It's All Good - Then There's the NBA

This’ll be one of those rambling, all-over-the-place pieces about nothing, a real George Costanza-type nothing piece, if not for content, then for structure, as I really have a lot of impressions, mostly good ones, of baseball and the Mets, and Joba’s fine effort, and in pro basketball, that crazy last-second shot by the Big Baby. Even local pro football seems to be looking good, what with Hakeem Nicks and Mark Sanchez and the proverbial host of others.

Of course, that’s usually when everything starts going to hell, just when you think thing’s are looking good, the classical overemphasis on recent form rather than the hard facts of the overall past record. And the things I’m happy about now could turn in a day. In fact they probably will.

So let’s examine that thought for a moment. The Mets have won seven in a row, mostly with good starting pitching, something everybody in Mets-land was really worried about just two short weeks ago. So, the question then becomes “will the starters continue to perform well?”

Johan Santana, that ace of aces, might be the least likely to continue his incredibly good string this year. He’s given up 6 runs in 39 2/3 innings. The most runs he’s surrendered in one single game is 2. He lost that one and struck out 13. Otherwise, he’s been lights-out all the time and he’s just 4-1 overall with a 0.91 ERA.

But it’s just the law of averages that rears its ugly head. Santana did win 7 in a row last year, though, even with all those saves lost by the relief corps. So who knows? His current performance isn’t really that removed from what he’s done his entire career.

John Maine started this whole thing on May 4th against the Braves at Atlanta, giving up 3 runs in 6 innings. Then he pitched an even better one vs. Pittsburgh on May 9th, allowing just 1 run. Maine has won 3 starts in a row but he’s not averse to winning streaks, having won 4 in a row early last year and an amazing 7 in a row to open up 2007. So Mr. Maine could conceivably just keep going strong.

The other starter to win two during the streak is good ol’ Livan Hernandez. He beat Atlanta on the 5th of May and Pittsburgh yesterday, surrendering 3 totals runs in 12 1/3 innings overall. The other starters, Pelfrey and Niese, won just one during the streak but Pelfrey did impressively win against the World Champion Phillies while Niese’s win came against the lowly Pirates. (Sorry, Pittsburgh fans).

Nay-sayers will point to the quality of the opposition and the fact that the relief hasn’t really been that good over the same period. My quick analysis shows they gave up 8 runs in 18 2/3 innings. That’s not terrible, I guess, but it’s not that good either.

In another sense though, it’s great, as the victims of the scoring have been the more experienced pitchers, Putz and K-Rod, Feliciano and Green. The rookie Parnell gave us 4 scoreless innings while the very old rookie, Takahashi, gave us 3 scoreless.

Once again, nay-sayers will point to the fact that the above stats mean the “ace” relievers gave up the 8 runs in about 12 innings, an ERA of about 6. But I’m not into nay-saying today, and none of them lost the game, which is what this is all about after all.

The schedule is interesting as our heroes have to face the Braves again for three so soon after having had success against them in Atlanta. So the Braves will be looking for payback. Then it’s off to San Francisco for four and Los Angeles for 3, a key road trip against two teams with really good pitching and one that has batters to match.

And, if the Mets batters haven’t been discouraged after that trip, they then continue on to Boston for three. As it would be futile to determine the Boston starters that far in advance, let’s just say that the Red Sox have the best pitching in both leagues.

So it’s imperative that the Mets beat the teams they’re supposed to beat, the Braves and the Giants, so they can be as upbeat as possible against the cream, the Dodgers and the Red Sox. Of course, that’s why they play the games and it should be a lot of good baseball.

Joba’s given up 7 runs in the first innings of his last two games and Yankee fans will have to hope it’s an aberration. Time will tell but I think it’s the latter, his record doesn’t really indicate any big troubles in his first inning of work.

Obviously, if he could come in as a reliever and blow everybody away, every relief appearance basically a first inning stint, he’s quite capable of pitching well in the first inning of a start. He just needs to make himself feel the heat. A good pitching coach might point out the significance of getting off to a good start.

In other baseball news, Evan Longoria has 44 rbi’s already, an insane number in 32 games, basically a fifth of a season, and that projects out to five times 44 or 220 ribbies for the season. As the Scooter would’ve commented, “Holy Cow.”

Pro basketball continues to leave me cold. Despite the wondrous Bulls-Celtics series and the Celts’ continuing intrigue against a very tough Orlando, I find the games impossible to watch. The commercials kill the game, no continuity whatsoever is allowed for the game itself. It’s just a platform for commercials.

It would help if I thought the games were on the level. But I’m just convinced these playoffs are just foreplay for the big Lebron-Kobe matchup. Fouls continue to be called totally arbitrarily, and in at least one instance, the absence of an obvious call cost the Mavericks what could have been a big, big game.

The NBA admitted the error. Thanks, really!

The Day After

Thank God for Thanksgiving but especial thanks for the day after. That’s the day the family’s all together but the company’s gone home. That’s the day for pancakes in the morning and no cooking or cleaning up to do. That it’s also about the time I overfill the furnace with water and spend the night with the comforting but eerie sounds of clanking pipes is even easily forgotten, so full of anticipation as I am for the coming day.
Yeah, Friday after. That’s the day you do reflect, the good things, the bad things, all that, and, for a sports nut, it’s an affirmation of the normal state of things. In the NFL, it’s the dominance of Dallas, and the putridness of Detroit. In most Fantasy Leagues, it’s the last week of the regular season, and Sunday we’ll find out which brainiacs made the playoffs.

It’s also a big, big day in college football, the only day in fact that some fans pay any attention at all. This day may not be as good as some of those I recall from the past, but it will still be pretty good. It’s the height of the season and usually chock full of regional matchups that decide who’ll have bragging rights for another year. And to hell with the BCS and Bowl Games.
Not that I’m even into college football. But I still remember with a good deal of fondness those Turkey Friday games between Alabama and Auburn and Oklahoma vs. Nebraska. I don’t see those on the schedule today, I suppose Nebraska has slipped and Auburn, who knows, I couldn’t really tell you.

But still, I’m watching Pitt against West Virginia right now and that’s not all bad. West Virginia (7-3 overall, 4-1 in the Big East) can tie an unlikely Cincinnati team for first place in the Big East with a win. Dave Wannstedt’s Pitt team is also 7-3 overall but just 3-2 in the conference. They’re leading 7-0 right now and WVU looks like it’ll be coming back.
LSU plays Arkansas later on CBS, and I have no clue as to why. Both teams just aren’t that good, not this year anyway, the same goes for Colorado playing Nebraska, although Nebraska still has some hopes. Then the late game features UCLA and Arizona State, both with no hopes whatsoever of winning anything, and this couldn’t even be characterized as a regional rivalry. If anybody can tell me what the sports networks are thinking, please drop me a line.

Still, I’m determined to enjoy the day. It’ll be this Pitt game and then Colorado-Nebraska. I’ll tune in to some NBA action later on, see what Charles is up to. (If you’re asking Charles who?, this column is not for you. Click elsewhere. Thanks). But Miami will be up against Phoenix at 8 and Shaq’s always a giggle. Then Dallas vs. the Lakers and there’s Dirk and Kobe. Life is good.
But maybe not if you’re a West Virginia fan. Pat White just got smacked down at the two and they’re settling for three. Geez, will Pat White ever graduate? He’s been around forever, it seems.

And we still have Sunday to look forward to. The G-Men might have a real battle on their hands at FedEx Field in Landover vs. the Skins, who’re 7-4 and feature a healthy (supposedly) Clinton Portis, the best running back in the league. Although the Giants beat the Skins in the opener, by a score of just 16-7, the Skins were awful in that game, the first under new coach Jim Zorn, and they’ll be missing the big mouth Brandon Jacobs and the big hamstring Plaxico Burress.
Can the G- Men do to the Skins what they did to the Cardinals a week ago? I don’t think so, especially in the aftermath of the Eagles convincing drubbing of Arizona yesterday. Arizona just couldn’t stop the run again, or any piece of the Eagles game, for that matter.

A look at the stats reveals some interesting data. The Skins rate very favorably on defense when compared to the Giants, both against the run and the pass. And, if they can stop Derrick Ward and maybe even Ahmad Bradshaw, who never seems to get enough playing time, it’ll get very hairy indeed.
The Giants are comfortably ahead. They don’t really have to win while the Skins will be fighting for their playoff lives. They play smart defense usually, but the Giants have some smart fellows themselves, especially at the receiver position with Toomer and Steve Smith and even Plax’s backup, Domenick Hixon, looked really good vs. Arizona.

Of course, you have to like the Giants chances, what with that offensive line, and Eli standing tall over center. I don’t think Jason Campbell measures up. But that’s why they play the game. Will a chance at knocking the Skins out of the playoffs be motivation enough for the Giants to overcome that bruising Skins running game? And if they do stop that, will they forget about Santana Moss?
The much-ballyhooed Jets will be playing at 4 on Sunday. They’re coming off two gigantic wins, versus the Pats and then the now once-defeated Titans. They’ll be going against the crazy Broncos, a team coming off a horrible 31-10 loss to the lowly Oakland Raiders.

But the Raiders do have a great defense against the pass, just ask Jake Delhomme. The Jets secondary may look like cake in comparison. Despite the presence of Darrell Revis in that backfield, they’ve allowed 148 first downs through the air.
And, if anybody can put the ball in the air, it’s Denver QB Jay Cutler. He’s got some nifty receivers too, a fast and huge fella named Brandon Marshall on one side and a tricky Eddy Royal on the other. They’ve got two tough tight ends that can both catch the ball in Scheffler and Graham too. It could be that they’ll master the porous Jets passing defense.

Yeah, Thanksgiving Friday, the best day of the year.

D'Antoni Sono Buoni

After hearing a good deal of nonsense about how Mark Jackson was promised the job, and how it's somehow "confusing" that a bad team would hire a good coach, I was happy to hear both Mike D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh debunk those rumors and express some difficulty in even understanding why a bad team could NOT hire a good coach.

The shock jocks on WFAN and YES did it again though. I keep thinking they can't say anything even more shocking than the day before, but they surpassed themselves today.

One key piece of research, I would think, that one should do before an interview is to know the interviewee's name. After two or three times calling the coach "D'Antonio", they finally managed to correct themselves. They later excused themselves by saying that "a lot of people have gotten it wrong" and "it's a hard name".

I keep asking myself WHY I continue to listen. The answer lies in the fact that their show gets ALL the important interviews. Their show has become so popular over the years that it has become a huge sports forum. And that's to every sports fan's benefit, but, still, for two Italian-American interviewers to botch another Italian-American's name is embarrassing to me, both as an Italian-American and as a New Yorker.

In any event, so far so good with D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh too, for that matter. D'Antoni made it clear that he can coach, he can be flexible, that he didn't come to New York just for the money, that he and his family both love New York, and that he gets along very well with Stephon Marbury.

He also explained that he coaches to the strengths of his team, and he had very skilled offensive players in Phoenix as well as a 6'7" center. He also had to defend his record in Phoenix, as if that record needed any defending, but he made it clear that they lost to San Antonio (THAT'S where they got the "D'Antonio" from, I guess), arguably the best team in the NBA for years.

Mr. Walsh made it clear that he NEVER offered the job to Mark Jackson, that he liked Mark Jackson very much, but that Mike D’Antoni was the most qualified person for the job. And nobody could argue with that, not even those two. He made it clear that, before making any big decisions on personnel, he would first determine his current player’s talents, in what scheme they would be most effective, and only then would he make decisions on acquisitions.

Walsh also made it clear that he would never swap a player with just one year left on his contract for one with three or four years to expiry. That, of course, was a discussion with respect to Marbury, who, although he will earn (well, maybe “earn” is too strong a word) about 21 million dollars next year, it will only be for one more year, and, besides, he made no bones about the fact that he recognizes that Stephon is a very talented player.

Walsh also answered the question as to whether he ever said that he wanted a defensive coach. While he didn’t say that, he clarified that defense is certainly important and stressed the significance of point differential rather than points made or given up on either side of the ball.

Given the stated process, it’s hard to believe that progress will come quickly for the Knicks. That being said, however, Walsh has pulled rabbits out of a hat before with Indianapolis.

And D’Antoni has had success at every stop. From West Virginia to the NBA,ABA and Italian League as a player, than as a coach, he’s been part of winning teams and sometimes championships. Of course, he had incredible success with Phoenix of the NBA. And, judging from the reactions of the Nets’ Boki Nachbar to D’Antoni’s hiring, he’s also a dream to play for.

So what’s not to like? I’m not sure I like his mustache, but I struggle to find anything else. In fact, for as much flak as Knicks owner James Dolan has had to take over the years, he seems to have hired the best possible choices for both GM and now coach.

Let’s see what transpires though. Let’s see what happens when D’Antoni runs smack into the horror of Eddy Curry as center. That to me is a gigantic problem, and will no doubt be D’Antoni’s biggest challenge. There are Marbury, of course, David Lee, Jamal Crawford and Zak Randolph with talent, but the rest of the roster is expendable. Combined with the fact that a few of those expendable players have a few years left on their contracts, some of the problems become long-term ones.

There’s always hope though, especially with good people at the top. And that appears to be in place. If they can sign their probable lottery pick in this year’s draft, success could be right around the corner. After all, Isiah’s team was doing creditably just two years ago before injuries to Crawford and Lee.

When Crawford and Lee returned, however, there was Zak Randolph, who, for whatever reason, never worked out, although he should have been a big help. His stats had been among the highest for power forwards in the entire league. Unfortunately, the fragile Curry never seemed to recover from the challenge of having another inside scoring presence. And neither player played defense.

Isiah always seemed to think he could just acquire good players, and everything else would work itself out. Maybe they did to his mind in Detroit. Isiah never flinched when asked about how Marbury would mesh with another fine scoring point guard, or how Randolph and Curry would co-exist. Of course, they never did, and I wonder to this day whether Isiah is worried yet.

Probably not, he’s got some guaranteed money coming his way. And, no doubt, he’ll still be useful as a consultant. As long as the questions are pointed to past experiences, everything should be just fine in Knicks-land.