Random Thoughts – November 24, 2008
* If Alabama loses by less than 7 to Florida, why do they not deserve to play Florida again in the National Championship games – (because the BCS is stupid is not an answer)
* The over under on number of jump shots taken by the Warriors in a given game in March is 250.
* I have come to the conclusion that I am the only person in the Bay Area that realizes that Matt Holiday was picked up by the A’s because A) they need to give their fans something to root for next season and B) Billy Beane gets two first round draft picks when he signs elsewhere next winter.
* I need three reasons why I should watch any Niners game for the rest of the season – rtaylor@gmail.com
* Because they will wear the throw backs one more time this season is not a reason.
* There is no way JaMarcus Russell went 10 for 11
* At this point, you have to trade Cain while he still has value. If the Giants wait too long, they are going to get screwed just like the Warriors with J-Rich
* The Bay Area is a LOT better than New York in November
* Talk to you soon
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Anthony Morrow: Surprising?
Anthony Morrow: Surprising?
Like everybody else in the Warriors world, I have been swept up in the hype that is surrounding Anthony Morrow. We have seen two truly historical performances in a row and there are two questions that we all want answered –
1) How much staying power does he have?
2) How surprising are these two games?
I will do my best to answer both without making too many outlandish predictions.
Question 1
Yes
As over 3 million bloggers and professional journalist have pointed out, the NBA is not nearly as fundamentally sound as it use to be. One of the results of this trend is that there are very few players that can consistently knock down an open shot let alone one that is contested. To keep it simple, Morrow can shoot and from almost anywhere on the floor. Will he continue to shoot as well as has over the past two games – of course not. However, his quick release and soft shot suggest that he belongs on the floor for at least 25 minutes a night for the foreseeable future.
Now for the bad news
One of the other results of the “Lack of Fundamentals” era in the NBA is that there has never been this many gifted athletes in the league. Today’s NBA player is quicker and faster than ever before which makes defending guards on the perimeter as hard as it has ever been. Anthony Morrow is not an elite athlete and we should start to see him get exposed by teams (Nellie would give anything to exploit him) on the defensive end. There is always a reason a player 6’5” who can shoot does not get drafted and for Anthony Morrow it is because he does not possess the out-of-this-world athletic ability that you will find in most established NBA players under 7’ tall.
Question 2
A little a short of very
First of all Anthony Morrow was not exactly a stiff before he joined the Warriors. He earned Mr. Basketball honors in the basketball crazy state of North Carolina in his senior year which should not be under emphasized. Furthermore, he suffered a stress fracture in his lower back (believe me – I know what that feels like) which caused him to miss all the weight room preparation and most of fall practice before his junior season at Georgia Tech. Obviously, this injury adversely affected his abilities his junior year but he came back strong in his senior season which included 14.3 ppg and a ridiculous 44.8 3p%. There was no doubt that he could shoot when he entered the draft last year which should not make his shooting percentages (64.7 3p% and 62.7 fg%) that surprising.
However, what is surprising is his lack of big scoring efforts in college. The most points he ever scored against a team you have heard of after his back injury was against Wake Forest last year where he scored 23 points. I don’t think anyone could have predicted he would score 37 points against the Clippers and then 25 points against a very athletic Blazers team. I realize he was shooting the lights out but he was never that hot in college. Additionally, he is playing on a team without a point guard so it is not like he is getting set up to score. His past scoring outputs and lack of a teammate that can distribute the ball does make his last two games pretty surprising.
Unfortunately for Morrow, there are a lot of reasons to believe he will have a rough shooting night in at least one of the next few games. I think the entire Warriors world will be very interested in how he (and almost more importantly Nellie) reacts to some adversity.
Like everybody else in the Warriors world, I have been swept up in the hype that is surrounding Anthony Morrow. We have seen two truly historical performances in a row and there are two questions that we all want answered –
1) How much staying power does he have?
2) How surprising are these two games?
I will do my best to answer both without making too many outlandish predictions.
Question 1
Yes
As over 3 million bloggers and professional journalist have pointed out, the NBA is not nearly as fundamentally sound as it use to be. One of the results of this trend is that there are very few players that can consistently knock down an open shot let alone one that is contested. To keep it simple, Morrow can shoot and from almost anywhere on the floor. Will he continue to shoot as well as has over the past two games – of course not. However, his quick release and soft shot suggest that he belongs on the floor for at least 25 minutes a night for the foreseeable future.
Now for the bad news
One of the other results of the “Lack of Fundamentals” era in the NBA is that there has never been this many gifted athletes in the league. Today’s NBA player is quicker and faster than ever before which makes defending guards on the perimeter as hard as it has ever been. Anthony Morrow is not an elite athlete and we should start to see him get exposed by teams (Nellie would give anything to exploit him) on the defensive end. There is always a reason a player 6’5” who can shoot does not get drafted and for Anthony Morrow it is because he does not possess the out-of-this-world athletic ability that you will find in most established NBA players under 7’ tall.
Question 2
A little a short of very
First of all Anthony Morrow was not exactly a stiff before he joined the Warriors. He earned Mr. Basketball honors in the basketball crazy state of North Carolina in his senior year which should not be under emphasized. Furthermore, he suffered a stress fracture in his lower back (believe me – I know what that feels like) which caused him to miss all the weight room preparation and most of fall practice before his junior season at Georgia Tech. Obviously, this injury adversely affected his abilities his junior year but he came back strong in his senior season which included 14.3 ppg and a ridiculous 44.8 3p%. There was no doubt that he could shoot when he entered the draft last year which should not make his shooting percentages (64.7 3p% and 62.7 fg%) that surprising.
However, what is surprising is his lack of big scoring efforts in college. The most points he ever scored against a team you have heard of after his back injury was against Wake Forest last year where he scored 23 points. I don’t think anyone could have predicted he would score 37 points against the Clippers and then 25 points against a very athletic Blazers team. I realize he was shooting the lights out but he was never that hot in college. Additionally, he is playing on a team without a point guard so it is not like he is getting set up to score. His past scoring outputs and lack of a teammate that can distribute the ball does make his last two games pretty surprising.
Unfortunately for Morrow, there are a lot of reasons to believe he will have a rough shooting night in at least one of the next few games. I think the entire Warriors world will be very interested in how he (and almost more importantly Nellie) reacts to some adversity.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Random Thoughts - Nov. 17, 2008
Random Thoughts – Nov. 17, 2008
* Anthony Morrow: WTF?
* The Stanford touchdown at the end of the USC game was the second greatest gambling moment of the 21st century. USC was all set to cover until … 1) Stanford attempted to kick a FG (which would not have affected the spread) 2) But Pete Carroll got pissed and screwed over at least 25,000 USC gamblers by “icing” the kicker 3) Jim Harbaugh (who is just as big an egomaniac as Pete Carroll) decided to go for the end zone instead. 4) Stanford scored a touchdown as time expired and USC doesn’t cover.
* The greatest gambling moment: Chris Duhon hitting a half court three as time expired against UCONN in the final four in 2004
* I also love how Jim Harbaugh said the quarterback “convinced” him to go for it. Does anybody believe that? Yes, the Chronicle
* How did the Lakers lose to the Pistons at home? People in LA had a tough weekend of sports gambling
* Damon Bruce talked about as much $hit as you can talk about Mike Singletary on his Friday show. He even went as far as to say he needs to blow out the Rams to prove he can coach. If this guy was doing a show in NY, he would have been fired this morning. However, nobody is going to say anything to him today. The West Coast where accountability doesn’t happen
* Does anybody actually watch the Raiders?
* I don’t care how many people disagree with me – Baron Davis would have cared if he was on the Warriors right now.
Talk to you soon
Monday, November 10, 2008
Random Thoughts - November 10, 2008
Random Thoughts – 11/10/08
* Did you hear that the Penn St. quarterback, Daryll Clark, apologized to the fans for his poor play? I am just wondering why he waited more than two weeks after the Ohio St. game to apologize
* If Mark Sanchez played for an SEC team, he would have been benched by now. There is no way Pete Carroll is not telling his assistants … “John David Booty was actually pretty good”
* Even a 9-0 record cannot make powder blue look good on a football uniform
* If you find a guy who can throw a ball more than 30 yards accurately with any kind of velocity, you have a franchise quarterback. Under no circumstances should you get rid of him.
* Besides Brian Urlacher, I would trade any player on the Bears roster and any number of draft picks to the Browns for Derek Anderson.
* Besides Patrick Willis, I would trade any player on the Niners roster and any number of draft picks to the Browns for Derek Anderson.
* Besides nobody, I would trade any player on the Raiders roster and any number of draft picks to the Browns for Derek Anderson.
* Only one more day to wait for the biggest day of the Giants season – it’s about time
* You know your franchise has low standards when they beat two teams they should beat in the playoffs and are set to miss the playoffs the next year and the coach is in no danger. Chargers football - where powder blue and Norv Turner are perfectly acceptable
* I am already super stocked on the blockbuster trade the Warriors are going to make in two years involving Brandan Wright
* Is there any difference between Giants baseball and Cal football? Both generally enjoy high expectations and then let their fan base down year after year after year … at least you get an internationally recognized degree at Cal.
* If the line for the Stanford-USC game is anything short of USC -28, every penny I have is on USC. Pete Carroll is going to run it up.
* How good is Kevin Martin? Seriously, I am not sure if he is just a good player on a bad team or a good player that would be great if he had anything around him.
* Biedrins is solidifying himself as one of the great non-IT players in the league. When you can’t beat Spencer Hawes one-on-one you know that you really are not as good as your stats.
* Did you hear that the Penn St. quarterback, Daryll Clark, apologized to the fans for his poor play? I am just wondering why he waited more than two weeks after the Ohio St. game to apologize
* If Mark Sanchez played for an SEC team, he would have been benched by now. There is no way Pete Carroll is not telling his assistants … “John David Booty was actually pretty good”
* Even a 9-0 record cannot make powder blue look good on a football uniform
* If you find a guy who can throw a ball more than 30 yards accurately with any kind of velocity, you have a franchise quarterback. Under no circumstances should you get rid of him.
* Besides Brian Urlacher, I would trade any player on the Bears roster and any number of draft picks to the Browns for Derek Anderson.
* Besides Patrick Willis, I would trade any player on the Niners roster and any number of draft picks to the Browns for Derek Anderson.
* Besides nobody, I would trade any player on the Raiders roster and any number of draft picks to the Browns for Derek Anderson.
* Only one more day to wait for the biggest day of the Giants season – it’s about time
* You know your franchise has low standards when they beat two teams they should beat in the playoffs and are set to miss the playoffs the next year and the coach is in no danger. Chargers football - where powder blue and Norv Turner are perfectly acceptable
* I am already super stocked on the blockbuster trade the Warriors are going to make in two years involving Brandan Wright
* Is there any difference between Giants baseball and Cal football? Both generally enjoy high expectations and then let their fan base down year after year after year … at least you get an internationally recognized degree at Cal.
* If the line for the Stanford-USC game is anything short of USC -28, every penny I have is on USC. Pete Carroll is going to run it up.
* How good is Kevin Martin? Seriously, I am not sure if he is just a good player on a bad team or a good player that would be great if he had anything around him.
* Biedrins is solidifying himself as one of the great non-IT players in the league. When you can’t beat Spencer Hawes one-on-one you know that you really are not as good as your stats.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Random Thoughts - November 3, 2008
* Michael Crabtree did not steal the National Championship from Texas but he might have stolen the Heisman from Colt McCoy.
* The Chicago Bulls went 55-27 the year Michael Jordan decided to play baseball. How many games do you think the Warriors are going to win when Baron decided to make movies?
* Does anybody remember who won the World Series?
* I will take Florida -5 in any game they play for the rest of the season and I doubt I will find a person who will take the other side of that bet.
* Who is the only person that can make Alex Smith look like a good quarterback? JaMarcus Russell
* The over/under on the number of games the Warriors win by 3 or less is 4.
* If this year does not change the BCS structure than nothing will.
* The next economic bubble to burst is the sports bubble. While many teams will make it out of this ok, there will be quite a few that need to be bailed out by, at the minimum, the other rich teams in the league. (The baseball winter meetings could double as bankruptcy court next year)
* I would like to thank the Croatian water polo team for coming to the party I was at on Friday night. (Those of you that were there know what I am talking about)
* Who got the worst of the Texas Tech win on Saturday night?
A) The Texas football team that now has to win out to even have a chance to make it to the BCS title game.
Or
B) The Gameday crew that now has to stay in Lubbock, TX for another week
* A) because ESPN is going to move Gameday to Baton Rouge this weekend for fear of a mutiny by the crew
* Can they please announce the Cy Young award winner already … I want to put the Giants season to rest
* Unless Manny Ramirez learns how to locate a 95 mph fastball, I don’t think the Yankees are stupid enough to sign him.
* Stanford decided to give its season ticket holders two free tickets to the Washington State game this year in order to have a full stadium and get people to come out and see their overachieving football team … nothing like a driving rain storm to get people out to the stadium.
* At least, they won 58-0.
* Who is excited for Warriors-Grizzles tonight!?
* Talk to you soon
* The Chicago Bulls went 55-27 the year Michael Jordan decided to play baseball. How many games do you think the Warriors are going to win when Baron decided to make movies?
* Does anybody remember who won the World Series?
* I will take Florida -5 in any game they play for the rest of the season and I doubt I will find a person who will take the other side of that bet.
* Who is the only person that can make Alex Smith look like a good quarterback? JaMarcus Russell
* The over/under on the number of games the Warriors win by 3 or less is 4.
* If this year does not change the BCS structure than nothing will.
* The next economic bubble to burst is the sports bubble. While many teams will make it out of this ok, there will be quite a few that need to be bailed out by, at the minimum, the other rich teams in the league. (The baseball winter meetings could double as bankruptcy court next year)
* I would like to thank the Croatian water polo team for coming to the party I was at on Friday night. (Those of you that were there know what I am talking about)
* Who got the worst of the Texas Tech win on Saturday night?
A) The Texas football team that now has to win out to even have a chance to make it to the BCS title game.
Or
B) The Gameday crew that now has to stay in Lubbock, TX for another week
* A) because ESPN is going to move Gameday to Baton Rouge this weekend for fear of a mutiny by the crew
* Can they please announce the Cy Young award winner already … I want to put the Giants season to rest
* Unless Manny Ramirez learns how to locate a 95 mph fastball, I don’t think the Yankees are stupid enough to sign him.
* Stanford decided to give its season ticket holders two free tickets to the Washington State game this year in order to have a full stadium and get people to come out and see their overachieving football team … nothing like a driving rain storm to get people out to the stadium.
* At least, they won 58-0.
* Who is excited for Warriors-Grizzles tonight!?
* Talk to you soon
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