The Road to Number 1: A Deep Dive into the Last 25 Years of Basketball on Rocky Top and how Tennessee got to Number 1

 

By William Mayfield

For the third week in a row, the University of Tennessee Men’s basketball team sits atop the AP Poll as the number one college basketball team in America. This may come as a shock to many, as it is only Tennessee’s fourth week in program history as number one. While none of the players on this team were even alive 25 years ago, many of the fans that fill Thompson Boling Arena were. As often happens when a team experiences success seemingly out of nowhere, there has been much speculation that many Vol hoops fans are simply “on the bandwagon.” Tennessee certainly isn’t a blue blood basketball school, but they are no stranger to success on the hardwood. As most Vol fans know, there have been periods of success and periods of suffering over the last 25 years for Tennessee basketball. While it has not always been smooth, it sure has been an interesting journey to the top for the Vols.

The Kevin O’Neill Era

Prior to the ’94-’95 season, Tennessee hired Kevin O’Neill to be its 15th basketball coach. There was optimism on the hill after a disappointing 65-90 five-year run from Wade Houston, father of Tennessee legend Allan Houston. O’Neill was coming off back to back 20-win seasons at Marquette and a sweet 16 appearance in the ’93-’94 season. It seemed like a great hire for a once proud Tennessee program.

While Tennessee has often played second fiddle to its neighbors to the north in blue, there was once a time where Tennessee was the center of the college basketball universe. Those were the days of Coach Ray Mears and the “Ernie and Bernie Show.”

Current Vols Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams (pictured on the right) pay homage to Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King’s Sports Illustrated cover (pictured on the left).

Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King left their mark on Rocky Top. In addition to appearing on a Sports Illustrated cover, ESPN made a “30 for 30” documentary  in 2013 on the two friends’ time at Tennessee. Despite their lasting impact and their teams’ 43-12 record from 1975-1977, Tennessee never made it out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament while these two dawned the orange and white.

Tennessee has worn these “throwback” uniforms a handful of times this year as a nod to the program’s history. 

Unfortunately, the Kevin O’Neill experiment never panned out for Tennessee. O’Neill has had problems everywhere he’s been both on and off the floor. His time at Tennessee was marred by his poor relationships with some of his best players, Aaron Green in particular. O’Neill often poked fun at Green for being from the country (Cleveland, TN). He nicknamed him “Hee-Haw” and “Henry the Hick.”

“He’d always poke fun at me for being from the country,” said Green in an interview about O’Neill. “The funny thing is, he was from the country too. But I didn’t feel very comfortable ragging him about it.”

Green went on to be a graduate assistant for Bruce Pearl at Tennessee and is now the head coach at Oak Ridge High School, where he has a 78-14 record in his first three seasons. O’Neill was fired at Tennessee after three years and a 36-47 record.

The Jerry Green Era

In 1997 Tennessee hired Jerry Green to be its 16th basketball coach. Green came from Oregon and was coming off three straight winning seasons for the Ducks.

Despite their lack of success in previous seasons, Tennessee had talent returning and there was optimism. In addition to veteran guard Brandon Wharton, Green brought in two exciting freshmen, Tony Harris and Isaiah Victor, and returned sophomores C.J. Black and Charles Hathaway. This core, along with the addition of All-Sec forwards Vincent Yarbrough and Ron Slay, and NBA lottery pick Marcus Haislip, led to one of the most successful periods in Tennessee basketball history. After a 20-9 season in ’97-’98, the Vols won back to back regular season SEC East Championships in ’98-’99 and ’99-’00. Among the highlights from those two seasons were sweeping Kentucky in ’98-’99 and a Sweet 16 Appearance in ’99-’00.

Unfortunately, Green’s time at Tennessee was in part defined by some of the same trouble that Coach Mears faced, which was underwhelming performance in the postseason. Even the ’99-’00 Sweet 16 team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by an 8-seed North Carolina team. At the time, this was Tennessee’s best chance in school history to reach a Final Four, which still eludes them to this day.

It could be argued that Green was a victim of his own recruiting success. All in all, Green’s run at Tennessee was a good one as he finished with a 89-63 record. Green made the NCAA tournament and won 20+ games each season he coached at Tennessee. However, he never fully connected with the fan base, who’s attendance did not match the team’s success, and he reportedly did not get along with his superiors at Tennessee. A mid-season collapse in his final year and subsequent first round exit at the hands of UNC-Charlotte led to Green’s exit in 2001.

Marcus Haislip (left) and Vincent Yarbrough (right), who played most of their Tennessee careers under Jerry Green, were both drafted in the NBA Draft. Haislip was selected 13th overall in the 2002 draft and Yarbrough was selected 33rd in the same draft. 

The Buzz Peterson Era 

Buzz Peterson took over on Rocky Top in 2001 and Vol fans were hoping he could help Tennessee make the jump that Jerry Green never could. Fans were excited about the young coach who had once been Michael Jordan’s roommate at North Carolina. In fact, Peterson and Jordan remain close and Peterson currently serves as the Assistant General Manager for the Charlotte Hornets, a team Jordan owns roughly 90% of. Peterson came to Tennessee having led his teams to four straight winning seasons at Appalachian State and Tulsa.

Buzz Peterson (left) was a college roomate of Michael Jordan’s (right) at North Carolina. 

Unfortunately, Buzz’s teams went in the opposite direction of Green’s. Despite losing seniors Tony Harris and Isaiah Victor, Tennessee was returning Ron Slay, Vincent Yarbrough, and Marcus Haislip for the ’01-’02 campaign. Optimism abounded, but the Vols only managed a 15-16 record and failed to even make the NIT. Peterson rebounded nicely the next year, going 17-12 after losing two players to the draft, but this was not enough to make the NCAA Tournament. Peterson’s next two seasons were marred in mediocrity and he was relieved of his duties after four seasons and a 61-59 record.

Tennessee was five years removed from true relevance, and their leading scorer over the previous two seasons, Scooter McFadgon, was graduating. The men’s basketball program was becoming a bit of an afterthought, especially given the success of the women’s program and the undying love Vol fans have for their football team. Few had any idea who would replace Buzz Peterson, and honestly, few cared. The day Bruce Pearl was announced as Tennessee’s basketball coach was arguably one of the least eventful days in his six years at Tennessee.

The Bruce Pearl Era  

Unbeknownst to many Tennessee fans, Bruce Pearl was no stranger to success before coming to Tennessee. In nine seasons at Southern Indiana, Pearl won a NCAA Division II National Championship, appeared in two other Division II Final Fours, and never won less than 22 games. Following his stint at Southern Indiana, Pearl took Wisconsin-Milwaukee to two NCAA Tournaments and one Sweet 16 in four seasons as their head coach. The Sweet 16, at that time, was the furthest Tennessee had ever advanced in the NCAA Tournament, so the stage was no issue for Pearl. What Tennessee needed was life in the program, and no one was better suited for that than Pearl.

The ’05-’06 Vols quietly started 6-0, but the wins were over mid-majors and smaller schools. It was not until a 95-78 win over an absolutely loaded 6th ranked Texas team in Austin, coached by Rick Barnes coincidentally, that Tennessee basketball was officially back on the map. A young, relatively unknown former Mr. Basketball from Kentucky named Chris Lofton had 21 points in that game and a resurgent C.J. Watson added 17 to set the tone for what the year was going to be like.

Chris Lofton (right) hitting a crucial three-point shot over Texas star Kevin Durant. Lofton, a lightly recruited former Mr. Basketball in Kentucky, finished his career as one of the most decorated Vols in program history. 

Tennessee was small (6’4 on average) and that fit what Bruce Pearl wanted to do. He loved to press and he let his kids shoot it. Tennessee was never out of the game with their ability to get points in bunches on the break and cause problems for opponents in the back court. The Vols could shoot the lights out, and Chris Lofton was becoming the star that Kentucky so desperately wanted, but passed on when they had their opportunity. Tennessee won the SEC East over eventual national champion Florida, who the Vols beat twice in the regular season. Pearl’s Vols finished 12-4 in the conference and finished the season 22-8 overall. Come selection Sunday, Tennessee fans were pleasantly surprised to see a “2” by their name, the highest seed in school history.

The moment turned out to be a bit too big for the Vols. They fell to Wichita State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament after narrowly escaping an upset against Winthrop in the first round. While there was some disappointment, Pearl had accomplished what he set out to do, which was to put Tennessee back on the map.

The following year, Pearl added an impressive group of recruits in Duke Crews, Wayne Chism, and Ramar Smith. Tennessee had not been able to lure talent like this in many years, and the Vols were slowly but surely resurrecting men’s basketball on campus. The Vols continued to be one of the only programs in the country to have success against Billy Donovan and Florida.

Pearl was becoming known as a master marketer for his success on the recruiting trail and his ability to put butts in the seats. He embraced the success of the women’s team and was close with Coach Summitt. He connected with Vol fans and was not afraid to do or say anything, including painting his chest at a women’s game, to promote the big orange. Further, the excitement generated by Pearl led to renovations to Thompson Boling Arena and the construction of Tennessee’s practice facility, Pratt Pavilion.

Pat Summitt (left) as a cheerleader at a Tennessee men’s basketball game and Bruce Pearl (right) with his chest painted for a Tennessee Lady Vols game

Tennessee broke ground on their state of the art practice facility in August 2006. Pratt Pavilion houses two full-size basketball courts, one for each of Tennessee’s men’s and women’s teams, as well as an athletic training room, a weight room, a film-study room and recruiting lounges. 

As much as people loved Pearl, none of his marketing and charisma would have done much good had he not won on the court. The product Pearl put out there was exciting, and they won much more than they lost. In ’06-’07, the Vols upset Virginia as a 5-seed and faced a 1-seed Ohio State team in the Sweet 16. Despite taking a 20-point lead, Tennessee fell by a point as Ramar Smith’s last second shot attempt was blocked by future number one overall NBA draft pick Greg Oden. Despite the loss, Tennessee was young, and expectations were sky high for the following year.

The Vols started the ’07-’08 year 24-2 and were ranked 2nd in the nation. Chris Lofton had come into the season as a pre-season first-team All-American. The Vols were crazy deep and experienced with the likes of JaJuan Smith, Ramar Smith, J.P. Prince, Wayne Chism, Brian WIlliams….the list goes on. What stood between them and a number one ranking was an undefeated Memphis team and a coach named John Calipari.

As most Vol fans remember, the 1 vs. 2 matchup in Fedex Forum was likely the biggest game in Tennessee history. An in-state battle between two teams with disdain for each other with everything on the line was what Bruce Pearl was built for. Tennessee took down Derrick Rose and the Tigers 66-62, and for the first time in school history, Tennessee was the number one team in the country.

Former Tennessee forward Duke Crews celebrating the Vols’ 66-62 win at Memphis in 2008. This catapulted Tennessee to their fist number one ranking in school history.

The ranking was short lived as Tennessee fell to Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium the following Tuesday. Despite winning the SEC regular season crown and earning a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament, the ’07-’08 Vols truly peaked too early. An early exit in the SEC Tournament and a Sweet 16 loss to Louisville were tough to swallow.

While Pearl continued to have success at Tennessee, he was never able to replicate anything like the night he took down Memphis. The following three years, Pearl did not earn a seed higher than six in the NCAA Tournament. Despite being a Scotty Hopson made free throw away from the Final Four in ’09-’10, the identity of his early Tennessee teams were lost. Those early teams looked more like the current Vols. They were made up of overlooked high school guys who bought in and played together, despite being undersized for their position.

While Pearl was able to recruit guys like 5-stars Tobias Harris and Scotty Hopson, he strayed away from the press he was known for in his later years with Tennessee. Hopson and Harris had a lot of success for the Vols, with Hopson arguably being one of the best players for Tennessee this century. However, they did not truly fit what Pearl had done in the past.

An even bigger problem for Pearl was that Tennessee was looking very unimpressive off the court. An incident involving a few of his players led to the dismissal of key starter Tyler Smith and suspensions for other key players. In true Pearl fashion, he took a depleted roster and defeated a number one Kansas team in Thompson Boling the very next game. It had a hint of the wins over Florida in his first year at Tennessee.

But Pearl’s ultimate undoing, unfortunately, was himself.

He had always been an aggressive recruiter. When he admitted to lying to the NCAA about a barbecue involving future Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft, he was suspended for a handful of conference games. Ultimately, that Tennessee team nearly missed the tournament after a promising early start and top ten ranking. After a blowout loss to Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Tennessee essentially had no choice but to relieve Pearl of his duties after the ’10-’11 season.

Pearl would ultimately serve a show cause penalty and resurface at Auburn a few years later. Auburn and Tennessee shared the regular season SEC Title this past season and Pearl still talks very highly of his time at Tennessee.

The Cuonzo Martin Era 

After six straight years in the NCAA Tournament, it felt like Tennessee basketball was crashing and burning. Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris had decided to turn pro and the media picked Tennessee to finish 13th in the conference before the season. Cuonzo Martin, who had a reputation as a tough, no nonsense, defensive minded coach, was there to clean up the program.  He had played for Gene Keady at Purdue and wanted to instill the principles he learned there at Tennessee. Unfortunately, Martin’s entire recruiting class consisted of three 2-stars and one 3-star, so he was fighting an uphill battle.

Martin’s Vols got off to a horrific start to the season. After hard fought, close losses in the Maui Invitational, there was reason for optimism. Newcomer transfer, Jerrone Maymon, had emerged with a 32-point and 20-rebound performance in a double overtime loss to Memphis on the Island. However, after losses to Oakland, Pitt, Austin Peay, and College of Charleston, the Vols found themselves 3-6 and firmly out of NCAA Tournament contention. Things did not get much better in conference, as Tennessee started their conference slate 2-5 and found themselves at 10-12 overall.

However, Martin was able to turn things around and win 8 of the next 9 and complete a season sweep of top-10 nationally ranked Florida. The Vols entered the SEC Tournament right on the bubble, but fell in the first round to Ole Miss and ended up in the NIT.

Despite missing out on the NCAA Tournament, Vol fans were pleased. Tennessee had finished 2nd in the conference, 11 spots ahead of where the media picked them. Jordan McRae had emerged as a star, and Martin had picked up 5-star recruit Jarnell Stokes from Memphis midseason. It appeared as if Tennessee’s set back would be only temporary.

 

Jarnell Stokes (top left), Jordan McRae (top right), and Josh Richardson played for Cuonzo Martin while at Tennessee. All three spent time with NBA teams and McRae won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. 

Unfortunately, the next season saw more of the same. While Tennessee started the season a bit better, a disturbing trend emerged. In consecutive matchups, Tennessee failed to cross the 40-point threshold against Georgetown and Virginia. While neither of these games resulted in blowout losses, the brand of basketball Cuonzo Martin was selling to the fans was not nearly as exciting as the high octane, up tempo game Pearl had introduced eight years prior. After four consecutive losses to unranked teams and an 11-10 start to the season, Tennessee attempted another late season rescue. Despite notching 20 wins and an 11-7 conference record, the Vols bid fell just short on selection Sunday as they were snubbed a second year in a row.

Fortunately for Martin, he returned nearly everyone. Further, Josh Richardson was emerging as a diamond in the rough that Martin had originally recruited to go to Missouri State, where he coached previously. The sophomore’s emergence as one of the top defensive players in the conference, in addition to the progress of Maymon, Stokes, McRae, and Trae Golden, led to extremely high expectations and a pre season top 25 ranking for the first time in Coach Martin’s time at Tennessee.

Again, the Vols got off to a slow start and again they found themselves in serious trouble in regards to the postseason. They were 16-11 overall and 7-7 in conference. Tennessee fans had had enough and nearly 40,000 of them signed a petition asking athletic director Dave Hart to fire Cuonzo Martin and rehire Bruce Pearl, whose show cause penalty was due to expire the coming year allowing him to be rehired.

This time, however, Martin’s late season rescue attempt worked. Tennessee played themselves into an 11-seed and a first four matchup with Iowa, which they won. They then upset Umass and struck some good fortune when 14-seed Mercer upset 3-seed Duke. The Vols avenged their NIT loss to Mercer the previous season and found themselves in the Sweet 16. Tennessee fell just short after a controversial charge call against Jarnell Stokes led to a Michigan victory, but Tennessee had made the Sweet 16 from an 11-seed and all seemed good on the hill.

This controversial charge call was all that stood between Tennessee and their second Elite 8 appearance in program history. 

While it looked as if Martin would be signing long term with Tennessee, Pearl took an opportunity at Auburn. However, Martin shocked some in the college basketball world by leaving for Cal a few weeks later. It can only be assumed that Martin did not appreciate the petition, and many in the media viewed the petition as a black eye for the Tennessee fan base. If the following three years were the gauge for that, it would be hard to argue otherwise.

The Donnie Tyndall Era

After striking out on a few big names, Tennessee hired Donnie Tyndall from Southern Miss for the ’14-’15 season. Jordan McCrae decided to declare for the draft and Trae Golden transferred, leaving the Vols with little returning. All in all, Tennessee lost a whopping ten players from the previous campaign.

Tennessee did have reason to be excited as Josh Richardson had become an NBA prospect and former 5-star Robert Hubbs appeared to be fully healthy for the first time in his Tennessee career.

In a strange turn of events, Tennessee found themselves off to an unusually hot start. 17 games in, Tennessee found themselves at 12-5, 4-1 in conference, and projected to make the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, SEC teams seemed to adapt to Donnie Tyndall’s unique “amoeba” zone defense the second time they saw it, and the Vols sputtered down the stretch. The Vols finished the season 16-16 and did not even make the NIT.

Tyndall’s problems were just beginning…

Recruiting violations resulted in Tyndall losing top recruits and he was eventually relieved of his duties. Tyndall is currently serving a 10-year show cause penalty.

With the air almost fully out of the program, the Vols were in search of a third coach in as many years. Much like when Coach Pearl was hired, there was only a limited amount of excitement when Rick Barnes was hired as Tennessee’s 21st head basketball coach.

The Rick Barnes Era

Most fans at Tennessee knew at the time that Rick Barnes was far more than they deserved. Two of their last three coaches had succumbed to NCAA violations, and fans had run off the other. Barnes had been at Texas for 17 years and made the NCAA Tournament in 16 of those years. As a team that had more often than not found themselves out of the dance over the last 25 years, Tennessee should be thrilled with the idea of continued relevance.

Barnes had a reputation as a fantastic recruiter. The list of names he had lured to Texas, which was traditionally more of a football school like Tennessee, read as follows:

T.J. Ford, P.J. Tucker, D.J, Augustin, Daniel Gibson, Lamarcus Aldridge, and Kevin Durant.

Tennessee fans were familiar with Durant. Chris Lofton had actually hit a miraculous shot in Durant’s face to beat Texas, helping establish Lofton as one of the best players in the country. Durant had gone on to win an NBA MVP and has since become a two-time NBA Champion.

The concerns centering around Barnes were that, on a relative scale, he probably could have done more with all that talent at Texas. Barnes’ teams only made one Final Four in his time at Texas. Other concerns were that at the age of 60, how would recruiting go now and how quickly could he turn things around?

Little in his first two years led to optimism. Barnes did not sign one top-100 recruit and had failed to finish above .500 in either of his first two years. Prior to the 2017-2018 season, the SEC Media again rated Tennessee 13th in the pre-season. Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield had other plans.

The vols got an early season win in the Atlantis Tournament against 18th ranked Purdue. Tennessee then let a half time lead slip to eventual National Champion Villanova, but showed that they belonged. The Vols entered SEC play 11-2 and ranked. After starting conference play 0-2, Barnes got a much needed win over rival Kentucky and reeled off nine wins in their next 10 games. After pulling off their first sweep of Kentucky since the Jerry Green Days, Tennessee entered the final game of the regular season with a chance to win the Conference.

After defeating Georgia, the Vols celebrated a share of the SEC regular season championship. New athletic director, Phillip Fulmer, spoke to a sold out crowd along side Rick Barnes. Grant Williams was named SEC player of the year as a sophomore. Despite narrowly losing in the Conference title game to Kentucky and an earlier than expected exit to Cinderella Story Loyola-Chicago in the NCAA Tournament, Tennessee basketball was officially back.

Vol forward Admiral Schofield cutting down the nets at Thompson Boling Arena after clinching a share of the ’17-’18 SEC Regular Season Championship 

This Season

Tennessee came into this season with high expectations. James Daniel III was the only departure that received relevant minutes from the year prior. Tennessee has responded fantastically.

At 21-1, their only loss is an overtime loss to Kansas in November. Grant Williams fouled out with over five minutes remaining in that game. Tennessee has boasted a win over then number one Gonzaga on a neutral floor and has a school record 17-game winning streak. Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield find themselves on the final 20 list for the Wooden Award, and Tennessee is the only remaining SEC team without a conference loss. In their most recent win, Williams, Schofield, Jordan Bowden, Lamonte Turner, and Jordan Bone all scored in double digits. Many around the country believe Bone is emerging as one of the top point guards in the nation.

Where From Here?

While Tennessee is experiencing heights they never have before, they have been near the top of the college basketball world a few times in the past. What has eluded them is a Final Four and perennial success. With their facilities and support, Tennessee has potential to become a college basketball blue blood. With FBI scandals and agent misconduct rampant in college basketball, Rick Barnes has kept his program headline-free in that regard. Even the recruiting is picking up as 5-star point guard Josiah James is set to suit up in the orange and white next year.

The ride is setting up to be an absolute must see.

Tennessee has two matchups left with a much improved top-5 Kentucky team. There’s a chance they’ll eventually have to fight their way through arguably the best crew of freshmen at Duke since the Fab 5 at Michigan. The road will not be easy.

But if anyone can handle it, it’s this group.

This is the group that had the highest fall grade point average of any Tennessee basketball team in the last 12 years…

This is the group that would rather play the Catan board game than play on their phones…

This is the group that sees fans with flat tires and takes time out of their day to help…

This is the group that has an old fashioned coach who doesn’t tell them they’re perfect and they ask for him to keep doing it…

This is the group that goes to the Lady Vols’ games and shoots promo videos for the football team…

This is the group that has a coach who will go to your baptism 90 minutes before tipoff…

This is the group that wasn’t on the first page of Rivals…or the second…or the third…or maybe even the fourth…

This is the group…at least for now…with a number 1 next to their name on the left…

Maybe, just maybe, this could be the group that cuts down the nets in Minneapolis.

 

 

 

What Could Have Been at Carnoustie…

 

The 2018 British Open was some of the greatest theater the game of golf has seen in many years. Undoubtedly, advertisers, cable companies, and the like rejoiced nationwide as a 42 year-old Tiger Woods took a one shot lead early in the back 9. As we know now, a poorly executed flop shot on 11 and a wayward drive on 12 ended up undoing Tiger’s run at a 15th major. But to think that is all that happened on a wild Sunday in Scotland is to under appreciate a day that that will not soon be forgotten in the golfing world. Let’s take a look at a few notables and what was on the line for them as they were in the hunt to be the 2018 champion golfer of the year:

Francesco Molinari

It can be a blessing and a curse to be part of a sibling pairing in the sports world. Tennis has had two very notable pairs in Serena and Venus Williams and Bob and Mike Bryan. Baseball has had their fair share between the Alomars, the catching trio of Molinas, and the Uptons. Stanford basketball alone has had two sets of notable twins recently (Jason/Jarron Collins and Robin/Brook Lopez).

Until recently, Franceso Molinari was probably best known as one of the Molinari brothers. However, Francesco could not even capture the attention of his older brother with all the excitement of Tiger Woods being back in contention at a major. Take a look at these four consecutive tweets/retweets from Edoardo Molinari on Saturday and Sunday of the tournament his brother would go on to win.

Tiger Woods is tied for 14th place, three shots back, late on a Saturday at a major championship. In 2018. (Please, I need a moment!) #TheOpen

— Tiger Tracker (@GCTigerTracker) July 21, 2018

Tiger leaves the 95-foot eagle putt short. Might be a good thing… that would’ve broken the Internet.

— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) July 21, 2018

A few months ago I would have never thought to stare at a leaderboard like this again! It’s not Sunday evening yet but a Saturday afternoon lead is a very pleasing sight! @tigerwoods @theopen pic.twitter.com/0yUM3CHmRj

— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) July 21, 2018

If Tiger wins @TheOpen it would be the biggest comeback since Lazarus! 🐯 #TheOpen

— Phil Kenyon (@SwashPutting) July 22, 2018

Finally, with five holes to go, Edoardo acknowledged that his brother might be able to pull out a major, the first ever for an Italian player.

Time now to end the par streak…1 birdie and 4 pars to win it!!!

— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) July 22, 2018

Francesco’s win served as a breath of fresh air as he was one of the shortest hitters in contention. As player after player faltered around him, he held steady. At the end of the day, Molinari posted a -2 bogey free 69 to win by two strokes. His birdie at the last served in stark contrast to the well known triple bogey 7 of Jean Van De Velde in ’99 or the missed opportunities to close of Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia in ’07. It felt odd watching players make easy work of the 18th, which had been widely considered the hardest closing hole in major championship golf before the week. But Molinari made no mistakes all day, and 18 was not going to do him in.

Sadly, what might have gone down as one of the greatest golf tournaments of all time might lose some muster because Molinari isn’t the sexiest of winners. That should not stand in the way of his accomplishment. When it was all said and done, players in the top 10 had 22 majors to their name, and Molinari outplayed them all to win his first.

Rory Mcilroy

The four-time major winner has flown a bit under the radar as of late. Mcilroy’s most recent major, the 2014 PGA Championship win at Valhalla, seems like quite a long time ago. After all, Jordan Spieth has won three major titles since then, Brooks Koepka has won 2, and Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, and Jason Day all broke through to win their first.

Mcilroy has had a few bumps in the road since then between a broken engagement with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, some controversial comments about golf fans and the Olympics, and a forced equipment change when Nike stopped making golf equipment.

Make no mistake though, Mcilroy can still play.

the 29-year old boasts an insane resume for his age that includes 12 top 5’s and 18 top 10’s in majors and 27 combined PGA and European Tour victories. Since winning his last major, he’s won the European Tour Order of Merit and a Fedex Cup. Keep in mind that Phil Mickelson is widely considered to be a top 15 player of all time, if not higher, and has only five majors to his credit, the first of which came at age 33. Had Mcilroy won this Open, he would have tied Phil’s career majors mark four years prior to Phil winning his first.

But alas, he did not.

Mcilory continued a disturbing trend of getting out of the blocks slow on a Sunday with a chance to win a major. He also bogeyed 17 and 18 on Saturday when he could have gone into Sunday only a couple shots off the lead with a big finish. Mcilroy’s -1 70 proved to be a very good score on a tough Sunday in Scotland, but it wasn’t enough.

Rory has proven to be one of the only players on tour capable of running away from the field when he is on. But in order to get back to his winning ways, he’ll have to sharpen up from ten feet and in on the greens. That seems to be all that stands between who many believe to be the best ball striker in the world and a 5th major championship.

Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth, who is most likely the most popular golfer in America not named Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, is making a habit of getting in the mix in majors. He’s had success at all four and will be going for the career slam at Bellerive tomorrow at the ripe old age of 25. In many ways he’s been Tigeresque with the massive putts, his now famous caddy, and his desire to talk his ball into the hole. It’s fair to say that hardly anyone has had the moments that Spieth has had at a young age other than Tiger himself. All this to say, it’s certainly not fair to call Spieth “unclutch”because at times he certainly has been.

But he was not clutch this Sunday.

He, Kevin Kisner, and Xander Schauffele were 4 clear of Tiger Woods to start the day and he had caught them by hole 7. Spieth failed to make a single birdie and carded a 76.

The question with Spieth is starting to become consistency. He’s not overly long, which would make you think he’s a fairway machine. However, Spieth is actually longer (71st in driving distance average) than he is straight (101st in fairways hit). It’s not a huge secret the Spieth is a little lose with the fundamentals, but so often the good has been enough to make up for the bad. When he is hot, he’s untouchable and when players start seeing him creep up the board, they seem to fold a bit like they did to Tiger. He puts together birdies better than anyone on tour.

The difference is Spieth has not shown the ability to go out there and put it on cruise control like Tiger did. Tiger was so well known for the 68-69-65-71 in his prime. He was 14-0 the first 14 times he held at least a share of the lead going into Sunday at a major. Spieth has already lost two majors from the final pairing in his short career. In stark contrast to Tiger’s neatly kept four days, take a look at the last 2 spreads from when Spieth was in contention at a major.

2018 Masters 66-74-71-64

2018 British Open 72-67-65-76

In both events, Spieth had one score that was ten or more shots better than another score.

Unfortunately for Spieth, Sunday was a squandered opportunity. It’s becoming more and more clear that no one will ever be as robotic as Tiger in his prime at closing the deal. But as Jack Nicklaus proved, the best way to win majors is to always be in contention. No one is better at that in today’s game than Jordan Spieth, and it’s not particularly close. You don’t have to be insanely clutch to win 18 majors. After all, Jack finished 2nd 19 times.

Tiger Woods

The golf world went bonkers, ratings skyrocketed, and time froze as Tiger Woods was on the back 9 with a lead in a major. Unfortunately, a 3 over stretch on the 11th and 12th holes did him in. A lot has changed in golf over the last ten years. Tiger is no longer robotic with a lead and a red shirt on. But for the first time in over 5 years, he was in contention at a major with a red shirt on. While Woods has done more living in his 42+ years than most do in an entire lifetime, the reality is that if he can stay healthy, he’s got some time left to right the ship.

While Tiger missed out on an opportunity at Carnoustie, he has not typically won his majors on historically difficult courses. He’s won four times at Augusta, two British Opens at the very docile St. Andrews, and a PGA at Valhalla, all courses not known for being the most difficult of major championship venues. Of course he’s won a few on tougher courses like Torrey Pines and Bethpage Black as well, but Tiger has done a little bit of everything. No one can quite know what to expect from Bellerive this week, which was last played by the pros in 2008 for the BMW Championship. The top of the leaderboard that week included Camilo Villegas, Dudley Hart, Anthony Kim, Jim Furyk, and Stephen Ames. Not exactly the most helpful list. What we do know is that the course is soft and a low number is expected to take home the Wanamaker Trophy, which favors Woods.

Here are Tiger’s next best opportunities to win major number 15 in the next 5 years or so:

Augusta (every year)

U.S. Open at Pebble Beach 2019-home of Tiger’s historic 15-shot victory in 2000

PGA Championship at Bethpage Black 2019-Tiger won the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black

2021 British Open at St. Andrews-Tiger won the 2000 and 2005 British Opens at the home of golf.

Justin Rose

Rose has vaulted all the way to number 3 in the world with his brilliant play in the Open this year. With how good Rose has been for so long, it is truly hard to believe he only has one major to his credit. Rose, who out-dueled Phil Mickelson to win the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion, also posseses a prize no other golfer alive today can claim, a gold medal.

When Rose broke on to the scene at the 1998 British Open as a 17 year-old, experts might be surprised at how little he accomplished in the next decade. But in his mid to late thirties, Rose has put together what is likely going to go down as a Hall of Fame resume’. Rose has come up just short at Augusta and the Open on a couple of occasions. Winning one more major would pretty much end any argument as to whether Rose deserves a locker in St. Augustine, but he will always remember how close he was at Carnoustie in 2018 to major number two.

On to Bellerive

On the eve of the year’s final major, which is the PGA Championship for the last time as the tournament moves to May next year, the players have moved on and there are stories everywhere. Will Jordan Spieth achieve the career grand slam at age 25? Will Rory win a 3rd PGA and 5th major? Will Tiger Woods win the 15th major that seemed so far out of reach when he could not walk a mere 18 months ago? There is more history to be made.

The 2018 Open Championship may be forgotten soon because of the underwhelming name brand of its winner. But make no mistake about it, the 2018 Open Championship was one of the greatest golf tournaments that has ever been played. We would only be so lucky to see something similar this week in St. Louis.

 

What’s Next Part 2: The Road to World Cup 2022

The dust has settled on another fantastic World Cup and France are champions.

It is not often that the team that misses out on a monumental opportunity get the chance to avenge the loss. The “we will be backs” way outnumber the actual triumphs. However, the French side that lost in the 2016 European Championship Finals on their home soil to a Portugal side that saw Ronaldo leave early with an injury got their chance. The result was the most exciting World Cup Final in my lifetime in which seemingly every big French name contributed to the score line.

So what now? What should you do with all this soccer excitement? If you’re an American, the answer is usually store it away and forget about it until the next World Cup. For those of you who choose that option, Here’s a little piece on what that little soccer fan inside of you will wake up to see at the next World Cup in 2022.

December Football on top of December Football

I’ve heard a lot of people recently complain about the next World Cup being four years away. I could not agree more that the gap is far too wide between Cups, but that is a tangent for another time. Unfortunately, the next World Cup is actually four and a HALF years away.

The next World Cup, hosted by Qatar, is set to be held November 21-December 18 of 2022. The dates, which are the first in the tournament’s history outside of June/July, are just one of the many issues presented with the tournament being held in Qatar.

The 2022 World Cup will be the first held in the Middle East. While I applaud soccer’s efforts to be a global game, it is hard to ignore that this decision carries with it some heavy baggage.

First off, the political climate in Qatar is controversial to say the least. Discriminatory laws regarding women and homosexuals are still in place. Also, FIFA’s recent issues with bribery had a lot to due with how Qatar ended up being chosen as the tournament’s future host.

Secondly, Qatar is not rich in soccer culture. That’s okay of course, but it means that stadiums had to be built. Controversy has swirled as workers have died constructing the dozen or so stadiums in the treacherous heat.

Lastly, that heat has presented another issue. The summer in Qatar usually spans from May to September and high temperatures can often surpass 110 degrees. As a result, the 2022 World Cup had to be pushed into late November/early December.

So what does this mean?

Well, for starters, most Americans have another type of football on their mind that time of year, and it’s not the one where players lie on the ground after hardly, if at all, being contacted. However, for those of you who prefer watching the ball sail above the goal post and not below it, fear not. As I write this article, it is 12:36 Eastern Time. In both Moscow, Russia and Qatar, it is 7:16. So expect early game times that will hardly interfere with your fantasy football team. You may have to miss ESPN’s College Gameday once or twice, but most of the World Cup is played in the week, and early in the day. Think of the World Cup as your appetizer for a long day of football, and just pray your wives love you enough to let you make it up to them in January.

One kind of unfortunate part of the new time slot in 2022 is that youth soccer usually sees a bit of a boom during World Cup years. While indoor soccer is an option, I feel bad for the youngsters who won’t be able to hop outside and score some goals of their own because it’s too cold. Fortunately, we’re only eight years away from hosting the World Cup ourselves (along with Canada and Mexico), which will be the first time the United States has hosted in any capacity since 1994.

Implications of the New Dates on Domestic Leagues

While I would love this article to inspire you to start watching soccer year round, I know that the American sports market place is already crowded enough. So here are some spark notes on how club/league soccer around the world generally works. If you are not interested in anything besides the World Cup, feel free to skip down to END OF SPARK NOTES. 

Each prominent country has a league. While the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL are unanimously considered the strongest leagues in their respective sports, soccer is more spread out. Each League has a lower division (sometimes multiple lower divisions), and the top teams from the lower division move into the top league, while the worst teams from the top division move down. This process is called “relegation” and inspires teams not to “tank” like they do in some American leagues. Also, there is no salary cap, so the rich often get richer in club soccer.

Also, unlike American sports, multiple competitions are going on at once. Each team plays a domestic “table” where they play every team in their league twice (home and away). A team is awarded three points for a win and one for a tie. At the end of the season, the team with the most points win the league with no playoffs. Simultaneously, each team in the league will participate in a league cup (there are 2 in England) that is more reminiscent of the NCAA tournament in America. It is knockout style and single elimination. Some leagues will have their matches actually be a home and away match combined, where the total score at the end, known as the “aggregate”, moves on to the next round. Last, but certainly not least, the top teams from each league will participate in the Champions League, which is a knockout style tournament meant to determine the best team in Europe. The Europa Tournament, which is kind of like the NIT of European football, is a knockout tournament where the next tier of European teams get together and determine a champion from that group. The winner of this gets an automatic pass to next years Champions League.

Most of you have likely heard of teams from the following leagues, but here is a small break down of what the international club team picture kind of looks like:

The Premier League (English League)

Notable teams: Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Everton

Notable Stars: Kevin De Bruyne (Man City/Belgium), Sergio Aguero (Man City/Argentina), Mo Salah (Liverpool/Egypt), Paul Pogba (Man U/France), Romelu Lukaku (Man U/Belgium), Harry Kane (Tottenham/England), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium), N’golo Kante (Chelsea/France), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal/Germany)

The Premier League is the most watched and most popular league in the world. While Spanish juggernauts Real Madrid and Barcelona often outrank the top teams in the premier league, the English League has the most parity of all the top leagues. In 2016, Leicester City won the premier league as a whopping 5,000-1 underdog after just escaping relegation the previous season. No American upset comes to mind that can even come close to defying those types of odds. The Premier League, particularly Manchester United and Liverpool, carries with it more history than any league in the world. England is the home of the beautiful game, and the passion for the sport in the country is unrivaled.

La Liga (Spanish League)

Notable teams: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla

Notable Stars: Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina), Ian Rakitic (Barcelona/Croatia), Luis Suarez (Barcelona/Uruguay), Luka Modric (Real Madrid/Croatia), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/France)

La Liga has traditionally been dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona. Barcelona won the league this year, but Real Madrid just capped off their wildly impressive third straight Champions League title. However, the offseason points to a bit of a shifting of the guard. Atletico Madrid, who is coming off a Europa League Title and Champions League Final Appearance in 2018 and 2016 respectively, just retained the services of Antoine Griezmann, the leader of a French national team who looks poised for a dynastic run. Furthermore, Cristiano Ronaldo, who many think may be the greatest player to ever play, just left Real Madrid for Italian super club Juventus.

Serie A (Italian League)

Notable Teams: Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli, Lazio, Roma

Notable Stars: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Portugal), Paulo Dybala (Juventus/Argentina), Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus/Argentina), Mario Mandzucic (Juventus/Croatia), Dries Mertens (Napoli/Belgium), Ciro Immobile (Lazio/Italy)

Serie A is not much more than a decade removed from being the best league in the world. However, a match fixing scandal in the mid 2000’s has hampered Serie A to the point where hardly anyone would call it a top two league in the world. The Italian National Team, who won the 2006 World Cup, did not even qualify for this year’s tournament. One thing Serie A has to be excited about is the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus. Juventus has dominated the league recently and even made the 2017 Champions League Final. Adding Ronaldo to the mix has many stating that Juventus may be the best club team in the world as we speak.

Bundesliga (German League)

Notable Teams: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen

Notable Stars: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland), James Rodriguez (Bayern Munich/Colombia), Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich/Chile), Jerome Boetang (Bayern Munich/Germany), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich/Germany), Marco Reus (Dortmund/Germany)

The fact that almost all of the stars in this league play for Bayern Munich is no coincidence. The Bundesliga has often been criticized as being a one horse race, and little is being proven by other squads to get in the way. Munich has won 10 of the last 14 Bundesliga titles, including the last six consecutively. The Bundesliga has more to it than just Bayern though. It is known for having the biggest stadiums in the world, and being present to see Dortmund’s yellow wall is a bucket list item for many soccer fans in Europe.

Unfortunately, the history of club soccer is far too vast to mention all the great leagues throughout the world. Some notable ones that have been left out are the Portugese, Russian, and Dutch leagues. South America also boasts a proud heritage, particularly in Brazil and Argentina with rivalries that span back a century or more.

END OF SPARK NOTES

The common thread among the European Leagues though is to try and stay succinct. Thus, there is a common schedule that generally spans from mid August until late May/early June. A few “international breaks” are taken during the year to allow for qualifying for international team tournaments The summer is generally reserved for said international tournaments, such as the World Cup, the European Championships, the Copa America, the Gold Cup, and the Confederations Cup.

The November-December World Cup will throw a huge and unprecedented wrench into all of this. So what will happen?

I see only two options, with one being much more likely.

The unlikely option is that the leagues will have abbreviated seasons. This runs against tradition and will cost the leagues money.

The more likely option is that the leagues will have to use the summer for league play and then take a gigantic pause for the 2022 World Cup midseason. This will be very tough on the players, who will essentially not have a break for a two-year period. Even players who do not make the World Cup will have to stay in shape for the season which would likely resume shortly after the 2022 World Cup Final. Given that the best players in the world play in the World Cup, continuing the club season without those players is simply not an option.

Will there be 48 teams?

The current World Cup format sees 32 teams divided into 8 pods for group play, of which half emerge into the knockout stage. From there, a 16-team single elimination knockout tournament determines the victor.

There is much talk that a 48-team tournament is in the near future. It is almost certain that this will be the case for the 2026 World Cup in North America, where stadiums are already built and the host nations of America, Mexico, and Canada are built to sustain a bigger tournament. Here are the pro’s and cons of a 48-team tournament in general:

Pro’s:

Well for one, more soccer is always a good thing. European teams like Italy, Netherlands, and Scotland will have less of a gripe about the difficulty of qualifying from their group. The World Cup, like the NCAA Basketball Tournament, is not “the best 32 teams in the world.” Clearly Italy, who did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup, is better than Iran or Saudi Arabia, who did qualify. The World Cup’s goal is to unite the world’s soccer nations in an organized way for a diverse tournament. But there’s no avoiding that Europe is the dominant force, and it always feels like we get deprived of seeing one or two nations that deserve to be in left at home. The 48 team tournament would fix that.

Cons:

32 is a nice divisible number that makes sense. 32-16-8-4-2-1. How pretty does that look? 48 means that either group play will result in a 32-team knockout tournament or a 16-team knockout tournament. If 32 teams emerge from the group, group play will be almost meaningless. If 16 emerge, that may put too much emphasis on group play and more than the occasional power (like Germany this year) will fail to make the knockout stage. There is already a lack of parity in the World Cup as teams like Saudi Arabia don’t have a single player who would make the French squad. Adding 16 teams could widen the gap even further.

It is still undecided if the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be host to 32 nations of 48 nations. Given the logistical issues already, it may be best to wait until 2026 to implement this. It will be interesting to see what FIFA decides.

Who will WIN in 2022?

This is a question I may not be able to answer four days before the final, much less four and a half years away from it. Here’s what I can tell you though…

France and Brazil are not going anywhere. Although Neymar has already starred in two World Cups, he is only 26 years old and may very well have two world cups left in him. Star striker Gabriel Jesus is only 21, and Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho are only 26. I tend to favor the French though as Griezmann (27), Pogba (25), and Mbappe (19!) will all be back and presumably in their primes. The French have now made the final of the last two major tournaments they competed in, and youth+experience is tough to beat.

Belgium and England will still be around as well, but are a notch below the two mentioned above. Belgium will have Lukaku (25), De Bruyne (27), and Hazard (27) back. Unfortunately for Belgium, this “golden age” is not nearly as deep in talent as some other dominant soccer nations. The likely loss of Dries Mertens (31) and Vincent Kompany (32) should hurt. I doubt they can be replaced.

As for England, they are young and proclaim to be ready for another run in 2022. Golden Boot winner Harry Kane is only 24, and spectacular forwards Raheem Sterling (23) and Marcus Rashford (20) will be back and presumably better. However, the beer throwing English celebrations helped disguise something that many are unwilling to say:

The English World Cup run was not really that impressive.

They finished 2nd in their group, with a loss to the only other really good team in Belgium. They then came back on penalties against Colombia, beat a Zlatanless Sweden, lost a semi to a Croatian team who got beaten handily in the final, and then lost again to Belgium. Even in their greatest triumph in years at the World Cup, England found a way to lose three times. Was this a step in the right direction for the often snake bitten English? Sure. But I need to see more to believe it.

Unfortunately, a few teams that you are used to seeing compete for the crown may not be in great position come next World Cup. Argentina comes to the forefront on this one. Messi may go down as the greatest ever, but his missed penalties in the Copa final and against Iceland in the group stage of this world cup will always haunt him. Javier Mascherano retired from international play following the tournament and Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria are both 30. The Argentines will be back, but the expectations for the 2022 World Cup should be lowered drastically.

Germany also did not look like a former World Cup Champion in 2018. Muller, Boetang, Hummels, Reus, and Ozil will all be well into their thirties by the next tournament meaning that a lot of the 2022 German national team will look a lot different than this one. Couple that with Germany’s inability to find a solid striker, and Germany may have its hands full.

As for the Americans and the Mexicans, both teams will likely try to shoot for the year they host, 2026, as the year to go all in on. We’ve already seen this to an extent with the U.S. Men’s National Team as it has gone much much younger in recent friendlies. Mexico will see a changing of the guard as Javier Hernandez, better known as “Chicharito”, will be 34 when the next tournament starts.

So there it is folks.  Many of you will long have forgotten about the soccer fever you caught in 2018 by the time November 21, 2022 rolls around. Let this serve as your time capsule as we begin the long long wait for World Cup 2022.

 

 

What’s Next? A Multi-Part Series Taking a Dive Into What Your Favorite Sports Leagues Will Look Like Over The Next 4-5 Years

by William Mayfield

In the social media age of sports, we have never lived more in the present. Everyone wants to declare whatever just happened to be a moment bigger than it really is. With all the news available now, you have to. If you want what you say to matter, it has to be different. It has to be unique. Quite frankly, it has to be something that will more likely than not turn out to be wrong.

That’s not what this article is about. This article is meant to display the most likely outlook of the next 4-5 years in each major sport. It will not be full of bold takes, but it will most likely surprise you.

No sporting event in the world makes us more aware of the fact that a lot can change in a small amount of time than the World Cup. Three World Cups ago the Italians celebrated a victory in the finals after Zinedine Zidane lost his mind. Today, Italy, home to one of the most prestigious soccer leagues in the world (Serie A) sits at home as they have all tournament. Zidane is walking away from coaching after taking Real Madrid to three straight Champions League Finals.

Two world cups ago, the Netherlands took Spain to the brink, losing 1-0 in extra time in the finals. Holland has failed to qualify for the last two major tournaments, the 2016 Euros and the 2018 World Cup.

Just take a look at this year’s Belgium squad. Friday, they knocked out mighty Brazil and stand two wins away from a world championship. Belgium is loaded with international super stars like Romelu Lukaku of Manchester United and Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City. It was not long ago though that Belgium failed to even make the tournament in 2006 and 2010.

Things change and it’s hard to see it coming. But if I was a betting man, and I am, here’s what I’d say is in the cards for the next 4-5 years in a few of the most followed sports in our nation and beyond. Each article will feature a different sport, and with NBA free agency in full force, let’s start there.

The NBA 2018-2022

For starters, I want to go ahead and get this out there. I’m not Woj. Hell, I’m not even Stephen A. Smith. The NBA is riddled with politics and millionaires, both of which tend to do what they want without letting anyone know before hand. So no, I don’t know where Kawhi will end up or if the banana boat crew will ever join forces. But there are some things that seem more likely than not, so here they are:

The Bigs will be better

What do the following names have in common:

Vlade Divac, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone, Antonio McDyess, Shaquille O’neal, David Robinson, Chris Webber

There’s a few different correct answers to this question. They all played almost exclusively on the block. They were all very physical. They all would struggle to guard on the perimeter. They all rarely, if ever, took 3’s, and….

they were all member of the 2001 Western Conference All-Star team.

That’s right, of the 13 members of that team, NINE were low post, back to the basket bruisers. And make no mistake, the west was the far superior conference back then as well.

Since the NBA decided to copy the NFL and NHL’s failed experiment of playground drafting in 2018, Let’s use the 2017 Western Conference All-Star team as our comparison. Here is a list of the 2017 Western Conference All-Stars who it would surprise you to see take a 3-point jumper:

DeAndre Jordan

That’s it. One player. I hate to accredit the Golden State Warriors with anything since they’re in no need of further accolades, but they changed the game. Plain and simple. I’ll be the first to admit that when Charles Barkley doubted them four years ago because they relied too much on shooting, I tended to agree. However, you don’t need Billy Beane’s Moneyball analytics nerd to tell you that three-point shots are worth more than two-pointers.

The 2018 Rockets just set the NBA record for most three-pointers taken in a season. The team they surpassed…the 2017 Rockets. Daryl Morey, the Rockets GM, is big into analytics and his head coach, Mike D’antoni, has no problem watching as threes don’t fall. It’s a numbers game for them and their math says keep chucking.

So why do I think the big man will make at least a small return? After all, I’ve only mentioned the Rockets and the Warriors thus far and those were clearly the two best teams in the league last year and both play one big guy max. The answer is the 2018 NBA Draft.

Of the first seven picks in the NBA Draft in 2018, five were power forwards or centers:

Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III, Jaren Jackson Jr., Mohamed Bamba, and Wendell Carter.

While some of those guys can guard the perimeter, none of them are adept at shooting out there. Could that change? Sure. See Davis, Anthony. But that’s not why they were picked. They were picked to bruise. When Goliath zigs, David zags. The league is so bereft of quality big men right now it is laughable. The odds of all five of these bigs not making an impact are very very low.

Many think Ayton and Bagley are special. The other three got taken over Collin Sexton, Michael Porter Jr., and Miles Bridges, three stellar prospects who fit the small ball era more fittingly. Will we ever be back to the days of Shaq tearing down backboards or Tim Duncan “fundamentaling” his way to five championships? Probably not. But the big man isn’t dead yet and these youngsters will have something to say about it.

Point guards will slip in the draft 

I have to admit I cheated a bit on this one, because it’s already happening. Colin Sexton is by most accounts a can’t miss prospect at the traditional point guard spot. He’s a great defender, distributes well, and can get to the rim when needed. But his average stroke from deep got him passed on for a smaller and much less well rounded Trae Young, because Young reminded the Hawks of Steph and has range for days.

You would think in an era where bigs have been minimized that the first to benefit would be the point guards, but that’s not the case. There’s a few reasons for this, one being the following:

There’s sooooo many of them, so they’re not too hard to find. It’s basic supply/demand principles.

Here’s the unofficial list of point guards that someone, somewhere has been pretty darn excited about over the last five years:

Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker, Jrue Holiday, Michael Carter- Williams, Derick Rose, Jeremy Lin, Kyle Lowry, Russell Westbrook, Eric Bledsoe, Jeff Teague, Damian Lillard, Ricky Rubio, Kemba Walker, John Wall, Reggie Jackson, Brandon Jennings, Donovan Mitchell, Dennis Schroeder, De’Aron Fox, Mike Conley, Jamal Murray, Lonzo Ball

Honestly, that’s a conservative list too. And here’s the thing…only one of those guys has been the clear cut best player on his finals winning team in the last decade or so. That guy, Steph Curry, even got that roll taken from him by Kevin Durant and did not win finals MVP the year he was the unquestioned leader of the Dubs. Derek Fisher was the point guard of the Lakers’ dynasty. Ron Harper and B.J. Armstrong were the point guards for MJ’s Bulls. Tony Parker has helped, but the Spurs were winning titles before he got there. Dynasties are not, and never have been, built from point guard on up.

People tend to think “positionless basketball” basically means that you don’t have to have a power forward or a center. What has been left in the dust is that you don’t necessarily have to have a point guard either. Curry is far from a traditional point guard. The point guards on Lebron’s teams, primarily Kyrie Irving and Mario Chalmers, obviously were not the guys always taking the ball up the floor. Even Chris Paul took a step back on that as he and James Harden essentially alternated taking it up this year.

The moral of the story is that in the point guards’ golden age of stars, we are figuring out that it’s much more important to be a player than a point guard. Can you shoot? Can you defend? If the answer to either of those questions is “not really,” you probably are not getting picked in the top 5.

There’s a roll for a great point guard, but generally, it’s not as the team’s best player. I expect the draft to reveal as much.

A few guys who have been in the league a year or two will emerge as late bloomer perennial All-Stars

This isn’t some Miss Cleo (RIP) fortune, but more a numbers thing. This league has had some stars lately that just have not been dethroned (no pun intended LeBron). It’s going on in other sports too. Rafa and Fed are almost as big of favorites in the 2018 majors as they were in the 2008 ones. If your name isn’t Messi or Ronaldo, you haven’t won a Ballon d’Or (soccer’s Heisman) since 2007. Since 2002, only one quarterback not named Manning, Brady, or Roethlisberger has represented the AFC in the Super Bowl (Joe Flacco).

The NBA has some guys that are on the way out, and it’s just a fact that others will have to fill the roll. LeBron is 33. Melo and Wade are well on their way out. Chris Paul has to slow down soon.  Tony Parker just signed with the Hornets and it mattered so little that this may be the first time you’re hearing about it. Even Durant will be 30 when the new season starts.

So why do I think it will be some late bloomers who take their spot? Well for one, the late bloomers are a lot younger these days.

Somewhere along the line, staying in school a few years translated to “he’s not that good.” So many kids are leaving before they need to. Lottery picks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kevin Knox couldn’t even win the SEC regular season title playing together last year. I’ll raise you one though. Markelle Fultz Washington team went 2-14 in conference and only won NINE GAMES overall and he went FIRST in the 2017 draft.

Teams pick on potential, not readiness.

Secondly, the teams picking these young guys aren’t usually in a position to win. The only team last year with a top-5 pick that was ready to win was the Celtics, and Jayson Tatum thrived. Had Jayson Tatum been the best player on that team, that’s probably a different story.

Look at Joel Embiid. Look at Demar Derozan and Kyle Lowry. Hell, look at Steph Freaking Curry. These guys were not All-Stars out of the gate. Their teams developed around them and they developed with them.

I hesitate to put the scouting hat on, but I’m sure you want some names. So here you go:

Lauri Markanen, Jamal Murray, Juilus Randle, Brandon Ingram, and basically anyone who plays for Brad Stevens

LeBron James will win a title on a team he’s not the best player on

That seems to be the plan doesn’t it? Kawhi talks have sputtered and Lebron will turn 34 in December. Which, let me get my calculator out, means he will turn 35 the next December, which is the season the Lakers seem to be shooting for.

With the KCP, Rondo, and Stephenson one-year deals expiring, along with the Deng contract likely getting stretched, bought out, amnestied, etc., it certainly appears that the Lakers will get AT LEAST one monster free agent for the 2019-2020.

Considering that LA hopes for Ingram to become a super star and either Ball or Kuzma to come into their own, the list of candidates to take over the “best player on the Lakers” spot isn’t a short one. Kawhi and Cousins will be available. All of the favorable rookie contracts make the Lakers a viable trade partner as well.

The Lakers moving away from the Heat and Cavs’ strategy of surrounding James with shooters signals to me that James is tired and wants to be less ball dominant. Even at age 35, LeBron seems a great candidate to move to the new “stretch 4” position and share the load with someone else. Who will that be? Only time will tell.

The Warriors will win one, and only one, more title

This may be the greatest team ever assembled. Who am I kidding…it IS the greatest team ever assembled. I truly believe Steph, Klay, KD, Draymond, and healthy Boogie would win a 7-game series with the Eastern Conference All-Stars. But like all great dynasties, the elephant in the room usually prevails…

Money.

Steph is due 40 million in 2019-2020. He’s due 43 million the next year and close to 46 million in 2021-2022. Sure, the cap will go up, but the Warriors have been in the tax a while, and for those of you familiar with the luxury tax, you know it’s only a matter of time.

The NBA has what’s called a “soft salary cap.” That means that you can go over the cap, but you have to pay what is essentially a fine. There’s exceptions all over the place like the “Larry Bird” rule or the “Derrick Rose rule” or most recently, “the Kevin Durant rule.” Let’s pretend I understand them all perfectly and I’m only not going into detail about them because it’s boring.

Here’s the brass tax (bad pun). The gist of the salary tax is that for every dollar you spend over the cap, you have to pay more. But it’s not that simple.

As you get higher and higher over the cap, generally in 5 million dollar increments, you have to pay higher tax. Also, if you’re a repeat offender, you have to pay a higher tax. Long story short, the luxury tax was not designed for teams to be way over the cap or to be over the cap for an extended period of time.

The Warriors have been in the tax for a while. Although the soft cap was instituted to allow teams to re-sign their own players, this will prove too costly for the Warriors. A July 8, 2018 Larry Brown sports article estimates that to keep this team together, the Warriors would have to spend 222.7 million in tax dollars (50 million more than the actual estimated salary) to keep the team together in 2020-2021. That simply will not happen.

The first peg to fall will be Klay Thompson. He might be the second best shooter in the NBA, but at times, he’s the third best shooter on his own team. He’ll have four rings in five years. It will time to get paid and the Warriors won’t be able to do it. With Boston, LA, and Philly loaded up with bargain rookie deals balanced with veteran stars, the loss of Klay, and Boogie for that matter who is on a one-year bargain, should be enough to dethrone the Warriors.

If not, the loss of Draymond Green the following season certainly will. Many speculate Durant will leave at some point as well, though his “championship fatigue” (if that’s even a thing) is two years short of the rest of the gang. Also, consider that the Warriors will have had a bottom two draft pick for over a half decade at that point. They’ve found value there before with Green, but it’s rare.

Golden State fans were loud and proud long before these three (soon to be four) titles. In a couple years, they’ll be tested once more.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned next week for another peak into the future as I take a look at where soccer is heading before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.  

 

 

 

PART 1: Exploring the Crazy State of Tanking, Rookie Deals, and Free Agency in the NBA

by William Mayfield

Being a General Manager is always easier in hindsight. Some guys level off once they get a big deal. Some guys mature and become stars in their late 20’s. Kyle Korver just made his first All-Star team at the age of 33. Amare Stoudemire just got bought out and the Mavs only had to pay 2% of his contract to get him. Sometimes, it’s just hard to tell what’s going to happen.

However, the number of overwhelmingly good/bad contracts in the NBA seems to be larger than that of the other “Big 4” Leagues. The reasons for this vary. One is that the 10+ year veteran minimum is nearly 1.5 million dollars. Another is that 3-year rookie contracts are nowhere near max deals and if a player finds stardom early, he will not be paid like one until year 4 at the earliest.

If a player is currently in a contract, a team at some point deemed they were worth that amount of money. The discrepancies in pay grade and talent sometimes shocks the conscience. There are All-Stars in the League that aren’t in the top 200 in salary (Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson). There are also guys who aren’t All-Stars anymore making top 5 money (Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire).

Let’s put on our good gm and bad gm hats. In theory, if each team could afford one player in a 30-player pay bracket of salary (the number of teams in the NBA), here are some teams that could be made up.

(The following teams are made up of one player who makes a salary this year that is top 30 in the league, then a player who’s salary is 31st-60th, then 61st through 90th, etc.. NBA 2kers who have done fantasy drafts, this is for you.)

“All-Bad Value Team”

 (1-30) Amare Stoudemire- $23,896,658

(31-60) Gerald Wallace- $10,105,855

(61-90) Marvin Williams- $7 million

(91-120) Chuck Hayes-$5,958,750

(121-150) Keith Bogans-$5,285,817

(151-180) Joel Anthony-$3,800,000

(181-210) Andrei Kirilenko-$3,326,235

(211-240) Brendan Haywood-$2,213,668

(241-270) Vitor Faverani-$2.09 mil

(271-300) Ronny Turiaf-$1.5 mil

Total salary this year-$65,176, 983

“All-Good Value Team”

(1-30) James Harden- $14,728,844

(31-60) Stephen Curry- $10,629,213

(61-90) Kyrie Irving-$7,070,730

(91-120) Anthony Davis-$5,607,240

(121-150) Bradley Beal-$4,505,280

(151-180) Brandon Knight-$3,553,917

(181-210) Klay Thompson-$3,075,880

(211-240) Nikola Vucevic-$2,751,260

(241-270) Jimmy Butler-$2,008,748

(271-300) Mason Plumlee-$1,344,120

Total salary this year-$55, 275, 232 (nearly 10 million dollars less than the Bad Value Team)

The teams above are obviously on both ends of the spectrum. The bad team involves lots of players that have been cap cogs for years while the good team is littered with rookie contracts. Guys like Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson have oddly structured contracts that will increase drastically in years to come. It is startling to note, though, that the Bad Value Team makes more in salary than the entire Atlanta Hawks team this year. The Hawks have four more players than the “Bad Value Team” and have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Here are some of the worst NBA contracts in recent history:

(Rashard Lewis made more money annually than any player in the Eastern Conference until a few years ago when he joined the Heat on a cheap veteran deal)

(While Joe Johnson has made 7 All-Star teams in his career (hard to believe), he will make more in salary this year than EVERY participant in this year’s All-Star Game)

(Gilbert Arenas made so much undeserved money in his career that he felt the need to bring 4 guns into the locker room to defend himself from potentially jealous teammates. Don’t quote me on that, just speculation.)

(The King of the bad contracts is Amare Stoudemire, who will make more in salary this year than any basketball player in the world despite not even starting for the lowly Knicks and then being bought out.)

To me there is something to learn from these two hypothetical teams. In fact, it’s something that many teams have already noticed. Stockpiling 1^st round draft picks and tanking is low risk/high reward. Taking risks in free agency in the form of long term max deals for veterans can keep your franchise from being relevant for years if you get it wrong.

The Sixers and Celtics have draft picks galore. While the 1-spot has obviously produced the most talent over the years, plenty of superstars have come from the middle of the lottery. This is why so many of the picks the Sixers and Celtics have acquired are top 5 protected for the other teams.

Top 5-10 picks are insanely valuable. With rookie contracts being so team friendly, these picks are pretty low risk.

Unlike the Sam Bradford and Jamarcus Russell days of the NFL, whiffing on a lottery pick won’t necessarily put your franchise in a tailspin. In fact, even whiffing on the 1st overall pick won’t hurt the books too bad.

Anthony Davis, the most coveted 1st overall pick in recent draft history, makes the 112th most money in the league this year. Former Wildcats Jodie Meeks and Chuck Hayes make more. A guy who is by most accounts a top 5 player in the league costs less than Mike Miller cost the Heat in the final year of his contract because he is in a rookie deal.

(Anthony Davis has made 2 All-Star Teams and won a gold medal. In his 3rd year, he was an MVP candidate before an injury caused him to miss some time. 111 NBA players make more in salary this year than Davis.)

Anthony Bennett, on the other hand, is one of the most disappointing 1st overall picks in history. You’d think the Cavs would have been set back a bit by getting little value at the 1-spot, but he was still cheap enough that the Cavs could use him as an appealing piece in a trade for Kevin Love. Can you imagine the Raiders calling up a team and trying to take their superstar by offering to dump Jamarcus Russell’s contract on them? Every team in the NFL would have preferred to sign any of you reading this article to a minimum deal as opposed to taking on Russell’s contract.

(Russell just 6 years after being the first overall pick in the NFL Draft. The Raiders have not made the playoffs since selecting Russell.)

Free agency is risk/reward. Will you get James Harden or will you get Amare Stoudemire. If you get Harden, hello playoffs. If you get Stoudemire, hello dumpster fire.

Free agency has built many champions and I don’t mean to knock it. Veterans are undeniably more reliable than rookies. However, a lot of teams can’t afford to go deep into the luxury tax like the Nets, Lakers, and Knicks. Even those teams find themselves struggling as they wait on their bad contracts to expire. If you whiff on a max guy, you will most likely struggle for 3-4 years.

The draft is a much different animal than free agency. Teams whiff on their lottery picks a lot. The Pistons picked Darko Milicic over Melo, Wade, and Bosh in the ’03 draft and still won the Finals in ’04. You’d think that having a guy picked that high bringing nothing to the table would be a real cap anchor, but they still had enough money to pay Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace.

It wasn’t that many years ago that the Blazers passed on Durant for Oden at 1. Their big win in getting Lillard at 6 has been plenty to help them get over the Oden situation. In essence, Lillard panning out netted the Blazers a lot more in reward than Oden’s futility cost them.

Given the current structure of the NBA, the value of lottery draft picks are at an all-time high. Much of the “Best Value Team” was made up of guys in their rookie contracts. Here are some NBA Notables and where they were picked in the first round since 2005:

1. D. Rose, B. Griffin, J. Wall, K. Irving, A. Davis, A. Wiggins

2. L. Aldridge, K. Durant, J. Parker

3. D. Williams, A. Horford, J. Harden, B. Beal

4. C. Paul, M. Conley, R. Westbrook

5. K. Love, D. Cousins

6. B. Roy, D. Lillard

7. Curry, H. Barnes

8. R. Gay, B. Knight

9. J. Noah, D. Derozan, G. Hayward, K. Walker, A. Drummond

10. B. Lopez, P. George, E. Payton

11. K. Thompson, M. Carter-Williams

12. (no notables)

13. (no notables)

14. (no notables)

15. K. Leonard, G. Antetekounmpo

16. N. Vucevic, J. Nurcic

17. D. Granger, R. Hibbert, J. Holiday

18. T. Lawson, E. Bledsoe

19. J. Teague

20. (no notables)

21. R. Rondo

22. K. Faried, Ma. Plumlee,

23. (no notables)

24. Kyle Lowery, S. Ibaka

25. N. Batum

26. (no notables)

27. (no notables)

28. (no notables)

29. (no notables)

30. D. Lee, J. Butler

This list of notables may make it clear why the NBA is suffering through one of its worst tanking eras ever. Although the lottery itself guarantees no one that they will get the top pick, the importance of getting into the middle of the lottery as opposed to later in the lottery is pretty high. There are franchise guys that have been taken every spot in the top 10.

Very little value has come from the 12-14 picks since 2005. In fact, picks 15-19 have produced more quality than 12-14 by a landslide. This may be situationally based as players who get picked after 15 are going to playoff teams (unless the pick was traded). Players who get picked in the 12-14 spot are going to teams who missed the playoffs and, if the lotto balls fell poorly, may have missed by a lot.

Like the NFL, it appears that mediocrity is the enemy of great. The Bills have had a top 7 pick only twice since 1999, the last time they made the playoffs. If the last ten years have told us anything, it’s that the 9 or 10-seed is the worst spot to be in. You get little fan satisfaction, give little reason for free agents to sign with you, and get little value in the draft unless you really luck up with the lotto balls Cavs and Magic style.

The Sixers and Celtics have a master plan and it should pay dividends a few years down the line. It seems crazy given their current rosters, but if they even get 25% of their upcoming picks right, they could be good sooner rather than later. Good, but not great, veterans are of little value to teams not competing for a title and the Sixers and Celtics have been shedding them for picks for a number of years now.

76ers Draft Future (note how many picks are protected)

Hitting on one draft pick can turn a franchise around (see Blazers, Cavs), but hitting on two within three years of each other can vault you into a championship contender (see Thunder, Warriors). The best way to give yourself a chance to do this is give yourself a lot of picks, regardless of what it means for your immediate future. If you aren’t any good, why have an expensive 34-year old vet sucking up cap space when they could be of use elsewhere.

The success of hitting on two picks within three years is the gift that keeps on giving. Your first guy is cheap for three years. He stays because your winning team can afford him.

The second guy usually takes a bit of a discount to stay on a winning team. At the very least, the second guy is probably willing to structure his contract in a way to make things work out for his hometown squad.

Solid veterans craving a title run take discounts to come play for your team as losing teams aren’t too interested in their services. Because of all your cap space, you can even take a 1 or 2-year risk on a costly veteran as you are getting a superstar’s services at a reserve’s price. It’s similar to the Russell Wilson/Kurt Warner/Tom Brady scenario except this is for LOTTERY PICKS, not 3rd rounders and undrafted free agents

(Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were both drafted by the Warriors and have been very flexible in contract negotiations with the team.)

The magic formula for NBA success isn’t black and white, but history reveals some interesting trends. If Captain Hindsight took over an NBA team, I think his guidelines would look a lot like this:

• Covet your 1^st round draft picks
• Don’t chase an 8-seed. It’s not worth getting a 9 or a 10.
• Sign risky veterans to short term deals only
• Couple max free agents with stud 2^nd and 3^rd year guys
• Take risks in the draft, be cautious in free agency
• Tanking is worth it, even if you end up mid-lottery

All this being said, I’m not a fan of tanking and certainly don’t believe established veterans should constantly get passed on for unproven 19-year-olds. But, in the words of the great Herm Edwards, “You PLAY to WIN the GAME!” It’s on the NBA to fix the tanking problem, not the teams and GM’s themselves.

Part 2 of this article will delve into what the NBA can do to combat the bizarre hoops that teams are having to go through to rebuild. It will also address what can be done to help narrow the gap between free agency and the draft in terms of risk/reward. 

What Would an NCAA Alumni Basketball Tournament with Current NBA Players Look Like?

by William Mayfield

In the era of the one and done, college basketball has taken a bit of a hit in popularity.

It almost seems like there has been more uproar about one and dones than players leaving directly from high school. I can certainly see how it can be difficult to feel attached to a kid who plays for your school one year.

As a result, some of the common basketball hierarchies have struggled to fill the NBA with stars like they used to. For instance, Louisville only has three players in the League at this moment. None of them are permanent starters.

Of course some programs, like Kentucky and Kansas, have embraced the one and done model and flourished. But even these two programs have seen early exits in the NCAA Tournament in the last few years. In fact, Kentucky even missed the Tournament all together two years ago.

One of the biggest effects of the one and done rule has been that few NBA players are identified by where they chose to go to college. Nevertheless, schools should have a right to claim these guys as their own.

Hypothetically, let’s envision that, in an effort to regain popularity, the NCAA wanted to have an Alumni Tournament in the Summer. What would such a thing look like? If it were up to me, it would look just like this.

Requirements for entry-

• If you have at least 4 players currently playing in the NBA, you automatically make the field.
• If you have 3 players in the NBA, one must have made at least 2 All-Star Games as to not destroy the integrity of the field
• If you are a high school with over ten players in the NBA, you may enter the tournament
• If you have 5 or more NBA players, you must use only those players. You may have up to 5 bench players
• If you have less than 5 players, you must fill your 5-man roster with players who currently play for your school
• The tournament will be divided into a 16-team East Bracket and a 16-team West Bracket with the winner of each facing off for the Alumni Championship

East Seeding and Rosters

1. Oak Hill Academy-Oak Hill gets the nod as the 1-seed because they have all proven talent and a solid bench. While they are point guard heavy, there will be a lot of out of position play in the Alumni Tournament and lack of youth isn’t a big deal as this team is not on a long term mission.

starters- R. Rondo, T. Lawson, K. Durant, C. Anthony, M. Speights

bench-B. Jennings, Josh Smith, Steve Blake, Dante Cunningham, J. J. Redick

2. Kentucky-In a post seeding change of heart, I actually have the Cats defeating Oak Hill in the Final 4. While Kentucky really lacks shooting, their athletes and front line will be difficult to stop. Their original 2-seed was given due to a log jam of talent at the point guard position, meaning it will be tough for the Cats to have all their playmakers on the floor together.

starters-J. Wall, B. Knight, M. Kidd-Gilchrist, A. Davis, D. Cousins

bench-R. Rondo, E. Bledsoe, E. Kanter, N. Noel, J. Meeks

3. Wake Forest-While it will likely be a 2-team race in the East, Wake may have the best 1-2 punch on this side of the bracket. Think about the magic Greg Popovich could pull of with that combo, plus an evolving Jeff Teague. Lack of depth will derail them though in their Elite 8 matchup with the Cats.

starters-C. Paul, J. Teague, A. Aminu, J. Johnson, Tim Duncan

bench-I. Smith

4. Florida-The Gators are much deeper than Wake and have a great front line, but the key to them dropping to a 4-seed is lack of point guard play. Despite Billy Donovan always having a great pg, his signal callers have not transitioned well into the Big Boy League. Nick Calathes will be running the show for the Gators. It will be up to Horford, Lee, and Noah to get easy post buckets to make up for the deficiency at the 1.

starters-N. Calathes, B. Beal, C. Parsons, A. Horford, J. Noah

bench-D. Lee, M. Speights, M. Miller, C. Brewer, M. Bonner

5. Duke-Duke finds themselves in the 5-spot because their quantity far outreaches their quality in terms of NBA players. The most recent era of Blue Devils has not matched the greatness of Blue Devils past in the League. Regardless, Kyrie Irving will bolster a group that is fundamentally sound and full of sharp shooters. Depth will aslo help as many teams will only have 5 players.

starters-Kyrie Irving, J.J. Redick, L. Deng, J. McRoberts, Ma. Plumlee

bench-G. Henderson, J. Parker, K. Singler, C. Boozer, M. Dunleavy

6. Georgetown- This Georgetown team would have been a front runner if this tournament had been played a few years ago, but has dipped in form recently. While they have solid talent across the board, they have no current All-Stars and a lack of depth. The Hoyas have a solid front line, but will really struggle as they do not have any semblance of a point guard.

starters-O. Porter, J. Green, H. Thompson, G. Monroe, Roy Hibbert

bench-H. Sims

7. Connecticut-Uconn could probably benefit the most from some help from non-NBA guys. Ryan Boatright could help at the 2 while Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien could bolster an already decent front line. Unfortunately, there are just too many lineup holes for Uconn to be in the upper echelant in the East.

starters-K. Walker, B. Gordon, R. Gay, C. Villanueva, A. Drummond

bench-S. Napier, J. Lamb, C. Butler

8. Syracuse-The 8, 9, and 10 spots in the East may surprise people as they are all big name schools. However, Syracuse suffers due to their recent stars not panning out in the NBA to date (aside from Michael Carter-Williams, who has been a nice surprise in Philly). Dion Waiters and Wesley Johnson shined on the college court, but their lack of experience in man-to-man defense may be hurting them at the next level. Melo hardly plays any defense either which is probably the most likely reason he has failed to advance past a Conference Finals.This Cuse team might benefit if Fab Melo could find a spot in the League, but at the moment they have no true bigs.

starters- M. Carter-Williams, D. Waiters, W. Johnson, J. Grant, C. Anthony

bench. T. Ennis

9. Memphis-Obviously, this Memphis team would really benefit from having Derek Rose pre-injuries. Had this tournament been held a few years ago, Memphis would have an MVP caliber point guard, a fringe All-star in Evans, and a more solid group of surrounding players including Chris Douglas-Roberts. However, the Pastner era has failed to match the Calipari era and this group of 5 former Tigers will probably fall in round 1 to Syracuse, but certainly in round 2 to Oak Hill.

starters-D. Rose, W. Barton, T. Evans, S. Williams, J. Dorsey

bench- none

10. North Carolina-On second thought, the seeding committee (me) probably sold the Heels a bit short as they could arguably be as high as a 7-seed. However, the Heels don’t churn out NBA studs like they used to. North Carolina has no recent All-Star appearances on this roster. Their bench could propel them past Uconn in round 1, but Kentucky stifles NC easily in round 2 if so.

starters-T. Lawson, D. Green, H. Barnes, J. Henson, B. Wright

bench-V. Carter, E. Davis, K. Marshall, J.M. McAdoo, M. Williams

11. Ohio State-Ohio State begins the list of 5 teams in the East that have hardly any chance of making a run in this tournament. There are only 4 current Buckeyes in the League. The Bucks probably caught a break in Greg Oden not currently being on a roster. Stud freshman D’angelo Russell is averaging 19, 5, and 5 for the Bucks and will fill the role of 2-guard nicely. That being said, the Hoyas should advance pretty easily against the short-handed Buckeyes.

starters-M. Conley, D’Angelo Russell (college), E. Turner, J. Sullinger, K. Koufos

bench-none

12. Georgia tech- The Jackets have a strong case that they deserve an 11-seed, but their best players come from the Paul Hewitt era and have lost a step or two. The Jackets do boast one of the strongest front lines of all the teams in the East, but lack a player playing at the level of Ohio State’s Mike Conley.

starters-J. Jack, I. Shumpbert, D. Favors, C. Bosh, T. Young

bench-A. Morrow

13. Indiana-Many may be shocked to see a program so rich in history this low in the East, but Indiana just isn’t what it used to be. The Hoosiers are fortunate that their call up, Yogi Ferrell, will be able to fill a void at the point guard spot. However, there is no All-Star to speak of for this squad and no one with much experience winning in the NBA.

starters-Y. Ferrell (college), E. Gordon, V. Oladipo, N. Vonleh, C. Zeller

bench-none

14. Villanova- As strong as Kyle Lowry has been this year and last, there is no way this team gets past Wake. They only have 3 current NBA guys and can’t go get past stars Scottie Reynolds and Curtis Sumpter. What’s worse for the Wildcats is that although the current Cats are 21-2, their success has been founded on a guard committee, something not too helpful for the alumni team which needs frontline help. 6-11 Daniel Ochefu will have to be thrown into the fire despite being in and out of coach Jay Wright’s doghouse this year.

starters-K. Lowry, R. Foye, D. Hilliard II (college), D. Cunningham, D. Ochefu (college)

bench-none

15. Alabama-Alabama’s Alumni team is mostly over the hill guys. Their first round matchup with Kentucky is one they are familiar with. Bama won’t receive much help from its 14-9 college team either. As most Kentucky-Alabama match ups go, this one will be all Cats.

starters-M. Williams, J. Green, A. Gee, G. Wallace, L. Randolph (college)

16. Miami- It is truly shocking that Miami qualified for this tournament. Here are the 5 players the Canes will roll out to get drubbed by Oak Hill…

starters- S. Larkin, J. Salmons, J. Jones, J. McClinton, D. Collins

bench-none

West Seeding and Rosters

1. UCLA-Although Ben Howland’s career kind of went up in flames, he left behind quite a legacy. His run fed lots of quality into the NBA and his players have generally been even better in the League than they were in West Hollywood. Russell Westbrook drive and kicks to Kevin Love should have this team making a deep run. A quality bench will also help. Their only trouble may be that a few point guards will be playing out of position.

starters- Jrue Holliday, R. Westbrook,T. Ariza, A. Afflalo, K. Love

bench-D. Collison, R. Hollins, L. Richard Mbah A Moute, K. Anderson, S. Muhammed

2. Texas-Yet again, the seeding committee probably made the wrong call here upon second thought. While the UCLA depth is dazzling, the Texas 1-2 punch of Kevin Durant and Lamarcus Aldridge would be virtually untouchable. Texas probably deserves the 1-seed. Both Durant and Aldridge are 6’11+, in their prime, and stretch defenses. Most importantly, they are used to winning in the League. The team also comes together nicely as Augustin is a capable, experienced pg and Bradley can lock on defense and stay out of the way on offense. The ageless wonder P.J. Tucker has experience a nice resurgence to round out what I believe is the best starting 5 in the tournament.

starters-D.J. Augustin, A. bradley, K. Durant, P.J. Tucker, L. Aldridge

bench-C. Joseph, T. Thompson

3. USC-Many may be surprised to see the Trojans this high on the list, but USC’s guys have transitioned really well into the NBA. The recent success of Demar Derozan and Nikola Vucevic makes a solid USC roster even better. However, the star power difference in the Trojans and the top 2 seeds is a wide gap. USC seems destined for the Elite 8 with little chance to move on to the Final

starters- N. Young, D. Derozan, O.J. Mayo, N. Vucevic, T. Gibson

bench- D. Dedmon

4. Kansas- You might be shocked to see USC above Kansas, but the Jayhawks have little in the way of NBA star power and would probably be a 7 or 8 seed in the stronger East side of the bracket. Kansas has filtered the NBA with good role players, but no former Jayhawk has come close to matching the production of USC’s Derozan or Vucevic this season other than rookie Andrew Wiggins. Kansas may want to consider a platoon approach and try to wear down teams with only 5-7 players.

starters-M. Chalmers, K. Hinrich, A. Wiggins, P. Pierce, Mark. Morris

bench-N. Collison, J. Embiid, D. Arthur, T. Robinson, B. Mclemore

5. Marquette-Marquette is the polar opposite of Kansas. They have studs, but no depth to speak of. The Golden Eagles will dress 5 who will have to go all the way. It’s a good 5, but lacks bigs and youth. Dwyane Wade’s health will probably determine how far Marquette can advance.

starters-D. Wade, W. Matthews, J. Crowder, J. Butler, S. Novak

bench-none

6. Arizona-Arizona is a poor man’s Kansas. They have lots of role players, but few (if any) stars. Arizona’s recent draftees have failed to match their NCAA effectiveness in the League (see Williams, Derrick). The Lute Olsen era is slowly dying out with only a few veteran reserves left to tell the tales. That being said, Arizona is still an elite program and will use its depth to advance to the second round.

starters- J. Bayless, J. Terry, A. Iguodala, C. Frye, J. Hill

bench-C. Budinger, A. Gordon, D. Williams, R. Jefferson, N. Johnson

7. Michigan-Unlike the NBA for over a decade, the West side of this bracket is far inferior to the East. Michigan would probably struggle to beat East 10-seed UNC, but should easily advance past West 10-seed Stanford. Michigan’s most recent group of successful players have yet to make much of a mark on the League. a 9-year NCAA Tournament slump in the early 2000’s means that the only helper to the recent John Beilein crew is Jamal Crawford. The good (but probably bad) news is that offensively, Crawford will get up enough shots to make up for any that other Wolverines are unwilling to take. Michigan will probably make the 2nd round, but get quickly stifled by Texas.

starters-T. Burke, J. Crawford, T. Hardaway Jr., Glenn Robinson III, M. McGary

bench-D. Morris, N. Stauskas

8. Michigan State-This has to be a shot to the gut for Michigan State fans. Sparty just ain’t what it used to be. In today’s alternate universe, Michigan State is fighting for Rose Bowls and Michigan is playing in Final 4’s. That being said, Michigan State still has its fair share of NBA guys. They have an argument that they could be seeded as high as 6, but poor guard play has found them in the dreaded 8-9 game. Draymond Green has come on strong this year in Oakland, but it has been a while since Michigan State was the no-brainer Big 10 stalwart. Michigan State edges out a close w in round 1, but UCLA rolls in round 2.

starters-G. Harris, A. Anderson, J. Richardson, D. Green, Z. Randolph

bench-A. Payne

9. Arkansas-Arkansas has 2 really solid NBA guys. However, they only have 3 TOTAL NBA guys. Fortunately for the Hogs, Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls are pretty solid college guys, but the frontline will be small. Looks like Arkansas will have to go with a “48 minutes of hell” approach from the Nolan Richardson days to make up for their lack of size. That could get dicey with no subs. Arkansas is an interesting team that should be fun to watch. Unfortunately, unless Bud Walton Arena hosts this tourney, you’ll probably only get to watch them in round 1.

starters-P. Beverley, J. Pargo, J. Johnson, M. Qualls (college), B. Portis (college)

bench-none

10. Stanford-As is status quo, Stanford will boast a set of twins on this roster. Brook and Robin Lopez carry on a tradition that dates back to the Jacobsens and was carried on by Jason and Jarron Collins. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, this tournament isn’t taking place in 2013. Both the Lopez twins and Landry Fields have seen a dip in their quality of play over the past couple years. Look for the Cardinal to fall round 1 to a much more athletic Michigan team.

starters- C. Randle (college),  L. Fields, D. Powell, R. Lopez, B. Lopez

11. Baylor-No offense to the 11-16 seeds, as merely qualifying for this tournament is a feat in itself, but this is where the spot fillers begin. Baylor had a balanced success approach in college, and no former Bear is a non-role player. Expect an early exit for a team full of holes.

starters-Q. Miller, P. Jones, C. Jefferson, Q. Acy, E. Udoh

bench-none

12. Texas A&M- This isn’t a slight to Deandre Jordan, but a mostly defensive 5-man is going to have a hard time carrying this group of role players.

starters-A. Carusso (college), D. Sloan, K. Middleton, C. Elonu, D. Jordan

bench-none

13. Washington-No more Brandon Roy or Nate Robinson for the Huskies. They could, or even should, be seeded as high as 11, but nothing will save them from a round 1 exit.

starters-I. Thomas, T. Wroten, T. Ross, Q. Pondexter, S. Hawes

bench-Wilcox, Holiday

14. LSU-Keeping with the Stromile Swift and Tyrus Thomas tradition, LSU players have not panned out so far in the League. What’s left is a group of role players who probably get blown out against USC.

starters-G. Temple, M. Thornton, G. Davis, B. Bass, J. Hamilton

bench-J. O’Bryant III

15. Oklahoma St.-The Cowboys have all sorts of issues. They’re really small, and not very good. Their first round matchup with Texas should resemble a typical 2-15 matchup.

starters-J. Lucas, M. Smart, T. Allen, M. Brown, Le’Bryan Nash (college)

bench-none

16. Colorado-They have 4 players, so they qualify. That’s all there is to say about the most irrelevant team in the tournament. They probably think they should be a 15-seed, but in the end, it doesn’t matter.

starters-A. Burks, S. Dinwiddie, A. Booker (college), A. Roberson, C. Copeland

bench-none

The link is my opinion on how the bracket would play out. Feel free to make any suggestions about ways to make the tournament better or if you think the seeding and results should be different.

My NCAA-NBA Alumni Tournament Bracket

NBA Midseason Report

Top 5 Surprise Teams

1. Atlanta Hawks

2. Milwaukee Bucks

3. Toronto Raptors

4. Phoenix Suns

5. Memphis Grizzlies

No one should have any issues with the Hawks being number 1 on this list. 19 in a row until last night’s lost to the Pelicans and haven’t even reached double-digit losses yet nearly 50 games in. The crazy thing about the Hawks is that they’re doing it with no impactful new faces. Their core, who arguably could have all made the All-Star team, all called Atlanta home last season. Danny Ferry may be historically bad when it comes to PR, but he built a darn good basketball team in the ATL.

Milwaukee slides in at 2 because they are comfortably over .500 with a roster few knew about (or even still know about). Jason Kidd’s new squad figured to be rebuilding even with the addition of stud newcomer Jabari Parker, but the team has continued winning even after Parker went down for the year. The fact that Kidd has Brandon Knight even close to the All-Star snub conversation is a testament to the job he has done this year. The Bucks may be deeper than any team in the League besides the Warriors. Middleton, Henson, Bayless, Dudley, Mayo, etc. highlight a list of non-stars that give Kidd a lot of options matchup wise.

Toronto makes the list because they are proving that last year’s 4-seed was no fluke. The Raptors currently sit 33-16 despite DeMar DeRozan missing significant time. Kyle Lowry has been so good that the fans voted him as a starter for the East squad in the All-Star game. Maybe the fans up north should stop paying $250 a night to watch a mediocre hockey team and go watch their Raptors as they coast through the absurdly docile Eastern Conference.

Point guard city takes the 4^th spot on the list. While Suns fans may take this as an insult seeing as how they are only in 8^th in the West, I continue to be amazed by their success. Their three best players are Goran Dragic (point guard), Isaiah Thomas (point guard), and Eric Bledsoe (point guard) play the same position. While Markeiff Morris and P.J. Tucker are nice role guys, this team has little to no isolation scoring. Gerald Green, who seems like more of a catch and shoot guy, is their only “take it and try to score on your own” guy if you don’t count Dragic. It’s a quirky system, but Hornacek makes it work in the crazy competitive West. Still puzzled as to why they took Tyler Ennis in the draft to add to their point guard farm.

Memphis takes the final spot on the list and sit in 2^nd in the West. Grizz fans may wonder why I am surprised by this team continuing to have success. With Zach Randolph now 33 years old and Mike Conley failing yet again to make the All-Star team, I would not have guessed they’d be here at this point in the season. Jeff Green feels like the perfect add for a team that needs shooting and isolation scoring. Udrih has held up nicely with Conley out and Marc Gasol continues to be Marc Gasol. bringing Tony Allen off the bench may mean this team is ready to make the next step. With the nemesis Spurs fading, could this be the year the Grizz break through?

Top 5 surprise players

1. Stephen Curry

2. Kyle Korver

3. Pau Gasol

4. Kyle Lowery

5. Brandon Knight

Curry is running away with the MVP right now and topped Lebron in All-Star voting. Only made his first All-Star Appearance last year and people wondered if he could carry a team. He has. Easy call.

Korver’s resurgence from role player to near All-Star at his age is remarkable. Korver has never been in All-Star conversations and all of a sudden is at age 33 for the first time. At the midway point of the year, Kyle Korver was shooting 53% from deep. That number would have ranked 14^th as an OVERALL shooting percentage in the league. Yes, you’re hearing me right. Using only three-point percentage, Kyle Korver would have ranked lower than only 12 big men and Kevin Durant in overall field goal percentage midway through the year. Wow.

The same can be said about Pau Gasol, but his resurgence is less surprising since he’s been to those heights before. The change of scenery has done Pau well and he has fit in quite nicely with the Bulls. He and Noah should be quite a force down low as Noah gets fully healthy. The Bulls should feel like they are right there for a chance to win the East with Jimmy Butler’s emergence as an All-Star, but Derrick Rose just hasn’t been the same.

Savvy NBA fans should not be too surprised about Lowry, but topping big names like Wall and Irving in the fan vote speaks volumes to his success this year. He has the Raptors thinking big playoff run for the first time in their history.

Brandon Knight was thought to be a career “good player on a bad team” guy, but his success has the surprise Bucks right in the middle of the playoff picture. Knight has benefited from the move to Milwaukee and may finally have escaped being Deandre Jordan’s poster boy.

Top 5 Title Contenders

1. Golden State Warriors

2. Cleveland Cavaliers

3. Los Angeles Clippers

4. Memphis Grizzlies

5. Atlanta Hawks

Golden State has a reputable first 5, but with David Lee and Iguodala coming off the bench, the Warriors are hands down the deepest team in the league. With Speights, Green, Curry, Thompson, and Barnes all having career years, the Warriors are equipped for a deep run. The only real question remains is if they can afford to have the Splash brothers not hitting from deep. They’re more equipped than ever to handle that. They also have the best home crowd in basketball at the Oracle and should have home court advantage throughout the playoffs unless they face the Hawks in the Finals. Klay Thompson’s emergence may have the same effect as having two stud defensive ends. One other wordly shooter can sometimes be handled, but two can be impossible to contain.

The Cavs recent ten-game winning streak may have the league in more fear than the Warriors. If the Cavs are healthy, it is tough to see anyone in the East standing in their way, which puts them at a big advantage as anyone can beat anyone in the West. Mozgov, Shumpert, and Smith are starting to look like good adds from david Griffin, something Cleveland is not used to from their GM. What a nice change of pace for Cavs fans that their front office might save a season, not destroy it. The big questions for the Cavs will be health and having Kevin Love find himself as he adjusts to being a 2nd or 3rd scoring option.

The Clips have failed to get it done for three or four years now, but winning a title is a process. The Paul, Griffin, Jordan trio is one of the League’s best and the Clips are riddled with shooters around them. The Clips are also now led by one of the best coaches in the League, Doc Rivers. The Clips used to win in spite of Vinny Del Negro. Rivers may be what they need to finally get to the promised land.

The Jeff Green add alone puts the Grizz in this category of title contenders. He should really help Memphis as they were prone to scoring lulls before. Green can go get a bucket and knock down shots from deep. Conley, Randolph, and Gasol have been to the Western Conference Finals. Green could make them champions.

Although I am not a huge believer in the Hawks, they’ve earned their spot on this list. Their lack of a go-to scorer worries me though and I’m afraid they may be more equipped for a regular season run than a playoff run. Of course, no one had them here before the year. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Top 5 “1 player away from contending” teams

1. Detroit Pistons

2. New Orleans Pelicans

3. Sacramento Kings

4. Charlotte Hornets

5. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Pistons have some nice parts. Jennings, KCP, Monroe, and Drummond are all solid NBA starters. The revolving door at the other spot along with a soft bench may keep them out of the postseason, along with Jennings being sidelined for the year with an injury. Try as he might, Stan the Man may have to wait till next year to reap the benefits of shedding Josh Smith.

Anthony Davis seems to be a sure 2-3 time MVP someday and Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, and Jrue Holiday have all seen their fair share of success in the League. However, this team is on the outside looking in as one injury at a time (including their Pelican mascot) has caused them to lose basketball games. Even when their top four guys are all healthy, it is evident that they need one more big to get them over the hump. Davis has expanded his game greatly, but he has to play too much de facto 5 for this team to make much noise long term.

The Kings seem to be suffering the most from their lack of depth. Boogie Cousins is having a fantastic 25 and 12 season along with solid production from Rudy Gay. Ben Mclemore is coming along, but there simply isn’t enough around these guys to put together much of a run. We are slowly creeping towards a day where the legend of Peja, C-Web, Vlade, and Bibby are overshadowed by long term mediocrity.

Lance Stephenson has failed to be the “1 more guy” Michael Jordan needed around Kemba, slight letdown MKG, and Big Al Jefferson. He has even found himself on the bench a great deal of the time and has been part of countless trade rumors. This team can win at full strength, but injuries have kept them below .500. They need a little help and they’d be secure in getting back to the playoffs for the 2^nd  year in a row.

It seems a little odd to have OKC on this list, but they currently sit 10^th in the West. Their Big 3 of Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka is as good as it gets, but adding Dion Waiters doesn’t solve their depth issues. When Westbrook or Durant are out, this team is a disaster.

Top 5 “5 players away” teams

1. Philadelphia 76’ers

2. LA Lakers

3. Boston Celtics

4. Minnesota Timberwolves

5. Utah Jazz

The only reason the Lakers aren’t number 1 on this list is that Kobe put up numbers early in the year. The list of main cogs for this squad is sad for a franchise that may be the most consistently successful of any team in pro sports. Jordan Clarkson, Wayne Ellington, Wesley Johnson, Ronnie Price, and Carlos Boozer are carrying the weight for the Lakers. Yikes. However, the 76ers aren’t even trying to win. Their only big time bright spot is Michael Carter-Williams, but even he may not be a top 15 point guard in a league full of point guard excellence. In all reality, the only real bright spots on any of these teams are Andrew Wiggins, kind of Enes Kanter, and C’s coach Brad Stephens. The C’s have some picks stocked up, as do the Sixers, and the Lakers will have money soon. However, these squads are probably a long way from being contenders. The Knicks dodge this list purely because Carmelo is still really, really good at his best, but they may be further from contending than anyone. The Magic also slightly miss this list because of Nikola Vucevic’s success this year and the continued development of Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris.

By William Mayfield 

The New England Patriots, 2014 AFC Champions*

The Patriots are at it again.

As most of you know, the NFL is investigating whether or not the Patriots intentionally deflated footballs prior to their 45-7 AFC Championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Of course, cheating is nothing new for the Patriots and I will spare you all the details involved with spygate. In summation, this is the second time in the Bill Belichik era that the Patriots have deliberately broken NFL rules to provide themselves a significant advantage on their competition.

What bothers me is that the NFL has never seriously considered taking away what the Patriots seem to value more than anything else: wins.

Football is “a game of inches.” Imagine a defensive tackle knowing the snap count, a defensive back knowing a receiver’s route, or a defensive coordinator knowing when to put more players in the box. Wouldn’t you say the advantage is more than “inches” in these situations?

Now imagine if Tom Brady got to throw all game with a youth football instead of a wet NFL ball, because this is a small version of what the Patriots did. The weather was horrendous and in order to take this drastic measure, Brady must have struggled with this enough for the risk to be worthy. It’s bad news when the only other coach who had the nerve to cheat in the way you did is Lane Kiffin.

In my opinion, this stuff is certainly helping them. Coaches work 80-100 hour weeks trying to gain any small advantage they can get. There isn’t one of them that wouldn’t tell you that knowing the opponent’s play on even a small percentage of plays wouldn’t help drastically. It is quite possible that the Patriots’ stolen knowledge was far more expansive than this. I’ve been tallying the Patriots’ super bowls since spygate. I haven’t had to make a mark yet.

However, no matter what your opinion may be as to the advantages the Patriots have gained through their dishonesty over the years, it is undeniable that there is precedent in sports that cheating is not tolerated, regardless of the impact it had.

Reggie Bush was undeniably the best college football player in the nation in 2005 and his parents’ housing played no role in that. He is still bereft of what was once his Heisman Trophy. Barry Bonds has the best numbers of any power hitter in history, but I’d bet you my most prized possession he never ends up in Cooperstown. Ask Auburn and Ohio State if their undefeated seasons without a postseason felt the same as their National Titles. I’d guess they didn’t.

When I hear that the Patriots “may lose draft picks” over this, it infuriates me. They’re basically telling the bank robber he can’t buy anymore guns, but he can keep the loot!

One of the greatest things about the NFL is that there are no computers. It’s wins and losses. That’s it. What if the Patriots had snuck one out on the Colts? Would taking away a win be in talks then? It straight up shouldn’t matter. The Patriots cheated, like they have before, and the NFL continues to slap them on the wrist as they accept their calculated and very tolerable punishment.

The moral to the story is that if winning now is important to you, you can cheat to do it. Sure, you may miss out on a late first round draft pick, but that’s nothing a few deflated balls and stolen play calls can’t make up for, right?

It’s so the Patriot way that the news that they deflated balls didn’t even surprise me. While I in no way support John Harbaugh’s complaints about the quirky “tackle eligible” stuff the Patriots do, it brings up a fact that gives the Patriots even less of an excuse. The Patriots are very well versed on the NFL rule book. If I had to bet, we’d be appalled as to all the ways the Patriots exploit it.

I refuse to put Brady and Belichick in esteem with the past greats. Sure, Bill Belichik is a brilliant coach and a knowledgable person. But when did honor and honesty become irrelevant in assessing a man and his accomplishments?

I’m done with the Patriots’ shenanigans. There are people who love to win, and there are people who like others to know they won. I have a great respect for competitors, but the Patriots are simply afraid to lose. They’re cowards and they deserve no better fate than Bonds or Clemens.

The NFL has so many more worthy competitors and honorable men that deserve to be in the spot Brady and Belichik find themselves in, but sadly, the Patriots will always be the 2014 AFC Champions*.

The Legacy of Peyton Manning

 

Despite a losing effort in the Super Bowl, Peyton Manning has left a mark on the game like no quarterback before him.

 

 

The legend of Peyton Manning is not fit for Hollywood.

After all, last night’s 43-8 beat down isn’t exactly how the protagonist usually goes out. In fact, Manning’s younger brother might be more fit for the big screen. Eli usually has some struggling rising action of 9-7 regular seasons, but takes down the heroic Tom Brady in the end. 

This may be all for the better. Peyton wouldn’t fit in in Hollywood anyway.

He proves it every time he calls his old equipment manager at Tennessee to see how he’s doing and thank him for taking care of things while he was at Tennessee.   

He proves it every time he shows up to Manning Passing Academy to help young quarterbacks develop, even guys like Russell Wilson who might come back to haunt him.

He proves it every time he signs an autograph, like last night when yahoo sports reported that Manning granted numerous autograph requests in the Metlife Stadium Tunnel following his post-game conference. This was the same post-game conference where he had to explain how he felt when, at age 37, he badly missed on possibly his last chance at a coveted second championship. Throughout my childhood I asked Peyton Manning for an autograph 16 times. In Manning like fashion, he went 16-16. 

How about the fact that Manning passed on millions as the first overall pick in the NFL Draft to come back for his senior season at Tennessee to chase a championship? Though Manning was still picked first overall when he did come out, that’s more than a few million dollars Manning will never get back. Does that seem like something Charlie Sheen would do?

He even proves it when he actually acts. Manning’s commercials serve as a nice reminder that Manning is very human and just as cheesy as your average Joe. He’s still a sponsor’s dream.

And yes, sadly, Manning proves he is not cut out for Hollywood when he NEVER wins the big game…EXCEPT for all those times he has…

In college, Manning faced a 6-point deficit heading into what would turn out to be the final drive of the SEC Championship game. Manning’s entire decision to pass on being the number one overall pick in the NFL Draft a year before had hinged on the chance at winning a championship. Manning delivered. Vols win 30-29.

How about in the 2006 Super Bowl campaign? The Colts, who had allowed a 100-yard rusher in all 16 regular season games, came back from 18 down to beat the mighty Patriots in the AFC Title Game. Manning and that giant monkey on his back needed a touchdown on the final drive to get to the Super Bowl. They got it.

How about the Super Bowl that year, the one where Devin Hester took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown before Manning ever saw the field? Manning and the Colts still left champions.

If Manning’s career was a movie, last night should not have made it a box office flop. The man is a dying breed and his heroics should not be overlooked.

Peyton Manning is 37 years old and slow as a Monday morning. His velocity on his throws is below average and he acknowledges that he throws “ducks.”

Yet, at age 37, he threw for more yards and more touchdowns in a single season this year than anyone in history. That includes Joe Montana, Tom Brady, and whoever else people are dying to crown king of football over the “only once” Super Bowl Champion Manning. The man so outworks and outsmarts his competition that he defies logic. He is unquestionably the least athletic quarterback in the league and also, unquestionably, the best. Manning received 49 of 50 votes for this year’s Most Valuable Player Award. It was Manning’s 5th time winning the award, two more than anyone else in history.

Peyton will be heartbroken about last night, but not for the reasons that most think he would be. Manning doesn’t seem to care if he is the best of all time. He cares that his team wasn’t the best this year.

Manning is a team guy through and through. He still stays very involved in the Tennessee program and was the first person to text Tennessee coach Butch Jones after the Vols beat highly-ranked South Carolina. Before his senior teammates played their final game at Neyland Stadium during Manning’s junior season, Manning addressed the team. He asked that the guys send out the seniors right because, “playing in the NFL was no fun anyway.” Manning ended up directing the band on his senior day after unexpectedly returning for his final season.

Manning gracefully left a Colts team that CUT him after he brought them two AFC titles and a world championship. He thanked everyone from the owner that decided to let him go to the managers who washed his clothes and cleaned his towels. Manning clearly was still shaken up about the Colts this season as his worst performance came in a loss at Lucas Oil Stadium, a stadium that wouldn’t exist if not for the man himself.

Manning is such a team guy that he even attempted to take less money from the Colts in a contract negotiation before the NFLPA said no. Just think about what Manning could do with some of these rosters that late round quarterback picks like Russell Wilson and Tom Brady have won Super Bowls with. Manning has been getting paid like a rock star since day 1, and his team’s defenses have suffered for it. In 2006, Manning’s only Super Bowl winning season, his Colts defense became the first team to allow a 100-yard rusher in all 16 games.

Manning knows how good he has it. He knows that despite a 35-point drubbing in front of 100-million people, he is one of the most fortunate individuals in the entire world. He’s known this for a very long time. Maybe that’s why you can find a Peyton Manning autographed picture on the wall of so many Knoxville, Indianapolis, and Denver restaurants. Maybe that’s why he was voted the most respected player in the NFL among his peers.  

Manning established the PeyBack foundation in 1999 which promotes the future success of disadvantaged youth by assisting programs that provide leadership and growth opportunities for at-risk children. The Foundation has donated more than $6.5 million to youth organizations in Indiana, Tennessee, Louisiana and Colorado. The 5-time league MVP  shared his thoughts about charity work in a 2012 Denver Post Article.

“You are supposed to be part of the community and you are supposed to give back. It’s not a part-time job. You don’t play somewhere for six months, go someplace else and come back,” he said.

In 1997, Peyton Manning won the Sullivan Award as the nation’s top amateur athlete. The award came despite the fact that he did not win the Heisman Trophy, an award he claimed he wanted to win more for “his team and his fans” than for himself. In his acceptance speech, Manning noted that he wanted to be remembered as “a good person who happened to play football.”

Legacy complete.  

Things Aren’t What They Used To be

2012-Jets 6-10

2013-Jets -5-6

The Jets have nearly matched their win total from last year. They still have a quarterback who amasses unthinkably bad numbers, but for some reason, he can’t get the press to cover him like they did Sanchez and Tebow. My advice to Geno? Chop off almost all your hair and dye your eyebrows blonde.

2012-Derek Rose out for the year due to a knee injury

2013-Derek Rose out for the year due to a different knee injury

While I feel bad for Rose, the man gets paid $17,632,688 a year to go to rehab. Allen Iverson has to pay for it himself.

2011/2012-Linsanity

2013-Linquility

Could anyone not see this coming? A shoot-first point guard who has more turnovers to his name than your local bakery and doesn’t play much defense. Lin now plays for a real contender and doesn’t start. He’s not much more than a nice spark off the bench, but I bet he’s got Patrick Beverley dominated in t-shirt jersey sales.

 

2012-Can the Ravens win with Joe Flacco?

Two weeks in February of 2013-Joe Flacco may be the best quarterback in the NFL.

Now-Can the Ravens win with Joe Flacco?

I bet Trent Dilfer is one ticked off dude. The Ravens have won two Super Bowls with two mediocre quarterbacks. One gets a 120 million dollar pay day, the other becomes everyone’s go-to argument that teams win Super Bowls, not quarterbacks. Can you imagine how hard Dilfer must have been cheering for Rex Grossman to win Super Bowl XLI?

2012-Auburn fires their National Championship coach 

2013-Auburn hires their National Championship coach

Speaking of Trent Dilfer references, is Gene Chizik not the Trent Dilfer of National Championship coaches? The man went 2-10 at Iowa State and got hired by Auburn. After a forgettable first year, Chizik won a pricey bidding war with Mississippi State for Cam Newton’s services. He then had another forgettable year and followed that with a year so bad that Auburn fans will never forget. Enter Gus Malzahn. Newton’s offensive coordinator has the same Tigers that went win-less in the SEC last year ranked 4th in the country heading into Saturday’s Iron Bowl…with a former Georgia defensive back playing quarterback.

 

2012/2013-Media love turns to hate for Johnny Manziel.

2013-Media love turns to hate for Jameis Winston.

The media just can’t help themselves. They’ve got a thing for duel-threat, Heisman contending, freshman quarterbacks. The first break-up was a little petty in my opinion. If you’re going to date an athlete, you have to know he’s going to be a little bit of a wild child. Whether it was spending a bunch of money at South Beach or sneaking off to a Texas frat party without them there, the media just couldn’t take it anymore and let him go. They may have jumped the gun a bit. Their new beau, Jameis Winston, is wrapped up in a pretty hairy potential criminal case. Winston might win a Heisman Trophy in a couple of weeks, or he might be charged with rape. Meanwhile, Johnny just keeps being Johnny.

 

2010-kickoff from the 30

2011-2013-kickoff from the 35

The search continues for the safest place one can have a 220 pound man with 3% body fat and 40 yards of 4.5 speed built up hit you as hard as they can. Keep me updated Goodell.

2012-Urban Meyer goes undefeated and doesn’t go to a bowl

2013-Urban Meyer (potentially) goes undefeated and (probably) doesn’t go to the National Championship Game

Meyer won two national championships at Florida and never went undefeated. Any chance the former coach is SECond guessing his decision to leave for the Big Ten. After all, the conference can’t even count.