Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman edging out Dodgers phenom Yasiel Puig in the National League.  And I couldn't be happier that it happened.

Not only is Yasiel Puig not quite deserving of a spot on the All-Star team, he's not ready for it just yet.  The 22 year old the Cuban defector has lit the world on fire over the last couple of months posting a torrid .436 average in his first month and has already drawn some perhaps unfair comparisons to greats like Joe DiMaggio and Bo Jackson from fans and experts alike.  He has breathed new life into the disappointing Los Angeles Dodgers with highlight reel plays and mammoth home runs.  Despite tailing off a bit as of late, Puig is still hovering around .400 on the year with a 1.060 OPS.  So on paper, it may seem like he is deserving of a spot on the team.  But the facts against Puig remain.  Having only played in 36 games to date, the kid has yet to pay his dues.  In fact, when you really think about it, not to take anything away from Puig who has performed phenomenally thus far,but "Puig-mania" is, in essence, a case of a player having one good month.  Think about it.  He's only been in the majors for a little over a month and is already showing the initial signs of slowing down.  Isn't that all the Linsanity was? A player had one good month, took the universe by storm to the point of us considering him one of the five best players at his position and then tailed off drastically down the stretch and made us wonder why we were so infatuated with him in the first place. I'm not saying this is what is destined to become Puig's fate, but just that perhaps we shouldn't read too much into this first month of his.  

Reading deeper into Puig's numbers is further damning, especially compared to Freeman.  Puig's only batted in 19 runs to this point.  Newsflash: driving in runs is what wins ballgames.  Look at good ol' Freddie.  60 RBIs for the first place Braves.  What about K/BB ratio? Puig's stands at 36 punchouts to 7 walks (in other words, he strikes out over five times as often as he walks) while Freeman boasts a 67 K's to 37 walks line (less than 2 strikeouts for every drawn walk).  WAR? That goes to Freeman too (2.9 to Puig's 2.6).  So to everyone who thinks Puig is a better choice than Freeman if you want to win the ballgame, think again.

Hey Yasiel! ¿Estas enojado?

I also doubt Puig's maturity and not only his ability to handle being a potential MLB All Star, but also his ability to handle just being in the big leagues.  It seems like his initial success has started to get to his head and as a result, his ego is becoming inflated.  He has shown reluctance bordering on contempt towards the media, often refusing to do interviews all together or cutting them painfully short when they do happen.  This Barry Bonds and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-like relationship with the media that he has already established doesn't bode well for Puig's image and makes it easy doubt his readiness for the glare and attention of being a professional baseball player.  One unsettling story that came out recently involved Diamondbacks' legend Luis Gonzalez approaching Puig to discuss some similarities in their respective situations and perhaps to offer some advice, even going out of his way to speak to Puig in his native tongue, Spanish.  Puig reportedly completely gave Gonzalez the cold shoulder and ignored him, refusing to even look up and acknowledge Gonzalez's presence.  Some have said that Puig, who got a scolding from Dodgers hitting coach Mark McGwire as a result of the incident, may have had hostilities to anyone involved with the Diamondbacks organization after being hit in the nose by an Ian Kennedy fastball to help spark the Dodger-D'Backs brawl last month (an incident which gave Puig another image: that of a hothead.  Man, Yasiel Puig sure isn't creating the best public image for himself, that's for sure.) I call BS on that one.  Imagine if a young star rookie in the NBA like Trey Burke was involved in an altercation with like a Steve Nash or someone.  Does that give Burke the right to give the cold shoulder to Magic Johnson if Johnson tried to approach him? I didn't think so.  And just watching Puig, he carries himself with arrogance.  His priorities aren't in the right place.  He tries to swing for the fences every at bat, stares down pitchers, and always tries for the highlight reel play.  I remember seeing a highlight where a batter lifted a routine flyball into right center and Andre Ethier was ready to make a routine catch but Puig dove in front of him at the last second for a circus catch.  Another highlight several games later showed Ethier waving off Puig to make the catch on another routine flyball and you could just see Puig's body language saying "To hell with this guy.  That was mine."  This is a guy that seems to have some serious maturity issues both on and off the field and the bright lights of the All Star Game are the last thing that this guy needs.

There are some that might make the argument that "Hey, both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper made the All Star Game last year as rookies.  Why not Puig? He's just as good."  Yeah, you could make the argument that Puig's as good as Trout and Harper.  If you have a brain injury.  For one, Harper and Trout were called up in late April last year and had over a month more of extra experience to put on their baseball resumes than Puig who was called up in early June.  And for another, Trout and Harper are both FIVE-TOOL PLAYERS (probably Trout more so than Harper but that's an argument for another day).  Yasiel Puig is a three tool-player at best.  He can't really run (only 5 stolen bases on the year and even 3 caught stealings) and he can't really be considered a great fielder when he keeps running into walls and hurting himself.  In fact, with a glass half-empty approach, he's a two-tool player if you want to dismiss the spectacular double play/throw em out to end the game against the Padres in his debut as a fluke.  But no, that guy's got a cannon.  Can't deny that.  At this point in their respective careers, it's almost insulting to put Puig in the same conversation as those two.  To use the Linsanity comparison again, how many people legitimately put Jeremy Lin in the same conversation as Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and a healthy D-Rose? I'll give you a hint.  It starts with a "Z" and ends with an "O." ZERO.

All in all, I am indeed very glad that Yasiel Puig will not be in the All Star Game.  He's not ready mentally and he wasn't the best choice amongst the Final Vote candidates.  The timing is just not right.  Maybe further down the road he gest his act together: puts his priorities in the right place, starts to embrace and have fun with the media, starts to respect the game and those who have paved the way for him, and proves to us all that this wasn't a fluke. When he does that, he will be welcomed into the Hall of MLB All-Stars.  But until then, he will have to settle for watching the festivities of All-Star Weekend 2013 unfold on his couch at home.  Then again, maybe someone on the NL team gets hurt and Puig makes the All-Star team as an injury replacement.  Oh well.

Thoughts on the Home Run Derby Participants

We have our teams for the 2013 MLB Home Run Derby.  The National League captain, New York Mets third baseman David Wright, selected a team of Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer of the Colorado Rockies and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals.  Meanwhile, the American League captain, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, chose a squad of the Detroit Tigers' Prince Fielder, the Baltimore Orioles' Chris Davis, and the Oakland Athletics' Yoenis Cespedes.  These picks have both their merits and their demerits and here's why.

First on the National League side of things.  Nobody has really been paying very much attention to him, but Rockies right fielder Michael Cuddyer has been having a career year at the age of 34.  Posting an impressive 15/52/.336 line as we cruise into the All Star Break, Cuddyer even enjoyed a crisp 27 game hitting streak not too long ago.  So I like this pick in terms of giving credit where credit is due and acknowledging a highly underrated player who deserves some love.  But in terms of trying to win this thing? Not the best choice.  That 15 home run line becomes a lot less impressive when you factor in that he plays most of his games in Coors Field, the biggest hitters' ballpark in the game.  This is a guy that only cracked the 30 home run plateau once in his career and when you think "power hitter" Michael Cuddyer is not in the first 100 names that come to mind.  Like it or not, this competition is better suited to power hitters and not contact hitters like Cuddyer.  We have a better chance of seeing a hitter top the .400 mark in a season again than seeing Michael Cuddyer win the Derby.

The Bryce Harper pick is an enigmatic one as well.  The young phenom is who everyone wants to see participate in the Derby and getting him in there is certainly going to attract a lot of viewers.  However, once again, picking Bryce Harper shows that winning is not David Wright's #1 priority.  Don't get me wrong, Harper has a ton of raw power as evidenced by his 13 home run mark already despite only playing in 53 games on the year.  However, he is not even close to the most powerful hitter in the National League.  If I'm David Wright, and winning is my goal, I go for the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton, the Pirates' Pedro Alvarez, the Reds' Jay Bruce, the Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt, the Braves' Justin Upton, or even the Phillies' Domonic Brown before Harper or Cuddyer.

I do like the CarGo pick though.  The NL leader in home runs at 24, he has Home Run Derby experience already, having participated last year.  He's got a nice split of big flies at home vs. big flies on the road, which minimizes his advantage of playing at the aforementioned Coors Field.  I expect him to fair much better in this year's competition than he did in last year's (where he was eliminated after the first round) and I like him as the best "winning" pick in the National League.

On the American League side, they are stacked.  Robinson Cano did a great job with his picks.  Picking Orioles first baseman Chris Davis was a no-brainer.  "Crush" has done just that this year, mashing a Bonds-esque 33 home runs by the season's halfway point as he looks to make a run at the single-season record for home runs in a season.  (Sidenote: the mark technically belongs to Barry Bonds who hit 73 in 2002, but Davis himself stirred up some controversy a few days ago by saying that in his eyes, the record belongs to Roger Maris with his 61 in 1961.  I for one agree with Chris Davis that Maris should be the true record holder just like Hank Aaron's 755 should stand as the true record for all-time home runs.  I refuse to acknowledge any of the achievements of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, post-Pittsburgh Barry Bonds, or any of their juicing brethren because they are tainted and an insult to those who succeeded the right way before them.  However, you can't argue with the record books and tainted or not, Barry Bonds is unfortunately the single season home run king so that's the record that Davis is going to have to try to break.)  With his tremendous bat that has been going since Opening Day and is showing no signs of slowing down, Davis has to be considered the clear favorite to win this thing and it's a fantastic pick across the board choosing him to slug it out in the Derby.

The defending champ Prince Fielder is also a solid choice as he too has an almost unfair amount of raw power.  He's got the experience too as this will be his FIFTH appearance in the Home Run Derby so he knows how to work the game.  History hasn't been too kind to defending champs however but it's hard to bet against a man who can be counted on for 30-40 home runs year in and year out.  It's that kind of power that is perfect for the Home Run Derby.

The Yoenis Cespedes pick is my least favorite here.  I also didn't like how Cano took an extra day to pick him when all the other picks had already been made.  Maybe all the Dwight Howard in the news got to him.  Anyway, Cespedes, after his steller rookie year, has hit his sophomore slump somewhat.  Despite a nice 15 home run total at this point, he's hitting only .224 on the year (to put that into perspective, Josh Hamilton is hitting .227.  Yeah.)  But when he hits, he hits in bunches.  So hopefully, he can string together a hot streak in the Derby this year because he's been kind of a streaky hitter this year.  I probably would have gone with a Miguel Cabrera, or an Edwin Encarnacion here.  I was also pretty disappointed that nobody from my beloved Angels was selected.  Granted, Pujols and Hamilton aren't deserving this year, but Mark Trumbo, who can easily hit a ball 500 feet and had one ridiculous roofshot in last year's Home Run Derby, and Mike Trout, who should be in if Bryce Harper is in, at least deserved some consideration.

So there you have it.  It seems the National League put a greater emphasis on pandering to the fans with their picks while the American League put a greater emphasis on winning.  I would be absolutely shocked if the American League doesn't crush the National League and I'm putting my money on Crush Davis to win it all (see what I did there?).  This should be fun to watch.  Tune in this Monday at 5 PM PST on ESPN to catch all the excitement.

Thoughts on the Celtics' Hiring of Brad Stevens

The latest development in what has been a tumultuous offseason thus far for the Boston Celtics, to say the least, has got to have their fans smiling today.  In a span of a few weeks, Celtics fans have seen the now-hated Ray Allen win his second championship (with the even more hated Miami Heat to boot), beloved former head coach Doc Rivers jump ship to take the vacant Los Angeles Clippers head coaching job, and Celtic legends, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, traded to the Brooklyn Nets for a less than impressive haul.  However, with the news of the hiring Butler's Brad Stevens to be the team's new head coach, a new day has dawned on Boston.

What a hiring by the Boston Celtics.  The last few days and weeks have made it clear that GM Danny Ainge is intent on starting the rebuilding process immediately and a young coach yet experienced coach like Stevens is perfect for the job.  Stevens is only 36 years old yet he has already led the NCAA's Butler Bulldogs to two consecutive national championship games.  If a Gordon Hayward half-court prayer in the closing seconds of the final game of the 2010 tourney against the mighty Duke Blue Devils had just a little less on it, Stevens would have a National Championship under his belt.  He spent six years as the head coach of that program and he has an astounding 166 wins to show for it.  And let's not forget that the talent level on Stevens' Butler teams was mediocre at the least and decent at best.  His best players were the aforementioned Hayward, who now helps comprise one of the weakest starting backcourts in the game with the Utah Jazz, and Matt Howard, who now plays in Europe.  Brad Stevens was really the reason why those Butler teams were able to go that far.  His emphasis on defense and team unity (ideals desperately needed on an already discombobulated 2013 Celtics squad) is what pushed his teams over the top and brought out the best in every guy on that roster year in and year out. However, Stevens' love for advanced statistics when combined with these ideals show that he knows how to effectively parallel the old and new schools of thought in the NBA.  Stevens is a calm and patient coach with a keen sense of direction who is perfect for a rebuilding effort such as this.  

So close....

It's also a great hiring in terms of name value and generating excitement.  While Division I boasts coaching heavyweights like North Carolina's Roy Williams, Kentucky's John Calipari, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, and Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Stevens' name has been tossed around right up there with these giants as one of, if not the best head coaches on the Division I level.  And nobody would ever have expected this hiring in a million years!  Stevens had recently given every indication that he planned to stay with Butler for as long as they wanted him there.  This offseason, he even turned down the vacant UCLA Bruins coaching position, arguably the most prestigious coaching job in the entire world of college basketball.  So you have to give Danny Ainge credit on this one because there were absolutely no indications that Stevens had aspirations to make the leap into the NBA.  Let's just hope that it turns out better for the Celtics than the last time they tried out a successful former college coach to be their head coach (that being Louisville's Rick Pitino who had ONE good idea as Celtics' head coach, that being the "Murderous Press."  Over 4 seasons with the C's, Pitino piled up a 102-146 record with exactly ZERO playoff appearances.  Yikes.) 

Sly, shrewd, genius, exciting, fantastic, perfect.  I'm running out of adjectives to describe this Stevens hiring for the Celtics.  That's how good it is.  And while the Celtics will almost certainly stink it up at least for the foreseeable future, a young, focused coach like Stevens who has his priorities straight and possesses the tools and strategies of a winner will help this franchise to, in the long run, get back to the winning ways that is characteristic of this esteemed organization.  Looking forward to seeing what Stevens can do in the NBA.  

Thoughts on the First 40 Hours of Free Agency

Not even two days into the opening of free-agency in the NBA and we've already seen numerous dominoes start to fall.  Here, I'll try to get you up to speed on everything that's materialized thus far in free agency.

Chris Paul re-signs with the Clippers for 5 years and 107 million.
Surprise, surprise.  CP3 returning to the Clips was a done deal as soon they were able to pull off the Doc Rivers deal.  It's a nice payday for Paul who will make over 21 million on average over the next five years (to put that in perspective, LeBron James, the best basketball player in the world, will make a shade over 19 million next year).  This deal also allows for some flexibility as Paul can opt-out of the final year of his contract.  Do I really need to tell you that this deal is a win for the Clippers? I didn't think so.  Anyway, with the best point guard in the league back for an encore with Lob City, expectations will be quite high but the Clippers have had a strong offseason thus far and are finally shaping into the mold of a championship contender.  And watch out, because their offseason is not finished just yet.

Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler land in Phoenix in a three-team sign and trade as JJ Redick (on a 4 year, 27 million dollar deal) and Jared Dudley go to the Clippers and Milwaukee receives two 2nd round picks
See, I told you the Clippers weren't done yet.  I really like this deal for the Clippers.  They are desperate for a 2 guard that can hit the 3 with consistency (and if you tell me that they already have that with Willie Green, then you know nothing about the NBA) and Redick will fit right into that role.  He was pretty much a disaster coming off the bench for the Bucks because he really thrives in a starting role as we saw in glimpses in Orlando (something he'll be able to do for the Clippers who have Jamal Crawford coming off the bench).  Jared Dudley's a solid acquisition as well.  While he's a rather glamor-less player, he's a solid scorer who can knock down the 3 and rebound fairly well for a small forward.  Unloading Caron Butler's contract is a win for the Clippers who got basically the same player in Dudley, but cheaper.  It's a bit of a surprise because it looked as of late that the Clippers were leaning towards keeping Bledsoe, but the Clippers got an excellent value for him.  Only con is that they have really no backup to CP3 right now, but that should be easy to address on the market.

Two 2nd round picks is an OK value for JJ Redick for the Bucks but I don't like the deal for the Suns or for Bledsoe.  I was looking forward to, if Bledsoe got traded, him lighting the NBA on fire as a starting PG.  That won't happen with the Suns, who already have Goran Dragic.  Now, it will lead to a point guard timeshare for both players and a timeshare is never a fun situation for any player.  And statistically speaking, Jared Dudley and Caron Butler are the same player, in essence.  So this deal is kind of a head-scratcher for the Suns and it's tremendously disappointing for Bledsoe who goes from a backup PG on a contender to a backup PG for a cellar-dwellar (unless the Suns trade Dragic, move him to the 2, or promote him over Dragic, none of which I would bet on)

Martell Webster re-signs with the Wizards for 4 years, 22 million
It looked like Webster would be on his way after Washington drafted Otto Porter Jr. to come in and start at small forward.  But, alas, Webster is back to provide some depth off the bench.  It's a decent deal on both sides as Webster performed admirably last year after Bradley Beal's injury.  However, 4 years, 22 million might be a bit of a stretch.  I think 2 years, 10 million would have been better for the Wiz.

Chase Budinger re-signs with the T-Wolves for 3 years, 16 million
Budinger, who was injured for most of last year, is back for another run with the Timberwolves.  The former Arizona Wildcat of dunk contest fame looked doubtful to return after Minnesota acquired Shabazz Muhammad on draft night, but Flip Saunders has already gone out and said that Muhammad will come off the bench next year leaving an opening at the starting 3.  Budinger can hit the 3 which will allow Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love more room to operate.  Now, with this news, it looks like Andrei Kirilenko will not return to the Wolves next year.

Andray Blatche re-signs with the Nets for 1 year, 1.4 million
Good move by the Nets to keep Blatche on the cheap after the departure of Kris Humphries to Boston.  Kevin Garnett is coming into town, meaning Blatche will be back in a bench role.  Even with the presence of Mason Plumlee now on the Nets bench, Blatche has to be happy about the championship potential he has secured by re-signing with BKN.  Since he could have gotten a lot more money and a starting gig elsewhere, it's good to see that he values winning above all else.

Tiago Splitter finalizing a 4 year, 36 million deal with the Spurs
9 million a year for a mediocre post player like Splitter may seem hefty, but he showed a lot of promise, especially in the regular season and the Spurs hope that Splitter will be able to hold down the fort at PF/C when Tim Duncan retires.  He's improved every year thus far, and other than perhaps throwing a little too much money at him, it's a fine deal for the Spurs.

Sorry.........had to

Eric Maynor signs with the Wizards
The terms of Maynor's deal have not been disclosed yet, but he's a fine back up point guard to John Wall.  It's a role that he's comfortable in after backing up Russell Westbrook in OKC and Damian Lillard in Portland last year, and he's definitely an upgrade for the Wiz over AJ Price.

Mike Dunleavy gets 2 years, 6 million from the Bulls
Solid add for the Bulls, as Dunleavy will provide sharp-shooting and depth off the bench.  Marco Belinelli now looks like a prime candidate to depart but I like Dunleavy, who has the better build and the better overall game, more.  A bit of a logjam at Dunleavy's natural 3 with the presence of Jimmy Butler and Luol Deng but this signing allows for a bit more flexibility in Tom Thibodeau's rotations.

CJ Watson hops onto the Indiana Pacers train for two years
DJ Augustin was a disaster in a backup PG role for the Pacers last year and while CJ Watson isn't going to get anyone excited, he is an upgrade behind George Hill and the brevity of the deal will allow the Pacers to cut him loose if he doesn't work either.  Watson can score and distribute as well as a backup 1 can and it's a decent move by Indiana.

David West re-signs with the Pacers for 3 years, 36 million
This was a no-brainer for the Pacers.  West was one of the key pieces to a young, scary Indiana team that took the champion Miami Heat to seven games and when combined with Roy Hibbert, he helps form the most imposing frontcourt in the NBA.  17-8 every night from a second or third option on offense (perhaps even third or fourth depending on what happens with Danny Granger) is something that the Pacers are quite lucky to have and the Pacers accomplished their number one goal this offseason

The Pelicans sign Tyreke Evans to a 4 year, 44 million offer sheet.  
Desperate to end the Eric Gordon era, the Pelicans signed Tyreke Evans to a rather lucrative offer sheet.  Capable of playing 3 positions and putting up very competent scoring and distributing numbers throughout his career, Evans is a fine young NBA player that has not been able to scratch his ceiling with the Kings to this point.  He would be an upgrade over Al-Farouq Aminu if they put him at the 3, could replace EJ at the 2, or even handle the ball while Jrue Holiday is on bench.  And he's got to be happy about the payday too.  It remains to be seen if the Kings match the offer.

Andrea Bargnani heads to the Knicks for Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, and a 2016 first round pick
Reigning NBA Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri came into the Toronto GM job with one priority: get rid of Andrea Bargnani.  The former #1 pick had fallen out of Dwane Casey's rotation completely and had shown inconsistency and a tendency to get injured often.  Well, Ujiri accomplished his goal and got Steve Novak, a one-dimensional, but elite 3 point shooter, veteran Marcus Camby, who is washed up but can provide veteran leadership and depth off the bench, and a future first-rounder.  Nicely done by the Raptors.  I have mixed feelings about the Knicks end of thing.  Reports came out today that Amare Stoudemire might be limited to 20 minutes a game and in back to backs as well so Bargnani's presence as a stretch 4 that can pick and pop would be welcome.  He has great range and gives much needed for size for Knicks team that went small at times going with Iman Shumpert at the 3.  However, Bargnani can't get a rebound to save his life and playing with a ballhog like Carmelo Anthony will not do him any good.  So we'll see if this trade breaths new life into him or if we see more of the same from the Italian.

Stay tuned because free agency is just getting started baby!!

Thoughts on Max Scherzer's 12-0 Start

One of the biggest stories in the American League this year has been the dominance of Detroit Tigers righty Max Scherzer.  He sports an insane 12-0 record, a feat that no one has pulled off since Roger Clemens in 1986.  We still haven't even reached the All Star break, yet Scherzer is already a heavy favorite for the AL Cy Young award.  When combined with fellow Tigers flamethrower Justin Verlander, Scherzer helps form the deadliest 1-2 punch of starting pitching in the entire league (And Scherzer has a very legitimate case to be regarded as the 1 in that duo as his season has been clearly superior to Verlander's thus far).  But Scherzer's impressive display of pitching in the first half of the season pegs the question: Is he for real? The answer is yes and no.

First in support of Scherzer.  He's got a lot of things going for him that may be indications that this is not a fluke.  In each of the last two years, he's had a winning percentage well north of .600, going 15-9 in 2011 and 16-7 in 2012.  When you factor in the first three less than stellar years of his career, his performance can be chalked up to solid, steady year to year improvement.  His strikeout totals follow in this trend as well.  His ranking third in the entire league this year with a remarkable 131 K's already is not too much of a surprise seeing that he has topped 170 strikeouts per year in every season but one, peaking last year at 231 strikeouts (a number he could well eclipse this year at this rate).  And looking at Scherzer's 2013 K/9 ratio of 10.7 becomes a little less staggering when you see that he actually finished with an even better ratio last year with 11.1.  Finally, Scherzer's year to date ERA of  3.10 is not tremendously off from his career ERA of 3.79 and his G/F ratio of 0.68 fits right smack in the middle of his career range of 0.64-0.77 so he's still following his trend of generally being a fly-ball pitcher.  Thus, it may just be that Max Scherzer has established himself as one of the elite pitchers in Major League Baseball.

However, like with any good story/argument, there are always two sides to the issue.  Some factors don't work out so well in Scherzer's favor.  He has the very definition of a high-powered offense backing him up every start as the Tigers offense boasts the best hitter in the game right now in Miguel Cabrera and a top 10 slugger in Prince Fielder to go along with several other solid bats.  Scherzer definitely would not have a 12-0 record if he pitched for a team like the Houston Astros and I don't even think that on a juggernaut offensive team with not quite the amount of power that Detroit does (think St. Louis or Colorado) that Scherzer would be able to pull off that feat.  It's no wonder that Scherzer, this year, leads the American League in run support as the Tigers provide him with more than 6 runs per start on average.  Also worth noting is that Scherzer's sparkling 0.9 WHIP is well below his career average of 1.25.  Even last year, in his best year to date, he clocked in at a pretty ugly 1.27 WHIP.  This might be the result of better command as Scherzer has definitely cut down on the walks this year, posting an abnormally high (at least for him) 5.24 K/BB ratio or it could be a tell-tale sign of a fluke year.  And now we can turn to our old friend, perhaps the biggest determinant in whether a pitcher's incredible year is a fluke or not, the (in)famous BABIP stat.  With a .240 opposing BABIP, Scherzer ranks in the top 10 in the entire major leagues and trails only Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma in the American League.  So if we're to trust this, it means Scherzer's been quite lucky this year.  Granted, Detroit defense is one of the better ones in the bigs, but a strong defense can only do so much.  Sometimes, luck plays a pretty big factor.  So maybe it's not all dandelions and pancakes for Max Scherzer in 2013.

Max Scherzer has a few people to thank for his 12-0 start

A 12-0 start is remarkable and Max Scherzer has definitely turned some heads by accomplishing it.  However, reading a bit into what made it possible helps us better gauge whether or not he is deserving of a place in the MLB's pitching elite.  While each person's view may differ, personally, I feel that Max Scherzer going 12-0 would only be possible in Detroit.  They have the almost perfect combo of a mammoth offense and a stellar defense to back up Scherzer every night and if he were pitching on any other team, I am certain his record would have a blemish or two on it by now.  However, his strikeout totals are among the best in the league and with a much improved arsenal of pitches and better command that he has exhibited this year, I think Max Scherzer deserves consideration for the title of best pitcher in the MLB right now.