Who Has Eli Manning's Back?

Avi Greenberg — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:06:48 -0400

The New York Giants are a team in the midst of that 3-4 year window where they can compete for a Super Bowl. It is a common football cliche, describing a team that has all the pieces in place to have a strong regular season, and the potential to advance in the playoffs. It is not necessarily the most accurate common denominator in deciding or predicting who will actually win or reach the Super Bowl, but rather a way to categorize a team that will be in the hunt for the near future.

It can be said that a team such as the Giants, who have a strong defensive unit coupled with a great running attack and cohesive offensive line, have the necessary pieces to win late in the season.

The question is and has been can Eli deliver and not throw the game away when it matters most. Even more specifically can he find chemistry with his young inexperienced corps of receivers. For the first time in his career he will be throwing passes to players with less tenure, and potentially players with more humility.

Not having Plaxico Burress was already a foregone conclusion. In fact it may be addition by subtraction with all of the negativity surrounding his self shooting. Not that losing a talent such as Burress can be seen as a positive. If Eli and the offense have been able to overcome the loss of Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey in successive years, why can't they win without Plaxico.

Oh by the way they also lost Amani Toomer who was the all time leading receiver.

The man who some thought was Eli's security valve, the guy who would make a catch in tight coverage and always keep two feet in bounds. Throughout his career, and especially in the Giants playoff run two years ago, Toomer showed his worth and value to the offense.

Who is going to pick up the lost production, who will see more passes go their way now, will Sinorice Moss and Mario Manningham see the field? Can the Giants get production from their new draft picks?

Steve Smith seems to be an appropriate successor to Toomer, both have excellent hands and are able to find holes in coverage to keep the offense on the field. Having Steve Smith will help Eli convert third downs and keep drives alive.

For the first time in Eli's career he will participate in OTA's with all of his weapons. There will be no training in South Beach for Sinorice Moss, Kevin Boss will not show up at camp and choose not to participate. Steve Smith is already working with Eli as is the rest of the offense. Will we find a true number 1 target for Eli this year? Does it even matter?

Tom Brady won Superbowls with Deion Branch as his top receiver. Were the Giants considered to be in their window the year they won the Super Bowl? No they came together at the right time and their Defensive Line carried them to victory and Eli made the plays he had to make by throwing to however was open. That is what Giant's fans have to remember this year, we do not need a Pro Bowl Wide Receiver, in fact when was the last one we had a receiver in the Pro Bowl?

If the Giants have three guys pick up the slack for Plaxico (Hakeem Nicks, Domenik Hixon, and Sinorice Moss) and Steve Smith can replace Toomer. The Giants can sustain a high level of play on offense through running the ball and play action pass. This year if Eli can limit mistakes and find confidence with multiple guys, the Giants should be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Kobe And Lakers Came Out Strong For Game 7: Will It Last?

Avi Greenberg — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:22:04 -0400

Why do the Lakers find themselves in the midst of complacency and underachievement this year in the playoffs? Having just completed a seven game series with Ron Artest and a Houston Rockets team without Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady. Basically a team of glorified role players, who managed to hang around and make enough baskets to expose the Lakers fatal flaw. It was and has been a sense of entitlement all year long.

It started last year when the Celtics handed the Lakers one of the worst defeats in Finals history 131-92. That score should be written in their locker room, Kobe should constantly be reminding his team that finesse and efficient Euro ball did not win them a title last year, and it will certainly not carry them into a dream finals matchup against LeBron and the Cavaliers.

In the NFL there has been a a running stat (for the last handful of years), each team that goes to the Super Bowl and loses, has a let down season the following year. This may not be the case for the Lakers as they finished with the best record in the West. For the Lakers, however, this year will be considered a failure if they do not win the Championship. Especially considering the fact that the Celtics will not be defending their title due to the loss of KG, and perhaps the fact that the Cavs could have beaten the Celtics with or without KG.

In the NBA, each game does not carry the same weight as it does in the NFL, especially with the fact that the playoffs are decided in a best of seven format. This allows teams to take off a game or two in a series, depending on the discrepancy in talent and motivation.

If the Lakers were an NFL team they would be the Dallas Cowboys (two years ago)—on paper they're great team with possibly the best talent. When it came to playing hard and bringing a high level of intensity each game, they fell apart when confronted with hungrier more aggressive teams (NY Giants, Philadelphia Eagles).

The Celtics last year and the Rockets this year showed that a team with less talent can have their way with LA. There is no reason that the Lakers should have played a Game 7. The truth is they should not have played a Game 6 and maybe even Game 5 against the Rockets.

Now looking ahead to the Nuggets, will they come out Tuesday night and bring that same passion and fire that they did in Game 7, or will they come out flat like they did Game 1 against the Rockets? I can confidently say that the Nuggets are not intimidated at all by the Lakers. Not one player, not the Zen Master, Kobe forget about that—Kenyon Martin sent a message early to Dirk and the Mavs. I expect the same message to be sent at some point in Game 1.

The Nuggets will come out and look to challenge the Lakers' toughness or lack thereof. George Karl is a good coach and he will be aware of sending that message early and we the fans will wait to see how long it takes the Lakers to respond. I'm predicting a Game 1 victory for the Nuggets, with LA not waking up in time to salvage a respectable score for the next morning's LA Times.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Avi Greenberg

Who Has Eli Manning's Back?

Kobe And Lakers Came Out Strong For Game 7: Will It Last?