Ball Don’t Lie’s 2012-13 NBA Season Previews: The Brooklyn Nets

17 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Basketball, General

For the first time in two years we'll have an orthodox, full-length NBA season to look forward to. No lockout nonsense, and precious little obsession as to whether or not LeBron James will ever win the big one. He's won it, already, and our sanity as NBA followers is probably better off as a result. However big that shred of sanity is remains to be seen, following yet another offseason that once again proved that the NBA is full of Crazy McCrazytons that appear to take great delight in messing with us continually.

As a result of that offseason, and the impending regular season, why not mess with Ball Don't Lie's triptych of Kelly Dwyer, Dan Devine and Eric Freeman as they preview the 2012-13 season with alacrity, good cheer, and bad jokes.

We continue with the really, really cool Brooklyn Nets.

Kelly Dwyer's Kilt-Straightener

The addition of a pro basketball team to the borough of Brooklyn interests me. The addition of a second pro basketball team into the city of New York — even the ABA's old New York Nets played all the way out in Long Island — is a groovy thing, even if the team's former owners and local politicians did terrible and duplicitous things on their way toward razing a community's worth of homes to put a big brown stadium on the corner. The color scheme and Jay-Z's presence and Deron Williams' weird ascension as some sort of talk-the-talk superstar? Less interested, but thanks for the summertime fodder.

Now, the basketball. Now, a Nets team that is full of big-ish names with giant contracts and, presumably, happy and healthy feet. Ready to give coach Avery Johnson a cast worth his time, a team he can mold in his plucky image, and a chance to make it back to the Finals he visited as a player in 1999 and coach in 2006.

The actual business of stopping the other team might get in the way of all that. In the way of 50 wins, even. There is potential, sure, and Avery's scheming to perhaps rely on at some point, but these Nets are going to look like a Secaucus-styled horror show at times on that end, and it could hamstring whatever hopes that $81 million payroll might have.

Williams could help, here, turning things around for the first time in his career on that defensive end and working as the sort of two-way player that typically earns $100 million contracts. Williams has never tried to be an all-out stopper defensively, and considering his shape and length I'm not entirely convinced he'd have as much success were he to follow-through. Brook Lopez is absolutely helpless as a weak side helper, rebounder, and (most importantly) screen and roll defender; and while Kris Humphries can help clean up Lopez's issues on the glass, he shares his step-slow attitude defensively.

Ardent Nets fans will no doubt bring up Gerald Wallace (traded for because GM Billy King forever wants to look a pretty Gretel to Larry Brown's Hansel) and Joe Johnson as the saviors, here, and it's true that they defend (and defend well) the two positions where the champion Miami Heat make their hay. Wallace looked a little older than his age last year, though, and the sheer minutes Johnson has piled up thus far in his career (nearly 35,000, already) has lessened his overall impact.

The team will score, we should remind, featuring a lineup full of contributors that on paper would seem to fit in perfectly with each other.

This will be a fantastic screening team, full of good footwork and planted posteriors. Wallace, Williams, Johnson, Humphries and Lopez's face up games may all come and go; but they won't all go at once. And with Deron filling in angles and hitting the obvious targets the Nets will routinely play as the team you can't close out on — even if they miss two-thirds of their three-pointers on the night.

Helming it all won't be Williams, the talkative star, but Avery Johnson. Johnson's uneasy departure in Dallas a few years back created a strange ending to what appeared to be an obvious pairing that would last for years. And though the Nets' swoon was by design, Dallas' run to the 2011 championship in a season that saw the Nets top out at just 24 wins couldn't have been any fun to work through. Johnson and Williams had to endure yet another season of waiting in 2011-12, biding their time until the team's cap space could bring help seemingly ages after the franchise seemed relevant.

Johnson, presumably, was on board with all the new moves; and he's had months to configure the various parts into something special. And because of the ages, skill sets, and payroll whomp that this team packs, this is more or less Avery's crew for a while now.

He's been in the background, as the Nets trot out new unis and Jay-Z and D-Will and J-John and B-Lopz, but his sideline work and schemes could be the difference this season. At nearly five years removed from having a team worth shouting about in Dallas, we're going to get a chance to see just how significant a sideline presence Avery Johnson can be.

Projected record: 46-36

[Fantasy Basketball '12: Play the official game of NBA.com]


Fear Itself with Dan Devine

It is tonally appropriate that the NBA season tips off just before Halloween -- because on any given night, each and every one of the league's 30 teams can look downright frightening. Sometimes, that means your favorite team will act as their opposition's personal Freddy Krueger; sometimes, you will be the one suffering through the living nightmare. In preparation for Opening Night, BDL's Dan Devine considers what makes your team scary and what should make you scared.

What Makes You Scary: Enough balance to turn a bottom-10 offense into a top-10 unit. The Nets averaged the eighth-fewest points per 100 possessions in the NBA during the 2011-12 season, and when you take a look at the roster that took the floor in the team's last go-round in New Jersey, it's not hard to understand why. More than 4,100 total minutes went to Shelden Williams (now out of the league, but still a No. 1 husband), Johan Petro (still in the league simply because it's good to be tall), Shawne Williams (who followed a comeback 2010-11 season as a 3-point bomber with the New York Knicks by missing more than three-quarters of his triples in Newark), DeShawn Stevenson (who celebrated his 2010-11 title win by posting the second-worst Player Efficiency Rating in the league) and the ghost of Mehmet Okur (reduced to a spectre by Achilles and back injuries). Add to that multiple hole-plugging cameos by replacement-level types (Dennis Horner, Andre Emmett, Jerry Smith, Larry Owens, Armon Johnson) employed solely to keep game clocks moving until the Center stage could shift from Prudential to Barclays, and basically the gifts of all-world point guard Deron Williams and another strong season from power forward Kris Humphries were the only things keeping the Nets from being what my old boss Trey Kerby might call an all-time yikes festival.

This year's Nets team, as you might have heard, is built a little bit differently, the result of a massive roster overhaul during the offseason. Sixteen of the 22 players who wore Nets uniforms last year are gone, with a dozen new names (at least nine of which are likely to stick) dotting the current Brooklyn roster, headlined by six-time All-Star shooting guard Joe Johnson. On paper, the overall upgrade looks monstrous -- as Kevin Pelton writes in the just-released Pro Basketball Prospectus 2012-13 (an absolute must-read for hardcore hoops fans and just about the best way you can spend $10.02), the Wins Above Replacement Player metric estimates all that locker-room change to be worth about 14 wins, a massive shift that would have bumped the Nets from the fourth-worst record in the East last season all the way up into a tie with the Knicks for the seventh seed in the conference playoff bracket. The Nets have their sights set a bit higher this year, of course, due in large part to a gigantic expected improvement on the offensive end.

The duo of Johnson and Williams -- two big-for-their-position guards skilled at both posting smaller defenders and facilitating in the pick-and-roll, at both stroking the jumper (while Deron's overall field-goal percentage was down last year, his mid-range splits were excellent) and beating close-contesting defenders off the dribble -- will give Avery a boatload of options in the half-court (especially if Joe's truly cool with moving away from all those isolations he used in Atlanta). When healthy, Brook Lopez (18.4 points per 36 minutes on 50.4 percent shooting and 79.6 percent from the foul line for his career) ranks among the game's most talented offensive centers, and after missing all but five games due to foot injuries last year, he's reportedly 100 percent and ready to resume his role as the Nets' primary post threat.

With those three taking the lion's share of the shots, it's difficult to imagine two better role players to fill out the starting lineup than Humphries and Gerald Wallace, both of whom are eminently capable of contributing double-figure scoring based solely off offensive rebounds, transition opportunities and timely cuts made while defenses key on their higher-billed teammates. Plus, Johnson's insertion into the starting lineup should strengthen the bench, as sophomore spark plug MarShon Brooks will now bring his gunner's instincts to the second unit. He'll team with Bosnian stretch four Mirza Teletovic (one of the Euroleague's top scorers and 3-point shooters a season ago, who hit four bombs during Tuesday's preseason matchup with the Boston Celtics) and possibly reclamation project Andray Blatche, who, for all his defensive/conditioning/decision-making/leadership issues, still has plenty of offensive talent. They'll be counted upon to provide scoring punch off the bench alongside guards C.J. Watson, Keith Bogans and rookie Tyshawn Taylor, all of whom can shoot the long ball.

Add it all up, and the result should be a season-long offensive surge in Brooklyn that comes at opponents in waves and has them wishing for the days of Johan Petro. (They will be the only ones.)

What Should Make You Scared: A defense still porous enough to give back many of those offensive gains. While coach Johnson left Dallas with a reputation as a defense-first coach, his New Jersey teams (due, at least in part, to an overall dearth of talent) have struggled mightily in that end, ranking 21st among 30 NBA teams in points allowed per 100 possessions in his first season at the helm and dropping all the way down to 29th last year. They allowed the third-highest opponent field-goal percentage and gave up the league's second-highest 3-point mark, allowing offenses to shoot 61.8 percent within five feet of the basket and a league-worst 43.6 percent from between five and nine feet away. They posted bottom-five finishes in points allowed off turnovers, on the fast break and in the paint, and finished in the bottom third of the league in second-chance points conceded. It was pretty rough, and while the offseason influx of talent should help some, I'm not sure it's going to get much better.

Joe Johnson should represent an improvement over Brooks in the starting lineup, but while he and Williams have both shown the ability to D up in the past and their big backcourt combo should allow them to effectively switch assignments on the fly without conceding too many mismatches, neither one is a true lockdown perimeter defender. A full season of Wallace at small forward should help, too, but fans expecting the lights-out defensive maniac who terrorized opposing wings in Charlotte will be disappointed by the step(s)-slower version of "Crash" they find three years later on the wrong side of 30 -- he's not quite the same guy, and faster swingmen can beat him off the bounce.

Once opponents get past the perimeter and into the paint, they're unlikely to find much opposition from Lopez or Humphries, neither of whom are strong shot-blockers or especially stout post defenders. I'm a bit less worried than some about Lopez's much-discussed struggles as a defensive rebounder, given that both of his frontcourt mates are plus defensive rebounders and both Williams and Johnson have been league-average or slightly above in defensive rebound rate at their positions over the last three years, but he's still not going to change many shots or strike fear into the heart of opposing drivers. The second unit will be bolstered somewhat by Watson's quickness at the point and Reggie Evans' gifts on the defensive glass, but as anchored by all-O/no-D contributors Brooks, Blatche and Teletovic, it will still likely surrender nearly as many points as it gives up.

Given health and the Little General's motivational talents finally being brought to bear on a more athletically gifted roster, a defensive improvement is likely. But moving out of the bottom third of the league seems like it'll be an awful tall task for this particular collection of defenders, which will make it awful difficult for these Nets to stick around very long come playoff time.

Eric Freeman's Identity Crisis

There is no more important asset for a basketball team than talent, and yet the more loaded squad does not always win. What we've seen in recent seasons isn't only that the best team wins, but that the group with the clearest sense of self, from management down through the players, prevails. A team must not only be talented, but sure of its goals, present and future, and the best methods of obtaining them. Most NBA teams have trouble with their identity. Eric Freeman's Identity Crisis is a window into those struggles, the accomplishment of realizing a coherent identity, and the pitfalls of believing these issues to be solved.

The Nets are now in Brooklyn, city of the hip and rich, and therefore they're a much different entity than the group that left New Jersey just a few months ago. With help from Jay-Z, the franchise now boasts mainstream appeal. With the addition of Joe Johnson and the return of Brook Lopez from injury to join Deron Williams, they also figure to be pretty good. Unfortunately, because they have so much salary committed to three players (plus Gerald Wallace, not exactly making a pittance), they figure not to improve much over the next few seasons. What you see now is what you'll get for a while.

That puts them in roughly the same boat as their friends across the bridge, the Knicks. What makes the Nets different, though, is that they're looking to establish themselves in a new location rather than focusing on recapturing past relevance. For the Nets, it's enough to compete for a mid-level playoff spot, possibly win a series, and head into the next season with a postseason berth nearly assured. By accomplishing those goals, they'll set up about proving they're for real, win some fans for life, and help turn Brooklyn into the major-market destination that it can very well become.

That might not be exactly what Nets fans want in the short term, and it certainly doesn't jibe with Mikhail Prokhorov's promises that the franchise will bring home a title within the first five years of his ownership. Long-term, though these are important gains for the Nets. Their move to Brooklyn is not just a cosmetic change — it has the potential to reform the organization and turn it into one of the few teams that superstars actively want to play for. And while the Nets struck out in their first attempt to get one of those players, the interest that Dwight Howard showed suggests he won't be the only player with Brooklyn on his mind.

The Nets are likely a long way off from regular title contention, but it's rare for any team to dream of that outcome without relying on the luck of the draft. Making the playoffs this season is the first step for them. Even if they don't match the Knicks record or finish, they might end up with a much more successful season.

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Concession Speech: 2012 Oakland Athletics

16 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Baseball, General

With the regular season over, teams are facing an offseason filled with golf rounds and hot-stove strategy.

But we're not going to let them get off that easy. No sir. No way. In an attempt to bring some closure between franchise and follower, we're giving a blogger from each team the opportunity to give a concession speech for this year's squad. Up next is our friend Ben Koo of Awful Announcing and Bloguin. He wrote the 10 best things about being an A's fan for us earlier this spring.

My fellow A's fans: Today I stand before you not as the bearer of bad news that our season is come to an end, but rather to memorialize the conclusion of a historic journey that will be etched into our memories for years to come.

On this sad day, I concede that our dream season is over. I concede that my enthusiasm and pride for the A's found a new low a third of the way through the season and that I gave up all hope after a demoralizing nine-game losing streak. I concede that finding ourselves in last place and universally deemed a laughing stock eroded my pride and faith in the A's to a dark place that I'm ashamed to admit.

But when the smoke cleared, it turns out that I never loved a team as searingly as this one and the ride from worst to first will live on in my heart forever.

Mistakes were made: This season might be Billy Beane's best work and with all due respect to Buck Showalter, it's hard not to imagine Bob Melvin winning manager of the year so listing our mistakes is not an exercise that involves low-hanging fruit.

Here are a few that stick out though:

• Although it seems like ages ago, Brian Fuentes' 19 earned runs in just 25 innings before getting the axe, seemed like unnecessary torture on the heels of last year's awfulness from Fuentes.

• With a wealth of young pitching, Tyson Ross's 11 losses and 56 runs spanning only 73.1 innings was probably a bit too much suffering than circumstances required.

• You could also look at the opening day infield lineup and deem some of those mistakes as the A's closed out the year with a different starter at every single position.

In the end though, the A's overcame all of these mistakes and the economic headwinds against them to win the division. Ultimately bad luck like injuries to Brandon McCarthy, Brandon Inge and Brett Anderson were easier to point the finger at than any type of mismanagement.

Mudslinging time: Ultimately the massive payrolls in Anaheim and Texas didn't deter us but an odd scheduling quirk and Justin Verlander did.

While the equation of rookies plus rejects overcame the odds in 2012, the prospects of the AL's lowest payroll contending with regularity is highly unlikely.

Until Bug Selig makes a ruling on the A's San Jose stadium ambitions, the A's are in a holding pattern and dangerously low on gas. With the current state of affairs, the A's will have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball as long as they play in the O.co Coliseum. It's the only venue that still doubles as a football venue for a NFL team, does not have any semblance of a neighborhood, eateries, or bar around it and has thousands of seats tarped off.

The onset of new ballpark, in San Jose or anywhere, will give the A's the revenue guidance needed to field a more consistently competitive team rather than their current gritty existence of building, nurturing, and dismantling young teams in an effort to bridge some young talent to a new venue.

Some fans are in favor of the move, while others would prefer the A's to stay in the EastB ay. Regardless, I think all fans will agree that the three-plus years Selig and the brain trust have taken to make a ruling or provide ANY feedback on this matter is not only detrimental to the A's future but bluntly stated, disrespectful to the A's and their fans.

Call me crazy, but I don't think the entire Twilight series should be adapted into film by the time it takes one panel to make a decision on a relocation.

While we're at it, it would be great if we didn't have to go to Japan and lose two home games in addition to having the season opener not televised live.

Hope for the future: Fans said goodbye to the 2012 A's with a standing ovation in the wake of their season-ending loss. That sendoff was mostly directed at the resolved success that the team achieved, but a part of that enthusiasm was directed at what lays ahead in 2013.

There are certainly balls in the air in terms of the roster for next year, but for the first time in a long time the A's know that their team will have pitching and power, something that has been as lacking as quality original comedies on TBS.

A defensively-stellar outfield and an equally adept bullpen, coupled with the fact that the lowly Astros will join the division and dilute our normally tough schedule, all point to an optimistic 2013 outlook.

The biggest question is whether the A's will  have the same resilient taste your own blood and fight to the end personality that powered them to 15 walkoff wins (most in the majors) in 2012. When the A's finally found their footing in 2012, going to a game offered a high probability of a win and significant chance of some late-game heroics. It was these late game fireworks that built the team's confidence and bonded the team with its fans. With the recipe for 2013 similar to that of 2012, I hold hope that not only will we find similar success but the same type of exhilaration and late game gumption that is etched into our hearts and memories for years to come.

A change is going to come: Despite a bright future ahead of us, uncertainty lies ahead of us in terms of what infield can be cobbled together in support of the strong starting pitching, bullpen, and outfield.

Food for thought: By mid-August the A's had a completely different infield than their opening day roster. Heading into 2013, the A's have a lot of options for a lot of question marks spanning third base, second base, catcher and shortstop, as all these positions are largely unspoken for.

Shoring up these positions and having a team viewing of Tom Emanski's guide to hitting with two strikes could have a very positive effect on a young team that stumbled out of the gate in 2012.

Going forward if the A's can make marginal improvements in the infield and strike out with less frequency, you would think the A's could challenge for 100 wins by improving these deficiencies and avoiding an early season meltdown.

In closing: At the beginning of the year, the A's were selling us Manny Ramirez as the slugger, Jemile Weeks as the budding star we could build around and Kurt Suzuki as the captain steering the ship.

By the home stretch, all were long gone as was the complacency that relegated the A's as a second-tier team that merely served as a doormat to the likes of the baseball elite.

The A's on paper were easy to dismiss and many people, including myself, applied some logic along the way in order to proactively save ourselves some agony.

But the A's defied logic and did so not only for a single game, a series, a week, or amonth, but for the majority of the season. Expectations, injuries, and inexperience be damned, the A's simply ignored their lack of pedigree, fan support, and star power.

The magic stopped abruptly last week, but it preserved through months of speculation that the party couldn't go on much longer. We didn't have the talent and we didn't have any luck, but we certainly had the magic in 2012. That magic awoke a pride and zeal in many of us that had decayed and for some may have even been dying inside. Now it lives on for whatever the future holds.

I thank you all for support and fandom in support of this special campaign. In closing, I leave you with a quote from Moneyball that perfectly sums up the joy and inspiration that this campaign brought to the masses.

"The pleasure of rooting for David is that, while you don't know what to expect, you stand
at least a chance of being inspired."

Follow Ben Koo on Twitter

Previous Concession Speeches: Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates,Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros

Make sure all your bases are covered this postseason ...
Follow @bigleaguestew, @KevinKaduk and the BLS Facebook page!

Tags: , enthusiasm, , , , Selig,
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Target Practice, Week 6: Antonio Gates shows up, finally

16 Oct
2012
by in General

If there was anything for Chargers fans to feel good about following Monday night's collapse (obviously there wasn't, not really, but let's just fake it), then the reemergence of Antonio Gates was that thing. Gates hauled in six balls on 10 targets, visiting the end zone twice and finishing with 81 receiving yards. And he nearly decapitated Denver's Mike Adams. He totaled 20.1 standard fantasy points in Week 6, which represents 58.4 percent of his year-to-date scoring. Better late than never, I suppose.

Gates has seen seven or more targets in every game he's played this season but one (Week 4, at KC), so we can't really blame his slow start on a lack of opportunities. He hasn't exactly faced a murderer's row of opposing defenses, either (Oak, Atl, KC, NO, Den). But we're talking about a player with a tremendous history, great rapport with his (very sketchy) quarterback, and the man is healthier than he's been in years (we think. It's the NFL, so you never know). Clearly his big game against the Broncos was a nice sign.

It would be nice if San Diego could put another competent receiver on the field other than Gates and Malcom Floyd, but Vincent Brown (ankle) isn't quite yet ready to practice, and he's not eligible to appear in a game until November 1. (You might wanna add Brown now, by the way. His services are needed, urgently). Gates will get a string of unintimidating defenses after the bye — Cle, KC, TB, Den, Bal, Cin — so his schedule shouldn't scare you off. If he continues to see 7-10 targets per week, the end-of-year numbers will look just fine.

Below, you'll find the full Week 6 target leader board, ready for immediate use...

• Rams receiver Brandon Gibson had a mostly excellent day in Week 6, making at least one highlight grab (a sideline one-hander). For however long Danny Amendola is sidelined, Gibson gets a value boost. St. Louis will likely need to throw all afternoon against Green Bay this week.

• Brian Hartline had his only targets negated by penalties on Sunday, but he was on the field. He just didn't make his way into the box score. After Miami's bye, he's facing a potential match-up with Antonio Cromartie, so you might want to find an alternative.

• Cedric Peerman drew an unexpectedly significant target total in Sunday's loss, and he'll no doubt see additional work in the weeks ahead, with Bernard Scott (knee) on IR. He's still little more than a desperation heave for deep-leaguers, however.

• Note the target and reception totals for Adrian Peterson in the Week 6 loss to Washington (8, 7). All-Day currently ranks sixth at his position in total targets, having caught 20 balls on 23 chances. He's on pace to set career highs in both looks and catches this season, becoming a greater PPR asset than most of us had expected.

• Donnie Avery isn't actually catching a huge percentage of the balls thrown his way, but he's getting plenty of opportunities (47 targets for the year, 12 on Sunday). With so many useful fantasy receivers on bye this week (Julio, Roddy, Bowe, Maclin, D-Jax, Decker, Demaryius, Floyd, Eddie [expletive] Royal), Avery will probably land higher in my ranks than anyone's comfortable with. Apologies in advance.

Tags: Antonio Cromartie, Antonio Gates, , , KC, , , reemergence, , Vincent Brown, ,
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The New York Knicks’ season ticket-holder showcase was not well received by one notable attendee

16 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Basketball, General

Like the New York Knicks, Manhattan's Beacon Theatre in upper Broadway is a fabled and well-respected institution worth the sort of blessed treatment usually afforded to the Yankees, question about Ed Koch's personal relationships, or Woody when he's trying to film on your block. Sadly, James Dolan owns both the Knicks and the Beacon, though no great effort of his own, and per his wishes both were involved in an embarrassing and tawdry recent spectacle known as "The New York Knicks Tip-Off Event."

CBS New York columnist John Schmeelk doesn't just write about the Knicks for the website, he's also a season ticket holder. And even though the team, once again, retains one of the league's highest payrolls and has a solid shot at 50 wins and a goodly playoff run, the franchise decided to introduce its 2012-13 team to ardent fans and fellow season ticket holders in a typically, sadly, Rabelaisian Cablevision way.

[Fantasy Basketball '12: Play the official game of NBA.com]

From Schmeelk's column:

"Once everyone was in their seats, [Host Tina] Cervasio reappeared and introduced the person that would help her question the Knicks on stage. I quote: "Once a Knick, always a Knick: Baron Davis!" I laughed so hard that people sitting around me looked at me the way Paul Ryan looked at Joe Biden during the Vice Presidential Debate.

[…]

"Finally, an hour into the "show", the Q & A began and I finally thought something worthwhile might happen. There was never any interactive fan forum. There's no doubt that the Knicks didn't want to risk a question being asked about Jeremy Lin, he who will not be named. They not only shield their players from the media, but also from the fans.

"Even being questioned by Cervasio and Baron Davis, it's possible that the Knicks players would saying something interesting. Unfortunately, more or less all of their wireless mics weren't working. The fans could barely hear a thing."

This is the tip of Schmeelk's particular, despondent, iceberg — stuck within a must-read column full of anecdotes not limited to the fact that the actual basketball portion of the proceedings didn't start until nearly an hour and a half of Knicks-brand entertainment (dancers, DJs, and all the other well-meaning nonsense that annoys people between timeouts of actual basketball games) had been executed to no great acclaim.

Rasheed Wallace's self-congratulatory note, though, was a big hit amongst his Knick teammates:

"Cervasio asked the older players how they are able to play at their age. Rasheed Wallace answered it was because 'they took care of their bodies.' Nearly all the players on stage started laughing out loud since Wallace is so out of shape that he can't even scrimmage. He was also just a tad overweight in his final year with the Celtics. Truly unintentional comedy."

Schmeelk goes on and on, and it really should be read by anyone either attempting to dive into a late afternoon tub full of schadenfreude, or genuine NBA fans that truly want the Dolans and Cablevision to give New York the team that city deserves. Transparent, in all the hoped-for ways, tough and talented; not unlike the city.

Sadly, none of this will change until James Dolan and Cablevision sell the team, forcing the hopeless owner to merely beg for revisionist "Knick for life" plaudits following that transaction. Considering those sold out seats, and towering ratings, don't expect the most necessary of New York maneuvers to happen anytime soon.

Tags: Beacon, , Knick, , stage, ,
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Ball Don’t Lie’s 2012-13 NBA Season Previews: The Washington Wizards

16 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Basketball, General

For the first time in two years we'll have an orthodox, full-length NBA season to look forward to. No lockout nonsense, and precious little obsession as to whether or not LeBron James will ever win the big one. He's won it, already, and our sanity as NBA followers is probably better off as a result. However big that shred of sanity is remains to be seen, following yet another offseason that once again proved that the NBA is full of Crazy McCrazytons that appear to take great delight in messing with us continually.

As a result of that offseason, and the impending regular season, why not mess with Ball Don't Lie's triptych of Kelly Dwyer, Dan Devine and Eric Freeman as they preview the 2012-13 season with alacrity, good cheer, and bad jokes.

We continue with the nattily-attired Washington Wizards.

Kelly Dwyer's Kilt-Straightener

The Wizards experience as discussed a few weeks ago in the wake of John Wall's injury, should bear the same fruit. Washington's season is on hold until Wall returns, most likely in late November, and the team will be treading water as he uneasily works his way back from both a worrisome knee injury, and a frustrating second season that saw the point guard essentially act as if his development as a player was to be handed to him merely as a result of cashing that second season's worth of paychecks.

Outside of those glorious mad dashes to the front of the rim, Wall continually disappointed in 2011-12; although he wasn't alone on a Wizards team that embarrassed itself routinely.

The solution, as owner Ted Leonsis sees it, is to retain the same front office and coaching staff that failed with a series of project players, and to acquire a group of talents that need less work on the fundamental aspect of things. Over last March's trade deadline and last summer's trading season, the Wizards acquired Nene, Trevor Ariza, and Emeka Okafor to shore up its frontline, finally employing a series of bigs whose shortcomings you don't have to couch with "but he has guard skills!" The hope, as Wall, Jan Vesely, and Bradley Beal work their way toward veteran respectability, is that a sense of professionalism could lead to internal development, and that consistent play would lead toward wins and a possible playoff berth.

That was a reach to begin with, and the fact that Wall will miss at least 13 games (with his minutes minded, most likely, for several more) takes away that "if everything goes right …" chance. Nene appears just as hobbled, and it's not as if they traded for the core of a playoff perennial when the team put it all out there for Okafor and Ariza's contracts. The former Hornets were the cornerstones of a lottery-winning team last year, you'll recall.

Which just has to be so frustrating. Ernie Grunfeld. Randy Wittman. Nene, with four years and $52 million left. Emeka Okafor just turned 30.

It's a classic overreaction, an overreaction we understood in both March and during the offseason, but one that didn't return enough to make the pendulum shift away from the knucklehead days worth it. Wittman has certainly been around this game long enough to accrue all manner of knowledge both as a player, assistant and head coach, and it's nice to hand him some vets; but this setup had too little room for mishaps.

And if Wall is away all summer and not exactly taking expert care of those wheels? Ugh, this is distressing.

[Fantasy Basketball '12: Play the official game of NBA.com]

What Grunfeld has done, though, is earn himself another chance. Nene's deal will never die, it can't even be used under the amnesty clause, but Okafor and Ariza's contract expire the same summer Wall will be handed a massive contract extension. This allows Grunfeld to work around the margins, even with Wall's massive salary cap hold, as Washington works with cap space (and not contract extensions) for the first time in a decade.

Until then?  Somewhat remarkable players.

Kevin Seraphin truly came on late last season, but the big man still tops out as a reserve. Players like Martell Webster, Cartier Martin, Chris Singleton and Trevor Booker all play extremely hard, but they're significantly below average as a whole. Jordan Crawford shoots hard, and little else. Vesely remains an intriguing athlete, a little thicker but similar to Ariza when that jumping jack debuted with the Knicks back in 2004, but this is still a development deal.

One that focuses squarely on Wall, as he attempts to round out his game in ways that move beyond dribbling as quickly as he can into the lane, or finding the obvious open guy in the corner. We weren't expecting a Derrick Rose or Russell Westbrook-sized jump from Wall in his second year, and his overall stats did improve slightly, but the way Wall produced was worrying. He looked like the same guy that wowed us as a 19-year old in the 2010 preseason; and not like someone who had chosen boring practice drills during the offseason over yet another scrimmage to 21.

It's all very distressing, and we'd like it to end.

Projected record: 29-53

Fear Itself with Dan Devine

It is tonally appropriate that the NBA season tips off just before Halloween -- because on any given night, each and every one of the league's 30 teams can look downright frightening. Sometimes, that means your favorite team will act as their opposition's personal Freddy Krueger; sometimes, you will be the one suffering through the living nightmare. In preparation for Opening Night, BDL's Dan Devine considers what makes your team scary and what should make you scared.

What Makes You Scary: The prospect of a tough front line that's going to beat opponents up, even on defense. As our Fearless Leader covered at last season's trade deadline and during the NBA finals, the deals that brought Nene, Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza to Washington in exchange for JaVale McGee, Nick Young, Ronny Turiaf, Rashard Lewis and a second-round draft pick were aimed at changing a culture that had produced self-centered, often braindead ball in the nation's capital in recent years. Bringing in legitimate grown folks, the theory went, would begin a new chapter in D.C. defined by accountability and professionalism, and maybe kickstart stalled franchise centerpiece John Wall.

But veteran leadership only really matters if it sparks on-court change. The Wizards' best chance for a marked improvement this season is in the defensive frontcourt, where last year's team struggled and this year's team may be strongest.

Washington's D was rough overall last year, ranking bottom-10 in the league in points allowed per 100 possessions -- 21st according to Basketball-Reference.com, 24th according to Hoopdata and NBA.com's stat tool -- but things were especially bad inside. They allowed opponents to make 65 percent of their attempts at the rim, according to Hoopdata's shot location statistics, making them the fifth-most permissive interior defense in the league. They also finished 26th among 30 NBA teams in offensive rebounds allowed and 21st in defensive rebounding, meaning that when they weren't allowing opponents to score virtually at will inside, they were more than happy to offer second and third opportunities. (So kind of them.)

They won't sky for boards like JaVale, but full seasons from Nene (who pulled down a career-best 23.3 percent of available defensive rebounds last year, including 25.3 percent in 11 games in D.C.) and Okafor (defensive rebound rates higher than 24 percent in six of eight NBA seasons, and he was injured in the other two) should help Washington improve its glass security and limit easy putbacks. Similarly, though neither will turn away shots as often as McGee -- you'd have to add up Nene's (2.4 percent) and Okafor's (4.2 percent) career block rates to equal McGee's mark (6.6 percent) -- both profile as sounder, stronger, more positionally secure defenders, more likely to stay true in one-on-one matchups and force contested looks than chase swats.

And while both players struggled with injuries last season (Okafor worse, missing 39 games with a left knee injury), both performed well down low defensively in their last healthy stretches of action. Small-sample-size alerts apply, but Nene allowed 0.70 points per possession (PPP) when defending post-ups with Denver last year, ranking 40th in the league, according to Synergy Sports Technology's play-charting data ... and he was even better in Washington, holding opponents to 0.55 PPP. In 2010-11, Okafor's last full season with the New Orleans Hornets, he allowed a solid-but-not-great 0.79 PPP on post-ups, but was a wall on attempted isolations, allowing just 0.51 PPP (eighth-best in the league) en route to finishing 28th in the NBA in overall defense (0.78 PPP).

If Nene comes back 100 percent from his left foot injury and is able to take the floor alongside Okafor as part of a big-man rotation that includes improving center Kevin Seraphin (whose defensive rebounding and block rates rose and who finished 48th in Synergy's overall PPP allowed metrics last year, and who impressed for France at the 2012 Summer Olympics), sophomore Jan Vesely (who has a long way to go defensively, but has the size, frame and athleticism to make a leap quickly) and third-year man Trevor Booker (whose Synergy peripherals dipped from his rookie season, but who has shown himself to be a versatile, hard-nosed defender), the Wizards' front line should be equipped to handle most bigs without double-teaming. If they can do that, coach Randy Wittman can play straight up more often, making the task of limiting open perimeter looks a bit easier for long, active defenders like Ariza and Chris Singleton, which could make scoring on the Wizards in the half court a pretty daunting task for stretches.

Yes, that's a lot of "ifs." But if it all comes together, Washington will be poised to make a massive leap forward in defensive efficiency, and have a legitimate shot at its first middle-of-the-pack finish in that category since ... 1997-98? Seriously? Wow.

What Should Make You Scared: Um, where will the points come from? As rough as Washington's defense was last year, its offense was even worse, and even when Wall finally resumes full health following his knee injury, I'm not so sure it's going to be much better.

Hoopdata and NBA.com both had the Wiz tied for the second-least-efficient offense in the league last season, while Basketball-Reference has them tied for fourth-worst. Washington played fast, averaging the NBA's sixth-highest number of possessions per game, but they also played loose, turning the ball over at the league's 11th-highest rate. They ranked among the league's five worst teams in free-throw percentage, 3-point percentage, True Shooting percentage and assist rate. They were dreadful from midrange, finishing dead last from between 10 and 15 feet out, and 26th between 16 and 23 feet away, per Hoopdata.

On top of that, they'll begin the season without three of last year's four leading scorers in the lineup, relying on A.J. Price (he of the epic sonning), Shelvin Mack (he of the dance shared with Robert Pack, and not much else) and/or Jannero Pargo (who once inspired Kelly Dwyer to write, "Jannero Pargo doesn't help. Jannero Pargo hurts") to take primary responsibility for generating quality looks, which sounds pretty frightening to me. I'm not sure if it's more or less frightening than the idea of asking shot-happy off-guard Jordan Crawford to assume a bigger role in the team's offense when he already takes 17.9 shots per 36 minutes of floor time (and misses three out of five of them), but it's very scary all the same.

The only potential "plus" outside shooter on the Wizards roster is vaunted rookie Bradley Beal, and it doesn't seem especially realistic to expect any 19-year-old to step into the lineup and immediately be the sole reliable floor-spacer responsible for creating room for the likes of Nene, Okafor, Seraphin and Vesely to operate inside, even if he is the No. 3 overall pick. If Wall misses significant time, it wouldn't be surprising at all to see Washington's offense take an even further step backward; even if he comes back quickly and hits the ground running, Wiz fans could be in for some ugly-lookin' ball. (Especially if he's still missing, literally, 92.9 percent of his 3-point attempts.)

Eric Freeman's Identity Crisis

There is no more important asset for a basketball team than talent, and yet the more loaded squad does not always win. What we've seen in recent seasons isn't only that the best team wins, but that the group with the clearest sense of self, from management down through the players, prevails. A team must not only be talented, but sure of its goals, present and future, and the best methods of obtaining them. Most NBA teams have trouble with their identity. Eric Freeman's Identity Crisis is a window into those struggles, the accomplishment of realizing a coherent identity, and the pitfalls of believing these issues to be solved.

Over roughly two years, the Wizards have made a special effort to rid themselves of their supposed problem children: Gilbert Arenas, JaVale McGee, Nick Young, and Andray Blatche. After this summer, that task is completed, and the franchise has recast itself as a more professional outfit, one where no one brings guns into the locker room or poops in a teammate's shoe (as a goof). Those players have been swapped out for Nene, rookie shooting guard Bradley Beal, and a host of others unlikely to embarrass the organization.

However, bringing in mature veterans only means so much when a team's fortunes largely depend on one supremely talented, quite frustrating former top pick in the draft. When John Wall entered the NBA in 2010, many analysts (including me, near the top) thought that he would be an instant sensation and make significant progress towards becoming the best point guard in the league. Though his jumper clearly needed work, Wall's quickness, vision, and ballhawking defense suggested a player particularly well suited for the more open NBA game. Instead, we've seen a work in progress, someone struggling to improve.

To be sure, Wall still has plenty of time and talent to get to the All-Star level many have predicted for him since he was in high school, and last season's lockout presumably stunted his growth more than second-year players in other seasons. But things aren't getting any easier for Wall — he'll miss the first month with a knee injury — and at some point his lack of development, excuses or not, will begin to define both his career and the progress of the Wizards. In other words, Washington's hopes of becoming a more mature outfit only really matter if Wall becomes a more dependable player both on and off the court.

The Wizards should be hopeful that will happen, if only because their franchise's future depends on it. But if they don't see significant progress from Wall soon, the rumblings will grow louder. They might end up with an outlook just as uncertain as that of the team they tried so hard to leave behind.

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Tour Report: Make your picks: The McGladrey Classic (PGA Tour)

16 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Golf, General
The McGladrey Classic gets under way Thursday at Sea Island’s Seaside Course. Check out who our experts think will play well this week in Expert Picks. And also, who might surprise in Sleeper Picks. But we want to know who you think will play well and win. Let us know in the comments section below.
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KHL suspends referees, demotes linesmen after blown call on Lokomotiv goal (VIDEO)

16 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Hockey, General

Remember that time when an official made a bad call in a game that cost one team a win? Remember when you would complain that the official should be punished for making such a terrible decision that affected a game?

Well, the KHL is way ahead of you.

During Lokomotiv's 3-2 shootout victory over Traktor, their goal that made the game 2-1 in the second period should have never counted thanks to a missed "too many men" call.

Here's video of the controversial goal:

Serious shades of Penguins-Red Wings and Avalanche-Canadiens there.

Traktor complained to the KHL after the game, and the league has responded by suspending all four officials involved in the game.

From Ria Novosti:

The KHL accepted Traktor's complaint that Lokomotiv had six players on the ice when Sergei Plotnikov made it 2-1 to the visitors in the second period.

"There was a controversial episode associated with too many men on the ice for Yaroslavl in a scoring attack," the KHL said in a website statement. "There was a grave mistake made by the referees."

"The referees were required to cite too many men for Lokomotiv and call a minor violation by the team."

The two head officials will be banned for three games, while the linesmen will not work another KHL game this season and instead have been sent down to the Russian Major League.

You know, if the NHL is really looking to make in-roads in the PR battle, maybe a public announcement of referee punishments would quell some anger next time a high-stick or offside is missed?

Just think of how much shorter Stephane Auger's career would have been.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Tags: , , , Lokomotiv, , referees, Sergei Plotnikov, , Traktor, ,
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KHL suspends referees, demotes linesmen after blown call on Lokomotiv goal (VIDEO)

16 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Hockey, General

Remember that time when an official made a bad call in a game that cost one team a win? Remember when you would complain that the official should be punished for making such a terrible decision that affected a game?

Well, the KHL is way ahead of you.

During Lokomotiv's 3-2 shootout victory over Traktor, their goal that made the game 2-1 in the second period should have never counted thanks to a missed "too many men" call.

Here's video of the controversial goal:

Serious shades of Penguins-Red Wings and Avalanche-Canadiens there.

Traktor complained to the KHL after the game, and the league has responded by suspending all four officials involved in the game.

From Ria Novosti:

The KHL accepted Traktor's complaint that Lokomotiv had six players on the ice when Sergei Plotnikov made it 2-1 to the visitors in the second period.

"There was a controversial episode associated with too many men on the ice for Yaroslavl in a scoring attack," the KHL said in a website statement. "There was a grave mistake made by the referees."

"The referees were required to cite too many men for Lokomotiv and call a minor violation by the team."

The two head officials will be banned for three games, while the linesmen will not work another KHL game this season and instead have been sent down to the Russian Major League.

You know, if the NHL is really looking to make in-roads in the PR battle, maybe a public announcement of referee punishments would quell some anger next time a high-stick or offside is missed?

Just think of how much shorter Stephane Auger's career would have been.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Tags: , , , Lokomotiv, , referees, Sergei Plotnikov, , Traktor, ,
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NFL Power Rankings: Seahawks and Packers rising, Steelers and Bengals falling

16 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Football, General

It's going to be a rough week for the "We just beat them, so now we should be ranked ahead of them" crowd. Just about everyone in the league refused to comply with their spot in the power rankings, as the teams slotted 19th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 28th, 30th and 31st won, while the teams ranked 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th all lost.

What's a power ranker supposed to do with that? Give up on the concept of power rankings as fruitless and indicative of nothing? I refuse. I will revise, adjust and adapt to the ever-shifting climate of the league. Just probably not as quickly as you would like.

We've got a lot of big movers this week. All told, nine teams move five or more spots, but the most significant movement came from one game ‒ the Jets leapt up by a staggering 10 spots, and the Colts dropped by nine. Read on to see where your team ranks, and be sure to complain about it in the comments below.

1. Atlanta Falcons (6-0)
Last week: 1
There are those who point to the Falcons' record of 6-0 and believe they're the best team in football. There are also those who think they're overrated and point to their struggles against Carolina and Washington, and now this week's slopfest against Oakland. Which group is right? The former. Power rankings do not lie.

2. New York Giants (4-2)
Last week: 4
It seems like it took that big win against the 49ers to remind everyone that the Giants are pretty good. Noted ‒ the Giants are pretty good. And they didn't even call on the aerial assault of Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz. They basically won without them. Manning was under 200 yards passing and Cruz and Nicks combined for 104. When that pass rush is on, they really don't need much else.

3. Houston Texans (5-1)
Last week: 2
So they got clobbered on Sunday night against the Packers ‒ what's the takeaway? That Aaron Rodgers might still be a really good quarterback, and that the Texans are not a perfect football team? Neither of these items need be accompanied by a "Breaking News" graphic. They hacked up a furball against a desperate team that played their best football of the season. It happens.

4. Baltimore Ravens (5-1)
Last week: 7
I feel like there should've been a massive gap after the third team ‒ Falcons first, Giants second, Texans third, and then a whole lot of bank space and we'll resume around 10 or so. The Ravens probably didn't deserve to win this week (not my words, they're Joe Flacco's), but that's how the NFL carousel rotates. It just happened to be the Ravens this week who were the recipient of the Cowboys' weekly gift of football ineptitude.

5. Chicago Bears (4-1)
Last week: 10
Off this week, and that's a pretty big jump for a team that didn't play. Maybe the Bears ought to keep sitting games out and just see how far they'll rise.

6. San Francisco 49ers (4-2)
Last week: 3
I hate to get too carried away with one result, but the 49ers weren't just beaten ‒ their strengths were beaten. The Giants ran between the tackles with impunity, and defensively, turned the 49ers into a passing team and buried them with pressure on Alex Smith, who was sacked six time. A week ago, the 49ers seemed like the easy choice to win the NFC West and a likely choice for a first-round bye in the playoffs. Now I wonder if the Giants exposed something and if the Seahawks can do the same on Thursday night, and take control of the division.

7. New England Patriots (3-3)
Last week: 5
Losing in Seattle is about the most forgivable thing in the league right now ‒ the defense and the crowd there are ferocious (as was the rain Sunday), and it seemed to affect even the usually unflappable Patriots. I've got concerns about the secondary there, but as far as New England's general outlook going forward, they'll be fine. They're not going to play defenses like Seattle's every week, and they'll tuck the ball back into the belly of Brandon Bolden and Stevan Ridley, and all will be well. Except the secondary.

8. Green Bay Packers (3-3)
Last week: 13
If we can consider the Aaron Rodgers touchdown orgy against the Texans an official resurrection, we can then look ahead for the Pack. The next four are against St. Louis, Jacksonville, Arizona and Detroit, with a bye week mixed in there. A record of 7-3 seems, if not probable, certainly possible. And if that did come to pass, I'd be very surprised if they weren't at least tied for the lead in the NFC North at that point.

9. Denver Broncos (3-3)
Last week: 11
Peyton Manning went 13 of 14 for 167 yards in the second half on Monday night, and that's really, really good. And the Broncos are good, and still getting better. All that is worth mentioning, but I find it difficult to grade Denver's Monday night performance, since it happened against an all-encompassing cataclysm from the Chargers.

10. Philadelphia Eagles (3-3)
Last week: 6
I'm not concerned that Michael Vick owns a dog again. What does concern me, though, is Vick's apparent tendency to slather that dog in butter, WD-40, Crisco, and petroleum jelly, pet that dog for a half hour, and then refuse to wash his hands before playing a football game. Not only is it disgusting and unsanitary, but it automatically puts the Eagles in about a 14-point hole every time they play. It's remarkable that this keeps happening. I can't recall a quarterback having such a turnover-laden season who wasn't also a truly awful quarterback. Which Vick is not.


11. Seattle Seahawks (4-2)
Last week: 16
The Seahawks continue to quietly climb, and they seem to keep getting big power ranking boosts after games they play at home. At home this year, they've squashed Dallas, "beat" Green Bay, and beat New England, and on the road, they've lost to Arizona, lost to St. Louis, and eked out an uggo over Carolina. Their next two are on the road.

12. Minnesota Vikings (4-2)
Last week: 8
It's strange how kicking four field goals is a pretty reliable way to lose a game. Kicker Blair Walsh accounted for all of the Vikings points through three quarters with four field goals, all of which came from offensive drives that stalled in the red zone. The comeback attempt was nice, but much like the 49ers, this isn't a team that will make a living playing from behind.

13. Miami Dolphins (3-3)
Last week: 15
The Dolphins are all over the place. They've been blown out, and blew somebody out. Then they lost two straight close games, and now they've won two straight close games. This is good, but only because the Dolphins were supposed to be absolutely terrible. Ryan Tannehill has been better than advertised, and third-round rookie Olivier Vernon made plays chasing Sam Bradford, too.

14. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-3)
Last week: 9
The Steelers are way past the point of forgivable losses. I could've brushed off the collapse against Oakland as a fluke, but the Titans, too? Sorry, that's asking a bit much. The Steelers are either playing down to the level of their competition, they've turned into fourth-quarter gag artists, or they just aren't very good, at least away from home. The best thing going for them right now is that the Ravens defensive injuries are piling up so quickly.

15. San Diego Chargers (3-3)
Last week: 12
At halftime of the Monday night game, I was feeling pretty silly about having the Broncos ranked higher than the Chargers for all these weeks. Then the second half happened, and I don't feel silly anymore. I just feel sadness and concern, because I'm pretty sure Philip Rivers is going to hang himself with an extension cord. What a mess of a game and a mess of a team. The Chargers are like the AFC's version of the Cowboys, except without all the discipline and mental toughness.

16. Washington Redskins (3-3)
Last week: 19
Look who's only a game back in the NFC East ‒ it's Bob Griffin and his Redskins. It's hard to get a handle on just how good the Redskins are, but they are going to be a fun watch every week. RGIII is going to do things like run for 76-yard touchdowns, and defensively, everyone's going to light them up through the air. The jolly good-time Redskins have a chance to actually take the division lead this week against the Giants.

17. New York Jets (3-3)
Last week: 27
I feel a high level of internal discomfort even typing this, but the Jets can take the lead in the AFC East with a win next week. This fact is almost as confusing as looking at Shonn Greene's name in a box score and seeing the number "161" next to it, because as far as I know, the NFL has not added "number of times Shonn Greene has been called unspeakable things by each of his fantasy owners" to the official box score. I trust that he'll return to about 40 yards next week so the world can resume spinning on its axis.

18. Buffalo Bills (3-3)
Last week: 22
You feed a cold. You starve a fever. And you fix a leaky pass defense by playing a game against Kevin Kolb and John Skelton. For the Bills, the simple act of not being blown out would've been a step in the right direction, but they went above and beyond. They held Arizona to just 150 passing yards after giving up 643 over the last two weeks. True, Arizona ran for 182 yards and got 6.1 yards a carry, but we can only fix one thing at a time.

19. Arizona Cardinals (4-2)
Last week: 14
Consecutive losses to the Rams and Bills significantly dampen a 4-0 start, but I don't want to get too down on the Cards. They still have an excellent defense that's going to keep them in most games; but they also have a quarterback situation that's going to prevent them from winning a whole lot of them. The Cardinals are going to have a lot of games like that ‒ low scoring and decided on the feet of kickers. Having a 38-yarder to win is something they'll take most weeks.

20. St. Louis Rams (3-3)
Last week: 21
A couple of times this season the Rams have been the team finding a way to win. This week, despite outgaining the Dolphins 462-192, they found a way to lose. The 12 penalties certainly helped, as did an off day from Young GZ. And even though he only went 2 of 5 on the day, Greg Zuerlein was still worth the price of admission. The 66-yarder he attempted as time ran out had plenty of leg. Leg for days. I don't think I've ever seen a field-goal attempt hit that hard.


21. Detroit Lions (2-3)
Last week: 23
They knew they needed a win, and when it came down to it in the fourth quarter, they fought like hell for it. Why Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson were so ineffective for the first three quarters, though, I couldn't tell you. But now that we've eliminated, at least temporarily, special teams meltdowns, that's now the crucial issue with this team. They've got to pull Matthew Stafford's passer rating out of the gutter and get Calvin Johnson in the end zone.

22. Dallas Cowboys (2-3)
Last week: 21
I'd like to thank the Cowboys for going ahead and finishing that game in traditional Cowboy fashion, so no one has to continue to be confused about who they are. They might be the offense that tuned up the Ravens defense for 481 yards, and they might be the defense that held Ray Rice to under 4 yards a carry. But they're also the team that had 13 penalties and had to settle for a 51-yard field-goal attempt to win because they couldn't get off more than one play in 34 seconds. With a timeout.

23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3)
Last week: 24
Bizarre stat, via ESPN Stats and Information: Josh Freeman is completing 55.6 percent of throws longer than 15 yards downfield, and just 55.0 percent of his throws of 15 yards or shorter. It's kind of hard to interpret a stat so backwards, but my best guess is that it means that the best strategy for Josh Freeman is to chuck the ball deep and hope Vincent Jackson or Mike Williams come down with it.

24. Cincinnati Bengals (3-3)
Last week: 18
I guess 3-3 isn't the worst record in the world if you're the Bengals, but I don't know how you can hold on to your playoff hopes when you're losing back-to-back games to Miami and Cleveland.  Fortunately, few other teams in the AFC appear to like winning football games, either, so if they beat Pittsburgh at home this week, they're still in pretty good position. At least, as good a position as they can be for a team that lost to the Browns.

25. New Orleans Saints (1-4)
Last week: 26
Off this week.

26. Tennessee Titans (2-4)
Last week: 31
The Titans claimed to be better than their record, and while I don't know if they proved that with the win over the Steelers, it does create some separation, at least temporarily, between them and the unsightly dregs of the power rankings. Chris Johnson has had better than 90 yards and more than 4.8 yards per carry in two of his last three outings, for those of you holding on to some hope there.

27. Cleveland Browns (1-5)
Last week: 30
I don't know if I've ever heard a player's birthday mentioned so much in one day. Did you know that Sunday was Brandon Weeden's birthday? It was. He turned 29 years old, because it was his birthday, and that's what happens on birthdays. Also perhaps of interest: Weeden made some pretty big throws in the last 20 minutes of that game. What a great birthday present for him. Birthday.

28. Oakland Raiders (1-4)
Last week: 29
Just about all game predictions pointed to the Raiders pass defense getting shredded like a bucket of cole slaw against the Falcons, but that never happened. Matt Ryan was picked off three times, held under 250 yards and had a quarterback rating of 59.4. If the Raiders can maintain any of that, there's no reason they shouldn't be able to inch up the rankings a bit over the next few weeks. They get the Jaguars, Chiefs and Bucs in their next three. Oh, and if you happen to work with CBS Sports, and you can tell me who gets to call the Raiders/Jags game this week, please let me know. I'd like to send them a fruit basket.

29. Indianapolis Colts (2-3)
Last week: 20
It wasn't difficult to see a letdown coming after last week's #CHUCKSTRONG triumph ‒ getting absolutely throttled by the Jets, though, is indicative of more than a letdown. It's a letdown from a team that's young, growing and maybe not very good yet. Andrew Luck in particular had a rough game, but in his defense, it was against a defense that, even without Darrelle Revis, is still pretty tough on opposing quarterbacks.

30. Carolina Panthers (1-4)
Last week: 25
Off this week.

31. Kansas City Chiefs (1-5)
Last week: 28
The banner people got their wish, and you're not going to believe this, but Brady Quinn playing in place of Matt Cassel did not magically solve all the Chiefs problems. I know, I was surprised, too. The Chiefs are off this coming week, and then come back to the face the Raiders, renewing a rivalry every bit as exciting as the one between Jacksonville and Tennessee.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4)
Last week: 32
Off this week.

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Ivan Johnson shatters backboard during Hawks practice, reacts to it in very Ivan Johnson way (VIDEO)

15 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Basketball, General

After a six-point preseason loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night, the Atlanta Hawks traveled to the gym at Butler University in Indianapolis on Monday morning, eager to correct some mistakes and continue preparing for the regular season. But before the clock struck noon on the East Coast, according to the team's Twitter feed (and, subsequently, Hawks teammates Mike Scott, Al Horford, James Anderson and Anthony Tolliver, as well as Hawks player development instructor Nick Van Exel), practice was called on account of extreme violence against plexiglas. Behold:

The perpetrator of this glass-shattering (which we'd have to imagine the folks at Butler aren't super thrilled about)? None other than Ivan Johnson, Atlanta's diamond-grill-rockin', non-NBA-watchin', rough-and-tumble-shot-destroyin', Celtics-fan-bird-flippin' power forward, who appeared pretty much out of nowhere last season and became an Internet fan favorite due in large part to his combination of physicality and plain-spoken awesomeness.

After the shattered backboard gave us the physicality, it was time for the plain-spoken awesomeness. Ivan, naturally, did not disappoint:

"Ehh, it's just the way I work out. I work out hard," a totally nonplussed Johnson said when asked what happened. "In everything we do."

The glass-breaking was a first for Johnson, whose years-long journey — from Pac-10 prospect to Division II beast, from banned in Korea to D-League standout, from grinding it out in China to an NBA call-up — has been the stuff of legend. (He does note, however, that he has "knocked some screws out before.")

So Ivan, given the rarity of the event and the accomplishment of dunking with enough ferocity to end practice, feel like commemorating the occasion with a photo?

"No," he said with a dismissive laugh. "Probably not. It's nothing."

Of course it isn't. Please continue being awesome, Ivan Johnson. As if you could ever do anything else.

Video via the Hawks' official YouTube channel. Hat-tip on the breakage to NBA.com's John Schuhmann.

[Fantasy Basketball '12: Play the official game of NBA.com]

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