Obsessedsportsnut's Blog

June 30, 2010

Free Agency 2010 Fantasy Pick-em

Filed under: basketball — Jonathan Lee @ 11:09 am

For fun, let’s play “Free Agency 2010” fantasy pick-em. The rules are pretty easy. You just have to predict where the following marquee free agents will sign this summer.

Shoot me an email (jonplee @ gmail.com) by midnight (6/30) or send me a facebook message. You can leave a comment, but risk people looking at your predictions.

I’ll post a final distribution of predictions as well.

Winner gets a free lunch at Marvell…or a beer at BJs…or something comparable that wont break my bank. If you’re not local…rain check until the next time I see you…or you can just take “bragging rights” 🙂

1. Lebron James
2. Chris Bosh
3. Dwayne Wade
4. Joe Johnson
5. Amare Stoudemire
6. Dirk Nowitzki
7. Paul Pierce
8. Ray Allen
9. Carlos Boozer
10. David Lee
11. Rudy Gay

In the unlikely case that someone gets all of these predictions correct, the tiebreaker comes down to the following:

1. Shaquille O’Neal
2. Tracy McGrady
3. Allen Iverson

June 28, 2010

World Cup 2010: United States Postmortem

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 10:17 pm

In my World Cup primer from a couple weeks ago, I had written the following regarding the expectations of the United States,

That said, the United States team EXPECTS to make it out of the group stage and move on to the Round of 16. If they don’t, this World Cup (and the buildup to it during these past 4 years) would be considered a MAJOR disappointment. But I think the team will be just “blah” if they make it out of the group stage. I truly believe they think they can make it at least to the quarterfinal round like they did in the 2002 World Cup, and deep down inside, they would be very disappointed if they dont.

First, off I am extremely proud of the team for what this team has accomplished this tournament, battling for 2 ties and a win in the group stage. They showed a lot of heart and determination in advancing, and they should be commended for winning their group for the first time ever.

At the same time, there is a sense of disappointment for not beating a very beatable team in Ghana and moving on to the quarterfinal round. US Soccer President Sunil Gulatti went so far to say that “the US failed to meet his expectations and that they were capable of so much more.”

On a side note, this is a good thing because this shows how far the US has come. Early at the end of the last decade, it was just an accomplishment to qualify for the World Cup. Early this decade, we just wanted to get out of the group stage. Now we have expectations for moving on farther in the tournament.

So what went “wrong” with this team? Two things. A poor offensive front line and a poor defensive back line.

In 4 games, our strikers (Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley, and Hercules Gomez) accounted for a total of 0 goals. All 5 of our goals were scored by our midfield. Now even though Altidore didnt score a goal, he contributed tremendously to the offense, and given the circumstances that he didnt play with a legit strike partner, he did pretty well.

I cant say the same for Findley, Gomez, and Buddle. Coach Bob Bradley gave 3 starts to Findley and 1 start to Gomez. However, they were so ineffective in the first half of all games, that in 3/4 games, Bradley subbed them out and brought in Benny Feillhaber.

Coach Bradley was dealt a tough hand when Charlies Davies was injured in a life-threatening car accident last year, and couldnt recover in time to make the team. This is what Davies offers the team: speed, pace, skill, experience.

Findley, Buddle, and Gomez together could not compare to Charlie Davies. With Altidore playing with these 3 inexperienced players, the US attack just faltered.

The second thing that screwed over the US was a shaky defense. It’s defense was unacceptable. In 3/4 games, the US gave up a goal within the first 15 minutes: England (4′), Ghana (5′), and Slovenia (13′). The Algerians almost scored in the first 10 minutes as well had their shot not hit the crossbar. Even the goal scored by Ghana in the overtime period was scored early on and due to a lapse in the defense.

Yes a lot of things have been said about the US’s resolve, determination, and resilience, but they should have never been in the position of having an early deficit to begin with. Their defense was unacceptable.

Again, Coach Bradley was dealt an unfortunate hand when Oguchi Onyewu, one of the US’s best centerbacks, ruptured his patellar tendon in a game for AC Milan. In the US’s run to the finals at the Confederation Cup last year, Onyewu played such an amazing tournament against Egypt, Spain, and Brazil that AC Milan, one of the best teams in the world, decided to sign him to a 3 year contract right away. Unlike Davies, Onyewu was able to regain fitness in time to make the team, but you could clearly tell that he wasnt playing at 100%. He was beat many times, and finally Bradley benched him for the last couple games.

Looking Forward…

The biggest question mark moving forward is whether Gulatti will keep Bob Bradley or not. I think he has done an amazing job with this team, and has really taken this team to new heights. He was rather unlucky though in not having a healthy Davies and Onyewu on his team. However, I have constantly criticized his squad and team selections this past month. For the last time, I will reiterate my belief that Brian Ching would have been a much more effective strike partner to Jozy Altidore than Gomez, Buddle, or Findley were.

However, even with this team he has, you have to question his starting 11 selections for all games. Ive criticized him tremendously for the past two weeks for starting Findley and Gomez at top and subbing them out at halftime, while at the same time moving Dempsey at top and Feilhaber in the middle. Everyone could see that the 2nd half of ever game with this new formation was much, much better than the 1st half of the games. I believe things could have been much different.

In terms of the roster, the midfield and goal keeper situations are pretty much set.

Michael Bradley is only 22 years old and will only continue to get better. I truly believe that he can be one of the best center midfielders in the world in a couple of years. If Clint Dempsey (27) and Landon Donovan (28) avoid serious injuries, they will most likely be around in 2014. Stuart Holden (24), Jose Torres (22), Maurice Edu (24), and Benny Feilhaber (25) are all young and will be contributing mightly to the national team in the years to come. With the exception of Torres who’s playing in Mexico, all these players are playing in Europe and will only improve for the better.

Tim Howard (31) will mostly likely retire from the American team by the 2014 World Cup, but we have a more then capable replacement in Brad Guzman, who plays for Aston Villa in the English Premier League.

What the US needs to develop are quality strikers and defenders.

Jozy Altidore (20) and Charlies Davies (24) are both very young and will only continue to get better. Its scary to see how good these kids can be. But after these two players, the US dont have quality forwards. Gomez (28) and Buddle (29) probably are too old to be around for the next cycle. As much as I knock on Findley (24), he has the possibility to improve, but only if he gets out of the MLS and moves to Europe. I really cant think of anyone in the pipeline who has the possible talent to be the next great forward for the national team.

Our defense is even more problematic. Onyewu (28), Carlos Bocanegra (31), Steve Cherundolo (31), Jay Demerit (30), and Clarence Goodson (28) would all be over 30 by the 2014 World Cup. Jonathan Spector (24) and Jonathan Bornstein (25) arent getting any younger. Chad Marshall and Heath Pearce are both 25 and could factor in for the team in the future, but they have a long way to go to be a quality defender. While the soccer life of a defender might be longer than midfielders and forwards, the US cant rely on the “old guard” of Onyewu, Bocanegra, and Demerit to perform in 2014. Like our forward situation, I cant really think of and defenders in our pipeline that can make a difference on the national team anytime soon.

As a follower of the mens national team since 1994, Im extremely proud to see how far this team has come in 16 years. From fighting hard against Brazil in the 2nd round in 1994 to the debacle in France in 1998 where the US finished dead last among 32 teams to the 2002 run where they outplayed Germany in the quarterfinals and should have made it to the semifinals if not for some bad officiating to the 2006 tournament where they were unluckily drawn into the Group of Death to the 2010 team that captivated the heart of this nation, I can only hope for further success and improvements in the years to come.

June 27, 2010

Lebron James and the 2010 Free Agent Class

Filed under: basketball — Tags: , , , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 2:59 pm

Any true fan of basketball would have had July 1st, 2010 marked on their calendars with a big large red circle for the past couple years? Why? Its the day where the entire basketball landscape could drastically change, where the balance of power would be affected for the next decade or longer. Dynasties could be started, and franchises just utterly destroyed.

July 1st, 2010 is the first day of the beginning of the the summer free agency period, where teams can finally meet and make bids on this year’s free agent class, which might be the best free agent class…in history…of any sport.

Take a look at who’s on the market this year…

Group 1: Stars whose contract expired following the 2009-10 season and can sign anywhere

Joe Johnson, Steve Nash, Carlos Boozer, Chris Paul, Ray Allen, Manu Ginobili, Tracy Mcgrady, Shaquille O’Neal, Stephen Jackson, Jermaine O’Neal, Brad Miller, Mike Miller

Group 2: Stars who are signed through 2011, but can opt out of their contract in 2010 if they so choose

Lebron James, Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Michael Redd

Then there is another whole group of “2nd tier” players who can move around that can add value to many teams.

Obviously, Lebron James is the biggest name out of everyone, and what he does will cause a ripple effect throughout the entire league. No team will sign a player or make a trade without knowing where Lebron James is planning to go.

Where he goes is the million dollar question. Only a handful of teams has the salary cap space to mathematically sign him. In no particular order, Cleveland Cavs, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, and the New Jersey Nets.

The two, yet extremely related, things to realize about Lebron are his desire to win and his appreciation for the history of the game. Lebron doesnt want to be known as our generation of Karl Malone, one of the best players to never win a championship. Lebron knows that despite all his personal achievements and record setting performances, he never can be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, or Kobe Bryant. To legitimize his case as one of the best players in history, Lebron needs to win…and he has a lot of catching up to do if he wants to catch up with Jordan and Kobe.

This also makes me believe that all the teams that are trying to use their city as a selling point wont succeed. The New York Knick and New Jersey Nets are both trying to get Lebron to go to the Big Apple so that “he can use the city to further his name and grow his empire.” Honestly, Lebron doesnt need a city to grow his name. He’s one of the best business-mined athletes in any sport, and he talks to Warren Buffet weekly about investing advice. Heck, even when he was playing in a “small” city like Cleveland, Lebron was able to grow a worldwide empire.

Lebron wants to win now, and will only go to a team that will give him the best opportunity to win.

Let’s take a look at Lebron’s suitors, from least likely to most likely.

5. New York Knicks

Why Lebron would go to the Knicks: “basketball” capital of the world. the chance to play in Madison Square Garden. Knicks has a ton of cap space and could sign other star free agents

Why Lebron would not go to the Knicks: no decent building blocks of players (David Lee, Al Harrington, Wilson Chandler) currently there.

Like I mentioned above, Lebron will not be sold on the allure of city. The Knicks simply dont have the existing talent that Lebron would want to play with. In order for Lebron to even remotely think about going to the Knicks, he would want both Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to come along, which is very highly improbable.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers

Why Lebron would go to the Cavs: The highest possible contract of any team. Loyalty to the city and fans

Why Lebron would not go the Cavs: Team simply isnt good enough.

For Lebron, I truly believe it wont be about the money. He will go to the team that will field him the best team. With that, the Cavs just simply cant provide him such a team. Ive said it all along that Lebron’s supporting cast for these past couple of years is simply poor. He needs an upgrade at PG over Mo Williams, a new center (Shaq’s leaving), and a secondary scorer (Antwan Jamison isnt as good as he used to be).

3. Miami Heat

Why Lebron would go to the Heat: The opportunity to play with Dwayne Wade

Why Lebron would not go the Heat: Being second fiddle to Dwayne Wade

Lebron James would love to play with Wade, but at the same time, James wants to be the main face of the franchise. After leading the Heat to the NBA championships, Wade is the face of the franchise and will not relinquish that title to Lebron. I dont think Lebron’s ego can handle that.

On a side note, I fully expect Wade to stay in Miami. I also predict that they’ll bring in Amare Stoudemire to join him.

2. New Jersey Nets

Why Lebron would go to the Nets: 2009 All-Star PG Devin Harris. Center Brook Lopez who can be one of the best centers of his generation. Cap space to sign Chris Bosh. New Coach Avery Johnson. New owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Jay-Z is a minority owner. Brand new stadium in Brooklyn in 2012. Play in New York City

Why Lebron would not go the Nets: The Chicago Bulls

The New Jersey Nets are a great fit for Lebron James. They have a solid core in Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, and Brook Lopez, who will soon be a perennial all-star. They also just drafted Derrick Favors, who might turn out to be one fine player. They also have the ability to sign Chris Bosh as well.

A starting 5 of Lebron, Bosh, Lee, Harris, and Lopez? Yeah that can be good. They also just signed Avery Johnson, a great young coach and winner of the 2006 Coach of the Year award.

Coupled that with a new owner who isnt afraid to open his wallet, his great friendship with Jay-Z, and the media market that is New York City, the Nets would be a great choice for Lebron.

However, only one team stands in the way..

1. Chicago Bulls

The Bulls can match anything that the Nets can offer, a PG in Derrick Rose and a young Center in Joakim Noah. However, Rose is far better than Devin Harris, and Noah isnt that far behind in Lopez in terms of development. After trading away Kirk Hinrich’s massive contract, the Bulls put themselves into position to sign two max contract free agents, meaning Chris Bosh can go to Chicago as well.

Like the Nets, the Bulls just signed a new coach, Tom Thibodeau, who previously served as Assistant Coach under Doc Rivers in Boston where he was in charge of Boston’s great defense.

I believe the Nets and Bulls will give Lebron the best chance to win in the future.

What I think it will come down to is what Lebron understands best: history.

Lebron knows everything about Michael Jordan and what he did playing for Chicago. He also knows what Jordan meant to the entire city. He also knows that when his playing career is over, everything will be compared to what Michael Jordan accomplished at Chicago.

Could it be intimidating as hell passing by the United Center every day and seeing a statue of Michael Jordan in the front? Hell yeah. But I dont believe Lebron has or ever will back away from a challenge. There’s no better way to be compared with a person, than trying to take on his legacy head-on.

Chicago has and will always be faithful to Jordan, so Lebron will have to win over their hearts, and the only way to do that is to start winning championships again.

I really think Lebron is relishing this opportunity.

June 26, 2010

World Cup 2010: Knockout Round predictions

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , — Jonathan Lee @ 11:04 am

Round of 16

Uruguay over South Korea
United States over Ghana

Netherlands over Slovakia
Brazil over Chile

Argentina over Mexico
England over Germany

Paraguay over Japan
Spain over Portugal

Quarterfinals

United States over Uruguay
Brazil over Netherlands

Argentina over England
Spain over Paraguay

Semifinals

Brazil over United States

Spain over Argentina

Finals

Brazil over Spain

3rd Place Game

Argentina over United States

June 24, 2010

World Cup 2010: Group Stage Recap

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , , — Jonathan Lee @ 11:41 pm

After 48 games, we have our 16 teams who advanced to the knockout round.

In alphabetical order: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, England, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Paraguay, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, South Korea, United States, and Uruguay.

For those new to soccer, once a team progresses to the knockout round, there are no more ties. If a game is tied after 90 minutes, the games goes into a 30 minute overtime period that is split into 2 15-minute sessions. Unlike hockey, there is no “golden goal” in soccer where the first team to score wins. The two teams play out the entire 30 minute period. If the game is still tied after 30 minutes, the game is decided by a penalty kick shootout.

Moving on to recapping the group stage round…

The most surprisingly bad teams

1) Italy – The defending World Champions finished last in their group and didnt even get a win.
2) Cameroon – I had originally predicted Cameroon would finish 2nd in their group behind Netherlands, and before Japan and Denmark, but they finished with 3 losses. This coming from a team that was runners up in the African Cup of Nations in 2008, and breezed through qualifying with a 9-1-2 record.
3) Denmark – This was a team that finished 1st in its European qualifying group that consisted of Portugal, Sweden, and Hungary. The final loss to Japan was quite shocking/disappointing. I definitely expected more from this team.

The not-so surprising bad teams

France – Pretty self explanatory, only finishing with 1 points, a 0-0 draw against Uruguay. Their self-combustion was well documented.

Statistically, the French were the 3rd worst team at the World Cup. 2 teams finished with three losses and 0 pts (Cameroon and North Korea). Three teams finished with one tie and 2 losses (France, Nigeria, and Algeria), yet France’s goal differential of -3 was the worst out of all 3 teams. A pretty sad display.

It’s all the first time since the 1966 tournament that the finalists from the previous world cup did not advance out of the group stage in the following tournament. Pretty sad stuff for Italy and France.

The most surprisingly good team

Japan earning a victory over both Denmark and Cameroon and advancing to the next round had to be the most pleasantly surprising team in this tournament. Before this tournament, they had never won a World Cup match on foreign soil (they won 2 games as hosts in 2002). To beat two very strong teams in Denmark and Cameroon makes this advancement even more impressive.

The “didnt advance but definitely impressed” teams

1) New Zealand – The Kiwis are the #78 ranked team in the World, and I’d have to say that it was pretty shocking that they had three ties against Paraguay, Slovakia, and Italy. I had written in my World Cup Primer that not all teams expect to go on to the next round. Rather, a lot of team’s one goal is to not be embarrassed on the world stage. New Zealand was one of those teams. I fully expected them to lose every single one of their games, but the fact that they earned 3 hard ties has to be a HUGE accomplishment.
2) South Africa – A lot of news was made about the fact that South Africa was the first host team not to advance to the next round. To be fair, most past hosts were in countries with already well established strong teams. The closest case to South Africa was when United States hosted the Cup in 1994, and needed a ton of luck to advance. South Africa wasn’t favored to advance at all, but they made a really nice showing earning one victory, one tie, and one loss. They actually finished level with Mexico at 4 points, but lost the goal differential tie break to Mexico. Definitely a great showing for the hosts.

The best looking teams

In no particular order, the Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, and Spain. These 4 teams are on my short list to appear in this year’s finals.

I also believe Portugal and the United States can make some serious noise in this knockout round.

1. Is there an unbalance across confederations?

The CONMEBOL (South America) had all 5/5 teams advance to the next round for the first time ever: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. What’s even more incredible is that all 4/5 teams won their respective group. Even more impressive is that out of 15 games played, South American teams only lost 1 game (Spain winning 2-1 against Chile). Throughout the group stage, they amassed of record of 10-1-4. A pretty impressive record.

Contrast that to the plight of the CAF (African confederation) who only had 1/6 teams move on to the next round (Ghana). This was supposed to Africa’s coming out party, with South Africa being the first African host of the World Cup, and so many strong African teams, such as the Ivory Coast and Cameroon, that were supposed to make deep runs in the tournament. This has to be a disappointing tournament for the entire African continent.

One generalization you can make is that South American teams are the best in terms of creative, beautiful, and disciplined football with world class players. African teams on the other hand lack a lot of the discipline that is required to win, and as a whole, lack world class players.

Taking a look at other confederations, AFC (asian federation) has 2/4 countries advance, CONCACAF (northern/central america) with 2/3, and UEFA (europe) with 6/13 countries advancing.

2. Can the United States possibly get to the semifinals?

By winning their group, the United States put itself in such a favorable position to possibly reach the semifinal round.

Had they finished 2nd in their group, the US would have had to face Germany in the round of 16, and either Argentina or Mexico (note Argentina) in the quarters. By winning their group, they now face Ghana in the round of 16, and either South Korea or Uruguay in the quarterfinals.

This is no knock on Ghana, South Korea, or Uruguay, but they are no where near the level of Germany, Argentina, and Mexico.

The team of course has to take it one game at the time, but should the United States continue to play well, they have a legitimate chance of making an improbably run to the semifinals.

3. Who wins the “Player of the Group” stage award?

Without a doubt…Lionel Messi, the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year.

On June 22nd, one of my favorite sports columnists, Bill Simmons, tweeted the following.

After watching Messi this year on Barca & now in the WC, I’m convinced he’s better at soccer than any U.S. pro athlete is at anything.

The biggest knock on Lionel Messi was that he played amazingly well for his club team, Barcelona, but struggled at times playing for Argentina. A lot of people attributed that to the fact that Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, plays a more wide-open, free-flowing system that allows Messi to thrive. Many believed that the Argentinian system didn’t allow Messi to play at his best. However, I think it was just a matter of time of the team getting accustomed to Argentina coach Diego Maradona’s coaching style. There’s now a trust amongst the team, and Maradona is allowing the team to just take off. Because of that, Messi is now thriving.

Lionel Messi hasn’t scored a goal yet for Argentina, but there’s a reason why Argentina is undefeated and has scored the most goals (7) through three games. (Yes I know Portugal has scored 7 goals as well, but those all came against North Korea…so that doesnt really count). Messi is absolutely terrifying the midfield and creating numerous chances for his team. Even though he hasn’t put one in the back of the net yet, almost all goals came because of the work he did.

How good is he and how important is he to Argentina’s success now and in the future? If being labeled by Diego Maradona, his coach and 2nd greatest player ever behind Pele), as his successor isn’t pressure enough, he was given the captain’s armband against Greece for the first time in his career. At the age 23, that made him the youngest Argentina captain ever.

Honorable Mention: Spain’s David Villa and United States’ Landon Donovan

On a side note, David Villa is tied with a couple others players with 3 goals as the tournament’s leading scorer. He’s my early candidate to win the “Golden Boot” as the player with the most goals at the end.

4. How were my predictions?

Pre-World Cup Predictions: 12/16 (wrong on France, Serbia, Cameroon, Italy)
Post-1st game Predictions: 13/16 (wrong on Cameroon, Italy, Swizterland)
Post-2nd game Predictions: 13/16 (wrong on Denmark, Italy, Serbia)

# of teams I was correct about from the very beginning: 9 – Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and South Korea.

Full bracket predictions to be done by the end of 6/26.

On record, I will predict a Uruguay victory over South Korea and a United States victory over Ghana.

5) What to look foward to in the next round?

There are three very enticing matchups in the round of 16…

a) Argentina vs Mexico – a rematch of their round of 16 games in the 2006 World Cup.
b) Spain vs Portugal in the Iberian Derby.
c) Germany vs England

Looking forward to some possible quarterfinal matchups, we might be able to see Netherlands vs Brazil and Argentina vs Germany/England.

Should be fun.

Weekly Recap: 6/17 – 6/24

Filed under: basketball, hockey, weekly recap — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 2:50 pm

I’ve realized for a lot of people, my blog posts are their only connection with the sports world. I know its weird…I find it shocking when people dont have espn.com set at their browser homepage.

So, I’ve decided to create a “weekly recap” post that take a look at some of the bigger stories in sports this past week. Just a warning to my non-Bay Area readers, I’ll probably be heavily Bay Area biased…so be aware.

Since I have to release a “weekly report” to my boss every week on Thursday at 2pm, I’ve decided that I’m going to try to release this recap thing Thursday afternoons as well. Yeah…multitasking at its finest.

World Cup

Probably the greatest sporting event in the world, and what I’ve been writing about for the past two weeks. I wont spend time talking about it here, though you can read about two of the bigger surprises: the US’s achievements so far and the French disaster.

The epic tennis match at Wimbledon between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut…

6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68. Simply…insane.

Just take a look at the records set in this game…

1) Longest match ever: 11 hours 5 minutes over a total of 3 days.
2) Longest set: 5th set lasted 8 hours 11 minutes
3) Most games in a set: 138 in the 5th
4) Most games in a match: 183
5) Most aces in a match by one player: Isner, 112
6) Total aces in a match: 215 total

This went down as the most epic tennis match ever played, and its a feat that will probably never ever be duplicated. What was absolutely stunning was the sheer quality of play throughout the 11 hours. There were 510 winners and 215 total aces, with only 122 unforced errors. The human will power shown during the entire game, and the emotions display at the completion of the game, coupled with the tremendous fan support, were all a testament to the beauty of sports.

The San Jose Sharks Offseason

After the Sharks were eliminated from the playoffs last year, talk immediately went to who the Sharks were going to sign: either Patrick Marleau or Evgeni Nabokov, two of the longest tenured Sharks and two of the fan favorites. Both player’s contracts were up, and the Sharks only had enough salary cap space to sign one of these players. Sign Marleau, lose Nabokov. Sign Nabokov, lose Marleau. It was a heated debate, with fans taking sides of one player or the other.

I took the side of Patrick Marleau, who I think is the heart and sole of this Sharks team, and someone who I wish retires as a Shark. Even throughout all the disappointments of these past couple seasons, Marleau has been the one who has always fought hard for his team.

With regards to Nabokov, he’s one of the great goaltenders of this league, but has never been able to perform well in the playoffs. Come playoff time, you need a goalie who will “steal” games and series for you, and Nabokov never came through for the Sharks. He never got “hot”. This past playoffs, Nabokov played his best ever, yet at the same time, he still let in a lot of soft goals that he should have stopped. What did this show me? Even when Nabokov plays his best, it’s really not good enough to win.

In the end, Nabokov was the one who was let go. Nabokov will be missed, as he was one of the fan’s favorite players. I wish him the best of luck.

Today, Patrick Marleau was signed to a 4 year contract, worth $6.9 million/season. This deal makes me love Marleau even more. Why? Marleau was the premier Center on the market this year, and could have attracted top money from numerous teams. While his $6.9 million/season is a lot, there are 20+ players who make more than him. He deserves to be one of the top paid players in the league, but he gave the Sharks a “hometown” discount to stay with the team.

NBA Free Agency Frenzy

And the buildup to the biggest summer in NBA history has begun, with two of the biggest players making key moves.

First, the Miami Heat traded Daequan Cook and an 18th pick to Oklahoma City for the 32nd pick in the round.
Then, the Chicago Bulls traded Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick to the Wizards for players/picks to be announced.

While these trades might seem lopsided or unfair, they were done for one purpose only: to free up cap space to try to lure top players come July 1st. By trading away Cook and their 18th pick (who’s value is around $3 million), the Miami Heat has enough salary cap room to sign 3 max-contract players, their own Dwayne Wade and possibly two others, like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire.

By getting rid of Hinrich’s $9 million contract, the Bulls freed enough cap room to sign 2 maximum-salary players from this years market, supposedly rumored to be Lebron James and Chris Bosh.

After all these deals, here’s an analyst’s projection of summer cap space.

1. New York Knicks – $34.2 million
2. Chicago Bulls – $29.1 million
3. New Jersey Nets – $27.2 million
4. Miami Heat – $26.2 million

Come July, it’ll be very interesting to see how things fall.

On a side note, The Warriors made a similar trade where they traded away Corey Maggette to Milwaukee for Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric. This wasn’t a trade for player quality in mind. Rather, this again was a salary dump trade. Maggette still has 3 years and $31 million on his contract, which the Bucks were willing to pick up since they’ll most likely lose John Salmons to free agency this year. Gadzuric only has $7.2 million in his last year on his contract, while Bell has $8 million over two years. By getting rid of Maggette’s insane contract, and losing Gadzuric’s contract after next season, the Warriors will too have a little cap space to try to get a quality free agent this summer.

June 23, 2010

World Cup 2010: United States vs Algeria post game thoughts

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 10:55 am

WOW. simply. WOW. Maybe one of the most riveting games I have ever seen. I dont think I’ve ever had this much emotions watching a soccer game before. Simply wow.

Before I move on to some quick thoughts, I will step on my soapbox once again. In a time like this, I hate to find negatives in this situation, but once again, I will voice my displeasure regarding Bob Bradley’s decision of including Robbie Findley, Edson Buddle, and Hercules Gomez in the squad…and not Brian Ching. I dont think I will ever get off my soapbox at how bad a decision this was by Bradley.

Against Slovenia, coach Bob Bradley started Robbie Findley a top with Jozy Altidore. Today against Algeria, Bradley started Hercules Gomez at top. In both games, Findley and Gomez played horribly, looked out of place, and were subbed out at the half. In both cases, Bradley brought on Benny Feilhaber in the midfield and moved Clint Dempsey up to the forward position. In my previous post, I had mentioned that Bradley needs to scrap this idea of starting Findley, Gomez, Buddle at top with Altidore and just move straight into starting Dempsey at top. In both games, the US looked much stronger in the 2nd half with this new formation.

Buddle/Findley/Gomez are decent players, but they lack the experience on the international level. In a game like this, I dont think Bradley can trust them to perform.

Which brings me back to my original belief that Brian Ching would have formed the perfect strike partner with Jozy. He plays a similar game as Clint Dempsey, being a big, strong target man at top, but he would allow Dempsey to play in the midfield. Plus, Brian Ching has 45 international caps under his belt, so he has the necessary experience at the international level to succeed.

Anyways…moving on to the positives now.

1) After the Slovenia game, I had written I was unsure if I would call this an “average” or a “good” team. A good team beats team that they’re supposed to beat. The United States took care of business and earned their victory.

2) The one thing you have to love about this team is that this team NEVER gives up. This is a team that fights to the very last minute. Literally…the very last minute. In the game against Slovenia, you had Michael Bradley’s equalizing goal in the 82nd minute. Now today, we have the winning goal in the 91st. Amazing stuff. But again, this is nothing new.

Last year in world cup qualifying against Costa Rica on Oct 14th, Jonathan Bornstein scored in the 5th minute of injury time to equalize the game. Costa Rica was literally seconds away from playing in South Africa, but because of this goal, Honduras went on instead.

In last year summer’s Gold Cup tournament against Haiti, Stuart Holden scored the most beautiful goal to earn a tie with less than a minute left in the game. On a side note, look at what Brian Ching can provide to the team on his assist…

3) Landon Donovan continues to show everyone why he’s the best American player this country has ever produced. With his goal early in the 2nd half of the game and Slovenia and today’s goal, he is literally carrying this team on his shoulders. Back in March I wrote in this post,

If he continues to play at this high level at the highest level of soccer, he will be amazing at the World Cup in South Africa in June. The game experience of playing against quality opponent in pressure packed and hostile situations will be invaluable to the national team.

Landon Donovan has come through huge for the national team. Within two years, I predict he will make a full time transfer back to the Premier League and shine there.

4) Considering…everything, this is maybe the biggest, most important win in US history. The US has NEVER earned a point in each of their 6 3rd group game. Yes they lost every single one of them. A loss would have eliminated the team, and would have been the biggest disappointment to the team and fans back at home. Yes you can argue that their round of 16 victory over Mexico in 2002 was a big win, but it didnt really do much for the soccer in America.

After the 2009 Confederation Cup run in 2009 when the US beat Spain and almost beat Brazil, the profile of soccer has increased tremendously. You dont know how many friends I know who are watching soccer for the very first time ever, following the US team. There were so many people who woke up at 7am just to see the US play. Had they lost, I feel that the US soccer would have suffered tremendously and taken a big step backwards. But what this victory, there is an excitement in this country about soccer that Ive never seen before. With a 11am PST (2pm EST) kickoff on Saturday in their next game, I truly believe that a new record will be set with regards to how many people will be watching this game.

I also believe that the US’s achievements in South Africa and the fan’s excitement here at home is boosting the US’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. This will only continue to legitimize American soccer (and its support) in the eyes of the international community.

5) The US wins their group for the first time ever!!! Everyone predicted that England and US would both advance, but not too many people had the US winning the group. Pretty awesome stuff.

The US will face the 2nd place team from Group D on Saturday, either Germany, Ghana, Serbia, or Australia.

By winning their group, the US also received a favorable draw for the quarterfinal rounds. Had they been the runner ups, they would have had to face either Mexico or Argentina (probably Argentina) in the quarterfinals if they win their round of 16 match. Now if they win their round of 16 match, they would face either South Korea or Uruguay, a lot easier matchup.

6) My predictions so far are pretty good.

My pre-world cup predictions: 5/6 (chose France)
My post-2nd game predictions: 6/6 (correctly chose US and England winning)

Anxious to see how I do for my Group D predictions. I have Germany and Serbia advancing.

June 22, 2010

World Cup 2010: The French Debacle

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 2:33 pm

one of the biggest stories of this year is the total collapse of the French National Team.

To recap everything…

1. France played to a tie against Uruguay in a lackluster first game. Things weren’t that bad, and France had a chance to rebound in the next couple games to advance.
2. France loses 2-0 to Mexico in the 2nd game. Star forward Nicolas Anelka is subbed at halftime. Allegations come out after the game that Anelka had a nasty verbal exchange with coach Raymond Domenech at halftime.
3. Following the loss, Anelka was kicked off the National Team and sent home.
4. The team stood by their star player, fought back, and refused to take the field for their next practice session.
5. Captain Patrice Evra then got into a verbal argument on the field with trainer Robert Duverne. Duverne then quits on the spot.
6. The team director (kind of like the GM), Jean-Louis Valentin, quits as well in disgust
7. In the 3rd game, Domenech stripped Evra of the captains armband, and dropped him from the squad. The French end up losing to South Africa 2-1.
8. Domenech refuses to shake the hand of the South African coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira

What happened? Where did things go bad? Wasn’t France supposed to be one of the top teams in the world? Aren’t they supposed to be the #9 team in the world?

Well to really understand everything that happened, you have to go back to 2004, when the French Federation sacked coach Jacques Santini after France was eliminated from the Euro 2004. Two things followed from this…

1. Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram, and Claude Makelele all retired from international football to concentrate on their club teams. These three players are some of the greatest players in French history, and ended the so-called “golden era” of french football that included the 1998 World Cup win and 2000 Euro win.

2. Raymond Domenech was hired as the replacement coach, who’s sole objective was to the reach “at least’ the 2006 World Cup semifinals.

With the retirement of some of the best French players, Domenech had a relatively inexperienced team since none of the younger players had much playing time on the international level. Because of this, the French national team struggled to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Domenech then “forced” Zidane, Thuram, and Makelele out of retirement. Many analysts criticized Domenech and thought that these three players were too old to compete competitively in the tournament. Also Domenech was constantly criticized for his squad selection and constantly puzzled fans and players for his decisions to either play (or not) certain players.

However, as we saw with the Boston Celtics with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen this year, never rule out older, experienced players. Well…players who are healthy at least. Zidane, Makelele, and Thuram, stayed healthy, and they lead France to a spot in the Finals where they eventually lost in the Finals to Italy.

It was a remarkable and surprising showing by the French, who pretty much stunned the entire world.

However once again, Zidane went into retirement. Makelele and Thuram agreed to play for Domenech at the Euro 2008, but they were really too old to play at a high level anymore. Coupled that with the fact that Domenech couldnt find a replacement in the midfield for Zidane, the best player in French history, France couldn’t even advance out of their group in the tournament. Makelele and Thuram finally retired, and Domenech really had trouble on his hands.

Domenech was unable to find players to adequately replace the “old guard”. Yes Franck Ribery was supposed to be Zidane’s replacement in the midfield, but Ribery has a long way to go to be even half of what Zidane ever was.

Ever since 2008, the French national team has just been flat out horrible. They struggled mightily in qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa, and it took a handball goal by Thierry Henry to “defeat” Ireland in the playoffs.

In the buildup to the World Cup, France struggled tremendously as well. On May 30th, France was only able to tie #55 Tunisia 1-1. Less than a week later, France lost to #84 China 1-0. In both of these games, France was fielding their top team.

Throughout the past 4 years, Domenech has slowly lost control and respect of his team, due to his erratic decision making, indecision, and lack of respect for his players. What happened in South Africa was the culmination of 4 years of a bad regime and it finally blew up into one of the biggest stories of South Africa.

In closing, one final note about the FIFA rankings. Yes France is ranked #9 in the World, but you have to take into account how FIFA calculates its rankings.

The thing about FIFA rankings is that they dont accurately reflect the current state of the team. They actually take into account all games over the past 4 years. Therefore, France’s World Cup appearance in the 2006 finals added a ton to their rankings formula. Take away that appearance, and France would probably be ranked around the same spot as Uruguay and Mexico. If you ask anyone to rank the top teams based on current form, I dont think people would have France at #9.

June 21, 2010

When I became a sports nut

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: — Jonathan Lee @ 11:19 pm

It is a well-known fact that I’m an absolute sports nut. I love almost all sports, and I’m a diehard “anything Bay Area” sports fan. Recently as I’ve started this blog, and people see how much I really follow sports, a lot of people have asked me, “When did this all start? When did you become obsessed?”

Surprisingly, I can give them a direct answer: 1994. Without a doubt, that year was the beginning of this huge passion of mine.

In 1994, the San Jose Sharks played their first season in the newly built San Jose Arena. In their previous first two seasons of existence, they were playing at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. In the Sharks 2nd season, the Sharks gained only 24 points, and set a NHL record of 71 losses in the season. However what took place in their 1st season in San Jose was the biggest turnaround in NHL history, where they finished with a total of 82 points, an increase of 58 points, and made the playoffs for the first time ever. In the 1st round of the playoffs, the Sharks upset the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings, in what some call the biggest playoff upset in all of NHL history. In the 2nd round against Toronto, the Sharks ended up losing in 7 games. What was sad was that they could have won it overtime in game 6, but Johan Garpenlov hit the crossbar. The Sharks captured the hearts of the entire city, and I instantly fell in love with the team. How great was this season? The city of San Jose through a parade in honor of this team. I dont think ANY city has ever thrown a parade for a team that didnt win a championship, but what the Sharks accomplished was that amazing. Was I there? Of course. It meant so much to me that my dad took me out of school to attend the rally!

In 1994, the United States hosted its first ever World Cup, and Stanford Stadium in nearby Palo Alto was chosen as one the site venues. I had grown up playing soccer since I was very young, and I absolutely loved the sport. To this day, it remains both my favorite sport to play and watch on television. In the 1994 World Cup, the United States miraculously made it out of the group stage, and drew Brazil in the next round. What was completely awesome was that this match took place on July 4th at Stanford Stadium. There was a frenzy in the entire Bay Area that the national team was playing its first knockout round game at Stanford. It was impossible to not get caught up with the excitement. What was even more awesome was that the Brazilian national team (the eventual champions) chose Los Gatos as their home base in the buildup to this match. I clearly remember heading to downtown Los Gatos on a Saturday evening with my parents, and we took in all the excitement and partied with all the other Brazilian fans. The success of this tournament led to the birth of soccer in this country. San Jose was granted one of the original MLS franchises, and eventually went on to win 2 MLS Cups.

In 1994, the San Francisco 49ers fielded one of the greatest teams in the NFL that season led by Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Ricky Watters, Ken Norton Jr, Deion Sanders, and others. They were such an amazing team to watch and follow and they eventually won Super Bowl XXIX against San Diego.

In 1994, I started attending Challenger School for the 4th grade, where I was reacquainted with one of my best friends from Kindergarden and 1st grade, Ernest Ling. Ernest’s dad was a Stanford alum, and a big supporter of their sports teams. Since I hung out with Ernest 24/7, I naturally started to follow the Stanford Cardinal as well. The Stanford sports teams in the mid-90s to early 2000s were very dominant in the Pac-10. The basketball team made the 2nd rounds of the tournament in the 94 and 95 seasons, made the sweet 16 in 96, and finally the Final Four in 97. The 1994 season was also Tyrone Willingham’s first year leading the football team, and he immediately made the team competitive. They made back to back bowl games in the 1995 and 1996 seasons, before playing in the Rose Bowl in 2000.

In 1994, the Golden State Warriors were actually….GOOD. In the previous couple seasons, the Warriors had the famous Run-TMC group, composed of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin. Unfortunately, they disbanded this group. However in 1994 with the #1 pick, the Warriors drafted Chris Webber, who eventually went on to earn the Rookie of the Year award. Webber, alongside Latrell Sprewell, who went on to gain All NBA First team status, lead the Warriors to the playoffs that season. This was also the last time that the Warriors made the playoffs until the 2006-2007 season.

What about baseball?! Well in 1994, the MLB had its mid-season strike…so that sucked. But in the previous year, Barry Bonds signed with the San Francisco Giants and the Giants were involved in a pennant race against the Atlanta Braves where they missed out of the playoffs by 1 game, despite leading the Braves by 10 games at one point. Many people consider this to be the “last great pennant race” ever. The Giants struggled the next three years, but eventually improved to be one of the best teams in baseball, including a berth in the World Series in 2002.

Basically in 1994, the entire Bay Area sports scene was EXCITING!!! All our teams were either at the height of their dominance, or just about to enter in a new era. I was fascinated by our teams, and came to really love all of them.

World Cup 2010: Advancement Scenarios for all teams

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , — Jonathan Lee @ 1:38 pm

With the conclusion of the 2nd set of games, the advancement picture for all teams is pretty clear.

The following teams move on to the next round, regardless of the outcome of the 3rd game: Brazil and Netherlands.
The following teams have already been eliminated from the tournament: North Korea and Cameroon.

All other 28 teams have a MATHEMATICAL chance of advancing to the next round, though some might be more probably than others.

Here are the following advancement scenarios for all teams. Note the following tiebreakers to decide the advancing team.

1) Total points after 3 games (3 pts for a win, 1 pt for a tie, 0 points for a loss)
2) Goal differential (total goals scored – total goals give up). This is noted by “GD” below.
3) Total goals scored
4) Head-to-head matchup

Group A

Uruguay (4pts/3gd) and Mexico (4pts/2gd) are in the driver’s seat in this group. If they play to a draw in their last game, both advance to the next round. France (1pt/-2gd) and South Africa (1pt/-3gd), have a very slight chance to advance. They have to outright win their game, and hope there is a clear winner in the Uruguay/Mexico game. On top of that, they have to make up goal differentials…the other game’s winner has to win by at least 2 goals, and either France/SA have to win by at least 2 goals.

Pre-World Cup Predictions: France and Mexico
Post-1st game Predictions: Uruguay and Mexico
Post-2nd game Predictions: Uruguay and Mexico

(more…)

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