Things That Leave Steve Nash Scratching His Head

Its been a while, I've been a bit lazy and without NFL football this week I've actually had to come up with an idea on what to write on. Its not as easy as you'd think. Eventually I settled on this, a mini-rant about how the NBA isn't properly selecting the All-Star game starters.

Every year the NBA gives the fans the chance to select who starts in the All-Star game through fan voting. They allow fans to vote for 1 Center, 2 Forwards and 2 Guards. Now I'm not sure how or when they came up with this, but its not the way most teams (NBA or otherwise) come up with their starting line up.

When constructing a lineup the standard configuration is 1 point guard, 2 wing type players and 2 post type players. The distinction between power forward and center, for most teams without true centers, is blurred beyond recognition. They call players like Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh or Kevin Garnett forwards, but on many nights they will have stretches where they are the teams tallest player, best post defender and rebounder. That, by definition, is the center position, but in reality they are just the tallest post-type player on the court at that time. The same goes for wing type players, from Kobe Bryant to Tracy McGrady or Vince Carter, the distinction on whether they are small forwards or shooting guards really just depends on who else is on the court with them. They are wing players, and for the most part, teams go with 2 wing players.

But the one constant among most all NBA teams is they all play with a point guard. Looking across the NBA you won't find many teams without a starting lineup containing someone they call the point guard. But the NBA fails to recognize this in their voting structure, and this year neither teams starting line up will contain a point guard (Gilbert Arenas is not a point, no matter what Washington claims). Two time defending NBA MVP Steve Nash wasn't voted to start the game, instead 2 wing players (Bryant and McGrady) were selected.

This years lineups are:
WEST: McGrady, Bryant, Duncan, Garnett, Yao
EAST: Arenas, Wade, James, Bosh, O'Neal

In the end it won't really matter, substitutions will happen and point guards will get into the lineup. Combine that with the fact that All-Star games don't really matter (in any sport) and are just for fun, and it seems silly that this bothers me. But it does, I like watching really good point guards play and it pisses me off that the NBA refuses to recognize it as its on position, and that the fans get pulled in by the high flying wing players and ignore the PG's.

**END RANT**

Now there's been some more visitors since my last update. Someone fron Delisle has come 4 times, hopefully because they enjoyed something they read. Also Yorkton, Jasper, Woodford and London have stopped by at various times. But still nobody has commented, and so I'm still not entirely sure that anyone has read anything (although repeat visits from Delisle, and previously Italy, made me assume someone did). So, I've decided to offer a reward. The first person to comment on anything can request a topic for me to write something on.

10 Years for a B.J?!

I don't really do this, but if someone somehow stumbles here and not onto ESPN they should definitely read this story. It is a trajedy of justice gone wrong in Georgia that needs to be read to be believed.

ESPN E-Ticket - Outrageous Injustice

Reflecting on Babcock

We had another first over the weekend that I managed to miss until recently. Our friend from Italy became the first return visitor to Ike Krizzule Talks Sports. That, combined with the visitors we've had clicking on the link from my signature in my posts over on RaptorBlog (a site with well done articles, and good discussion), has made me think may be its time for another Raptor post. So here it is:

The Toronto Raptors are starting to take huge steps forward this season, and after years of struggling may finally be a playoff team again. Now much of the recognition will go to new GM Bryan Colangelo, and rightly so he's done a fantastic job, but I maintain that the work of Rob Babcock helped set the team up to make these moves.

Shortly after Babcock took the job it became apparent that he didn't really have room to do anything. The Raps, under the Grunwald era, had mispent their way to being up against the cap with little to show for it. When Vince Carter made his trade demands, after dogging it for months, it became clear to me that Babcock would probably be fired before he ever got a chance to prove his worth. Now looking back at his moves, I'll attempt to show that while he might not have been the best GM in the world he wasn't the laughingstock that some would make him out to be.

1. Drafting Rafael Araujo
This is the one that gets Babcock in some trouble. Araujo never did (and probably never will) develop into a good NBA player. But, in Babcocks defense:
a) the 2004 draft was probably one of the weakest in recent memory
b) the Raptors had Carter, Jalen Rose and Morris Peterson at the SG/SF positions, but only Donyell Marshall and a young Chris Bosh in the post. The 2004 draft (outside of the top 2 Dwight Howard and Emeka Okafor) was even weaker when it came to big men. Al Jefferson and Andris Biedrins would have been better picks, but both were 18 at the time and the Raptors needed someone to play minutes immediately.
c) Babcock was hired shortly before the draft and didn't have the kind of time other GM's had to prepare for the draft.
Colangelo moved Araujo for Kris Humphries, another 2004 draftee, who has become a bottom end rotation big man for the Raptors

2. Signing Rafer Alston
The Raptor also needed a point guard, and with the little money they did have Babcock found one in Rafer Alston ($4M/season). Alston had his problems, he seemed to be a bit of a headcase and clashed with coach Sam Mitchell, but did provide decent play at the point. He averaged 14 points and 6 assists, about average for an NBA point guard.
Babcock moved Alston after his first year for Mike James

3. The Carter trade
Early into Babcock's first year it was clear that Vince Carter wanted out of Toronto. After playing poorly enough to destroy his trade value, and convince everyone that his knees might never allow him to play at the level we had been accustomed to seeing him, Vince demanded a trade. Other NBA GM's, like sharks smelling blood, waited out trying to steal Vince from this 1st year GM. Eventually Babcock took the best offer he recieved and trade Vince to the Nets for Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning, and 2 1st Round picks. Not the greatest return, but when a star player demands to be traded and has tanked for the past year or 2 its impossible to get market value (see the Sixers/Nuggets Iverson trade). Most of the Babcock criticism comes from this trade, but to the critics I say you'll never win a title with a player of Vince Carter's character, so good ridance to him.
Eric Williams never played to his ablities with Toronto and was included in the Rasho Nesterovich trade
Aaron Williams gave some big man minutes and was traded for a 2nd Rounder
Alonzo Mourning refused to report to Toronto, but was bought out saving cap space
Joey Graham was the net of 1 of the 1st rounders, the other was traded to the Knicks with Jalen Rose to clear cap space

4. Drafting Charlie Villanueva
Much criticized at the time of the pick, because criticizing Babcock was the thing to do, Charlie-V went on to have a great rookie year (finishing 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting). It was a good draft but Villanueva was definitely a very good selection at #7.
Charlie was since traded to the Bucks for T.J. Ford

5. Drafting Joey Graham
Joey shows flashes of brilliance, but hasn't been able to break out yet. He's currently a good solid rotation player for the Raptors, with the potential to develop into a decent starter if he's ever able to get it all together. Looking back at the draft Joey was a good (not great, but not bad) pick at #16.

6. Signing Jose Calderon
Babcock saw something he liked in Spainard Jose Calderon and signed him relatively cheap (I can't find the information, but I seem to remember something like $1.5M/year). Jose struggled a bit adjusting to the NBA game, and the English language, his 1st season. Now, in his 2nd year, he looks much more confident on the court and gives the Raptors one of the best back up PG's in the league. He may even challenge T.J. Ford for starter minutes as the season progresses.

7. Trading Alston for James
Alston and Mitchell didn't seem like they could co-exist any longer. Babcock was able to move Alston for Mike James, who provided the Raptors with a season of career numbers before bolting for greener pastures. A good trade by Babcock, getting something of value for something he needed to get rid of.

There were more in there (Matt Bonner, Loren Woods, etc.), but I think I've typed more than long enough for now. In my analysis of Babcock I would say that he made 2 bad, although defensible, moves that led to all criticism (Araujo and Carter), 2 really good moves (Villanueva and Calderon), and 3 O.K moves (Graham and Alston --> James). He also helped clear the cap space that Colangelo was able to come in and use (Jorge Garbojosa, Anthony Parker and Fred Jones) to improve the team's overall depth. I won't argue that we aren't better off with Colangelo now, I think he's the best GM in the league. I just wanted to try to show that Babcock didn't deserved to be considered terrible either. His performance was about average, and there's plenty of teams out there who have a whole lot worse than average at that position right now.

Weekend Recap

I meant to write this last night, but got a call from my Colts fan friend and had to be graceful in defeat (at least for one more week). I meant to write it this afternoon, but spent my time reading what everyone else had to say. I meant to write it earlier this evening, but would out watching the Raptor, Heroes and 24. These are excuses or explanations, whichever you prefer. I thought about skipping it, but it seems important to write and with 5 new visitors since my last post (Salt Lake City, Montreal, Markham, McLean and Hunter River bringing the total to 9) what kind of blogger would I be if I slacked off on this.

I was fortunate enough to have a lazy Sunday to myself yesterday, where I enjoyed 2 pretty good NFL football games. The first (Bears/Saints) had its moments, but victory was all but assured for the Bears early in the 4th quarter. The second (Colts/Pats) was a back and forth prizefight between the 2 best teams of the 2000's: one of whom I hate, the other I sorta like. I enjoyed the first one, I loved (even considering the result) the second one.

The closer it got to Bears/Saints gametime the more worried I started to be about my pick. The Bears D hadn't been playing great lately, and the Saints are a really good team with a story that people like to hear. Then, while watching a pregame show, I heard Saints coach Sean Payton say that they had practiced all week in a dome. Being Canadian I know how bad weather affects football games, suddenly I felt much better about my pick. It snowed, the Bears D came to play, and the Saints committed 4 turnovers. Rex Grossman had another solid playoff game, and that's all the Bears needed to win the NFC ... the SuperBowl could be a different story.

For some reason I've always disliked Peyton Manning. It's tough to say why, but I'm a guy who has to watch a game and cheer. I'll watch random colleg bowl games, with in 5 minutes pick a team, and root for them the rest of the game. I've been rooting for whoever's playing Peyton for a while now and I've been coming away happy every year, usually thanks to the Patriots. So I kinda like the Patriots. I'm not a bandwagoner, my team's the 49er's from when I started watching football and Jerry Rice caught my eye, but I appreciate that the Patriots have been kind enough to let me cheer some of their wins while my Niners get things back together.

Yesterday looked like it was gonna be another one of those days. The Patriots jumped out to an early 21-3 lead, and had it 21-6 at the half. But for some reason, this time, Peyton Manning decided to not lay down. The Colts fought back and helped deliver one exceptionally exciting half of football. The Patriots didn't back down, at least their offense didn't, and it was a Stand in Front of the T.V. exciting finish. I give all credit to the Colts, they were the better team (although there were some calls I wasn't a huge fan of) and they won the game.

Now it all rests on the Chicago Bears to save me one more year, and keep my friend (who is a bandwagoner) from celebrating in my face. You're our only hoped Chicago.

Good News and the Picks

The good news just keeps flowing at Ike Krizzule Talks Sports. I started this blog because I am currently in between jobs, but this week I found out that won't be for much longer. I still plan to continue to write, its actually been pretty fun, just giving an excuse as to why I've seemed kind of lazy.

More good news followed this week, as I've had 3 more people stumble onto the site. In addition to last weeks visit from Sacramento, we added visits from Honolulu, Vancouver and Aulla (which I think is in Italy). I'm just guessing, but I think the Honolulu visit was in relation to the Michelle Wie piece and the Vancouver and Aulla visits might have been related to the Toronto Raptors and mention of Bargnani. Sure would be nice to know, if only they left comments (hint, hint)

And now its Friday, and Friday means football picks (or so I've decreed). So without further adieu here are the picks.

BEARS over Saints
Its going to be another week where the Bears rely on Rex Grossman to manage the game, limit his mistakes, and make about 3-4 really big plays that lead to scores. He wasn't perfect last week against Seattle, but he did enough to win. If the Bears can get that kind of effort or better from him, combined with a solid running game and their usual solid defense, they should win this game.

Everyone seems to want to rally behind the Saints due to the recent struggles in New Orleans, and I do feel for the people of Louisiana, but when I feel like something like this is shoved down my throats I tend to get angry and go the other way. They could definitely win this game, and that woudl be great for their city, but I don't see it happening. The city of Chicago has been waiting for their Bears to break through for a while now, and this is the year.

Patriots over COLTS
"In the end I just think history shows when in doubt take the Patriots". I wrote that last week, and I think I've gotta stand by it again. The Patriots have earned the respect over the past few years that I think they are my favorites until they lose. Especially when its against the team they've haunted in playoffs past. Especially when its against the player I love to hate in Peyton Manning.

When you look at them talent-wise and statistically it really does seem like the Colts should be able to beat them easily (and maybe they will), but that's how it always looks with the Patriots until they pull out another win nobody thought they'd get. This could be the year they get stripped of too many pieces, suffer injuries to guys they need, and Peyton finally pulls one out. But until I watch it with my 2 eyes glued to a television on Sunday, I'm taking what history has taught me and I'm taking the Patriots.

Will the Raps Heart Go On in the Titanic Division or Is This Just A Stupid Long Title

No real current news that I feel like talking about so it must be time to write a random article about my favorite basketball team and their chances of playing into the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The Raptors currently sit tied with the New Jersey Nets (although ahead on winning percentage) in the Atlantic Division. So they could make the playoffs if they manage to hold on to the Atlantic lead or if they play well enough (.500 should do it) that they pick up one of the 8 spots in the East.

The Atlantic is wide open this year, with 2 teams basically out of the race already. The Sixers have traded away Iverson, bought out Webber, and are basically doing everything but take out full page ads in the paper explaining to their fans that they're tanking in hopes of winning the Greg Oden lottery. The Celtics are struggling, and will be without Paul Pierce for the next few weeks. Expect them to fall back in the standings, and the fact that they aren't very good should keep them from coming within 10 games of .500 for the rest of the season.

Somehow, someway, Isiah Thomas has the Knicks playing better basketball this season. They currently sit 17-22, and only 1 game back of the Raptors in the Atlantic. Eddie Curry is playing the best basketball of his life, David Lee is a great rebounding roleplayer, and Isiah seems to have worked out roles for everyone. But, this is still (mostly) the same team that went 23-59 last season. Eventually Curry will get lazy, Marbury and Crawford will start chucking, and guys will start complaining about minutes. The Raptors can take them.

Lastly there's the Nets, everyones pre-season pick to take the Atlantic. And rightly so, they've won the Atlantic for the last 5 seasons and returned the same cast as last season. But the Nets hit a major setback when Nenad Krstic, their best post player, tore his ACL. Vince Carter continues to score (his knees got miraculously better when tradeed from Toronto), but Richard Jefferson's stats have taken a huge dive at a time when his team needs him the most. Right now Jason Kidd is holding the team together, but will a potentially messy divorce hurt his play or lead to a trade?

So why not the Raptors? Their play has gotten better as the season goes on. Chris Bosh is devoloping into a fantastic rebounder, to go along with his other exceptional talents. The newcomers from the Euro-League (Bargnani, Garbojosa and Parker) are learning the NBA game and what they can do over here. And, after struggling with a tough early schedule (they had played the most road games out of anyone), they're finally coming home and playing easier opponents. If the Raptors can continue to play the way they have since Bosh's return from injury (5-3, with 2 close loses to Phoenix and Dallas) there's no reason they can't finish around 45 wins. The Atlantic division and/or a playoff spot are there for the taking Toronto, so go out and catch that beautiful butterfly.

Weekend Recap

The good news, I went 3-1 on my picks. Not bad in a weekend where any game could have gone either way. The bad news is that our friend from Sacramento hasn't been back, nor have any other random passer-by's. But I continue to blog on with a recap of the football weekend that was.

The first game of the weekend, Indy at Baltimore, was by far the least entertaining. And I'm not just saying that because I got the pick wrong and my least favorite player in the NFL won the game. Any game whose only scoring is 8 field goals is probably not a great game to watch and this one wasn't. Fortunately it was the only clunker of the weekend. Peyton had another bad game in the playoffs, but somehow Indy will advance to the conference finals. My theory about Baltimore finally having some offense with McNair proved to be way off, and the Colts D was able to do enough to win the game.

Next came the big play extravaganza in New Orleans. The game featured 14 plays of 18+ yards, was tightly contested the whole way, and in the end "America's Team" won the game. Good times had by all ... except the poor suffering fans of Philly. Garcia played good but not great, and somewhere Donovan McNabb is smiling knowing his job and his reputation are safe for another year. Its was the running backs that won it for New Orleans. Deuce McAllister was the stud power back, plowing away at the line, and Reggie Bush recovered from one of the biggest hits ever to make several nice plays.

And the excitement continued into Sunday with the Bears and the Seahawks, which turned into a much better game than I thought it would be. Seattle was able to score on the Bears D, and Alexander looked much better than he did the week before. In the end it came down to Rex Grossman making enough big plays to cancel out his 2 turnovers, and the Bears coming up big enough in OT to win the game.

The pick the Patriots until they aren't around to pick anymore theory works again. I don't know how a team with a player as good as LT can lose a game, but it probably has something to do with passing more than it runs when it has a 1st year starter and a lead for most of the game. Tom Brady wasn't good at all for most of the game, especially the 1st Half, but when it counted he led the Pats on the drives they needed to win the game.