Bleacher Report - Articles by Ivan Gressley

Atlanta Braves 2009 Outlook: Starting Pitching

Ivan Gressley — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:03:11 -0500

It is no secret that the Atlanta Braves offseason has been shaky. The Braves have missed out on signing big name free agents, creating several "what if" situations.

The Braves attempted to trade for San Diego starting pitcher Jake Peavy, but were unable to find an agreement. Free agent A.J. Burnett was the next target, but the New York Yankees swooped in and signed him to a five-year deal. Then there was the Rafael Furcal ordeal, but this is about starting pitching.

The Braves turned their attention to veteran Derek Lowe. Atlanta would not be out bid or snubbed and signed Lowe to a four-year contract.

Peavy, Burnett and Lowe command hefty salaries, but Lowe might work out the best for the Braves.

A trade for Peavy would have gutted the Braves farm system. After trading a plethora of top prospects for Mark Teixeira, dealing more top prospects would have been devastating to the future of the club. Burnett would have cost more than Lowe and has been injury prone.

So, as it stands now, here is how the Braves starting pitching staff breaks down.

Strengths: Top of the rotation

The 2009 Braves pitching staff has a new look at the top of the rotation, as John Smoltz signed with the Boston Red Sox and Tim Hudson is recovering from Tommy John surgery

Lowe and newly acquired Javier Vazquez provide veteran leadership to a young staff. Without Lowe and Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens would have been the staff ace. His pitching repertoire has the quality of a top pitcher, but fulfilling that title is a lot to ask of a 23 year old.

Lowe, Vazquez, and Jurrjens combined to be 39-37 last season with an ERA of 3.87 and a whip of 1.27. Most importantly, they each started over 30 games. Injuries plagued the Braves pitching staff last season and these starters should stay healthy and add stability.

Question Mark: Kenshin Kawakami

Kenshin Kawakami threw upwards of 130 pitches a game in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons. The Braves won't be looking for him to throw that many pitches each game, but it is a sign that he is capable of helping the bullpen by going deep into a ball game. Sure, it is great that Kawakami can throw nine innings, but can he get there without giving up a lot of runs?

Kawakami surrenders the long ball more than you would like to see if you are pitching coach Roger McDowell. Kawakami allowed .9 home runs a start over his past five seasons. This is twice as many as Lowe, Vazquez, and Jurrjens allow each outing.

Wildcard: Young Pitchers and Tom Glavine

The Braves got a look at Jo-Jo Reyes, James Parr, and Charlie Morton during the season last year and the results were horrid. Tommy Hanson is getting an opportunity right now and will be competing for the fifth and final spot in the rotation.

Jorge Campillo, not a young prospect at the age of 30, was effective as a starter last season and will be vying for a spot in the rotation too.

The simple and best solution is Tom Glavine. His age is a concern, but last season was the first time the 300-game winner ever landed on the DL. He could fill the fifth spot with more consistency than any other option.

Conclusion: Solid but not elite

The staff is filled with innings eaters and pitchers with prior success. The fourth and fifth starters could be liabilities, but signing Glavine would change that.

Lowe has been healthy since transforming back to a starter in 2002. Vazquez is the only true strikeout pitcher on the staff, so the defense will be tested this season.

With the current Braves pitching staff, the Braves will likely be a .500 team. If Kawakami translates to the MLB better than expected and Glavine signs the one-year deal, the Braves would have a slight shot at winning the NL East.

10 Things to Know About Penn State Basketball as 2008-2009 Season Winds Down

Ivan Gressley — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:04:50 -0500

1.First game of the stretch against the first place Team…Yikes

The No. 7 Michigan State Spartans are not going to take the Nittany Lions lightly after Penn State nearly completed the 17-point comeback earlier this season. This game could get ugly for Penn State. If the Nittany Lions keep this game close, they should be happy.

2.The man, the myth, the legend—No. 2 Jamelle Cornley

It is no secret that Cornley has been the backbone of this team. Most recently, his leadership skills sparked a comeback in a must-win against Iowa. Cornley is under-sized, but he definitely makes up for it with his non-stop motor. Penn State needs Cornley to stay healthy and productive to continue its run to the March Madness.

3. No. 33 for three

Danny Morrissey provides instant offense off of the bench. The long-range sharp shooter is a zone killer. When Battle, Pringle and Morrissey are on the court, it forces the opposition to play man-to-man defense. The Nittany Lions should rely on the three-point specialist when the rest of the cavalry is having a bad night.

4. Four games left at the BJC

Penn State is 13-3 at home this season, including a big win against then No. 14 Purdue. Here is what is left at home:

Wisconsin on February 8
Minnesota on February 14
Indiana on February 28
No. 19 Illinois on March 4

Penn State lost to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center by just four points earlier this season. The 12-7 Badgers can be beaten. The Nittany Lions can, and will, beat Wisconsin at home.

Minnesota crushed Penn State in Minneapolis 79-59. To turn this around, the Nittany Lions need their fans to be their Valentines for this game of Feb. 14. No need for candles or a romantic pianist when can you have nachos and Zombie Nation pumping through the BJC speakers.

The fans will be looking for a Valentine's Day massacre in favor of Penn State, but the Nittany Lions would ultimately be happy with any kind of win.

Penn State will be heavy favorites against Indiana. The Nittany Lions almost found a way to lose to the Hoosiers in Bloomington, but should have no problem blasting Indiana at home at the end of the month.

Illinois is interesting. The two teams have yet to play, and have similar records against the same teams set of Big Ten opponents. The Fighting Illini have five players averaging double figures for scoring, while Penn State relies on the big three—Pringle, Battle and Cornley.

Going 1-1 versus Illinois would be good for Penn State.

5. Man-to-Man, Five-on-Five defense is a must

Good shooting teams will tear Penn State's zone apart if the Nittany Lions can't rotate fast enough.

Penn State is undersized in the front court, and has trouble rebounding from a zone defense. Offensive rebounds from the zone tend to result in easy lay-ups and more open shot attempts. The 1-3-1 zone works occasionally because it does create turnovers, but consistently relying on a zone will hurt the Nittany Lions.

6. Battling below 60 percent

Sophomore point guard Talor Battle has played great this season. Like any normal human being, he is capable of having a rough night. In Penn State's five losses, Battle has shot 19 of 32 from the free throw line—just under 60 percent. Also, Battle's field goal percentage sagged to 34.3 percent in those losses.

Chances are, if Battle is playing well, the Nittany Lions are winning—and vice-versa.

7. Dropping seven free ones a game

It is hard to respect a team that can't make an open shot. The Nittany Lions are a 65.3-percent free throw shooting team, going 13 of 19.9 a game on average. Cornley struggles quite often from the charity stripe, only shooting a 55.2 percent.

Fans better close their eyes and pray if it comes down to a free throw contest at the end of the game.

8. Not a bad average

Penn State broadcaster Dick Jerardi likes to call "8" a snowman, but for the Nittany Lions sake, it's the number of three-pointers made each game. In Penn State's losses, the team averaged seven threes made. That is only one less than the average, but they shot a miserable 32.7 percent from behind the arc in those losses. Penn State relies on the three, and will need to shoot at least 40 percent from deep to win against top-tier conference talent.

9. 9-9? Good grief!

Minnesota torched Penn State with a 9-for-9 effort from behind the arc. Letting a team go 9-for-9 from three-point land can never happen again. Period.

10. Time to dust them off?

It costs about $10 to get your dancing shoes shined. Keep that in mind, Happy Valley, as your team makes its final surge to make the NCAA tournament.

Penn State could be dancin' in March!

Jamelle Cornley Refuses To Let Penn State Lose

Ivan Gressley — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 01:58:35 -0500

After steamrolling the Michigan Wolverines earlier in the week, Penn State came out flat against a confident Iowa Hawkeye team. The Nittany Lions squeaked out a 63-59 win, but looked disinterested playing in front of 12,210 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The effort given by Penn State for 80 percent of the game was enough to walk out of the arena and never come back.

The Nittany Lions trailed Iowa by double-digits because of a lack of effort. This is inexcusable, especially when Penn State is better athletically and playing at home.

In the first 32 minutes of the game, sophomore point guard Talor Battle showed no urgency to cut into the 14-point Hawkeye lead. He walked the ball up the court, looked lost on defense, and he could not make a three pointer.

The Nittany Lions (16-5, 5-3 Big Ten) depended on the steady senior Jamelle Cornley to keep the deficit at a realistic margin. Cornley hustled up and down the court, struggled for every rebound and eagerly attempted to cause a turnover in the full court press.

Cornley's desire to win came pouring out when he felt that official Ed Hightower missed a call. Cornley voiced his opinion to Hightower and received a technical foul in return.

Iowa (12-8, 2-5) made both of the free throws resulting from the technical foul, but Cornley's actions energized the Penn State crowd. The fans had lots of bottled up energy to let loose.

The arena became loud and the crowd jumped up and down to Zombie Nation. The Nittany Lions would need more than just crowd noise to win, as they were still down by 13 points.

Penn State began its comeback a minute and a half later at the 8:05 mark. Battle picked up his pace, found his stroke and scored 11 points during the run. Cornley added 10 of his game high 24 points during this stretch. Stanley Pringle added a free throw to seal the victory.

The Nittany Lions erased the 13-point deficit and took a four-point lead with the 22-5 run. The Hawkeyes missed their last five shots from the field to finish the game.

Iowa shot 15-16 from the free throw line for the game. Jake Kelley led the Hawkeyes with a team high 19 points on 7-10 shooting from the field.

Penn State faces No. 7 Michigan State and Michigan on the road in its next two games. The Nittany Lions play four ranked opponents in their next six games.

The Dallas Daily Circus: How do the Cowboys Address Team Matters?

Ivan Gressley — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:44:31 -0500

Late departures, fighting among teammates, a coach pledging to change, and a new self-proclaimed leader are the latest headlines for the Dallas Cowboys.

This seems like turmoil. So how do you fix chaos?

The No. 1 choice is a reality show, and no, not the intriguing Dallas Cowboys' cheerleader tryout program.

Former Cowboy great Michael Irvin was watching American Idol and thought that the show's concept was interesting. So, Irvin took that concept and designed a show surrounding the Dallas Cowboys.

The show is going to take 12 "football neophytes," and have them compete for an opportunity of a lifetime. The winner gets a spot on the Cowboys' 80-man training camp roster.

This confirms that Jerry Jones values attention over winning. Rather than trying to put the fire out, he keeps streaming oxygen into the inferno.

Maybe the show's winner can keep Jones on time for the team flight. Maybe the winner can facilitate dialogue between Terrell Owens and Jason Witten. Maybe Tony Romo can test his new leadership skills out on the winner. Maybe the winner can draw up a plan for Wade Phillips to become stricter.

Or maybe this is one more disaster waiting to happen for the Cowboys.

Rather than fulfilling the dream of a guy wanting to line up across from Owens, the Cowboys should fulfill the dreams of their fans and focus on winning a playoff game.

Penn State Finds Rare but Encouraging Consistency Against Michigan

Ivan Gressley — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:48:45 -0500

The Penn State basketball team finally put a complete game together, as it hammered Michigan in a 73-58 rout.

The Nittany Lions took a seven-point lead into halftime and continued full throttle into the second half, expanding the lead to 25 with just over four minutes left in the game.

Yes, it was a home game. Yes, Vegas favored Penn State by two points.

By all means, Penn State (15-5, 4-3 Big Ten) winning the game makes sense. Winning by 15 points happened only because head coach Ed DeChellis got his team to play two good halves of basketball.

Earlier this season, the Nittany Lions watched their 14-point lead at Indiana shrink to five before completing the 10-point win. Michigan State embarrassed Penn State for the first 26 minutes of their game. The Nittany Lions made a furious comeback to get within one point, but eventually lost by five at home. Penn State toyed with Mount Saint Mary's and saw its big lead get cut to three before winning by five.

Play like this raises the fans' blood pressure and justifies profanity being yelled at the television.

At least for one evening, Penn State shattered its inconsistency mold. The team continued to compete at a high level while it broke the game wide open.

In reality, the Nittany Lions could not afford to call off the dogs with possible trouble lurking: the Wolverines (13-6, 3-4) rallied from 20 points down on the road against the Hoosiers to earn an overtime victory. They also beat Duke and UCLA.

Additionally, the bigger the winning margin for Penn State, the better.

How many NCAA committee members watched the 9 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network? Penn State looked terrific in the victory, but for the members that did not see the game, a 15-point win over a team that boasts an RPI of 46 looks impressive too.

A prospective NCAA Tournament team starts by protecting its home court. The Nittany Lions have done a great job doing just that, going 11-2 at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State's only losses have come against teams in the top 60 of the RPI, but the problem is that the Nittany Lions are 0-3 against top 25 RPI teams. This is due to their previous inconsistencies.

Penn State fans want to believe that their team turned the corner against Michigan. With its prior track record, it is hard to tell if Tuesday night was just false hope or a sign of bigger and better things to come in Happy Valley.