The Lakers dedicated this past season to Kobe's final narcissistic indulgence and preserving the (top 3 protected) 1st round pick they traded to Philly. Now the Lakers have money to spend, roster spots to offer, the #2 pick and everybody's favorite new coach, Luke Walton. They're pretty far down by their own standards, it's all up from here.
Currently the starting five for next year looks like PG Russell, SG Young, SF Randle, PF Bass, C Nance with Lou Williams and Anthony Brown off the bench. A new infusion of players is this summer's mission because this is not a starting five (indeed, only Russell and Randle should be starting next year). (Quick pointless trade idea: Nick Young to the Nets for Jarrett Jack. It would give the Lakers one year of a veteran PG off the bench while taking back only a little bit more salary. And it would give the Nets a conscious-free shooter who would fit Brooklyn's hip hop culture while saving them a little bit of money. A minor move for both teams and one that might not be necessary depending on the Lakers' ability to lure free agents, but a potential move that works for both teams)
Their current free agents are: Kobe Bryant (retired), Roy Hibbert (not coming back), Ryan Kelly (cheap enough to be brought back), Metta World Peace (retired?), Robert Sacre (might be back), Tarik Black (not coming back), Jordan Clarkson (will definitely be back with the Lakers next year), Marcelo Huertas (love to see him on a young team like Pelicans or Jazz next year). Clarkson must be brought back, Kelly and Sacre are not high priority but might be cheap enough to be brought back to fill out the bench.
With #2 they'll likely end up with Duke's Brandon Ingram, who looks to be a nice attacking SG right away. (Under Walton's tutelage he seems like a solid ROY candidate, no?) They also have the #32 pick which puts them in the neighborhood of Gary Payton II, who seems like a natural off the Laker bench. That said, I think they would have to take a chance on the enigmatic Thon Maker if he's available. Maker, a high schooler whose age allows him to slip into the draft, is the most all-over-the-place prospect in this draft: I've seen him ranked as high as a lottery pick and as low as late, late 2nd round, I can't remember such a wide variance on any single talent. He could be a bust but he could be a all-time great, too, right now no one knows and I feel like the Lakers have to buy a ticket if he's still there at #32 (although I guess the Celtics at #31 will be thinking the same thing).
Are the Lakers ready to turn the scoring over to a 2nd year PG and a rookie SG? They'll be looking for depth at both positions, but will they be looking for starters or bench guys? Mike Conley is perhaps the prized PG out there this summer but signing him means moving Russell to the bench, is that a good move for your young floor general? Likewise, everyone's gonna want Nicolas Batum but if the Lakers could grab him would they want to move Julius Randle to the bench or to PF? I suspect if the Lakers could pick up Conley and Batum they'd grab them both in a heartbeat. I expect them to nab Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli from the Warriors and/or Demar Derozan and Bismack Biyombo from the Raptors. I expect they'll also take a run on reuniting Joakim Noah and Al Horford, though I haven't heard any Laker-related rumors on either of those guys. Hey, man, the Lakers have always helped themselves to the pick of the badass free agents and though they've faltered on that strategy recently, now is the time to resurrect that formula.
The Lakers have a nice core of young players (Russell, Randle, Nance, Clarkson) to start with and they'll be looking to add many big time free agents (if for no other reason than to keep the best talent from joining Golden State!). Whatever it takes to matter again in the West, I have no doubt the Lakers will throw themselves into it even if it puts them into cap tax territory. I wouldn't be surprised if Brandon Ingram was their last 1st round pick for quite some time.
How about this for their starting five: PG Conley, SG Barnes, SF Randle, PF Horford, C Noah with Russell, Payton II, Clarkson, Williams, Bass, Nance and Biyombo off the bench. That would get them into the playoffs and give them leverage to make another move or two along the way. But does that best the Warriors? (No) And does it put them pull ahead of their arena-mates the Clippers? (With some luck, maybe)
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Costa Rica 0-4 USA
Soccer is a wacky game, man. It looks like a sprawling, timeless sport but really it is a game of specific moments. You look at the scoreline and figure that USA dominated the game. They were the better team, easily. But I'm still convinced USA only played marginally better than in their 2-0 defeat to Colombia a few days earlier. The significant event in this game was identical to the Colombia game: an early PK that devastated the losing team. Against Colombia USA was on the losing end of that incident, against Costa Rica USA received the benefit. And it made all the difference. Does this mean Coach Klinsmann has solved the mystery of USA soccer? Or did USA just get a lucky call in the box?
I expected Costa Rica to come out in a defensive shell, to bunker down, work the counter attack and bog down the USA attack. Not at all! The first few minutes Costa Rica attacked without hesitation, pushed the tempo to an insane rate and tried to make USA fall apart. It almost worked. But instead...it didn't. They gave up the early penalty (easy call, it was a foul), found themselves down in a must-win game and struggled to get any offense going. Instead, Costa Rica left a gaping hole in the middle of their defense and USA was able to put the punishment on them.
Jermaine Jones added a sweet goal, Bobby Wood added another right before halftime and sub Graham Zusi tacked on a late goal just to rub it in. USA should've scored a few more, Zardes and Bedoya each had golden opportunities that failed to materialize. Costa Rica is looking down and out going forward, only a big time upset over Colombia even gives them a chance of moving on to the knockout round.
USA needs a draw against Paraguay to advance, a win would be great but a loss would absolutely wreck them. The hope is back in USA soccer...for now.
I expected Costa Rica to come out in a defensive shell, to bunker down, work the counter attack and bog down the USA attack. Not at all! The first few minutes Costa Rica attacked without hesitation, pushed the tempo to an insane rate and tried to make USA fall apart. It almost worked. But instead...it didn't. They gave up the early penalty (easy call, it was a foul), found themselves down in a must-win game and struggled to get any offense going. Instead, Costa Rica left a gaping hole in the middle of their defense and USA was able to put the punishment on them.
Jermaine Jones added a sweet goal, Bobby Wood added another right before halftime and sub Graham Zusi tacked on a late goal just to rub it in. USA should've scored a few more, Zardes and Bedoya each had golden opportunities that failed to materialize. Costa Rica is looking down and out going forward, only a big time upset over Colombia even gives them a chance of moving on to the knockout round.
USA needs a draw against Paraguay to advance, a win would be great but a loss would absolutely wreck them. The hope is back in USA soccer...for now.
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Milwaukee Bucks Observations
The Bucks were a pre-season fave to make the playoffs in the East this past year but never really came together and fell to 12th overall. A disappointing campaign after such a surprising run the year before. Carter-Williams still struggles to score, Parker was fine but nothing superlative in his sophomore season, Monroe seemed out of sorts in that lineup and the rumors about Coach Kidd's behind-the-scenes power plays just keep coming. How do they get back in playoff form next year?
Their free agents are SG Mayo, PG Vasquez, PG Blake, PG Bayless and C Plumlee. I suspect none will be back next year though Plumlee and Bayless might be affordable options for depth and continuity.
They hold picks #10,#36,#38 in the upcoming draft. #10 might give them Marquette's PF Henry Ellenson, Utah C Jakob Poetl or Gonzaga PF Damontis Sabonis. At any rate that picks looks to be going to size rather than another Guard while those 2nd round picks look to put them in the neighborhood of a plethora of Guards: Kentucky's Tyler Ulis, Syracuse's Michael Gbinje or Notre Dame's Demetrius Jackson.
Right now they're starting five for next season looks like PG Carter-Williams, SG Middleton, SF Antetokounpo, PF Parker, C Monroe with F Henson, PG Ennis, SG Vaughn and whoever they get at #10 off the bench. The buzz is that Coach Kidd is eager to try Antetokounpo at a point-forward type thing and I am all in favor of that. The more that kid has the ball, the better the chances that the Bucks score points (and the more I watch Bucks basketball). Carter-Williams is a nice looking athlete but, man, that kid cannot shoot to save his life--he makes Rajon Rondo look like Reggie Miller! The rest of those top 6 players make a nice nucleus but the Bucks need to make moves if they're going to get back into the playoffs. They need to either add a for-real PG or add scoring to go with Antetokounpo and they need bench depth at all positions. Milwaukee is not a particularly attractive market, they're still too young to lure the big dogs and Coach Kidd's reputation may or may not help in laying out the sales pitch.
Sure, they'd love to snag Durant (not happening) or Batum (Bucks are not in my top 20 if I'm Batum) but can they convince Mike Conley that he's a perfect fit? He kinda would be great with that roster but I'm guessing he'll get bigger money in a cooler city with a better team. I think their best bet for a 'splashy' kinda name is Eric Gordon, one of the worst contracts in the league over the last few years and in desperate need of a comeback, he might pair nicely with Antetokounpo's point-forward routine and he may be amenable to Milwaukee's charms. Evan Fournier could be a nice scoring option to go with Antetokounpo's play making. After that it's a motley crew of possibilities: If they can bring in Timofey Mozgov at a reasonable price then maybe they can move on from Monroe's big money, Marreese Speights could give the Bucks some scoring off the bench, Randy Foye could give them nice PG minutes off the bench, Luis Scola gives them a backup C, Tyler Zeller could give them some rotation size, they could take one last look at Anthony Bennett or give Seth Curry a shot. Not exactly the cream of the crop, none of them are guaranteed to be interested in the Bucks and all they'd do is round out the bench minutes anyway. Not looking pretty.
If they could package Monroe with one or two of those draft picks maybe they could get back something spicy but I'm not really seeing it; they could barter with the Knicks or Nets to bring back a Lopez twin but does that really upgrade anything in the near or long term? If the Celtics strike out in the off-season, they might be up for Monroe for a future draft pick or something but that doesn't help the Bucks this season.
So to answer the initial question (how do they get back in playoff form?)...uh, they don't. If Carter-Williams takes a drastic leap as a scorer then the Bucks could be a pretty good squad and challenge for a playoff spot. But unless that happens or unless they can convince big time free agents to come play with Jabari and the Freak, I'm thinking the Bucks could be picking in the top five next summer.
Their free agents are SG Mayo, PG Vasquez, PG Blake, PG Bayless and C Plumlee. I suspect none will be back next year though Plumlee and Bayless might be affordable options for depth and continuity.
They hold picks #10,#36,#38 in the upcoming draft. #10 might give them Marquette's PF Henry Ellenson, Utah C Jakob Poetl or Gonzaga PF Damontis Sabonis. At any rate that picks looks to be going to size rather than another Guard while those 2nd round picks look to put them in the neighborhood of a plethora of Guards: Kentucky's Tyler Ulis, Syracuse's Michael Gbinje or Notre Dame's Demetrius Jackson.
Right now they're starting five for next season looks like PG Carter-Williams, SG Middleton, SF Antetokounpo, PF Parker, C Monroe with F Henson, PG Ennis, SG Vaughn and whoever they get at #10 off the bench. The buzz is that Coach Kidd is eager to try Antetokounpo at a point-forward type thing and I am all in favor of that. The more that kid has the ball, the better the chances that the Bucks score points (and the more I watch Bucks basketball). Carter-Williams is a nice looking athlete but, man, that kid cannot shoot to save his life--he makes Rajon Rondo look like Reggie Miller! The rest of those top 6 players make a nice nucleus but the Bucks need to make moves if they're going to get back into the playoffs. They need to either add a for-real PG or add scoring to go with Antetokounpo and they need bench depth at all positions. Milwaukee is not a particularly attractive market, they're still too young to lure the big dogs and Coach Kidd's reputation may or may not help in laying out the sales pitch.
Sure, they'd love to snag Durant (not happening) or Batum (Bucks are not in my top 20 if I'm Batum) but can they convince Mike Conley that he's a perfect fit? He kinda would be great with that roster but I'm guessing he'll get bigger money in a cooler city with a better team. I think their best bet for a 'splashy' kinda name is Eric Gordon, one of the worst contracts in the league over the last few years and in desperate need of a comeback, he might pair nicely with Antetokounpo's point-forward routine and he may be amenable to Milwaukee's charms. Evan Fournier could be a nice scoring option to go with Antetokounpo's play making. After that it's a motley crew of possibilities: If they can bring in Timofey Mozgov at a reasonable price then maybe they can move on from Monroe's big money, Marreese Speights could give the Bucks some scoring off the bench, Randy Foye could give them nice PG minutes off the bench, Luis Scola gives them a backup C, Tyler Zeller could give them some rotation size, they could take one last look at Anthony Bennett or give Seth Curry a shot. Not exactly the cream of the crop, none of them are guaranteed to be interested in the Bucks and all they'd do is round out the bench minutes anyway. Not looking pretty.
If they could package Monroe with one or two of those draft picks maybe they could get back something spicy but I'm not really seeing it; they could barter with the Knicks or Nets to bring back a Lopez twin but does that really upgrade anything in the near or long term? If the Celtics strike out in the off-season, they might be up for Monroe for a future draft pick or something but that doesn't help the Bucks this season.
So to answer the initial question (how do they get back in playoff form?)...uh, they don't. If Carter-Williams takes a drastic leap as a scorer then the Bucks could be a pretty good squad and challenge for a playoff spot. But unless that happens or unless they can convince big time free agents to come play with Jabari and the Freak, I'm thinking the Bucks could be picking in the top five next summer.
Colombia 2-0 USA
Not a good result and not a good performance by USA. But at the same time, it wasn't that bad. Its easy to look at that score line and say Colombia is clearly a better squad and dominated the game but I don't think that's accurate at all. Indeed, I kinda USA dominated the possession and though USA never looked dangerous around the goal, neither did Colombia.
Colombia basically had three decent chances all night and they converted two of them (put the third off the crossbar). The corner kick was a perfect pass, a brilliant shot and defense that was only a half-step out of place; great strike, well played, but the kind of play that usually results in no goal, so we can credit Colombia's inherent awesomeness or we can just chalk it up to right place/right time. Their 2nd goal was a PK, can't fault Guzan's effort, not too many people gonna stop a James Rodriguez PK these days. (As for the penalty itself, I guess the ref could've let it go but it certainly wasn't a bad call: Yedlin's hand clearly changed the path of the ball, whether it was intentional or not, it was bad defense and it had an effect on the play. And if it'd been a Colombian defender on an American pass, I'd have expected the call) Colombia's only other moment of real expectation was when their forward broke loose at midfield and got to Guzan all by himself; the shoot was a bit too hard and it thudded off the crossbar. Personally I thought the guy was off-side; yes, the defenders made a late, weak attempt to off-side trap Colombia but it looked to me like he was already behind the D when that late shift happened. Oh well, he didn't score, so no harm, no foul.
So did Colombia run roughshod over on outmatched USA squad? No. Not at all. No way. Frankly, outside of the three plays I mentioned above, I didn't think Colombia did much of anything in this game. And while they got the positive result, I didn't see anything that leads me to think they're going to destroy Costa Rica or Paraguay. Especially if Rodriguez's shoulder really is hurt (I kinda thought he was jaking it, he knew USA wasn't gonna score, just felt like taking the rest of the night off). I figured Colombia would win this group and I still figure that but I wasn't blown away by last night's performance.
As for USA, I thought Guzan did pretty good. Colombia's three aforementioned chances were not at all Guzan's fault, thought he did as well as he could on all three and generally handled himself pretty well in the back.
I thought Brooks and Cameron were both great, USA's only unbridled shining stars. Felt like Brooks was gonna get himself a card by the end but he managed not to. And Cameron was slightly out of position on that first goal but, again, that was a perfect shot off a perfect pass (and still lucky enough to squeak by Guzan), I can't put too much fault on him, indeed, I feel bad for the guy.
Yedlin still has the problem of too much pace, not enough skill. You'd like to think Yedlin bombing up the wing is gonna pay dividends one day but when is that day gonna come? There were a few occasions in this game where he got forward and then couldn't do anything with the ball once he got it. And his handball that led to the PK was unfortunate but it was still bad defense. If he's a liability in the back and unhelpful up front, then what does he provide? Okay, that was too negative, he's still got plenty of talent and plenty of speed and he needs to be in there to provide a threat on the outside. But he needs to hit the jackpot one o' these days.
I gotta admit: I hardly even noticed Johnson in this game. The good version of that: well, like I said, Colombia never really seemed dangerous around the goal so Johnson didn't have to do anything too showy to be effective; the bad version: dude disappeared instead of contributing. I'm not sure which side I'm on. I think he played well but I'm not sure.
Bradley struggled badly . For years now Bradley has been that rock in the midfield (steadily sliding from offensive to defensive mid) and while he has moments of looking in control, just as often he looks over his head. More and more he reminds me of the later years of Claudio Reyna: confidently, assuredly settling the ball...so he can pass it backwards. His forays into setting up the USA attack never seem to work out and his defense is kinda raggedy back there. Not sure what it is he does any more. If Bradley can just be the guy he was always supposed to be USA could be a really dangerous squad.
Jones is like that old man that used to be good but now he hangs around the playground wearing his Kareem goggles and knee high socks and yelling at kids who are better than him. That's a little harsh, Jones still has good skill on the ball and solid instincts on the pitch. But, man, he is slow as Christmas out there and when he struggles its like watching a turtle flipped over in the sun. He can still provide some magic, that moment of inspiration that rallies the troops but I think I'm ready to see more of Nagbe in his spot. Maybe Jones could be the spark plug guy for the last 25 minutes of the game rather than Nagbe.
I thought Bedoya generally played pretty well. He had an ugly yellow card and he volleyed a shot into the 20th row late in the game, but otherwise I thought he played good on-ball defense, disrupted the passing lanes and did well to push USA forward when he could. Like Brooks, he probably needs to chill a little if he expects to make it through this tourney without sitting out a game. I think he's USA's best midfielder right now.
Dempsey is a conundrum: he's the one most likely to make the perfect pass to set up a teammate and he's the one most likely to ignore the perfect pass and try to force some crappy shot on his own. He has the best instincts on the whole team and yet the most hubris, as well. He needs to be out there, even with his faults he is still USA's best hope to stand up to a superior opponent. Last night he seemed bothered by the lack of friendly calls from the ref more than any time I can remember. He made a few nice plays but left a few others on the table.
I've been encouraged by Wood's recent performances but last night I barely even noticed him out there. The ball spent a great deal of time mired in the midfield, perhaps he just didn't get enough service. But I'm struggling to remember any high- or low-lights from Wood. My gut is he needs to be out there but I wouldn't mind seeing Zusi get more playing time.
Zardes had a few infuriating fumbles but he also made some interesting runs and got himself some space that was promising to see. Zardes needs a lot of service but he looks capable of doing something with that service. Last night he didn't get many opportunities and he didn't make the most of them, but I think the opportunities he did get were of his own making and I liked seeing that.
Nagbe, Pulisic, Zusi came in as 2nd half subs and while none of them did anything awful, none of them really wowed last night either. I'm ready for Nagbe to enter the starting lineup. And I think I'm ready for Zusi to be on the starting side of the Zusi-Wood platoon. But I think I'm still in on the idea of Pulisic as a spark plug off the bench but I wanna see as least 30 minutes out of him every time out for now. I suspect we'll see Besler and Beckerman but only off the bench. And I don't guess we'll ever see Tim Howard playing for USA again, this feels like Guzan's team now.
Curious to see that Costa Rica-Paraguay match (those are words you don't hear every day!) to get a feel for USA's chances in the next two group matches.
Colombia basically had three decent chances all night and they converted two of them (put the third off the crossbar). The corner kick was a perfect pass, a brilliant shot and defense that was only a half-step out of place; great strike, well played, but the kind of play that usually results in no goal, so we can credit Colombia's inherent awesomeness or we can just chalk it up to right place/right time. Their 2nd goal was a PK, can't fault Guzan's effort, not too many people gonna stop a James Rodriguez PK these days. (As for the penalty itself, I guess the ref could've let it go but it certainly wasn't a bad call: Yedlin's hand clearly changed the path of the ball, whether it was intentional or not, it was bad defense and it had an effect on the play. And if it'd been a Colombian defender on an American pass, I'd have expected the call) Colombia's only other moment of real expectation was when their forward broke loose at midfield and got to Guzan all by himself; the shoot was a bit too hard and it thudded off the crossbar. Personally I thought the guy was off-side; yes, the defenders made a late, weak attempt to off-side trap Colombia but it looked to me like he was already behind the D when that late shift happened. Oh well, he didn't score, so no harm, no foul.
So did Colombia run roughshod over on outmatched USA squad? No. Not at all. No way. Frankly, outside of the three plays I mentioned above, I didn't think Colombia did much of anything in this game. And while they got the positive result, I didn't see anything that leads me to think they're going to destroy Costa Rica or Paraguay. Especially if Rodriguez's shoulder really is hurt (I kinda thought he was jaking it, he knew USA wasn't gonna score, just felt like taking the rest of the night off). I figured Colombia would win this group and I still figure that but I wasn't blown away by last night's performance.
As for USA, I thought Guzan did pretty good. Colombia's three aforementioned chances were not at all Guzan's fault, thought he did as well as he could on all three and generally handled himself pretty well in the back.
I thought Brooks and Cameron were both great, USA's only unbridled shining stars. Felt like Brooks was gonna get himself a card by the end but he managed not to. And Cameron was slightly out of position on that first goal but, again, that was a perfect shot off a perfect pass (and still lucky enough to squeak by Guzan), I can't put too much fault on him, indeed, I feel bad for the guy.
Yedlin still has the problem of too much pace, not enough skill. You'd like to think Yedlin bombing up the wing is gonna pay dividends one day but when is that day gonna come? There were a few occasions in this game where he got forward and then couldn't do anything with the ball once he got it. And his handball that led to the PK was unfortunate but it was still bad defense. If he's a liability in the back and unhelpful up front, then what does he provide? Okay, that was too negative, he's still got plenty of talent and plenty of speed and he needs to be in there to provide a threat on the outside. But he needs to hit the jackpot one o' these days.
I gotta admit: I hardly even noticed Johnson in this game. The good version of that: well, like I said, Colombia never really seemed dangerous around the goal so Johnson didn't have to do anything too showy to be effective; the bad version: dude disappeared instead of contributing. I'm not sure which side I'm on. I think he played well but I'm not sure.
Bradley struggled badly . For years now Bradley has been that rock in the midfield (steadily sliding from offensive to defensive mid) and while he has moments of looking in control, just as often he looks over his head. More and more he reminds me of the later years of Claudio Reyna: confidently, assuredly settling the ball...so he can pass it backwards. His forays into setting up the USA attack never seem to work out and his defense is kinda raggedy back there. Not sure what it is he does any more. If Bradley can just be the guy he was always supposed to be USA could be a really dangerous squad.
Jones is like that old man that used to be good but now he hangs around the playground wearing his Kareem goggles and knee high socks and yelling at kids who are better than him. That's a little harsh, Jones still has good skill on the ball and solid instincts on the pitch. But, man, he is slow as Christmas out there and when he struggles its like watching a turtle flipped over in the sun. He can still provide some magic, that moment of inspiration that rallies the troops but I think I'm ready to see more of Nagbe in his spot. Maybe Jones could be the spark plug guy for the last 25 minutes of the game rather than Nagbe.
I thought Bedoya generally played pretty well. He had an ugly yellow card and he volleyed a shot into the 20th row late in the game, but otherwise I thought he played good on-ball defense, disrupted the passing lanes and did well to push USA forward when he could. Like Brooks, he probably needs to chill a little if he expects to make it through this tourney without sitting out a game. I think he's USA's best midfielder right now.
Dempsey is a conundrum: he's the one most likely to make the perfect pass to set up a teammate and he's the one most likely to ignore the perfect pass and try to force some crappy shot on his own. He has the best instincts on the whole team and yet the most hubris, as well. He needs to be out there, even with his faults he is still USA's best hope to stand up to a superior opponent. Last night he seemed bothered by the lack of friendly calls from the ref more than any time I can remember. He made a few nice plays but left a few others on the table.
I've been encouraged by Wood's recent performances but last night I barely even noticed him out there. The ball spent a great deal of time mired in the midfield, perhaps he just didn't get enough service. But I'm struggling to remember any high- or low-lights from Wood. My gut is he needs to be out there but I wouldn't mind seeing Zusi get more playing time.
Zardes had a few infuriating fumbles but he also made some interesting runs and got himself some space that was promising to see. Zardes needs a lot of service but he looks capable of doing something with that service. Last night he didn't get many opportunities and he didn't make the most of them, but I think the opportunities he did get were of his own making and I liked seeing that.
Nagbe, Pulisic, Zusi came in as 2nd half subs and while none of them did anything awful, none of them really wowed last night either. I'm ready for Nagbe to enter the starting lineup. And I think I'm ready for Zusi to be on the starting side of the Zusi-Wood platoon. But I think I'm still in on the idea of Pulisic as a spark plug off the bench but I wanna see as least 30 minutes out of him every time out for now. I suspect we'll see Besler and Beckerman but only off the bench. And I don't guess we'll ever see Tim Howard playing for USA again, this feels like Guzan's team now.
Curious to see that Costa Rica-Paraguay match (those are words you don't hear every day!) to get a feel for USA's chances in the next two group matches.
Friday, June 3, 2016
Copa America
I've long been down on Coach Klinsmann but in recent USA friendlies I've seen more shape and what appears to be more of a cohesive strategy than USA has shown since Coach Bradley moved on. I feel like Coach Klinsmann is doing a good job developing American youth but I have yet to see it on the field. What I do see on the field is mostly a team that doesn't know what its doing or worse: a team that has no confidence going forward and only wants to pack the goal and play for extra time. No fun, not winning soccer, not building for the future.
But I expect a good result against Colombia tonight. Obviously a W would be great but a draw would be pretty great too. I'm a fan of Team USA--I'd be satisfied with a promising loss! Colombia is as good as they've been in a while, Costa Rica is probably better than I've ever seen them and Paraguay isn't gonna be a pushover. Group play is going to be a significant challenge.
I'm excited about Pulisic and Yedlin and Nagbe, the back line looks sturdy again and I suspect Clint Dempsey has one last good ass kickin' run left in him. I got faith, man. What else am I supposed to have?
But I expect a good result against Colombia tonight. Obviously a W would be great but a draw would be pretty great too. I'm a fan of Team USA--I'd be satisfied with a promising loss! Colombia is as good as they've been in a while, Costa Rica is probably better than I've ever seen them and Paraguay isn't gonna be a pushover. Group play is going to be a significant challenge.
I'm excited about Pulisic and Yedlin and Nagbe, the back line looks sturdy again and I suspect Clint Dempsey has one last good ass kickin' run left in him. I got faith, man. What else am I supposed to have?
Cavs-Warriors, Game One
Here's the moment:
The Cavs had been on a run, even briefly taking the lead after being down by as much as 16 in the 3rd. But after this play, Iguodala went hognutty on both ends and Livingston was just untouchable. Warriors outscored the Cavs 33-21 for the rest of the game and comfortably took Game One.
I don't think the play was malicious, I think Dellavadova was anticipating Iguodala bringing the ball from his left hand back to his right, but he didn't which led Delly's hand to go crotchways. I think not calling a technical was the correct call, it was a foul but not a technical. I don't blame Iguodala for being pissed and he handled in the right way, namely by stroking jumpers and playing pesky D to close out the game. (The weird part of the play to me: Delly lunges at Iguodala and as Iguodala reacts, look at Delly's eyes...what the hell is he looking at? Not the ref, not a teammate, not the man he's supposed to be guarding, it seems too quick for him to be reacting to the whistle but he is intently looking at....something)
This was an awkward loss for the Cavs because Steph and Klay didn't really do much of anything (I believe it was their lowest collective output all year long!) and the Cavs still couldn't make a dent. JR Smith played 37 minutes and took only 3 shots (3?!?!), so there was a missing component for the Cavs offense but that hardly felt like the problem. The problem is the Cavs' D...or lack thereof. Man, Kyrie's defense is bloody awful! He was lost at all times, looking dangerously like Enes Kanter out there. Kyrie had better score a lot and at a very high efficiency if his defense is going to be this bad.
The Warrior bench came up big and if that keeps happening then this series will be over quick. I think the Cavs can clamp down on Steph or Klay or Draymond but if they're getting torched by Barbosa, then what's the point? The Cavs need to hit a lot of 3's to keep this series going and I suspect they will have one, maybe two games were they get hot enough to keep the Warriors at bay. But the D is not gonna shut down Golden State. I said Warriors in 7 but now I'm thinking a gentleman's sweep is more likely.
The Cavs had been on a run, even briefly taking the lead after being down by as much as 16 in the 3rd. But after this play, Iguodala went hognutty on both ends and Livingston was just untouchable. Warriors outscored the Cavs 33-21 for the rest of the game and comfortably took Game One.
I don't think the play was malicious, I think Dellavadova was anticipating Iguodala bringing the ball from his left hand back to his right, but he didn't which led Delly's hand to go crotchways. I think not calling a technical was the correct call, it was a foul but not a technical. I don't blame Iguodala for being pissed and he handled in the right way, namely by stroking jumpers and playing pesky D to close out the game. (The weird part of the play to me: Delly lunges at Iguodala and as Iguodala reacts, look at Delly's eyes...what the hell is he looking at? Not the ref, not a teammate, not the man he's supposed to be guarding, it seems too quick for him to be reacting to the whistle but he is intently looking at....something)
This was an awkward loss for the Cavs because Steph and Klay didn't really do much of anything (I believe it was their lowest collective output all year long!) and the Cavs still couldn't make a dent. JR Smith played 37 minutes and took only 3 shots (3?!?!), so there was a missing component for the Cavs offense but that hardly felt like the problem. The problem is the Cavs' D...or lack thereof. Man, Kyrie's defense is bloody awful! He was lost at all times, looking dangerously like Enes Kanter out there. Kyrie had better score a lot and at a very high efficiency if his defense is going to be this bad.
The Warrior bench came up big and if that keeps happening then this series will be over quick. I think the Cavs can clamp down on Steph or Klay or Draymond but if they're getting torched by Barbosa, then what's the point? The Cavs need to hit a lot of 3's to keep this series going and I suspect they will have one, maybe two games were they get hot enough to keep the Warriors at bay. But the D is not gonna shut down Golden State. I said Warriors in 7 but now I'm thinking a gentleman's sweep is more likely.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
NBA Finals Prediction
I'll go basic: Warriors in 7. To put it simply if Steph and Klay shoot the lights out, the Warriors will easily win. I'm guessing they'll do that four times out of seven. This Cavs team is better than last year's model and they're playing well right now so I expect them to win games (maybe even Game Two in Oaktown) but the Warriors FG% will determine this series. I expect Kyrie to have one big game, Lebron to have one big game and the Cavs supporting cast in general to have one big game and that will carry this series to seven games. I'm not convinced that the Warriors completely have their mojo even after that fine comeback against OKC and Draymond is only a meltdown away from really screwing up this series. But the Warriors are solid unit, they've been here before (whereas really most of the Cavs have not) and they shoot well enough to outscore most anybody. I think this series will be more competitive than most commentators think but I'll stick with the defending champs to hold on.
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