Van Gundy is as Van Gundy Does
First off, I didn't know announcers were allowed to have bromances with players they will be announcing, but Van Gundy must be blushing as he showers his praise on Lebron James and the Miami Heat.
Second off, obvious to every non-Heat fan in the country, people hate the Heat because of Lebron James. We hated "The Decision." We hated the asinine way he abandoned his team. We hated the way he promised 5, or 6, or 7 championships. We hated that people started calling Chris Bosh a superstar. We hated the "celebration" Miami's fair weather fans put on. For me, the thing I hate about Lebron the most is how he quit on his Cavs team last year, then left them hanging on about re-signing, they had to find out the same moment that everybody else did. Jim Rome called him out, and a lot of people said he was just being a hater, Lebron just didn't play well. Watching Lebron this year to Lebron last year: he absolutely quit on his team.
Third off, Van Gundy makes me want to watch the game on mute. Lebron makes me want to not watch the Finals at all. The man does NOT deserve a championship. You don't get it, Van Gundy? The Bulls stunk up the place with Jordan for a long time. He hung around for 6 years, they made some moves, they eventually got him 6 titles. Olajuwon waited a long time for his team to take shape around him and get himself his titles. Kobe hung around in LA. Wade did it in Miami. All of the NBA greats America loves did it the right way (I do love Dwayne Wade, and I feel sorry that he's stuck on a team with that sack). Lebron did not. He was arrogant, brash, and shoved it in Cleveland's face that he was too good for them.
Dynasty? I Don't Think So.
The Miami Heat are still a roster of nobodies and has-beens. And never will-bes. With two superstars and an all-star.
One, the NBA will not be playing next season. I remain fully convinced that the Player's Union will have to make several serious concessions to have a season next year, and they will not do it. The players have taken over the sport in a way non-existent in the history of sport.
Two, I think the Bulls were one year ahead of schedule because of Rose's great season. They will have the chutzpah to challenge Miami next time around. The Knicks will be better. They may have to go through Orlando too (if Dwight Howard doesn't pull a Shaq). They lucked out with a rebuilding Philly team, then got a limping Boston team, and finished up with a green Chicago team. Next year, as the migration of talent from West to East continues, they face tougher challenges at every road. I thought their window of titles was this year and next. Maybe the Bulls and Knicks get in their way, maybe they don't. I thought Boston might this year, but with injuries to several key players, they couldn't muster much fight. Either way, Lebron's titles stop at 2.
Third, Lebron will never be Jordan, because he simply isn't Jordan. Jordan never quit on any team, at any time, for any reason. I will cheer against Lebron James for the rest of his career. I only hope he never represents the USA. Seeing what we have seen about him, he almost certainly won't don the red, white, and blue again. Kryzyzewski demands heart and soul, Lebron is heartless and he has no soul. If that makes me a hater, I will hate on.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
A Preview Of BYU's Offense
Expectations are high for BYU's offense going into every season. When a team has been as good at one thing for so long, it becomes expected. The reason for optimism is this: last year BYU finished strong and they are bringing everybody back. They have a more experienced QB, a zesty playcaller, and grown-up WRs, TEs, and RBs. However, let's temper the optimism a bit. Yes, have high hopes. As far as any fan knows, their team will go 12-0 in the fall and win the National Championship. However, the turnaround in BYU's fortunes the second half of last season coincided with the turnaround in their strength of schedule.
BYU scored a ton of points in their last 6 games. BYU only scored less than 20 once in those 6 games. However, they only played 1 defense ranked in the top half of college football in scoring defense, which was also the one game they scored under 20 points. 3 of the 6 teams they played had defenses that ranked in the bottom quarter. 25 points against Wyoming (86th), 55 against UNLV (116th), 49 against CSU (104th), 40 against New Mexico (120th, dead last), and 52 against UTEP (66th). So yes, BYU's offense was rolling at the end of the season. But against the one good defense they played, they only managed 16 points.
Cody Hoffman made a lot of plays, but he was also more open. Heaps looked a lot more comfortable in the pocket, but he wasn't getting chased around as much. The OL was opening up huge holes and the RBs were finding them with ease, but that was against smaller and less talented front 7's. A quick look at the back half of BYU's schedule in 2011 and I would say they will finish as strong as they did in 2010. The first half of the season will be the key indicator. Fantasize all you want about how good BYU's offense will be in 2011, but remember that they have not proved anything against anyone yet.
With that said, I still expect BYU to average over 31 points/game. There are 4 games they should easily score over 42 points (San Jose State, Idaho State, Idaho, New Mexico State), only 3 games where they may not break 20 (Texas, Utah, TCU, still COULD score score, but may not), and the rest should be somewhere in between. That averages out to about 31 points/game. At home, I expect them to average about 40 points/game, while winning by an average of 15-20 points/game. They should absolutely beat San Jose State, Idaho State, Idaho, and New Mexico State by 4 TDs and Utah State by 2-3 TDs. Utah and UCF are still wild cards as far as margin of victory (or victory, period).
BYU scored a ton of points in their last 6 games. BYU only scored less than 20 once in those 6 games. However, they only played 1 defense ranked in the top half of college football in scoring defense, which was also the one game they scored under 20 points. 3 of the 6 teams they played had defenses that ranked in the bottom quarter. 25 points against Wyoming (86th), 55 against UNLV (116th), 49 against CSU (104th), 40 against New Mexico (120th, dead last), and 52 against UTEP (66th). So yes, BYU's offense was rolling at the end of the season. But against the one good defense they played, they only managed 16 points.
Cody Hoffman made a lot of plays, but he was also more open. Heaps looked a lot more comfortable in the pocket, but he wasn't getting chased around as much. The OL was opening up huge holes and the RBs were finding them with ease, but that was against smaller and less talented front 7's. A quick look at the back half of BYU's schedule in 2011 and I would say they will finish as strong as they did in 2010. The first half of the season will be the key indicator. Fantasize all you want about how good BYU's offense will be in 2011, but remember that they have not proved anything against anyone yet.
With that said, I still expect BYU to average over 31 points/game. There are 4 games they should easily score over 42 points (San Jose State, Idaho State, Idaho, New Mexico State), only 3 games where they may not break 20 (Texas, Utah, TCU, still COULD score score, but may not), and the rest should be somewhere in between. That averages out to about 31 points/game. At home, I expect them to average about 40 points/game, while winning by an average of 15-20 points/game. They should absolutely beat San Jose State, Idaho State, Idaho, and New Mexico State by 4 TDs and Utah State by 2-3 TDs. Utah and UCF are still wild cards as far as margin of victory (or victory, period).
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
A Look at BYU, Last Year to This
After last spring, a lot of questions remained for BYU at a lot of positions. The QB battle was undecided. It was unclear which receivers would step up and help McKay Jacobson out. There was no real replacement in place for Harvey Unga. The linebackers were still a little green. BYU didn't even know what conference they were going to be in or what the MWC was going to look like.
The indecision at QB proved costly in the early going. McKay Jacobson got off to a slow start and never picked it up, and it was weeks into the season before any receiver had any kind of productivity. It took a while before Quezada showed that he may actually be better than Unga by the time his career is done. The linebackers stepped up just as the defensive line went down with injury after injury. The Big Ten and Pac 10 expanded, the MWC added Boise State, and BYU did what it had to do: signed with ESPN as an Independent.
Now Jake Heaps is the unquestioned leader of the secondary. Jacobson is healthy, Cody Hoffman looked phenomenal, and the injury-prone Ross Apo looks even better than the more experienced (in college anyway) Hoffman. Quezada is still a bear, while DiLuigi and Kariya are getting their final cracks at playing college football: that looks to be loaded. The linebackers are going to be the strength of the defense, which is what BYU football is all about. Independence is no longer a dream but a scheduled reality, like it or not.
There are still some other questions after this spring: the secondary, TEs, and a first-time play-caller on offense in Brandon Doman. But when was the secondary NOT a question at BYU? It may be unclear which TEs will step up for sure, but there are a lot more experienced candidates (my money is on Devin Mahina and Austin Holt). Doman may be a first year OC, but he was coached by some of the greatest offensive minds in the college game in his playing days (Norm Chow and Gary Crowton) and has NFL experience. Besides, he's replacing Robert Anae: could he really do any worse than Anae did last year?
The coaching staff is invigorated. The players are more experienced. It better pay off early: the front half of that schedule is brutal. I will look a little more in-depth, position-by-position, and opponent-by-opponent, in the coming days and weeks. These are the longest four months of the year. NBA Playoffs and Draft, EPL and UEFA Champions League Soccer, and NHL/Golf/Tennis (if you follow) can carry us through June. July we have baseball. August starts fall camps before September brings football!
The indecision at QB proved costly in the early going. McKay Jacobson got off to a slow start and never picked it up, and it was weeks into the season before any receiver had any kind of productivity. It took a while before Quezada showed that he may actually be better than Unga by the time his career is done. The linebackers stepped up just as the defensive line went down with injury after injury. The Big Ten and Pac 10 expanded, the MWC added Boise State, and BYU did what it had to do: signed with ESPN as an Independent.
Now Jake Heaps is the unquestioned leader of the secondary. Jacobson is healthy, Cody Hoffman looked phenomenal, and the injury-prone Ross Apo looks even better than the more experienced (in college anyway) Hoffman. Quezada is still a bear, while DiLuigi and Kariya are getting their final cracks at playing college football: that looks to be loaded. The linebackers are going to be the strength of the defense, which is what BYU football is all about. Independence is no longer a dream but a scheduled reality, like it or not.
There are still some other questions after this spring: the secondary, TEs, and a first-time play-caller on offense in Brandon Doman. But when was the secondary NOT a question at BYU? It may be unclear which TEs will step up for sure, but there are a lot more experienced candidates (my money is on Devin Mahina and Austin Holt). Doman may be a first year OC, but he was coached by some of the greatest offensive minds in the college game in his playing days (Norm Chow and Gary Crowton) and has NFL experience. Besides, he's replacing Robert Anae: could he really do any worse than Anae did last year?
The coaching staff is invigorated. The players are more experienced. It better pay off early: the front half of that schedule is brutal. I will look a little more in-depth, position-by-position, and opponent-by-opponent, in the coming days and weeks. These are the longest four months of the year. NBA Playoffs and Draft, EPL and UEFA Champions League Soccer, and NHL/Golf/Tennis (if you follow) can carry us through June. July we have baseball. August starts fall camps before September brings football!
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