Some change isn’t good.

It has to be said that the upset victories the Grizz and Hornets won were unexpected.  Wow, that was the understatement of the year.  Stank-0 fully expected the Hornets to get broomed right outta the playoffs. Still don’t expect either team to advance and that’s part of the problem with the playoffs in the NBA.

See before the NBA made the obvious money grab by making every series 7 games (and making the playoffs last until late June) the format was 3-5-7-7.  You got great upsets then as well. The Nuggets over the Sonics but that will NEVER be duplicated again because you have to win 4.  Two of three kinda evened the odds.  A lesser team could luck up two times.

For the readers out there, do you really think the Grizz or the Hornets can win 4 against the Spurs or Lakers? Exactly because over the course of the series, the strengths of those teams will become evident. The playoffs don’t have surprises anymore.  Sure a team can luck up and steal a game, but not a series. 

Stank-0 hears you mention the Warriors-Mavs series a few years back. The Warriors were a match up nightmare.  They could throw multiple tall defenders at Dirk and keep him off balance. Game. Blouses. 

Let Stank-0 dismiss the Hawks-Celtics and the Bulls-Celtics as well.  Sure they went 7 games but Game 7 was at the home team of the higher seed. Game. Blouses.

All a 7 game series does is delay the inevitable for the lesser team. It makes them (and us the fans) feel good about the underdog, but when pressure makes diamonds or bust pipes, there’s broken pipes everywhere.

So please join with me in petitioning the NBA to go back to the old format. The next on the list of impossibilities is changing the Finals format from 2-3-2 back to 2-2-1-1-1. #PrayForMe.

The fall of Fiesta?

According to this article, John Junker, CEO of the Fiesta Bowl is in some hot water. 

The IRS is looking into some of his goings on. It boils down to financial irregularities.  The takeaway is that the Fiesta Bowl could be dropped from the BCS rotation and the leading candidate to replace them? The Cotton Bowl and the $1.2B dollar stadium down the way in Arlington, TX.  Which just happens to be owned by none other than Jerry Jones.

There were independent investigations and more investigations.  It was all a very sorbid affair, read the story.

The Fiesta Bowl cannot be punished until after this current contract expires, in 3 years. You have to imagine that everyone involved with Fiesta will be under intense scrutiny.

DRose cookin

Derrick Rose sonnin Brandon Jennings via The Big Lead

Mayne, Brannin Jennings gonna be motivated the next time the Bucks and Bulls play because Rose did this boy up something awful. Nothing else to say. Peep the vids.

Shout out to The Big Lead

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Brasil vs Scotland

Ho hum.  Brasil is runnin roughshod over another overmatched team.  Nothing new here.  The big story is a good young player whom Chelsea reportedly offered $35M for.  The counter offer was $50M, now after his dazzling performance (he had a 1st period goal that was beautiful) the bidding will probably start at $50M.

Stank-0 can’t wait for my futball to appear on the scene. The next opportunity is 2012, UEFA and the Olympics.

Also, it has been a while since there’s been a post.  There’s alot of changes going on in my existence and it’s kinda drained my willingness to write. Hopefully, this season of change will pass and Stank-0 can get back to posting.

D3 to LBJ again!

In the Knicks game early in the 1st, the Heat were on the break and D3 tossed a lob that James caught on the way down.

NBA trade mania!

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The Melo deal opened the floodgates.  Still unsure how Melo will fit into the Knicks’ offense.  He is an iso scoring player.  He doesn’t derive his scoring from the flow the offense.

The team he left behind (no Kirk Cameron!) has won two straight but they are different now.  Their offense is no longer stifled with a ball stopper.  They may not have the superstar they once did but they have a lot of good pieces to be a playoff contender.

Then the Hawks sent Mike Bibby and  some pieces for Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong.  The Hawks were obviously looking for more of a pass first PG.

After that deal, Derron Williams moved to the East himself and became a member of the Nets.  The Nets deal was more for the future and in trying to become a free agent destination specifically for the free agent class of 2012, specifically D12.

Then after that Baron Davis was sent to the Cleveland and Mo Williams and Jamario Moon went to LaLa Land. Stank-0 was not sure that BDiddy’s huge contract could even be moved.  He signed a 5 year deal and still has 2 years left on it.  The Cavs are in the process of cleanin house and they need to.

Then Gerald Wallace was sent to Portland and that might have been the underrated trade of the deadline.

The final move might be the most important.  Kendrick Perkins, Nate Robinson, and Nazr Mohammed were shipped to OKC in exchange for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic.

Stank-0 is of the opinion that the move allowed the rest of the East to gain on the Celtics.  The frontline is now dependent upon the two O’Neals, one of which hasn’t played at all this year and the other is a shell of a shell of his former self.

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Sabermetrics for football?

After listening to someone on Baseball Tonight mention some obscure stat, Stank-0 realized that the NFL needs a sabermetric revolution.

Think about it, we attribute all INTs to the QB when clearly the receiver (WR, TE, RB) plays a large part of whether the ball is received or not.  INTs need to be attributed to the receiver as well.  Passes thrown to receiver caught, not caught, intercepted, and fumbled. That’s not to speak about the DBs and safeties that make a play on the ball.  None of that is looked at, it’s simply a INT charged to the QB.

There are plenty of things to look at: what effect a certain player has on whether there is a 3-and-out? False starts? offsides? What side of the line does blitzing work the best on? The least? How many blitzers result in an incomplete pass? INT?

Is there a correlation between time of possession and red zone efficiency?

Stank-0 believes alot of the numbers will revolve around the QB and both sides of line for obvious reasons.  They are the persons with the greatest bearing on the outcome of the play.

This is in the beginning stages, Stank-0 will have to think on this some more.

Thoughts?

ESPN Townhall

This was quite enlightening.  Michael Wilbon dropped some serious knowledge for everyone out there.  Wilbon is sports journalism’ elder statesmen. PTI is better for having him be the yin to Kornheiser’s yang.

So instead of letting the talk die, Stank-0 will work on some solutions.

The Rooney Rule was talked about heavily.  It can bear some adjustments, so here are mine.

• If the team is looking at an in-house candidate, then do not make the Rooney Rule mandatory.
• Extend the Rooney to the front office.
• If there is credible information about a team looking to hire a candidate without satisfying Rooney, then there should be consequences.  Maybe financial, maybe forbid that team from hiring the candidate they wanted to.
• If a candidate is brought in solely to satisfy Rooney, then guarantee him a position on a head coaching staff at an equivalent or higher position.

That’s all for now.

2010 NATIONAL CHAMPS

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

In a game that was billed as an offensive shootout, we were treated to some stand up defense, especially by Auburn.  Each offense was a little jittery to start the game.  It’s easier for a defense to get on track after a 37 day layoff.  Then each side settled down and played football.  The Auburn offense mirrored the Oregon offense with the zone read running plays.  Dyer should be the MVP of the game.  He gashed the Oregon defense for chunks of yardage.  The high point of the game was undoubtedly the 2nd Q.  It was action packed.

Auburn defensive lineman Fairly just made himself very rich in the NFL Draft.  His stock is through the stratosphere right now.  He was the defensive disruptor in the title game.

The Oregon offense had one drive (in the 3rd quarter) hat looked Oregon-like but that defensive line stood tall and it stalled.  The problem for Oregon now is that teams are gonna emulate what Auburn and Cal did and the Blur offense may be over as we know it.

It makes perfect sense.  A high octane offense requires an unharried QB and RB to operate.  Oregon did not have that, ever.

This is also the SEC (undeniably the best football conference) with its 5th straight national title.  It might be wise to call it the SEC trophy at this point.  The SEC’s strength is the power and speed of their defense, especially the line.

To tie this all off, what happens with Cam, does he stay or go? It’s also unfortunate that Cecil Newton couldn’t be at the game.  He didn’t want to draw attention from his son.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2010 NATIONAL CHAMPION AUBURN TIGERS!!!

AFC Divisional round: rubbermatch

The NFC unfortunately does not have any division rivals playing in the next round so the focus will be on the AFC.

In the AFC, BAL and PIT split the series 1-1 and the NYJ and NE each have won a game.  Stank-0 feels better calling the Jets @ Patriots because The Patriots have separated from the rest of the league and they have home field advantage.   The last time Gang Green walked into Foxboro, they left with their tails between their legs.  The Jets were neutered.  That beat down was so bad that the effects stuck with them a game or two afterwards like the bad stench from a skunk.  If the Jets run the ball and keep Tom Brady off the field like they did with Peyton Manning, they could earn a return trip to the AFC Championship game.

On the other side, the AFC North (the black and blue division) deciding game between the Ravens and the Steelers is impossible to call.  Both defenses thrive on takeaways and take it personally if a team runs the ball on them.  The Ravens still haven’t allowed a 100 yard rusher against them in some time.