Bleacher Report - Articles by Randy Lutz

Seymour Headed To Oakland

Randy Lutz — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:19:42 -0400

The trade this morning that sent Richard Seymour, Pro Bowl defensive end from the Super Bowl contending New England Patriots, to virtual football anonymity in Oakland has many a sports professional scratching their heads and admiring yet another Belichick master move.

In what only serves to ignite the conspiracy theorists regarding lopsided trades between Oakland and New England, the Raiders sent their 2011 first round draft pick to New England today, in return for what is essentially a year long lease of Richard Seymour, whose contract expires at the end of this season.

From the Patriot's standpoint, this trade makes complete sense; they're very high on two back-up linemen making a solid impression in the preseason, rookie Myron Pryor and five year man Mike Wright, who have shown promise in pass rush situations. With the recent acquisition of Derrick Burgess, a lifelong 4-3 DE and a recent bit of experimentation with the 4-3 defensive set, the Patriots felt confident that the rest of their big men could get the job done on the defensive front. One would imagine their starting d-line looks something like this:

RE Derrick Burgess
DT Vince Wilfork
DT Ron Brace
LE Ty Warren

Still a pretty formidable group.

On top of that, the first round pick is for, as mentioned above, the 2011 draft. The 2011 offseason is also when the contracts of Brady, Moss, and Light run out which is a perfect time to stockpile high picks for premium talent in the draft!

Many already believe Al Davis and the Raiders paid too much for Seymour, particularly given the fact most assume a three-time Super Bowl champion won't likely want to sign an extension with Oakland, condemning the remainder of his career to anonymity. Then again, when you think about it, a first round pick in the hands of Al Davis is virtually worthless, so did they pay too much? You be the judge.

Patriots Preseason Week One Review

Randy Lutz — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:28:08 -0400

Brady looked good in his first action since last season's opener. Despite going three and out on the Patriots' first possession, on their second drive, Brady led a six play, 77 yard drive, capped by a four yard touchdown pass to newly acquired TE Chris Baker.

The drive's biggest play was a 56 yard pass interference call that went against former Patriot and (current Eagle) cornerback Asante Samuel on a perfectly thrown, 56 yard pass from Brady to superstar wideout Randy Moss.

The Eagles answered on their very next possession with a 12 play, 60 yard drive that ended with a 38 yard field goal by veteran kicker David Akers.

Following a Tom Brady interception on a pass intended for Moss, the Patriots' new 4-3 defense went to work, stopping the Eagles on their next possession after a 28 yard drive that ended on the Eagles' 35 yard line.

Rookie Julian Edelman then put his skills on display by returning the ensuing punt 75 yards for a touchdown, utilizing his brilliant speed.

The Eagles answered again with another long drive of 61 yards and another three points thanks to the leg of David Akers.

As he continued to show doubters that there was no rust on his arm, Tom Brady engineered another long scoring drive—this one for a total of 75 yards, finished off with another touchdown pass to TE Chris Baker, who, along with rookie Julian Edelman, made use of their playing time this game and proved to be great, albeit under-the-radar, acquisitions this offseason.

After a brief appearance by backup Kevin Kolb, AJ Feely led the Eagles out onto the field for an attempt at a two minute drill that would have to take the Eagles 80 yards for a touchdown to finish off the half.

After a minute plus and 44 yards, Akers came back in to attempt his third field goal of the night, only to have the kick blocked by second round draft pick Safety Patrick Chung.

At the end of the first half, Brady had thrown for 100 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, and looked calm, cool, and collected in the face of the Philadelphia defense.

While it wasn't surprising to see Randy Moss leading the team with 54 receiving yards, what was surprising was the impression 7th round draft pick Julian Edelman had made so far in the game.

While his yards at that point totaled only 24 yards, he had four receptions on top of the 75 yard punt return earlier in the game. Thus far, he has proven himself to be something of a poor man's Wes Welker.

On the first drive of the second half, newly signed QB Andrew Walter led the Pats on a 61 yard march down the field that ended in a 34 yard Gostkowski field goal. After replacing the recently cut Matt Guttierez, Walter is now the only QB on the Pats roster not named Tom Brady with any NFL experience, having 333 career passing attempts and 1,919 yards.

With only three touchdowns and 16 interceptions to go along with those lifetime numbers, Walters certainly needs to work on a lot in case he ever needs to step up and take the reins.

The remainder of the third quarter brought only bad news for the Patriots, as that last field goal would be the last point they scored until the fourth quarter, when Gostkowski would kick another field goal.

Additionally, the Eagles' scored one field goal and two touchdowns on their next three possessions, bringing themselves to within two points of the Patriots, 22-24.

The 4th quarter started out well for the Patriots with a four yard drive, ending with a 49 yard field goal by Gostkowski. They then immediately gave up a fourth field goal to Akers and the Eagles, and spent the remainder of the game staving off the offense of the Eagles, eventually running out the clock and winning the game, 27-25.

David Ortiz on Roids: Are You Surprised? I'm Sure Not!

Randy Lutz — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:48:08 -0400

Thank god for public forums on which I'm able to voice my thoughts. On May 10, 2009 I wrote (right here on this site) that Ortiz almost certainly used steroids and that I expected this news to come out in the very near future. As a sportswriter I'm happy to be proved correct however, as a Red Sox fan nothing could sadden me more.

Has the Red Sox legacy been tainted forever now? That seems to be the question on most of our minds. During their 2004 championship season, the year they "broke the curse" the Sox rode the bats of Ortiz and Manny Ramirez to victory.

As we all now know, both sluggers were on steroids, both were cheating. The Red Sox also counted on the strong pitching performances by both Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez.

As a fan I wonder how long it will be until we learn Pedro was also on steroids (after all he fits the profile right? Strong ties to the Dominican Republic, as well as 5-6 years of incredible success immediately followed by injury plagued years in which he put up horrid numbers).

Once again however, the fault lies with the fans and the media here. I mean, could any of us claim that we really had no idea a guy who had hit only 58 major league homers in his life and was all of the sudden putting up 40+ a year was cheating?

As opposed to reiterating what I've already said, please do find all the facts here.

As fans and as members of the media we need to be more responsible. Don't just be awestruck by a no name guy who all of the sudden rises out of nowhere to hit 50+ home runs—wonder where that power came from.

A pitcher that all of the sudden throws close to 100 mph-has he always had that arm strength, or is it recently developed? We are to easy to please, we are too trusting and too quick to throw our faith behind a player-nowadays you must be wary, you must be cautious, you must be suspicious.

No matter how desperate your city is for a title—as we were in Boston after an 86-year drought—you must wonder where this sudden burst of power comes from, you must question why the skill wasn't there before.

But has the legacy been tainted? With so many big names coming out attached to steroid suspicion (Bonds, McGwire, Palmeiro, Pettite, Clemens, Sosa, Manny, Ortiz, the list goes on) one may begin to wonder at this point if using steroids really is cheating-or is it just leveling the playing field?

On this list are most of the best hitters of this generation, along with arguably one of the best pitchers of all time.

The question is, if you're David Ortiz, struggling to play in Minnesota and you see athletic monsters like McGwire and Canseco smacking homeruns 500 feet-clearly on steroids—what would you do?

Do you really respect "the sanctity of the game" (a term that has become a joke at this point in time) and just work harder-or do you want to try to find an edge to get ahead as well?

If there were a pill, a shot, or anything you could take to boost your career that you knew a great deal of the all stars in your profession were already taking, well what would you say?

It's easy to stand high and mighty and claim we would do the right thing, or the honorable thing but let's be honest right now and realize that generally speaking people will do the easiest thing, not the right thing.

There are entire businesses and industries built based upon the laziness of people as a whole—I'm sure every one of us can remember a time we just did the easy thing, not the right thing.

There are many things wrong with the sport of baseball right now, that's for sure (just don't blame Bud Selig—he's made it clear it's not his fault). When you're talking about a league where to become a superstar, to even the playing field most have found themselves in a position where they need to take the steroids, things have certainly traveled downhill rather quickly as a whole.

But at the same time, let's not find ourselves holding these players to a higher standard than we hold ourselves.

Whether you're a businessman, a teacher, an actor, a salesman, or a chef and you had an opportunity to almost certainly vault up the "ranks" in your industry and become an instant success—a nationally recognized name—would you do it?

If you even hesitate before saying "no," if you even consider saying "yes" then you need to hesitate just as long before verbally bashing any of these men, who simply fell to temptation in a way we can certainly understand, if not completely sympathize with.

Recent Moves Have Not Shaken Up the NBA's East as Much as You Think

Randy Lutz — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:14:19 -0400

The start of the NBA's annual free agency period has certainly brought more than enough news for guys like me to analyze.

As we wait for the dust to settle, and see what might happen with the likes of Lamar Odom, Jason Kidd, Marcin Gortat (and even David Lee), I'm absolutely blown away by prospect of watching next season's playoffs—particularly in the Eastern Conference.

The first move made in the east was for Orlando to trade for Vince Carter. This trade was the first blockbuster move of the recent past, and likely sparked a great deal of the moves that followed.

After being told by Turkoglu that he will not be resigning with Orlando, the Magic were certainly forced to make a move—I'm just not sure they did what was best for their team. At the end of the day, Vince not only has to replace Hedo, but also the players he was traded for—Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, and Tony Battie.

While I'm sure he won't be expected to play defense on the block like Battie was known for, the cost of bringing him in was high—and the expectations will be similarly high. In a league where depth means everything, trading away a great deal of that depth makes very little sense to me.

At the end of the day, Gortat is likely moving on, Hedo has reportedly signed with Toronto, and the point guard who brought the Magic to the NBA finals is suiting up in a Nets uniform. I just don't believe that the Magic have made themselves any better so far this off season.

Cleveland was the next elite Eastern Conference team to act, trading Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns for the well known Shaquille O'Neal. This move has sparked much debate on blogs across the web, including BR, as to how the presence of both Shaq and Lebron on the court will work for the Cavaliers.

I believe that a low post presence like Shaq alongside a slashing and shooting threat like Lebron can only mean good things for the Cavs. That being said, the Celtics with KG, Pierce, and Allen would still have been a considerable challenge for the Cavs—with or without Shaquille.

The word is that the Cavs will not be bringing Varejao back, which makes me wonder what might come next. Keeping Big Z as the league's most expensive backup center doesn't make a whole lot of sense. At the same time, lining up Z and Shaq at the same time doesn't seem like the best idea, either.

Despite the fact Z has been in Cleveland his whole career, I wouldn't be shocked to see the Cavs work to deal him to a team that's looking to clear some cap space for the summer of 2010 (when Z's contract expires).

Of course, the Cavs could always use the space, but I don't think cap space is a real issue when resigning your own player—and they should stand to offer LeBron more money than anyone, either way.

Still, you need a solid power forward on any successful team, and the Cavs don't have one. This is a problem that needs to be solved before the tip off of the '09-'10 season.

This brings me to the Celtics, as the last of the Eastern Conference elite.

It's currently being announced that Rasheed Wallace will be signing a two year deal with Boston for the mid-level exception. The signing is very unsurprising given the fact GM Danny Ainge brought head coach Doc Rivers—as well as Ray Allan, Paul Pierce, and KG—with him to talk Rasheed into joining them.

It's well known that 'Sheed and KG are good friends, and it will be interesting to see how that helps to build chemistry between Rasheed and the rest of the team.

Rasheed is really one of the original PF's who didn't quite conform to our expectations of the position when he first entered the league.

A big guy who can shoot the three? That was almost unheard of 15 years ago, and yet now the league seems to be full of them.

Rasheed should be able to pull opposing centers out of the paint when he lines up at the five spot to relieve Perkins. He will be a great backup for KG, as well as an insurance plan should the injuries of last season continue to plague the Celtics' star forward in the future.

As with the Cavs however, there are some other questions the Celtics must answer.

Number one: Are they going to be able to resign either Leon Powe or Glen "Big Baby" Davis—or both? As I mentioned earlier in this article, depth in this league seems to be everything, and having a solid top 10 guys or so is essential in chasing that ever elusive title.

The Celtics cannot allow the signing of Wallace to take away from their ability to bring back players like Powe and Davis, who served as solid role players off the bench (before Powe saw his season end due to injury, that is).

At the end of the day, all these moves haven't seemed to have changed too much in the NBA's powerful Eastern Conference. The Cavs and Celts still sit atop the rankings. And despite a recent trip to the finals—a run during which they beat both teams—Orlando remains third on my list.

With the moves Detroit has made, Toronto acquiring Hedo, and the Nets adding Rafer Alston and young Courtney Lee to the mix; there will be many solid teams throughout the Eastern Conference next year.

The playoffs should be very interesting to watch, and the expected match up in the Finals of Cavaliers vs. Celtics will be one for the ages—presuming everyone's health is maintained.

Best Backup Running Backs For Your '09-'10 Fantasy Team

Randy Lutz — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:45:30 -0400

In a continuation of my best backups series, I bring you the top three backup RB’s this year. As I keep saying, anyone can name you the AP’s, LT’s, and generally anyone else in the league that goes by their initials of the league-but what about on their off weeks? What about if one of them goes down to injury, or just is facing a tough team the upcoming week? Who are the top guys you can bring in to provide some offense and spark your team to victory this week? Continue reading, you’ll find out. Originally my plan was to go with guys outside the top 25, but then I thought about it and you should really play three rb’s at all times, if there’s a WR/RB spot like there is in default ESPN leagues. So, really the backups must come from outside the top 40, or at least around 35th ranked. My rankings, as always are based off ESPN Fantasy projections which can be found at the ESPN fantasy football home page.

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Fantasy Football's Top Backup QBs

Randy Lutz — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:15:34 -0400

Look, anyone can list off the top 5 QB’s in fantasy football, pretty much everyone spits out the same five names: Brady, Manning, Brees, Warner, Rodgers, or maybe Rivers in the top five. Usually it’s t hose 6 names that come up in the conversation. Here’s the key: What about those weeks these guys are off? What about the weeks they have games against a tough defense, and you’d like a solid backup to provide you some points? In this article I’ll start a series where I look at the best backup options available at each position. We’ll follow with RB’s next week, and WR’s the following. TE’s will wrap up the offense in the week after that. Here goes:

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Picking the NBA's All-Time Dream Team

Randy Lutz — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:09:24 -0400

Watching the pregame show tonight for the Eastern Conference playoffs I started thinking about the best all time team you could put together, my version. Well, here goes. The only requirements were that you played in the NBA and you were physically capable of lining up at the position I put you at, not that the position was your actual position (i.e. centers at PF, etc). I threw together a starting lineup and a few bench players. This may not be to say that they are the best, just that I think they would make the best team (you may not need 5 scorers, maybe 2 scorers, a three point shooter, and some rebounding, whatever).

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Shaq Headed to Cleveland?

Randy Lutz — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:41:19 -0400

This morning, it's being reported that Shaq being traded from the Suns to the Cavs is looking more likely. The Cavs would send Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns and would receive O'Neal in return.

Essentially, with Wallace's possible retirement leaving the possibility of a buyout, and the fact that Pavlovic is only owed $1.5 million this season if cut, this trade would bring a great deal of salaray cap relief to the Suns and could help push the Cavs over the hump they seemed to reach in the Eastern Conference Finals.

As a fan of basketball in genera,l and not so much a particular team, I'm extremely excited about this possibility. Bringing the experience and power of Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland to pair up with LeBron James would be amazing.

It would almost certainly lock up a title in Cleveland in 2010, the last year on James' current contract. In addition, lining up Zydrunas Ilgauskus and Shaquille O'Neal side-by-side would be a huge frontcourt, as the two seven-footers would intimidate all.

Of course, Big Z's knock is that he doesn't play the post well, but the presence of Shaq in that lineup would take care of that. This is, of course, presuming that Shaq played as effectively as he did last season.

I have to say, however, I don't know that this is the wisest move for the Cavaliers in the long term. Sure, they could finally get a chip for a sports-success-starved city, but this wouldn't really contribute to future runs, now would it?

Shaq is far from a young talent and is clearly on the downside of his career. Adding him looks good in the present, but what about beyond next season?

In terms of preparing for life down the road, I would much prefer to see the Cavaliers chase a younger post player, perhaps Al Jefferson or maybe even Zach Randolph; they need someone that you can get many more years out of.

So, while this move may be the push the Cavs need to finally get that elusive title, it is also clearly a move made out of desperation. They're trying to ensure a title for one year, hoping and praying that it's enough to convince LeBron to stick around.

Now, if you've seen any of my other comments or articles, you know that I believe that winning a title in Cleveland before his contract is up works against LeBron staying in Cleveland, but it appears that I'm the only one of that opinion, so we'll have to wait and see the long-term ramifications if this trade should it occur.

2009 New England Patriots Outlook

Randy Lutz — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:44:47 -0400

With the return of Tom Brady being the topic of conversation in most Patriots fan’s households there days, it seems the rest of a truly great offseason has been forgotten, or at least pushed aside in favor of a more exciting story.

While the return of Tom Brady to the Patriots has certainly calmed the nerves of many a fan after the trade that sent Cassel to the Chiefs in return for a pick that landed us hometown defensive tackle Ron Brace, the ultimate truth is Belichick showed us once they can do it with someone else at QB, and if need be, they certainly have the weapons to succeed now in a similar situation.

Let’s go over some of the additions the Patriots made this offseason, some that will be key in what will likely be a march to the AFC title game, if not a Super Bowl win this season—and others that will likely make more of their contributions in future years.

Wide Receiver

I, for one, was deeply concerned when Jabar Gaffney followed Josh McDaniels to Denver, as I’ve watched Gaffney build up a rapport with Brady over the past few years that left Brady comfortable hitting Gaffney anywhere on the field and as often as he needed to.

However, Patriots management promptly quieted my concerns (and I’m sure this is specifically the reason they did it) by signing veteran receiver Joey Galloway.

Galloway has been known as a speedster his entire career and brings another receiver to the team who has over 10,000 yards in his career (Randy Moss has over 13,000). To put that in perspective, the next closest to 10,000 yards on the team is Wes Welker.

With Galloway’s speed likely lined up opposite Moss, it will be very difficult for teams to account for Wes Welker inside and also for them to double up on Randy Moss, as that would likely leave a linebacker covering the elusive Welker in a one-on-one situation, with Galloway against their No. 2 corner, a potential problem if your No. 2 back is someone like rookie Malcolm Jenkins, who isn’t known for top-end speed.

In addition, the Patriots drafted former Tar Heel receiver Brandon Tate, who interestingly enough is coming back from missing most of last season after suffering the exact same injury Tom Brady is now returning from.

This move excited me in two ways: One, Tate is one heck of a receiver, as well as a kick and punt return threat; two, if the Patriots drafted a guy coming back from the same injury Brady is, they must be really confident in the healing ability of a player who has injured their knee in that same manner.

In other words, Brady’s really back. It was just another move, paired with the Cassel trade, that showed me the Patriots management is absolutely confident Brady is healthy and ready to go. It’s not that I don’t believe they could win with O’Connell, Guttierez, or Hoyer manning the ship, but, boy, I’ll be glad if I don’t have to find out if they can do it.

Running Backs

The one real addition here is the addition of veteran back Fred Taylor, a running back who has quietly dominated opposing defenses throughout his 12-year career in Florida, where he’s racked up 11,271 rushing yards (third amongst active players behind only LT and Edgerrin James).

While it’s a given that Taylor isn’t a back that can carry the load any longer, in New England, he won’t be asked to. He’ll be sharing the load with Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris, and Kevin Faulk—three established backs who should help to form something of a four-headed monster in New England, something like many of the three-back systems made popular by the New York Giants and throughout the league now.

The one possibility of a change here at this position it seems would be the thought of the Patriots trying to trade one of their backs, and if it were me, it would be Maroney that I sent packing.

I understand he’s one of the younger backs on the team, but he has yet to play a full season at full health, and therefore, has not gone over 1,000 yards once (although he came close with 800 and change in the 2007-2008 season).

I think that he still has enough potential to net a decent return, but he isn’t worth keeping around, given his lack of durability thus far.

In addition, the Patriots have a few young running backs on their roster they feel good about. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, a second year player that rushed for five touchdowns and 275 yards last season, is the best of a trio of new, younger backs that also includes Omar Cuff (Delaware) and Eric Kettani (one of three players brought in from Navy).

Offensive Line

The Patriots mainly worked to add depth to an already established line, and they did so in a big way, bringing in 6’7”, 312 lb. Sebastian Volmer of Houston with one of their four second-round picks in this year’s draft.

In addition, they picked up 6’5”, 310 pound Kent State wrestler Jermaile Porter, an interesting move because he hasn’t once played a down of competitive football. Rookies George Bussey and Rich Ohrnberger were also brought in, and while I’m sure none these players will make the cut, it should be interesting to watch them fight for roster spots in preseason this year, particularly Porter, who will be playing his first football down ever as a professional football player on one of the greatest teams in the league.

Kind of reminds you of the Replacements a little bit, doesn’t it?

Defensive Line

The one real addition made along the defensive line was that of Ron Brace, a Worcester, Mass. native who played his college ball in the (rather large) shadow of rookie Packer DT BJ Raji.

Brace is a D-tackle with a massive frame, standing at 6’1” and tipping the scales around 330 lbs. This was a particularly interesting draft move, as Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork is in the last year of his contract, and the play of Brace will likely dictate how much money the Patriots’ front office is willing to commit to Wilfork in free agency or if they trade him.

Linebackers

While returning most of the linebacking unit from last season (save Mike Vrabel, who was shipped along with Cassel in the deal that brought that second-round pick), the Patriots drafted Tyrone McKenzie, a player they felt could compete for that OLB spot vacated by Vrabel—at least until he went down with a season ending injury before training camp even started.

At that point, the Pats went out and signed free-agent LB Paris Lenon, most well known at this point for leading the NFL's worst defense of the miserable 0-16 Lions last season.

While Lennon has played most of his time at the MLB spot, he might be able to compete for the OLB spot opposite Adalius Thomas. Someone needs to step up from the younger group here.

After all, there’s only so many years you can keep bringing back a 60-year-old Junior Seau.

The Secondary

The secondary unit is really where the Patriots did a great deal of work this offseason, adding veterans and drafting rookies all over the place.

I’m slightly worried they went more with quantity than quality, but the group should be deep and difficult to contend with. They brought in perennial T.O. killer Shawn Springs, former Lion Leigh Bodden, and drafted rookie Darius Butler out of UConn in the second round.

While Bodden and Springs haven’t combined for too many interceptions in the recent past, they are both solid cornerbacks (even if they’re on the downside of their careers)

Adding these guys to a unit that already includes guys like Tank Williams (who will play a hybrid role this season) and James Sanders should make for a strong secondary that will keep opposing QBs on their toes.

The Patriots also selected safety Patrick Chung in the second round (for those of you keeping count that’s four; Belichick is a master), and I expect him to fill the role voided by the departure of Rodney Harrison.

Many experts have the Patriots rated as the second overall team in the league before a snap has been taken, and given a healthy Tom Brady, that seems a reasonable expectation—although, perhaps, it is slightly too reserved.

A realistic expectation for this team is to take it all the way. Players have voiced their confidence, and everyone’s talking about the energized atmosphere in the locker room and amongst the team with Brady’s return.

If the unthinkable happened and Brady went down again, I’m not really sure how this team would take it mentally, although, like I said, with all these weapons, I should be able to play QB for the Patriots this year if they end up needing the help.

NE Patriots Position-by-Position Analysis of QBs and WRs

Randy Lutz — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:26:30 -0400

As the dust of the NFL draft and free agency settles, it seems a perfect time to take a look at the Patriots roster and figure out exactly what we’ll be looking at as New England fans on Week One of the 2009-2010 season. I’ll group similar positions together, starting off with QB/WR.

Quarterback

First let’s take a look at the QB spot, a position which garners a lot of interest from journalists and opposing coaches alike, as superstar Tom Brady returns to the active roster after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the first game last year.

Throughout Brady’s rehab process there have been rumors as to whether or not he’ll be ready to return for the beginning of this season.

Also, throughout that time, we saw Matt Cassell rise onto the national stage, leading us to an 11-5 record, and nearly into the playoffs.

Also currently on the Pats roster at the QB spot are Kevin O’Connell, Matt Guttierez, and Brian Hoyer. Last season throughout the preseason the battle that turned out to be significant was between O’Connell and Cassell for the backup QB role.

The loser, it was assumed, would be the third string QB and designated clipboard holder—seemingy for a long time, as there was no doubt in our minds Brady would be taking the lion’s share of the snaps in New England for the foreseeable future.

Oh, how things change!

As we all know, Cassell ended up starting, with O’Connell right behind him, learning as quickly as possible just in case, well, who knows what could happen?

After the dust settled from this offseason, O’Connell remained the backup QB, as he watched Cassell being traded to Kansas City, following VP Scott Pioli and packaged with veteran LB Mike Vrabel.

Now with Matt Gutierrez cut last season, then signed back to third string status when Brady went down, and the invitation to former Michigan QB Brian Hoyer to compete for a roster spot, this third string spot is truly the spot that interests me at this position.

It seems pretty easy to assume Brady will be the starter and barring the addition of any other QB’s (Mike Vick’s name is circulating out there in connection with a few teams, the Pats being one of them) O’Connell will be the backup.

The third spot seems to be the one up for grabs, as we have Guttierez (a guy the Pats cut to the practice squad last season) and Brian Hoyer, who was brought in immediately following the draft this offseason.

You have to believe that the coaches didn’t like Guttierez too much last year but were forced to bring him back, and that they thought they’d bring in another guy this offseason to replace him with. I mean, they know they like him enough that if they’re stuck with him they can live with it (much like Redskins owner Daniel Snyder’s attitude regarding his starting QB Jason Campbell), but if someone else can beat him out for the job, they’d be pretty happy to give it to someone else as well.

Look for Brady to skip most of the preseason again and a heated battle to ensue between Hoyer (a QB that reminds me in some ways of Brady himself) and Guttierez for the third string spot this preseason.

One interesting note here: Brady only needs 3,211 yards to overtake Drew Bledsoe as the all-time passing yards leader in Patriots history. He is already the leader in passing touchdowns, and third in passing yards behind 80’s legend Steve Grogan and 90’s QB Drew Bledsoe.

Wide Receiver

At wide receiver, beyond the returning stars of Wes Welker and Randy Moss (because if you don’t know about them, let’s be honest, what do you know?) we have many interesting options, from grizzled old veterans to fresh-faced rookies.

With the departure of Jabar Gaffney, I have to be honest, I was a little concerned about who might step in to fill the void there, as Brady had obviously developed quite a relationship with Gaffney over the course of their time together, going to him and feeling comfortable doing so when Welker and Moss were covered, or just to mix things up.

Gaffney’s ability to make plays when they counted forced you to pay attention to him if you were the defensive coordinator, and I’ll certainly miss watching him fill that role.

However, the Patriots have brought in 38-year-old speedster Joey Galloway, and drafted rookie Brandon Tate in the third round of this year’s draft.

Now, most of you probably recognize the name Joey Galloway, since he’s been floating around the league since 1995, first in Seattle, then Dallas, followed by Tampa Bay, and finally New England, where I expect he’ll ultimately end his career.

He’s been known for his speed throughout his career, and has produced over all that time, with 77 career touchdown receptions, which is good enough for 21st on the all-time list.

He’ll be a solid third option for Brady for at least one or two seasons. A receiver that we should be seeing a lot of this upcoming season that many of you may not have heard of is Brandon Tate, so let me tell you a little bit about him.

Tate is a 6’0", 183 pound former UNC receiver, who missed the last seven games of last season with the exact same injury that caused Brady to miss the 2008-2009 season (kinda solidifies exactly how confident they are in the recovery of Brady that they’d draft someone with the exact same injury; I guess it must heal well).

Of course, Tate missed a great deal of the season before that with a head injury as well, so injuries are a serious concern for me here.

However, if he can successfully stay healthy, Tate could be a huge difference maker for the Patriots for many years to come.

In college, he set collegiate records when returning the ball on kicks and punts, and was nearly the 11th player in history to rack up 1,000 return yards on both kicks and punts (2,000 total, 1,000 of each) before being sidelined by the injury with seven games to go.

He’s a highly talented receiver with great hands, as well as ideal quickness, speed, and elusiveness.

There are many other receivers listed on the Patriots’ official roster right now; however, Galloway and Tate are the two newcomers I really expect to have an impact this upcoming season, and going into the depths of the practice squad isn’t doing anyone any favors.

Another interesting note: both Moss and Welker are less than 1,000 yards from breaking into the Patriots all-time top 10 in receiving yards. Assuming Moss has a 1,000 yard/10 touchdown season, which seems like it would be a safe assumption, he would rank in the top eight in receiving yards and third in receiving touchdowns in Patriots history.

There you have it, a preview of the QB and WR positions for the 2009-2010 Patriots.

Stay tuned in the next few days for my look at the RB and TE spots, which I’ll follow with a look at the offensive line and an in-depth look at some of the exciting acquisitions made at all of those positions.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. DenverNuggets Final Three Minutes

Randy Lutz — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:57 -0400

Just thoughts as I watched the final three minutes of the playoff game tonight. The Denver Nuggets really disappointed me, and I still don't see a team from the West really competing with the Cavs for the title, however they have yet to play their first game, we'll have to make sure they haven't gotten rusty.

Inactivity hasn't bothered them in the past and I'm not worried this time either.

How are you the Nuggets letting Kobe get open looks when you’re only up by four and there’s three mins left in the game?

Then you let Fisher have the open three, I mean the guy’s a known threat and he’s 2-4 already on you tonight, get a body on him! Championship and playoff games are won in the final few minutes, whatever team can hold it together wins the game, those final two or three minutes are truly the difference between a good and a great team.

Chauncey is once again carrying this team, despite Anthony’s 39 points thus far, jacking up an incredible three pointer to stop the Lakers’ momentum. Nene’ fouls out fouling Gasol under the basket.

Denver is up two when nene fouls gasol, and nene fouls out. Gasol missed two the last time he was at the line, but hits the first one now. One thing the announcers keep going back to is Carmelo’s outstanding job of defending Kobe. Gasol hits the second, the game is tied.

Chauncey brings it up, to Anderson coming down the lane, he misses! Loose ball, it’ll be a jump ball between Anderson and…not sure yet, maybe Odom. Teams were really fighting fotr the ball.

Yea, it’s Odom, Denver has seven on the clock if they retain possession. Lakers win the tip, 53 seconds left in the game, game is tied. Kobe brings it down, sets up the offense.

Pull up jumpshot from 20 feet, Billups tips rebound out of bounds, Laker ball! Lakers score, Denver inbounds, Ariza steals the ball on the inbound pass, Laker ball! Bryant goes to hoop, is fouled and makes both free throws. Denver calls timeout.

Billups makes a tough three with a hand in his face! Denver down one, Lakers inbound to Bryant he is fouled with six seconds on the clock. Bryant hits the first free throw. He hits the second, Denver inbounds, Lakers foul JR Smith when he hits half court.

Denver is down three, Smith hits the first, Denver down two, Smith misses the second rebound Kobe Bryant, Lakers win game one JR Smith is still down on the ground underneath the basket.

It looks like he grabbed his right knee when he went down, him still being down could be scary to Nuggets fans. He’s limping off the court and into the locker room under his own power though, so that’s a good sign.

You see here’s the difference between the two stars from either team, Carmelo and Kobe. Carmelo dropped 39 points in the first 45 minutes and 0 in the final three minutes. Kobe had 40 points and 6 rebounds including the two free throws that sealed the game and the rebound that was the final nail in the coffin.

This is what great players do, they close games.

Clippers Win The Lottery! Draft Order Determined, First Impressions

Randy Lutz — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:31:51 -0400

As picks 14 through 7 were announced, things seemed to be going uneventfully.

The projected draft order according to last year’s record were awarded as they were supposed to be, with things unfolding as follows:

Phoenix at 14

Indiana at 13

Charlotte at 12

New Jersey at 11

Milwaukee at 10

Toronto at 9

New York at 8

Golden State at 7

This is the portion of the lottery where things began to get interesting however, and some teams began to see their hopes of drafting one of the top players available dwindle.

The sixth spot was then awarded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the fifth spot in the draft to the Wizards, the team who had the second most chance of landing the top pick.

This, of course left me wondering exactly how the remaining four picks might unfold, and then the real bomb landed when the Kings were awarded the fourth pick, putting the two teams with the most chance of landing the first pick outside the top three.

This of course left many in LA, Memphis, and Oklahoma City thrilled, as it would seem hard to miss with the top three players projected in the draft (Spanish guard Ricky Rubio, former UConn center Hasheem Thabeet, and former Oklahoma standout Blake Griffin).

With Spanish players having made a recent move in the NBA (Pau Gasol, Sergio Rodriguez, and Rudy Fernandez to name three big names) Ricky Rubio appears slated to follow suit.

With the lottery finally over, the next question becomes who goes first? It seems the foregone conclusion that Blake Griffin will be selected with the No. 1 overall pick, but who knows if that’s the case?

Hasheem Thabeet lining up alongside Chris Kaman would be interesting to watch and let’s face it, Baron Davis didn’t quite work out like the Clippers planned (of course no one seems to work out like the Clippers plan).

However, that being said, I can’t see them not taking Blake Griffin, lining him up at the 3 spot with Davis running the point and Camby and Kaman below seems like it would be a winning combination.

After Griffin comes off the board With Memphis drafting next, and some depth at point guard on the Grizzlies, I wonder if they might not entertain the notion of Thabeet pairing up alongside Marc Gasol in the paint, and a future front court of the 7’2” Haddadi with Thabeet making for a modern day version of the Twin Towers.

That would leave Rubio for the Thunder if they were interested; however, after the development of Westbrook this past season you have to wonder if they might not think about taking a player like Curry who, despite a lack of true NBA 2-guard size is a well-known scorer and might be able to line up alongside the lightning-quick Westbrook, creating a very small and fast backcourt.

Outside of the top three picks it seems to me that if Rubio falls to the Kings they’d happily take him and pair him with Kevin Martin, who has come along nicely.

Beyond that the only thought that really jumps out at me right off the bat is the possibility of the Suns taking Ty Lawson if he’s still around when their turn comes. It even strikes me they might try to trade up a bit (but not a lot) to get him.

Perhaps a team like Charlotte, who could use some veteran leadership, or Minnesota who could use the point guard help to help along the continued development of forward Al Jefferson would be interesting in a deal involving Steve Nash and the Suns 14th overall pick for theirs.

If so, the Suns could land a playmaker that could grow with Amare, and step into the starting lineup right away.

I’ve heard they were looking to possibly trade Nash, and are also reportedly looking to unload Shaquille O’Neal and his monster contract, and with teams looking to gear up for the summer of 2010 there just may be some suitors.

I’ll take a more in-depth look at the NBA draft in the coming days and weeks, these are just first impressions as I watched the lottery unfold.

High School or College? What's the More Powerful Degree in the NBA?

Randy Lutz — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:35:12 -0400

Every year with the end of basketball season and the upcoming NBA draft, as well as high school seniors looking at colleges there’s talk of players that may or may not have the talent to jump straight from the prep scene to the NBA.

Only recently was this jump made impossible by the current collective bargaining agreement, as the 2005 draft was the last to include high schoolers.

This year as we near the draft 18 year old prospect Ricky Rubio has sparked my interest in that, were he born in the US he would not be allowed to enter the draft however as he’s from Spain he will likely be drafted this year in the top 10, and possibly even the top five.

The argument that many make to keep high schoolers from jumping to the NBA is that when you’re right out of high school you’re simply not ready.

It is said that players need the years in college to develop their games to an NBA level, and that the amazingly successful players that have jumped from high school to the NBA are the exception, not the rule. Given all of this controversy, I decided to do a little study, and see what the truth is.

Here are my findings:

First, let me outline my study. I looked at career numbers for players that jumped from high school to the NBA, and the same numbers for players who attended five major college programs throughout the country (Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, and UCLA).

These programs have provided their share of superstars as well as busts to the NBA, and all have histories decades long of producing NBA quality players.

What I’ll do here is now that I’ve collected the data, bring out a few numbers and compare exactly who is more successful, those who jump from high school to the NBA, or those that take the college route.

Now, below is a chart averaging career averages of players who have attended one of the schools listed above or came straight from high school. The criteria was simple, they either attended one of these schools or came straight from high school, and they played at least one minute professionally.

I realize that from each school and among those that graduated high school and skipped college prior to their NBA career, there are many who simply don’t ever play and I’ll be taking a look at that after this.

	Pts	TRB	AST	STL	BLK
High School	10.7068	5.11136	1.664	0.665	0.82
Duke	8.67391	3.70217	1.9	0.706	0.47
UNC	9.73621	3.6807	2.134	1.094	0.6
UCLA	7.96912	3.675	1.903	0.745	0.61
Kansas	7.92308	4.11282	1.628	0.584	0.45
Kentucky	8.46078	3.60612	1.927	0.956	0.48

As you can see, those who skipped college average more points, rebounds, and blocks per game than any of those who were a part of any of these five premier programs.

Now this is not really the whole story many will cite examples such as Ricky Sanchez, who was selected 35th overall in 2005 as an example of exactly why you shouldn’t select a high schooler in the draft.

Others will say that for every Kobe Bryant or Lebron James there are ten that won’t make the league. While that’s true in general about the NBA, it’s not true about those who have officially declared for the draft.

Well, how about instead of telling you I show you? Below is a chart showing how many players the NBA has on record to have declared for the draft but have never laced up their sneakers and played minutes in a professional game:

	Didn't Make it	Total Declared	%
Kentucky	40	91	0.43956044
Kansas	29	69	0.420289855
Duke	27	73	0.369863014
UNC	36	94	0.382978723
UCLA	32	101	0.316831683
High School	7	53	0.132075472

Now, as you can clearly see the rate of utter failure in the league is more than three times as high if you played college ball at Kentucky than if you skipped college altogether.

In fact the best chance of success seems to be jumping from high school to the NBA, the second best route being UCLA historically as there is only a 31 percent failure rate vs. the 13 percent failure rate with those that jumped directly from high school.

Overall I simply don’t see the argument for going to college vs. jumping straight to the NBA. The statistics going as far back as the 1940’s show that if you have the skills, you should make the jump.

I’ve heard additional arguments that say that coaches don’t have the proper amount of time to scout a player if they jump from high school however my study shows that they seem to do a fine job scouting overall.

With examples like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kevin Garnett it’s hard to argue with not drafting a player of such incredible skill right out of high school, and also hard to make the argument that they need the experience in college.

Although it should be noted that Kobe made a slow transition, averaging only 7 ppg in his rookie season, but still high school players have given us some of the best that ever played the game.

Moses Malone is the sixth all time scorer, third all time rebounder, and 22nd all time blocker and is the proud owner of three MVP awards.

In fact, amongst the group of 53 high school draftees there are five MVP awards, and at least 30 All Star appearances. On a list of high school draftees, you can also find at least seven starters for playoff teams from this postseason.

In short the numbers simply don’t support the argument that skipping college makes any sense, and while the idea seems to what should we believe? The morals that drive us to believe such things as a year of college is necessary, or the numbers that say you’re better off to skip?

Should we let the exception to the rule-someone such as Ricky Sanchez-dictate the rules, or the more common result of someone like Dwight Howard guide the hands that mold the rules of the league? You decide.

MJ or LeBron? The King or His Airness?

Randy Lutz — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:17:59 -0400

Many comparisons have been drawn between Lebron James and Michael Jordan, or James and Magic Johnson.

Many more comparisons have been drawn between Jordan and a great deal of other players since he's left the league, and even some that played with him.

We all remember how players like Harold Miner, Ron Harper, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Jerry Stackhouse, and Tracy McGrady had been slated to fill the shoes of His Airness, don't we?

And we all know how that worked out for them, only two of those players have a lifetime scoring average of more than 20 points per game (Stackhouse at 20.8 and Hill at 20.4).

Though that is a respectable career for most players, it simply isn't Jordanesque.

Now we have a new young player, one who seems to fit the bill.

He's athletic, he can dominate a game, he has this great down-to-Earth attitude about himself, and the media loves him!

Is this the guy? He sure is the guy who creates the most arguments on blogging Web sites.

My question is hardly something quite so simple as is James great enough to draw comparisons to Jordan—or to be considered the next Jordan?

No, my question is this.

Who would you take to start and build a team around, a young Jordan or a young Lebron? I suppose you would want to think about this and pretend you don't know about the time you'd lose with Jordan playing baseball, as that would influence a lot of manager's and coach's decisions, I'm sure.

Well, I've given it a lot of thought and my choice is...drumroll please.

LeBron James.

After comparing the two and really thinking about it a great deal, I have to choose King James.

Now bear in mind that I'm not saying that at this point in his career that James is better than Jordan. And if he blows out a knee or develops a drug problem next year, it would have proven a terrible choice by me, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

My point is I think Lebron has a lot more potential, particularly if the situation was that you would draft one and another would go to a competitor.

I think Lebron in his prime would have dominated MJ in his prime easily. Now, here's my reasoning before you jump down my throat:

Michael Jordan began playing in a league 20 years ago dominated by unathletic white guys who focused primarily on the fundamentals of the game and executing them perfectly vs. what they could do one-on-one.

Jordan wasn't the only player with a similar game to have wild success in the old days, but they were few and far between.

When you think about it, every player with similar athletic ability had incredibly successful careers back then. Domonique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson, the list goes on.

But back then anyone over seven feet tall, or with a 40-inch vertical absolutely ruled the court. Jordan was the best and experienced the most success, sure, but ultimately he was in a class by himself due to the superior physical gifts bestowed upon him.

Here's the thing: while Jordan was playing this way in the 80s and 90s, the players of the NBA today were watching him and imitating him.

Those of us who played when we were young pretended to be him, practicing for hours and hours, and spent time in the gym practicing our verticals, lifting, and trying to get in shape.

In addition to that, those growing up now are able to devote themselves entirely to the game while years back it wasn't quite the same.

As we all know, 40 or 50 years ago many professional players had other jobs to keep a roof over their heads. The point is: An entire generation of players grew up watching Jordan and Magic, imitating them, and forming their games after them.

And that is the league we have today, a league full of super athletes.

Think about how many players can dunk from the foul line now—I mean really.

When Jordan did it, it was amazing. Now when people do it, the first thing I think is: "So what, Brent Barry can do that!"

It's much more common in the NBA nowadays for a player to have a 40 inch vertical.

And few of the old-school mold: a big, old, white guy who is immobile and has a mastery of the fundamentals that makes him valuable to the game—Vlade Divac...Rik Smits..Shawn Bradley...Kevin McHale...any of these names ringing a bell?

Now sure, these guys were great in their own right, and I'm not saying they weren't.

I'm just saying they weren't much of a challenge for the type of game that Jordan introduced to the NBA. But now, that type of game is running rampant throughout the league, primarily due to Jordan's success.

Lebron dominates that kind of game and is a player unlike any Jordan ever came across. Sure, he resembles Magic in terms of height, but Magic never had the near-perfect physique Lebron does.

Lebron is able to annihilate most in his path seemingly without effort, and is able to contort his body in ways that would make Gumby cringe.

He's a one-of-a-kind player, and I think one day he will be undeniably the best this league has ever seen.

So. If they were both in their prime and headed into the same league, I'd take James. Something tells me at the very least I'd look a lot better than the guy who chose Sam Bowie.

1980 to Present...10 Top Centers

Randy Lutz — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:27:35 -0400

Here I'm taking a look at the top ten centers in the modern day era (1980ish to present). Let me know if you think I misplaced anyone, or left anyone out entirely. I say 1980ish because a few careers started before 1980, but extended after that year. The basic requirement was that you had to have played a significant chunk of your career after 1980, not necessarily your best years. This of course would leave a few of these guys on the top ten list for both before and after 1980.

Begin Slideshow

Starting All Over As a Fan

Randy Lutz — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:24:54 -0400

As a New England area sports fan, it's no secret that I've been spoiled in recent years. With the Red Sox breaking an 80+ year championship drought, the Celtics reminding us of days long passed when we competed regularly deep into May, and the Patriots generally dominating everyone for a while I find myself missing something.

For a long while I couldn't figure out what that gnawing feeling was, my favorite teams were having all the success in the world, our area saw at least one major sports title almost every year it seemed like, what more could I want-and then it hit me: there was no disappointment.

As a lifelong, and die hard Red Sox fan utter disappointment is as much a part of sports for me as a home run or a touchdown.

With this thought in mind I have decided to take on a new team, one whose last season was filled with disappointment and despair, and whose future I can enjoy whether it brings that comfortable feeling of failure or a feeling that's beginning to grow on me known as success.

More than likely the first few years will be failure, enough to carry me over until the glory days of the Sox, Celts, and Pats cycle back around to the misery we all know so well in this area.

This all being said, I decided to start my search for the team I'll be cheering for in the their upcoming season. The credentials a team must fit were as folows:

1) They cannot play in the same league as a team I currently cheer for. This is for obvious reasons of loyalty to my area.

2) They had to have a truly terrible season last year

3) They cannot have started a new season already (which ruled out baseball)

4) There must be some hope for the future that I can pin my hopes on, after all you can't have your hopes dashed if there are no hopes to begin with.

I counted the NBA in my search as their season is wrapping up and I could easily choose a team for next year, however as I moved down the list of Western Conference teams I simply couldn't find one that agreed with me. I moved on.

I have no love for hockey, and would rather be the hitting dummy for a team than suffer through a game, the same goes for soccer, so both sports were out.

With the NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS out of the question, this pretty much left me with the NFL. Here there were several teams that appealed to me, from the Seahawks to the Rams.

I even thought about the Packers or the Saints, although the Saints had a little too much success last season and the Packers are poised for some real great seasons so I thought there was just a little too much chance of a great season for either team to fit the bill. That left me with the Seahawks, Rams, and Lions.

The Seahawks are an interesting team, with what might be one of the most talented group of linebackers in the league and a returning Matt Hasselbeck as well as signing receiver TJ Houshmanzadeh.

I think that their moves in the off season combined with the return of Hasselbeck gives the Seahawks a little too much hope, so I crossed them off my list.

No team in professional sports history quite personified misery as the Lions' performance last season, and so between the Rams and the Lions I ultimately settled on the Lions.

As we all know they went winless last season, a feat only accomplished by a few teams in professional sports history. With three first round picks, and finally a change of management however, Detroit could be poised for a big improvement.

Many thought they should go with OT Jason Smith in an effort to build for the future, but in my opinion that's exactly what they've been doing, with Jeff Backus holding down one side, and last year's first round pick Gosder Cherilus with a year of experience under his belt, as well as Calvin Johnson beginning to come into his own, the Lions just may have added the pieces they need to make a serious run at a playoff berth this year.

Promising young RB Kevin Smith has publicly guaranteed the playoffs this year on his blog found at playerpress.com, and I think that with the newfound confidence the team seems to have found they just may be able to make good on that promise.

Either way we'll see, and either way I'll likely be satisfied with the resulting season. I look forward to watching an interesting competition in the NFC North, and a great NFL season next year.

Houston, We Have a Problem

Randy Lutz — Sun, 10 May 2009 16:23:10 -0400

Coach Adelman, this is Houston, we have a problem. We have a 7' 6" tower in the middle of the lane that we’re not using. It seems to be just taking up space on offense, and it seems that despite it’s presence in the low post for the past seven years, we still haven’t figured out exactly how to use it to our advantage.

You see the real problem is, the only way that the tallest player in the league can get his hands on the ball is by rebounding. It’s amazing to watch, this man who towers over everyone in the post is typically opposite where the ball is, watching teammate after teammate jack up poor shots.

While watching the third game in a series that may stretch out to seven games total between the Lakers and Rockets, I can’t help but wonder…the Rockets do realize Yao is 7’6” don’t they? I mean yes, he’s human. Sure, I’ve seen him blocked before (once by Kobe tonight in what was truly an amazing defensive play) but still, he’s a giant.

There was a time in this league that it was widely believed you simply couldn’t win a title without a dominant big man. For many years the league was essentially run by the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and George Mikan. Years later we saw players such as Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson lead their teams to NBA titles. More recently Shaquille O’Neal left everyone’s mouths gaping with shattered glass, broken backboards, and ultimately four titles (as of the writing of this article). What I’d like to know is where have those days gone?

With the athleticism of many of the players currently entering the NBA, it seems as if the value of lining up a human skyscraper has fallen by the wayside. The likes of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and others with similar skill sets have not taken away from the talent of the larger players, but instead has erased them from the game plan entirely. The proven philosophy of pounding the ball down low and beating the other team up in the post has become a clear second to the electrifying and dare-devilish moves smaller and more athletic players are able to pull off.

I have several problems with this and they’ve almost all been displayed for us here in the first three games of this series. In Game 1 we saw Yao post 28 points in the process of stealing a game from the Lakers on LA’s home court. In Game 2 we saw the Rockets almost completely ignore their low post offensive power, as he only took 4 shots from the field and was held to 12 points while still grabbing 10 rebounds (3 offensive). Now the Rockets enter Game 3, and most would think they’d surely learned their lesson. Those of us who might be tempted to think that however, are soon shocked to see Ron Artest jack up three point shot after three point shot, and watch Aaron Brooks do everything in his power to not only keep the ball away from Yao, but keep it off his side of the court entirely!

Yao must have been growing impatient as we all watched him start really getting aggressive on the offensive boards, cleaning the glass to the tune of six offensive rebounds as we near the end of the game. The sad thing is, he had to do this just to get a shot. In the final minutes of this game it seems as if someone reminded Coach Adelman what worked for him in Game 1 and they began to try to push that ball back down to Yao in the post and shockingly-began seeing that lead the Lakers had shrink.

As I watch the end of this game, a game that will almost surely go to the Lakers and allow them to go up 2-1 in the best of seven series, I wonder if now that Yao seems to have finally come to the realization that he’s 7’6”, will his team ever figure that out? Will there be a time in the near future that we’ll see another team that reverts back to that old philosophy of pounding the ball down low or is this style of play a thing of the past? At what point will seven footers in the league have made a full circle from being the most sought after commodity in the NBA to being nothing more than obstacles in the way of smaller more athletic players on their way to a flashy slam dunk or layup?

Steroids In Boston: How Many Red Sox Have Truly Partaken, We Wonder?

Randy Lutz — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:55:34 -0400

First of all, I was going to make this a comment on another thread, but it started getting so long I figured why not give it its own spot.

In Boston, we've been lucky to not have seen any steroid use, no real accusations, none of the names of our players linked to illegal or banned substances. We haven't had any players fail drug tests that we know of, and we haven't had any real questions raised about our players.

Here's my question about that: why? Why hasn't anyone been asking questions? Why haven't there been any eyebrows raised, or anyone talking about the possibility of steroid use in Boston?

What raises my suspicions, and please first take note I am ONLY SPECULATING. I have absolutely no proof of any kind, and for that matter I have no real wish that this was true, I hope I'm very very wrong for that matter. Anyway, what raises my suspicions is slugger David Ortiz's lack of production as of late.

When David Ortiz was brought into the Twins organization, they hoped to see him turn into a power hitter, and truly develop what it takes to hit it out of the park and scare major league pitchers.

After watching Ortiz take over 1,400 at bats over the course of six seasons the Twins decided that he would never be the legitimate deep power threat they had hoped, and didn't resign him, allowing him to come to Boston where he met Manny Ramirez.

Prior to joining the Boston lineup, the most homeruns Ortiz had ever hit was 20, in the year right before Boston signed him. In the three years prior to joining Boston he was averaging 16 home runs a season, and 100 hits.

That's roughly one in every five hits out of the park, as stated earlier. In the five years after joining the Red Sox Ortiz saw drastic improvement in his batting, averaging 165 hits and 41 home runs per season.

That's a five percent jump in home runs per hit, a clear jump in straight out power, the very thing professional trainers and batting coaches in Minnesota became convinced after six years he wouldn't ever develop—he developed within a few months of leaving Minnesota.

Yes, again six years they watched him and didn't resign him because he wouldn't ever develop any power as a hitter, and he went on to immediately up his total of home runs by 10 the first year, and another 10 the second year, and, wait for it...that's right another 10 the third year. That's right, within three years he'd upped his home run total by 30 home runs each season!

Again, now that Manny has left Boston, Ortiz has fallen off to the clip he knew well before joining the Red Sox-about 20 home runs a year max. His average has even fallen back to those years.

Now, this second fact can be attributed to the fact that Manny is no longer in the lineup protecting him and vice versa. I mean, he has other solid hitters, but without Manny he won't see pitchers the same way, and they won't fear the one two punch the same way, a fact that could hurt his average.

My question is, can that also hurt his power? I mean, for several years he had no power, he connected enough times but simply didn't have the strength to put it out of the park. Then he couldn't stop hitting home runs—out of the blue.

Sure, he got better pitches, had a higher average due to Manny's presence along with him in the lineup, but the point is, he finally (overnight) had developed the strength to smack the baseball pretty damn far.

Now, all of the sudden, he's back to the first set of stats he knew, the lower average, and yes, the inability to put the ball out. He simply doesn't have the strength any longer, why is that?

Now, again I'm not making accusations, I'm just thinking out loud. I have no proof, but what is it you call it when someone has no power their whole life, then develops it randomly for a few years, then suddenly falls off again? Riiiiggghhhhttt...that's what I was thinking to.

Ironically given the recent news about Manny, once Ortiz met Manny he was able to hit incredibly well, and now that Manny's no longer a part of his life and his locker room, he has pretty much seen his skills regress to the point they were at for six years in Minnesota.

LeBron James' Future

Randy Lutz — Sun, 10 May 2009 14:51:11 -0400

I hear so much talk about this issue I can't help but want to know what other's thoughts are on this matter.

My personal opinion here is that while greener pastures in the form of a larger market and bigger paycheck may appear to await in places like New York or New Jersey, LeBron James would be doing himself a huge disservice by signing elsewhere when his contract expires at the end of the 2009-2010 season.

I understand the benefit of a larger market for a superstar athlete, but at the same time I also put a lot of stock in the idea of hometown pride. It's my belief that as far as hometown pride is concerned we've gotten away from the concept.

Originally when sports leagues like the NBA, MLB, and NFL came to be, the idea-as with high school sports and college sports (as far as the last two are concerned the idea is still there although they're getting away from it) was that the city or area be represented by players and people from that area.

What's the point of hometown pride when the owner, coaches, and players aren't from the area? The idea of hometown pride to me is; this guy grew up here, he's from here, and now he's leading us to championships. Not, we paid the most for this athlete, and now that's made him one of us-at least until his contract expires.

There are very few players in any league that can say they play for their hometown team, the team they grew up cheering for.

I can think of a few off the top of my head; Ron Brace, recently drafted by the Patriots grew up in Worcester, Mass about 45 minutes West of Gillette, Rocco Baldelli currently plays for the Red Sox, and grew up in Woonsocket, RI-about a 20 minute drive from the PawSox stadium he's made a few starts in this season.

These are the only examples I can think of in my area (New England sports), there are many others throughout the leagues, but altogether too often we're represented by players who have nothing to do with our area.

At any rate, to get to my point, I can think of three highly talented NBA players who fit the bill of playing for their hometown team, LeBron is one of them.

The second is Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose who grew up in Chicago and now stars for the Bulls while the third is Chauncey Billups who now represents his hometown team of Denver after playing his college ball in Colorado as well.

In my opinion it would be an absolute travesty for Lebron to leave the state he grew up in. While he may not be from Cleveland itself, he's from Akron, Ohio and likely grew up feeling the defeats of the Cavs at times like when Jordan hit that shot over Ehlo.

He may have owned a Mark Price or Brad Dougherty jersey as a kid, he may have rejoiced the day the Browns began playing again in '99 after a three year hiatus to construct a new stadium.

The point is, when you're a sports guy and you grow up somewhere it's more than likely you bleed that team's colors. If you are a talented sports guy and end up playing on that team, it has to be fulfilling one of the biggest dreams any kid has, to play for their favorite team.

Who didn't play basketball or baseball as a kid and imagine being their favorite player taking your team to the championship and hitting that game-winning shot or home run?

Forget being a role player like Rocco Baldelli, or a brand new player like Ron Brace or Derrick Rose—imagine being a player like Lebron, the true savior to the team you grew up cheering for.

The guy who leads that team you watched fail so many times to the ultimate glory—the NBA finals, and likely a championship (if not this year at some point should he stay there past the summer of 2010).

Really, I guess all I can say, as a guy who has never been offered millions to appear in a commercial, hit a baseball, or throw a ball into a basket is that I can't imagine the amount of money it would take for me to not have been the guy to end the Red Sox streak of failure in the World Series.

Being from Mass, if I had grown up all my life watching them fail as I did, and been the guy to lead them when they went to and won the Series in 2004, well there's no amount of money that could have replaced what that would have felit like.

I think any other Boston fan would say the same, we know how it felt as fans—but if we had been the players or the stars on the team it would have been that much greater.

This is the only thing I can imagine that must come close to what Lebron is doing in Ohio. Sure the Cavaliers may not have as long a championship drought as the Sox did—despite the fact they've never won an NBA title—but I would bet it still would feel great for him.

Because even with all the money waiting, with all the adoring fans that would welcome his arrival elsewhere, at the end of the day as he said in his featured piece on Sports Reporters this morning; "This is the place, the city, the area that made me."