No Ring For the King with Shaq

So LeBron and Shaq had some good chemistry at last year’s All-Star game, but I don’t think Shaq will get LeBron his championship when they play together this season, and here’s why. When Shaq has won championships, he’s had Kobe in LA (6-6, 205 lbs.), and he’s had D-Wade in Miami (6-4, 216 lbs.) Both are guards who prefer to take perimeter jump shots than drive the lane. Their style of play is what Shaq complements best. Not that of a forward like LeBron James (6-8, 250 lbs). Here’s what happens with Shaq under the rim: defenses need to double-team Shaq, or else he’ll swallow up every pass and use his post-up play to score basket after basket. With so many men down low, Kobe/Wade were left open—or at least under single-coverage, which is basically open, for them—so they could bury the their jump shots easily. In Kobe Bryant’s 13 NBA seasons, he has had better than 46.3% field goal shooting five times. All but one of those times he owes to Shaq. In the 2005-2006 season, the Heat won their first NBA championship with Shaq, and Dwayne Wade shot 49.5% from the field. He has never shot so well in his career, even last year when he led the NBA in PPG. But in Phoenix, Shaq wasn’t able to make a huge difference because the big stud he was supposed to play alongside was Amare Stoudemire, who looks more like a LeBron than Kobe or D-Wade. Stoudemire is a 6-10 and 250 lbs foward. Granted, LeBron is a more of a shooter than Stoudemire, but King James’s dominion is just as much in the paint as on the perimeter. With Shaq drawing so many defenders under the rim, where is LeBron supposed to go? If he tries to drive the lane, he’ll find that Shaq creates more traffic than NYC rush hour. Zdrunas Ilgauskas was happy to take passes further away from the rim and take a step-back two-pointer, leaving space for LeBron under the rim. Now, if the Cavs got Shaq as an answer to Dwight Howard, they did a good job. O’Neal will be able to stop Superman (#2) more effectively than Ilguaskas, as he is much more of a defensive force. However, he will also be an encumbrance to LeBron on the offensive side of court. Looking at the stars Shaq has played with, Lebron falls somewhere between Stoudemire and Dwayne Wade. So, look for the 2009-2010 Cavaliers to have a season that is more successful than the 2008-2009 Phoenix Suns, but not as successful as the 2005-2006 Miami Heat.

Bruins' Free Agent Market

The NHL free agency period began July 1st. Some notable Bruin free agents include P.J. Axelsson, Mark Recchi, Steve Montador, Stephane Yelle, Byron Bitz, and Shane Hnidy, and Phil Kessel. Wingers Mark Recchi and Byron Bitz have already signed with the B’s, while 11-year Bruin P.J. Axelsson is still exploring the market, and scoring machine Phillip Kessel’s future has yet to be determined. The Bruins have only so much cap space left on their roster, so they may not be able to afford their first-line center this coming year. There were some trade rumors that would send Kessel to Toronto for 4-time All-Star defenseman Thomas Kaberle*. Kessel was undoubtedly the Bruin’s main offensive threat, and the B’s will need to either resign Kessel or acquire another big-name player, if they want to repeat as the Eastern Conference’s top goal-scoring team.

*Since Kessel is a restricted free agent, the Bruins do have “dibs” on the Kessel, with the chance to match any offer given to him. This is why, although Kessel is technically a free agent, the Bruins are within their rights to trade him.

NBA Free Agency '09

The free agents of 2009 were free to begin negotiations with any NBA team on July 1st. Although free agents can’t actually sign with any team until July 8th, several free agents have agreed to sign with a particular team, once that date rolls around. The big names that have already signed are Ron Artest with the Lakers (3-year), Hedo Turkoglu with the Raptors, Trevor Ariza with the Rockets (5-year), Charlie Villanueva with the Pistons (5-year), Ben Gordon with the Pistons (5-year), and yesterday’s reports are that Rasheed Wallace is heading to Boston for a two-year contract.

Before I talk about this deal for the Celts, I’d like remind y’all that there is a salary cap in the NBA. However, unlike the “hard” cap of the NFL and NHL, the NBA features a “loose” cap. Whereas in the NFL teams can exceed the cap in only the rarest of circumstances, the NBA offers a variety of exceptions by which teams can exceeds the salary cap. One exception that you have probably heard mentioned this offseason is the mid-level exception (MLE). It allows a team already over the cap to sign a player with a single year’s pay that is equal to the league’s average salary. Another common exception is the Larry Bird exception (named because the Celtics were the first team to implement this rule when they re-signed Larry Bird), which allows a team to resign their own free agent for the league’s maximum salary if the so-called “Bird free agent” has played for one team for at least three years in a row, without being waived.*

Rasheed Wallace, who can play both forward and center, will make Boston one of the most experienced teams in the NBA. He is a great two-way threat with plenty of experience, and will make a great addition to the Celtics lineup. Between Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Wallace, the Celtics have an unprecedented 53 years of NBA experience. With the addition of Shaq, Boston’s Eastern Conference rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers projected starting five will have a combined 38 years of experience. Last year, ‘Sheed had his lowest PPG since his rookie year with the Washington Bullets, scoring only 12.0 points a game; yet his 7.4 rebounds per game was 2.6 above the league average and higher than his own career average. Since his career is on the decline at age 34, Wallace will probably come off the bench for the Celtics, serving as a backup for Kevin Garnett. His willingness to accept a two-year contract worth over $1 million less than his 2008-2009 single-year salary, in addition to his readiness to play fewer minutes is a testament to Rasheed’s desire to win his second championship ring.

Another rumor that has been circulating throughout the media is that Boston is actively pursuing Suns’ free agent Grant Hill, instead of Glen Big Baby Davis, who could be headed to the Spurs. Grant Hill is even older than Sheed, and at age 36, this will be his 15th season in the NBA. While Hill is undoubtedly more proven than Davis, we saw Big Baby’s potential in this year’s playoffs, where he scored 15.8 points and averaged 5.6 rebounds per game while filling in for KG; who knows when he’ll come into his own? 2008-2009 was only his second year in the NBA, and Ainge could probably sign Davis for a less costly contract than he will be forced to pay 7-time All Star Grant Hill.

Looking at Boston’s projected starting lineup, Boston has some of the most proven stars in all of the NBA. Here are some stats between Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, and Grant Hill:
• Pierce was selected 10th in the 1998 NBA Draft, the lowest out of any of the five players (Allen: 5th, Garnett: 5th, Wallace: 4th, Hill: 3rd
• Together, they have appeared in 40 NBA All Star games
• 5-player averages: 19.50 PPG, 7.06 RPG, 3.72 APG
• Combined 4,606 reg. season games (56 82-game seasons), 402 playoff games
And don’t forget, Boston still has Rajon Rondo prepared to play his 4th season with the Celtics. In this year’s playoffs, he was .3 rebounds and .2 assists short of averaging a triple-double.

Other free agents that have yet to commit to a team include: Dikembe Mutombo, Lamar Odom, Nate Robinson, Marcin Gortat, Andre Miller, Ime Udoka, Mike Bibby, and Shawn Marion, as well as the Celtics’ Leon Powe, Mikki Moore, Stephon Marbury.

*The MLB’s version of a salary cap is the called a “payroll threshold”. Instead of being penalized with the loss of draft picks or millions of dollars (as in the NBA), teams that exceed the salary cap pay a small “luxury tax” that goes to baseball’s “industry-growth fund”. Although the luxury is sometimes called the “competitive balance tax”, the tax money does not redistribute the money to poorer teams. Instead, the MLB uses this fund to promote baseball around the world and for player benefits.

What's Up With That? Wimbledon 2009 Finals

What’s up with Roger’s tote bag that he carried onto Centre Court today? Number 1: It looks like he borrowed his wife’s gym bag. Number 2: What the hell does he need to carry onto the court other than a couple rackets, some Gatorade, and maybe a dry shirt? Number 3: He just looks plain goofy carrying his massive Wilson bag, plus his feminine bag big enough to carry a small child.

What’s up with Roger wearing everything detailed in gold? The Nike swoosh on his shoes and headband, the outline of his collar and sleeves, his warmup jacket, and his tote bag—all are white with a dash of gold. Is it because anything except gold will clash when he holds up the gold Wimbledon trophy? What's up with that arrogance, Roger?

What’s up with Roger’s on-court outfit? Not only does the gold detailing give the impression that he’s full of himself and has no chance of losing, it looks like he either just got drafted to the military or is about to go ballroom dancing. Underneath his military-themed jacket, with cargo pockets galore, he wore a button-down vest that he might as well wear under a tux to go with his Gillette-shaven face and Rolex-covered wrist.

What’s up with seating Roger’s wife directly in front of Roddick’s wife? Can anyone say catfight? Roddick is married to blond supermodel Brooklyn Decker, and Federer recently married his longtime girlfriend, Mirka, who is a bit chubby and has unflattering features. Not only does it make Mirka look even worse, but it won’t do anything to make the Roddicks and the Federers better pals. They already don’t have much respect for each other, as they are always getting in each other’s way on the court, but now the women of the family probably hate each other too. I must say, Brooklyn showed much more respect for Federer than Mirka did for Roddick. Whenever the camera showed the two, Mirka was actively rooting, clapping or yelling for her husband, while Brooklyn sat back, and watched with excitement, wanting Andy to pull off the upset, but not disrespecting Roger by applauding every time he made a mistake. What's up with that?

What's up with Venus barely putting up a fight against sister Serena in the women's final? Serena won in stright sets 7-6, 6-2. The previous three times the Williams' sisters met head-to-head they have battled it out, playing three sets each match. I know at 29, Venus might be on the decline in terms of her career, but what's up with that? That sure wasn't the final it was cracked up to be.

What's up with Serena's fashion this tournament? Are you sure she has her own clothing line? Apparently it's called Aneres...I guess she sometimes does dress pretty backwards. In her post-championship press conference, she sported a T-shirt reading "Are you looking at my titles?" across the chest. I know Serena's really not that arrogant, and it was just a playful shirt, but come on Serena. What's up with that? Then, onto the court, she wore an overcoat that I guess you could call "unique". It was basically a rain jacket that got mixed with a bathrobe, allthewhile it remained super short, hardly longer than her skirt, to show lots of thigh. You're at Wimbledon, for cryin' out loud! I know it's usually cold and wet in London, but what's up with that?

Why I Can't Wait For Federer to Retire

Today, Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick in the longest Grand Slam match of all time—77 games, 6 more than the previous record set in the 1927 Australian Open. And we thought last year’s encounter between the world’s #1 and #2, Federer and Nadal was the greatest match ever! John McEnroe called it “the greatest match I have ever seen”. ‘08’s final, like this match, could not be decided in just 5 sets; it was won 9-7 in the final set by the underdog Rafael Nadal. In some ways, despite a 30-game fifth set this year, last year’s final was actually better. There was more up-and-down, more service breaks, more comebacks, and the underdog actually won—the first time Roger had ever lost in a Grand Slam final. It wasn’t the server’s battle that was the 2009 final. Not until his 33rd service game was Roddick broken. If you add up only these games, that’s over 5 sets worth of service games won by Roddick. You gotta hand it to the guy. Coming into today, he was 2-18 against Roger. In 11 of those losses, he failed to even win a set, and all of his 18 defeats came in the quarterfinals or later in a tournament. Losing to the same opponent for 9 years in a row must be one of the most frustrating things a human being can go through (except maybe an 86-year World Series drought). And today, after some of the hardest offseason training he’s ever done, to come out in his 21st match against Federer, once again the underdog, and to battle the way he did, takes a whole lot of heart. Playing the final set was undoubtedly grueling for both competitors; however, because Federer just happened to serve the first game of the set (Roddick ended the previous set by winning his service game), the pressure was always on Roddick. Once the match was 5-5, as long as Roger kept winning his own service games (he had a career-best 50 aces in the match—his serve was on), if Roddick lost his serve, he lost the match. From 5-5, Roger won his service game to make it 6-5, and Roddick had to win the next game or the championship is lost. He continued to win his service games with ease, even knowing a loss would mean 2nd place. In the end, Federer was able to break Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

It’s hard to believe Roddick has only won a single Grand Slam (the 2003 U.S. Open). He’s a great player, and a decent backhand short of being the best, and the only American currently on tour who has ever won a Grand Slam. His only crime was being born within a couple years of July 8th, 1981. This is, of course, Roger Federer’s birthday. Since 2004, only 2 Grand Slams have been won by someone not named Federer or Nadal. Frankly, there has never been a time with such dominating players. The 70s and 80s had Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Guillermo Vilas all competing for the world’s #1. In the 90s, it wasn’t all Pete Sampras; there was Agassi, there was Jim Courrier, Patrick Rafter, Stefan Edberg, and Gustavo Kuerten. But for the past half decade, there has been Federer, and, well Federer. 2009 isn’t even over, and Federer has already shattered the record of 12 Grand Slams in a single decade (shared by Sampras and Roy Emerson); keep in mind, Federer didn’t even win his first Grand Slam tournament until 2004.

Personally, I’m sick of the guy. I want to have more anticipation, I want to be able to ask, “Who do you think will win?” without feeling like Nostradamus, being able to predetermine the response. It’s no fun watching Federer stroll to the finals, losing only one set in the whole tournament. What’s entertaining is watching Roddick play five sets against veteran Lleyton Hewitt, because the outcome was so uncertain. I can’t wait until the days of Federer are over and thrilling runs by unexpected players will no longer be crushed by the Federer Express.