Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
Sporting Fools
The frequent and occasional humorous musings behind two of the World's greatest underappreciated sports minds.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
NBA Playoffs, Mets, YankeesHave to make this short because I'm headed to the Rays-White Sox game and I have to hit the gym before I do that.
NBA 3-Man Weave
I'm actually going to skip LeBron because...well he's LeBron and nothing short of 40-12-9 will get him on the weave this early in the playoffs. I will say that Cleveland's victory over Detroit was very 1992 Bulls-esque. It was too easy and it could have been a 40-point victory if they wanted it to be one. So onto the weave.
Derrick Rose: This goes without saying. Only second played in league history to go 35 points, 10 assists in playoff debut and equalled the highest point total in an opening playoff game by a rookie. Just an amazing performance with with the only downfall is that he fouled out. Special mention to Joakim Noah's 11 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks. He was a presence and someone's the Celtics really never got a grasp on.
Brandon Bass: The only way to beat a team like the Spurs in the playoffs is with strong bench performances (or Kobe Bryant) and the Mavericks had several but none stood out more than Bass' 14 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. The Spurs look all but dead without Ginobili's energy to carry them through the second half.
Yao Ming: YAO-SERS! I could have easily given this to Aaron Brooks for 27 points and seven dimes, but Houston's in-out game is focused around Yao hitting shots and that's what he did. 24 points, nine boards in 24 minutes and going 9-for-9 from the floor. This should be a competitive series but Saturday night's game was a laugher. Hey Portland, time to put Greg Oden in the starting lineup (those 15 points, five boards didn't go unnoticed by me).
Mets: I love Johan Santana, that's all I need to say.
Yankees: Remember what I saw about the new stadium and how difficult it is to win games initially? Well Cleveland has won 2-of-3 and scored 37 runs going into Sunday's finale. Here's the deal: During those first month's worth of games in the new stadium it's like an experiment for the home team and they are trying to figure out different things because the key for them is long-term success, not one series. So they have questions:
"Will the ball carry to the opposite field better than the old stadium?"
"Does the Bronx wind affect balls in straight center?"
"Will Chien-Ming Wang make it to the third inning this season?"
Anyway for the road team it's just another game in another stadium although I'm sure Eric Wedge is going to be talking to his bosses about adding some of those New Yankee Stadium dimensions at the Jake.
NBA 3-Man Weave
I'm actually going to skip LeBron because...well he's LeBron and nothing short of 40-12-9 will get him on the weave this early in the playoffs. I will say that Cleveland's victory over Detroit was very 1992 Bulls-esque. It was too easy and it could have been a 40-point victory if they wanted it to be one. So onto the weave.
Derrick Rose: This goes without saying. Only second played in league history to go 35 points, 10 assists in playoff debut and equalled the highest point total in an opening playoff game by a rookie. Just an amazing performance with with the only downfall is that he fouled out. Special mention to Joakim Noah's 11 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks. He was a presence and someone's the Celtics really never got a grasp on.
Brandon Bass: The only way to beat a team like the Spurs in the playoffs is with strong bench performances (or Kobe Bryant) and the Mavericks had several but none stood out more than Bass' 14 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. The Spurs look all but dead without Ginobili's energy to carry them through the second half.
Yao Ming: YAO-SERS! I could have easily given this to Aaron Brooks for 27 points and seven dimes, but Houston's in-out game is focused around Yao hitting shots and that's what he did. 24 points, nine boards in 24 minutes and going 9-for-9 from the floor. This should be a competitive series but Saturday night's game was a laugher. Hey Portland, time to put Greg Oden in the starting lineup (those 15 points, five boards didn't go unnoticed by me).
Mets: I love Johan Santana, that's all I need to say.
Yankees: Remember what I saw about the new stadium and how difficult it is to win games initially? Well Cleveland has won 2-of-3 and scored 37 runs going into Sunday's finale. Here's the deal: During those first month's worth of games in the new stadium it's like an experiment for the home team and they are trying to figure out different things because the key for them is long-term success, not one series. So they have questions:
"Will the ball carry to the opposite field better than the old stadium?"
"Does the Bronx wind affect balls in straight center?"
"Will Chien-Ming Wang make it to the third inning this season?"
Anyway for the road team it's just another game in another stadium although I'm sure Eric Wedge is going to be talking to his bosses about adding some of those New Yankee Stadium dimensions at the Jake.
Labels: Baseball, LeBron James, NBA Playoffs, New York Mets, New York Yankees