Rockets and Lakers Swap Small Forwards

Day 2 of NBA Free Agency came with a basic exchange with Trevor Arizia going to Houston (5 year 33 million) while Artest returned the favor and is going to the Lakers for (3 years and 18 million). Here's my quick breakdown

LA Lakers
The question for the Lakers is Artest actually better for their system and given their players? Similiar to Orlando's acquisition of Vince Carter unless Artest changes his play its probably a negative. As noted here Artest has a history of hogging the ball (he used 24% of Houston's positions relative to Arizia's 16.7%) and being less effecient than Ariza. What that means is that offensively Artest, at best will be less effective than Ariza at scoring and at worst take shots away from the far more effective Kobe/Gasol combo. Now this leaves out the question of Artest's defense relative to Ariza's but it seems that Artest doesn't add that much and when you factor in potential off-court antics could be downgrade.

Houston
There's two ways to think of Houston's signing. One is signing a player that flourished in the playoffs and at 24 coming into his own. On the other you are signing a player that averaged less than 9 points a game and had inconsistencies in his 3 point shooting for most of the season for over 30 million dollars and 6 years. Houston's managment runs the stats better than anyone so perhaps I should give them the benefit of the doubt but the MJ question of over paying now especially given 2010 seems to apply

Cleveland
The Cavs are included only as they are clearly in the market for a SF and had targetted both of their players. Its unclear if the Cavs simply lost out on the free agents despite their best efforts or are trying to improve the team with the limitations of 2010 in mind. Whatever the case this is the third player (CV) the Cavs have targetted and the pressure on the Cavs and Danny Ferry will mount to do something. I'm curious also how this effects negotiations with Anderson Varajao. On the one hand the Cavs appear to be in a bind to resign AV however the market for players at let alone above the mid-level exception is quickly shrinking.....

NBA Free Agency 2009: Day One

As said by Laz last night, it was the NBA's Christmas Eve, and it looks like Christmas day has brought Ben Gordon and Charlie Villaneuva to Detroit. My initial thoughts on this:

1) Pistons GM Joe Dumars has lost his way. 5 years, $55 million for Ben Gordon? Which rock has Joe Dumars been hiding under? Did he not know that no one else was bidding? Did he not know that most of the teams are hurting financially?
2) Pistons GM Joe Dumars has lost his way. Bringing in one defensive liability is one thing, but I don't ever recall a team succeeding in rebuilding by bringing in TWO players that are known as defensive liabilities (PF Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon). Good luck with that.

Story #2 is comical. However, it will make you puke in your mouth if you are a Memphis Grizzlies fan. The Grizzlies have traded the expiring $9 million contract of Quentin Richardson for the 2-year, $33 million contract of Zach Randolph. My initial thoughts:

1) The Grizzlies just took themselves out of the free agency market in 2009. Actually, they still have another $15 million in space, but I doubt they use it. Unless of course, the GM can find another international 7-footer. Last year, he had Darko, Marc Gasol, and Hamed Haddadi (Iran). This year, he swaps out Darko for Hasheem Thabeet. I really don't understand what the point of his fascination with collecting the most amount of foreign 7-footers is. Maybe they'll sign Gortat, he's also an international.
2) The Grizzlies just doubled their payroll in 2010 from $17 million to $34 million. That still leaves about $26 million in cap space. However, OJ Mayo, and Mike Conley have team options that need to be picked up (totaling $10 mill) and Rudy Gay is a free agent. Let's say another $10 mill. Oops. There goes free agency 2010. And why?!? To add Zach Randolph. I can't believe this happened.
3) I can't come up with even one reason why the Grizzlies did this. Yes, this is the same GM who engineered what I called the "greatest offseason" in 2007. A few short months later, he traded Pau Gasol for less than market value. In addition, after giving up a 1st round pick to acquire Juan Carlos Navarro... he let him go back to Europe after just one season. I'd say that it has been a pretty horrendous 18 months! I'm going to assume most 14-year olds would have made better decisions.

The BSD American League All-Star Roster

As this blog’s resident American League columnist, I hereby present to you the unofficial Official Back Seat Drivers American League All-Star Roster! Hitman did a bang-up job on the NL All-Star Roster, which can be found here.

Following Hitman’s lead, I have selected 32 players to fill the 32 roster slots. Per All-Star Game rules, there is at least one player representative from each AL team. The selections have been made without regard to current injuries or fan balloting; i.e. this is my set of picks for the entire roster, as if I got to choose the entire 32-man team.

Catcher:
Starter: Joe Mauer, Twins. Although he doesn’t yet have enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title, Joe Mauer is leading the majors with a ridiculous .383 average at the plate this year. He’s also leading all major league catchers with a 1.117 OPS. There isn’t a catcher in the game within a mile of his skill-set.
Reserve: Victor Martinez, Indians. V-Mart is no longer exclusively a catcher, having played an equal number of games behind the plate (38) and at first base (39). He’s hitting the ball again, with a sterling batting line of .313/.392/.522, along with 14 homers and 57 RBI.
Just Missed: None.

First Baseman:
Starter: Justin Morneau, Twins. The other half of Minnesota’s M&M boys, check out Morneau’s ranking among AL first basemen batting leaders: 19 HR (tied for 3rd), 64 RBI (1st), and .313 AVG (4th). He’s the most complete player at the position thus far.
Reserve: Mark Teixeira, Yankees; Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox; Russell Branyan, Mariners. Teixeira has the second-most HR and RBI at the position, Youkilis is leading all AL first basemen with a 1.031 OPS, and Branyan is having a career year with 19 homers, a .303 average, and higher OPS (1.006) than Miguel Cabrera (.954). He has been Seattle’s best player and can’t be excluded in good conscience.
Just Missed: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers.

Second Baseman:
Starter: Ian Kinsler, Rangers. Although the second base position has gotten deeper over the years, Kinsler is the class of the position in the American League. He’s tied for the league lead for homers at the position (19) with Aaron Hill and also leads in the steals department (16).
Reserve: Aaron Hill, Blue Jays. Kinsler may get the starting nod but Hill is having a breakout season with his superb .305/.344/.510 batting line and 19 HR.
Just Missed: Robinson Cano, Yankees.

Third Baseman:
Starter: Evan Longoria, Rays. Simply put, Longoria is the best all-around player at his position right now. He’s killing the ball to the tune of .301/.381/.566 with 16 HR and 63 RBI while playing top notch defense (+13.4 UZR/150).
Reserve: Brandon Inge, Tigers. Inge leads all AL third basemen with 18 homers and is hitting a respectable .275. He has the second-highest OPS at the position and has been just as good in the field as Longoria (+13.3 UZR/150).
Just Missed: Michael Young, Rangers.

Shortstop:
Starter: Derek Jeter, Yankees. The old man takes a licking and keeps on ticking. He’s posting another good season in a Hall-of-Fame career, leading all qualified players at the position with a .307 batting average and tied for the positional lead with 17 stolen bases.
Reserve: Alexei Ramirez, White Sox; Jason Bartlett, Rays. After a horrifically slow start and several benchings, Ramirez has quietly begun to hit consistently for the White Sox. He leads all AL shortstops in homers (10) and is second to Jeter in steals (11). Bartlett missed time due to injury but has a .366 AVG, 7 HR, 36 RBI and 17 SB in just 58 games.
Just Missed: Marco Scutaro, Blue Jays.

Outfielders:
Starters: Jason Bay, Red Sox; Carl Crawford, Rays; Torii Hunter, Angels. A somewhat unglamorous starting outfield, to be sure, but statistically the most complete offensive group in the AL. Bay leads all outfielders with 69 RBI and is tied with Nelson Cruz for the league lead with 19 HR. Hunter is having a renaissance season with 17 HR, 12 SB and a .303 AVG and makes the team as the only member of the Angels everyday lineup. Crawford leads the majors with 40 steals and has the second-highest batting average at the position, hitting .321.
Reserve: Ben Zobrist, Rays; Nelson Cruz, Rangers; Adam Jones, Orioles. Again, an unglamorous corps of outfielders in reserve, but all have played their way into the Midsummer Classic. Zobrist went from backup shortstop/super-sub to sixth in the AL among OF with 16 HR and a .290 AVG, Cruz has a share of the HR lead among OF with 19 HR and has contributed 12 steals, and Adam Jones is the only Oriole on the AL ASG roster, hitting a robust .305 with 12 HR and 50 RBI.
Just Missed: Juan Rivera, Angels; Johnny Damon, Yankees; Adam Lind, Blue Jays; Jermaine Dye, White Sox.

Starting Pitchers:
Starter: Zack Greinke, Royals. Unlike years past, where a member of the Royals only made it as a token participant, Greinke has pitched his way onto the roster as the major league leader in innings pitched (115.1), wins (10), ERA (1.95) and second in the AL in strikeouts (114). He’s been the best pitcher in the league thus far, hands down.
Reserves: Cliff Lee, Indians; Justin Verlander, Tigers; CC Sabathia, Yankees; Felix Hernandez, Mariners; Roy Halladay, Blue Jays; Josh Beckett, Red Sox; Kevin Millwood, Rangers; and Jered Weaver, Angels. All of these guys make it on merit, appearing on the AL leaderboard for wins, strikeouts, ERA and innings.
Just Missed: Mark Buehrle, White Sox, Jon Lester, Red Sox

Relief Pitchers: Joe Nathan, Twins; Mariano Rivera, Yankees; Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox; and Andrew Bailey, A’s. The first three names are self-explanatory. Andrew Bailey might be the lone no-name but he has had an outstanding season as a converted middle reliever and makes the team as the sole member of the Oakland A’s.
Just Missed: Brian Fuentes, Angels; Frank Francisco, Rangers; Bobby Jenks, White Sox.

A Message to Brett Favre from the Back Seat Drivers

Go Fuck yourself

Congrats Brett as the first winner of the monthly GO FUCK YOURSELF award. You deserve and given your prima donna status I'm sure will win it again over the next year.

The BSD National League All-Star Roster

As this blog's resident National League columnist, I hereby present to you the unofficial Official Back Seat Drivers National League All-Star Roster!

I have selected 32 players to fill the 32 roster slots. Following ASG rules, there is at least one player representative from each NL team. The selections have been made without regard to current injuries or fan balloting; i.e. this is my set of picks for the entire roster, as if I got to choose the entire 32-man team.

Let's get to it:

Catcher:
Starter: Yadier Molina, St. Louis. In a weak year for NL catchers, the best of the Molinas is hitting .277, leads his colleagues in fielding percentage, and has thrown out an amazing 45% of runners trying to steal.
Reserve: Brian McCann, Atlanta. Missed some time due to injury, but he's still hitting .309 with 8 HR, and he's the only worthy backup.
Just Missed: None.

First Baseman:
Starter: Albert Pujols, St. Louis. .330-28 HR-74 RBI going into tonight, with 9 SB to boot. Simply, and obviously, the most dominant hitter in the game today.
Reserves: Prince Fielder, Milwaukee; Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego; Todd Helton, Colorado. Fielder's putting up monster power again, and this time with a .300 average. Gonzalez has tapered off in the last month but nevertheless has emerged as a true force; Helton is my last man on the roster, with his .313 average and 53 RBI, helping the surging Rox.
Just Missed: Joey Votto, Cincinnati.

Second Baseman:
Starter: Chase Utley, Philadelphia. Leads all NL 2B in HR and RBI, and hitting .302.
Reserve: Freddy Sanchez, Pittsburgh. He's hitting over .300, and we need a Pirate. Not many good 2B to choose from.
Just Missed: Orlando Hudson, Los Angeles; Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati.

Third Baseman:
Starter: David Wright, NY Mets. Yes, the power is down, but he's hitting .340 and has 20 steals. He's far and away the best at his position in the NL
Reserve: Mark Reynolds, Arizona; Ryan Zimmerman, Washington. Reynolds has put together a nice .275-21 HR-13 SB season. Zimmerman is best known for that 30-game hitting streak, is hitting .301 - and yes, we need a National.
Just Missed: Casey Blake, Los Angeles; Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco.

Shortstop:
Starter: Hanley Ramirez, Florida. .339 average, 12 HR, 11 SB, and widely regarded as the best SS in the league. Easy choice.
Reserve: Miguel Tejada, Houston. The power is gone, but Miggy has put together a solid .325 average and 830 OPS. It's also a weak position...and yes, we need an Astro.
Just Missed: None.

Outfielders:
Starters: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee; Carlos Beltran, NY Mets; Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia. Braun is having another sick season, at .321-16-53 RBI-55 runs. Beltran is hitting .336 and has a terrific 952 OPS. Ibanez leads all NL outfielders with 22 dingers and 59 RBI, and is hitting .312 to boot.
Reserve: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles; Brad Hawpe, Colorado; Juan Pierre, Los Angeles. Kemp could easily start this game, with a .309-10 HR-19 SB season. Hawpe is hitting .327 and is 4th among NL outfielders with 55 RBI. Pierre is totally not sexy - but he only got regular PT when Manny got suspended, and he's responded with a huge .329 average and 21 swipes.
Just Missed: Justin Upton, Arizona.

Starting Pitchers:
Starter: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco. Leads the NL in Ks, third in ERA, and currently the most dominant starter around.
Reserves: Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles; Josh Johnson, Florida; Javier Vazquez, Atlanta; Ted Lilly, Cubs; Johan Santana, NY Mets; Dan Haren, Arizona; Matt Cain, San Francisco; and Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee. Most of these are pretty obvious, except Lilly - who's here because we need a Cub.
Just Missed: None, although a good case could be made for the Reds' Johnny Cueto.

Relief Pitchers: Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles; Francisco Cordero, Cincinnati; Heath Bell, San Diego; Francisco Rodriguez, NY Mets. There are many closers having terrific seasons in the NL, but I can't see more than 4 being selected, and these guys are a cut above.
Just Missed: Trevor Hoffman, Milwaukee; Huston Street, Colorado.

Greatest Sports Pump Up Songs

Its a slow Tuesday so I figure an informal poll of what people think are the best sports pump up songs. Not to say the Hey Song is but this video is easily one of the strangest thing I've ever seen. What is he wearing...tinfoil?

USA EH-OKAY

I'm curious to hear the other back seat drivers' opinion on the USA/Brazil Confederations cup championship. Here's mine. While I am never happy with losing (even though its all i know as a cleveland native), I am happy with the USA's overall performance. As Gutsy put it, "we were playing with the house's money."
The USA played out of their minds, and way above their potential against Spain and in the first half of the Brazil game. Watching the first half, was probably the most exciting half of US soccer i've seen since the 2002 world cup. But then, reality set it. It showed me that unless we are hitting on all cylinders, we can't compete with a Brazil, Italy, or Mexico, etc.
When we are just playing okay, or good, we won't beat those teams. We have to play at 100% of our potential just to be in the same realm as those guys. I think it just comes down to the fact that we are less talented, but have a slight potential to be as good of a team as them.
It was obvious in the second half of that game, that the balloon had burst, and the US team was back to the same spot as when they lost to Brazil a week earlier.
What are your thoughts?
Laz

College Football Preseason: Already?

In the never ending sports info world ....yes. The Preseason College Magazine have been unleashed en masse as has been summarized here . Phil Steele is supposed to be the gold standard but there's obviously a level of probability in all preseason predictions (if that's not an understatement I don't know what is). Ignoring the national picture (which I'm doing until July) the Big 10 is predicted to shape up with Ohio State and Penn State are expected to vie for the crown, Illinois and Michigan State nipping at their heals. Michigan and Illinois are expected to be among the most improved. Here's a quick few points on each of the schools that I randomly deem worthy of mention


Illinois (last year's record 5-7)
Strengths: Illinois' strength lies in its offense. In particular WR Arrelius Benn is the best playmaker in the Big 10 and will be even better with the addition of highly hyped Florida transfer/poor man's Percy Harvin Jarred Fayson

Questions: Illinois actually had a betteryardage differential last year when they went 5-7 than 2 years ago when they made the Rose Bowl. The difference was turnovers. In particular the Fighting Illinois were 0-6 when they had a negative turnover margin - and that leads us to QB Juice Williams. Will he ever mature?

Iowa (last year record 9-4)
Strengths: Iowa returns eight starters to a defense that was best in the Big 10 (I was shocked too).
Questions: First off Iowa has to replace Shonne Green - who had over a 100 yards rushing in every game of the season. The missing starters on defense were the interior D-Lineman. Quality over quantity?

Michigan State (9-4)
Strengths - Returning defense and an improvement a WR

Questions - They need to replace 93% of their offense without stars Javon Ringer and QB Hoyer.

Michigan (3-9)
Strengths - Reversion to Mean is the technical term for Michigan's strength. There's no way the offense can be as bad or the team lose as many close games. Plus their's DickRod's record of improving in year 2

Questions - Tate Forcier - Pure Freshman QB. Close games and bad offenses improvements are predicated on Forcier not making turnovers and doing better. Or I suppose the question is how much better than last year. I would also note that the defense lost some playmakers

Ohio State (11-2)
Strengths - The strength of OSU this year will be on the inside. The D-Line will be the best its been since 2002 and the interior of the O-Line will be much improved as well.

Questions - Lots of New Faces. From the secondary to the tackles to the linebackers to the WRs to the RBs - Does OSU possess the depth to replace the losses? And of course there's that Pryor fellow and how his passing progresses.....

Penn State (11-2)
Strengths - Most proven backfield in the Big 10 with QB Clarke and RB Roysters face the easiest Big 10 schedule outside of Wisconsin/Northwestern.

Questions - They replace their top 4 WRs (still no leader) and their O/D lines are anything but solidified even after Spring Ball

Wisconsin (7-6)
Strengths - John Clay (RB) I think will lead the Big 10 in rushing. No more sharing the load with Tubs PJ Hill

Questions - Umm what happened to the Badger D and their homefield advantage at Camp Randall? I don't have the first explanation. I will say another season like last year and their coach will be fired. And that's a question...how does the team respond?

RIP Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson |MTV Music

Lots can be said about Michael Jackson and I have no doubt this blog is probably not the right forum for it. As such I will just say Thriller remains the greatest music video of all time

NBA Draft Day 2009: Prelude to Armageddon Free Agency 2010

In the prelude to free agency 2010, which I'm now calling "Armageddon Free Agency 2010", there are teams that are trying to win NOW (i.e. Cavs, Magic, Lakers, Spurs, etc.) and there are teams preparing for Armageddon Free Agency trying to win in summer 2010 (i.e. Nets, Knicks), and there are teams that are just trying to survive financially and selling off everything at low, low prices (i.e. Bucks, Suns, etc.)

With this summary, we have had a number of moves from the teams trying to win now taking players from the teams waiting for LATER. I'll try to give my winners and losers on draft day and on the trades...

Trades

Winners - Nets - The Nets are my absolute #1 winners right now. They not only dumped out Vince Carter's long-term contract, but they got back Courtney Lee. I know Courtney Lee may be known more for his blown layup in game 2 of the NBA Finals, but he is only a rookie, and he averaged who after the all-star break averaged 10.3ppg on almost 40% shooting from 3-point land and who received all the tough defensive matchups in the playoffs (including LeBron and Kobe). He's not a superstar, but for a rookie SG to do all this is quite impressive. The Nets are now in the BEST position for 2010, with only Devin Harris (approx. $10 mill), a team option on Brook Lopez ($2.5), a team option on C. Lee ($1.3) and $6.6 for two random players for a grand total of only $20 mill, meaning they will have about $40 million to spend. I think if I'm a free agent in 2010, and I want to win, I'd much rather go to New Jersey where they have a great young PG, a great young Center, and a very solid SG. In addition, they got the best supposed "lock down defender" in the draft in SG Terrence Williams. Nice pick.

Winners - Knicks - they got Darko in exchange for Quentin Richardson! Darko lives!!!!

Losers - Magic - I think the Vince Carter acquisition screws them up long-term, and is a signal that Turkoglu will not be re-signed. Obviously, if the Magic are somehow able to sign Turkoglu then adding Vince Carter looks a lot better. I just don't think that's the case. The defensive drop-off from Lee to Carter is immense. Turkoglu is the #1 sought-after free agent and his destination will alter the fortunes of at least the Magic.

Undetermined - Did Amare get traded to the Golden State in exchange for Biedrins and S. Curry? I guess we'll find out. It's hard to evaluate the trade when you consider that Amare is still a free agent in 2010.

The actual draft
Note: It's hard to pick many winners, when picks 8-23 were all of the same caliber player.

Winners - Tyler Hansbrough - During his college career, he's gone from sure-fire lottery pick, to 2nd round pick, to supposed NBA failure, to lottery pick. Congrats to Tyler!

Winner - Denver - Acquiring Ty Lawson for future 1st round pick. He can learn from Chauncey. I think that's a great plan.

Winner - San Antonio - Taking a 2nd round (non-guaranteed) gamble on Dejuan Blair? Supposedly his knees are a train wreck, but his numbers are awesome. The Spurs always seem to be doing something smart. This is a low-risk, HIGH-reward pick being made by the Spurs. Seems like another great move by the Spurs.

Unclear - Grizzlies - I don't understand why they went after Thabeet. They already have Marc Gasol at center who posted 11.9ppg, 7.4 rebs. I guess you can never have too few 7 footers? I guess they didn't want to deal with Rubio's buyout?

Unclear - T-wolves - Selected 2 players who will be overseas next year (Calathes, Norel) and 3 players who will be on the T-Wolves: Rubio still doesn't know if he will be in the NBA or not. Make that 2 players! Jonny Flynn could be the PG, or Telfair could start at first. Wayne Ellington is an undersized SG though was fantastic at the college level. Obviously, having Rubio (eventually) is the key.

Losers - Ok City - chose James Harden with the #3 pick, probably to avoid contract negotiations with Rubio. I'm not big on Harden. Plus, this SI article rips him apart as a good candidate for being overvalued, as he is a "subpar contested shooter" and has a lack of "shot efficiency in one-on-one situations." Then, just to make sure the Ok City Thundercats had the worst draft, they went out and traded for Center BJ Mullens, from Ohio State. I've never seen a dumber player, who didn't seem to learn anything during the college season, who also has a poor work ethic. Good luck with that project.

2nd round picks I like
Milwaukee - SG Jodie Meeks - Can really shoot, which is a nice skill to have.
San Antonio - G Jack McClinton - An absolute scoring machine. Saw him play a couple of times on the Miami Hurricanes and thought he was pretty impressive, though he is very small.

Shaq and His Circus Come to Cleveland

As soon as the Cavs' season came to an end at the hands of Dwight Howard and giant muscles it was simply a matter of time before a big man was traded to Cleveland. Turns out the big man is the Big Royal or Big Clev or whatever new nickname Shaq will come up with. There's tons of analysis out there (I think the best breakdown is here by Brian Windhorst but I'm obviously biased here There's lots of question marks here in terms of Shaq meshing with Lebron, Shaq meshing with the offense, Shaq having the foot speed for defense, etc, etc, etc. However the question I think needs to be asked is one of opportunity cost.

Its hard to argue the Cavs didn't need to improve in the low post on offense and most importantly finding someone that could go guard Howard one on one. With Shaq the Cavs are relatively better and all it cost was a retiring player (Wallace), an awful player (Pavlovic) and the 46th pick in an horrendous draft. That's nothing. Would Tyson Chandler have been better than Shaq? Offensively and contract wise (Chandler would've kept the Cavs away from the 2010 free agent market - no (not to mention Chandler's last trade was nixed over injury). So who would have been better at slowing down Howard that could be had? Names people. Names. The bottom line is there's not. Or at least no one that could be had by the Cavs.

In the end Danny Ferry is rolling the dice that Shaq is motivated enough for one last contract, one last shot at Kobe, one last something to keep his circus in check. Not say the trade gives the Cavs the NBA Championship or even in the front runner position but it probably improves the better than other alternatives and that's all one can ask for.

USA! USA!

If you had told me team USA would get the Confed Cup Finals by beating Spain after it had been blown out by Brazil I wouldve laughed at you. Spain. The team that hadn't been beaten in 35 games. It had won every game the last two years. I hadn't lost to a non-European team in almost 10 years. The number 1 team in the world. And yet the Americans did it through great defense, outstanding goal keeping and a few lucky breaks. WOW. Good work team USA!