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3rd February, 2010 - 11:36 am
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| Current Features |
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PLAYER RANKINGS: NBA Rookie Review – Version 2.0
After a strong run by Brandon Jennings in the first month of the season, Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry as the clear leaders to take home the hardware.
TEAM RANKINGS: NBA Team Rankings For Early March
While the Cavaliers are an immovable force at the top of our rankings, the Jazz are now ranked second ahead of the Celtics, Magic and Lakers.
STANDING 10: The Best 90 NBA Jam Nominees
In what will be (and already is) a hotly-debated topic on basketball and video game sites and forums, let's go through each of the NBA's 30 teams and "suggest" who should be featured in what will be one of the most anticipated games of the year.
MOCK DRAFT: 2009 NBA Mock Draft, Version 11.0 (Draft Day Edition)
How will the 2009 NBA Draft shake out? We're only hours away from finding out.
LOCKER TALK: Nash, Cleveland, & Orlando
Steve Nash could draw trade interest this summer and Cleveland isn’t overlooking Orlando…
CLASSICS: Hakeem Vs. Ewing: Who Was The Better Center?
Born within six months of each other in opposite corners of the world, two seven footers who are finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall are two of the best ever to play the center position.
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By Jeff Risdon
All the attention is shined on Miami and the Super Bowl, but that doesn’t mean other things aren’t happening in the world of the NFL.
--The big news surrounding the Big Game is Colts DE Dwight Freeney’s questionable status with a potentially torn ligament in his ankle. Much like the Saints, I expect to see Freeney on the field. However, his injury will certainly impact his ability to explode off of planting his foot, which is a critical weapon in his arsenal. And for all the “Hacksaw Reynolds played with a broken leg” talk...the Rams lost that game.
--The Chicago Bears have finally found someone willing to become their Offensive Coordinator. The team hired Mike Martz, architect of the Greatest Show on Turf a decade ago but more recently seen turning the Detroit and San Francisco offenses into laughingstocks. Martz has a history with Head Coach Lovie Smith, who clearly only feels comfortable working with old colleagues. The protracted search involved at least 10 other names either refusing the job or heading elsewhere while the Bears twiddled their thumbs.
I happen to like Mike Martz as a person, but this hiring has epic fail written all over it. As proven in his Detroit and San Francisco stops, Martz’s complex deep passing game is a disaster without a very good offensive line and receivers that run great routes. Chicago has neither, and Martz wasn’t hired to be anything other than what he’s been in the past. One of the main reasons the Bears had so much trouble filling the position is the specter that the entire staff is essentially on lame-duck status, and I’m afraid this hiring cements that. The Bears also hired former Seahawks coach Mike DeBord as tight ends coach.
--Jets QB Mark Sanchez is having surgery on his troublesome left knee. The rookie sensation won’t require surgery on his right knee, the one which caused him to miss a game. The surgery is scheduled for the very near future and The Sanchize should be ready for July mini-camp.
--Could Julius Peppers be on the move? That answer is affirmative if you ask Peppers’ agent, Carl Carey. The team used the franchise tag on Peppers last year and has the ability to do the same this offseason, as they two sides have been unable to reach an agreement on a long-term deal. The defensive end would become the biggest fish in the free agent pool, perhaps commanding as much as $15M/yr., a price the Panthers simply will not afford.
As Steve Reed points out in the above linked piece, it’s puzzling that the Panthers haven’t at least come out and stated they’ll use the franchise tag for the purpose of getting something back via trade. Peppers has had ups and downs on the field, but letting him just walk away with zero compensation would be a major blow to Carolina, which is without a 1st round pick already.
--Cardinals QB Kurt Warner retired on Friday, hanging up his cleats after leading the Cardinals twice as many playoff wins (4) in the last two years than in the franchise’s prior 88 years. This has spurred some debate about Warner being deserving of honor in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In my opinion, it’s not even open to debate--Warner absolutely belongs.
A quick comparison between Warner and a QB who was a no-doubt 1st ballot HOF’er, Dan Marino:
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Warner ranks 2nd in all-time in completion percentage, 7th in yards per attempt, 5th in adjusted yards per pass, 6th in career QB rating, and a QB+ rating (100 is league average) of 117, a 9-5 playoff record, and 3 trips to the Super Bowl, winning one.
- Marino ranks 38th in completion percentage, 39th in yards per attempt, 14th in adjusted yards per pass, 19th in career QB rating, with a QB+ rating of 113. His playoff record was 8-10 and he appeared in one Super Bowl, which he lost.
- Marino put up bigger raw numbers, but that’s a function of him ranking 2nd all-time in attempts per game and playing several more seasons. Warner bests him in INT percentage and yards per game.
Any way you slice it, Warner is the superior QB. The numbers favor Warner, and the playoff success favors Warner, especially when you consider he did it with the moribund Rams and inept Cardinals. Marino took over a team that had just been in the Super Bowl and featured the #1 scoring defense in the league, led by a Hall of Fame coach, and yet he could never win more than one playoff game in any season except his second year. If Dan Marino is a Hall of Famer, then there’s simply no sane argument that Kurt Warner isn’t one.
--Speaking of the Hall of Fame, this year’s class will be announced Saturday. The finalists are pretty much all worthy of enshrinement, but my choice for the 7: Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Rickey Jackson, Charles Haley, Dick Lebeau, Cris Carter, and Shannon Sharpe.
--Jets Coach Rex Ryan has been fined $50k by the team for flipping the bird at an MMA event in Miami. He could also face punishment from the NFL. Somehow I don’t think he cares, and it certainly hasn’t hurt his “conquering hero” treatment from rabid Jets fans, who lap up every bit of his bravado and braggadocio.
--Vice President of Officiating Mike Pereira is retiring in April, and he will be replaced by Carl Johnson. Pereira has earned a reputation for his candor regarding the performance of his officials. Johnson has been a line judge in the league for several years and is widely respected by both his peers and coaches.
--The NFLPA scored a victory on Monday when a Special Master ruled the NFL may not do away with its supplemental revenue plan. The independent arbiter sided with the players union, who argued that the NFL required consent of the NFLPA to make fundamental alterations to the existing CBA. That’s a key point, because the current CBA has yet to expire. As you would expect, the NFL plans to appeal in federal court. The New York Times also reported today that representatives from both sides will meet this week in hopes of negotiating the next agreement, though the sides remain far apart on many issues. |
