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Pro Sports Wrap - by Sam Ruesler

NBA Preview

November 2nd 2012 16:36

The NBA season started on Tuesday with the Heat defending their title against the rival Celtics. That game alone had plenty of storylines, and now add the early struggles of the new look Lakers. I use to hate the NBA because it wasn't really basketball. There was a lot of one on one play; there still is some but a lot less, and there is actual defense being played. This is why I have started getting back into it, though I still prefer college basketball (Go UNC).


Will the Heat repeat or will Kobe tie Jordan? Will Lebron win another MVP? And who will be the surprise team? Well I'll probably be totally wrong but here are some of my projections for the season.

MVP- Chris Paul, The Clippers had a good season last year and I see them continuing to get better led by the best point guard in the league. Paul's career averages are 18.8 points, 9.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.4 steals a game; I see him being just slightly above those numbers. Adding his clutch factor and his ability to take over a game, the other LA team will finish with a better record than the Lakers.

Defensive Player of the Year- Serge Ibaka, He should have won it last year as he led the league in blocks. He will do that again and add to his rebounding average.

Rookie of the Year- Dion Waiters, Anothony Davis is the easy and most likely choice here, but I watched Waiters in his debut and was impressed. He can score in many different ways and will get the chance to as Irving and Varejao feed him the ball. Also watch out for Lillard in Portland.


Surprise Team- Golden State Warriors, This may rely heavily on the health of Steph Curry. They signed him to a big extension but he has had injuries. Their draft was very good with Harrison Barnes and big man Festus Ezeli. Other good pieces were added, starters and bench, in Richard Jefferson, Andrew Bogut, Jarret Jack, and Carl Landry. Mark Jackson should have a good starting 5 when you add Klay Thompson who will break out this year and David Lee. I see playoffs this year in a tough West.

NBA FINALS- OKC vs Miami, it will go all 7 games and come down to a last shot. If its in the Thunder's hands make sure Durant lets it go, not Westbrook. For the Heat, let Lebron miss it.
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Rich to Broke

September 13th 2012 17:20

4 Years $100 million, when you see this you automatically think of a contract for some sort of professional athlete. That is a lot of money. Do athletes deserve to make so much? That can be, has been, and will continue to be debated. I'm not going to do that though. The only reason that bothers me is because I love sports and am jealous. Who wouldn't want to play a game they love and make enough to live many lifetimes?

What pisses me off are the athletes who end up filing for bankruptcy. I mean how do you spend/lose all that money? They do it in a short amount of time; it's not like they are on their deathbed spending the last dollar. Gambling and child support are a few of the excuses players have had, but that don't matter; it all falls under the umbrella of stupidity.

"Money changes you." Well since I don't make millions and probably never will, I can say it wouldn't change me. Yea I'd buy some nice things, like a big house and a nice car. I'd go on some nice vacations too, but I don't think I could ever spend $100 million plus. If I won say $5 million, that would be plenty for the rest of my life. After a house and car what big purchases are there? Nothing really unless you get those in multiple which no one needs. I mentioned vacations; $50 grand would make a amazing vacation for 5 people.

I can see spending some of the money stupidly but all of it? I guess a lot of the ones that do go bankrupt probably didn't go to college or at least didn't finish. The amount of money made by athletes is ridiculous and plenty to have an amazing lifestyle and support your friends and family. It's pretty simple; just don't be an idiot and continue to be a freak athlete for my entertainment.
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Emeka Okefor injury hurts Hornets

March 10th 2012 14:25
By Jeff Golub

The 6-10 big man Emeka Okefor has started 27 games this year. He has a fairly rough season while playing, as he has been injured since February with a sore left knee, so this analysis is only based on what he has done so far. Averaging a career low 1.0 blocks per game, he has also been averaging a career low 9.9 points per game. His effeciency has also gone down in just about all categories, like his overall effeciency, which has gone down 0.6 from last year, his most efficient year was 2006/2007, in that year he had a 20.1 effieciency rating. His defense has been solid, but offensively he has been below average. His blocks have been going way down, too.

He was the fourth best player on the Hornets before his injury and the team has been playing much worse without him. Don't be fooled by their record. Team chemistry was a lot worse back then, because they a lot of new players in the lineup from the Paul trade and the schedule was a lot tougher. They played many games against the Mavs and the Heat in his healthy period..

-Jeff Golub
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And on I march with these historical player profiles, while listening to Nirvana of course. Is Dave Grohl not the best rock personality in recent history? While that would be a very entertaining topic to discuss, my "job" here is sports analysis. It's an equally fruitless activity in the eyes of the equally ignorant public, but why listen to the ignorant who have not reaped the rewards of sports? I mean, every diehard sports fan admits that they have learned a lot about life with sports as a medium. Life is like Shawn and sports are like Gus, Gus translates the incoherent nonsense Shawn says. Likewise, sports help translate the craziness and seeming randomness of everyday life. Alright, I'm gonna stop being philosophical- and not get religious- and hit up this HPP.

Before I start this post, I want to go off on another monologue (an aside would be if I was talking to myself, but I'm not Jack White). Why is Dwight Howard's nickname D12? Like, how does that make sense at all? I hate it when people make basketball player's nicknames out of their initial and jersey number. AK47 is cool, but D12 is as ludicrous as the rapper. The guys who made up this nickname are popping too many purple pills and seeing too many purple hills.

Otis Taylor may never have shown his All-Pro talent had legendary scout Lloyd Wells not spotted him and signed him on to the Chiefs. In his first full season, Taylor broke out in a big way. He was a Pro Bowler and First-Team All-Pro after hauling in eight touchdown catches for 1,297 yards and a league-leading 22.4 yards per catch. According to Pro Football Reference, his AV of 20 in 1966 was the best in the NFL

The way Otay went to the Chiefs is also interesting, because he was originally under the control of Eagles scouts. In the famous baby-sitting incident, Taylor snuck out of his hotel room and met up with Wells and the Chiefs scouts.

Len Dawson and Otis Taylor had an incredible rapport that is akin to what Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison had a few years back. At 6-3, Taylor was an incredible talent in the middle of the field and could beat you deep. Many agree that Otay revolutionized the wide receiver position and should be in the Hall of Fame. Without a doubt, however, Taylor is the best receiver in Chiefs history. He is deserving of a place in the Hall of Fame, even if he played before the AFL-NFL merger.

In 1967, his 11 touchdown catches were the highest in the league. Taylor was also a Pro Bowler in the years 1971 and 1972, as he caught seven touchdown passes with a league-high 1,110 yards in 1971. He was also a First-Team All-Pro in '71, and he wore the number 89 for the Chiefs for 11 seasons from 1965-1975.

In Super Bowl IV (the last before the merger), the Chiefs upset the Vikings 32-7 when the Vikes were supposedly the greatest team ever before that game. In that game, Otis Taylor caught a pass from Len Dawson and ran it the rest of the way for a 46 yards touchdown. He also had one of his signature stiff-arms on that highlight play.

However, Taylor was not just a great pass-catcher, he was also a formidable blocker. For a guy of his height, it's not exactly hard to see why. But more importantly, however, he was an elusive receiver who could get a ton of yards after the catch. Taylor was also athletic enough to make unheard of one-handed grabs.

"Otis made my job easy,"Len Dawson said. "If you got the pass to Otis, you knew he'd catch it."

A season after their Super Bowl victory, Otay had one of those games that a player just wishes it never happened. The Chiefs were beating their hated rivals- the Raiders- 17-14. It looked like a sure victory after Len Dawson's scramble led to a first down, but defensive end Ben Davidson pretty much jumped into Dawson's helmet while the star QB was already on the ground. As you now know, Taylor was great friends with Dawson and did what any good friend does; take action.

Needless to say, the ramifications of this incident led to an outcome that wasn't very positive from a Chiefs perspective. Taylor came at Davidson, and the benches cleared like it was a baseball game (or a Suns-Spurs game). Both penalties basically turned the first down into nothingness- under the awful rules at the time- and the Raiders would go on to register a comeback victory. What makes this worse is that the Raiders went into the playoffs, and the Chiefs were stuck at home because of a head-scratching rule that is- thankfully- not in place today.

So you can plainly see that Otis Taylor was a pretty damn good football player. I mean, he was one of the best players in football when he was playing, and he made the wide receiver position the marquee position that it is today. He was the guy who started the highlight-reel plays, and Otay is also the best wideout in Chiefs history. Taylor was slighted from the Hall of Fame, and that's because of the statistics. For his era, Taylor was as elite as a wide receiver as you can get.

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2002 Darryl Kile is found dead in his hotel room before a Route 66 rivalry game. The Cardinals pitcher's tragic death still brings a tear to my eyes today.

1926 Grover Cleveland Alexander was picked off of waivers by the Cardinals from the Cubs. The pitcher was 39 at the time


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6/22 Daily Rundown: A new proposal

June 22nd 2011 06:13
1. Owners giving a new proposal to players

The players will get 48 percent of the revenue, and it will never go below 46.5 percent. If the salary cap for a year is at 125 million or something like that, a team's payroll must be around that amount. That could be difficult for teams in smaller markets, but it forces owners to actually spend. There is a rookie wage scale in this proposed deal, but it isn't finalized yet. A player must have four years under his belt in order to become a UFA, and tags (such as the franchise tag) are going to be discussed in the next round of player-owner negotiations. Retired NFL players will also get benefits such as improved health care, and I am glad that is in the proposed deal


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The Daily Rundown is a new segment I will do that covers the days biggest stories. I will also comment for a paragraph or so on the subject.

1. Vancouver Riots


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Ronnie Brewer was a key cog for the Chicago Bulls last season, and he was one of the reasons why the Bulls were the best defensive team in the league. However, Brewer is a poor offensive player which is why he will never become a starter in the league. He's still a decent player overall due to his defense, but Brewer just can't shoot or do much else besides defend.

Brewer racks up steals thanks to his long arms, and he has improved his on the ball defense. His quick reflexes and free safety-like feel on defense also help him generate steals. Brewer is tied for the 4th highest steal percentage in the NBA and averages 2.1 steals per 36 minutes


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Analysis vs. Correctness

June 13th 2011 14:26
I was having an argument with one of my friends today that started after he was gloating about how he predicted the NBA Finals correctly. He was talking about how wrong John Hollinger, the Truehoop experts, my other friend, and I were. I then went on to explain that analysis is more important on correctly predicting an outcome.

Anybody can guess the outcome of a series or game just by randomly picking. What takes skill is being able to properly analyze two teams and giving legit reasons why you think this team will win and how you think the series will shape up. The experts over at ESPN use complex statistical analysis and look at team strategies when predicting what will happen


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2010 PSW NBA MVP

June 12th 2011 10:18
I told you that I would announce my MVP winner during the NBA Finals. Derrick Rose won the official award, but he was only fourth on my ballot. Dwight Howard, LeBron James, and Chris Paul were my top three picks. For those of you who have been reading this blog, you can tell who my pick is going to be.

SF Miami Heat LeBron James


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DeMarcus Cousins had a poor season last year. He was bad offensively and should have been a little bit better on defense. Cousins turned the ball over far too much for a power forward. He also led the league in fouls committed. While these are mistakes that can be corrected with experience, I think that Cousins will continue to foul too much.

Throw out the 14.1 points per game because we all know that PPG is a bad stat. Cousins was a terrible offensive player last year, and his mediocre D did not offset his poor offensive play. He was terribly inefficient and has far too high of a usage rate. His usage rate would be about average for a guard, and he also can't play offense. That's a really bad combination, and it led to a 14.6 PER. Cousins also had one of the lowest True Shooting marks in the NBA


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2010 NBA Finals Preview

May 31st 2011 15:15
This is a rematch that one man has relished more than anyone else. This is a shot at redemption, most likely the last one, for one of the NBA's biggest stars. This series dates back to 2006 when the Dallas Mavericks blew a 2-0 series lead against Dwayne Wade and Shaq in a series that featured an epic collapse from Dirk Nowitzki. The man who is perhaps the greatest player in Mavericks' history has took it upon himself to lead his team back to this moment. Will they get their vengeance. One thing's clear, they won't go down without a fight.

The 2006 Finals have haunted this team ever since, and the word "choker" has long been associated with the name Dirk Nowitzki. That is, until this season. The man largely blamed for what happened in 2006 and the loss to the eighth seeded Warriors in 2007. Nowitzki scored just eight points on a team that won 67 games and was considered to be one of the best teams in recent memory. That's all behind the man born in Wurzburg


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The Minnesota Timberwolves want to get a couple of veterans in return if they were to trade the number two pick in the upcoming draft. Although their owner says otherwise, many GMs have stated that the Wolves are talking about dealing their pick. Hey, I would do the trade depending on who the veterans are. I mean, David Kahn doesn't exactly have the best draft track record out there.

Danny Ferry has been linked with a move to the Trail Blazers. The best GM in basketball could be going to one of the best front office's in basketball. If the Blazers can get Ferry, this would be a huge move. I think he gives them a really good chance to get to the next round in the playoffs, provided he has the opportunity to make some moves


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1. The Hawks were 25th best rebounding team in the NBA according to Hoop Data's Rebounding Efficiency Rating.

2. They had the 6th best turnover rate in the NBA


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What a postseason. Each year, the NBA Playoffs never disappoints. There's always action, storylines, suspense, upsets, and great games. This year is no different, and both series have interesting matchups. The West may be the most perplexing, because it all has to do with which team is streakier. The Heat and Bulls are the two best teams right now- I have the Bulls winning it all- but these two teams are either on or off. They're not sure things.

I haven't been impressed with the Thunder so far in the playoffs. They were terrible at times against the Grizzlies, and I don't think they are a good enough team on the road. Even if they beat the Mavs, I doubt they win the whole thing. Even against the Nuggets, the Thunder were poor at times. They got lucky in pretty much every fourth quarter of that series. Their execution in crunch time was extremely poor


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5/15 NBA News: Hawks' Future

May 15th 2011 11:48
The Atlanta Hawks were finally able to beat the Orlando Magic, and they also have their future at point guard figured out with the emergence of Jeff Teague in the playoffs. Larry Drew did a poor job of coaching during the regular season, but he actually made some good decisions in the playoffs. They were never going to beat the Bulls but taking the best team in the NBA to six games is certainly something to be proud of. The future looks bright in Atlanta, and this team could challenge for the Conference Title with another big man.

Jamal Crawford was huge for them in the playoffs, and he's a very important piece for the Hawks. They might lose him because they didn't give him an extension last year. He is set to become a free agent, and it doesn't seem as if he wants to re-sign with the Hawks. That would be a huge loss for them because Crawford is their second best scorer and second best shooter. That's because there's this guy named Joe Johnson on the Hawks


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What does the future hold for the Kings? Where are they going to go? Their days in Sacramento are certainly numbered, and there are really no other options for a team that has put itself into financial disarray due to low revenue and poor contracts. I don't want to answer these hypothetical questions right now. I want to talk about this team from a personnel perspective.

Marcus Thornton played in 27 games for the Kings, and the shooting guard was easily the team's best player in those games. He's the main scoring threat on the Kings, and that's not a good thing. The Kings don't really have a marquee player. I have never really been sold on Tyreke Evans as that kind of guy, and his poor season last year proved my doubts


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2010 PSW NBA All-Defensive Team

May 10th 2011 14:29
Team One

PG Rajon Rondo


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Maggette had a borderline All-Star caliber season in 2009- his last season with the Warriors and best of his career. Last season was the worst of Corey Maggette's career by far. He had an average year overall, but it was a stark drop off from 2009. He turned the ball over too much and had the worst shooting season of his career. Maggette has always been known as turnover-prone- and foul-prone- but he did cut down on his fouls. His turnover rate was far too high especially considering he had another subpar assist rate.

Maggette had the highest usage rate of his career, and he's playing the least minutes of his career- 20 per game. Maggette's been decent for a player of the bench, but he's easily had the worst year of his career. I think if he has a similar year next season, Maggette may never have another good year in his career. At 31 years old, his body can no longer take all those slashing drives Maggette made earlier in his career. Those plays have caught up to him at this age, and he'll never be the same again


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2011 Pre-Draft Notes Part 2

April 27th 2011 14:20
For Part 2, I want to start off by talking about the best draft strategy. Now, this isn't a pinpoint strategy of who to take schematically and stuff like that. These are notes, not in-depth previews where I go into schemes. I may delve into schemes at some point, but I want to talk about upside guys.

In the NBA, the successful teams- like the Spurs- don't look for high-upside guys with superstar potential when they're picking in the 20s. No, they're looking for solid players that they can plug in for 15-20 minutes or so each night. I think NFL teams need to do that and value players that can come right in and do a solid job rather than those upside players that almost never pan out


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