Obsessedsportsnut's Blog

May 29, 2010

The Road to South Africa: US vs Turkey and other quick thoughts

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 11:37 pm

Today, the United States Mens National Team (USMNT) had their 2nd international friendly against Turkey as they prepare for the World Cup in 2 weeks. However unlike last week’s game against the Czech Republic where coach Bob Bradley rested all of his star players and let the fringe players of the team play, he started his strongest players today to see how’d they perform.

On defense, Bradley started Jonathan Spector on the right, Carlos Bocanegra on the left, and Jay Demerit and Clarence Goodson in the center. In the midfield, he had Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, and Ricardo Clark, with Landon Donovan and Jozy Altidore as the two forwards.

The first half was absolutely atrocious. You could say that the defensive back was porous, but the entire defensive formation of the entire team was lacking. While the defensive back was shaky, I think more blame had to fall on the midfield, specifically Fielhaber and Clark. These two players just couldnt control the midfield and allowed the Turks to string passes along and get scoring chances. Our offense had chances, but still nothing substantial was able to come out of the midfield.

At the halfway mark, Bradley made numerous changes to the defense, bringing on Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo and Jonathan Bornstein, as well as replacing Clark and Feilhaber for Jose Torres and Robbie Findley in the midfield. Boy what a difference these players made. Torres was able to control the midfield so much better than Clark and Feilhaber were able to. I criticized Bradley’s inclusion of Findley on the team, but he surprised and me and showed a speed and pace that I think could benefit the team tremendously. However, like England’s Theo Walcott, Findley needs to improve on his decision making. Too many times he made a beautiful run and too many times he kept on the ball for way too long. On more than once occasion, Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore were yelling for the ball which never came. Once Findley understands the game better, he can be a much more dangerous player.

With all these changes, the US was able to turn a one goal deficit into a 2-1 victory, highlighted by this tying goal by Jozy Altidore with assistance from Donovan and Findley.

The US has never seen this much skill and talent on the national team ever before, and it’s such a joy to watch these players compete.

However, I feel one of the biggest concerns regarding this team is their transition defense. During the game, there were numerous occurrences where the US was in a set piece situation (corner kick or free kick) and all the tall defenseman came forward to try to win a header. However, all the time, the Turks were able to clear the ball and quickly pass the ball and run the other way. The only problem was that the defenders werent back in time to stop these rushes.

The following video shows how the US was able to capitalize on this same exact problem. A team like the Turks might not be able to take advantage of these breaks, but a team like Spain or the Netherlands would be.


Quick thoughts from other national team camps..

1) France looks really, really good. First off, I dont really think France deserves to be in the World Cup after struggling through the qualification stage and Thierry Henry’s handball fiasco against Ireland. I didnt have that high expectations for France. However, after watching them win a 2-1 game against a decently strong Costa Rica team, I am convinced that they will be a dangerous team once again in South Africa. Les Bleus’ success at the World Cup will obviously hinge on the play of Franck Ribery, the successor to Zinedine Zidane, who’s playing phenomenally right now. The only thing that I noticed that could be a problem is the lack of finishers on the team. Thierry Henry is way past his prime, and until the French can find a striker, goal scoring may be a problem.

2) Ghana was once considered to be a dark house candidate to make it far in the elimination rounds, since this was a team that just finished 2nd to Egypt in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament. However, star midfielder/defender Michael Essien was just ruled out of the tournament after being unable to recover from an injury suffered while at the ACN. On top of that, Stephen Appiah is still trying to regain form after suffering through multiple injuries. With Essien out, Ghana still has a slight chance of success with Appiah on the field. If Appiah cant regain fitness, Ghana will suffer tremendously in South Africa.

3) The Netherlands will definitely be a team to watch. Once again, the x-factor for their success is whether or not Robin van Persie is playing at his top form. Like a numerous players, he had an ankle injury back in November that sidelined him for 5 months, and only started playing competitively two months ago. As you can see from his two goals against Mexico last week, Van Persie is back and ready to go. Watch out for the Dutch next month.


4) Germany – The once strong Germans will be a big question mark this year. Michael Ballack, their captain and one of the best players in their history, is out with an ankle injury, suffered during the FA Cup finals against Portsmouth’s Kevin-Prince Boateng, who also happens to play for Ghana…which also happens to be in Germany’s group at the World Cup. Coincidence maybe? Anyways, without Ballack patrolling the midfield, Germany will be very very weak. It doesnt help too that Germany’s most capped and best strikers, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski are suffering a horrible form, having only scored a combined 9 goals in 48 games this past season. It’ll be interesting to see what coach Joachim Low does in South Africa…start these two senior, veteran players or play “rookies” and less experienced (on the international stage) players such as Cacau, Thomas Muller, or Stefan Kiebling who have less than 20 appearances total on the national team, but have scored a combined 56 goals in 107 appearances this past season and are all in top form.

NBA playoffs pre-finals recap

Filed under: basketball — Tags: , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 10:06 pm

Before the season started, all the top teams kept their rosters intact, yet made one significant signing.

LA Lakers – Signed Ron Artest
Cleveland Cavaliers – Signed Shaquille O’neal
Orlando Magic – Signed Vince Carter
San Antonio Spurs – Signed Richard Jefferson
Boston Celtics – Signed Rasheed Wallace

All these players are big name players who were once all stars on their own team at one point in their career, but they are all players who have hit their prime. All 5 of these players entered into a situation where they were no longer the best player on their team and no longer the focal point of the team’s offense. However, they are all still very good and effective players, and were brought in as the “last missing piece” to winning the championship.

These five players were brought in for all different reasons. Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson were signed to provide additional scoring to the Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs, respectively. The Cavs pretty much brought in Shaq as a body to play against Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference Finals (so much for that decision). Ron Artest was brought into the LA Lakers for his lockdown defending, hustle, energy, and extremely streaking shooting. The Boston Celtics signed Rasheed Wallace to back up Kendrick Perkins and be a spark off the bench and to provide the team with good energy, defense, and rebounding.

From the beginning of the season, I had said that the team that brings in the player that fulfills his role the best will most likely win the championship. This is also under the assumption that the core pieces on the team play their best.

Take Shaq first. You can blame him for the Cav’s playoff failures. He actually played pretty decently in the playoffs. It was the rest of the core, Lebron James, Mo Williams, and co, that didnt play their best.

However, you could say the Vince Carter experiment in Orlando was a disaster. The entire team carried their weight, except for Vince Carter, who only averaged 13 pts/game against Boston, after averaging 18 against Atlanta and 15 against Charlotte. Carter’s emotional state was fragile in the Boston series and he just choked and couldnt provide the scoring that the Magic needed.

If you say the Vince Carter experiment was an disaster, then the Richard Jefferson experiment in San Antonio was the apocalypse. Here was a guy who averaged only 12 pts/game the entire season, even though he has a career mark of 17 pts/game. I actually thought Jefferson had the best chance of making the biggest difference. His entire career, Jefferson was always the primary scorer and had to shoulder most of the scoring burdens of his team. Here he was coming into a situation where he would play 4th fiddle to Duncan, Parker, and Ginobilli and that release of burden would enable to have the freedom to do what he wants. Boy was I wrong…

That leaves us with Rasheed Wallace and Ron Artest, two players who are best fulfilling their roles that they were brought in to do, and not surprisingly, we have the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers back in the NBA Finals once again.

Rasheed Wallace has been a very interesting pickup. Bill Simmons absolutely ripped him in a column last month, criticizing his lack of energy, dedication, heart…etc. But just like the rejuvenation of the entire team, Wallace has made a complete 180 in his attitude and play. He is providing very good minutes off the bench backing up Perkins, and is giving the team good energy. He’s also providing the team great streaky shooting, as seen by his 21 point outburst against Orlando, and a 17 point outburst against the Cavs. For some very strange reason, I believe he’s going to be play a very significant role in this upcoming series against the Lakers.

But out of all the offseason acquisitions across the league, I believe the signing of Ron Artest by the Los Angeles Lakers was the best pickup. There were huge expectations placed on him. Here he was coming to a team straight off a championship, replacing a guy, Trevor Ariza, who played a significant role on that team. If the Lakers dont win this year, people will look at him as the only change from last year and place the blame unfairly on him. However, Ron-Ron has come in and played well and consistent throughout the entire year, and has provided lockdown defense on numerous star opponents.

Then you have his amazing buzzer beating shot in game 5, which just goes to show his knowledge of the game, the situation, and his hustle off the boards.

and then he follows up that performance with a 25 point performance in game 6, including 4 of 7 from the 3 point line. It will be really fun to see what he does against Boston next week.

Of course, last year’s offseason transactions have nothing on this summer’s free agent field…which of course needs to be addressed in a completely different post 🙂

May 26, 2010

The Road to South Africa: US Mens Roster Released

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , — Jonathan Lee @ 11:17 am

Today, US Men’s National Team coach Bob Bradley released his 23-man World Cup roster for South Africa, and boy was I disappointed.

Most choices were expected: DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu showed enough in warmups and training to seal their spot on the team. Jonathan Bornstein was chosen over Heath Pearce…in the battle who was “less worse than the other.”

However, the most chocking, disappointing choice had to be the elimination of Brian Ching, and the inclusion of both Edson Buddle and Robbie Findley.

Brian Ching is one of the most criticized players on the national team roster. American’s concept of forwards is one of a quick, fast, powerful, goal scorer. However, Brian Ching isnt this kind of forward. Brian Ching plays more of the “target man” on the team…a big target who receives passes at the top of the box. He then uses his large frame to keep possession while the rest of the team comes up in support and uses his great passing skills and vision to distribute the ball. It’s a very unglamorous position, but a very important one, and a believe that every coach should reserve one spot on their roster for a large target man.

Robbie Findley’s inclusion means that Bradley valued his speed more than Ching’s possession abilities. Perhaps it was a move to help replace Charlie Davies, who used his speed to stretch out the defense. Whatever the reason, I really hope that Bradley knows what he’s doing.

Other than this…I have no other criticisms of this roster. It’s a strong team that can do a lot of damage in the World Cup.

The Road to South Africa: US, England, Mexico, and Portugal Preview

Filed under: World Cup — Tags: , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 12:34 am

We’re less than 3 weeks away from the start of the World Cup finals in South Africa, the biggest event in all of sports. While the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL crown their winners as “world champions”…the winner of the World Cup is literally “THE WORLD CHAMPION” of the world’s greatest and most popular sport.

Two weeks ago, coaches released their preliminary 30 man roster, and last week all national teams started their official training. This week starts the first preliminary games where coaches see who’ll make their final 23 man roster, which is due next week.

So far this week, four teams of note took the field for the first time: England, Portugal, Mexico, and the United States. My quick thoughts on all of them…

United States

Tonight, the United States lost 4-2 against the Czech Republic, a team that did not qualify for the World Cup. Unlike Portugal, England, and Mexico, the United States did not field their top team, with coach Bob Bradley giving stars Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, and others the night off. Bradley instead wanted to give the “fringe” players, players who are on the borderline of making the 23-man roster, a chance to make their case to go to South Africa. Yes they lost, but dont read too much into it.

The biggest weakness and uncertainty for the Americans has to be the defensive unit. The three top defenseman are all recovering from various injuries: Captain Carlos Bocanegra had minor sports hernia surgery a couple weeks ago, Oguchi Onyewu hasn’t played in a competitive match since last October after rupturing his patellar tendon, and Jay Demerit is suffering from vision problems after eye surgery from an infection. If all three are healthy and ready for South Africa, Onyewu and Demerit would be able to play the center defensive positions, with Bocanegra taking the left back spot (and Jonathan Spector) taking the right. However, if one of these players isnt fit, the two other players would play the center, and the left back spot would have to be filled by either Jonathan Bornstein or Heath Pearce or even Damarcus Beasley (a natural midfielder). As we saw tonight, Bornstein and Pearce were just plain bad, and neither one should be the starting left back on a team with high expectations for the World Cup. The next couple weeks will be very interesting to see the match fitness of Onyewu, Demerit, and Bocanegra. If they are ok to go, the United States will be ok in South Africa.

For other players, I think Bradley will take Brian Ching and Hercules Gomez, the leading scorer in the Mexican Leagues this year to South Africa.

I’m also pretty confident that Maurice Edu and Demarcus Beasley booked their tickets to South Africa as well.

England

The English team had one of the best qualifying campaigns going 9-1 (their only loss being a 1-0 defeat to Ukraine who ended up finishing 2nd in the group). However, like the Americans, this is a team that is striving to get healthy. The Manchester United duo of Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand fought hard this entire season to stay healthy during the club season, and both are fighting hard to gain fitness in time for the World Cup. Also, Ashley Cole is just starting to get back into form after fracturing his ankle back in February.

Then you have John Terry, who was stripped of the captaincy (and given to Ferdinand) for his affair with the ex-girlfriend of teammate Wayne Bridge, who then proceeded to resign from the national team since he claimed he couldn’t play with Terry ever again.

The English opened up their exhibition season with a 3-1 victory against Mexico at Wembley Stadium. At times, the English looked really good. Wayne Rooney and Peter Couch were both effective as forwards in the first half of the game before they were substituted out. Theo Walcott showed flashes of brilliance, but also displayed poor judgement in his decisions with the ball. Only 21 years of age, he could already be playing in his 2nd World Cup next month.

However, the English were lucky to escape with a 3-1 victory as I thought Mexico actually outplayed and outperformed them. Like the Americans, the English’s defenses were exposed by a great passing team like Mexico. Way too many times did the Mexicans find holes in the defense and attack. Similarly like like the Americans, the left back position is one of the biggest question marks for the English team. Leighton Baines looked extremely shaky in the game against Mexico and was lucky that the Mexicans couldnt capitalize on all of his mistakes. If starting left back, Ashley Cole, cant get ready in a month (and with Bridge not available), Baines will definitely need to step up his game.

The X-factor for this team has to be the fitness of Wayne Rooney, my favorite player in the world. He injured his ankle in Manchester United’s Champions League quarterfinals match against Bayern Munich, and he’s re-injured it way too many times at the end of the season. England’s hopes for success in the World Cup depends on whether or not Rooney will be fit. He claims that he’ll be 100% ready to go by June 12 against United States. If he, then the Lions have a decent chance of progressing far in the tournament.

Portugal

On Monday May 24th, Portugal, the #3 team in the world, only managed a 0-0 tie against a team from The Cape Verde Islands, who are ranked #117. Eh? Yeah I never knew this country had a soccer team to begin with. Heck I didnt know this country even existed. This should have been a walk in the park for Portugal, who started their strongest team of Ricardo Carvalho, Miguel Veloso, Nani, Deco, Liedson and Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably one of the best players in the world. Yet even with such a strong lineup, they couldnt even score one single goal.

This definitely has to be cause of panic for all Portugal fans, especially since they’re playing in “The Group of Death” with Brazil, Ivory Coast, and North Korea in South Africa. This was also the same team that only had a 2-0 win against China a couple months ago. While Ronaldo may be the best player in the world, the rest of the team is inconsistent and unpredictable. This is also a team that struggled mightily in the European qualification stages. It will be a shame if they dont get out of the group stage at the World Cup, though its very likely.

Mexico

I’m not too familiar with the players on the Mexican national team, but from what I saw against England, this is a very strong and disciplined team. Even though England won 3-1, the Mexicans had many more scoring chances and held possession of the ball for a longer period of time then the English. They had good ball movement, passing, and scoring chances, but just couldn’t not capitalize on these chances as well as they would have liked.

The Mexicans are in a group with South Africa, France, and Uruguay. It’s very likely that the Mexcians can get out of the group stage, and if they do, they’ll be a very dangerous team to play against.

Upcoming Schedule

Wednesday: Netherlands vs Mexico. France vs Costa Rica
Friday: Paraguay vs Ivory Coast
Saturday: Hungary vs Germany. Spain vs Saudi Arabia. Slovakia vs Cameroon

Hopefully I can catch a number of these games and get a chance to see how teams look before they get to South Africa.

May 24, 2010

The End of the 2010 Sharks Season

Filed under: hockey — Tags: , , — Jonathan Lee @ 1:10 am

with the sharks losing yesterday 4-2 to Chicago, it officially ended the Shark’s 2009-2010 season.

am i disappointed? yes. am i devastated? no.

surprisingly, i think i’ve dealt with this loss pretty well…im not depressed, sad, or mad. ive actually been thinking a bit today about this season versus last season (when it took me a month to get over the Shark’s failures), and why ive reacted differently to both “similar” outcomes (elimination).

i feel the best way to explain my behavior is if i take look back on my high school life and see the different ways how my parents reacted to my academic performance. I now understand that all my parents wanted me to do was to study and work hard and do the best that I could. There would be times where I would achieve my goal and do really well. However, there would be times when I tried my hardest, and still didnt do as well as I wanted to. In these situations…yes I was disappointed. yes my parents were disappointed…but they were never mad at me. they knew i had did my hardest, and that’s all they could have asked from me. on the other hand, there were many instances where I didnt try my hardest and definitely slacked off and of course did poorly. In these cases, my parents were more than disappointed in me. They were mad and upset that I didnt put my heart and complete effort in it.

last year when the Sharks were upset by Anaheim in round 1, I was furious. The sharks played poorly, and a lot of times, it seemed that they rolled over and gave up when things were going tough for them. They played with no heart, determination, and character. They didnt fight through adversity. It was painful to watch them last year lose. Like my parents when I didnt try my best, I mad and upset at the Sharks.

this year, they were a completely different team. Throughout the Colorado and Detroit series, they played hard…they played well. The Sharks could have just rolled over in a ball and cried after losing two games against Colorado on two fluke goals…but no. They rallied back and fought hard. they really showed their heart and character. In the Detroit series, they were down in games multiple times, but every single time, they came back and tied it up. Yes they did end up losing 7-1 one game, but they came back in game 5, and played one hell of a game to win the series.

in this series against Chicago, the sharks played well. yes, there were momentary lapses of concentration. yes there were some miscommunication that lead to unfortunate goals. but as a whole, the sharks played a very, very strong game. whenever they were down, they never gave up. they constantly battled and played hard until the very end. we had our chances…we just simply couldnt capitalize on them.

it kind of hurts to hear all the “sharks choked” comments this year. did the sharks choke this year? i will say no. they were flat out beat by a much better Chicago team. Before the series started, almost every analyst had the Blackhawks beating the Sharks. Yes. Chicago was simply better. They were faster. There defenseman moved the puck better. Jonathan Toews was a beast. Antti Niemi was on fire. (on a side note…Nabokov had an amazing playoffs. I dont think much blame can fall on him this offseason).

yes im disappointed…but it’s all right. im still extremely proud of them for making it to the conference finals for only the 2nd time in our team history. they played their hearts out…and in the end, that’s all that I can ask from them.

san jose sharks…i still love you.

May 20, 2010

Nike: Write the Future

Filed under: soccer — Tags: , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 3:35 pm

Leave it to Nike to create some of the most epic commercials known to man. Here’s their latest commercial: “Write the Future”.

The number of stars they got to shoot this commercial makes it that much amazing…

0:0: Ivory Coast’s Didier Drobga vs Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro
0:48: England’s Wayne Rooney (and Theo Walcott) vs France’s Franck Ribery (and Patrice Evra)
1:10 – Cameos by the United States’ Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. Funny cause the US is playing England in the first game of the World Cup, and Donovan and Howard have both competed against Rooney in the Premier League this past season.
1:35 – Spain’s Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, and Cesc Fabregas
1:42 – Rooney playing ping pong against Roger Federer
1:47 – Brazil’s Adriano and a showboating Ronaldinho, who didn’t make the Brazilian roster. Did I miss Kaka?
2:05 – A dancing Kobe Bryant
2:13 – Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo

*edit* I was confused why Kaka and Lionel Messi weren’t shown…and then realized they were probably signed by Adidas…which they are.

Here’s Nike’s last great soccer commercial.

May 15, 2010

My official predictions on the NBA and NHL Conference Finals

Filed under: basketball, hockey — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 6:39 pm

well…we all know that I have a HORRIBLE track record in predicting winners, but here goes…my official picks for the NBA and NHL Conference Finals!

NBA Western Conference Finals: Los Angeles Lakers over the Phoenix Suns in 6 games
NBA Eastern Conference Finals: Orlando Magic over the Boston Celtics in 7 games

NHL Western Conference Finals: San Jose Sharks over Chicago Blackhawks in 7 games
NHL Eastern Conference Finals: Montreal Canadiens over Philadelphia Flyers in 6 games

May 14, 2010

Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavs

Filed under: basketball — Tags: , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 10:33 am

What happened to the Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers? Best record in the NBA for the past two years, and then ultimate chokers in the NBA playoffs. Are they the “San Jose Sharks” of the NBA?…yeah ok, that was brutal.

But really what happened to the team? Why couldn’t they get by Orlando last year and Boston this year? Is it fair that Lebron James is taking all the scrutiny for the failures of the Cavs?

Before I start, I really dont have a favorite team or player in the NBA, though I would say that I’m more inclined to root for the LA Lakers every year. I feel that out of all the sports, I follow the NBA with the most objective point of view that I can possibly take, and I’m not really biased for or against any particular player or team.

That said, while Lebron James is arguably the best player in the league, I feel I have to blame the management and ownership for failing to give Lebron a decent team to compete with.

Take a look at some players and their recent championship fortunes.

1. Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics – For the longest time, Paul Pierce was the lone man in Boston and was surrounded by terrible talent. As good as he was, the Boston Celtics were TERRIBLE. What did Danny Ainge do? He then brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two perenially all stars, and they won the championship the very next year.

2. Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers – Kobe Bryant has 4 titles, but three of those titles came early on in his career with Shaquille Oneal. As good as Kobe was in his early years, this was Oneal’s team, and Oneal was the most important and best player on the team. When Shaq left for Miami, the Lakers went into a downspin. They had players like Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown, and a young Andrew Bynum. As GREAT as Kobe was (and is), you just can’t win with a team like these players. Finally, Bryant made some threats and the Lakers made a move for Pau Gasol, again arguable the best Power Forward in the world. They made the NBA Finals that year, losing to Boston (see above), but after a full year of playing together, the Lakers finally won the title in 2009.

3. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls – Like Lebron James, Michael Jordan was a beast when he arrived in the NBA. However, for the first 7 years of his career, he had to carry the team on his back. His teams did well, but always came up short in the playoffs, and never won a championship. He even won a MVP award during this time as well. But management surrounded Jordan with great talent. They drafted Scottie Pippen, and surrounded Jordan with great talent like Horace Grant, Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, and Dennis Rodman. With these additions, Jordan was finally able to win 6 championships in the 1990s.

4. San Antonio Spurs – Champions in 2003, 2005, and 2007 had an amazing trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili with great role players such as Bruce Bowen and Robert Horry.

What’s my point?

My point is that a superstar can’t win a title all by himself. He needs a team that can play with him. He needs a team with a deep bench.

I’m sorry, but the Cleveland Cavs are not that team. Who was their starting 4 other than Lebron in the playoffs?

Mo Williams – 1 time All-Star in 2009, but that’s because he made it as an alternate because of injuries. He’s a serviceable point guard…in no way a star. I can probably name at least 6-7 pgs better than him
Anthony Parker – He was great in the Euroleague, but really shouldn’t be a starting SG on a team with championship aspirations. Never been an allstar in the NBA
Shaquille O’Neal – Probably goes down as one of the best Centers in NBA history, but is at least 3-4 years past his prime. While he’s still effective, he’s no way near the player he used to be.
Antwan Jamison – Two time allstar, good scorer. can’t play defense. inconsistent. dont know what you’re going to get.

That’s just the starting 4 other than Lebron. Don’t even get me started on the bench: Varejao, Ilgasuskas, West, Moon? yeah…not that good.

This just wasn’t a good team. Their starting 4 other than Lebron James was suspect and their bench just wasnt that good.

But then you might throw the “they had the best record in the NBA the past two season” argument at me. Sure, but out of their 21 losses this year, 16 of them came against playoff teams. Good teams are SUPPOSED to beat the bad teams. How you play against the great teams is what matters.

Also, the regular season is completely different than the postseason. It’s a whole new ball game. Great teams elevate their game to a whole new level. There was so much uncertainty about the Boston Celtics coming into the playoffs. The “Big 3” just weren’t playing well together at the end of the season. They looked tired and out of sync. Come playoff time though, Pierce, Garnett, and Allen turned it on and stunned pretty much everyone. They brought their game to a whole new level.

The Cavs as a whole didnt elevate their game. Actually, only one player did…Shaq. The best center in history played actually a pretty good series against the Celtics. He’s the only one that knows that it takes to win, and he really didnt disappoint.

Which brings me to the next obvious question? Is Lebron staying in Cleveland next year?

It depends. He has to be realistic and realize that he can not win a championship with this team. If ownership shows a commitment to bring in an actual STAR, and some good role players to fill out the bench, I think Lebron stays. Else he’s gone.

But while a lot of the blame should rest on the shoulders of management, I do believe Lebron needs to shoulder a lot of the responsibility as well. He still has a ton to learn about maturity, focus, and how to actually lead a team…which I dont want to get into now, but will save for a future post. He is still miles behind Kobe, Duncan, Nash, and the Big 3 in Boston in terms of how to be a leader.

April 19, 2010

aftermath of painful game 3 loss

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: — Jonathan Lee @ 11:16 am

stunned. shocked. disappointed.

those were the three words that came to mind after the Sharks lost a heartbreaking game last night to the Colorado Avalanche. The Sharks outshot the Avs 51-17 (42-7 after the 1st period). The Sharks simply outplayed and dominated the Avs. It was one of the best games I’ve ever seen them play. To have them lose on an own goal a minute into Overtime was one of the most unfortunate ways to lose.

However, while I sat in shock for 10 minutes without moving afterwards, I was surprisingly ok on my way home and when I woke up this morning. Yes the loss sucked, but I was extremely happy with the way we played. We were playing with heart and character…we just couldnt get in the back of the net.

Is this a repeat of last year’s round 1 series against Anaheim? In terms of losses…perhaps. Im going to say no. Last year, we were flat out…out played. We played with no heart. Whenever adversity came, the Sharks just curled up in a ball and gave up. They played with no character.

In game 1 this series, we played a horrible 2nd period. We came back and played one hell of a period 3, and lost with 30 seconds remaining on a bad deflection off Rob Blake. In game 2, we were down by one goal 5 times in the game. Each time, the Sharks didnt give up, and tied it every single time, eventually winning in Overtime. In game 3, we played our most complete game ever, and dominated, yet loss on the worst type of goal.

Am I worried? No. Im loving the way we’re playing. From the very beginning, I’ve said its a best of 7 series. It’s the first to four wins…not the first to 1 or 2. If the Sharks continue to play the way they’re playing this week, the Sharks WILL win. I have faith in them.

April 18, 2010

Drafting QBs in the NFL Draft

Filed under: football — Tags: , , , , — Jonathan Lee @ 12:38 pm

The NFL draft is less than a week away, and speculation is swirling on the fate of all the QBs in this draft class: Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Jimmy Clausen. The biggest question of this draft has to be: “Where will Tim Tebow get drafted?”

If you’ve remotely been following college football for the past three years, you would know that Tim Tebow is arguably one of the greatest college football players of all time. He was a three-time Heisman Trophy finalist, winning it in 2007. He lead Florida to two national championships. He won the Maxwell Award twice (best football player in the country). His trophy and awards list goes on and on and on. He was a dual threat qb, throwing for 88 TDs and running for another 57. In 2007, he set the record for most combined TDs in a season (55).

You would think that after being called one of the greatest college players to have ever played, Tim Tebow would be the top draft pick in the draft this month, go on to be an immediate starter in the NFL next season, and have a productive career in the NFL in the future.

To the shock of many, Tim Tebow isnt the best QB in the draft this year, and some would argue that he’s not even in the top 3. There are some analysts that think Tebow shouldn’t play QB in the NFL and would be better suited being a Tight End or a Halfback.

WHAT?! One of the best college players ever might not even play his position in the NFL? What’s going on?!

Before I move on, take a short quiz for me. For these next 5 players, read their stats and tell me when they got drafted and how their career is doing right now.

1. Timmy Chang – 5 year starter at Hawaii. Completed 1377 out of 2436 passes for 17,072 yard and 117 touchdowns (3rd most all time). Holds the record for most offensive yard (16,910), most career passing yards (17,072), and most career plays from scrimmage (2,587).

2. Graham Harrell – 3 year starter at Texas Tech. All time leader in touchdowns (134), and 2nd in passing yardage to Timmy Chang. Won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which is awarded to the best senior QB in the country. 2008 Gator Bowl MVP and was 4th in the Heisman Trophy voting.

3. Troy Smith – Heisman Trophy winner in 2006 from Ohio State and AP Player of the Year. Consensus All-American. Voted the best Big 10 player of the decade this year. One of the best dual-threat (runner and passer) QBs of all time. Finished his career with 54 passing TDs and 14 rushing TDs.

4. Jason White – two time Heisman Trophy finalist from Oklahoma, winning it in 2003. Two time winner of the Davey O’Brien Award, awarded to the best college football player. Winner of the Maxwell Award in 2004.

5. Eric Couch – Heisman Trophy and Davey O’Brien Award winner from Nebraska.

Ok done? How did you do?

1. Timmy Chang went undrafted. He tried to play in the CFL (Canadian Football League) but couldn’t make it there.
2. Graham Harrell went undrafted, and is currently playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL.
3. Troy Smith was drafted in the 5th round by Baltimore, but is serving as the backup QB to Joe Flacco.
4. Jason White went undrafted in 2005. Gone from football.
5. Eric Couch was drafted in the 3rd round by Saint Louis as a wide receiver. He went on to play as a safety in NFL Europe.

Chang, Harrell, and White weren’t drafted at all…even through 7 rounds! Heisman Trophy winner Couch wasn’t even drafted as a QB. And Smith…one of the most exciting QBs to have played this decade is currently sitting as a backup to Flacco, who went to Delaware, a Division 1-AA school.

This clearly shows that success in the college game does not necessarily translate to success at the NFL level. To understand why, there is only one thing you have to consider: the college offense vs the pro offense.

The College Offense

In the college game, a lot of schools run gimmick offenses, where the QB is often times in the shotgun position, meaning that the QB stands up 5 yards behind the center, as opposed to right behind him (with his hands often touching the center’s thigh/butt). A lot of college teams to use this to either run a spread offense or an option offense.

In an option offense, dual threat QBs have the option to either run with the ball, pass, or handoff to the RB. Troy Smith at Ohio State played out of the option offense, since he was dangerous running or passing. Smith would get the ball 5 years behind the line of scrimmage, see what the defense gave him, and then have the “option” to either run with or pass the ball. Other option QBs who were successful in college were Vince Young and Tim Tebow.

In a spread offense, again the QB would stand in an shotgun formation 5 yards behind the center. The spread offense is a passing-based offense, with 4 or 5 WRs playing at a time, and is dependent on quick, short, precise routes run by the WRs. By standing 5 yards behind the center, the QB would have enough time to see what WRs are open and get the ball to them quickly. Timmy Chang at Hawaii and Graham Harrell at Texas Tech both played in spread offenses, and were able to set numerous passing records. The offense is solely on the passing game, so obviously they were able to set great numbers.

The NFL offense

However, the successful teams in the NFL run a pro style offense, and you will rarely find a successful team running the spread or option offenses. A pro style offense has the QB directly behind the Center, two WRs to the sides, and a RB and Full back behind him. As the QB drops back, in those three seconds, he has the choice to either handoff to his RB or throw a pass to his WR. The defense facing a strong team will have to respect the run and the pass, so in those few seconds as the QB drops back, they are unsure what’s going to happen.

Pro-style QBs are often called “pocket passers.” Most of these QBs operate in the “pocket,” the area that a QB’s lineman gives for protection. As a generalization, they are not the most mobile QBs and wont beat you while running. If you take a look at the QBs who have won a Superbowl in NFL History: Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, John Elway, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw…they are all your traditional pocket passers.

The Two Most Important Skills Sets in a NFL QB

1. Good arm strength/throwing mechanics – Throwing mechanics is very important…however a lot of college players lack the fundamentals of a pro QB. For example, the biggest knock on Tim Tebow is his poor throwing mechanics. See the following video for an explanation.

2. Good footwork – This is one of the biggest issues with QB’s making the transition from college to the pros. With more and more QBs operating out of the shotgun formation, a lot of QBs lack the necessary fundamentals in their footwork that is necessary in the pros.

In the NFL, with the QB mostly under the center and not in a shotgun, the QB must do a 3-step, 5-step, or 8-step drop to give himself room away from the line of scrimmage. The following video at 0:18 shows Steve Young doing a 5-step drop. Note: even though he almost trips, its the most clear example of a drop I could find.

Most college QBs lack the fundamental footwork to achieve these drops…simply because they are not required to do so at the college level.

The Transition Between College and the NFL

Mainly because of footwork and arm strength, and to an extent lack of familiarity/experience in running a non-spread or non-option based offense, there are many great college QBs who have never been able to make the jump to the NFL. Often times, these QBs aren’t even given a chance to succeed. Also realize that the college game is set up such that an amazingly freakish athlete, a la Vince Young and Troy Smith, can still dominate other teams…based on his athletic prowess alone. Not to say that these athletes aren’t talented…they are…its just that when they get to the NFL wherever everyone is very good…their athleticism wont be enough succeed. They need strong fundamentals to make that next step.

The 2010 Quarterback Class

Sam Bradford. Colt McCoy. Tim Tebow. Jimmy Clausen.

This 2010 QB class might be the most hyped up class in recent years, not because of talent, but because of name recognition. I still think that the 2004 NFL draft class was one of the best QB classes (Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger) in a while.

Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame) is the most NFL ready QB out of the four, mainly because he played in a pro style offense under Charlie Weiss (ex offensive coordinator of the Patriots and Jets) while at Notre Dame. He has the arm strength and footwork necessary to be an immediate started in the NFL.

Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) might not be as “NFL ready” as Clausen, but I believe he has greater potential to be a greater QB than Clausen. At Oklahoma, he showed that he had a great arm and great leadership qualities. The biggest unknown is whether or not his season ending shoulder injury during this junior year will have any affect on his throwing.

After Clausen and Bradford, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow are the two biggest unknowns. The biggest knock on Colt McCoy is his toughness. He’s by far on the smaller side for QBs. How he’ll be able to deal with the grueling hits in the NFL will go a long way to see if he’ll have a productive career. He has the arm strength and the smarts to succeed. I dont quite know if he has the toughness.

Tim Tebow is probably the biggest question mark this entire draft. He is by far the most athletic athlete out of these 4 QBs but he also lacks the most in fundamentals. At Florida, he was able to pretty much will his team to win and most of the time, he used his insane body to run the ball and crush opposing defenses. However, his throwing mechanics was poor and his foot work was severely lacking. But the one trait that Tebow has that none of the other 3 can match is his insane dedication to his position. This offseason, he wanted to prove his critics wrong, so he worked with a bunch of NFL QB gurus and worked on his throwing and footwork. From what I saw on film from Gruden’s QB Camp, he has improved tremendously! His throwing release is much quicker and his movement on the 8-step drop was insane. It’s one thing to show these changes when you dont have 300 LB lineman after you. How he’ll respond in actual games will be interesting.

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