the (new) man in black

With the 18th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors select....Bizarro Greg Ferguson: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0706/draft.fashion/content.13.html

And, maybe the next thing for the warriors is monta ellis/andris biedrins/brandan wright/adonal foyle for kevin garnett. Or, since I'd like to see biedrins and wright together in the frontcourt, maybe they're just hoping to turn monta and wright for YI. And eddy curry and zach randolph is a brutal front line. It's actually like an nfl defensive line. but crazy!

Draft

I really like the Cavaliers' haul. In Andre Miller we get a stable point guard who can stick around for years and really act as the captain of the ship, while "Alaskan Assasin" Trajan Langdon rounds out our backcourt.

We passed on some intriguing guys, like Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, Ron Artest, Cory Maggette, and Andre Kirilenko, but I'm confident the Cavs' brass made the right choices.

2007 Draft

It's been a fun evening watching the draft - so nice to be back in NBA world, if only for a few hours! The Warriors' second pick is up now, the clock has just expired. The Warriors just traded JRich to the Bobcats for Brandan Wright, their #8 pick, and something else, some sort of consideration. And, for their #18 pick, they chose Marco Belinelli from Italy, and #36 is Jermareo Davidson from Alabama. Hmm - now Stephen Lasme from Massachusetts, that's their #46 pick. This is all so bizarre! The big pieces fell where expected of course but I think it's a fascinating time for the current power teams and spotlight teams (what do the Suns do now? the Warriors?). Apparently Mully and Mike D'Antoni are going to be talking on ESPN in a few minutes. WHOA! Huge trade between the Sonics and the Celtics! Big Baby, my all-time favorite college player, plus Ray Allen, for Wally Szerbiak and Delonte West and something else.

Here's Mullin. I am shocked that JRich was traded, of all players. So steady and loyal. HA!! One ESPN guy just said he thought the trade was "disgusting" - highway robbery on the part of the Warriors. Saying JRich is not a franchise player, that he's got 48 million guaranteed, that it's stupid for the Bobcats. I can see that. It's like trading the future for something more subdued and solid. I am heartbroken. I thought JRich would be the last to go. There were rumors that Monta's days were numbered because of commitment/attitude problems which I don't buy, and you can easily see SJax or Baby Al or even Biedrins (not to mention Foyle, Matt Barnes who may have priced himself out of Golden State, etc.).

Anyway, the minutiae of the Warriors probably does not have broad appeal - when I talk fervently about the Warriors and the Knicks I feel like a mother obsessing about how special and interesting her totally normal and boring child is. Anyway, hooray for the draft. I can't wait for next season, even though I will be watching it at four in the morning in Stockholm on the computer via League Pass.

AL/NL EAST/WEST

A test of Dan's earlier hypothesis. This is sort of based on where the NBA teams were at the middle of the season.

-Red Sox - Spurs (Cruising through the regular season, veteran team, recent championship, high expectations, some concern about age)
-Angels - Jazz (A relatively new threat, but legitimate contenders nevertheless)
-Indians - Rockets (For sure. A team that everyone knew was good, that had solid talent and good pitching/defense but was coming off of an uncharacteristically bad season, and would probably be resurgent.)
-Tigers - Suns (offensive-minded, frontrunnerish after recent playoff successes)
-Mariners - Warriors (A different brand of ball, hard to read)
-Yankees - Lakers (Epic team with epic holes)
-Blue Jays - Nuggets (Perhaps a slight stretch, but big-name acquisitions over the last couple years have only sort of put them in contention, due to injuries, strong competition, and a failure to gel)

The remainder is the Mavs. I don't quite know who to compare them to. I suppose an equally valid case could be made that Red Sox=Mavs, but I have no idea what you would do with the Spurs in that case. QED: the West = the AL + one more championship-caliber club. That role was supposed to be filled by the White Sox or Twins this year, or perhaps the Yankees, in which case CHI or MIN might have been the Lakers.

The NL landscape is much like the East in that you despair in even thinking about it. The Mets would clearly be the Pistons. Anybody except the Giants from the West would be the Raptors, Bulls and, I don't know, Sixers? The Cavs would be someone depressing like Houston, or the Cardinals if they hadn't accidentally won the World Series.

Gambling

Some bets on the table:

1) The Phillies will win the NL East (4:1)

2) The Cubs will win the NL Central (7:1)

3) The Cubs will make the NLCS (12:1)

4) The Cubs will make the World Series (22:1)

5) C.C. Sabathia will start the all-star game (12:1)

6) Josh Beckett (10:1)

7) Justin Verlander (3:1)

8) Dan Haren (3:1)

9) Johan Santana (20:1)

10) OTHER (30:1)

11) The Yankees will make the playoffs (12:1)

12) The team with the best record in the NL will win less than 92 games (3:1)

13) The Chicago White Sox will hit less than ten triples all year (even)

14) The Sox will finish the year as the most offensively futile team in the majors, in terms of runs (3:1)

15) The Nats (3:1)

16) The Royals will win five games in a row at some point this year (even)

17) Seven in a row (6:1)

18) Julio Lugo will reach 500 ABs with an average under .200 (10:1)

19) Andruw Jones (15:1)

20) The Dodgers will produce two 20-game winners (4:1)

21) The Angels (6:1)

22) The Tigers (9:1)

23) The Brewers (13:1)

24) The Indians (15:1)

25) St. Louis will produce two 20-game losers (20:1)

26) Cincinnati (25:1)

27) Matt Cain will lose 20 with an ERA under 3.50 (15:1)

Shoppach Girl

Great ballgame, potential turning point for both teams. I'm sorry to see the A's hitting the skids lately, as they are a very good club with a solid staff and fun to watch. They clearly came into this series determined to atone for being swept in their last series, but the Indians were equally playing with a fire, possibly even moreso, having relinquished the division lead. I feel that it was crucial to have a come from behind win at this point. They had a bunch early in the year, but that '95ish spirit waned a bit in June. The A's will really have to battle to make the playoffs, with two teams in the central that will win 90-100 games, one of whom will account for the wild card unless Oakland can have a stellar second half.

As added bonuses, the middle of the lineup looked like the force that it is, even against Haren, whose first mediocre start of the year (6.2 IP, 3 ER, 8 H) may have pushed him out of the frontrunner position for starting the all-star game, especially after Sabathia's brilliant complete game win the night before (9IP, 2ER, 9 H). He could still get the call I guess, but probably not. Jim Leyland, while clearly not a nice man, surely wields enough Greatest Generation righteousness that he wouldn't snub C.C. on the basis of a division rivalry.

Speaking of the Tigers, Magglio couldn't muster the heroics of Hafner or Shoppach, and D-town lost an embarrasing second straight to the Rangers, who - fact - deliberately employ Kevin Millwood as a baseball player, for $8 million a season no less. Credit the loss to your prick uncle with the mustache who doesn't hate gay people as long as they don't play baseball.

So we're tied again, and the race continues to already feel exciting.

The Sounds of Summer

I appreciate Ben for steering this blog toward baseball. It has indeed been an exciting year. There is so much to ponder. Here are some of my thoughts and questions.

• Is there anything more fun than seeing the Yankees lose five of six to Colorado and San Fransisco? Not for me there isn't!
• I now feel totally validated for bashing the Twins and White Sox in spring training. At the time, some people looked at me like I was crazy for insisting the Central was a two-team race. This is finally the year the Twins won't make a crazy second-half push.
  
• Do the Tigers really need to trade for a first baseman? SI's John Heyman suggests Detroit part ways with Sean Casey. I really don't think they need to add a bat. Or maybe I just don't want them to.
  
• Speaking of Detroit, how good does the nucleus of Bonderman, Verlander, and Andrew Miller look? Maybe the best in baseball.
  
• Are the Red Sox the equivalent of the Dallas Mavericks? Cruise through the regular season only to flop in the postseason?
• Are Tigers fans worried about Todd Jones? Are Indians fans worried about Joe Borowski? Who needs Eric Gagne more?
• Should the Indians be active players prior to the trade deadline? What do they need and who could they get?
  
• It's incredible how closely the NBA's East/West talent disparity resembles MLB's AL/NL disparity.
  

Please discuss.