Well, the biggest game of the year college basketball-wise (Xavier visiting Dayton) is coming up this weekend, but I've been working on that enough lately that it's time to take a break. The NBA trade deadline was today and as always, it didn't disappoint. Teams looking to fill a void on their roster, clear some cap space or get a good draft pick were all making moves as 3 p.m. closed in. The major deal between the Knicks and Nuggets involving Carmelo Anthony is still obviously the blockbuster deal of the ongoing season, but plenty of interesting storylines still unfolded today.
Big Winners: Utah Jazz and New York Knicks
Everybody's clear on why the Knicks are winners, right? Right. Because they got Carmelo, and as Bill Simmons tweeted when the deal happened, they now have two of the 10 guys who started the All-Star game. Only the heat can also say that. Sure, they lost their starting point guard in Raymond Felton, but they also got Chauncey Billups. Now, all the Knicks have to do is find another good guard in the next few years before Billups is washed up. Great deal for them.
As for the Jazz, they dropped one of the premiere guards in the league, but these days, guards are not as hard to come by. Plus, the Jazz got a pretty good guard in Devin Harris, and one of the premiere prospects of last year's draft in Derrick Favors. So, trading a guy who was great but starting to be a cancer to your team for an acceptable replacement and a lottery pick? Yeah, that's a win.
Meh, Middle of the Road: Cleveland Cavaliers
Maybe the best thing anybody will have to say about the Cavs this season. Sure, they are getting Baron Davis, a very capable guard who's play will deteriorate as he realizes Blake Griffin is no longer his teammate. Davis will get lazy and do nothing for the organization, but the fact is nobody was really doing anything for the team. So, might as well get a lottery pick out of the deal as well. Now, the Cavs will have two of the top picks in next year's draft. If they hit gold with both? Maybe you're talking about a different situation in Cleveland in the years to come.
Losers: Boston Celtics
The Celtics made a real head-scratcher with the Oklahoma City Thunder (which I'm hoping will work out for the Thunda come playoffs time). They got rid of what seemed to be their big advantage over the Heat and their main answer for Dwight Howard when they traded away Kendrick Perkins. Jeff Green is an excellent young player and is the type of guy who could one day average 22 points and 8 rebounds per game, but the Celtics have a lot of age on their team, and their veterans will not be around when Green is playing that well. They took a huge gamble in believing Shaq and Nenad Krstic will get the job done in the middle.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
A Resumption of Duties
As my college career is coming to a close I'm making the move to pick up my independent version of "Spack on Sports", as I will only be writing for the Flyer News version just a few more months. And what a time to restart.
On a day that is serving up 151 college basketball games and also happens to be the eve of the Super Bowl, I'm saying hello again to my band of loyal followers (ha).
As I'm writing this, the Dayton Flyers won their game at LaSalle, a nice road win that has been near impossible to come by for this year's team. Unfortunately, it feels like too little, too late. And that is the very depressing thing about this college basketball season: I don't have as much to root for with 7 games still to play.
In my first three years at UD, the Flyers made the NCAA Tournament only once, in 2009. But the other two years, they were very competitive and looked like they had a shot at a berth at this point. With nine conference games under their belts in '08 and '10, the Flyers had disappointed a bit, but were still competitive in the conference, had some good wins to show from the season, and, if they finished well, would be in the tournament. Unfortunately, in 2008 they were derailed by injuries and last year they collapsed, both at the end of the season, and in their A-10 Tournament game against Xavier.
This year is different. Nine games in, UD is 5-4, a picture of mediocrity. They haven't won a single big game, and they've lost a home game already. They can't beat the better teams in the league, and they can't go on the road and beat the UMasses of the conference. They've been bad enough that even winning out would not put the Flyers into the tournament. They've got one way in: win the A-10 Tourney, and that's not happening.
I know, I know, I'll still have Duke to root for all season. That's valid, but it's not the same. Dayton is the team I go and watch every home game, they are the team I live and die with. Right now, I basically feel about UD the way I felt about the Mets last season by the time game 70 rolled around: they're done. And now I've got a bunch of season left, and nothing to cheer for (as a side note, I'm sure that's the way I'll feel about the Mets again this year, this time by about game 25.)
It's pretty sad, really. I guess I'm just not that accustomed to UD being out of the race so quickly. I'm definitely used to them disappointing me, which has happened again this year (ahem, losing to ETSU at home), just not with so many games to be played.
On a day that is serving up 151 college basketball games and also happens to be the eve of the Super Bowl, I'm saying hello again to my band of loyal followers (ha).
As I'm writing this, the Dayton Flyers won their game at LaSalle, a nice road win that has been near impossible to come by for this year's team. Unfortunately, it feels like too little, too late. And that is the very depressing thing about this college basketball season: I don't have as much to root for with 7 games still to play.
In my first three years at UD, the Flyers made the NCAA Tournament only once, in 2009. But the other two years, they were very competitive and looked like they had a shot at a berth at this point. With nine conference games under their belts in '08 and '10, the Flyers had disappointed a bit, but were still competitive in the conference, had some good wins to show from the season, and, if they finished well, would be in the tournament. Unfortunately, in 2008 they were derailed by injuries and last year they collapsed, both at the end of the season, and in their A-10 Tournament game against Xavier.
This year is different. Nine games in, UD is 5-4, a picture of mediocrity. They haven't won a single big game, and they've lost a home game already. They can't beat the better teams in the league, and they can't go on the road and beat the UMasses of the conference. They've been bad enough that even winning out would not put the Flyers into the tournament. They've got one way in: win the A-10 Tourney, and that's not happening.
I know, I know, I'll still have Duke to root for all season. That's valid, but it's not the same. Dayton is the team I go and watch every home game, they are the team I live and die with. Right now, I basically feel about UD the way I felt about the Mets last season by the time game 70 rolled around: they're done. And now I've got a bunch of season left, and nothing to cheer for (as a side note, I'm sure that's the way I'll feel about the Mets again this year, this time by about game 25.)
It's pretty sad, really. I guess I'm just not that accustomed to UD being out of the race so quickly. I'm definitely used to them disappointing me, which has happened again this year (ahem, losing to ETSU at home), just not with so many games to be played.
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