Monday Morning Mehta 12/12/05

Edition # 144
December 12, 2005

www.mondaymorningmehta.blogspot.com

Special World Cup section this week by Derreck Sura. Let's hear from those closet soccer fans this week.

Eagles/NFL

Eagles lose a hard fought battle in OT to the Giants 26-23. Moral Victory? Is there such a thing? Let's breakdown the game...

Game Negatives:

- Jeremiah Trotter. I really don't care about his 8 solo tackles, I saw Trotter miss about 4 easy open field tackles yesterday.

- The rest of the linebackers. It's obvious Keith Adams is nothing more than a decent special team player. These guys are too small to help out against the run, and obviously can't cover a TE either. The Eagles coaches are adamant that they don't need talented LB's in the system they play to win. It's pretty obvious these guys aren't getting the job done.

- Mike McMahon. You can say all the positives like "Well he wasn't as bad as Monday Night" as you want. 14 for 32 doesn't get it done in the NFL.

- Too much Reno Mahe. Look, I know Mahe played OK. Troy Aikman pointed out multiple occasions where Ryan Moats missed tackles, I know this. But I think I speak for every Eagles fan, and probably player, when I say that just seeing him on the field gives me discomfort. The Eagles are now 5-8, there is no reason not to give Moats all the playing time his body can handle.

Game Positives:

- Ryan Moats. He just looked faster then everyone out there and looks like a different player then the one we saw for one game earlier in the year. His confidence has got to be rising, now if he can just satisfy Reid and block a little.

"Moral Victory"? I thought the team responded pretty well to getting thumped. This game was merely for pride and making sure they're just not cashing a paycheck, in my opinion the real test comes next week, when we see whether they can get up for a meaningless game two weeks in a row.

Eagles have 25 sacks this year. Derrick Burgess has 13 by himself.

Speaking of which, Trent Cole looks like he may actually be a legit starting DE for years to come. Bob Whitfield isn't what he used to be, but Cole got some good pressure on Manning and drew Whitfield offsides a few times, which is something good DE's force OT's to do.

Eagles lead the league in dropped catches. Greg Lewis is a prime culprit. Wasn't the upgrade from Todd Pinkston I thought he'd be.

Around the League

My "Bold Prediction" was a little too bold, as the Colts beat the Jaguars 26-18. Indy still has 2 straight tough tests as they host San Diego next week and travel to Seattle. They're obviously in the drivers seat for the Super Bowl, but what I'm interested in seeing is how the defense reacts against those two teams. Limiting teams like the Jags, Titans, and even the Steelers is nice, but let's see how this hyped defense reacts against some solid offenses like they'll face the next two weeks. I'm thinking not too well...

The NFC picture just became more jumbled yesterday, as Tampa Bay took control of the NFC South for the week. One thing is looking pretty certain, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Seattle (don't see too many people shaking in their boots).

I don't know what has gotten into the Vikings, besides a weak schedule, but they are playing decent football. A good test next week vs. the Steelers. I still think Tice may find a way to blow it somewhere along the line.

San Diego played a typical game where you realize why Marty Schoetenhiemer is just not capable of getting it done. The Dolphins continue to play hard, but there's no reason the Chargers should've lost to a team which had nothing from their running game. Even with a banged up LT2, and losing 20-7 in the 3rd quarter, there's no reason to throw the ball 52 times vs. 26 runs.

The game of the day had to be the Chiefs vs. the Cowboys. In a game you thought was over about 4 times, the Cowboys win it on a last second missed FG by the Chiefs Lawrence Tynes. A controversial defensive holding call on 4th down helped set up the game winning TD. It appeared as if Jason Whitten had dropped the game winner only to be bailed out by the refs. One takeaway from this game, is that Larry Johnson could put up 2,000 yards next season. Either the Chiefs know how to get running backs, or their offensive line is unreal because this guy is 5-8 yards a clip...

Good test for New England next week vs. the Bucs. Let's see if they're really going to be a threat in January this year.

Drexel Update: Big 2-0 week with a huge win vs. conference rival Old Dominion this week. Calm down, don't get too excited just yet, it's a long season.

NBA - Derreck Sura

- Philadelphia (10-11) salvaged a terrible week of play with a win on the road versus a division opponent (New Jersey). Overall, a 2-1 week is pretty good, but the Sixers gave away the Milwaukee game on Wednesday. They also tried their best to lose to Charlotte by getting out scored 38-22 in the fourth quarter on Friday. Nothing was as ugly as the end of the Bucks' game though. Philly did not score in the final 2:56 of play, as Milwaukee went on a 10-0 run to steal the win. For those that missed this debacle, below are some "highlights" from the play by play.

2:56 Andre Iguodala makes free throw 2 of 2 (Last time the Sixers would score, 85-78)
2:15 Chris Webber lost ball (Mo Williams steals)
2:03 Kyle Korver shooting foul (Michael Redd makes both FT's, 85-80)
1:39 Chris Webber misses 13-foot jumper
1:25 Michael Redd offensive rebound (of T.J. Ford miss) and two point shot (85-82)
1:12 Allen Iverson misses 13-foot jumper
0:32 Kyle Korver misses three point jumper (just an AWFUL shot)
0:23 John Salmons shooting foul (Mo Williams makes 2 of 3 FT's, 85-84)
0:22 Milwaukee offensive rebound (ball off of a Philly player, team rebound Bucks)
0:19 Michael Redd personal foul (Samuel Dalembert misses both FT's)
0:10 Andrew Bogut offensive rebound (of T.J. Ford miss) and makes lay-up (85-86)
0:10 Philadelphia full timeout
0:05 Allen Iverson misses 17-foot jumper
0:03 Andre Iguodala personal foul (Michael Redd makes both FT's, 85-88)
0:03 Philadelphia 20 second timeout
0:00 Chris Webber misses 26-foot three point jumper

I hate to say this people, but that is what bad teams do, they always seem to find a way to lose close games. All is not lost for the Sixers though, because they are still the third seed in the Eastern Conference by virtue of them leading the Titanic (credit to Marc Stein) Division, albeit by only percentage points over the Nets. This week brings Philly: Minnesota, Atlanta, Miami, @Toronto. 2-2 is what I see happening.

My latest concern with the Sixers, other then their defense and rebounding, is the amount of minutes AI is playing. He leads the league with 43.7 mpg, and that is a full 1.6 mpg more then 2nd place (Ricky Davis, 42.1 mpg). AI is obviously Philly's meal ticket, but I have to question how hard coach Maurice Cheeks is riding him early on. AI is 30 years old, a 10 year veteran, and takes a pounding on a nightly basis. Remember, the NBA season is a marathon, not a sprint.

- I swear, you just can't make some people happy. What am I talking about? NBA bashing of course. First it was, "The games are horrible to watch. There's no flow to offense anymore and the defense gets away with murder." So the league office hands down an edict before last season began to enforce hand checking (on the perimeter & in the post) and moving screen violations. Magically, scoring and shooting percentages were up on average across the association, as was the pace of play. Don't get me wrong, the NBA still has it's share of bad teams and games, but all through last year nary a mention of the improved quality and watchabilty of play from the haters.

Next it was, "The NBA has an image problem. They stress hip-hop culture too much and that's alienating their ticket buying fan base." Not really sure how true that was to begin with, but commissioner David Stern, media savvy as he is, decided to implement a new dress code before this season to quell the apparent outrage in the red states. Yet all I hear from detractors is how the league is still too "gangsta", whatever that means. Maybe the dress code doesn't entirely fix the perceived "image problem", but you show me a professional sport where none it's athletes have issues away from the game, and I'll show you where the purple buffalo graze. For the people that the player's appearance really did bother, seeing the players dressed the same way for work (more or less) as they do has to be a step in the right direction.
Which leads me to the latest complaint, "There are no dominant teams anymore. The leagues is so watered down that everyone is right around .500." WRONG! Sure, there are a lot of teams around .500 these days, but how could anyone actually think that is a bad thing? Parity only made the NFL the strongest league in the United States and vaulted football over baseball as America's national past time. The more cities across the country that think their team has a legitimate chance to make the playoffs, the better it is for the league as a whole. Not only is this the desired effect of the salary cap, but it also makes for many more competitive regular season contests throughout the year. That makes the games more exciting on TV and in person, which in turn leads to more revenue for every franchise, and then a healthier league overall. In closing I have a message for all you NBA bashers out there. Whether you like it or not, basketball in the second most popular sport on the planet, and the NBA is the preeminent league in the world. Accept it, appreciate it, and move on already.

- While I'm on the topic of unfounded criticism, I thought I'd address another misnomer about my beloved NBA. The one about there being no teams that play hard every night. Granted, the vast majority of teams in the association take multiple nights off over the course of a season. Really good squads can even coast for the majority of a game if they feel like it, only to turn it on just in time to squeak out a win. That does not mean that there are no teams that play with energy and enthusiasm on a daily basis. If you prefer a college basketball type of effort, I've been able to find three teams in the league that should satisfy your need.

The first is the Chicago Bulls (10-9). I'm not sure there's ever been a team that has embodied the gritty style in which their coach played like the Bulls do. Scott Skiles was not an overly talented PG (although his 30 assists on 12/30/90 is still the single game record in the NBA), but he was super feisty and always gave 100%. If that's not Chicago right now, I don't know what is. The Bulls get up in your face on D for 48 minutes every single game and don't let up until the final buzzer. They are not the most talented team in the league, but they never give up when they are behind and regularly beat teams that take them lightly.

The Minnesota Timberwolves (12-6) are next and Kevin Garnett flat out will not let them take it easy. Number one, the Wolves have no where near the talent or depth to coast against anyone and expect to win. Number two, unless your name is Michael Olowokandi, how can you look at yourself in the mirror after not giving an honest night's effort when you see KG flying all over the court and going all out in every facet of the game? Minne has truly taken on the persona of their star player as a team. Good thing for them too, because if they didn't, I don't think they'd be a playoff contender.

I wanted to save the best example for last, and that's the Charlotte Bobcats (5-16). I know their record stinks, but since their inception the 'Cats have surprised me with their consistently high effort level. I mean, what's a better excuse for dogging it occasionally then being an expansion team? Charlotte is the classic example of a team the thrives on other clubs not respecting them. I'm willing to wager that of all the games they've won, around 80% or more are because the other team took the 'Cats lightly. I give major credit to GM/coach Bernie Bickerstaff for how he built and coaches this team. I doubt the NBA will ever expand again, but if they do, the leaders of those new franchises would be very wise to follow Bernie B's blue print.

I understand that none of those squads are on national TV all that much, if at all. However, if you used to love the NBA but stopped watching because you were sick and tired of teams mailing it in, get yourself a subscription to 'League Pass' and watch those three teams play every night. I promise you won't be disappointed.

- I'll start the injury portion off with the Indiana Pacers (12-7). Jamaal Tinsley has missed the last five games with a strained left groin, and Ron Artest the last two with a sore right wrist. The Pacers have so much depth that they should hardly miss a beat with those two out. Maybe Indy will even be able to solve some of their apparent chemistry problems. Sarunas Jasikevicius might win the starting PG job in Tinsley's absence, and rookie Danny Granger was drafted as an insurance policy for Artest anyway. Mister "Tru Warier" came out and asked to be traded on Saturday, and you know what, I think he may get his wish. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird package Ron and Jamaal together in a blockbuster deal. Stay tuned.....

Milwaukee Bucks' (11-7) big man Joe Smith will be out six to eight weeks follow arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. This is a blow to the Bucks, but they do have Dan Gadzuric waiting in the wings for Smith's minutes. Word on the street is that GM Larry Harris has been shopping Jamaal Magloire already. Supposedly "Big Cat" has been a disturbance in the locker room over his lack of touches on offense. Coach Terry Stotts thinks giving Jamaal more touches bogs down the fast paced offense Stotts prefers to run. I think Smith's injury has to put the kibosh on any Magloire trade, for the time being anyway.
Darius Miles will be out anywhere from one to three months depending on how bad the torn cartilage in right knee is found to be during surgery. This is both bad and good news for the Portland Trail Blazers (6-14). It's bad because the only time the Blazers had a chance to beat anyone was when D Miles and Zach Randolph both played well on the same night. It's good because Portland has many young swing players who need Miles' minutes. Travis Outlaw is the main guy that I think needs to get more burn so he can build up some confidence. Viktor Khryapa has looked good so far replacing Darius in the starting lineup as well. I know he won't like it, but I'd keep Ruben Patterson behind these two players on the depth chart. Mainly because developing their young talent should be the Blazers' priority right now, not wins and losses.

Corey Maggette has missed the last three games for the Los Angeles Clippers (14-6). I know that the Clips are less talented without him, but they seem to play more as a team when Corey is out. I'm not sure why it is, but LA's offense runs through Elton Brand more (a good thing) and Cuttino Mobley appears more confident when Maggette is not in the lineup. I think it's mainly because Corey's replacement, Quinton Ross, is not a guy that dominates the ball or needs plays run for him. Q Ross is happy being a defensive stopper and deferring his offense to Brand, Mobley, and Sam Cassell. I'm not trying to start any controversy here, but maybe Vice President Elgin Baylor should put some feelers out there to gauge what Maggette's value is around the league.

- I don't watch college basketball at all, and that goes for the tournament too in recent years (basically since I became a 'League Pass' regular), but that is not going to stop me from making this bold prediction. J.J. Redick will make in the NBA. Why would I stake my reputation on someone I've never seen play? Because if Kyle Korver and Salim Stoudamire can be regular contributors in the league, I don't see why Redick would be any different. All three were the "best pure shooter" in college ball at one point or another. Basically, J.J. can look forward to a long career of being beaten like a rented mule on defense, and waiting for a star player to get him an open shot on offense.

Don't miss the second annual 'Quarter Pole Review' in next week's edition...

NHL Week in Review By : Ed Wasser

- Quick Notes From Around The League.....The next time I'm watching a Flyers game and I see Donald Brashear on the ice during a power play I just might throw a Coor's Light bottle through my television screen, after I drank it of course.....5 straight wins for the Sharks since the Joe Thorton trade.....remember that guy Todd Bertuzzi who was on the Canucks but was banned for a while for his dirty hit against Steve Moore? I wonder what ever happened to him? Is he still in the league?.....There's a rumor that the Flyers are interested in Panther Roberto Luongo. GET HIM!!!!.....There's a plan on the table in the NHL offices to have the first two teams in every division make the playoffs while the remaining teams all play each in a best of 3 to get in the playoffs. I think what the NHL wants to do is have the playoffs still going on while the next season is starting.

- Line of The Week.....Flyers' announcer Steve Coates during the Flyers/Oilers game last Thursday about 5 minutes into the first period of a 0 - 0 game. "Right now what you have is two teams just feeling each other up".

- The Flyers opened the week with an incredible game against the Flames in which Antero Niittymaki shut out the Flames during the game, during overtime, and even during the shootout. The Flyers won 1 - 0. The momentum from that game lasted less then 48 hours when on Thursday the Flyers crashed into a wall called the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers scored 2 (2!!!) shorthanded goals on breakaways that left Niittymaki completely hung out to dry. You have a better chance of seeing Jennifer Aniston reprising her role in "Leprechaun II" then you do of seeing the Flyers letting Peter Forsberg come back from an injury before he's 100% healthy so as a result he's been on the sidelines for a while, 6 games to be exact. He was doing some skating during practice, but he didn't play in an actual game until last Saturday's game against the Wild. So Forsberg hits the ice for I think his third shift of the game, might have been fourth, when Wild defensemen Willie Mitchell put a clearing attempt right on the tape of Forsberg's stick, 10 feet away from the goal, with no Wild defenders for miles around. It was like one Mike McMahon interception passes, it's so bad that for a split second the defender thinks "wait......which team am I on again?" Of course Forsberg buried the shot and Forsberg re-established himself as the best player in hockey. The Flyers won the game 3 - 2.

World Cup - Derreck Sura

I was off on Friday and found myself in front of my TV at noon Pacific for the World Cup draw on ESPN2. What transpired was not good for the United States, in fact, it was almost a worst case scenario. The rules for the WC draw are more complicated then the formula for the BCS Standings, so I'll try to be brief.

Basically, by the time the USA's "pot" was up for the choosing, every group already had three countries in it. The one exception being Group C, which had Serbia & Montenegro added as the fourth team because no group can have three European countries. Follow me so far? OK, so the first two countries picked from the USA's "pot" were Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago. That was real bad news for USA because that locked them into Group E for some reason. I know that no CONCACAF countries were allowed in Group D because of Mexico, but I still haven't been able to figure out why CR & T+T (the other two CONCACAF countries) being picked first locked USA into Group E. So what actually needed to happen for USA to get a good draw was that two of the last three teams picked from their "pot" needed to be among the first two picked. Stay with me here. Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia were the last three picked (Iran was the other country in that "pot", and went to Group D), so if two of those three went to Groups A and B, USA had a far better chance of ending up in either Group G (France, Switzerland, & Togo) or Group H (Spain, Ukraine, & Tunisia), where they would have been easily favored to advance to the round of 16 (top two teams from each group go forward). When the draw was going down, I had my fingers crossed that USA wouldn't be the first country picked from their "pot", because that would've meant playing Germany in the opening match of the entire WC. In hindsight, Group A (Germany, Poland, & Ecuador) would have been better then where USA actually ended up, as they probably would've been favored to move on there too.

Alright, so USA ended up in Group E, and even though many American pundits labeled this the feared "Group of Death", every international soccer writer I've read said that Group C (Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, & Netherlands) is actually the "Group of Death". The best analogy I heard was Tommy Smyth on ESPNews right after saying that USA is in the "Group of 'Near' Death". Now I'm no international soccer expert, but I'm willing to bet that I follow it more closely then most Americans do. I'll break down the US squad (#8 in FIFA world rankings) more in depth before their first match, but for now I'll give a quick break down on what needs to happen for them to escape group play.

6/12/06 @ 10 AM Pacific
Czech Republic (#2 in FIFA world rankings) - This is it. If they don't get a result here, USA is probably done. I mean really, if you are planning on watching any of the USA's games in the WC, you better be tuned in for this one (I'll be taking the day off). Maybe I'm being unrealistic, but I think USA has a chance. They don't need to win, but they absolutely MUST get a draw. 0-0 would be fine even. The key guy for USA to stop is midfielder Pavel Nedved. He plays for Juventus (Italy), the current first place club in Serie A (no worse then the 2nd best league in the world). Nedved came out of retirement to play in the WC, and USA must keep his play making under control. If they can do that, I like the USA's chances to surprise and get at least one point (for a draw) out of this match.

6/17/06 @ 10 AM Pacific
Italy (#12 in FIFA world rankings) - This is the throw away game. USA would have to catch the Italians on very bad day to have any chance of winning. Italy is just way too deep, experienced, and talented for USA to handle. However, it's very important that USA keeps the score close and does not get blown out. If they tie Czech, then goal differential could be the deciding factor on which country advances. I'd be real happy with 0-1 loss.

6/22/06 @ 7 AM Pacific
Ghana (#50 in FIFA world rankings) - Any scenario where USA moves on includes them beating Ghana, and handily. Some analysts say that Ghana is the most athletically gifted team from Africa. Whatever the case may be, USA must beat Ghana by at least the score of 3-0 in my opinion.

Assuming that Italy beats Czech Republic, that should hopefully be enough for USA to squeak by the Czech's on goal differential. However, if USA does miraculously finish 2nd in Group E, that would mean they play the winner of Group F in the round of 16 on 6/27/06 @ 8 AM Pacific. That country will most likely be.....gulp.....Brazil. After getting shafted in the 2002 WC quarterfinals (Not making that up. Many international soccer experts say that USA out played Germany, and lost the game on a no call in the box.), where they would have faced South Korea in the semis (a very winnable game), it looks like all of us in Sam's Army will have to wait until 2010 in South Africa to be actual contenders for the crown.