Why is baseball the only sport where people complain about interleague play? First off I think that interleague play is overrated. Sure, some of these series used to be big rivalries, and some of them still are big rivalries, but for the most part MLB is just making a big deal out of nothing. As a Cardinals fan I enjoy watching the Cards Royals "rivalry" every year, but it is definitely nothing compared to the Cards Reds rivalry or the Cards Cubs rivalry. If the Cardinals were to get swept by the Royals this weekend I would be disappointed, but I would also be disappointed if Seattle swept the Cardinals. These games such as Cards Royals or Giants A's are not getting the fans excited every year because the games are not really any more important than any other game. In fact some of these games are less important than normal games. Sure, if the Giants had back to back series with the A's and the Rockies, they would want to do well in both series, but the Rockies series is much more important than the A's series, even though the Giants and A's have the "extremely competitive" Bay Bridge Series. MLB should stop making such a big deal out of all these "rivalries" that they have and just set up some games every year that will be fun for the fans. Interleague play should be used to get teams out of the normal routine of seeing the same teams day in and day out, and create some interesting matchups that fans do not normally get to see.
People who are complaining about how unfair interleague play is also need to stop. Sure some teams are going to have harder opponents than other teams, but it does no good to sit around and complain about it. MLB does not have time to sit around and make sure that every team has a perfect schedule and that every team will get to face opponents with the same record. It is a nearly impossible task, so stop complaining about it. One of the biggest complaints this season is the matchups between the NL Central and the AL East. The Brewers are stuck playing the Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees, while the Cardinals are playing the Rays, Orioles, and Blue Jays. Sure, maybe this is a little unfair, but is it really a big deal? Boston just got back over the .500 mark, and the Orioles, the worst team in the AL East, are only five games back of the first place Rays. Is there really that big of a difference in these teams records that we just need to throw interleague play away.
The only real complaint that I have about interleague play, are the amount of games that are played. Most teams have about fifteen interleague games, with some teams having up to twenty some years. This is about 10% of a team's schedule. I think the number of interleague games should be cut in half, with teams playing three interleague series instead of six. The teams could play their "rivalry" series and then two other series that MLB sets up. I think that this would solve a lot of the complaints about interleague play because it would not be such a factor in the MLB season. MLB should definitely not throw away interleague play, but they could make some changes to make it a little better. The main thing that needs to happen though, is that people need to stop trying to get rid of interleague play, because although it is not perfect it is still interesting to watch and MLB should keep it. And to be honest, it is not really that big of a deal.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Chicago Bulls Reminiscent of Past Cavaliers Teams
As the NBA season continued to progress this year I continually thought about how similar the Chicago Bulls were to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the past two seasons. Their records are similar, the makeup of the teams is similar, and the outcome will be similar. Over the past two seasons the Cavaliers won 61 games (2009-10) and 66 games (2008-09). This year the Chicago Bulls finished the season with 62 wins. All three teams were also the No. 1 seeds in the playoffs each season. As I also mentioned the makeup of the teams are also similar. Each year the league MVP has been featured on each of these teams, with Derrick Rose winning it this year and LeBron James winning it the previous two years. The similarities between the team's rosters lie deeper than just having the MVP. The three teams all feature a respectable starting five and mediocre benches. This is the biggest similarity. As you look at the Cavaliers of the past two seasons they featured players like Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Mo Williams. While with this year's Bulls team we see players like Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, and Kyle Korver. When I look at these four players, who were the key players on these teams (excluding the MVPs James and Rose), I see basically the same four players skills wise, the only exceptions being that the Bulls are slightly younger than the Cavaliers and that Luol Deng is a better player than Anderson Varejao. Besides these two differences though these teams are almost exactly the same, and their records show it.
This is why I think the Bulls will come to the same fate that the Cavaliers did for the past two years, and all the other seasons they had LeBron for that matter, and will not win a championship. The Cavaliers ran into a well balanced Orlando Magic team in 2009 with Dwight Howard dominating the paint and guys who could shoot from the perimeter with Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. In 2010, last season, the Cavaliers ran into the Big Three (Four if you count Rajon Rondo) of the Boston Celtics and were once again overpowered by a well balanced attack. This year the Chicago Bulls have run into the Miami Heat, and although the series has not been determined yet, I see the same thing happening to Chicago that happened to Cleveland for the past couple season. The well balanced attack from the Miami Heat's Big Three will be too much for the Bulls to handle and they will fall to the Heat in six games, just like the Cavs fell to the Celtics and Magic in six games.
Another thing I find interesting about these two teams, is the amount of pressure placed on the MVPs. Sure as an MVP there is going to be pressure placed on you to perform to help your team win, but both Rose and James seem to need career games for their teams to win in the playoffs. When LeBron played in the series against Orlando, he scored 49 points in Game One, but his team still came up one point short, and we saw this pressure placed on him to perform at his highest possible level night in and night out when Cleveland was in the playoffs. This is why he left. He did not want to have to take the heat every night and know that when he showed up for the game that he needed to score 50 points for his team to win (by the way I used the word heat on purpose in this sentence). He wanted to be able to show up and no that as long as he played a solid game 20-30 points, his team would have an opportunity to win, and that is the situation he is now in with the Heat. Derrick Rose is under the same kind of pressure. On Wednesday night in Game Two Rose scored 21 points, and everyone seems to be talking about what an off night Derrick Rose had. Before I wrote this article I just read about what a great game Kevin Durant had for the Thunder, and he scored 24 points. Wow three more points, big deal. The difference is that the Thunder beat the Mavericks, the Bulls did not beat the Heat. Derrick Rose almost seems destined for a career identical to that of LeBron James. That is why the Bulls tried to sign James in the off season, because they saw this happening. The Bulls have a great young talent, but they do not seem to have enough around him to beat the best teams. Just like LeBron suffered to the Celtics and the Magic to some extent, Derrick Rose seems destined to suffer to the Heat.
There still is time though. Derrick Rose's career in Chicago is just beginning, and although I think Miami will beat the Bulls in this series, the Bulls can still develop a young star or trade for a star to complement their point guard. The Bulls best option is for Joakim Noah to become a star. Noah is a young player just like Rose who definitely has the potential to develop into an elite player and complement Derrick Rose. I think the key to Chicago escaping the fate that Cleveland just suffered, with coming so close to a championship, but continually falling short, is for Joakim Noah to develop into a star. If the Bulls can do this and win championships then they may be able to keep their MVP around and avoid him leaving to create a superstar team to compete with the Heat. You never know though, the superstar team might just land in Chicago.
Ryan Bothmann
This is why I think the Bulls will come to the same fate that the Cavaliers did for the past two years, and all the other seasons they had LeBron for that matter, and will not win a championship. The Cavaliers ran into a well balanced Orlando Magic team in 2009 with Dwight Howard dominating the paint and guys who could shoot from the perimeter with Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. In 2010, last season, the Cavaliers ran into the Big Three (Four if you count Rajon Rondo) of the Boston Celtics and were once again overpowered by a well balanced attack. This year the Chicago Bulls have run into the Miami Heat, and although the series has not been determined yet, I see the same thing happening to Chicago that happened to Cleveland for the past couple season. The well balanced attack from the Miami Heat's Big Three will be too much for the Bulls to handle and they will fall to the Heat in six games, just like the Cavs fell to the Celtics and Magic in six games.
Another thing I find interesting about these two teams, is the amount of pressure placed on the MVPs. Sure as an MVP there is going to be pressure placed on you to perform to help your team win, but both Rose and James seem to need career games for their teams to win in the playoffs. When LeBron played in the series against Orlando, he scored 49 points in Game One, but his team still came up one point short, and we saw this pressure placed on him to perform at his highest possible level night in and night out when Cleveland was in the playoffs. This is why he left. He did not want to have to take the heat every night and know that when he showed up for the game that he needed to score 50 points for his team to win (by the way I used the word heat on purpose in this sentence). He wanted to be able to show up and no that as long as he played a solid game 20-30 points, his team would have an opportunity to win, and that is the situation he is now in with the Heat. Derrick Rose is under the same kind of pressure. On Wednesday night in Game Two Rose scored 21 points, and everyone seems to be talking about what an off night Derrick Rose had. Before I wrote this article I just read about what a great game Kevin Durant had for the Thunder, and he scored 24 points. Wow three more points, big deal. The difference is that the Thunder beat the Mavericks, the Bulls did not beat the Heat. Derrick Rose almost seems destined for a career identical to that of LeBron James. That is why the Bulls tried to sign James in the off season, because they saw this happening. The Bulls have a great young talent, but they do not seem to have enough around him to beat the best teams. Just like LeBron suffered to the Celtics and the Magic to some extent, Derrick Rose seems destined to suffer to the Heat.
There still is time though. Derrick Rose's career in Chicago is just beginning, and although I think Miami will beat the Bulls in this series, the Bulls can still develop a young star or trade for a star to complement their point guard. The Bulls best option is for Joakim Noah to become a star. Noah is a young player just like Rose who definitely has the potential to develop into an elite player and complement Derrick Rose. I think the key to Chicago escaping the fate that Cleveland just suffered, with coming so close to a championship, but continually falling short, is for Joakim Noah to develop into a star. If the Bulls can do this and win championships then they may be able to keep their MVP around and avoid him leaving to create a superstar team to compete with the Heat. You never know though, the superstar team might just land in Chicago.
Ryan Bothmann
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
How Miami Wins Game 2
Ok, first of all even if Miami does lose the game tonight the series if far from over (even though ESPN has created a huge story about this being it for the Heat if they lose tonight). It would be a huge win for Miami though if they can win tonight and there are five things the Heat need to do if they want to win Game Two this evening.
1) LeBron James CAN NOT be outplayed by Luol Deng. Sure Deng is a great player, but you can not have the second or maybe even third best player on the Bulls outplaying Miami's best player (sorry to anyone who thinks Wade is Miami's best player, but he is not). Deng had 21 points and seven boards in Sunday night's game while Lebron only had 15 points, six boards, and six assists. LeBron does not need to be amazing and put 40 or 50 points (although I won't complain if he does), but he needs to outplay Deng and try to score in the 20 point range while holding Deng to under 20 points.
2) You will not beat any team in the NBA if you give up 19 offensive rebounds. Chicago had 19 offensive boards in Game One, Miami only had six. This was the main key to the Bulls winning Game One because at the end of the day Miami shot 47.1% from the field while Chicago shot 43.7% from the field. How did Chicago get so many more points than Miami? Because of the offensive boards and turning the ball over less than the Heat, the Bulls were able to take nineteen more shots in Game One than Miami did.
3) Get to the line. Miami was 15-15 shooting free throws in Game One. This is great! The only problem is fifteen shots at the line is not enough. I have seen games where LeBron alone gets to the line more than twenty times. Miami needs to exploit this and get to the line more.
4) DEFENSE!!! Dwayne Wade -22, Chris Bosh -15, LeBron James -14. There is no chance that you will win if your three best players all have a negative +/- rating (unless some other guy shows up and drops in 50). Play some hard defense against Chicago, don't give up 103 points to them. Do what you have done to teams all season and win by keeping teams around 80-89 points and shut down the Bulls offense.
5) Play your game. Whatever Erik Spoelstra tried with playing small against the Bulls, trying to outrun them, and all this crap, DID NOT WORK AT ALL, don't try it again. Put the ball in the hands of the Big Three and let them win the game by playing hard defense and by doing what they have done all season long.
If Miami can do these five things, or even some of them, it will go a long way in determining whether or not they win Game Two against the Chicago Bulls.
Ryan Bothmann
1) LeBron James CAN NOT be outplayed by Luol Deng. Sure Deng is a great player, but you can not have the second or maybe even third best player on the Bulls outplaying Miami's best player (sorry to anyone who thinks Wade is Miami's best player, but he is not). Deng had 21 points and seven boards in Sunday night's game while Lebron only had 15 points, six boards, and six assists. LeBron does not need to be amazing and put 40 or 50 points (although I won't complain if he does), but he needs to outplay Deng and try to score in the 20 point range while holding Deng to under 20 points.
2) You will not beat any team in the NBA if you give up 19 offensive rebounds. Chicago had 19 offensive boards in Game One, Miami only had six. This was the main key to the Bulls winning Game One because at the end of the day Miami shot 47.1% from the field while Chicago shot 43.7% from the field. How did Chicago get so many more points than Miami? Because of the offensive boards and turning the ball over less than the Heat, the Bulls were able to take nineteen more shots in Game One than Miami did.
3) Get to the line. Miami was 15-15 shooting free throws in Game One. This is great! The only problem is fifteen shots at the line is not enough. I have seen games where LeBron alone gets to the line more than twenty times. Miami needs to exploit this and get to the line more.
4) DEFENSE!!! Dwayne Wade -22, Chris Bosh -15, LeBron James -14. There is no chance that you will win if your three best players all have a negative +/- rating (unless some other guy shows up and drops in 50). Play some hard defense against Chicago, don't give up 103 points to them. Do what you have done to teams all season and win by keeping teams around 80-89 points and shut down the Bulls offense.
5) Play your game. Whatever Erik Spoelstra tried with playing small against the Bulls, trying to outrun them, and all this crap, DID NOT WORK AT ALL, don't try it again. Put the ball in the hands of the Big Three and let them win the game by playing hard defense and by doing what they have done all season long.
If Miami can do these five things, or even some of them, it will go a long way in determining whether or not they win Game Two against the Chicago Bulls.
Ryan Bothmann
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Williams Not Irving Should Go No. 1
On Tuesday night the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Draft Lottery, and thus will have the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft. Most of the talk has centered around the Cavs making Duke point guard Kyrie Irving the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft. Kyrie Irving reminds me a lot of Chris Paul. He is a great player to build a franchise around, he can score, but most importantly he can put his teammates into positions where they will succeed. This sounds like the perfect fit for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After going through the departure of LeBron James the Cavs can use this No. 1 overall pick to find a new franchise player and thus start over and rebuild their team. Kyrie Irving is the perfect player to do this, but the Cavaliers were also awarded the No. 4 overall pick in this year's draft, and therefore there is a better option for Cleveland.
Derrick Williams is arguably the second best player coming out of college this season. The Arizona forward really came to light in the NCAA tournament when he helped his Wildcats rout Kyrie Irving and the Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet Sixteen. Williams took charge in the game scoring 32 points, while pulling down 13 boards, and adding on two assists. Williams, a sophomore, finished the season averaging 19.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. One of the major problems with Derrick Williams is the assist totals. Sure he is known for is scoring, but 1.1 assists per game is troubling, especially when you look at the stats from his entire season and see that the most assists he had in a single game was three, which he managed to do on only three separate occasions. Williams is definitely known mainly for his scoring and rebounding and he reminds me of Kevin Durant. Durant is also known as a big time scorer, and was a player who really emerged as a star in the NCAA Tournament. It has taken some time, but Durant has now become one of the best players in the game.
Ok, so if the Cavaliers had just one pick in the draft this year I think it would be and easy choice, boom, Kyrie Irving. Like I said earlier though, the Cavaliers also hold the No. 4 pick in the draft as well. Some of the players who could fall to the Cavs at the No. 4 spot are players like Enes Kanter, Jan Vesely, Jonas Valanciunas, Brandon Knight, and Kemba Walker. Kanter, Vesley, and Valanciunas are all forwards and would be the likely choices for the Cavaliers if they take Irving with the No. 1 pick. Here is the thing that I do not like about this decision. These three players all come from overseas and did not play college basketball in the United States, there have been five big name players who have done this since the year 2005, Andrew Bogut, Andrea Bargnani, Yi Jianlian, Danilo Gallinari, and Ricky Rubio. Sure with the exception of Ricky Rubio, who by the way plays for Barcelona now and never actually played in the NBA, all of these players have had solid careers. The only problem with this is that these are not players who are supposed to be having solid careers. These are the players that teams are trying to build their franchises around, these are players that need to be superstars. Bogut and Bargnani were both No. 1 picks in their respective drafts and for their careers have averaged 12.7 and 15.1 points per game respectively. And of course they have both definitely showed up in the playoffs averaging 8.6 and 8.9 points per game respectively (I hope you noted sarcasm in that last sentence). As for Jianlian had Gallinari they both do not even play for the teams that drafted them anymore and that's because they both have averaged 8.5 and 13.8 points per game respectively. Even though these two guys were not No. 1 overall picks, they were still No. 6 overall picks, still franchise players.
The last player to come overseas who was actually really good was Darko Milicic (more sarcasm). You know Darko Milicic the guy who the Pistons took in the 2003 NBA Draft after LeBron James and before Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Oh yeah, you probably do not remember because he averaged less than two points a game when playing for the Pistons and has averaged an impressive 6.1 points per game throughout his career. Ok, but to be serious now. The best player who has come overseas in recent years has definitely been Yao Ming (not being sarcastic anymore, I think Yao Ming is a beast). Sure Ming has suffered numerous injuries throughout his career, but when healthy Ming has been able to average as high as 25 points per game in his career. Ming was drafted in the 2002 NBA Draft, meaning that throughout all of these years there have really only been two successful overseas NBA players, with Pau Gasol being drafted in 2001. Now, if we go back to the present day, and you look at Kanter, Vesley, and Valanciunas, no matter how good the scouts say they are, because they said Rubio was great too, are you really willing to take a chance on them. If you still are willing to take a chance on them you probably need to reread the last paragraph starting with the part where I show the stats to prove what a bad decision this would be. The best thing for the Cavaliers to do is to stay away from these overseas players.
So let us now find out what the best option for the Cleveland Cavaliers is. Right now the Cavs need help everywhere. The best option for them is to fill two needs by drafting a guard and a forward. So if we take out the overseas players and narrow down our options we come down to the guards being Kyrie Irving, Brandon Knight, and Kemba Walker, and the forward being Derrick Williams. Once again I will state that Kyrie Irving is the best player in this year's draft, but Derrick Williams is not far below him. The Cavaliers best scenario is to take Derrick Williams with the No. 1 overall pick and then to use their No. 4 overall pick on either Kemba Walker or Brandon Knight. The debate between which one of these players is better we will save for another day (by the way Kemba's the man, but I love Brandon too), but the fact is the Cavaliers will be in better shape if they take Derrick Williams first and then find a guard to complement him with their No. 4 pick. We can only hope that Dan Gilbert also sees things this way, or else he will be unable to fulfill his promise to the Cleveland people and win a ring before King James.
Ryan Bothmann
P.S.- Mr. Gilbert, tune in to ABC anytime in early June if you are interested in seeing King James win that ring.
Derrick Williams is arguably the second best player coming out of college this season. The Arizona forward really came to light in the NCAA tournament when he helped his Wildcats rout Kyrie Irving and the Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet Sixteen. Williams took charge in the game scoring 32 points, while pulling down 13 boards, and adding on two assists. Williams, a sophomore, finished the season averaging 19.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. One of the major problems with Derrick Williams is the assist totals. Sure he is known for is scoring, but 1.1 assists per game is troubling, especially when you look at the stats from his entire season and see that the most assists he had in a single game was three, which he managed to do on only three separate occasions. Williams is definitely known mainly for his scoring and rebounding and he reminds me of Kevin Durant. Durant is also known as a big time scorer, and was a player who really emerged as a star in the NCAA Tournament. It has taken some time, but Durant has now become one of the best players in the game.
Ok, so if the Cavaliers had just one pick in the draft this year I think it would be and easy choice, boom, Kyrie Irving. Like I said earlier though, the Cavaliers also hold the No. 4 pick in the draft as well. Some of the players who could fall to the Cavs at the No. 4 spot are players like Enes Kanter, Jan Vesely, Jonas Valanciunas, Brandon Knight, and Kemba Walker. Kanter, Vesley, and Valanciunas are all forwards and would be the likely choices for the Cavaliers if they take Irving with the No. 1 pick. Here is the thing that I do not like about this decision. These three players all come from overseas and did not play college basketball in the United States, there have been five big name players who have done this since the year 2005, Andrew Bogut, Andrea Bargnani, Yi Jianlian, Danilo Gallinari, and Ricky Rubio. Sure with the exception of Ricky Rubio, who by the way plays for Barcelona now and never actually played in the NBA, all of these players have had solid careers. The only problem with this is that these are not players who are supposed to be having solid careers. These are the players that teams are trying to build their franchises around, these are players that need to be superstars. Bogut and Bargnani were both No. 1 picks in their respective drafts and for their careers have averaged 12.7 and 15.1 points per game respectively. And of course they have both definitely showed up in the playoffs averaging 8.6 and 8.9 points per game respectively (I hope you noted sarcasm in that last sentence). As for Jianlian had Gallinari they both do not even play for the teams that drafted them anymore and that's because they both have averaged 8.5 and 13.8 points per game respectively. Even though these two guys were not No. 1 overall picks, they were still No. 6 overall picks, still franchise players.
The last player to come overseas who was actually really good was Darko Milicic (more sarcasm). You know Darko Milicic the guy who the Pistons took in the 2003 NBA Draft after LeBron James and before Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Oh yeah, you probably do not remember because he averaged less than two points a game when playing for the Pistons and has averaged an impressive 6.1 points per game throughout his career. Ok, but to be serious now. The best player who has come overseas in recent years has definitely been Yao Ming (not being sarcastic anymore, I think Yao Ming is a beast). Sure Ming has suffered numerous injuries throughout his career, but when healthy Ming has been able to average as high as 25 points per game in his career. Ming was drafted in the 2002 NBA Draft, meaning that throughout all of these years there have really only been two successful overseas NBA players, with Pau Gasol being drafted in 2001. Now, if we go back to the present day, and you look at Kanter, Vesley, and Valanciunas, no matter how good the scouts say they are, because they said Rubio was great too, are you really willing to take a chance on them. If you still are willing to take a chance on them you probably need to reread the last paragraph starting with the part where I show the stats to prove what a bad decision this would be. The best thing for the Cavaliers to do is to stay away from these overseas players.
So let us now find out what the best option for the Cleveland Cavaliers is. Right now the Cavs need help everywhere. The best option for them is to fill two needs by drafting a guard and a forward. So if we take out the overseas players and narrow down our options we come down to the guards being Kyrie Irving, Brandon Knight, and Kemba Walker, and the forward being Derrick Williams. Once again I will state that Kyrie Irving is the best player in this year's draft, but Derrick Williams is not far below him. The Cavaliers best scenario is to take Derrick Williams with the No. 1 overall pick and then to use their No. 4 overall pick on either Kemba Walker or Brandon Knight. The debate between which one of these players is better we will save for another day (by the way Kemba's the man, but I love Brandon too), but the fact is the Cavaliers will be in better shape if they take Derrick Williams first and then find a guard to complement him with their No. 4 pick. We can only hope that Dan Gilbert also sees things this way, or else he will be unable to fulfill his promise to the Cleveland people and win a ring before King James.
Ryan Bothmann
P.S.- Mr. Gilbert, tune in to ABC anytime in early June if you are interested in seeing King James win that ring.
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